Dean Craig

Did you play checkers when you were a kid?  Or Monopoly?  Or marbles?  Chances are that you did.  Did anyone ever tell you that you were going to turn into a marble head?  Or a checker addict?

I keep hearing people talk about kids and their video games like it’s some kind of plague.  But in my opinion, the games kids (and many adults too) are playing are much more than simple distractions.  They are much more social than you would think.

And a new study by the Pew Internet & American Life Project proves it.  Game playing is a social activity.  Only 11% of teens that play video games play them alone.

Video games are just a different type of game than you grew up playing.  Their forts are no longer made of cardboard boxes (Second Life) and are now connected to other players over distances you would have never taken you kids on a play date for.  And some of today’s video games have the ability to teach valuable skills; communications, graphics arts, economics, business administration, etc.

Sure, some games may be too graphic or violent, and you should make sure your kids are playing age appropriate games, but that’s no different than it was when you were a kid either.  Don’t you think a game of house ever went too far in your neighborhood?

[Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked]

I don’t know much about Joel Hunter or his church, but his prayer at the Democratic National Convention demonstrated the difference between tolerance and respect.  He invited people to end the prayer they way they would end their own prayers.  This showed respect without condoning other faiths in the room.  He showed the difference between praying in a national, political venue vs. praying in his own church or any other evangelical church.

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In two weeks our church is launching a church wide campaign using the backdrop of the new movie Fireproof.

We’ll have LifeGroups meeting in homes and special events through the series in support of marriages.

My wife and I got to see the movie in advance a couple weeks ago.  I have to say, it was very well done and should inspire more churches to reach higher.

One of the few things that Gmail lacks is an easy way to “save as” a single email to your hard drive without setting up an email client like Outlook and downloading all your mail.

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