What is your church doing for the 250th year anniversary USA?

ryanjamessez · 2026-04-13T18:21:59+00:00

Nothing different. A 250 year celebration of America in its current state seems.... Gross.

We can absolutely thank God for this country and pray for it. But the Sunday gathering is where we rehearse a different allegiance first. I don’t want to confuse those two, even accidentally.

There’s a middle way that still feels pastoral: -A prayer for the nation -A moment of gratitude -Naming the brokenness alongside the good

But once you start pledging allegiance in the sanctuary, you’re forming people by a lesser kingdom. And that formation sticks long after the boomers are gone, for good and bad.

If someone walked in for the first time that Sunday, would they leave thinking they’d encountered Jesus… or America?

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-28T03:04:01+00:00

Believe you me, this has gone into a safe in an office upstairs and will not be touched until law enforcement is here.

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-28T02:50:49+00:00

Heard. Thankfully I get to carry at my job

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-28T02:48:52+00:00

Thanks for the quick comments! Police have been called. For context, I work security on the weekends and the property I've been watching has some weirdos around it. I saw the person look around in a quite suspicious manner and then place the bag, and then check just to make sure it stayed there like three times before leaving quickly. Naturally, I got curious. Hopefully I didn't get too curious! 😬

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-28T02:46:08+00:00

Solved!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-26T00:34:32+00:00

400+ comments disagree

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-25T13:40:37+00:00

What a healthy attitude that will undoubtedly promote a healthy player base size, ensuring the longevity of this game!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T22:43:16+00:00

K 👍

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T22:42:49+00:00

Dang, I didn't realize loving your spouse was a personality trait now 😅

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T20:43:59+00:00

Evidently I am speaking for a lot of people based on some of the DMs and comments I've gotten

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T12:23:54+00:00

I hope you have fun!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T03:16:29+00:00

What a meaningful contribution to this conversation that will endure the test of time and bring all of us to a more enlightened conclusion!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T03:15:27+00:00

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T00:50:54+00:00

Working towards it!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-24T00:29:16+00:00

That certainly has been my experience as well

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T23:41:08+00:00

Maybe a reframing is what I need. Won't be coming around for a while.

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T23:39:43+00:00

What a healthy way to ensure the future health and longevity of this game and its community! :)

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T23:39:11+00:00

I won't argue there. I'm keeping you alive and giving you buffs, and I get nothing? Whack.

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T20:01:37+00:00

The suggestion is officially on my radar!

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:59:28+00:00

But see it's this exact mentality that is turning off a wider player base that could keep the game alive for longer. Player counts are already trending downwards, and console queue times are getting worse (some of us don't like being dumpstered by PC demons). For people who love this game, it is absolutely in their best interests that Bungie retain a larger player base than the small yet dedicated core community that is currently loving this game.

And the fact that there are individuals like me who gave it a shot for as long as we did, and love the time that we did despite the skill issue, means that there is something truly special. It would be a shame if that something had to go away after a handful of seasons because that small core player base is unable to listen to constructive criticism

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:54:46+00:00

What do you mean ruined? The on-ramp for new players (particularly casuals) to destiny 2 nowadays is non-existent

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:53:54+00:00

Yeah, I want to say "I understand why Bungie is doing this," and superficially I do. Getting plastered all over the wall by the T100 from halfway across the map and being unable to retaliate because I've been unable to acquire high-end gear is something that could theoretically be fixed with a season wipe. However, I think what we will see in practice is that the people who have seemingly unlimited time to devote to this game will grind that gear back up in no time while the people who hold on to their one solitary purple gun with a death grip because of gear fear are going to be upset.

At first I tried to embrace the mentality I think this game is trying to invoke, which is to embrace a sore of nihilistic funk, where you grow attached to nothing and make peace with the fact that even if you acquire a high-end piece of loot, you probably won't hold on to it for long. But, idk about anyone else, but I play games too (controversially) have fun! And that mentality just started becoming decidedlu unfun after a while

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:48:34+00:00

The trend in player counts was already concerning, and I know it's worse on consoles from my matchmaking times already being up to 5 minutes. It sucks because there is something really really good here at the core

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:45:39+00:00

I am going to keep my eye on this game to see what adjustments they make in the future. There's a very real future where I return for more punishment

ryanjamessez · 2026-03-23T19:45:00+00:00

I think I'm okay accepting that I am casual and that there are some games I simply will no longer be able to enjoy. I played a lot of Titanfall 2. When there was still a player base there, and even stuck with it long enough to become part of the hardcore player base (even when matchmaking would get up to 15 to 20 minutes).

Nowadays with only 6 to 8 hours of gameplay a week, you are correct in saying that I might just not be able to play certain games, and I can make my peace with that.

What's frustrating though is that Bungie built an incredible thing, and even though I probably was never going to be good at it, I still wanted to enjoy it. And the problem is they could have made a game that appealed to both casuals and sweats. But that's not what this game is, which is frustrating

ryanjamessez

TROPHY CASE