Unite - Remembering A Thief in the the Night
This past week a legendary Christian filmmaker, Russell S. Doughten Jr. passed away. He is most famous for his Thief in the Night series which portrayed the Rapture and subsequent events in the biblical chronology of the end times.
I personally only remember seeing bits and pieces of the films but several scenes (like the guillotine ones) stuck with me growing up.
While the films used more of a "scare people to Jesus" tactic they were effective in getting the message out and have been viewed by millions of people.
I recently sat down at re-watched the first film with a couple friends. While we had a good time poking fun at the dated references and identifying local landmarks (including a few in Carlisle where I'm moving) we appreciated what the film was trying to do. The editing and cinematography was well done for the genre and helped to pave the way for the modern Christian film.
In memory of the film series I created a propaganda poster for the evil organization UNITE portrayed in the films as the vehicle the Anti-Christ uses to dominate the world.
Download a small version here for free.
The Updated Newsletter
Alright, so it's almost August and I haven't updated this section for about a month. So here goes. Interesting speeches at the Democratic National Convention last night... I especially liked it when Jimmy Carter took partial credit for ending the cold war and tried to compare the Soviets to Al Qaeda. And is Al Gore ever going to get over the 2000 election? Come on man give it up! It was 4 years ago and you still don't have the votes. It was also rather humorous when Howard Dean was talking to Sean Hannity on Fox News and stated that the 9/11 Commission's report claimed that there was no connection whatsoever from Iraq to Al Qaeda... Hmmm, he must have skipped over that part.
Anyway on to news a little more local. As the pictures and video testify our little Mia is growing up before our eyes. She is saying new "words" all the time. In fact I think she invented the term "travishamockery..." I have been getting a lot of practice in on my woodchuck voice though it is used for a purple elephant we have so creatively dubbed "purple elee." Whoo-hoo! Who can hurl the smell the farthest?!
For those of you wondering, yes I do change diapers and I am good at it. In the effort to make everything some sort of competition and big league pipedream, I see how fast I can get the diaper off, bundled up into the shape of a football, and then into the trash can in the bathroom across from Mia's room. Luckily the trash can is against a wall. I have been banking most of them in lately. Mia is impressed. She knows she has the best diaper-shooting daddy in the whole world. I expect this to be a competition at next years x-games.
Mickie is going back to work on Friday and she is not looking forward to it at all. She is cutting her schedule in half however which will be nice. This next semester I only have class on Tuesday's so I will be able to continue to work full time. Nancy is coming up for the first couple of weeks which will be a nice transition. Mom has been here the last couple of days which has been nice. My bathroom got cleaned-with bleach. Not that I don't clean my bathroom, but she is mom after all.
Caleb and I went to see the Bourne Supremacy last night. The theater had problems with their equipment and had to move us all to another theater. For our trouble they gave everyone 2 free passes. That was pretty cool. The movie itself was pretty good. I was on the edge of my seat throughout.
So, what else is going on? I got a cool new water bottle that is supposedly unbreakable, we had some really good ice cream at the Marble Slab last night and I haven't played golf since going on vacation. I am looking forward to the men's retreat coming up later this month. We will be going up to the camp in Clear Lake, IA. I am also speaking at a youth retreat in September which should be a lot of fun and a good experience.
Well, that is about all that is going on in our lives. Tune in next month to get all the dirt straight the source. You've been great. I'm out.