Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 5d

In their blunt fashion, writes @thewaitroom.bsky.social, the #FinalDestination films tap into the gospel truth we try to avoid with protein shakes, exercise routines, and Cadillac healthcare plans: nobody cheats Death.

Taking Our Final Destination to Heart: Nobody Cheats Death - Christ and Pop Culture

The Final Destination films tap into the gospel truth we try to avoid with protein shakes, exercise routines, and Cadillac healthcare plans.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 8d

H. G. Parry’s “A Far Better Thing” is one of those takeoffs that makes you both love it for itself, and love the book it’s based on even more than you already did, writes @ginadalfonzo.bsky.social.

H. G. Parry’s A Far Better Thing Is a Sublime Take on Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities - Christ and Pop Culture

One of those takeoffs that makes you both love it for itself, and love the book it’s based on even more than you already did.

christandpopculture.com

1 4

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

Jason Morehead @opus.ing · 16d

I wrote this back in 2011 about another Rapture that never happened.

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 16d

Once again, someone foretold the #Rapture, and once again, they were wrong. It’s easy to make light of situations like this, but maybe they also hold some lessons that we can all learn.

What can we learn from the Rapture that wasn't? - Christ and Pop Culture

Talk about a teachable moment...

christandpopculture.com

1 1

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

Brazos Press @brazospress.bsky.social · 12d

“Contrary to popular opinion,” @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social writes, “race is not primarily about skin color but about people seeking to categorize one another in order to exploit them. It is about greed.”

@christandpopculture.com
@ginadalfonzo.bsky.social

christandpopculture.com/malcolm-fole...

Malcolm Foley's Anti-Greed Gospel Exposes the Materialistic Roots of America's Racism - Christ and Pop Culture

The tragic history of racism can be traced directly to the lust for wealth.

christandpopculture.com

2 3

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 16d

Once again, someone foretold the #Rapture, and once again, they were wrong. It’s easy to make light of situations like this, but maybe they also hold some lessons that we can all learn.

What can we learn from the Rapture that wasn't? - Christ and Pop Culture

Talk about a teachable moment...

christandpopculture.com

1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 22d

“All that to say, I feel like I know @brucespringsteen.net pretty well. But I did not know until recently that, twenty years ago, he made a gospel album. An honest-to-God record of songs of faith and doubt, sin and redemption, prayer and confession, and a deep longing for heaven.”

Springsteen’s Lost Gospel Album - Christ and Pop Culture

The world never knew about this soul-stirring, honest-to-God record. Till now.

christandpopculture.com

1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · 29d

“The tragic history of racism can be traced directly to the lust for wealth.” @ginadalfonzo.bsky.social reviews @malcolmbfoley.bsky.social’s “The Anti-Greed Gospel.”

Malcolm Foley's Anti-Greed Gospel Exposes the Materialistic Roots of America's Racism - Christ and Pop Culture

The tragic history of racism can be traced directly to the lust for wealth.

christandpopculture.com

2 3

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Sep 8

Christianity remains at its best, at its most unanswerable, when we live it out with beauty and winsome communication, with generosity and hospitality—in short, when we look like Uhura. #StarTrek

How Nichelle Nichols Made Uhura the Life of the Party - Christ and Pop Culture

Star Trek’s Lieutenant Uhura was a generous person, a hospitable person, one who extended the hand of fellowship to those around her.

christandpopculture.com

1 1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Sep 8

“At the heart of that community is one woman, one counselor, who demonstrates what it looks like to care for each other well. Deanna Troi embodies care and empathy, and she shows us what this high view of personhood can look like.” #StarTrek

More: christandpopculture.com/the-enterpri...

a woman says " you were always welcome " while wearing a purple shirt

ALT: a woman says " you were always welcome " while wearing a purple shirt

media.tenor.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Sep 8

In honor of it being #StarTrek Day, we’re going to be sharing some of our favorite posts related to the beloved sci-fi franchise. First up, a tribute to Leonard Nimoy and Mr. Spock. “Spock’s dedication to a life of controlled emotion is admirable [and] in a sense quite Christian.”

Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock, and the Right Kind of Reason - Christ and Pop Culture

Spock’s dedication to a life of controlled emotion is admirable—is, in fact, in a sense quite Christian.

christandpopculture.com

1 1 1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Sep 8

The thing that sets #StarWars apart is the way that Lucas is able to blend disparate worldviews, cultures, beliefs, and metaphysical systems into a cohesive story with true meaning.

George Lucas Is Confused (And That’s a Good Thing) - Christ and Pop Culture

George Lucas wanted a sage order of warrior monks who preach that we should rid ourselves of desires, but he also wanted love to win.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Sep 3

Released 5 years ago today, Christopher Nolan’s #Tenet “takes the best of Bond but ditches the playboy schtick, replacing it with complex physics and a band-of-brothers finale, making it simultaneously more cerebral and more relational than your average cinematic intrigue.”

The Spy Film That’s Better Than Bond, or, Why I Watched Tenet Four Times - Christ and Pop Culture

This reciprocal, mutual mentoring is possible only because of time inversion, proving that Tenet’s sci-fi premise is no mere gimmick. The story’s moral core depends on it.

christandpopculture.com

1 1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 29

“To willingly enter into a world of vice and violence in order to save those entrapped by it, knowing that it might mean your own death, is a very Christ-like thing to do. In spite of the darkness of the show’s theme, Gi-hun’s goodness radiates throughout the narrative.”

The Suffering Servant of Netflix's Squid Game - Christ and Pop Culture

Although Seong Gi-hun is not a Christian character, he lives out the sort of self-sacrifice to which Christians are called.

christandpopculture.com

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

Jason Morehead @opus.ing · Aug 25

My latest for @christandpopculture.com considers the impact of AI-generated imagery on ministry and worship. “Should we care that art created with the stated goal of drawing human beings into a deeper connection with God’s Word is not, in fact, created by human minds or hands?”

Stunning Art or Soulless Slop? Taking a Look at the AI Bible's Music Videos - Christ and Pop Culture

One way that AI's dehumanization might play out is a distinctly utilitarian approach to creativity, artistry, and worship.

christandpopculture.com

1 2

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 25

New from @opus.ing: Should we care that art created with the stated goal of drawing human beings into a deeper connection with God’s Word is not, in fact, created by human minds or hands?

Stunning Art or Soulless Slop? Taking a Look at the AI Bible's Music Videos - Christ and Pop Culture

One way that AI's dehumanization might play out is a distinctly utilitarian approach to creativity, artistry, and worship.

christandpopculture.com

2

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

Jason Morehead @opus.ing · Aug 12

As a member of DC Talk and the Newsboys, two of the most successful CCM acts of all time, #MichaelTait has enjoyed incredible success while reaching millions of fans and releasing some of CCM’s biggest albums. He is also a sexual predator. (Originally posted on @christandpopculture.com.)

Who Will Stumble Because of Michael Tait’s Fall? - Opus

It may be that Michael Tait’s greatest legacy as a Christian music star is making it that much harder for an unbelieving world to believe in Christ.

opus.ing

1 1

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

O. Alan Noble @oalannoble.bsky.social · Aug 22

I'm not going to wade into the Dobson legacy debates, but I will say, this is the memory of Focus on the Family that sticks with me: christandpopculture.com/franz-kafka-...

Franz Kafka and McGee and Me - Christ and Pop Culture

christandpopculture.com

1 4

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 22

John Hendrix’s “The Mythmakers” is a fascinating and beautifully illustrated retelling of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien’s famous friendship, writes @ginadalfonzo.bsky.social.

John Hendrix's The Mythmakers Is a Wonderful Graphic Novel About Lewis and Tolkien's Friendship - Christ and Pop Culture

christandpopculture.com

2 3

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 11

“As Christians, we can be both cautious and curious. We don’t know what’s out there. But if someone—or something—is, the gospel isn’t fragile, and our theology is big enough to handle it.”

God, Us, and Them – Part III: Theological Reflections on Extraterrestrial Life - Christ and Pop Culture

We don’t know what’s out there. But if someone—or something—is, the gospel isn’t fragile, and our theology is big enough to handle it.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 8

“Even when his excesses left you appalled, it was hard not to admire the man’s titanic vitality.” Cameron McAllister pays tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne.

The Prince of Darkness Wasn’t So Dark After All - Christ and Pop Culture

If Elvis was the king of rock and roll, then the late Ozzy Osbourne was the patron saint of what came to be called heavy metal.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 4

Turns out, God doesn’t always show up in church pews or devotionals. Sometimes he shows up in consistency, in habits that hold you when your faith feels quiet. Like watching pro wrestling with your family.

The Ring Is Scripted but the Love Is Real - Christ and Pop Culture

God doesn’t always show up in church pews or devotionals. Sometimes he shows up in habits that hold you when your faith feels quiet.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Aug 1

Returning to the books and movies and games that marked us in our younger years, we remember that who we are is still, in some way, who we were, writes Brandy Bagar-Fraley.

Rebuilding the Shire: Loss, Legos, and The Lord of the Rings - Christ and Pop Culture

Returning to the books and movies and games that marked us in our younger years, we remember that who we are is still, in some way, who we were. Rebuilding the Shire from Legos, I am still the child e...

christandpopculture.com

1

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Jul 25

In his second piece on exotheology, Cole Burgett wonders: Why is it that, when people hear the word “alien,” they picture little green men in flying saucers?

God, Us, and Them – Part II: Ufology 101 - Christ and Pop Culture

Our aim is not to baptize the mythology of aliens, but to ask how Christian theology might responsibly interpret the discovery of non-human life.

christandpopculture.com

Christ and Pop Culture @christandpopculture.com · Jul 21

The shock of something outside our own narrow range of experience is a much-needed spiritual tonic for all of us today, writes Cameron McAllister.

Embracing Art Means Escaping Our Comfort Zones - Christ and Pop Culture

The shock of something outside our own narrow range of experience is a much-needed spiritual tonic for all of us today.

christandpopculture.com

Reposted by Christ and Pop Culture

Kevin McLenithan @mclengthyname.bsky.social · Jul 18

When Colbert took over The Late Show, I lobbied hard to write the blurb for his spot on @christandpopculture.com's best-of-2015 roundup list. I don't always enjoy going back to read my decade-old writing, but it was nice to revisit this and think "yep, bingo." christandpopculture.com/the-2015-chr...

3 9