If you aren't watching ABC's "Once Upon a Time" on Sunday nights, you should be.

Especially if you are a pastor, or work or lead in the creative arts at a church.

See if this sounds familiar: a show takes on fairy tales of old, by taking these old, familiar stories and repackaging them in a way that not only makes them fresh for a new audience but plays upon the collective memory of the old story itself, so that one is simultaneously drawn to the the old, old story but are now witnessing that old story in a new light. Sound familiar?

The show itself runs into trouble from time to time with some less-than-stellar dialogue, and some very obvious CG, but its efforts in telling a story of good and evil, not to mention addressing omnipotent characters and the handling of characters within such a story, well, they are commendable, and there is a lot to learn from them.

Right now you can still see the show for free, streaming all the episodes on abc.com. Check it out and tell me what you think!

And if you want to hear more from me on the topic, download the January 10 episode of the Pop Culture Pulpit Podcast. You can subscribe through iTunes by clicking here.

So I thought I would let my first post of October (eek) be a barrage of coolness: things I've seen/taken in this week that I think is/are awesome.

First up: my new episode of The Pop Culture Pulpit - for the first time I have a guest! My good friend and the "king of tv" Paul Goebel - he talks with me about the new fall tv season, and it was great to have him as a guest. Listen by clicking here.

Next up: Check out this "shadow artist" - his sculptures are crafted and shaped theough steel and shadows. Very creative.

Here's a trailer for a fascinating new movie called The Artist: a film made this past year that utilizes the craft of "silent movie making" to tell its story. What at first sounds cheesy and unnecessary sure does look cool and actually compelling.

Have you ever thought of Jerry Seinfeld as a prophet? You will after seeing this stand-up on the concept of answering machines and their functionality in our contemporary world of Facebook:

And finally, mashups seem to be all the rage, and this one combines the vocal stylings of Tom Waits with the visual impact of cookie monster, and, in many ways... it speaks for itself. Enjoy the clicking everyone!

This week I got a note from a Pop Culture Pulpit listener Murray Blythe - he wanted my take on an artist interview from another podcast.

The podcast in question is called "Who Writes This Stuff" - and it recently featured a two part episode interviewing Derek Webb, a solo artist who happens to be a Christian, but who comes from one of the ole favorites of Contemporary Christian music, Caedmon's Call.

Caedmon's Call was a Godsend to those of us planning weekend services in the late nineties. Here was an intelligent band on a Christian label writing great songs that challenged you lyrically and set the stage for further discussion. Pretty much exactly what you wanted for a special song during a service.

Murray Blythe listens to my podcast from Australia, where he lives and works. This fact has no bearing on my story, other than I think it's cool.

So on this week's podcast, I brought up the podcast and the Derek Webb interview - and I inteved my listeners to listen to the interview and weigh in on the topic discussed - primarily,  the way that Christians must balance expectation and/or restrictions with authenticity in the way they express their art. I haven't listened yet, but my plan is to do so and then offer my take on it as I step up the the pop culture pulpit in a future episode.

So if you'd like, mozy on over to WHO WRITES THIS STUFF and listen to the interview - then head back to the POP CULTURE PULPIT to discuss. Or leave a comment here, and as I'm working on the podcast, I'll incorporate your feedback.

Thanks and have a great rest of your September!

The next installment of the Pop Culture Pulpit is now live and ready for download! This one is Episode 62 and is called "White Guilt" - check out the ramblings regarding The Hunger Games and The Help - both books made into new movies coming soon.

Listen to the show, won't you? You can subscribe with iTunes by clicking here

Stream or download using your favorite RSS feeder here

Stream live right on my website here

Stream or download on the podcast website here

And if you simply refuse to click away from this awesome page - use the player below to enjoy the show! Thanks for supporting the podcast!

This week I step into the Pop Culture Pulpit with the first of the Will Ferrell episodes of The Office, Lady Gaga-cycle, and offer commentary on Entertainment Weekly's Big Summer Movie Preview. You don't want to miss it! Subscribe, won't you?

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Just in time for Easter, American Idol gets to the perfect number - the top seven perform. Here are my comments, as brief as I can be because there's SO much to talk about this week!

Scotty: Swingin' - I nearly did a spit-take when he reminded me that he was only 17. He's so ridiculously good. I am wondering though about the microphone placement though after that video opening. If he isn't in the bottom three, after going first and getting slightly negative feedback from the judges, then he will WIN. Those are two strikes that others have not been able to battle against.

James: Uprising - Great song. Marching band? Really? Up the octave. Wow. Wowowowowow. Pretty stinkin' awesome.

Haley: Rolling in the Deep - This is the song I featured back in episode 49 of my podcast… She was awesome for me. But, will it grab everyone? Hard to know given the mixed reviews I've seen.

Jacob: Dance with My Father - The video piece built it up much more than his performance pulled off. Until that last note of the build. That was great. Too emotional for anyone to really give decent criticism…

Casey: Harder to Breathe - He did what he does, and it was great, particularly the scatting off the solo - but this song is not great, and he didn't go beyond it to become great. Loved the JLo kiss.

Stefano: Closer - A great effort, his eyes were open more than they've ever been. Is it enough? Hard to tell.

Lauren: Born to Fly - Great job, not my favorite song choice but she is berry good still.

Random Notes:

Why The Face with the castoffs performance at the top of the show? It's just a subtle reminder that when you sell your soul to the AI machine, that they own you and can make you do anything.

"You'd be surprised how expensive it is to look this cheap." - Steven Tyler. You never got that rapier wit from Paula.

Anyone else surprised that Stephan is still around?

Steven Tyler showed us a little Paula love by repeating his "I've been trying to do that for months" about the Casey kiss, but went from 2 to 4 months in the joke upgrade.

Who's going home????

As many of you know, I started a podcast recently called the "Pop Culture Pulpit." And this past week's episode (Ep. 53) was called "I'm Bringing Serving Back" and focused on the power of parody. It was on my mind because we were in the middle of building a parody music video to the tune of Rebecca Black's internet sensation "Friday."

You can subscribe to the podcast here - I cover a bunch of topics surrounding pop culture, with the pastor in mind, though it's certainly not "just for pastors." But in episode 53, I interview my daughter Sadie who had just begun working on the vocals for the parody song.

I'm pleased to announce that the video is completed, and you can watch it right here! We had a great time making it. Much thanks to Matthew Paul Turner over at Jesus Needs New PR for posting it on his blog and "being nice" to my daughter!

If you don't know that which we are parodying, well... you should probably start by watching the original. Watching our video without knowing about the original would kind of be like hearing Weird Al's "Eat It" without knowing anything about Michael Jackson. Still funny, but funnier if you know... So here's the Rebecca Black song "Friday:"

And here is our parody - obviously, we're looking to invite people to Easter Weekend, and this is a fun way to do it - enjoy, subscribe to the podcast, live laugh and love!

I am 'this close' to pulling the trigger on a podcast production idea.

I've been thinking for a long time that I'd like to host a podcast, but haven't felt like I had the really good idea that would make the podcast a value added experience. Prior to this week, me hosting a podcast would only involve hearing myself blabber about whatever I wanted....

Which may be value added all on its own, but I feel like what I'm on the verge of might not only be semi-entertaining, but helpful to people just like me all across the www.

Internet knows I'm late to the party on this one, but hey - sometimes you have to wait for the right idea before you use the tool. Otherwise, you're just tooling for tooling's sake - and you know what that makes you...

But just in case I'm off base with my idea, if you heard that I was starting a podcast, what would you assume the topic/theme/mission would be? What should it be?

For several years now I have listened to a fantastic podcast called the Steelehouse Podcast, produced and hosted by Mark Steele and Jeff Huston, who work at Steelehouse Productions, a media production firm out of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I first heard of Mark Steele through his book Flashbang! How I got over myself. It was recommended to me by someone at work who felt like as they were reading it, they were hearing a voice that reminded them of me. After reading it myself, I took it as a huge compliment, because I found that book to be hysterical and profound, all at the same time.

The last two years, they have conducted a Christmas contest with some awesome prize packages. And both years, I just didn't have it together to try and enter. Also, I didn't feel like the contests would be in line with my strengths, so I just let them pass. But this year, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

Mark and Jeff have coined a word on their show: the "jangle." This is a word that it used to describe what happens when a word or proper name reminds Mark of a familiar (or less familiar) song. He then breaks into an a capella phrase that combines this word with the song - it's not a jingle; it's a jangle. (Best example: like Pavlov's dog, Mark cannot say the name of director Danny Boyle without crooning "Danny Boy") These jangles have evolved to be show openers, segment segues, anything that Mark could croon, he was willing and able to do so.

And so that then became this year's contest: to create and write your own jangle, and four judges (not Mark and Jeff) would be voting to pick the best one. So I recorded and wrote a parody to Don't Stop Believin'. Like I said, right in my wheelhouse.

And would you believe it? I won! I got the phone call on Wednesday and their Christmas Party podcast includes the top five contestants, along with the "live" phone call that I received. The prize package includes books, CDs, Blu-Rays, Steelehouse swag. It's incredible.

It was great to be able to participate, and great to win! And I highly recommend subscribing to the podcast. You can do so right here. The Christmas Party episode that features the contest winners is #126: Blitzenkrieg. Merry Christmas everyone!