Tag Archives: Christianity

Ubisoft’s ‘Wildlands’ Should Raise a Red Flag For Christians

Backstory – Ghost Recon: Wildlands is a new video game from developer/publisher Ubisoft. Wildlands is a tactical cooperative shooter for up to 4 people. In the Wildlands story, a drug cartel named Santa Blanca has risen to power in Bolivia. They have kidnapped a DEA agent who was a mole inside the cartel, and it’s time for the United States to send in the armed group that “doesn’t exist” known as “The Ghosts”.

To promote this upcoming game, Ubisoft has released a short film called Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Wildlands: War Within The Cartel. (And the award for longest movie title of the year goes to…) The movie is released under the production label Ubisoft Entertainment Legion of Creatives.

As a Christian and an aficionado of video games, I have seen plenty of “sacrilegious” uses of God and the Bible. It’s unfortunate, but it’s considered “edgy” to rebel against something sacred, and some developers create games that stand against the common conceptions of God and the Bible. Bayonetta did this with it’s perverted take on The Creator. Usually, these twisted tales are fairly generic, targeting “God” or “people of faith”. But this latest attack seems to be more specific and includes a dark perversion of a beautiful passage from the book of Revelation.

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New Sermon – The Highest Calling

I was given the opportunity to speak again at Harbor Chapel on July 31, 2016. I titled it “The Highest Calling”. It’s about how, as Christians, we’re called to live outstanding lives and I wanted to encourage others to aim for that goal. I also believe that we should hold each other accountable for our behavior, uncomfortable as that may be. Here is the audio:

And here is a meager powerpoint presentation I made to go along with it:

The Highest Calling

My first sermon titled, “Self-esteem Vs. God-esteem”

Self-esteem vs God-esteem

I was a bit nervous before hand, but had a great time encouraging the congregation at Harbor Chapel. The central message is “God loves _____” with your name in the blank. This sermon teaches that we should not measure ourselves by what others think of us. Our self-esteem can be low because of some petty thing that we think we have failed at. God’s love for us shows us our “actual” self-worth.

The message was recorded at a terrible quality and I did what I could to clean it up, but it still has a nasty hum. If you’d like to hear it, here it is. Download link below.

(Right-click and select save)
Sermon – Self-esteem vs. God-esteem

Why do Christians lift their hands when worshipping?

When Christians worship, it’s common to see eyes closed, hands raised high, as if reaching towards unseen God himself.  But why does this ritual occur?  Is it a modern religious practice, a tradition, or is it from genuine, spiritual inspiration?

Exodus 9

33 Then Moses left Pharaoh and went out of the city. He spread out his hands toward the Lord; the thunder and hail stopped, and the rain no longer poured down on the land. [Source]

Sometimes, when hands are lifted, storms cease.

 

Exodus 17

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. [Source]

Sometimes, when hands are lifted, battles are won.

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