This is a truly remarkable true story. What do you do when God gives you a challenge? Watch this story about this young boy. It made me realize that God is bigger than our circumstances and that, with Him, we can overcome anything. This is about 8 minutes in length but worth every second. Enjoy!
After reading several reports about things going on around the world in reaction to our new President, I’ve decided to say a few things.
China seems concerned that Obama will focus on creating new jobs for American workers which is likely to decrease the importing of “made in China” goods. Well, if Obama actually does do this, it’s for the better. Sorry China, but we can’t buy your goods if we don’t have jobs. Unless you are feeling gracious enough to give them to us.
A wave of support for Obama has swept across Africa. Africans from many of the continent’s nations are filled with joy and anticipation that our new African American president will help stablize democracy in this region. Hello, did I miss something? Doesn’t the world want us to mind our own business? Now, suddenly, they want us to get involved in more conflicts because Obama is likely to be sympathetic to the plight of the African? I’m all for helping people, but forget the fact that we have successfully created a democracy in Iraq. Albeit, it still needs some work, but how was that any different than what Africans propose? The rest of the world needs to make up it’s mind.
Iran, while congratulating Obama, is in it’s own crisis as of late. Why? Well, oil happens to be it’s biggest source of revenue and we happen to be the biggest customer. The problem is, we have decreased our demand for such products and the demand continues to fall. One could argue that it is contributed to the economic crisis that has plagued us but quite frankly, I think we are all a little more concientious about our vehicles, how much gas it consumes, and how to consolidate trips so we don’t use as much of it. Simply put, we have learned to use more common sense when it comes to filling up our vehicles. We very rarely fill up our ‘99 Astro van and can normally go almost 2 week without having to put more gas in it.
North Korea has made some rather interesting threats against South Korea. But I wonder if we should stay out of that conflict too. I mean, wasn’t the main idea of the Democratic campaign to keep us out of the world affairs? Aren’t we supposed to be sitting around twidling our thumbs while the world threatens us and others? Or are we going to see that Mr. Obama will not able to follow through with every promise of “Change” that he was so proudly declared? Time will soon show us.
Finally, I found this morning’s “Prayer Service” somewhat of a farce. This whole “all-inclusive” service doesn’t make sense. Can you really attend a service lead by different religions all claiming to be the only way to God? That just doesn’t compute. America is so determined to be tolerant that a President can’t even take a stand for his beliefs.
So are the state of things. Continue to pray for our country and our new President.
More to come.
Greetings all.
It’s been awhile since I’ve written a real blog (the Disney blog doesn’t count). Things here have been a little hectic lately, but I’m trying to get back into a routine of blogging regular. There are a few changes here that have taken place at anzanite.com.
The main thing is that I’ve once again cleaned up the blog roll. I’ve deleted some blogs that no longer apply, I decided I didn’t like, or were just plain annoying after I went back and read them. So, if you were anxiously waiting to show someone a particular post that is no longer here, I am sorry, I actually do not keep a back up copy of any of my posts (a practice I am in the progress of working on). So, they are lost for ever (and as far as I am concerned, good riddance).
As far as things here in Texas are concerned, things are still moving along relatively well. I am enjoying my job and working with the church that I have been attending. They are great people and truly strive to seek God’s will for their lives and the church. In a nutshell, I am rapidly becoming a “texican” as I like to call it (it sounds so much cooler than Texan).
Be that as it may, I am hearing less and less about what is going on with my contacts from California. I am a little conflicted as to how I feel about that. In one sense, I hope that everyone has been able to move on from things past but at the same time, it’s nice to get updates and know that people are still tuning in to see how things are going (obvious if you are still doing so, then this does not apply to you).
At any rate, I am still grateful for the opportunity to be able to let you all know how things are going. I am blessed by every comment left.
I am working on a new website project that I hope to have up sometime later this year. Don’t worry though, I will continue to post to the blog. Those of you who still receive this blog via Feedblitz, I thank you. Some of the subscriptions have gone dormant and some have even cancelled it. Those who have continued to recieve it, I hope have enjoyed what you have been reading and have even been blessed by some of it.
At any rate, if you read this, don’t be shy and give a shout-out everyone once and awhile on the comments page.
I hope everyone is well and having a wonderful 2009.
In Christ,
Mr. Josh
AKA: The Anzanite
Due to a copyright dispute, YouTube was forced to remove the video. I am going to see if I can find it somewhere else.
-Mr. Josh
Well, this wasn’t the original blog I meant to write but as I am still working on my other post, this will have to do.
Disney Drops Narnia
First of all, in December, the saddest news I heard was that Disney decided to bail on the rest of the Narnia Series. I was looking forward to seeing “The Dawn Treador” and the rest of Lewis’ stories including the never before made “The Horse and His Boy” and “The Magician Nephew”. All hope is not lost however as the official statement from Walden is “Walden is commited to seeing the rest of the series produced.” That’s great and all, but they still have to secure a financial powerhouse to keep the quality that we have enjoyed from the Walden-Disny partnership.
It would appear that Disney did not heed the advice of Walden to market Prince Caspian to the church crowd and paid the ultimate price. This is a tactic that proved quite useful for the marketing of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Apparently Disney did not like a pushy partner telling them how, where, and when to market. So, the future of the Narnia franchise is currently up in the air. I am eagerly awaiting any further announcement from Walden on the next installment. Presently, IMDB (Internet Movie Database) still lists it as in production and has an opening date. As long as IMDB (which has always been pretty accurate) still shows a completion date, the hope can remain alive that the series will continue. I will post more information when it becomes available to me.
Disney Goes Boy
I know such a title may cause those Hannah Montana fans to gasp and nearly faint, but don’t worry, she isn’t going anywhere. Instead, Disney is creating a whole new channel aimed at the 6-14 boy demographic. Disney has been fighting a losing battle over on “Disney Channel” trying to appease both preteen girls and preteen boys on one network with poor results. Many other networks have tried to gain the boy crowd but also have not been very successful. So what does Disney plan on doing?
They will be combining the world of sports, video games, and other “boy-centered” activities and build a completely new franchise. The name of the network will be Disney XD. For those who already receive Toon Disney, you will not have to do anything. Toon Disney will become Disney XD on February 13, 2009.
Toon Disney was great at the beginning. It showed the old afternoon cartoons that I remembered watching and other shows like them. However, as competition grew and viewership numbers declined, Toon Disney struggled to identify its self among the toon-only networks. Now, it is a combination of not just Disney shows, but other syndicated programming including a block known as “Jetix” featuring translated Japanese shows and now includes, for a reason unknown, the Suite Life of Zack And Cody which is NOT animated. Perhaps that’s just an example of the network’s identity crisis.
So get ready boys to welcome your own network: Disney XD.
After Thoughts
I find it interesting that Disney is decidedly spending so much money to target 6-14 year-old children and yet, the church struggles to identify its self likewise (church is disambiguous and does not stand for any particular church). If you want to know where some of my perspective is on this, I encourage you to pick up a copy of George Barna’s “Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions”. The mass media has found a way to engage America’s children and the church is so far behind. A full blog on this is coming titled “Kingdom Builders 2″ very soon.
-Mr. Josh
My first official post of 2009 is one that will have me reflecting on my current surrounding. I must say, 2009 is off to a rather quiet start. But that’s probably because I’ve settled rather well to my new surrounding. If an Anzanite is someone from Anza, then a Covite is someone from here in Cove. I did not coin the phrase however (the Cove Leader-press mentioned Covites in a n article).
I guess a question would be am I content and happy with things here in Cove? For the most part, yes. I have found the people here in Cove to be great. And while more densly populated than Anza, there is still a sense of unity amongst Covites (especially when rallying behind the “Dawgs” much like Anza rallies behind the Bobcats).
So, what does the title of this post suggest? While I am very much still Californian and an Anzanite at heart, I have noticed that I am starting to become a Covite. I am cheering the Dawgs, supporting the schools, and ready to go voice my opinion of the raising of the trash pick-up fees (applying to big items only).
I feel blessed more than words can say to be a part of the lives of those I have come to know since being out here. God works in such mysterious ways yet, it would seem, His ways always come out for the best. Coincidently enough, the Bible point for Wednesday North Pointe Kids next week is “Disciples of Jesus know that God’s will is best” or something to that affect.
No matter how 2009 looks to you, I am someone that can rest easy knowing that God has everything under control. I might not see His plan now, but I know that he will work it all out for good. After everything 2008 through at me, I am ready to tackle all the 2009 is ready to throw at me. So, if starting a whole new year seems a little overwhelming, remember that God already knows the outcome and if we rely on Him, the bumps in year will seem a whole lot smoother.
-Mr. Josh
