Work Schedule & Mens Retreat

What an adjustment this Christmas is going to be. I am used to having a week or more off during the Christmas season but that isn’t happening this year. I know I get Christmas day off, and New Years day but that is all, other than my regular two days off out of seven.

I guess God knew what He was doing because we have been released from all family activities which is super strange. Typically we are running from here to there having to go to six different places. This year we are going to go to church and then come home and relax.

I was tested a bit this week as another job opportunity arose. Options are good and I looked into it but it really seems that God has me where He wants me. I have had the chance to share the gospel with a couple co-workers and the other night I got to share my testimony. He is definitely strengthening my boldness and bringing people into my path. Exciting stuff.

The picture you see here is something I whipped up for the upcoming men’s retreat. For anybody interested we will be having our retreat this February 24-26 at Camp Oshkidee, this year we are opening it up to any man who wants to join us. Each year God has been calling us closer and closer to each other and to Him, this year will be no different. I am expecting God to do some amazing stuff in the live of us men. In my archives I have described what happened to me at the last men’s retreat, you can find that here.
Little did I know at that time what a difference receiving to Holy Spirit would make in my life and my day to day walk. I will be writting more on it as we come closer to that date.

Lion

Lion
Written by Rebecca St. James, Kerry Barlowe, Jamie Moore and Shaun Shankel

Mysterious
That's what I call You
I'm curious about You
I'm scared and not sure that You are safe
But Your eyes seem to say that You are good

Chorus
This is not a dream that I'm living
This is just a world of Your own
You took me from all that I knew
Shown me how it feels to hope
With You with me, facing tomorrow together
I can learn to fly
Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth, but the lion is (an angel)

Wise eyes, You see the core of me
Your gentleness melts me
And now I know that words cannot describe
The power that I feel when I'm with You

Chorus
This is not a dream that I'm living
This is just a world of Your own
You took me from all that I knew
Shown me how it feels to hope
With You with me, facing tomorrow together
I can learn to fly
Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth, but the lion is

Peace and power, love forever
Who am I to stand before You?
I am speechless
But in my weakness
You are here and all is well

You took me from all that I knew
Shown me how it feels to hope
With You with me, facing tomorrow together
I can learn to fly
Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth, but the lion is (an angel)

Chorus
This is not a dream that I'm living
This is just a world of Your own
You took me from all that I knew
Shown me how it feels to hope
With You with me, facing tomorrow together
I can learn to fly
Feels like I'm living in a lion's mouth, but the lion is (an angel)

is an angel

Rebecca on being a part of this soundtrack:
I was so excited and immediately passionate about being a part of this project simply because I’ve been so personally inspired by the Narnia adventures myself! Most kids at some stage read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and I was one of those. I’ve also read the book as an adult as well. I am really gripped by the power and the symbolism of the story. As a Christian it is awesome to recognize Biblical characters creatively worked into such a dramatic plot.

I can’t even remember not knowing about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and all of the Narnia books. They become part of your life, they just grip you. From my childhood on, I think the imaginative and creative aspects of the story have really appealed to me.

When I was thinking about what to write about in my song, the character I was drawn to the most was Aslan. I wanted to write a song from the perspective of one of the children, and so I chose to see him through Lucy’s eyes. At one point of the song I’m singing, “Wise eyes you see the core of me/ your gentleness melts me.” That’s what fascinates me about Aslan - he’s so gentle but you respect him so much. There’s a line in the book that says, “Is he safe?” and the response is “No, he’s not safe but he’s good.” The last line in the chorus of my song is ‘Feels like I’m living in the lions’ mouth, but the lion is an angel’.

I love the song that we’ve had a chance to record for this piece. When I first heard about this whole idea of doing a song for the Narnia soundtrack, I was just thrilled because, to me, the whole concept is so inspiring. I have just been really jazzed to be a part of writing a song for this.

I love how the song feels. My producer Shaun Shankel did a great job of musically portraying the lyric. The first line of the song is “mysterious that’s what I call you.” And mysterious, that’s what I call this song. It really has an almost moody, ethereal sense to it. It’s very dramatic and it just draws you in.

When we were in the studio, Shaun and I had a unique way of testing the song to see if it was fitting the atmosphere of the movie. We would mute the sound and watch the trailer while playing our song. When we were getting goose bumps while watching the two played together, we knew that we were onto something!

It’s so exciting to me to be a part of such a powerful, moving epic project that has already done so well as a book. From the technology that they are using on this piece to the acting, to the cinematography - everything has been so beautifully done. To see such a commitment to excellence and then to be asked to be a part of the music has been thrilling.

Narnia Facts

Before J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books took over, C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia topped the best-seller list of children's fantasy novels.

One of the actual Lewis family wardrobes is on display at the Marion E. Wade Center at Wheaton College in Illinois, along with Lewis' desk and other personal mementos. On the wardrobe door, there's a sign that reads, "Enter at your own risk. The Wade Center assumes no responsibility for persons who disappear or who are lost in this wardrobe."

The movie was filmed in New Zealand — just like Peter Jackson's movie adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series. In fact, Tolkien was a close friend of Lewis, but the two didn't like one another's fantasy worlds.

Adamson (Narnia director) and Jackson are close friends, and Adamson sought Jackson's advice. "The fear there was that my interpretation or imagination of the locations or situations was different from other people's," said Adamson. "I asked Peter, 'How much did you adapt LOTR?' And he said, 'We actually changed a fair amount. You can change stuff as long as you do a good job.' And that was really useful to know, because those movies were very well accepted by their fan base."

A script for Prince Caspian, the fourth Narnia book, has already been written, and producers are said to be waiting on release-weekend box-office results to give the production the official green light. Adamson, who once said he would not direct the Shrek sequel, isn't making such claims this time. "It's hard not to return," he says. "You tend to fall in love with the characters and the story, and, in this case, with the kids."

In the book, Father Christmas visits the children and equips them with weapons for there upcoming battle. He gives Lucy a potion for healing and a dagger, but says, ‘I do not intend you to use it because battles are ugly when women fight.’ Adamson thought that this was very disempowering to girls and decided to remove it from the movie.

The Chronicles of Narnia ruled its opening weekend at the box office by bringing in a whopping $65.6 million. This is nearly six times the amount brought in by the second biggest opener Syriana at $11.7 million.

"Aslan" is Turkish for "Lion."

Aslan is the only character to appear in all seven of the Chronicles.

All throughout elementary and high school, C.S. Lewis was a really bad mathematics student!! He favored subjects like classical music and mythology.

When Lewis was 16, the image of a faun carrying parcels and an umbrella in a snowy wood came to him. Many years later, the faun was joined by an evil witch and a magnificent lion --- this image and the three character's stories became THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE.

The character of Aslan, the Great Lion, originally came the book TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS which C.S. Lewis used to read as a child.

The film was shot chronologically for many reasons, not the least of which was that it starred four growing kids. During filming, William Moseley (Peter) grew about 3 inches, Anna Popplewell (Susan) grew half an inch, Keynes skyrocketed 5 1/ 2 inches (plus a voice change), and Georgie Henley (Lucy) grew four inches.

DOERSS

We are all called to be DOERSS