Geekklesia

 A few nights ago, I sat down (virtually) with three other geeky pastors to talk about our geeky hobbies, and how they are intersecting with our vocations as pastors in our different churches.  On the panel sat Ben Avery, one of the hosts of the Strangers and Aliens podcast and children's pastor at Nappanee Missionary Church in Indiana, Hector Miray, author of the Faith and Fandom series of books and host of the Faith and Fandom podcast and Location Pastor at Vertical Church in North Carolina, and Derek White, a.k.a. the Geek Preacher, one of the hosts of the Dungeon Pastors vlog and pastor at Matthews Memorial UMCin Tennessee. Part 1 was posted to the Geekklesia Facebook page . Part 2 has just been posted.

Now that a few weeks have passed, and I have had the opportunity to see Captain America: Civil War twice, there are some thoughts that I believe are present. A number of bloggers and other critics have noted that neither Steve Rogers/Captain America nor Tony Stark/Iron Man are 100% correct in their views. Neither individuals nor institutions can be trusted to provide competent, reliable oversight for people with power. Personal responsibility: I find it interesting that in discussing the Sokovia Accords, which would limit the Avengers to act only when they had clearance from a UN panel, Steve Rogers claims to accept that in order to act he must be willing to live with the consequences. In other words, he sys he is willing to take responsibility for the results, good and bad, of his actions.   Speaking to Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, he says "This job... we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a wa...

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has proven to be an unstoppable force, regularly producing films and television programs that mine the depths of their catalog. These productions feature properties that bring larger-than-life characters from the four-color pages of comic books, thus introducing these characters to a whole new audience that would never otherwise sweet foot in a comic shop.  Since re-acquiring the Daredevil property from 20th Century Fox in 2012, Marvel has displayed a consistent ability to "get it right" when it comes to putting their properties on either the large or small screens.  A year after the rights reverted to Marvel, it was announced that they had entered into a deal with Netflix to produce a number of serious based on Marvel paperless, including Daredevil. Two weeks ago, the thirteen episode series Daredevil premiered on Netflix, marking a major departure from other Marvel productions. The series is dark and gritty in tone, seeking to emulat...

I'm always thinking about what I want to say here as well as over at the Facebook and Google +  companion page for this site. But I don't limit myself to just the what; I also think about the why.  Why do I seek to post nuggets of interest (perhaps only of interest to me), and look for ways that these nuggets can illustrate spiritual truth? I think it is because we live in an essentially pagan culture. And by pagan, I mean a culture that is biblically illiterate at is core.  A culture that, for all of its technological advances, is deeply wary, even cynical, when it comes to faith. The 21st century is in many ways like the first century: despite pockets of believers, the wider world just doesn't know. I recently saw a meme that claimed that geeks are people for whom the details matter. I'd also add that geeks also embrace the possibilities. According to the Bible, mankind (both male and female) were created in the image of God. We aare introduced to God in Gene...

While recuperating from my still-broken ankle, I attended Madicon 24, on the campus of James Madison University. Since I was not 100%, I wanted to at least go for a few hours on Saturday and check out the scene.  It has been 30+ years since I attended an honest-to-goodness convention, and I really wanted to see what remained the same and what had changed in the intervening years. One feature that hadn't changed is the cosplay . Cosplay is a portmanteau mashing up the words costume and play and describing an aesthetic expression where individuals can identify with a favorite character or setting in science fiction or fantasy. Back in 1996, Barbara Adams made headlines when she wore a uniform based on ones featured on the Star Trek: The Next Generation television series as part of the juror pool during the Whitewater trials. When asked why, she simply said "I always wear my uniform on formal occasions." It is interesting that Ms. Adams recognized the ser...

I had been looking to this week for a few days. Friday is my birthday, and although my wife was scheduled to be out of town this week at a conference, she was due to return on Friday night, and we would be celebrating on Saturday, with a visit to an Irish pub in town.  While she was away, I thought about spending a little "me time" at my favorite big box book store just browsing. I should have seen it coming. First, we had been pounded two weekends previously with snowstorms which forced us to cancel many of our church activities, something I really dislike doing.  I also had to learn to shovel a precariously steep driveway at our home so that we could get out when the roads were clear enough. Not once, but twice. The second time, I didn't get as much cleared, and on Monday night (two days before my wife's trip), I slipped on a patch of ice, and went down hard. Not quite twenty years ago I severely sprained my right ankle, and thought at first that I had done the ...

First of all, let me say that it is great to be back. I have been on hiatus while I transitioned from an administrative role in my church in Mississippi to a pastoral role in a local church in Virginia. The transition has taken longer than I anticipated, but I have a number of notes for posts in the hopper that need a bit of work, but this is one I was able to finish.  Hopefully , it will be of help to someone. In the film,  Fools Gold , a character refuses to let himself be called the sidekick. In fact, his line is "I don't think of myself that way. I am the lead character in my own story." This quote reveals an underlying truth in nearly everyone's life: everyone is the hero/star of their own story.   In the live-action version of the superhero satire  The Tick , Arthur bristles  at the notion that he's the Tick's "sidekick." He prefers to be known as his 'partner.' He cannot accept that he might have second billing to someone els...

This winter, we were trapped in the " polar vortex " that had crippled much of the country in the coldest temperatures in recent memory.  I was reminded that winter is often associated with death, but I have been thinking recently about the fact that death is never really the end of the story, and I am certain that life will appear once again. We tend to believe that death is the final word, the in the Bible we often see death as being in one sense "cut off" or "separated." in Genesis 3, Adam and Eve "died" when they were cut off from fellowship with God and each other due to their disobedience. The nation of Israel "died" when they were separated from their homeland during the Babylonian captivity. I think you can understand what I'm trying to say here. God is never satisfied with death, and is always trying to bridge the gap and restore life just as He always tries to restore relationships Some time ago I ran across this artic...

This week, I was asked to give a devotional at my place of work.  I had planned on posting the text, and since one friend asked nicely, I will do so today. Just before Christmas, it seemed as if everyone wanted to talk about the 50th anniversary of the British children’s television series, Dr. Who. Now I am not a fan of the show, only because it has never ‘hooked’ me the way it has for others, but I can appreciate the excitement many fans have for the series. Imagine that! One TV series – fifty years –with eleven different actors playing the title role. In the series, the Doctor, as he is known, is a Time Lord, which means he has the power, via a very special vehicle, to travel back and forth through time. Now, there are other time travel stories. How many can we name? Back to the Future, Quantum Leap, The Time Machine, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, and many others. These are neat stories, and I think that in general people are fascinated with the idea of time travel,...

First off, please understand I am not a fan of A & E network's "reality" series Duck Dynasty . I think it perpetuates a myth that people from the south are loud, coarse, obsessed with hunting, and backward, which then encourages others' belittling attitudes. On the other hand, I do appreciate their strong commitment to their family and their faith. It is this commitment to faith that has ensnared the patriarch of the Robertson family. In an interview with GQ magazine, Phil Robertson was asked about what he considers sins worthy of death, and roughly quoting from 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, he listed "Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers." Out of that list, people zeroed in on the denunciation of homosexuality, which led to Phil's being suspended from the show "indefinitely." Immediately pundits on both sides of the issue blew up social m...

Just over five years ago, there were very few podcasts and blogs devoted to exploring geek culture through the lens of faith. In the time since, there has been a virtual explosion in the number and quality of entries. I am very excited by the possibility that the church is slowly embracing those who are traditionally within an often ostracized community. This past week,  I discovered a great new podcast: Theology Gaming.  Recently, they had a Theme Week where the various hosts posted individual blog posts relating to the theme of sex, love and lust in video games. They then came together in a round table format to discuss the issue. I liked their final takeaway that it just seems that our culture is so hypersexualized that it seems as if we expect every relationship to somehow culminate in a physical relationship, that there doesn't seem to be a place for the simple, chaste phileo friendship, but that it must develop into a relationship marked by eros . This will most lik...