Monday class reflection

I really enjoyed today's lecture. I think it's helpful to be aware of Global connectedness and youth culture as well as American youth culture and identity. Today I feel like the church is more worried about right actions and proper living rather than the holistic dialogue that breathes life. What needs to happen is instead of separating church and culture and begs the church to introduce the need for media literacy. It begs for authentic faith and authentic culture and plugging these ideas together wrestles us free form consumer holds and transfers the power back into the people.

Image from www.chromasia.com

Reflection Week 9

Cobb: Everlasting Life
Cobb surprised me with this chapter and took a different route than I would have expected him to when he talked about the different visions of the omega stories. I don’t think I normally would have connected the paintings of Thomas Kinkade with omega stories. I guess I didn’t realize that they were so interconnected towards the opposition contemporary artwork. Cobb’s vision of the book as a whole is interesting, not something that I really connected to and if it was my chance I don’t think I would use an overwhelming amount of examples to prove my point. What will happen in the future of the dialogue of theology and culture? What happens twenty years down the road when people are very acquainted with culture. Will we be able to say that we were able to help make connections with their culture and their theology?

Bevans: The Countercultural Model.
Of all the models this is probably the most interesting model for the ideas are quite complex and I don’t think just any person will be able to relate to this concept or model. I do like the model because it intercepts with a postmodern point of view valuing our experiences and looking at our life now rather than a future end. I liked that it is a continual reinterpretation of history and how we need to stay involved within our cultural context. I love that culture continues to change and it we need to continue to be aware of the needs of the community and time to be aware of how the gospel can continue to stay ‘relevant.’

Paper Proposal:
Due to a conversation in class last week as well with Wess I have decided to change my paper topic from women’s issues (gasp….!) to integrating Batine’s theory of carnival with the musical interpretation of David Bazan/ Pedro the Lion. I would like to understand the theory of Batine and practical application through the models of Bevans. I think the best fits are the Praxis Model as well as the Transcendental Model. I think there is a fantastic subversive message of David Bazan in light of the Christian faith and calling out the lawfulness of people and look deeper at the root of the Christian message, in theory I believe this connects quite well with the ideas of Batine.

Wednesday Response:
Though late I still find youth culture enthralling and interesting. I am shocked at the fact that we in the class attempt to separate ourselves from the rest of the world in regards to media messages and how some people seem that we are unaffected from their daily lives. It’s hard for me to believe that. I love that we need to reconnect with the idea of cultural theory and inspire people to recognize what is being marketed to their daily lives. To think that by having Jesus we are unaffected seems ignorant….

Almost done with the quarter

The Transcendental Model:

This model is a great model if you are going to be in one place for a significant period of time. It helps to pull out the essence of listening and being able to be open for transformational change without limits, plans, boxes, or strategies. It is a model that allows the spirit to move you and the community to a place where you never expected because you didn't plan it to head in a specific direction. The model allows for the spirit and freedom to be at its essence. It hits the core of the basic human experience as well as being available to no ready made answers.

Cobb: Salvation
Cobb views cultural salvation through the lens of popular culture. I liked his lens of seeing life of the spirit through the life of these musicians. My questions lie in the fact do people really process through the lens of salvation? I think Christians really struggle in making connections with pop culture how do they even go a step further to see it in the eyes of beauty of salvation and grace.

Paper Outline:
My goal for the paper is to devise a strategy to look at deconstructing media images for teenage and college women. The goal is to be able to look at the need for deconstructing the images and understanding the benefit of education and understanding. I hope to enable the use of the translation as well as the transcendental model to look at the need as well as communicating the need of such a deconstruction.

Deconstruction Part 2

Thoughts on deconstruction:

These undeconstructables consist of justice, forgiveness, gift, and hospitality...
The Sermon on the Mount (Kingdom living) gives instances of Jesus' choice to enact these within his ministry.

To me these can be deconstructed within the idea of error. For so long these entities have been considered in the church though rarely acted upon. By the non cause of action it has stirred in many the need to act and react. By erroring those who are wrestling with The Kingdom see that we are in need of a reaction.

I think the church errors in saying it holds all the weight and knowledge on Truth. Binary oppositions would be male over female, the sacred vs. the profane, my denomination over or verse your denomination. I think as we see many churches dying we can see that it didn't evolve with the generations but stuck a claim in truth and stopped processing forward. These have been detrimental to love but when we realize that love really does win as well as justice and forgiveness than we are able to wrestle with a new truth that eventually will be deconstructed again.....

Where are there places in the world that are more like Jesus than the church?

Youth, Synthetic Model, and Sin

Barker: Youth, Style, and Resistance:
I have been doing research on youth for quite some time and I don't think I ever get bored with the topic. I think Barker brought new ideas and identities to the realm of youth. I walked away with new questions. When youth begin to interact with life they try to repurpose what they see and how they interact with the bricolage of life. At what point as adults then have we given up repurposing, re-valuing, deconstructing, and asking new questions on how life is and how we interact with it. I think youth culture asks new questions but how do we help students interact with consumerism and consumption in the church? Does it challenge the leadership of churches to reevaluate how we give the congregation hope outside of consumption or are we giving people one more thing to consume?

Cultural Politics and Cultural Policy:
What is REALLY the future of cultural theory and how do we make it practical in our everyday lives? How do we really make meaning and give identity to a topic that is so wide and expansive on so many topics...How do we begin to relate to all cultures when I have been given a Western lens to view life with? When the practice is so multi disciplinary how do we make meaning when there are so many cultural variables at play? I think these are my left over questions as I wrestled with the last chapter. I think the one thing that really stood out was the minimal interaction with religion and how that plays a role in our meaning making. How will the bigger church find meaning in the practice of cultural theory? How do we recognize that meaning is made in our current locations and communities and how do we make this practical in our expanding world views?

Bevans: The Synthetic Model
I really liked this quote: "The contextualization of theology must become an attitude. Christians have to give up the notion that there is such a thing as 'plain theology' or 'just theology.' Theology as such does not exist. Because contexts constantly change, theology has constantly to change as well" (94). I think this model really brings to light the questions that I have from the last chapter in Barker. How are we making theology practical to people? I don't want or need another thing to tell me how to act or what to do. I think this model lets life be lived out in a way that is beautiful and wonderful and lets real life be lived and theological praxis come into play.....

Response to Chase:
I really like your thoughts for this model. I think you are very right when you related this model into a postmodern context. I think there are also draw backs but I think this is the model where a lot of youth and young adults relate, draw, and find meaning within theology. I think the model is non threatening to relationship building and it shows and helps redefine what it means to wrestle with theology and approach scripture. I like that we can bring all of our experiences together and have them relate. Thanks for your post.

Cobb:Sin
Yeah I don't like Cobb, I think he understands cultural entities and tries to make conclusions with everyday life, which I think is helpful but deep down I don't know if he is even convinced by the practice.... We are all broken and I think he lets that be known in the chapter. Even in the darkness we can still have light and even in these places we can show and share truth where once there was not light to be seen. As life progresses we need to be able to see that God can and should be in all places, even if they are places that we are told that it couldn't exist....

The Praxis Model

I think it gets my mind going when i think about the praxis model. I think it's literally the most practical way to do ministry and really get Kingdom ethics played out in our church culture today. I think I realized how disconnected I am from the church but I think in a healthy way. I think I am far enough away to realize that I am not as broken and sad about the state of the church and soon to be ready to jump back in and love people for who they are and not what a systematic theology wants people to be. I think the praxis model enables love without boundaries and get people invested and reconciled within their local communities.

Monday Class

Monday we discussed the issues regarding language as well as the state of modernity/postmodernity. I am really glad we didn't really do group work with the praxis model. It was a breath of fresh air to continue the discussion of how these social practices influence our daily lives and ultimately affects how and why we do church. The more I wrestle with these complex issues the more immanent it seems to become that we need to discuss the cross over discussion in our church and local communities. How we make meaning and hold these with the identity of language and post-modernism is important.

Television, praxis, and human nature

Barker: Television
I find it fascinating that all people draw meaning and find meaning in art in different ways. For this chapter it really hit me that we all come to television shows with different perceptions and we bring in our stories to make and find meaning. How we interpret the texts is really a valuable tool. How we do this in television could easily brought into our Christian practices and how we read the biblical text as well as practice how to decipher this meaning and practice. I think television helps bring a national identity as well as new global meaning.

Urban Spaces:
I like tying the practices of watching television shows with than watching how we practice our lives in public spaces. The need and identity of community is important and valuable with meaning making. We bring ourselves to these public spaces and then attempt to build or identify community in these public spaces. I like to think that we can also transfer the idea of sacred space into these public spaces and add another element to making meaning and practicing meaning in these spheres. I hope that as the church we can lower boundaries and limitations of where we can find sacred space and WE place new meaning to spaces that we pass in everyday life.

Cobb: Human Nature
I think we can easily tie in Cobb's chapter on human nature with the way we practice life in Barkers two chapters. Who we are and what we desire and WHY we desire these things are important questions to ask. We can see that life can imitate art or art imitating life. I think that was clear in this chapter as Cobb tries to explain where we find and make meaning and how that interacts with our spiritual nature. I think he offers new conclusions of how it affects our Christian identity but I believe that it doesn't offer hope in how we can repurpose this with new education. How do we understand and make meaning with these multimedia practices?

Bevans: Praxis Model
The praxis model shows that we can bring liberation and freedom to our ministry goals and potential. I think this model isn't presented as the most universal theory but I think it offers new ways to live our lives and where we can offer freedom from oppression. I think this model works if we are able to come into it with a foundation of desire to offer a freedom but it must not be confined to the church but be able to work with governments and power structures that continue to perpetuate the oppress nature of the system. The model has it's faults but done in the right way could be revolutionary.

Comment on Joe's blog:
like your thoughts on this post. I like that you brought up the fact that skin and clothes can be basically the same identity. I like that you brought this up and that it translate to our everyday life experience. It's amazing how much we can find God in our everyday life experiences and find experiences in the most mundane parts of our days.

I was also waiting for the negative from Cobb and he showed me that he could make connections with our everyday experiences and the culture. Though he really didn't offer hope. How do we find hope in all of these connections with our everyday experiences?

Wednesday Class: Modern and Postmodern

I realize that I hate group work. Not that I don't like the people I am in class with but I enjoy hearing theory and how does that relate with our contemporary church culture. I wish we could draw the connections together in class. How do we take this theory and make it practical? I think the modern (first and second_ or postmodern thought is really important. How does these push against one another and how do they interact with our everyday lives?

We live in a current space where consumerism is key and our worth is based on what we have and what we believe. How does this play in our lives and what are we doing with this with our thoughts and practices?

I know I have ideas and this is what I should continue to process and write my paper on.

Reaction to the Anthropological Model

Today's class was interesting but I am not a huge fan of group work. I like the Anthropological method and I think it is useful because it creates conversation rather inserting your beliefs into someone elses culture. It helps us to sit back and realize that we can make meaning with anything in our culture. Talking and integrating coffee, football, and the environment really hits on how many different Americans and Western culture. It helps me to know and recognize that we can create meaning out of our past times and hobbies.

Gender, Race, and Anthropology

This weeks reading were pretty good overall...

Bevans: The Anthropological Model
The Antropological Method has someone come into a new culture and try to make connections with the culture and biblical truth and revelation of God and who God is. We are adapting our Christian models with the ideas, values, and representations of the culture. I enjoyed the quote: "When we approach the man of another faith than our own it will be in spite of expectancy to find how God has been speaking to him and what new understandings of grace and love of God we may ourselves discover in this encounter" (pg. 56). I think it opens up our eyes to see how God is working in the lives of people and like Paul in Acts we can name the God who is in control of these actions.

Cobb: Images of God
I found it interesting that Cobb choose certain aspects of how culture wrestles with Christianity. I think he did a good job revealing how we invest our time and thoughts into who is God and where has God gone in our community. I think people are seeking for a gospel that helps then wrestle with concepts that our deeper and bigger than a message that was about damnation. I think we missed something about grace and communicating this concept because wouldn't we be in a different place if people could understand this concept and seek it in their life. Cobb expressed and revealed a disconnect between cultural producers and God.

Cultural Theory: Race and Ethnicity
I liked the simple definitions of race, racism, and ethnic terms. It helps propel easier understanding of the core of judgment and superiority of differences. I found it interesting that the connections between race and cultural value was found in media portrayals of their certain race or ethnic group. Issues of power and control seem to be the foundational factor in this heartbreaking issue. It seems that often times our fears get in our own way to see people as humans. If we connect with to the Bevans book it seems that American Christians have a hard time seeing the beauty of the gospel working outside of their safe zones that we all create for ourselves. What would happen if we died to ourselves and perfection ideals and sought out the transforming power of a gospel that was surrounded by Kingdom Ethics?

Sex, Subjectivity, and Representation:
I love reading and engaging Feminist thoughts and brining to light the demoralizing and oppressive nature of women. I think it's sad that a whole chapter has to be written about the nature and humanity of women but I know that this work is positive, healthy, and useful to seeing people as whole humans rather than just their gender or the previous chapters recognition of different skin tones. It's amazing that if we begin to learn about how one another process life and moments we begin to understand the beauty of life and how we live in and with it. I appreciate the beauty of my gender but how does the church reconcile their past oppression with future hope of equality and unity? And how does that then translate to the American public?

Classmate Response can be found here for Todd's post on Cobb.

Wednesday Class: Marxism and the Frankfurt School

If I was afraid of heresy I would have gone to Moody! (Todd Blackham)
( I thought that was funny)

Today's class was great. Monday I had a hard time making connections from the class. I think translation model is important but it just wasn't working for me. Today though with our discussion of Marxism and the Frankfurt school really got me thinking and processing. It is really connecting with my soul and spirit about how we make meaning with cultural artifacts and what and how we give meaning to things in our culture, how we produce in culture, and what we do with the meaning.

It reminded me that we need to be able to process through the arts as well as popular economy. The cycles of consumerism is something that needs to be discussed farther as well as the Post-Modern Marxism. I would like to know more about how we can make pratical applications to my everyday life.

I used to work with middle and high school students, especially girls, and teach media literacy. To understand and know how to decipher how our culture works is almost a foreign language to students. These kids spend so much time with these cultural artifacts yet have not a clue how to process through these media pieces. I think it is a great link with our faith to understand how culture works. Because so much of what we were talking about makes sense into the Christian faith saying believe what I believe and make sense how I make sense. I think we make make connections with Marxism but know what our Kingdom ethics make connections with life and what is worth living.

We can't be afraid to make connections with culture, it is neither evil nor bad. I think if we can change an evangelical language that takes chances and risks love it might be worth something to believe in.

Reflections on Week 4 Reading

Cultural Studies: Barker: Postmodernity
I really liked this weeks reading in Barker. I think this chapter was very insightful on the history of modernism with reason, rationality, and the quest for absolutes. As I was reading I realized how much I related to being a postmodern thinker. "Core to the postmodern structure of feeling is:
-- a sense of the fragmentary, ambiguous, and uncertain nature of living
--an awareness of the centrality of contingency
-- a recognition of cultural difference
--an acceleration in the pace of living (207)

With this knowledge it is hard not to recognize the importance of postmodern thought and those who helped deconstruct modernisms idealism to reveal a sense of unity within ALL people. It seems that modernism was set up for bourgeoisie western white men who could control power with absolutes, the one 'little' flaw seems to be all the others that have risen from the ashes or have been oppressed by this thinking demanding liberation. Postmodernity is not simple but it is making more and more sense to me.

Issues of Subjectivity and Identity:
LOVED this chapter. I love digging in to the "I" and wrestle with finding meaning and identity. I think this chapter was really insightful to understanding what makes up the self and what in the self we find valuable and important. I was really challenged by the concepts of agency and the subchapters of choice and determination. It's amazing to realize all that enters in the self to execute a choice. I think it's interesting that their are so many factors in the person presently but also cultural factors, past choices, and future desires. I think this is really important to assimilate our theological understanding because without wrestling with this concept what is the point of wrestling with our faith?

Theology and Pop Culture:
As the chapters progress I am having a really hard time with this book. I think it's interesting that with cultural theory a lot of understanding is based on language and the use of language. I think Cobb is having a hard time straddling the historical religious language and current postmodern thought. If we take the argument of language seriously this theological tools section could have been a chapter that gave ways to bridge the languages together. Instead I received (although valuable) a history lesson on Tilich. The problem is that we are past a point where Tillich's thoughts can set up a viable foundation for a real analysis of popular culture in 2008.

Contextual Theology:
The Translation Model seems like a viable option for translating the gospel with the least cultural damage. Granted I haven't read the other models but this model is set up simply. Experiences of the past, scripture, and tradition impact our recognition of how we should experience the present and how that works with culture, human experiences, social location, and social change. I think we bring our own values and we communicate with the location one might transition into. We must understand our own values so that when we enter into others we are able to educate ourselves on their cultural values as well.

Response to Jason's Post:
I like your thoughts on this chapter. I think you ask a great question when you as about the elements that draw us nearer to our faith as well as to God. At what point does the symbols switch from a personal spiritual experience to something that manipulates and consumes a Christian identity? To go further do these experiences begin to define the person and want this for others and if we do does this turn into a trend because others want this as well?

Thanks for your thoughts Jason. I really appreciated our after class conversation about Marxism. I think it is really important that we continue to find the beauty of our history both good and bad and wrestle with that in our own personal faith.

Thoughts on Marxism

Wednesday in class we finally started to combine our reading with the lectures. I am all about the missional/emergent church but that's not why I took this class. We had an interesting history lesson of the intent of Marxism and Communism. It's beautiful intentions of knowing the producer of the good you are intending to purchase is something that I can't stop thinking about. As an American culture we have become really disconnected between what we buy and who has taken their life to make this product come into being. I think that Marx and Communism had some beautiful intentions but how they played out in a global market place and the overthrow of dictatorship is highly unnerving.

I was trying to connect the relevance of this conversation with what is happening in today's marketplace as well as the highly anticipated elections. How does a new way, or change, come into our national economic plan? How do we take a capitalist society and make meaning with how we consume. Money and goods seemed to be a high talked about topic on Monday's State of the Union Address. Bush has allowed Americans to receive a tax break so we can buy more goods from the stamp of the USA. The problem is my clothing all has names like Malawi, China, or El Salvador. Where I am sure that they were most likely not paid same wages as Americans and Corporate Business Men will probably drive their BMW to work because I bought a pair of pants from their company.

I know that Marxism was idealistic and the beauty of unity and moving to a classless society seems valuable and something that was desirable within our nation state. I believe that Americans need to find new identity and meaning with how we purchase, what we purchase, how we work, and ultimately give meaning. What can we continue to learn from Marx? What went right? Where can we learn from the mistakes?

Week Three Reading

Contextual Theology:
"Even the biblical message was developed in a dialogue with human experience, culture, and cultural and social change, and a theology that neither issues forth in action nor takes account of the way one lives one's life can hardly be theology that is worth very much" (33). I love this statement because I think it is really true of the core of why I live a life that is theologically based. On a separate note I wonder how globalization fits into separate models of theology. Grant I recognize that a theology needs to be developed from your current cultural standpoint but how does that work when you have multiple cultures in a space? How does our language move from context to context?

Theology and Pop Culture:
I enjoyed reading this chapter for a theological history of different historians views on interacting with culture. I would like more time to read through the work of Paul Tillich at some point. I think he might be a good way to understand how one deconstructs theological values to see how they work within a current cultural context. It was interesting to hear that Cobb wanted Tillich to have more recognition within cultural theory. I question has theology done the work to do the right to be heard? Just one voice verses many voices that don't want culture to be integrated.

Cultural Studies: Chapter 5
This chapter focuses on scientific data of the body. The body is an important and valuable entity that people are willing to talk about whether it be biologically or scientifically. Where does theology play a role in these advanced understandings of who we are? Can theology come back into this type of conversation that allows the body to be reentered into our theological scope? I hope that our work of understanding creation and value can challenge our hope for a stronger theology.


Cultural Studies: Chapter 6
It's interesting how these two chapters happen to be some of the topics that I am most interested in lately. How we value our consumer goods and what needs to be valued is vitally important. I think understanding postmodernism, post-industrial, disorganized capitalism is valuable to combine our theology with. I know that sounds somewhat like a broken record from the chapter before but I think our theology and theologians don't know how to connect these valuable disciplines with how one relates to how we view God and spirituality in our life.

REFLECTION POST CLASS
Sitting in class today I realized that I would like to make connections between the reading and the the class discussion. I know that some of the cultural theory seems like a distant connection with a theological conversation. The missional church is important and it something that future leaders of the church needs to wrestle with but I think the reading has A LOT to offer into how to engage and dialogue with the future mission of the church. How we make meaning, who we are, how we buy and consume things is really important to understanding where we should go with our philosophy of ministry. I don't know if that sounds crazy but I think that is what I would like to be talking about instead. Maybe that's just me.

Class Review: Emerging Church

Class today was about the basic foundation of emerging churches. The ideas and basic principles of the emerging church relate to issues of love, grace, compassion, and justice. I was struck with the question of why wouldn't we want these as the identifier of Christian faith? I think it's interesting to ask the question and seek understanding of why people would want to stay in a dwindling church with lack of action and deadening of community. How do we function in our world with two languages? Modern and Post-Modern. I believe in a space without extreme absolutes. Why not be moved and keep moving? Why is the church afraid of progress?

I want the ability to be free in who I am and who I am becoming. I don't want to limit myself and I certainly never want to limit others. Can we get out of our own ways? Can we move past our own fear of the unknown and jump in to wrestling with the present instead of the un-lived future?

The importance of cultural theory seems foundational into understanding the best way to love. Love means we die to ourselves for the knowledge of all people as well as to ourselves. It made me remember the song War on War on Wilco. It goes something like this:
It's a war on war
It's a war on war
There's a war on

You're gonna lose
You have to lose
You have to learn how to die

Let's watch the miles flying by
Let's watch the miles flying by
You are not my typewriter
But you could be my demon
Moving forward through flaming doors

You have to lose
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

Okay?

You have to lose
You have to lose
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

You have to die
You have to die
You have to learn how to die
If you want to want to be alive

Okay?

Seems simple enough......right?

Chapters 2 reading

Contextual Theology: Interesting concepts regarding how we view our worldview in light of other worldviews. How we view others and others life situations always comes with biases and re-appropriation of how we understand someone else's contexts. I think I realized that we need to be patient with others and be good listeners as we engage all people who are basically not our family.

Theology and Popular Culture/ Chapter 3 of Barker:
These chapters both really reflected the beginnings and than post-meanings of cultural theory. I love that we engage with meanings and purposes of what we do in cultural theory. I love that everything comes back to these concepts and that we all have different meanings associated with our experiences. I think this can help tolerance not just culturally but also expand religious tolerance. I think with cultural theory we come to a healthier theology but I believe that contexts with Beavins in contextual theology when we need to see life as wither redemptive or sinful. For me I will pick redemptive, otherwise what's the point? I struggle still with Cobb a bit. I think he is clear in his relating to cultural thoughts and theology but I struggled with one of his later points that theologians were the only ones to be able to see and articulate clearly the meaning of culture. I struggle because there are only a handful of theologians doing the work....On to next week to see his point but it is turning me off.....

Chapter 4 Barker:
I really enjoyed this chapter because it gave me very simple definitions to Philosophical interpretations of culture. I have been wrestling with Derrida and Focault and how I place meaning and how to understanding of that meaning for sometime now. I think these are not the easiest thinkers to wrestle with but undeniably valuable and very important.

Comment on Simon's blog .

Week Two: Wednesday

Today in class we recognized the historic beginnings of cultural theory. It was interesting lecture from Ryan followed by a discussion of what would Jesus do with the differing view of cultural theory. I think at this moment I checked out. I struggle with placing Jesus in 1965. I have trouble placing Christ in our current cultural conversation because it means that we have not placed Christ in our current cultural conversations for some time. How far has Christian dialogue removed itself from the foundational practices of Christ? I think it's a difficult demand because we want Jesus' culture to fit our understanding of our present context. I think there are merits but it provides new problems. The problems are do we create new meaning to how we understand Christ? and what part of Jesus' cultural climate not extend a hand in our present experiences? Is there a better way that theology place itself in the cultural conversation without overly spiritualizing, or dumbing down, the beautiful complex nature of Christ.

On a more upbeat hand I do see the create spirit existent in culture. There are pockets of humanity that are striving to insert that freedom and grace back into our daily conversations and that to me is the spirit of Christ.

Class Homework Week One

The introduction to cultural theory is an interesting task. My thoughts are:

"To write this book I have had to live in digitized, cathod rays, and and news print artifacts more than I am ordinarily inclined to do." The sentence in the acknowledgments states my issues with this writer. If you are being stretched to understand culture by diving into culture why are you writing this book? You need to dive into culture and live in it comfortably and freely to REALLy understand where culture is. From the Blackwell Companion to Theology and Pop Culture

I really liked the Barker book because it had clear concise understandings of the beginnings of cultural theory. The definitions were simply laid out and really cast a strong understanding of how and why someone would engage in popular culture. Though dense because it's textbook design it does seem important to recognize the definitions of what culture is.

Bevins Contextual theology book is a nice book. I think its interesting though that we, in the last few years are just starting to make connections in theology with popular culture. Why is this a new discipline and how is Christendom in diciline? For being in decline is this healthy thing for the church? Can we rise up from the ashes and make a new, healthier church for a new post-modern context.


REFLECTIONS AFTER CLASS:
I am intrigued with the history of cultural theory. I think it's a topic that should be in every school and every college. It's interesting to note where it came from. People wanted to be elitist, have their knowledge and their understanding be known, followed, understood. I like there was a split of high and popular culture. I think it's interesting to note that the church didn't change, the church didn't recognize that people were not connecting with this all so high art of preaching and teaching and there were some who wanted to create how they were inside culture and interacted with it. Why do we still struggle with this today? What is the blocker for us to see what is standing in the way of seeing people where they are at?

Week One: Wednesday

I really enjoyed the class on WEdnesday. I think it is really important to recognize that the Western church doesn't have their act together when it comes to the local church. It's interesting to think about the fact that we are in a Seminary where there are many people, myself included, that have been broken by the church and doesn't feel the love, grace, and compassion that is offered by the gospel. Where have we gone astray? How much does pride and nobility play a role? and how do we come back to the basics after all that is gone array?