Ten years ago today we had a major children’s event in the community of Jesús María! Cookie decorating and egg dying on a grand scale – about 150 people involved. This is only one of many tables set up for the kids (click the image for a larger image):
Now you may notice that everyone was rather bundled up! March is one of the warmest months here… normally. But in 2013, it was cold, getting down below freezing.
The good thing was that there was a lot of snow on the volcanoes, so I got some excellent pictures! It was a beautiful view that year.
It is our desire to equip local pastors and elders for their long-term ministry. One of the many ways this is happening is through the special project, Retreats and Resources for Pastors.
It’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like! 🙂 When you give to this project (and yes, it is a tax-deductible gift in Canada or the USA), you are providing resources such as Bible study materials, and also help with transportation and fees for retreats for pastors/elders and their wives once a year. Obviously what we can do will depend on the funds available.
This is a project that you can give to as an individual or family, or you can make it a special goal for your Bible study group, church, classroom, etc. For instructions on giving, just go to the donate page, click on your country, and then look for instructions for special projects. But to make it simple, you will be giving through Avant to Project #71969.
We’re coming to the end of our study of Communication and Creativity. But we’re going to look at a few more things that the Bible has to say – in a moment.
First, here are a few questions to ponder:
How have I seen the world use art to fight against God, or to tempt me to sin?
How could I use what I’ve been learning to change the way I create or “consume” art?
How could I use art to fight for the Kingdom of God in the months ahead?
Remember, art can be used for good and evil. Yes, we have often seen it twisted to a wicked purpose. Used to feed sinful pleasure. Used to manipulate or abuse others. Pornography. Gluttony. Lies.
But we should end our study by remembering the positive – We were created to be creative! And we use our creativity to communicate with one another and with God – and that is a wonderful thing. Art can be used for God’s glory, the fight the good fight of the faith, and to enjoy as a gift from our Creator.
Jesus was at the house of Simon the Leper in the town of Bethany – and we presume from the nickname that Simon was a leper that Jesus had healed. Mary, Martha’s sister, was there. And Martha, Mary’s sister, had come to help serve the food – she was apparently pretty good with the culinary arts.
Mary had an alabaster jar of perfume (alabaster was a type of stone from Egypt). This tiny container would cost a year’s wages – imagine!
And she used it to anoint the Lord. She didn’t pour out a little – that would have been a lot – the beautiful smell would have filled the room. No, she broke the container and poured it all on his head! This might seem odd to us, but it was not out of the ordinary in the custom of the day to anoint with perfume. But the amount – the value – that was very much out of the ordinary. Extravagant!
But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”
John 12:4-5
We know now that Judas was actually stealing from the money bag, so he wasn’t exactly concerned for the poor. But some of the other disciples were probably thinking the exact same thing.
And yet, Jesus defended Mary’s extravagant gift.
Yes, there is a time to give to the poor. But there is also a time to enjoy God’s gifts, and to give to God – in a creative and extravagant way, for His glory! In a sense, we’re “giving back” to God. And because of our own creativity, it is something uniquely ours.
God loved us with a love that was extravagant, luxurious, abundant, generous, lavish. “Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
1 Corinthians 2:9
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21
Creativity and communication allow us to love extravagantly. But we recognize we are ever dependent on the Creator of the universe. And we create as creatures. We should create based in truth. We should create with purpose, with the ultimate goal of glorifying God and enjoying Him. With extravagance.
We’ve recently started up a general Bible study for the church in Las Palmas. We had a packed house for the first lesson, and we had some fun with these little Bible posters…
That’s the Old Testament above, and the New Testament to the right. Each poster has the name of the book, the language it is written in, the first and last words of the book, the estimated date, a keyword (theme), the author, and the length of the book (the thick line at the bottom), and sometimes a little more information. It’s fun to be able to see all this at a glance.
We originally used these posters for a special service at the church in Jesús María, and I had the books divided up into sections. But I didn’t really have the time (or space!) to do it this time.
Upon popular request I created a file with all the books together, so hopefully I’ll be able to use that at En la Biblia so that others can make use of them.
Our first two studies went well, with a lot of discussion about the sufficiency of Scripture, God’s involvement in His Creation, attacks on the Bible – we have an intelligent group which definitely tends to push the discussion to a deeper level!
We would appreciate your prayers for these studies, especially that more of the newer people at the church would join us.
Speaking of studying the Bible, I’m currently having my mind blown by John 5 as I prepare to preach on the healing of the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and Jesus’ subsequent teaching. Jesus certainly has a way of saying just the right thing in just the right way – please pray that He would be exalted as we continue our study of the Gospel of John!
As is the case, no doubt, with your own church, our church is facing many challenges from many directions. But God continues to teach and guide, and remind us that He is with us.
Dr. Schaeffer, as you may know, was a pastor and writer from the USA. In this particular book, he suggests four ways to evaluate art, whether it be dance, theatre, music or painting.
(1) Technical Excellence
I think we all know intuitively what he’s talking about here. Something done well, with technical excellence, is a great thing to see. It represents many hours of study or practice or rehearsal.
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
Proverbs 22:29
Now, this doesn’t mean that we agree with the worldview behind the art. In fact, there may be technical excellence in something we would prefer not to see or listen to! But we can admit that it is well done.
For example, the original Star Wars movies present a very anti-Christian worldview. But they were done with excellence.
(2) Validity
Is the artist being true to himself or herself, and his or her worldview? Or, for example, is it obvious that this was created just to make a profit? I think there are a lot of movies today that are obviously geared toward making money and little else. And this doesn’t tend to lead to a lasting quality.
(3) Intellectual Content (Worldview)
Finally we come to the worldview behind the art. There is a worldview in architecture. There is a worldview in instrumental music. There is a worldview in the art that your government uses for their promotional materials. It may be that the artist isn’t even consciously aware of what is being communicated, or what this vision of the world is. But we all have one.
And, Dr. Schaeffer says, excellent art with an anti-Christian worldview can be terribly destructive in the culture. We need to judge it.
(4) Integration of Content and Vehicle
This is to say, you can have an ugly snake on a pole representing sin and suffering. You can have a majestic song to celebrate God’s glory. You may use different music, or different colours, for something sad or happy.
In other words, the form of the art should fit its message. You don’t want to create something that has a silly feel to it to talk about God’s judgement. A humourous cartoon mocking something who is suicidal would be offensive. There should be a harmony between medium and message.
Be sure to check out Dr. Schaeffer’s book – it’s not a long one: Art and the Bible
12 Keys to Good Music
For a number of years my father (Robert Cottrill) taught a course called “Music in the Christian Life”, a course which he developed. In the course, he listed 12 principles for evaluating music – but I think the same principles could be used in any kind of art. These principles are summarized on his blog; I encourage you to check them out as another way to think about how we evaluate art: Music Choice: 12 Keys to Good Music
I’ll leave you with those points to ponder. Next time, as we conclude this section on creativity and communication, we’ll have a few questions to ponder by way of application, and we’ll look at a fascinating story from Jesus’ earthly ministry.
