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Christian Gaming Podcast 16: FaceApp Challenge! Free Games For August! Hype Trains & More!

Christian Gaming Podcast Show Notes





Welcome to Episode 16 of Christian Gaming Podcast!

The Gaming Podcast focused on putting God before gaming, being more mindful of our faith while we are gaming, finding games Christians can feel good about playing, gaming news, and more!

Follow the show on Twitter: twitter.com/A_CGPodcast

You can follow me on twitter @RainnaPlays

Email the Show at AChristianGamingPodcast@gmail.com !

You can call the show at 269 248 1724


It is August 4, 2019!

I am your host Rainna SwiftSage


Jesus replied to the Devil in Matthew 4:4 "It is written: 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” that so make sure you get your Bible study on before you hop in game!

What did I learn in the bible this week?

Favorite Bible Verse?

I was going to cover the foot wear of the Armor of God this episode, but I felt God moving me to talk about FOMO, the fear of missing out, the #1 passenger of the Hype Train.


After seeing the latest trend pop up on social media, the Face App, I was reminded of the game I played whenever I went to my friend Beckys house growing up. It was called Lemmings. Lemmings is a puzzle-platformer video game that was popular in the early 90’s. The goal was to guide a certain percentage of the green-haired, blue-robed lemmings from the entrance to the exit by clearing or creating a safe passage through the landscape. They would sometimes break up , with the majority going in the same direction, marching in line following the leader. Sometimes they would make it to safety and sometimes they would follow each other off of a cliff. Im reminded that us humans may often resemble the robed lemmings of my childhood game. I find myself wondering who the leader is and why people choose to follow first and ask questions later. Im boggled by how fast the hype train takes off and build momentum. Sometimes they start with an internet challenge with one famous person challenging another to do something and then we follow suit. It isn't always questionable things. Sometimes it is for a good cause. I still wonder the origin though. Is it our need to fit in? Is it our desire to not be left behind? Are we genuinely amused or entertained? Or do we frankly not care enough to even wonder why we are doing something and instead just dive in? One thing I do find interesting, is that without a hefty amount of participants and sharing, many of these trends wouldn't get off the ground in the first place, so we are definitely a catalyst in my opinion.


All of these hype trains made me wonder, if we are so quick to run and watch the latest movie, download the latest game, or snap a selfie with the latest filter all so we can join the masses and share it on social media, what will we do when false messiahs and false prophets come and claim to be Jesus?

I can hear some of you now, WOAHHHH Rainna ...that escalated quickly! Yeah I know, the question may convict you as it did me, but its a valid question. I'm not one to sugar coat or avoid heavy topics, but I honestly felt God asking me this question too and I was immediately reminded of these bible verses in Matthew 24:3to 5 in the (NIV)

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.


Jesus Continues to educate us in Mathew chapter 24 : verses 23 to 26 by saying:


23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

25 See, I have told you ahead of time.

26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.


When these warnings from Jesus come to fruition, I wonder how fast that internet trend will take off. Will we toss the advice of Jesus out the window and rush to see the False Messiahs and false prophets just so we can post about it on social media? Will the FOMO start to set in and overpower any biblical advice we have been given, even by Jesus himself? I can't help but feel that these seemingly small rides on the hype train are practice runs. If we can’t fight off the feeling of FOMO over the most trivial of things, how will we hold up against the real thing? The bible says we are to be in the world but not of the world. That indeed is a balancing act, a balancing act we need to be aware of and continue to practice imo.


Everytime I log into twitter I see a new hype train pulling out of the station.

Some of the most recent being, The Avengers End Game, then Game of Thrones, Then Harry Potter Mobile game, the Gender Swap Filter, Then the latest Season of Stranger things, now the Face App Aging Filter… I know the Hype will never fully end as long as we value being included MORE than we value making wise choices and being informed.


Part of Another bible verse came to mind:

In Hosea 4:6 New King James Version (NKJV)

The Lord warns us saying


6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Because you have rejected knowledge...

(...I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

Because you have forgotten the law of your God,

I also will forget your children.)

A lot of times we still value being included even when we have been warned by credible sources, and that is the problem I feel is at the core of this. We reject knowledge on a small scale, will we and do we do it on the largest scale of all?


With the latest boom of the face app , many privacy concerns were brought to light, yet social media feeds continue to flow steady with FaceApp Elderly selfies. The fact that the app is a russian based app had many concerned with privacy risks too.


There has since been numerous articles and reports on these privacy concerns, one I read on Slate.com pointed out that :

when you use the app, you grant the russia based firm Wireless Lab , a lot of rights.

Those rights include a “perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, fully-paid, transferable sublicensable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, publicly perform and display your User Content … without compensation to you.”

The Slate article went further by pointed out that “basically means FaceApp can do whatever it wants with your photos, according to New York Law School professor Ari Waldman who said “You retain copyrights and photos that you upload, but you grant them the opportunity to pretty much do anything they want with the photos that are stored on their servers,””


An Article in the New York Times also touched a bit on the fact that there is an increasing popularity of consumer apps from countries with authoritarian governments and that is something many feel we need to keep an eye on. The article went further by addressing these concerns by saying, “A good example is the China-based video giant TikTok, which the kids love and which has already paid fines to the F.T.C. over privacy violations related to illegally collecting information from said children.”

Yikes!

So often we overlook the small print and the user agreements when we sign up for mobile games and apps and social media sites, but what user agreements are we over looking in our Christian life? Are we learning where the devil may be hiding in the details? Are we going to use the knowledge we are given in user agreements and the bible to make educated decisions, so we are not destroyed by our lack of knowledge?

I feel these are little hurdles we have to be able to jump over. A testing ground. If we can’t fight the FOMO over a dumb selfy filter, how will we stand up against false prophets and mesaiahs? You may feel that is a stretch or you may see it how it was impressed on me, that we are being groomed to follow the flow and I think we can all agree, Jesus did not follow the flow. Can I get an Amen!


I will end this Daily Bread with a bible verse that made it to me in an interesting way. My 6 year old daughter book marked Psalms 4 in my husbands bible this weekend during Church. I shared this Episodes daily bread with him before he left for work yesterday. He took his bible to work and thought he would read where our daughter had marked off it was Psalms 4. As he started to read he instantly knew this bible verse was heaven sent and definitely belongs in my daily bread , and I couldn't agree more.


Psalm 4:2 New King James Version (NKJV)

2 How long, O you sons of men,

Will you turn my glory to shame?

How long will you love worthlessness

And seek falsehood?


If we are going to ride any hype train Brothers and sisters, let it be a hype train for Jesus!


You can play lemmings on Apple now https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lemmings-the-official-game/id1238114713

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemmings_(video_game)


Carrier Pigeon has arrived with some mail!







Watch out for that poll!

https://twitter.com/A_CGPodcast/status/1153077427477917697

How affected are you by hype trains? Does FOMO ( fear of missing out) have a grip on you?

I ride hype trains often!

9%

I ignore hype trains 100%

23%

Sometimes I hop on & ride

66%

Other* (Tweet your reply)

3%


JoAnne of the Khaleesi's Khalasar@LolliJojo

Often I get on a train before the hype hits, and then jump off after it really speeds up. Lol


The Reformed Gamers@TRGPodcast

Used to get on hype trains ALL THE TIME. But these days, it’s only the games I truly enjoy that I get hyped about. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 being the most recent.


Retro Rewind Podcast@retrorewindpod

I only hop on very rarely - Cobra Kai being the last one I did, and can't remember the last time before that.


Bryan Ray@Midgaard77

I am contrarian enough to mistrust anything with a lot of hype behind it. Give something enough weight, and I'm liable to skip it entirely. I've still never seen Avatar, for instance. Or Game of Thrones.


What I've been upto:

Outlaws of the Old West on my biscuits server! If you want to join me,just contact me and I'll give you the password. Im building up homestead atm. So much to see in the game so far.

Biscuit Brigade podcast www.BiscuitBrigade.com

Finally getting to play on my Ark server.

I hated logging into the Crystal Isles map. It was so foggy a lot of the time and I could not enjoy myself at all. It is a pretty map, I added a lot of new mods and the new Valguaro map! So excited to try it out! The Human NPC mod is already proving to be hilarious. The tribe people are actually building forts lol it is hilarious to see! The taaming is done with emotes too lol So this will be interesting!

You can join my server from www.RainnaPlays.com




Gaming News

Games that don't make you feel like you're compromising our faith!

Gaming News

Gaming/Christian Info


Classic Wow Beta ended July 12th and will launch in August

Ran from may 15th to July 12th 2019

Mark your calendars: WoW Classic goes live worldwide August 27! Whether your battle cry is “For the Horde!” or “For the Alliance!”, there’s no shortage of adventure awaiting you in the vast continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.

https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/news/22990080/mark-your-calendars-wow-classic-launch-and-testing-schedule


Free PS4 Plus Games or August

On August 6. Wipeout Omega Collection and Sniper Elite 4 will be available to claim until September 2.


August 2019 free Games With Gold games

Gears of War 4 (Xbox One) - Available August 1 - 31. ...

Forza Motorsport 6 (Xbox One) - Available August 16 - September 15. ...

Big Crown: Showdown (Xbox One) Available July 16 - August 15. ...

Torchlight (Xbox 360, Xbox One) - Available August 1 - August 15.

Free Epic Games Store games for this week

FOR HONOR – STANDARD EDITION Normally $39.99 now free till August 9 2019

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/for-honor/home


Alan Wake is free till August 9 . It normally runs $14.99

https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/product/alan-wake/home



Ninja Switches from Twitch to Mixer


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/01/arts/mixer-ninja-twitch-fortnite.html

Multimillionaire gamer Tyler Blevins, 28, known as Ninja, says he has a deal to stream exclusively on Mixer.

He’s quit Twitch, the Amazon service where he had over 14 million followers.

He posted a video announcement on Twitter making the announcement

In the video Ninja said “I know this may come as a shock to many of you, but as of today I will be streaming exclusively on Mixer. I feel like this is a really good chance to get back in touch with my roots and really remember why I fell in love with streaming in the first place.”

Mixer was originally called Beam and was acquired by Microsoft in 2016 and renamed in 2017.

Loaded, the company that manages Ninja was quoted in an article in the New York Times stating the company, declined to comment on how much Mr. Blevins was being paid as part of the deal, but said that “the decision was overwhelmingly not driven by the monetary value.”

Some additional reasons he listed for the move to mixer included:

the opportunity to attract new viewers was a consideration

Due to mixer being able to directly connect to an Xbox, mixer generally has a younger audience because younger gamers are more likely to play on consoles than personal computers

His manager added that Xbox is the dominant console of the day and Windows is the platform of Halo, the first game Ninja played as a professional gamer.


I dusted off my Old Mixer account I had created back in october of 2016. I used to stream my podcasts from there as well as game play for a bit.

What I like about mixer:

The ability to costream with a click of a button.

The more strict Dress Code for streamers.

The lack of annoying 30 second commercials that twitch has.

The smaller streaming pool.

The option to use FTL , FTL is Mixers an option available to stream with. It is a streaming protocol that allows for sub-second video latency when streaming.

What I don't like:

The fact Stream elements does not work with mixer.

The fact that I could not search for a certain streamer only for a specific game.

The fact that I dont know anyone who actively streams on MIxer because there is such a gap in popularity between the two platforms.

As a PC gamer, it was kinda a bummer to connect with other gamers, but have them only be able to play with me if I had an xbox. Or they would ask if the game I was playing was on xbox and I wouldn't know because I am a pc gamer.

The biggest thing I hated was the fact I could not make a clip or highlight of my game play like I can on Twitch. Their clip making ability is still considered in beta after or a year and is only available to partners. So derp imo.

It feel like nothing has changed in the almost three years since I have streamed from Mixer and I am not sure why a streamer of Ninjas caliber would even make that leap given the lack of functionality with Mixer. I really had hoped they would have fleshed all of that out before they would invite big names over to the platform. It doesn't make much sense to me :)

https://twitter.com/RainnaPlays/status/1157354992652771329


Just curious about the latest hype-train (Ninja moving from Twitch to Mixer)...

Are you a streamer on another platform who is going to hop over to Mixer? Are you staying where you're at? #Mixer #Ninja #NinjaAnnouncement #twitch #YouTube #streamer

Staying where I'm at! 33%

Hopping over to Mixer! 19%

Who's Ninja? 15%

Who cares! It's Friday! 33%


Kyle Giersdorf, who is best known as "Bugha" in the gaming world, took home $3 million for winning the Fortnite World Cup.

he beat out the 40 million players who entered the online competition

That number was whittled down to 100 participants who went at it Sunday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.

Epic Games which is the parent company behind Fortnite, already dished out $10 million in cash during the first round, then another $30 million going to the game's top players during the weekend.

Other events at the tournament included a Pro-Am and duos play.

In an article in cnbc, it was stated that Kyle Giersdorf had been working toward this goal for a long time. His mother Darcy was quoted saying “He’s been playing video games since he was 3, so this is his passion.“He told us he could do this, he put his mind to it and he did it.”

In an interview on NBC’s TODAY Kyle said “It was honestly, like, surreal,” “But at the same time I had no emotion, honestly, because I didn’t really understand what was happening. But, it was crazy.”

Kyle told the today show, “He plays Fortnite at least six hours each day”

Kyle also said he still finds time to finish his school work.

Kyles parents said they always told him that as long as his grades were up they would support him, but there would be consequences if his grades started to slip.


My Thoughts:

I struggle with this. The kid in me is like woo hoo!!!!! Get it kid! Who wouldn't love to make 3 million dollars playing a video game really well?

The mom in me is like WHAT? 6 or more hours a day? When does he have time to be a kid? When does he have time to spend with his family? Does he get to ever take time to smell the roses? Appreciate a beautiful day? I wouldnt want my kids doing anything but sleep for over 6 hours. Wheres the moderation? What are the parents doing? Living a bachelor bachelorette life while a videogame babysat their kid since he was three?

The Christian in me is sad. My social media feeds were full of praise for this kid, from chirsitians and non christians alike and yet no one thought about the end game? If you are devoting every minute of your life to playing a video game when does this young soul get fed ? Will that 3 million dollars go with him when he passes on someday?I pray he has or will have someone in his life that was preparing him for the real end game. The real prize that money can't buy. Eternity with his heavenly father that loves him more than anyone earthly ever could.

Did you notice his reaction? He was unphased and said it felt surreal. To me that is the effect of having a God shaped hole in his heart that 3 million dollars cant fill.


Game Spotlight

ABOUT THIS GAME

Very Positive (473)

ALL REVIEWS:Mostly Positive (5,694)

RELEASE DATE:Dec 8, 2015

DEVELOPER:

Virtual Basement LLC, Code Headquarters LLC

PUBLISHER: Virtual Basement LLC

Take part of history’s greatest battle of Green VS. Tan. Fight amongst and against others online. Jump, shoot and roll your way into victory with fast paced objective based gameplay. Sometimes the greatest battles are fought by the smallest of soldiers.


The Mean Greens is a 3rd-person shooter played from the perspective of toy army soldiers. Match up with others online for some friendly multiplayer competition. Enjoy a huge battle of up to 10 players in each environmentally unique map.


10 Modes

10 Maps

6 Weapons

5v5 Multiplayer Battles

Full Controller Support

Voice Chat

Text Chat

Party Matchmaking

Dedicated Servers


What does a bathtub, sunken boats, rubber ducks and a giant octopus have in common? The Mean Greens Bathtub Bash that’s what! Hop onto the floating rubber ducks and ride to the sunken ships in the middle of the map. Avoid crossfire, grab a flag off of the ship, and carry it to your base. The team with the most flags at the end of the round wins.



It’s game night! As The Mean Greens battle against each other in an all-out paper-craft war, more than dice will roll across this table. Go head-to-head as tan and green teams fight for control of the city. The objective is simple, be the first team to reach 30 kills.



Even a beautiful aquatic adventure has its dangers. Run over aquarium décor and capture flags in sunken ruins as you square off in an underwater playground. Fight your way across the duel bridges to steal the flag that sits in the sunken temples.

This map puts a whole new twist on the traditional capture the flag mode with its “Low – gravity” action and captivating nautical theme.



It’s full on war to conquer the countertop in this decked out kitchen! Push the other team’s cup off the counter and destroy their only way to zipline into your territory.



The mood is a bit chilly as you fight your way through this food-filled freezer. Everyone melts the ice cube in the center to get to the lower level, and then it’s a mad rush as you try to free your frozen dinosaur before the opposing team releases theirs.



This train is leaving the station with or without you! Enjoy this Christmas themed level while you travel over holiday sweets to claim your capture points on this nostalgic toy train. It’s tug-of-war, as both tan and green teams battle back and forth to maintain control of all three capture points.



This farm style soccer match is a new take on Foosball that you’ve never experienced before. Shoot, blast, and push the ball into the enemies’ barn to score the most points. Don’t drop the ball and watch out for the moving 3-rod pigs and cows.



Got game? Explore a colorful world on top of chessboards, boxes, and racetracks. Hold the center of the map in this traditional King of the Hill game mode. Just don’t get hit by the other team or the racing cars.



It’s birthday time, but the other team is full of party-poopers that don’t want the festivities to begin. Fight your way up the cake and start the celebration by lighting all the candles on each layer. The attacking team must jump from the gelatin launch pad and onto the multi-layered cake to light each candle. The defending team must fend off the other team’s attempts to light each wick until time is up.



Turn the tables on your opponent in this death match. Be as crafty as you can to survive and mark your territory. Perfect the art of combat and chalk up those points to make it into the Champions Circle!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/360940/The_Mean_Greens__Plastic_Warfare/


Heading to the Steam Room to tell you about a new game released into EA called:

Founders' Fortune

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1104330/Founders_Fortune/

A fantasy colony simulator focusing on creative building, colonist psychology and base defense. Handle resources, farming, production, tools, weapons, armor, trading, defense, and research, as well as the wishes, expectations, thoughts, and possessions of every colonist.

Build Your Colony,Take Care Of Your Colonists,Deal With Tantrums,Set up your Farm,Survive Winter,Trade Goods and Get Rich,Research Technologies, Protect Your Outpost Tikigoblins living there are not all that happy about your settling efforts and might pay you a visit to try to get you to stop.


RELEASE DATE:Jul 19, 2019

$18.00


What Should We call it?

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

The Sharkfin Syndicate

The Cobalt Thorn Sisterhood

The Grizzly Fang Crew

The Azure Rebel Syndicate

The Orange Angels

The Ice Lions

The Gold Tigers

The Crystal Lions

The Abandoned

The Green Water Crew



Closing Thought

As we go into our gaming realms this week, let us be intentional and mindful with our actions.

What’s something we can do to glorify God in and out of game?

Please let me know what you came up with!

Lets keep our brothers and sisters all over the world in our prayers.

Send any prayer requests ( private or public) you'd like to share to:

AChristianGamingPodcast@gmail.com or tweet the show @A_CGPodcast!







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