So...it's been a long while. Summer craziness hit, which meant a lack of reading and a lack of writing. No justification to it, just a simple truth. My latest review is over Faith and Pop Culture, a study series by Christianity Today.

This is unlike any study I have done recently. It is for the movie buffs, the art lovers, and anyone that loves to be entertained. There are 8 lessons, each covering a different topic over a separate art form, each lesson asking if "we can find Jesus in popular entertainment." It challenges its participants to examine what they are watching, reading, and playing and to truly seek Jesus in it.

Being a literature buff, the article "The Good News According to Twain, Steinbeck, and Dicken," caught my attention. In the discussion section of the lesson, they share a quote from this article:

Tolkien, Lewis, Frost, and even more contemporary authors like David Guterson, Charles
Frasier, Annie Dillard, and Anne Lamont are what led me back to the Bible and to Christ.
In their writings is the constant search, and an acceptance of sorts that, while we all sin and
fall short of the glory of God, we must strive toward that glory while giving love and
compassion to those around us. This is not an epiphany or a moment of clarity. This is a
lifetime of struggling with answers that belie their questions. It is a terrible honesty and,
finally, a hope that God will indeed dwell within us. What a dreadful and wonderful lesson to
learn.

This not only challenged me to start looking at literature in a different way, but to also share these insights with friends, colleagues, etc.

Every book I pick up, I look at in a new light. Every movie I watch, I find a lesson to share. I recommended this to anyone who feels like they are caught in the middle between their Christian faith and appreciating art. It puts ideas into perspective and shows that you don't have to sacrifice one for the other.