I am excited to announce that Nerd Chapel will be attending a new (for us) con this February. We will be at Alma Con at Alma College in Alma, MI. Yes, that was a little repetitive. They must really like the name, "Alma".
We'll have a booth in the artist/vending area and we'll be planning a Sunday morning service for the con as well! The message will be connecting Cosplay with Paul's discussion of putting on the "New Self" in Ephesians 4.
Also, my co-author for 42:Discovering Faith Through Fandom, Mr. Nathan Marchand, will be hanging out at our booth that weekend.
I'll be cosplaying on Sunday as Obi-Wan Kenobi and on Saturday I'm gonna have my Martian Manhunter cosplay for at least part of the day. Hopefully by then I'll have the red eyes going.
Please stop by and say "hi". Keep tuned to the Nerd Chapel FB page for more info.
This summer I'm going to China. This will be my third time there and there. Essentially this is an English camp. We'll partner with a Chinese team to use drama, games and music to teach English to kids of a variety of ages from elementary ages up through high school and possibly college as well.
Here are my reasons for going:
1. The people are fun, inventive, and engaging. I always come back with new friends.
2. I firmly believe in the work of Project Partner. They do a great job of acting as a support for Chinese who are trying to build up their own nation.
3. It is always an adventure.
Here is a video about the trip. The audio is a little low on the video itself but it doe suffice.
There is still space to join the team. The trip is July 28- Aug. 7. If you are interested in joining please visit these websites, the top one is for the organization but the bottom one is for applying to be on the trip.
How are you today? Well, by now you have probably seen "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens". I've seen 3 times so far with different people. I am still waiting to work out a time for my Mom and I to go see it. Warning, spoilers ahead.
Found at www.starwars.com
Today I want you to consider Rey. Daisy Ridley has certianly gripped our hearts with her stellar performance of this new character. What can we, as Christians, learn from her story? We find her living a rather difficult lifestyle. Collecting parts from old Imperial ships that were destroyed in some sort of battle years before this to get food from a very untrustworthy fellow. I almost feel like she is a slave.
Jesus once told a story about a good Samaritan who helps an injured Jew that was ignored by religious people, who seemed to have authority, passing by him. We soon learn that Daisy has the heart of a good Samaritan. She hears the whistles of droid BB8 when another scavenger is trying to take him for parts. Not only does she help him there, but she reluctantly agrees to take him with her for a while and moves on to get him back to the Resistance.
Her experience in the inn run by Mas is quite interesting. She has a vision showing herself on Jakku as a little girl being left behind by someone and sees many other things. Her dream points to quite a legacy and a future, but she is terrified by it. All she wants to do is run back to Jakku as she is convinced her family will come back there for her.
Thus, we have one of the most teachable moments in the film. Mas comes to speak with her. "You won't find fulfillment in the past anymore. Your family is not coming back there and you know it." This moment is about holding on to what is behind us. A similar moment is mentioned in the first verse of the song "Beyond Belief" by Petra:
We're content to pitch our tent when the glory's evident
Seldom do we know the glory came and went
Moving can seem dangerous in this stranger's pilgrimage
We have a choice to move or not. If we move, the adventure might be larger than we can possibly imagine. If we stay, it is nice and comfy. Unfortunately, Rey did not get to choose, not at that time. She was captured but that led to it's own moments.
Kylo Ren was interrogating her. He even showed her his face. But, she was much stronger in the Force than many people he had used it on and he did not get much out of her. This was our first notion that she has the Force, aside from the vision. This is the first time she really uses it.
Then she showed more Force ability. She escaped using a Jedi mind trick on none other than James Bond. Yes, that was Daniel Craig in Stormtrooper armor, one of many cameos in the film. Oh, and this troopers designation was JB-007, but back to our story. She reconnects with our heroes and soon ends up meeting Kylo Ren again.
I found it interesting what happens as she fights him in a lightsaber duel. He offers to train her in the Force and then she looks surprised. She had not even realized what she was doing this whole time. Back when she had talked with Mas, she had been told to be calm and open herself up to the Force. This is exactly what she does. She closes her eyes and briefly calms herself...and then she comes back with all the power of the Force. The rest of the fight is amazing, wasn't it? What she could do when she knew it was the Force she was using was spectacular.
Just like the Force, God has given us an amazing gift. His Holy Spirit. That comes with a vast array of powers and abilities. Just read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. Jesus Himself said we who follow Him would do more amazing things than He did (John 14:12).
Rey does choose to go on to amazing things. In fact, she goes on the mission to find Luke Skywalker. We do not yet know what she will learn from him, but think about finding a man you once thought was a myth, a story. How would that feel? Maybe you feel like Jesus is a myth. Many people think that way. In my experience He is real, powerful, loving and trustworthy. He'll do what is right by you, but not necessarily what you want. Will you go beyond belief?
Today I want to share with you something about my prayers of late. One thing I have been praying about Nerd Chapel for a while now is that God would align my heart with His heart. My reason was that it is so easy when you step out in ministry to focus on what you want or what you feel comfortable doing and I felt that doing so would help keep me straight and focused on God's direction instead of on my desires.
As of late I have been praying this over myself more generally. I think this is going to be something for my 2016. I am not sure this is a "safe" prayer, but why do we pray safe prayers? What benefit is there in that? Do we grow from safe prayers? Do we benefit from them?
King David did a lot of amazing things. He fought bravely for God against the warrior Goliath and in many other battles. He wrote many songs of praise that we still use today for the worship and adoration of God. He built up the nation of Israel and expanded its boarders significantly.
Yet he also failed. Israel had been warned that a king should not have many wives and he had several. One of these relationships began as an illicit affair with a married woman. He then tried to cover it up with murder by sending her husband to the front lines of a battle.
In all of this David was called "a man after God's own heart" in 1 Samuel 13:14. Why? Well, one example of this came after the great sin he committed. A prophet named Nathan came to confront him about it. He told a story about a man with many sheep taking the only sheep of another man for a feast. David was outraged at the man doing this and Nathan said "YOU are that king". David immediately saw his own sin and repented.
Essentially, David course corrected to align his heart with God's heart. There were still some consequences for David's sin and actions. But God did forgive him. I have to wonder...what if David had stopped earlier to align his heart with God's heart? How would things have been different? Would David and Bathsheba been spared many problems if he had kept his heart aligned with God and chosen not to pursue her? We will never know the answer, but I think things would have been very different.
2015 has been a great year for Nerd Chapel and for me personally. Here are my thoughts from this year:
Cons:
Grand Con went amazingly well this year. It was exciting to have Dice Tower founder Tom Vassel. We also had our own booth for the first time at a con. Lots of people stopped by to say "hi" and purchase a copy of 42:Discovering Faith Through Fandom. Our presence definitely grew this year.
Nerd Chapel also went to the Grand Rapids Toy and Comics Expo which was not as successful as I had hoped. I will be at the next one but further attendance will depend on how it goes.
Gen Con was amazing! Although Nerd Chapel had no "official" presence there I volunteered with the Christian Gamers Guild at their booth. Between the CGG booth and Nathan Marchand's booth 42 sold extremely well. The church service was great and this year I actually got to participate in leading the service by helping with communion.
42:Discovering Faith Through Fandom
It was exciting to see this book come out into a reality from an idea in my head. It has been exciting seeing it come out into the world. It sold well at 2 of the conventions I took it to this year. One gentleman who bought it at GenCon was so excited about it he read the first two entries in one sitting instead of waiting for the next day.
Game Nights:
The Pandemic Party we hosted was a success. It was much larger than the monthly game nights are moving along steadily. This is an area that needs some growth but is certainly not falling apart.
Future:
I am hoping to be at a lot more cons and events with Nerd Chapel in 2016. The monthly game nights will be continuing and I am looking into more cons to attend. Very little is set in stone so far, aside for a few game nights at All Shores Wesleyan Church.
Christmas is coming! Yep, just a few days away. Presents will be wrapped in nice paper only for the paper to be ripped apart. Many will attend Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services. What is your families tradition? My brother and I are always busy on Christmas Eve. We run tech for our church's services which is a full day of work for us. 4 services in all. Christmas day is a day for resting and relaxing.
I was thinking this morning about spoilers. We have all been very concerned about spoilers for Star Wars, right? For me the movie was spoiled a little bit. A student in a class I was subbing for (last class of the day on Friday, mind you) ruined a detail for me. A rather important detail. There are certain things, such as movies, that we are careful not to divulge to much information about.
Bethlehem on the night of Jesus birth was not so worried about spoilers, though. The town was bustling with travelers for the census, shops, Roman guards, and more as a few shepherds walked around very excited telling everyone all the details about the biggest event in history: God had become man and was born in a stable.
Did you ever experience something and everyone you talked to wanted every detail? Maybe it was a trip you went on or a funny story about a goofy person in your life. Shepherds were not the most popular people in that day. It was a big deal for them to be the first to hear the news of the Messiah being born. They might not have been used to people wanting to know the details. Admittedly, I wonder if at some point in the night they felt like someone with a UFO story might feel. If someone just was not listening to them. But that is not what we are told by Luke. Luke 2:18 tells us all who heard it were amazed at what they were saying. This was a big deal. Angels and the Messiah in the tiny village of Bethlehem. That big news has changed the world more than any other story. More than Star Wars or even Romeo and Juliet.
Just so we are clear, the Christmas story is one you don't need to worry about spoiling. Tell as many people as many details as you can! Get the word out. Life has changed because God has come among us.
Last night I watched a few shows with my Mom, including The Librarians and Once Upon a Time. Interestingly, both of these shows focused on darkness or sin in our lives in some form. Some spoilers ahead.
Found on the "Once Upon a Time" FB page.
In Once Upon a Time, we find a town panicking as multiple Dark Ones approach townspeople for what you might call tagging them. They are all given a mark targeting them to be pulled down into the Underworld. You see, the Dark Ones can only stay if they are replaced by someone in the Underworld. Somehow, Emma gets through to Killian, who is now one of the Dark Ones. He pulls all of the darkness, from all of them, into himself in an attempt to gather it into one place to be destroyed. I won't tell you here if it worked or not.
Found on "The Librarians" FB page.
We see a different take on sin in The Librarians. They come across a club where people are stricken with consequences of actions they did not commit or experience. A girl who is walking with her friends is thrown several yards and injured as if being hit by a car. A boy almost dies from a drug overdose without taking any drugs. As they investigate this club they meet Dorian Gray. Dorian has taken his ability to pass his consequences on to others and digitized it, using pictures taken of people in the club. He used his own vanity to gain immortality. This way he can live as long as he wants and do whatever he wants with no consequences. There were some other antics to enjoy in this episode, but I won't ruin them for you.
Darkness does exist in real life. You know that, right? We call it other things. We call it "mistakes" or "poor decisions" and once in a while we are honest and call it "sin". The good news for us is that we don't have to worry about beating the darkness. Jesus already did that.
"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8
Jesus chose to be more like Killian (aka Captain Hook). He accepted a painful death on the cross. Killian deserved the punishment. He had spent years pirating and killing. Jesus had not. Jesus didn't kill anyone or steal from anyone. He chose to come to Earth, give us some instructions about love and respect and responsibility, and then he accepted death to take our spiritual consequences and give us what we don't deserve: access to God the Father and an infilling of the Holy Spirit.
God is not going to settle for us living a life of sin with no consequences. Jesus did not die to turn you into Dorian Gray, but to enable you to repent. Later in Romans, Paul says:
"What shall we say, then?Shall we go on sinning to increase grace? BY NO MEANS! We are those who have died to sin, how can we live in it any longer?" Romans 6:1,2
I do think there is a difference between spiritual consequences and natural consequences and I do think we still have to face the natural ones. The Book of James is quite honest about natural consequences of our actions. This repentance thing isn't easy, but reliance upon God helps a lot.
I encourage you to read all of Romans 5 and 6 as it pulls together our faith with Christ's work on the cross to show how we can receive cleansing from Him to live in righteousness.
