:: in.a.mirror.dimly :: A theology and culture blog with the Bible in one tab and a news feed in the other.

<%image(20050909-matrix of meanings 3.jpeg|88|130|the matrix!!!)%> It’s certainly not due to a lack of ideas that I have been silent for a few days. I’m getting ready to go to an ETREK class with Barry Taylor (I think Spencer Burke of theooze.com will be there too). It’s a class that explores the nuances of pop-culture. Barry is quite a bright fellow and he’s out at Fuller Theological Seminary in CA. He co-authored a book called A Matrix of Meanings (link).

I can forgive him for having the word Matrix in his title because it’s a pretty interesting book so far. He really has a powerful understanding of culture and how it interacts with Christianity, something that I am very interested in.

Of particular importance to me, he addresses the use of multi-media in church during a brief section of his first chapter. He wonders if it is appropriate to counter the culture at times, providing a place of quiet and solitude, as opposed to inflicting the fast-paced, short-attention-span, flashing images that so many have become accustomed to. Surely advertisers know how to get our attention, but do they know what’s good for us???