This is going to be awkward no matter how I do it, so i will just go for the vocabulary vomit technique and just get it all out there. I am not really sure how one starts a blog or, frankly, why anyone would choose to read one. I guess, if you really want to know, I am trying to find my people. Much like Kal El, I have always felt an aloneness that was deeper than being shy or introverted. A young and impressionable comic book reader wondered many times if he was really an orphaned alien, just waiting for his powers to manifest. I guess in many ways I was. When I received my call to ministry, for the first time I felt inclusion rather than exclusion. I felt what it must feel like to be the popular kid in high school (None of us geeks know that feeling, right? lol). I felt the thrill of adoption into a family of love. The amazing thing is, this adoption came with a job: Go back to the ones like you, and tell them the good news.

In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul, rather long-windedly, expounds on how his position as essentially a missionary for the new church would allow him to be funded by the people of the church. However, Paul is getting at something here and when he eventually arrives, the point of his choice to be a tentmaker becomes clear.

¹⁹ For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ²⁰ To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. ²¹ To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. ²² To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. ²³ I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. 

 The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 9:19–23). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

By using his skill set to make tents, Paul makes himself a part of the marketplace, the melting pot of the ancient world. He makes his money just like everyone else in the marketplace. This gives him relational connection points that “handing out tracts” would never afford him. He joins a subculture and does relationship to “show” people Jesus.

So here we are…Pop Culture Pastor. The name alone sums me up in a completeness that makes me giggle and the most devout grumble. I was the only child of a single mother who worked long hours to put food on the table. Much like Bill Murray’s character in the movie Scrooged, I was raised on pop culture. I dreamed of rebel alliances in the stars being led by light sword wielding monks. I imagined looking for treasures of history with only my whip and sidearm to guard me. My best friends were the neighborhood kids from the Goon Docks. I ingested copious amounts of cereal from the biggest bowl I could find everyday after school while wondering why no one on GI Joe ever died. Even the bad guys always had time to parachute out when their planes were hit. Cartoons, movies, television, music, comics…my life blood. I still love it all. I love the stories and the tropes! I love Jesus and people!

So this blog is me. It is just so completely me. Its the conversations I have and the life I lead. I am looking for my people. The geeks. The sci fi lovers. People who quote LOTR freely and know immediately what LOTR is short for. Are you my people? Then welcome.