A Knight's Blog

Since 1993, I have been an avid fan of the Jurassic Park franchise. Who can forget when the first film was released in theaters. It was a moment of sheer magic and terror when we beheld the mighty T-Rex and those vicious Velociraptors. It wasn't until ILM and Stan Winston came together that dinosaurs finally were captured and depicted so lifelike. The magnificent process was then replicated twice more in "The Lost World Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic Park III." However, nothing can come close to the original. You can't thrill and enthrall audiences perpetually. Eventually the amazement subsides and people begin to criticize. To this day Jurassic Park is heralded as a great achievement. It is Spielberg's masterpiece. However, despite the brilliance of the animatronic and computer generated dinosaurs; the acting and character development is considered quite weak. Alan Grant, Ian Malcom, John Hammond, Ellie Sadler, and etc are considered by most cri

At midnight, on July 20th, sixty two individuals went to the Century 16 Theater in Aurora , Colorado . Those people went expecting to see Christopher Nolan's latest film, "The Dark Knight Rises." What they encountered was more than fiction. A deranged twenty four year old man stepped into the theater in complete SWAT garb and opened fire on the audience with a rifle and hand guns. He maimed 50 and killed 12, including a six year old little girl. This horrific and appalling act of terrorism has shaken Colorado and the rest of the country. Believers all over America hold vigils and are praying for the victims of this terrible tragedy. While the survivors mourn, politicians have begun talking about 'gun control.' It's a shame how these days no one can own up to their folly. This young, well educated man will likely plead insanity and be released in six years from a penitentiary. Others will blame the violence on the film and of course our government will c

On all our currency there are those four reverential words, "In God We Trust." However, it would be more appropriate if it read, "In gods We Trust." America is a nation that was built on Judeo-Christian Values. The first settlers, The Pilgrims and later the Puritans had a ferverant faith in Jesus Christ. Today, Americas serve many gods. On Sunday they seek Jehovah, but during the rest of the week they bow before Mammon, Minerva, and Aphrodite. Lets examine the first god, Mammon. Mammon was the god of metal, in particular the metal used to make money. When you talk to contemporary Americans and ask what's important to them, they often mention their job, their family, and their possessions. They slip God in there too, but when you examine the time they allot for each pie, their job and finances gets a big chunk. Americans are accustom to a decadent lifestyle. We like are mochas, air conditioning, and iPhones. Our material possessions are a symbol of status, e

(Some Spoilers, but nothing about the Ending) Since I was a young lad I've been a fan of Batman. I frequently went to our local toy store and would purchase (with my parent's money of course) different Batman figurines. I like most children had the Cape Crusader 's mask and I with my mother's help made I made suitable cape. The Batman I knew was the one from the "Animated Series" and the Tim Burton's film "Batman." I knew the Dark Knight as he was intended to be portrayed. I got chills when I beheld his blade like eyes in the Animated Series and when he interrogated the two thugs in the beginning of Tim Burton's Batman. I knew the Joker only as Jack Nicholson and for a time I was content. Then came the advent of Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever." A film that enthralled me as a child, but now is repulsive to me today. I don't think Val Kilmer was a horrid Batman, he donned the bat garb well, but the entire film wasn&

Songwriters: MARK HEIMERMANN (3614), TOBY MCKEEHAN (13494) Separated, I cut myself clean From a past that comes back in my darkest of dreams Been apprehended by a spiritual force And a grace that replaced all the me I've divorced I saw a man with tat on his big fat belly It wiggled around like marmalade jelly It took me a while to catch what it said Cause I had to match the rhythm of his belly with my head 'Jesus Saves' is what it raved in a typical tattoo green He stood on a box in the middle of the city And claimed he had a dream What will people think When they hear that I'm a Jesus freak What will people do when they find that it's true I don't really care if they label me a Jesus freak There ain't no disguising the truth [There ain't no disgusing the truth] [I don't need to hide it... The truth] Kamikaze, my death is gain I've been marked by my Maker A peculiar display The high and lofty, they see me as we

There is neo-gospel rising. It is popular and it is beginning to sway many. This new gospel says that people of other faiths can be saved if they just use Jesus' name as they pray to their gods. This is an intriguing claim since it doesn't require conversion or committing to follow Christ. This new gospel is a counterfeit. It easily ensnares people because the idea of all your unbelieving friends getting to go with you to heaven who don't believe in Jesus is a happy thought. We would like to believe that all shall be redeemed, and that there is no judgment. However, this dream when compared with the reality in the Bible is nothing more than a dream. Jesus himself said to Pilate, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one gets to Father except through me." Where is the father? In heaven. We also read about the "White Seat of Judgment" in Revelation and how the Lord shall "separate the sheep and the goats." That he will "spew the l

A renaissance has begun in all things Medieval. The popularity of knights, jousting, and sword play has never been at such peak save for when they were in actual practice many centuries ago. An interest into the western or more properly the European Martial Arts has stemmed from the passion moviegoers and medievalists hold for the weaponry of old. For some time the market has been dominated by the Asian martial arts: Kenjistu, Jujitsu, Kong Fu, Karate, Tai Kwon Do and etc. I have nothing against the Eastern forms of combat, but it is unfortunate that the treatises of the West have been obscured for so long. It's sad people have believed for many decades that the medieval warriors were uncivilized bludgeoners who used crude tools to brutally beat their foes into submission. Finally, through a revival of the European Martial Artes, people are learning that these warriors weren't neanderthals with swords, but clever men who used unique tools and tactics to vanquish their enemie

In the Book of ACTS Chapter 5, The apostles are arrested after having escaped jail via angels and for preaching the Gospel at the Temple Grounds. A council of teachers of the religous law (Pharisees and Sadduces) convene together to decide the fate of Christ's disciples. "But one of their members a Pharisee named Gamaliel (an expert on religious law and very popular with the people), stood up and requested that the apostles be sent outside the Council chamber while he talked. Then he addressed his colleagues as follows:      "Men of Israel take care what you are planning to do to these men! Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed and his follwers were harmlessly dispersed.      After him, at the time of taxation, there was Judas of Galilee. He drew away some people as disciples, but he also died and his followers scattered. And so my advice is, leave these men alone,. If what

"If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with triumph and disaster And treat those two imposters just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to broken, And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools; If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breath a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve

There is a song being played on the radio by the Newsboys that says, "God's not dead.. He's surely alive." This affirmation is true, but it should have a second course that says, "but the Church is dead." What happened? How have we fallen into the same ditch that the Apostles and Reformers dug us out of? How did we end up enslaved to the same doctrines of religious oppression and domination? When did we yield? The Church has become a shell, a broken ruin of itself. We have become complacent, compromising, duplicitous, and hypocritical. We point to the world and cry, "sinners! You don't attend Church and you flout God's laws! You shall be punished!" We then go home and watch depraved films and participate in numerious addictions. Hypocrites! We are becoming a new generation of Pharisees and Sanhedrin! We prefer the praises of men over the praise of God! We have become indifferent to the poor and we ignore the Lord! Shame on us! Shame on

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. -Ephesians 6:11-17