I am obsessed with Adventures in Odyssey.

One of the Best Moments in all of Christian Media..

Maybe I am just on one of those kicks, but over the past week I have started listening to classic episodes of Adventures in Odyssey. I know, I know.. More?...Yes!

The reason is because we always hear constantly about how terrible Christian Media is. Oh, It is. It's incredibly terrible. It's unauthentic and unoriginal. However when good media comes along, we do not really give it any attention and let it fly by without any sort of adoration that is deserves.

So here it is.

Adventures in Odyssey, "The Time Has Come" the episode where Eugene gets saved.

I do not believe there to be a more magnificently produced piece of Christian Media then this episode right here.

It's not just the episode or the quality of it's production among the multitudes of other adventures. It's the build-up. The years of preparation and writing that went into the development of this character we all love. Eugene Meltsner. There is just so much complexity in his spiritual development. From the time he first walked in to Whit's End. Gets an Agnostic Girlfriend (Katrina) and Katrina gets saved and breaks up with Eugene and Whit leaving Odyssey for two years (Due to Actor's Death). All plays such a significant impact on Eugene's decision.

It clearly makes AIO some of the best writing in all of Christian Media. It also places Episode #330 "The Time Has Come" as one of the absolute best episodes of anything in all of Christian Media.

Transplant Ministries FOCUS on Focus on the Family

A Transplant Spotlight...

Being a "Media Ministry" I think it is good to spotlight good Christian Media. I figured this is a safe blog to write as the lack of Good Christian Media is lacking, so this will not keep me very busy. The sad part about this blog is that of all the top notch Christian Media I can think of most of them come back to days when I was a Child. Remember the episodes of McGee and Me? What about the very first episodes of Veggie Tales? As we grow up we started to find a lack of quality entertainment that appealed to our Youth Culture and our extended spiritual growth and depth. However that being said there is still one quality form of Christian Entertainment that heavily impacted my spiritual growth, and sadly, I forgot about it. It wasn't until my iPod broke and I was forced to scavenge the airwaves of my radio that I remembered something that dramatically impacted my spiritual development as a Child. Adventures in Odyssey.

OK I will pause here to allow you to take a moment to reflect on Whit's End, the Imagination Station, Eugene and the room of Consequences...

Are we done?

You see AIO did something that no other form of Christian Media has yet been able to do, and that is capture your imagination, place you into that circumstance and teach complex biblical theology like sacrificial atonement, and imputation. Of course they never use those words but the idea's are there. In fact as I try and look back at my walk and try to think back to significant moments as a child that affected my salvation and growth there is one moment that clicks more then any other and it has everything to do with a certain episode of Adventures in Odyessy.

Episode 190/191 "Moses The Passover Part 1 & 2"

Jimmy and George Barclay travel in the Imagination Station back in time to Moses and the Passover. To make a long story short George and Jimmy get separated, leaving George vulnerable to death because he is the First Born. The father leaves the security of the blood stained door to find his son who is with the Pharaoh. The Angel of death comes and kills all the first born son's, but George and Jimmy are miraculously still alive , even though they had no protection from the Lamb's Blood, or so they thought. At the end Whit explains to them that they have the blood of Jesus as the permanent sacrificial lambs blood. So they had no need in worrying about the Angel of Death.

There as a child sitting in my bunk bed during nap time at summer camp, for the first time figured out the meaning of Christ's death on the Cross, that's when it all made sense...Sure I knew about it, I believed it and I trusted it but I think that was the first time I "Got It."

There are several other episodes that come into mind. Eugene goes to Hell stuck with me...See "The Mortal Coil 1 and 2"

The thing is that although I have not followed AIO in years, the stories are still there with me. They are also still on the air.

This is my challenge to Focus on the Family. Tuning into "The Radio" is a really hard task to do nowadays. But I always have my iPod with me (Except for when it is broken). I did a search for AIO on iTunes and noticed you have a good amount of PodCast's for AIO available but I am by nature greedy and selfish and would like a lot more. I want to catch up, I just found out that Eugene got Married!!! Can you Put them for sale in the iTunes Store?

What a great masterpiece Adventures in Odyssey is and I hope it continues to be for years more, I hope my Kid's are able to enjoy the adventures of Eugene, Jimmy, Mr. Whitaker uh but you can call him Whit and Condie...

Thanks Focus on the Family for the brilliant, production, story telling, voice acting and biblical truth that you have brought to many children over the years...

Proof that you can blend Spiritual Truth and Entertainment without giving up a thing....

Change in blog from a change in heart.

I was going to bore you all with a very uninteresting blog on Jehovah Witness theology and it's flaws concerning Hell. But that all got over ruled with this new...well...let me just get on with it. Let me introduce you to Patrick Hughes. My roommate really. At the time I moved in, if you asked him, he would tell you that he was a pagan. His dog tags even say so. One pagan and one Christian living together...hmm...I considered filming our lives and sending the tapes in to ABC as a new sitcom idea. I mean...I would have watched it. As long as it didn't air during my Mythbusters show. Gotta have them Mythbusters you'd better believe it. Now Patrick has always shown more respect for my "Bible-bashing fascist ultraconservative" Christian values, then other guys in my unit have shown toward me. Now let me ask you a question, what happens when God calls sinners to Him? What else can happen except the falling of a sinful man to his knees and crying out to God for repentance. Let me introduce you to Patrick Hughes, the once lost and rebellious sinner, and now forgiven and cleansed child of God. How could he resist God any longer? God pointed out the sin of this man and it broke his heart with the knowledge that God still loves him through it all. As Paul puts it "...while we were still sinners Christ died for us..." What did Hughes do to receive such a gift. Nothing at all. Before, Hughes hated God and lived in rebellion against Him. I was blessed to witness another of the chiefest of sinners being brought low by the law and lifted up by the Grace and Love of God. Praise His Name forever that He considers any of us worth saving. The punishment had been placed on Jesus and He paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow. Let me again introduce to you, my(and I hope yours too) brother in Christ, Patrick Hughes.

"One thing that I can say about God that is a few simple words, a sinner such as I can find grace and salvation in Him."-Patrick Hughes, the forgiven

Meet Spot....

I want to take a moment and introduce the three "Bloggies" that read this a dear friend of mine and the Co-Founder of Transplant Ministries.

His name is Stephen Hampshire. However we call him Spot, mainly because of the two spots on the back of his head that he was born with. I know it's a tragedy as far as birth defects are concerned but we just tell him angels kissed him there...

Spot is greatly passionate about this ministry and is currently serving in the US Army in Colorado.

We met each other as we worked at summer camp, and over that summer prayed for and conceived this whole disaster of a ministry together. As we left camp and went our separate ways over two years ago we still brainstormed, planned, developed and sent in money to some squirrelly preacher on TBN who promised to make God bless it.

Although Spot has been a publicly quiet force in the ministry, he is one of the most active supporters and has a larger vision for this shindig then I do. Part of his responsibilities will include blogging, creative development, public speaking as well as protecting our country and fighting the War on Terror.

So fellow bloggies unite and join me in publicly welcoming Stephen "Spot" Hampshire to the team.

Our Scientific Bible from the God who made science

Have you ever read the Bible and came across a verse that you had to double take? You'd stop and think "Hey, I saw that verse in my science book" Well, my guess is that you haven't done that yet, but I could be wrong. When I read scripture I tend to loose track of the meaning sometimes and am just reading words. Not understanding, I have to be very careful with that as many other Christians as well. For when we just glance over scripture it dose us no good. We miss verses like Isaiah 40:22 where the Bible says that God sits above the circle of the earth. Hold the phone! You mean the earth is round and not flat!?! You might say "Of course it is! Columbus figured that out long ago." Yes he sure did, but the Bible told us that before Columbus sailed those oceans blue. The Bible was right from the start. It just took some time for the modern day "scientists" at that time to catch up. That isn't the only verse though. The Bible is filled with facts that took other text books years to get right(and some still missing the mark).

Incalculable number of stars(Jeremiah 33:22)
Free Float of earth in space(Job 26:7)
Creation made of invisible elements(Hebrews 11:3)
Each star is different(1Corinthians 15:41)
Light moves(Job 38:19-20)
Air has weight(Job28:25)
Wind blows in cyclones(Ecclesiastes 1:6)
Blood is the source of life and health(Leviticus 17:11)
Ocean floor contains deep valleys and mountains(2Samuel 22:16 Jonah 2:6)
Ocean contains springs(Job 38:16)
Hands should be washed under running water to prevent disease(Leviticus 15:13)

How long do you want the list to go? Should I just copy and paste the entire Bible here? These few verses and more have been collected and put together on a neat little track also containing the Gospel message on the back. www.livingwaters.com (here's my little promo for there web site) is where you can order your own to aid in your witnessing encounters. The Bible is more then a science book too. Poetry, history, songs of worship, need I go on? All put together into 66 God inspired books that God wants to teach us. When you are told that the Bible isn't scientific you can reply with "Have ye not read..." for we worship the Creator of science who like to fill us in on some of the details.

Marcus is fired and I'm taking over!(but not really)

I'm sure I wasn't the only kid that tried to fly by jumping off slide with an umbrella to see how Mary Poppins did it. Nor was I the only child that tried to do all of his chores all at once and it all fell apart on him. Well that all carries on into "adulthood" and we see it when films need editing and blogs need writing. Well I(and by "I" I mean me...Spot...anyway) am tapping in and letting Marcus focus more on the DVD and blog from time to time. Meanwhile I(Spot again) am going to keep all of you transplant bloggies(I think that is what you call someone who reads our blogs. Sounds like a word doesn't it? I should use it in Scrabble) happy and up to date on recent TM activities and sit reps. Knowing that there are probably like three(at the most) "bloggies" reading our postings, we appreciate our bloggies and won't let you be forgotten. So for the time being I Spot Hampshire assume the main burden of blogging for our "bloggies" until properly relieved or my PC just flat out busts on me. Till that sad day my good bloggies, you shall not b forgotten or cheated by outdated blogs. I hope.

Just a side thought. How many of you are reading these? Just give a shout out for us if ya don't mind.

bloggies is a registered trademark of Transplant Ministries and copy righted...well...actually it isn't and you can use the term if you want to, don't make no never mind to me. Just remember where you got it from alright?