Devlog 009: Qumran Studios Opens

Night 11 was a store night, not a game night. We opened Qumran Studios live: a faith store that helps fund the build. It isn’t open to the public yet; it sits behind its password page at qumranstudios.com.

Tonight’s passage

1 Corinthians 9:7–18: Paul on the right of those who preach the gospel to live from it, and on why he set that right aside.

Paul did both

Paul taught that gospel work may be paid for.

In the same way, the Lord has prescribed that those who preach the gospel should receive their living from the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:14)

And he made tents.

and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was. (Acts 18:3)

He kept the gospel itself free.

What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it. (1 Corinthians 9:18)

Devon’s model follows him. Meta Know Labs and Qumran Studios are his tents, how he earns a living, and the stream, the devlog and the gospel stay free of charge.

What we built

The brand kit. The Rolled Stone as transparent PNGs for the store header and for print, in gold and in white, with the colours and fonts from this site, and a placeholder wordmark until a real one is made.
The store. The Shopify store is renamed Qumran Studios, qumranstudios.com is its domain, and the Rolled Stone is in its theme. It stays behind the password page until the soft launch.
The road. The Road to Easter 2033 now has eight milestones: Wishlist on Steam, Chapter One, the Worldwide Premiere, Built Live, Steam Next Fest, the complete Eyewitness, PlayStation and Xbox, and Game Two.
The Build Fund. A new page, Every dollar on the record: how the build is funded today, the six planned upgrades, and a public ledger that fills with the first purchase. Backing opens in January 2027.

What we talked about on air

Who Jesus said He is (Matthew 16:15), and where Christianity and Islam differ, said with respect (1 Peter 3:15).
The Dead Sea Scrolls by name: 1QIsa-a, 4Q175, 4Q174, 4Q246, 4Q521 and 11Q13.
Feelings and thoughts (Jeremiah 17:9; Psalm 139:23–24).
How the church grew under persecution (Acts 8:4).
Grace and consequences (Luke 23:41–43).

The store’s theme, Printful and the first tee, The Rolled Stone Tee, and the soft launch at the end of November, Founding Eyewitnesses first.

To close

In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men. (2 Corinthians 8:21)