Dave Mattingly 3:51 pm on November 20, 2015

Let Creation Rejoice

I’m a Christian, and sometimes a teacher/preacher.

Since I come from a science geek background, here’s a lesson I did on how cool the universe is.

Let All Creation Rejoice

1. Creation is a Concert.

The mathematician Pythagoras and astronomer Kepler wanted to explain the motion of the planets, and (sort of) discovered that if the orbit of each planet was a different musical note, their paths would constitute recognizable chords that form a melodic tune. Modern scientists theorize that tiny dancing strings hum at unique frequencies.

Let the fields and their crops burst with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise! (Psalm 96:12)
Let the sea resound, and everything in it. Let the rivers clap, and mountains sing for joy. (Psalm 98:7-8)
Jesus told them, “If my disciples keep quiet, the very stones will cry out.” (Luke 19:40)
The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands. (Isaiah 55:12)

2. Creation is Recent

Many books cover the topic in greater detail than I can:

In Six Days by John Ashton
Studies in Flood Geology by John Woodmorappe
Young Earth by John Morris

Evidence suggests that:

the Milky Way galaxy would have lost its spiral arms if billions of years had passed
Earth’s magnetic field is decaying at an exponential rate
Dr. Gerald Schroeder has a one-hour lecture covering much of this

3. Creation is Evident

Creation sings, but I hope it won’t sing like the Singing Bush.

Since creation, God’s eternal qualities and divine nature have been obvious from what has been made, so that mankind is without an excuse. (Romans 1:20)

4. Creation is Amazing

The world is beautiful. Take a look at:

And have fun with this video from Louis CK.

5. Creation is Temporary

Our time here on the planet is not going to last forever.

The end of the world is coming soon. (1 Peter 4:7)
Jesus said, “No one knows the hour.” (Matt 24:36)
“I go to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:3)
From His mouth comes a sharp sword to strike down nations. On His robe is “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (Rev 19:14-16)

6. Creation is Eager

Creation groans in anticipation. For what? For us to show ourselves to be followers of God.

“What are you waiting for?”
“I don’t know. Something amazing, I guess.”

All creation awaits in eager expectation for the children of God to reveal themselves. (Romans 8:19)

C – Concert
R -Recent
E – Evident
A – Amazing
T – Temporary
E – Eager

So… go out there, and be amazing!

Download the PowerPoint.

Dave Mattingly 6:33 pm on November 11, 2015

Louisville Comic Con

This past weekend, I attended the Wizard World Louisville Comic Con. Wizard World is a national organization that hosts comic book conventions in various cities around the country.

I like going to these, to meet the authors and artists, to shop at the various vendors who carry all sorts of memorabilia and oddities. There were toys, sculptures, knick knacks, gadgets, games, and more — over a hundred vendors.

But one of the biggest attractions for me is the costumes. I saw Mr. Freeze and Scarecrow, Batman and Catwoman, the Joker and Harley Quinn, Static Shock, Red X, Batman Beyond, Beast Boy, Deathstroke, Supergirl, Thor, Kingpin, Dr. Octopus, the Mad Hatter, Beetlejuice, a Discworld wizard, Vashta Nerada, Medusa and Jeepers Creepers, a Guy Fawkes Teletubby (that I can’t unsee), and many more.

I wore two of my own costumes there — Mini-Me, and Cyborg Pirate Ninja Jesus.

Here’s some coverage from a local TV station and newspaper.

There are similar conventions in Louisville, each with a different focus and run by a different group:

ConGlomeration is a nonprofit fan-run science fiction convention, and my personal favorite; crowds are small and friendly
Derby City Comic Con is fairly new and rapidly growing, with plenty of local creators
WonderFest is a special effects and model-building convention, and attracts a lot of Hollywood pros
FandomFest has grown rapidly into a 30,000-ish fan convention, with a focus on celebrities
Louisville Anime Weekend collects cartoon creators and fans
Imaginarium is a creative writing convention with top-notch programming
Fright Night is focused on horror films

Besides enjoying the usual festivities of being among my own kind, I also held the church service on Sunday morning.

My sermon this time was based on Ghostbusters, in honor of my friend Ryan Kemp who passed away recently. The scripture I used was Luke 16:19-31, with references to Psalms 146:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, Isaiah 8:19, Leviticus 19:31, Revelation 12:9, James 4:7, 1 John 4:1, Romans 8:38, Matthew 27:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16, and Acts 24:15. The gist was that we don’t need to be afraid of no ghosts, because greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.

As usual, I game a shout-out to various geeky ministries.

Dave Mattingly 1:21 pm on October 28, 2015

Odd Ministries

Halloween is this weekend! My favorite holiday. I love the creativity and artistry that goes into costume design. I find that the costume-wearing community (often known as cosplayers, for costume play) are a friendly and enthusiastic bunch.

In the past, I’ve made a variety of my own costumes — Cap’n Crunch, Cyborg Pirate Ninja Jesus, Mini-Me, and others.

Some people consider it odd that as born-again Christian like me is into Halloween and similar events. But I don’t see it as a problem at all — costumes are sometimes a part of my ministry. Science ficiton, games, costumes, technology, cartoons, and other “geeky” activities are celebrated by thousands of enthusiasts in cities all over the world. Wearing a costume sometimes opens metaphorical doors for me that would sometimes be hard to get into. It allows me to have conversations that may be hard to arrange otherwise.

Here are some of the Christian geeky groups that I’m involved in:

Christian Gamers Guild, focused on tabletop games such as board games, card games, and roleplaying games
Game Church, focused on electronic games
Fans for Christ, encompassing all of fandom, from costumes to comics to games to anime (now defunct)
Grave Robbers, focusing on Christian goths and punks
CrossCon, focusing on information security professionals, aka “hackers”
Costumers for Christ, because dressing up is fun

And some great people / groups / media that I keep up with:

Geek Preacher, a Methodist Minister from Tennessee, and all-around nerd
MJ Young, gamer, author, and chaplain
Steve Racer, actor, author, and cosplayer
Hackers for Charity, security experts who support and train Uganda street kids
Geekdom House, Kyle Rudge’s outreach from his church to the geeks
The Dice Steeple podcast about board games and card games
Saving the Game, a podcast about roleplaying
Game Store Prophets and InnRoads Ministries, a podcast about Jesus and gaming
Christ and Pop Culture, examining overlaps and conflicts
Strangers and Aliens, a podcast reminding us of our true home
Geek Orthodox podcast
Hacking Christianity, extracting truth nuggets from the Word
Geeks Under Grace, uniting in differences

In a week, I’ll be preaching at Wizard World’s Louisville Comic Con. This is my first time preaching at this particular event (only in its second year here, although Wizard World has been running events in other cities for a long time).

This sermon will be Ghostbusters-themed, as a tribute to my friend Ryan Kemp.

Here are some fun costumes I’ve come across over the years:

Dave Mattingly 10:19 am on October 23, 2015

KempProv

My friend Marshall Ryan Kemp (usually known simply as “Kemp”) died last week.

He was hit by a pickup truck while he was driving to the children’s hospital to entertain the kids by dressing up in his Ghostbusters costume.

Volunteering his time to cheer up sick children was not at all uncommon for Kemp. He certainly devoted more time to cheering up sick children than I did. He died doing what he loved — bring smiles to others. (Actually, it was while he was driving to the hospital to do so, but you know what I’m saying.)

It made me wonder — any of us could go at any time, but what will what I’m doing at the time say about who I am? Like most people, the biggest chunk of my time is spent working or sleeping, or eating or doing chores and such, but when I’m not doing those, where does my time go? If someone were to spin a giant wheel-of-fortune to pick an activity during that time, would it land on something that I’d want to be known for?

Kemp’s time went into what he loved and what he believed in. Can I say the same? Or has my life become too routine?

If you knew Kemp, share your memories on the Remembering Kemp facebook group, or by using the #ForKemp hashtag on Twitter.

At the funeral, his Ghostbusters friends all came. They drove the Ecto-Mobile, and I took this picture that turned out to be unintentionally awesome. The sunlight gave the Ecto-Mobile a “spirit aura” and a sunbeam reflecting from the siren projected a “sunshine smile” on the ground. I think that Kemp would have approved.

Two of the improv comedy troupes that Kemp was involved in are performing some KempProv tributes this Saturday at The Bard’s Town.

Here’s a song parody that I wrote in Kemp’s honor:

If there’s someone sad / In your neighborhood / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If you’re feeling bad / And you need some good / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If gloomy thoughts / Run around your head / Who can you call / KempProvster!
If your heart’s in knots / When you go to bed / Who you gonna call / KempProvster!
If you’re all alone / Pick up the phone / And call / KempProvster!
If your funny bone / Hasn’t fully grown / You better call / KempProvster!