Card games
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Ive got a couple..
.I dont have a problem or anything
.I dont have a problem or anything
I respectfully disagree.. lol
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Hi Koji!
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol.
In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here.
Although I've never been a "true player", I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work.
But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing! I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions.
Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in
) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol. In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life
, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here. Although I've never been a "true player"
, I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work. But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing!
I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions. Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
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Hi Koji!
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol.
In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here.
Although I've never been a "true player", I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work.
But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing! I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions.
Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in
) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol.In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life
, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here.Although I've never been a "true player"
, I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work.But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing!
I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions.Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
and others who want to learn. Ive got maybe 13 different tcgs maybe more mostly mtg-
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Hi Koji!
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol.
In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here.
Although I've never been a "true player", I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work.
But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing! I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions.
Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
Back in the day, I had a boyfriend who taught me how to play Magic the Gathering (I had no interest in it myself but can generally become interested in most anything the people I'm interested in are interested in
) and he was starting to teach me the basics of building my own deck, but that's as far as it got, lol.In high school, I used to hang out with someone who was heavily into Dungeons & Dragons (which I know isn't a card game) with his friends, and they were all Christian. One was extremely gifted at being a DM, and even though I had no interest in playing, even I would hang around while he was DM'ing just to listen to all the imaginative narrations he would come up with.
However, he (the DM guy) also lost a full scholarship to a very good school in a very prestigious field because he spent all his time and money on gaming rather than studying and real-world responsibilities.
I know you've written a lot of cool threads about gaming and asking where or if such things have a place in a Christian's life
, which is an important question to ask, especially for the younger brother and sisters here.Although I've never been a "true player"
, I've always been drawn to fantasy games for the imagination and the art. I went to GenCon one year and had absolutely no interest in the gaming, but loved visiting the art booths, and even bought a couple pieces (such as a dragon wrapped around a castle.) I love being able to talk to artists and ask them about their inspiration and the process behind their work.But God eventually convicted me, and although I still like to look, I know that I can't own any of those pieces for myself anymore.
HOWEVER, I would like to say that I think this is a very personal conviction. I had another friend who is very talented at painting miniatures and won several of the contests he entered. He is a very strong Christian and someone I would look to as a mentor. But even though he was a serious gamer, he was also a very grounded and responsible person. Unlike many others who might get caught up in gaming, he could separate fantasy from reality and didn't let his play time interfere with school, work, or paying bills.
I believe that one of the reasons God convicted me is because my head tends to float away with the clouds way too much. I have always been a daydreamer, and one of the problems I've had with "dreaming up another life" is that I tend to become very dissatisfied with the one I have, preferring the make-believe to my own reality. I was always the kid who wished I could just escape into my own head (a never-ending maze I would surely never find my way out of) rather than face the hard reality of the challenges in front of me. God wanted me to stop escaping into a made-up fantasy world and start concentrating on tackling the real-life problems around me.
I don't know what God will say or is saying to you, but I do believe that what works for some might not work for others. If you're able to stay firmly grounded in reality while enjoying these games and fellowshipping with other people, you might have a completely different conviction than someone else.
Sorry to go off-topic but I hope this might be slightly helpful, or at the very least, somewhat amusing!
I grew up loving the Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon (my all-time favorite even to this day) at a time when every religious leader and even US politicians were blaming this game for everything that went wrong with American youth during that time (surely it had nothing to do with any of THEIR mistakes in how they interacted with young people - roll of eyes), so I understand very well why you're asking these questions.Best wishes to you, God bless you, and please keep us posted on how you're doing.
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What you have wrote has described me in various times of my life. Even now I have to catch myself thinking that in my next life in heaven things will be much better. Of course, I still have my life to live while down here. I try to live each day at a time but still dream occasionally of a new tomorrow. I try to face the hard challenges each day that lie ahead of my but at the end of the day I take comfort in knowing that God wants us to have life and to have it more abundantly. I have learned one thing in life and that while it may be good to dream occasionally it is not good to live in a fantasy world. Perhaps in the worlds to come but not now while I am still among the quick.
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Oh my goodness, Koji, thank you so much for posting this, because it was totally awesome!!! (And yes, 35 years later, I finally got some closure for Hank -#BoyfriendGoals- & the gang!!)
No disrespect to Game of Throne fans or Ms. Daenerys, because having 3 dragons is cool, but anyone has to admit that a 5-headed dragon where each dragon head has a unique personality and its own ability is THE bomb!! (Long live Tiamat.)
I understand how these worlds are so easy to get caught up in. Shoot, I just recently wasted an entire afternoon watching the Mortal Kombat 11 cut scenes! I grew up in the era apparently birthed all of these controversial games so I can empathize with both the attraction and the dangers. Seeing as you said you were struggling with psychosis and have said in other threads that lust can be an issue as well, I give you total respect for trying to make some positive choices to cut down on these things.
I have also found it interesting that while I was growing up, there was plenty of talk about the evils of such games, but no one seemed to be talking about what I view (for myself, at least) as a kind of reverse type of psychosis within the church. One of the big criticisms we always heard about these games is that they would lead people astray into Satanic fantasy worlds of demons and monsters.
For a long time, I was part of a pentecostal church in which some members would almost instantaneously spiritually "diagnose" people with the "demons" they supposedly had, allwith the intent of praying them out and "getting them healed."
Now, I am not trying to belittle spiritual demonic warfare AT ALL, but I've told the story often of how two elders in this church saw a cross stitched picture I had made of an angel holding a baby and told me to get rid of it. Why is that?, I'm sure you're asking. Why, because they claimed that it had "the same evil spirit" as the scene in which the devil is holding a demonic baby in the movie, "The Passion of the Christ", of course! It also wasn't enough that I just throw the picture away, but I also had to cut it up and destroy it so that, according to these people, no one could find the picture in the trash and be tempted to take it home, thereby "spreading the evil" to another household.
(Is it just me, or does this sound like major plot point for something you would find in The Conjuring movie series?) Personally, I think someone should be paying me royalties...
In other words... I honestly believe these people are being lured into a branch of hyper-religiousness in which they themselves are also being led astray into their own fantasy worlds of demons and monsters, in which they take comfort in being self-made, and often self-proclaimed instruments of God's holy work (in exactly the same way that someone sucked into fantasy gaming enjoys that thought of being the almighty hero.) But they will tell you that it's all about God, and not themselves, so what they do is holy and of the Lord so they don't see the lines when they cross them. (Something I've noticed though is that if you try to take away or "slow down" their ministry, which they say is "all for the Lord", they will often ignore that spiritual authority and just move to another body of people who are willing to believe their extremes.)
Again, I am not trying to disrespect or mock God or the church in any way -- but it's just been my experience that extremes on either sides tend to fall for the exact same "evils" they accuse each other of, then fnd a way to completely justify their own fanaticism. You also make a great point in that every generation has a scapegoat, and I'm sure God is looking for people like you to take a stand among the current group.
And I'm certainly not trying to say that fantasy programming based on godlike heroes and sexually exaggerated characters are necessarily healthy for Christian consumption.
All I'm trying to point out is that I think there are dangers when people lose control or a grip on reality in any direction, whether it be fantasy or zealous self-righteousness, which is all the more reason to stick closely to God in our convictions.
However, you already know of all that, I'm sure, so again, just wanted to say, thank you so much for sharing this Koji!!!
Major kudos to you for taking action in your life and I hope you'll keep talking to us about your journey - I think your Christian gaming group sounds awesome, and I'm sure God is setting you up to be able to help other people as well.
No disrespect to Game of Throne fans or Ms. Daenerys, because having 3 dragons is cool, but anyone has to admit that a 5-headed dragon where each dragon head has a unique personality and its own ability is THE bomb!! (Long live Tiamat.
)I understand how these worlds are so easy to get caught up in. Shoot, I just recently wasted an entire afternoon watching the Mortal Kombat 11 cut scenes!
I grew up in the era apparently birthed all of these controversial games so I can empathize with both the attraction and the dangers. Seeing as you said you were struggling with psychosis and have said in other threads that lust can be an issue as well, I give you total respect for trying to make some positive choices to cut down on these things.I have also found it interesting that while I was growing up, there was plenty of talk about the evils of such games, but no one seemed to be talking about what I view (for myself, at least) as a kind of reverse type of psychosis within the church. One of the big criticisms we always heard about these games is that they would lead people astray into Satanic fantasy worlds of demons and monsters.
For a long time, I was part of a pentecostal church in which some members would almost instantaneously spiritually "diagnose" people with the "demons" they supposedly had, allwith the intent of praying them out and "getting them healed."
Now, I am not trying to belittle spiritual demonic warfare AT ALL, but I've told the story often of how two elders in this church saw a cross stitched picture I had made of an angel holding a baby and told me to get rid of it. Why is that?, I'm sure you're asking. Why, because they claimed that it had "the same evil spirit" as the scene in which the devil is holding a demonic baby in the movie, "The Passion of the Christ", of course! It also wasn't enough that I just throw the picture away, but I also had to cut it up and destroy it so that, according to these people, no one could find the picture in the trash and be tempted to take it home, thereby "spreading the evil" to another household.
(Is it just me, or does this sound like major plot point for something you would find in The Conjuring movie series?) Personally, I think someone should be paying me royalties...
In other words... I honestly believe these people are being lured into a branch of hyper-religiousness in which they themselves are also being led astray into their own fantasy worlds of demons and monsters, in which they take comfort in being self-made, and often self-proclaimed instruments of God's holy work (in exactly the same way that someone sucked into fantasy gaming enjoys that thought of being the almighty hero.) But they will tell you that it's all about God, and not themselves, so what they do is holy and of the Lord so they don't see the lines when they cross them. (Something I've noticed though is that if you try to take away or "slow down" their ministry, which they say is "all for the Lord", they will often ignore that spiritual authority and just move to another body of people who are willing to believe their extremes.)
Again, I am not trying to disrespect or mock God or the church in any way -- but it's just been my experience that extremes on either sides tend to fall for the exact same "evils" they accuse each other of, then fnd a way to completely justify their own fanaticism. You also make a great point in that every generation has a scapegoat, and I'm sure God is looking for people like you to take a stand among the current group.
And I'm certainly not trying to say that fantasy programming based on godlike heroes and sexually exaggerated characters are necessarily healthy for Christian consumption.
All I'm trying to point out is that I think there are dangers when people lose control or a grip on reality in any direction, whether it be fantasy or zealous self-righteousness, which is all the more reason to stick closely to God in our convictions.
However, you already know of all that, I'm sure
, so again, just wanted to say, thank you so much for sharing this Koji!!!Major kudos to you for taking action in your life and I hope you'll keep talking to us about your journey - I think your Christian gaming group sounds awesome, and I'm sure God is setting you up to be able to help other people as well.
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