Saturday, February 2, 2008

AND NOW . . . FOR SOMETHING AMAAAAAAZZZZING

Catch this video of a digital painting of Evangeline Lilly (Kate), from LOST. Just go to the link below.
It takes a couple minutes to watch, but the music is cool and you will be impressed by what you see.

http://www.leechvideo.com/video/view2996404.html

Digital painting is interesting in speed mode, but this work had to have taken hours. I am not sure why anyone would want to paint this way, other than for the sheer tedium of the experience. I am amazed that this artist prefered a digital method to real paint and canvas. To each their own - as they say. Digital painting still has a long way to go, but it has promise.

Regardless of media preference, this task would not have been easy in any format, especially in pixels. This person really knows what he/she is doing, I will give them that much. :-)

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

DO YOU NEED GOD'S HELP? I DO.


From Charles Spergeon's devotionals



"I will help thee, saith the Lord."


Today let us hear the Lord Jesus speak to each one of us: "I will help thee." "It is but a small thing for Me, thy God, to help thee. Consider what I have done already. What! not help thee? Why, I bought thee with My blood. What! not help thee? I have died for thee; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help thee! It is the least thing I will ever do for thee; I have done more, and will do more. Before the world began I chose thee. I made the covenant for thee. I laid aside My glory and became a man for thee; I gave up My life for thee; and if I did all this, I will surely help thee now. In helping thee, I am giving thee what I have bought for thee already. If thou hadst need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it thee; thou requirest little compared with what I am ready to give. 'Tis much for thee to need, but it is nothing for me to bestow. 'Help thee?' Fear not! If there were an ant at the door of thy granary asking for help, it would not ruin thee to give him a handful of thy wheat; and thou art nothing but a tiny insect at the door of My all-sufficiency. 'I will help thee.'"


O my soul, is not this enough? Dost thou need more strength than the omnipotence of the United Trinity? Dost thou want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring hither thine empty pitcher! Surely this well will fill it. Haste, gather up thy wants, and bring them here--thine emptiness, thy woes, thy needs. Behold, this river of God is full for thy supply; what canst thou desire beside? Go forth, my soul, in this thy might. The Eternal God is thine helper!
"Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismay'd! I, I am thy God, and will still give thee aid."

___________


Believe it, becasue it is true.
Do not be afraid to trust him for help.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

ATONEMENT - for harmful words spoken


"Atonement," a World War Two romance about two lovers torn apart by a family betrayal and the conflict in Europe . . . " (REUTERS)

BRAVO for a truly excellent film! If you have seen the film ATONEMENT you already know why it won the Golden Globe award for the Best Film Drama. It is a masterful work.

The cinematography, the acting, the sets, and above all the story are all phenomenal. There are moments of tender love and personal loss and sorrow so real, so palpable and so deep that they took my breath away. If you live long enough, or love deep enough, you will identify easily with the sensitivity of emotion dug out in this film; not just with regard to the two lovers, but with the one attempting to make atonement for her own sins. This is a "must see."

This film, a cautionary tale about the power of words to give or destroy lives is much needed in our own time; when people are so deliberately reckless with their words. It reminds me of the Proverb that says, The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Prov 18:21 Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

Once I heard the Lord whisper to my own heart, "If you speak less, you will sin less." Hmmmm. Something to think about. There are so many scriptures in the Bible about "speaking." I have broken every rule about good speech many times over, to my own shame.

Jesus said, "And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you." Matt 12:36-37 Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.

The words I have spoken in this life thus far, could have been better. This is my growing edge.

Oh Lord, Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable, my strength and my redeemer. (Ps. 19:14)
__________________
Quote Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1333194020080114

Saturday, January 12, 2008

LESSONS FROM A PENNY


I usually delete internet folklore before I read it, but one of my favorite cousins sent this story to me today, so I read it - and I am glad I did.

This story reminded me that there are opportunities for truth and widsom all around us - if we are perceptive.

Most of the time, if someone asked me if I thought I was perceptive, I'd say, "Not so much." Take for instance, the lowly penny. Here is a short account, whether true or not is immaterial. The content is the real point to the story, and a true lesson to all of us. I hope you enjoy it. I think this one really is a keeper.

CATEGORY: Internet folklore
Life-lessons from cyberspace - or - Messages imbedded in the culture. This is an exegesis of, and an exposition from, a penny.

SUBJECT: Don't Miss the Small Opportunities to Reflect

You always hear the usual stories of pennies on the sidewalk being good luck, gifts from angels, etc. This is the first time I've ever heard this twist on the story; gives you something to think about.

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment. Arlene wondered if she was supposed to pass him. There was nothing on the ground except a single darkened penny that someone had dropped, and a few cigarette butts. Still silent, the man reached down and picked up the penny. He held it up and smiled, then put it in his pocket as if he had found a great treasure. How absurd! What need did this man have for a single penny? Why would he even take the time to stop and pick it up?

Throughout dinner, the entire scene nagged at her. Finally, she could stand it no longer. She casually mentioned that her daughter once had a coin collection, and asked if the penny he had found had been of some value. A smile crept across the man's face as he reached i! nto his pocket for the penny and held it out for her to see. She had seen many pennies before! What was the point of this?

"Look at it." He said. "Read what it says." She read the words " United States of America " "No, not that; read further.""One cent?" "No, keep reading.""In God we Trust?" "Yes!" "And?""And if I trust in God, the name of God is holy, even on a coin. Whenever I find a coin I see that inscription. It is written on every single United States coin, but we never seem to notice it! God drops a message right in front of me telling me to trust Him? Who am I to pass it by? When I see a coin, I pray, I stop to see if my trust IS in God at that moment. I pick the coin up as a response to God; that I do trust in Him. For a short time, at least, I cherish it as if it were gold. I think it is God's way of starting a conversation with me. Lucky for me, God is patient and pennies are plentiful!

When I was out shopping today, I found a penny on the sidewalk. I stopped and picked it up, and realized that I had been worrying and fretting in my mind about things I cannot change. I read the words, "In God We Trust," and had to laugh. Yes, God, I get the message. It seems that I have been finding an inordinate number of pennies in the last few months, but then, pennies are plentiful, and, God is patient. - End of the cyber-story -

Now, personally, I would only add one thing. Notice the other word on the face of the penny. It says, "LIBERTY." Much could be said about that word, but I will say only this, "When one places their trust in God they WILL have greater liberty, be that as a nation or in one's own personal life."

Freedom from fear and the ability to live life freely does come from trusting in God. So, I am determined to take the slogan, "In God we trust," and will trust him in anticipation of expeciencing greater liberty in my own life. I am pretty confident that the two are closely linked, but even if they are not, I know it is always right to trust in God, and leave the outcome to his goodness and wisdom. That itself is a kind of LIBERTY anyone may know and enjoy.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

ARTS,CULTURE & MINISTRY


Just as Bob Dylan proved that one need not have a traditionally well-tuned voice to be considered a singer, Nam June Paik has proven one need not stay with conventional forms to make art.

In fact, it is no longer necessary (or even desirable) to make art that is either beautiful or useful, comprehensible or relevant to anyone but the artist.

There was a time when artists like Leonard da Vinci said that art was about taking one's lessons from nature because nature is the master of the artist; art is about nature. From the Renaissance to today, the fine arts in the west have moved from being associated with the natural world and beauty, to an artist's personal exercise of entirely inward, psychological, and personal expression.

By the time Picasso came on the scene in the twentieth century, (as he states it), "Art is about everything but nature." Nature has no say at all about what art is or should be. Art, to Picasso, was concerned entirely with the internal landscape of the human psyche.

There are reasons why this has happened. These ideas are primarily the results of dramatic shifts in the philosophies in the west. One would need to take an art history or philosophy course to understand these changes clearly, but suffice it to say that art is so different today that it does not resemble the art of the Renaissance in almost every way.

Art today has become entirely the expression of the artist, plus an existential brian-state of the viewer and nothing more. It is a bio-chemical experience without meaning, without virtue and without God. It is frequently anarchistic and cynical at it core. It does not believe in the exsistence of truth or of meaning beyond the personal truth or meaning one gives to it, or receives from it. There is no "big-picture," just an infinite array of "little-pictures," having neither certainty nor hope.

Artists "in the know" are not unaware of this radical shift, but the general public is still in the dark. Confusion and incoherence is the general condition of western culture toward the arts today. There is less continuity, less agreement, less community in the arts today than at any other time before. Considerations once thought important, such as decorum and depiction of the sublime, have been so thoroughly rejected by contemporary artists that one would be laughed out of town to even imply that an artist has a responsibility to either these ideas or to their audience, or to their culture, or to their patrons. This is a core element in the debates that rage over monies spent on and for the National Endowments for the Arts.

Where once the Church was a major patron of the arts, supporting art and artists alike, the past one hundred years has seen precious little activity of the Church in the arts. I don't know of one important artist in the twentieth century who claimed to be a Christ-follower. There may have been, but I don't know of any. If you do, please let me know. I would genuinely like to know about them.

With all due respect for those who have purchased a certain style of painting with which to decorate their home, please do not mention Thomas Kincaid. He is not a serious artist in our culture, and never will be, not on the same level as a Picasso, a Goya, or a Leonardo. Kincaid is merely a commercial artist who sells tons of decorative paintings produced on a production line (much like a car factory), which are designed to exploit the sappy emotions of the generally art-illiterate public for the sake of his own personal profit -- and he is famously successful at it. This is not a criticism as much as it is an observation. Take it for what it's worth. But I must make a distinction between that "sentimental" stuff and the kind of "serious" art that transforms cultures, survives the test of time, and does more than titilate the fickle art-fad-consumption of the masses.

Most of the art produced in the twentieth century, according to art historians and art commentators (see Michael Woods', Art of the Western World, and others), tell us that twentieth century art depicted not only the purely psychological qualities, but also that which was violent, brutal, erotic, cynical, often hopeless and fearful; projecting human alienation, angst, despair and decay. These are not my evaluations; they are the evaluations of people who claim to be in the know. Neither he nor I would laud such content, but it is there nonetheless. It was what was in the psyche of western civilization, and it was mirrored in the bloody wars and civil strife of that century. There was good resons for that century to have such depictions in its art.

Hans Rookmaaker, an art historian who wrote the book, Modern Art and the Death of a Culture, ( read more at http://www.wheaton.edu/learnres/ARCSC/collects/sc18/bio.htm ) tells us much about the art of the twentieth century from this point of view. I commend this work to you. Read it. You will be amazed at what Rookmaaker says. You may even disagree, but you will not be able to refute the validity of what he says without a good deal of thoughtful consideration.

Today, there are many Christ-followers who are emerging as this centuries new "Creatives," and some of them are making some tremendous strides in the contemporary art world. I am glad about this. Believers in Jesus ought to be intensely engaged in ever category of the culture, minus sin (e.g. entertainment, but never as sex-workers; artists, but not anarchists). There are limits to the activities of believing-artists in the arts, just as there are limits to believing-contractors in the building trade. This should not surprise us - BUT - those limits do not hinder the work of the Christ-following-artist at all. God does not need sin, nor does he employ sin, as a means of working in this world, even though he often allows us to be instructed by the destructiveness of sin -- yet he himself is never its author.

All of this to say, gone are those dark days of the twentieth century when Christ-followers were held out of the art world by both churches and curators -- or walked out on their own. Thank God. Today Christ-followers are engaged in all of the arts in our culuture, and working hard at it every day of the week.

From painting to film, from the performance to music, believing artists are fully engaged and making their mark. Many of them are deeply serious about the arts, about engaging the culture and about the incarnational ministry of Christ through their work. Others, unfortunately, are still wandering around, dazed and confused by the insanity of the last century. Some have not yet sorted it out, and some probably never will.

The Church too, or some of it, is still in confusion about the arts, but that is changing. It is my firm belief, and hope, that Christ-followers involved in the arts will find new ways to do thier art, will invent new forms of expression and communication, and will develope new skills with which to express their creative work. There are infinite possibilities by which an artist today can affect the culture for good (and for God), and can produce new kinds of ministry to the world; things no one has yet seen, but it will require courage, resources and persistance. May God grant us the courage, the faith, and the patience to put our money where our mouth is with regard to supporting the re-emergence of the arts in the Church. We all will need to open our purses and wallets and start buying art, attending performances, and supporting artists of faith, if their ministries are going to succeed in the coming century.

There is a truly amazing thing happening in the arts among believers, and there is an amazing thing happening in believers among the arts right now. I can't wait to see what new forms of ministry will appear in this century through "Creatives" who are faithful to both their God and their art.

Sunday, December 30, 2007

A CHURCH WITHOUT GLORY


This first picture, the church at Auvers-sur-Oise, is one of my favorite van Gogh paintings. If you click on the photo you will be able to see an enlarged image of both paintings. You will need to do that to see what I'm trying to show in this blog.

The first picture shows a person at a crossroad outside a church. It is hard to tell what the person has chosen, but it looks to me like they have chosen to walk on the shadow side of the building. The church tower holds a faceless clock, and no light shines from the building's windows. The inside of the church is as dark as the night sky.

Van Gogh was the son of a Reform minister, and Vincent was, himself, commissioned by the Reform church as a missionary to the poor -- then he was fired because he did not minister in the way THEY thought he should. Van Gogh was rightfully disillusioned with the Reform church, as are many today, and he shows us this sad picture of a church in which no luminosity exists for him -- for anyone. The glory of the church was, for van Gogh, no longer visible.

Compare that top picture with his "Starry Night," just below it, and you will see a great contrast between the splendor of the heavens and the darkness of the first painting of the church building. For van Gogh, the splendor of God still existed; it was obvious in nature, but it had ceased to exist in the church. Note the church in the lower center of the canvas in the second painting, "Starry Night." There it is again, there is no light in the church, much like the painting of the church at Auvers-sur-Oise.

Do you think, maybe, Vincent had an opinion about the church? It looks like it to me. To Vincent, the church had not only failed to set forth the GLORY of God, it had obscured it. There was no longer any glory left in the church for van Gogh. The glory had departed. Vincent was alone in the night, but in awe of the splendor of God that he saw in the universe. There is much to think about in these pictures.

Things have not changed in the church in some ways. Many people fail to see the glory of God in the church, and, sorry to say, many churches really know precious little about what it means to "glorify" God in his church.

GLORY is one of those all-purpose words in the Bible, but that does not mean that it is a weak word, quite the contrary. To define it would require a million tongues to sing it, a billion voices to proclaim it, a trillion paintings to depict it, and an infinite flow of creative expression to approach even a pale manifestation of his unfathomable radiance.

The word "glory" feels like an old fashioned word in these days, but the word glory is as relevant today as in every age before. It is we who are out of sync with its relevance. What is "glory?" just one of the coolest ideas in the world.

Just some of the ideas bound up with the word glory are, SPLENDOR, EXCELLENCE, BEAUTY, WONDER, MAJESTY, MAGNIFICENCE, and so many other superlative concepts. Glory is one of those huge little-big-words that takes in a lot of territory.

Do a word study on the word "glory" and its various permutations in the scriptures. It will open your eyes.

What are we commanded to do with glory? We are told to make the name of the Lord glorious. How is that possible when God is already majestic? We do it by "magnifying" the name of the Lord, that is to make it visible and beautiful in the eyes of the church and world. Why should we do it? Because without it, precious and sensitive souls like van Gogh will be lost to it, and as he did in the end, they will dispare and perish.

A church without glory, is the cause of great loss in this world, not only to itself, but to the whole world. There is nothing sadder, nothing more unnatural in the spirit-world than a church which trades the glory of God for cultural relevance, political power, social correctness, legalistic ritualism, propriety and process, or passionless religion; especially when there are an infinite array of ways to glorify God.

This notion of glory is so foreign to some that it seems odd, quaint, and unsophisticated to even think about DOING, ACTING, and MAKING things by which one can glorify God. After all, can't God do that all by himself since he is so great? Can't people look at the created world and "get it" for themselves? The simple answer is, "No." Most often that does not happen, and it will likely not happen, unless we who know the "glory" of God point it out. Are you pointing out the glory of God to others?

Think about what it would take to make the name of the Lord glorious in the eyes of others. What would that look like? What does it mean to "beautify" the name of the Lord, or to make him radiant and "splendiferous" (my word) in the eyes of those who do not know him, or worse, who have despised him. What would it mean to glorify God in your body, and with your mind and soul?

Have you considered on putting this command into practice? If not, let me encourage you to do so. Use your imagination and your resources, your energy and your skills to make something worthy of the glory of God. This requires thinking, work and persistence. It involves loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Do you honor God in that way?

What would Vincent think of your faith? Would he think you demonstrated the glory of God, or not so much? Would he see light in your life, or paint you like he painted this church, dark and empty and irrelevant in his world?

Have you considered how you will make God's dwelling place glorious?

What will you DO to bring this about?

Think beyond mere religion.

Think beyond buildings.

Think beyond church programs.

Think, "Starry Night," and then ask yourself how that majesty can be communicated through the PLACE you worship, through the SONGS you sing, through the lives you TOUCH.

How will you bring "GLORY" into your daily life, into your hopes and dreams, into your fears and failures, and into your works and words. What will you INVENT or EMPLOY that will MAGNIFY the Lord in the eyes of all those who do not yet know him, and could never get to the place of recognizing God's splendor without your expressions of his glory?

What will you say or do that will beautify the name of Christ in this world. Really, think about it, MAKE A PLAN, and do it. I really wonder what would happen if we got serious about bringing back the "glory" of God in this world through the things we make, say, and do.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?


Without a doubt, there is much discussion of the gospel in the New Testament. From Matthew to the Revelation of Jesus Christ, there is an unfolding of the Good News. But, if you could only be left with one explanation of the gospel, whose would you choose?


Would it be Paul and Romans, or Peter and his letters? Would it be master Luke and the Acts of the Apostles? Would it be the teaching about Christ in the book of Hebrews, or the Lord's brother, James and his book to the Jewish believers? What would you select as the best description of the gospel?


This week I will celebrate my 36th spiritual birthday. In over three and a half decades of being a Christ-follower, I can tell you that I can find no words more profound in all the Bible than those spoken by my Lord in his Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in Matthew 5:1-7:29, and a similar sermon of his, sometimes referred to as The Sermon on the Plain, in Luke 6:17-49.


I have heard many commentaries on these passages of scripture, some good, some just plain cop-outs. I have read these words, pondered them, studied them, measured myself by them, and wrestled with them for over thirty years - and though I LOVE the entire New Testament, regarding it as the Word of God, the words of Christ are more than sufficient to stand as the gospel for me if no other documents had ever been written.


The bottom line for me is this, Christ Jesus is my savior, and him alone. I need none other. Though Paul and all the apostles write under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they are not my savior. They are not the "one and only," as John calls Christ. One word from the mouth of Jesus outweighs all the words of the apostles put together, for they indeed preached the Word of God, but this Jesus IS the Word of God. The words of the apostles are great and wonderful. They lend us much insight and instruction, but Jesus says this of his own words, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." NIV (Matthew. 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33) This is not true of the apostles. Paul does not even claim that everything he writes is the Word of God. He sometimes says things like, "this is my opinion," and sometimes he says boldly, "this is the Word of the Lord." The words of the apostles are mixed. The lives of the apostles are not without error. They are not infallible, and never ever claim to be. They are mere men, but Christ is perfect in all things, sinless and without error in all things. This, even the apostles admit.


Can you imagine the apostles turning to each other for a "Word from God" when Christ was in their midst? Can you imagine them deciding for themselves what he meant? No, they asked him, just as should we. Yes, they did debate his words amongst themselves many times, but in the end they always compared the soundness of their own thoughts about his words by asking him directly, and then comparing their understanding to the words of Christ himself. Why do we find that so alien? We must always compare the words of the apostles to the words of Christ, and if there is a dispute in our own minds as to what is a right interpretation on a subject, lean into the words of Christ over what it might appear the apostle is saying. Christ always has the last word on a subject, not a prophet, not a preacher, not an apostle or evangelist, not a pope or a cardinal, a bishop or a priest. Christ's words are the gospel, and only those words that line up with his words are the proper echoes of the gospel message. Nothing else is the gospel. Nothing.


After so long a time of following Jesus, after a fair bit of Bible study, and after a sincere desire to live the life of a Christ-follower, I have come to hold the sermons on the mount and plain, as the core of the gospel itself. Though some have said, "If anyone wants to know what Christ meant, let them read the apostles, for they explain the words of Christ," I would prefer to say it just the other way around. This is how I would say it, "If anyone wants to know the meaning of the apostles' teaching, let them read the words of Christ. Let them compare and interpret the apostle's words in the light of the teachings of Jesus Christ. Then, and only then, in my view, can we begin to really know what the gospel is or is not. If we get this rule of interpretation backward how can it lead to anything but error? As for me, I will hold to the words of Jesus as the gospel, and interpret the apostles (and all other words), in the light of his words.