The last few days I have been holed up in a hotel writing.

It has been a goal and dream of mine for probably since I was in 6th grade to write a book.  I remember in 6th grade I was picked as “most likely to write a book.”

I’ve got so many book ideas and I have been messing around with a few of them for the last four years.

With the help of a few of my mentors and my coach – I put it on my calendar and took some time off to get ‘er done.

I’ve just completed my proposal and a few chapters…we will see what becomes of it though.

Here goes nothing.

Check out this video…got to be the best entrance I have ever seen to a wedding. I preform a lot of weddings and I have seen a lot, but this is the bomb. I’ve been getting pretty emotional lately when doing weddings and I have to admit I even teared up watching this video.

So…many of you know I went to TCU.  Found this article about how amazing the TCU football team is going to be this year.  I’m pretty sure they are going to go undefeated this year.  Sorry UTAH and BYU fans.  Here you go boys…Go FROGS!

Read the article.

(I’m writing this cause I posted on my twitter/facebook account that I went to the newest Harry Potter movie on Wednesday and by the end of the day I had 30+ comments about whether Harry Potter was something a Christian should or shouldn’t be involved in.  I deleted a bunch of comments that I felt were going to get everyone upset at each other and told everyone I would post something on my blog…I felt this was a good time to teach.)

In 2001 when I was a youth pastor – the Harry Potter books were becoming all the craze.  The author, JK Rowling, had sold the movie rights to Warner Brothers and the first movie was due out in November of 2001.

One of the parents of the youth in my youth ministry approached me about the Harry Potter books and the soon to be released movie.  She asked what was a Christian suppose to do with these books?  They were about witches…the occult…was this suppose to be something we let our kids watch/read?

I’m a reader.  I’m an investigator.

So, I picked up the first two books and began to read.  Another one of the parents of one of the youth in my ministry was a school teacher and she too was reading the books to learn.  She is a woman of God and we were talking about our readings as we both investigated.

1. I found that JK Rowling is a great storyteller.  She can create a wonderful world of images, relationships, and plot.
2. I didn’t think the books were very well written…this was no Grisham novel for sure, but very good story.
3. My first thought was that these books were not really books for kids.  Even though Harry and his mates were all young, I didn’t think it really was a story for kids.  All the marketing/schools had geared the books/movies towards kids.  In fact, reading some interviews from the author, she even admitted that she wasn’t writing for kids but was writing for adults.  It was her publisher that had taken the books into the kids market and was actually a shock for her.
4. Some people have said that “Harry Potter” is different than the “Lord of the Rings” books or “Chronicles of Narnia” because the Potter books were not written by a Christian who was lacing a Biblical worldview throughout the books as well as the fact that the good guys were into magic just as much as the bad guys.  Problem with this argument is that magic is used by the good and bad guys in ALL of the above books, especially the LOTR books.  We forget about Gandolf?  Second problem is that the good verses evil analogy case can be used for again, all of the books above.  JK Rowling is not a professing Christian – but if that is our argument then stay away from ANY and ALL creations that are NOT from Christians (Disney movies, etc.).  Of course we don’t do that nor is that Biblical.
5. Another argument against Potter for Christians is from Deut. 18.  In this verse Christians will argue that Potter is witchcraft and those that do these things are to be put to death…one person wrote to me that “God really dislikes witchcraft so much that he wants death to those that do it.”  Yes, God does not like the practice of worshiping powers outside of Him.  He is a jealous God as the Bible teaches.  A God that wants us to honor HIM and only HIM.  In the same Old Testament Levitical law that is being used for this arugment we learn that God also hates Adultry so much that he requires death to those that do that as well.  Do we practice adultry if we read a story about it or see a movie that has elements of adultry?  (don’t read 1 kings in the Bible if you say No we shouldn’t…)
6. There is a difference between art and practice.  Do people become practioners of witchcraft by reading and watching Harry Potter?  Not sure this is a wide YES.  Is Potter a guide to practicing witchcraft?  Probably NOT a big YES here either.
7. So what are we do to do as Christians…I found these paragraphs on another website and thought I would share them now before I add my final thoughts

•    The Harry Potter series may not be for young or spiritually immature children, as they may not have the ability to distinguish between reality and fantasy, right and wrong, or good and evil. At best, they may be left confused about God’s views about the occult, and at worst, they may become enchanted by the magical existence of Harry and his friends, becoming desensitized to occultic lifestyles. In addition, there are issues such as violence, lying, and mildly foul language that each Christian family will be sensitive to at different levels.

  On the other hand, there are positive aspects to Harry Potter. Love is shown through selflessness and self-sacrifice; Harry’s own mother died to save him. There is a sense of justice, as good always triumphs over evil. Harry faces his fears and finds courage, even risking his own life for greater good. Friendships are defined by loyalty and unending devotion, even to the point of death.

  To any family that is facing the debate with their children about whether or not they should be allowed to watch or read Harry Potter, good advice is found in the Scriptures: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). The Bible tells us that God cares about what happens to us, and so we should give all of our worries to Him (1 Peter 5:7).

  Christian parents have the responsibility to not only teach their children about the virtues that please God, but also about the spiritual forces that we are up against (Ephesians 6:12). When a child gets to a point where he or she has a personal relationship with God, and is able to fully discern between what is good and bad according to God’s standards, reading Harry Potter books or watching the movies can serve as not only entertainment, but can empower parents to raise up wise Christian thinkers.

My daughter’s have not read the books or seen any of the movies.  Why?  Cause their foundation in Christ is not built to the point of truly understanding.  Feeding your kids meat before they are ready to digest it will hurt their bodies…the same goes for art, entertainment, and information.

I’m still not a big believer that kids should be reading and engaging in Harry Potter books and movies…

(You can leave a comment, but please try to have an intelligent conversation and not ripe into each other.  I will delete all comments that are trying to push buttons and will cause a riot on here)

Ami and I went to Saint Lucia in June for our 10 year wedding anniversary.  Here is a picture we had taken on the beach, it is my favorite.

We had our big summer party last night at the Kaysville building.

Almost 200 people in attendance and it was AWESOME!

Great games of volleyball in the yard, kids running around playing games, horseshoes in the new horseshoe pit, LOTS of food, conversations…

THEN – we had the comedy Improv group Thrillionaries preform live.  My gut hurt from laughing, but what was really fun for me was the fact that out of a packed room of people I could hear four people laughing above everyone else: Andy, Mandy, Miriah, and Ronnie.

We are going to have to bring that comedy group back sometime…that was great and well worth it.  The party was our most expensive party to date…but so worth it.  So worth it.

Last night at the Joining the Journey class we went over tithing.  It was a great discussion…

Here is a great little video that Mark Driscoll did on Christians Tithing…