In all of my relationships I want to sit around and talk about video games, comics, movies and sports. Those topics are fun, easy to talk about and never get too serious. One of my character flaws is that I avoid serious conversations. I hate asking tough questions that lead to tough conversations. I’d much rather keep things light and easy than be more intentional in my relationships.
And if I want to do that with my friends it’s no surprise that I try to do that with Jesus. Read more »
The most popular post ever on this blog is about nerdy church buildings. Its popularity has nothing to do with the written content but with the images in the post. If you Google “Helm’s Deep”, the second image is from this blog, which is why it’s important to include pictures.
In that post I wrote about what it would be like to go to church in a building shaped like Helm’s Deep or the U.S.S. Enterprise. It’s easy to think about ridiculous church buildings because my church already has a nice campus with two very nice buildings. If my church didn’t have a building, I would probably spend my time thinking about just having a space to meet instead of a space shaped like a starship. Read more »
We were flipping through the DirecTV guide on our water ski trip and Star Trek: The Next Generation was on. From the description of the episode I was able to correctly name the episode. I could have even given a complete synopsis of the episode but, for some reason, no one seemed interested. In that moment, as the episode name was coming out of my mouth, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to hide my nerdiness. In that moment my nerd light was shining brightly and there was no way to rein it back in.
Most nerds don’t have a problem letting their nerd light shine. This past weekend thousands of nerds gathered in San Diego for Comic Con, dressing up and waiting in unreasonably long lines to honor their favorite nerdclinations. Sometimes nerds hide their nerdiness for a while, but eventually the light is going to shine brighter than the Bat-Signal.
Jesus also had something to say about shining our light. In Matthew 5 Jesus says, Read more »
This week we’re on a water ski trip with our high school ministry. It’s a relaxing trip and provides a great opportunity to build relationships and spend time with students. A great way to build those relationships is by playing games. As discussed before, Christians love playing board games because it provides a way to boast even when we’re not supposed to boast. I was introduced to a new game, though, that leaves no room for boasting.
The game is called Pandemic.
In Pandemic all the players are working together to defeat the outbreak of four diseases. The players openly share what cards they have and what they’re going to do on their turn. The players cooperate with each other and devise a strategy in order to find the cure and eradicate the diseases. I played Pandemic for the first time yesterday and we were able to cure and eradicate the diseases.
Technically we won but it didn’t feel like winning. Read more »
Of all the nerdy movies released this summer, Captain America was one of the ones for which I was most excited. I’ve never really been a fan of the Captain himself, but the trailers looked good and my excitement for The Avengers fueled my excitement for Captain America. I loved Captain America and thought it was a perfect summer action blockbuster. Below are some thoughts on the movie from a Christian perspective. I’ll try to keep things spoiler free, but I did like when Captain America gave his shield to Stephen Colbert. Read more »
While in Honduras I got in a spirited debate with one of my teammates about Pixar movies. I said that WALL-E is my favorite Pixar movie; my teammate could not believe me. She thought that WALL-E was the worst Pixar movie and couldn’t understand how anyone could like it. I love WALL-E and how it examines love and the human condition through a tiny little robot. Read more »
I have been more obsessed with Harry Potter this week than someone who has actually read the books or seen the movies. I have been completely fascinated by how something as inherently nerdy as Harry Potter, has completely lost its negative stigma. When I was younger and spoke about wizards and magic spells, I was labeled a nerd. But because of Harry Potter’s mass appeal, there is no fear of persecution or retribution for embracing its wizarding world.
Harry Potter has become a lot like Christianity in the United States. Read more »
News reports broke yesterday that Cartoon Network is looking to produce a live-action movie based upon the 90s cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers. The show debuted in 1990. Even though I was a 9-year-old boy and squarely in their target demographic, even I knew the show was utterly ridiculous. Ferngully had taught me that preserving the environment was important but I didn’t need to do it with the help of a blue rocker sporting a red Speedo. Below are some biblical characters with whom Captain Planet would have some trouble. Read more »
The box office has been dominated by nerdy movies this summer. Some of the movies like Thor, X-Men: First Class and Super 8 were great. Some of the movies like Green Lantern and Transformers: Dark of the Moon left something to be desired. The movie theaters seem to be more and more populated with nerdclinations with each passing year. This summer is no different and we’re only half way through. Below are some previews of the upcoming nerdy movies for the rest of the summer.
Captain America
Even though I spent the last two weeks in Honduras I have still been able to observe all the hype surrounding Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. In its opening weekend the movie had the biggest opening ever, making $168 million. Facebook was littered with statuses of people expressing grief and tears that a part of their childhood has finally come to an end.
And to be honest, I don’t get it. Read more »
