— Intro: Update on our latest projects

— Michael discusses his new short story collection, ‘Currents’

— There’s an audio drama for one of Michael’s short stories / Discussion about the making-of a few recent audio dramas

— Michael tells a story about the recording session for his short, ‘Landings’

— We’re scared to mention Jesus to family, friends, and co-workers. Why?

— Michael answers the question first

— Chris gives his reasons / He traces the atmosphere in the workplace from early schooldays though Hollywood

— Why are we afraid to share about Jesus with our friends? / Michael comments first regarding his extended family / The struggle to develop faith transparency and articulating the complex aspects of our faith

— Matthew 7:1 "Do not judge, or you too will be judged,” is often quoted out of context / Our egos are on the line we associate with Christianity / Exclusivity doctrines of Christianity can be off-putting to our friends

— A new Netflix Christmas film exemplifies the modern mindset: The world centers around us and not Jesus: This mindset is what we’re up against when talking about Jesus

— Christmas is actually a very hard time to share about Jesus when you look at the true message of His sacrifice for us / Chris has struggled in recent years with how far he allows secular holiday narratives into his family’s advent season

— Even waiting until well after the holidays to share our faith will still be tough because we bump against ego issues

— In the recent past, it was mainstream to be “Christian” / It’s riskier to talk about faith in the 21st century

— People in the past associated with Christianity even if they weren’t practicing Christians / Our faith-sharing muscles were weak coming into modern times

— Chris reacts to recent rules in California regarding lockdowns on church gatherings / We have a lot to do to get the name of Jesus out to the secular world

— Matthew 10:33: If we deny God, He’ll deny us / Jesus knew the fleshly battle against fear and laziness when sharing about God and Himself and warned us to fight the urge to be silent

— The fact that we’re afraid to speak about Jesus to those we know translates directly to our lack of speaking about faith in our art

— What steps can we take to counter our lackluster witnessing? / Michael answers: generic mentions of “God” versus saying Jesus’ name

— Chris warns that we’re going to be attacked (as Jesus was) for telling the truth

— Shared humanity is a key to breaking down faith-sharing boundaries / Chris mentions an upcoming story where he starts the story by writing about shared humanity then reveals Jesus as the story unravels

— Engaging with an audience through our art / A recent story about a person who posted a negative comment on KotM’s Facebook page

— We are called to be light in the darkness, love others

— Wishing everyone a great rich season

—————

Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Podcast Page

https://anchor.fm/kingofthemiddle

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com

Gaetana shares about overcoming childhood tragedy and finding a hopeful future glorifying God through her work and art.

00:09 Intro

01:04 Gaetana introduces herself: Her early life, surviving tragedy

03:10 An answered prayer kicks off her musical vocation

05:37 College years and beyond

07:42 Early career back in Seattle / joining the Seattle Rock Orchestra

08:48 Gaetana meets Nancy Wilson of Heart / Being tongue-tied around famous musicians

12:09 The importance of (and payoff for) practicing / Ups and downs of helping others who look up to you when you’re a well-practiced artist / Setting boundaries

23:04 Gaetana’s day job balanced against time dedicated to her artistry

28:03 How Gaetana balances her faith-based work against her secular work with the Seattle Rock Orchestra and her day job / Relating to co-workers outside of the church

32:52 Gaetana’s Christian awakening as a child

36:12 We need to listen to those who disagree with us as Christians

38:06 Bringing people from the workplace to church / Relating to LGBTQ workmates when they come to church

41:45 What does Gaetana want to be remembered for in her work right now / What she learned from the tragedy she experienced in her youth

44:52 Michael mentions Alice Cooper’s reputation as a Christian in the music business

45:50 Gaetana’s contact info and upcoming work

47:21 Outro

————————————

Gaetana Gravallese on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/The.Divine.Ms.G

Gaetana on Soundcloud here: 

https://soundcloud.com/gaetana-gravallese

AND here:

https://soundcloud.com/eachandall

SRO on Youtube. See a recent cover performance of The Beatles “And I Love Her” here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SzlWYbJCYc

------------------------------

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

— Intro

— Motivation for doing this episode / How are we dealing with hard societal issues as Christians? / Two of Chris’s soon-to-be-released stories (‘Blackface’ and ‘You’re a Meme One’)

— Michael’s quote from a former pastor in Seattle who said that we should be in a spot where both the far left and far right disagree with our views / Cancel culture is making it hard to have real conversations on heavy topics / Michael wrote a cancel-culture story recently called ‘The Umbrella Holders’ / The church is in a tough spot right now / Tolerance and egalitarianism today

— The value of a person isn’t separate from the value (or lack thereof) of his or her views / The recent John Wayne controversy––even the dead aren’t safe

— Contemporary stories are changing / Michael enjoys the show ’24’ and likes how it depicts the true sinfulness of all human beings (Romans 3:10: No one is righteous––not even one.)

— Michael wrote a story called ‘Iris’ recently: it’s a warning about giving up one’s power of decision-making for ease of living in this technological world / “Moral correctness” is being separated from truthfulness (ends justify the means)

— Racism: Is it an unpardonable sin? The worst sin? / Look at our other sins / How do we write stories that empathize with those on the other side of the spectrum from us?

— How do we reflect these rough issues honestly in our work? / Pitfalls if we aren’t careful / Story Chris is working on about a confrontation between a hard-right shop owner and hard-left activist

— Yelp’s new anti-racism designation for businesses / Chris’s shopkeeper story doesn’t go the way you might think

— Ends justify the means is dangerous; Oscar-winning filmmaker Michael Moore said something troubling a few years ago / Manipulation of truth is now commonplace in the media / The Christian artist standard for truth / We don’t get to make “comfort food” for our audiences

— Scary stat on how susceptible we are to fake news stories / More on Yelp’s troubling new anti-racism policy: false narratives might be permitted / Michael expounds on God’s view agains an ‘ends justify the means’ mentality

—  Election Day a week away: God’s establishment of governing authorities / We vote for policies we believe benefit all / Politics seem to have replaced religion / Michael knows someone who wished a political leader were dead

— The Christian artist’s fear of outing himself on these hard-hitting societal issues

— Why are we taking a risk by outing ourselves? / We are aware of our whiteness / Education is a big concern at the root of many societal problems / We don’t cancel people for their past bad acts / We don’t categorically dismiss an entire class of employees because their industry at-large has done some bad things / Where does Chris fall in all of this?

— Matthew 7:16: You will know them by their fruit / Identity politics is a worldview––it’s incompatible with faith in God / Love and compassion is the call for believers, not politics / Our art must reflect this and seek to change our hearts and teach us all grace

— Chris mentions a short story in a secular book that deals honestly with the fallout of CRT: ‘Friday Black’ By Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah / We have to account to God for what we do in our work / Link to article Michael recommended

— Outro

--------------------

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Amazon page

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS

— Intro

— Chris reveals his current financial difficulties and grapples with the Biblical call to be the provider for his household / Are continuous closed doors to his old career and current job searches signs that God wants him to keep going as an artist? / How the immense pressure of school debt continues to impact Chris’s vocational calling

— The benefits of going back to school / What we learned from a financially inviable project that helped re-direct career focus / Chris still struggles with whether to quit pursuing art as a vocation

— Michael mentions a famous quote about insanity and repetition / The parable of the persistent widow (Luke 18:1–8)

— Michael’s vision as an artist when he graduated college / The importance of a healthy ego / The need for reliance on a team and prayer to accomplish an artistic vocation / Losing passion for art as a sign to move on from it

— Quitting seriously comes to mind when our choices cost us significantly 

— Augustine quote about trusting God and doing what you want to do / The Father will redirect you if you’re on the wrong track / Michael made a decision to be more responsible financially at cost to his art (but without sacrificing art entirely)

— The call to provide for one’s family: “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (Timothy 5:8 ESV)

— Chris mentions how some folks have it was easier when stepping into established family businesses / It’s hard finding work in certain fields like education, which may be due to certain political movements of the time

— Complication of artistic pursuits when married into Asian American families (as Michael and Chris both are) / Why Chris isn’t pursuing law work post-law school / Is it sin to refuse certain kinds of secular work? / Asking the Father to fail steps down wrong paths and being willing to truly hear what God is speaking to you regarding what he wants you to do

— One of our favorite pastors, Francis Chan, speaks often about following the Father’s call when He asks you to do hard things in your vocation / Chris’s near-future move to regroup and hear God’s call

— Chris’s moods and hope were often built on sand and subject to the ups and downs of career successes and failures 

— Michael’s experience trying to leave Los Angeles, prevailing state political movements add pressure to leave

— Be on guard against entitlement and unrealistic expectations / Count the costs of your career choices up front rather than after-the-fact / 

— God can provide amazing things (like a spouse) despite some of our vocational choices that may have made lives more difficult / Michael has more peace these days and doesn’t put as much pressure to succeed on himself

— Chris’s desire to find a wife was hindered for a long time by a misguided sense of the importance of success as an artist / God provided a wife and spoke to him clearly about it / When we obey the Father, amazing things happen

— Preview of a future episode that will deal with why we shouldn’t choose political sides but rather God’s side

———————————————

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Podcast Page

https://anchor.fm/kingofthemiddle

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

00:10 Intro

01:36 Michael had a medical scare recently: He had a spot on his kidney

04:37 Chris: Impact of cancer diagnosis a decade ago / Questions about his career that surfaced

08:20 Michael’s triumphant reaction to good news / Imagining the worse case and how limited time on earth would have changed his POV on work and life

15:02 Impact of ongoing everyday ups and downs on Michael

18:44 For Chris, marriage was a huge shake-up in his life / Chris’s pre-marriage idols vs what God has revealed to him recently

27:25 Michael recalls a time in the recent past when a good job opportunity presented itself but was going to misdirect his calling

31:31 Michael wrote an autobiography at that time of his life

35:24 Michael left a good job in the Bay Area to continuing pursuing his artistic calling as a writer in LA

43:02 Chris’s reflection on the uncertainty of that time period seven years ago

43:22 The benefits of working with folks in jobs outside your ministry calling (the bonds of friendship) 

48:30 The dangers of tying our identity to our success = we’re more susceptible to mood swings that accompany life’s highs & lows

50:11 Heaps of disappointment tied to our lack of success can influence our Christian witness / Tip: Look around and see all the good things that God has done (and is doing) for us

53:25 How do we determine if it’s time to quit the intense pursuit of our ‘perceived’ calling?

55:23 Outro

————————————————————

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

00:10 Villains Michael loves / Heroes he dislikes

02:16 Why this topic? 

03:24 A well-written villain needs a good backstory / Villains often express hidden truths about ourselves

06:03 Goodness can be a bore / We’re in a battle with good and evil constantly  / Villains can reveal our own wrong thinking

08:23 Why do so many people dislike Superman? / Parallel to our false view of heaven as a “boring place”

11:03 Well-written villains allow artists to reflect real-life dynamics

14:03 Both heroes and villains must be well-written / Chris offers a comparison between cliched disasters and badly written villains

17:34 Who are some of Michael’s favorite bad guys? / Why are we still talking about Darth Vader in the 21st century? / Michael recalls a hurtful character in Dickens’s ‘Great Expectations’ / The newest Joker film / How Darth Vader reflects our own Christian walk / Why we are drawn to redemption stories / Brief mention of ‘Tale of Two Cities’

23:13 At the turn of the century, darker flawed heroes became more in vogue / Is the 21st century shift in our collective moral values responsible for what we see in modern stories?

25:47 The perils of modern anti-heroes / Amazon's ‘The Boys’ / Christians can use evil characters to depict absolute evil / Rise of Skywalker is a good example of modern use of pure good and pure evil characters

29:50 Ravi Zacharias had a good illustration for absolute evil / Characters, whether good or bad, must face hard struggles

32:03 Warning for writers when they move into morally murky waters / The 21st century has ushered in a more mainstream acceptance of anti-heroes and flawed heroes / Why Christians have to work hard to write honest bad guys / We may lead folks astray if we’re not careful

36:03 Michael is a big fan of ‘No Country for Old Men’ / Christians need to take a hopeful spin on the modern anti-hero tale / The evil committed by Joseph’s brothers (when they sold him into slavery) is a warning to us: we the audience aren’t always intended to be aligned with the hero of the story

42:07 Chris weighs in on the filmed version of ‘No Country For Old Men’ / The end of the film is misunderstood by many believers who dislike the story / Similar conclusion in a film called ‘Jindabyne’ / Why Chris likes films where the villain gets away in the end

47:10 When we acknowledge right and wrong in our storytelling, we can further expose absolute truths

47:46 Michael mentions the film ‘A Simple Plan’ where the main character who turns bad realizes the change / When bad guys realize their evil—even if they don’t turn from darkness—it can be useful to reveal honest sinfulness / Stories that depict true evil can help us prepare for the temptations

52:11 Paul warned us that we are always in a battle against our flesh / Characters both good and bad must wrestle with their flesh and soul

55:02 Chris addendum: Superman and traditional good characters have a place in modern storytelling / We must show the moral dilemmas that purely good characters face / Superheroes do have weaknesses: the normal humans they love who cannot defend themselves

59:46 The modern film anti-hero is rooted in the 20th century, not merely the turn of the 21st century

--------

Video essay: The de-mythification of heroes (WARNING: May contain R-rated language):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT75YHqlD9k

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

This review is more than a film critique. We dig deep into the pathos of the film and its implications for a Christian audience.

-- Intro: Why are we reviewing ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music?’

-- Background for the trilogy / The setup for “Face the Music” / Why the beginning of film resonates with Chris

-- Bill & Ted’s co-dependency and its danger to their marriages

-- The dangers of placing one’s work and vocational relationships before your family / Why Chris doesn’t like finding profundity in stories when it isn’t really there

-- The film turns the modern convention for father-daughter relationships upside-down

-- We analyze the major overriding plot point of the film: Bill & Ted keep looking for shortcuts to accomplish their quest

-- Michael talks about why an artist cannot shortcut through pain and hardship

-- Pressure to succeed can greatly harm creativity

-- Michael contrasts his favorite film, 'Big Fish'  with ‘Face the Music’: differing outcomes when a character knows his future

-- Chris discusses why our inability to see the future is a gift; Jesus in bodily form didn’t know everything about the future

-- Material world view vs non-material world view are both presented in the film

-- What does God deem as success? /Be warned when we place huge burdens on ourselves because we hope to create world-changing art

-- How the film explores the restoration of broken relationships / Dangers of the fame monster

-- That sad truth: we often wait to restore broken relationships until our hands are forced

-- Bill & Ted realize what they’ve missed: the solution to their quest doesn’t rely on them alone––a very Christian message

-- We have to hand our burdens and desire for self-glory over to the Father and submit our work to him

-- How Michael has been fighting against the temptation to wrap his identity up in his work / Enjoy the small moments in life

-- How would we end the film if it had continued for another 10 minutes? What would Bill & Ted have done as they settled back into suburban life?

--------------------------------

Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Michael and Chris grapple with the moral implications that arise when artists draw on their observations of real life experiences, relatives, and acquaintances.

-- Intro: Creating Characters: Where do we find inspiration?

-- Choosing a subject can reveal secrets (intended or not) about the artist: her ideologies, grudges, etc

-- Michael discusses Thomas Wolfe’s early ‘fiction’ work that was actually an expose on the brokenness of his town

-- Michael mentions a memoir he wrote 10 years ago; he struggled with the decision to reveal dirty laundry about someone he knew

-- Chris talks about whether it’s acceptable to use other people’s real life stories in our own fiction work / Accountability to God on this

-- Michael explains how he analyzes his work to determine whether he’s giving the subject matter a fair shake / How he handles telling stories about his family’s past

-- Chris discusses the intersection between sharing stories from his own past in his work and the accountability he has to his parents / How being a dad himself has altered his view of the past

-- Chris asks Michael to discuss a negative event about his brother and whether he would use it in his work

-- Chris shares a crazy story about his own youth that might show up in a story some day

-- Michael supposes that family members don’t care very much about retelling stories from their immature youth but do if a tale is critical of an adult relative

-- Chris shares the circumstances under which he would be concerned if a relative wrote about him negatively in a published story

-- What about writing our own life experiences into our characters? / How many characters can you harness from your own life experiences? / How do you imbue dark characters with a part of yourself?

-- Humanizing characters we’ve created based on our own life observations / Chris reveals why he failed at writing a believable flesh-and-blood character in one of his stories some years back

-- How far will Michael go to sync his psyche with a fictional dark character / How does a Christian resolve the tension between sharing the Good News and writing such dark characters?

-- How turning 40 changed us as artists / How 30 also changed Michael

-- Michael asks Chris how he would write a young troubled character (mentioned earlier in this episode) if he re-wrote the story today / How to apply our honest, raw, observational gifts to our creative storytelling

-- Pop culture often feeds our desire to be distracted from this truth: we have limited time on earth. Yet believers can express truths about God’s purpose for humanity while entertaining them

-- In the next podcast, we'll discuss ‘Bill & Ted Face the Music’

------------------------------

Youtube Channel

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYhB_T8K03t8WO1XyvjaKWA

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Link to Michael’s Natter book, memoir, and other books:

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

We talk about the ups and downs, ego and pride, successes and failures that surface when working with other believers. How do you do it successfully? Can friendships survive failed projects? We take you on a journey examining our own career roadblocks for the answers.

Chronological Index:

Michael introduction

Chris mentions pushing through the technical difficulties to execute a podcast 

We discuss our recent debate about whether to continue recording King of the Middle on a weekly basis / How hard collaborating can be, especially when working with friends

How rare is it to find like-minded Christian partners for projects? / Surviving clashes, learning from artistic mistakes and missteps

What insight did Michael’s recent marriage give him into the similarities between matrimony and working with creative partners in a committed partnership?

Chris talks about the pain of letting go of his artistic “darlings” when criticized by work partners and learning how to accept failure

Chris mentions Michael Jordan’s recent eulogy at Kobe Bryant’s memorial service: Kobe was a man who sought out advice regarding his weaknesses as an NBA player and ways to improve

Michael, ironically,  discusses a recent Michael Jordan documentary that painted a less than flattering look at Jordan’s ego and lack of collaborative skills

Chris talks about some of his early collaborations with Christians in Los Angeles, Was he able to maintain relationships with folks when projects didn’t work out or they came to premature conclusions?

Michael talks about his collaboration with Christian musicians in his early career / How did he deal with situations that fell apart?

Michael compares the difference when working with nonbelievers

Chris’s relatively positive experience working with a couple of nonbelievers on spec commercial projects

Projects Michael and Chris are working on together / Working on a big audio drama project while navigating the choppy waters of disagreements between friends

Benefits of collaboration with fellow Christians / Learning to grow through criticism from your trusted friends / Chris admits he has grown as a person and artist as result of taking criticism from Michael / Michael shares some things he witnessed working with Chris / Michael’s struggles with criticism

It’s hard to find people to constructively criticize your work

Tip: How Chris learned to apply better criticism to his own work / Steps he learned to write much better stories

Someone we know who rebuffed criticism and paid a price

Our work as Christians must be good enough to justify the energy to execute it; Will God bless stubbornly created work?

We want to make a living as artists while walking with God in our missional calling / What if your art is made for hobby's sake?

Michael outro

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The other limited series podcast I mentioned at the start: God & Entertainment Podcast

https://anchor.fm/god-and-entertainment

Our Run Diesel site:

Rundiesel.com

Chris’s unreleased film “A Little Picture” coming soon––so stay tuned!

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLxhg-teum4

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1

Lawrence joins us to talk about his journey as an actor, the temptation to compare our talents to the talents of others, his struggles due to the Covid shut-down, taking roles that don't sync with Christian faith, how he and his wife (also an actor) have a plan for their mutual success, young children in the business, and more!

Chronological Index:

00:09 Michael introduces Lawrence Stallings

01:35 Lawrence discusses his background / How he started acting

03:32 Lawrence’s take on his journey as an artist vs a more traditional vocation

06:27 An ever-constant threat actors face: comparing themselves to other actors / Advice Lawrence received about this ill once

08:36 Michael shares a story about an actor he knew whose confidence was beaten down by ageism and the resulting destructive comparison to others

10:20 We discuss the pitfalls of being hypercritical towards ourselves and how such a view affects our view of other’s work

13:02 What success looks like for Lawrence / Trusting the Father

15:36 Taking a role that conflicted with his faith: The Book of Mormon on Broadway / Revealing faith to coworkers in the entertainment workplace / Going where God sends you

23:59 Chris’s experience sharing faith in the workplace 

24:52 Lawrence talks about being married to an actress and being a new father / Their plan to support each other’s artistic vision in their marriage

28:10 Lawrence’s recent roadtrip from New York City to Los Angeles / How being a parent changes our view about how God loves us

32:40 Chris suggests our artistic work (our “darlings”) are like our children in some ways / How we may become better artists as parents

34:05 Pros and cons: Bringing our children into the entertainment business

35:48 Michael’s outro

--------------------------------------------------------

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/kingofthemiddle/

Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOIcw5jZd3c

Chris’s Website

http://www.cmobmo.com

Michael’s Website and Amazon page

https://michaeljoelgreen.wordpress.com/

https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Joel-Green/e/B007SCU7DS/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1