From this blog post, there was a quote that struck me as particularly applicable to our Christian game design.

Flannery O’Connor writes in Mystery and Manners, page 163:

"Ever since there have been such things as novels, the world has been flooded with bad fiction for which the religious impulse has been responsible. The sorry religious novel comes about when the writer supposes that because of his belief, he is somehow dispensed from the obligation to penetrate concrete reality. He will think that the eyes of the Church or of the Bible or of his particular theology have already done the seeing for him, and that his business is to rearrange this essential vision into satisfying patterns, getting himself as little dirty in the process as possible. His feeling about this may have been made more definite by one of those Manichean-type theologies which sees the natural world as unworthy of penetration. But the real novelist, the one with an instinct for what he is about, knows that he cannot approach the infinite directly, that he must penetrate the natural human world as it is."

I felt convicted and encouraged by this -- despite being at least 50 or 60 years old, it still feels like a fresh and timely critique for today.

--clint from ChristianDevs.com

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Brothers and sisters...Alberto and I have been asked to fly into Haiti for a couple of weeks. Jay is sending his American staff out and needs some reliable men on the ground to help coordinate relief efforts. No schedule as to when but within 24 to 72 hours probably. We will fly in with a relief team as soon as arrangements can be made.

Our biggest need will be to bring in cash into country so as soon as I know, please be generous and quick, knowing any amount will help. The conditions are beyond harsh and there is still no reliable source of water, food or anything else. Security is breaking down as men and women begin to get desperate.

I will need people in my church to step up to a new level for this new season as we will need help with church, skate church, caring for families and helping Wendy and Alysia.

Checks can be made out to Elysium and sent to:

ELYSIUM
410 Freeman Rd NW
Palm Bay, Fl 32907

You can also go to our website: http://www.elysiumchurch.com and donate through PayPal.

12 hours from now I should be on the ground in Port Au Prince. Love to all and keep your eyes on FB for updates when I have computer access! if this water purifier arrives at Morning Star you will have helped 1000's with clean drinking water! Other than this, prepare the church for teams to go in in the coming months and consider giving to Fishers of Men. Freedom Christian, Elysium, COTR Melbourne and Fire Dweller raised almost $10,000 in the past 3 days but that is a drop in the bucket...

This email came to us yesterday from the church in Haiti:

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If God has called you to be really like Jesus He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or
measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other people do things which He will not let you do.

Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful, may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it, and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their successes, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence upon Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

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Revival..... another definition would be to recover, repair or restore.

Hosea 10:12 says: "Sow to yourself in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord till He come and reign righteousness upon you." What is fallow ground? Fallow ground is ground that has been fruitful, and then it has been plowed over, and no seed has been sown in it, and therefore it has become unproductive.

Notice, there is a human emphasis here -- it says that we are to break up -- you break up your fallow ground.

Now take another aspect of it here in Psalm 85:6 - "Would Thou not revive us again: that Thy people may rejoice in Thee." So, there is an absence of joy, of vitality -- there is an absence of ecstasy. The very word "revive" presupposes life. You can only revive what has already had vitality -- life that has become sick, weak, or apathetic. I think the nearest analogy I can give you is a recent case of a man who apparently drowned. He had been under the water for an incredible amount of time. Then somebody pulled him out and worked and worked on him, and eventually life came again. This is actually what it means to revive:

It means to revitalize.

It means to restore lost power.

It means to recover lost energy.

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Merry sent me this email that contains a chain letter that is attempting to reform congress.

I can't think of a reason to disagree can you?  It is short and to the point!

I am sending this to my e-mail list and that includes conservatives, liberals, and everybody in between.  Even though we disagree on a number of issues, I count all of you as friends.  My friend wants to promote a "Congressional Reform Act of 2010."

It would contain eight provisions, all of which would probably be strongly endorsed by those who drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

I know many of you will say, "this is impossible".   Let me remind you, Congress has the lowest approval of any entity in Government, now is the time when Americans can join together to reform Congress - the entity that "represents" US the citizens of the USA.

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Just watched a news story about a group of Christians who are raising money for a series of billboards around the country that say, "It's OK to say Merry Christmas!" and it is signed with the name Jesus.

This is in response to the many people and businesses who use Happy Holidays as opposed to Merry Christmas. I won't even get into all the pagan roots of the current winter holiday season that the Roman Catholic church adapted to fit it's newly endorsed state religion and all the elements that we have allowed into our lives. I leave that to those who are interested enough to pursue on their own.

I will say this however...

In a time of year when families are hungry, out of work and struggling...

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