by MW Cook

Goodness Gracious

For you so loved the unlovable
That you gave the ineffable
That whoso believes the unbelievable
Will gain the unattainable

Video games are pretty cheap here. When I say pretty cheap I mean that you could buy Doom 3 for fifty cents. Which is the same price that you’d pay for the entire series of Age of Empires or Jedi Knight or any other game you could think of. Or movie for that matter, they also cost fifty cents. You don’t pay for the time and mind of the creators here; you just pay for the plastic the media is put on. Yesterday my brother-in-law, John bought a CD that has something like 15 separate games on it, including a few that I loved back before Bible College. I always like the older games the best. So I was helping him install them on his computer because half the time the fifty-cent games don’t work. Which is understandable, being fifty cents and all.

So I finished installing the classic Jedi Knight: Mysteries of the Sith. To my surprise it worked perfectly, though without the cut scene videos. I figured that I should test it for him too. Just to make sure there wasn’t any nasty bugs or anything. I dove into the game. John and Nadeem were in awe at my incredible lightsaber skills as I fought off the invading army of stormtroopers. I played a little longer than I had expected because the next time I turned around John and Nadeem were gone, maybe in bed.

I missed something that night. Ruth and I had made a habit of meeting together every evening for prayer and study. I was busy defending the New Republic from the remains of the Galactic Empire. I was thinking morning about why. You and I both know that it’s very easy to do those little pleasing things that make us happy now as opposed to those difficult things that make us very happy forever. First I tried to rationally figure it out. What are the benefits of taking on the forces of darkness as Jedi Knight Kyle Katarn??

  • Fun now

  • Sometimes a feeling of accomplishment if I win

That’s about it.

What are the benefits of leading myself and my wife to Christ?

  • Sanctifies me

  • Sanctifies my wife

  • Gives me access to omnipotence

  • Prepares me for eternity

  • Draws me closer to my wife

  • Sets my mind on things above

And I’m sure you and I could go on for a while because we know full well the benefits of fellowship with God. We know what it’s like because we have been at the throne of God before. We’ve tasted it and we know that there is nothing better.

So according to the logic of it all we should through everything away and run after God. The trick is that we are not logical creatures. But neither are we really emotional. Even emotionally speaking we should be running after God. The problem is not that we rely on our emotions too much. Our emotions tell us that true joy is found in Christ because we can remember how He has affected our emotions in the past. I don’t think the human problem is over-emotionalism.

We aren’t overly-rational or overly-emotional. We are overly-sinful. Our sin totally screws up our reason and emotions. Untainted, our reason and emotions should make us beautiful creatures, but when perverted we become dangerous, unstable, miserable folks. Our sin destroys every good thing that was supposed to dwell in us. The reason that I choose Kyle Katarn over Jesus is not rational or emotional, it’s just sinful. There is the problem. If we try to point at anything else as our problem we make a fake solution that won’t help us out one little bit.

I’m very good at pointing out problems, but I’m not too good at working a solution. Although I’ve heard that recognizing the problem is half the solution.

PS
Photos for your enjoyment:

Rani, John, Ruth, Joe, Sindhu and Peter on Easter.


Mommy, nephew and son.


Mommy and Joe, on the roof.


Again, our dear mommy and son.

More are coming. Including the much-awaited shots of Jenn and Jordan’s trip to the land of Pak.

Toodles.