It is a winter wonderland in my neck of the woods this weekend.  We had a pretty significant ice storm that rolled through mid-Missouri starting last night and throughout the day. With a solid coating of ice on everything, many tree limbs have fallen throughout the morning bringing with it loud popping sounds and an enormous amount of debris.  With some of the fallen limbs knocking out power lines, there are approximately 13,000 in town without power or at least they were earlier in the day.  Hopefully, it will be back up soon.

These are pictures from my house today.  The top picture is from my back deck.  The bottom picture is a close-up of the grass in my front yard.  It really takes on a different look when each blade of grass is incased in ice! 

We are bracing for another ice storm to come through on Monday afternoon or evening.

I am on vacation this week and the weather shouldn’t effect it too much.  I had some inside projects to do and the weather will force me to get it finished.

I would like to invite you to go to this website and watch this beautiful and powerful e-card from World Vision.  And while you are at check out their amazing gift catalogue.  There are many wonderful gifts that you can purchase on behalf of friends and family while making a difference in the world.  I purchased two goats two years ago for my grandmas and for some of my volunteer staff at church. I printed off a card from World Vision to let them know about their purchase and also bought a little beanie goat to give them as a reminder of their "goat"!

Recently I posted some thoughts about the upcoming movie The Golden Compass after the many forwards and invites I was receiving requesting I join the boycott of the film due to the writer’s strong athiest agenda in his trilogy of books.

With the movie’s release day upon us, here is another review that I wanted to pass along to all of you.  The movie reviewer answers several questions that are very helpful as you do some critical thinking about your response to this film.  I especially want to share one of his responses below.  Hat tip to Carmen.

Why are so many people, including many Christians, drawn to this story of people who fight against the church?

People are drawn to stories about brave souls who stand up against oppressors. And, for a lot of people, whether we like it or not, the church represents fear, power, and condemnation.

The best way to make Phillip Pullman’s stories look like gospel truth is to respond by acting like the villainous Christians in his stories.

The best way to expose Pullman’s lie is to respond like Christ himself: With grace and truth, not hysteria and condemnation.

If we respond with wrath, condemnation, and protest, we play right into Pullman’s naive caricature of Christianity. I’m not saying we shouldn’t point out where he is wrong. His story is deeply flawed, and his religious bigotry is shameful. We should not ignore that. But we also should not ignore the excellence of his artistry. And should speak the truth in love, as Christ commands us. We should respond with truth and grace.

We should encourage people to compare the church of Pullman’s universe with the church in the real world, and how it is growing and ministering to so many needs — here, in Europe, in Africa, and around the world. We should remind people of the church that serves, and that Christ would not have wanted an oppressive church.

There are many things about this film to be commended and enjoyed – much like past Harry Potter films, Star Wars films, etc.  I think the strongest encouragement I can give echoes Overstreet’s caution that we not give credibility to Pullman’s caricature of Christianity by responding to the film like the Magisterium does in his books. It is expected of us.  So imagine the power when we respond in the way of Christ instead.