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Christian

Don’t Just Be Thankful – DO SOMETHING!

November 23, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

Being thankful is nice, but doing something in response is better!

In this fresh new Your Sunday Drive podcast episode, we reflect on items from the realms of current events, pop culture and our own lives. We discover plenty to be thankful for, but more importantly, we discuss actual ways to show thankfulness and respond.

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Bible, Christian, church, culture, drive, Faith, hill, Jesus, matt hill, nate polzin, Podcast, politics, pop, religion, Thanksgiving

The Lord of the Rings vs. Game of Thrones

September 27, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Christian, culture, Faith, Game of Thrones, george rr martin, house of the dragon, JRR Tolkien, Lord of the Rings, Podcast, politics, pop, religion, Rings of Power, worldviews

Back to School Catch-Up Catch-All

August 24, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: better call saul, book ban, cancel culture, Christian, culture, education, Everything, everywhere, Football, Nope, Podcast, politics, religion, school, sports

Carmen: The Separation between Church and Faith

August 21, 2022 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

People often come to the church looking for God… but is he really there?

Directed by Valerie Buhagiar, Carmen (Nastascha McElhone) is the younger sister of the current town priest. Designated as his caregiver, she lives a lonely life of shame and desolation. The priest is a harsh man, touting strict discipline and pervasive sinfulness of the soul. But when he passes away suddenly, Carmen suddenly has nowhere else to go. Sneaking into the rectory, she hides out in the confessional only to have the townspeople begin to treat her as their new priest, without knowing her identity. Offering advice infused with grace, Carmen brings light into the community instead of the burden of shame. 

Starring Natasha McElhone, Carmen is a delightful yet savage satire of the church and its role in society. Set against the stunning Maltese countryside, Buhagiar infuses a certain dryness to the landscape. It’s a bold choice for the director, especially considering the beauty of the area. Nevertheless, Buhagiar allows her colours to become muted and minimize the visibility of water, highlighting the fact that life has been drained from the community. However, as the film progresses, this begins to change. As Carmen begins to rediscover her voice and passion, slowly vivid colours and water begin to return to the screen. 

As Carmen is revived, life is restored to the community.

Best known for playing roles with quiet charm, McElhone shines on screen, coming alive slowly as the film progresses. Carmen is a woman of courage and strength yet lives in a place of repression and shame. As a result, McElhone gradually becomes a light in this community of darkness, and it’s a role that suits her well.

Although, what really makes the film interesting is that it separates God from church. Within the church, the Christ figure is one of harshness and depression. Images of Jesus on the cross wearing a bleeding crown of thorns are ominous and oppressive. However, for Carmen, it becomes increasingly clear that God is not like this in reality. Taking the form of a pigeon (and a sassy one of that) or a stranger simply riding by a bicycle, the Carmen‘s practical experience of God is very different. Smiling and playful, this conversation joyful in his engagement with life. In this way, Carmen suggests that the God that the church proclaims is actually very different in reality than he is presented through theology. 

Having come from a doctrine of shame and the sinfulness of man, Carmen has been told that there is very little room for the celebration of good in life. (“Sin, sin, sin. All you ever talk about is sin [and] you know nothing of sin!,” she exclaims.) Here, however, she is drawn towards love, service and joy by a God of vibrancy.

For Carmen, God inspires the her dying soul and helps her rediscover her life.

Interestingly, because of this division, Carmen is able to navigate its criticism of the church without setting fire to the faith. With honesty and boldness, Buhagiar highlights the brokenness of the church and the severity of its doctrine. However, through Carmen’s journey, she also sees the value of a God who invigorates the spirit and brings it to fullness, instead of draining it of life. Because, to Buhagiar God doesn’t necessarily live in the church that was built for him.

Carmen is available in theatres on Friday, August 19th, 2022.

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Carmen, Christian, church, Faith, Jesus, Malta, Nastascha McElhone, Valerie Buhagiar

Roe Is Overturned… Now What?

July 1, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: abortion, choice, Christian, church, conservative, court, dobbs, Jesus, law, liberal, life, Podcast, politics, pro, religion, rights, roe, supreme, wade, worldview

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

June 7, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Christian, Crisis, culture, gun, guns, Mass, maverick, meaning, nostalgia, obi, Podcast, policy, politics, pop, shooting, stranger, things, top, violence, wan

The Meaning Crisis; This Is Us

April 22, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: atlantic, Christian, church, culture, haidt, history, meaning crisis, pageau, peterson, Podcast, politics, pop culture, Social Media, television, this is us, vander klay, vervaeke, weinstein

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

February 10, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Bible, boba, Christian, church, culture, current, events, fett, goldberg, Jesus, joe, Olympics, Oscars, Podcast, politics, pop, rogan, spotify, star, Superbowl, wars, whoopi, wordle

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

January 14, 2022 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: babylon bee, bob saget, Christian, culture, Elon Musk, evangelism, Faith, Podcast, politics

Faith & College

November 19, 2021 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: apologetics, campus, Christian, college, evangelism, gen z, higher education, ministry, pluralism, Podcast, politics, pop culture, post christian, religion, school, zoomer

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