Waching daily Apr 24 2018

Hi. Today I'd like to talk to you about your relationship with God and being

confident in who you are to walk out that relationship.

So, over the years I've had the opportunity to talk to people about God, about their

relationship with God, how God loves them. And there's many responses to that - how

people feel their personal spirituality, their relationship that they have with God

but often, really a lot of the time people talk about how people who say

that they're in a relationship with God and profess that they are in a community

that believes in God are behaving negatively. Not only to other people

within the community but to them in particular, and they look to these people

and they say, you know what? If this is the way that somebody who is in a

relationship with God behaves, you know what, I really question who this God is

and so I'm not going to pursue who this God is. I will, you know, do my own

personal relationship with God outside of the God of the Bible. Because that's

generally what they're thinking. "The God of the Bible has produced this kind of

person and why would I want to be in that relationship?" And so I want to talk

about that, and and, you know, Yeshua (Jesus) talks about that a great deal and it's

called hypocrisy, and people who profess one thing and then behave another way.

When we see hypocrisy, when we see people behaving the way that they're not

congruent with perhaps what scripture says, what God says about us, we say, "Okay,

well they mustn't understand who God is and I'm going to find out for myself who

God is." And we don't allow actually God to inform us or tell us who He is and

really, the loudest way that He tells us, the loudest voice of God and the most

direct way is through His Word - through His Scripture. And that's how I would

encourage you to engage Him. If you don't have a Bible please email me

below: matthew@mercygathered.com and give me your address. I'd be happy to

send you a Bible so that you can look into His word and personally allow Him

to tell you who He is. Teachers are good, pastors, rabbis, leaders

are very good for helping us to understand difficult scriptures but it ...

you can't beat that personal interaction of meditation on God's Word. When you are

seeking Him out wholeheartedly I guarantee you, I guarantee you He's going

to answer you, He's going to show up, and He's going to tell you who He is and ...

While that's all that... I mean, that's that whole picture of in a previous video

talking about who we are. God wants us to be right here walking with Him and

that's what that looks like. Walking with Him, seeking His Word, spending that time

with Him is where He wants us to be. So in the book of James He does discuss

hypocrisy throughout that book a lot. One of the things that He encourages is that,

you know, we don't want to seek the wisdom of this world. And that's what we

do, maybe not thinking about it - when we decide well we're going to go ahead and

and decide who God is for ourselves and look around the world and say this is

how things are supposed to be and this is what I expect God to be doing. He says

don't do that, seek the wisdom which comes from above. There's so much, there's

so much in that because the wisdom from above is not like the wisdom here in the

world. That wisdom from this world really depends on man and their perception of

things and, and it really allows us to decide who God is instead of Him

revealing who He is. So not only do we look to His Word for guidance to know

who He is but we also, you know, meditate and allow Him to

reveal who He is and that's what seeking the wisdom from above - seeking His spirit

to reveal things to us. It says in the book of James that this type of wisdom

is pure, that it is peaceable, it should bring shalom, it should be an avenue of

shalom. That it is unwavering, that it really is not biased in any way. That it

is filled - I'm paraphrasing but - filled with mercy and that all of what it

brings is good fruit. So that's really how we should approach our relationship

with God. We're not allowing others to decide who God is, we're not looking to

others to define Him. Yes, we're in community to help one another along the

way and, and we'll discuss in future videos how the body is there to support

one another, but it doesn't replace who and how we're supposed to have a direct

relationship with God. There's this interaction with Yeshua and His

disciples and He says, "who do, who do people say I am?" And the disciples answer,

"some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, others say that you

are the Prophet Jeremiah." And Yeshua says, "well, but, who do you say I am?"

And Peter says to Him, "You are the Messiah, You are the Son of the Living

God." So, despite what others were thinking, despite what other people had the

perception of who Jesus was, it was that personal time - the disciples had spent

three years with Yeshua and it was that personal relationship that helped Peter

to understand who Jesus really was. And the Lord says to him, "blessed are you,

Peter, for flesh and blood didn't reveal this to you but My Father who is in

Heaven revealed it to you." So I encourage you not to just allow others to

determine your walk with the Lord, ultimately your destiny, your eternal

relationship with Him, but allow our Heavenly Father - who has given us so much

access to Him through His Word, through His Son, through His Spirit - allow Him to

be the one to reveal the truth of who He is.

So when somebody says, "you know, I have my own personal relationship. I, I'm, I'm

spiritual. I'm seeking Him on my own and and this is how God is" we're really

determining who He is by our own thoughts, our own desires, or even our own

perceptions of how the world is. I encourage you to allow God to tell you

who He is. You want people to know who you are not by what other one... other

people say about you, but by what you say about you. So I encourage you to find out

what God says about Himself, what He demonstrates about Himself, and even

allow Him to personally demonstrate who He is in your life. Remember we're all in

this boat together. We're all figuring out who we are. The

Lord's transforming us. Sometimes we don't get it right, but don't allow

someone else getting it wrong to influence your relationship with God.

Because you're not going to get it right every single time. Thankfully the Lord is

so loving and caring that He's going to - in spite of our missteps, our wanderings,

our struggles - He's going to remain the same no matter what. So my question to

you is this: are you allowing others' hypocrisy, their human-ness to determine

your relationship with God? Why? Why are you allowing others to determine your

present walk with God here and even your eternal destiny? Why would you let

someone else determine that for you? Why not allow God, who is more than able and

desires too deeply, show you who He is? Just like Yeshua asked Peter "who do

you say I am"... who do you say God is? Is it based on the wisdom of man, how I

perceive the world's going to be? Or is it how God is presenting Himself in His

Word and through His Son? So in our time together, we've touched on how people can

influence our view of God. So I want to encourage you today - and for those that

don't have Bibles, again email me and I'd be happy to send you a Bible - but seek

Him on a personal level. Seek Him for yourself. Open up His Word and allow Him

to tell you who He is. And when you encounter Him, don't make a quick

judgment and say, "okay, well that was weird and, and this God must be this..."

Allow Him - anything that might be a difficult question to

answer - allow Him to reveal the truth of the

situation. Very easily we go ahead and allow ourselves to make a snap judgment

and say, "okay, I'm done with this" or "I don't understand that" but I encourage

you to spend that time - I encourage you to really allow Him to share who He is

through His Word and through your time of meditation with Him. So who knew the

Everglades was so well-traveled? I've had such a wonderful time being able to

share with you, but also talk to the many people who are out here in the

Everglades. So maybe take a visit to the Everglades and meet all the people that

are out here. Enjoy the beautiful weather and share God's love.

For more infomation >> Who Decides Who God Is? - Duration: 12:08.

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Welcome to the Game 2: The Story You Never Knew - Duration: 12:11.

Welcome To The Game 2 is one hell of a messed up experience.

Between trying to save a girl's life, dodging the police, hiding from an assassin named

Lukas and desperately looking for keys hidden on various pages of the deep web, we're

given very little time to actually think about the situation that's been presented to us.

I mean...we're given plenty of time but it's stressful!

And yet, its the situation our character, Clint Edwards, finds himself in that is really

the most interesting part of the game.

Clint is a reporter investigating the disappearance of a woman, Amelea, who's livestreaming

a frantic explanation that she's being hunted by some people in masks.

These people, the Noir, are a radical group of masked dickbags who get really upset when

you walk towards them and disappear if you don't look at them for 30 seconds.

I don't understand what Amaela is so scared of them for, but hey, maybe she didn't figure

out that game mechanic.

Our task is to free her, and we're told that the only way to do so is to find eight

hashes, eight keys, hidden throughout the deep web, and piece them together to form

a digital tunnel to the shadow web so we can find Amaela's location and save her.

If you didn't understand what I just said, it doesn't really matter, all you really

need to know is the game revolves around finding digital keys that look like this and you have

to put all eight together to find Amaela's location before she's killed.

Those hashes are hidden on anything from a furry website to a semen salesman site, to

one where a man is renting out his daughter as a sex slave, and many others.

Each one is more gut wrenching than the last, but this is the task we've set out to do.

The stomach churning, disturbing, uncomfortableness the game gives it's players is more than

just a stylistic choice by the creators.

What we're looking at here is a philosophical interpretation of something we all struggle

with.

Every website in this game has the potential to be real, to have its mirror image on the

real dark web.

This game may be fantasy, but it's design is based in realism and that's what we're

going to explore today.

So prepare yourself, to look inward at your own darker nature, to come face to face with

a truth we all would rather sweep under the rug.

This is the story of everything wrong with society and humanity.

The story of horrors beyond reason, the story, you never knew.

Welcome To The Game exposes a real dichotomy within people.

When we watch Amaela's livestream, it isn't being broadcast to just anyone, it's being

shown to over a thousand people, all of whom are voting on whether her life should be spared..or

taken.

It's a fucked up poll, but what's even more nauseating is how the numbers overwhelmingly

skew towards death.

Now ask yourself this question: If this situation were real, how much would those numbers change?

And that realization brings us to our topic for today: The duality of man.

The idea that within all of us there is a dark side, an evil side, and that this is

the natural state of humanity.

Carl Jung was one of the leading psychologists when it came to duality within humans.

He believed that each of us has a darker side, The Shadow, and to truly be whole with oneself,

you must acknowledge and accept that darker side.

"Every good quality has its bad side, and nothing that is good can come into the world

without directly producing a corresponding evil.

This is a painful fact."

And honestly, we know this is a part of us.

Whether you have lied during certain parts of your life, cheated, stole, or something

worse, we can all acknowledge to ourselves that we aren't perfect, that we have that

urge and act in ways that society would deem less than respectable.

We've all done something a "good person" wouldn't do.

And that brings us back to the game.

Because this story is filled with people of...less than redeeming qualities.

Whether we're talking about the people watching Amaela's livestream and sending those worse-than-YouTube-comments-sections

messages, or the doll maker who creates living sex dolls, this game is filled with everyone

who does wrong and only you trying to do right...kind of.

Clint is attempting to do the right thing, but going about it illegally.

Even our character is, in a way, showing his duality.

His two sides.

He's illegally buying things, stealing neighbors wifi, siphoning money, and if you're unlucky

enough, cooperating in the kidnapping of a woman in your apartment building.

Are those the actions of a good person?

They are the actions of the protagonist of this game.

So I want you to ask yourself why.

Why do we have this urge to do wrong that accompanies and contrasts our urge to do right?

What is the defining factor that tears us in two?

If you ask me, the answer is simple.

It comes down to anonymity versus accountability.

When we are being watched, when people know who we are, we feel a much stronger urge to

be on our best behavior.

We don't want to ruin our reputation or be outcast from society.

The urge to be liked, the desire to do good is not inherently altruistic, it instead feeds

our own selfish needs.

This isn't to say that people don't do things out of the good of their hearts for

others.

But whether we like it or not, part of our psychology is designed to make us want to

do good things because they will also elevate how others perceive us.

Plus an added bonus if it helps our self esteem.

There's always an underlying, somewhat selfish reason, even if it isn't a conscious, that

is part of why we made a good choice.

Accountability creates goodness in people.

Because when there's eyes watching, we do much less wrong.

Now, let's flip that coin.

Jung's Shadow thrives in Anonymity.

When we think no one will catch us, when no one is watching, that desire to do wrong grows.

The people who shoplift or rob, they don't expect to be caught, they expect to get away

with it and hide their identity because it allows them to continue to play society's

game after breaking it's rules.

Anonymity is almost necessary for someone to do something wrong, just take a look at

The Game.

Look at all those stomach clenching messages during Amaela's stream, would those people

say the same thing in a public space?

Ask yourself the same question of YouTube comments.

I can't count the number of times someone has called us the N word or gay, or something

else hurtful and derogatory through comments.

Would those people dare to do the same thing in a public square?

Of course not!

They would be overrun by judgement and downcast in the eyes of everyone.

The internet has created a space for anonymity to run rampant, and with that comes a surge

in our negative urges.

That equally negative reaction Jung talks about has found its place within the internet.

And we can see just how far that urge will go on the sites we visit throughout the game.

The dollmaker, the rape sites, the killing votes, the flesh trade link, all these things

grew from anonymity.

Yet this entire idea precedes the internet by multiple eras.

In fact, we can find examples of the idea that anonymity breeds negative action going

all the way back to Classical Greece.

A story from Plato's Republic tells the tale of a magical ring that would make the

wearer invisible.

The ring of Gyges, the one ring...to rule them all!, Was part of a thought experiment

to consider whether the wearer would be moral if he or she did not have to fear being caught

and punished for their wrongdoing.

In the story, the man, Gyges, who finds the ring bangs the queen of Lydia and kills the

King, taking the throne for himself.

The argument is that morality isn't something inherently within us, it's part of the social

construct we create in a desire to maintain our reputation of being virtuous and just.

Once that fear of losing our place within society is removed, our morality evaporates

as well.

Of course this is not a fact, it's part of a Socratic dialogue, a discussion of justice

and morals and what is part of human nature and what isn't.

How much of this idea is true is hard to judge, but I can safely say that the less likely

it is someone will know I did something wrong, the more likely I am to do engage in wrongdoing.

I'm not about to bang someone's wife and then kill them, but I might take the last

cookie from the cookie jar if no one is looking.

And that's the point of the socratic dialogue, and that song about who stole the last cookie.

If there is no punishment, no accountability for your actions, what's to stop you from

doing it?

That thought brings us back to Welcome To The Game, to Clint Edwards, the man who unbeknownst

to nearly every player, may actually be the happiest and most mentally balanced character

within any game we've ever played.

Unlike most of us, Clint embraces his Shadow, the darker aspects of his life.

He actively uses his negative thoughts, his hacking abilities, everything he does within

the game, for a good reason.

He's allowing his negative parts not only to exist, but using them with the desire to

do good, to save someone else's life.

In truth, Clint has figured out how to equalize his duality, to use anonymity to his advantage

to feed both his negative and positive desires.

And this is vital to one's mental health and happiness according to Jung.

Jung wrote that if we can embrace and "romance" the Shadow, we can channel it for productivity

and use it to gain access to creativity and wholeness within ourselves.

However, if we ignore The Shadow, it will become darker and denser, eventually coming

out in destructive ways.

Welcome To The Game 2 shows the entire spectrum of individuals' Shadows.

Everything from the darkest Shadows like the people who created the websites we're searching

on, to the balanced good and evil within Clint.

The game stands as another stepping stone in continuing Plato's socratic dialogue

about morality.

It agrees that anonymity breeds negativity, but Welcome To The Game takes it a step farther,

showing both the polarizing negative within the Noir, Lukas, and the owners of the websites,

and the balanced equilibrium within Clint at the exact same time.

We can't hope to always be good people.

It's not in our nature to be altruistic, to only do good deeds, to not make mistakes.

We are naturally flawed, and our ultimate goal shouldn't be to hide those flaws, but

embrace them.

It's never going to be societally okay to act negatively, but if you can use that negativity

to create some good, it helps balance your own life in the process.

That's the truth bubbling beneath Welcome To The Game 2.

The hidden meaning underneath our own protagonist.

The philosophical psychological beast of a lesson lying in wait behind the anonymous

veil of our very own screen.

That's the story Clint Edwards, The story of Welcome To The Game 2, The story, you never

knew.

Wow!

We haven't gotten that philosophical since the last Story You Never Knew!

Between Carl Jung and Plato, we had a lot of high rollers in this episode, but if you

want to discuss more philosophy and psychology with us, head on over and talk to us on our

Twitch live streams!

We're streaming every weekday at 3pm Pacific time which means we're streaming right now!

Well basically right now...we released the video an hour before the stream.

We're growing the most amazing and welcoming community we've ever seen and we'd love

if you were apart of it.

If you want to become part of the Twitch family or whatever we're making, drop by and say

hi, it's been a blast so far and we absolutely love getting to talk to you guys in real time.

Also, if you missed us streaming Welcome To The Game 2, you can find the edited down,

distilled, purest most blue, blue crystal version on our new channel, Streamsicle.

Check it out!

Links in the description, or just look under our Treefriends list on the channel page!

That's all from me today, so I'll talk to you guys on here in a few days, or right

now on Twitch!

Yup.

Right now.

Bye!

For more infomation >> Welcome to the Game 2: The Story You Never Knew - Duration: 12:11.

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❅ I shut us down [History Fancast] - Duration: 1:09.

I loose everyone I love!

We are their pieces on a board.