Season 2 of my podcast--which was formerly called "Aslan's Paw" and is now "Stabs of Joy"--came to an abrupt halt when my father passed away unexpectedly and very suddenly in January 2017, after a brief battle with an extremely aggressive cancer. The event wrecked my world, frankly, and everything stopped for awhile--except for the memorial service tribute to my dad that was recorded and that I published on Jan. 17, 2017 on this podcast.

 

I'm happy to say that things are beginning to come back to life on this podcast, beginning with my first interview since late 2016. Episode 5 of Season 2 brings you Stuart Hazeldine, the director of the new film "The Shack," starring Sam Worthington and Octavia Spencer.

 

Besides listening to the interview here, you can also read the written version of it, along with some more details and thoughts I had about the interview, here at RockinGodsHouse.com.

This is another transition episode, not really an official part of the programming for Season 2--and "transition" in the sense of slowly returning back to a normal schedule of content creation after my father passed away in January, which kickstarted a huge amount of change in life.

 

This episode is by far the most personal episode I've shared on this podcast. Things get real. I pour a bit of my heart out. (No tears though, sorry. Just a steady voice and some nifty intro/outro music.)

 

In this episode I share a succinct mini-biography of my ministry journey over the last 17 years or so, and I provide a very brief glimpse--a slightly out of focus fleeting impression--of what it's like to see 17 years of ministry work come crashing down in one colossal moment of loss.

 

Though I don't get into the gory details.

 

And it's not a downer episode.

 

I focus most of my time on highlighting the hope we have in Christ even "when revival never comes and dreams fail." And I skim over the first portion of a sermon preached by Dr. Tim Keller and glean a little morsel of it for inspiration.

 

Also, for the record, I made this episode after my interview with the director of "The Shack," Stuart Hazeldine. But, in truth, its content covers the time between my dad's death and that interview, so I felt it belonged before the "Shack" interview chronologically. My interview with Stuart and the topics we covered partly inspired the creation of this episode.

This is a break from the usual programming at Aslan's Paw, and it is something very personal. On Jan. 3, 2017, my awesome, dear dad passed away after battling an aggressive cancer. It was all very sudden and unexpected. The cancer came very quickly and seemingly appeared out of nowhere in late December. The event has put a grinding halt to my work and my podcast, but I wanted to share this tribute--a message I put together to honor my dad--that was recorded at the memorial service on Friday, 1pm, 1/13/17. After my message, the recording also has the rest of the service: stories about my dad told by a few who were in attendance at the service, concluded by a prayer and some of my dad's favorite music, hymns by Dailey & Vincent, that he had enjoyed in recent months before he died. My dad was such an amazing person, and besides providing an easy, practical way to share this recording/tribute with friends and family, I wanted to share the eulogy with the public as well in hopes that it will inspire and bless you in some way. It includes some of my dad's favorite quotes and Scriptures, including quotes from Sir Andrew Barton, Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and verses from 2 Corinthians and John 14. My tribute takes up the first 17 minutes of the recording. The rest of the service, the other anecdotes and the closing prayer, is the last 10 minutes.

Legendary Disney animator Mark Henn, the animator who drew iconic characters such as Belle, Ariel, and Jasmine, talks his new film "Moana"--what went into making the incredible water animation, what's unique about the film--and he also talks faith, what he's thankful for this year, and what Christians might find interesting/edifying about "Moana."

 

You can read a transcript of the interview here.

 

Aslan's Paw is hosted by Kevin Ott, author of Shadowlands and Songs of Light: An Epic Journey into Joy and Healing.

Luke Smallbone of For King and Country shares his journey from music to film and the amazing true story behind his new film Priceless. 

 

You can read the transcript of the interview here.

 

Aslan's Paw is hosted by Kevin Ott, author of Shadowlands and Songs of Light: An Epic Journey into Joy and Healing.

Author Kevin Ott speaks on the subject "From the Head to the Heart," about rediscovering our wonder for God and the Gospel.

 

This was recorded during one of Kevin's events from his book tour for his book Shadowlands and Songs of Light: An Epic Journey into Joy and Healing.

In the first episode of Season Two for Aslan's Paw, Todd Komarnicki, writer of the film "Sully," discusses the film and a range of interesting topics: how his faith in Christ fits into his Hollywood career, how the "Sully" story has inspired him, why the film is timely for our culture, and what it was like working with Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks. (Todd even shared the inside story behind the little piece of paper that Capt. Sully unrolls at a key moment in the film--one of my favorite moments.)

In the first episode of Season Two for Aslan's Paw, Todd Komarnicki, writer of the film "Sully," discusses the film and a range of interesting topics: how his faith in Christ fits into his Hollywood career, how the "Sully" story has inspired him, why the film is timely for our culture, and what it was like working with Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks. (Todd even shared the inside story behind the little piece of paper that Capt. Sully unrolls at a key moment in the film--one of my favorite moments.)