Thanks to everybody for a great conversation this morning. Andy Crouch’s Culture Making:Recovering Our Creative Calling has already stirred some thought that we could be unpacking for a long time. If we took the opportunity to act in humility and wisdom on just a few of the ideas that were shared, there would be work to keep us busy for years.

Since we covered alot of ground, let me recap. We talked through impressions, definitions, and examples of culture. We discussed how some cultural developments make certain things possible/impossible. Finally, we considered how people experience cultural poverty and wield cultural power. Of course, we also took alot of pit stops and detours in between those general points on the map. My mind is still going in lots of different directions.

So, let me throw out a few questions for discussion between now and Sept. 20th:

How have some of your favorite movies, books, and music shaped culture (also…how have movies, books, and music that you don’t like been culture shaping)?

In what ways are you a cultural immigrant (and…in what ways are you called to be a cultural missionary)?

Also, I’m leaving two links here that I think add alot of value to the conversation. They both lead to dialogue about significant cultural issues. Feel free to comment.

Brian McLaren and Richard Land talk politics from differing Christian viewpoints

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/13613

Two Jewish secularists discuss the best and worst of evangelical pop culture (watch out for the lollipop…yikes!)

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/9963

Looking forward to the exchange

Last Saturday’s think tank was good food for thought. I especially liked the emphasis on practical application of the ideas. I recently talked to the author of Culture Making and he was generous to offer us a portion of his nearly completed study guide. I’ll pass on his e-mail the next time we meet if any of you wanted to thank him. I also found out that we had some friends in common…small world.