The Spirit Blade Underground

Off Grid Until March 20th

2012-03-11T21:48:00.003-07:00

I'm taking this week off from my normal routine in order to give all of my time to (and hopefully finish!) the primary development of the Spirit Blade card game.

I won't be blogging, posting on the forums, podcasting, processing physical product orders or checking my e-mail at all this week, but will be back to my routine starting on March 20th.

All digital download purchases are processed automatically and instantly without my involvement. So in the meantime, you can still take advantage of the 30% off download sale! (Ongoing through March 18th! Don't miss out!)

Thanks for your patience as I take this time for some focused project development. The game is shaping up really well and I'm looking forward to sharing the results with you very soon!

-Paeter Frandsen

John Carter Review (SBU Podcast)

2012-03-10T12:11:00.003-08:00

Download- http://traffic.libsyn.com/paeter/JohnCarterReview.mp3

A review of "John Carter" and what we can learn from the Apostle Paul about geeking out in moderation.

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Submit Questions, Comments or Content(written or audio file) to:
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OR
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For Community, Free Stuff and TONS more, explore the rest of the growing "Spirit Blade" universe at- http://www.spiritblade.net

John Carter (Movie Review)

2012-03-09T15:55:00.003-08:00

I'm not familiar with the writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs or his character, John Carter. So I went into this movie only knowing that it was based on some stories written at least 50 years ago or more. (Actually closer to 100.) My ignorance was aided by the nearly non-existent marketing campaign for this movie. Was this just a big "whoops" on the part of Disney, or did they realize this was a terrible movie and didn't want to waste any more money on it?

"John Carter" is about an American Civil War veteran who lost his family after the war and now bitterly lives only for selfish gain. He is whisked away to Mars, where he discovers that it is not airless and lifeless as humanity had believed, but home to large civilizations on a downward spiral of self-destruction.

Carter is captured, but escapes, only to find himself in the middle of a war that will decide the fate of the entire planet and all who live on it. His alien anatomy and the low gravity of Mars give him relatively superhuman strength and the ability to leap amazing heights and distances. He must use every resource available to him to survive the conflict around him, and decide what his place in it should be.

Carter is played by Taylor Kitsch, whom genre fans may recognize as "Gambit" from "X-men Origins: Wolverine". Kitsch is a great leading man who combines adventurous heroism with a brooding tone. The surrounding cast is also made up of familiar faces who do their jobs well, though there are no big stars and won't be any acting nominations for this movie next year.

Dominic West plays the primary villain, and though he doesn't bring any interesting layers to his performance, he's just so suited to this kind of role that the lack of depth is easily forgivable.

Mark Strong plays the mysterious big baddie pulling the strings behind West, though the mystery surrounding his character even at the end of the film implies an intended sequel.

The love interest, a Princess of course, is played by Lynn Collins, whom Wolverine fans will also recognize as the love interest from that movie as well. Her character is a wonderful paradox in terms of her role as a "Princess" in an adventure movie. She can easily fend for herself, and then some, in battle, but still welcomes being literally swept off her feet by a rescuing hero. Usually, fiction leans too far one way or the other in this regard, but I found it to be a wonderfully well-rounded balance between strength and vulnerability in a leading lady.

The world of Mars, or more properly "Barsoom", is fantastical in so many wonderful ways. Conceptually, this is a sci-fi story, with aliens on other planets and highly advanced technology. But it comes in the trappings of fantasy, with swords and armor and technology so advanced it looks like fantasy world magic. I'm a sucker for blending genres, so the setting scored pretty big points with me.

The tone of the movie also blends opposing elements nicely. The loss of John Carter's family informs his motivation, which we see more as the film progresses. This keeps him from being a two-dimensional stereotype (like Han Solo in "A New Hope") and gives us a reason for sympathizing with his bitterness.

On the other hand, the movie is full of fantasy adventure that demands we not take the story too seriously. The obviously bad science and the super-speed courtship between Carter and Dejah require a willingness to just turn a bit of our brains off and enjoy the ride. In this case, I was partially willing to do this, just because the setting and action was so fun, but it's still something I hope they will improve on or make less noticeable if another film is made.

I'd also LOVE for Hollywood to collectively improve their ability to create and use computer generated characters. This movie has a lot of them. And I mean a LOT. Some of the most crowded scenes in the movie were probably the loneliest days for Taylor Kitsch, who must have spent weeks talking to tennis balls to make this flick.

The resulting CG characters are every bit as good as those in the Star Wars prequels. And yes, that's an insult, folks. Actually, they may even be better in terms of texturing. But as always seems to be the case, the animation, not the texturing, is the problem. There is no subtlety in the movements or facial expressions of these CG characters. At least not compared to flesh and blood actors. To my eye, the realism of the animation is about the same as watching Mary Poppins dance with cartoon penguins.That said, many other effects are great-looking and the multitude of action sequences are candy for the eyes.

Two themes in this film strike me as being relevant to real world spiritual matters. The first is John Carter's bitterness over what he has lost, which leads him to adopt a very selfish attitude toward those he encounters. It's hard to condemn him. So often when I feel I'm being mistreated, I can get into a little funk or pity party where I begin to believe I am entitled to certain things. But suffering does not entitle us to neglect doing what is good and right.

The second theme is nothing new to the sci-fi genre. The true villains of this story are a race of mysterious, advanced aliens who conceal themselves from mortals while manipulating their lives on a grand scale, choosing leaders and deciding which nations will rise and fall. These beings are considered mythical messengers of "the goddess" by the people of Barsoom.

The device being used here(which may have been original if used in Burroughs' original 1912 story, though is now overused) suggests that deities (and maybe even God himself) are only advanced alien life forms. Bigger, stronger, older and smarter versions of all of us, but with a detached, unloving relationship with those under them.

The biblical picture of God is very different, portraying God as limitless, loving and completely different from whatever divine portrait our minds might invent.

Although these themes are present, I think it's unlikely that many will feel inspired to think about them much after watching the movie.

John Carter is a fantastical thrill ride that, while flawed, deserves a sequel and shouldn't be missed by any fan of sci-fi or fantasy.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action

Quality: 8.5/10
Relevance: 6.0/10

For information about my scoring system, visti spiritblade.net/reviewscores
Listen to this review this weekend at spiritblade.net/podcast

Does Adventure Require Evil?

2012-03-07T08:54:00.003-08:00

This week I've started playing a new (new to me anyway) fantasy table top game called "Thunderstone". It's something of a card-based dungeon crawl, though I'll let you check it out for yourself for more details.

But playing the game got me thinking about the concept of adventure. In fiction, adventure always seems to come with evil. Adventure never seems to exist in RPGs, video games, comics, books or movies without evil being in the mix somewhere. There's an evil enemy to overcome (moral evil), or dangerous circumstances to avoid (natural evil).

Two verses I've been trying to memorize recently describe what eternity with God will be like for those who choose to trust him in this life.

Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."

If eternity will involve complete satisfaction ("fullness of joy") and will be unfailingly, unceasingly pleasurable ("pleasures forevermore"), if there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain, then where is the risk? Where is the adventure?

I think if we're asking ourselves this question, we probably need to re-examine our view of "adventure". The primary definition of adventure is "an exciting or very unusual experience". A number of games, whether athletic or strategic, can be very exciting without any notable risk of injury. Even in a game like football, people are most excited (I'm told anyway) when the score is close near the end of a game and no one knows which team will win. It isn't the possibility of injury that is on the front of everyone's minds, but the anticipation of a glorious victory for one team or the other.

Adventure is really about anticipating and experiencing the wonder of the unknown, rather than about risking harm. That's what the heart of every dungeon crawl is about, too. What kind of treasure will I find? What kind of unusual monster will I face? What am I capable of accomplishing? Any "risk" is only simulated, with no real negative consequences for failure. (Hint: If we feel otherwise, we've been playing too long.)

We have no reason to believe that eternity will be a static, euphoric state in which we do nothing but glow and sing "aaaaah". For those who entrust themselves to Christ, eternity will be an increasingly exciting adventure as we discover who God is, what he has made and what he has made us for. We will likely put our ever growing skills to the test in endeavors that may be challenging, but never the least bit frustrating.

In this way, games like Thunderstone are a sneak peak, the tiniest foretaste of what is waiting for us. Evil will be a thing of the past, but adventure will last forever.

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Acts 21:15-26

2012-03-05T15:09:00.002-08:00

After the long journey of collecting funds to help the persecuted Christians in Jerusalem, Paul and his company finally return to Jerusalem. (v.15-16) The Christians there were extremely glad to see Paul and received him and his company warmly(v.17), although the environment in Jerusalem would have been a tense one.

At this time, assassins were murdering Jewish aristocrats suspected of having strong connections with Gentiles, and Paul's mission had largely been to Gentiles. A zealous Jewish nationalism was the dominating cultural paradigm and there was great hatred and real danger for any Jew who had friends from other cultures. (See IVP Bible Background Commentary, Keener. pg. 386)

Paul related to James and the other Jerusalem church leaders what God had done through his ministry overseas. (If you go back through our look at Paul's life in Acts up until this point, you'll be reminded that it's an amazing story!) Specifically, Paul detailed what God had done for the Gentiles through his missionary work. (v.18-19)

When the church leaders heard about it all, they "glorified" God. This somewhat "churchy" word means to give high importance to something or someone. When God is "glorified", he is being recognized for how amazing and wonderful he is and is given high honor and priority as a result. (v.20)

As we touched on last time, I think it's especially difficult for many of us geeks to step outside of our comfort zones and choose to expend ourselves for other people. But as we see in Paul's life, a willingness to spend our energy in service to God and on behalf of others results in lives that are changed forever. And secondarily, our lives provide others with more reasons to "glorify" God, embracing him and the immensely significant role he intended us for.

But there was still at least one problem Paul and the church leaders had to deal with. There were thousands of Jews in Jerusalem who believed in Christ, and they were also zealous for the customs that were a part of their unique Jewish heritage. Many of them were under the impression that Paul, also a Jew, had been going around teaching Gentiles to throw everything Moses taught out the window, as though he had no respect for his own heritage. (v.21) Due to the cultural climate in Jerusalem, this would be dangerous for Paul and also potentially damaging to his ability to teach in Jerusalem.

Now, this view of Paul was partially true, in that Paul did not believe that non-Jews should be burdened with laws and customs intended for Jews. And rightly so. He took a stance on this issue before, refusing to force his Greek companion Titus to be circumcised just to please some Jews who were not genuine followers of Christ. (Galatians 2:3-5) But Paul's teaching on this controversial issue led to a misunderstanding of what his position really was.

To compensate for this, the church leaders had Paul go with a group of men who had taken a Jewish ceremonial vow requiring a purification ritual and temple sacrifices. Paul was to undergo the ritual as well and pay for the animals to be sacrificed for the other men, as a strong sign of support for this Jewish ceremony. (v.22-26)

Many Christians have, with often good intentions, tried to "shepherd" geeks away from their geekiness to live a more "normal" Christian lifestyle. (The classic example of "Christians Vs. Dungeons and Dragons" comes to mind.) If you've been following these "In Search Of Truth" posts for awhile, you know I believe we have incredible freedom as geeks, regarding what we enjoy and the geeky things we pursue. But this freedom should not be used carelessly. As Paul demonstrates, our freedom should be exercised with sensitivity toward others, with the highest priority given to serving and loving God while loving and leading others to truth.

Paul's act of conformity wasn't a compromise of the Christ-given freedom he had from the Jewish law, however. The leaders were not asking Paul or anyone else to advocate legalism. In fact, the church leaders sent a letter to the Gentile believers instructing them only to avoid a few key areas (in addition to following Christ's teachings) that could lead to self-destructive behavior and turning away from God.

For Greeks in particular, idols, consuming blood or strangled animals, and sexual immorality were all associated with pagan rituals. Greeks were immersed in pagan culture, and so this seems to be a warning to stay away from activities and sins that would tempt them to return to the worship of false gods.

This is good advice for us geeks today. If there is some kind of geeky activity that stimulates in us a tendency to sin or make God a lower priority, we should draw the line then and there. At that point we should determine to either learn to enjoy that thing in a more limited capacity, take a break from it until we more effectively get our priorities in line with God's, or remove it from our lives altogether.

Next- A Prophecy Fulfilled, Paul In Danger

If you'd like to ask a question or strike up conversation about this or anything else on your mind, there's a place to do it on our forums! We'd love to see you there!

Justice League: Doom Review (SBU Podcast)

2012-03-02T14:21:00.002-08:00

Due to some further problems with my LibSyn hosting, the file for this week's podcast can be temporarily downloaded from here:

http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/JusticeLeagueDoom.mp3

Did I mention we're making plans for different hosting soon!

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ON TODAY'S SHOW:

A review of "Justice League: Doom" and our continuing look at the life of Paul in the book of Acts.

I'd love for you to be a part of this podcast!
Submit Questions, Comments or Content(written or audio file) to:
paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net
OR
call 206-350-1226 and leave a message for me to play on the show!

For Community, Free Stuff and TONS more, explore the rest of the growing "Spirit Blade" universe at- http://www.spiritblade.net

Justice League: Doom (Movie Review)

2012-02-29T16:39:00.003-08:00

I'm a big DC comics nerd, and although the DC direct to video animated movies got off to a bumpy "hit or miss" start with me, they soon seemed to iron out quality control and began putting out great features almost every time.

Almost without exception, they've earned a "buy then try" mentality from me. So it should come as no surprise that bought the BluRay version of "Justice League: Doom" this week and watched it as soon as possible.

The script is loosely based on a Justice League comic book story written by Mark Waid and titled "Tower Of Babel". In it, a villain gains access to secret files detailing foolproof methods of defeating each member of the Justice League. One by one the world's most powerful and iconic heroes are taken out like the trash with brutal efficiency.

The same premise is used in "Justice League:Doom", although the Justice League characters involved are different, as well as the methods used to defeat them and the villains carrying out the evil plot. So whether you're familiar with the original comic book story or not, you'll find plenty of new territory being explored here. (Including a great reveal for those who never read "Tower Of Babel".)

The animation is top notch, as I've come to expect from these releases. And the casting is a welcome return to the line-up of actors who voiced these characters in their previous animated TV show incarnations. Nathan Fillion also returns as Green Lantern Hal Jordan in a performance with much more charm and personality than he had room to express in "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights".

The visual and auditory presentation is wonderful and any DC fan is likely to get a kick out of the experience.

The script is of a less consistent quality, however. Although I affirm Dwayne McDuffie's immense value as a human being, and regret the pain his loved ones must still be feeling after his death last year, his creative work has been hit or miss with me. His writing on the Justice League animated series was fantastic and fit the stylistic mold of the show perfectly. His comic book writing in the DC Universe has been easily forgettable.

The script for "Justice League: Doom" wanders back and forth between sophisticated and childish. Serious themes including suicide, guilt and betrayal are juxtaposed with cheesy villain lines (such as the chummy unison champagne toast of the villains: "To the Legion of Doom!") and glaringly unscientific moments (such as Superman talking in the vacuum of space, and rockets making the trip to the sun in about 90 seconds). Even most modern DC comic books don't come across as childish and ignorant.

Perhaps these issues wouldn't be a problem if the script had been more consistently light and aimed at a younger audience. But standing next to the many serious and sobering moments and the generally grown-up tone of the story and visual style, they feel out of place.

A major theme of this story that's worth talking about, is power and what happens when it is mixed with human nature. Should a force dedicated to good, like the Justice League or another real-world organization, be free to act without accountability? If not, who should have the power to stop them and who will keep THAT person accountable? The BluRay includes several interesting documentaries, one of which explores this theme.

I think that this story serves as a great counter the the argument that people are "basically good". (If we ARE, then why do we feel the need to set up checks and balances for our leaders? Are they not "basically good" too?)

I agonized over what final score I should give this movie. I think in the past I've been a little too kind in scoring these DC animated movies, since I am already a DC fan and assume that many who read my reviews may be also.

For those people, this is a movie you should see and probably add to your collection. It plays somewhat like a darker version of the Justice League animated series and if entered into with that mentality, the lighter moments likely won't put you off.

For everyone else who may just have a casual interest in the superhero genre, my final quality score aims to serve you more than Justice League fans. This one is an enjoyable flick, but you won't kick yourself later if you miss it.

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violent action

Quality: 7.5/10

Relevance: 7.0/10

For information about my scoring system, visit spiritblade.net/reviewscores
Listen to this review this weekend at spiritblade.net/podcast

30% OFF ALL DOWNLOADS!

2012-02-28T09:08:00.002-08:00

Woohoo! Time for another BIG SALE!!

Many of you will be doing some traveling soon for spring break. Why not spice up the drive or drown out those crying babies on the airplane?

From now through Sunday, March 18th, all of our download products are 30% off at the Spirit Blade Productions Store!

Spirit Blade: Special Edition and Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual can be purchased right now for just $6.99 each! And Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream can be downloaded for just $3.49!

Download all three of our audio dramas for just $17.47! (Tax free! That's all you pay!)

You can also buy the song bundles for "Spirit Blade: Special Edition" and "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual" for just $3.49 each!

These are some of the biggest savings you'll see all year on our products, so spread the word and don't miss out!

In Search Of Truth, Acts 21:1-14

2012-02-27T17:28:00.003-08:00

Taking into account the travel routes and geography mentioned here, it seems that Paul and company were still feeling a time crunch to arrive in Jerusalem by Pentecost in order to allow the gift they were bringing to express as best it could the love and support of the various churches for the Jerusalem Christians. (v.1-3, see also 20:16)

In verse 4, Luke describes how he and Paul stayed with some disciples who "through the Spirit" were telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Yet in 20:22 Paul said he was "constrained by the Spirit" to go to Jerusalem. Was the Holy Spirit sending mixed messages?

The answer might be found in observing that the phrase used in verse 4 to describe the Spirit's involvement in the words of the disciples is not Luke's usual description of prophecy, or expressing truth uniquely and directly inspired by God. (See IVP Bible background Commentary, Keener. pg.385) The original language here allows for the idea that the disciples were made aware of the suffering Paul would experience in Jerusalem and as a RESULT of this information, pleaded with him not to go. (v.4)

We see again an example of the deep relationships formed by these early Christians. Although many of these relationships were even more disconnected than our "online friendships" of today, the bond they shared through Christ led them to want to spend as much time together as possible, praying for and encouraging each other until those last moments when they finally had to go their separate ways. (v.5-6)

The tools we have to connect with and encourage other believers that we may never meet in person are readily available and so much more powerful than the long-distance communication tools of Paul's time. The example of these believers serves as a challenge for me to engage with and pray for my online friends more consistently.

After some further travel they stayed with an evangelist named Philip who had "four unmarried daughters who prophesied". It's not completely clear why their unmarried status is mentioned, but its possible that they had in some way especially dedicated themselves to God's service, choosing to remain unmarried to better serve that purpose. (v.7-9)

Secular culture is obsessed with sex. Christian culture is often obsessed with marriage and 2.5 kids. We can make the mistake of thinking that if we are not driven to find a spouse, if we are not driven to have sexual experiences, that there is something wrong with us. Some of us geeks are perfectly content to live without pursuing marriage or sex. (Yes, it's true!) And if this is the case for you, you should know that amazing good can come of the single life, whether it lasts a few years or for the rest of your days. Jesus taught that some people choose to remain single and some were even born to remain single for the sake of God's amazing purposes! (See Matthew 19:11-12)

While still with Philip, a prophet named Agabus prophesied that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem, an indication of imprisonment and suffering. Luke and the other believers begged Paul to not go to Jerusalem based on this revelation. But Paul made it clear that he had counted the cost and was ready to give his comfort, his life, everything he had in service to what the Spirit was telling him to do. Eventually, Luke and the others resigned themselves to allowing God's will to be done. (v.10-14)

As a geek and an observer of geeks, one thing I have noticed about us slightly more than in some others is that we are selfish. We've gotten used to being different and like doing things our own way in our own time, and we don't seem to be very good at putting aside our preferences and creature comforts in favor of others. Our geeky things are a safe harbor we retreat to when we've been wounded and sometimes we end up living for them without realizing it.

Paul's inspiring example stands in contrast to that mentality. It seems that none of these other believers would have blamed him for cancelling his plans to go to Jerusalem, where suffering inevitably awaited him. But Paul knew this and STILL chose to set aside his comfort and security to do what he knew God wanted him to.

As horrible as setting aside our comfort might sound, God can empower us to serve him through it if we are willing. And as we'll see in the coming passages of Acts, God may just use the opportunity to bring about something well worth the cost.

Next- Paul meets his destiny in Jerusalem

Talk about this post or connect with others Seeking Truth on our forums!

What Is The "Underground"?

2012-02-24T15:51:00.003-08:00

That's the question I've had in mind as I've prepared to reshape this blog.

When I first started this little company, I knew that at some point after the release of a couple of projects, I would want to try and develop a community in connection with Spirit Blade Productions.

This blog was the first step in that direction, followed by the podcast, then The Spirit Blade Underground Alliance, and finally our forums. From the very beginning, the concept of an "Underground" was rooted in "community" for me. And with the changes to the blog, I'm hoping that will be more clear.

Although I will still be including project updates here, they may not be as frequent, as I make room to post my reviews here and other thoughts relevant to combining a love of Geek entertainment with a life lived for Christ.

As of now I have transplanted all of my reviews to this blog, so if you look for them you'll find them, dated just as they were on their old blog home, "Paeter's Brain". I also updated a few of the old reviews to use the category title of "Relevance" instead of "Veracity" in the philosophical portions of the reviews. And I added Quality and Relevance scores to the game and book reviews I transplanted, since my plan is to use both categories for reviews of all types from here on out, for a more consistent reader experience.

I'm also adding some new pages to the blog. One for my Brent Weeks Interview, another with a two part article about Christians enjoying "Questionable" entertainment, and soon I hope to have a page indexing and categorizing all of my reviews, including quick score references, to serve as a resource for truth-seeking Geeks.

I'm doing all of this bit by bit as I have the time, so you'll probably notice some rough edges here and there. But I welcome your feedback as I make changes, so please don't hesitate to comment!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, The "Living" Word

2012-02-22T18:03:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 4:12- For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.(ESV)

This is a bit of an odd concept, isn't it? "What do you mean the Bible is 'alive' and reading my thoughts?"

Usually, in this weekly post, I take a look at a specific portion of scripture and give background and insight line-by-line through the text. That pattern isn't going to change, but I realize it may be helpful now and then to come out of what might seem like a more "clinical" mode and share my personal experiences with God's word.

Personal, subjective experiences should not be our benchmark for determining what is true, but provided they don't conflict with the teaching of scripture, our personal experiences can be a powerful mouthpiece for God to speak through in ways that are specifically intended for you and me as individuals.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, as some of you know, I ran into some technical problems with the podcast. And trying to solve the problem started a chain reaction of other problems I suddenly had to solve very quickly! And I am the least tech-savvy of nearly everyone I know. (Yep. I'm probably in the wrong line of work.)

I'd compare this particular problem to a certain kind of car trouble.

Imagine that you've got a car that spends the year in the northern US where the roads must be constantly salted to prevent dangerous ice slicks. As a result, everything on the underside of the car builds up more and more rust over the years. Then one day you realize that something under there has to be replaced, but when you attempt to do so, about 6 other things fall out or break and have to be replaced as well! THAT is almost exactly the kind of problem I was experiencing, except with computer/internet type stuff that my business heavily relies on. Yikes!

So a few days after it all hit the fan, near the end of my Bible study time one evening, I was just praying that God would help me to let go of this stress and my need to be in control of this situation. Just moments after that, we heard my oldest son crying in his room. He had vomited in his bed, the first of several times that night and the next morning.

So it looked like God wasn't giving me relief just yet. In fact, he was about to turn on the heat even more! By lunch the next day, both my wife and I were sick and vomiting, neither able to help the other. My parents came and took our younger son out of the house for the afternoon (he thankfully never did get sick) while our older stayed home and mostly played by himself all day while his mom and I lay helpless on our couches.

Add to all of this misery the fact that I STILL had all of these technical issues that needed to be fixed as soon as possible, and I was powerless to do ANYTHING to work on them!

Eventually, we both stopped vomiting and spent the next day getting our energy back. By the end of that day I was well enough to get back to my nightly time in the Bible, where I just so happened to arrive at Matthew 16 in my reading.

In the second half of this chapter, Peter passionately tells Jesus that he believes he really is God's unique Son, the Messiah they'd been waiting for. Just a few lines later, Jesus tells his disciples that he will soon go through torture and death. Peter effectively says, "No! We can't let that happen!" And Jesus surprisingly attributes Peter's attitude to Satan, saying "You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man." Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

After reading that I was struck with the realization that my stress over the problems I was having with work was because I thought I knew what needed to be done to most effectively serve God and his plan for my life. More than that, I was clinging to my idea of what "success" in life means without leaving room for God to correct my ideas when they are wrong.

Peter thought the same thing. He thought that for Jesus to be successful, he would need to avoid the horrible difficulties he predicted were coming. But Jesus knew that only THROUGH his own torture and death could our failures be compensated for. In the case of Jesus, success meant something that looked not just like FAILURE from a human perspective, but looked like absolute TRAGEDY.

So the rest of that week and since then I've been praying that God will help me put forth my absolute best effort for him, but also trust that his plan, which is better than any I could dream up, may be served better by things appearing to go very wrong in life.

I hope I can keep that perspective, though I'm sure God will need to teach it to me again more than once. I also hope in some way it's encouraging to you when you find things to be difficult or painful.

-Paeter Frandsen

Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance (Movie Review)

2012-02-18T14:43:00.001-08:00

Although I'm not a regular reader of the Ghost Rider comic, the concept has intrigued me over the years and I've got 20 or so back issues from two different incarnations of the series. I'm also one of the few people I know who really enjoyed the first movie, which struck me as a great improvement for director Mark Steven Johnson, compared to his earlier superhero flick, Daredevil.

I thought Nicholas Cage was an unusual choice to play Johnny Blaze, but found that his quirky sensibilities fit into the story well enough. And since I'm not a die-hard fan of the comics, I was content to see him make the role his own.

When I heard the news that a sequel would be made, I found it a little surprising, given that most I've talked to didn't seem to like the first one. But I was certainly up for another ride with Johnny Blaze, and so have looked forward to "Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance" with interest, if not rabid anticipation.

The movie picks up an undefined number of years after the first movie. Blaze had hoped to use the curse of the Ghost Rider to fight the Devil and his servants. But his plan hasn't worked out, and The Rider continues to take control of him, bringing judgment or death to nearly all he encounters.

To avoid hurting those he cares about, Blaze traveled to Europe (sorry Europe!) and is living in attempted seclusion when a monk from a mysterious order finds him and offers to remove his curse if he will protect the life of a boy named Danny, whom the Devil is tracking down for nefarious purposes.

One of the first things I noticed about this movie is the re-writing of Blaze's "origin story", which alters details for almost no reason. This proved to be an omen of things to come, as much of the script feels thrown together without purpose, as though they skipped the editing process altogether.

Dialogue is sometimes strange or confusing and numerous details seem without purpose and beg for explanation. It almost felt as if this was the sequel to an entirely different version of the first film that no one ever saw.

The editing itself also comes across as a "rush job", with "stuttering" shots attempting to add production value to a sequel with a reduced budget, and countless scenes that seem to be put together using only the first takes, before any of the actors had a chance to get into their groove.

Oddly, the script also doesn't even seem to be about the Ghost Rider, but about Danny, the boy he is trying to protect. Because Danny shares the first name of the second character to become the Ghost Rider in the comics, it may be that in a future film Johnny Blaze will hand the bike over to Danny to continue the franchise, but in the meantime the focus taken from Johnny Blaze and his dilemma is an odd storytelling decision.

The tone of the movie also waffles between dark (even edgier than the first) and foolishly ludicrous. Sometimes contrasting elements work great together, but I don't think this was one of those times.

The sum of all this strangeness is a movie that feels like the Ghost Rider taking a vacation in a foreign/independent film. Not one of those cool, cutting edge, freaky foreign films, but one of those weird ones that you can't make sense of. And one in which he is a glorified guest star.

There were some things I really liked about the movie. The rock music score fit the material well in most cases, with hard shredding guitar accompanying the mayhem The Rider brings with him.

The visual effects were cool and the costume and make-up design may even have been an improvement. Instead of a clean looking skull and leather jacket that are coated in fire, The Rider now has a charred skull and a flaking and bubbling jacket being perpetually damaged, though never destroyed by the heat.

In general the look of the film has more grit than the first, and though I missed some of the more "fantasy" visual elements of the first film, the change of pace was still nice and a great alternate interpretation of the material.

Unfortunately, these few positive elements aren't near enough to save this film.

As with any move that uses "the church" and its more archaic elements in the story, this movie has potential to leave one thinking about spiritual matters. Even more so given the demonic nature of The Rider and Blaze's quest for a kind of redemption.

There's a brief reference to a character being one of "God's children", which made me think about how that concept has been misunderstood and misrepresented in popular culture. There was a scene in which Johnny takes some form of "communion" and confesses his sin and unworthiness, but even the characters made light of this moment and treated it as a sort of empty part of the cleansing ritual that just has to be done for it to work. There's another moment where Johnny Blaze expresses the opinion that the evil powers inside of himself and Danny do not make them bad people by definition. And in the opening of the movie, the inherent evil present in all humans (even though we may think little of it) is exposed as Johnny Blaze narrates, saying that everyone has "something they don't want The Rider to see".

But each of these moments is just a blip on the radar that quickly vanishes, swallowed by the odd experience of watching the rest of the movie. You're very unlikely to have any meaningful thoughts triggered as you leave the theater.

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of action and violence, some disturbing images, and language.

Quality: 6.5/10

Relevance: 6.0/10

For information on my scoring system, visit spiritblade.net/reviewscores
Listen to this review this weekend at spiritblade.net/podcast

Movie Reviews Coming Soon!

2012-02-17T15:44:00.000-08:00

This week I've begun "transplanting" my movie reviews to The Spirit Blade Underground, which will be the new home for my movie reviews starting this weekend, with my review for "Ghost Rider: Spirit Of Vengeance".

Although before now, The Spirit Blade Underground Weblog has been designed mainly for updates for my production company and a weekly Bible study, I'm shortening the name slightly (ditching "Weblog") and changing the focus a bit to make it more of a hub for celebrating and examining geek entertainment culture from a biblical perspective, as well as exploring the Bible from a geek perspective.

The new posting format and emphasis of The Spirit Blade Underground will be taking shape over the course of the next few weeks, but I will plan to make an announcement here once it's gotten into the new groove.

I'm excited about the upcoming changes and I hope you enjoy them!

Two New Videos!

2012-02-15T19:37:00.000-08:00

Looks like I finally found a new video editor that's easy enough for even ME to use! The video special features should be back on track from this point on. Thanks for your patience!

This month's video is part 2 of the "Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream" script read-through. Hear an entire section of uncut narration and find out why I decided not to have any "magic" in this story!

And as an added bonus, I've also uploaded a video version of the Pilgrim's Progress trailer to Youtube, to make it easier than ever to share it with friends and people on the web!

Skyrim Worship Revisited

2012-02-14T19:42:00.000-08:00

Since posting my thoughts on the religions of Skyrim, I've taken something of a newer approach in a somewhat "meta-gaming" vein. Now I've determined that my character is in some way "immortal", with origins from a higher dimensional plane. I've decided that my character has the same knowledge that I do. Namely, that his real name is Paeter and he lives in the real world and no one he interacts with in Tamriel is "real", but rather simulations of reality that some dark force has placed in my path to conceal the existence of the "First Cause", which I feel compelled by reason to seek out.

For this reason, a quest for power and dominance over Tamriel has become my focus. Not in the usual power-mad way you might think, since as I mentioned, my character is aware that his environment is an illusion and none of the "people" he interacts with have any real feelings. They are deceptive simulations.

Rather, my quest for power is so that I might finally have the strength to go toe to toe with the biggest, baddest cosmic "god" they can throw at me, and get him to squeal regarding the truth of the "First Cause" before he dies.

For this reason, I take on every quest I can, since knowledge and experience gives power toward this end. I do the "good" things and the "evil" things, playing the sick game of whatever dark power is trying to deceive me, until I can finally strip away the lies and begin my true quest for the truth.

Obviously, this would be a scary and psychotic way to approach real life (so I don't recommend it), but the difference here is that my character, an extension of me, knows objectively, based on irrefutable evidence, that his experience of Tamriel is an illusion.

In one sense this is an extremely nerdy way to take a game too seriously. Definitely pretty wacky, but a lot of fun. I even "sold my soul" to the daedra "Nocturna" in exchange for the power she coughed up, but little does she know she's gonna a get major butt kickin' too when the time comes! Stupid fake deity...

;-)

New Website Design!

2012-02-13T18:21:00.001-08:00

After some crazy stuff that happened recently with my podcast hosting, the time has never seemed more clear to start working on a redesign of our main website. (The connection between the two being that I will eventually host the podcast on the new site instead of Libsyn.)

I had a phone meeting with my "tech guy" on Friday and he gave me an outline of what we could do to improve everyone's experience with our site and how much it will cost.

He's giving me a fantastic deal, but with Spirit Blade 3 prepping for production and the costs associated with it still not crystal clear, we'll likely need to proceed slowly in phases on the website.

In the next couple of weeks I'll be meeting with my designer to talk about the basics of the new site, so movement is already starting and I'll try to keep you all updated.

In fact, I hope to present some of what we talk about with you guys to get your feedback on the forums! While it won't be possible to please everybody, I'm hoping the new site will be something YOU guys like. (Otherwise, what's the point, right?)

I'm also considering a Kick-starter event and have already started dreaming up some cool and unique rewards for getting involved. More on that soon.

Anyway, I'm planning to use the forums as the main point of interaction with you guys regarding the new website design, so check back there often and leave any thoughts you might have. I know some of you have some great ideas, and I'd love to hear them! (I'd love to hear the bad ideas, too, for that matter!)

Both my tech guy and designer are really excited about working on this project and I'm excited to see it get started! Stay tuned for more soon!

-Paeter Frandsen

Weight Loss Plan

2012-02-08T09:46:00.001-08:00

I'm taking today off to finish recovering from this amazing 24-hour weight loss program I got from my dad this weekend.

Basically, it involves violently expelling liquids from two major orifices, instantly reducing water weight and also activating appetite suppression.

My wife and oldest son got it from my dad, too. So we've been having a great time "losing weight and feeling great" together!

The downside is naturally the "violently expelling liquids" part, and the fact that we weren't able to choose WHEN we wanted to try out the weight loss plan. So we're all still in recovery mode and I'm taking another day off.

I'll be back here on Friday!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Acts 20:32-38

2012-02-06T17:54:00.001-08:00

As Paul prepared to say goodbye for the last time to a group of men he had become so close to, he knew he was leaving them in the best hands. God's hands. He commended them to "the word of his grace".

The truth God has revealed to us in written words, the Bible, is "undeserved favor"(grace) in the sense that it can build us up. There are times when God's word cuts us deeply, as it reveals sin that we've been living in denial of. But the default, long-term effect of God's word is to strengthen us with a reliable foundation for surviving life's hurricanes.

When we allow our lives to be conformed to God's vision for us, we are becoming "sanctified", set apart from a mundane, pointless, auto-pilot existence to instead be used by God in service to his cosmic agenda. As we grow in sanctification the inheritance waiting for us grows as well. (v.32)

Paul affirms the sincerity of his ministry to the Ephesian church leaders by denying the accusation of greed commonly leveled at philosophers of this time period. (v.33) Paul went above and beyond to avoid this accusation in his ministry. He performed manual labor (a shameful practice for a philosopher at this time) to financially support himself and those serving with him, instead of making his living from teaching the gospel as was his and everyone's right who preaches the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14)(v.34)

In choosing to work a second job instead of taking payment for his teaching, Paul demonstrated the kind of hard working, selfless compassion we should have for others, giving of ourselves instead of looking for ways to benefit from those around us, a mentality that lives by these words of Jesus (preserved here but absent in this exact form in the gospel accounts): It is more blessed to give than to receive." (v.35)

These words have become a trite "churchy phrase" over the years, but if we believe in Paul's earlier words about sanctification and a future inheritance, Jesus' words are more than just a nice sounding idea. These words are a promise.

To be blessed means to be content, or satisfied in a way that is not dependent on our circumstances. Jesus and Paul are both promising incredible reward if we are willing to say no to ourselves more often. A multiplying inheritance awaits if instead of being a drain on the resources of others, we're willing to be spent of our own resources for the benefit of those we interact with.

The evidence is clear that this is the kind of life Paul lived, as he prayed with these men one more time before they embraced and kissed him in a show of both deep love and grief. (v.36-38)

I'm a hardcore nerd who has almost never shared common interests with others in my age group at church. In high school and college every week after group meetings the official "fun" activity was volleyball. When I was on staff as a worship pastor, nearly all of the other pastors went mountain biking together. If I want to do my nerdy things with other Christians, I usually have to find ways to make it happen myself.

Despite taking pride in my nerd status, it's hard being the odd man out and I sometimes have little pity parties in my mind, wishing others would reach out to me and take interest in what I like to do. But that isn't the Spirit of Christ speaking to my heart in those moments. Instead what I long to remember is that Jesus emptied himself out for everyone around him, and he promises something amazing if I am willing to do the same.

Next- Paul's Journey Continues

Coffee House Question- What common ground do you suspect you might share with some of the people you interact with in your church?

Chronicle (Movie Review)

2012-02-04T14:44:00.000-08:00

Reviewing movies is usually fun, but sometimes when I go to review a movie, I have a strong suspicion that I won't enjoy it that much. Ordinarily, I wouldn't spend money to see it, but because I've built my podcast largely on sci-fi, fantasy and horror movie reviews, I feel an obligation to see and review every flick in those genres that I can as they come out. This means that it's very common for me to walk into a theater suspecting I won't have a good time and walking away feeling like my time and money were wasted. But there are those other times, when a movie could have turned out terrible, that I breathe a sigh of relief when it turns out to be a solid flick.

This was not my experience with "Chronicle". I suspected it might be an annoyingly shallow film, but hoped for at least a decent sci-fi movie, based on the trailer. Instead, what I got was a fantastic sci-fi film that fans of the genre will kick themselves for not seeing as soon as possible.

"Chronicle" is about three high school seniors who discover a mysterious, presumably alien substance underground. Their exposure to the object grants them all telekinetic powers which they learn to control more and more as the story progresses. At first, their abilities are merely sources of entertainment, as they play practical jokes on others, or in some way use their abilities to gain attention and favor with others. But Andrew, who is constantly mistreated and misunderstood, begins to lash out with his powers, bringing severe harm to others.

If at some point you begin to feel like you may have seen this movie before, you've probably watched the classic anime "Akira" at least once. It seems clear the writers took inspiration from Akira at several points, both visually and in terms of the story itself. Although "Chronicle" has far more sympathetic characters, and also a plot that makes sense.

The movie is shot in the increasingly popular documentary style, similar in some ways to films like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity. I've seen several movies that use the same shooting style as this one, but I've never been more impressed with the variety of ways in which the camera was used while still limiting every shot we see to what an "in story" camera could potentially record.

We start the film limited to only what Andrew captures with his video camera. But as the film progresses, we begin to see events through multiple camera sources including a blogger's video camera, news footage, in-store security cameras and similar sources. And in the second half of the film, telekinesis is also applied to control of the cameras, allowing for some angles never seen before in a "doc" style movie, but that are still consistent with the limitations of using only "in-story" cameras.

This may give you the impression that the shooting style will be used to cover up a low budget and keep the movie grounded. But by halfway through this movie, things are anything but "grounded", as the boys learn what a simple ability like telekinesis really makes possible. By the end, the scale on which their powers are used is nothing short of epic, and I was thrilled and thankful that many of the most jaw-dropping moments were not spoiled in the trailer.

Not to say that this is just an effects film, either. Andrew is the character through whom we experience most of the story, and despite the dark turn he eventually takes, it's hard not to be sympathetic with him. He is picked on mercilessly by other kids, abused by his step father and only develops friendships with the two other boys because of a shared common experience. Relative unknown Dane DeHaan plays the troubled, socially awkward Andrew with great sincerity, and may even remind you of a real kid you know or knew in high school.

My complaints about the movie are few. I would have loved to see actual high school age actors playing these parts. Seeing twenty-somethings in these roles has become common in Hollywood, but the film could have had added realism and intensity if they had cast more age appropriate actors, or changed the plot to be about college students.

Although most of the effects are wonderful, I felt that a few of the visual effects shots could have been better. A floating baseball comes to mind. (Why not just use fishing line, guys?)

Throughout the movie I ran into numerous themes worthy of discussion on the ride home from the theater. Andrew's cousin, Matt, who also gains super powers, has been reading a bit of philosophy for one of his classes and often has little nuggets to spout about human nature. He contends that we are "creatures of will" and can never have our desires satisfied. And biblical anthropology would agree with this, I think.

We are free creatures gifted with free wills, and yet because of sin we are separated from God, who is the ultimate source of fulfillment. Until the day when he removes our ability to sin and gives us new and perfect bodies, all of our attempts at self-fulfillment will fall short. It's possible the theme of "failing to fulfill our own desires" was an intended parallel to Andrew's story, who seems to believe that he can use his powers to get the things he wants from life.

Andrew himself also shares a personal philosophy that is intriguing. At one point he tells his camera that he has been thinking about evolution. Specifically natural selection and "survival of the fittest". He reasons that because a lion does not feel guilty when it kills a gazelle, that there would be nothing wrong with him harming or even killing a weaker human being.

This is a very striking statement, as it clearly demonstrates the inevitable, horrifying result of consistently applying a belief in naturalistic evolution to the way we live and think of others. Taken out of the realm of academic theory and applied to life, naturalistic evolution will lead to terrible harm inflicted on one human by another. This movie is far from an argument for theism, but it stands out among sci-fi films as being willing to shed light on the "dark side" of a worldview taken for granted by millions.

Near the end of the film, Matt comments that even after all Andrew has done, he is still not a "bad person". I have to say, after seeing all that Andrew had done to that point(watch the movie and see for yourself!), I'd love to ask Matt for his description of what a "bad person" WOULD have to do to earn the title! Does a poor upbringing or being mistreated by others give us license to lash out and harm or kill people? When DOES a person go from good, to neutral, to bad, and how does Matt know what this objective standard is?

Sure, it's being a bit nit-picky, but beneath the surface of small comments like Matt's are unstated yet deeply held philosophies about who we are and what right and wrong is that can be harmful if not examined and picked apart now and then.

Chronicle is a fantastic, dark-toned sci-fi flick that could have been revolutionary but settles for being a fantastic must-see film. It is also likely to give you some things to ponder about who we really are as humans when the curtain of idealism no longer hides our innermost desires.

Rated PG-13 for for intense action and violence, thematic material, some language, sexual content and teen drinking.

Quality: 9.0/10

Relevance: 8.0/10

Script Polishing and Card Game Update

2012-02-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

This week I've begun what I hope is my final complete pass through the Spirit Blade 3 script to edit and polish it to prepare for recording.

At this point, most changes are cosmetic and don't change the plot, but rather aim to reinforce the story and characters. I'm also doing the best I can to look for any remaining loopholes in the story. I've had my eye out for them since day one, but it's been good to look at the script again with fresh eyes after completing the last draft in October/November of last year.

I've also decided on a slight change in my script polishing plans for the second episode of "Pilgrim's Progress". Rather than worry about getting the entire script into "recording shape" in the coming weeks, I'm going to just do enough polishing to figure out what roles I might like Michael Tully (Raan) and Sean Anthony Roberts (Saolos) to consider recording for if we have the extra time when they each come into town to record this spring/summer.

The remaining polishing for Pilgrim's Progress Ep.2 will now probably wait until after production on Spirit Blade 3 (man, I STILL need to finalize a subtitle for that) is finished. The reason for this is that in the coming months, as I prepare to release the Spirit Blade card game, I will want to ramp up my development schedule and bring work on the card game into my normal work hours in order to make consistent progress with it. (To this point it has been a "spare time only" project to avoid slowing down SB3 development.) As time progresses toward the card game's release, I'll be offering you guys more sneak peaks and updates, and I'd hate to whet your appetite only to continually have to delay the release because of my unpredictable "free time development schedule".

That's it for now! Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Acts 20:25-31

2012-02-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

Paul is saying goodbye to the Elders (leaders) of the church in Ephesus, believing this to be the last time he will see them. (v.25) So it follows that he would aim to make his words count. His words to these church leaders contain principles that can be applied to those in church leadership today. But they can also be applied to any believer, since we should all be aiming to not only be taught, but to help others learn the truth more as well. (Matthew 28:18-20)

Paul seems to have Ezekiel 3:18-20 in mind when he says that he is "innocent of the blood of all men". (v.26) In this Old Testament passage, God told Ezekiel that if someone continued in sin because Ezekiel did not warn them about it, Ezekiel would be held responsible for their sin as well. Paul says that he is innocent of this kind of sin because he never hesitated to proclaim the entire will of God revealed to him. (v. 27)

In the same way, we should recognize the responsibility we have as believers to communicate the truth to others. God has given us the incredible opportunity to see lives change before our eyes, if we are willing to share the truth that God gives us.

Church leaders and all Christians should keep watch over themselves and each other, not with an eagerness to find fault and point fingers, but with the mentality of a shepherd, modeled after the Good Shepherd, Jesus, who went so far as to give his own life for all of us, his foolish, wandering sheep. (v.28)

Paul recognized a danger common to many Christian communities (probably all of them on at least some level). In the absence of good leadership, people will try to start their own movements based on false ideas and values, resulting in terrible damage to those they influence. (v.29)

And these people won't necessarily be outsiders. (In my experience, they are usually already members of the community.) They may be people you already know, or even those in some form of leadership already, who will champion a pet cause, bending scripture to support or over-emphasize their agenda, and create division in the community. (v.30)

Paul's urgent warning regarding this possibility is to "be on your guard". We should constantly be "seeking the truth" regarding every idea presented to us, asking ourselves, "does this align with what the Bible teaches?" Paul devoted three years to helping these leaders in Ephesus discern truth more effectively, and he did so constantly, and with great passion and cost to himself.(v.31)

I'm convinced that this kind of active discernment, instead of passive "auto-pilot" living, can make the difference between a life fueled with God's power and purpose, and a life spiraling off track, devoid of meaning without even realizing it. As geeks it can be especially tempting to live life vicariously through the fictional worlds we enjoy. But Paul's words here serve as a call to you and I to turn off auto-pilot, stay alert and engaged with the real world, discerning what is most important and pursuing the truth.

Next- Paul's Farewell, Concluded

Coffee House Question- When a Christian you know presents an idea that seems counter to what you believe is true or biblical, what most commonly keeps you from saying anything to counter or respond to what they've said?

Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game- "Items and RPs"

2012-01-30T11:59:00.001-08:00

As with the other card images I've posted so far, this one is a "pre-cut" version, so imagine the border to be thinner and rounded at the corners. Even so, this is a pretty good example if an "item" card, and also gives me an opportunity to explain the concept of "RPs".

In Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game, one or two players take on the role of Seekers, who have made it their mission to seek out and reclaim hidden or lost information about the nature of humanity and the universe that, if exposed to the public, could radically alter the destiny of the human race to our benefit.

Atlantis Incorporated, who benefits greatly from humanity's ignorance, has worked hard to conceal such information. In addition, Atlantis has stolen a multitude of designs and projects created by Raan Galvaanik, who once worked for Atlantis and now serves as a key operative in the Underground Liberation. So Seekers also endeavor to reclaim materials that by right belong to the Liberation.

Information, or you might even say "truth", is the currency of the Spirit Blade card game. Seekers spend most of the time in the game on missions, which usually take them behind enemy lines inside Atlantis property. While sneaking through security systems and fighting opposition, Seekers are always searching for information valuable to their cause. This information is measured in "Resource Points".

Nearly all items have a Resource Point Value. The Liberation has to gain all supplies "off the grid", and so some items are valuable simply for their raw material components, while others, like data pads or similar devices, contain valuable information that can be put to direct use in the work of the Liberation.

Between missions, Seekers can turn in items to the lab techs of the Liberation in exchange for other resources, like weapons, armor, or useful gadgets. In the above picture, the specific type of item is a "weapon", as indicated by the text on the card. Most items modify the Primary Stats (Attack Points, Defense Points, Hit Points, Spirit Points) of the Seeker using them. In this case, the Pulse Rifle adds 2 APs to a Seekers AP stat.

An item like this one can be "purchased" from Liberation lab techs between missions using available RPs, or it may also be found on a mission. A Seeker may also choose to exchange this item to the lab techs for half of its RP value rounded down. (125 RPs in this case.)

Now if that all sounds confusing to you, we can just as easily cut through all the nonsense for you veteran gamers and say "in this game, Gold Pieces are called Resource Points."

Stay tuned for more next month!

-Paeter Frandsen

Upcoming Changes and Special Feature Delay

2012-01-25T16:09:00.000-08:00

With the audio book I've been working on effectively finished, I've been able to turn my attention to a few details that have been put on the back burner recently.

One of these details is the Special Feature for January. As you may already know, I create and release a new "special feature" each month and place it on our Media Page. Usually these are some sort of "behind the scenes" look at the productions we've released, and since last spring they have come in the form of videos nearly every month.

But my ancient video editing software (on my even more ancient desktop) has finally had enough of me, and is refusing to obey my commands, begging instead for a quick and merciful death. Re-installing may be an option, but it's more likely that I'll need to find some replacement software, hopefully for free.

Those of you who have gotten to know me a little on our forums may remember that I am technologically inept. So in addition to the hunt for new video editing software, I will need time to learn how to use it, which I don't imagine will happen quickly. Long story short, I won't be able to release a new special feature this month, but hope to be back on schedule next month.

In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for free video editing software on PC that is "grandma-friendly", I'd love to hear about it!

Leveraging Time

In addition to that little curve-ball, it's become necessary to adjust my work schedule significantly to better serve my wife and two boys. The amount of time I spend working will change very little, although my day to day routine is being put on its head.

Because of this, blog posts are now much more likely to go up in the evenings and I'm also planning a change in the regular content of both the Spirit Blade Underground Weblog and Paeter's Brain. My plan is to temporarily switch to a twice weekly posting schedule on Paeter's Brain (instead of three times) while retaining the regular schedule and content for the SBU Weblog. However once I have my ducks in a row, I plan to stop posting to Paeter's Brain and instead place the posts that would normally appear there elsewhere.

When I started "Paeter's Brain", I saw it as a way for listeners of SBP to see a little more of me as a person, and share in some of my random or not so random thoughts. But I believe the forums we launched in 2010 now serve that purpose much more effectively.

The movie reviews, my odd game reviews and philosophical musings about Geekdom from a biblical perspective will soon be posted on a new blog designed specifically for that purpose. I will also include an archive page that contains all of my past reviews and some other posts from Paeter's Brain. This will serve as a growing resource for Christian Geeks who are interested in engaging in their faith more as they enjoy the crazy fun that sci-fi, fantasy, horror and comic books offer.

In the end, I'm hoping this will allow me to leverage my time a little better and bring more focus (and more readers!) to the content I put online to represent Spirit Blade Productions.

If you have any questions, thoughts or suggestions as I prepare to move into this new territory, I'd love to get your feedback!

As always, thanks for your support!

-Paeter Frandsen

Underworld: Awakening (Movie Review)

2012-01-24T19:09:00.000-08:00

I'm a big fan of the "Underworld" movies. It's hard to beat vampires in leather and trench-coats leaping from tall buildings and blowing away werewolves with handguns. But this cool concoction gets even better when you add a dash of character and story worth caring about.

Star-crossed love has been a consistent theme in all three of the previous films, and two of those featured a pivotal romance between Selene, the ultimate werewolf killer among vampires, and Michael, the first vampire/werewolf hybrid in history.

Underworld: Awakening opens a few months after the events of Underworld: Evolution. The existence of vampires and lycans (werewolves) has now been made public, resulting in a worldwide attempt to exterminate both species. Michael and Selene make hasty plans to escape and live in secret far away, but are captured in the attempt. Selene is frozen by scientists for experimentation and is freed 12 years later. She immediately begins looking for Michael, but instead finds her 12 year old daughter, removed from her womb and allowed to grow up in the confines of a laboratory. Together they hope to escape and find Michael.

First off, I should say that if you haven't seen the previous films in the series, don't bother with this one. Although they briefly try to "catch you up" in the beginning, you really have no reason to invest in Selene if you haven't watched her story from the beginning. This, in itself is not a mark against the movie, just something viewers should be aware of.

The action in this flick is some of the best yet, especially where Selene is concerned. She has tons of cool drops, jumps, flips and fight choreography that make the first 30 minutes possibly the best action in the series so far. If you were hoping to have that itch scratched, you're in for a treat.

The visual look of the series is also intact, with washed out, cold color schemes even during the daytime. Costumes and props all look great. It's the signature look of Underworld from start to finish, gory action and all.

What seems to be missing is the movie's heart. As I mentioned, the previous films all had a romance at their core. Two people in love that the people around them viciously aimed to tear apart. This movie was completely missing that element, and the absence was obvious through most of the movie, which often seemed like a horror/action flick on auto-pilot rather than the emotionally driven pattern (or attempted pattern) of the rest of the movies.

Scott Speedman, who played Michael in the previous films, was not involved in Awakening, and as of yet I've been unable to hunt down a reason why. The Hollywood politics of this remain a mystery for now. Instead, in the brief moments Michael is seen, he is represented by a stand-in (human or digital, I'm not sure) always partially obscured by an object or special effect.

The script feels like the result of trying to scrape together a replacement for Michael, the result being his role clumsily divided among multiple characters. Selene's daughter is a hybrid like her father, and so brings the special abilities that he had to the movie in his absence, and two male characters serve as "stand-in male support characters", though without any romantic connections to Selene. (Though I often thought things like, "I'll bet that was Michael sitting next to her in the first draft.")

Many other elements also feel like uninspired repetition of earlier characters and story elements.

Selene encounters a vampire coven leader who stands in opposition to her agenda, with age, hair and wardrobe almost identical to the Victor character in the first three films.

As each film progresses and Selene becomes stronger, the final threat she faces must increase as well. First it was an ancient and powerful vampire. Then it was the first and very oldest vampire. But in this flick, her final foe is just a really big lycan who heals extra fast. Honestly, I was never concerned for her safety for even a moment.

The fact that the existence of vampires and lycans is now public knowledge is an interesting new twist, and I don't think it hurts the movie. In fact, it may just be the game-changing breath of fresh air the franchise needs. On the other hand, this is the "Underworld" series, taking its name from the HIDDEN war between vampires and lycans. So this change seems to go against the original premise of the movies.

Bringing a daughter into Selene's life is another big game-changer. Even if Michael were present for most of this story, a child usually changes the core story from a romance to a story about family. I'm not against this idea, but it seems like the writers aren't willingly invested in it so much as they've been forced into it.

Selene really could have carried one entire movie by herself, dealing with the tragic loss of Michael as it rips her part. After building up this romance for two movies, we should have spent one entire movie mourning its loss with Selene. Instead, Michael is quickly yanked out of the picture and Selene is forced to give lip service to her grief while also dealing with the sudden existence of a daughter. Bringing her daughter into the story before we could see Selene fully deal with the loss of Michael cheats those of us who have invested in the romantic side of these films, and I believe it was a big mistake.

Of course you might say, "they had to cram a lot into this movie since they never know if they'll be making another one later". But the writers seem very confident that they'll be making at least one more, as this movie virtually ends on a cliffhanger. (A poor choice, given our reduced lack of investment in these characters.) With a run time of only 88 minutes, a disappointing final fight and the ending they chose to go with, this feels like only the first half of a complete movie. If that's the case, and they can manage to get Scott Speedman back next time, there is still plenty of opportunity to restore this series and end it very well, placing this movie in the role of "set-up" for the grand finale. And I'd be cool with that. But this is a hard one to recommend to anyone but big fans of the previous films.

I'm scanning my brain for something I might remember in this flick that might lead to worthwhile discussion afterward, but I'm coming up with nothing. In many respects this feels like your average "Resident Evil" movie: Cool gory action with zero substance. Pure, mindless escapism, if that's what you're in the mood for.

For fans of the genre, it's not bad. A cool flick that even has moments of visual greatness worth a ticket or rental. But it's definitely missing something substantial.

Rated R for strong violence and gore, and for some language.

Quality: 8.0/10

Relevance: 5.5/10

And to listen to this review this weekend, visit spiritblade.net/podcast

Forced Agnosticism In Skyrim

2012-01-23T10:18:00.000-08:00

Last time I brought up anything philosophical regarding "Skyrim", I was talking about the choice of religious views one can take in the Elder Scrolls world, and what my choice is as I play.

This time, I have a political decision in front of me. There is a war going on between the Emperial forces and those of a rebellion known as the "Stormcloaks", and in order to see one of the major plot-lines of the game I have to choose a side to join.

The Stormcloaks are fed up with the how things have been in Skyrim for hundreds of years. They believe Skyrim's High Kings have been nothing but puppet tools of the empire, and believe the status-quo should be forcefully overthrown. (Of course, they have a High King of their choosing ready to fill the empty seat as soon as the war is over.)

On the other hand, you have the empire, the legal, rightful ruler of all kingdoms, who reigns from a far off land, removed from the struggles of Skyrim and taking them for granted, except when they need men from Skyrim to fight their wars.

The status-quo clearly has some shortcomings that may even be responsible for the loss of many lives in Skyrim. But the Stormcloaks are all reckless passion and little reason as they aim to make things better.

The problem is that, much like I feel in American politics, all I'm getting are opinions. No matter who I talk to, I'm getting editorial rather than straight up news. Fox and CNN talk shows instead of C-SPAN coverage of the legislative meetings. So I'm forced into a kind of political agnosticism.

Now, there are two main forms of agnosticism. The pop-culture form, when someone says "I don't know" and the more formal philosophical definition, which says something "CAN'T be known".

Far too often in our search for the truth about God, we claim to take the former definition while living like we believe the latter. We say "I don't know if God exists, or if such and such is true about God" and leave it at that, as though the answers are not available no matter how hard we search for the truth of the matter. We assume that truth really can't be found and begin to value the search for it less and less in our lives, whether the search is related to God, our next President, or the best dentist to go to.

As I read fiction and enjoy the new wave of RPGs boasting complex moral choices, it sometimes seems as though the choices aren't all that complex, they just don't provide the necessary information to make an educated decision.

True, if we go back to real-world agnosticism, we can't know with the certainty of proof that God exists or that "so and so" would be the best choice for president. But there are many things in life we choose without proof that they are the best choice. Our family doctor, our brand of toothpaste, our next car, etc. In all of these cases we examine the available evidence and make the choice that we think is most likely to be the best one. The same is true (or should be) regarding our position on God's existence or attributes, or our position on who should be governor or president.

Maybe the lack of useful decision-making information in video game RPGs like Skyrim and Mass Effect is simply because it would make the writer's job far more difficult than it's worth. Or maybe it's because there is a tendency in our popular artists to believe that truth really cannot be found.

Whichever the case, it's an interesting phenomenon I've run into in books and movies for a number of years now.

Hmm... books. Maybe the College of Magic at Winterhold has some books about the political history of Skyrim that would help me make my decision...

In Search Of Truth, Acts 20:13-24

2012-01-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Paul probably went to Assos on foot because it would take around the same amount of time (he was cutting across a peninsula that the boat had to sail around) and cost much less. Verse 16 indicates that Paul wanted to be in Jerusalem in time for Pentecost. It's been suggested that his desire to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost was so that he could present the gift to the Jerusalem Christians (collected from the churches he'd been visiting on his missionary journey) during a time when many would be present and could witness this gift and be assured of the unity and love of non-Jewish believers for the Jewish Christians. (Bible Background Commentary, Craig S. Keener, InterVarsity Press, pg. 383) (v. 13-16)

Although he couldn't afford to stop at Ephesus, he asked the Elders of the church in Ephesus to meet him at Miletus so that he could speak to them for what he believed would be his last time. (v.17)

In Paul's final words to the church leaders of Ephesus, we see a portrait of living worthy of imitation. Here are just a few observations from the text of verses 18-21.

Paul was not simply a teacher or intellectual of high standing. He served in humility and was emotionally invested in those he was teaching and serving, persisting even though hit by continued persecution and extreme difficulties. (v.18-19)

He taught everything that could be useful, rather than only discussing easily received topics and avoiding controversial subjects.

He didn't limit himself to public speaking, but also taught believers in more intimate settings with smaller numbers. (v.20)

His message was inclusive of all cultures, but uncompromising in its content. (v.21)

Paul was convinced that the Holy Spirit wanted him to go to Jerusalem, but was also bracing for the possibility of harm, since God had repeatedly told him that imprisonment and pain were in his future. (v.22-23)

This moment is especially striking to me because I have a tendency to worry about the unknowns in life, the things I can't control. I worry enough when I don't know whether or not something bad might happen, but here Paul KNEW that severe pain was inevitably part of his future and yet he didn't try to escape or delay it. He seemed to recognize, as I long to, that this life is just a dot on the line of eternity, and not worth holding on to or trying to make perfect. Instead, it's greatest worth and purpose comes in carrying out what God has intended for us to do. (v.24)

Next- Paul's Final Words And Warning Continued

Coffee House Question- God's general "call" to all of us is to love him with everything we've got and love others like we love ourselves.(Mark 12:28-31) But this takes on a specific flavor as we each try to figure out how God is "calling" us to do that. What does God seem to be "calling" you to do within the framework of loving him and loving others? What do you believe your "ministry" looks like right now?

Great Read-Through and Finishing The Audio Book!

2012-01-20T14:08:00.000-08:00

Last weekend the read-through for Spirit Blade 3 went wonderfully! Everyone present seemed to enjoy the story. Jesse Tessier (Claudius Falcore) even stayed till the end when he had originally had to leave early, because "it was all just getting too interesting!"

There are a number of tweaks and polishes I still need to make and so the writing process isn't completely finished, but everything is looking good to begin auditions in a month or so!

This week I put the finishing touches on our upcoming audio book release, "The Golden Knight #1, The Boy Is Summoned" and turned it in to the author for approval. I'll probably get the final okay sometime next week, but his first impressions were that all of his expectations had been exceeded, which was very gratifying to hear! I'll look forward to announcing the release sometime next month!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Acts 20:1-12

2012-01-18T08:50:00.001-08:00

During his time in Macedonia, Paul was continuing to collect the donations for the Christians suffering in Jerusalem. (These are the same donations we read about while looking at 1 Corinthians 16 and 2 Corinthians 8) It's also believed that Paul wrote 2nd Corinthians while in Macedonia. The span of time represented in verse 2 is unclear, but it's interesting that Luke summarizes Paul's activity at this point with the word "encouragement". Paul is known to us, because of his writing, as a strong teacher. But more than just an intellectual, he was also a source of great encouragement to other believers. (v.1-2)

He stayed in Greece for three months, at which time he may have written Romans. In addition to many Jews wanting to kill Paul for what he was teaching about Jesus, he was also transporting large amounts of donated money at this time, increasing his appeal as a target for both murder and theft. Paul caught wind of the plans against him and made a quick change to his travel plans to avoid his capture or murder. (v.3)

For his trip to Macedonia, Paul would be joined by several men who met him at Troas. These men were likely the representatives of the churches that Paul mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8:23. (v.4-5)

Paul took time from his schedule to stay in Philippi for the Feast Of Unleavened Bread, which begins with Passover and lasts seven days. This detail is a reminder that Paul did not throw away his Jewish heritage or consider the ceremonies of the Old Covenant to be worthless. Rather, they likely became more meaningful to him in some ways because of what Christ had revealed and done for the Jews and all of humanity which fulfills the requirements of the Old Covenant. (v.6)

Matthew 5:17- Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

Paul was a man who knew the value of time. He knew his time in Troas was short and so prolonged the time he spent talking to and teaching the people there. He spoke long into the night and apparently wasn't quite captivating enough to keep everyone present awake. A young man fell from the window of the upstairs room Paul was speaking in and was dead when they came to pick him up. But when Paul bent over him, his life returned. (v.7-10)

When God performs a miracle, it's never to simply dazzle, but has a practical purpose that we can almost always immediately see. In this case, this miracle validated Paul as a representative of Christ, and also allowed him to continue speaking, teaching and encouraging until morning, instead of having his remaining available time taken by the inevitable distractions of a sudden death. (v.11-12)

Next- A Farewell And A Warning

Coffee House Question- What form has "encouragement" taken for you when it has been most valuable and what form does it take when you "encourage" others?

Created Equal

2012-01-16T08:06:00.000-08:00

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights... - United States Declaration Of Independence, Preamble

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28

"In Search Of Truth" will be back later this week. For today, I hope you'll take just a moment and join me in thanking God for the men and women he has used throughout history to secure and advance our freedom, and ask that in turn we would use that freedom to willingly pursue and serve him.

Have a great MLK day!

-Paeter Frandsen

Spirit Blade 3 Reading Session Tomorrow!

2012-01-13T08:49:00.001-08:00

I am totally stoked for tomorrow! The invitations have gone out, the scripts have been printed and we're ready to go! Tomorrow at 1pm, a collection of family and friends will be coming to my home for a complete read through of the script for Spirit Blade 3. Those attending will include:

Randy Hesson, the voice of Vincent Craft
Holly Frandsen, my wife and the voice of Ebony and AIA
Michael Tully(by speaker phone), the voice of Raan Galvaanik
Sean Anthony Roberts (by speaker phone), the voice of Saolos
Preston Hancock, the "Scottish" Sanctafi
David Alderman, friend and author of the Black Earth novels
Dave Lindstrom, friend and Bible study mentor, to help look for heresy in the script ;-)
AND
Jesse Tessier, returning to voice Claudius Falcore!

This will be the 4th reading session I've had for one of my scripts and the 3rd at my home. Never before have I had this many cast members involved in one, so it's going to be a HUGE treat and a LOT of fun! An awesome way to officially kick off production for this long awaited project!

More details after the weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

Midnight Chronicles (Movie Review)

2012-01-11T15:15:00.000-08:00

As a fan of Fantasy Flight Games, I came across news in 2007 that one of their fantasy role playing games, "Midnight", was being developed into a movie. A TV pilot, to be exact. Written, Produced and Directed by Christian T. Petersen, the founder of Fantasy Flight Games.

Looking at the promotional clips online gave me mixed feelings about what the final quality of the production would be like. And the fact that a game producer was doing all the creative heavy lifting could be awesome, since he would have complete control, but also terrible for the same reason, if he doesn't know how to make movies.

The movie was passed up by all those considering it for going to pilot. Not a good sign. But nothing in the clips or trailers I'd seen told me this movie would be monstrously bad. (The first "Dungeons And Dragons" movie comes to mind in that capacity.) So I watched and waited until it finally came to DVD, and waited even longer until distribution made it possible for me to rent it before making a blind purchase. This week it was finally available for me to rent and my curiosity at last was satisfied.

From the very opening of the movie, a dark, dreary tone is established. This is the story of a fantasy world with elves and magic, but one in which the big, bad, unspeakable evil... won. For 100 years the world has lived under the cruel oppressive rule of the dark god Isrador. Commoners move from city to city under the watchful eye and lashing whips of orc soldiers. The premise of this movie is ripe for some wonderful storytelling. But the script never gets around to it.

While the opening tone of the movie is great, and the depressing grit remains through much of the movie, the writer seems more interested in introducing us to the world than in giving us a story to follow. The pace moves incredibly slow, with very little action to break things up. This would be fine if the movie worked as a character drama, but there are no characters I found myself relating to or caring about. The script would have been served well by cutting out a number of plot lines to center on just two or three, using the remaining time to give us reasons to invest in these characters. It seemed to me as though many of these characters had rich stories that wanted to be told, but all of the best material was left in the writer's notebook instead of being put in the script.

Performances were also pretty bland, with a few performers that I wouldn't be surprised to learn are just really good volunteer LARPers (Live Action Role Players) rather than actors, especially given the presence of a particular, minor speech impediment that I've found to be most common around a gaming table.

Visual effects were standard TV series quality, which is not an insult, given that the movie was shot for consideration as a TV pilot. But in a fantasy movie with a run time of an hour and 40 minutes, I would have liked to see more of them.

The fighting scenes, when they did get around to them, seemed to be put together without any benefit of a fight/stunt coordinator. Very poor even by TV standards of 15 years ago.

The included documentary about the making of the movie is a little interesting, and the fact that the entire thing was produced by a table-top game company should not be overlooked. But their first time out should have been less ambitious.

This movie might have worked if they had focused the script on two or three characters and what they want to achieve, and searched far and wide for stronger actors (volunteers though they may be) and a stronger director, who could tell a character driven story that was emotionally involving, without needing fight scenes or lots of effects.

As it is, I can't even recommend spending a dollar to rent it, or two hours of your time to watch it unless you really have nothing else to kill time with. It's not offensively bad or cheesy, just extremely uninteresting. For the same reason, I find it highly unlikely that any meaningful conversation would come after viewing it.

For a better experience in the same intended mold, try "Dragon Age: Redemption" for free on YouTube.

Not rated by the MPAA, but I'd roughly place it at PG-13 for violence and language.

Quality: 6.0/10

Relevance: 5.5/10

To listen to this review, visit spiritblade.net/podcast this weekend

In Search Of Truth, "Acts Recap"

2012-01-11T14:41:00.001-08:00

For those who have joined our little "Search For Truth" here in the last year or so, and for others who may have forgotten, we started out way back in 2007 by looking at the Gospel of John. After that, I thought it might be interesting to follow the continuing timeline of the early church by going through the book of Acts and stopping along the way to look at books written during that time-frame as they would fall in the chronology of Acts.

So far we've seen the Apostles start new communities of believers and equip them for growth. in chapters 1-7. In chapter 8 we were introduced to Saul, a zealous persecutor of the first Christians, who at the very least supported and enabled the deaths of multiple Christians, and probably even organized their capture and executions in a number of cases. But this same man was confronted by the resurrected Jesus in 35 AD and the experience changed him forever.

In Chapter 10 we witnessed Peter's vision, in which it was made clear to him that non-Jews should not be excluded from the amazing gifts of forgiveness, freedom and eternal purpose that God offers. God's Holy Spirit, who had already begun to do incredible things through Jewish believers, was now working powerfully through non-Jews as well, and continues doing so today.
In Chapter 12 we saw John's brother James killed by King Herod's order and Peter be freed from capture by an angel. Later, Herod's acceptance of those worshiping him resulted in his death at God's hands.

Then Saul left with Barnabas on his first missionary journey, beginning in Chapter 13. At this point, Acts begins referring to Saul(which means "desired") with what seems to be his preferred, humbler name,"Paul" (which means "little"). On his first missionary journey, Paul confronts a magician who was aiming to turn people away from Jesus.

In Chapter 14, we see Paul, in Antioch, summarize the grand story God has been telling throughout Jewish history and the climax it reaches in the life and work of Jesus Christ. Soon afterward he was driven out by some of the Jews there and so he and Barnabas continued their journey, seeing great success as many Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) listened and believed in what they were saying about Jesus. Their ministry was marked by both suffering and miracles and took them to many places, but they eventually returned to Antioch and stayed there for about a year or more.

In chapter 15, Paul returns to Jerusalem to settle an issue regarding whether or not Gentiles should be required to follow all of the Jewish laws once they become followers of Christ. It was determined that they should not be saddled with this requirement as even Jewish Christians were unable to fulfill God's law, which is why Jesus fulfilled the law on our behalf to begin with.
Later, Paul wanted to go back and visit the various communities of believers that he had started on his first missionary journey, and invited Barnabas to accompany him, but they disagreed over who ought to come with them, and so parted ways (Paul now taking Silas with him) to continue serving God on separate missions.

In Chapter 16, a young believer named Timothy joined Paul and Silas. Around this time, it is believed that the author, Luke, joined Paul and the others, since he begins using the pronoun "we" at times instead of exclusively "they".

In Philippi, Paul and his team met Lydia, who sold luxury cloth to the wealthy. She became a believer and gave Paul and the others a place to stay. But soon, when Paul cast an evil spirit out of a slave woman, thus removing her fortune telling powers (a chief money maker for her owners), her owners made a fuss over what Paul was teaching and he and his team were beaten and put in jail.

God used this situation to reveal himself to the jailer, who nearly killed himself for fear of punishment from his superiors when an earthquake broke the locks and freed all the prisoners. But rather than use the chance to escape, Paul and his partners stayed in the prison and shared the truth about Jesus to the jailer, who became a believer that night. Soon after, Paul and the others were freed.

In chapter 17, after suffering more persecution which forced them to flee, they eventually came to Athens, where Paul delivered a now famous address to the philosophers there. Athens had altars to a multitude of gods, including an alter to "an unknown god" just to cover their bases. So Paul took the opportunity to tell them about the God they did not know, and shared the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done for all of humanity.

In Chapter 18, in Corinth, Paul met Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish believers whom Paul lived and made tents with for awhile as he preached on the Sabbaths. He found great success there and stayed to teach in Corinth for a year and a half before continuing his journey, bringing Aquila and Priscilla with him. It was roughly during this time or in the time briefly following it, that Paul wrote the book of Romans, which we finished looking at before the holiday season.

In Ephesus, a believer named Apollo was very effectively teaching people about Jesus, though his knowledge on a few issues was incomplete. But Aquila and Priscilla were able to fill in the gaps of his understanding, which he was receptive to, making him all the more effective in teaching.

In chapter 19, Paul taught some believers about the Holy Spirit who had never heard of him, and a number of those practicing magic and attempting to use the name of Jesus as a "magic word" to do their work were overpowered by the demons they attempted to control.

In Ephesus, Paul's preaching was so effective that the metal-smiths who made statues of gods were afraid they would be put out of business and so started a riot against Paul and his partners. A Jewish man named Alexander was put before the crowd by the Jews, presumably to publicly disassociate Jews from Christians in this matter, but the revved up crowd wouldn't listen, until the city clerk quieted everyone down and finally brought reason to the environment.

Next- Acts Chapter 20. Sleeping Through Sermons Can Be Lethal!

Coffee House Question- So far in the book of Acts, there have been numerous inspiring examples of how believers should live. In what way would you especially like to be more like Paul or another believer described so far in this book?

Ready For 2012!

2012-01-09T10:15:00.000-08:00

After some very welcome time off, I'm back in the saddle and geared up for a HUGE 2012! God promises tomorrow to no one, but if we're on the same page with him, as I aim for and hope we are, here's some of what's coming this year:

Although 2011 may have seemed like a "quiet" year for Spirit Blade Productions, 2012 will be making up for it! This week I'm gearing up for the official read-through of the script for "Spirit Blade 3" (final title still TBA) this Saturday afternoon. Michael Tully(Raan) and Sean Anthony Roberts(Saolos) will both be on speaker phone from out of state to read the script with me and some other friends, family and returning cast members. Then auditions will begin sometime in February or March! So stay tuned if you wanna be involved!

At the same time, I will also be polishing the script for the second episode of "Pilgrim's Progress", which I will schedule a read-through for in a few more months and then hold another set of auditions to cast it.

In February, we'll see the release of our first contracted Enhanced Audio Book, "The Golden Knight: The Boy Is Summoned"! I'm working on the mixing right now and can't wait to have it out there for you guys to enjoy!

And sometime between now and June we'll be releasing "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game", which I will be spilling more beans about soon!

There are a few things that may also be coming to make the back half of the year interesting, but it's still too soon to talk about them. In the meantime, please keep this little company in your prayer time, asking that God will empower it, and all those involved, to accomplish his plans for it this year, and that I will have the wisdom, discernment and willingness to take it wherever he wants it to go.

As always, thanks for your support! See you back here Wednesday for our continued "Search For Truth"!

-Paeter Frandsen

Delay In Returning/No Podcast Jan. 6th

2011-12-31T18:44:00.001-08:00

Just a quick note to let you all know that I will be slightly delaying the date on which I am officially back in my office. I had posted January 4th as the date that I'll be in my office answering e-mails again, but even still here on my vacation I've realized that I'll need more time to catch up and get things in order again once I'm home. With an audio book deadline looming and the read-through party for Spirit Blade 3 coming up in a few weeks, January is going to be a VERY busy month!

So rather than heap mounds of stress on myself, I've opted to get some work done "off the radar" first and officially come back to my office on Monday, January 9th, at which time I'll start catching up on e-mails that may be awaiting a response. If you are in that category, please accept my sincere apology at the delay in getting back to you.

In addition, there will not be a podcast episode released on the weekend of January 6th, although I'm already itching to get back behind the microphone! You can plan on the next episode of the podcast coming the weekend of January 13th.

Thanks so much for your patience. Have a wonderful New Year celebration!

-Paeter Frandsen

Out Until Jan. 4th/ Free T-Shirt Shipping!

2011-12-19T13:14:00.001-08:00

Well, I thought I would just work for a couple of hours today. But it's amazing how much work is required just to take some time off! Now that the last orders have been shipped and the last e-mails have gone out, I'm ready to make the last post here before I officially going "off the grid".

I'll be out of my office (and not reading e-mails) until January 4th. If you place an order for a physical product before then, it will be processed within 48 hours of January 4th. (Digital downloads will normally process immediately when you order.)

Our big in-store Christmas sale may be over, but there is still a great opportunity to save coming up in our spread-shirt store!

From Dec 27th - Jan 2nd all orders over $30 will receive free standard shipping! The coupon code is FREEDELIVERY. Minimum order of $30.00 must be placed in basket. Maximum value off of shipping is $9.50.

I don't have any control over when spread-shirt offers deals like this and I have no idea when will be the next time they offer a deal or discount. So don't miss out! Mark your calendar, since I won't be around to remind you! Go check out our spread-shirt store on December 27th through January 2nd and take advantage of free shipping!

In the meantime, I hope you have a wonderful and deeply meaningful Christmas and a fun-filled New Year. I'll see you back here on January 4th!

-Paeter Frandsen

Last Chance To Save 40%!!

2011-12-16T13:48:00.001-08:00

This weekend is your LAST CHANCE to save 40% on all physical products sold in our online store! (Excluding T-shirts, but stay tuned for a special sale coming up for those!)

This massive sale ends after this Sunday, December 18th! Don't miss out! Go visit our online store right now!

Enter "The Story"

2011-12-14T13:37:00.001-08:00

This being the last week I'm in my office before the new year, I decided to present something a little different in place of "In Search Of Truth". This year I was asked by the pastors of my church to write a series of readings that could be integrated between songs during our Christmas Eve services. The vision was to describe God's interaction with humanity over the course of history in terms of an epic "story" that we are all called to enter into. Each section was to represent both a theme and a chronological element of the complete narration. Creation, The Fall, Redemption and Restoration.

It was a small writing project, but one I enjoyed digging into. Although there may still be minor revisions between now and Christmas, I've copied the most recent version below for you to read.

This season competes for our attention and energy from multiple directions, but sometimes it's good to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. That's what this little writing project is about. I hope you enjoy it and that it in some way expands your thoughts of who God is and what part you were meant to play in "The Story".

The Story
copyright 2011, Paeter Frandsen

There's an ancient story that began before stories were even told. It spans all ages past and reaches forward into eternity. Every day it's being written. Even now it's taking shape. Branching in complexity beyond what we can fathom, yet orchestrated skillfully to serve one, amazing purpose.

Like every other story, this one has an Author, who creates and populates his world with characters. But these characters have life and freedom. And this Author enters the story himself. In fact the story is about him. And rightly so. For there is no one more interesting, amazing, surprising, powerful, or good, than the Author himself. And being the highest, the greatest and most wonderful thing in existence, the Author writes his story so that others can see, embrace and enjoy who he is.

CREATION

The story begins in the beginning. The first "beginning" there ever was. The Author made time and the universe, and the laws that govern them. He made beauty and purpose and people to possess both. He made it all for himself, but gave the people he made a part to play. A part that would completely fulfill them.

He made them to, in some way, be reflections of himself and to govern and enjoy all of the earth. He gave them each other, designing them to love and be loved. Most incredibly, he provided them with an infinite source of pleasure and fulfillment. He gave them himself. He made them for a relationship with him that would meet their every need and go beyond to give them an eternal life more amazing than they could ever imagine. It was to be a life of adventure and discovery, creativity and wonder, as each character explored and enjoyed the Author forever. A gift with value beyond measure, intended for us all.

THE FALL

Freedom is one of the Author's most mysterious, powerful and wonderful gifts. Without freedom, love cannot exist. And yet because of freedom, evil entered the story almost as soon as it began. The characters the Author created decided they wanted to write their own story, failing to realize that doing so would never fulfill them. So those designed to be reflections of the Author instead tried to make the Author a reflection of themselves.

From then until now we have each made the same choice. A thread of irony became woven into the plot, as the endless search for pleasure apart from the Author now brought pain and empty discontentment. Relationships made for love and enjoyment instead brought conflict and injury. Work, once meant to be invigorating and productive, was now draining and seemingly fruitless. The Author's vision of perfect unity and relationship with him was replaced by a broken, dysfunctional collection of self-centered agendas.

And though it pained the Author in ways we cannot fathom, he would not take back the freedom that made his creations so beautiful, valuable, and unique. He continued to let his characters write a portion of their own story if they desired, even if it took them away from fulfillment, away from their purpose, away from him... forever.

And so the story took a dark turn. It seemed as though the Author couldn't possibly write his way to a happy ending, and that evil would remain unleashed and unaccountable. But little did anyone know that the Author would introduce a twist to his tale. One that would change everything.

REDEMPTION

Justice is an unusual idea. It's one we like, when applied to others, but subtly avoid when applied to ourselves.

Justice is somewhat relative. Little justice is demanded upon the killing of a flower, but the cry for justice increases when an animal is abused, and cries out even louder at the murder of a child. The cry for justice always intensifies, the punishment due grows larger, as the value of those wronged increases. Imagine then the punishment due to those who have wronged a being... of limitless value.

The Author couldn't simply ignore evil and still be good himself. Justice had to be preserved. Countless beings had wronged one of infinite worth, and so owed a payment of infinite value. A payment they couldn't scrounge together no matter how hard they tried. The Author was the only object of infinite worth in existence. And from therein came the answer.

The Author entered the story as he never had before. He became like and lived among his characters, experiencing the pain and harsh realities of the story first-hand. Yet somehow he retained who he was. His perfection, his goodness, his infinite worth, were offered in exchange for the lives of his characters. He subjected himself to the full punishment his characters were due. And in that unparalleled transaction, something amazing took place. Freedom, true freedom, was made possible.

A call rang out from the Author, inviting his characters to be reunited with him. Free of the fear of punishment, free of their debt to the Author, and with the promise that one day they would even be free of the very presence of evil... forever.

This future chapter is foreshadowed in the lives of the characters who accept his invitation. The moment they do, the Author goes to work in crafting them a new story within the larger one. Re-writing their histories and outlining their futures. Changing who they are from the ground up. Character subplots that were heading toward tragedies are slowly re-written into romances. And as each smaller story is united to the larger one, the epic tale becomes beautiful beyond comprehension.

RESTORATION

Some stories are so suspenseful and exciting that it's hard not to turn to the last page early to find out how they end. But the Author invites us every day to do just that. To look ahead and see how the Author, the hero of this story, puts an end to all evil. The evil around us and the evil within us.

There is nothing so broken that the Author can't restore it, perfectly and permanently. So a time will come when all of creation is renewed, remade, without the flaws and fractures it once had. The end of the story will be so beautiful and moving that the pain of early chapters will be seen in a new light, and the brilliance of the Author recognized.

The end of this story gives us hope for today. When our stories aren't written like we think they should be. When the stresses of work and relationships threaten to break us. When pain seems to define our lives. The Author knows and feels our suffering, because he has entered the story as well. He has come to carry us through it, to see the ending he has written. One that serves as both epilogue and prologue as he begins a new story. One far better than the first, with a happy ending... that never ends.

Work Benefits

2011-12-12T11:55:00.001-08:00

There are many disadvantages to what I do as the creator of Spirit Blade Productions. I have virtually no assistance in my day to day work. I ship packages and process orders, I do customer service, I have to handle all the business strategy, marketing and planning and try to fit in the creative stuff, too! It's a grueling one man operation with a very steep learning curve, for a company we still put our own money into without seeing a dime back yet toward our own living expenses.

But there are also some amazing benefits that come with the job. Foremost, is the opportunity I have almost every day to connect with, encourage and equip other people in their spiritual lives. That's why I'm in this and why neither I nor my wife ever see us getting out of the Spirit Blade "field".

But another nice benefit, which I am exercising today, is the ability to take a day off almost whenever I want. I rarely exercise this ability. I have a nagging, somewhat unhealthy, sometimes guilt-based work ethic that cracks the whip at my back every day, making it really hard to take a day off, unless my wife is too. (Although she has encouraged me before to take time off even if she's not.)

So today, although it's tough to do, I know I need it. The weekend was nuts, due to two different sets of unforeseen circumstances that doubled my "to do" list instantly. So I'm probably looking at some kind of raging "hulk-out" mid week if I don't set aside work for a day and get lost in a book, Skyrim, or something else equally removed from the real world.

So long story short? "In Search Of Truth" will be back later this week. See you then!

-Paeter Frandsen

Worship In Skyrim

2011-12-09T15:07:00.000-08:00

With "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" sucking the hours and social lives out of RPG gamers all over, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at the world of Elder Scrolls from an angle that usually isn't covered. That of the religious culture.

Almost every big name RPG and fantasy novel series incorporates religion in some form. Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age had polytheistic and somewhat monotheistic settings. Even sci-fi RPGs like Mass Effect 1 and 2 and Fallout 3 have religion involved in numerous subplots, if not the main story. But the Elder Scrolls games may have one of the richest fictional theologies ever developed for a video game RPG.

MY GAME WITHIN THE GAME

A fun little exercise I like to do when I play a new RPG is try to figure out what religion I would follow if I were in this world and doing my best to seek out the truth about who is really running the universe. I play the part of a spiritual "seeker", letting every nut-job prophet, uptight priest or tranquilized shaman talk my ear off about the virtues of their faith.

This isn't something I do to be arrogant or judgmental toward the creators of the games. It's purely a fun little intellectual diversion. However, I've found that the experience of playing this little "game within the game" offers some tools useful for evaluating the truth claims of real-world belief systems. I'll leave it to you to determine where the parallels lie between Elder Scrolls and the various belief systems in our world, but I thought it would be fun to share some of the kinds of thought processes I go through as I "search for the truth" in a fantasy world.

Since each Elder Scrolls game only scratches the surface of the rich fictitious theology acting as the foundation, I found the information gathered on the Unofficial Elder Scrolls Pages (http://www.uesp.net/ ) to be valuable. So I'll reference them a few times and you can feel free to check them out yourself if you'd like.

WORSHIP

As humans, we're made to worship. And by worship, I mean "assign immense personal value and priority". We all worship something. And when we find something that seems bigger and better than our current focus of worship, we shift focus to worship the bigger and better thing that has come along.

Elder Scrolls has a polytheistic setting. (Many gods instead of one.) So my first objective in a polytheistic setting is to look for the oldest, biggest, best god in existence. If I worship anything less, there will always be the potential for me to be less satisfied than I could be in the focus of worship I have chosen. "Yeah, Sheogorath, I know you're one of the gods "assigned" to this world I'm supposed to worship, and I know you're great and powerful and stuff. But the god that made YOU is all you are... and MORE! So why waste my time when I'm eventually gonna want to obsess over him instead?"

SMALL "G" GODS

Sheogorath and most other gods commonly mentioned during gameplay in "Oblivion" and "Skyrim" are among the "Daedra", the beings most commonly thought of as the gods of Elder Scrolls. But upon closer examination, these gods are really just extremely powerful, incomprehensible, yet FINITE beings. They came into existence as a result of "the interplay of Anu and Padomay". (See http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gods ) Even more interesting, two other gods, Talos and Arkay, were once human beings (See http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Gods_N#Nine_Divines ), which means that not only are they less than infinite, they are little more than role models in the final analysis, since theoretically I can do what they did and become a god myself.

Hmm. Maybe I've set my standard too high. Why demand for myself the expectation of finding a truly infinite god to worship, who has always been around and always been a god? Because logical deduction indicates that a god like that should exist.

NEED FOR THE INFINITE

In every way detectable, the idea of decay is a physical reality in Elder Scrolls as it is in our world. Physical objects and life forms slowly break down over time. (How many tattered and rotted "ruined books" have YOU run into so far in Skyrim?) This means that in the universe of Elder Scrolls, matter is not eternal. It is constantly progressing toward decay. This also means that matter had a beginning point, just as the nature of decay points to a beginning for our universe.

Here's where deductive reasoning kicks in and tells me to expect to eventually find an infinite god in the world of Elder Scrolls. (Please bear with me, it's a bit of a mental workout. My apologies also for many of the finer details left out of the expression of this deductive progression. Just trying not to be too long-winded.)

1. Everything that has a beginning has a cause. So the Elder Scrolls universe has a cause. Now maybe the cause of the Elder Scrolls universe has a cause too, but we'll just cut out any middle steps and cut straight to looking at the very "First Cause" for the Elder Scrolls universe.

2. Since there can't be an infinite chain of successive causes(and because time began with the universe), the "First Cause" of the Elder Scrolls universe must be without beginning and uncaused.

3. Since this "first cause" (which we'll call the FC) precedes matter, it cannot be material itself. So the FC must be immaterial.

4. Since natural laws came into being with matter, the FC precedes natural law, and so is "supernatural".

5. All causes are either natural (the result of cause and effect based on natural law) or generated by free will. The FC of Elder Scrolls is "supernatural", and so must instead have a personal, decisive will, as opposed to being a vague "force" of some kind.

6. The Elder Scrolls FC must exist outside of time, since time is part of the natural universe of matter and the FC precedes matter.

7. The Elder Scrolls FC must be unchanging, since change is a limitation imposed by time, and the Elder Scrolls FC exists independent of time.

8. The Elder Scrolls FC must be infinite, since limits are measured based on natural law and potential(the potential to be more or less of something) and the Elder Scrolls FC is independent of natural law and without potential (i.e.unchanging).

MATCHING THE DESCRIPTION

So now I'm looking for a god that has no beginning, is non-finite, and is incapable of change. The gods presented so far all had either beginning points or obvious points at which they were different than what they became later(such as Talos and Arkay, who were once human). Meaning they are all finite and fall short.

From what I understand, Anu and Padomay were the gods responsible for forming the cosmos out of "Aurbis", which is the name for "the chaos, or totality, from which the cosmos was formed". ( See http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Aurbis )

So it sounds like maybe this "chaos or totality" (whatever THAT means) might be without beginning. But it still needed a cause to turn it all from whatever it was into the cosmos. So maybe Anu and Padomay are, together, my FC. The infinite beings I should be aiming my worship at.

Hmm.

From what I understand, "The brothers Anu and Padomay came from the Void" (http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Void). This poses a bit of a problem. "The Void" in Elder Scrolls is "the name applied to the dimensions outside of the known realms". For something to "come and go", it has to travel. If something can travel, it's not in all places at once. But something that is infinite IS in all places at once. So Anu and Padomay cannot be truly infinite if they "came" from somewhere, and must themselves have some source or cause.

Crap.

This is where the revealed theology of the Elder Scrolls universe ends. There must be a personal being above and beyond Anu and Padomay, but there is no record of this being revealing itself to anyone in the Elder Scrolls universe. So it appears I'll have to join the likes of real-world ancient Athenians and construct an alter "To The Unknown God" and hope that someday he'll see fit to reveal himself or send a "Paul" my way.

Acts 17:22-31 (ESV)
So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: "Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead."

Our Next Audio Book..."The Golden Knight"!

2011-12-09T14:49:00.001-08:00

I'm pleased to finally announce the title of Spirit Blade Productions' next audio book! "The Golden Knight #1: The Boy Is Summoned", by Steve Clark and Justin Clark!

The synopsis is as follows:

In the beginning, the Kingdom was ruled by a wise and just King who ruled by the laws written in the ancient Book. The people were protected by the archangels and the heroic knights. All lived in peace and prospered. Those days are gone...

Flar, the evil fire lord, and his sorcerer, Murlox, have banished the King and his angels behind an energy field known as the Great Divide. The Book has been taken. The angels have fallen. The knights are gone. The people suffer. All that remains is the prophecy and a promise of hope.

Join Marsonee the archangel and Princess Rainna as they embark on a journey to bring an innocent farm boy toward his true destiny.

Given that the book is aimed at an audience of "tweens", and based on that artwork, you might think that this has "sterilized" and "safe" written all over it. But part of what drew me to the story was the inclusion of some "dark" story elements, such as an imposing villain who wears skulls on his armor, a twisted dark sorcerer, and the fact that someone even takes an arrow shot to the face! (I don't think he's gonna pull through.)

So the audio experience will be very much in keeping with what you've come to expect from Spirit Blade Productions.

The production philosophy we've agreed on is one similar to the live action "Narnia" films. Although there are certainly many elements aimed at a young audience, I'm approaching production with the same serious tone I might give to the "Pilgrim's Progress" audio drama series we're already producing.

Speaking of "series", you'll notice that this is book one of a multi-book series. At this point we've only committed to partnering for the first book in the series, but we're hopeful that the results will be successful enough to warrant audio production of the rest of the series as well!

Stay tuned! I'll have more details about my progress on the project and the release as we get closer to February!

-Paeter Frandsen

Ability Cards

2011-12-07T11:59:00.001-08:00

This month I thought I'd showcase a key type of card in the upcoming "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game". The picture you see is the uncropped design for an Ability Card.

Most Seekers ("good guys") and some Enemies have abilities they can use in the game to give them an edge. Abilities are represented by Ability Cards, and can usually only be used once per Mission. (Though some can be used an unlimited number of times.) Abilities are divided into categories of Damage, Healing, Manipulation, Prophet, Enemy and Special. (Special Abilities are usually the ones that can be used without limit, such as Shifting, Resourceful, Security Systems and Counter Attack.)

Ability Cards that Seekers have access to are described on their Character Card. For example, the Sanctafi Seeker can take 9 Ability Cards into a mission with him: 3 Damage, 3 Healing and 3 Manipulation. The Prophet Seeker is the only Seeker that can take any Prophet Ability Cards into a mission.

The pictured card is a Manipulation Ability that immobilizes a human Enemy in battle. The concept is based on the way Saolos used miraclai in "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual" to torture Merikk. Although most cards don't have quite the dark edge that this one does, as you can see, this card game will be every bit as "unsterilized" as the Spirit Blade audio dramas! And being a Seeker doesn't mean you don't still have some rough edges.

Although this card requires some knowledge of the audio dramas to fully appreciate and serves as a bit of audio drama fan service, most cards are completely approachable for those who have never heard of Spirit Blade before.

Play testing has slowed down a bit due to the Christmas season (and yeah, I'm playing Skyrim these days, too), but the hardest work is done and the game is mostly balanced. At this point I'm mainly polishing and making a few minor adjustments that I look forward to telling you about.

Stay tuned for another update in January!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, "Ultimate Surrender. Ultimate Peace"

2011-12-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

By Guest Writer Nathan J. Norman

Have you ever flipped to the last page of a book, read it, then started from the beginning? Or watched the last chapter on a dvd, then watch it all the way through? That practice doesn’t appeal to me, and probably doesn’t appeal to most people. But to some it does. In fact I’ve known people who do this on a regular basis. They like to know the ending before they get invested into a story. And what about you? Would you like to know the end of your story? The wonderful thing about being a Christian is that you can know! Maybe not all the specifics, and not every minor detail . . . but if you’re a believer in Christ, we have the Word of God giving us a testimony that God wins, and we all get perfected bodies. In the end, God makes everything work out. So then, how should believers respond to God’s long-term plan?

Believers should respond to God’s long-term plan by praising God.

When you realize that God has an amazing and unfathomable future planned for Christ-followers, the natural response is to praise Him! In Habakkuk’s day, when God revealed to Him that both evil Judah and even more evil Babylon would one day be judged, Habakkuk responded in praise. Read Habakkuk 3:1-3:

(HCSB)
3:1 A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet. According to Shigionoth.
2 LORD, I have heard the report about You; LORD, I stand in awe of Your deeds. Revive Your work in these years; make it known in these years.
In Your wrath remember mercy!
3 God comes from Teman, the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah
His splendor covers the heavens, and the earth is full of His praise.

Evil would not ultimately win the day. God revealed to Habakkuk that He Himself would come and bring justice to humanity once again. Let’s look at what Habakkuk saw, and why he decided to praise God. Read Habakkuk 3:4-13:

(HCSB)
4 His brilliance is like light; rays are flashing from His hand.
This is where His power is hidden.
5 Plague goes before Him, and pestilence follows in His steps.
6 He stands and shakes the earth; He looks and startles the nations.
The age-old mountains break apart; the ancient hills sink down.
His pathways are ancient.
7 I see the tents of Cushan in distress; the tent curtains of the land of Midian tremble.
8 Are You angry at the rivers, LORD? Is Your wrath against the rivers?
Or is Your rage against the sea when You ride on Your horses, Your victorious chariot?
9 You took the sheath from Your bow;
the arrows are ready to be used with an oath. Selah
You split the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains see You and shudder; a downpour of water sweeps by.
The deep roars with its voice and lifts its waves high.
11 Sun and moon stand still in their lofty residence,
at the flash of Your flying arrows, at the brightness of Your shining spear.
12 You march across the earth with indignation; You trample down the nations in wrath.
13 You come out to save Your people, to save Your anointed.
You crush the leader of the house of the wicked and strip him from foot to neck. Selah

This is both terrifying and awesome. Who could ever stand up to this God? No evil or injustice stands a chance!!!! So in Habakkuk’s day, even though there was still evil all around him, He still praised God, because he knew what the end of the story was.

What does this praise look like?

It’s like when Hollywood turns a beloved story into a movie. The sixth Harry Potter movie (the half-blood prince) was terrible. The Super Mario Brothers movie was atrocious. So because of all these stinkers, when Hollywood takes a beloved story and actually gets it right . . . we praise them! When I saw the first Lord of the Rings, I was so scared they’d mess it up, but once seeing it I said things like “Peter Jackson’s awesome!” In the same way, when you know what God’s ultimate plan is, you can praise Him!

Or think about it like this . . . what’s the average weekly allowance these days? Let’s say it’s $20 a week. So let’s say ever since a young person was growing up, her parents would give her $20 a week, but as the parent handed it to her, they took $5 back. This goes on for years! Is the kid frustrated? You betcha! Finally after a long time this girl confronts her parent and says, “Why do you keep taking $5 from my allowance? And the parent reveals the plan to her and says when she turns 16, they will take the money she gave, add to it and buy her a brand new car! That’s an awesome plan! How does she respond? With ELATION!

In the same way, when you know what God’s plan for your life is, you praise Him because you know that even the terrible times you may be having right now, are nothing compared to the awesomeness awaiting you.

But you might say “God has never appeared to me, and given me a vision of my future!” No He hasn’t. He’s given you the complete story, though . . . and you can read about it whenever you want . . . and I think it’s better.

Having the Word of God available to you anytime versus having a vision is the difference between meeting a boy or a girl and them telling you that they love you, then moving away to a place where they can’t communicate with you ever again, and never meeting a person face to face, but being able to talk on the phone, facebook and text whenever you want . . . and realizing that one day you will be united. You just need to have the discipline to pick up the phone and call . . . or in this case, open your Bible and read about it!

Believers should respond to God’s long-term plan by praising God. And when you hear about God’s long-term plan, you don’t merely praise Him, but you do something else. You see…

Believers should also respond to God’s long-term plan by surrendering to Him. When you realize how huge God’s plans are and how powerful He is, you cannot help but give over to Him your whole self.

As Habakkuk continues to describe what he has seen, he ultimately realizes that He has to give himself completely over to God. Read Habakkuk 3:14-19:

(HCSB)
14 You pierce his head with his own spears;
his warriors storm out to scatter us, gloating as if ready to secretly devour the weak.
15 You tread the sea with Your horses, stirring up the great waters.
16 I heard, and I trembled within; my lips quivered at the sound.
Rottenness entered my bones; I trembled where I stood.
Now I must quietly wait for the day of distress to come against the people invading us.
17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines,
though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls,
18 yet I will triumph in Yahweh; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation!
19 Yahweh my Lord is my strength;
He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights!

Habakkuk knows that life will be difficult for him in the days to come, but he decides to trust God, and give Himself over to His plan . . . where-ever that might lead him.

This surrender takes a few forms. It’s like in the cancelled comic book Alius Rex. (Spoiler Alert) A mysterious new country is invading kingdom after kingdom. This one king, though, refuses to surrender and gathers his knights together. As he reaches the place of battle this huge alien ship comes over the hill and destroys his forces. He is so overwhelmed by the power of the enemy that he surrenders right there, knowing that if he resisted, it would lead to his own destruction. So he has to give in to the aliens, knowing that they can now do whatever they want.

It’s the same with us . . . only our God is benevolent and loves us, and when we see His absolute power and surrender to Him . . . it’s for our own good. Not harm.

Or think about it like this: When animals get scared, they will actually fight you when you’re trying to help them! A cat will claw you if you help it get down from the tree. A dog will bite a firefighter trying to pull it out of a flooded river. They do this because they do not understand the “big plan” and are trusting in their own power to deliver them! Flies (not technically animals) will drive you crazy if you try to help them. They fly into a window, over and over, so you open the window. Then they avoid the window. You shoo them to the window . . . because it’s the only way they can survive, but they don’t trust you so they back away. These creatures could only be saved if they could somehow think, “This being is smarter than me, and good, so I’m just going to let it do whatever it wants because I know that it has my best interest in mind.”

We need to do the same as we interact with God. We need to give ourselves over to Him . . . even when things are rough . . . trusting that He has a plan and purpose we cannot comprehend.

Some of you are feeling, “I’m afraid of what will happen !” You don’t want to live life according to God’s standards because you’re afraid that you might lose your friends, your reputation, and that life will only get harder. And if that’s you, and you don’t surrender your life to God, you will go through this life forever as the fly, bouncing off the window, trying to be free and never finding it. Unable to figure out life or your purpose in life because you don’t have the ability to do so apart from God.

You must trust Him! Believers should respond to God’s long-term plan by surrendering to Him.

So there you have it. You’ve flipped to the last page. You’ve watched the end of the movie first. You know how the story ends before it happens: God wins and His followers get eternal life in glorified, perfected bodies. So, believers should respond to God’s long-term plan by praising God and surrendering to Him. If you don’t do this, you will go through life bouncing off the windows and trying to find your direction . . . and will find nothing. But if you give yourself wholly over to God . . . then you can have peace even in the worst circumstances. Ultimate Surrender. Ultimate Peace.

Next- Paeter returns to "In Search Of Truth" with an invitation to "Enter The Story".

Audio Books Vs. Audio Drama

2011-12-02T15:23:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I finished recording the audio book that I'm working on, which will be released in February. Although my preferred medium is still audio drama, there are some nice benefits to working on an audio book instead. And they're all related to speed.

Since I'm the only performer I can record at a moments notice as I have opportunity. There is also no time spent directing anyone else. I know what I want something to sound like and can do multiple takes quickly in a row until I hit the delivery I want. And although in some cases it can take me some time to "find" a character's voice, mentally directing myself moves the evolution of my performance forward much faster than verbally directing another actor. Unlike "directing myself", directing another actor involves choosing my words as carefully as possible, for the sake of clear communication and sensitivity to the actor's feelings.

Finally, although I create "enhanced audio books" that include some sound effects and a musical score (the free Spirit Blade Audio Book being an example), the sound cues needed are far less per minute than those required for my audio dramas. So the mixing process has a much faster progression compared to audio drama.

All of this increased speed amounts to two significant benefits. As a creator, I get to have that rewarding sense of satisfaction upon completion of a project much sooner. And as a small business owner, I get to present a new, income earning product for sale much faster as well.

My first and greatest love will probably always be audio drama. But doing audio books, the way I like to do them, can be pretty cool too!

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for more info about the upcoming audio book release!

-Paeter Frandsen

O Come O Come Emmanuel

2011-11-30T07:37:00.001-08:00

It's that time of year again! Which means it's time again for me to make my electronic-industrial rendition of "O Come O Come Emmanuel" available for free download until the end of December!

You can find it listed under "New Features" on our Media Page, or download it here!

If you're a podcaster, please feel free to play it on your show with a credit to "spiritblade.net"!

I hope you enjoy listening and that your Christmas season gets off to a great start!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, "Wait For It"

2011-11-28T14:02:00.001-08:00

Guest Writer, Nathan J. Norman

You don’t have to look far to see instances where the evil people triumph, do you? Just turn on the news. Bank robbers are never caught. Politicians get away with things that you and I would go to prison for. Murders go unsolved every year. In your own life you know of gossips who ruin reputations and never pay for it, men who abuse women physically and psychologically and get away with it, and we could go on. The old adage “crime doesn’t pay” seems like a joke sometimes, because we look around right now, and it seems like it does. So then, How should believers respond to the victories of the wicked?

Believers should trust that God will bring about His plan. As we look at all the injustices we see, instead of becoming frustrated, we need to have faith that God is already working.
Habakkuk had this same problem in his day. God had already revealed that he was going to use wicked Babylon to judge the less wicked kingdom of Judah. And here’s how Habakkuk responds. Read Habakkuk 1:12-13, 2:1:

(HCSB)
12 Are You not from eternity, Yahweh my God?
My Holy One, You will not die.
LORD, You appointed them
to execute judgment; my Rock, You destined them to punish us.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look on evil,
and You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
So why do You tolerate those who are treacherous?
Why are You silent while one who is wicked
swallows up one who is more righteous than himself?

2:1 I will stand at my guard post
and station myself on the lookout tower.
I will watch to see what He will say to me
and what I should reply about my complaint.

Things don’t seem to be getting better, only worse. Evil is getting everything!
That’s probably how it seems like today sometimes . . . whether it’s your school, your politics, or your country or your own home.
Let’s see how God responds. Read Habakkuk 2:4, 12-13:

(HCSB)
4 Look, his ego is inflated; he is without integrity.
But the righteous one will live by his faith.

12 Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed and founds a town with injustice!
13 Is it not from the LORD of Hosts that the peoples labor
only to fuel the fire and countries exhaust themselves for nothing?

God is going to also judge Babylon! In the meantime, he said that His righteous ones will have lives characterized by trust, or faith.
Do you think this is hard to do? Absolutely! We want to do something, but often find ourselves powerless. So then, we get angry at God, disappointed in life, and very, very cynical.

So what’s this like, trusting that God has a plan in progress in the middle of evil?
It’s like when my cat Duncan was a little kitten. He was sick when we adopted him. So we have him on this cherry flavored medicine that we have to give him twice a day. Do you think he liked it? No! And if you could ask him, he would say that what we’re doing is evil. But, even though, there’s no immediate effect, in the long run he’s getting better!
Even in the middle of all the evils of our world, we need to trust that God is actively working, and has a plan.

Now, imagine that you come home one day, and catch a sibling with a brand-new never been opened 1 terabyte iPod! (I don’t even know if they have those yet.) So you ask him/her “where’d that come from?” And he totally lies to you and says that he’s holding it for a frien.d
So you tell a parent, and your parent just acts like they don’t care! But they should care, your sibling is a liar and a thief! So what do you do, drop it and let your parents handle it, take matters into your own hands, or let it fester? Well, as it turns out, your parents were putting together a surprise party. It’s huge, awesome and almost perfect. Now was it wrong that your sibling lied – yes. But in the end, your parents used everything to work together for good! In the same way, you can go through life, angry at God for allowing injustice, or you can trust that He has an amazing plan that’s already going on!

You might be asking yourself, “Why doesn’t God act now?”
You might be tempted to think that he doesn’t do anything, like an idol. Let’s see how Habakkuk interacts with this. Read Habakkuk 2:18-20:

(HCSB)
18 What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it?
It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies.
For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes idols that cannot speak.
19 Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.
20 But the LORD is in His holy temple; let everyone on earth be silent in His presence.

Well, God is waiting so that as many people can come to salvation in Jesus as possible. But He is also super-patient, and will wait to bring judgment until a person or group reaches a sort of “complete evil” level. And you know what? God’s plan is a mystery right now, so we won’t always know this side of eternity.

Believers should respond to the victories of the wicked by trusting that God will bring about His plan. Sure it’s hard to do. We either want to fix the situation, or we want it to go away. But think about it like this . . . on this side of eternity, how can you please God? You can do good works, but that’s more about loving others. Can you hug God? Can you go to the movies with God? Fortunately God tells us right here in Habakkuk, “The righteous will live by faith.” You want to please God, trust Him! You pray, “God, I don’t know why my parents are arguing, I don’t understand why you’re letting horrible things happen, I don’t understand why my spouse or significant other is treating me like this but I trust you . . . I trust you have a plan in all of this!”
Wait for it . . . wait for it. God’s plan is coming!

Black Friday And Holiday Sale Prices Available Now!

2011-11-24T17:04:00.001-08:00

All of our crazy 40% discounts are active RIGHT NOW in our online store through December 18th!

But remember, our BIGGEST savings opportunity is on Black Friday, November 25th only! Get the Spirit Blade: Special Edition CD set for an insane 60% OFF, and tax and shipping are still FREE! Just $5.19 to put it in your hands or those of a potential fan you'd like to introduce to the world of Spirit Blade! Don't miss out!

Visit our online store right now!

Uncompartmentalized Thankfulness

2011-11-23T07:30:00.000-08:00

Typically when we thank God for things, the list is fairly predictable. Family, friends, health, that kind of thing. We thank him for forgiveness, the eternal future he's given those who trust in him, and for the ability and opportunities to serve him now. These are all great things to thank him for. In fact, they are probably the greatest things to thank him for.

But after this little "prayer time", we can quickly get out of that mode and go back to our day to day lives and the things we enjoy (especially us geeks) that we assume God really wasn't involved in. After all, did God program the code or do play-testing for Mass Effect 2 or Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim? Nope. Did he write "The Way Of Shadows" or "Wizard's First Rule"? I'm pretty sure Brent Weeks and Terry Goodkind were responsible for those. Did God film Iron Man or Super 8? No.

But God is the Creator of creativity itself! He's the Author of authors! My dad once said to me, "Y'know really, we aren't very creative. Every idea we come up with is something that's been seen or done before." And he was right. The things we call "new" or "creative" are just re-arrangements and mash-ups of concepts we've been exposed to before. On the other hand, God created the entire universe out of nothing. Now THAT is some "outside the box" creativity!

Although I'm still very likely to compartmentalize my "thankfulness", I try to bring God into the creative things I enjoy. Although plenty of games and movies have elements that do not honor God, they have a vast number of elements that do. I try to remember that I enjoy exploring Skyrim because God designed me to enjoy exploring and discovering. He also gifted the visual artists of the game with the ability to take some of the best of what God created in nature and exaggerate those qualities in a fantasy landscape. God gave us a longing for strength, security, victory, and purpose, all of which he will give those who place their trust in him. And he has enabled creative people to give a foretaste of those things in the fiction and entertainment they create, whetting our appetites for what God will one day give us for real and in full.

EVERYTHING good we enjoy in life, originates as a gift from God, who designed us to enjoy whatever it is we're enjoying! We may twist and misuse what he's given us, but pleasure of any kind, in and of itself, is a gift of God.

We rightfully thank God for family, friends, health, nature, forgiveness, and eternity. But as we come down from those lofty "sunday thoughts", we can also thank him for the little pleasures in life (that we sometimes make too big a deal of) that also ultimately come from him and foreshadow a future beyond imagining.

James 1:17(ESV)- Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Pilgrim's Progress "Read-Through" Video!

2011-11-21T09:01:00.000-08:00

This month's new special feature is part 1 of a behind the scenes look at the first read-through for "Pilgrim's Progress"! This marks the first time any VIDEO of our script reading sessions has been available, and also includes the reading of almost an entire scene that was deleted from the final cut!

You can watch the embedded video below or go check it out along with all of our other videos on our Youtube channel!

Enjoy!

-Paeter Frandsen

Fantasy Audio Book Coming In February!

2011-11-18T15:17:00.000-08:00

I'm excited to officially announce that I'm currently producing a new audio book that will be released in February of 2012!

This is new territory for me in that it will be the first professional project I produce that I did not write! But the author approached me having already published the book and seen relative preliminary success with it in the e-book world, and once I read it I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in. After working out the business side of things, we both signed on the dotted line and we're now off to the races!

It's a fantasy story aimed at young adult readers, but with cool action and dark sorcery for those of us with a taste for the unsterilized. If you're familiar with the "Tales Of The Kingdom" books by David and Karen Mains (a favorite of mine from my pre-teen years!) I think you'll find this story to be in the same category in some respects.

I'll have more details, such as title and author, as we get closer, but wanted to let you guys know about the exciting news!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

HUGE Savings On The Way!!

2011-11-16T09:32:00.001-08:00

Get ready for some BIG opportunities to save in the Spirit Blade Productions Online Store!
From Friday, November 25th through Sunday December 18th, all physical product will be 40% off, and tax and shipping are still FREE!!

This Christmas is a great time to introduce new listeners to the world of Spirit Blade! Get the CD sets for either Spirit Blade: Special Edition or Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual (regularly $12.99) for just $7.79 each!

Or shop for that special "completist" by getting the Spirit Blade: Special Edition Collector's Set (regularly $23.99) for just $14.39!

You can also grab either of our Archive Discs (regularly $4.99) for just $2.99! Great as stocking stuffers!

PLUS, on Black Friday only (November 25th), you can get the CD set of Spirit Blade: Special Edition for a whopping 60% off! Just $5.19!!

So make your list, mark your calendar, and tell those who might be shopping for you! This is NOT an opportunity to miss!

Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls V ("First Five" Review)

2011-11-14T10:32:00.000-08:00

Oblivion was my first experience with a 1st-person RPG, my strong preference then being 3rd person, and it took me two attempts before I could adjust. But once I did I discovered a gaming experience nearly without equal. For months I've waited in eager anticipation for the next game in the Elder Scrolls series, and Skyrim does everything but disappoint.

My first five impressions of any game's first five hours have almost always been an accurate summary of my thoughts on the game even after I finally play through the whole thing. So here are my first five impressions of the first five hours of "Skyrim". (Well, actually I've played twelve hours so far.)

1. The visual design has gotten a very nice upgrade. I was very impressed with the look of "Oblivion", but the new spell animations and gritty textures of "Skyrim" take the experience even further. (And people don't look weird anymore!) There is something strangely "Fallout 3" about the look of things that I can't quite identify, but that's no insult! The game looks fantastic! Though I'll echo what a reviewer at Gamespot said by observing that the world of Skyrim is best experienced by looking at the big picture rather than the details, where the graphics betray plenty of blocky pixels up close. Still, character animations have been improved and other visual upgrades have been made across the board that add wonderful life to the game.

2. They've put more effort into the auditory design as well! The score is still epic and sweeping, while having some great masculine tribal men's chorus added to great effect. The biggest improvement is the increase in the number and quality of voice actors used. My biggest gripe with Oblivion is that the game was fully voiced... by only about five actors, who made little or no effort to change their performance for different characters. (I played much of Oblivion with the voices turned off.) The character animations in conversations haven't been improved to "Dragon Age" quality, but the expanded voice cast adds some welcome life to character interaction.

3. The interface has been streamlined, in many ways cloning elements from Fallout 3. You are ultimately given less information about your character, which in some ways is fine, since I never understood every detail of my Oblivion character anyway. But some info seems missing. I didn't know I had a disease until I noticed everyone telling me I look sick. (Your character records only indicate how many diseases you've caught, not how many you currently have.) But in almost every other way the simplification in menus is appreciated. The controls also respond wonderfully and never get in the way. As an added bonus, 3rd person mode is actually an enjoyable alternative playing mode! (It was lousy in Oblivion.) I still use mainly 1st person, as the game is primarily intended to be played that way, but now and then it's helpful, or just a nice change of pace, to switch to 3rd for a bit.

4. "Immersive" is a word that keeps coming to mind. Even more so than Oblivion, Skyrim is an open, living world, with people and creatures in the wild living their own lives. I even passed a giant who had no interest in attacking me, and a dragon circled over head for three minutes while I was wandering in the forest. Scared the crap out of me but he finally moved on. It might seem counter-intuitive in design, but I actually love that this game isn't always "about me"! And again there is a ton to do. You can mix potions like before, as well as work in the smithy, smelter, tanner, workbench and grindstone to make your own weapons from scratch or improve existing weapons! And there are more quests than I can possibly keep up with!

5. This game is addictive! Finishing many quests introduces new ones and the sights and sounds of this world just beg to be explored from top to bottom. My hand-eye coordination is lame, so I'm playing on easy, and I'm in the sweet spot of my difficulty curve. Combat is challenging, and yet I feel like somebody that no one should mess with. Dungeons are now also marked "cleared" on your world map once you've actually explored them (instead of just "discovering them"), making it easy to check dungeons off the completist's exploration list, and tempting to tackle "just one more". And the story is engaging and feels "alive" rather than scripted.

In simple terms, this games just "works" on every level. Although there are small details I could nitpick, the sum of this game's parts is probably the best RPG video game experience I've ever had.

In terms of Relevance, the world of Elder Scrolls has the most developed religious mythology I've ever encountered in a video game, and the various gods and their followers factor into a number of quest-lines. The game doesn't play in a way that forces the player to think much about the ideas presented, but if you feel like digging there is a world of ideas worth contemplating that have great relevance to a real world search for truth.

Rated M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Use of Alcohol

Quality: 10/10

Relevance: 8.0/10

In Search Of Truth, The Self Destruct Code

2011-11-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

(For the next three weeks I've invited Pastor, geek and friend Nathan J. Norman to lead us on our "search for truth". He'll be taking us through an interesting look at the book of Habakkuk. Enjoy! -Paeter Frandsen)

Nathan J. Norman, Guest Writer
“The Self Destruct Code”

If you’re anything like me you probably have a variety of social circles you interact with. I’ve got people I interact with in college, church, ministry, family, in my job and even in my comic book store. Some of you also have sports, hobbies and a variety of other places that you socialize. But I’m sure you’ve often looked around and have seen some very upsetting things.

You know of people getting drunk, doing drug, and having sex outside of marriage . . . and they’re having fun doing all those things. And you wait a little while, assuming that consequences will come upon them immediately, and it never happens. They just seem to be having a really good time all-around! And if you step back and watch the news, it’s the same thing. Our culture embraces wickedness and nothing seems to be stopping it. So it begs the question: How should believers deal with a wicked culture?

Believers should deal with a wicked culture by faithfully waiting for the Lord to bring judgment via its own wickedness. When an entire culture, or a part of a culture turns completely wicked you and I are not strong enough to change it, it has to be the Lord that puts an end to it. In Judah, Habakkuk had the same problem. Read Habakkuk 1:1-4:

(HCSB)
The oracle that Habakkuk the prophet saw.
2 How long, LORD, must I call for help
and You do not listen, or cry out to You about violence
and You do not save?
3 Why do You force me to look at injustice? Why do You tolerate wrongdoing? Oppression and violence are right in front of me.
Strife is ongoing, and conflict escalates.
4 This is why the law is ineffective and justice never emerges.
For the wicked restrict the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted.

Habakkuk felt like God wasn’t doing anything! He looked around and he saw injustice, he saw violence, and he saw that the good people were being oppressed, and the wicked were prospering! All this happened after the evil king Manasseh, but before the good king Josiah’s reforms had started.

And things haven’t changed much in today’s culture, have they? I’m not talking about a few people doing some bad things, I’m talking about an entire culture just glorying in its own wickedness. Abortion has claimed the unborn lives of over 40 million persons! Our society has taken God’s beautiful gift of sex and exchanged it for a corrupted imitation. We are so materialistic, that we care more about a pair of jeans than starving orphans.

So, God responded to Habakkuk and told him what He was doing. Read Habakkuk 1:5-11.

5 Look at the nations and observe-- be utterly astounded!
For something is taking place in your days
that you will not believe when you hear about it.
6 Look! I am raising up the Chaldeans, that bitter, impetuous nation that marches across the earth's open spaces to seize territories not its own.
7 They are fierce and terrifying; their views of justice and sovereignty stem from themselves.
8 Their horses are swifter than leopards and more fierce than wolves of the night. Their horsemen charge ahead; their horsemen come from distant lands. They fly like an eagle, swooping to devour.
9 All of them come to do violence; their faces are set in determination. They gather prisoners like sand.
10 They mock kings, and rulers are a joke to them. They laugh at every fortress and build siege ramps to capture it.
11 Then they sweep by like the wind and pass through. They are guilty; their strength is their god.

Before Habakkuk had even complained, God was already working on a plan to punish the wickedness of Judah. He would raise up the Chaldeans . . . that is the Babylonians, a group more wicked than Judah, and He would use them to come and eventually punish the wickedness of Judah. It’s kinda scary stuff when you look around at your culture today isn’t it?

So what does this look like: waiting patiently on the Lord to bring Judgment?

It’s like a kid buying pot. Now, I’m just talking about a regular, run of the mill kid looking to get high off the stuff. Is it wrong? Sure (it’s illegal, alters your will-power and self-control). But let me ask you this, Is this kid as wicked as the person he’s buying it from? Certainly not, the drug dealer is giving a large number of people drugs! And is the street drug dealer as bad as his boss, and his boss’s supplier, and so on and so forth. Probably not. The higher up the level you go, the more wicked a person probably is in this scenario. Before you go too high, you’ll actually find someone who’s murdered before! And that brings us back to the kid buying pot. He’s not selling drugs to kids. He’s not bribing people, or beating them up, or committing murder. But he has willingly brought himself into contact with people who do. And thus, when judgment comes it will come from those more wicked than himself.

In the same way, when a culture is wicked, it’s wickedness attracts the wickedness of other cultures upon itself and brings about its own judgment. We as believers, then need to be patient, wait on the Lord and stay out of the way.

But this is probably too passive of a view for you, let me give you another example. Let’s say you live in Florida with all your family and friends, and a hurricane is coming. You know that you have to evacuate, so you help your friends and family members the best you can, to pack up and head out. But some of your friends won’t go. So you help board up their house. Still some other friends refuse to board up their houses. Even worse, some of your friends won’t even go into their houses, and they walk around, refusing that a hurricane is coming.

In the same way, as Christians, we can try and share Christ with those around us. We can try and be a good influence. But at the end of the day, you can’t change the culture any more than you can stop a hurricane.

A couple I know lives in the part of the country known as tornado alley. During a really bad storm, they were told to take shelter. So the wife took her son to the neighbor’s basement. The husband wouldn’t go though. A tree came right through the window where he was sitting.

Fortunately he wasn’t hurt, and in the same way sometimes the wicked are hurt, sometimes not . . . sometimes they get it, sometimes they don’t . . . but you can bet your house that the husband in the story changed his ways and now takes shelter when he’s supposed to.

Now, if you’re anything like me, you probably have two huge objections. You might be thinking, “Are you saying to do nothing in the face of a wicked culture?” No! Absolutely not. We are called to live faithfully in good and wicked cultures. Live faithfully to God where you are, in the place God has called you to.

Right now, if you’re in high school or college . . . live faithfully there. If you have a job in an office . . . live faithfully to God there. If you demonstrate you can do that, he might one day move you to another place, where he will also call you to live faithfully. Most people can’t even get their own lives under control, let-alone the rest of the world’s problems. God will give you whatever amount of influence you demonstrate you can faithfully handle.

But you might also be thinking, “Wait! Why is God, who is infinitely good, using the wicked Babylonians, or wicked groups to judge a culture?” And to answer that question, you’ll have to tune in next week . . . because that is the prophet Habakkuk’s follow-up question as well. Of course you could always skip ahead and read the rest of Habakkuk on your own.

I know that many of you watch tv, or walk around your schools or offices and see so much that is wrong. And you wonder, why doesn’t God do anything about this? But do you really think that God doesn’t notice what you notice? Of course he does . . . and if we can learn anything from Habakkuk, we know that God was working on this problem long before you even noticed it.

Believers should deal with a wicked culture by faithfully waiting for the Lord to bring judgment via its own wickedness. Of course you want to see immediate actions, but praise God that He doesn’t. If He did, we’d all be dead and done for! So let me leave you with this image and this thought. Live faithfully, because sin carries with it, its own self-destruct code.

On the starship Enterprise, a self destruct code can be entered by a senior office, and the ship will blow up. But is it the code itself that causes the destruction? No. That code travels down to the engine room, releases the anti-matter into the matter chamber and explodes the warp-core, which damages the ship, that in turn sets off a chain reaction that ultimately results in the ship being destroyed. In the same way, your sin puts you into contact with destructive forces that will rip your life apart and hurt you. Live faithfully to God, and don’t enter the self-destruct code.

Nathan J. Norman is the Senior Pastor at a church in Michigan and the author of The Silver Dance and Untold: Alliances, based on his fantasy novel, Untold.

Immortals

2011-11-11T14:07:00.000-08:00

An evil King leads an army across the land on a quest to retrieve an ancient weapon and awaken an evil power that will destroy the world. It falls to a man named Theseus, battle trained by Zeus himself, to lead the forces of good and fight for humanity's survival.

"The producers of '300'" were heavily marketed as being behind this flick, and between that, the cool slow-mo action trailers and the plot description, you're probably thinking this movie sounds like the stuff the best brutal, fantasy action flicks are made of, right? Unfortunately, this one was mostly knock-off style with little depth or substance.

Director Tarsem Singh is best known for his trippy visual style, as showcased in movies like "The Cell". And he brings those sensibilities to "Immortals" as well, though I'm not sure they're always the best fit.

There is a lot of green screen going on here, but it didn't bother me too much. I even got used to every shot obviously looking like it was created on a sound stage somewhere. (All the big "epic" shots of armies and such were CGI filler.) So I didn't suffer from much visual claustrophobia.
But the costumes and sets jumped back and forth between fantastic and cheap.

The gods are played by what look like hairless male models wearing just a hint of lipstick, dressed up in golden plastic clothes and armor that look ornate and mythological. But the end result looks less powerful and majestic and more like a strange fantasy-themed perfume commercial, only without the wind-blown bedsheets in the background. One set in particular looked like little more than white cardboard walls, spotlessly untouched by human hands.
The bronze breastplates worn by many look fine, until late in the movie when Theseus takes his off and it bends and wobbles like plastic in the process.

Speaking of artificial, these were some of the most two-dimensional characters I've seen on screen in awhile. There were plenty of theoretical reasons for me to care about them. We saw loved ones getting killed, fathers having to punish their sons and love bubbling to the surface amidst terrible circumstances. But none of the characters were invested in enough for me to care.

Killing someone's mother won't feel very jarring to movie watchers if we don't see before hand the relationships she had with her children. The pain of a father having to punish his son won't come across unless we see first how much he loves his son. And why should we believe that a complete stranger could infuse soldiers with sudden courage who had never met him before and had no reason to believe he could lead them in battle? The script tried to take advantage of numerous emotional beats that it just plain hadn't earned in advance. I couldn't have cared any less how this movie ended.

What it did have going for it, in addition to some striking visual designs, were some cool, brutal, slow motion action sequences. Despite being ripped straight from 300 and some of your favorite video games, they were still fun to watch and make me wish I could have stopped the movie a few times to go back and watch them again. Very cool looking stuff.

Given the polytheistic setting and the theme of belief vs. unbelief present in the movie, there are several jumping off points for worthwhile discussion after seeing this movie. In fact, one of the exercises that kept me interested in the experience of watching came from making quick comparisons between the gods of this flick and the God of the Bible.

The gods may or may not choose to "have faith in" humanity. God doesn't "have faith" in anything or anyone, because faith only exists in someone who does not have complete, objective knowledge of all things.

The gods, even in their "divine forms", can be injured or even killed. God is completely unchanging and unchangeable.

In one scene near the end, Zeus even looks up into the light above him before making a major decision. A gesture that implies he is looking for guidance or some kind of reaction from a power above him. God has no beginning, nor is he the effect of some cause before him. There is no source or standard of power, knowledge or goodness greater than him and therefore no reason for him to ever seek council or approval.

It was an interesting little mental activity, but one resulting from a lack of interest in the movie, not a desire to talk about the themes it developed or thoughts it provoked. The movie was neither thematically interesting or thought-provoking. Only those bent toward "getting philosophical" are likely to have any meaningful discussion as a result of seeing this flick.

Fans of brutal fantasy will likely want to check this one out, and I wouldn't advise them not to. But I'd wait and rent this one. It wasn't worth the five bucks I paid.

Rated R for sequences of strong bloody violence, and a scene of sexuality.

Quality: 7.5/10

Relevance: 7.0/10

To listen to this review, visit spiritblade.net/podcast

Taking Risks/The "Shifter" Card

2011-11-11T07:37:00.000-08:00

Here's another first look at a card from "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game", coming to your game shelf in 2012!

Before getting into the game info, a brief word specifically to fans of the Spirit Blade audio dramas:

One of the risks of developing a card game based on the Spirit Blade audio drama trilogy is imprinting a specific visual interpretation of the world onto minds of fans who may have, to this point, imagined the world very differently. I'd hate to think that I'm taking anything away from a listener's experience.

So before I get into the details about the "Shifter" card I'm showing in this post, let me at least say to fans of the Spirit Blade Trilogy that the visual look and feel of the Spirit Blade world as presented in "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game" is just one of many valid interpretations of the source material. In fact, even I don't have a perfectly fixed idea in my mind of what this world or its characters look like. So feel free to keep a firm grip on whatever cool images you've created in your mind for the world and characters of Spirit Blade.

I've also purposefully kept specific characters from the story separate from their corresponding Seeker character cards in the game. For example, the "Shifter" pictured on this card is not necessarily my idea of what either Vincent Craft or Merikk Scythe look like. And the "Tech" character card (which I'll possibly showcase in the future) pictures a female character, instead of a male character (such as Raan Galvaanik).

With those issues out of the way, let's get an overview of what's on this card, shall we?

First off, this is called a "character card", and specifically one for a Seeker. (Seekers are the good guys.)

The picture obviously represents the character, with an open portal in the background referring to one of his chief abilities.

"Shifter" is the type of Seeker represented here. (Like a "character class" for you RPG fans.)
Standing out prominently in the bottom right of the character card are the character's primary statistics, or "primary stats". Each stat is a point value for a different stat.

AP stands for "Attack Points". When attacking, each Seeker rolls dice equal to their AP. A character's total AP is increased by whatever weapon they are using and most characters have zero AP before any weapons are factored in.

DP stands for "Defense Points", and determines how many dice you roll when defending against an attack.

HP stands for "Hit Points". When a character takes damage, they gain "hit counters" equal to the damage they have taken. When a character has a number of hit counters equal to their HP, they are defeated.

SP stands for "Spirit Points", and represents the strength of a character's convictions (whether that be toward good or evil ends). SP plays a role most often when determining the effectiveness of some abilities, or a character's chances of withstanding abilities used against them.

"Advantages" are special traits that the Seeker can make use of on Missions, to either help themselves or other Seekers with them.

"Limitations" are traits that hinder a character, such as a limitation on what kind of weapons and armor they may use.

"Starts With" indicates the weapon the character starts with. In this case, the Shifter starts with the "Seeker's Blade", a weapon that adds 2 to his AP.

Whew! That's a lot of info and I've just barely scratched the surface! Stay tuned for more!

Sick Day

2011-11-09T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Folks. I was really hoping to post some more info about the card game today along with a new card image, but something nasty decided to come and live in my stomach for a little while and I just don't have it in me to post about what I wanted to. Hopefully Friday!

-Paeter Frandsen

Countdown To Skyrim And Potentially Huge Disappointment!

2011-11-07T15:16:00.000-08:00

Friday is the big day. If you're an RPG video game fan, then by now you've seen the trailers and game play footage. You're probably even watering at the mouth as much as I am, while also making a point to not schedule social activities for at least the next 2-3 weeks.

I've been between games again for a little while now, play testing my card game and playing "filler video games" for the last couple of months. But as the anticipation builds I find that the filler games just aren't scratching that nerdy itch like they used to. And more and more I'm itching for the kinda stuff that only Skyrim is likely to provide anytime soon.

The last time I was this excited about a game was for the release of "Dragon Age 2". Of course, Bethesda won't disappoint me like Bioware did, will they? Please?

(Sigh) Let's face it. The more we nerds let things like this build in our minds, the more likely they are to disappoint. There's an elusive standard of bliss that we keep thinking that next game or movie will match, but it never really does, or at least not for long.

I think it's a reminder that we weren't built for temporary fulfillment. The intention all along has been for us to be completely fulfilled and for that experience to last forever. We were engineered to anticipate and think in terms of "forever".

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
(Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)

So while the nerd in me is still aching for Bethesda's next (hopefully) triumph to be released on Friday, I'm also aiming to remember that there's an experience waiting for me that a million of the best game designers working for billions of years couldn't achieve. And it won't get boring or stale with time. It will only get better and better... and last forever.

In Search Of Truth, Romans 16:17-27

2011-11-07T15:04:00.001-08:00

Once again Paul returns to one of the main reasons for writing this letter, and urges the believers in Rome to avoid divisions with each other and those who cause them. In Christian community there is plenty of room for diverse cultures, perspectives and discussions that compare differing views. But none of these things should cause any kind of division in our relationships with each other or our combined efforts to serve God. (v.17)

People who cause divisions really have their own agenda as the top priority of their heart. They are often good at appearing to side with everyone, telling people what they want to hear, but the results of their interactions with others is division, controversy and being side-tracked from what God wants us to really be about. (v.18)

The Roman Christians were known far and wide for their obedience to God, but Paul also wanted them to carefully avoid gaining experience with evil and instead pursue first-hand experiential knowledge of doing good. (v.19)

Paul points out that Satan will soon be defeated by God, and prays that God's special favor will be with the Roman Christians. The end of this difficult journey is coming! We can persevere knowing that Jesus is with us and will give us what we need to live for him and fulfill the purpose we were made for. (v.20)

After finishing his own greetings to various people in Rome, Paul then extends greetings on behalf of the supportive network of believers with him. Timothy is the same man that Paul mentors in the books of 1st and 2nd Timothy. Jason may have been the same Jason who housed believers at great risk to himself in Acts 17. We have much less information on Lucius and Sosipater. (v.21)

Tertius may have been a scribe lent to Paul by his hosts, but was likely a believer either way, since scribes rarely became personally involved by including their name or greeting in the letters they dictated. (v.22)

Gaius was likely a wealthy man who readily put his resources to God's use, as he is described as giving hospitality to the "whole church" in Corinth, where Paul was writing from. Erastus and Quartus were likely wealthy officials as well, and serve as examples to those of us today who can put our money to work in service to believers (in this case, believers like Paul who teach other believers) and to God. (v.23-24)

Many letters of this time period end with simple well-wishes, but Paul anticipates that his letter will be read in worship services and gatherings of believers and so includes a benediction at the end.

When trying to absorb the meaning of Paul's benedictions, it's sometimes helpful to read the beginning, then skip to the end, followed by the middle.

Paul is praying that glory be attributed to God. "Glory" is like another way of saying "a revelation of true nature". If someone "gets the glory", they get the credit, the attention, the admiration for who they are. (Unless of course they are "stealing" glory that isn't really theirs.) So Paul's prayer is that God be recognized for the incomparable being that he is, and that people would see who he is because of who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and is doing (the meaning of "through" Jesus Christ).

Paul's words "in the middle" of this benediction serve as examples and reminders of why God is worth all the "glory" we can give him.

God is able to "establish" (make stable or strengthen) us through the teaching of the gospel that Paul provides and through having an understanding of, and trust in, who Christ is.

Although for hundreds of years the identity of the Messiah was a mystery, it has been revealed that Jesus is the promised Messiah through prophetic writings orchestrated by God. (Paul is likely referring primarily to Old Testament prophecy.)

The divine intent of this truth being revealed is that all nations will believe in and truly obey God, rather than trusting in and obeying our own ideas and priorities.

God doesn't want everyone to obey him out of some insecure need for attention. He is the "only wise" God. He consistently knows what is best for everyone and is the ultimate source of truth regarding what will truly fulfill our needs and desires forever. (v.25-27) Giving him glory, worship and obedience ultimately leads to the greatest fulfillment!

Coffee House Question- What have you found encouraging or revealing about our look through the book of Romans?

Next- What Habakkuk can tell us about "The Self Destruct Code"!

Live Chat Tomorrow!

2011-11-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

Just a quick reminder that the live chat is tomorrow at 6pm-7pm MST! We're hangin' out and talking about whatever you guys want to!

Just go to spiritblade.net/forums for the chat, sign in and join the chat box at the bottom of the main page. I hope to see you there!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Romans 16:8-16

2011-11-02T09:58:00.000-07:00

As Paul continues his list of greetings, we're again going to avoid the temptation to "tune out" as we reach this section and instead see what we can learn about these believers that Paul knew, and in what ways they might serve as an example to us as we aim to develop community and friendship with other Christians.

There is some speculation about some of the people Paul identifies here. A handful of the names listed in this section, such as Ampliatus, Urbanus, Stachys and Apelles(v.8-10), were common slave names in Rome. Aristobulus(v.10) may have been the grandson of Herod the great. But as I look at this passage I'm especially drawn to what it directly reveals about the character of those Paul greets, or the nature of his relationship with them.

Three people, Ampliatus, Stachys, and Persis (v.8,9,12) are referred to as "beloved", the Greek word meaning "esteemed, dear, favorite". The root word is Agapao, a word for love that contrasts with Phileo, a Greek word for love based in common interests, which most of our friendships are based on.

There is nothing wrong with Phileo. But that's the kind of love that comes easy, resulting from a fulfillment of our own preferences. Friendships based on a common love of sci-flicks, video games or board games are an example of Phileo, although these relationships can also have Agapao in them if we choose to cultivate it.

Agapao is a love that is based on the will, not the emotions, seeking out and choosing to bring about what is best for the one you "love". In some way, Paul and/or the community had developed that kind of relationship in a special way with three people in the church in Rome. And its the kind of relationship we should aim to see more of in our friendships with others.
Apelles is said to be "approved in Christ". The Greek word here, Dokimos, means "to recognize, to be proved, to be tried as metals by fire and thus be purified". This may mean that Apelles experienced trial of some kind that revealed his character in a way that honored God. The ones "approving" in this instance would likely be the church community in particular, rather than God, as Paul uses this word elsewhere to refer to approval before other people. (Romans 14:18, 2 Corinthians 10:18, 13:7)

It's unclear why Paul singled out Rufus as a "chosen" person (v.13), given that all believers are "chosen by God". But Rufus was a common slave name. It may have been that Paul was reminding him of his TRUE status in the economy of the universe. Likewise, many of us are not happy with where our lives are at, or with how we are viewed or treated by others. So it's important for believers to also remember the amazing gift we've been given as those whom God has invited into his family and promised an eternal future more incredible than anything we can imagine.

"Mother" in verse 13 was a term indicating either endearment toward Rufus' mother or acknowledging her special treatment of Paul. In our church relationships we often limit ourselves to friendships with those in the same stage of life that we are in. Some church programming almost forces people to "clot" in groups based on age demographics. But the church is meant to be a family-like atmosphere where age is no boundary to friendship. There is much the younger can learn from the older and blessings the older can gain from the younger.
The "holy kiss" references in verse 16 is still practiced in a few churches today, although like a few other passages in Paul's writings, this is mostly understood to be a cultural practice that expresses Paul's command to be affectionate toward each other, rather than a command to specifically express affection through kissing each other. After a few centuries, the church at large began to limit this custom to "same sex" kisses because of recurring abuses. (Yikes!) No doubt even same sex kisses may run into recurring abuse if practiced broadly in churches today. But the principle of Paul's instruction still stands. The church community should be a place where we are warm, welcoming and genuinely happy to see each other.

Next- Wrapping Up Romans

Coffee House Question- What relationship have you developed with somone in a Christian Church community that you are grateful for?

Following The Creative Impulse

2011-10-31T15:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I made the decision to work only on the songs for Spirit Blade 3 that other actors will be singing, and only enough to fully prepare those actors for their recording sessions.

Since making that decision I've felt a significant change in how I've been looking at my work on Spirit Blade 3. Before, I was dreading trying to "summon" good ideas from nothing, where now I'm excited about the creative process again.

Some writers and other creative types are much more disciplined than I am, taking a philosophy of "just write SOMETHING" even when they don't feel inspired. I envy those folks and the skill they've developed to do that. At the same time, it's not as though I never have times in the creative process when I have to take my work to the grindstone and sharpen it up. It just happens at a different time.

I think maybe those "grindstone" periods work better for me after I've built some creative momentum. When I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That's how it was for me with a couple of songs in "Dark Ritual". I didn't buckle down and create a couple of them until I was well over halfway through mixing the entire audio drama. But by then I was so excited about how far along I was that it was easier to push through and generate ideas that would work well. (Or at least that *I* thought worked well. You, of course, are the final judge.)

So now as I look at the work ahead of me over the next few months, I'm pretty excited! This week I plan to finish working out the basics I need to for the songs in Spirit Blade 3 that will be sung by other performer, such as Michael Tully (Raan), Sean Anthony Roberts (Saolos) and Randy Hesson (Vincent). I'll also probably be contacting cast members to schedule the official reading session for the script, which will likely take place sometime in January. (Woohoo! I can't wait!) Lastly, I plan to get started on the revision of the script for Pilgrim's Progress: Episode 2, which has been sitting on my computer in rough draft form since the release of Episode 1. (I wrote more than needed last time, so now I'm ahead of the game!)

Over the next few months, there may not be a ton to report regarding Spirit Blade 3 and Pilgrim's Progress Ep. 2, but I'd wager that things will be pretty exciting in my office as those projects quietly build momentum! Meanwhile, stay tuned for some exciting news about an audio book project I'm signing the contract for now, and of course for more details about Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game!

-Paeter Frandsen

Spirit Blade 3 Songs

2011-10-28T19:46:00.000-07:00

I thought I would be taking a different approach to the pacing of song development for Spirit Blade 3 compared to how it happened for Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual. Before, I worked on songs sporadically, only when inspired. I think this resulted in the best work I had to give, but it also meant that I didn't have more than melodies to give Michael Tully to prepare with before he came to record. (Sometimes less than that!)

I had originally resolved to fully develop the songs that other performers would be singing so that they can have a better feel for what the finished product will be while they record. But as I sat down a few times this week to begin work on those songs, I hit a wall and remembered why I did things the way I did last time.

So rather than risk producing forced song creations that are creatively uninspired, I've decided to fall back on the "Dark Ritual" method of working on the songs only when inspired, or when I arrive at their place in my chronological mix of the audio drama itself.

Sorry, Tully! I'll at least try to have a harmonic structure and temp track for you to learn from!

My Brain Falls Short!

2011-10-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

A buddy of mine pointed out that he saw a special feature using "before and after" footage to show the "re-sizing" effects of Captain America on his copy of the Blu-ray. I double checked mine and discovered that the feature was in fact on there!

Not sure how I missed it, but I checked it out tonight and it has some great "before and after" footage that is really cool! So please disregard most of my previous post. (Though the filmmaker commentary is still pretty dry.)

Sorry!

T-Shirt Promo Correction

2011-10-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Quick correction. I missed the fine print on Spreadshirt's free shipping promo. Although they've been advertising it as "Free Shipping In October", the free shipping only applies to orders placed on October 29th and 30th. The promo code for free shipping is still WITCHINGHOUR.

My huge apologies to everyone for missing that detail. I hope you still go take a look at our spreadshirt store this Saturday and Sunday!

-Paeter

Captain America Blu Ray Features Fall Short

2011-10-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Picked up the Captain America Blu Ray yesterday and immediately popped it in to check out the special features. It has a handful of behind the scenes documentaries on the making of the movie that are pretty interesting, and one documentary about the origin of the comic book character. But I'm half way through the commentary and it's pretty dry.

The commentators are pretty sedate as they talk about the flick and there are no actors involved. Personally, I like commentaries where those involved feel free to joke around a bit, and enjoy actors being involved because they are closely associated with the illusion of the film presents, which I enjoy looking behind.

But the biggest ball dropped in the special features surrounds the amazing effects used to shrink the buffed up Chris Evans into the scrawny Steve Rogers for the first 30 minutes of the movie. (Chris Evans filmed all of those scenes after buffing up to play Cap, and they shrunk down and reshaped his body digitally to make him look skinny.) I saw more about these effects in TV and web specials before the movie was released. I really wanted to see some before and after shots for the "shrinking process", and although they describe how it was done in the commentary, there are no visuals with which we can appreciate this amazing digital feat. What a shame.

Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game!

2011-10-26T19:10:00.001-07:00

For the last month or so I've been putting in some extra hours developing a new project that I'm very excited about. (And for you audio drama fans, have no fear. I haven't cut one minute from development efforts on Spirit Blade 3.)

In case you didn't hear the news in last weekend's podcast, I'm thrilled to announce the development of an entirely new kind of product from Spirit Blade Productions! "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game" is planned for release in the first half of 2012, and will allow players to experience the world of Spirit Blade like never before! In addition, the game is designed in such a way as to require zero familiarity with the Spirit Blade universe. So even if you haven't been listening to the audio dramas, you'll easily be able to jump into and enjoy this exciting sci-fi world with your family and friends!

Rather than being competitive, "Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game" is a primarily co-operative experience in which one or more players control a group of Seekers as they infiltrate enemy territory to reclaim truth stolen from the world by Atlantis Incorporated and their sinister alien allies, the Sheida.

As the team of Seekers regains valuable information, their resources and capabilities increase, giving new meaning to the expression "knowledge is power"! Meanwhile, one player takes on the role of the enemy forces, choosing who and how they will attack and determining when the Seekers will encounter deadly, automated security measures.

There are countless combinations of enemies, security measures and other obstacles to overcome, meaning that no two games play the same way. And as your group of Seekers gains more resources, they will change as well!

The different types of Seekers you can play are based on the ensemble cast of characters in the Spirit Blade Trilogy and include: Shifter (Merikk), Tech (Raan), Soldier (Vincent), Prophet (David), Sanctafi (Saolos) and Hunter (Ebony).

Enemies featured include types of demons mentioned in the Spirit Blade Trilogy, like Overlords, Demonic Princes and Nephilim. And Seekers will naturally face human opposition as well, such as Shock Troopers, Dark Hunters and Dark Shifters. In addition, Spirit Blade: The Adventure Card Game will expand the Spirit Blade universe by introducing entirely new threats, such as Mercenaries hired to wipe out Seekers and the Atlantis Bio-Mech (pictured above), a hulking blend of cold metal and human flesh.

In the coming months, I'll be showcasing specific cards from the game, highlighting character cards in particular, explaining what each character type can do and how it effects game play. So stay tuned! There is much more coming soon!

In Search Of Truth, Romans 16:1-7

2011-10-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

As Paul begins to close this letter, he adds a number of personal greetings. Although it's often easy to blow through a laundry list of names like this to get back to the "good stuff", we'll try to see what we can learn about Paul and living in community with believers from looking at this section.

In both the first name mentioned and 1/3rd of the total names included in these greetings, we see that Paul had friendships and working relationships with a number of women. This shouldn't be overlooked, since women were often treated as second-class citizens in Jewish and Greco-Roman culture, or at least as if they had little wisdom to offer men. But as Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Although some Christians in the past and today have been known to have a low view of women, this is not the result of correctly applying what the Bible teaches to be true.

Phoebe was likely carrying this letter to Rome, meaning that she would be the first person the Roman Christians would ask to clarify anything in Paul's letter. This is probably why Paul speaks well of her and mentions her significant role (usually a specific office in this context) in the church at Cenchrea. (v.1-2)

As we go through this list, another observation we can make is the number of friends Paul had in a city he had not even visited yet! This might not seem unusual in our electronic world where people commonly have dozens or hundreds of so called "friends" on facebook or other online communities. But for Paul to have relationships over long distances at this time would have required tremendous investment on his part. As we look at this "laundry list" of names we can ask ourselves whether or not we are willing to invest in people with the passion that Paul did.

Priscilla (or Prisca) and Aquila were a husband and wife team that Paul had worked with both in ministry and in making tents to support themselves. (Acts 18:2-3) It is significant that Priscilla is mentioned first, implying, in Paul's culture and time period, that she had a higher station in either society or in her role in the church community. This again affirms the value and equality of women in Biblical teaching. (v.3) These friends of Paul had also in some way risked their lives on Paul's behalf! No wonder they show up early on this list! (v.4) At this time, Priscilla and Aquila were hosting church meetings at their home. (v.5)

Epenetus was the first to believe in Christ under Paul's ministry in Asia. (v.5) This is another example of faith for us. It's hard to do something when no one else is doing it. But Epenetus chose to trust in Christ when no one else in his community was doing so. (Remember that Paul's focus has been in going to places that had not heard of Jesus Christ. See Romans 15:20.)

Mary is said to have worked hard for the Christians in Rome. The Greek used here for "worked" means "to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or burdens or grief)". This was not a woman who simply faithfully kept her self occupied with service to other Christians. (Although that's honorable in itself.) She poured out her life in painful sacrifice to others. And Paul recognizes her for that. (v.6)

Andronicus and Junias were likely another husband and wife team. It's interesting that Paul refers to them both as apostles. Although some Christian thinkers still debate whether or not this applied to both of them, I don't see any reason that Junias, a woman, should have been ruled out for this distinction. He also commends them for coming to faith in Christ before even Paul did. (v.7)

Next- More Distinguished Believers In The Church At Rome

Coffee House Question- Can you think of someone you know or knew from a Christian church that made a strong, positive impression on you? What were they like?

Your First Look!

2011-10-21T16:11:00.000-07:00

This is an enemy card in raw format. (If it looks familiar, that's because I sneakily posted it on my personal blog while talking about table top games a few weeks ago.) In the finished version the corners will be rounded off and some of the perimeter removed in the cutting process. Otherwise it represents how the card will look...unless of course I change it.

So what in the world is this all about? What is this card for? Listen for the big announcement on this weekend's episode of The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast!

New Behind The Scenes Video!

2011-10-20T20:09:00.001-07:00

Another month, another behind the scenes video!

This one features actor Krystofer James VanSlyke as he records the role of Kaphan for "Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of A Dream".

Highlights include my off-topic rant on Heath Ledger's "Joker" and demonstrations of my complete technical ignorance. (It's a wonder I work with computers all day!)

You can check it out now at spiritblade.net/videos!

Hymns Almost Locked In!

2011-10-19T16:05:00.000-07:00

As of today I've got 3 out of 4 hymns selected for adaptation as songs for Spirit Blade 3. They are fairly obscure, have haunting or dark melodic potential (after I monkey with them a bit) and fit the thematic moments of the story they'll be placed in.

The song count remains at 7, which means that more than half of the songs this time will at least be partially based on hymns, which I never imagined would be possible, but I'm pretty stoked about it. For one, I like bringing the wonderful texts of forgotten hymns into awareness, and for two, having an existing song provides a foundation I can build on, rather than having to create something from scratch. The net result is a significant reduction in production time for the songs and the project as a whole.

For a little perspective, songs based on hymns in Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual include Hour Of Trial, Lead Me, and Death Come Quickly.

I hope to have the last hymn selected by the end of the week so I can start developing the sounds and styles of each song next week!

-Paeter Frandsen

Batman: Year One (Blu Ray Review)

2011-10-19T15:29:00.000-07:00

In 1986, DC published Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", which arguably re-established Batman as a grim and gritty character and influenced the way Batman stories were told forever after. One year later, DC hired Miller to retell Batman's origin in a story entitled "Batman: Year One". Unlike "The Dark Knight Returns", this story was part of official DC Universe continuity, and even further established the dark tone that this well-known character is defined by. "Year One" served as source material for a number of great comic book stories, and was drawn from heavily in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" movie.

Now, the DC animated studios have turned their attention to "Batman: Year One" and set out to create an animated version of this iconic story. I'm pleased to report they succeeded wonderfully.

The character driven story is what really sells this movie so well. Surprisingly, for those who haven't read the original comic, this story is more about James Gordon than it is about Bruce Wayne. Gordon has just transferred to Gotham with the rank of police lieutenant, and is having to survive as an honest cop amidst a corrupt police force. His stance for honesty and justice put both himself and his family in danger, and his only ally may just be the vigilante he is trying to capture!

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is discovering his calling and what it really takes to fight crime in Gotham City. This is Batman well before he becomes the seasoned veteran with a plan for every situation. He makes mistakes and suffers the consequences, resulting in injuries he's forced to suffer through and "back to the wall" situations he has to think his way out of on the fly.

With Zack Snyder's "Watchmen" being the only exception, I think DC's animated version of "Batman: Year One" is the single most faithful adaptation of specific comic book pages to the screen. Fans of the comic will recognize numerous panels that have been brought to life, though with a cleaner look and a few more colors added to the palette.

The cast performances were solid, though not perfectly suited to the project. Miller and artist David Mazzucchelli captured the grim despair of noir. And though this film aims to retain that feel, the 1st person voice-overs, representing the thoughts of James Gordon and Bruce Wayne, have a little too much inflection from time to time. I also thought that the voice of Batman, while appropriately young sounding given the age of the character in this story, was having to try a little too hard to achieve that natural, guttural sound that makes the best Batman voices work.

The animation and lines are beautiful on Blu Ray, and the the character of Gotham City deserved its own credit. The original artwork was clearly the basis for the visual design, and with just a few enhancements, the original visuals translate wonderfully.

The run-time is once again pretty short at only 64 minutes. But it's more than enough time to tell this story well. And the numerous great features on the Blu Ray(creator commentary, round table with current Batman creative staff, documentary on the original comic, Catwoman short feature and more!) easily make up for any perceived brevity in the main feature.

Although it may not lead to conversation after watching the movie, a major theme in James Gordon's story is doing the right thing, even when it hurts. Gordon is a flawed man, but strives for most of the movie to make the right decisions, despite the pain it brings him. When contrasted with the modern pop-philosophy of "do what feels right" or "follow your heart", Gordon's pursuit of honesty and justice is refreshing and inspiring, whether it impacts the entire city, or just his relationship with his wife.

For those interested in an introduction to the Batman comics mythos who aren't quite ready to flip through an actual comic book, this is as good as it gets. A solid, serious representation of Batman with a grounded, human story that even many non-genre fans will appreciate.

Rated PG-13 for violence and some sexual material.

Quality: 9.0/10

Relevance: 7.5/10

You can also listen to this review this weekend at spiritblade.net/podcast

Green Lantern Extended Cut

2011-10-17T10:24:00.000-07:00

As you might have guessed, I rushed to the store on Friday to get my copy of the extended Blu-ray version of the Green Lantern movie.

For those wondering, the added footage is great and adds appreciated depth to character arcs, though it doesn't fix any shortcomings you may or may not have felt in the flow of the story as a whole.

What it DOES do is give us more reason to invest in Hal and in his fight to overcome fear. The added 14 minutes is almost all in one section at the beginning, which flashes us back to Hal's childhood. We see his childhood connection to both Carol and Hector and experience with more vulnerability the death of Hal's dad.

With a little more time and less freshness to my first viewing experience, I've modified my original quality score from a 9.0 to an 8.5, which I don't think this extended cut improves enough to bring it back up to 9. But the degree to which I personally enjoy the film still hasn't changed. (LOVE it!)

In fact, now months later, with the responsibility to write an unbiased review well behind me(and failed anyway), there are aspects of the movie that I'm even allowing myself to be more forgiving in. I'm even more impressed with the CGI suits now that I've seen the "making of" and know how much work went into them. And Blake Lively's portrayal of Carol Ferris, while no better, is one I'm "adjusting to".

Everything else I loved about the movie: the constructs, the action, the performances (Peter Sarsgaard is AWESOME as Hector Hammond!), they're all still fantastic. A great flick!

In Search Of Truth, Romans 15:20-33

2011-10-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

Paul's ambition was to share the truth of the gospel (who Christ is, what he has done for us and what it means for our lives) with people who had never heard that Jesus is the Messiah. He didn't want to build on another person's work, but start a completely new missionary effort. (v. 20)

Paul quotes Isaiah 52:15, a prophecy about the Messiah, and sees his own work as a partial fulfillment of that prophecy. (v.21)

This specific focus for Paul meant that his travel plans must also be very specific, geographically. As a result, he wasn't able to visit the Christians in Rome before this time, although he had really wanted to. (v.22-23)

At the time he wrote this letter, however, his work in the areas far from Rome was over. He was now planning to go to Spain, and to visit Rome on the way in hopes of gaining their support for his work, using them as a sort of "hub" for his ministry in Spain, while also spending some time with them. (v.23-24)

Before this, however, he was headed for Jerusalem. At this time, the Christians in Jerusalem were suffering some of the worst persecution, resulting in serious financial hardships. The Christians in Macedonia and Achaia (mostly Gentiles) had collected money to send to them and Paul was planning to deliver it and then head on to Spain through Rome. (v. 25-26, 28)

Although these Gentile Christians were happy to give to the Jerusalem Christians, Paul also points out that in the bigger picture it was their obligation, since they came to know Christ through Jewish Christians. The eternal, infinite blessings they had as a result were far greater than any material wealth they could share. So at the very least it made sense for them to help the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem financially. (v.27)

Developing this kind of "eternal economy" in our minds is vital to living life the way we are meant to. This theme has been haunting me recently and I see it as the key to effectively living for God. It's so easy to only see our little day to day lives and whether or not we are experiencing pleasure in any given moment. The more we understand and put our hope in the amazing eternal future ahead of us, the more we will be able to sacrifice our selfishness and make eternal investments in that future today in the way we prioritize love of God and practical love for others over pursuit of self-satisfaction.

Paul wasn't just planning to make use of the church in Rome, he was looking forward to doing ministry their as well, and anticipated being empowered by Christ in a special way when he came to them. (v.29)

Paul's "target demographic" may have been those who have never heard of Christ, but he didn't allow that focus to give him tunnel vision and miss opportunities to love and minister to anyone else he came across. He looked forward to blessing the Jewish Christians in Jerusalem, and he anticipated being useful to the Christians in Rome as well. Paul was not so focused on the mission God had given him that he missed opportunities to serve God in his every day encounters and "peripheral" agenda items.

Paul asked for prayer for his protection from unbelievers in Judea, who had been persecuting Christians, and for his work in delivering and possibly organizing distribution of funds in Jerusalem would be effective. (v. 30-31)

It's also interesting to note that, although delivering these funds was somewhat of a "side-mission" when compared to his desire to preach the gospel to those who've never heard it, Paul was still highly emotionally invested in it. He anticipated a sense of real joy for himself if his work in delivering the funds went well. (v.32)

Paul was also not a "lone ranger", and recognized the value in being refreshed by others. (v.32) Sometimes, those of us who are visionaries, who prefer to work alone rather than risk others interfering, can neglect spending time with other believers. But even Paul knew that this work isn't meant to be done alone.

At this point, Paul closes the main portion of his letter with a brief customary "wish-prayer", praying that God's peace would be detectible among them in a special way. As you might remember, the church in Rome was composed of both Jews and Gentiles, and the mix in cultures had led to some disagreement. In this "wish-prayer" Paul may be once again expressing a desire for them to live peacefully together as believers. (v.33)

Next- A Testimony To Relationships

Coffee House Question- When do you have trouble keeping an "eternal economy" in mind? What have you found useful as you try to see life with an eternal perspective?

The Thing (Movie Review)

2011-10-14T15:01:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of monster movies. And the more creative the monster, the better. I'm a sucker for that tried and true formula of mysterious frightening deaths, followed by glimpses of a creature, followed by progressively revealing looks and information about the creature and culminating in a terrible, expansive revelation of the creature in the climax. It worked in Jeepers Creepers, Alien, Predator and my choice for "King Of All Monster Movies", John Carpenter's The Thing (a 1982 pseudo remake of 1951's "The Thing From Another World").

This awesome flick was unfortunately in theaters at the same time as E.T. and was essentially a box office failure. But it has gained a wild cult following on television and home video and you can consider me a card carrying member of that cult.

What I love about the 1982 film is the great character performances and use of suspense and paranoia to carry the film, rather than the creature effects. But the creature effects could have easily carried this film by themselves. Grotesque and gory, The Thing is the most bizarre creature I have ever seen on screen. And although the movie was made long before the use of CGI in films, the very fact that almost every effect was in camera still gives the film a tangible quality today that is lacking in so many CGI flicks whose effects look to my eye like glorified cartoons. (Even giants like the Lord of The Rings Trilogy have many phony CGI moments to my eye.) CGI is something I tolerate, and sometimes enjoy, but am rarely fooled by.

When I heard they were making a prequel to my favorite monster flick, I was immediately stoked. But as the time drew closer and I saw some obvious CGI effects in the trailers, I started to prepare myself to be let down and resolved to just enjoy the movie as best as I could. All things considered, I had zero cause for concern. This movie nailed it.

A Norwegian team of scientists have discovered a spacecraft buried in the antarctic ice for thousands of years and hire an American female paleontologist and a few other Americans to help them excavate it. But as is often the case in movies like this, the scientists make reckless decisions out of impatience and pride that lead to disaster and horror as they unleash a terrifying creature that is far more than they are prepared to deal with.

It's hard not to compare this movie to the 1982 film, because it draws so heavily from it. Both films occur in some of the same locations and the producers of the new film obviously used the 1982 production documents as source material. In many ways the plot uses the same skeleton as the original film as well, but is fleshed out in different ways and somehow still feels very original.

This was due largely to the fact that, like the first film, this one keeps you guessing until the very end regarding who is human and who is The Thing. The sense of isolation feeds the paranoia, and the performances by the cast keep the tension levels high throughout the movie. It's this attention to character and the pace of the script and editing that kept me hugging my shoulders for much of the 103 minute run time.

The creature design is a major selling point of the film. As The Thing absorbs and imitates other life forms, it transforms in gruesome and gory ways, contorting the human form into horrific shapes that just plain give you the willies to look at. Although this movie could stand on its tension-setting alone, when The Thing literally bursts onto the scene, it pays off the mounting tension to jaw-dropping effect.

My only point of criticism, the only way I could think to make this movie any better, would be the CGI effects. The film uses some great practical effects to portray The Thing, but also uses CGI now and then, some parts of which look better than others. I would have preferred that they go practical the entire film. But the creature design still looked creepy and bizarre, and even the original movie switched over to some questionable stop-motion animation at the climax of the film.

For fans of the original flick, there are a multitude of connections to the original film. So many in fact that after the last sequence during the credits, which re-creates the opening shots of the original movie, you'll want to go home and watch the 1982 movie.

Ever wonder what led to that crazy "two person meld" they find in the original movie? This flick tells the whole story. There are bits like that throughout the film, although they are handled in such a way as to not be obvious "inside jokes" to old-school fans, such as those peppered throughout the last Indiana Jones movie. This isn't nostalgia film-making, but it does honor the original movie and even enhances the experience of watching it again.

Never seen the original? No worries. This film doesn't depend on that a single bit and stands completely on its own, a modern creature horror masterpiece. But you may just find yourself looking for a copy of the old one as you leave the theater!

Although I always look for something of real-world importance in the themes of the movies I watch, this movie was just pure escapist entertainment. It's not making any philosophical statements. It just wants to scare the pants off of you. As far as I'm concerned, mission accomplished!

Rated R for strong creature violence and gore, disturbing images, and language.

Quality: 9.5/10

Relevance: 3.0/10

You can also listen to this review this weekend at www.spiritblade.net/podcast

200th Podcast Episode Next Week!

2011-10-14T07:39:00.001-07:00

Did some math recently and realized that next weekend (the 21st) will be the 200th episode of the Spirit Blade Underground Podcast! Seems like the big 100th episode was just a few months ago!

I'd LOVE to get some comments from you guys that I can use on the show! Maybe some regular segment you've especially liked about the show, your favorite particular review/interview/"In Search Of Truth" segment, or just something else you want to say or share as we celebrate 200 episodes!

You can e-mail me at paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net or call and leave a message for me to play on the show at 206-350-1226. I usually put the show together early on Friday nights. I'd love to get something from you for the 200th show!

-Paeter Frandsen

Free Shipping For T-Shirts This Month!

2011-10-13T11:31:00.001-07:00

A quick extra post today to let you know that for the rest of October you can get FREE SHIPPING on any order in our spreadshirt store! Just use the promo code WITCHINGHOUR when you check out and you won't pay a dime in shipping!

But don't wait! This promo ends October 31st!

Go To Spirit Blade Spreadshirt Store

Live Chat, Saturday November 5th at 6pm MST!

2011-10-12T12:46:00.001-07:00

Woohoo! Time to get excited! I'm scheduling another live chat on Saturday November 5th at 6pm Mountain Standard Time! (Google "Time Zones" if you're unsure how to do the math.)
I'm especially excited because the power (and internet) in my house went out just moments before the last chat I scheduled and I missed the whole thing! Last time was the best turnout we've had yet, but let's see if we can break that record!

The topic will be anything and everything you guys feel like talking about. I'd love to shoot the breeze with you guys and talk geekiness, Spirit Blade productions, or whatever's on your mind.

To join the chat, just go over to spiritblade.net/forums and log in, then scroll down to the bottom of the main page and join the chatbox.

Mark your calendars! I hope to see you there!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Romans 15:14-19

2011-10-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

Although Paul has written extensively to instruct the Roman church in this letter, he also expresses here his trust in their knowledge and ability to instruct each other. (v.14) Much of what he has written served as a reminder of what the Christians in Rome had already learned, as opposed to new information.

Often, it's not new information we need, but reminders of what we've already been taught. It's incredibly easy to neglect the truth we've been given. God acknowledges this again and again in the Bible. (Some interesting words for the "search" field at blueletterbible.org are "forget" and "remember".)

Paul has made it his task to "remind" the Roman Christians of some particular truths because of specific "grace" (undeserved favor) that God gave him. (v.15) The specific grace Paul is referring to came in the form of the special role God gave to Paul, to bring the message of the gospel (who Christ is, what he has done and what that means for humanity) to non-Jews. Paul served a "priest-like" function as a go-between for Christ and the Gentiles, helping them, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, to become uniquely set apart ("sanctified") as they serve and give their lives to God. (v.16)

Although Paul was proud of the results of his work, he recognized that those results were all made possible only because of Christ. He limited his conversation about his work to the ways in which Christ led the Gentiles toward obedience to God through Paul. The methods through which God used Paul varied. Sometimes it was through words and other times through actions. Sometimes through miraculous events, and other times through the various ways in which God's Spirit moves and impacts lives. The end result of Paul's selfless surrender to Christ's work through him was the successful presentation of the gospel across a wide range of people and locations. (v.17-19)

Even with good intentions, it's easy for us to become stubbornly set in our minds regarding how we think God is going to use us. Ideas that God gives us to pursue become unintended fixations of our closed-minded tunnel vision. But although Paul knew he was called to present the Gospel to the world, and especially to non-Jews, he allowed God to choose the methods. This kind of openness to God's unpredictable way of doing things resulted in tremendous success for Paul, and I think the principle is the same for us.

Next- Paul's "Target Demographic"

Coffee House Question- Have you ever had counter-productive "tunnel vision" about something you thought God wanted you to do?

Hymn Research

2011-10-07T09:43:00.001-07:00

I've spent most of my "creative hours" this week doing hymn research. In Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual, I adapted at least three different hymns for use as songs, some of which you may have noticed, some you may have not. The idea behind the use of hymns is that the Sanctafi, an order steeped in ancient Christian tradition, have retained many of the oldest hymns for use in their worship, though their copies may be fragmented or distorted in some way as a result of the world wide banning of religious texts.

Since the Sanctafi, and of course Brother Saolos, will again play a very significant role in the story, I'm again looking to the past for forgotten nuggets that will fit with the themes I'm exploring in Spirit Blade 3. Although I've had requests for specific hymns from a few listeners, I'm actually aiming to resurrect obscure material. The less familiar, the better.

I have three hymnals I've been using. A Methodist hymnal (not much use, as it sticks to mostly the "popular" tunes), a Presbyterian hymnal (which has a few obscure ones with text that holds a wonderfully high or "big" view of God), and lastly an old Lutheran hymnal.

The Lutheran hymnal may be my favorite. It was the book that I pulled the verses of "Death Come Quickly" from, and most of the verse melody, too. There are a lot of interesting tunes and texts in that hymnal that, because of their language, the specificity of their use, or the complexity of melody or meter, have not become "popular hymns". There are some wonderfully dark melodies in minor, or that otherwise have the feel of a monastery.

As I go through each hymnal I've been making note of the hymns that have potential to fit my needs. I should be done with that first "scan" early next week, at which point I'll start trying them out and narrowing them down to make my selections.

Although some of the effort has been monotonous, I've also really enjoyed scanning some of the wonderful words that even many traditional churches never see in their corporate worship times.

Should I Produce Audio Books?

2011-10-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

In the last year or so (and again in the last couple of days) the idea of audio book production has been swimming around in my head, partly because of some opportunities that have come my way to produce audio books.

It's something I'm still just toying with, and may be taking on one or more short audio book projects in the coming months to "test the waters" and carefully log my hours so I can better estimate the work involved in doing more audio books in the future.

I don't want to become distracted from projects I already have cooking. But I also want to always be thinking about the company's future, and doing the right audio book projects creates potential income in a much shorter time than producing an audio drama, and it's another way to get the company name out there.

Do you guys have any thoughts about me giving some of my time to audio books? Should I stick to audio drama 100%? Should I ditch audio drama and go with audio books?

I'd be very interested to get some opinions on this. Thanks!

In Search Of Truth, Romans 15:8-13

2011-10-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

In previous verses Paul urged the Christians in Rome to be unified, despite their mix of Jewish and Gentile (non-Jewish) people in the church community. Now Paul goes into why this unity under Christ and across cultural/ethnic lines is important.

Christ came to the earth to tell humanity the truth. (John 18:37) The truth about who God is and who we are meant to be. The Jews were the first people group he wanted to connect with on this mission, because they had been promised a special relationship with God and a special role in his plans. (Genesis 17:7 and 22:18 are just two of many examples of this.) (v.8)

This was also part of God's plan to more openly invite non-Jews into relationship with him and to reveal himself more fully to the rest of the world, resulting in people from every nation and culture recognizing who God is and the incredible mercy he offers. (v.9)

Although the Jews of Jesus' and Paul's time strongly separated themselves from non-Jews, the idea of non-Jews worshiping Yahweh alongside them should not have been a radical idea to them, or one they resisted. It had been part of God's plan since the beginning, as Paul demonstrates by quoting and paraphrasing Old Testament scripture. (Psalm 18:49, Deuteronomy 32:43, Psalm 117:1, Isaiah 11:10, respectively) (v.9-12)

Many popular religions are culturally exclusive (though Americans tend to ignore that and "modify" religions as they see fit), but Yahweh is God over all and wants everyone from every nation and culture to seek him out for rescue and have an eternal, overwhelmingly wonderful relationship with him.

He is the reason we can have hope that in the end all will be set right. It's Paul's prayer (as it should be ours) that God will give us real joy (fulfillment, contentment) and a sense of peace even in the storms of life, as we learn to trust in him, and that in doing so we can experience the hope provided by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Searching and studying scripture can lay the foundation for trusting in God, but head knowledge doesn't necessarily translate to firm faith in God. Which is why it's so important that we also ask God to give us his undeserved favor in the form of joy, peace and hope through the Holy Spirit as we choose to trust in him because of what we know, despite what we may be feeling.

Next Time- Paul Discusses The Role God Gave Him

Coffee House Question- Can you identify one or more things that keep you from trusting in God from time to time?

DC's "New 52" Batman Books

2011-09-30T15:35:00.000-07:00

Given my disappointment over Superman, I wanted to give Batman, another DC icon, a shot at hooking me in with a fresh take. I hate pretty much everything Grant Morrison did with Batman. All the Damien stuff and Batman Incorporated just seemed a far cry from the brooding loner version of Batman that I think works best.

But seeing that some of that stuff is being carried over into the new DC, i decided to give the Batman books one last chance to make these ideas work for me. Although I wanted to read Detective Comics #1, local stores were sold out, so I'll have to wait for the reprint. But I did manage to snag all of the others. My first stop was Batman and Robin.

Batman and Robin

Again, more wrong turns, in my opinion. As a "new" reader again to the Batman books, i kept asking myself, why is this guy taking his 10-year old son out to fight crime with him? I don't care how well his son is trained. Granted, Bruce is a screwed up guy, but his decision to take Damien out with him was not treated as screwed up. It was taken for granted.

Batman also seems to be emotionally "healing" from the death of his parents. In a scene with Damien, he says that it's not important how his parents dies. It's important how they live. And from now on he's going to replace remembering them at Crime Alley on the anniversary of their death with celebrating their wedding anniversary. Whaa?

That sounds more like Superman, to me. Batman hangs onto his pain. It;s what keeps him paranoid and screwed up enough to zealously sacrifice every ounce of his being to what he does. Remove the perpetually unhealthy emotional condition of Batman and you begin to remove his essence and the reminder of what he does all that he does.

One bright note for me is that a mysterious villain is trying to kill all the members of Batman Incorporated. I hope he succeeds. There are enough Batman knock-offs in Gotham. The more you add, the less unique Batman becomes.

My hope is that the events of this book (except for eliminating the Batman Inc. characters) will in no way be referenced or reflected in other Batman books. I'd like to forget nearly every page of this issue.

Batman

This book seems to be a little more bent toward new reader accessibility. The writer cleverly has Bruce Wayne testing out an interface device that gives him basic information on everyone he sees, easily introducing key characters to readers as a by-product. It seems to be mostly a solo book, with brief interaction with Batman's supporting cast current and former sidekicks.
The story sets up an interesting mystery that I wouldn't mind reading, but this book isn't the re-invigoration of the character I'd been hoping for. I doubt I'll get the next issue.

Batman: The Dark Knight

This book felt a lot like Batman #1. It even shared some plot points, which was disappointing. But the art was great and the narrative was cool, and no sign of any sidekicks.

Again, once of my complaints is that Batman seems to be losing his loner essence a bit. In one scene he's actually leading a squad of policemen into a tactical situation. In another, it's made clear that Bruce Wayne funds Batman's operations, and this is public knowledge! (Smells a lot like Tony Stark, DC. Too much in fact.)

I enjoy Batman best when he's an urban legend, an seemingly unstable, driven, semi-psychotic loner who even makes his allies uncomfortable. In recent years his supporting cast has exploded, shining unwelcome light into the dark corners of Batman's world, and he has struck me as less and less dark and mysterious as a result.

As a result of my experience with the Batman books, I still plan to give Detective #1 a try when I can get my hands on the second printing that I imagine is coming. But in all likelihood, the Batman stories I want to read will only be found in special miniseries or one-shots, rather than the ongoing Batman books.

In Search Of Truth When Making Decisions

2011-09-30T15:33:00.001-07:00

I felt like diverting from our normal look at Romans this week in favor of a subject that came up recently in connection with a couple of people I know. Making decisions.

How do we go about making those decisions in life that scripture is silent on? Should I take this new job? Should I get that degree? Should I date this girl? The Bible doesn't give us personalized answers to these questions and the Christian cliche answer, "pray about it" sounds good (and IS good!), but seems incomplete. Even ripe for abuse.

For example, some folks I've talked to pull out James 1:5 as a proof text for the idea that God will give us personalized feelings, signs or "impressions" that provide any answer we need. But this verse, while promising wisdom, doesn't say anything about when or how that wisdom will be received. So assuming it will come in a certain form or within a certain time, based on that verse alone, is a dangerous way to interpret the Bible.

One friend I talked to last Saturday was in the midst of making a big career path decision. She felt almost completely adrift regarding what she should do with her life. I told her that in my life, I've tried to analyze who I am, what my skills are and what my purpose in life is, and then look for the scenario that bests fits all of that. She then asked, "but isn't there a place for just throwing caution to the wind, diving in and trying something?" I told her that I thought there was, but that there are two extremes I think we can fall into. The first would be to act only on the information you have and can understand. If we did that, we'd never get anything done! The other extreme is to just "trial and error" our way through life, following each impulse of the moment until we get lucky. That results in a lot of harm to self and others that could be avoided if we're willing to pursue truth.

The best route, I think, is to go as far as our reason and wisdom will take us. Then, when we've hit that dead end, ask God to direct us in making the right call. Once we've done those two things, I think we take that leap into the darkness.

There is not much we can contribute to the "leaping" part of the process. What waits in the dark is beyond our control. But is there a way we can develop our sense of reason? Our ability to use wisdom to discern right from wrong?

The Bible says quite a bit about wisdom, and how valuable it is to pursue it. The book of Proverbs is dedicated to developing wisdom in its readers. The Bible itself serves as a "filter" we can pass our thoughts through, to see if they contribute to or detract from the agenda God has for all humans.

It's been quite awhile since I posted this, so I thought I'd share again a topical index I created a few years ago that came out of my personal study of the book of Proverbs. The index below attempts to organize each proverb in an approximate topical group, including topics such as finances, relationships, marriage, leadership, and various sins we all struggle with.

Although I have never heard the audible "voice of God", I can say that he speaks to my individual concerns through his word, by something as simple as "process of elimination". For example, if I'm considering doing "A"(be it a career choice, relationship choice, whatever) , which is not bad in and of itself, but it will have the side effects of "B", which the Bible warns me to avoid, then by being familiar with the Bible's warning against "B" I can make the choice to avoid "A", confident that doing so is God's desire for me.

Likewise, if the Bible encourages "D", and choosing "C" will better enable me to do "D", then again, barring any downsides, I can be confident that God is "calling me"(and often abused phrase in Christian culture) to choose "C".

This is the approach I've tried to take with life decisions, big and small. And I hope the index copied below is a tool you can find useful as you aim to seek the truth.

Resources/ Finances- 3:9-10, 6:1-5, 10:15-16, 22, 11:4, 15-16, 18, 24-26, 28, 12:27, 13:8, 11, 22-23, 14:4, 20-21, 24, 30, 15:6, 15-16, 27, 16:8, 17:8, 16, 18, 18:11, 16, 23, 19:4, 6, 7, 14, 17, 20:16, 21, 21:5, 6, 13, 17, 20, 25, 26, 30, 22:1, 2, 7, 9, 16, 26-27, 23:4-8, 23, 24:27, 27:12, 13, 23-27, 28:6, 8, 11, 15, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29:3, 7, 14, 30:8, 9

Provision- 10:3, 29-30, 11:8, 12:7, 21, 13:21, 25, 14:8, 11, 26-27, 15:3, 25, 29, 16:1, 3, 6, 9, 15, 17, 20, 33, 18:10, 19:12, 21, 23, 20:4, 13, 24, 21:5, 13, 30, 31, 23:17-18, 27:7, 28:6, 25, 26, 30:5

Pride- 3:7, 34, 11:2, 12:9, 13:10, 15:33, 16:5, 18-19, 17:9, 18:1, 12, 20:9, 22, 21:4, 22, 24, 25:3, 6-8, 27, 26:1, 8, 12, 27:1, 2, 21, 28:11, 26, 29:23, 30:12, 13, 30:32

Godliness- 10:6-7, 9, 20, 27, 29-32, 11:4, 5-6, 10-11, 19-21, 28, 30, 12:2, 5, 10, 12, 28, 13:5-6, 9, 21, 25, 14:2, 9, 11, 14, 19, 34, 15:8-9, 26, 33, 16:2, 6, 8, 14, 17, 31, 17:5, 18:3, 19:16, 20:2, 9, 11, 21:3, 4, 8, 10, 21, 22:4, 24:15-16, 24:21-22, 25:26, 28:1, 4, 7, 9, 12, 29:7, 16, 18, 24, 27

Correction-3:11-12, 6:20-23, 9:7-9, 10:8, 10, 17, 11:14, 12:1, 15, 13:1, 10, 13-14, 18, 15:2, 5, 10, 12, 14, 22, 31-32, 16:20-21, 17:10-12, 18:15, 19:3, 20, 25, 27, 20:5, 12, 18, 30, 21:11, 22:17, 18, 23:9, 12, 19, 23, 24: 5-6, 26, 25: 11, 12, 27:5, 6, 9, 17, 28:14, 29:1, 18

Love/Hate- 10:12, 11:17,25, 12:2,10,20, 13:2, 14:17,21-22,35, 15:1, 16:27, 17:5,13, 20:22,28, 21:10,21, 22:16, 24:15-16, 17-18, 25:17,20,21-22, 26:21, 27:3, 28:3, 29:13, 30:14

Serving- 3:27-28, 14:21, 17:17, 18:16, 19:6,17,

Pain- 14:13, 17:22, 18:14

Conflict(resolution)- 10:18, 11:29, 14:9, 15:7, 16:7,14, 17:11, 18:18-19, 20:3,22, 22:10, 24-25, 24:8-9, 25:21-22, 26:4, 5, 17, 20, 21, 29:22

Sacrifice- 14:4, 18:16, 21:3, 25:4

Leadership—14:28, 34-35, 15:22, 16:3, 10,12,13, 14-15, 25, 32, 17:7, 19:10,12, 25, 20:8, 26, 28, 21:1, 22:11, 24:7, 25:2,3, 5, 6-7, 26: 6, 8, 10, 28:2, 12, 15, 16, 21, 28, 29:2, 4, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 26, 31:4-5

The Heart- 4:23, 14:10, 12, 15:8, 11, 13, 15, 16:2, 17:3, 20, 22, 18:8, 14, 19:2, 20:9, 27, 21:2, 27, 22:11, 23:19, 26, 24:12, 27:19

Hope/Fear- 10:24-25, 28, 11:7, 23, 31, 12:3, 7, 21, 25, 28, 13:12, 19, 21, 14:11, 14, 26, 27, 30, 32, 15:24-25, 29, 16:4, 9, 17, 33, 17:3, 18:10, 19:21, 23, 20:24, 28, 21:30, 31, 23:17-18, 24:10, 19-20, 28:1, 29:25

Words/Language- 4:24, 10:11, 13-14, 18-21, 31-32, 11:9, 11-13, 22, 12:5-6, 13-14, 16, 18, 23, 25-26, 13:2-3, 17, 14:3, 23, 15:1-2, 4, 7, 23, 26, 28, 16:23-24, 27-28, 17:4, 7, 9, 14, 19, 20, 27, 28, 18:2, 4, 6-7, 8, 13, 20, 21, 19:28, 20:5, 15, 19, 25, 21:19, 23, 28, 22:11, 14, 17-18, 24:1-2, 9, 25:8-10, 11, 15, 20, 23, 25, 26:6, 7, 9, 18-19, 20, 22, 23, 24-26, 28, 27:14, 28:23, 29:5, 20, 30:6

Integrity/Honesty- 11:1, 3, 5, 12:17, 19-20, 22, 13:5, 7, 17, 14:5, 25, 15:4, 27, 16:11, 13, 29-30, 17:4, 7, 8, 15, 23, 18:17, 19:1, 5, 9, 22, 28, 20:6, 7, 9, 10, 14, 19, 23, 25, 21:6, 14, 28, 22:5, 12, 28, 23:10-11, 24:28-29, 25:14, 18, 19, 26:18-19,23-26, 28, 27:6, 19, 28:6, 10, 13, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 29:5, 10, 12, 24, 30:6, 8, 10

Relationships/Marriage- 5:3-6, 7-14, 15-17, 18-23, 6:24-29, 30-35, 7:4-5, 6-27, 12:4, 13:20, 14:1, 7, 22, 15:17, 30, 16:7, 28, 17:1, 17, 19, 18:19, 22, 24, 19:13, 14, 19, 22, 20:6, 21:9, 10, 19, 22:14, 23:27-28, 25:17, 20, 24, 27:10, 14, 15-16, 17, 28:7, 29:3, 30:19, 20, 31:2-3, 10-31

Judging- 11:27, 13:23, 16:10, 17:9, 18:13, 17, 19:11, 20, 8, 24:23-25

Family/Parenting- 13:24, 14:1, 15:20,30, 17:6,17,21,25, 19:13,18,19,25,26, 20:7,20,29, 21:18, 22:6, 15, 23:13-14, 22, 24-25, 26:3, 27:8, 11, 28:24, 29:3,15,17,21, 30:11,17, 31:10-31

Work- 6:6-11, 10:4-5, 26, 12:11, 14, 24, 27, 13:4,11, 14:4, 15-16, 23-24, 15:19, 16:3, 26, 18:9, 19:15, 24, 20:4, 13, 21, 21:5, 17, 25, 26, 22:13, 29, 23:20-21, 24:27, 30-34, 25:13, 26:13-16, 27:18, 28:19

Justice- 11:31, 12:5, 21, 13:6, 14:14, 32, 15:3, 25, 16:5, 12, 17:5, 11, 15, 23, 26, 18:5, 17, 19:5, 9, 28, 29, 20:2, 22, 26, 30, 21:7,11,12,15,18, 22:8, 22-23, 24:11, 17-18, 19-20, 23-25, 28-29, 25:5, 21-22, 26:2,27, 28:4,5,12,17,18,28, 29:6,9,14,26, 31:8-9

Wisdom- 9:10-12, 10:1,13-14,20-21,23, 11:9,30, 12:8,23, 13:15-16,20, 14:3,6,8,18,33, 15:14,21, 16:16,21-22, 17:2,7,24, 18:2,15, 19:2,3,8, 20:29, 21:6, 22:12, 23:1-3, 23,26, 24:3-4, 5-6, 13-14, 25:2, 26:12, 27:12, 22, 28:11, 29:3, 30:24-28

Jealousy- 12:12, 14:30, 23:17-18, 24:1-2, 19-20, 27:4

Sin’s Consequences- 9:16-18, 10:2, 20:1, 17, 25, 23:29-35, 24:17-18, 21-22, 26:27, 29:24,

Discipline/Self-control- 16:32, 20:30, 21:18,29, 22:3, 23:23, 25:15, 16,28, 26:3,11, 27:20, 22, 29:19

Anger- 12:16, 14:17, 29, 15:1, 18, 17:14, 19, 27, 18:1,6, 19:3,11,19, 20:3,22, 22:10,24-25, 24:17-18, 26:27, 29:8,11,22, 30:33

Addiction- 20:1, 23:29-35, 31:4-5, 6-7

More Hits And Misses With DC's "New 52"

2011-09-29T15:47:00.000-07:00

The Savage Hawkman

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this one. The creator's compared it to Indiana Jones fighting aliens, and the first issue delivers on the concept. I'm also encouraged by the revamp of Hawkman's powers that seems to be going on, centering them even more fully on the mysterious properties of the Nth metal. There's great potential for the concept of Hawkman to get a fresh new take. What i would have liked was a slight retracing of Hawkman's origin story, so I know whether or not it's the same as it has been. But hopefully they will take the opportunity to re-establish that at some point in the first story arc. I wasn't blown away, but this book will bring me back for at least one more issue.

Aquaman

I admit. I doubted. I hoped, but I doubted that Geoff Johns could work his magic on Aquaman and for the first time create a book that would have me genuinely invested in this character, and not just wanting him to be worthy of investment. But he did it. And by means that are so unexpected but so completely appropriate.

Rather than trying too hard to re-invent the character with new powers that would make him demand respect even on land, Johns plays up the fact that the average joe thinks he's a joke among the other superheroes. The result is some great laughs but also almost instant identification with and sympathy for Aquaman.

I'd still be excited to see him gain new powers over water (think Magneto but with H2O), but Johns is already establishing Aquaman's desire to leave Atlantis and his kingly status behind him. A pretty big move that probably upsets the apple cart enough for now.

In the first issue alone, Aquaman is already a fascinating, butt-kicking character that I care about and I can't wait to read the rest of this series for as long as it is in the care of one of the comic book industry's best writers.

The Fury Of Firestorm: The Nuclear Men

Notice the plural in that last word? Not a typo. The new take on this character concept involves the existence of multiple "Firestorms" and we get to see the origin story for the two this book will focus on in the first issue.

Although she isn't writing it alone, I can see the touch of master scribe Gail Simone in the dialogue, which helps the book a lot. Some great character moments and baddies that are REALLY bad. My only complaint is that things seem to ramp up almost too quickly. I would have been content to just see Firestorm on the last page and leave the action that follows for #2. Instead, our main characters suddenly have brand new powers that they already seem comfortable with, except superficially.

I'm also not impressed by one of the bad guys quoting the Bible as he helps kill people. C'mon, Gail. I'm not even offended as a Christian, but more as a reader. Bad guys being "Christians" is long past being an interesting twist. It's a tired cliche.

Still, the issue was solid and Gail Simone, whatever her level of involvement, has earned my attention. I'll be back for at least another two issues.

The Flash

I'm pretty happy with how this book is starting out. We get to see a Flash that, while still very powerful, is slightly less experienced in the use of his powers. And while I think some characters are at a disadvantage by having their marriages erased with this reboot, I think Barry being single (with Iris still in the comic) brings a youth, a freshness and an insecurity to the character that is nice. Barry has not been a very interesting character historically, so taking away some of those supportive characters will help define who he is.

The art is different from previous flash books, but the coloring and lightning effects work really well. It's a visual treat on every page and suits the character very well.

The story also presents a mystery I'm interested in solving. Interested enough that the lost opportunities (few though they were) to focus on character in this issue didn't bother me at all.
I wasn't blown away by this issue, but I'm a Flash fan and really liked it. I'm sure The Flash will be a regular purchase for me unless they really do something to screw this up.

Teen Titans

This issue delivered just what it needed to. Great art and action and nicely paced, character revealing introductions to the future key players of this book. Because the DC universe timeline is being condensed, Red Robin (who now has a MUCH better costume!), Wonder Girl, Superboy and Kid Flash are all coming onto the DC Universe scene "for the first time" in this issue. And the chance to get in on the ground floor is a very exciting one for me.

The story doesn't start out with the team formed and ready to fight crime. The issue consists of seperate smaller stories introducing each character, slowly connecting them to each other. Teenage meta-humans have a reputation for being reckless loose cannons, and so the government is rounding them up for... we don't quite know yet. But these teenagers suddenly have a common problem and it's clear they will need each other to deal with it.

I am SOO hooked!

Tomorrow I'll wrap up my coverage of DC's "New 52" with my thoughts on the Batman books!

Green Lantern: New Guardians #1 and Superman #1

2011-09-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

I picked up another load of DC's final comics of the first month of their new universe. here are my thoughts on two. More to come soon!

Green lantern: New Guardians

Given that this book shares a subtitle with a TERRIBLE concept that came out of the lame "Millenium" crossover way back in the 80's (do I get some extra geek cred for that reference?), I was reluctant to check it out. But as a die-hard GL fan, knew I at least had to give it a shot.

This issue is almost pure set-up, mainly of Kyle Rayner's character. It retells his origin with a few modifications that make him less of a loser (he wasn't fixing to puke in the back alley, just urinate) and firmly establish him as having been specifically chosen to bear the ring. The other elements of the issue set up what will be coming, which is still very unclear, but I'm interested.

It's a quick read, with a little less dialogue or other text to give it meat. And while I hope that won't be the norm (I like to feel like I've read three to four bucks worth) I'm on board at least until they make it clear what this series will be about.

Superman

This book is in trouble. Or at least hope it is. I hope it does terrible and DC quickly recognizes that they need to go in a different direction with their handling of the most iconic character in comic book history.

Unlike the current story in Action Comics, Superman #1 picks up where Superman is at today, establishing his current status quo as a character. So what is that status quo in a nutshell? No different from what I saw in Action Comics #1, except for a different costume. (And BTW, the costume changes are now not even the LEAST of my concerns.)

Both Clark and Superman seem much like the same person. Really odd, given that DC is hoping to get non-comics fans in on this book, who won't as easily suspend disbelief when it comes to the whole "glasses disguise" thing. Superman and Clark are both always frowning in some way. Either in anger or disappointment. But mostly anger. (His one smile is while he is threatening to drown some bad guys if they don't surrender.)

Again, as with Action Comics #1, they seem to be pulling specifically from Superman's "social crusader" roots to the exclusion of the rest of this character's history, giving us someone who comes across like a self-righteous college kid who just discovered public protesting.

His dialogue as Superman is also surprisingly old-school sounding. As he prepares to throw a giant object at the bad guy he says, "So far you've been doing all the pitching in this game. Now let's see if you can catch!" The rest of the script has plenty more moments with a "tell don't show" writing philosophy. (The wrong approach in comic books, I think.)

Although there are a number of better directions you could take this character compared to where they are, for my tastes it would have been great to see a new kind of Clark persona that Kal-el puts on. Maybe a socially awkward gaming nerd who is really good at expressing himself in writing but is lousy in conversation. And a Superman who is a strong, encouraging example of service and self-sacrifice, who is there to help people in the moment, rather than solve the world's problems at their root cause. (Again, this would be my take, but DC could do any number of things that would work better than what they're doing now with Superman.)

I have a sneaking suspicion that no one at DC knows how to effectively write the iconic Superman anymore. When we see knock-off heroes based on the icons like Batman, Wolverine, Superman or Captain America, we see through the name and costume and say, "this guy's a so-and-so rip-off", because the essence of those iconic characters is much more than their costumes. But DC seems to be taking away Superman's essence as it has been established over the last handful of decades. If you took away this Superman's costume and name, the Man Of Steel would be the last character that would likely come to mind.

DC can naturally do what they want. These are just "funny books" at the end of the day and I'm not bothered by what they're doing with Superman. I'm just not interested in it, and neither is my wallet.

But DC, if you decide to take that "essence of Superman" that you're not using right now and inject it into another character, could you send out a memo? I think I'd like to read that guy's book.

New Free Audio Drama!

2011-09-28T14:42:00.001-07:00

At long last I am able to present the newest audio drama from The Spirit Blade Underground Alliance, the online creative community of volunteers sponsored by Spirit Blade Productions!

Why "at long last"? Because this project has actually been in development longer than any other project the Alliance has released. It was the first script I gave a green light to and the first to hold auditions. But for reasons that still puzzle me, God has chosen again and again to delay the development of this project. Three different mixers have taken it on and both of the first two had to step away from it because of some difficult things that came into their lives beyond their own control.

After many more months of searching for an interested mixer, a new mixer joined the Alliance and eagerly took on this project a few months ago. He's done a wonderful job and as of today I've posted the audio drama on the Spirit Blade Underground Alliance page.

It's called "DSI Files: Unlucky Seven", and is set in a future where special agents sanctioned by the church are sent out to investigate and deal with significant spiritual events or threats. The script is a cool blend of sci-fi and the supernatural (which you know *I* dig!) and I hope you enjoy checking it out!

You can download it for free right now on the Alliance page!

Getting Back In Shape

2011-09-26T16:04:00.001-07:00

Next week, as I return to developing the songs for Spirit Blade 3, I'll also be starting a new, daily regimen of vocal exercise.

While re-recording some vocals for the Special Edition of Spirit Blade, I noticed that my vocal endurance and some of my upper range flexibility had weakened since recording for Dark Ritual. Spirit Blade was recorded just a couple of years after I graduated from college as a vocal performance major. Dark Ritual was recorded shortly after two years of serving as a worship pastor, which involved regular vocal exercise. But since then I haven't had a vocal regimen built into my daily routine, and it's finally begun to show.

Although I'll continue producing music now and then after Spirit Blade 3, I don't really plan to do as much of it. But I still want Spirit Blade 3 to have the best voice possible from me. So, like an actor who goes to the gym for three months before filming that superhero movie, I'm going to be working my voice as hard as I safely can so that when it comes time to record my song vocals for Spirit Blade 3 I'll have all the options I want in terms of vocal range and tonal qualities.

Part of me is looking forward to getting my voice back in shape, but another part of me dreads adding more to my day that does not directly advance the development of a new project. But for every grand vision there are numerous details that have to be stacked one on top of the other in order to assemble the final product. And if this has to be one of them, well... at least it will be more enjoyable than marketing.

Catching Up On Creative Tid-bits

2011-09-23T15:18:00.001-07:00

With my new laptop up and running and the first draft of Spirit Blade 3 finished, I've been anxious to get into work on development of the songs for Spirit Blade 3. But I've also seen how other projects have fallen to the wayside during my writing streak, made more obvious as I've been playing catch up recently.

So instead of charging ahead with the songs, I've decided to take about a week and make sure some smaller projects and tasks I've committed to doing get done.

Among those are the release of a Spirit Blade Underground Alliance audio drama that has been in development even longer than the first audio drama The Alliance released! A series of unfortunate events have kept the project in "limbo" for a long time, but it looks like it will finally be seeing release very soon!

I'm also working on a short bit of audio fiction written by Nathan James Norman, the writer of The SBUA audio drama, "Untold: Alliances". It will be featured on the podcast in October to coincide with the Halloween season (it has vampires and werewolves!) and will be an effort on my part to explore an additional creative avenue for Spirit Blade Productions. (More on that in October.)

I hope to be back into development of the songs for Spirit Blade 3 by this time next week, but of course I'll be sure to give you the latest details right here!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

More DC "New 52" Micro-Reviews

2011-09-23T15:02:00.000-07:00

Mister Terrific

I picked up this one because I like sci-fi themed super heroes and Mister Terrific was a character I enjoyed in JSA. The redesign of his costume is in keeping with his former look and the character itself is largely the same. Although his origin is retold in flashback without the Spectre's involvement, it retains the same basic elements. His wife and unborn son are killed in a car accident, leaving Michael Holt crushed. But a time travel visit from his future adult son (instead of The Spectre dropping by) convinces him he was meant to do greater things. Specifically "educate the world", although it's not clear what this will involve.

One point of interest was Holt's profession of anti-theism. After retelling the tragic story of his wife's death, he says "I don't believe in God. Now you know why." This is an interesting position for the writer to take, since it establishes his atheism as being rooted not in some scientific argument, but in a very personal and emotional experience. This is something few atheists will admit to being the true source of their atheism. Although in general this first issue was not remarkable, I will probably give it one more month and see what happens.

Wonder Woman

This was an impulse buy. I read Gail Simone's run on Wonder Woman and naturally loved it. I've wanted to love this character in comics since watching Lynda Carter as a kid. But all the togas, sandals and Greek gods just never worked for me. Unfortunately, this new iteration isn't working either. My chief complaint is the art. The gritty, imprecise style would look better to me on a Batman book, or some other character that is more "earthbound" or "street level" in concept. I think they're hoping the art will help sell the brutal feel they're trying to give this book, but it wasn't working for me. The story also keeps us at a distance from Wonder Woman's thoughts at a time when I want to be re-introduced to what makes her tick. I won't be giving #2 my money.

Green Lantern Corps

Like the Green Lantern solo book #1, this issue doesn't represent a leap forward in quality from what's come before, but rather a continuation of the great quality I've already come to expect. One difference though is the story, which features a vicious, invisible killer capable of slicing right though even the incredible defenses of a power ring, making short work of any Green Lantern. The gore factor is up a little more than usual, but it works here as this book appropriately has a more military vibe to it than the Green Lantern solo book. The serious tone and sci-fi action will no doubt keep me coming back for more every month, just as I have for years.

Supergirl

This was another last minute decision. I was intrigued by how the creators described this book in the San Diego ComiCon panels. The idea is to tell the story of a kryptonian who grew up on Krypton, is already in her teens, but is now suddenly thrust into life on earth, without any of the moral values that Clark Kent was raised with. The first issue focuses on the alien nature of her surroundings. No one speaks her language and she can't understand anyone else, leading to some naturally intense conflict. Hopefully, she won't learn English and become adjusted to earth life for a VERY long time, as I think it keeps her distinct from Superman and gives us a potential story link to Krypton, as well as provides potential for other great story opportunities. I'll definitely be coming back to check this one out for at least another month or two.

Blue Beetle

I love the Blue Beetle concept that was introduced in Infinite Crisis and have been following his solo comic and enjoying his appearances in Teen Titans ever since. A great sci-fi superhero concept. Blue Beetle is like the Swiss Army Knife of superheroes. His alien armor can shift and change to suit nearly any task at hand.

This version of the character, as far as I can tell, has been changed very little. His origin story is now free of any Infinite Crisis story elements, and the concept of the Reach, his arch-nemesis, is more clearly tied to his origin story. The art is solid and the story has my interest, even though we don't see Jaime, the main character, as Blue Beetle until the last page.

The writing has a strong Latino element, due to the cultural backgrounds of the cast of characters. A minor complaint is that enough of the dialogue momentarily drifts into Spanish that I have to use context clues to decipher the finer points of what characters are expressing now and then. It's not a big problem, but my hope is that the writer doesn't confuse adding "culture" with adding "character". I think writing comics in this way has some bonuses and adds a layer of realism to the script, but since I don't speak Spanish I hope I'm not missing out on some nice character bits because I don't understand what's being said. In the end, the language issue doesn't effect my enjoyment of the book to anywhere near the proportion I've spent talking about it, and this book will likely be a regular purchase for me for a long time to come.

Captain Atom

The cover of this book has had me anxiously awaiting the first issue. The solicitations gave me the impression that this book will take Captain Atom down the road Alan Moore intended to take him with Watchmen, before he was asked to create an original character (Dr. Manhattan) instead. Although his origin isn't retraced in the first issue, we understand that his ability to absorb energy and manipulate matter came by way of some accident. Now he has incredible powers that he doesn't fully understand and that may also be killing him as he uses them.

The opening narration of the book sets a somewhat naturalistic philosophical tone, stating that humans are really no more special than animals, while at the same time acknowledging our inherent evil. (This is interesting, since purely naturalistic philosophies have no logical basis for any moral positions.) The title of this issue's story is "Evolution Of The Species" and the title for next issue's story is "Messiah Complex". So it sounds like this book will be traveling a somewhat philosophical route, despite having lots of super-powered action and explosions. Naturally that interests me, provided the philosophy is thoughtful and not the same old naturalistic stuff we've heard for years in science fiction.

Where this issue fell enormously short for me was the interior art, which is made up of more "gritty", imprecise lines with low detail, carried chiefly by the coloring. Once again, I think this art style better serves more "earthy" characters, and those rooted in the fantastic, as this one is, would be served better by clean, dazzling art. I never used to care about art in comics like I do these days, but the way this art rubs me may just make for a deal breaker unless issue #2 is really something special.

More Of DC's New 52

2011-09-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

Last week DC introduced several more #1 issues, re-introducing us to more of their properties in hopes of grabbing new readers and reminding existing fans why they love DC Comics. As you might expect, the effort produced mixed results, at least as far as I'm concerned. Here are the titles I picked up:

Hawk And Dove

Although I'm not a longtime fan of these characters, I like the contrast between the pacifist Dove and the enraged warrior Hawk, and I enjoyed their inclusion in Gail Simone's "Birds Of Prey". And while the art in this first issue was great, the characters were fairly well-defined and I'm curious about where things will go, I'm not sure that all adds up to a purchase next month, especially since DC has launched a number of other books that I enjoyed more than this one. If they had showed more of their hand regarding the future direction of this book, they might have sold me, but at this point there just wasn't quite enough to hold on to me as a reader.

Superboy

I've never followed Superboy's comic before, though that may change now. Although they are retracing Superboy's origins as a clone of Superman, they are doing so independent of the "Death Of Superman" story, and with more attention to Superboy's internal thoughts and feelings. As a result, this is an intriguing, serious, character driven story that seems to lead into the new Teen Titans book, setting up Superboy as a potential tool for deception, if not outright evil. Can't wait to see where it goes next!

Demon Knights

For years I've wanted to read a sword and sorcery comic book that was dark in tone, character driven and has great art. As I've flipped through fantasy comic books on shelves over the years I've been met by disappointment again and again. When I saw the solicitations for "Demon Knights" I didn't even want to get my hopes up. But then I read in an interview with the creators that they were aiming to capture the same readers who dig "Dragon Age". I figured if this comic read or looked even remotely like those games, I should at least give the first issue a try. I'm so glad I did. The story centers on Jason of Norwich, who for reasons unknown is cursed to host the demon Etrigan in the final moments of the age of Camelot. The main story picks up hundreds of years later in the Dark Ages. Jason has apparently been made immortal through his bonding to Etrigan, and now travels with fellow immortal Madame Xanadu, who serves as his companion and love interest but with hidden motivations. The first issue has dark sorcery (and I mean REALLY dark sorcery!), brutal action and the blood, grit and grime you'd expect if you were playing Dragon Age: Origins. Fans of dark, brutal fantasy shouldn't miss this one and the last page, which I'd LOVE to spoil but won't, left me with a crazy kind of itch to read the next issue. And the fact that all this fantasy goodness just happens to take place in my favorite comic book universe (albeit hundreds of years in the past) is just icing on the cake. If they can keep this quality up, Demon Knights will be one of the books I look forward to most every month.

Suicide Squad

Since there is no longer a Secret Six book being written by Gail Simone, and I've developed a taste for "villain books", I decided I should give the new Suicide Squad book a try. The premise is that super criminals who want to reduce their sentences can enroll in black ops government missions from which they will likely not return in exchange for reductions in their sentences. Honestly, I have no idea why they didn't just keep the cast of Secret Six and bring them over to this book. Apart from Deadshot and Harley Quinn, I barely recognize any of these characters. And when you've read a villain book by Gail Simone, it's hard to read another one by anyone less gifted to write dialogue. This issue does little more than establish the basic premise of the book, though there are enough questions raised that I want answers for that I will be giving the second issue a fair shot.

Deathstroke

This book is my second attempt to fill the "villain void" left behind by The Secret Six. Deathstroke is supposed to be the baddest of the bad when it comes to mercenary villains. And this issue establishes why. Only in "Identity Crisis" have I seen him pull off cooler moves. But in the midst of all the butt-kicking I think they dropped the ball just a little regarding character. All of their character work seemed bent on portraying him as the most vicious and efficient killer out there, when I think they should have spent some of that time reminding us who Deathstroke is, where he acquired his abilities and why he does what he does. The only possible character plot is obscured, left as a hook for future issues. But if they don't reveal more character bits in #2, it's a hook I won't bite for #3.

Green Lantern

I'm a big Green Lantern nerd, so there was no way I'd miss this issue. DC must think I'm not the Only one, because this is one of the few titles that, while renumbered to #1, doesn't seem to provide the same jumping on point seen in other books. Hal Jordan isn't a Green Lantern and instead Sinestro, long time enemy of the GL Corps, is chosen to wear a ring for reasons no one, including Sinestro or the Guardians, understands. It's an interesting plot hook, and reads just as great as we've come to expect from Geoff Johns. But it's an odd choice of storyline in a month when they are looking to bring in new readers. The concept of a Green Lantern is presented well for those new to the book, but I can't imagine Sinestro will be the long-term "hero" of this book.

The Laptop Is Dead! Long Live The Laptop!

2011-09-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend my laptop sputtered and died, finally giving out after at least three years of faithful service. Although I do all of my audio mixing and other production work on my desktop, my beaten up Dell laptop was where I spent most hours of a typical work day, answering e-mails, posting to blogs and other web activities.

This particular laptop was my first, a hand me down that my sister and her husband gave us when they upgraded. The timing was perfect, as I was going to have to begin working while watching our oldest son at the same time. That was at least three years ago. These days, I couldn't keep Spirit Blade Productions running without a laptop. (Or without pulling out my hair and having some kind of mental breakdown.) So I quickly spent some of Monday and all of Tuesday researching laptop options, making a purchase and getting my new laptop set up.

During this somewhat stressful transition, two thoughts occurred to me that make me very grateful.

First, I reflected on what an effective and meaningful gift that old Dell laptop was. Karyne and Jon, thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, which made it possible for me to keep my work moving forward. It might have been a small thing to you, or maybe more of a sacrifice than I realize. Either way, it made a huge impact on my ability to do what I do and saved me a lot of money that we didn't have.

Second, I realized that because of the purchases made by those of you who listen to our audio dramas, I was able to purchase this laptop without pulling any funding from our personal finances. (A big deal given that we still contribute some money every month to fund the company.) and without hindering our ability to fund our upcoming projects.

So I just wanted to give you guys a tangible example of how your support literally makes what I'm doing possible. Thank you so much!

-Paeter Frandsen

In Search Of Truth, Romans 15:1-7

2011-09-19T11:00:00.001-07:00

Christians have much more freedom in life, according to the Bible, than many modern Christians believe. But that freedom is in direct proportion to the maturity and strength of their faith and ability to discern the difference between what is helpful to their walk with Christ and what is harmful to it. Another limitation we should always apply to our freedom is based on how our actions effect believers around us. In previous verses, Paul taught that we should refrain from exercising any freedoms that would result in spiritually (and of course physically) harming someone else.

Those who have strong, mature faith, should put it to use supporting other believers who are weaker than they are. (v.1) Our aim should be to act based on what is best for others and what will result in their spiritual growth. (v.2)

Jesus is God of the universe every bit as much as God the Father or the Holy Spirit. He had every right to slam down to the earth in an epic thunderbolt and take for granted that we would fall down in awe and worship him. If anyone was entitled to a life of fun and pleasure, it was Jesus. But as Paul points out, even Jesus didn’t spend his time on earth living to please himself. He lived out what was predicted of him in Psalm 69, in which he is portrayed as someone with numerous enemies, who is wrongfully looked on with disgust and is weary and beaten down by life. There would have been nothing wrong with Jesus simply spending his time on earth exercising his rights and freedoms for his own pleasure. But instead, to bring about an immensely greater scenario, he gave up his rights and freedoms for the sake of others.

Psalm 69 and the life of Christ are examples we are meant to follow. It may not mean that our lives will be tortured and painful from beginning to end. But living as Jesus did means taking advantage of every opportunity we see to strengthen the faith of others and do what is best for them, even at the cost of our own rights and freedoms. And with scripture as our model and source of encouragement, we can see this kind of living not as drudgery, but as an incredibly purposeful path that will multiply our pleasure in eternity. (v.3-4)

Paul prays, as we should, that God, the ultimate source of encouragement and perseverance, would unify us with other believers, getting us “on the same page” in our pursuit of “Christ-like” living, so we can draw the world's attention to who God the Father is, and his relationship to Jesus Christ. (v.5-6)

With this aim in mind, we should get better and better at accepting each other, wrinkles, oddities and all, just like Christ chose to accept us in order to bring about something amazing. (v.7)

Next- Jesus’ Agenda Was All Inclusive

Coffee House Question- What do you think would be the hardest thing for you to set aside or give up, either temporarily or permanently, for the benefit of someone else?

No Podcast This Weekend

2011-09-14T11:14:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to quickly mention that there will be no podcast this weekend. I'm out for my annual trip to spend the weekend with my gaming buddy and roll strange dice for hours on end.

In the meantime, if you need your Spirit Blade Productions audio fix, you can check out the big sale we've got going on, or see if maybe there's something cool you've missed on our freebie page!

And don't forget about the FREE Spirit Blade Audio Book!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen

Downloads 50% OFF Through End Of September!!

2011-09-12T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've just launched another CRAZY BIG SALE in our online store!

From now through the end of September, you can get the digital download versions of our audio dramas, as well as our two song bundles, for HALF OFF!

"Spirit Blade Special Edition" and "Spirit Blade: Dark Ritual" are both just $4.99 each!

"Pilgrim's Progress: Similitude Of Dream", and our song bundles are just $2.49 each!

If you've never tried out our productions before, now is the time! And if you're already a fan, let someone else know that there's no better opportunity to experience Spirit Blade Productions!

-Paeter Frandsen

Forum Chat Tonight At 6pm MST!

2011-09-10T14:27:00.001-07:00

Just one last reminder to join me for the online 1-hour chat today at 6pm Mountain Standard Time. Just go to spiritblade.net/forums, login (Or create a free account if you haven't yet. It's quick and easy!) and scroll down to the bottom of the main page. The chat box is right there! See you soon!

Script Finished, New Video and Sale Next Week!

2011-09-09T09:54:00.000-07:00

This has been a HUGE week and I've got a handful of things to update you on.

First, on Wednesday I finished the first draft of the "Spirit Blade 3" script, and last night I read through it with my wife. We were both very happy with it overall and also made notes of a few details to fix. Thankfully, it does not appear to be running as long as I feared. It will still be longer than "Dark Ritual", though. We're probably looking at a 4-disc set with a run time of around 4 hours once songs have been added in. Today I'll be fixing a few details based on quick notes we made last night. After that I'll begin figuring out where the songs will fall and what themes they will cover so that I can begin the development of the music.

Yesterday I uploaded an odd new video to our Youtube channel that will serve as an "example" for a video creation event I will be launching soon from our monthly newsletter. Keep an eye out there for details. There will be free stuff in it for anyone who participates, so if you're not subscribed to our newsletter, go subscribe now!

Lastly, next week I will be launching a sale that will run through the end of September, giving big discounts on all of our digital download products! I will make an announcement on this blog as soon as the sale has launched. So keep checking back here early next week!

Have a great weekend!

-Paeter Frandsen