Prata Potpourri: Grilling, Hee Haw, Godzilla, Life, Death, and everything in between!
By Elizabeth Prata
Last Sunday I was headed to church and turned on the car radio. There’s a program I can catch the last 20 minutes of while I drive. It’s the Old Time Gospel Hour.
As the Hee Haw Gospel Quartet began singing their old timey gospel song, I grinned. As a former New Englander elite Ivy League family agnostic with ingrained bias against the south, here I was loving the bluegrass songs from the Hee Haw quartet on my way to church. 20 years ago if you’d told me this was going to be my life, I’d have dropped of shock.
Isn’t it amazing how the Lord preserves a life of His intended, then after the moment of justification He changes it completely? Slowly but surely He has brought me along to love the things He loves and hate the things He hates. The Lord Jesus is amazing.
On to today’s links:
This is from Pastor Tedd Mathis. He pastors Pueblo West Baptist Church in Colorado. From a pastor’s perspective on people using cell phones in church and making potty runs during service. Gently, but accurately.->
Phil Johnson has a great explanation of who Jesus is and how to rebut Jehovah’s Witnesses from scripture alone:
“But for the moment let’s ignore the writings of Athanasius, the documents of the Nicene Council, and every other historical and theological source except Scripture itself. Is it possible to demonstrate conclusively from the Bible alone that Jesus Christ is set forth in Scripture as God? I believe it is. And I am convinced that those who reject Christ’s deity must therefore also reject the plain meaning of the Word of God…” more here -> Who is Jehovah? Who is Jesus?
Here, Media Gratiae writes of English Hymn writer Francis Ridley Havergal, who I love. She gave her soul to Christ at a young age and went on to live a quiet life of devotion to Christ. In Royal Bounty, Havergal writes of the joy the Christian finds in belonging to God’s “everlasting service.” Havergal wrote,
The Hebrew servant had trial of his master’s service for six years, and in the seventh he might go out free if he would. But then, if the servant shall plainly say (plainly, avowedly, no mistake about it), “I love my master,… I will not go out free,” then, publicly and legally, he was sealed to his service for ever. It all depended on the love… more here “Everlasting Service“
Darryl Dash visited a small but amazing museum in Chicago with his wife, and was astounded at the history, artisanship, and biblical reality of the people depicted, who are written of in the Old Testament. Dash said,’
“Char and I spent a couple of hours working our way through the museum, but we hope to return. It’s staggering to be able to see a collection like this, and to see items that people like Daniel might have seen.” more here -> Daniel looked on These Lions
In a moving tribute, Dallas Holm writes a mournfully joyful goodbye of his wife of 54 years, who passed into glory in December. “Cancer left its mark on her body but it could not remove the joy in her heart, the determination in her mind, nor the smile on her face, even as she prepared for her “promotion” to Heaven.” -> Next Time it Will be Forever
Sharon Lareau of Chapter 3 Ministries has a super Interactive Journey
Through the History of the English Bible. “I invite you to find out and take an interactive journey through the history of the English Bible. This journey will take you through time and highlight some of the history of how the Scriptures came to be available to us in English. It’s an incredible story that will surely increase your appreciation for how easy it is for us to have a Bible in our native language. It is a treasure for sure!” Check it out!
In “1939’s movie breakthroughs” World Movies discusses “The Wizard of Oz and Stagecoach expanded the art form by excellent storytelling coupled with innovations in color and sound”. Both movies are 85 years old! Can you believe it? 1939 was a great year for film. Released that year also was Gone with the Wind, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Gunga Din, Dark Victory, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Wuthering Heights…in fact, the year was so filled with quality film entertainment it was a rare year the Academy nominated TEN movies for Best Picture instead of the usual 5. Tune in to the podcast or read the transcript of World’s discussion of how Wizard and Stagecoach advanced film technology in “1939’s movie breakthroughs“.
Speaking of movies, the current year has another Academy Award winner coming to streaming (Netflix.) Even Forbes Magazine calls it “One of the best movies of 2023 is finally coming to streaming this weekend.” What is the film? Godzilla Minus One. Forbes wrote: “But Godzilla Minus One, which takes place in the days after World War II when Japan is rebuilding after the nuclear carnage, is a different beast altogether. It has a great story with compelling characters and manages to make Godzilla truly terrifying with some clever special effects that cost a fraction of the American Godzilla movies.”
I saw it in the theater when it came out. I loved the emotional heart of the movie, the well-drawn characters, and the adherence to the Godzilla canon RE the monster himself. Great special effects, but not any gore, and the rest of the movie is clean. In Japanese with English subtitles. OR if you’re not a fan of subtitles Netflix offers a setting option of dubbed in different languages, including English.
It’s summer and for many that means grilling season. Good Cheap Eats has a brats recipe for 94 cents. Who doesn’t like good cheap eats? GRILLED BRATS WITH PEPPERS AND ONIONS (94 CENTS EACH). Check out her other menus while on the site!
