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RE2 Remake: Garbage Perfected

  I've been wanting to do scripted videos on my gaming channel on Youtube for a while now. This is just the easiest place to share those scripts for proof-reading purposes. This post is a game review. I don't just write theological articles; I just don't write very often anymore. (Viewer Discretion) If you ask me what my favorite Legend of Zelda game is, I'd tell you it's Resident Evil 4. So naturally you'll understand when I tell you that the best game in the Resident Evil franchise is Resident Evil 5. Context Resident Evil is a series I have an unusual history with. I can’t remember the exact timeline of my experience with this franchise, but judging by release dates I believe I played Resident Evil 4 on the Wii first. I was so impressed with that game that when I saw Resident Evil for the Gamecube on some random store’s shelf, I bought it immediately. In those days before the internet was widely used for everything, I didn’t even know that the copy I boug...
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An Open Letter about a Christmas Party

 Hey Eve,      This could probably be an e-mail. I decided against texting because it's just going to be so long. But it's also not entirely for you, so it doesn't hurt to put it up as a blog either where it can be referenced by those who should read it.      Thanks for the invite to the family Christmas party. I cannot come. There's no way to say why I can't come that will prevent it from being misinterpreted as bitterness, but hopefully any reader will have the presumption of grace. Maybe I don't have to explain why I'm not coming? I could just pass it off as an inconvenience. It's not; there's a time where I would have driven 14 hours 1 way just to be back for family Christmas if I could have gotten leave for a weekend. A two-hour drive with children can be more stressful, sure, but that's no excuse.      I cannot come because "What fellowship does light have with darkness?" And now everyone rolls their eyes and says "Jeremia...
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What Are Women For?

Prerequisite      This isn't something I necessarily want to write about. I don't often care about the "You're not qualified to talk about this issue" push-back for far reaching issues that affect everyone and therefore require an opinion. You can't have an opinion of what men are for without having an opinion about what women are for.      This issue, however, is one of those rare ones that I'd prefer to not talk about at all. That's because my opinions on the subject have already cost me greatly, what with Patriarchy being "a semi-heretical view." The sure-fire way to stir up controversy in many churches is to point out where women are teaching and preaching. Take for example in my former church: the adult Sunday School class was an open discussion that was "led" by an elder where anyone could raise their hand and offer a comment or question. At one point the Pastor made a statement about a text, to which his wife responded, ...
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The Placebo of Assurance

     Suffering is a part of all life. Suffering as a Christian is a privilege, serving as a form of discipline from our loving Father. The first lie in the garden was that “God is a capricious God who only gave you this law because he likes to torture his creation.” But it wasn’t true, and the act of God’s arrogant creature was a declaration that he was not worthy of being believed. The fundamental problem of man is that of disbelief: we do not believe God is good and so we do not do what he commands. This is true even for Christians. The temptation to doubt God doesn’t go away at the moment of our justification.      When we suffer we want to know why. Was it something I did that God is disciplining me for? Is it to prepare me for some future faithfulness? Am I a false convert, fooling myself into believing that Christ died for me while remaining under the wrath of God? Was it just some random injustice by some evil force? Maybe God really is a capri...
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Credo Vs. Paedo Baptism/Communion is not a scriptural debate

     I didn't think I cared about this topic as much as I do. As a former Baptist who only recently joined a Reformed church and had our children baptized, I'm not the most qualified person in the world to consistently promote either side of the debate.     But I do have something to say on the subject that I don't think I've heard anyone say before: the baptism debate is a worldview/presuppositional debate. Further, where you fall on the issue has very little to do with the actual text of scripture.     This is where the Baptist jumps in and says, "That may be true for Presbyterians, but we Baptists hold to Sola-Scriptura. That's why we only baptize professing believers because there are no biblical commands to baptize apart from repentance and belief." And then the Presbyterian jumps back in and says something about the covenant and how much more gracious it is, repeat ad nauseum while the actual argument is being completely overlooked.    ...
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Setting the Record Straight

     My dad passed away Monday, December 2 nd , 2024. There was a memorial service the following Wednesday. The service honored his life and memory well...for the most part. It wasn’t my place to address any of the issues I saw there. That wasn’t the purpose of the service, and in that regard the celebration of his life by his friends and family was good.      But it also wasn’t my place because of political considerations. The honor guard was there for a branch of the military I was kicked out of. The service was held in a church that holds to damnable doctrine. Many of the guest were from a church I’ve been unofficial excommunicated at. When I sung the line “Thou preparest a table before me, in the presence of mine enemies” in Psalm 23, I meant it. I was there to honor my dad and I behaved because of it.      Many people from my past will read this and roll their eyes, saying “Oh boy. Here he goes again: quiet and soft-spoken in person bu...
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A Most Worthless Expression

 “Are you doing the dishes in God’s strength? Or are you doing them in your own strength?"      I heard this in a sermon a while ago. It stuck with me (clearly), but for all the wrong reasons. See I came out of the Charismatic movement where “the green bean” theory of prayer was a real danger. What’s “the green bean” theory of prayer? It’s not original to me, though I can’t properly site who I heard it from because I don’t remember.      Basically the story goes that a college kid decided he would not take any action without first praying and waiting for the leading of God’s Spirit for an answer. Things went well for a day or two, until one day in the cafeteria he came to a choice between green beans or peas as a vegetable. He asked God which one he should choose. There was no answer. He asked again. Nothing. No sense of divine guidance or strong urge in either direction. And so, holding up the line, this young man stood there frozen in line having c...
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