Hello world (again).

Dear Blogosphere,

It's been a long time, hasn't it? How have you been? I've been good. Pretty busy, but good. In fact, far too busy-feeling for a guy who is, technically, unemployed. What's the deal with that, Blogosphere?

Anyway, just thought I'd drop a line and see how you're doing. I'm hoping we can hang out a little more in the coming weeks and months. I've been doing a little bit of studying that bears some sharing, some games I've been playing, and I do have that 250 words a day to write... Suffice to say, Blogosphere, I'm really bad at the whole Web 2.0, social networking, interactive content thing. Although our friend Facebook has been less neglected than you have been, I haven't even kept up with that! And don't get me started about The Twitter.

So here's to a renewed relationship (hopefully),

~Kemp

Executive Series Luncheon.

I was asked to give a three minute speech at an event we have at Cornerstone called the Executive Series Luncheon. They invite a bunch of local business owners to CU to have lunch and hear another executive speak on some topic or another. This time, they wanted to hear a student's voice as well. They were pretty strict on the three minute thing, though, so I had to write it out. Here's what I wrote/spoke (Sorry the formatting is a little funny...):

It’s a privilege to be representing the students of Cornerstone University and welcome you to our campus. I was asked to share some thoughts, but I only have 3 minutes, so it’ll just have to be one: sort of an intersection between the tools Cornerstone has given me and what God has been working in me lately. I hope it will be encouraging to you.

To be honest, I feel slightly out of place here. I am not a business man, but a story teller. My hope is to one day become a writer for video games. Just this past week, I was in San Francisco for the Game Developer’s Conference. Over 17,000 members of the video game community gathered to sharpen each other and improve our industry.

One of the topics that comes up over and over again at these conferences is the question, “Can video games be art?” Often, this comes to a false dichotomy between designers – the people that make the systems – and writers.

Designers want a completely open space for players to explore. They take pride in giving players ultimate choice.

Writers want to craft a perfectly structured story for players to experience. They want every interaction, every choice to perfectly fall in line with their beautiful thematic argument.

You can imagine, then, that there is some conflict in this process.

As a hopeful writer, I have naturally fallen on the side of structure. I have often compared game design to being god – not in a sacrilegious way, of course. We create this world, populate it with characters, and design a perfect way for them to go through it (the story).

Designers, kind of like the serpent, want to give the players ultimate choice. To let the players do what they want.

Do what they want? You mean allow them to rebel against my beautifully sculpted creation and my design for what they should do?

Yes.

Sounds familiar, right? I viewed the task of the writer to be similar to the task of our God: to slowly and gently lead player from their meaningless, headstrong ways back into the story I had designed for them.

One of the writers at one of the sessions humbled me, though: It isn’t about me.

It isn’t about the designers. It isn’t about the animators or the writers or the programmers. It is about the player. Video games are about giving the player a great experience, not about the messages that a writer or a designer is trying to propagate.

When we have artistic disputes, the only question we should be asking is “Which choice would make a better player experience? Which choice would serve the player best?” It cannot be a matter of what I want or what is easiest for the programmers. Ego cannot factor into our design decisions at all. Only the other. Nothing but serving the player.

And isn’t this what Jesus asks of us? To love our neighbor as ourselves. To serve each other.

I was ashamed. I went to the gardens above the conference center and journaled for 15 minutes. How dare I, as a Christian, compare my role in the creative process to God! And here was this writer – who was not a Christian – reminding me that my job is to serve. Even at the expense of my agenda.

I think businesses that are a little less artistic in nature get service more than any artist ever will. No matter what your job is in the company, ultimately the company exists to serve someone. The ego of an artist – with our themes, characters, and messages – falls before the customer. “The customer is always right.”

As I continue to reshape my theology of writing, if you will, I wanted to encourage all of you to continue loving people more than your agenda. May you always remember that your jobs are not about the messages that you send or the profit you earn. Your job is to love and to serve. I pray that you continue to serve Jesus in every interaction with client and customer, that you would always think first of the other.

With that, join me in welcoming Mr. Bob Israels.

Enter San Francisco.

I arrived safely in San Francisco, thankfully. Not that there were any problems - or even near-problems - I'm just thankful that there were no hitches.

I landed, got my enormous backpack, and hoofed it out of the airport to the nearest BART station. It took me several minutes just to figure it out. It's not quite as simple as Manhattan's subway system. Or maybe it's not as complex... Either way, I figured it out and got on the train.

When I left the station at Powell St, though, I was impressed by the view. It literally felt like a video game. Crowds of people everywhere who probably wouldn't talk to me if I talked to them... Huge buildings extending up to the sky... Green gardens and bright sunshine... Homeless guys... Pretty much picture perfect.

If I had gotten my new camera before I left, I definitely would have taken a picture.

It also felt vaguely Disney-like. All these people walking around (the cities I normally roam don't have this many people about), the good weather, the variety of smells and sounds... It's quite remarkable.

I'm off to check out the conference space and see if they need a hand. The hotel room isn't ready yet anyway.

Read this.

http://stillsearching.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/are-you-a-christian-hipster/

This article sort of echoes some of my own observations and satire of the current Christian culture - especially at a Christian school.

Yay satire!

Chew on this.

I've been reading Leviticus lately. It's a fun book... And by fun, I mean somewhat difficult to get through. It's a lot more interesting when you consider the historical context of the book, but still, it's hard to read about wave offerings when that has little to do with the lives we lead now.

One verse caught my attention, though. Leviticus 19:9-10:

When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.

What does this mean in a modern context? For the ancient Jews, it was meant to provide a small amount of sustenance for the poor. By leaving the edges of the field unreaped and not being too thorough in harvesting, those with no fields would still be able to harvest. But what about us?

My sister does strange things. This shouldn't surprise people who know her. When she gets change after buying something at a store, she goes out in the parking lot and drops it. Sometimes all at once, sometimes one coin at a time. She figures that finding a penny cheers her up, so why not cheer others up? Is this a modern day application of this verse?

Or does it suggest that followers of the Lord should not always seek efficiency. Surely planting crops and then purposefully not harvesting them is inefficient. Maybe it means that we should even financially invest in ventures that we know will not yield a financial return (or, at least, not shy away from doing so).

I've been reading a book for our mission trip to Memphis called Theirs Is the Kingdom. (You should read this book.) It's written by a man who has been a missionary to inner city Atlanta for 15+ years. Our investment could produce jobs for those who don't have them and countless opportunities to share the message of Christ.

I can't really claim to know how to apply this these verses to our lives, but it's worth considering. What does this verse say about our God and the way we are to interact with the fruits of our labors?