Delay

Sorry for the delay in posts but I am trying to finsh up King Spencer and it is taking time to write. Till then,
Cheers.

R.C.E. # 285

True Story. I'm not even going to exaggerate.

I needed a theater for a scene I was filming for a student project. The film was about church community, so naturally I figured, 'I should find a church that meets in a theater.' I was exited at my brilliant idea and began a Dallas-wide search for churches meeting in theaters.

In my search I found a church that had bought an abandoned theater up on George Bush Tollway. I searched the internet for a phone number for the place but couldn't find it. So I drove by one day, saw a bunch of cars in the parking lot, and stopped to check it out.

When I got inside I was met by several ladies who asked me what I needed. I explained that I was a film student working on a Christian project and needed a theater. They said that they were new to the church but I should look for the man in orange.

The man in orange.

I looked around the room and they told me he wouldn't be there for another hour. So I waited. Patiently I might add. Finally after an hour, a young guy in an orange shirt walked into the building. I approached him, and he had no idea what I was talking about and knew nothing about the building, owners, leaders, or any other helpful information.

Then one of those same ladies saw me and grabbed my arm. 'I told you to look for the guy in orange.'

I pointed at the kids shirt.

She said, 'No. Not him. Another guy in orange. You can't miss him.'

But apparently I had already, but I didn't say this to her. After another thirty minutes a guy pulled up in a Tacoma, stepped out, and he was dressed in orange pants and a tye-dye orange shirt. I decided to gamble that this was him.

I went to approach him as he entered the building and he walked right by me. I'm Mr. Cellophane. Not knowing what to do, I followed him. Seeing that I wasn't going away he said 'What's up?'

And then walked down a hallway away from me. I followed along chattering about my project, how it was about Christian community, and how I was hoping to use the theater. He never even looked at me. Just pointed down a hall and said 'Go ask Tom.'

Turns out the man in orange was the youth pastor.

So I went down this hall and found the guy named Tom sitting in a meeting. I waited for him. He came out, I stopped him, told him about my project and he listened politely. He led me down a hall to a small theater and showed it to me. I said that it would work. He asked me the details and I said I needed it for about an hour and was hoping to put something up on the screen during the process.

He said that only a few people in the church knew how to do that and that I would have to pay them to come open the building for me and turn on the projectors. I asked how much and he said 'Probably two or three hundred for the hour - plus time for the kid to run everything.'
I told him that was sorta over my budget but I would think about it.

I left very frustrated, having spent over three hours in total there for that.

In my frustration, I did something very random, even for me.



I pulled into the Cinemark TinselTown Theater at Parker and the Tollway, went inside, found the manager in less than two minutes, told him about my project and he gave me the phone number to a corporate executive.



I called her on the phone on my way home. She was excited to help me, emailed me some forms that I got by the time I arrived home. I filled them out, sent them in, and then - a month later, I got to film inside one of the largest theaters in the building, the corridors, the candy counter, pretty much anywhere I wanted to go for a full hour.

And they didn't charge me a dime. They just love helping future film-makers out.

Wow.

Rosebud

Today, I finally watched 'Citizen Kane.' I have heard about this movie for years. I have read about it countless times in film books, but I figured all the hype was like the Godfather.



By the time I got around to seeing the Godfather, it had been so hyped up, that after I watched I thought - 'Well, it's good but what was all the hype about?'

But Citizen Kane actually lived up to my satisfaction. The movie is remarkably good with impressive cinematography for its time (1941). The Premise to the movie, which I wont tell you here in case you should go see it, was very well done. The acting was good, not really up to the par I would say exists today, but easily getting closer. For a black & white piece, it thoroughly impressed me.

Plus, I got so tired of hearing about 'Rosebud' - I am glad I can put the mystery to rest.

Two Thumbs up.

Cheers

A Glance at our Candidates

I do not typically talk about my political views. But I was asked what I thought about this group of candidates and I thought I would post my thoughts here.

1. We have Monica Lewinsky's exboyfriend's wife who loves power above all else.
2. We have Obama, and if he wins it wil be 'Obama Vs. Osama.' He hasn't really impressed me at all except for his constant whining and arguing with Billary.
3. We have Edwards who loves his wife so much that he is out campaigning while she struggles with cancer. My wife would shoot me if I ever tried such a stunt. And then, if Mrs. Edwards dies while he is in office (I do not want her to die, I am stating a true question) we will have a president struggling with one of the hardest situations and losses of his life. Probably not the most stable we cold want.
4. We have McCain who, on the one hand is was an honorable POW. On the other hand, he wants to invite the whole world to my country for free. Open the gates! Let them stream in! Amnesty for All. Har har.

And all the other republicans haven't impressed me enough to even mention them.

I told my friend, 'Is this the best this country has to offer? This is it? If this is the cream of the crop - then we have a lot bigger things to worry about than this election.

Seriously, listening to these people reminds me of Junior High. Is there no class? Is there no decency?

I may not even vote - because no one has proved to me yet that they're worth it.

Maybe more later. Probably not.

Cheers.

Horizon

After meeting with several key people in the film, writing, and acting community; I finally, after months and months of praying for direction, sorta know where I am going now. It consists of three parts:

1. I have a novel I am trying to get published. Its not finished yet but I will be sending out queries over the next several months and hopefully it will get picked up. It should, God willing, be finished by May.

2. I am working on a indie short film to enter in film festivals in the fall. While still in pre-production, I am very excited about doing this film. It will probably be around a $20,000 budget. I am working with several other writers on getting a shooting script finished by March, filmed over the summer, and entered into festivals starting December.

3. I just finished my first full length screenplay. This one is the farthest away from getting produced, since it will be several hundred thousand dollars to produce, but hopefully we may find producers if our short does well at the festivals.

So all that said - I feel I have gone from not having a clue what the next step was - to knowing I have way to much to do. But one foot in front of the other....step by step.

Did I mention I am in two acting classes? huh.

Cheers.

Lost Season Three

I just finished the 3rd Season of Lost. While I enjoyed the season, its very weird twists and turns, I am concerned for the next season.

On the one hand, the managed to tie a whole lot of plot points together from the previous seasons. There were several times when I thought 'Hey, that was from season one. How did they plan that out?'

This years break-out character - Desmond. Him and Sawyer carry the season for me.

On the other hand, the Island has become so weird that I don't know what they can do with it to make Season 4 a success. I guess we will find out over the next couple of months. That is, of course, that the Writers Strike ends or our poor little lost Island people may be lost forever.

Cheers.

Para -Church Problem

Thoughts on the parachurch movement.

For those of you who don't have a proper definition - parachurch comes from the Greek word 'para' meaning 'beside, or alongside of' and 'church'.

Parachurch ministries generally are not actual churches, at least not in function. There are two basic types of parachurch ministries.
1. Those that exist to do specific sorts of ministry.
2. Those that exist to provide the church the means in which to do ministry.

Parachurch ministries began to really sprout up around the 1950's and grew more and more popular since then. You have probably heard a good deal about some of them:

Campus Crusade
The Navigators
Youth for Christ
Habitat for Humanity
Focus on the Family
Promise Keepers
Samaritan's Purse
Many crisis pregnancy centers and homeless shelters could also be considered parachurch.

When I work with churches making videos and resources, that could also be considered parachurch.

The reason parachurch organizations became so popular was because there were holes in in the church, needs that weren't being filled. For example, college kids were disappearing to school and when they came home after four years, were no longer considering themselves Christian or even going to church. So Campus Crusade came into existence specifically to reach kids during college. Habitat for Humanity helps families that need homes. Promise Keepers is a highly organized men's ministry to promote family loyalty and values. Focus on the Family creates a wide sort of resources for the church. Each Parachurch ministry exist to minister to a specific area.

Now I wouldn't point my finger at any parachurch ministry as bad. Most are doing really well and good ministry is being done.

But as I consider the parachurch movement; it does have it's problems.

1. The parachurch ministry that is doing specific ministry is basically doing the churches job. Example: College students weren't attending church. Most colleges are less than a miles from a church. Why weren't those churches going after the students? Is that not the purpose of the church? To go and make disciples? But we were failing at it so badly that Campus Crusade was formed - who does that one specific ministry very well.

2. Since the parachurch is not an actual church, it doesn't have to comply with doctrine, or even adhere to the same doctrine. One Campus Crusade leader may have one doctrine and teach his students thus. But then those students could go home and go to a church where a pastor teaches them a different doctrine. This does not necessarily mean that they are teaching false doctrines or that the disagreements may be severe enough to mention or to take action upon. It's just to say that when it comes to doctrine, there exists a risk at having multiple - which isn't good.


At this point, it has become a two-way street. On the one hand, in truthfulness, the parachurch ministries seem to do most of the heavy-lifting when it comes to the churches responsibility at serving and ministering in the community. On the other hand, parachurch ministries often provide great resources for the church to use.

So I guess it's like this: The church has a problem. It is not doing all the things it should in the community. It's like the churches leg got broken. Now, rather than fixing it, the church relies on the parachurch to do the ministry for them. Like a crutch in many ways. Rather than healing the leg, the church has continued using the crutch - for fifty years. And now the church has forgotten what it felt like to walk without the crutch.

But I can't leave it at that. We have to look at the situation now and figure out what to do. We can't just go and cut all the parachurch ministries because we need them and they are doing great work. I think the best step-forward now is for churches to incorporate the parachurches - absorb them as best as possible until the church is doing it's job going and discipling again.

This is by no means a clear-cut-dry conversation and solution. But it is a good beginning I think and we can go from here.

Cheers