The Ethos Collective

Dungeons, Dragons, and Spiritual Detriment

admin — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 15:33:30 +0000

Having been raised in the church during the 1980s, I received much knowledge concerning morality, but some tidbits I picked up were less than stellar. One such inculcated gem, was a rabid disdain for dungeons and dragons; that sinister game that could infiltrate the minds of adolescents and convert them into suicidal devil worshipers. Well, like a good Christian young man, I wasn’t hesitant about expressing my view to my friends who has partaken in that heathen ritual… needless to say, I felt a touch foolish the first time I watched them actually play a game… wondering why on earth we were so bent against it. Years later after having been in the ministry for a while, one of my students afforded me the opportunity to play a game, and I decided I’d try it out. I loved it, and have been playing it nearly weekly ever since. I can tell you truthfully that neither I, nor any of my students who participate in this game have committed suicide, nor have we begun worshipping Satan. In fact, I see that over the past year Dungeons and Dragons has become a peculiar draw to our ministry, as our regular gaming nights tend to draw a specific crowd that the church has largely ignored in the bulk of its outreach endeavors. In fact, two individuals we baptized last month came to us as a direct result of our playing of dungeons and dragons… clearly this is not the adversary’s domain… well, unless we decide to cede it to him, which most of us apparently have. This all begs the question as to why the church occasionally picks innocuous social phenomenon and decides to wage war against it, as though our eternities hung in the balance.
To be honest, I see the hand of a very intelligent adversary in this. During WW2 the British intelligence campaign known as “Bodyguard” engaged in an elaborate ruse intended to misdirect German resistance prior to the invasion of Normandy. One of these techniques was the use of inflatable tanks and contrived tread-marks throughout various fields in England, as well as false landing craft jamming the bays of England. This is how intelligent warfare is conducted… the wise adversary sets up phantom threats to conceal the real dangers in his arsenal. So it is with our adversary. Since the 1980s we’ve seen the occasional revelatory uprising of Christian watchdogs, who proclaim a book or a game to be an open door to Satan worship. It is spiritual death to our children, and our moral duty to openly oppose these things at every opportunity. All the while, religious syncretism, relativism, the death of sexual modesty, and other very real and very dangerous issues went virtually unopposed throughout the world’s congregations. And so, true to form, the American church does the easy thing and targets an adversary that can be boycotted or burned. Brilliant; ignore the call to wage war against spiritual powers and authorities, don’t bother with the corrupting influence of people who read books or play games, just berate a publisher and close your wallets, oh and don’t forget to level some partially conceived diatribe about satanic influence at people who already need Christ. Well, this all mindlessly ends in a bulk of the church jumping on board and rallying their teachings and parental oversight against a perceived threat. I don’t think I’d be exaggerating here if I were to suggest that perhaps 90% or more of said Christian populace has no first-hand experience with said threat, nor do they understand exactly why they should view it as a treat (save for the quick tidbits of zealous accusations they’ve gleaned from other Christians offering opinions on the issue). Are the Christians who jump on these issues bad people? …No, they’re just Christians who trust the church and are under the impression that this zeal of other believers has a solid foundation. Are these believers damaging possible evangelism opportunities, and ostracizing people needlessly? Absolutely. There is no doubt that people outside of Christianity view this type of paranoia as absurd (especially given that the vast majority of it is highly ill-informed and, well… absurd).

It’s Coming Together

admin — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:18:00 +0000

I was blessed to have met again with our friends over at the Cincinnati Chinese church yesterday. We’re currently putting together a two-year curriculum run that will integrate spiritual disciplines, apologetic training, theology, history, culture, and practical application of all of the above. I can honestly tell you that I’m more excited for teaching this fall than I have been since I first began ministry. It’s not just the topics (which are looking phenomenal), but that we’re looking at taking this up as the collective. Jayson French once expressed to me that what sold him on taking his position at CIY was the thought of accessing so many teens (literally the next generation) and seeing them rise up as one to take on the world. The longer I’ve been involved in church-proper the more convinced that real change is only going to come from our shaping the coming generations, and only then if they can figure out how to unite efforts and stop this precedent of competition that we in the church seem so fond of. It excites me to think that we could literally be a part of engendering a generation of disciples the likes of which this earth has not yet seen… Too idealistic? My skeptical side says yes, but I look at what the Master’s done with us in the past, and I know that He wills to do exceedingly abundantly more than we can expect. Our Master surely has a plan to counter this cultural slide… please Father, let Your servants here be part of that plan!

Eph 3:20-21
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,
21 to Him {be} the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
(NAU)

Summer In the Collective

admin — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 15:13:17 +0000

Well, we just returned from CIY where we had the opportunity to mingle quite freely and effectively between the three churches currently involved in the collective. After such an incredible time, we naturally must ask: “what are we going to do to maintain some of these ties?” Between Coffee Dungeon, Flying Fists of Friendliness, CCC’s Friday night sessions, and some new discipleship groups about to begin, there are plenty of places to tie in. I’d also like to advise that you tie into the message boards, if you haven’t done so yet. For specifics on these events, go to the forum section and consult the almighty “calendar and events” thread.

Summer CIY: sign up post haste!

admin — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:22:54 +0000

The collective is beginning to sign up for Christ In Youth, summer conference 2007. We’re going to be attending the Anderson Indiana conference (IN 1), which runs from June 11th - 16th. If you’ve never been to conference, you might be wondering exactly what is CIY? In brief, an international Christian organization known as “Christ In Youth” takes over a host of college campuses and hosts high school students from all over the country. During our week long stay on the campus you’ll find yourself engaging in some of the most powerful worship, mind expanding study, and fun fellowship you’ve ever been privy to. No amount of explanation ever does it justice.

So what do we do every day at CIY? After meeting up with your youth group for a fantastic breakfast, Each day kicks off with a corporate session called “Encounter” that introduces the theme of the day and what Scripture has to say about it. After a bit of morning worship and listening to a phenomenal speaker, we go out and do individual devotions (provided in a student booklet) on the theme. From there we go into D-Groups, which is basically a group of 10-12 students and an adult teacher or two that will collectively explore the day’s theme more deeply. The lessons provide a lot of interaction and discussion centering on a deep and challenging study. In the early afternoon there is either a General Session where everyone gathers together to hear a comedian or a powerful speaker, or take an elective class time with several different options to choose from (sessions like: A Christian Appoach to Dating, World Religions, Evidence for the Existence of God, Spiritual Disciplines, Talking to Friends About God, etc.). The rest of the afternoon is free time. There is no organized recreation at CIY. Our teens typically do anything from join a pick-up game of basketball to take a nap or hang out with friends (we usually take over one of the dorm lobbies for the week, which then functions as a center meeting place for our group, and a place where an adult is always on hand). After free time and dinner, begins the evening session. The worship is incredible! And CIY flies in speakers from all over the country, who always prove to be challenging and interesting. After the evening session, we go back to our reserved lobby and have a discussion time with just our youth group. It is the last meeting of the day, and involves fellowship and sharing from the whole group about what we learned and what we did during the course of the day. Then it’s back to the dorms to try and get rested and ready to go again! No matter how well I describe it though, it will always come across as underwhelming compared to the actual fun and intensity of the event. If you want testimony to how incredible conference is, just ask those who’ve been before.
You do not want to miss CIY!!!

For more info see www.ciy.com or contact one of your youth sponsors.

Stick With Us

admin — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 15:06:45 +0000

Hey there, noble viewer!
We’re just now getting on our feet with regard to a website and other such odd and end details of this venture (i.e. don’t judge all that we’re doing too hastily from our online appearance). Hop into the forums and register as soon as you get the chance, but most importantly… stick with us. We’re going to continue to develop this site and will be continually introducing new events and opportunities to interact, learn, and serve.

Life Beneath the Surface

admin — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:40:26 +0000

The Ethos collective is a community of young Christians from the greater Cincinnati area that spans multiple churches and denominations. Having recognized that Christ has only one church on this earth, and desiring to work together within said church, we’ve undertaken a course of uniting our efforts in promotion of the spiritual disciplines, a commitment to personal discipleship, training in apologetics, teaching and defending sound theology, engaging in Godly service, and reaching the lost in our schools and communities. In short, we promote the inner life; the deep life (as Christ said: “life to the fullest”).

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.
Prov 27:17