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Nerd.
The Arms of Reverie
The world is divided by a great darkness known as the Nebula. The Dark forces, led by an Evil Prince are trying to gain control of an ancient power and finish war that began over a thousand years ago.

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There are 649 pokemon...

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Building my items/weapons/armors list. Making enemies more difficult/balanced.

Skippable combat?

Earthbound's system was pretty great, if someone came up with a script like that, I'd implement it in a second. But, aside from that, skippable combat seems pretty pointless. I was okay with have the no encounters skill in the final fantasy games, but even then, they only made sense for general exploration, not meaningful dungeons.

RMN v4.2 - done!

Bandito, Neato.

Faith, religion, and you

Just a little heads up, this is a little long.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

A baby’s cry, muffled, lost amid the rubble seemed so impossible to the soldiers searching the tsunami-smashed village of Ishinomaki, that they dismissed it as a mistake. As they continued pulling bodies from the nearby homes, the cry came again. Realizing they weren’t hearing things, the soldiers worked desperately to dig through the piles of wood, slate and mud, frantically searching for the cry of the child they believed to be there. Now, imagine the scene as the last piece of debris is removed, and climbing out from the rubble, the soldier holds in his arms a four month old baby girl cold, wet and hungry, but otherwise, unharmed. Soon afterward she would be reunited with the family who thought she was gone forever.

This is one of the many stories that came out of the Japanese Tsunami of 2011. Unfortunately, most of them did not have the happy ending that this one had. The Japanese National Police Agency confirmed 15,845 deaths, 5,893 injured and 3,380 people missing as a result of this massive tragedy. In the Miyagi prefecture alone, over 2,000 bodies washed up on the shore, dead from drowning. Sadly, disasters like this aren’t isolated incidents. One low end estimate states that at least 540 million have died from diseases from 1914-2004. Add to that the wars that ravage mankind and we get a greater scope of the suffering facing mankind today. R. J. Rummel, professor at the University of Hawaii, estimates that from 1900 to 1987, various governments murdered 169,198,000 people during political purges, genocides, and indiscriminate acts of violence. And that death toll does not even include the tens of millions of people actually killed on the battlefield.

Because of this, many people are left wondering. Does God even care about us? And if so, why does he allow suffering?
Well, in order to answer these questions, God has provided us with his Word, the Bible. Let’s see what James 1:13 has to say

“When under trial, let no one say: “I am being tried by God.” For with evil things God cannot be tried nor does he himself try anyone.”

So if God does not try us with evil things, if he’s not the cause of suffering, why does he allow it? Well, for starters we need to understand that God definitely cares about us. Everyone knows what John 3:16 says, that “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” So the suffering we’re experiencing must be coming from some other source. 1 John 5:19 tells us that “The whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” This wicked one is none other than Satan the Devil, the one who Jesus called “ the ruler of the world” at John 14:30. What does the Bible say about the kind of ruler he’s been? John 8:44 tells us.

“YOU are from YOUR father the Devil, and YOU wish to do the desires of YOUR father. That one was a manslayer when he began, and he did not stand fast in the truth, because truth is not in him. When he speaks the lie, he speaks according to his own disposition, because he is a liar and the father of ”

Satan is the reason behind the worlds suffering. Because of his lying, murderous attitude, the entire earth has been agitated by his rulership. So if God is not the cause of suffering, if Satan is it’s true cause, why has God allowed it to continue? Well, this is because of an issue raised back in the Garden of Eden. Let’s read Genesis 3:2-5 and see what this issue was.

“At this the woman said to the serpent: “Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat. But as for of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘YOU must not eat from it, no, YOU must not touch it that YOU do not die.’” At this the serpent said to the woman: “YOU positively will not die. For God knows that in the very day of YOUR eating from it YOUR eyes are bound to be opened and YOU are bound to be like God, KNOWING good and bad.”

It’s interesting to note that Satan never called God’s power into question, he knew better. We know that God is Almighty, that his power has no limit. Instead what did he say to Eve? He told her that God was a liar, that she would “Positively not die”. By saying this, Satan basically accused God of withholding good things from his subjects, that God is a bad ruler. He goes on to tell her that by disobeying, she would be better off without God’s rulership. And how did she respond? Verse 6 goes on to tell us.

“Consequently the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was something to be longed for to the eyes, yes, the tree was desirable to look upon.”

They gave in. By eating of the fruit Adam and Eve basically told God, “We don’t need you, we can decide for ourselves what is good and what is bad.” So how was God supposed to settle this issue? Some might say that he could have just destroyed them and started over. And while he had every right to, would that really prove anything? No. We already know that Satan didn’t question God’s power. By destroying them he would have proved he was all powerful, but the issue of whether he was a good ruler or not would not have been settled. Think about this:

A clever but rebellious student claims that the teacher’s way of solving a problem is wrong. Implying that the teacher is not capable, this rebel insists that he knows a much better way to solve the problem. Some students think that he is right, and they also become rebellious. What should the teacher do? If he throws the rebels out of the class, what will be the effect on the other students? Will they not believe that their fellow student and those who joined him are right? All the other students in the class might lose respect for the teacher, thinking that he is afraid of being proved wrong. But suppose that the teacher allows the rebel to show the class how he would solve the problem.

God did something similar to what the teacher does. We have to remember that even though Adam and Eve were the only two people on earth, there were millions of spirit creatures watching from heaven to see what was going to happen. So however God chose to handle that rebellion would have affected not only those angels, but eventually all intelligent creation. So God allowed Satan to show how he would rule mankind. He also has allowed humans to attempt to govern themselves.

Now think back to the illustration, the teacher knows that the rebel and the students that agree with him are wrong. But by giving the rebellious students a chance to prove their point, the entire class will learn how wrong they are and that the teacher really is the only one qualified to lead the class. Similarly, God knows that all right hearted humans and angels will benefit from seeing the failure of Satan and his rebellious followers. Like the prophet Jeremiah they will learn the vital truth found at Jeremiah 10:23.

“ I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step”

So now that we have identified the cause of human suffering and the reasons God allows it to happen, we still have a few more questions that need answering. First, why has God allowed suffering to go on for so long? And second, why does he not prevent bad things from happening?

Well, lets think back to the teacher in our illustration. First, he allowed the rebel student to present his case. Second, the teacher did not help the rebel to prove his case. So it is the same with God. God has not stopped anyone who chooses to side with Satan from trying to prove that they are right. In order to accomplish this, God has allowed mankind time to prove their case. In all of human history mankind has tried every form of government. And while they have been successful to a point in advancing scientific and other fields, none of these advancements have done anything to combat injustice, poverty, crime and war. In fact, these have only gotten worse as time has gone on. Humans have proven without a doubt, that they cannot rule themselves without failing.

An important point to not overlook too is that God has not helped Satan to rule this world. While we might wish that God would prevent the disgusting, horrible crimes we see, would he not essentially be supporting Satan’s cause? If God prevented these horrible things from happening, wouldn’t that make people think that they really can govern themselves, instead of listening to him? If he were to do that, he would be joining Satan in his original lie, and we know that cannot happen because as Hebrews 6:18 says “it is impossible for God to lie.”

So now that we realize why God has allowed suffering, we now need to ask, what will he do to end it? Well, after Adam and Eve sinned, God made a promise, that he would send a “seed” that would destroy the serpent, Satan, and his seed, all those who would side with him in rebellion against God. Who is this seed? Let’s read what 1 John 3:8 says regarding this.

“He who carries on sin originates with the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was made manifest, namely, to break up the works of the Devil.”

Jesus came to earth to break up the works of the Devil, namely sin and death. How was this done? Well, Jesus undid this work by giving His life as a ransom. In this way he provided a basis for the release of humankind from condemnation to sin and death and opened the way to everlasting life. Not only that, but while he was on earth, Jesus perfomed miracles of what he would do in the future. He healed the sick, raised the dead and controlled the natural elements. Yes, even the natural disasters that cause so much suffering today will be a thing of the past, if we chose to side with God.

Think back now to our opening illustration. This small four month old girl was crying out to her potential saviors, and even though it took some time for them to find and rescue her, because of her crying out, she was found. Similarly, God hears our cries for help today. The world around us is devastated, suffering from the disaster brought about by the rebellion in Eden. If we pray to God, and make an effort to be heard by him by bringing our lives in harmony with his will and choosing his rulership we too can be saved from suffering in all its forms.

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Ah, I stand corrected, it's been a while, I forgot how similar the sprites were, ha.

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author=kentona
It's the in-thing to do nowadays.


At least you picked a different character, Adon and I both have Kain!

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Now I'm going to be confused whenever you post anything Adon, thanks!

Requests for Deckiller to review your... Penis?

Mapping Contest: Circumcision
Boss Battle Design Contest: Gay Characters

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