Expertise in faith and culture rarely go hand-in-hand. Leaders adept at culture making—whether in Hollywood or the Ivy League—are rarely trained in the disciplines of faith building; whereas leaders with strengths in faith building—whether in a local congregation or an international relief agency—are rarely trained in the art of culture making.
New books by Pulitzer Prize Winner David Mamet and Journalist Ben Shapiro’s are sure to shape industry conversation on faith and culture …for good or for ill.
The down side of grace? Tell Your Students That if They Cheat, God Will Smite Them by Don Troop in The Chronicle of Higher Education Is God: A) punitive, angry, and vengeful? B) warm, loving, and forgiving? OK, folks, pencils down.…
On April 7, author, and playwright-turned-pastor Dave Schmelzer interviewed me for a podcast posted 4/19 on his website: Not The Religious Type, on the Blue Ocean platform. It was a great experience, and I really want you to listen to…
“Religion can be the enemy of God. It’s often what happens when God, like Elvis, has left the building.” – Bono
Soul Surfer illuminates Hollywood’s increasingly awkward dance with the faith-based community. After years of neglecting religious audiences, studios now know that appealing to the Christian-values set while also bringing in more secular crowds can lead to an across-the-board blockbuster like Blind Side ($256 million).
Culture-making and faith connections in Egypt’s turmoil became clearer as Muslim extremists joined secular reform movement leaders in supporting Mohamed ElBaradei as spokesman for opposition to president Hosni Mubarak.
Michael Warren, prolific TV Producer and Writer for shows such as Happy Days, Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and Step by Step shares his 15 greatest cultural influencers.
Responses to THW’s #2 Blog Post of the Year–Paparazzi in the Hands of an Angry God–revealed the depth of angst out there balance the desire to maximize the potentialities of the electronic age without being drawn into the “dark side” of self-promotion.
Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais’s Atheism joke and recent essay in the Wall Street Journal “Why I’m An Atheist,” provide a great background for examining an all-time great Christmas movie and one of the best defenses of Theism in Hollywood history–It’s a Wonderful Life.
True leaders, those who people follow because they want to not because they have to, always begin with and return to the needs of their followers.
The goal of Two Handed Warriors is to foster an ongoing conversation seeking to redefine, re-envision, and then reconstruct the relationship between faith and culture. Toward that end, I am posting a few responses to Paparazzi in the Hands of…