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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Question (05/24/12)
Town of Springfield Public Live Blog

With a great dose a secular skepticism, this reporter is observing the town’s first rendition of Bible Jeopardy. Why so skeptical? Because this reporter feels that the “Holy” Bible is a book filled with myths, fairy tales and the wild imaginations of men probably passed down from their encounters with space aliens in ancient times.

I arrived for the event which is being inconveniently held on a stormy Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Town Community Center.

Question: Isn’t that in-and-of-itself was a violation of the separation between the church and The State?

But, this reporter digresses.

Bible Jeopardy is a game for fun played between 3 churches here in Springfield; the game is loosely based on the regular Jeopardy game which still airs on a local television station every evening, except Sundays.

Question: Why do they skip Sundays?

Bible Jeopardy’s host is being played by our Mayor—which this reporter felt was curiously interesting, as this is a re-election year for our “Christian” Mayor.

Questions: Why does he call himself a “Christian” mayor? Why not a “family values” or “highly ethical” mayor?

Side note: the thunderstorms are getting closer, with the lightning and rolling thunder getting more intense.

On the Bible Jeopardy board there are 5 categories across the top, in the acronym B.I.B.L.E.. Instead of playing for money, the 3 contestants are playing for points. There are 5 answers under each category: 200 points, 400 points, 600 points, 800 points and 1,000 points. The 2 losers of Bible Jeopardy would have to donate money to the winning church’s favorite charity. Please note that in the regular Jeopardy game, they will sneak in some Bible stuff, but this game is way over-the-top—the entire game is about the Bible!

Question: (kind of a bottom line question!) What’s up with all this Bible stuff?

Interesting, as soon as I typed “stuff”, there was a bright flash of lightning and an immediate thunderclap, and we lost our power for a few seconds.

The first Bible Jeopardy board categories across the top looks like this:
Bethany’s story / Immanuel is… / By "The Way" / Lazarus lives / “Every”

Question: How lame is that?

Wow! Another lightning/thunder combination real close by.

After all the lengthy introductions of the “Christian” Mayor, and the 3 Pastors who're playing the first 3 contestants, the game is (finally) on.

Question: Why did they not start the game until almost 7:45 p.m.?

Pastor Rick picked “Immanuel is for 200 points” to start the game.

The Mayor presented the answer, “God with us.”

Pastor Rick responded with the question, “What is...wait…WHO is Jesus?”

"Right!"

Question: That’s a good question! Who is Jesus?

This time the lightning must have hit an electrical transformer. There was another lightning/thunder explosion, along with a flash of blue light. All the lights went out. Everyone just froze, waiting for the power to come back on as it did before.

It looks like we have no power here…and this reporter may get to go out for a dinner and a movie after all tonight!

The only ambient light in this darkened room are my laptop, a few mobile phones and the amber EXIT signs posted over every door. I am going to stop blogging for now…



Please note, I wrote the rest of this blog when I got home that night:

After a few minutes, one of the Pastors spoke up.

It was Pastor Mike.

“Is there a reporter still here in the Community Center? The reporter who is blogging this event on the Town of Springfield Public Live Blog?”

I sheepishly answered, “Yes, I am here.”

“Since we had a little time, I pulled up your blog on my Google Android phone.”

Immediately I got defensive. “I was only writing about the game.”

“Along with your questions, which shows your bias and opinion—which is all fine—this is America.”

“Yes it is, and I can write what I want to.”

“I agree with that, ma’am. But your last question is the question we all will ask at some point in our lives.”

“Who…who is Jesus?”

“Yes. Simply put, Jesus is God. And God in Christ Jesus loves you.”

I could only nod my head in agreement. I was trying not to cry; but the tears squeezed out anyway. It wasn’t so much what he said, it was how he said it.

“Jesus is your answer.”

Amazingly, power was restored at that moment.

Everyone clapped.
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This article has been read 1468 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Hiram Claudio
05/31/12
I like this a lot! The intermixing of the bloggers comments with the game and her personal thoughts was well done. I thought you did a wonderful job with the topic and felt the ending was a strong one. Nice work!
C D Swanson 
05/31/12
Nice job with this contemporary piece. I thought the overall entry was on topic and held my interest throughout. A powerful "wind-up" too!

God bless~
Terry Lee
05/31/12
You kept me laughing throughout the piece. I especially enjoyed how 'the weather' kept playing with the blogger.
Leola Ogle
06/01/12
Being a Jeopardy fan, I absolutely loved this. Made me smile all the way through. Hmmmm, I wonder how Jeopardy would do IF it was all Bible questions. Good job. God bless!
Laura Manley
06/02/12
This entry was very cleverly written. You need to take a little time to proof...I noted a couple spots where the sentence didn't make sense because it either had one too many words or a word was not included. Other than that, your entry was a delight to read. Again, it kept the interest of the reader throughout. Nicely done!
Connie Walcott
06/03/12
This was indeed a great story... I had a little trouble following the conversation at times, but the story was interesting enough to hold my attention.
I love the way the storm was woven into the plot. Good job!
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
06/07/12
I loved this. Your MC, with his cryptic remarks and sense of superiority drew me in immediately. I smiled here and there but the message you gave at the end really touched me. This week this question or one similar has been asked a lot. However with your Bible Jeopardy you put a fresh twist on it.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
06/09/12
Congratulations for ranking 8th in level three!