ScreenFish

where faith and film are intertwined

Matt Hill

The Lord of the Rings vs. Game of Thrones

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Amazon’s The Rings of Power and HBO’s House of the Dragon are two of the hottest shows out right now. In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we dig deep into the authors, fantasy universes and worldviews behind The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones.

How are these works similar and different? How do the new series fit into the larger universes? How are Tolkien’s and Martin’s sensibilities reflected in our current culture? Our politics? The church? And how do these fantasy worlds ultimately relate to the faith?

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Back to School Catch-Up Catch-All

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Back to school time is always busy and full of new beginnings. In this new episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we get together (for the first episode since June!) to catch up and have a catch-all conversation about all things related to this time of year.

In the end, we reflect on how easy it is to be anxious at times like these… and how good it is to be able to cast our anxieties on God.

Note: When we say catch all, we mean catch all 🙂 Topics include: What’s new at the Church in Drive, cancel culture, book bans, education in general, sharing back-to-school photos on Facebook, how we create community even when it’s more challenging, how college kids are still kids, how there’s a sweet-spot agewise for politicians, the Forward party, avoiding the ditches of extremes, Randal Rauser and Progressive Christians Love Jesus Too, grammar quibbles and the constructedness of language, the new football season and the Big 10 going “coast to coast” (like Space Ghost), 1177 B.C., The Old Man, Better Call Saul, Nope, Everything Everywhere All at Once, chilling and doing bird stuff, etc. etc.

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Roe Is Overturned… Now What?

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Abortion is no longer a constitutional right, as Roe vs. Wade is overturned in a historic supreme court decision. But now what? Especially for Christians, what should we be doing? How should we be reacting? (And not reacting?)

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we dig into the decision, the politics, the worldviews behind pro-life and pro-choice positions, how worldviews influence politics, the reactions people have been having so far to the decision, how to react in a more Jesus-like manner, and more.

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Mass Shootings; Top Gun, Stranger Things, Obi Wan & Nostalgia

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It is a sad season of far too many mass shootings…

In this episode of Your Sunday Drive, we discuss details of the recent incidents, their complex causes, related political and cultural issues, possible solutions, and more.

How may our overall crisis of meaning be leading to a crisis of gun violence? What role does the church play?

Nostalgia rears its head yet again, as Top Gun: Maverick rules at the box office, while Stranger Things 4 and Obi Wan Kenobi take over streaming platforms. We talk about these stories, the positives and negatives of nostalgia, and why now might be such a fertile time for the familiar to find favor. (Sorry about all those Fs … sometimes things just happen and you gotta go with it 🙂 )

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

The Meaning Crisis; This Is Us

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Have you ever wondered “Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid”? We attempt to give an answer in this new episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast by looking at a popular Atlantic article with that title from cultural commentator Jonathan Haidt. Points of discussion include social media, its influence and some possible ways to curtail its negative effects.

Sure… social media is a problem and has amplified our fragmentation, like languages at the Tower of Babel, but isn’t there a deeper issue? Yes – what’s currently being discussed as “The Meaning Crisis” by a growing number of voices, such as Jordan Peterson, Bret Weinstein, Jonathan Vervaeke, Paul Vander Klay, Johnathan Pageau, Tim DeRoche and others. We look at this current moment, try to unpack some of its causes and history, and ultimately contextualize it with the Christian faith.

Popular (and excellent) show This Is Us reaches its final few episodes and Nate has thoughts. What does our current pop culture have to say about things like love and marriage? How should a Christian respond when non-Christian ideas about such topics are presented and even celebrated in our pop culture?

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Ukraine & Thinking Christianly About War; Batman; Elden Ring

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With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is war in Europe. In this new episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we discuss the current crisis, asking questions such as: How should Christians think about war and physical conflict in general? Is pacifism the right way? Is there ever a time to *not* “turn the other cheek?” What is it about such times that evokes powerful ideas about good and evil, heroes and villains? What deep truth lies behind these conflict-borne intuitions?

We also take a moment for the pop cultural pulse, quickly covering The Batman, Elden Ring and In Search of a Kingdom.

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Christian Takes (On Rogan, Whoopi, Wordle, Superbowl, Book of Boba Fett…)

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There’s always so much in the news and current culture! How can a Christian develop a solid take on so many things? Does a Christian even need to always have a take? Why? What principles can guide us as we attempt to see and communicate things correctly from a Christian point of view?

Find out in this brand new episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast…

With wisdom on having a solid Christian take in place, we tackle a grab bag of current topics to put it into practice. Things that come up (in rando order): Joe Rogan, Whoopi Goldberg, Spotify, Wordle, The Oscars, The Superbowl, The Olympics, Pokemon GO, The Book of Boba Fett, God Reforms Hearts by Thaddeus Williams, the current Canadian trucker protests, mask mandates, abortion, free will and predestination (more later?), ice skating, small groups at CiD, Epic by John Eldredge.. plenty more unremembered items 🙂

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

How (Not) to Talk About Our Faith: Elon Musk, Bob Saget & The Babylon Bee

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What happens when culturejacking by Christians goes wrong?

In the Season 4 debut episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we look at a controversial recent Babylon Bee interview with Elon Musk and an article about the passing of Bob Saget, and attempt to answer some perennially important questions: Where’s the line between making the gospel relevant and staying faithful to it? Why is it sometimes difficult to talk about our faith in a vulnerable way? Ultimately, what can we do to help match the most important message the world has ever heard with the ears that still need to hear it?

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Christmas Themed Theological Riff Fest

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It’s the holiday season. A time for friends, family, food, traditions…. and riffing on complex and controversial Christmas themed theological topics!

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we’re joined by Levi Goodwin – local purveyor of fine viewpoints – for discussion on a range of topics related to Christmas and Advent: The incarnation, angels, Marian doctrines, miracles and more.

We also take time to examine the question of “When is it essential to have a firm opinion on a specific doctrine or topic?” and share some Holiday Hot Takes 🙂

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Faith & College

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How are things going on college campuses these days? What issues do college aged people face? What do they value? Is Christianity still a viable option for Zoomers? As our country becomes more post-Christian and pluralistic, what does the gospel even look like in a campus setting?

In this episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we have a roundtable discussion about these topics and more with Hannah Balbaugh and Gabe Nelson – leaders in the Standing in the Gap campus ministries at Saginaw Valley State University and Northwood University (and representative actual young people! 🙂 )

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive