GameCell

Quality Time With Wyatt

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There is nothing that makes my son Wyatt happier than pancakes for breakfast. Saturday, I did an odd thing. I sent my wife off to get ready for the day. Grabbed a skillet, stirred up some pancake batter, and flipped some hotcakes.

As we ate, I pulled out Wyatt’s Bible he got for Christmas. The only present that earned both Tabitha and I a big hug. We read from the Book of Romans.

8 But Christ died for us while we were still sinners, and by this God showed how much he loves us. (ERV)

We talked about how we don’t have to be perfect all the time. How God showed his love for us even when he knew all that bad things that we’d do. God doesn’t want us to beat ourselves up. Some of us, at the table, needed to hear that truth.

Tabitha finished getting ready and went to the grocery store. I had to finish putting up backer board as part of our shower renovation. Wyatt played in his room and then would come out and talk to me for a bit. Always nice to have an extra pair of little hands to help out.

Later on in the afternoon, Wyatt and I had a chance to sit down and play Kingdom Rush. For those of you living under the rock I’ve been living under, Kingdom Rush is an iOS tower defense game. Monsters scurry down predetermined paths, you place different types of towers to destroy them. Perfect game for father and son bonding.

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Wyatt snuggled up next to me, iPad propped up on my lap, we worked our way through the main campaign. Battling the hoards. Doing the good. Enjoying our gaming and quality time together. Might have to do it again.

My friend Josh hosts a weekly gathering at his house called GameCell. GameCell is an ongoing Biblical discussion founded on building relationships while embracing video games. It is a neat concept that I’ve wanted to test drive but haven’t found my tribe to do so with.

Turns out I was looking outside my home. Forgetting that in this season of life, my son follows in my footsteps. Can a GameCell group consist of just a family? I think so. Our time of:

  • Reading and discussing one Bible verse
  • Quality time
  • Game time
  • Closeness

All was intentional. I think we just had our first GameCell.

GameCell: Confusion Night

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My friend Josh wrote about his latest GameCell get together:

Christians don’t talk enough about how life gets really freaking confusing, especially when you’re following Jesus. Then, when that thick cloud of disorientation comes, it’s easy to lose your senses. Most of our GameCell crew doesn’t follow Jesus, but I wanted to prep them when they do follow him and find themselves feeling super confused. So we dove into the story of Job a bit. And we talked about the occasional benefits of confusion – especially in video games.

You can read more over at Theology Gaming.

Passion

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I am passionate about:

  • Solid Bible teaching. I want to see fellow Christians challenged in their faith straight from the Bible. 
  • Keeping the focus solely on the Gospel and not on personal preferences.
  • The videogames industry being influenced with the love of Christ. I’m still not sure what this looks like, whether it includes handing out beer and Bibles, but I’m always processing this one. Currently I am exploring starting a GameCell at my church.
  • Helping others avoid the same mistakes that the Internet helped me make. I want parents to be aware of the parental controls on their children’s devices; I want individuals to take preventative steps to protect themselves from the wild west of the Internet.
  • Blogging. Yeah, you wouldn’t know it from my posting frequency, but I have always enjoyed sharing my life and what I’m learning with you. I love writing and it is not something I allow myself the time to do enough.

Working the 8-5 grind, I often get lulled into patterns that prevent me from focusing on my passions. This walking dead-like slumber causes me to forget how much I love my wife and son and how blessed I am to have them in my life. I am noticing that it is only through being intentional with what I consume media-wise/what I do daily that I am able to overcome this personal apathy.

So what about you? What are you passionate about?