Destiny's identity crisis, and the way forward

This game continues to suffer from an identity crisis. The saying goes, "If you try to appeal to everyone, you end up appealing to no one."

As someone who enjoyed the game even with the "level 20-29 grind limbo", I have concerns about the longevity of the game. My concern is that Destiny's popularity and high level of gamer engagement has only lasted this long because of the game drought we are in. I think this continued struggle for identity is going to cause long term problems and here's why...

Players looking for a good PVP experience will almost certainly never be satisfied. Why? Because PVP in general, across all titles, is incredibly repetitive (this isn't Destiny's fault). And even with special events like the Iron Banner, if we are honest, the PVP experience in Destiny leaves much to be desired for (lots of lag comp, delay, very little depth, typical game modes, etc.) And you really can't reverse or undo the terrible experience so many of us had with OP shotguns and the misleading nature of the first Iron Banner. So all your die hard PVP fans will eventually jump ship when better big name PVP titles start to drop. Especially games whose identity is more firmly planted in PVP. They tend to offer more and have deeper layers of creativity and incentivized reasons to play, level up, etc. 

Players looking for a good PVE RPG shooter experience have already moved on because there is little reason to play once you get to level 28-29. Continue grinding for materials? Waste 3 hours on the Vault of glass only to get no vault armor? No thanks. Many of us have gone to Borderlands The Pre-Sequel and many more will move in droves when bigger next-gen RPG titles like Dragon Age and others start to launch.

The reason games like Halo, Call of Duty, and Borderlands have been so successful and have high DLC saturation rates is because they have a clear identity. So expectations are set and largely met, resulting in a loyal and recurring audience. Destiny has tried to straddle the chasm between the experience of a solid co-op open world RPG and the experience of a fun fast paced competitive shooter. In the end, both aspects of the game are diluted, repetitive, and boring. Again, as I said on the outset, if you aim to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one.

My recommendation is this. Since the nature of PVP games are so quickly ran through and cast aside (see Titanfall and each Call of Duty title for examples), I would strongly suggest focusing all efforts on content. Content content content. Content is king. Competitive shooters are going to re-saturate the market soon, and there is going to be very little to make Destiny stand out, other than the litany of problems and complaints. Leave PVP as it is and continue to add bounties, but if you really want people to play your game for ten years, you need to leave the PVP on the shelf and refocus your identity. Not because PVP is a dying genre, but because it doesn't line up with the identity that Destiny promoted itself to have and it doesn't have the longevity you're hoping to get out of it. Go back and watch all your teaser trailers and announcements and you'll see why so much of your audience is unsatisfied and angry.

See Borderlands as an example of an RPG shooter that has ridiculous hours logged from their audience, and launches DLC for almost 2 years after the game drops. They wouldn't keep doing it that way if it wasn't working. Then look at Call of Duty. A new title every year with DLC crammed out faster and faster each time (and constant marketing to get you to purchase DLC before the game is even out). If Call of Duty has to launch a new full game every year to stay on top as the biggest PVP shooter, and they even had two different companies so this was even possible from a development standpoint, you're going to find yourself running up a mountain on a treadmill. You will never keep up.

Reestablish and fix the identity, and set yourself up to have a loyal and recurring audience. Anyone in business will tell you that loyal and recurring business is far better.

Are Bill Nye and Ken Ham both right?

First, I think there are much better debates to watch if you're curious about the issue of atheism vs the existence of God (Daniel Lane Craig vs Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens vs Doug Wilson).  Basically just watch any debate that Hitchens or Daniel Lane Craig have had and you’ll be better squared up on the main issues.  I think that discussion is more foundational before considering the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham.

Nobody Really Knows What Happened

Yes, I know, how wonderfully agnostic and unhelpful.  But let me elaborate.

In the 1960’s Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson detected strange radiation with their instruments at Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey (Bill Nye outlined this story in the debate).  What they discovered was cosmic background radiation which lead to the undeniable conclusion that the universe had a precise and explosive beginning.  This discovery has been championed by both sides of the debate as proof for their position.  Now, since we weren’t there we can only make predictions about how it happened.  Maybe God sped up time?  Maybe he didn’t, and it took a long time, because a day is like a 1,000 years to him.  More on how we should read Genesis below.

This is why I said the existence of God debate must happen first.  If you grant for a moment that God might exist, and has the power to create all things, then isn’t it possible that the expansion and explosion of the universe happened at a rate incalculable by science because it was done supernaturally?  And that animal life and plant life look to be from a single source because God shaped and molded all things as he went, leaving traces of what looks like species transforming into other species?  Scientists have no instruments or methods for studying and measuring the supernatural, so maybe both sides are closer to the truth of how it all happened then either wants to admit.  Even Creationists must grant that the biblical narrative simply doesn’t say in any detail how it all happened, just that it did.  I know many will say, “Yes, but it says how long it took, 6 days!”  Alright, well…

Young Earth Creationists Should Keep an Open Mind

Oh brother, now I sound like a Universalist!  R.C. Sproul made a good point in a video about the age of the universe.  He basically said, “We saw we had wrong interpretations that the sun rotated around the earth because of scientific discovery.”  What if, now hang with me here… What if part of our understanding of the first two chapters of Genesis is flawed?  I encourage everyone to read, “The Lost World of Genesis One” by John H. Walton.  He makes a compelling case that our understanding of the creation account is not informed by ancient cosmology and the context of the original audience.  I've not read anything, save Walton's book, that considers language and context of the time.  Walton slowly walks through much of the ancient literature surrounding the time of the writing of Genesis, and I think he makes a compelling case that the Israelites would have understood “create” much differently than we do, which should inform our interpretation.

What I am Not Saying

To be clear, I am not saying that Christians should waffle and waver on Biblical authority, the existence of God, or the claims of/about Jesus simply because scientists say otherwise.  What I am saying is that perhaps we’ve been ardently defending a literal 6 day creation and a young earth when we don’t have to.  Sure, Ken Ham and others will say, “Then you’ve got the problem of death before the fall.”  But again, what if part of our understanding of Genesis 1-2 is flawed?  Where does it say no animals died prior to the fall?  It says man will surely die in the day he eats the fruit (then Adam doesn’t die in the day he eats the fruit), and later says that the tree of life would have granted them eternal life (Gen 3:22).  So which is it?  Adam was going to live forever and sinned, bringing physical death into the world?  Or sin broke covenant and revoked access to the tree of life and by default brought death into the world?  What if the death was spiritual in nature and the curses were the result of being separated from God and his tree of life?  Paul can still say “By one man…” because Adam brought this on us, separated us from God, and Christ has to restore that broken order.  So, there is certainly multiple ways to read/interpret this, and if large amounts of data show us death happening long before man shows up, then maybe we need to stop burning modern Galileos and adjust our interpretation.

Bill Nye’s Two Points to Consider

The two points Bill Nye made that I found the most interesting were about age of the earth, not evolution.

First, he points to trees that are older than the flood.  How would this be possible?  Many typically reply to age of the earth questions by saying, “Adam was created with age and so was the earth.”  Okay, but what about after the flood?  That’s a precise point in the historical biblical narrative, and we have trees that somehow survived and are older than the flood?  So even if the trees were created with age, how did they survive the flood? (Another discussion: global vs local flood)  This leads to his other point, which is a solid counter to the “created with age” response.

Second, he points to the many fossils found in various layers of the earth that represent different ages of the earth.  If God created the earth with age, which is why mountains and layers in the Grand Canyon look really old… Why would there be dead animals inside them?  This poses the same problem Ken Ham laid at the feet of theistic evolutionists: death before the fall.  If you make the claim that the earth was simply created with age, then the fossils and their locations mean that death happened during creation or God simply created the mountains and rock layers with fake fossils.

I think it is far more likely that part of our understanding of Genesis 1-2 is flawed, and that the basic big picture teachings from it are true and easily verified in our existence today.  Man is told to subdue the earth and fill it.  Humans have clearly and undeniably done that in a very short amount of time.  Sin put enmity between man and God, and man and man.  This is clearly seen in the disgust and hate people express for God, even though they claim he doesn’t exist, and the constant turmoil, fighting, and war amongst men.  The foundational claims made in Genesis 1-2 lead us directly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is far more important than the age of the earth.  Man is the prominent species almost everywhere on earth, pining, fighting, and searching for identity.  It can’t be found in a fossil record or a sea bed nor can it be found in the precise age of the earth; it can only be found in the one who conquered death.

Your Opinion about Rap Might be Racist

Recently there's been a bit of a dust up over comments made by some panelists at a "Worship of God Conference".  It has been to my great disappointment, that Scott Aniol has doubled down on his position, attempting to argue that the Bible supports his position that rap is not glorifying to God.  It has also been incredibly disappointing to see so many Christians agreeing with him.

The biggest mistake critics of rap are making is thinking that asserting an opinion is the same as making an argument. Just because you think that rap is “not good music” or is not “glorifying God with excellence” does not mean you have actually shown, from reason and Scripture, that is objectively true of rap. I can say that hymns are “not good music” (I actually really enjoy hymns), but that does not mean it’s factual or even biblical, it’s just an opinion.

Christians really need to heed Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Matthew 15 about elevating man’s traditions to being equal with the commands of God. Your view of a given music style is not equal to God’s word, and leveraging passages about worship being excellent as if they somehow support your opinion is reckless eisegesis.

Here’s the uncomfortable reality for most of the people criticizing, dismissing, and denouncing rap. You’re allowing a cultural-ethno-geocentric bias to keep you from having enough grace for a style of music outside of your taste and context. This undermines a Gospel for all peoples and is a poor representation of a gracious Father who calls us to love our enemies. If we are to love our enemies, how much more should we love our brothers and sisters and have the grace to allow for musical differences?

Think of the variety of music styles across the globe, and you’re going to single out rap as “not good music” and “not glorifying to God”? Expect the charge of racist when you single out a style of music with a history and context that is culturally derived from a specific race. If the shoe were on the other foot, and black Christians were saying that rap and gospel were the only appropriate forms of music, you’d start to understand why racism is a legitimate accusation.

Children Are Disposable

She says she knew this decision would make others “uncomfortable”, laying the blame for any opposition to what she did at the feet of everyone else. In her mind it is clearly something wrong with those disagreeing with her decision, and not anything wrong with her actions. The way she talks about it displays a dissociative mental break from reality. She is disconnected, emotionless, un-empathetic, liken to a serial killer talking about his victims.

And if you listen carefully, blatant hypocrisy seeps out from her comments.  When describing her own "discomfort" at her friend having 7 embryos implanted while continuing to have miscarriages she questions, "Don't you think your body is trying to tell you something?".  So her friend's body having miscarriages is communicating something, but her body wasn't telling her anything when it had three living persons in it.  All that "mattered" was that she was "in control of her decision", but her friend should relinquish control and listen to her body.  All of this while she justifies silencing the voices of two lives in the womb.

For many in this country, children exist on a continuum. On one end, many treat their children like a commodity, living vicariously through them, dressing them up like little dolls (Toddlers and Tiaras), pushing for the best schools and best performance in sports and other activities. On the other end, they are an inconvenience, a disposable piece of waste that can be removed with the press of a button, or medicated and babysat by the TV. This woman, with unapologetic psychopathological speech describes how she saw her unborn children on both ends of the spectrum.

(HT: Denny Burk)

Rescue and Restore Album Review

"Rescue and Restore" thunders out as one of August Burns Red's strongest albums instrumentally. The band seems to have hit their stride by balancing the breakdown elements of "Messengers" with the fast intensity of "Leveler" and "Constellations". Fans of specific albums will be happy and satisfied with the variety and lively nature of the album. The artwork is bright and grungy which embodies the sound ABR has grown into. Lyrically the album is not their strongest, which seems due to the specificity with which Jake wrote some of the lyrics. He clearly has a passion in his personal life for healing and growth, both for himself and others, and that shines through in the lyrics. However, some of them feel more personal, like letters Jake has written to God, which may make it harder for listeners to relate and connect to the songs. The more I listened the more I came to enjoy the lyrics, trying to place myself in each song. If fans take an approach that is more personal, they may find the lyrics growing in strength over time as they feel certain songs or lyrics are their own. The in-your-face intensity is lacking when compared to an album like "Messengers", with the exception of the track "Treatment", which strongly condemns religious tribalism and bigotry. So, some fans may feel the album is somewhat flat lyrically, but again, it is more personal than preachy which some may prefer. Overall, the word to describe listening to the album is "fun". The increase in positive healing-focused lyrics and reestablishing of the participatory nature of the music will hopefully draw new fans in and be enjoyed by longtime fans of the band.

5/5 stars - I highly recommend this album.

Thoughts on a Transient Church

As a member of Clifton Baptist Church, a church that is admittedly transient, I have often thought about the best way our church can approach the seemingly constant influx and outflow of people.  Every church has its own cultural climate and context, and often these factors can create an environment where people are coming and going quite frequently.  So if you are currently attending a church and the transient nature of the membership is bothersome or discouraging, let me offer an observation that helped me reorient how I think about my church and ministry.

Side note: If your church is transient due to poor leadership or sinful behavior in the church then what I’m about to say probably won’t be very helpful.  I mainly have churches in mind that are in a city or context where people naturally come and go as “way of life” situations or “ministry calling” pulls them away.

We’re a Family

The language in the New Testament consistently invokes the language of family, namely “brothers and sisters”.  The idea behind this is that Christians are siblings with God as our Father.  This theological theme encompasses why we should confront a brother who is in sin or lift up a sister who needs encouragement: we love and care for our family.  But how, you may ask, should this frame our view of transience?

Serving for 6+ years with children and now teenagers has brought me to a unique experience: watching those who I first met when they were children graduate from High School.  I experienced something youth pastors must feel annually and parents feel less frequently but more deeply: proud joy mingled with nostalgic sorrow.  All the times mentoring, praying, studying, and laughing are coming to a close.  The proud smile coupled with misty eyes as they cross a stage and are suddenly more of a peer than a student is but a small reflection of the paradoxical feeling within.

The ebb and flow of life makes the moment of transition almost magical.  When did it happen?  When did they stop running around laughing uncontrollably as you played games with them on a playground and start taking their life and faith seriously?  As this moment takes you by surprise you can’t accurately describe the feeling.  You are proud of them, happy because they are happy, but there is a unique sadness that only wells up during these times of jettison.  This is, after all, what you have been working toward.  And yet, part of you wants to stop the clock, fly out the window beneath a star filled sky, and runaway to Neverland, keeping the joy and laughter going on forever.  But reality slowly settles on you, like a scratchy blanket you reluctantly get used to, and you know they must go and that things cannot go back to what they were.

As this realization landed on me, at first I was filled with a great sense of dread.  What’s the point?  Every year I will have to say goodbye to another set of students, always feeling like a part of my family is being ripped from my presence.  But then, suddenly, I realized, this is what families are meant to do.  You invest, discipline, sacrifice, love, serve, and work toward the day when the baby throwing food in your face is shaking your hand like an adult and leaving your side.  And if the church is a family, and if part of the duty of the church is to send workers out into the world, then we, like so many parents, can proudly wipe tears from our eyes as those we have grown to love and cherish leave us. We may not be able to steal our churches and friends away to some Christian-Neverland, where ministry, service, and love go on forever… But one day our King will return and take us to a Forever-land, where joy and laughter will echo in the hills and mountains on top of new stories and smiles into eternity.

What now?

As this thought has continued to penetrate my heart, like a new pair of glasses that come with tissues for joyful-sorrow-filled-tears, I can look at my transient church with a newfound sense of purpose and wonder.  God, in his glorious plan and love, has given us a family larger and greater than we could fathom, and it comes with many unique joys, privileges, responsibilities, and sorrows.  A parent would never abandon their responsibilities or stunt their child to keep them from growing up and moving away because they love their family and know they are working toward something far greater.  We also, out of love and an eternal purpose, should not abdicate the same responsibility as the family of God.  We meet to part and part to meet, indeed.

God creates evil? Q&A

I was asked a few questions during my interaction about God and evil in Isaiah 45:7

1. Couldn't god find a better way to bring about good than via evil? (Or, if you prefer, can you get creative and at least contemplate ways that appear, on the very surface at least, better?)

These types of questions are difficult because they entertain the idea of a perfect being while suggesting that said being is doing things imperfectly.  I honestly don’t know if he could do it better because the existence of evil draws our attention beyond the here and now and thrusts into ultimate questions which in turn makes us consider eternity.  The very existence of a non-temporal God and our temporal existence has built into it imperfection and dependency which leaves the capacity for evil.  And for some reason, unexplained to man, God’s plan included a damaged creation being redeemed through the death of his son.  Just because we can’t conceive of an explanation doesn’t mean there isn’t one.  And honestly, an infinite being explaining his infinite perfect plan to finite imperfect creatures means by default we won’t fully understand because our very nature is opposed to complete infinite exhaustive understanding.  So the absence of an explanation doesn’t necessarily prove anything, other than what we should assume to be the case given the nature of an ultimate perfect plan and our limited imperfect abilities.

2. Doesn't the process of creating a negative and a positive equal a zero? 

Not if the ultimate sum of all things is good.  The evil actions of men are finite and temporal, God’s plan is eternal.  In other words, his actions and will are going to bring about eternal incorruptible good while the evil intentions and actions of men bring about temporal evil and are part of an ultimate plan for ultimate good.  So, Christ being killed was temporary and evil, but it brought about a greater, ultimate, and incorruptible good: the salvation of many.

Then I was asked why the buck stopped at us and why didn’t God deliver the girls in Cleveland.  Well, if he brings about all things, then God is the one who ultimately delivered them from the hands of the oppressor.  Now, the question remains, why didn’t God do it before they were raped?  The short of it is, we don’t know, and we don’t always get a clear 1:1 like we do in the story of Joseph or the death of Jesus.  Maybe it will increase awareness in the area and keep a greater number of girls safe from abduction and rape?  Maybe it will be so shocking and terrifying to the public that someone considering doing something similar decides it’s better not to?  Again, we see things on a temporal scale while God sees a big and ultimate picture.  So maybe the good never comes in our lifetime or is even tangible.  Maybe someone reads this discussion or those like it and finds hope in their suffering knowing there is some underlying current of good in their awful circumstance and they face it with hope rather than despondency and bitterness?    But ultimately, I don’t know.  Again, the Gospel shows me that the worst thing ever brought about something wonderful, so I can, as Paul says, grieve with hope.

And to clarify, my point was not that we need God to tell us evil exists.  My point was more of a philosophical flipping of the coin.  Say there is no God, no absolute measurement, nothing supernatural, nothing above the natural realm, then how do we claim metaphysical realities like evil exist?  How do we grieve with hope?  How do we maintain in one hand that evil exists, and in the other, provide hope for the damaged, the suffering, and the down trodden?