Pop Culture Piety
Pop Culture is everywhere. It is implicit in what we read, what we watch, where we shop, even our choice of what brand of coffee to drink. Given this, Christ’s call to be ‘in the world, but not of the world’ can sometimes seem daunting to us. This blog will explore various topics within Popular Culture, and how we are called to live out our faith and ministry in these murky and ever shifting waters.
Facing Evil
If the church has a role here, maybe it is in reclaiming our message about sin, death, evil, and even the Devil. Maybe the culture doesn’t need yet another message about how to love one another; maybe it needs to hear about the reality of evil and sin, and how they will be thwarted once and for all.
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The Simpsons take on Ecclesiology
This dichotomy between the ministry styles of Hooper and Lovejoy clearly set up two visions of church ministry. What does it mean for the church to reach the surrounding society? In once corner, there is the dry, routine, traditional, and seemingly lifeless ministry provided by Reverend Lovejoy. In the other, the new, fresh, relevant Reverend Hooper. The decision seems fairly simple.
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Oh Blessed Mistake
Personally, I love it when mistakes happen. What is more, I think God loves it too. These mistakes are blessed moments by which we are reminded that in worship we do not offer perfection; we offer ourselves. The criterion for our worship is not the absence of mistake, but the inclusion of honesty and authenticity. Continue reading
An Easter Pilgrimage
What if we saw our drive to church on Easter morning as something more than simply a drive to church? What if we saw it as a pilgrimage? What if we saw each passing stop sign as bringing us closer to the one who is risen? What if, while we fixed our eyes on the road before us, we fixed our hearts on Jesus just as much? Continue reading
A Faithless Easter?
I was going to raise my ire in righteous indignation over the blatant hostility that this calendar takes to the holy days of Christian faith. Surely this calendar highlights this cultures subtle yet purposeful ebbing of Christian identity and story. Continue reading
Beyond Eternal Presence
Is beyond-death presence the same as eternal life? I find it interesting that the culture, which sometimes criticizes faith as a pie-in the-sky escapist mentality, is now grasping to recognize an existence beyond this life. Continue reading
Who do you wear?
Kanye West spent his premier appearance on Kim’s reality show insulting her choice of clothing. Then, because this is what any loving boy-friend would do, West threw out her clothes and paid for a whole new wardrobe fit to his own liking.
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Against Annoying Facebook Puzzles.
Whenever we point attention to someone’s inabilities or mistakes in an air of arrogant mockery, we essentially strip them of their identity as a child of God. We declare that they are less than we are. Continue reading
