In C.S. Lewis' Perelandra trilogy, the Oyarsa (the archangel of Mars) was very much more concerned about Prof. Weston than he was about Weston's greedy, shallow companion, Dick Devine. A train of thought led from there to realizing that many more Christians are unplausibly upset about Madonna's legacy (and by a certain cultural extension, video games) than they are about Frank Sinatra's legacy. This train of thought was a branch off of the thought I had about Harry Potter's magic vs Occultic Magic vs Aslan's Deep Magic.

This concurs with what the Lord said: "Judge not according to appearance."

The reason why we should be more concerned about, say, Richard Dawkins, and less about British Petroleum, and more about Frank Sinatra, and less about Britney Spears, is because they are demonstrating opposite vices, in a sense.

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From time to time I hear people asking "what exactly is a Christian computer game, anyway?" The logic goes like this: surely people are Christians - people who trust in the death of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. A computer game is... well... it just is. A computer game doesn't trust in anyone, and I'm pretty sure that a computer game doesn't have sins, even if it does involve stealing cars and beating up hookers.

Perhaps, then, a computer game is "Christian" if it's based on Christian content - perhaps a Bible trivia quiz or a memory verse game that gives you points for demonstrating your superior knowledge of the scriptures. The trouble with this is that it bears little resemblance to Christianity - no-one ever got saved by knowing their Bibles well, and there's no spiritual browny points for being able to recite the book of Jude from memory (although you might earn yourself a high five from me!) After all, the scribes and the Pharisees in Jesus' day knew their Old Testaments better than anyone, and all it did was make them puffed up with self-conceit and hardened their hearts against realising their desperate need for the forgiveness Jesus was offering. As James tells us, if Christianity were a competition to see who knew the most right answers, we'd all be left for dust by the demons.

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Over at ChristianDevs.com achild asks this question: "How did you turn to Christ?"

Some call it reborn, or born again of the spirit, or the 2nd birth, or saved (my least favorite - didn't He save us ~2000 years ago?).

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I was talking with pastor Jay the other day and he reminded me of something he said to me some months ago. We were talking about counseling people and he said to me that he asks everyone who comes to him some simple questions. If they cannot answer "yes" to these questions he tells then that there is nothing that he can do for them.

He was not saying that these actions solve every problem because sometimes we face very real issues over the course of our lives. We all know that life can be and often is very hard. But these questions he asks are the basics that every man or woman of God needs to have in their lives. As i have thought about these simple questions, I have realized how right he is.

The questions:

1) Do you pray everyday?

2) Do you read your Bible everyday?

3) Are you a person who gives?

4) Do you pursue holiness?

5) Are you committed to a local church?

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As a Christian who hopes to make my own film for the Christian market very soon, I get asked all sorts of questions pertaining to my philosophy on "Christian Movies" and the role of media in today's church.

Before I even begin, I must define some terms and hopefully get you thinking properly about this whole notion of a "Christian Movie." For starters, what is a Christian Movie? To me, that is like asking what a Christian painting would look like, or a Christian sculpture. Or, more closely (since film is a storytelling art), what is a Christian novel? I challenge anyone to give me a biblical definition of any of these things. Most people are only able to define Christian movies (or any other form of art / entertainment) by existing media.

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"People fear the responsibility of being free." ~ Brennan Manning

I remember hearing something like this years ago and it baffled me. The responsibility of being free? How can responsibility and freedom go together? As a young man I thought that freedom meant throwing responsibility to the wind...to be free and without a care.

But the older I get the more I understand that true freedom means more than living a carefree life. I have been set free at great cost to others, most importantly my God who willingly gave His Son to purchase freedom for me.

But there are others...

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