As today is Palm Sunday, and the first day of Holy Week leading up to Easter, next Sunday, how fitting that the UP channel is showing “The Passion of the Christ.” This is the first time this captivating film has appeared on commercial television since its debut in 2004. I saw the movie when it was in the theaters, and I was rendered silent after watching the atrocity of Jesus’ murder depicted squarely in my face…I had to keep reminding myself it was just a film and at the same time, I realized the film probably couldn’t capture the totality of Jesus’ barbaric sacrificial death for us…
Below is a scene from the movie….This is Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane…
How are you honoring our Lord’s sacrifice this week?
I cannot believe it was nearly two years ago when Gabby Douglas wowed the world in the gymnastics competition in the 2012 Summer Olympics! If you don’t remember, below is a refresher…
A prodigy from a very young age, Gabby Douglas originally made her mark on the world of competitive gymnastics at age eight. She won numerous state championship titles in her age group throughout her early competitive career. While her star was fast rising in the arena, Gabby and her family faced economic challenges at home and she made the difficult decision to leave her mother Natalie, three siblings and grandmother in Virginia Beach and move to Des Moines, Iowa, to train with renowned coach Liang Chow to pursue her dream of Olympic glory.
Buoyed by her early success, dedication and unyielding love from her family, Gabby made it onto the 2012 U.S. Women’s Gymnastics team, with whom she faced intense competition in the London Games. Her sacrifice and perseverance were triumphantly rewarded with Team Competition and Individual All-round gold medals, placing Gabby and her teammates – known as “The Fierce Five” — among the world’s all-time greats in gymnastics.
Gabby Douglas as portrayed by Imani Hakim.
And now her story will be dramatized on television! “The Gabby Douglas Story” will air Saturday, Feb. 1 at 8pm/7pm Central on Lifetime!
I know many Christians are against celebrating Halloween…In fact, my folks didn’t allow me and my brothers to celebrate Halloween as children…Instead we attended Hallelujah events and were given candy without the benefit of trick or treating…in a word LAME…Now that I’m an adult, I choose to partake in Halloween festivities in my own special way…To that end, I have comprised a list of Top Seven List of Halloween Jams that are sure to get you in a “boo”tiful mood….WAHAHAHAHA….my lame attempt at a Vincent Price evil laugh 🙂
1. Speaking of Vincent Price, I have to give the top honor to the King of Pop Michael Jackson. (I still can’t believe he is gone…) If you want to be scared and get your groove on at the same time, “Thriller” is the jam for you…And this video is still one of the best music videos ever made….
2. If you are a rap fan and came of age in the ’90s, then you’ve got to know about “Mind Playing Tricks On Me” by the Geto Boys…This song has a serious message, but the beat is so bangin’ it’s easy to ignore how truly poetic this jam is…”This year Halloween fell on a weekend, me and Geto Boys went trick or treatin'”…you know, the rest… 🙂
3. If you wore jelly shoes and collected “The Smurfs” figurines, then you probably loved the ’80s hit movie “Ghostbusters.” From that movie came Ray Parker Jr.’s hit “Ghostbusters,” which was on the movie soundtrack…This song is my third favorite Halloween Jam…
4. Will Smith is probably more well-known for his acting but back in the day, the Fresh Prince and DJ Jazzy Jeff delivered hit songs…One of their hits was “Nightmare on My Street” which is obviously their homage to the crazy scary movie “A Nightmare on Elm Street.”
5. Rockwell was a one-hit wonder in my opinion as the only song I know sung by him was his jam “Somebody’s Watching Me” which came out in 1983…Just a little trivia: What blockbuster singer actually lent background vocals on this song? Michael Jackson! Extra side note: Rockwell and Stony Jackson, the actor, may have been separated at birth they look so much alike…
6. The Michael Myers’ theme song from the “Halloween” movies is sure to cause goosebumps…I LOVE scary movies…especially the campy ones….
7. This song probably shouldn’t have been made, but it was…M.C. Hammer’s remake of “The Addams Family” theme song for the 1991 movie “The Addams Family” movie based on the popular television show series….Did you see the movie?
