Sounds like something out of “The Ring” movies, but it was for “real” in L.A. “Play 
‘Dante’s Inferno’ go to hell” was a sign that a protester raised in front of the E3 tech conference in June. Another sign read, “My high score is in heaven.” Still another displayed “Hell is not a game.” The LA times covered the story:
A small group of 13 protesters had attendees gawking by one of the entrances to the Los Angeles Convention Center. The object of their ire? Electronic Arts’ upcoming video game based on the literary classic “Dante’s Inferno,” which is on display at the show.
The protesters, who came from a church in Ventura County, held signs with slogans such as “trade in your playstation for a praystation” and “EA = anti-Christ” as they marched and handed out a homemade brochure that warns, “a video game hero does not have the authority to save and damn… ONLY GOD CAN JUDGE. and he will not judge the sinners who play this game kindly.”
Matthew Francis, one of the protesters, said he and his fellow church members were particularly upset that Dante’s Inferno features a character who fights his way out of Hell and uses a cross as a weapon against demons.
Wow, some Christians go to some great lengths to stop questionable video games. The group made a website complete with video of some of the protests.
As it turns out, it was a hoax and the L.A. Times had to post a correction:
Running late to meet a fellow pastor, I decided to finish writing a sermon thought instead of leaving on time. I got into my car and believed I could save time by driving fast, really fast, on the New York State Northway (I-87). Driving on the six lane highway provided for an opportunity to pass a lot other drivers. I looked at my watch and saw that I was running 15 minutes late for my lunch meeting.
for us into Christianity.” – is the comment that I heard from a wedding I once officiated. Over the years, I have been conflicted by couples who come into my office asking me to officiate their wedding. Normally, I have no problem doing a wedding for a church member or Christians who do not have a church home. What has been a growing trend for a number of pastors, including myself, is what to do with non-Christian weddings?
sentence, but the The New York Times did just that when the newspaper wrote an 
federal prison and was released. The NFL has stated that Vick will be able to return to football with 
There is a developing movement within literature to chronicle an outsider’s perspective on the strange land of Evangelical Christianity. It seems that the world sees all Evangelical Christians as fervent, ignorant, and misguided by a holy book. Being an Evangelical myself, I can see how the outside world can group all Evangelicals into this stereotype. The media tends to pick up on the extremes of any group, ideology, or religion and usually tries gives us the most radical angle. You would think that I would NOT recommend books about non-Christians views on Christianity, but there are two books that are worthy of your consideration about strangers in a strange land that yield some surprising insights.
I used to go on a lot of Habitat for Humanity trips, especially during college, and I frequently ended up on job sites where we had to build a house from the ground up. We framed walls, put trusses up, put the roof decking up, and shingled the roof. Over the years, I would learn a little more about building a house. Building a house is really tricky. If you are a half inch off on a line it could wreck the whole job. For a guy like me, a half inch does not seem like a whole lot, but in the building trade it can equate to disaster. I remember on one trip, we were following the directions of a volunteer on how to build the framing for the house and the gentlemen supervising the job did not really know what he was doing. We put in a half day of work on it and the real site supervisor came on the scene and told us to rip everything out! We were off two inches! Ahhhh! Needless to say, that guy was not directing anymore work for the rest of the week.
Christians away from the dangers of the fantasy world invoking wizards, creatures, magic, and spells. Why is it that other fiction stories like Cinderella, Aladdin, Pokemon, etc… do not invoke such a response? Nobody seemed to cry out against Chronicles of Narnia or Lord of the Rings… oh yeah, those books were written by Christian authors, so that makes it okay. Even though, those books contain the same fantasy elements as Harry Potter. Now, where are all the Christian nay-sayers?
Have you ever gone back to your home town after being away for years? Did things change? Did they remain the same? I remember going back to my home church to be ordained in 2006. I was excited. I just finished seminary, got my first job as a pastor, and all my family came into town to attend my ordination. A lot of the people from my home church who guided me through my spiritual life were there: Sunday school teachers, youth workers, pastors, family, and friends. The ordination service was beautiful and touching for everyone. It was the culmination of years of preparation for ministry.
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