Itsara

Some other things have happened that may distract, so here’s a brief summary of this discussion. A couple of weeks ago, there was a press release for a computer game based on the Left Behind series. We then began discussing why we need Christian games at all, where I brought up two possible reasons and explained why I didn’t really like either of them.

Then we talked about a third reason: to provide a wholesome alternative to secular media. I mentioned that this reason has two basic assumptions behind it: (1) we should be able to consume entertainment and (2) we can’t because we are Christian. I talked about how the second assumption wasn’t necessarily true. In cases of addiction or unquestionable sin, the second assumption applies, but otherwise “…everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer.”

What is and is not okay for Christians to consume is certainly debatable. It has been debated (often heatedly) for centuries. So for the sake of argument, let’s assume that nearly all of secular media is not okay for us to consume because we are Christians. If that is true, then we need to ask whether or not we should be able to consume entertainment in any case. Certainly God intended us to enjoy life here, right? I think that’s true, but I don’t think that we need a Christian version of everything in our attempt to enjoy what God has given us. (more…)

When I decided to write about what we did today, it was because I thought you’d be interested in our first doctor visit, and because I thought the image of Cindy teaching improper fractions on the way to the hospital was interesting. As it turns out, today became interesting for a different reason altogether.

We woke up late this morning. In addition to the problems Cindy has had sleeping lately, Sandra had a bad dream last night and slept with us. So far, it has proven more difficult for us to sleep when she’s with us, and last night was no different. After getting up, I played the banjo and the guitar a little bit. Nothing interesting. I only know three chords on the banjo, but fortunately those chords can be used to play the theme from “Dukes of Hazzard”.

After breakfast and devotion, we left for the day’s errands. Today we were going to visit the doctor, go to the library, reserve tickets for our trip back to the States in August, and go to the market. In the end, only one of these really got done. (more…)

In the last newsletter, I said that we started out this journey as a family of three.

At the beginning of March, we suddenly became the caretakers of a fourth member of the family.

Although it has never been officially announced here, in July we will have a fifth member to the family. Though in truth, Prang is already a full member of our growing clan.

And then, probably around December, we will become a family of six. The Heine family has long been known for growing through unofficial, non-biological family members, but this time we’re going to break that tradition a little bit. This new family member will be a Heine in name as well. Official. Legal. Biological.

I found a couple of previews with more information on Eternal Forces. If this discussion of Christian media, especially games, has interested you at all, go ahead and check them out. There’s one at GameSpy and another at GameSpot. Here are some excerpts I found interesting:

From the GameSpy article:

Players aren’t competing to kill the enemy army — rather, they’re trying to save them, and each person killed represents a failure rather than a success. “We found that adhering closely to Biblical philosophies made the game more interesting rather than less,” Lyndon[, CEO of Left Behind Games,] said.

Peppered throughout the city, the player will come across scrolls, each marked with a Biblical verse…. In my demonstration, I watched an angel descend and take the scroll’s figurative Biblical quote (1 Corinthians 15:37 “When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else.”) and translate that into a gift of money — which, all things considered, made him the coolest angel ever.

As for the violence in a game built from a Christian perspective, Lyndon doesn’t shy away from that either, pointing out that the Bible itself is quite a violent book. “The point of morality is that people have a choice in how they react to situations — and one of those choices is always going to be violence.”

From the GameSpot article:

The game will feature biblical facts between levels, accompanied by tracks from Christian rock groups…. Troy Lyndon, the CEO of Left Behind Games, told us that you can quickly skip over this by hitting the continue button, but they’re also putting in a button to learn more if you’re intrigued.

It’ll be interesting to see how well the game does when it ships…. Lyndon says that the company plans a grass-roots outreach to churches to generate buzz, similar to those used for Mel Gibson’s movie and last year’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Following up the press release for a new computer game based on the Left Behind series, and my post discussing possible reasons to develop Christian games (and why I can’t wholeheartedly support either of them), I want to talk about another possible reason.

3. To provide a wholesome alternative to the violence and morals present in secular media. (more…)

Although I have more interesting things to talk about, I can’t talk about any of them yet, so here’s something else. During devotion this morning, Sandra asked me why people get baptized. I’ve always had trouble explaining this, but I got what I think is a good analogy this morning.

It’s like a highschool graduation ceremony. The ceremony itself doesn’t actually do anything. Colleges don’t accept or reject you based on whether or not you shook hands with your principal at the end of four years. What allows you to move on from highschool to college is the work you’ve done, the tests you’ve passed, and the grades you’ve gotten. The ceremony itself is merely a symbol, a public statement and acknowledgement, that you have done that work and are ready to move on.

The main difference between this and baptism, of course, is that Jesus really did all the school work for us. He’s giving us the diploma for free.

Last week I mentioned a press release for an upcoming Christian computer game, Left Behind: Eternal Forces. I expressed concern about the game being able to live up to its promise and to be accepted by the gaming community, but I think John’s comment (also the title of this post) gets to the heart of the matter.

I tried to think of potential reasons for Christian games, and what my problem is with them. I don’t say that because I’m trying to be mean, but I’ve never liked Christian commercialism and I think this topic is forcing me to really think about why. In this post, I’m just going to deal with the first two reasons for producing Christian games that came to mind. They are:

1. To reach non-Christian gamers with the gospel.
2. To help Christian gamers evangelize their non-Christian, gaming friends.

Let’s talk about these. (more…)

I don’t really follow gaming news anymore, except for what the guys on Penny Arcade choose to talk about. Today they mentioned this press release. It gave me pause.

When the RTS Rapture Comes Will You be LEFT BEHIND?

E3 is set to be the stage for the public premiere of LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces, the RTS based on the wildly popular LEFT BEHIND Christian book series that will break barriers and appeal to both the traditional gamer and the Christian market.

We’d like to schedule an appointment for you to meet with the developers and see a demo for the game that is poised to be the first break-out hit for Christian gaming.

Here are some more details about LEFT BEHIND: Eternal Forces:

- Conduct physical & spiritual warfare: using the power of prayer to strengthen your troops in combat and wield modern military weaponry throughout the game world
- The first RTS where every unit has a unique identity; every character has a name and a back story, providing 1000’s of hours of interesting reading – People are the most important commodity: players must protect the lives of their warriors and recruit “neutral” and even “evil” units to their side
- Command your forces through battles across the most realistic depiction of New York City in any game
- Recover ancient scriptures and witness spectacular Angelic and Demonic activity as a direct consequence of your choices. Unlock inspirational content that makes players consider the larger concepts of good vs evil
- Control more than 30 unit types – from Prayer Warrior and Hellraiser to Spies, Special Forces and Battle Tanks
- Enjoy a robust single player experience across dozens of New York City maps in Story Mode – fighting in China Town, SoHo, Uptown and more
- Play multi-player games as Tribulation Forces or Global Community Peacekeepers

(more…)

As of this post, we will have been living in Thailand for one year. I figured I should at least mention it. It’s been quite a year, with so many changes here and there that I’ve lost count. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. I mean, we came out here with only a vague idea of what we were going to be doing. I guess technically we’re still on track. I just don’t always feel like it.

But that hardly matters. “On track” means “following God’s will”, and while I’m waiting expectantly for specifics on his will, I have no doubt that we’re in line with it. So even though we’re not doing anything with the land yet, even though we committed to be house parents, and then sort of (but we’re not sure really) uncommitted, we’re still doing what we believe is God’s will – or rather the part of God’s plan that he’s allowing us to play – here in Thailand.

I must admit though, that after all the loss and fear and frustration and doubt, I actually feel pretty good. I’m still wondering what my role with Im Jai is at the moment, and I often wonder whether or not I can be an effective parent for children that don’t share my language or culture. But for now I am actually pretty happy. I’m happy with our house and our new family. I’m happy with my Thai. I’m happy with the role I’ve been given with Sandra. I suppose I could fear the fact that everything will change and be hard again sometime soon, but that would only serve to negate (and therefore waste) the peace I have right now so I won’t do that.

So in addition to summarizing a year (and more), and linking to old posts, I wanted to ask you guys: after a year, what would you like to hear about? What haven’t we told you yet? What do you want to know that you don’t? What pictures do you want to see that you haven’t? Let us know, and we’ll see what we can do.