*Congratulations to Kim Jones, winner of “Living So That” by Wendy Blight. And thank you for all your fabulous comments & feedback. Wish I could give a copy to everyone. Thankful so many of y’all were challenged to read God’s Word after hearing Wendy’s testimony. *

I love movies. And theater. And, really, stories taking any form.

The great big story of Christ coming to earth and redeeming a lost & broken world? It’s my favorite.

Amazingly last night on national television, Jesus’ death and resurrection were graphically portrayed (if you missed “A.D.: the Bible Continues” check it out here and more episodes over the next several weeks). A powerful way to end Resurrection Sunday.

As far as spreading the good news, you couldn’t get any more straight forward than this T.V. series.

But how to do we share the gospel with those who find the Bible repulsive? Who would never watch a movie or show about Jesus?

Today’s podcast guest, Tina Alexander, and I discovered one way when we met in my “engaging culture” sunday school class.

I’ll never forget learning about the redemptive arc present in most literary works and films. Realizing I can use pop culture to start a conversation about brokenness, forgiveness, and grace, helped me connect my love of entertainment with my passion for Christ.

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Over the past 10 years Tina and her business partner have developed, “How it Should Have Ended”, a YouTube channel with 4.5 million subscribers.

This year Tina launched a kids’ channel, after being approached by YouTube to provide content for their new kids app.

I know there are wonderful artists creating meaningful Christian media.

Today I wanted to highlight a friend who is going into the world and finding a way to build relationships through pop culture.

What we talked about:

  • The “Engaging Culture” class where Tina & I discovered our mutual love of movies.
  • The redemptive arc found in most movies (read more here :Using God’s Story to Analyze Movies)
  • Taking notice of what our culture loves and helping them find the true hope they are longing for.
  • The importance of churches (and families) embracing artists & creatives to further the Gospel and create truly well-crafted entertainment.
  • Encouragement to help moms fostering their children’s talents.
  • The journey of starting “How it Should have Ended” (HISHE) and now 10 years later with 4.5 million subscribers & almost 1 billion views.
  • How YouTube started a new kids app & asked her to start a new kids’ channel
  • The different stories & options on the HISHE kids’ channel
  • Why my boys think Tina should make a “Big Hero 6” HISHE
  • The opportunities to engage with the mecca of pop culture at Comic Con. . .and why Tina might dress up this year.
  • Good vs Evil in media and the new villian trend
  • The similarity between the Emperor in Star Wars and moms on a bad day.
  • What Tina’s work week looks like. . .and arranging her work to maximize time with kids.
  • Dealing with the working mom guilt and giving herself grace
  • My sons’ theology revealed while watching “the Muppet Show”

Connect with Tina:

HISHE YouTube :: HISHE Kids :: Twitter :: Facebook

Links Mentioned:

 Which part of culture do you enjoy & find as a common ground with unbelievers?

How to listen to the podcast:

1.Listen on the blog. Click through to GodCenteredMom.com and click the play button at the beginning of this post.

2. Listen on your smartphone, iPad or iPod Touch – There are a lot of great podcasting apps. Apple has a free one (that I mentioned) in the app store, there is also one called Downcast. It allows you to search for shows, subscribe to them and even speed up the audio. If you don’t have an iDevice, you can listen via Stitcher.

3. Subscribe to the Podcast – access the podcast in iTunes (Click here to access via iTunes). You can also search for it on your smartphone app (like the ones listed above) and subscribe.

*If you missed past episodes, you can listen via iTunes or click on this page of the GodCenteredMom site to find a listing of all the episodes.

**Check out this page for instructions on how to leave a rating or review on iTunes:GodCenteredMom.com/review