{"id":4569,"date":"2015-11-24T17:32:42","date_gmt":"2015-11-25T00:32:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/?p=4569"},"modified":"2015-11-24T17:35:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T00:35:21","slug":"stained-glass-brings-gospel-to-video-game-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithwalkers\/2015\/11\/stained-glass-brings-gospel-to-video-game-industry\/","title":{"rendered":"“Stained Glass” Brings Gospel to Video Game Industry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u201cIt\u2019s just a game!\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve all heard that expression countless times, usually to justify the game in a situation where someone seems to have overreacted to losing, or maybe when someone feels the game is unfair.<\/p>\n

But what if that game brought the gospel to the video game industry?<\/a><\/p>\n

$\"StainedGlass_gameplay1\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

When is a game NOT just a game?\u00a0 At what point does it truly become a negative influence on the player?<\/p>\n

When I came across this video from Lightside Games, I had just seen my pre-teen son absorbed in playing Iron Man 3 on his iPod.<\/p>\n

But this is different.<\/p>\n<\/iframe>\n<p>Statistics tell us that more than 600 million people play mobile games worldwide today, and the reality is that the App Store is completely lacking in positive, family-friendly, uplifting gaming content \u2013 much less any games that contains a biblical message.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/lightsidegames.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Lightside Games<\/a>, the world\u2019s leading Christian gaming company, wants to change that.<\/p>\n<p>They want to do for gaming what the Kendrick Brothers did for film with hits like <em>Courageous<\/em>, <em>Fireproof<\/em>, and <em>War Room<\/em>; what Mark Burnett did for television with his <em>The Bible<\/em> miniseries; and what artists like Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant did for music: b<em>ring an authentic, Christian voice to popular, mainstream entertainment.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>I really think they\u2019re onto something.<\/p>\n<p>Almost anywhere I go where waiting is involved, I see people with their mobile devices either surfing Facebook or playing games.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen countless kids \u2013 even toddlers \u2013 staying quiet and entertained while playing games on Mom\u2019s or Dad\u2019s phone. \u00a0I\u2019ve even seen them playing games while at Disney World, for goodness\u2019 sake.<\/p>\n<p>And while I\u2019m sure parents are well-intentioned and are getting a quiet kid, what\u2019s really happening?<\/p>\n<h3>The Stained Glass Video Game<\/h3>\n<p>Lightside\u2019s newest game, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lightsidegames.com\/stained-glass\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\" decorated-link\" rel=\"nofollow\">Stained Glass<\/a>, takes all the fun of a super popular \u201cmatch-3\u201d puzzle game that offers 240 levels of challenges, and then adds an interesting twist:\u00a0 each level unlocks stained glass fragments that transform into scenes from God\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>The beautiful artwork is enhanced by great music, including the hit song \u201cOceans\u201d by Hillsong United.<\/p>\n<p>Players can challenge their Facebook friends, compare scores, and vie for the top spot on the leaderboard.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Therefore do not be partners with them. <strong><sup>\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>For you were once\u00a0darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light(for the fruit\u00a0of the light consists in all goodness,\u00a0righteousness and truth)\u00a0and find out what pleases the Lord.\u00a0Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,\u00a0but rather expose them.\u00a0It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret.But everything exposed by the light\u00a0becomes visible\u2014and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. \u00a0(Ephesians 5: 7-13, NIV)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Check it out. See what you think. Leave a comment with your thoughts below.<\/p>\n<p>Game on!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cIt\u2019s just a game!\u201d We\u2019ve all heard that expression countless times, usually to justify the game in a situation where someone seems to have overreacted to losing, or maybe when someone feels the game is unfair. But what if that game brought the gospel to the video game industry? When is a game NOT just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1084,"featured_media":4574,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5],"tags":[681,18,1012,1008,339,297,1009,1010,49,182,1011],"class_list":["post-4569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-living","category-culture","tag-christian-culture","tag-christian-living-2","tag-christian-video-game","tag-games","tag-gospel","tag-kids","tag-online-games","tag-online-safety","tag-parenting","tag-raising-kids","tag-stained-glass-video-game"],"yoast_head":"\n<title>"Stained Glass" Brings Gospel to Video Game Industry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cIt\u2019s just a game!\u201d We\u2019ve all heard that expression countless times, usually to justify the game in a situation where someone seems to have overreacted to\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" 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