Encouragement For You Today: Matthew 9:9-12

Matthew 9:9-12:

9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.

10 Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.11 But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with such scum?[c]”

12 When Jesus heard this, he said, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.”

Jesus Hung  Out With Sinners:

Jesus hung out with people that were looked down upon by Jewish society. Tax collectors were disliked because they stole money and they worked for the Roman government, but Jesus wanted Matthew to follow Him and He was willing to eat at his house.

Jesus Came for Sick People:

Jesus came to save sinners, people who are sick and in need of the Great Physician.  Jesus came to save people who need Him, not the healthy people who are righteous.

Jesus wants the people who are lost and need Him to save them.  He came for people who are not necessarily liked in society. He came for sinners everywhere,

People Came When Matthew Told Them Jesus Was At His House:

Matthew invited his friends when Jesus was at his house and they came because they wanted to see Him.  Jesus wants us to bring people to Him and that's what we're supposed to do as Christians.

I hope that this will encourage you as Christians to go and do what Jesus said we should do and carry out the Great Commission.

Encouragement for you Today: Matthew 8:5-13:

Matthew 8:5-13:

5 When Jesus returned to Capernaum, a Roman officer[a] came and pleaded with him, 6 “Lord, my young servant[b] lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain.”

7 Jesus said, “I will come and heal him.”

8 But the officer said, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. 9 I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only need to say, ‘Go,’ and they go, or ‘Come,’ and they come. And if I say to my slaves, ‘Do this,’ they do it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel! 11 And I tell you this, that many Gentiles will come from all over the world—from east and west—and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob at the feast in the Kingdom of Heaven. 12 But many Israelites—those for whom the Kingdom was prepared—will be thrown into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, “Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened.” And the young servant was healed that same hour.

Jesus Wants to Heal You:

Jesus wants to heal us.  A lot of people think it's crazy because well, we can't physically see Jesus so it seems strange to secular people when Christians say that Jesus wants to heal them when we pray for them.

Jesus wanted to heal the Centurion's servant and was willing to go to his house, which is amazing because Jewish people did not associate with gentiles in Biblical times, but Jesus was willing to go and heal the servant.

The Centurion Had Faith:

The Roman Centurion had faith in Jesus, he didn't even need Jesus to come to the house to heal him.  He just knew Jesus could heal through speaking because he understood authority. 

Jesus was impressed by his great faith and healed the servant and He can heal you too.

Jesus Wants to Heal You But You Have to Ask and Believe:

Jesus wants to heal you, but you have to pray and believe in Him to Heal you.  He wants to heal you but you have to ask and believe.  He is willing to heal you and He's able to do that if you believe.

Jesus will heal you if you pray, believe and claim that healing for yourself.

Encouragement from John 6:16-21

Jesus Walks on Water

16 That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him.17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19 They had rowed three or four miles[d] when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here![e]” 21 Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

Jesus Can See your Struggling

One thing I learned from this scripture is that Jesus can see me when I'm struggling when I go through hard times and when I feel I can't do anything to become a better Christian.  He knows my problems and what I'm going through and He sees what I struggle with.

Jesus is With You So you don't Have to Be Afraid

Jesus is with you even during the storms of your life.  He will come with you and get into your boat and calm the storm.  He tells us not to be afraid because He is there with us.

Encouragement: John 3:1-17:

John 3:1-17(NLT) :
v3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d]must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”

9 “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.

10 Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things? 11 I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony. 12 But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone to heaven and returned. But the Son of Man[e] has come down from heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.[f]

16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave[g] his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

My Encouragement:

God loves you. Yeah, that's really cliche and Christians say it all the time, but it's true. God loves you enough that He sent Jesus to save you.  

People often think that God is mean and that He's going to condemn you for the bad things you've done, but He didn't send Jesus to condemn you.

It's perfectly fine to ask God questions, I think that some Christians believe you can't ever question the Bible ever.  Its fine to ask God questions, the answers are in the Bible.

Remember that God loves you and He always will.  He wants you to be with Him in Heaven when you die and that's why he sent Jesus to Earth to die on the Cross and rise from the dead three days later.

Encouragement for you Today: Mark 1:35-45

Encouragement for you Today:

Mark 1:35-45:

³⁵ Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray. ³⁶ Later Simon and the others went out to find him. ³⁷ When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you.”

³⁸ But Jesus replied, “We must go on to other towns as well, and I will preach to them, too. That is why I came.” ³⁹ So he traveled throughout the region of Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and casting out demons.

⁴¹ Moved with compassion,^[i] Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” ⁴² Instantly the leprosy disappeared, and the man was healed. ⁴³ Then Jesus sent him on his way with a stern warning: ⁴⁴ “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy.^[j] This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

⁴⁵ But the man went and spread the word, proclaiming to everyone what had happened. As a result, large crowds soon surrounded Jesus, and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him.

Prayer is Important:

Jesus made prayer His top priority.  As a Christian, I need to pray and make it my top priority.  I’ve gotten into reading the Bible daily and it’s become part of my routine, but I’m not that great at remembering to pray.  I’m going to make prayer, even if it’s not that long, part of my daily routine, and not just praying over lunch and dinner.

Since prayer is just talking to God, it doesn’t have to be fancy, but it does have to be respectful since God isn’t a vending machine and prayer isn’t dollars or quarters.

Jesus is willing to heal You:

A lot of people who are Christians believe in healing, but sometimes they think that God’s too busy for them.  Jesus is willing to heal us, but we have to ask Him too.  He can’t give us the desires of our heart if we don’t ask Him for it.

Listen to what Jesus says:

The leper was healed, but he did not do what Jesus asked him to by not telling anyone.  It’s a very strange passage in the Bible because we’re so used to hearing people tell the stories where Jesus tells the person to go and tell other people the good news.  We don’t know what happened to the leper, but it’s an important scripture because sometimes Jesus will tell us not to say things.

I do hope you found this blog entry encouraging to you.  I’ll try to write more encouraging blog posts in the future!  Have a great day and God bless you!

Fate/Stay Night Buyer's Guide

I wanted to make this quick buyer’s guide because Fate fans keep trying to purchase Fate/Stay Night: [Unlimited Blade Works (2014) and keep purchasing the original Fate route or UBW (2010) by mistake. The RightStufAnime affiliate links support me. Included are links and instructions to import from the UK I will update this when the Heaven's Feel trilogy comes out.

FAQ:

Why are Fate/Zero and Unlimited Blade Works (2014) so expensive compared to Fate/Stay Night (2006) and UBW (2010)?

Aniplex USA licensed the newer anime and they are geared towards the expensive collectors’ market and the price is similar to their Japanese counterpart.

Can I buy the Aniplex anime at a better price?

Only if you import the DVDs or blu-rays from the UK. I have made my old Windows XP DVD drive region free so I can play the Region 2 DVDs, but you will either need a region free DVD player or blu-ray player to play imported discs.

Has RightStufAnime ever put the Fate/Stay Night Series on Sale?

I bought the Fate/Stay Night (2006) DVDs on sale for $5.00, Aniplex USA has never put Fate/Zero or Unlimited Blade Works (2014) on sale since release.

I have Windows XP/2000/Vista 32-Bit, how do I make it region free?

You will need DVD43 Old Download

How can I force my blu-ray drive to play Region B blu-rays?

Download Leawo blu-ray player for free

How do I reset my Blu-ray drive count on my PC?

Download Region Reset

Where can I get a Region Free DVD/Blu-ray Player?

Cheap All-Region Blu-ray/DVD Player Region free, costs $139.00.

I want the UK blu-rays should I get them now?

REGION B BLU-RAYS ARE LOW ON STOCK, IF YOU WANT THE COLLECTOR'S EDITIONS GET THEM NOW!

How Much will I save buying the blu-rays from the UK?

If you pay $100 for a region free Blu-Ray player, and [Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works] 2014 for $144.02 + shipping. You will pay $359.96 for Region A Aniplex blu-rays. You save $215.94 give or take $5-8.00 for shipping. I paid $5.32 for having my region 2 DVDs shipped.

Did the DVDs from the UK take a long time?

Mine was late but they still arrived. It took over a month.

Can I play these on my desktop/laptop?

You will need an external DVD or blu-ray drive, preferably with a program that lets you bypass region locking.

I hope this buyer’s guide is helpful to fans looking to purchase the series, feel free to ask any questions in the thread!

Fate/Stay Night (2006):

RightStufAnime:

DVD

Blu-ray

Fate/Stay Night: [Unlimited Blade Works] 2010 Movie:

RightStufAnime

DVD

Blu-Ray

Fate/Zero (2011) (WARNING! THESE ARE EXPENSIVE!):

Part 1

RightStufAnime:

DVD

Blu-Ray

Part 2:

DVD

Blu-Ray

Fate/Stay Night: [Unlimited Blade Works] (2014) WARNING! THESE ARE EXPENSIVE!):

RightStufAnime: Part 1:

DVD

Blu-Ray

Part 2:

DVD

Blu-Ray

Fate/Stay Night: [Heaven's Feel]: Pressage Flower Part 1:

Fate/Stay Night: [Heaven's Feel]: Lost Butterfly Part 2:

UK DVD 2/Region B Import Guide:

REGON B BLU-RAYS ARE LOW ON STOCK, IF YOU WANT THE COLLECTOR'S EDITIONS GET THEM NOW!

Fate/Zero: Amazon.co.uk:

DVD

Blu-ray

Part 2:

DVD

Blu-ray

Fate/Stay Night: [Unlimited Blade Works] 2014: Amazon.co.uk:

Part 1:

DVD Region 2

Blu-ray Region B

Part 2:

DVD Region 2

Blu-Ray Region B

Anime-Online-DVD:

Fate/Zero Part 1: DVD Collector's Edition Region 2:

Blu-Ray Region B

Part 2:

DVD Reigon 2

Blu-Ray Region B

Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade works (2014):

Part 1:

DVD Region 2

Regiion B Blu-Ray Collector's Edition, minus the artbox

Part 2:

DVD Region 2

Region B Blu-Ray Collector's Edition

Fate/Grand Order: First Order:

Coming soon! MVM Entertainment has announced the aquisition recently!

Anime Review: The Seven Deadly Sins Season 1

Quick Info

Director: Tensai Okamura

Distributor: Netflix for streaming, Funimation Entertainment for home video release
Runtime: 600 minutes
Release Date: May 16, 2017
Availability: On Blu-Ray and DVD, buy on RightStufAnime or Amazon

Story Summary

Elizabeth, the third Princess of Liones, sets out to find the Seven Deadly Sins, an order of knights composed of the most despicable knights in all the kingdom. She is searching for them to battle the Holy Knights that have taken over the kingdom.

Traveling in disguise, she stumbles across a tavern called the Boar Hat and meets the young owner after he helps her after she passes out. Pursued by the Holy Knights, she inadvertently gets him involved, only to learn that he is the Captain of the Seven Deadly Sins, Meliodas, the Dragon's Sin of Wrath. Together, they set out to find the other Sins: Diane, Ban, King, Merlin, Gowther, and Escanor.

The Story is Cliche

The story of The Seven Deadly Sins is very cliché on the outside. The Princess searches desperately for the rogues who supposedly did horrible things. The pervy male lead, the clingy, jealous giantess, the lazy but good fairy king, the greedy jerk with a heart of gold, the mysterious female mage, and the emotionless smart guy.

Even if many of these character tropes are cliché, they're still very interesting characters, and that's why I like them. The plot is also very well done, and even though some complained about how predictable it is, I still enjoyed the story overall, and I found it to be very entertaining, and it kept me watching, and I couldn't wait to see the next episode so I could find out what was going to happen to all the characters.

The Animation Looks Good

A-1 Pictures did an amazing job with this anime. The animation is very fluid, the fight scenes are very well done, and I like the character designs. The animation looks especially good during the one-on-one fight scenes between various characters. It looks good throughout the entire anime, and the world designs and art style are very appealing, and I can clearly remember various characters because of how they look.

I Enjoyed The English Dub

The Japanese voice track is great, but I'm primarily focusing on the English dub of the anime, and it's terrific. Bang Zoom picked an excellent voice cast for the characters, and the actors did a fantastic job as their characters.

Bryce Papenbrook does a great job as Meliodas. I will admit, I'm on Brice Papenbrook overload because I'm currently watching voice acting in him in Durarara!! X2, Fate/Stay Night, and Attack on Titan, but he brings his A-game to this role, giving Meliodas both comedic and serious to his character, and he's mastered the art of very loud screaming, as can be seen from other roles he's played.

Cristina Vee is delightful as Hawk, the animal sidekick. Being a pig, the character can't do much, but Hawk is still an important member of the group and gets his chance to shine much later in the series, and Christina Vee is also excellent in this role as she's great at portraying the character in the anime.

Erika Harlacher does a great job as Elizabeth Liones, but the fact that her character's main job is to be the damsel in distress is cliched and annoying. Fortunately, she goes through a lot of character development and is a much stronger character by the end of the first season, but the cliche is still annoying.

Ben Diskin portrays all the different sides of his character when he voices Ban. Ban is a character that embodies the jerk with a heart of gold trope, and he gives an excellent performance. I like how Ban and Meliodas play off each other, and their dynamic is really fun to watch.

Erica Mendez does a great job as Diane, portraying her character's jealousy over Meliodas and Elizabeth's relationship. I also love her interactions with Max Mittlerman's King. I think their relationship is really adorable and fun to watch.

Max Mittelman's portrayal is interesting when it comes to King. There are multiple facets to his personality and character, and I like that even though he may seem lazy, there's a lot more to him than just one trait, and his relationship with Diane and the fact that he just can't spit it out make the two of them adorable.

Erik Kimerer is very interesting in his role as the aloof and eerily emotionless Gowther. What makes his character so interesting is that he's very different and more aloof than the others, and his powers are very different than the others.

Lauren Landa is excellent as Merlin. She doesn't appear until much later in the series, but she did a great job, and I like her character a lot.

Robbie Daymond voices the primary antagonist Gilthunder, and like the other characters, there's more to him than just being the cliched evil villain. And Robbie is very good in his role, and he makes a great antagonist.

Kaiji Tang is also very good as Hendrickson. He's also another important character on the antagonist's side, and he did a great job in this anime.

Soundtrack, Openings, and Endings

Hiroyuki Sawano's musical soundtrack is good, but it doesn't exactly stand out. But the music does sound good and fits the tone and mood of the story, but unfortunately, I can't recall any particular musical themes outside of the opening and ending songs of the anime.

The first opening for The Seven Deadly Sins is "Netsujō no Spectrum" (熱情のスペクトラム) by Ikimono-gakari. It's a very good opening that sounds really good and gives you that sense of adventure.

"Seven Deadly Sins" by MAN WITH A MISSION gets you really pumped up for the episode and gives off the exciting vibe that, yes, this episode is going to be awesome.

"7-seven-" by FLOW x GRANRODEO gets you all excited and pumped up for the next episode. Season" by Alisa Takigawa has a very soothing and hopeful tone, and you'll need it for the latter half of the anime.

The Perv Jokes Get Old Really Fast

One main criticism I have of the anime is that Melodas is a perv, and not just that he talks about girls in a pervy fashion, he tends to grope them, a lot, not that I get "offended" by this as a female fan of anime, I'm used to fanservice, and so I expect it. In fact, Melodas' perverted behavior is a running gag that becomes annoying because it's funny the first few times, and then it's like, "Okay, I get the joke, now it's old!" and now

 it's unfunny.

Unfortunately, it can also reinforce the perception that anime is just a bunch of pervy jokes and that every single anime is always like this when it comes to fanservice and gag jokes, and it could possibly turn off new viewers from what is a very fun and enjoyable anime to watch.

Not Everything Is Explained

Another flaw of the anime is that not everything is explained, such as how the Seven Deadly Sins got their powers and how magic works in the world. But with a second season coming, there should be more explanations.

It's also too bad we don't even see Escanor, and I was hoping we'd see all Seven Sins. Fortunately, he'll be in season 2, so I have that to look forward to.

Parental Warning

There is violence, but it's mainly fantasy-style violence, and it's not too bloody or gory. It's mainly magic spells.

There isn't too much profanity, but characters do swear sometimes.

Meliodas being a pervert towards Elizabeth is annoying, and there is fan service, as in, Meliodas trying to look up her skirt and being a pervert around her.

My Rating: A-

With a stellar story based on Arthurian legends with a fun and engaging cast, excellent animation from A-1 Pictures, and another great English dub from Bang Zoom Entertainment, The Seven Deadly Sins is a series that is so much fun, especially if you love fantasy anime like I do. It does, however, have a lot of anime cliches that might turn off some people and the Meliodas is a perv gag wears out his welcome. Fortunately, it does stop after a while, and not everything is explained completely, but I had a fun time watching this anime, and I recommend it to anyone who has a Netflix streaming account.

If you watched the fansubs already, please support the official Netflix stream since the Japanese do look at the viewing numbers from official sources and not fansub sites. I found this out by listening to a Funimation podcast on Anime News Network, so even if you just get a free trial of Netflix just to watch this show, the official creators are paying attention. The viewing numbers are enough right now that they've already started making season 2, so officially support the stream.

There are also multiple language tracks and subtitles to choose from.

Seven Deadly Sins: Signs of Holy War, the four-episode OVA, has been uploaded to Netflix on February 17, 2017. The second season comes out this year.

Funimation has licensed Seven Deadly Sins for home video release.

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