Batman isn’t a superhero

Look - hear me out. Batman isn’t a superhero. At his best, he’s a hero. At his worst, he’s a villain. Most of the time, he’s a vigilante. With the latest iteration of The Batman portrayed in Matt Reeves interpretation of the character, this point gets explored in some really fascinating storytelling.

While the movie itself earns an 8/10 from me, it’s an excellent story and has some amazing moments throughout. Bruce Wayne is a fascinating character, but he doesn’t actually get much screen time, with most of the film being focused on the titular Batman. But what if that’s actually the point of this movie? What if Matt Reeves is exploring the difference between Bruce and the Bat? And what can we learn from what Bruce discovers about himself? Let’s talk about it.

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Writer, Filmographer: Nathan Webb

Editor: Niki Turner

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Timecodes:

0:00 - Introduction

0:43 - Welcome!

1:10 - Scripture

1:29 - What is 'The Batman?'

2:10 - Who is Batman?

3:43 - What is Batman: Ego?

5:49 - Skip here for Trigger Warning - Matt Reeves Take on The Batman

7:00 - The Best Scene in The Batman (IMHO)

8:03 - Scripture Analysis

9:01 - Batman is the Light?

9:59 - Batman & Hope

10:45 - What does this mean for us today?

11:41 - Thanks for Watching!

12:05 - Quick Question

12:14 - Three Things

13:01 - Twitch Clip!

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Respond to this blog here: https://www.checkpointchurch.com/post/a-selfish-request

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To The Point is a weekly newsletter distributed through our email chain, website, and podcast.

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

These past couple weeks of playing through the Old Testament - sorry, I meant Elden Ring - have been some interesting ones. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy the game as much as I did at the beginning, given my lack of interest in all of the other Soulsbourne games. 

Nevertheless, the hype of the game itself has kept me engaged with the entry whenever the game itself isn’t managing to hold my attention. I knew from the intro sequence that I wanted to write a sermon on this game - I mean I’m a Methodist and this game’s most consistent mechanic is GRACE come ON -, but, even after hours of research playing the game and more extensive hours on the lore behind the game - I’m not sure about this one. 

At first glance, this story feels a little par for the course with the fantasy genre in general, but maybe it’s telling a story that we can learn from as Christians? Let’s explore how this game presents the absolute toxicity of power and compare it with the actual power presented in the Kingdom of God. Let’s talk about it.

Follow Us Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/CheckpointChurch

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Writer, Filmographer: Nathan Webb

Editor: Niki Turner

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Join the convo on our Discord: https://discord.gg/zUg5sj7

Respond to this blog here: https://www.checkpointchurch.com/post/marking-the-safepoint

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://checkpointchurch.churchcenter.com/people/forms/154111

Follow the blog: https://www.checkpointchurch.com//blog

To The Point is a weekly newsletter distributed through our email chain, website, and podcast.

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Do you like getting angry? Not a big fan of it myself, but every now and again I’ll give a rage-inducing game a chance. Sifu is one of those games - from the premise alone I was captivated by this story from the meta. A game where you get older every time you die in the game? Fascinating concept.

However, a concept like that means that you have to die. A lot. And those of us not prone to those masochistic tendencies are not gonna have a good time. That being said - I did spend a good chunk of time with Sifu and realized the story is telling a pretty important one that should sound familiar to a Christian audience. Revenge? Probably not worth it. Let’s talk about it.

Follow Us Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/CheckpointChurch

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Writer, Filmographer: Nathan Webb

Editor: Niki Turner

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Join the convo on our Discord: https://discord.gg/zUg5sj7

Respond to this blog here: https://www.checkpointchurch.com/post/lent-2022

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://checkpointchurch.churchcenter.com/people/forms/154111

Follow the blog: https://www.checkpointchurch.com//blog

To The Point is a weekly newsletter distributed through our email chain, website, and podcast.

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

And How My Dress-Up Darling Proves Christians Can (and Should) Like Anime

I'll take 'Things I Never Expected My Pastor To Talk About" for 500, Alex.

Look, okay, I know how this looks. I try to keep my embarrassing guilty pleasures to myself. I am a sucker for the anime romance genre. Between confessing to my love for dating sims two weeks ago to defaming King Solomon at the beginning of this season - I’m really just holding on for dear life at this point.

But it didn’t take long into the first episode My Dress-Up Darling to realize that this show is doing something different. Not everything - it certainly has its cringier moments and earns it’s rating, but the story being told in this new anime isn’t the same-old, same-old story. So far, it’s not even a love story. It’s a story about passion and drive and equality. In this way, the show is breaking down it’s own expected stereotypes from the anime community. 

Not only that - but by breaking down these expectations, this show answers the age-old question of whether or not Christians can play video games, watch anime, or do cosplay. Let’s talk about it.

Follow Us Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/CheckpointChurch

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Writer, Filmographer: Nathan Webb

Editor: Niki Turner

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Join the convo on our Discord: https://discord.gg/zUg5sj7

Respond to this blog here: https://www.checkpointchurch.com/post/meet-the-guardians

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://checkpointchurch.churchcenter.com/people/forms/154111

Follow the blog: https://www.checkpointchurch.com//blog

To The Point is a weekly newsletter distributed through our email chain, website, and podcast.

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Looking at Ranking of Kings - I couldn’t help but keep putting off watching this show. I thought it was going to be some kind of childlike fantasy story that wouldn’t keep me hooked. What I got instead was Studio Ghibli presents’ Game of Thrones. This story is packed to brim with betrayal, political intrigue, and some horribly complex characters. And I love it. 

But above everything about this show, one thing is the most clear: I would die for Bojji. The central character of the series is this leel guy and I love him as if he were my own child. Not only do I just love the way the animators have presented him as a character - I think I love Bojji because he reminds me a lot of the ideal follower of Jesus that Paul talked about over and over again. Yes, I’m serious. No, I will not apologize for making this comparison. Bojji is a better Jesus follower than I could ever be - let’s talk about it. 

Follow Us Everywhere: https://linktr.ee/CheckpointChurch

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Writer, Filmographer: Nathan Webb

Editor: Niki Turner

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.

Join the convo on our Discord: https://discord.gg/zUg5sj7

Respond to this blog here: https://www.checkpointchurch.com/post/twitch-does-church-better-than-you

Subscribe to the Newsletter: https://checkpointchurch.churchcenter.com/people/forms/154111

Follow the blog: https://www.checkpointchurch.com//blog

To The Point is a weekly newsletter distributed through our email chain, website, and podcast.

We stream Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays: https://www.twitch.tv/checkpointchurch

Checkpoint Church is the place where all people from all walks of life are always welcomed with loving arms. We strive to steer clear from the modern temptations of being too ‘churchy’ or judgmental. We are the safe space for those who haven’t felt welcomed by the church before.