Mortal Kombat Series

MORTAL KOMBAT

James Series 7: How We can Avoid the Devil’s Deception

INTRO: Okay, by now, we are all familiar with tools the Devil uses to deceive us. Can you list some (take some time and make a list)?

TRANSITION: Now let me ask you a question. Could the devil tempt us with GOOD THINGS? Tempt us with things that are actually good for us? Could good come from the Devil (pause for discussion)?

BIBLE VERSE: James 1:16

16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

MORTAL KOMBAT VIDEO GAME:

The story centers on the revival of the Dragon King Onaga, who attempts to conquer the realms featured in the series after defeating the sorcerers Quan Chi and Shang Tsung, the main antagonists in the previous game, and the Thunder God Raiden, defender from Earthrealm. As such, the surviving warriors from the previous titles join forces to confront Onaga.

Series co-creator Ed Boon wanted Deception to be an unpredictable fighting game that gave players new features "they could never imagine". In order to do it, the Midway Staff listened to fans on bulletin boards to know what to work on for Deception, such as the playable characters. Wanting to surprise fans as well as to make the game more deep, they added the puzzle and chess game.[10] Boon and John Podlasek supervised the staff, which was divided into teams to work on different areas of the game. A concern from them was to maintain the flavor from the MK series as they wanted the game's violence to make it a more realistic fighting game rather than "a fighting simulator".

TRANSITION: HOW TO FIGHT THE GAME OF MORTAL KOMBAT…HOW TO FIGHT THE GAME FOR YOUR SOUL…HERE ARE SOME “GAME TIPS” FOR YOU TO LIVE YOUR LIFE BY.

1. GUARD YOUR EYES

BIBLE VERSE: Job 31:1-4

I made a covenant with mine eyes, why then should I think upon a maid? For what portion of god is there from above? And what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? Is not destruction to the wicked? And a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps?

PASTOR STEVE STORY OF WORKER WHO CLIMBED STAIRS: I remember an old story a former pastor told me about a member of his congregation. This man worked in KC and had a fairly beautiful woman he worked with continue to flirt with him. It use to not bother him until he read Job 31. To keep his covenant, he would get to work 30 minutes early, then walk the stairs so that there was not way she could “happen” to run into him as she tended to do. That’s a man for you.

THE EYE ITSELF: The eye is an impressive organ. Next to the brain, it is by far the most complex part of the human body. Each human eye is very light, it weights just 28 grams, small in comparison to other vital parts. In a normal life span, it will be used to record 24 million images of the world, and somehow functions perfectly despite being composed of more than two million parts! When an image is spotted, scientists are able to correctly identify that we see the image upside down, but somehow the brain is able to flip it right side up. The eye is the only part of the body that is fully functional 100% of the time, it never needs rest (technically the eyelids need rest for lubrication and replenishment, not the eyes). Despite not needing rest, I do strongly suggest long periods of “shut eye” for the rest of body.

The eyes of animals are even more complex than the human eye. The eye of a hawk, strategically located on both sides of his head, allow her to see 280 degrees and are so precise it can pick up the movement of a field mouse over two miles away. The carpenter bee has compound eyes, which allows him to see in dozens of different directions all at the same time. The compound eye of the Antarctic Krill looks more like a microphone that our director of music Josh Moore would use on Sunday morning that anything else. I suppose some scientist would say it’s all from evolution; but as for me I don’t believe in chance. I believe in God’s providence and His word. What say you?

The Bible says a lot about our eyes. Matthew 6 tells us that “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.” This means that not only should we guard our eyes, but we should produce light from out bodies out of the light that comes in. When we examine the objects that our eyes actually do see, perhaps…no…we should absolutely be far more judgmental on what we let in. I wish I had a dime for every time a person started a sentence to me by stating, “I know this is a bad movie, but…” But what? Sometimes I think we should just kick our “buts.”