Friends, Guildies, Churches, Lend Me Your Ears.....

It is nice to have friends. Even if some of them I will never meet. Several things tonight about my friends.

First up, my boss. He is a nice guy. And I like him even more now. He lent me enough money to be able to buy this truck from another friend. By one act of kindness from my bosses part, he made me and the other guy happy. I am happy that I finally have a truck that works of the style that I want and my other friend is happy he has enough money for things he needs. Sure I have to pay my boss back, and I am even giving him interest, but that's OK. That is where the third happy is; He gets to make a little bit of interest off that, which then makes him happy. It is a very nice to have three people happy at once.

Then my guild mates. They are some great people. I just spent upwards of an hour talking first about my truck, then somehow about time traveling, dreams and art. It was a long and weird conversation, but one that helps the guild bond and become closer. The closer we all get, the stronger we can build the guild. The stronger the guild gets, the bigger the bosses we can down. The bigger the boss, the more we can do. And that brings it back to the more we can do, the closer the guild becomes. It is a fun and adventurous circle that we are on.

Guilds are something  I think the world should have more of. Not guilds like the actors guild or unions. Not a guild to force others to do what we want. But a guild of like minded individuals who want to better themselves as well as the person next to them. A group who wants to raise the weakest member up instead of bringing the strongest down. A group of great people working for the good of everyone of them.

It causes me to think of churches. Aren't churches supposed to do that? Are they not supposed to build a community of strong sons and daughters of Christ? So often the people spend too much time pushing their own agenda instead of pushing the word of Christ to the masses. We are told to do one thing as followers of Christ,

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” - Matthew 28:18-20

If churches were like my guild, the church would grow. When I joined the guild, we had less than 100 people in it. Though team work, fun and good people, we are now over 250. In the game, you can level your guild to 25, in a matter of weeks, we hit that mark. If a church who is struggling to just make their bills each month maybe tried to work together like the guild, just maybe that church would grow as well. If the church was more like a guild in World of Warcraft, I think more people would want to join. We already would have the best possible guild leader one could ask for in Jesus. Maybe it is time to rethink  our church structure. What do you think?

Call to Arms: Westfall!

Well, I feel like posting a poem. This one is about World of Warcraft. After Cataclysm came out, I decided I should play through the new content. Soon I found myself in the rich farm lands of Westfall. People were murdered, the land scarred, the elements out of whack, and a woman in shadows was planning something against the alliance. I followed the story and found the daugther of the former Defias leader trying to get revenge on the people that killed her dad.

This poem sees a warrior, who had settled down in the golden fields of Westfall, forcibly take up his sword and shield again, and head into the Deadmines one last time. His goal is to finally bring peace in his beloved lands. He does not want to fight someone he once was able to call friend, but knows the prices they will pay if something is not done.

So I hope you enjoy "Westfall."

As the rain falls softly,

Across these golden fields,

Setting quiet the fires,

Of the remains that you left,

We are left wondering,

What it is you want.

You came in shadow,

As a friend and relief,

But you betrayed your country,

During our darkest hours,

When hell broke loose,

When we needed you the most.

You claim to have wanted,

The most simple desire,

Revenge for a father,

Who had betrayed the crown.

Did you ever stop to think,

Of the lives that were ruined,

By your own selfish desires?

You were broken that day,

When your father had died.

And now you won't stop,

Until everyone is as broken as you.

So as I lift my sword and shield,

And kiss my wife goodbye,

I set out across these golden fields,

In search of you.

I don't want do this,

I don't want to fight.

But duty calls to me,

Like it calls to you.

Your endless hatred must end.

I travel to the mines,

I hope this one last time,

I seek you out,

With a sadness in my heart,

The name shall forever ring true,

The name we gave to these mines,

One last time,

Into the Deadmines.

Communicating

Well, tonight was an interesting night. I had  to finish a raid in World of Warcraft. For those that might not know, but I doubt that there are any, a raid is where a group of players, in this case all from my guild, get together and do things that can't be done solo or in a small group. Most raids are 10 or 25 man things, we had 7. Then on top of the raid, my friend Sarah called me on Skype.

First about the raid. It was a continuation of a raid that we had been working on for a few days. It was an older raid, from about 4 years ago, but it still took team work to do it. We were  running through the raid called Ulduar (ul-du-war). Our first night we did about half the bosses, 7 out of 18 or so bosses. It was good, and only had minor troubles as that none of us had ever done more than the first 3 bosses. On the 7th boss we wiped then called it a night.

Last night we downed the rest of the bosses up to the last one. And that boss gave us problems. No one really knew how to do him. So a quick internet search, I read it out loud to the guild  and we went at it. We tried a few more times till people had to go. So tonight we went to finish the raid. We wiped the first time because we kinda went in with hard mode on. We didn't talk to 4 'gods' who give us help in the final fight. But then we came back, went in and downed him no problem. We then went on to do two more quick rather easy raids.

During the raids, Sarah called me. I hadn't talked to Sarah in probably 4 months. Sarah and I used to be the closest friends. Until I let my feelings for her get in the way and we began to drift apart. But since then we have talked some and reconciled the problem. I still think of Sarah as a best friend. She has always been so fun to talk to, and she is truly a wonderful person. It was really nice to be able to talk to her, even if she was somewhat of a distraction in the raid.

Both of these show how great communication is. In the raid, we were able to talk to everyone on vent giving us the chance to organize our players much better. Getting back in touch with Sarah, getting caught up with so many things since we last talked, was just as great as defeating the raid boss.

In the same way, we need to make sure to keep an open and clear communication with God.The bible is the written word of God. It is one of his greatest tools he has given us. Not only to be able to understand what God wants us to do, but also to show others the grace of God.He has given us ways to directly talk with him, whether through prayer or through the bible or even through a TV show, God wants to keep the lines open with us. And through us, reach the rest of the world.

As Christians, we should show above all, Love to everyone. After all, the two greatest commands we have from God, is Love God with  everything you are, and love everyone  as you do yourself. And sharing that love with others all comes  down to how well we can communicate. Who is receiving your communications?