Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad was a show about a man who consistently chose to be bad. One decision after another took him down the path from beloved high school teacher to murderous drug kingpin. His transformation is a dramatization of what we all know: sin is insidious, and we feel trapped by our choices. Fortunately, Jesus offers us a way out of the Walter White Doom Loop – a way to freedom from and victory over sin.

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Stranger Things

Stranger Things runs on two things: nostalgia and a fear of the Upside Down. But is turning the world upside down really so scary? Maybe only to those who benefit from the way things are. The Upside Down could be a blessing to those who struggle for justice and hope in our day-to-day reality. How can we live upside-down lives?

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Lucifer

Does the devil make us do it? The Lucifer TV show says no. And James (Jesus’ brother) agrees! James says temptation happens because of our own desires. So: how can we learn to want the right things?

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The Good Place

Philosopher Jean Paul Sartre famously wrote that “Hell is other people.” But The Good Place begs to differ. According to the show, other people might be our best chance of truly being changed. How can we discover the path to authentic community? From Arizona trash bag to whole, healthy and loving? If we’re willing to choose vulnerability, we’ll find Sartre was wrong. It’s heaven that’s other people.

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Reality TV

Before the Golden Age of Television was the rise of Reality TV. From Real World to the Bachelor to Survivor to cooking shows, we can’t get enough of real people on camera. Why is that? What does our obsession with reality television say about our desire for authenticity? And how can we resist the temptation to produce our own lives?

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