Church and the Arts: Part 2

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

We are continuing a bit of musing over the question..."What do I do if the church I attend doesn't have any outlet for my creative endeavors?", which was the topic of discussion in my creative community's monthly zoom meetup. The reason for that question boiled down to..."Should I leave and go somewhere else where I can express that creativity?"

In Part 1, I talked about changing churches in general...why does one leave one church and go to another?  But in Part 2, I want to talk about the question as it applies to art expression in a local congregation.

All of this is strictly from my own experience and observation, so take it how you may.  Not trying to establish doctrine or any such thing.  Just points to think about. Because my creative expression in my church has always been one of my...issues that I've had to wrestle with.  And I attend a church that is remarkably supportive of artistic expression.

I am going to quote from our church's position on the arts, just for background (and because I think this wording is awesome):

We are committed to honoring God in both our art and our lives.  Our identity is found first in Christ, not in our gifts or desires.  As artists, we pursue holiness, humility, and excellence, using our creativity to glorify God and serve others.

We believe that through the arts, we are called to proclaim truth, embody goodness and unveil beauty in a broken world; inviting others to encounter the presence of God through what we create.  We treat our stages as pulpits, our studios as sanctuaries and our performances as offering.

To God be the glory in every note, every brushstroke, every word, and every movement.

With that kind of intentionality in using the arts as a vital part of ministry, questions of expressing personal creativity shouldn't even be necessary, right?

Well, maybe.  What if the church has an abundance of fantastically talented people, and I am a person of just average talent?  Maybe I'm not needed?  Should I go elsewhere that can use a person of average talent?

Or what if I attend a church that looks slightly askance at the arts?  Considers it worldly or inappropriate for the worship of God?  Should I go somewhere that will use and appreciate the arts?

If the question that was discussed in part one is answered...yes, I feel that God has sent me here and no, I don't have a clear word from him that it is time to move, then...how do I reconcile the desire to serve in that area with the frustration that it, for whatever reason, isn't happening?

Those were the questions I wanted to raise...and I struggled with how to put the things I am learning into words. 

And my thoughts are still shifting...as in, I know the way I ought to view it, but struggle with the actual implementation.

The first thing is that, as the above statement says, my IDENTITY is not in my artistic expression: it is in Jesus.  The other came in the scripture that we used for this week's prayer focus, Phil. 4:8 -

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things.

And here is what I wrote in my journal in response to that verse...in the context of arts and expression...

Waiting on God's timing is one of the most difficult -- and most important -- aspects of following him.  But the focus during that waiting time is what will make or break that experience.  Focusing on what is NOT happening -- whether it is not being seen/ not being heard or if it's seeing other  people have favor in the area in which one is trying to operate -- that is the OPPOSITE of Phil. 4:8.

Focusing on what is good, pure, right, true, lovely, honest, honorable, praiseworthy, etc., doesn't just keep the negative away  but is also feeds the soul the very  essence of what is needed for an artistic expression -- in whatever form or medium.  All of those intangibles are aspects of the character of God, and beholding him is the source for all transcendent inspiration.

It's all for him, anyway, and if he is an audience of one who smiles at the offering, who could say it is not enough?

I can remember a time several years ago when I was on a walk around the neighborhood, and I was in a place of great frustration, feeling that the creative things I did were not good enough to be used in a public setting and kinda mourning that it would all be overlooked and missed and how sad was that?...when I had a mental picture, or maybe even experienced for just a moment, myself as a little child, climbing into the lap of Daddy God and showing him the latest thing I'd created.  And he saw it, put his arms around me  in a hug and told me how much he loved it and that he was so glad I did it and how proud of me he was for the work I'd put into it.

Even just typing that memory still brings tears.  It was so very real at that moment.

Because, when it all boils down, creative expressions are for God, whether or not it gets shared with others.  And if it's for him, he knows the best application of it; whether it is an intensely personal response to him or it is something that has the ability to move others to a similar response.  Not everyone has a ministry to the crowd in the center of the room; some folks are called to the individuals in the corners.  We are the ones who put a different value on those expressions; God does not.  

What matters isn't what happens with the art; what matters is my attitude while creating/ expressing it.

I am not here to tell you that I have completely overcome the discouragement that sometimes hits when my creative expression isn't quite lined up with what is needed around me, but I am learning that it belongs to God to do with what he pleases.  And...sometimes...my place of service is in something other than where I feel my talents and giftings actually exist.  That's tough...but God has grace to make it work.

So, I guess the conclusion is...if none of my creative efforts seem to be gaining traction now, but I am where I feel God has placed me, then there is a purpose and a reason for the lack of favor from others, and it becomes a matter of trusting that God doesn't waste anything.  And...who knows...there may be a time when the backlog of creativity...be it songs, canvases, scripts, sculptures, etc...has a sudden and unexpected outlet that is nothing I could have imagined.  Or maybe a generation or two will pass and some descendant will find a bit of a manuscript that has an impact on his or her life.  There's no way to tell how God's plan works from the front end.  

But if I make my church experience about me and my gifting, I will miss what he is doing all together.  And that would be the greater tragedy.

Things that go bump....

 Posted to Beer Lahai Roi by Lisa Laree

Near tragedy is the essence of humor, right?

My Sweet Babboo has been doing a BUNCH of travel.  I got to go with him on one trip, but I was thinking that, while he was gone on one of these excursions this fall, I should just hop in my car and head up the road to visit my folks on the Indiana farm.

Last weekend was the last >3 day trip, so it was really my last chance.  I hemmed and hawed about it, then did a couple of inquiries about time off, and someone to feed the cat...decided on Tuesday the 14th to drive up on Thursday the 16th and come back on Monday the 20th, because Sunday looked to be a windy, stormy day for driving.  Called Mom Tuesday night to make sure it worked for her and it was a go.

But I worked all day Wednesday,  did the small group on Wednesday night, and went home to discover I had forgotten the last load of laundry in the washer and had to run it through again.

It was midnight before I got to bed, and I had nothing prepped for the trip.

So I got a VERY late start on Wednesday, and hit crazy traffic in Nashville.  Like, I-4 level of traffic.  On paper, it's faster to go up I 65 to Indianapolis and then go west to the farm, but that 15 minutes saved is not worth dealing with the heavy traffic all the way to Indy.  So I get off 65 just north of downtown Nashville and head over to Clarksville, TN and then up what used to be the Pennyrile Parkway but is now, mostly, I -69.  MUCH less stress and traffic.  Jump off at Elnora, IN, and run up to where US 231 comes in and take that all the way to US 40....through towns like Worthington, Freedom and Cloverdale.  State Rd 75 to County Rd 300  and I can see the lights of home.  Got in around 9 PM local time, with a stop for the Lord's chicken in Hopkinsville, and gas and coffee in Henderson.  It felt like a long drive but I got caught up on one of the podcasts I listen to whilst driving.

It was good to see my folks,  I slept in one of my brothers' old rooms in the basement, mostly because it was easier to get my suitcase down the basement steps than it was to cart it up to the converted attic that was my old bedroom. 

Trees were just beginning to change.

But...Saturday night I went downstairs and took my before-bed meds (comes with being over 60) and drank all the water in my corksicle.  I'd already taken off my shoes and was padding around in my stocking feet; I had some sandals that I wore when I got up at night, and before I was fully dressed, but...I was just going upstairs for more water and I didn't put my shoes on or stop to take off my socks so I could stick my feet in my sandals.

Cue ominous music.

Coming back down the stairs, on the 3rd step from the bottom, my stockinged foot slid on the carpet on the stairs like it was black ice and my foot went out from under me.  I landed on my right lower back, HARD.  Knocked the wind right out of me.

Mom heard me yelp as I fell and the clang of the travel mug on the concrete floor and hollered, "Are you all right?"

I was gasping for air, my back hurt, my head had a bump and I'd twisted my wrist slightly.  I was afraid I had broken a rib.  I finally managed to squeak, "I don't know!" as I slowly sat up on the staircase, gingerly rubbing my head and my wrist and my back, trying to assess what I had done.  I actually didn't hit any bones; I had hit my back right at my waistline, below my ribcage. Soft tissue.  Mom appeared at the top of the steps with her walker, trying to determine what I might have done.  She was relieved that I hadn't broken an ankle or a leg.   The bump on my head and the wrist pain were already fading when I finally stood up but the bruised muscles on my lower back were complaining loudly...I had to use the four-footed cane my dad keeps at the bottom of the steps to get up.  I picked up my travel mug-- slowly, found a towel and laid it on the spilled water...slowly....and went back upstairs to get more water and an ice pack. Very slowly.

I took a full prescription level dose of ibuprofen before I went to bed.  It was not a comfy night.  My back didn't just hurt...the muscles spasmed every time I moved wrong.  Which was almost every time I moved.  

I had intended to meet my brother at church Sunday morning, but I sat at the kitchen table with my folks and watched the service online with an icepack on my back.  20 minutes on, 20 minutes off, more or less, all day.  Another night of trying to avoid setting off the muscle spasms. No way I was driving home on Monday.  I got an extension on the PTO to recover.

Next day I pulled out the hand held e-stim unit I had thrown into the suitcase as a precaution against stiff muscles from the drive.  Kept that going off and on all day.  The worst were the involuntary movements...sneezing, coughing, yawning,  hiccupping...coughing was the absolute worst.  Even a too-deep of a breath would result in muscle spasms.  Thought I might try to go home on Tuesday, so I filled up my gas tank in the barnlot...I *could* get into the car and I *could* manage to drive ...but Monday was another restless night and I wasn't in shape to drive the next morning, even if my back hadn't been hurting.  Fortunately, I had packed extra meds and clothes because...just in case.  And, Tuesday was my mom's birthday, so I got to spend the day with her...with the e-stim buzzing my back all day.  But I was out of medicine and clean clothes after that so I put out a prayer request for good sleep and safe travel, packed up everything, and went to bed.

And actually got a little over 6 hours of sleep...the best I'd had since Friday night.  I loaded up and headed out...and almost turned around after the first 5 miles.  Bumps hurt, right turns hurt, and it was very hard to turn and look over my shoulder.  But I was out of clothes and medicine and  ...I took a breath and kept going, choosing a route that had the fewest turns and merges.

It was a windy day, so that was a bit of a battle as I pretty much retraced my route from the previous week in reverse.  But I wasn't in a hurry...and I had the e-stim going on the whole trip. Got home a bit after 6 on Wednesday and I have never been so glad to see my front door.  First thing I did was pull out my hubby's red light therapy gizmo and wrap it around my waist for 20 minutes.

Slept really well, all things considered, on Wednesday.  Was instructed by my superiors at work to stay home on Thursday and recover.  More e-stim and red light.  Took it easy.  Had a rough night again...didn't really know why.   

So, decided to finally run up to the urgent care clinic and make sure I was doing the right thing.  The NP there told me I had badly bruised muscles, but it was not serious...she encouraged the red light therapy and she did give me a prescription for a steroid and a muscle relaxer to help get the inflammation down.

Managed to get My Sweet Babboo's birthday dinner on the table, with the help of the Princess. and we stayed up playing Jackbox online with all the kids, including the ones in Florida.  Hoping to be able to drive myself to work and back without teeth gritting on Monday at this point, lol.

So...yeah.  DON'T go down stairs in your stocking feet....but all things considered, it could have been MUCH WORSE.  So...I am dealing, lol.

Hope to be back with the Heart study next week.

Here's a hopeful pic from the ol' homestead...

Church and the Arts...part 1...

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

I am part of a creative community that meets up via zoom once a month.  Tonight we discussed connecting within a church as creatives...and, should one leave a congregation if there is no room or opportunity to use one's creative gifting?

I have some ...convictions... about joining/ leaving a church...we, with our western consumer mindset, come to church expecting to receive.  And, if we're not 'fed', then we should go somewhere else, where we are 'fed'...assuming being fed means having someone who as great teaching ability as either the pastor or a lay leader.  I remember once many years ago I spoke with someone I had known as a child, who told me that his family had 'moved their letter' because 'they weren't fed' at their previous church.  I was a rather young adult at the time, but I immediately thought, 'Isn't it a milestone to be feeding yourself?'

I have chewed on that for a long, long time.

I thought I was going to have to write a long post about how we came to be at our current church; turns out I have already posted a nutshell version of the story several years ago....why we stayed at our previous church as long as we did, and why we felt it was time to leave.  There were, of course, lots of details left out.  We were involved in a home church group for a while as we transitioned from one church to another.  It wasn't planned, but it kept us grounded while we found our next place of service.

And, yeah, that's how we saw it.  The next place where we were to serve.  We stayed with the home group until we were asked to take on some leadership positions in our new church, and then we stepped out, speaking in a meeting of how we felt it wouldn't be easy to be committed to two places and we received their blessing.

That was...22ish?  years ago.  We are still at that church.  But how did we pick THAT church?  Out of all of them?

I am going to do a big condensation, leaving out lots of details again, but I am going to hit the more defining highlights.

I will say that we ditched cable and signed up with a Christian satellite TV service in the late 90's.  One of the stations showed a TV program produced by Morningstar; every Sunday we would come home, eat dinner, and be ready to watch that program.  It was 30 minutes long...a worship clip from a conference, which was really weird to me at the time, and about 20 minutes of a message.  We would have to watch 3 - 4 programs to get the whole message (If you clicked through and read the first post, this was what I referred to as being fed by ravens).  In the worship clips, there were shots of some back up singers that I tagged as 'the Older Lady, the Pretty Lady and The Guy'...just because I had no names for them but saw them frequently.

We were visiting different ministries at the time, not really sure where we would end up.  There was one church that we had attended for special services now and then; I'd gotten acquainted with the pastors through my work with teens at our small church.  We really wanted to attend that church but we could not...for whatever reason, our kids hated it.  At one church we visited, the pastor's wife asked us what we were looking for and, kind of to my surprise, I replied, "God saying, 'This one.'"

We were looking for a word.  I had Genesis 12:1 as my verse...for reasons I won't go into now.. "The LORD said...Leave...and go to the land I will show you."

We had saved one church to the last, because of the reputation for...being extra, I guess, lol, and we went on the first Sunday of Spring Break, 2000, while the kids were visiting their grandparents.  The pastor made note of where we were in the crowd (we had inadvertently sat in the youth section, so I guess we were kinda obvious), and he came to us before we got out, which honestly shocked us because there were, like 300 people in that room...and thanked us for coming.  He looked oddly familiar, but I couldn't place it.  We returned with the kids a month later...they loved it...and found out that he and his wife had been associate pastors at the church that hosted most of those conferences we had watched on Sunday afternoons.  Went home that day and popped in one of the VCR recordings we'd made and...they were the Pretty Lady and The Guy.

What were the chances?

I remember commenting to my hubby during those early visits that , 'That church could consume our lives if we let it."  Then, after a moment, 'But maybe it's supposed to..."

By the end of that summer, we felt like we had heard from God, and began the membership classes.

We officially joined in January of 2002.

Has it been perfect? No.  Have my hubby and I gotten crossways at times?  Yes.  Have we been hurt?  Yes.  Have their been golden opportunities to become offended and leave?  Oh, yes.  Have I learned how to deal with that?  Mostly...I'm not perfect and it still flares from time to time.  But our kids grew up there.  Two are in another state, doing kids ministry, one is at another local church, doing kids ministry and also leading children in a local Bible Study Fellowship class, and the fourth is still serving in our church, at one of the satellite campuses. I am on staff now (just hit 16 years early this year).  And I still feel in my bones that this is our place of service.

All of that is to say the point I really want to make...I honestly believe there is one reason to leave a church and one reason to join a church...and they are the same reason: 'God said'.  But wait, you say, my church is bad because blah blah blah (and yes, I know there are bad/ abusive/ or just plain doctrinally wrong churches).  If that is not your place, God will move you...if you listen to him, he will tell you when and how.  If you leave a church wounded or offended, you will take that with you and things at the new place will seem to hit the same wound, even if they really are not.  If you stay in a place longer than you should...you will keep someone from doing what God has called them to do, and you won't be doing what he is calling you to elsewhere.

Because God doesn't call people to a church to sit on a pew and be fed. Sometimes he will sit an individual down for a season...for whatever reason...but ultimately folks are in a church to serve.  When the fallow season has run its course, there will be work to do.  This is not in neglect of one's own home; this is in partnership with it.  Ultimately, one is not serving a pastor or a program...the service is to God.  And God is the one who knows where each of us will serve best.  Serving is growing.

I know there are folks who don't really think God cares where you worship.  As for me...I believe God is actually concerned with details, and that he does have plans and purposes.  Every congregation has a post on the wall...and the people in the congregation have an assignment as well.  And he will guide those who pay attention. Imagine the logistics of bringing all those plans together...no wonder we sometimes have to wait when it doesn't make sense to us.

Blogging Bible Study: The Heart of the Matter - Jeremiah, part 5

 Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi

After a weekend away at a state Royal Ranger conference, we are back looking at verses dealing with 'heart/hearts' as translated by the NIV 84, and are coming to the midpoint of Jeremiah.  We have a bit of narrative mixed in with the prophecies and Jeremiah's...laments...no, I take that back.  Jeremiah's complaints.  I will openly agree that Jeremiah's complaint had some merit; chapter 20 starts off  relating how the chief priest had Jeremiah beaten and put into stocks for the doom he was proclaiming (20:1 - 2).  Jeremiah pronounces a judgment upon Pashhur (the priest) that will happen along with the judgment against the nation.  Then, Jeremiah complains to God about his treatment  (it turns out that every instance of  'Heart' today is the most common word translated as 'heart', Strong's H 3820, Leb - inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.  Just to save typing it over and over, lol).

But if I say, "I will not mention him or speak any more in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones.  I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." -- Jer. 20: 9,

Jeremiah, having just been beaten and publicly humiliated,  clearly is a reluctant prophet.  He doesn't want to stir up trouble but his proclamations are not politically correct and they are not received well.  So of course, they mistreated Jeremiah and ordered him to stop with the negative judgmental proclamations.  And he tried...he really did...but the word of God was impossible to keep contained.  Ultimately, Jeremiah reminded himself that God was with him...and that those who persecuted him would face judgment.

O Lord Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause. -- Jer. 20:12

Again, we have the reminder that God sees and knows exactly what is in the heart; Jeremiah is quite confident that his heart is right and that those who oppose him...can't say the same.  If one is sticking one's fingers in one's ears and singing Lalalalalalala, there's a very good chance that the heart is not quite square with God and his requirements.  Which, especially if it is a deliberate choice, will bring judgment.

In chapter 22,  God is addressing Josiah's son, Jeohoiakim, contrasting him with his father, who followed God

"But your eyes and your heart are set only on dishonest gain, on shedding innocent blood and on oppression and extortion." -- Jer. 22:17.  The pronouncement extends to Jehoiakim's son, Jehoaichin (aka Shallum)...and the curse against that bloodline is in verse 30, that none of their descendants will sit on David's throne.  Hence the detailed genealogies in Luke, showing that the actual bloodline of Jesus, through his mother Mary, goes through a different descendant of David, Solomon's brother Nathan.

The first bit of chapter 23 is a word about the coming Messiah, but beginning in verse 9 there is a lengthy denouncement of false prophets...and it its sharp.

Jeremiah is speaking in verse 9

Concerning the prophets:  My heart is broken within me; all my bones tremble.  I am like a drunken man, like a man overcome by wine, because of the LORD and his holy words.   -- Jer 23:9. 

It is a bone-crushing responsibility to declare coming judgment to folks who maintain it is not going to happen and who are going to be the very people who suffer when it does.  Jeremiah feels that acutely.

This is what the LORD Almighty says:  "Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you; they fill you with false hopes.  They speak visions from their own minds, not from the mouth of the LORD.  They keep saying to those who despise me, 'The LORD says: You will have peace.'  And to all those who follow the stubbornness of their hearts they say, 'No harm will come to you.' -- Jer. 23:16-17.

Sobering.  What can be done when the leaders of the faith reassure folks that everything is going to be ok, regardless of what those people do or how they relate to God? 

The anger of the LORD will not turn back until he fully accomplishes the purposes of his heart. -- Jer. 23: 20.

This is another reference to God's heart; and, yes, there is judgment there.  There is punishment there.  He will not allow blatant disregard for him or his requirements to go without consequences.   The very laws, statutes and ordinances require it.  Without consequences...there really is no law at all.

"How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own mind?" -- Jer. 23:26.

I know how aggravating it is when someone speaks on my behalf without clearing it first...or, when someone decides they know what I'm thinking about a topic without even talking to me about it.  Imagine, then, how God must feel when people do that to him.

But there is a ray of hope through all of this.  Judah will go into exile, but God will bring them back home and restore them.

"My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land.  I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.  I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD.  They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart."  -- Jer. 24:6-7

The Exile would finally be the consequence that convinced the people of the importance of not mixing their worship of God with ANY other deity.