2012 Vice Presidential Debate Recap

The dreaded morning after the debate. Today is the day that the media puts its own spin on how the current Vice President and potential Vice President fared. Words such as “feisty”, “fiery”, and “sparks fly” will be used. If you were a web editor, which headline do you think would generate more clicks?

  • Vice President Joe Biden Schools A Young And Dumb Congressman Ryan
  • Acting Like A Child: How Joe Biden Acted Like My 3 Year Old Last Night

As I sat on the couch watching last night, I heard a lot of numbers being thrown about. Numbers concerning social security, troop withdrawal, and the impending debt crisis. Had this been a church sermon, I would have had an easy-to-follow outline. Alas, I did not have that outline and that is what killed the debate for me. I wanted solid answers; I wanted to see two men act like men. All last night left me thinking was:

  • How/why has Joe Biden been in politics so long? He kept referring to his track record, to historical events he was actually present to vote for. All I could think was that he is a part of the cause and a major part of the problem our nation faces today. When the Vice President wasn’t acting like a child by making faces, interrupting, and generally being rude, he took on the tone that was demeaning. I didn’t appreciate his demeanor.
  • On the other hand, we had Congressman Paul Ryan. Ryan would often answer questions and then point blank dodge others. At times all he needed to do was answer a question with a simple one sentence answer. That was all I needed to hear. I did like how he would sit patiently and wait his turn. Ryan came across as civil. We need more civility in politics. I do wish though that he had kept his answers shorter and more concise.
  • The moderator, Martha Raddatz, was a breath of fresh air. She asked thoughtful questions that demanded thoughtful answers. Very rarely though did I feel that either candidate answered her questions well. Disappointing.

The countdown to the election draws nearer. Are you going to vote?

Thinking Aloud: Why We Don’t Need Another Church Building

In East Texas, especially in the City of Longview, the locals jokingly say that there is a church on every street corner. If you think about this, this means that the city’s original churches fractured and then multiplied. Division beget division; street corner after street corner was soon bestowed with a church.

Just as the Internet does not need another Christian video game site, the world does not need another church building. While it is true church buildings serve as a central place for Christians to receive Biblical teaching and fellowship with fellow believers, we were never meant to stay in one place. If you think about it, what do church buildings help foster? Isolation. Sure we can invite our “lost” friends to church, but do we? Most of the time, we fail at reaching out to those that Christ came to save for the sake of comfort. I’m guilty of this. Why invite an outsider to Cheers, right?

Instead of hanging out in fortified churches, how should we be reaching out to those around us in our community? My friend Scotto happened to hear the rapper Lecrae speak on this at The Resurgence Conference the other day. Lecrae talked about how:

…he intentionally lives in Atlanta because all the other major rappers live there. He wants to be in the culture, because he knows that God can use him there. Same goes for him using rap to spread the Gospel.

His points were:

1. Engage the culture. (Learn the culture, speak the language.)

2. Love the culture. (Really develop relationships. Care about people. Don’t just wait for opportunities to give your gospel points.)

3. Rehabilitate the culture. (How can you restructure what you already do to glorify God?)

I do think that it is important that we, as Christians, grow and fellowship with one another. I just think that the emphasis on the building, that some churches put into theirs, is wrong. The Church isn’t about the building but about the people. We need to be engaging, loving, and acting as Christ’s hands and feet in this broken world, with or without a building.

What do you think?

Thinking Aloud: Why We Don’t Need Another Christian Video Game Site

9 years ago I noticed that the Christian worldview was sadly lacking in the mainstream video game press. I wanted to find a web site that discussed the theological impact of the games that I played. A web site written by actual gamers that attempted to go beyond discussing the surface elements of video games (violence, language, etc.). My questions all revolved around:

  • What thoughts, ideas, and experiences am I being exposed to by video game developers?
  • How do these worldviews differ from my own?
  • As a Christian, what should my response be?

I envisioned a web site that could compete with the big boys at the time, Gamespot and Gamespy. So I created JohnnyBGamer.com to go against the best. Quite quickly I learned that a large amount of time, talent, and money are needed to compete in any real way. In short, I couldn’t compete. Eventually I relaunched JBG as the personal blog it is today. I wasn’t defeated, just confronted with reality.

Almost a decade has gone by, and I now find myself questioning the need for a Christian video game web site. Why do we, as Christians, have to segregate ourselves from the world and form our own personal ghettos? Instead of having a Christian video game site, why can’t we have writers writing for major publications that are Christians?

The digital landscape has changed a lot since 2003. Sites such as GameChurch and The Cross and the Controller (which seems to have gone missing) now exist to plumb the depths of video games and the Christian worldview. I am in no way against such ministries, but I openly wonder at the audiences they reach. Would it not be better to influence the gaming culture from inside a major web site versus from outside in the ghetto?

What do you think?

Life After 9/11: The Avengers

Living in a post-9/11 world, I view the world through a different lens. This past weekend I finally had a chance to sit down and watch The Avengers with my wife. As the movie raced towards its world-ending conclusion, with a portal opening above New York City, I found myself drawn out of the movie’s fantasy and into reality.

Helpless bystanders were running through the city streets, trying to evade the destruction going on around them. New York City was in havoc.  As taxi cabs were blasted through the air and skyscrapers were torn asunder, I became uncomfortable. I remembered scenes of people fleeing the dust cloud on 9/11; I remembered the repeated video footage of the planes that flew into the twin towers.

I don’t think I’ve ever realized just how much my perception of life has changed since 9/11. Even the movies that I used to think were fun, big budget action films, are tainted in messy reality.

Side Note: With all of the above being said, did anyone else notice that despite the falling debris from the skyscrapers, there was no dust in the air? The end scenes from The Avengers would have been almost unviewable had reality ruled. Hurray for viewable fantasy!

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