Seeing Scripture as an Artist

As I read a passage in Scripture, I should be asking:

Is there something God is saying directly to me?

Is there something God is saying to the community I am a part of?

Is there something profoundly beautiful here?

Is there something profoundly ugly here?

Is there a mystery I haven' seen before?

Is there someone experiencing a pain that I too have experienced?

Is there a captive being released here? Am I that captive?

Czech Republic OM Arts Trip

"Proclaim Release to the Captives"

Sue and I have been accepted to go with OM Arts to the Czech Republic from September 20 through October 11. The Czech Republic has been dear to our hearts, and we were excited when we heard of this opportunity to go. In spite of a relatively solid economic base there (or, perhaps because of it), the Czech Republic has many spiritual needs. By some reports, it is the most Atheistic nation in the world, filled with a spirit of lostness and hopelessness

We will both be sharing our spiritual and artistic gifts in an evangelistic outreach during an international Arts Festival in Prague. We will be working with a local pastor who will coordinate the outreach. We are working on developing plans for activities during the time there, but it will definitely involve working with local Christian Artists there to use creative ways to express the Love, Grace and Hope of our Savior.

I've learned from our trips to Moldova and Hungary just how important it is to have a vibrant and active prayer team backing us up! We can make all the plans in the world, and bring the most amazing skills and materials with us, but nothing will happen if we aren't working from a foundation of prayer!

As you would expect, finances are a large challenge. I was first thinking of them as a “hurdle to get over,” but maybe that's the wrong analogy. In our asking you to partner with us in the finances of the trip, we are asking you to be a part of the trip, just as much as when we are asking you to partner with us in your prayers. The Lord could simply drop the finances in our laps, but instead, He tells us to go out and ask. So, we are asking you to come along side of us in this mission!

We have saved up a good chunk of the funds required for the trip, but still have a way to go. We are excitedly waiting to see how God provides!

Regardless of how you are able to give financially, we covet your prayers, not only during the trip itself, but in the time leading up to it—with all the planning and prayer and training that we will be going through. We want to be open to the many ways that the Holy Spirit will be speaking into our lives during this time, to have a real and lasting impact on the people of the Czech Republic.

If you wish to be on our prayer team, let us know so we can keep you updated. We need your prayers:

• For our time building the team as we prepare for this trip
• For the hard ground of the hearts of the people of the Czech Republic, that God will be preparing that ground for the seeds we will be planting
• For wisdom on how to share the nature of God through the lens of art. 
• For cultural adjustments as we seek to connect with the hearts of the people we are serving
• For safe arrival of the materials we bring to use with the outreach

Thank you so very much for all your participation in this ministry!

Pathways

A couple of weeks ago, my son Sam married a wonderful young lady.  They two of them asked if I would give a blessing over them at the reception dinner.  As I prayed about it, I remembered the this:

--

Some time ago, I was reading the familiar passage in Ecclesiastes 3 which begins, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven."  As I pondered the passage, the Lord gave me this clear picture.

I was standing at the edge of a tall cliff, looking out into total darkness.  To the East, the sun was starting to rise.

Dawn.  The new light slowly crept past me, and I began to see details below.  I was looking out over a vast valley.  As the light grew, I began to see hills and depressions, forests and fields, clearings and dense bogs.  After a while I began to see buildings – houses, taller buildings, little towns and tightly packed cities, rundown shacks and shining mansions.

Then I realized that the entire valley was covered with pathways.  Some of them were narrow little walkways, others were broad roads.  They meandered all through the valley, passing through towns and fields.  Sometimes they were rough and steep, or tangled with the roots of trees, almost disappearing under the darkness of the deep forests or through deep rifts between jagged rocks.  Other paths crossed high hills or gentle fields bathed in sunlight.  Often the paths would cross over each other, or sometimes two paths would join and become one.  Other paths would split, with each branch going off in its own direction.

Then I saw the people.  All over the valley, the pathways were covered with people walking along the paths.  Some by themselves while others walked in twos or small groups.  What struck me though was the fact that each and every person was walking along the path... backwards.  They could see what was behind them and what was immediately around them, but each one walked along his or her path with no knowledge of what was ahead of them.

Then the Lord showed me the meaning behind the picture.  As I looked out over the entirety of the valley, I was seeing time as He sees it – all at once.  A time and a season for everything.  He sees the beginning and the middle and the end of all the paths all at once.  He sees every sunlit field and dreary forest as one.

However, as we walk through time, we can see where we have come from and where we are right now, but we can only guess at where our paths are taking us.  Our paths may cross other people's paths, and we may walk along together for a time.  We make our plans and try to control our lives, but the reality is that we really don't have a lot to say about where our paths will end up.  But, God sees the end from the beginning.

Today the two of you are standing at the top of a bright hill, looking back on the paths which have brought you to this point.  Those paths have come from different places, and they have wound around through high places and low, through through light and dark.  A little while ago, your two paths came up next to each other and ran in parallel for a while.  Today, those two paths have become one, and you're about to take those first steps back down over the other side of the hill together.  You have some good guesses about what the path looks like, but you have no guarantees.  However, you do know the One who not only sees the path, but who has laid it out for you.

I would like to make this toast as a blessing over the two of you as you start this path together:

I don't ask for a path which will always be straight and smooth, because I know it won't be.

However, I pray that the two of you will walk well together.  When one stumbles over a root or a stone, may the other one always be there to pick you up again.

When the storms come and the way is dark, may you both be an encouragement and a light to one another, and when the way is bright and clear, may you both be there to share the wonder of Christ's Grace and Love.

May you have Peace and Joy along the way.  May your lives always reflect the Light of Jesus and be a source of Encouragement to others whos paths cross yours.

May you be Wise as you consider the places you have walked through, and wise Guides along the path, leading others to the Truth of Christ.

May you always have a keen sense of Jesus walking with you on the path, just a step ahead of you.

Blessings to you!

Following The Potter in Moldova

This is actually a story from a year ago when Sue and I went to Moldova in the summer of 2010, but I realized I had never posted anything about it:

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

One of my most precious memories of growing up is the time I spent summers at the local art gallery taking pottery classes. In the summer of 2010, I was able to share some of that joy with a group of children in rural Moldova.

Our church went on a missions trip to a small village in Moldova, near the Romanian border.  Our primary goal was to work along side a local pastor and the OM Moldova team in a children's program for the week. We were considering what else we could do in this program to bless the children and share the love of Jesus with them.  I remembered sharing my love of pottery and clay through a couple of classes with the children in our local church, and how much they loved it.  We were unsure of where to get quality pottery clay in Moldova, so we decided to carry the clay along with us. Getting a pair of 50lb boxes of clay on two flights and through customs was, to put it gently, an interesting challenge, but we did eventually get it in.

There were around 100 children participating in the program, so rather than try to deal with all of them at once, we split into smaller age-specific groups of around 15 to 20. With help from our Moldovan translators, I was able to teach the children some basic exercises and shapes, and then let them use their imagination to create what they wanted. It was fun to watch the excitement of the children as they were at first frustrated, but then began to get the feel of working with the clay. The pastor was able to borrow a small kiln from a local school, so we were able to fire many of the pieces the children had made to make them more permanent.
 

The pastor also introduced me to Peter, a local potter, and we spent time sharing together. Since we hadn't used up all of the clay with the children, I was able to give a 25lb block to Peter to bless him and his work. The OM Moldova team was then able to take another block of clay with them a couple of weeks later to a similar children's program at a church in another small village. The pastor's wife there is an artist herself, and was very appreciative of the clay, since she was finding it difficult to obtain quality clay there to work with.


I would like to return at some point with the team to the village in Moldova. One of my dreams is to take a smaller group of some of the older children and spend some some more concentrated time with them, to see them get beyond simply making a shape to the point where they can express a little of themselves in their creation. After all, the oldest Potter in the world is God Himself. He formed Adam “out of the dust of the earth”, and made Adam “in His own image.” He has passed that same spirit of creativity and expression on to us, if we take the time to discover it.

= = = = = =

I have not yet been able to return to Moldova, but I am thankful I have been able to pursue that dream in Hungary.  The LORD only knows where I will be able to take my clay next...