Check this music out…

I did an event called Redemption at Widener University on Tuesday night. It was a cool creative evening combining the talents of several of the students with me and an amazing musician named Angela Burns. You really need to check out her music.

You Can Be Anything You Want to Be???

We tell this to our kids all the time. The problem is, it’s not true and I can prove it. You see I wanted to be a rock star. When I was a small child we were pretty much sheltered from tock and roll. My dad was drafted a little bit after I was born, it was the Vietnam era and I think rock and roll sort of reminded my dad of the long haired people who were treating the returning soldiers so badly. It was fine until I approached middle school when everyone else new all the current music and I had yet another reason to be considered odd man out. Slowly I started to seek out the music, find what I liked an I got somewhat interested.

The turning point came on May 13, 1980. Some friends of mine were going to see this band called Rush and somehow, I’m still not sure how, I convinced my folks to let me go. It took me about 15 seconds into the Overture of 2112, to figure out this was what I wanted to do with my life. It makes sense if you think about it. The show was visual and thought provoking, they were even showing videos on the screen behind the band. There were explosions and the music was amazing. Throw in a healthy dose of teenage rebellion and the fact that we all know “Chicks dig musicians” and I was hooked.

I started to become a rock and roll fanatic. I could tell you everything about every band that was out. I started playing bass about a year or two later (when I could afford a bass and an amp), and a year or two after that I joined my first band. The graphic below was our first album cover.

Suspect Device. We were one of the new wave/punk bands that were all the rage in the 80s. I wanted us to be a metal band, but I figured we’d transition to that after we “made it.” Our first single was a lyric I wrote called Domestic Plastic. Did you ever hear it? Of course not, the song never made it past the spiral notebook I wrote it in. I was in the band for about three or four rehearsals, when they decided someone else would work better on bass. Up until a few days ago the album cover existed only in my mind. I wanted to be a rock star and I never got there. You see there’s a difference between want to be and can be. I wanted to be a rock star. I even pictured the life I would have, right down to the first album cover. I just never learned to play very well and wasn’t really able to sing very well. I had the want to be, but I didn’t have the ability. It was not my gift. I wanted it pretty bad and I tried pretty hard but it wasn’t my path.

Of the five guys in the band, I’ve lost track of two, one is a police officer and two of us are now in ministry (The other guy does still use his musical gifts to serve the Lord). As I look back on it, I can see that these are the roles God had planned for us. Now I supposed if I had tried really hard and kept at it, I could have become a passable musician, but who wants to be passable? I had a gift for art. I had a gift for telling stories and communicating. In developing these gifts (yes that took a lot of work, but it still doesn’t feel like work), I became what I believe God intended for me to be.

So can you be anything you want to be? My experience tells me, “no.” I think it’s better to tell yourself and your children that the best thing we can be is what God intends us to be and then work to find and be that. After all isn’t that what we’re meant to be?

Sing a Better Story

In the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping this is a great way to help people remember why we celebrate!

Here’s the info!
Journey of Faith performed a Christmas “Flash Mob” at the South Bay Galleria in Redondo Beach on December 18, much to the delight of local shoppers. Thanks to all who participated. Merry Christmas everyone!!

Art Ministry Resource from My Friends At Interlinc

The other day I mentioned a lesson I was writing for the youth ministry resource Interlinc. I thought I’d give you a little better idea what they do. Now as you know, I am a huge fan of using the visual arts as a tool for ministry. Interlinc does the same thing with really cool music and every once in a while visual art and music collide. Such is the case with Circleslide’s video for the Song You Are Everything.

The band commissioned Artist Randy Elrod to do a time lapse painting video based on the song and turned it into their music video. As you can see they did a really great job.

My friends at Interlinc then got a youth worker to write a Bible lesson using the Circleslide video as a jumping off point. You can view that lesson by clicking here. As you can see this is a pretty useful tool for ministry to youth, especially those with a creative bent.

Now just to be sure I am not misrepresenting, Interlinc’s lessons do not all include painting and visual arts. Music is their thing, but it is still a great resource for working with creatives, especially their Music Video Loop which comes free four times a year with your subscription. The video loop just seems to click with visual learners.

I’ve written for Interlinc for years on a voluntary basis because I love this resource. This isn’t an ad. It’s just a recommendation of a resource that might be really useful to you.

By the way, I’ll be painting live at the Interlinc Youth Leaders Reception area at Creation East, Thursday, Friday and Saturday June 28-30, 2012. If you’re at Creation, be sure to look me up.

End of Year Check Up With John Waller

In March, I will be working with a musician named John Waller at an event called Called2Ministry in Chattanooga, TN. I’ve been a fan of John’s for quite a few years and I am excited to do this conference and meet him. I was checking out his video for the song As for Me and My House and I noticed a video at the bottom of the page with the story behind the song. As I watched that video, I realized that while our roads have been different, we have something in common. There came a time in both our lives when our work became an idol. So as we look at the end of the year and our hopes and dreams for 2012, it might be wise to check yourself. Here John and his wife Josee tell the story. Please take the time to listen. It will be worth your time.

Here is the song born out of the story, As for Me and My House

Lastly, here is one more song from John, called Because God is Good. At the end of the video he shares a little more about this concept. The basic idea is “my life didn’t work out the way I thought it would because God is good. I, Dave Weiss, can claim that as my testimony as well. How about you?

As we approach the new year, check yourself. Is there something you need to leave behind. Take it to the cross and leave it there.

Video of the Day: Taylor Swift

Watch this 40 second video and see if you’re not impressed. This young lady really gets it. She understands her responsibility as an artist. Do you?

What is Christian Art?

I’ve spent the better part of a decade writing lessons for a youth ministry resource. What makes the resource unique is that the lessons are based on the themes of Christian music. I’m a huge rock music fan and I love youth ministry so this was a really natural fit for me, but there has always been a quandary. What constitutes Christian music?

I’ve heard all these bands trying to quantify themselves. Some will say they are Christian bands while others call themselves bands who happen to be Christians. Fans are quick to take sides, some will say Christian bands who play a song that slides into the realm of the “secular” are “reaching out” and some will say they are “selling out.” Who is the gatekeeper and what is the criteria? How many times does Jesus have to be mentioned before a song is considered Christian and how many times can a band violate this principal before they have “sold out?”

How about the rest of the arts? Does a painting have to feature Jesus or a scripture verse to be Christian? How about plays and musicals and books, can they be Christian if someone doesn’t come to Jesus by the end? Can a Christian dance be Christian if there are no flags or streamers involved and don’t even get me started on instrumentals. I think we’re asking the wrong question.

As far as I recall, only people can be Christian. Our creations are just things. Sacred or secular is not so much in the work as it is in the heart of the artist. Why should we have to choose? After all the same God in charge of Sunday morning is in charge the rest of the week. I think compartmentalizing our lives into sacred and secular is defeating our purpose of always representing Christ.

Christians experience the same things as everyone else—the same temptations, the same problems, the same sins and on and on. If we are following the admonition to be in the world but not of the world and if we are going to be truly transparent, our subject matter is going to end up being pretty diverse. Honest expressions of those struggles are probably the best way to show a very real God to a very real world.

We could take a lesson from country music. Love it or hate it, there is one thing you must admit. They can record a song about Jesus and a song about their dogs, their pick up trucks and no one is shocked, surprised or accusing them of selling out.

God is the God over every part of our lives. Let’s seek Him for our subject matter and give Him our best. In the end He is the only critic that matters.

This video is an example.

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Matthew 13, Psalm 35-36
You can also download your own chart here.

Hang It Up!

This may alienate me from some of the art world but I am going to have to trust that you will read with me to the end. I was looking through some art books at Borders last night and I came upon several artists that I just don’t quite get. I’m not condemning their work, I just don’t get it. One that comes to mind is Jackson Pollock. I see beauty in His work but I sometimes wonder how he got past the gatekeepers. I mean after all I can’t quite picture submitting one of his pieces for a grade in my HS art class. I’m afraid I may not have fared very well. Certainly it would not have appealed to those first gate keepers we meet, my parents.

I get the same thing from hiphop music. I don’t deny it’s value as an art form, I just can’t quite picture how it got past the gatekeepers. Like the first person to eat a lobster, I wonder how they thought it might be a good idea.

I’d imagine more than once these artists probably faced a gatekeeper and heard, hang it up and that’s how they got past the gatekeeper. See the gatekeeper saw their works and said, “Hang it up!” and they meant, “quit.” But the stubborn artist heard, “hang it up” and they did, they hung it on the wall. They had the guts to hang the piece, put it on display, stand beside it and say, “This is my art.” Some people no doubt rejected it, but others looked at it and said, “Wow.”
If you’re going to be an artist, the first step is to hang your work on the wall and claim it. Then you have to be ready. Some will come along and call your work garbage. You’re not interested in them so don’t give in to them. You’re not here for them. You are here for the people who will look at your and say, “Wow.” They are the ones you invest in. Trying to get everyone to like you or your work is a fools errand and the only way to do it is to make something or be something that is thoroughly dishonest and totally unremarkable.

The faith element adds an interesting dimension. All of the sudden you’re doing what you do not for an audience, not for a critic, but for your Creator. In this case He is the only One you really need to please and if you please Him everything else is covered. Don’t get me wrong there are gatekeepers in the church to and sometimes they are worse than any other gatekeepers in the world. Just because they’re in the church doesn’t mean you have to listen to them. I’m not talking about giving God any less than your best. You have one master and He deserves your best. If you do the best you can with what you have and offer it to Him, it is precious to Him, He can use it and He will.

The nest time someone takes a look at your work and tells you to hang it up, that’s exactly what you need to do. Hang it on the wall for the world to see and give God the glory. The ones it is supposed to bless will be blessed.

This week I am going to attempt my own interpretation of Pollock, maybe then I’ll ccme closer to getting it.
Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
Job 41-42; Matthew 2,3 Psalm 11 (I had an error in this chart. If you are following the chart please be sure to read Psalm 9. I mistakenly typed Psalm 19)
You can also download your own chart here.

Inspiration

Some time in the mid 1870s A composer named Modest Mussorgsky went to an art exhibition. He went to see the works of an artist named Victor Hartmann. The works Mussorgsky saw that day inspired one of his most famous pieces of music, a fifteen movement suite named Pictures At An Exhibition. For some reason I just could not let go of this idea. I’d be out walking and praying and the name Pictures At An Exhibition would come to mind. I should mention at the time that I was only vaguely familiar with the piece.
Just before my trip to the church planters’ course I purchased the CD and listened to the piece for about 6 hours straight. I had done some research on the images behind the music by this point, my original intent being to try to recreate similar pieces as those that inspired the piece to begin with and create some sort of performance art piece.
During my long period of listening, I began to realize that was not the path for this project. Stripping away my researched notions of what the images should be I just listened to the pictures that formed in my mind. The attached video was inspired by the first two movements: Promenade and Gnomus.
I should warn you that this is not normally how I work. Most of the time there is very little planning involved when I do a piece of art for an audience. I pray and proceed. This piece is very different. Because there is a very limited amount of time, with some pieces less than two minutes, careful planning and practice are required. What you are seeing here are the first sketches to see if the vision is even feasible to complete. It is time lapsed because the second piece takes longer than the time the music allows. For this reason the music does not sync up.
Why am I showing you all this when it is still very awkward and very rough? A few reasons come to mind. First to show you inspiration can come from all kinds of places, second to show you a different process and thirdly to get you to pray for me as I pursue this project. From hearing the first strains of the first movement, I knew that this was going to be a great way to tell the greatest story ever. It will start at creation and end at redemption. That’s a lot of ground to cover in 30 minutes. I could surely use your prayers and input as I bring it to completion.
I love this concept of music inspired by art and am looking forward to seeing how the art inspired by the music comes out.
What about you? What inspires you? Look for some inspiration, let the Spirit move you and create something. I’d love to see what inspires you.