About the Site

Pop Culture is everywhere. You can attempt to avoid it, but even if you succeeded, those around you are immersed in it. Pop Culture is more than just television, film, music, and the things people indulge themselves with to pass the time. It’s politics. It’s lifestyle. It’s the common knowledge of our age. You could say it’s the common sense of our age.

In recent days, Christians have attempted to ignore such a thing. After struggling for years to keep from being in the world, we have failed, and instead have succeeded only at being of the world.

This is because we have ignored the signs. All around us God has placed signs. Some of them are caution signs, warning us against the wrong path. Others are open signs, showing us the benefits of something we may otherwise have written off. Rather than take notice, we have turned our back on Balaam’s Donkey. “Donkeys can’t talk, and if they could, they would have nothing of import to say.” But we forget that God is sovereign even over donkeys and television sets.

Christ and Pop Culture seeks to acknowledge those signs by discussing and demonstrating exactly how we ought to think about and interact with pop culture.

Regular Writers

Richard H. Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for Kill Screen Magazine’s website.
Email: deadyetliving [at] gmail [dot] com.
Twitter: @deadyetliving.
Xbox Live: deadyetliving
Steam: deadyetliving

Alan Noble (Co-Founder/Editor) is a graduate student at Baylor University pursuing his Ph.D. in Contemporary American Literature. To feed himself and his wife, he teaches Freshman Composition at the university. In 2006, he graduated from Cal. State Bakersfield with a Master’s degree in English. In addition to studying, teaching, and writing, Alan enjoys watching college basketball (Go Bears!) and NBA games with his wife and daughter, and loves Star Wars. While not particularly good at making art of any kind, Alan has an intense interest in the arts and culture and how believers ought to interact with them to the glory of God and edification of others. Alan lives in Waco, Texas with his Math-loving wife, owl-loving daughter, and their no-longer-able-to-skateboard-because-of-an-injury English Bulldog, Gertrude.
Email: noble.noneuclidean [at] gmail [dot] com
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Drew Dixon (Editor) is a husband, pastor, soccer coach, reader, movie buff, and gamer. Drew is blessed with a wonderful wife and daughter. Drew has a BA in Speech Communication from West Texas A&M University and a MDIV in Christian Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Drew spends most of his time reading and discipling young men. He also coaches competitive soccer. Drew is interested in all facets of pop culture but writes most often about videogames and music. You can also find him at Relevant Magazine where he writes a column on videogames and culture.
Look him up on Twitter at drewdixon82.
Email: dixon.drew [at] gmail [dot] com
Steam: Drizzoo
XBox Live: Drizzoo82

Ben Bartlett (Associate Editor) lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife and two terrific kids. His degree is in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University, and he also had a bunch of education in a bunch of other places with nothing official to show for it. He is interested in the way large themes such as pop culture, history, politics, and theology interact with the inner and community lives of individuals. Few things make him happier than reading, discussing, and recommending books.
Email: blbartlett [at] gmail [dot] com

Jason Morehead (Associate Editor) lives in the lovely state of Nebraska with his wife, two sons, and a pretty decent-sized collection of music, movies, books, and video games. He’s a fan of Arcade Fire and Arvo Pärt, Jackie Chan and Andrei Tarkovsky, C.S. Lewis and Haruki Murakami, BioWare and Square Enix, and of course, Joss Whedon. He’s also a web development geek, which is handy when it comes to paying the bills… and buying new CDs, DVDs, etc.
Twitter: @jasonopus.

Erin Straza’s (Online Publicist) writing life takes place in central Illinois where she lives with her husband, Mike. Freelance writing, editing, and marketing communications consulting for both corporate and nonprofit clients give Erin the opportunity to help organizations tell their stories in authentic and compelling ways. She has a ceaseless interest in all things wordy and finds bookstores and libraries completely intoxicating.
E-mail: erin [at] FillingMyPatchOfSky [dot] com.

Carissa Turner Smith is a compulsive reader, writer, and Irish dancer. She earned her Ph.D. in English at Penn State and currently teaches writing and American literature at Charleston Southern University. At age three, she announced that all she wanted to do was “sit at a desk and read and write,” and she has been trying to make good on that promise ever since. Fortunately, she is occasionally distracted from this mission by her husband Stephen and their cheese-obsessed cat. A loyal native of Arkansas, she has always loved the fact that Jesus dwelt in an underappreciated corner of Galilee (seeJohn 1:46).

Adam Carrington After a year at Westminster Theological Seminary, Adam began a PhD program in Political Science at Baylor University in Waco, TX in the Fall of 2009. He received his BA from Ashland University in Ashland, OH, where he studied Political Science, Religion, and English Literature. During his undergrad, he worked on several political campaigns as well as interning with The Claremont Review of Books. He continues to be fascinated by politics, literature, and media’s interaction with theology and the Church. In the spare time he does scratch out, he likes to play guitar, read, and spend late nights debating any and every topic at all-night diners. Adam is married to Emily Carrington.

Nick Olson loves the Trinitarian God, his family, the arts, and culture. In 2010, he graduated with his MA in English from Liberty University. He now resides in Penn State country with his wife, Eliza, and their newborn son. When he’s not reading, watching films, enjoying his backyard, or posting too many links on Facebook, he does some reporting for Faith and Action – a non-profit, non-partisan ministry to elected officials on Capitol Hill. He hopes to one day pursue a PhD in American Literature with socio-philosophical emphases. Nick is interested in the communal nature of the self, and what this anthropological truth says of humankind and our Source. He loves John Calvin – but in a Tim Keller/Marilynne Robinson sort of way. Which is to say, Nick strives to be ecumenical and loving of all people on the basis of theological particularity. He takes a James Hunter-approach to culture: affirmation and antithesis, but always in love. He plays basketball, watches the Pittsburgh Steelers and NBA with his wife, and thinks that Colbert is often right, but always funny. Email: nsolson [at] liberty [dot] edu

Luke Larsen is a musician, writer, worship leader, and student based in Portland, Oregon. He recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in Music and Multimedia and runs his personal music blog, The Feedback Loop (http://thefeedbackloopmusic.blogspot.com), where he reviews and shares new music. Aside from all things music, Luke also loves a good flick, smart graphic design, and a hot cup of coffee in the morning.

Erin Wyble Newcomb earned her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction and Women’s Studies from Penn State University. In addition to parenting her daughter, running marathons, and making things with glitter, she teaches in the English Department at SUNY New Paltz.

Former Writers

David R. Dunham (Co-Founder) is a pastor, blogger, and avid fan of pop-culture. He has long been interested in the arts. He received honors for acting throughout high school and college, even being given a scholarship for musical theater to Youngstown State University. He is also an amateur musician, with one album, Get Well Soon, released in 2004. David has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and in Pre-Theology from Ohio University, and is now completing a Masters of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He currently teaches English Composition at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, OH. David and his wife Krista have one daughter, and they currently live in Lucasville, OH.

Chase Livingston is a husband, caregiver, storyteller, and occasional poet.  After pursuing ministerial training in college and seminary, he has come to understand himself as more of an artist than traditional minister. He is an aspiring advocate for victims of extreme poverty, modern-day slavery, and sex trafficking.  Similarly, he longs to motivate young adults to take their lives seriously and to passionately pursue mercy rather than money and mediocrity.  He is not yet a cyclist and neither is he in the greatest shape, however this summer he is biking coast to coast, as part of the Ride:Well tour, to raise money to build wells in Kenya. He likes his movies to feel “epic” or “classic”, prefers to call them “pictures”, reads spiritual memoirs and creative nonfiction, and appreciates the songs of hobos.  Also, as his mom will tell you he tries to be funny.
http://chasebook.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/chasebook
http://www.ridewelltour.org/profile/ChaseLivingston

Bill Reichart is a husband, daddy of two daughters and a pastor at in North Atlanta. Bill received his Masters of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. Before pastoring a church, he worked with college students in the northeast for over 16 years. He really enjoys movies, science fiction/fantasy writing (yes he’s been to a Star-Trek convention!), the Simpsons and theology books – not necessarily in that order. He has always been fascinated with the intersection of culture and his faith.
Provocative Church
Ministry Best Practices

Charles Jones is the lead web designer at an evangelical seminary, where he’s pursuing a masters in Christian Education, and holds a bachelors in youth ministry. He’s a husband, father of two, and aspiring writer. Aside from design, coding, and getting smacked around in Halo 3, Charles is interested in education, economics, and kitschy sci-fi TV from the nineties. Xbox Live: Elmo McElroy
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Xbox Live: Elmo McElroy
www.pos51.org

Ryan Holmes moved to Dallas after graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in computer art. The reason for the move was to attend Dallas Theological Seminary. While attending (and subsequently graduating) Dallas Seminary Ryan began working as a video editor for the Media Production department, actually putting his art degree to good use. Ryan has worked developing Dallas Seminary’s media presence for the last six years. He is also the husband to a world-renowned painter, father to two cats, lover of all things technological, and appreciator of the power of art to communicate to a fallen world.

Christie Dean lives with her husband and houseplants in Deerfield, IL. When she’s not watching or talking about films and TV shows, she enjoys baking desserts, adding to her classic rock vinyl collection, and playing board games.

Kristi Israel