Christian Pop-culture

Rachel called me this morning. in a Christian bookstore catalogue, she notice this. Wow. that's all i can say. apparently the caption in the catalogue says "now your kids can dance for the Lord".

It really was a confirmation to me because the other day, i wrote down a question that I really wanted to get some discussion on. It was spurred on because I was reminded of this Christian comedian. After watching some of his stuff, I found him to be funny. But the people who told me about this guy, Brad Stine, are kinda sheltered kids. It made me really want to start a discussion about something that is becoming so huge now. A popular, christian sub-culture.

We've already got (and had for some years) Christian music. I remember that when I was in high school, I would only listen to Christian music. And while I firmly believed it was a matter of my own personal convictions, I would secretly wonder about how serious people were about their faith who listened to "the radio" or CDs from non-Christian artists. Obviously, this was wrong thinking on my part. While there are obviously some bands that promote sin or even simple immorality, there are many non-Christian groups that don't have anything specifically wrong with their music.

There have also been books for some time now, too- including popluar Christian novels. But even now, there are books that have reached "craze" status, regardless of if it's Christian or not.

Anyway, back to the point- it used to be just Christian music. But recently, there have been videos and movies (look at all the apocalypse movies), comedians, video games- seemingly everything. And it makes me wonder WHY. Can Veggie Tales DDR seriously be to help someone's spirituality?

I want to ask the question- does it make us more or less spiritual if we choose (or choose not) to engage ourselves in this sub-culture simply because it's Christian? should we not be disappointed at the poor quality some Christian bands display, but they get a contract because they're "Christian". should we not want good music, funny comedians and well written books?

I am reminded of the band Tree63 telling about being in South Africa (where there music is top-40 type stuff) and there's no Christian or non-Christian music. if a Christian band wants to get recorded, then they have to be GOOD- good enough to compete with non-Christian music.
so I ask the question that I have been wondering for a few days...

Does the popular Christian sub-culture of today reflect:

a)A positive alternative to the negative influences found in normal popular culture?

b)A way for Christian parents to shelter their children and teenagers (or for Christian teens and adults to shelter themselves) from the bad aspects of popular culture?

c)the honest desire of the hearts of Christians to use their gifts in ways to share the Gospel, or at least be a positive influence?

d)desire on the part of media corporations to make money off the segment of the population who designate themselves as Christians?

e)A true desire to be a people who are "set apart"?

f)some combination or these or something else entirely?

I would LOVE to entertain some thoughts.

While I work, I'm away

While I'm working on a new post for a friend dealing with youth ministry and its purpose, I have been visiting his blog and while I waited quite a while for him to post something new, it was well worth the wait! click here to read his most recent post that has impressed me. And be encouraged by his transparent honesty.

visit from family

I had a wonderful visit this past weekend from some of my family! My mother, step-father, grandmother and mom's best friend came to visit Rachel and I out here on the West Coast! We had a very fun visit, spending a lot of time travelling to some of the fun things and places near us! Feel free to check out the pictures that I have posted on my flickr. I also have added some new pictures to my profile here, so feel free to look at those and comment!

a quick overview- they arrived on thursday evening just in time for me to hear from my piano player that she would not be at worship practice, so with practice cancelled, we helped the check into the hotel and then had them over for dinner (a crock pot meal we'd been cooking). I spent most of the day friday with them- getting a start later in the morning- going to lunch with Rachel around noon time and then taking them to a few places around (noteably- up Mt. Ashland near us which is almost on the California border). Saturday, we got an early start and went to the Redwoods, including driving through a tree and also went to the southern Oregon Coast. It was a GREAT day.


Sunday, I had arranged to preach in church and we had a pot-luck following. After that, we took the rest of the afternoon to drive up to Crater Lake. It was the first time Rachel and I had been, despite my desire to have gone many times this summer. It was simply amazing!!!


It was great to have some more familiar faces out here and wonderful to spend time with everyone. While i know not everyone can, rachel and I would love to entertain any of our family and friends who can come to visit us. That's all for now (been quite busy) but I hope to be posting some more topics in the near future as food for thought. don't forget to check out the pictures from this weekend.