Eventually

Monday December 19th, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Rocovering from Glomp: 7:34 PM
Weather = Windy and Cold

Eventually…

The word is an interesting one. It can have both a positive as well as a negative connotation. In one sense eventually is a signal for anticipation because something is going to happen but hasn’t happened yet. We wonder ‘when is this going to happen?’ and look forward to it. It is in this sense that we as Christians await the second coming of Christ as we celebrate advent and take on the experience of ‘waiting.’

Eventually can also have a negative connotation. ”This book is so long and boring, if I plug away at it three hours a day then it will be over and done with eventually.” Or perhaps worse is the dread in childhood when you have to go to the dentist or sit in the principal’s office. You know that it will be your turn eventually…

But both of these connotations deal with things that are already known about. What if something were coming ‘eventually’ but you didn’t know what it was. Would the mystery cause curiosity or would it just be forgotten? If it inspires curiosity then there must be some hope of something good or some dread of something bad, but which is it? Hmmm… a most perplexing conundrum indeed. The drive to know what eventually means.

Well eventually, as defined by Wikipedia, is “the second solo album that Paul Westerberg released after the breakup of The Replacements,” but that’s not overly helpful. Dictionary.com has a much better definition.

My personal definition has been “a time situated in the future” or “a time that has not happened yet.” When asked when eventually will take place I say “in the future.” When asked for a hint I say “eventually is one day closer to the present than it was yesterday.” When asked to be more specific or if eventually is soon or not I don’t know how to answer because soon and not soon are relative terms. A few minutes might be considered soon by some, but if you happen to be a May Fly and only have a few minutes to live it is an entire lifetime away! I’m really not sure what else I can say on the matter since there are so many eventuallies to be had and unless the question of eventually is attached to a specific event I cannot say more.

But what if you don’t know what the event is?

Well I suppose there are all sorts of ways to find out. You could ask me what the event is that I am referring to when I say eventually. But if it’s supposed to be a secret or a surprise then I will either not tell you or give you false information without outright lying. You could ask other people who know what eventually is. But what if they also want to keep it a surprise or a secret… or just don’t know. What if nobody knows? What if eventually is not attached to an event? Well that would be cruel so let’s not assume that.

Well now that leaves us with two options. You could kidnap and interrogate the people who you think know what eventually is using ever increasingly drastic methods to convince them to divulge or you can wait.

But what if you do not want to wait?

Then I suppose you have to kidnap and interrogate the people who know.

But what if you do not have the means to kidnap and legally get away with it?

They I suppose you have to wait.

But what if I do not want to wait and don’t have the means to kidnap?

Then I suppose you will stew in your thoughts about eventually until it happens.

But what if I don’t want to stew in my thoughts or wait until it happens and don’t have the means to kidnap?

Then I suppose you will continue to stew while you wait. Waiting is really the better option since it happens regardless of whether you want it to or not. Patience is a fruit of the spirit. Another relevant biblical passage might be from James:

“2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

But I am getting off track.

There is another option that has not been explored just yet.

As far as time goes, Christmas and New Year will be coming eventually. I really look forward to them this year. I will be spending them with my beautiful girl friend Victoria, who is no doubt reading this post with an incredible mix of excitement, agony, curiosity, and a desire to kill me. I really do look forward to when that eventually arrives, there will be celebration and much joy to be had. But is this celebration and joy to do with other eventuallies? Maybe.

But here’s the option that has not yet been considered.

Maybe eventually could be the name of something or someone. Hmmmm….

I’ll let you wait or stew on that as you see fit.

Theological Points 3: God and Creation

Wednesday November 30, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Still digesting theology, 6:35 PM
Weather = lightly frosted


Within Christian Scripture there is a clear division between God and creation. It can be illustrated like this:


Creator
-----------
creation


God created the world and is distinct from it. It is fundamentally wrong headed to try to take a piece of creation and try to say 'God is like an angel in that he is a spirit' or 'God is like a father in that he cares for us.' No! As I have already written about in the last two sections God is known by his self-revelation in word and deed in Jesus. The reason for this is that God is not 'like' anything in creation. There is nothing we can compare him to. But this is review.

So yes, God is distinct from creation, but that is not the end of the story. The other side of this theological coin is that God 'gets his hands dirty' by being intimately involved with creation. By God's spirit everything is animated and has life. In Genesis 1 God created everything and in Genesis 2 God takes specific interest in humanity, breathing the breath of life into Adam's nostrils (what a picture of closeness!), planting a garden full of good trees pleasing to the eye and good for food, bestowing Adam an incredible honor by allowing him to name the animals and continue in God's work of creating, and taking a special interest in Adam's completeness, creating the first woman, and oh I am sooo glad that he paid such incredible attention to all these things. His action in the world didn't stop there though, when Adam and Eve sinned God lead them out of the garden both as a judgment and a protection lest they live in their sins forever and he promised a savior. When the people tried to built the Tower of Babel God scattered them both as a judgment and as a protection. Then there was God's provision for Noah and his family, the calling and the covenant he made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He called Moses to work as his agent as he went to war with the gods of Egypt and delivered his chosen people to the Promised Land. God continued to work in the world, revealing himself to the Judges and then to David and the Prophets. Finally he came to earth himself, a man, the historical Jesus of Nazareth who was mighty in word and deed. He revealed a new way of relating to God, as Father by participating in the relationship of The Son by the Holy Spirit! Christ's life, death, Resurrection, and ascension by which he sealed the everlasting relationship and definitive revelation of God to the entire cosmos! Then he sent The Holy Spirit to live inside of those who put their faith into him! God has been living and active in the word from its very creation and will continue to be until the very end of time if such a thing even exists!




There are several heresies that occur when we try to lessen or expand the gap between Creator and creation.

If we try to make God further from creation than is revealed in Scripture then we end up with Allah, or Deism. The Muslims' god is a completely transcendent deity. He is so holy that nothing can come close to him and he does not come close to us. While the Christian god is completely holy and just as transcendent, he speaks into creation in word and deed and chooses to participate (and takes great delight) in creation.

This version of God is basic Deism. The God who wound up the universe like a clock and then left.


If we try to remove the barrier between Creator and creation then we end up with Pantheism where everything is God. God is in every tree, every stone, every human soul, etc. Many First Nations religions and modern 'spirituality,' boil down to basic Pantheism. This is not how God has revealed himself. He is distinct from creation, not part of it.

Also chipping at the edge is Panentheism (there's an extra 'n'). The belief that God is slowly moving into creation or that creation is slowly moving into God. Hegel's theory of continual thesis, antithesis, and synthesis  is the root of this heresy in modern Christianity.



So yes, there is a clear division between Creator and created. God is the creator and everything else, every tree, rock, angel, demon, human spirit, and celestial being is creation.

Theological Points 2: God Speaks

Wednesday November 30, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Continuing to digest theology class, 6:14 PM
Weather = the same as it was last time I posted


Very much related to the last post is this. The only knowledge we have of God is God's self-revelation. The only way we can say anything about God is to repeat what God has said about himself. God speaks and we respond to his speaking. God always speaks first by word and deed.

Why does this matter? It matters because it determines everything we know and can know about God. This is why The Bible is the final authority for all matters of faith and conduct. Within its pages are the words of God, the revelation that came, not from man's ideas, but which came from God himself and were recorded.

Jesus is the definitive revelation of God (John 14:7-9; Heb 1:1-2). This means that all revelation of God comes through Christ. Any spiritual experience that denies Christ is not revelation of God. This is the bottom line and the reason why Christianity is often viewed as 'intolerant' to other faiths. Ours is an exclusive faith where Jesus is the only gateway to the Father.

In terms of 'General Revelation' where a person will look up into the heavens or behold the glory of a sunset and feel in her heart the existence of God, if it be true revelation, occurs through Christ who causes the heart to be stirred in that moment.

If we try to circumvent the path that God has created from himself to us (Jesus) and try to find our own way we are only projecting our own ideas onto the God who can not be known apart from how he makes himself known (in word and deeds culminating in Jesus). The entire Liberal approach to theology, of taking my own personal experiences and extrapolating from them what God is like is, quite frankly, completely backwards and heretical. God is known by his self-revelation only and while this will result in personal experiences does not begin with my personal experiences.

Any time come to any knowledge of God, be it intellectual, emotional, relational, grammatical, theological, philosophical, or anything at all, it is because God first spoke and is at that moment speaking.

Theological Points 1: God is Known by his Deeds

Wednesday November 30, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Digesting modular class, 5:48 PM
Weather = lightly snowing but still nice enough to wear sandals


God's identity = God's action and God's actions = God's identity. Put another way; the Christian God is known through his interaction with creation.

I have spent the last three days in a heavy theology mod about the doctrine of God and creation. I am writing about it to better understand what I am learning as well as cement it in my mind. I may touch on several key concepts so buckle up; we're going for a theological ride!

Christianity has always understood God by the actions that God does. There is no knowledge of God apart from God's revealing of himself. Part of the problem of our theological thinking is that we immediately move to philosophical abstractions. God is spirit, God is loving, God is omnipotent, God is gracious, God is all powerful, etc. While these things may be true in a basic sense they are impersonal and cold terms which are inadequate for describing the living God of Christianity. Just look at Psalm 103:

 1 Praise the LORD, my soul; 

   all my inmost being, praise his holy name. 

2 Praise the LORD, my soul, 

   and forget not all his benefits— 

3 who forgives all your sins 

   and heals all your diseases, 

4 who redeems your life from the pit 

   and crowns you with love and compassion, 

5 who satisfies your desires with good things 

   so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

God is not just philosophical abstractions, he is personally involved in creation, more than that, personally involved in the lives of humans. God is known by his deeds and his deeds define who he is. He also does not expect us to worship him until he reveals himself in his actions. Read the rest of the psalm and look specifically for God's actions.

6 The LORD works righteousness 

   and justice for all the oppressed.

 7 He made known his ways to Moses, 

   his deeds to the people of Israel: 

8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, 

   slow to anger, abounding in love. 

9 He will not always accuse, 

   nor will he harbor his anger forever; 

10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve 

   or repay us according to our iniquities. 

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, 

   so great is his love for those who fear him; 

12 as far as the east is from the west, 

   so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

 13 As a father has compassion on his children, 

   so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 

14 for he knows how we are formed, 

   he remembers that we are dust. 

15 The life of mortals is like grass, 

   they flourish like a flower of the field; 

16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, 

   and its place remembers it no more. 

17 But from everlasting to everlasting 

   the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, 

   and his righteousness with their children’s children— 

18 with those who keep his covenant 

   and remember to obey his precepts.

 19 The LORD has established his throne in heaven, 

   and his kingdom rules over all.

 20 Praise the LORD, you his angels, 

   you mighty ones who do his bidding, 

   who obey his word. 

21 Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, 

   you his servants who do his will. 

22 Praise the LORD, all his works 

   everywhere in his dominion.

   Praise the LORD, my soul.

The appropriate reaction to God's action is our worship of him. He does not just appear and say "behold I am God; the essence of true being. Worship me." He proves himself to be a good and loving God by acting in our lives and being known by his actions. God's reputation is recorded in the Bible, the God who creates, sustains, breathes life into humans, leads, disciplines, calls, protects, redeems, and loves. God's present actions are in accordance with his past actions and his future actions will also be in accordance with who he is, how he has acted, this is called God's Faithfulness!

It is never enough to just say "God is loving." How has God loved and how is he loving now? God gave his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ to mediate the relationship of Love and the gift of everlasting life while we were still sinners Christ died for us. God continues to love by enlivening us with the Holy Spirit and allowing us to commune with the Father through the Son. This is the ultimate act of love and it is of cosmic proportions. It is a demonstration of his love. To say that "God is loving" without also speaking of the act of God's love is to not do justice to the Biblical account of God.

God is not a Platonic ideal, a philosophical 'being' to which we ascribe the highest of virtues, he is known by practical, physical, actual actions that take place in history.

One God in Trinity

Thursday, November 24, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Making supper, 6:17 PM
Weather = warm for the beginning of winter

So I have a modular class next week and I'm finishing up the pre-course work fairly well. I need to write a precis on a chapter from one of the textbooks but I'm not happy with what I've written. So I'm writing a basic non-academic precis on my blog to hopefully better form and articulate my ideas. The book is Gerald Bray's The Doctrine of God: Contours of Christian Theology. The Chapter is number three, One God in Trinity. 

The Christian understanding of God is unique and peculiar. Our faith is one of the great Monotheisms alongside Judaism and Islam, but unlike both of these faiths Christianity is not Unitarian. We believe that there is one God, this is monotheism, but we also affirm that this one God exists in three persons. What a strange doctrine. To an outsider, and to many Christians, this concept of the Trinity seems redundant and even contradictory to the oneness of God. Why do we have a doctrine of the Trinity and why have attempts to go back to Unitarianism been unsuccessful and deemed heresy?

The reason for the doctrine of the Trinity is not redundant or political, but was the result of many theologians attempting to understand God in light of the revelation of Jesus and the personal experiences of believers. Originally, since Christianity came out from Judaism, it shared the same Unitarian understanding of God. This understanding was questioned and abandoned because it did not do justice to the person of Jesus who could only have been God but was somehow distinct from God whom he called Father. Jesus performed miracles, spoke with authority about God and The Law, was able to forgive sins, did not refuse the worship of his followers, was raised from the dead, and ascended into heaven. Jesus did things that only God could do, which meant that at the very least God was working through him, but he also spoke and acted as God himself, forgiving sins, accepting worship as he himself, not as a mediator priest or even a prophet but him himself. The poor disciples, they only figured it all out after the fact, that the man who they had lived with for years and known was actually their God come down to earth in human flesh! He was God and yet distinct from God who he called Father. Well every good Jew knew and still knows that there is only one God, therefore Jesus could not be a second God.

Jesus also spoke of the Holy Spirit who he would send as another helper as he was who would lead his followers into all truth. Another helper, as Christ was, divine, God, yet distinct from The Father and also distinct from Jesus. And it was that in the early Church the Holy Spirit enabled the disciples to do as Jesus had done, perform miracles, raise the dead, speak authoritatively, and understand the mysteries of God.

The logical philosophies of the Greeks was dominant in the world, and when Christianity spread like wildfire across the Roman Empire the philosphers and theologians attempted to make sense of this paradox. There is only one God and Jesus was God and yet disctinct from God who he called Father. Therefore the one God must exist as at least three hypostases (roughly translated as 'persons') but one ousia (essence). This was the only way to do justice to the reality of what had been revealed in Christ and in the experience of the church. The language is very precise, God is ONE essence, and the 'threeness' of God is not parts as if God could be divided, or essences, or faces, or perspectives. The precision of Platonic thought was used to best put into words the fact that there is only one God, but that he exists as three persons who are equally God and yet distinct from one another but still the same being.

This doctrine was not formed frivolously or quickly. It is the result of centuries of theologians wrestling with history, experience, and existing doctrine to best articulate what is true about God. And this is one thing that the other monotheisms do not have, the freedom to wrestle with God in order to understand him. Judaism focuses its attention to The Law and articulates stipulations and contemplates how The Law of God ought to be interpreted in new situations but there is no exploration of God as person. Islam demands adherence to its doctrines through social coercion and regards God as a far off, too holy to touch, entity. Christianity is a new relationship between God and man that has come through the person of Jesus that allows us to relate with God without defiling him while not being obliterated by his holiness. We know God from the inside whereas they know God only from the outside.

Christianity and Dualism

Tuesday November 22, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Appeasing the side of my brain that wants to write non-homework stuff, 10:01 PM
Weather = White, fluffy, and melting.


Christianity is not a Dualism.

But what is Dualism you ask? I'll be happy to tell you! Dualism is the contrast of light and darkness, good and evil, the yin and the yang. It is the belief that for every good force there as a bad force to oppose it and for every bad force there is a good force to oppose it. There is no purely good thing and there is no purely bad thing. Light and darkness are like two fish constantly trying to devour the other and never succeeding. It is a belief of balance.

Historically Judaism and the Christianity that came out of it have had nothing to do with Dualism. Yahweh is the all powerful God of creation who holds both light and darkness in his hands. It is estimated that Job may be the earliest book written in the Bible, and the message is clear right from the beginning that there is no Dualism at work but only the will of sovereign God. From Genesis to Revelation there is no hint of Dualism to be found.

Oh sure there are forces that oppose God, there is darkness in the world and there is light, but they are not in Dualism, they are firmly and immovably in the will of God in whom there is no darkness or evil thing. God is God, and the devil, all the demons, and every evil thing is as a tiny cornflake compared to God. The same can be said of the Christian who's identity is in Christ. Sure we live in this world struggling against sin and darkness, but in Christ (ie: in God) the light burns away the darkness and our sins are obliterated. Rejoice! Our God has conquered sin and death and there is no power above the earth or below it that can sway His eternal victory both in the lives of believers and in all things in all eternity! The cross of Christ has become the eternal anthem of victory and glory of the greatest story ever told, how the God of creation came down as a man, lived among us, died so that we might not die in our sins, raised back to life so that we might live, and now intercedes on our behalf to the Father so that we might know God in all his fullness from the inside.

We as Christians are called to live in the light, to live in the Spirit which is the reality of the relationship of God both above and distinct from us as well as inside of us. This always results in living wisely, which often looks like the sort of balance that yin and yang strives to inspire. The difference is of eternal consequence though, Christianity is the repair of a relationship with the almighty eternal God resulting in eternal life whereas Dualism is a fatalistic attempt at living well in the midst of powers that are beyond our control ending in death.

The Freedom of Christ: Concerning Music

Wednesday, October 19, In the year of our Lord 2011
Caronport Saskatchewan, DE Office
Waiting for the computer to finish rendering, 1:26 PM
Weather = Chilly but clear.


As I wait for my computer to render my work I am listening to one of my favorite bands, "Two Steps from Hell."

Music is such a wonderful thing. The ancients understood music to reflect the order of all things and that beyond our limited scope lay the all encompassing music that was so beautiful it was indescribable, the music of the spheres. Indeed, beyond our understanding is the working of God and the divine order of all things, Music as a form of The Good is perhaps a fitting metaphor.


Music speaks to us, it invokes thoughts, images, emotions, and stirs the mind. Whoever thinks that the music they listen to doesn't effect them is a fool who knows nothing of the soul. Music gets past our conscious mind and flows into our subconscious. Angry music will make you angry about something in your life. Heroic music will make you work harder. Soft music will ease your mind. Mindless music will stunt your wisdom and intellectual growth.

If there is anything noble or beautiful in music, then what is more noble or more beautiful than the divine order and God's incredible plan of redemption in creation? If there is anything heart stirring or awe inspiring in music, than what is more heart stirring the the fire of the Holy Spirit or more awe inspiring than God's glory? If there is something in music that leads one to think of high and lofting things or causes the imagination to soar in new and strange lands, then what is more lofty than our divine calling as agents of God in this world and praise be to God for giving us imaginations that can soar alongside his creative mind! All of these things can be taken as reflections of God and his works, they can become symbols and even sacraments whereby God uses them to speak to us and reflect himself to us. The reality is that we as Christians live the greatest of adventures and it is my opinion that we are entitled to some good theme music every once and a while.


Is there music that Christians should not listen to? I know a few people who would raise their eyebrow at a band with a name like "Two Steps from Hell." What about sound tracks from movies like Harry Potter or other films that have a blatantly counter-Christian understanding of the world? What about obscene or vile music?

I think wisdom and discernment are necessary in drawing personal and communal lines on every issue, especially this one. There are two poles on a continuum that we must pay attention to. On the one hand we have personal preference and on the other hand we have the sensibilities of and respect for the community around us. Music is both personal and communal and this tension becomes obvious on Sunday mornings when the young folk have their style of music and the previous generations have their own. Their is also another two poles on a different continuum, the original meaning of the song and the new meaning the listener gives to it. I am going to not go into any particulars but jump over the quagmire and cut straight to the chase.

All music, regardless of musical style, content, original purpose, what it is associated with, your or my personal reactions or thoughts about it, is completely and wholly subservient to Christ and is redeemable. All music can be used to serve Christ but it is Christ who causes this to happen by the Holy Spirit for the glory of the Father! For this reason Christians, although we ought to be exceedingly discerning, have the freedom to listen to all music if it is done in the Spirit. Therefore we should not judge a brother or sister in the faith solely on the basis of music that we disapprove of. We should confront one another in love if we are concerned, each of us keeping in mind that we ought to serve the weaker brothers, making all efforts to live at peace with everyone around us, and to not use our freedom as a cover for evil or allow it to become a root of division.





Now go listen to some good Two Steps from Hell and consider your great calling in the Lord Jesus Christ and his incredible power that works through you to accomplish the purposes of Almighty God set forth before the dawn of creation alongside countless other brothers and sisters, saints and agents of our all glorious Savior who bled and died and was raised for our justification, from all time and for eternal purpose, a holy line of believers united in Christ which stretches from beginning to beyond the end of time in victory of which you are a part.

Greg Out


Ps. Here are a few more favorites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ1GbBlS9wM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASj81daun5Q&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGb5XFJ7BKk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHZOKREgDYc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKBbu46h2fw&feature=related

Racism in Saskatchewan

Tuesday, September 6, In the year of our Lord 2011

Distance Learning Office, Caronport Saskatchewan

Writing down thoughts on late lunch break, 1:03 PM

Weather = Sunny, Warm, and Green

Sometimes it is difficult to not be racist in my province. I don't think I'm a racist, but sometimes I am sorely tempted to become one. I don't think this post is racist, unless openly talking about a general issue in society that just so happens to often involve an easily identifiable group of people is considered racist.

So I have moved past one of my earlier posts and do actually keep up with the news now, and have done so for quite some time. www.CTV.ca is by no means the be all and end all, but I find it much better than CBC. I usually check out the provincial stories and it saddens me that almost every time I check there are murders, assaults, and missing persons. What does this have to do with racism? I think anyone who has lived here long enough knows, an overwhelming majority of these cases have to do with a specific group of people which are easily identified.

If there is a story about poverty and corruption in this province, sometimes we think of the homeless folk in Regina or Saskatoon. Often times though it is involving a specific group of easily identifiable people who have become notorious for a reputation of irresponsible spending and overwhelming problems with addiction.

If there is some sort of huge legal battle in the province then it might be about anything, but one of the most common occurrences has to do with treaties made with an easily identifiable group of people who are also treated differently than everyone else by the government.

If there is any talk about where tax paying dollars goes, one will eventually come to a large, easily identifiable group of people who live off well-fare and fill up our prisons.

I don't think it's racist to point these things out and say that sometimes it is difficult to not be racist. The First Nations people (Indians or Natives are the not politically correct terms) are simply easy to identify around here because Saskatchewan is still mostly populated by people of German / Norwegian decent. Since they are easily identifiable because of skin color it is easier to see them as all the same, especially to folks far removed from inner-city or reserve life. They look different, they are treated different, we are educated to see them as different in school, society as a whole sees them (as well as they see themselves) as different. This wouldn't be such a bad thing if the crime rate and well-fare rate wasn't so overwhelmingly caused by this group of easily identifiable obviously different group of people. When the average person thinks of a reserve, they don't immediately think that every reserve is different, what they think of is violence, corruption, make sure to keep a close watch on your children and lock your doors sort of mentality. From the recent court battles and buy-out of chief Guy Lonechild by the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations to the problems with the First Nations University to the fact that some residents on reserves live well while others live like it's a 3rd world country; this is where the spotlight shines.

So sometimes it is hard to not be racist when I have been given every practical reason to be. When I hear and see all the violence in Regina involving an easily identifiable group of people who I have been trained by society and school to view as different, I instinctively put up barriers. It's hard to fight that sometimes, especially when personal experience reinforces these perceived differences.

Meta-Stories

Tuesday August 30th, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Just returned from work, 6:52PM
Weather = Gorgeous (and maybe a little on the warm side)

While surfing about the internet I ran into the testimony of a man who firmly believes that he lives with the spirit of Bobby Jordan and that Extra-Terrestrials are invading heaven and are also infiltrating our bodies. It got me thinking about how we interpret what is happening around us. Take a look if you like, it's about 10 minutes long.




It's amazing how we make sense of the world around us and to understand how we think. Even people who adhere to some really strange and different ideas about the world believe what they do for very real reasons. The fellow in this video makes reference to personal many experiences that weave together to make sense of what is happening around him. You, the viewer, probably question his view of the world because it doesn't exactly resemble a common understanding of how things are and tends to break the rules of what we call 'normal.' But let me assure you every person believes what they do for valid reasons, even if they are wrong. I don't want to go too much into Epistemology (the philosophy understanding how we know what we know) but I do want this video and your reaction to it to be an illustration.

What thoughts were going through your head as you watched this video? Mental Sickness maybe? Paranoia? This is probably a common response when confronted with such an 'alien' way of viewing the world, but it is not the only way. Personally I thought of demonic activity, especially when he talked about his human spirit friend, dark entities stalking him, and being aware of a reptilian extra-terrestrial inside of him. Then maybe there are those who read my postings who are syncratistic and have no problem interpreting this fellow's testimony into their own understanding of the world. Maybe what he sees as extra-terrestrials are actually manifestations of nature spirits, or the internal struggle of his soul and desires, or whatever else the reader might try to interpret them as.

The point is that all of us adhere to a meta-story of some sort. This fellow is part of a UFO / Spirituality conspiracy meta-story where everything is interpreted to have some sort of greater meaning. When he has a vivid dream or 'vision' he understands it to be a message for him or a revelation, not mental sickness. The materialists among us (those who only believe in material entities) know that this man is insane and needs help because we ghosts and visions and dark entities are not part of the meta-story that we believe in. As a Christian I may not doubt the authenticity of his experiences, but I can not agree with his conclusions. In a Christian meta-story (influenced by study of Scripture, tradition of the community of faith, reasoning of logic, and the Holy Spirit) human souls do not stay on earth but demons could pretend to be ghosts or spirits to deceive people. More importantly the Christian meta-story understands that God is all powerful and that not even aliens (if they do indeed exist) or dark spirits, or demons, or the devil himself, or anything at all can do anything against God or Heaven. Indeed, from my personal knowledge I can tell you that this video demonstrates textbook examples of demonic activity, from perceiving spirits to how the tones grow darker as time goes on the entire story smacks of classic demonic deception (and possibly mental sickness too). How do I come to this conclusion? Because it lines up with my own meta-story which has been shaped by Scripture, Christian teaching, and my own personal experiences.

Then there are those of us who think that we can not have any meta-story. It isn't possible. Even if you only believe things that are logically provable then logic and the tradition of logic is the authority in your meta-story, whereas personal experience and super-natural experience may be the authority in someone else's meta-story. This doesn't mean that at the end of the day that we're all right, but it does mean that everybody sees the world the way they do for very real reasons.

Thought is over
Supper is ready

Greg Out

Christianity, Morality, and Sanctification

Friday, August 26th, In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Contemplating Morality, 7:52PM
Weather = cloudy and warm but becoming cool
Days are getting shorter


Depending on your spot in the world you may be familiar with the saying

"Real Christians don't smoke, don't chew, and don't hang out with girls who do!"

It's a fun little saying because it rhymes and picks up an interesting property of Christianity in North America. Evangelicalism, being derived from the Puritans with two traditions, the Weslian and the Whitfield, has always striven to worship God by living a 'good life.' As a movement in society we looked at how things like Alcohol and Gambling destroyed lives and tore apart families and said "NO!" We rejected these things as evils of the world to be avoided, unspiritual forbidden fruit of the enemy, and a sin to participate in. The Bible does not condemn Alcohol or Gambling the way that early Evangelicalism did, but it does inform us that our bodies are actually temples of the Holy Spirit (in which case we ought to respect them and not pollute them) and the verses for gambling aren't coming to me right now, but the reasons were derived from Scripture.

There have been many points in history where Evangelicalism has frowned upon certain activities and labeled them a new sin of our age and lumping them in with the great sins of all time: Smoking, Drinking, Tattooing, Piercings, Dungeons and Dragons, Murder, Rape, Sodomy, Incest, Witchcraft, Blasphemy, Molestation, the list goes on. While I think that there have been some very valid reasons why certain things are rejected by Evangelical Churches I also think that we often mistake cultural norm and good principles as "Holy Living."

There are many good reasons for Christians to attempt to live wholly moral lives. First of all it is the nature of all who are enlivened by the Holy Spirit to be obedient to God and to do what pleases Him. Immediately we are confronted with a standard of morality, from our culture, the Church, and our own conscience to do what is good and right and to avoid sin. We seek to be perfect because we love and respect God and so live in reverent fear, the Fear of the Lord as described in Proverbs as the beginning of wisdom. This is a natural tragedy! Natural in that nothing is more natural to the Christian. A tragedy in that the God of Christianity is a God of freedom, who has fulfilled all requirements of righteousness for those who believe, who took the very rules and standards that Christians are still trying to follow today and nailing them to a cross, completely defeating them, making fellowship and community with God possible! Christianity is not about moral living, although it is the only natural thing for a Christian to begin to attempt, but about freedom and love of God. Before almighty God, all Christians are saved by grace, from the fully sanctified saint who craps harps made of pure gold to the self-injuring drug addict murderer! There is nothing, no amount of good living, which puts one above the other.

That is not to say, however, that Christians should not become 'better people' through faith and good works. The Christian doctrine of Sanctification is that God, in his Holy Spirit, moves us to do good and toward perfection. This perfection we move towards does not in any way effect our standing in God's eyes, all are saved by His grace alone. What it does do is free us to further love and know God and serve others. In working through things like anger, distrust, pain, disappointment, addictions, and other spiritual strongholds that are not of God, we are freed from the pain and power these things once had over us and new ways of knowing God (as directed by the Holy Spirit in agreement with all previous Revelation and not our own ideas) suddenly dawn upon us and we are also able to help those who are still under the pain and suffering of what once held us back. God moves us forward, not so that we can justify ourselves, but for his own glory and for our good, because it is better to live wise and righteous instead of foolish and sinful.


All that aside, I also think that we as Christians get confused and label certain activities, like smoking for example, as a something that REAL Christians just don't do. We build a moral framework that is constructed from Biblical roots and applying it to today's time and culture. Suddenly something that the Bible never even mentions is a forbidden sin that will earn you the scorn of the moral church. Sometimes this is indeed a practical and accurate application of the principles and original Spirit of Scripture, and sometimes it is just us reacting to our culture and making rules like the Pharisees which Jesus condemned. Sometimes these rules are very instructive for authentic spiritual and holistic growth, and sometimes they become a quagmire of 'avoiding the appearance of evil' and a condemning finger that is not ever what God intended.

I think that morality and sanctification are not the same thing. The two are related, but they are not the same. Morality has more to do with cultural perspective and a code of do's and do not's. Sanctification is the manifestation of the true freedom in Christ Jesus, not freedom from this or from that, but freedom to do and to move towards the perfection and holiness of God who lives within us whom we seek to emulate and please. So perhaps morality, although it be the most natural thing for a Christian to do, is not necessary, or even a part of what Christianity is. Indeed, morality is the counterfeit to Sanctification, which is a foundation of Christianity.

Lament the Passing of Time

Friday August 19, In the year of our Lord 2011

Distance Learning Office, Caronport Saskatchewan

Remembering to post what I wrote yesterday, 4:24PM

Weather = Cool

The passing of the older generation has always been an unsettling thing I think. Loved ones, family memories, stories, leaders, an entire age is always leaving us. I realized with a heavy heart the reality of this yesterday. No one I knew died, nor was there any news story, I was just thinking. The older generations now, the Baby Boomers and before, are coming to the sunset of their years. My grandparents whom I love dearly, will eventually be gone, and so will their memories, as will the memories of everyone from their time.

I think that the lament for this passing generation should be great, even more so than usual. They remember a time before electricity. Many of them are the last to remember growing up in a small farm house lit by lanterns in their childhood. They worked hard, very very hard some of them. They rode horses instead of cars, they remember the depression or at least the effects it had on their parents, they witnessed more change than has ever happened in the history of humankind. Their time is almost over, and the memories of an entire epoch in history go with them.

And now I wonder what memories will be lost with me and my generation. A childhood without internet? The birth of computers? A physical postal service? A time before the one world order? It hardly seems comparable to what my grandparents will one day take with them. I must learn their stories so that I can tell them to my children and my grandchildren lest it all be lost. Perhaps early lament, even now, is also appropriate.

Random Thought

Friday August 5th, In the year of our Lord 2011

My House, Caronport Saskatchewan

Relaxing after work / supper, 7:24 PM

Weather = clear and warm

I had a random thought just now. What is the light that draws people to Christ in my current spot in time and space. Obviously The Holy Spirit is what ultimately draws people to Christ, but what generally impresses folks about Christianity right now where I am? It isn't the authority of The Church, that ship sailed long ago. It isn't sound argument or rhetorical debate. I actually think that it might be maturity and (of course) love.

Love has always been the greatest commandment to all who fear God and seek to serve Him. Love is the command that Jesus gave his disciples and Paul gave the early church. Love is what we need to be characterized by. Real love is the universal language that everyone understands and it is always in short supply.

But maturity (which was my original thought) is what impresses people these days I think. There is no shortage of spiritual experiences, and church authority tends to make people really angry instead of inspire awe and respect. Arguing people into the kingdom never really worked anyway, not even when it was popular some 50 years ago. What I think really impresses people is integrity, trustworthiness, and wisdom. Or maybe it has more to do with the people I hang around with. Hmm...

Well that was the end of my thought and it didn't really evolve into anything else. I'd be interested to hear what you the reader thinks.

How to do Theology: Looking at Faith and Doctrine

Tuesday August 2, In the year of our Lord 2011

Briercrest Continuing and Distance Education Office, Caronport Saskatchewan

Posting something that I've been working on for a while, 2:31 PM

Weather = Sunny and Warm (unstable)

Over the last few months I have been working on a careful (and slow) reading of Stanley Grenz’s 20th Century Theology: God & the World in a Transitional Age. I know that such books do not really lead to a full understanding of first source material that they evaluate, but I had made a promise to read this book for Senior Theology Seminar with David Guretzki so I had to read it someday. I am glad that I did though. Looking at all sorts of different streams within Christian theology made me stop and think about my own tradition and my personal understanding of theology in general contrasted with how others have understood theology around me. This post will be a manifestation of those thoughts.

First of all I think it is worth noting that I see within theology several different facets that tie together and affect the entire discipline. First of all there is an understanding of God, who He [or as the less Biblically based might have it, She or It] is, God’s purpose, God’s will, basically an entire understanding of (or theology of) God. Secondly there is the understanding of humanity, it’s purpose, eternal status, and how we as human beings should relate to each other and God. Thirdly there is an understanding of how the imminent of today should interact with the traditions of the past, the way things are now (culturally), and how to proceed into the future.

I suppose this would be a three dimensional dialogue of God and man through time. These are just thoughts though, and I am in no way setting out some sort of theological method or a consistent personal view on the topic. Hmm…

So what do I make of all this then? As I look at my own outlook on these topics I realize that my reasoning and views are quite simple and very much faith based. I look at the mighty streams of theology (Hume, Hegel, Schleiermacher, Barth, Tillich, Bonheoffer, Rahner, Kung, Liberation, Narrative, etc.) and think to myself that I am indeed a very simple person. These outstanding theological giants had such a keen understanding and a glowing conviction of theology. All of these have been established on axioms of truth and as I read through each section I realized that in many senses all of them were correct and all of them must also be wrong. They are all correct in that all of them have a specific focus in which they hit upon a nail which is foundational to an understanding of theology, whether it be Hume’s critique of pure reason which moved theology out of the grasp of science and history, Karl Barth’s wholly transcendent God, or Feminist Theology’s drive to make a just and fair society in light of the Christian Gospel. They are all wrong in that in no way and at no time has anyone nor will anyone ever be able to fully understand God, humanity, and how the relationship has progressed through time. I find this encouraging because I know that such a standard is impossible, which means that I am not going to hold myself to it. This does not mean that I will not try my utmost hardest to understand correctly these things, nor is it an excuse to shirk the serious responsibilities in undertaking theology.

Traditionally I have been brought up as a conservative Evangelical, maybe even Neo-orthodox, a tradition that acknowledges the omnipotence of God, sinfulness of man, existence of miracles, divine inspiration of Scripture, and the emphasis on personal faith in the literal historical Jesus Christ as Lord and savior. Growing up I went to Sunday School, Church, Youth Group, and my parents played an active role in my spiritual formation. I believed what I saw as truth all around me, that God is good, that God cares, that God loves me, and that God answers prayer. Mine has been a life touched by the faith of others and empowered by a personal faith in Christ, albeit a simple one. I have always believed that when I stop to pray to God, either out loud or quietly in my mind or heart, that God hears every prayer and answers every prayer. (not necessarily with a yes or no answer) When things happened that were hurtful or that I didn’t understand and especially if they were outside of my control I would trust God and put active faith in Him. Sometimes I wondered if my social-economic status of being a middle class white person in Canada was maybe more to do with God’s apparent answers to prayer, but after asking God about this I had the very strong impression that I was indeed in a very favorable position on this Earth, but that was not mine to choose and that God provides, for me as well as for those who have nothing. It was not for me to know how or if it was just and good, only that God does indeed take care of the sparrows and lilies, and that human kind which is made in His image, is worth so much more than birds or grass to Him. I thought then that maybe this impression was also a result of my social-economic status and a basic reaction of faith, maybe not from God at all. After coming to this point repeatedly in my life I have always had to dismiss it as an unhelpful notion. If God does indeed speak to me then He is God and God will know best how to communicate so that I understand Him. If I mistake my own feelings / intuitions as God’s voice to me then it won’t be long before I am corrected by God or the community of faith. I am of a natural disposition to listen and consider and always pray for wisdom and understanding which is the equivalent of inviting God to come and tell you where you went wrong. But what if all of this understanding, even the reasoning I just state, all a façade for the bleak truth that God does not exist. Well, once again there is nothing I can do about that. Feuerbach’s critique about how we create god in our own image based on the understanding we have is indeed correct, but it does not in any way nullify the possibility of the transcendent God Yahweh. Pascal’s Wager is enough convince me with cold logic if nothing else which is the wiser of the two choices. And then we come to faith, where God makes himself known to you and you just know. It is different from emotion and intuition, although these can be confirmation of faith. It is as Barth says, that God allows himself to be known to you by giving himself to you as subject as well as creator of faith and that unless God gives this faith to you, you cannot have it or even understand it.

After going through the book I look at the axioms and rulings of theologies and shake my head. It is necessary to always attempt to nail down what reality is and how it should work. Unfortunately (or maybe very fortunately) we will never fully succeed. God’s truth is both eternal and subjective. It is eternal in the sense that God’s ways are indeed higher than our ways and that some truths (like the incarnation of Christ Jesus) will always be eternally true. It is also subjective in that God as person decides truth, truth as subjective to the person that is God, but also subjective in how God works with human kind in general as well as each individual person specifically. I believe that this is why there are so many different strands within the Christian faith, the essence of truth, even revealed truth, is both eternal-objective and temporal-subjective. God has become man and has entered into time-space, community, even a very specific time-space community but the manifestation of that reality interacts with the time-space community which it enters into. When the Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles just as it did the Jews the Gentiles did not for that reason become Jews like their Lord Jesus, they remained Gentiles and God’s Holy Spirit worked mightily through them! Indeed, the Apostle Paul who witnessed the Resurrected Christ became all things to all men so that some might be saved, he did not follow the strict method of religion as the Judaizers but lived by faith in that God would Speak into the context of the audience and communicate eternal truth in subjective ways.

Historically the church has created doctrines in an effort to understand God and put limits on what is considered authentic Christianity. I believe this has been a natural and helpful process and the only real responsible thing to do in light of the incredible task of theology. The struggle though is to be faithful to this task without putting limits on God, yet we must do that very thing lest the concept of God be confused with ‘inanimate force,’ ‘unintelligible,’ or ‘the essence of being.’ So we create doctrines (or parables) that seek to explain with authority who God is, who we are, and what our purpose is. These are set out with the very noblest and highest intentions but I fear that they will always fall short. And here I begin to doubt myself. I am not quite willing to side completely with Barth on this issue because I think that there are some basic things that are just always wrong and cannot rationalize (even in faith) how some doctrines could not hold true. It would seem that even the doctrine of God’s freedom from doctrines runs afoul its own reef. And now I have confused myself, there has to be a better way of saying what I mean without contradictions.

But yes, we create an understanding of theology, basic tenants for the Community of Faith but God transcends them. This must be so, because the focus of all of Scripture and Revelation has never been to academicize the God-human relationship but to bring life characterized by faith. Our focus should not be on doctrine, but on an active participation with Jesus through the Holy Spirit in the world today. Doctrine without faith is dead religion. However, one should not just ignore doctrine out of hand either! Indeed, we should seek to follow and understand doctrine as a norm for our personal understandings of all aspects of theology. We should seek after knowledge and wisdom of God as though it were more valuable than great treasure! Understanding sound doctrine is just as important as the basic necessities of looking both ways before crossing a street and making sure to wipe after relieving one’s self. It would be foolish to try and start over as though the meditations of two thousand years of Christian thinkers (to say nothing of the movements of the Holy Spirit for two thousand years) are rubbish to be discarded. We cannot separate ourselves from these doctrines or the cultural influences inherent within them, but neither should we fear that the future of true Christianity depends on our puny understanding of eternal truths. Unless such an undertaking is done in faith and its results are empowered by the Holy Spirit then this is the birthplace for much heresy.

We as Christians must live in our times and places on this earth. We cannot live with a 1st Century understanding of theology because the dialogue of the 1st Century has moved on to include other important concepts while also dropping concepts that were important in the 1st Century. But once again, the rules of how to live Christian lives with believers or nonbelievers are not what we are supposed to be focused on. We are supposed to live in faith and act according to that faith in our time and place. The dialogue of our own societies is always shifting, a constant engagement between affirming what is good and trying to change what is not alongside believers and nonbelievers who are doing the exact same thing who all have a different opinion about what is good and what is not. Culture is subjective, so the workings of the Holy Spirit will be different in different circles. In some places God will work miracles and revivals, in some other places God will work quietly through the community of faith. Sometimes this is because God is working with the social environment because that is how they understand how things work, and sometimes God chooses to work against those understandings. In Pentecostal and Apostolic circles the laying on of hands has become a spiritual symbol of God’s work, and indeed God has chosen to work miracles through the laying on of hands, but in Catholic circles it is the symbol of the cross, and in Baptist circles it is prayer and use of Scripture. The essence is active faith, the form varies according to the understanding of the people exercising that faith. Right when we think we’ve nailed down how we think Christian living ought to be done for all people at all times we’ve missed the mark.

I’ve let this post sit for too long and now my thoughts are scattered again.

More later.

Greg Out

A Strange Dream about Humanities Students

Friday, July 22, In the year of our Lord 2011

My House, Caronport Saskatchewan

Preparing Brunch, 1:07PM

Weather = overcast and pleasant

I had a very strange dream about the Humanities students here in Caronport. Now Humanities students are strange to begin with (chuckle) but this did not help that situation.

In my dream I happened to be in a food court, I think in the Moose Jaw Country Mall. A friend was there with me (we shall call him SE) and my brother eloquently told us that it was to snow tomorrow and that the cafeteria would be closed. He invited us to 'sup' with him and his friends upon armadillo cake and that there was plenty for us all. SE inquired as to the type of armadillo cake, because as every humanities student knows there are many different types, some good and some bad. They were yet unsure and the other humanities students (whom I recognized at other tables and behind some of the food bars) discussed it.

The general consensus was that they wanted to try a bad armadillo cake. Perhaps one with laced with frog innards or perhaps the one laced with frog 'outards.' After all, it would be an exotic experience, something that none of them had ever done before or tasted. SE did not have time for this sort of fiddle faddle and the idea of eating armadillo cake containing unknown ingredients unsettled him. He told them strongly that if time permitted he would TEACH them how to make proper armadillo cake, but he would not eat bad cake.

The pastor (we shall call him KF) looked on amusingly as he contemplated the mysteries of the universe. The English professor (we shall call him SD) motioned to SE to contemplate the offer for a time. He smiled knowingly and made the motion of juggling invisible balls and laughed to himself. "That's all I'm going to say," and he looked at us meaningfully.

Now SE was in a bind for SD was quite correct. The juggling of exotic experience and the humdrum of life was something to be considered for all time. And so we contemplated the mysteries of the universe until a lady from from house church (we shall call her SS) told us that she once stuffed frog lungs with buffalo innards.

Now I thought that this was ridiculous and asked her politely "umm... why?" (For some reason 'how' wasn't a valid question in this context) The answer came to me as soon as I asked my question. What could be more delightful than bacon flavored gushers? They would be for dessert of course.

Then I woke up.

If you have any idea what it could all mean, please leave a comment.

'Proof' for an Intelligent Designer

Friday July, 8 in the year of our Lord 2011

Distance Learning Office, Caronport, Saskatchewan

Responding to annoying fallacy, 12:28PM

Weather = Warm and Sunny

On the news today there was a story about stem cell research finding the cell responsible for creating red blood cells. It is a fantastic discovery, one that shows off the human body's incredible complexity. Indeed, the sheer depth of complexity and how every piece fits together so well is astounding. Then I read the first comment under the story which was as follows:

"Anyone who don't believe there isn't an Intelligent Designer is naive. This finding is another proof!"

Now, I'm not sure if this was just horrible grammar or if the writer was trying to invoke a double negative. Either way it doesn't matter. This line of argument is pointless.

In Christian Fundamentalism's war with Science this is a common strategy of finding something incredible about the world and saying that it is 'proof' of God, or at least 'proof' of an intelligent designer. Incredible geological formations, breathtaking astronomical wonders, the intense complexity of micro-biology. In all of these things the Christian can see the wonder of God, the work of his hands, but it is not any proof to the scientist.

Why? It's not because God doesn't exist or that he did not create these things, it is because science doesn't care nor can it ever know. Science is the study of physical things and assumes a sort of naturalism, which means that it will only ever look for natural causes of things. It doesn't matter how heart stirring or spiritually enriching something is, science will only ever recognize the natural processes inherent in nature.

For instance, for many years this argument was used on a specific type of rock that had unexplainable red spirals all throughout it. Christians said that this was proof of God's design. After a bit of study the geologists said, "actually no it isn't. We can trace these red particles to that hill over yonder. What happened was that the rocks rolled down the hill picking up debris and the rolling motion is where the spirals came from."

I'm not sure if that was a good example, but the general theme has always been Christians claiming God's divine creation on this or that object and then science uncovering a naturalist explanation of why that thing is the way it is.

I think this whole issue is really annoying because it literally gets us nowhere.

Even if we had some sort of object that was indeed created by God, science wouldn't be able to recognize it as such and would create a naturalist explanation for it. That's what science does, and it has lead to the greatest advancements in medicine, architecture, and standard of living. A type of Christianity that tries to scientifically prove what is scientifically unverifiable will always fail and be pushed back and back on the defensive.

Now philosophically this is a completely valid argument, the principle that everything seems to be structured so incredibly well, fine tuned exactly to the sliver of a decimal so that even if something were off by even the minutest point, human life would not exist. However, science doesn't recognize this either. If you want to talk about proofs for God then enter a philosophical discussion and draw examples from science, not vice-versa.

Theology in Cartoons

Thursday July 7, In the year of our Lord 2011

Distance Learning Office, Caronport Saskatchewan

Posting pre-written post, 1:16 PM

Weather = Hot and Sunny

Theology in Cartoons

Cartoons. Those children’s shows that flood you with nostalgia or make you roll your eyes in embarrassment because you once watched that show and enjoyed it. My spot in the spectrum of cartoons is a rather unique one. I remember old cartoons like Bugs Bunny, the original Babar, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Inspector Gadget, Tintin, even a host of unnamed cartoons made in the second world war, but I also am quite familiar with the more recent Digimon (and all of its knockoffs), Sponge Bob, and a host of eastern inspired shows. Part of what I am interested in is what a cartoon is. Is it purely entertainment or is it educational? What happens when a cartoon that is supposed to be entertainment carries with it a strong worldview and presents it to young people in their formative years?

DISCLAMER: I am not going to advocate banning cartoons that do not have a Christian message since that is no longer the type of society we Canadians live in and ‘Christian cartoons’ are and have always been pathetically lame (more on that later)

I just find it so fascinating how cartoons can carry with them an entire worldview and present it to school age children in a way that is effective and even more pervasive than a ‘religious’ course would be in school. I remember Babar giving moral lessons such as ‘how to deal with bullying,’ ‘the consequences of lying,’ ‘responsibility,’ and ‘how to get along with your Retaxus.’ I also remember being taught the philosophy of Ying and Yang from Rupert. I’m not sure if it is because I am just more aware now or if cartoons have changed a little bit, but I sense a much more serious and intense environment when it comes to cartoons, even slap stick humor like the Jackie Chan cartoon. Uncle explains how to properly use your Chi, which I discovered is actually the root of eastern occultism. One of the lead characters in the 3rd or 4th series of Digimon has a revelation to stop fighting evil, “don’t you understand? Light and darkness must be in balance! The brighter the light, the greater the darkness!” This was quite the ‘digivolution’ from the first series where the power of friendship, courage, hope, and other key fluffy things always combine to stop evil and save the day. Then there was Shaman King and the entire focus on animistic spiritual shamanism, or Yugi-oh and the spiritualism behind it. There was even an anime about kids training to become assassins, I don’t think it lasted very long but it was quite dark surprisingly realistic and it was here that I realized that a line had been crossed. Things had gotten serious and dark in cartoon land. Then there were also the dumb knockoffs of these more mature and heavy shows.

I’m not advocating that these shows are sinister / subversive and are trying to distort young minds because of some sort of spiritual battle with the Devil, what I am saying is that these shows have been able to portray basic and sometimes profound points of many different worldviews and I find this very interesting. However, if young people are constantly hearing the message of dualism between light and dark they will assume that that is how the world actually works as many people (even professing Christians) believe.

These are the types of things that children were interested in when I was in highschool, and maybe things have changed a little bit now. It seems that my, as well as up and coming generations, find these sorts of ideas very attractive. I’m not condemning it, but I do think it is a time when we as Christians need to be responsible and wise, teaching our children what is true because there are so many worldviews bombarding us in society, on the internet, and also on Saturday morning and after school. I think that it is better to teach our children how to be wise and how to think than to attempt to restrict the enormous tide of culture, wasting all our time and energy on arguments that don’t hold weight in the public sphere. Are these shows dangerous? Yes and no. Yes in that they preach messages contrary to Christ which will affect the way children see reality but also no in that pre-emptively teaching Christian children to be wise and discerning makes these shows more of a training for ministry than a passive entertainment. Besides, what sort of ‘Christian Cartoon’ would you try to replace these with?

Bible Man?
Gerbert?
Kingdom Adventure?
Adventures in Odyssey?

Maybe I’m out of touch with recent development in Christian Cartoonism, but I have an awfully difficult time trying to find anything that would entertain anything above the average 9 year old. Don’t get me wrong, all of these (with the exception of Bible Man) were cartoons that I watched and loved when I was very young, but what has there ever been for older kids or pre-teens?

Recent Christian movements in pop-culture have had the unfortunate habit of creating a ‘Christian Alternative’ of whatever is popular, which almost always has resulted in sub-par product that is inferior to what it attempted to copy but is considered ‘ok’ because it is ‘Christian.’ Maybe for this reason I am glad that Christian pop has not made it to the cartoon network anytime recently. Seriously… Bible Man?!

But now my post has taken a turn that I didn’t expect it to. Hmmm. If we as Christians wanted to be creative and tried putting a Christian spin (as opposed to the popular spiritual / eastern spin) on a cartoon that was fun, exciting, maybe even thrilling, what would it take? I think part of the answer is violence. With the exception of SpongeBob and Fairly-Odd Parents everything revolves around violence. Whether it’s getting power-ups to turn into some sort of ancient super warrior or acquiring some sort of monster thing to fight for you, violence is very important for holding attention. But to make it Christian we need to also have a salvation story, the realization of sin, the forgiveness of God, the challenge of exercising personal faith, and the spreading of the Gospel. Now how can we do this without making it obviously lame? Maybe Christian themes (omnipotent God, purpose in life, time with a beginning and an ending, the struggle of hope and trust in someone you can’t see, fighting deception and false ideas, and clear right and wrong, and no more of this dualism as though God had to work really really hard to defeat evil) instead of an overt 4 steps to salvation would be a far better action. For some reason I think a platform like Reboot, Beast Machines, or even Digimon could have actually succeeded at putting forth a decently solid Christian worldview if they wanted to. That, or a return to good ol’Babar… Hmm.

The other question I have is ‘is this even necessary?’ and ‘should it even be done?’ I would like to see it somewhere. An actually accurate and solid portrayal of Christian themes somewhere in cartoons or movies is sorely lacking. I see agnosticism, Spiritualism, Occultism, Ying and Yang, Multi-Culturalism, emotionalism, and choose-your-own-belief-ism as well as all sorts of other worldviews able to expound basic principles of what they stand for, but when Christians try to do this it just doesn’t seem to work very well. We need to be very creative and perhaps unorthodox if we want to join in.

Those are all my thoughts for now
Greg Out

Christian Authority

Monday, June 27 In the year of our Lord 2011
My House, Caronport Saskatchewan
Contemplating Ecclesiological / Eschatological / Christological concepts in relation to authority within the Christian Church... (relaxing after work / making supper) 7:16 PM
Weather = very pleasant


Authority. Where do Christians find it? What authority do we live by and where or what do we get authority?

Well, being a good Protestant / Evangelical / Baptist we will start with Scripture. The Bible is the source of authority that all of us good Evangelicals hail as the divine law and ultimate authority for the Christian and the Church. Indeed, the divinely inspired Scriptures of The Bible are the foundations for Christian conduct and the source of God's Word to us. As the Scriptures say;

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2

For the conservative Evangelical, The Bible is the highest law. But this makes me ask the question, "why don't we follow it?"

If Christian authority were as simple as saying "The Bible says..." then why don't we stone homosexuals, stop women from wearing jewelry, or sell all our possessions and give them to the poor?

The answer is that the Bible needs to be properly interpreted otherwise it can say whatever you want it to say. So perhaps the Bible alone isn't the sole authority for authentic Christian life, we also need to use sound thinking.

Reason, the ability to discern truth and understand reality by the power of our minds. The ancient Greeks hailed reason as a religion and the Enlightenment hailed Reason as god. From reason we have the Philosophy, the love of wisdom. Christians however acknowledge reason as a gift of God for the discernment of truth and the enabling of wisdom. Many church fathers acknowledged an eternal rational within nature, human thought, and even within the being of God himself! So we reason about the Bible and discern what parts of the Bible are applicable for us today.

For this reason all of what can be considered 'Classical Christianity' has done away with the sacrificing of animals on the rational that Jesus blood is our sin sacrifice. Christians don't follow the ancient Jewish Law given by Moses because of the decision of the original Church leaders who rationalized that since the Holy Spirit has come upon the Gentiles just like it came upon the Jews, that God accepted them as they were and that they did not need to follow The Law but should still adhere to some basic rules so as to not create strife between the Jewish and Gentile Christians. The Judaisers (those who demanded that Gentile Christians adhere to the Law) were the first heretical movement in the church and it was reason applied to Scripture which stopped them.

And so we have the entire field of Exegesis (properly understanding Scripture on its own terms) which is taught in every Christian School which seeks to be obedient to God. Within Exegesis we have many sub-categories that we use to discern the meaning within Scripture, and here is where Christians will differ in opinion about how this should be done. We have the Historical Critical method, Narrative method, Redactical method, and a whole host of other methods that will bore the average human being to death, but each are very important and form the rational behind different views of Scripture. Is the creation story literal or metaphor? Did Jesus actually do literal miracles or is it all narrative pointing towards a larger and more important truth? Is the proper interpretation of the Book of Revelation Pre-Trib, Post-Trib, Millennial, or Amillennial?

To be completely honest, I don't see most Christians looking into the discipline of applying reason to Scripture which means that we have another form of authority at play, Tradition!

The average person doesn't actually consider the reasoning behind what they believe, they just believe it on the basis of authority. I'm not just talking about religion now, I'm talking about everything. All of us adhere to different traditions of how to understand the world.

The weight of tradition can not be overemphasized and the authority found in it is staggering, especially in the Christian faith. It was tradition which allowed for the discerning of heresy in the early church and it was tradition which eventually allowed for the crafting of the entire New Testament! The Tradition of Truth, handled from Jesus to the Apostles to the disciples of the Apostles is the foundation of the Gospel message and the doctrines of the Church from the Apostles Creed to all the doctrines. As Christianity continued on its way through history it built upon the reasoning and discernment of the generation before it. It is this faithful tradition which has kept this religion firm against the attacks of corrupting the original message of Christ (as the Mormons and Muslims see it). It was this tradition which stopped the spread of Gnosticism in the second century and it is the this tradition that defines orthodox Christianity.

In an immediate sense the average Christian is part of a branch of this tradition that shapes how he or she understands The Bible, God, Salvation, the Church, the purpose Christianity itself, and so many other things as well. Instead of doing personal exegesis, most Christians rely on the authority of tradition. Even those that do learn how to do proper exegesis rely heavily on tradition, it is what gives us roots and identity. In an even more immediate sense every church has traditions from how many hymns or choruses must be sung to emphasizing specific doctrines (perhaps an emphasis on the sovereignty of God verses the free will of man).

Now if you happen to be reading this and something really ins't lining up just yet then perhaps that's because I haven't mentioned The Authority of The Spirit.

Christianity isn't just properly understanding Scripture and a Tradition of Truth, it is also empowered by The Holy Spirit! Christianity is a living religion and the Holy Spirit is what unifies us all in Christ as well as empowers and inspires individuals do the will of God. When The Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles it burned within them and they could not keep silent, even when the Sanhedrin (the highest religious authority during the time of Christ) forbid them from speaking, they literally could not stop, the Holy Spirit surged through them. All throughout history the Holy Spirit has empowered Christians, sometimes overtaking them in incredible ecstasy and revealing truth to the hearts of all who would listen. How did the Apostles know that Jesus was the Christ, the incarnation of God Himself? God revealed it to them, through the Holy Spirit!

Now going back to reason, it is important to note that authentic revelation of God will not contradict past revelation because God will not contradict himself. For this reason simply saying "God told me so," sometimes isn't the most authoritative thing to claim. Scripture, reason, and tradition all tell us to test the spirits to make sure that perceived divine revelation is in fact from God and not just someone's idea that they got really excited about.

That being said, the place and authority of revelation from God apart from Scripture (in personal experience) can not be overstated! Christianity would be dead if it weren't for the life breathed into each of us by God. The supernatural testimony of the Apostles, the Scriptures themselves, and the incredible witness of countless Spirit filled leaders from Scripture and beyond (Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Barth just to name a few from theology alone). This is the legacy of Christianity, the declaration of the Gospel! God is with us! Emmanuel! Hallelujah!

Even today, God manifests his power through us in Spiritual Gifts! The gift of wisdom where God gives you the ability to understand many things and how to apply knowledge well. The gift of knowledge where God allows you to know things that nobody has told you (yet). The gift of prophecy, where as you speak the truth about God, God himself speaks through you to enliven the soul of those listening. The gift of tongues where the spirit of the individual is caught up in the rapture of God's glory and begins to praise God in spiritual languages or where the language barrier is breached and the Christian is empowered to speak the language of the hearer. In addition to these are the gifts of teaching, administration, charity, faith, mercy, and hospitality.

Occasionally God will give some individuals a special anointing to do incredible things for the Kingdom of God. Luther's corrective to dead Catholicism, Barth's corrective to dead Protestantism, Martin Luther King Jr.'s corrective to a racist and hateful Christianity, Teresa of Calcutta's ministry to a poverty stricken land. Occasionally the Holy Spirit is poured out like wildfire upon an entire region for a time of incredible revival. It is from these people and times that traditions are formed and the authority of Spirit is remembered in those traditions. All these authorities are part of the grand story of God's working in history apart from as well as in and through his people.

Then of course there is always culture. Since the Church is located in time and space it is also located within a local culture. Local culture will have its own ideas and traditions, and is a natural catalyst for development and adaptation of the local church. Culture always demands that the church change, and the church must always walk the line between holding to what is true and updating what is out of style / irrelevant / wrong. The Church should be a notable presence within culture, following Jesus' command to be salt and light. The Church will also always be changing because of culture, both to combat as well as accommodate it.

This is why the Historical Critical method of understanding the Bible can not just be ignored, the Christians within Scripture were also shaped by and engaging in (reacting to?) the culture around them. Culture is the medium we live in, it is a part of who we are and who we are trying to reach.

Why then do Christians differ so much from each other? Why are there so many disagreements and schisms within the Church?

The reason I think is that we all place a different emphasis on different authorities. We Evangelicals (especially us Baptists) hold that Scripture is the highest authority, Scripture as the Holy Spirit empowers you to understand it. Roman Catholics value tradition, especially Peter's mantle to lead the Church, as the foundation of their structure and belief. Liberal Protestants (as well as liberal Catholics) emphasize historical criticism and reason based on the human experience. Pentecostals, Apostolics, as well a host of other mystical and spirit lead groups emphasize the authority of the working of the Holy Spirit and personal revelation. Independent churches place the authority of Scripture or the Holy Spirit above that of Tradition. Liberation and 'Social Gospel' movements within Christianity emphasize the importance of culture and our need to engage it. At the end of the day we all have the same authorities, but we just put them in different places.

I think that this difference in emphasizing of authority is actually a good thing. The Body of Christ (the Church) is a made up of many members, and I don't think the spirit of this analogy is lost when applying it to different streams within Christian thought. In this way the Church, like the Apostle Paul, becomes all things to all people so that some may be saved.

I think that there is a danger neglecting any one of these authorities. Christianity without the witness of Scripture risks toppling into foolish or false ideas that are in not part of Christianity at all. Christianity without reason is unintelligible / foolish / dogmatic at best and leads to some of the absolutely worst atrocities at worst. Christianity without Tradition risks corruption and has no accountability within the larger body of Christianity. Christianity without the Holy Spirit becomes dead religion, the very thing that Jesus condemned in the Pharisaical tradition. Christianity detached from culture becomes stagnant and begins to die.

All these forms of authority interweave with one another and we can not truly ignore any one of them. These are the forces that shape us which we engage in.

Greg Out

Thoughts on Assassin's Creed

Sunday, June 26 In the year of our Lord 2011

My House, Caronport Saskatchewan

Recovering from lots of people at my house, 4:30 PM

Weather = Sunny then Stormy then Sunny again... Bipolar?

Thoughts on Assassin's Creed

On November 13, 2007 a game was released that would become a legend. In both game play mechanic and in philosophical and theological voice, Assassin's Creed stands as the first of its kind. As a gamer, story line junky, and student of Theology I am particularly interested in how this series has handled both aspects.

I am particularly interested in the overwhelming theological and philosophical themes presented in the game, especially with the announcement of there newest release, Assassin's Creed Revelations.

PC Games - E3 2011 - Assassin's Creed: Revelations

Am I almost at a loss as to where to begin! As I listen to the sound track from Assassin's Creed 2 I can not but help remember feeling that in playing this game I was in some way participating in an epic story, so much bigger than myself. I suppose I'll start where my non-gaming readers get an introduction.

Click play to get some background music going and it will set the mood as you read. :)

Assassin's Creed was the first epic 'sandbox game' where the world is completely open and you can do whatever you feel like. Your character, Desmond Miles, was abducted by a group of scientists called Abstergo and put into a machine that allows Desmond to relive the memories of his ancestors. Desmond agrees to 'go back in time' through his ancestor's memories to help Abstergo find an important relic that they are looking for and in exchange they'll let him go home. As Desmond re-lives the memories of Altiar, an assassin from the Holy Land during the Crusades he makes many unsettling discoveries... The story line goes on an on going deeper and deeper and I just can't bear to try to type it all out without making it sound ridiculous. Needless to say I have been very impressed by the story telling.

I could go on about how the game play is innovative, the story depth, the emotion of the broad sweeping music of Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood, the awesome fight scenes and so on and so forth, but that's not really what I wanted to write about.

What I want to write about are the messages inherent in this game, because they are profound.

First of all I find it interesting that at the beginning of each game in this series there is a loading screen that informs you that this game was created by a multi-faith team. Given the amount of Biblical and other religious content as well as the big questions posed this becomes obvious quickly.

While you play Desmond Miles your character is strapped into a machine for 97% of the game and you are actually playing his ancestors, Altiar from the Holy Land in 1170 and Ezio from Florence in the 1500's. This group of Assassin's fight for freedom and against corruption. When the cause of corruption is located an Assassin will go and assassinate the cause.

Their creed is simple, "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted." At first I thought that this meant some sort of complete relativism which is so prevalent in our age and a very popular message of the time. The main character of Assassin's Creed 1 (Altiar) acts according the creed in exactly this way until he is chastised for his carelessness and foolish behavior by his peers as well as their leader. He is sent on a journey of redemption to prove his loyalty as well as to teach him the true meaning of the creed. However, what begins as a lesson in humility begins to descend into the uncovering of incredible and terrible secrets. Altiar finds a link between all the men he has been assigned to assassinate (be they Crusader or Islamic), all of them are part of a secret organization of Templars that are trying to bring about peace by destroying opposition, knowledge, and free will.

The leader of the Assassin's agrees that he also would like to see real peace, but it can only be accomplished by teaching it to others, not in forcing it upon them which is why the Templars must be stopped. Ok, I get that. But then as you play through the game you begin to become unsure of what is really real. You find that the war between Assassin and Templar didn't end in the 11th century, it rages on even till this day, and the Templar's have been succeeding. They have effected everything, every authority be it political or religious, history, philosophy, technology, education, and every major event in history, all of it has been shaped by the Templars to keep people from discovering the truth. Then Altiar understands, "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted," does not mean complete relativism, it means to be wise. As Assassins they must see the world for what it really is, an illusion dominated by Templar influence, and to not be restricted by the powers or expectations or temptations of that illusion. Then as Ezio, the leader of the Assassins 400 years later says "we work in the dark to serve the light."

I find this whole thing so amazing. At first it frustrated me, because as I was growing in my own education I was developing a profound appreciation for written history, first source materials, ancient Christian traditions and Creeds, and this game was basically saying that none of it was trustworthy. The beautiful craft of this series is how they base their story off of real life events and real people and organizations, but have added this conspiracy twist. This makes the atmosphere exciting and suspenseful. In the end it is still relativism, but one desperately searching for truth, untainted and not trying to control you as a slave like the Templars. I found this theme so fascinating, especially now that "Assassin's Creed Revelation" is hinting that it will finally reveal the answers that the Assassin's have been searching for.

I also thought that the game's take on Christianity (and Judaism) was fascinating. The First Assassin's Creed begins with a verse from Ecclesiastes.

"I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly. I perceived that this also was a chasing after wind. For in much wisdom is much grief; and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow."

Christianity, at least Catholicism, has been infiltrated and dominated by the Templars. The leader of the Templars eventually becomes Pope in Ezio's time, and there is a suspicion that magical artifacts (not God) was responsible for parting the Red Sea, and allowing a simple carpenter to turn water into wine. So Judaism gets mentioned and Christianity gets to play bad guy (sort of).

At the end of both Assassin's Creed 1 + 2 the main character speaks with King Richard and the Pope respectively about the God and Scripture. King Richard prays for wisdom in discerning truth and in the told tells Altiar that even though he doesn't believe in God, God believes in him. Ezio confronts the Templar Pope and as they fight he chastises him for not believing in the Scriptures of his own religion and the Pope laughs at him saying that they are just words that he uses to keep power. Both Christian faith and atheism are presented, but little or no progress is made in resolving an answer.

I found this attempt at being neutral fascinating. I doubt it will be resolved as the explanation of the Assassin's Creed mythos is further explored. The meta-story suggests that Christianity (as well as all other religions) are wrong and that instead of a Biblical creation the world was actually made by advanced alien creatures who became the gods of mythology and that supernatural phenomena is the result of relics of their extremely advanced lost civilization. However, the developers have taken special care to only hint at this and never actually speak against the tenants of a religious group. They have also kept it so that the plausibility / truthfulness of faith (any faith) is presented but left untouched. Old Testament stories, ancient mythologies, and famous pictures / paintings become riddles with hidden meanings in uncovering the Templar plot throughout history. The result is that the Assassins work together for the betterment of humanity in a sort of Gnostic-humanism that respects other religion but doesn't look to any of them for truth. There is also a fair bit of syncratization as one Assassin is a Christian nun who works as the mistress of a brothel. When Ezio questions her about how her faith and her occupation work together she explains that true faith is not restricted by the Church but it between her and God alone. A very fascinating combination of Christian, Assassin, Prostitute, and nun.

My concluding thought in this topic is that real Christianity has not made any appearance in this game and that Christian religiosity is all that we will see in this series. Faith and what religions are actually about / founded in is left nebulous, but not without respect by the Assassins who are far more willing to embrace true faith as opposed to the power crazed Templars. And so black and white becomes shades of grey.

Islam however is left alone completely. I found it odd, since Christianity lended so much of its history and flavor to be reinterpreted that Islam is not picked at like everyone else. My theory is that if anyone was going to be offended and react poorly it would be Islam. Any mention of Muhammad perhaps not being God's prophet would have been blasphemy. Of course hinting that Jesus was only empowered by alien artifacts and was in fact NOT the Son of God is also blasphemy, but Christianity has, for the most part, a different approach these days to non-Christian / multi-faith organizations misrepresenting the God of the universe out of ignorance.

Then there is 'The Truth,' something that you find pieces of throughout Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood. You see, as Desmond is running about through the memories of his ancestors in the machine some of the computer code has peculiarities in it. Someone left him a message and as he finds these 'glitches' in his memory he locates within each one a coded message. The stage is set for exploring just how far the Templars have corrupted all knowledge. You begin to see, just like in the Da Vinci Code, that all sorts of famous artworks and historical photos include relics that the Templars have been using to shape history in their image. Voice recordings, hidden number codes, and riddles begin to unlock the true nature of humanity itself, at least humanity in how UBI has recreated it. Adam and Eve were the first to escape Eden. They took with them a relic, the apple of temptation. They were created in the image of the gods to serve them.

There is so much more I could write about that intrigues me, from the symbolism to the how the game play itself reinforces the story and the messages inherent in it. Perhaps I will conclude with this. At face value the Assassin's Creed series is a long line of bloody assassinations. Search a little deeper and you find a top class conspiracy. Deeper still I think the game asks some incredible questions. How do I know what I've been told is true? How do I know what I believe is true? Is there Truth? Where can I find the Truth? What is the value of a life? As the main characters wrestle through these and other issues for themselves we are taken along for the ride. I think this is a profound tool that ideas are being channeled through today. Young people play these games, encounter the intrinsic ideas of the game they have been participating in, and the messages are heard.

Here are a collection of trailers for the series which give a snapshot of what this is all about.

Assassin's Creed I

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Launch Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Exclusive Templar Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2K6 Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Assassin's Creed Lineage (the background of the conspiracy and murder of Ezio's Father)

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Lienage Part 1 HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Assassin's Creed Lineage 2, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Assassin's Creed: Lineage Part 3, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Assassin's Creed II

Tags: GameTrailers.com, UK Story Teaser HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Launch Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 09: Trailer, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Debut Teaser HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (2.1)

Tags: GameTrailers.com, Darkness In Rome Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2010: Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

Assassin's Creed Revelation (2.2)

Tags: GameTrailers.com, E3 2011: Trailer HD, PC Games, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360