Evangelism

Pokemon Go Gospel

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Pokemon Go Gospel

I am sure that by now you have heard of Pokemon Go. You may even be playing the game yourself if only to try to see what all of the fuss is about. If you are totally clueless Pokemon Go is a game where you walk around in the real world to “catch” Pokemon. Unlike the games of our younger days there isn’t a larger story. There isn’t some pre-made world to wander through. There is only your own life and experience as you walk around hoping that something pops up in front of you to catch.

If you want more information I really like the Geek Dad beginner guide at https://geekdad.com/2016/07/pokemon-go-beginners-guide/ it has some basic intro ideas for playing the game.

Because of the architecture that the game was built on (an early game by the same developer) our church has become a Pokegym (a place where people can use their Pokemon to fight). That means that at our church I have seen dozens of people walking through the parking lot hunting Pokemon.

As they searches I kept thinking that many of these people were not only searching for Pokemon, but were also searching in other areas of their life, so I came up with this little card to pass out that has this text one it:

Everyone is searching for something. People search for the next rare Pokemon, the next payday, the next thrill. People search for love or acceptance or respect. Too many times I find myself searching too. I search for answers, search for the truth, search for a place to belong and for something to make me feel right on the inside.
For me, the answer to all of my searching is Jesus. I find in him the peace, the forgiveness, the acceptance, the purpose I need.
If you are interested in hearing more about Jesus or have a need I can help you with or just want to talk about Pokemon Go please give me a call.

I have had the opportunity to pass this (along with my contact info) to a few people and I am asking God to help me start even more conversations as me and my boys go out looking for more Pokemon.

If you are searching for something; if it seems like something is missing in your life then send me a message I would love to tell you about how I discovered that Jesus is what all of us are seeking.

Going Viral Quiz

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Going Viral Quiz

The gospel is viral. It spreads from person to person, multiplying as more people begin to share God’s love with their friends. This quiz is a great way to start off a discussion of the viral nature of the gospel. It contains 10 questions around the theme of viral marketing and viruses in popular culture. You can download the PowerPoint file or the image files for use in other screen presentation software from the links below.

Going Viral PowerPoint

Going Viral Image Files

How It Works:

Divide your group into teams. I normally give the teams 30 seconds to come up with a team name to add a bit of whimsy to the activity. Give a piece of paper and pen to each team and have them write down the answers as you go through the questions. When you are finished teams should trade paper to grade the quizzes. Give a small prize to the winning team. Smaller groups can have as few as two teams, but try to avoid playing as individuals. Part of the experience is to work together as a team.

“Easy A” and the failure of evangelism

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“Easy A” and the failure of evangelism

Just finished watching “Easy A.” If you haven’t seen it, let me just say that it is a pretty good flick, a throwback to the 80s teenage movies of my youth (and even references them in a fairly witty way). It is worth watching, even though it is somewhat suggestive at time and it earns its PG-13 rating on language alone.

But the witty dialog and absolutely charming lead actress are not why you should see this movie. You should see it for the portrayal of Christians. Most movies portray Christians as either dim witted or hate filled and judgmental. This movie manages to do both. The blatant stereotyping of the Christian characters in this movie would be reasons for boycotts if they were so obvious about any other group in America these days. But you don’t need to see this movie so that you can be indignant about how they portray Christians. You need to see this movie so that your eyes can be opened to how our message is being received.

Evangelism in this country is failing. Movies with Christians that are so blatantly different from the average Christian on the street can only work if no one actually knows an average Christian. It is easy to talk about how Hollywood is attacking Christian values, but that is putting the blame on a bunch of people who don’t know better. As Christians we should know better. We should know the joy and the power that comes from following God and as such we should be telling everyone we meet about it.

But apparently we aren’t. Apparently we are missing the mark when it comes to actually reaching out with the love of Christ.

What breaks my heart about a movie like “Easy A” is that no one who wrote the movie, no one who worked on the movie, no one who screened the movie ever brought up the need to have at least some positive Christian influence in the film. No one assumed that such a thing was even possible. When the lead character goes looking for religion (and someone to explain the Bible to her) she finds a priest who isn’t in his confessional booth and the father of her Christian tormentor (who was also wearing a collar; I honestly would like the stereotype of all ministers wear collars to go away too, but that is down on the list below all Christians are judgmental and close-minded).

Why couldn’t she have found someone who at least wasn’t a total jerk? It could be because the makers of the movie have an ax to grind against Christians. It could also be that they have had very little positive experience with Christians. That is a failure of evangelism, not of the filmmaker.

I honestly don’t have a good answer on how to fix this. Maybe some of us who live in the Bible belt need to get up and move to places where there aren’t Churches on every corner and actually start loving people the way that Jesus did. Maybe if people saw more Christians without picket signs actually treating them like the creation of God that they are then things would be different.

Maybe.

Lost Quiz

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Lost Quiz

This PowerPoint screen game is a series of 10 questions (and one tie breaker) that deals with movies, TV shows, and Books with “LOST” in the title. You can download the PowerPoint file or the image files for use in other screen presentation software from the links below.

Lost Quiz PowerPoint

Lost Quiz Image Files

How It Works:

Divide your group into teams. I normally give the teams 30 seconds to come up with a team name to add a bit of whimsy to the activity. Give a piece of paper and pen to each team and have them write down the answers as you go through the questions. When you are finished teams should trade paper to grade the quizzes. Give a small prize to the winning team. Smaller groups can have as few as two teams, but try to avoid playing as individuals. Part of the experience is to work together as a team.