According to Variety, one of my favourite actresses is set to star in a film about a condition I know a little something about:

Milla Jovovich will star in writer-director Julien Magnat's psychological thriller "Faces in the Crowd" for Forecast Pictures, Radar Films and Minds Eye Entertainment.

Story centers on a woman who barely survives an attack by a serial killer and wakes up in hospital with a head injury that leaves her "face-blind." No longer able to recognize faces, she must navigate a world in which facial features change each time she loses sight of them. All the while the killer is closing in, determined to eliminate the potential witness.

[The screenplay] deals with the real-life neurological disorder called prosopagnosia.

 

I wasn't planning on posting more content to this blog until after switching software (bye, bye Movable Type) ... but I'm having a lot of fun with Google Wave. I'm going to attempt embedding a Wave in this blog post.

Last night Wesley and I got to go to the Maple Leafs home opener. If you're a hockey fan or live anywhere near Toronto, you understand that these tickets are impossible to get. Often, it's not even a question of money but availability when it comes to high profile games like the home opener, especially against the hated Montréal Canadiens. In this case, we received the tickets as a gift from my Dad's boss.

We had an awesome time, and Wesley consumed far more junk food than I ever would've thought physically possible for a boy of his size. For most of the night he was bold and outgoing, cheering loudly talking to people and making his way through crowds without fear.

As we consider the special nature of this gift, I took the time to remind Wesley of the most important and most precious gift that we've ever received. The grace of God made available through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of an awesome gift. Worth far more than we could ever hope to earn or pay, it was a gift given in love with the goal of instilling delight in the goodness of the giver and the goodness of the gift.

I was surprised and delighted (and humbled!) when Wesley became quiet for a while on the subway on the way to the game and then with concerned look on his face turned to me and said, "Daddy, these people on the train don't know Jesus!" How incredible that where I saw strangers, stereotypes and potential dangers, Wesley saw a large group of people who are in need of a Saviour.

This morning, I sat down with the intention of reading Psalm 127. As with any compelling text it was hard to put the book down and before long I was at Psalm 130. While I've read this often often enough before, verse 4 stood out for me in light of recent conversations with non-Christians.

When asked about their sin, many people from various religious backgrounds will tell you that they expect God to just forgive their sins. This forgiveness might come from good works, ritualistic religion, or the belief that God is love and we're all headed for some cosmic group hug.

 3 If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
 4 But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.

Psalm 130

The problem with this attitude of assumed forgiveness is there is no fear. There is none of the healthy and God-honouring respectful fear that should be present when confronted with the almighty and perfectly holy God.

With the God of the bible, there is forgiveness in spades - bountiful forgiveness available to any who would repent and believe. But this forgiveness does not come cheaply, but cost the blood of Jesus, God's own Son. To lazily presume upon that forgiveness is to reject the fear that is the beginning of wisdom, and dishonour the holiness of God - and ultimately, to miss out on that forgiveness.

Like most Christians, I think, I find it very easy to come to God each day with a laundry list of requests. However, I know I'm guilty of not often enough reflecting on the ways that God answers prayer.

This morning I was opening my notebook to write out a list of Pros & Cons for an important decision I needed to pray about. I flipped to the back of the book and found a bullet point list of prayer requests Id written down from the week of Sept 14-20, 2008. Reading through that list was a good reminder to me of where our family was a year ago, what was on our minds, and of all the ways the Lord has answered these requests throughout the last year. I can happily report that He has been completely faithful and met every need.

Here are a few highlights:

It has been on my mind for a few weeks to dig up an old post on Christian modesty that takes the clothing issue beyond "Is it pretty?" and asks: "Is it helpful, or is it hurtful, to my brothers in Christ?" In my mind I had incorrectly attributed authorship to Paul Martin, so it wasn't until I expanded my search that I found the article was actually published on the Pyromaniacs blog. Annually. Ya - I'm out of the loop. Deal with it :)

There are few better things in life than being greeted joyfully by your kids. Most mornings I can expect to see a very excited pair of brown eyes peeking over the child gate and bouncing with anticipation as I come down the hall. Each day as I come home from work I am attacked by two pint-sized blurs desiring hugs and smooches, who are simultaneously trying to talk over each other to tell me about their activities of the day. 

One more than one occasion last week Janis and I were out for evening activities and we relied on babysitters to watch over our kids. The LORD has blessed our church family with many amazing young ladies, single and married, who are very willing to serve families in this way. A strange thing happens, though, on the mornings after Mom & Dad have been away. 

Rather than waking up and calling for or seeking out Mom and Dad, it's not unusual to hear cries of: "April?" or "Caroline?" or "Cora?" or "Jill?" coming from the back of the house. On those mornings our kids are not desiring their parents - sometimes they are even a little disappointed when we come into view.

The usual eager anticipation of seeing Mom and Dad has often reminded me of how the church is supposed to eagerly await the return of Jesus. But I wonder, too, how often do we get distracted by the temporary things God has given for us to enjoy in the moment, that we lose focus on Christ? How often are we like me children who wake with their minds still on the last night's fun with an awesome yet temporary babysitter instead of the parents who love and provide for them daily?

So, Church of God ... what's on your mind this morning? Are you (we) thinking more of the temporary than of the fulfillment and the sustainer? If told that Christ were returning at this moment, would we rejoice wholeheartedly or would you feel even a little disappointment at some earthly thing left undone?