Great Quote from Manuel Luz

At the Creative Church Conference, I had the opportunity to meet someone I have been following online for a long time—Blogger, artist, worship leader Manuel Luz. What a great opportunity and a really great and humble guy. This meeting was the perfect opportunity to buy his book, Imagine That. This is a great book. A review will be coming soon, but for now, I wanted to share this quote because it is really pretty important.

“There are three mysteries I have experienced in my own ministry:

• The Church is full of sinners. And Christ redeems her.
• The Church is the hope of the world. And Christ uses her.
• The Church is the bride of Christ. And Christ loves her.

Jesus Christ loved the church with a profound, life-changing, selfless love. As artists, we must do the same. We must love the sinners. We must be the hope of the world. We must yield to the redeemer and become redeemed. For the artist is the reflection of Christ in the Church, whom our God uses to enlighten, indwell and inspire. But we can do nothing, and we will be nothing if we have not love.”

If that is our mission and I believe it is, how are you doing with it?

Roundabout

Well if everything goes according to plan today I will be going home. I leave Boise for Pennsylvania by way of… San Francisco??? That sure seems to be the roundabout route, probably close to a thousand miles out of the way (give or take). Friends this is a lot like our walk of faith. Sometimes everything feels really direct and others it feels like we go miles in the wrong direction, of if not the wrong direction, at least miles out of our way.

But here’s the thing, at the end of this day, Lord willing, I will be home in the arms of my wife. And at the end of our lives, no matter what circuitous route we end up taking, if Christ is our Savior, we will be home in the arms of the one who loves us most, even if the way there seems roundabout.

Are you on your way home? If you’re not sure, maybe it’s time to talk to Jesus.

Here’s a song called Roundabout, just because it’s one of my favorites.

I’m Leaving On a Jet Plane…

For the next few days, I will not be around. Lord willing, as you are reading this, I will be somewhere on my journey between my home in Pennsylvania and the Creative Church Conference in Boise, ID. I am looking forward to an awesome time of learning and sharing with like-minded creatives from all over the world. Have no fear, there will still be content here each day and look forward to a major recap when I get back Tuesday, July 29 and no doubt many new ideas in the weeks to come. Keep me in your prayers that I might teach and learn well, and find some time to recharge and renew. God is good.

Til then unless something happens, I’ll be running A.M.O.K. in Idaho. Thanks to the folks at VineArts Boise, The New Renaissance and everyone else who is making this great event, and my participation in it, possible.

Creative Church Conference

I Could Sure Use Your Help… Don’t Worry It Won’t Cost You Anything!

In a little over a month, I will be headed to Boise Idaho to be a part of the Creative Church Conference with my friends at VineArts Boise. I’ve been asked to be part of a panel discussion on blogging and social media and here’s where I need you. I have lots of things to say about how I use this blog and social media but what I need to know is:

How has this blog and the various other channels (Facebook, Youtube, etc.) of AMOKArts blessed or inspired you?

It would also be beneficial to know what I do well, what I could do better, how this blog could get more interaction, have greater impact, etc.

Please also keep me in prayer that I might be a blessing to everyone I can.

Anything you could give me would be most beneficial. Just leave your comments in the comments below.

Creative Church Conference…

Years ago, over a decade, I started to feel led to use art as a tool for ministry. When I started, people didn’t quite know what to do with me. I knew there were others but we were so few and far between that I think all of us kind of felt like we were inventing it. Over the years I met some other folks, kindred spirits really, who were feeling the same leading and feeling a similar call. This vehicle called the internet has allowed us to share our resources, encourage each other, support each other and in some cases even meet in person. It has been a tremendous blessing.

Two friends in the movement, J. Scott McElroy and Jessie Nilo, have been spearheading the Creative Church Conference and this summer they will be holding two events, one in Indiana and the other in Idaho. I am hoping to attend at least one of those, but regardless, I highly recommend you get to one of them if you can.

Creative Church Conference

My friends J. Scott McElroy, Jessie Nilo and others did a great conference on Creative Ministry. Check out some of these comments from the conference. More of this stuff needs to happen.

Here’s what they had to say about it:
This arts ministry conference was held in the summer of 2012 in two locations (East and West) in Indianapolis and Boise. The local church should be a place of transcendence and beauty. Together we pursued an understanding of the essence of creativity and the arts using a theological framework, then we focused on some practical applications in ministering through the arts such as the visual arts, theater, writing, film, dance, and music. We’d like to offer this conference again in the future!

Creative Church Conferences

Home.

A couple of my friends are involved in this and it should be fantastic. Both dates conflict with other things on my schedule, but you should definitely check this out.