Irony

A person with a gun to their head, we put in a hospital.
A person with a cigarette to their lips, we put 20 feet away from our building entrances.

Just because it's slower, doesn't mean it's not as bad.

A paradox...

Dungeons and Dragons. I've never played it, and honestly don't know much about it. To the best of my knowledge it's an RPG board game. I know people who've played it, I know it's popular, and that most people like it.

I also know that it DID (and perhaps still does in some small circles) have a cult-like following. People, teens especially, I suppose were getting sucked into the game, spending all their time, energy, and money on it. Then if their character died, that which they had built their identity on died as well. And it wouldn't be much of a stretch that several committed suicide over the death of their character.

What's inherently bad: the idolatry of it. If your life cannot go on once a fictional game character has died, it was your functional savior. If you can't see your life without D & D then that's idolatry. And that's a sin.

Fine. Relatively straight-forward.

But then there are other's who take it further than that... Jack Chick for instance. Here he has a tract, in typical Jack Chick fashion, on the "evils" of D & D. He goes so far to say that they actually promote witchcraft, sorcery, and the like.

It that true? Some would say yes. Others would say no.

And then I read a blog post on Challies talking about how Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, Mark Dever, and John Piper...the head-dudes for Together for the Gospel...play D & D.

And then I get confused...

Especially when at work today I came across a paper for clients to reflect on their histories, to see perhaps why they might be having troubles like they are.
Most of the options were pretty standard: have you or anyone up to 2 generations removed from you...
-participated in the occult?
-been molested? raped? a victim of incest?
-practiced divination? palm reading? Ouija boards?
-attempted suicide? inflicted harm upon yourself?
-been a member of a cult (whole big long list)?
....you know. Pretty standard stuff.

But then there was some other things that threw me off....
-played D & D?
-played Magic-The Gathering?
-played with a magic 8 ball?

It's interesting. B/c at least as far as something like D & D is concerned, it's a big ol' paradox:
-People who like the game say there's no witchcraft/evil inherent in the game
-People against the game will say that there is. (And they either "escaped" from it, in which case they're probably pushing some sort of agenda. Or they've never played it b/c they think it's evil, and therefore will never know.)
-Both sides will think their opponents are blind liars.

Lord, help us

"The pornography industry has a big stake in defending itself against legal challenges and restrictive laws, and it has been stunningly successful in doing so. One of the leading legal defenders of pornography has been David Ogden, a lawyer who can only be described as a First Amendment extremist, who has even argued against laws against child pornography.

President Barack Obama has nominated David Ogden as Deputy Attorney General of the United States. This nomination is both ominous and dangerous. Given David Ogden's high visibility in defense of pornography, this nomination sends a clear and unmistakable message. The pornography business will have a friend in high office in the Department of Justice."

~albert mohler

Sorrowful yet always rejoicing

Lately I've been feeling the weight of the fallenness of this world: neglect, death, sin, suffering, disease, unfaithfulness, sorrow, pride, mistruths, abuse....the list goes on and on.

My heart is heavy with these things, in myself and those I love.

But His Word is good and true. And so I am sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.

Route 15

If you've ever driven on it, you know the abundance of pornography stores ("adult bookstore" makes it sound far too sophisticated) that you encounter.

Every time I drive past one, I pray for the people there. That they may see their sin and folly and that they would Jesus would save them. Every time. There are between 5-10 stores between Harrisburg and Williamsport.

One time, a car was turning into the parking lot, and I prayed that they'd flee from that sin. And they didn't go in. I watched the car turn back onto Rt. 15 in my rearview mirror. They went back the way they had come. Perhaps it was someone who just missed their exit and was circling back. Perhaps the person forgot their wallet. Perhaps God touched their heart. Perhaps that was a turning point for them. Perhaps they've never gone back.

Today, I had 2 very different experiences in my driving:

The first wasn't too far from home. Driving past a store I prayed for the people inside, and for the owner. But there were no cars there! I was thrilled! How wonderful it was to see no vehicles parked outside a pornography store!

And then I passed one on my way into Williamsport. And the parking lot was sickeningly full. And it made me really sad.

And so I keep praying.

You know what's disturbing?

The fact that you can't even look at a sermon on youtube without being inundated by smut. Mars Hill Church is currently doing a series on Song of Solomon, which I applaud them for. It's in the Bible, it needs being taught, and it takes guts to do so.

With the book itself being (shall we say?)controversial in a lot of churches, it's not surprising that they would have a segment entitled: "Why preach a book about sex?" (Which if you want to watch go here- their website- and not youtube.)

Which brings me to the source of my writing. I see this video in my subscriptions. I click on it, knowing that it's perfectly legit and everything. And because there's the word "sex" in the title all of the side bar suggested viewing videos are...bad. Very bad. Pornographic is not too strong of a word in this case.

I'm beyond words. But it's frustrating. Sites like youtube are such a good place for people to plug in to get sermons and such. And yet they're so filled with sketch that you're bound to run into it sooner or later.

Schizophrenia

If I had to pick one mental disorder that would most likely be caused by demonic possession, it'd have to be schizophrenia. (Which I can now spell without needing spell check!)

But seriously, this is an evil disorder. Most people confuse it with Dissociative Personality Disorder (AKA Multiple Personality Disorder), but they're nothing alike. Schizophrenia literally means "a splitting from reality." Which is sadly and horrifyingly true.

We've spent about 2 weeks on it in class so far. But all the lecture in the world couldn't prepare me for some virtual simulation videos that I found online.

The first isn't bad. It's just really kinda weird. (You only have to watch to 2:30 ish). The second man to go through the simulation is a schizophrenic who with the help of medication has not been suffering these delusions. But you can tell from his reaction that the simulation is pretty much dead on with what he's seen.

The second I ask that you *please* don't watch if you're having a bad day. Or just thinking negatively at present about yourself/your life. Because it will NOT help in the slightest. This simulation is a little more realistic, and shows some of the distortion that schizophrenics deal with (changing normal things to scary/ self-deprecating things...the posters, the TV, the painting) as well as the barrage of negative thoughts.

Horrifying. And there's no good treatment for it. We have medications, but they've got horrendous side effects (Parkinson's-like symptoms, constant facial twitching, depression...). The new meds are better but are horrible for your health. Did you notice the size of the man in the first movie? The one who was schizophrenic? I can almost guarantee you that he wasn't that large before the meds. They're known to cause you to gain weight at ridiculous rates: 50-100 lbs in a year...with normal eating. Which leads to diabetes, hypertension, heart attacks...

And the scary thing is that it doesn't set in some years after puberty. Early 20s for men, late 20s for women. You're just cruising right along living a nice life. You're normally pretty smart, you get good grades, and then you just fall off the world.

If this isn't demonic possession....at least in some cases....then I don't know what is.

Old Testament Therapy

Depression isn't a new thing, by any means. And how did God treat it?

Sleep, food, sleep, food.

It's Biblical!

Biblical character

So, reading thru the OT, you meet a lot of people. A LOT of people. (I kind of wish my Bible had a Silmarillion-style index in the back so I could keep people straight.)

And having a zillion years of English lit classes, and now Spanish lit classes, I find myself asking all the time: Who's the protagonist? Who's the good guy in this story? And quite frankly it's hard to find a good guy. You have Saul, who starts out pretty good, but then goes all mad-crazy and tries to kill David a zillion times. David seems like a good guy, except for his...erm...womanizing, shall we say? His son, Amnon is a pretty straight-forward bad guy: we don't know much other than he rapes his sister. And then there's Absalom (which is an awesome name), who loves his sister and takes care of her, and avenges her...by killing his brother. And then he repents, but then he tries to overthrow his dad's kingdom!

Which makes one ask: Who's the good guy? Is there a good guy?? Even the good guys have a lot of bad in them.

It's the perfect question, that even the youngest child can answer. And it applies as much today as it did then. None of us are doing any better than Saul or David or any of them.

Who's the good guy?

Jesus.

Just when you think it can't get worse...

From Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church, Seattle:

"The big issue I’m dealing with now is the Hump Fest coming up next month. It’s the amateur porn festival. Everyone gets together in a theater and votes on which porn is the best. To make it in the festival, you need to have something in the film that shows that the film was made for this festival. This year, that’s me. People are trying to have sex around our church and in the bathrooms."

Yeh. Like terrorists hold up daily newspapers to show the authenticity of a video, apparently for this there's a different trademark of sorts that you have to have. And this year it's Mars Hill.

How much more depraved can we be?!? Isn't it bad enough to have any such "festival"??? Isn't that enough sin? That people get together and vote on what smut is the smuttiest???

Apparently not. Apparently, they can't just use their freedom of assembly to watch porn. They have to attack the Church. Christ's bride. *

It's an interesting point too: in this day of so much youtube, these videos will now be mixed in with regular MHC video. So people who are already struggling enough, who get on youtube to listen to sermon clips (imagine!) will be inundated by porn videos.

How evil can you get?

Prayers for Mars Hill. I can only imagine how difficult it is/will be for them.

*John Piper (rough quote): 'Can you imagine the mountains of wrath that are being stored up against such atrocities?' from somewhere in Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

There are certain things that should just not be fooled around with.

Spirits, ghosts, demons, and demonic possession are some of those things.

It's very strange. For whatever reason a handful of people on my floor are really into that kind of stuff. (They won't drink or do drugs, but they'll go to graveyards seeking out spirits and demons....???)

A handful of them have been (supposedly) possessed. Here on campus and when they're out visiting graveyards. I've never seen it, but they say so.

They've performed exorcisms too. Apparently all you need is a Bible, a cross, and some "holy water". I didn't ask what they counted as holy water, or how the water became holy....again it's just what I've heard.

A cry for attention? The blind leading the blind? Something to kill time? For laughs? Or is it real?

A part of me wants to know. Wants to go on one of their little outings just to show them how lame they're (probably) being.

Having taken various psyc classes, I'm even more skeptical. There's a whole list of fallacies in "believing" in ghosts, and a longer list of *why* people do.
-Power of suggestion
-Expectation influences outcome
-Coincidence
-Mob mentality
-Needing attention.....etc etc

And a large part of me is skeptical. Because I know that when there were witch hunts in the days of yore, that they came and went in waves. There wouldn't be any talk of witches for years, and then ONE case would come up and everyone and their mom was a witch (ie, Salem, MA). Then after awhile it died out for a few years.

On the other hand, that sort of thing does exist. Jesus performed exorcisms. People can really have demons.

And if this is *actual* demonic possession, 1. I don't know why they're seeking it out and 2. I don't want any parts of it.