… and In The End
And this is how that same piece ends.
Zack and I are working on something together. The first part of it sounds like this …
So, this is what the Lee Family Jam Band sounds like. The drummer has some consistency issues, and the harmonica player really wants to sing lead, but apart from that I think we’re really going places.
I love it! I am relieved that Jason is coming back today after several days away from home. When we were at the library, my daughter checked out a Mr. Rogers DVD, because she knows he has a way of making me feel like everything is going to be okay.
Three video game stations are at my church, ready to be installed into the walls of our youth hall. An internal debate rages inside my head. What do you think?
I think Video Games are as valid a form of media as any other. If you’re gonna teetotal, that’s cool, but I think to single out music / video and other forms of consumption as ok, and video games as not… is inconsistent. Just my $.02
Question: Would you be okay if you sent Josiah and Zion to youth group and they came home and told you about Rated M games? (I am asking honestly, not trying to corner you.)
Follow-up… and does the boy’s age matter? “Youth group” implies grades 6-12, a large range.
First off, Half Life hasn’t been multiplayer since, like, 1998. Now you only blow up aliens.
In all seriousness, this reminds me of a lecture I heard at a summer camp about a Christian reaction to media. They used two criteria for classifying media, Quality and Content, which leaves us with 4 categories of media & 4 different reactions:
1. Good Quality, Good Content: A message that lines up with a Christian worldview in the form of well-executed art, i.e. A church service from, oh, say, Willow Creek in Chicago. Reaction: Love it, learn it, learn from it.
2. Bad Quality, Good Content: A good message, well-intentioned but poorly executed. i.e. a Christian garage band. Reaction: Be edified by its message, but know what could be done better & don’t settle in your own work.
3. Good Quality, Bad Content: A less-than-holy message, but done superbly. i.e. oh…most pop and R&B. Reaction: Learn from its form so you can make more category 1 art, but guard your heart from its message.
4. Bad Quality, Bad Content: Bad message, poorly made media. i.e….I think you get the idea. Reaction. Stay away. There’s nothing to learn. Except for what not to be.
How this applies to video games: Basically what Michael said. Games with questionable content shouldn’t be a part of the game selection. However, games that are good quality will attract kids, just like any other good quality media will. And good quality helps them take the content (i.e. everything else that goes on at youth group) more seriously. So, maybe scratch Half-Life despite its merits as a game. But consider Portal: equally award winning but consisting solely of puzzle rooms and a hand held teleportation device.
Why not?
sharolyn 3:05 pm on 21 July 2010 Permalink
I’m 20 second in, and I love it.
Zack 3:13 pm on 21 July 2010 Permalink
Pass the birth control.
jason 10:11 pm on 21 July 2010 Permalink
Monk was a good choice(then again, when is Monk not a good choice? maybe for a Muzak recording)! Just somehow very appropriate..
JLord 7:43 am on 22 July 2010 Permalink
I’m not completely sure it’s the drummer’s fault. I felt the pianist pushed the tempo & the drummer was just tryin to keep up. Otherwise, sounds great!
michael 12:46 pm on 22 July 2010 Permalink
This is what Zack does when he doesn’t have a gig.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=362Myqqgnkw