Role Playing Games (RPG): Card or computer games in which children
play the role of a character in a fantasy world. To win the game, many
children imagine that they have power to do magic and casts spells. God
warns us to have nothing to do with such occult forces.
Brian's
story:
It all
started back in the spring of 1998. I was eleven years old, and my family
had just gotten on the Internet. I thought it was wonderful. Soon I got into
role-playing online, and it was SO addictive. Those who say that RPGs are
harmless and helpful have NO idea what they are talking about. My
"character" got "killed" and I was very upset. It was as if a part of me had
died. Soon I had a new character, and I was hooked on it more so than ever.
In the
fall of '98 though, I got tossed by AOL for bad language in a RP
[role-playing] chat, and I lost ALL of my privileges except for website
visiting and e-mail. At first I thought it was terrible, but I gradually
adjusted, and used the Internet for reference. Then, after three months, my
mother gave my chat privileges back. I was fine for a little while until I
got re-ensnared in RPGs .
By early
spring of 1999 it was terrible. I had become more obsessed than ever and
spent almost all of my free time online role-playing. I soon began to spiral
downward.
When
summer rolled around, I had more free time. In the real world, I had made
some new friends. Now I spent most of my day role-playing and my nights
talking to my "friends". When they offered me marijuana, I willingly
accepted. (The RPGs had lowered my resistance to bad ideas, etc.) I smoked
it and got a buzz off of it. That felt good. A few days later, one of my
friends took me to a nearby lake, and offered me a pipe full of smoking
marijuana. I took it, and smoked it, I got VERY high, he walked me home, and
we sat outside talking for hours. Soon, I was smoking it regularly (By the
way, I am an asthmatic). Soon I was immersed in drugs and in total rebellion
toward my mom.
By this
time, school had started back up, and I was discussing drug use, etc. with
the burnouts at my school. It didn't work too well though. I also went to
church, so I had to keep a double life going.
One
weekend I went with the youth group on a trip. It was wonderful! When we got
back, I repented and gave my life to Jesus. Then I tore up my $50 deck of
pokemon cards. I know that He has forgiven all my sins, and now I try to
save others.
It was
hard to explain my faith to my non-Christian friends. They thought I had
become kind of weird. The Game-Playing friends acted like I didn't exist,
especially when I tried to share the Gospel with them. It was hard, but it
was worth it. I read in the Bible that no matter what happens on earth, it's
only temporary.
I now
spend a lot of my time trying to witness to people. Some make fun of me and
others ignore me, and sometimes it really hurts. But some respect me even if
they don’t want to believe or listen. In any case, I want to follow Jesus.
He freed me from the role-playing obsession through the cross. He has
pardoned me by his blood, and I am on my way to heaven. That’s what really
counts.
God's Word
Remember, people who reject God also reject God's people. So when Brian
began to follow Jesus, his old friends didn't want to be with him anymore.
They sensed the life of Jesus inside Brian, and they felt uncomfortable when
they did bad things.
But
Bryan knew something they didn't know. He knew that Jesus had forgiven him
and would be his friend forever. If he would choose to trust his wonderful
Shepherd, then God would lead him and enable him to follow. By himself he
would have been afraid to upset his friends and talk about God. Every good
thing he did would be by God's grace -- a gift that he didn't deserve.
That's why this verse became one of Bryan's favorite:
"For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves;
it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
Ephesians 2:8-9
Let's talk about it.
1. What
does Ephesians 2:8-9 tell us about our wonderful God?
2. What
do the same verses tell us about God's love for Bryan?
3.
Sometimes it is hard to understand why the "world" -- mainly the people who
don't know Jesus -- rejects true Christianity. But 2 Corinthians 2:14-16
shows us one of the reasons why people turn away, even when we try to show
them God's love. What does it say?
"Now thanks
be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us
diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. For we are to
God the fragrance of Christ among those who are saved and among those
who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to
death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life."
4. How
can God's special grace help you to walk bravely with Him, even if your
friends turn against you?
"Be
strong and of good courage;
do not be afraid, nor be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9
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