The hope of new life, the promises of a new life together

A number of things are "clicking" perfectly this weekend. Not just for me personally but for a number of people that God is also showering His blessings upon...

First there's Jenna Olwin, who over the past few years has not only become a very dear friend to Lisa and I but also a wonderful sister in the Lord, who will tie the knot with her boyfriend and soul-mate Lou tomorrow. Here's her blog post about getting engaged from back in March. There might be pictures that I can post soon afterward of the wonderful event.

And then in the wee hours of this morning my friend Chris Rash and his wife celebrated the birth of Reagan, their first child and a beautiful baby girl!

Congratulations to Jenna and Lou, and to Chris and Ashley and Reagan! Y'all are definitely in our prayers this weekend :-)

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Jenna and Lou are GETTING MARRIED!!!

And now for the best news that this blog has reported in quite a long time...

Word has reached me at this late hour that our dear friend and fellow blogger Jenna Olwin was asked by her boyfriend Lou if she would be his beautiful blushing bride.

And... Jenna said "yes"!

No word yet on when exactly the wedding will take place but Jenna says it will likely be before this coming fall.

Congratulations on your engagement, Jenna and Lou! May God bless you and keep you in His care in these no doubt very crazy months leading to your wedding, and all the days that will follow :-)

UPDATE 12:33 a.m. EST 03/10/2008: Jenna has posted on her blog an account of how Lou popped the question on her, told in her own unique and special way.

Congrats again you guys. Lisa and I are so happy for you! :-)

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Happy Birthday to Jenna Olwin!!

Our dear and wonderful friend Jenna Olwin is celebrating her birthday today...

Happy Birthday Jenna! May God bless you immensely on this day and all the days to come :-)

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Jenna Olwin's terrific take on the "Dumbledore is gay" thing

Earlier today I relayed the news that surely every Harry Potter fan on Earth has heard by now: that J.K. Rowling has announced that Albus Dumbledore was gay.

In the hours since then I've felt led to contemplate what significance that bit of info is supposed to have (and some of that thinking took place while watching a wedding, of all places). And I thought about posting some more about the subject. But it turns out that I don't have to...

In her unique voice, and with profound wisdom, Jenna Olwin has now weighed in on Rowling's revelation. And there's no way that I could excerpt it here and do it any justice or honor. You'll have to click on the link and read it as an entire thought, the way it should be taken in as an idea. It's quite an impressive read, and definitely recommended if you are of the Judeo-Christian ethic and are still wondering what to make of this... thing.

Excellent work, Jenna! :-)

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Harry Potter stuff: New blog examines books from Christian perspective, plus AWESOME Potter artwork!

Our dear friend Jenna Olwin out in Washington state has just started a new blog called A Church in Godric's Hollow. It promises to be quite an enlightening read because Jenna is delving into the Christian aspects of the Harry Potter books.

And it was because of Jenna's new blog that I discovered artdungeon.net. This is quite simply the most beautiful art based on the Harry Potter books that I've seen. It's absolutely breathtaking how Marta, the young artist behind the site, has captured the soul and essence of so many scenes and characters from the J.K. Rowling's books. Want an example? Okay, this one is my favorite so far, but do not peek unless you have read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

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One of the best articles I've read about Harry Potter and Christianity

And I'm not just saying that either because it's author, Jenna Olwin, is such a dear friend of ours. I mean, if she had written crap, I would not be mentioning it here even though she is a wonderful person. But the fact of the matter is, Jenna is a very good writer and she doesn't write crap, at all. That would be fully counter to her nature. She's too much an inherently awesome authoress, because she writes well and she's never failed to make me think about whatever the subject is in some new and fascinating way.

Well, for her contribution this time to Silhouette, the Christian blog that she collaborates on along with several others who are way out there on the upper-left corner of the Lower 48, Jenna writes about Harry Potter and Christianity. And the whole piece is just plain golden. Here's a snip from it...

I was one of the original cave-dwellers who never even heard of Harry Potter until the release of #4, and one of the suspicious types (ashamedly) who attended a church showing of Jeremiah Films' Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged. When I picked up that first book, I fully expected to be bothered by dark thoughts and horrified by pagan ideas. Instead, I found a kinship to Harry and companions that took me through the story in less than two days, kept me reading and re-reading sections all week and made me hardly willing to return it to the library even to get the sequel.

My week with the first book proved to me that the Harry Potter stories are not about witchcraft. Nor does the backdrop of magical imagery bear any real connection with actuality. Harry Potter is to wizardry what Tim Allen's Galaxy Quest is to space travel: fiction based on fiction. The forms of Harry's magic—wands, brooms, cauldrons, spells, charms, etc.—may be traced to a wide selection of pagan spiritualities, but the use of those items is drawn from magical fantasy and fairy tale, and J.K. Rowling obviously took care to keep religion out of it. Rowling also pokes sly fun at some of it, having her characters use things like leech juice and beetle eyes in potions, and she openly mocks the "imprecise" art of Divination ...

There's much more at the link, including some stuff that I don't dare quote here 'cuz I don't want to steal Jenna's well-earned thunder from this one. It really is one of the clearest and succinct article discussing Christianity and Harry Potter that I've found anywhere, anywhen.

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