In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the state of what's happening in our culture this year. For listeners who may be new to the ministry of Church & Culture, it seeks to explore contemporary culture and to resource the local church and its leaders in light of the church's mission to impact our culture and those who live within it. It's particularly critical in our post-Christian world to understand the significance of what is happening in the world around us. In addition to this weekly podcast, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the new animated film on Netflix that has everyone talking. It's called “KPop Demon Hunters,” and was an instant success when it was released back in June. It's gained so much momentum that it was shown in a limited release on the big screen - just for two days and in only 1,700 theaters - in a sing-along format. Despite that limited release, it still won the entire box office for the weekend, giving Netflix its first number one box office title in its 18-year history. Several songs from its soundtrack are simultaneously in the Billboard Top 10. So… what in the world is “KPop Demon Hunters” about, and is this something our kids should be watching? The answers might surprise you.

Given that the movie has the word “demon” in the title, it's not surprising that today's conversation raised issues regarding the paranormal world. Dr. White gave a series at Mecklenburg Community Church (Meck) called “Paranormal” that you may be interested in checking out - particularly the installment that maps out the spiritual world. You can find that series on Church & Culture HERE.

Dr. White mentioned that when it comes to what you allow your kids to watch, including this movie, what's most important is to seize the opportunity to have really good spiritual conversations with your kids. He referenced a recent blog written by our MecKidz team - the children's program at Meck. The blog is titled “‘KPop Demon Hunters': How to Engage Movies and TV with your Kids,” and can be found HERE.

Finally, there are a number of articles that were used as source material for today's conversation. If you're interested in going down the “KPop Demon Hunters” rabbit hole, you can check these out:

Itzel Luna and Jake Coyle, “‘KPop Demon Hunters' gives Netflix its first box-office win,” AP News.

Chloe Veltman, “Fans across the country raise their voices at 'KPop Demon Hunters' singalongs,” NPR.

Stephen Thompson, “'KPop Demon Hunters' and the band Babymetal hit fresh milestones on the pop charts,” NPR.

Isabel Ong, “We're Not Afraid of Monsters and Demons Anymore,” Christianity Today.

Sopan Deb, “‘KPop Demon Hunters' Has Everyone Bobbing Their Heads. Especially Parents,” The New York Times.

Stephen Armstrong, “Kpop Demon Hunters: the Netflix film giving Disney nightmares,” The Telegraph.

Scott Greenstone, “It started with friends at home. Now Dungeons & Dragons is in its stadium era,” NPR.

Samantha Masunaga, “‘KPop Demon Hunters' might win the box office. Why Netflix won't say,” Los Angeles Times.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss the recent controversy surrounding former HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines who rose to fame from their home renovation show called Fixer Upper, which aired back in 2013. In 2019, they announced their departure from HGTV and the launch of a new network called the Magnolia Network, which finally debuted in 2022. But just last month, many of their fans turned on them after they featured a same-sex couple on their show, Back to the Frontier. Same-sex couples on TV shows are hardly uncommon nowadays, so why have the Gaines received so much backlash and from whom?

Christie D'Zurilla wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times titled, “Chip and Joanna Gaines' new show features a same-sex married couple. Some Christians are ‘disappointed.'” If you're interested in reading the full article you can find it HERE. Some people who question the Christian community's response to their decision are seemingly misunderstanding the difference between acceptance and affirmation, between making a value judgment and being judgmental. Dr. White gave a series at Mecklenburg Community Church that might be helpful to listen to. It's called “Unchristian,” and its installments are a response to people who say that Christians are judgmental, hypocritical and homophobic. You can find that series HERE.

There are two additional series that we think would be helpful for a deeper look at what the Bible has to say about judgmentalism, the true meaning of grace, and the significance of Jesus bringing both grace AND truth to bear on people's lives. Those series are “Judged” and “Getting Grace Right,” both available in .mp3 or .pdf formats at Church & Culture.

Finally, there were two authors Dr. White mentioned during today's discussion. The first was John Stott and his book Sermon on the Mount, which includes an exploration of what true judgmentalism is like, and how it can lead to setting yourself up as God. And the second was Dr. Henry Cloud and his book Changes That Heal for more of the discussion on grace and truth.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.