My God, pop culture and me...

I'm a movie quoter... I admit it... not always apart from the film either. If I've seen the movie enough times, I begin quoting (or singing along with) the film along with the actors. This annoys a lot of people and I have to watch myself if someone has not seen the movie... I don't want to spoil it for them.
I'm also a crier... movies, songs, if it touches me, I can't help but cry sometimes.
I have found that more often than not, pop culture has influenced a blog, a Bible study or parallels to the attributes of God. This is when I sit back and marvel at the God of the Universe.
There are many of the posts on this blog that reference songs, movies or TV shows... and I have a feeling that there will be many more (as I write this, there is a thought on the Lorax percolating in the back of my mind).
For me, this is a inspirational playground... music is a vital part of my day while I am at work... soundtracks are constantly playing while I write and at night, some of the best ideas are presented while I am working with a movie on in the background... a line or scene will pop out at me when I least expect it.
We are all of us unique with different abilities and personalities... it is the very fabric of our world. If we are each different, we each have a role to play in the world... there are researchers, pastors, salesman, writers, artists, singers... each of us has a role that we play in life with passions, goals and dreams... a passion of mine includes pop culture... I love digging around for meaning and truth in movies, music and books... it's who I am... I can't tell you how to complete an algebraic equation and I can't tell you what chemicals to mix to get a certain reaction (unless you want something melted by accident... then I'm your girl). I know my strengths and I know what areas I was not gifted in... and I stick to what I'm good at... pop culture, writing and artsy type things... combine those and you have a pretty fun past time... which I'm praying will one day become my career, if God wills it that is...
Yesterday at church, our pastor started a new sermon series entitled: What are you waiting for? and the question caught me off guard as I am always making excuses for why I'm not really doing anything with my writing like, I'm waiting on God to open the right doors, or my personal favorite... maybe this isn't what God wants me to do... the discouraging words pass through my lips before I have the courage to dispose of them.
On January 2nd of this year, I found myself embarking on the journey of chasing kites. It has opened my eyes to something... I am a lover of movies, music and all things British... I'm an introvert with a big dream of writing and someday getting over my social phobia and becoming a *gulp* speaker (you'd think with a degree in performance that I would love the spotlight... yeah, not so much the case)... there are others out there who share that love and who get me... but, there are also those who don't share my love for Tolkien, Sci-fi, mythbusters and Dr. Who that will not even take a second glance at my writing... but I'm not writing for and of them... my writing is for God, to be used by God...
C.S. Lewis wrote in his God on the Docks: “I believe that any Christian who is qualified to write a good popular book on any science may do much more good by that than by any directly apologetic work. … What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects.”
I have to agree with Lewis on this... there are plenty of great Christian speakers that reach people by the thousands... it is for this reason that I look up to Beth Moore... she not only speaks the truth of God, but she presents it with a down to earth approach. She knows that it is through God that she is reaching all these women for the Kingdom of God... She has a passion for women and she is relatable. We need more Christians like that... willing to approach things a little more unconventionally... make analogies (like Stephen Shumate's Cars and Christianity) that are easy to understand, present the gospel through music or movies... through the writings of Jane Austen or Tolkien... the possibilities are endless. God met us where we were and changed us... why can't we meet people where they are at? It might bring a very different response...
Over the past two weeks, I've discovered that my passion is for God, reaching the lost through unconventional methods and pop culture. As I stand on the edge of what seems to be a very scary height, I am presented with the question... "What are you waiting for?" and my answer is this: I am afraid... but if I let fear be the pull in my life, I will always be living on the sidelines, I will always be frustrated by my lack of movement and direction.
Taking a deep breath, I let the words of I John 4:18 wash over me and I hand my dreams over to God and finally surrender my fear, my frustration and my impatience... *gulp*