Is Virtual Murder Equal To Real Murder?

Of course TV, movies, books, magazines, video-games, etc. are within themselves harmless as they are just the platforms by which morals and values are promoted. It however is simply fact that an extreme majority of entertainment in this world are in moral conflict with Christian morals and values. This puts many Christians into a tight position because as the disciple John tells us clearly we are to "not love the world or anything in the world." (1 John 2:15a).

There are three categories John puts worldly values into: 1) the lust of the flesh, 2) the lust of the eyes, and 3) the pride of life, (1 John 2:16). In the first article of the three part series I alluded to above I introduced a character named Joe, who identifies himself as a Christian but who also has a sinful-pleasure, as it were, for adult oriented, open-world video games and in particular Grand Theft Auto, (GTA). All packed in one blue-ray disk, the fifth instalment of the GTA series sports every kind of immorality this world has to offer including, theft, physical assault, vandalism, murder, manslaughter, multiple homicide, having sex with prostitutes, killing animals, doing drugs, dealing drugs, getting drunk, driving while intoxicated, stealing every drivable vehicle from cars to jumbo jets to military tanks and so on. Almost every female character in the game is in some skimpy outfit that shows a lot of her cleavage; and in the Playstation 4 (PS4) version of the game, the game designer RockStar Games included partial nudity at the local strip club. The PS4 version also includes various vantage points by which the player can view the game-play ranging from far-3rd-Person to close-3rd-Person view to 1st-Person view. Needless to say Joe can have his fill of lust by just playing GTA5. What can one lust after in games like GTA? Take your pick! Every scantily dressed woman; the ability to own $100,000 cars; the ability to do crime without any serious consequences; the ability to have $30,000,000+ in the bank; the ability buy weapons of war such rocket-launchers, honing-launchers and a rail-gun so to cause mayhem and so forth.

In the article I alluded to the fact that Joe did struggle with this moral quandary. He enjoys playing the game immensely but he does not agree with the values that it promotes when done in the real world. He has no problem committing virtual multiple-homicide and beating up virtual people and hiring computer animated prostitutes with fake money; but, although he would love to own a real $100,000 car in real life, he does have real issues with real murder, real theft, real crime, real sexual immorality and so forth. Is it not inconsistent to for him to hold the belief that its okay to commit fake murder, but not real murder? And that it is okay to pretend to be having sex with a prostitute in a game, but not agree with real men who pay real money to real flesh and blood women for sex?

To give a brief summary of the three part series, I concluded three things: 1) There is no real difference between playing a video game with questionable morals and watching a movie or reading a book that promotes those morals. However those morals are mere plot points to move the story forward and the story is written to serve adults; as such only adults should partake of these sort of forms of movies or video games. 2) Christians have the freedom in Christ, however we do not have the freedom in Christ to offend others or put a stumbling block to the cross in front of others. As such if ones partaking of such entertainment is causing someone to stumble, the Christian has the moral obligation to forsake their freedom in Christ to enjoy these sort of movie or video-games for the sake of their weaker brother or sister in Christ or unbelieving neighbour; and 3) no Christian is immune from being affected by the immoral content of such entertainment. It is imperative for a Christian to keep an eye on their thinking and if their enjoyment of these forms of entertainment is causing them to fail to represent Christ in all they do, then they have to walk away from the genre of entertainment.

Let's hone in on the second and third conclusions for a moment. It is true that Christians are not confined to rules and regulations as the Hebrews were in the Old Testament; we are free to dress how we want, work where we want, eat what we want, plant our crops however we want, and so forth. However do we have the freedom to enjoy worldly values, even in spirit if we are called to represent Jesus? No. However this is where the third point comes in. A Christian has permission to love a murder mystery or a crime drama but just as long as they hate the evil. This means that the Christian is to be hotly against the action not morally neutral on it; and if the Christian is starting to reclassify the morality of those actions into the latter category that is when the Christian has crossed the line and should put away the entertainment.

However it has been argued to me that virtual murder is murder just as lust is adultery. Jesus argues that if Joe was to merely lust after a woman to whom he is not married to, he has committed adultery with her. What is done in his mind, namely lust, is the same thing as doing it in action; so lust = adultery just as 2+2=4 (cf. Matthew 5:27-30). Is then virtual murder equal to real murder? When Joe maneuvers his character with the controller to kill another character in the game is Joe committing a murder that is parallel to a physical murder? Is Joe a murderer? Is Joe deceiving himself when he claims to have no issues "playing murderer" in a game but hate murder in real life? The answer is in connection with the third point made above. What is Joe's motive? If Joe is merely doing the murderous actions and stealing cars and so on in GTA to push the story forward, to go through the levels, then he is not a murderer. However if his motive is to end life, but since he can't do it legally in real life, he resorts to doing it virtually then he is a murderer, even if he is not one legally. If his mindset has evolved to the latter then he aught to slay the game. However is virtual killing, even to progress through the story, equal to real killing? No. Killing takes life, and video-game avatars are lifeless; you can't kill a rock anymore than you can kill a computer game character.

To conclude merely enjoying entertainment that uses ungodly values is not parallel to loving ungodly values; but ungodliness can arise when the entertainment, any entertainment becomes more important than God and representing him in ones day to day life.

Why God Won't You Deliver Me From My Sin?!

A number of months ago, I introduced you to a factitious character named Timothy, who like King David, was truly a man after God's own heart, (1 Samuel 13:14).[i] However, also like King David he had a heart that got side-tracked by his own desires. I told you his story of betrayal by a couple of clergymen at his former church for essentially doing two things: 1) struggling with a sexual sin and 2) repenting of it and asking one of these two men to help him by being a friend. He looked to this man to whom he knew for over 10 years to be someone to whom he can go to for help for when he is running low on his ability to stay sober. After this incident his ability to trust another clergy-person was severely weakened.

Several years went by and Timothy was simply unable to talk to anyone about his struggle; (lest he suffer round two of being betrayed from those who are supposed to be Biblically sound.) He of course had weeks and even months of sobriety, but he never truly found freedom from this sin. In his head he knew that no one was to be blamed but himself but in heart he took a play from Adam's play book, namely blaming everyone including God for his problems; his mind started to believe his heart that he is not at fault. He blamed the two clergymen for mistreating him and he blamed God for not taking this sin away from him. Lets take a closer look at these two main attitudes that Timothy had.

Choices vs. method of execution:

Timothy was justified in being hurt because, although what they did was not wrong, it was how they responded that was wrong; but Timothy didn't see it this way; he held that being disciplined was out of place and how he was disciplined was simply unBiblical. However it wasn't till recently when he fell in love with a very Biblically sound woman that helped him to see things differently. The day after he told her his story of betrayal this young lady ran home from work on her lunch hour and called him up to tell him that he deserved what he got from the pastors, namely their discipline was justified. After about an hour of listening to her (and arguing with her) he began to see where she was coming from. However he reminded her that the two pastors didn't act Biblical in their method of discipline. She agreed but she still maintained her position that they had full Biblical authority to excommunicate him from their local church. She held this view for one simple reason: just because they were wrong in their method of discipline doesn't negate the fact that they were right in their act of discipline. What made their choice of excommunication justified? One reason was that Timothy was in teaching ministry. He taught every Sunday that his students should refrain from sin; he said this all the while behind the scenes he was doing the thing that he told his students not to do. In sum he was being a hypocrite.

Its God's fault for not delivering Timothy:

Moreover, as I explained in the previous article Timothy pleaded with God to take his sin away, namely deliver him from the temptation so he can go about his day and serve Him with relative ease; and because God seemed to say "no" Timothy was angry at Him. However Timothy's beautiful beloved put things into a light that he never considered. Consider for a moment a tenant being evicted from their apartment for getting a dog after agreeing to not have any pets. How ludicrous would they be for them getting mad a their landlord for evicting them and suggesting that it was their landlord's fault for simply not taking this dog away from them, if they insisted that they didn't want animals on the premise? In the same way Christians are called to a standard of living that requires them to make sacrifices. How stupid then is it for Timothy to blame God for him not laying down a deed because God won't take the desire for the deed away?

However the question begs to be asked, "why wouldn't God deliver him from that temptation?" Timothy realized he was being lazy and he wanted God to strengthen him by taking away the resistance that, if dealt with daily would make him strong. There is a definite parallel between lifting weights at a gym and dealing with sin. Going to the gym takes discipline to get up, go, push through the pain and daily complete ones exercise routine. However if one sticks to it, they will see, over a period of time, not just an internal change such as feeling fit but also an outer change; they will have lost weight, gotten stronger and toned. In the same way dealing with sin is a daily routine and at times it is very difficult to successfully push through the temptation; however each day of sobriety will reward the person with the feeling of success and trusting in God's grace to be their spiritual fitness partner will promise blessings (cf. Jeremiah 11:1-4).

It is true that there are testimony's from people who can say that they have been delivered from a temptation, such as pornography or alcohol addiction, etc. Yet it is equally true that there are many other people to whom God has not delivered them from temptation but instead allows them to struggle with their sin. There is a lot of discussion among Christian scholars and layman alike as to what the 'thorn' in the Apostle Paul's side resembles (2 Corinthians 12:1-10); but one can say for sure that it was something that was hindering Paul's ability to serve God; and as such he pleaded with God three times to take it away (2 Corinthians 12:8); but God replied:

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” - 2 Corinthians 12:9

In Timothy's case, it seems God is doing the latter that is instead of giving him mercy and taking away his sexual temptation He chose to walk with him as he daily battles it. Why does God deliver some people from their temptations while he makes others battle them? This cannot always be known, but it could be for some people the same rationale as it was for Paul, that is to show His power through their human weakness. I'm sure there are other reasons God allows people to go through their sin instead of delivering them from the temptation; and perhaps nobody will know what some of them are on this side of heaven, but one thing that can be surly known: God will be with every person who is with Him.

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[i] - http://acrazychristian.blogspot.ca/2014/06/hyperactive-christianity-how-not-being.html 

Taking It Like A Christian

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There is one common phrase that has been used and misused throughout the English speaking world. That phrase is: "take it like a man." This phrase often connotes being tough. A man may say to another man "take it like a man" to refer to taking some sort of physical abuse or not whimpering when he is in serious pain. A wife may say to her husband the proactive equivalence of that phrase, namely "be a man" when she wants him to do something that she believes (or is culturally believed) to be the duty that is dedicated to the male half of the human species; for one such example: being the protector of the home by chasing away the burglar with his wife's hairdryer (which was the first object he grabbed when he was startled awake, at the sounds of rumbling at 3 AM).

Conversely a man may chastise another man for being a lazy-bones by not getting up off his rear end and getting a job to provide for his family. It is because this is the case that the phrases "take it like a man!" or "be a man!" are very overly cited. They are often said in the movies and in television shows; in novels we read fictional characters saying them to one another and perhaps you may even have heard them in the privacy of your own home.

However how many times have you heard these two phrases being spoken: "be a Christian!" or "take it like a Christian." Probably never, as 1) they are simply not phrases we use, 2) if they were used they would only refer to anyone who follows the Christian religion and 3) figuring out what they might mean would be hours of discussion because they are wrought with nuances.

Be a Christian!

However if someone was ever chastised by another with one or both of these phrases how should they be interpreted? Being a Christian in the sense of salvation means to be one who truly and actively believes in their heart that Jesus is LORD and that God raised him from the dead (Romans 10:9). However let's hone in on that nuance of 'active belief'. What does it mean to be an active Christian? It means to be a slave who is in love with his master (cf. Titus 1:1-4). A slave is one who knows he is not free to do his own will and submit his entire being to his master. A Christian is one who knows his place in God's world and submits his entire being for the will of God.[i] However the Christian also does so with a heart of willingness; so to suggest that if God gave him an 'out' he would not take it, as he wants to serve Him, because he loves Him. And so the Christian is one who doesn't just say the right things but who also excitedly does the right things; whatever God wills him or her to do they do with glee.

Take it like a Christian

However being a man or a woman after God's heart (cf. 1 Samuel 13:14) doesn't negate the fact that the Christian is still a sinner whose natural inclination is to do what is ungodly (cf. Romans 8:7). There is a commonality between many people who are caught doing something wrong and a dog who is caught doing something wrong. Almost all dog owners have, at one time or another, seen their dog pitifully walk up to them with their tales between their legs and their heads hung low for doing their business on the carpet. The dog knows that they disobeyed their owners house rules and now they are going to get a consequence, and they are scared! In the same way, all people, have the same natural reaction. They do something wrong and they want to do what they believe needs to be done so avoid being punished, and Christians are no exception.

When we do something wrong, the world teaches us to run and hide; and or bury the evidence; and or to concoct a story that is convincing enough to be believed by the authorities (e.g. the police or one's parents); and or to play by Adam's playbook and find an escape-goat (cf. Genesis 3:12) and cast blame onto another. This however is not what Scripture teaches about dealing with consequences for doing something genuinely wrong, or sinful. Scripture advocates for the practice of proudly and willingly taking the consequences for ones actions.[ii] This doesn't mean that the Christian should be proud that they sinned against God and thus they should be proud to suffer the consequences for sin; rather how they take the consequences for their sin will be a multi-facet testimony. Let's look at one example of how this is played out:

King David took pride in the vast power of his army and trusted in his army rather in God, (2 Samuel 1-9). However he eventually came to his senses and remembered that God's abilities greatly supersedes in a combined power of the number 1,300,000 soldiers. As a result he realized that he sinned against God and he prayed earnestly:

“...I beg you, take away the guilt of your servant. I have done a very foolish thing.” - 2 Samuel 24:10

David's love for God caused him to desire not be found guilty and so God saw to it that he pay for his crime, thus making him innocent in His eyes once again.[iii] God gave him 3 options to choose as a consequence for his sin: 1) a famine in the land 2) loosing battles or 3) plagues, (2 Samuel 24:13). David choose option #3 with the hopes that God will show mercy. However by doing that he also knew that God's will may turn out deadly, and this was in fact how it turned out as thousands of people died (2 Samuel 24:15). However this wasn't the end of David's punishment. David suffered as a king, and now it was time for him to suffer as an individual man of God for his crime against his God. As it was the custom for his people David sacrificed an animal for the forgiveness of his own sins, however when an animal was offered to him for free David refused the handout and insisting on paying for it, because he didn't want to "...sacrifice to the Lord ... God burnt offerings that cost [him] nothing.” - 2 Samuel 24:24. David knew that he must be the one who pays for the consequences for his actions.

This illustrates three things: 1) A true follower of God wants justice, even when they are the criminal deserving of punishment for evil. A true Christian will take their discipline from God like a Christian should. 2) A true follower of God wants God's righteousness to be broadcasted, even if it means that they suffer God's wrath and 3) a true follower of God wants everyone to know that he's on God's side. Although suffering a consequence for sin is not pleasant taking it "like a Christian (follower of God)" is a testimony in itself. It proves to the world that the Christian is no more or less a sinner than the greatest and Godless sinner and it shows God's righteousness and love for the sinner.

So being a Christian is being a slave who is in active love for his master, who is God, even if this means taking a well deserved punishment for breaking the master's rules. The Christian is to represent God's righteousness and justice and love for his creation; and sometimes this is done by the act of suffering for personal acts of sinful stupidity.

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[0] - "Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn 079" by Rembrandt - The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202. Distributed by DIRECTMEDIA Publishing GmbH.. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_079.jpg#/media/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_079.jpg - accessed May 24, 2015 

[i] Does this mean that someone who is a non-Christian is 'free'? Is there liberation in being a non-Christian? No. Everyone is captive, so the question is, who is your captor? If you are your own captor and you use your own judgement, then you are held captive by death; and that is where all who are not in Christ will end up, (cf. Romans 8:1, 6a). However for those who are Christ's captives life is the natural outcome, (cf. Romans 8:6b). So who are you submitting to, death or life?

[ii] I do not mean to suggest that there are no non-Christians who are advocates for the philosophy of fessing-up and dealing with the consequences. I only mean that its the natural instinct to evade the authorities and try to avoid getting caught.

[iii] This is parallel to a criminal who successfully completed their prison term; they are no longer in debt to society for the crime that they committed because they had paid the debt in full; or they were released early thus they were shown mercy for the crime they did; either way they in the eyes of the law paid for their 'sin' as it were. 

One Day At A time

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There is a famous saying in Alcoholics Anonymous: "one day at a time." The idea of taking each day as it comes is not limited to overcoming addiction as it also applies to marriage life. Marriage is designed to bring both participants in the union much closer together than any other human relationship and to also bring both people close to God. Therefore it should not be taken lightly.

Paul teaches that the husband and the wife are to both "[submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ." (Ephesians 5:21). Why? Each person brings applicable value to each others lives may it be instruction, wisdom, guidance, compassion, skills, positive (and unfortunately some negative) attitudes and general and specific philosophies on life. Moreover, each person also brings the value of their very nature to the table, that is one person is a man and the other is a woman. So the husband brings himself in-toto to the relationship and the wife brings her total self to the relationship; and over the years what begins to develop is a new man and a new woman. The husband is to submit to his wife as she has things to offer that will do nothing but benefit him as a man and a follower of Christ; and in the same way she aught to submit to him as what he has to offer will make her a better woman and a follower of Christ; this of course is contingent on both people as individuals being reliant on Christ and sharing the vision for a God-centred union.

However there are unique ways for the husband and wife are to individually actualize this mandate as a husband and a wife. From here on in, I will discuss the role of the husband. Paul is clear that "...the husband is the head of the wife,..." - Ephesians 5:23a Such propositions are often stained with perception; a perception that is influenced by factors such as upbringing, friends, society, comparing first century middle-eastern culture to 21st century Western culture, and of course let us not forget that he is a sinful human being. So what is one to do? In this day of social quality is the husband still the head? Or is that a first century way of thinking, and now for us in The West, who live in the 21st-century is there ought to be a different interpretation or application for that passage? The answer is found in the passage itself. 

...as Christ also is the head of the church,... (Ephesians 5:23b)

Is it societally relative that Christ is the head of the church? No. Therefore since Christ is the picture to mimic then the husband role does not change with time and culture. Husbands will forever be the head. How, however is he to proactively live out this responsibility in his life? 1) Concentrate on his own responsibility and not police his wife's role. 2) Remember her role in his life, namely be his complementer or helper, (Genesis 2:18b). Why? He needs the help! God noticed that it was not good that the man was alone (Genesis 2:18a) so He solved the problem, namely his wife. 

However what does it mean that he is 'the head'? The husband is the spiritual leader; the one who is commissioned to teach God's word and lead his family to Godliness, (cf. Ephesians 5:26). However he needs help! His wife is called to help him, therefore he needs to listen to her (cf. Proverbs 31:26)! Solomon states:

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. ...a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. - Proverbs 31:10-21, 30 

Moreover, he is also to love his wife "...just as Christ loved the church..." - Ephesians 5:25. If you are a married man the day you put your signature on your marriage license you signed onto love your wife with a parallel love that Christ had and has for His church - a daunting task indeed! If you are an unmarried man, but you are looking down the corridor to marriage with your girlfriend, a great blessing indeed, but realize how God wants you to love her. 

How is the husband to parallel his love for his wife to Christ's love for the church? The first step is to concentrate on loving her and not how she is loving you in return. Christ's love for His church was not contingent on receiving love from His church (Romans 5:8); as such the husband should love his wife non contingent of receiving love from her.

Regarding all relationships Paul commands that all of us are to "...have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" - Philippians 2:5. This thus includes your relationship with your beloved. How should a husband love his beloved? Take on the nature of a servant and be obedient to her needs; and he is called to do this as far as to his own grave, (cf. Philippians 2:7-8). Christ sacrificed something, namely the glory that he had with his Father, so to meet our need of reconciliation back to him, (cf. John 17:5). In the same way husbands are called to be prepared to make sacrifices so to meet their wive's needs. 99% however of sacrifices won't have the err of death, except for from time to time, the death of one's preferences for the benefit of his wife. 

Christ also humbled himself by entering his creation and dying a natural death, (cf. Philippians 2:8). This however does not apply here for the husband because he is not on a higher standing than his wife; therefore there is no way that he can mimic the humility for his wife that Christ did for him, as he is, like his wife, but a lowly sinner. However the service end of that scenario is one that all husbands are commissioned to do; and this service is to love her unconditionally and ensure that his love for her is his number two priority as God is to be his number one (cf. Matthew 22:37-39).

Moreover, God pleads with his people to return to him and love him (cf. Jeremiah 3:12); he parallels his relationship with his people as His bride and He their husband (cf. Jeremiah 3:14). He chooses them; and when they love him, he promises not to reject their love and be angry (cf. Jeremiah 3:12d). Remember that your God-centred wife willingly chooses to love you and so be willing to be loved by your wife. This can done by a submission to all that she has to offer!

To conclude if you are an unmarried man who is looking to marry to your girlfriend, practice being her husband now. Show her today the reality of who she is namely, a person of "...noble character...". Someone who "...is worth far more than rubies." - Proverbs 31:10. 

Loving your spouse is a wonderful opportunity; but it can be hard. Therefore both you and your beloved should thank God that He's given to both of you rationed portions of time to do it; namely each of our relative hours that we are awake, (cf. Matthew 6:34). Just as I took sobriety from alcohol and drug abuse, one day at a time, every married man and woman should not try to love their spouses in chunks of 3 days or 7 days or 50 years, but only one day at a time to one portion of the day at a time to one hour at a time; and relish every second of it!

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[i] - "Placing a wedding ring" by Petar Milošević - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Placing_a_wedding_ring.jpg#/media/File:Placing_a_wedding_ring.jpg 

Who Am I?

I was invited to become a guest blogger for Faith Beyond Belief. I am addressing the argument that one's identity is in their sexual orientation thus making acting on homosexual attraction a justified behaviour. 

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"The question: “Who am I?” is one that is old as dirt. When this question is asked, many people take a trip down a common road of qualifications such as name and vocation. It is true that someone’s name identifies them and their career says something about them, but neither name nor career defines them as people in toto. There was a time when sexual orientation was also not included as a qualifier, as even though it is a part of who someone is, it does not complete them. However, times have changed, and now when someone in Western society says “I am gay,” their homosexuality is not just “a part of who they are”; it is in fact the very essence of who they are." - Con't here

Getting To Know God's Will: Finding your path in life

In an article I wrote, located here, I introduced a factitious character from the 2015, post-apocolyptic zombie game, Dying Light named Toygar. I showed that just as the creators of Dying Light, namely Techland and Warner Brothers designed Toygar to have a specific role in the video game God has designed His creation for one specific goal, namely to Glorify Him. So no matter where you may feel called as a believer in Christ to you are called to the same overarching goal namely to glorify God, (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:23-31).

Finding the specific will of God for ones life can be difficult because it involves every aspect of their life. The Christian wants to know His will for them when it comes to relationships - should they get married or stay single? God's 'Will' invades their education and career; should they go to school to learn medicine or politics? And so on. These types of questions are important as it is one thing to say that its God's will for the Christian to glorify Him by 'whatever they do' (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:31), but it is a totally different question to ask: 'How do I bring glory to Him?'

The first step in being abel to do God's specific will is to know what His will is? As James, the half-brother of Jesus states:

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. - James 1:27

This reiterates the point made in the aforementioned article about bringing glory to God by loving one's proverbial neighbour, but James adds a mandate to keep oneself separated from the unGodly world's morals, values and practices. John, Jesus' disciple encourages his readers to "...not love the world or anything in the world. ... —the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—..." - 1 John 2:15-16. So one way the Christian can bring glory to God is to stay on the right side of the line; in sum hold to Godly interpretations of abstracts concepts such as 'love'. Moreover, do not participate in practices that the world sees no issue with but God does; and also speak out against those practices. In other words irregardless of job-choice or choice of ministry, God has called the Christian to holiness, (cf. Lev. 11:44-45, 1 Peter 1:16).

How can one ascertain that something is Godly verses unGodly? Jesus promises to abide in us if we abide in Him; conversely he also promises that those who do not stay connected with him, will suffer eternally, (cf. John 15:1-17). The way we can learn what is Godly verses unGodly is to stay daily connected with him in prayer and in quite devotional times. However one also has to be attentive to what 'the world' believes so to be able to make the contrast, as there are several values that both 'the world' and Christianity share at the superficial level, such as to love one another. (cf. 1 John 3:11); but in the thick of it, Christianity's version of showing love to one's neighbour and the world's version of loving one's neighbour do not always see eye to eye. Representing God's views on various things bring's glory to God; it is God's 'Will' that we represent Him.

Another way the Christian can bring glory to God is to sit back and enjoy Him, through what he has made (cf. Psalms 46:10, John 1:3). God wants the Christian to not just stand up for him, but also relax in him, (cf. Psalms 23:1). Relaxing in the comfort of God brings God the glory of being a God of refuge, (cf. Psalms 46:1).

However how can the Christian know what they are called by God to do for their short time on this earth? All Christians irregardless of a specific calling are to abide in Him, rest in him, stand up for his morals and values, but not all people are called to be teachers, or go abroad as missionaries, or to work in the government, or preach from the pulpit, and so forth. How does the Christian ascertain God's will for them in terms of a life-calling? This is the billion dollar question. I ended the aforementioned article with this ascertain that Christians can make choices for their lives "...(move here, do this, do that, etc.) just as long as whatever choices they make are God-focused and ones that can bring Glory to God." We are called to glorify God in whatever we do, but can we do anything to glorify God? No. I for example, cannot look at internet pornography 'for the glory of God', because the nature of pornography is non-glorifying to God. So the Christian's choices are limited to those that can actually bring glory to God. There are two types of choices that one can make that can bring glory to God: one type of choice is Biblical and the other choice is neutrally-Biblical. The former is a moral choice that is founded upon Biblical values, while the latter is a choice that is neither for or against Biblical values and may also neither be a moral choice. One question the Christian should ask themselves is if the choice they are making falls into one of three categories: 1) Biblical, 2) neutrally-Biblical or 3) counter-Biblical (sinful choices.) If a Christian's decision falls into the third camp, it is undeniably and exclusively their will and counter to God's 'Will'; and therefore it can never glorify Him. If however the choice is in the second camp then the Christian should recognize it as permissible but ask if it is beneficial for themselves and or others. If this permissible choice is not going to be beneficial or constructive then it may be best to choose not to embrace this choice; and then of course if the Christian's choice falls into the first category then it should be a no-brainer that it is something that will bring glory to God as it is a Biblical choice.

Moreover, it is a fallacy to suggest that one's calling will be counter to their personal skills or design. I am not saying that God won't call someone to do something that will take them out of their comfort-zone and cause them to stretch as people, but it is a simple fact of life that there are people for example who are very impatient with young children but have a head-for-numbers; these people can spend hours going over a church's financial records and being in-tune to every dollar that is spent, but throw their hands up in frustration when a child is being incommunicative or taking a tantrum. God may be calling this person to be their church's treasurer and to work in a bank instead of being an AWANA leader and a kindergarten teacher. For that person to choose to take an economics course and strive to be a banker and or serve on the church's board of directors as the treasure is never going to be sinful or unGodly choice. For a concluding point of consideration one should also look at where their heart bleeds for. Nehemiah's heart was broken when he got word about the state of the Jerusalem wall (cf. Nehemiah 1). This inspired him to instigate a renovation project to fix it up. In parallel if one's heart bleeds to see Children come to faith in Jesus, then that person is probably called to children's ministry. Who does your heart break for?

Why Do I Exist?: Asking the oldest question, 'What God's 'Will'?

I'd like to introduce you to Toygar. Toygar is a factious character in the latest post apocalyptic zombie video game, Dying Light. Toygar is one of the animated side-characters who you can approach as the main and only playable character in the game Kyle Crane to get some of the side missions. This game of course has many side-characters, and like Toygar every character was designed by their creators, Warner Brothers and Techland to be stationed in one or two or three places in the factitious city of Harran. As such Toygar is pretty easy to find because he is always in the one place, that he was designed to be in: the main hideout called, The Tower. One popular place you can find him in The Tower is standing by a pin-board where other characters have posted requests which are several of the side-missions in the game. Essentially for most of the game Warner Brothers and Techland designed Toygar to stand by the pin-board and encourage me to help the other characters; in sum do the side-missions.

The way video-game developers like Techland design their games is very similar in intent to how God designed this universe and everything that resides within, (cf. Exodus 20:11). They design their characters to perform a single function or several specific functions. God has designed this universe and each life of every person, Christian and non-Christian alike for a very general purpose. One of the biggest endeavours and struggles that have burdened Christians throughout the centuries is finding that purpose for them as Christians and as people. "What is God's will for my life?" or simply, "What is God's 'Will'?" is the question that many Christians ask. This is a hard question to answer for many reasons, of which one is simply due to it being such a vast topic because it covers virtually every area in ones life: relationships, vocation, eduction, place of residence, Christian ministerial calling and so forth.

"What do I want to be when I grow up?" is a question that we all have wondered about throughout our childhood. From a Christian's viewpoint however the question could read like this: "Where do I feel called to?" We ask: "Does God want me to be a missionary? Or should I pull 9-5 desk job?" This question invades our relationships:"Is it God's will for my life, to be married or stay single?" It invades our para-ministerial goals: "Does God want me to get involved in children's ministry, homeless-ministry, prison-ministry or sing in the choir? It even causes many Christians to wonder about God's will for where on this earth they will live, work, eat and sleep: "Does God want me to move to this city or that country or stay where I am now?" These questions are a real burden for many Christians because the true Christian will truly want to ensure that they are fulfilling the will of God and not running off doing their own thing. Conversely however they are also human beings with desires, passions and personal ambitions. It should be a given that all Christians will gladly sacrifice sinful desires for the devotion to God and His Will; but what about those permissible desires? One burdening fear that many Christian's have is that their perfectly acceptable and non-sinful desires won't fit into God's 'Will' for their life. For example, what if I want to move to China but God wants me to stay in Canada? What if I long to get married, but it is God's will for me to stay single? What if my heart bleeds for children but I have this feeling God wants me to work in an adult's prison-ministry? And so on.

Before anyone can tackle such questions one has to ask the general question of God's will: "What is God's will - period?" This doesn't ask the question, "what is God's will for me? that is Ian Murray." But rather: "What is God's 'Will'?" Once the answer to this question comes to light personalizing God's 'Will' should become much easier to do.

There is an overarching theme in God's 'Will' for his creation. It is to glorify Him. Techland and Warner Brothers, designed Toygar for one meaning in life: to stay by the pin-board encouraging the player to help other characters in the game. And in the same way we exist to do one thing: glorify God.* The Apostle Paul highlights that the Christian has freedom in Christ. That is the Christian is not bound by the Mosaic Law. To the Christians in Corinth he explains the relationship between their freedom to do things and the rationality to do those things and the focus by which they should have so to make Godly decisions.

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive. - 1 Corinthians 10:23

He indicates that even though they have freedom to do many things, many of those things may not be beneficial for themselves or be a benefit to others. He then asserts that "[no] one should seek their own good, but the good of others." - 1 Corinthians 10:24. What did Jesus say, was the first and second greatest commandments? To love God and to love one's neighbour (cf. Matthew 22:37-39). Paul's focus is to have them be God centred and represent God by showing His love to their proverbial neighbours. So even though one has the freedom to do many things, one's Christian mandate may functionally take that freedom away. Paul uses the analogy that even though all foods are no longer contraband for the Jew, the Jewish-Christian should not eat any food sacrificed to false gods, solely base on how doing so may offend unbelievers (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:27-30). The spirit of this lesson is, if doing something is going to have a negative effect on an immature believer or an unbeliever (or even cause distress to mature and immature believers [cf. Romans 14:15]) then it is right to think of them first and sacrifice your freedom in Christ to do the "offensive" thing. Paul summarizes his point with:

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. - 1 Corinthians 10:31

There is a necessary connection between loving one's neighbour and bringing glory to God. Paul is saying that, in everything we do, we aught to honour the two greatest commandments that is to love God first and do so by loving one's neighbour (cf. Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37-39). And we aught to do this not for our neighbour's sake, but for the sake of bringing glory to God. So every action the Christian takes, every word the Christian speaks, every thought the Christian thinks - every ounce of the Christian's being is mandated to glorify God; the Christian exists to glorify God.* This greatly frees-up the Christian to make choices in their lives (move here, do this, do that, etc.) just as long as whatever choices they make are God-focused and ones that can bring Glory to God.

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* The mandate of this creation being designed to bring Glory to God is one reason that sin has separated his creation from him. Sin entered the scene (cf. Romans 5:12) disabling his creation from glorifying Him (cf. Romans 1:21). Since this universe and all that dwells within has been corrupted it no longer can glorify God (cf. Romans 8:6-7, 22). So God has solved this problem with sending Jesus to pay the consequences for sin, (cf. Romans 5:8). As such there will come a time when God will officially fix his creation en-toto (cf. 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 21:1-4) to the way it was supposed to be (cf. Genesis 1:31) thus restoring its original purpose, to glorifying God.