Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Silent Hill: Revelation ("Phoned In" Movie Review)


Saw this last night (at least some of it) and concluded that the creators of this flick pretty much phoned in the effort. So I did the same with my review! Listen in the player provided or download the audio file in the link below.




Direct Download- http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/Silent_Hill_Revelation_Phoned_In_Review.mp3



Monday, February 25, 2013

In Search Of Truth, Genesis 12:1-7



v. 1

Yahweh (the personal name of God indicated in English Bibles by the all caps "LORD") was commanding something requiring significant sacrifice and trust on the part of Abram. To obey God, Abram had to leave his father's house and his home country to go to a new, unfamiliar land that God had given almost no details about.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 Review (SBU Podcast)



A review of Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 and a look at the importance of relationships in the lives of geeks. PLUS, the winner of our Noah Primevel contest is announced and a new contest for the "Nightfall" card game begins!


Geek Hobbies For Relationship Building- http://spiritblade.forum-motion.com/t1010-geek-hobbies-to-build-friendships-over

Nightfall Card Game Info- http://www.nightfallgame.com/

Promo Card Info- http://boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/66035/official-nightfall-card-rule-faq




Wednesday, February 20, 2013

In Search Of Truth, Relationships






In our "freeway tour" of the Old Testament, we're looking at some of the "strange" behaviors of God and the people who worship him. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of why some of these things were done, what significance they had, and what they can tell us about who God is, who we are, what our relationship to God is now and what it is ultimately meant to be.

Relationship is extremely valuable to God. In fact, it is an inseparable part of who he is! The fact that God is three distinct persons (which scripture refers to as Father, Son and Holy Spirit) directly implies a relationship. Love and relationships did not come into existence when God began creating. Love and relationships exist eternally in God himself!

Friday, February 15, 2013

Dave Mattingly Interview and Best Geek Experiences Of 2012 (SBU Podcast)




An interview with Blackwrym Publishing's Dave Mattingly and the SBU community's best geek experiences of 2012!

Balckwyrm Publishing- blackwyrm.com

Christian Gamers' Guild- http://www.christian-gamers-guild.org/


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Noah Primevel Book Giveaway!



If you haven't heard about our Noah Primevel book giveaway yet, it's not too late to enter the contest!

Brian Godawa is giving away a copy of Noah Primevel, the first book in his Old Testament fantasy series, "The Chronicles Of The Nephilim".

Monday, February 11, 2013

In Search Of Truth, Genesis 9:1-17




v.1-2

God commands Noah and his family to populate the earth, and re-affirms humanity's role as the rulers of all other living creatures.

v.3-4

God also introduces the option of meat to the human diet, though with some limitations. In the ancient world, pagan religions (which ultimately have inspired the evolution of vampire fiction today) taught that power and increased lifespans could be gained by consuming the blood of animals. They understood on some level, as God indicates here, that blood is life to a creature. It's possible that this pagan belief existed in Noah's time, and God may have prohibited the consumption of blood so that Noah and his family would not pursue power and independence from God.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 (Movie Review)




I'm a longtime comic book fan and Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" was an eye-opening example to me of what the comic book medium was capable of. In fact it is still considered by many to be one of the most groundbreaking and influential comic works of all time.

Although it wasn't without some shortcomings in my opinion, I greatly enjoyed DC Animation Studios' adaptation of the first half of this story, "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1", and have since been waiting in anticipation for Part 2 to be released.

Monday, February 4, 2013

In Search Of Truth, Genesis 8:18-22



v.18-21

We skip ahead this week to the events just after the flood. The waters have receded and Noah, his family, and the creatures with him in the ark, all make their way onto land again.

Then Noah does something that is a little unusual and almost without precident in the Bible up to this point. He builds an altar and takes some of every "clean" animal and burns them on the altar as a gift offered to Yahweh.


Friday, February 1, 2013

Royden Lepp Interview and Hansel And Gretel Review (SBU Podcast)


My interview with "Rust" comic book creator Royden Lepp, a review of Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters, and the launch of our new cxontest!


SUBMISSIONS/FEEDBACK

Submit Questions, Comments or Content(written or audio file) to:

paeter(at)spiritblade(dot)net

OR

visit spiritblade.net/underground to leave a recorded message with your phone or computer for me to play on the show!I'd love for you to be a part of this podcast!

(For more information, visit spiritblade.net/submissions)

MORE CONTENT

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


Credits
The Spirit Blade Underground Podcast is written, recorded and produced by Paeter Frandsen, with additional segments produced by their credited authors.
Copyright 2012, Spirit Blade Productions
Music by Wesley Devine, Bjorn A. Lynne, Pierre Langer, and Sound Ideas.
Spazzmatica Polka by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Freesound.org effects provided by: FreqMan







Direct Download- http://www.spiritblade.net/podcastepisodes/SBU-251-Roydenn_Lepp_And_Hansel_And_Gretel.mp3

In Search Of Truth, Genesis 6:5-13




v. 5-7

It's a very dark time being described here. As horrible as our world may seem at times, the influence of Christ and his words can be seen almost everywhere. Not so here, in the early days of humanity, when God allowed humans to do what they wished without guiding or regulating them as a whole. The result in man was that "every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually".

We may sometimes cringe at the idea of a wrathful God. But imagine a world where everyone thought, planned and carried out evil upon each other at every opportunity. Imagine being a small child, an innocent victim in that world, and the idea of a just and wrathful God may seem a little more appropriate.

If God looked on this situation, saw those being harmed by it, and said, "I don't think I should be judgmental. They should just be free to do what they want," we would not call him good, or loving or fair. But God IS good, loving and fair (or more accurately, "just"). So God intervened. Without resorting to mind-control or puppeteering, preserving freedom of choice, God gave the human race as a whole another opportunity to be restored to what we were meant to be: beautiful reflections of God himself.

v.8-10

The Bible says that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation, and that he walked with God. The Hebrew word used here for "righteous" is "tsaddiyq" and generally means "just". We don't use the word "just" very often, so that in itself is worth unpacking.

Someone who is "just" is guided by reason, justice and fairness. They act based on what is right, lawful or truthful. They live in accordance with what is required of them by law.

As far as we know, God had not given any formal, universal law to humanity during or before this time in Noah's life, but we do know that everyone since the beginning of the world has had enough knowledge at some point in their lives to decide whether or not to pursue truth, which leads to God, or supress it. (Romans 1:18-21 and 2:14-15)

So Noah was a person who pursued obedience of God and endeavored to see the world and his own life the way God does. He lived his life in connection with God.

This doesn't mean he was sinless. Even humans that the Bible calls "righteous" still sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20) But no one living in Noah's time pointed blame at him.

v.11-13

The Hebrew word for "flesh" in these verses refers to created, physical life in general, as contrasted with God. The corruption that began with humanity resulted in all life being corrupted in some way. It may seem odd to us that God would wipe out animal life in addition to human life. After all, God could have simply engineered a plague specific to human biology, allowing the animal world to remain untouched. So why didn't he?

To be honest, I'm open to suggestions. But if I had to guess I'd say it has something to do with God's holiness (his complete "otherness", perfection and separation from anything remotely evil) and humanity's intended role of stewards and rulers of creation. (Genesis 1:26)

God's holiness is hard to grasp because it's so closely linked to his perfection, which we can only conceptualize in theory. When we become uncomfortable with the "judgmental" nature of God, it's because we aren't accurately thinking about his holiness.

Although it's not a topic we'll dive into right now, God's holiness is a topic we'll probably come back to often and explore much more deeply as we take this tour through parts of the Old Testament and try to understand more about this strange, amazing and wonderful God we serve.

Next time we'll look at the idea of "clean" and "unclean" animals, examine another sacrifice and define "covenants".