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Zachatello00
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Name: Zachary L.
Birthday: 12/12/1981
Gender: Male
Expertise: Studying to be a Preaching Minister, and hopefully, someday, perhaps some years later, teach others to do that same at a Bible College.
Occupation: Student
Industry: Other
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
4/1/2003
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| I have to admit the only reason I checked over here was to see if anyone still used Xanga. I am really pleased to see that you all still do. I have always preferred xanga to facebook, though, with the other features and options facebook offers, xanga seems somewhat limited and antiquated. Nevertheless, I prefer it.
That being said, I guess the biggest thing on my mind lately is, what's next for us? If you didn't know, we've recently left our position at Northside (church), and are looking for a new church and a new situation. We have one prospective situation that we're looking at really closely, and hopefully it will work out. But in the meantime, I'm left to wonder about our current position, and what will happen next. You know those transitional periods, the ones where you really have no concrete idea where God will take you, and what adventure you'll go on next? The kind of uncertianty that is both exciting, and uncomfortable, but mostly uncomfortable because, even though you trust God's leading, you also get a little anxious about following it, not knowing exactly what is going to happen? That's right where I am.
I'm currently reading through Joshua in my own personal devo time, and I was thinking about how there was just no way for the Israelites to enter the promised land were it not for God's leading and provision. Really, they wouldn't have gotten out of Egypt in the first place. Several reasons why of course, but I was looking in particular at the crossing of the Red Sea. Had God not seperated the waters, the Israelites would never have been able to leave, and the Pharaoh's army would have surely cut them down, or re-enslaved them. But you know the story, Moses lifted the rod, the waters parted, and Israel crossed on dry ground.
40 Years later, Joshua stood before the Israelites, who were just getting ready to cross into the promised land for the first time officially. But there was a problem, namely, crossing the Jordan. Not just because it was wide river, which it was, but it was a particularly difficult crossing as, because it was early spring, snow would melt from the mountain and drain into the river, swelling it, and making it's distance and depth far greater than any other time. So Israel is faced with the same delima as before. But God promises, that as soon as the priests carrying the ark of the covenant step into the Jordan, he will, as before, roll back the waters. When they did so, God kept his word, and Israel stepped into the promised land, after crossing over the Jordan on dry ground.
These are two events where Israel could only have prevailed if God were directly involved with their affairs. Fortunatly he was, and the things that seemed impossible were made to be quite possible. Many times in our own lives, we get ourselves into impossible or frusterating situations. When these times occur, as many as they will, trust that God will make a way, and your impossible problem will be solved. Sometimes, God purposely takes us through "impossible" things, to prove his power in our lives, and to make sure we don't do things on our own, but to require faith from us. How lame would it have been if Israel entered the promised land on their own power? Pretty lame indeed. But God's power, at work in their situaiton brought them through otherwise impossible circumstances.
And so it is with us. We just need to keep praying, keep trusting, and be ready to walk into the raging river when he calls us too. Don't worry about how or when this will transpire. Seek first the kingdom, and all these things will be added...
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| I fear the sky is falling...
11/04/08, 11:10 pm
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| It's a sad day in my neck of the sewers today. I had to fire my assistant manager for stealing. I can't be too specific about the details, at least not on a public blog, but suffice it to say, that in 3 weeks time, there was a lot of money missing. I've actually been wrestling for awhile with how to handle all of this, especially when it comes to expressing my feelings about all of it. And I've decided the best thing to say is to say very little. This happened, it hurts, and now, it's even worse, because the amount taken was high enough that we will probably be prosecuting. I'd rather just stop the problem and leave well enough alone, but I know why the company wants to do it, and I don't blame them. The only problem (and here's where Your prayers come in) is that this girl is a single mother, and her two young children (6 and 3) are staying with their grandparents for the time being, as there was an arrest involved. My heart is pretty broken over this, not because I've had someone steal from me. I've had that happen before. I'll bounce back. In the meantime, I feel so awful for those poor little girls, and the family that is effected by these events. I suppose it's best that I don't post her real name, so we'll just call her Jenny, has been raising her daughters without any child support from her deadbeat husband. Her car, which the deadbeat husband is supposed to be paying for, has recently been re-posessed, and now this is happening. Now, don't get me wrong, I know (as many have reminded me) that this isn't my fault, and that she has done this too herself. That's all fine and good, but the problem is, I've made mistakes too, and Christ has forgiven me. I just want to be able to do the same thing, and let her move on with her life. And while, on a personal level, that's what I'm doing, as a manager of this store, and as a professional, I can't. I'm not allowed. Please pray for "jenny" and her family, and please pray for me, and for guidance in how to handle all of this... because I really don't know what to do... | | |
| Ah, Fall. Really, I think Summers great, because it's nice and warm out, and there's lots to do outside, and Winters cool because of the gnarly snow and what not. Spring is also a lot of fun, as you think it's warm enough to discard your jackets as soon as the weather hits 50 degrees again, but I think I like Fall best of all.
There are so many fun things going on in the fall. Theres a bunch of different celebrations, there's Halloween, there's the start of Football season, Fall just.. I dunno, wins I guess.
Ya feel me?
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| So, I can't sleep. Don't know why. It's Saturday at 7:42 am, and I've been up since about
5 or so. Just woke up, and can't get back to sleep. So... what better thing is
there to do, but go ahead and review HSM3?
Had you asked me at the beginning of this year, "Hey Zach, there are some
great movies on the way this year, which one do you think you'll like
best?" I probably would have replied, without missing a beat: "The
Dark Knight! I can't wait to see the latest Batman movie." Or I might have
said: "Well, there's a new Star Wars movie coming out, that'll be really
neat!" I could have possibly even said: "It's about time they made an
Iron Man movie."
But now, it's near the end of the year, and here's how I'll answer that
question now. "Without a doubt, High School Musical!" Seriously, this
movie was awesome! In truth, I was disappointed with the Dark Knight, I mean, I
like it, because I guess you're supposed too, but Batman relied on way too much
darkness and way too much grit in order to be entertaining. I didn't even make
it out to see Star Wars, because I heard it was just awful. And Iron Man? ...
Well, I really did like Iron
Man 
But High
School Musical just beat everything else.
First of all, this movie has everything that you want. Bright Colors, great
music, pretty eye candy, and that great feeling you get when you leave, that
"wow, I just watched a great movie" feeling. The movie, originally
fated to be yet another Disney Channel movie, really benefits from the full
screen treatment. It's not just an hour and a half TV movie on the big screen.
They do some pretty amazing things with their cameras that you just wouldn't be
able to really capture so well on a smaller screen. The very first scene is the
championship basketball game, and the experience of watching it is dizzying and
intense. Cinematic Photography and filming techniques come back to play several
times, and always in the right places. It makes me wonder why they didn't start
on the big screen in the first place.
Musically, this picture can't be beat. The new songs will make you want to head
to Wal-mart right after the movie and buy the soundtrack (Jesci, in point of
fact, was very disappointed that we did not). So, if you enjoyed the first two
movies for their music, you'll love what the third installment has to offer. As
far as dance and choreography, Zac Efron brings to mind some of the early
performances of Gene Kelly, but with, dare I say, even more impressive feats of
athleticism. I really believe that Zac Efron has the High School Musical
franchise to thank for his career, and I believe he thanked them well with this
performance.
Okay, since I just talked a whole lot about the Zac Efron, let's talk about
something that doesn't make me sound gay (and I have the wife to prove it  ).
The dance moves are really quite impressive. This film has found a top notch choreographer
in Kenny Ortega (who directed and choreographed the first 2 films as well). And
here's where that eye candy thing comes in. The dancers move beautifully and
pull off some rather interesting stunts. I'm assuming that each actor/tress did
his/her own dance moves without a double, otherwise, why be in a musical? The
other really great thing about this is, Disney has always done a good job
finding good looking people to fill it's roles. They don't miss here. I'm not
at all trying to sound gross, actually just the opposite. So many movies rely
on sex or nudity to sell their picture. I wonder, for example, how many guys
would have gone to see Titanic if Kate Winslet were covered the whole
time? Again, I'm not trying to sound gross, what I mean is that HSM3 has found
a way to offer good looking actor/tresses without having to rely on their naked
bodies to entertain you.
The characters, if you're a fan of the series, will really be enjoyable for you
to watch. Everyone does a really great job with their characters. They really
do seem more like performing artists rather than more add-ons to the
exceptionally large list of Disney Channel stars struggling for relevance. I
really do believe that each one of these actors deserves the illustrious careers
that lie ahead of them. Zac’s character was especially and radically genuine.
Overall, I have no problem giving this movie a 5 out of
5. There’s really no reason not to see this movie unless you just have no
familiarity at all with the franchise. I had a vague interest in the series
because Jessica is such a fan, as well as several of the girls in our youth
group. But this one really was done well, and is very entertaining. There’s
always something going on, there weren’t any moments when I wasn’t entertained.
The mood and humor is bright, cheerful,
and it’s actually being criticized by some for being “too squeaky-clean”. Since
when is wholesome and clean not entertaining, much less something to scoff at rather than value?
Go see High School Musical 3. It’s the only movie thus
far I’ve given 5 out of 5 to. It has the Zach seal of approval.
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