'Christianity & the Arts' Email Resource
Sample #3
CHRISTIANITY & THE ARTS - e-resources
AUGUST 30, 2003
INDEX of all editions
Contents:
========
Articles:
+ Worship & the Arts as a Vital Part of the Big Picture: Let My People
Go- John Piper
+ The Process of Seeing Our Visions Becoming Reality
+ ARE YOU IN A SPIRITUAL WILDERNESS? - Resources to Encourage You on Your
Journey
Events:
+ Coffee House with Rick Poltaruk
+ Leland Klassen Live!
Networking:
+ Gallery 7 Theatre Company
+ CREW Prayer Network
+ Fellowship of Christian Artists
+ Resource Networking Fellowship for Local Multicultural Christian Musicians
& Artists
Prophecies Regarding this Region
+ Prophecies by David Damien & Rick Joyner
+ Prophecies Regarding Musicians/Artists and Music & the Arts
+ Prophecies re Canada
Training:
+ Columbia Bible College Worship & Arts Program
Resources:
+ Assisting Multicultural Churches With Their Various Expressions of Worship
+ Reel Spirituality: Theology & Film in Dialogue - book review
+ Francis Schaeffer's Perspectives on the Arts - awesome resource!!!!!
+ Music, the Arts and the Bible - Lots of Scripture
+ Spirituality, Creativity and the Imagination
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WORSHIP & THE ARTS AS A VITAL PART OF THE BIG PICTURE
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(Editor's Note) - As those who wish to see artists/musicians and the arts reclaimed for the glory of God, it is helpful for us to consider this in light of the Big Picture! Worship and discipleship in all areas of life, including expressly worshipping God through music and other artistic forms, etc., is something that God is passionate about and longs to see increasingly taking place in all nations and among all peoples! We see this beautifully portrayed in Rev. as all nations are worshipping around Jesus' throne!
I would highly recommend John Piper's excellent
book and would also like to invite you to meditate on one of his other quotes
which is extremely profound - 'GOD IS MOST GLORIFIED IN US WHEN WE ARE MOST
SATISFIED IN HIM'… Amen!! (this quote is from his excellent book FUTURE
GRACE) --
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LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD - THE SUPREMACY OF GOD IN MISSIONS - book
-by John Piper
'It's about God-centered mission rather than centered on people, although the outworking of God-centeredness always affects those around us. - C 1993. Baker Book House.
To give you a little taste, John Piper says:
"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man…….Worship, therefore, is the fuel and goal of missions. It's the goal of missions because in missions we simply aim to bring the nations into the white-hot enjoyment of God's glory. THE GOAL OF MISSIONS IS THE GLADNESS OF THE PEOPLES IN THE GREATNESS OF GOD. Ps 97:1 "The Lord reigns; let the earth REJOICE; let the many coastlands BE GLAD! Ps 67:3-4 Let the peoples praise you, O God; let ALL THE PEOPLES praise you! Let the nations BE GLAD AND SING FOR JOY!"
….Passion for God in worship precedes the offer of God in preaching. You can't commend what you don't cherish. Missionaries will never call out, LET THE NATIONS BE GLAD!! who cannot say from their own hearts, " REJOICE IN THE LORD…I WILL BE GLAD AND EXULT IN YOU, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High…..MISSIONS BEGINS AND ENDS IN WORSHIP.
If the pursuit of GOD's glory is not ordered ABOVE the pursuit of MAN's good in the affections of the heart and the priorities of the church, MAN will not be well served and GOD will not be duly honored. I am not pleading for a diminishing of missions but for a magnifying of God. When the flame of worship burns with the heat of God's true worth, the light of missions will shine to the most remote peoples on earth. And I long for that day to come!
Where passion for God is weak, zeal for missions will be weak. Churches that are not centered on the exaltation of the majesty and beauty of God will scarcely kindle a fervent desire to 'declare HIS GLORY among the nations. (Ps 96:3) Even outsiders feel the disparity between the boldness of our claim upon the nations and the blandness of our engagement with God."……
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THE PROCESS OF SEEING OUR VISIONS BECOMING REALITY - by Grace Wiebe
(Editor's Note): - Many of you have sensed God
putting visions on your hearts regarding his role(s) for you regarding music
and the arts as part of His greater purposes in our region and nation (and
beyond?), etc. Perhaps you feel He has called you to develop a worship/arts
ministry, etc. Perhaps you sense He wants to release you in a greater way
into the marketplace to impact the many lost that surround you/us every day?
And perhaps, after a long time of waiting to see it happen/develop, you have
become discouraged because it does not seem to be happening how or when you
had expected. Maybe you have become very disappointed with God in the process?
Let me encourage you that this is not unusual! Hopefully the following piece
will help to encourage you and help to renew your hope regarding the visions
God has put on your heart(s)! -
-------------
Often when God first begins to put a vision in our heart, we feel that the vision is about to come to pass almost immediately! We get all excited and then we can just as easily become disappointed and disillusioned with people and with God because it's not happening as we expected! - or when we expected!
The Bible says quite a lot about things happening in the 'proper time' or the 'appointed time' , etc. - God's timing is very important and often very different from ours...His days are like a 'thousand years' : ). When He puts a vision on our hearts, though it seems imminent, it may still be a little way off in coming to pass. Or a long way off in our perspective.
Personally, many of the visions of my heart have come into fruition (or perhaps even only BEGAN to surface above the foundation-laying stages), following about 7-10 years after I initially strongly sensed a vision about a particular ministry or project! But when the visions finally came to pass, it was an incredible joy to watch God do it, and I've felt like I've just been along for the ride - and a wonderfully adventurous one at that!
For example, take the verse in Habakkuk 2:2,3 "...Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation (or vision) awaits an APPOINTED TIME; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. THOUGH IT LINGER, WAIT for it; it will certainly come and will not delay."
So it is, very often, with what God wants to do with us regarding the
visions He puts on our hearts about music and the arts/media! He may not do
it in the way we have expected or in the time frame we are anticipating, but
if this is truly from Him, He will do it in His way and in His timing and
He will receive all the glory! He may allow us to go through much testing
and having to overcome many obstacles in the interim in order to see whether
we have the perseverance and the trust in Him that He will accomplish it in
His own way or time. Will we give up along the way, or get angry at Him for
not providing the resources or personnel we need, when we know He could do
it? Do we trust that He always has good reasons for making us wait and has
our best interests in mind at all times? Are we willing to learn the lessons
that He wants us to learn in the process - ie. character building ones, spiritual
warfare lessons, learning to praise God in all circumstances, renewing our
minds, allowing Him to purify our motivations, relying on prayer, and on His
leading/timing, increasing dependence on Him, etc. Do we trust that He is
able to provide our needs in incredible ways once it IS His timing? Or will
we strive on our own to try to make it happen no matter what?
A sobering passage in Isaiah 50:10,11 strongly encourages us to trust
in HIM rather than striving to make things happen on our own or to find our
own solutions when we're up against a brick wall..."Who among you fears
the Lord and obeys the word of His servant? Let him who WALKS IN THE DARK,
(which we often feel like we're doing when it doesn't happen how or when we
expect), who has no light, TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD and RELY ON HIS GOD.
But now, all you who light fires and PROVIDE YOURSELVES WITH FLAMING TORCHES,
go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches YOU have set ablaze
(perhaps said somewhat sarcastically?). (but look at the sobering result!)
- This is what you shall receive from my hand: you will lie down in torment."
Often we wonder why things get so stressful or out of control when we
strive to make things happen. I believe that often it is because we have 'lit
our own fires' instead of resting in the Lord and waiting for His timing.
This is a painful lesson to learn, but the more we learn it, the more rest,
peace, freedom and joy we have in seeing God work out the visions He has given
us as we trust in Him and let Him lead us one step at a time. This doesn't
mean we'll never experience stress...we will, but it it will be different
than the stress of striving and will often be potential obstacles that God
wants to see us OVERCOME as we trust in Him!
God is very concerned about building godly character and leadership into
us, and I firmly believe that it is often in His processes of preparing us
for the vision that He has given us, and as we move along towards it one step
at a time, that He is in the process of greatly developing our character if
we will submit to His processes - however painful they may be at the time.
Let's not try to get out of them, but embrace them - and especially embrace
HIM, learn what we can and see how HE wants to do FAR MORE than we have asked
or imagined as we trust in HIM to accomplish it, not by might or power, but
by His Spirit!
We can learn much about the processes God uses to develop and bring vision
to fruition in the lives of His leaders in Scripture. Notice the processes.
People also faced the kinds of struggles and questions we face, and God's
processes of purifying motivations and building character. Look at how God
moved them through it! Notice also that not all the leaders ended up seeing
their visions come to pass. Not all the leaders ended well. Why is that? This
reality is very sobering indeed!
The PROCESS is very important to God and how we respond to it will often
be His test to see whether He can entrust the vision to us to the point where
He will let it come to pass. Notice also how God never left them in the process
but sustained, encouraged, guided and assisted them as they looked to Him
in it. He LOVES to OVERCOME the obstacles because then we want to give HIM
the glory instead of taking it for ourselves, which can be soo tempting to
our flesh.
I have found it helpful to see a pattern of how God leads us through the
process of bringing the visions He puts on our hearts into fulfillment....both
in the Bible and in my personal life. It helps to give me hope in the long
and sometimes frustrating periods of being in God's WAITING ROOM. Perhaps
some of these thoughts will be of value to some of you as well.
Often we begin by going through various stages of interest level as He
begins to introduce the idea/vision to us. As we go along, the vision begins
to grow and develop. We become more and more open to it. Then we gradually
begin to get emotionally involved and excited about the potential that He
is laying out before us and we may write down the vision (as mentioned above).
Prayer is very necessary throughout the process, and at the point where the
vision begins to grab our hearts, it is very important that we lay down the
vision in terms of our own potential strivings to see it coming into being,
and allow Him to lead us so that HE can bring it to pass in His timing and
in His ways.
In my own life and in the visions I have seen Him bring to pass, I have
noticed that often at the point where I can almost taste the vision, He seems
to ignore it, and begins to lead me in directions, often over many years,
that seem almost completely unrelated. This can be a very painful and sometimes
confusing and frustrating time, but 'a corn of wheat must fall into the ground
and die' if it is to bear much fruit.
It seems that this time is a time where God is not only beginning to,
behind the scenes, line things up and work things out so AT THE RIGHT TIME
He can bring it to pass, but it is also a time where He searches and tests
our motivations and purges us of our impure ones. It seems that this is a
time where He is developing our character and teaching/equipping us in the
areas of our giftings which will be needed in His purposes. Eventually He
brings us to a place of rest where, although He has given us faith to believe
that He can bring it about, we don't want to move ahead with the vision unless
we know He is leading every step of the way. This loooooong and sometimes
seemingly endless time of WAITING often tests our patience and ability to
endure and persevere to the outer limits (according to our perceptions). Meanwhile
God''s character is being shaped in us as we trust Him even though we may
not see any fruit for a long time. God may often need to wait many years before
bringing the vision to pass, but once He moves on it, it often happens very
suddenly and in such amazing ways that we and everyone else watching KNOWS
it's GOD who brought it about, and not us!
This long time of waiting is a time of seeing our faith and trust in Him
strengthened, and our dependence on HIM to bring it to pass, rather than depending
on our own futile attempts, no matter how much He has gifted us. It is not
by might or by power but by His Spirit! If we want to see His power and anointing,
we need to let Him carry out the vision He has put on our hearts...and He
will bring it to pass if He has given that desire to us, because He desires
to be glorified!
Once He has us where He wants us, it seems He begins to resurrect the
vision and passion in our hearts. At about this time, God seems to face us
with the question of whether we are willing to allow Him to use us to carry
out this immense and seemingly impossible vision! At this point we often struggle
greatly with fears of potential failure and feelings of inadequacy, etc. We
also struggle with issues of faith...can God really do this impossible thing?
- while using ME? But as we continue to seek Him, He gives us the ability
to trust Him and puts faith in our hearts to believe that HE can do it through
us because we can do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens us, and because
HE is strong in our weaknesses as we trust in HIM.
He then begins to bring us through the process of working out His purposes
through us step by step. And when He does begin to bring it to pass, we can
be assured that we will face many fiery trials, but we will also see God overcome
them all and do miracles to bring the vision to pass as we trust in Him and
keep abiding in Him!
So if you are in a time where you are WAITING for God to do through you what He desires to do through you, whether through music, the arts, media, etc., you can rest assured that He has you somewhere along this process and is fully able to carry it out as you continue to trust in HIM step by step! This, too, is a part of your worship to Him and very precious to Him!"
=================================================
ARE YOU IN A SPIRITUAL
WILDERNESS? -
Resources to Encourage You on Your Journey
=================================================
(Editor's Note) - Godly character is a HUGE issue to God and in the Church
in these days! We as His musicians and artists, especially since we are often
used by the Holy Spirit as a prophetic voice to our generation, need to be
encouraged to allow the Lord to continue to mold and transform us into His
likeness so that He can indeed use us to impact our cities and nation/s as
He desires to do. As we long to be used by Him to see music and the arts restored
to the place of His original intention in His Kingdom, may His Kingdom come
and His will be done on earth and in our lives as it is in heaven! This very
helpful book - A JOURNEY IN THE WILDERNESS: BECOMING FRUITFUL IN THE KINGDOM
- by Paul Weigel - will give you much insight into the Process God uses in
our lives to refine us (haven't we been praying the "Refiner's Fire"
prayer for many years now and petitioning God for revival/renewal/restoration?)
If you haven't been in a spiritual wilderness before, if you have been in
one or are currently in the Process yet again, may this book encourage you
and also affirm that you are not and have not been alone in the Process. May
God use this book and the other resources on this web page to greatly encourage
you and help you to FINISH WELL! - See info on the book at the web site noted
above.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Live @ the Valley III
Here we go again... Come to a
Coffee House
With
Rick Poltaruk
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
September 7, 2003 @ 7.30
Lynn Valley Full Gospel Church
29th & Lynn Valley road
North Vancouver
For Reservations call 604-868-7220 or email rickpoltaruk@telus.net
This is on for the 3rd time. If you have been to either of the first two coffee houses then you know how much fun everyone had. If you missed them ... DON'T MISS THIS ONE!!!
A night of fun and song for everyone.
Please reserve now... The last evenings were full.
Also if you could... please email this to all your friends... It will be a great night!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
LELAND KLASSEN, Live!
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
"September 19 & 20, 2003 @ 7:30 PM
Leland Klassen, local T.V. personality and comedian, takes to the Gallery 7 stage to kick off Gallery 7's 13th annual season with his humorous, family-oriented stand-up comedy! This will be an event that promises to keep you laughing the whole night!
For tickets, call 604-504-5922 or go online at "
CONTENTS
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PROPHECIES Regarding this REGION, etc
========================
(Editor's Note) - For about 9 years I have sensed the Holy Spirit impressing on my heart that NOW IS THE TIME for the arts to be 'resurrected' and released in new ways in the Church. Subsequently, it has been absolutely amazing to me to see how He has been doing this and how the effect has been growing internationally as well as in Canada and the Lower Mainland! When praying, many years ago, where the Great Commission Worship & Arts Center was to be situated, I felt strongly that God had some major things on His heart regarding the Greater Vancouver/Lower Mainland region and this was where I was to be laying foundations for things to come.
Over the past year, especially, the sense of THE TIME IS NOW has been re-emphasized to me again and again and I believe strongly, as do others locally, that God has us on the verge of a major breakthrough in this region, in many ways, INCLUDING in the aspect of music and the arts!
I personally feel that the beginnings of a big explosion are about to begin to take place perhaps even as early as the beginnings of 2004, and in the past few weeks the phrase FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS keeps coming to mind over and over.
It has been very encouraging to also hear of prophetic words (such as the ones below) given for this region which seem to reaffirm those same things! I trust these words will also be of encouragement to you and encourage on-going prayer for this region regarding the things God has 'up His sleeve' I feel like we are about to begin, in short order, to experience the snow-balling effect which has been gaining momentum for many years!
Over the years God has been developing many of His musicians and artists - sharpening their vision, purifying character, drawing them into deeper intimacy with Himself, honing their skills, developing the areas of more specialized expertise/focus of various music/arts ministries/educators, etc. My strong sense is that He has been doing this to lay the groundwork FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS, and that as we increasingly network together and intentionally FUNCTION TOGETHER as a HEALTHY BODY as we are led by the Holy Spirit, we will indeed experience Him moving in and through His artists and through the Church in unprecedented ways!
I am totally delighted that God LOVES to do FAR MORE than we have asked or imagined, and I, for one, am overjoyed that He is increasingly bringing together His musicians & artists in this region, and indeed across our nation (and internationally) who share similar vision and who desire to not only partner together but have deep fellowship with each other as we, together, experience the long, high, deep and wide love of Jesus for us in increasing measure SO THAT…we MAY be FILLED to the MEASURE of the FULLNESS OF GOD!! (Eph 3).
As you read the following words by David Damien
& Rick Joyner, I trust it will encourage you. I believe these things mentioned
have been in the works in God's heart and brewing under the surface for a
long time, that He has had many ministries, musicians/artists, intercessors,
businesses (including businesses re music & the arts,) etc. moving forward
in these directions, and that He is about to bring some of this into being
in short order. Let's continue to seek Him for HIS timing and HIS ways of
seeing His purposes come about! --
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From a prophetic word by David Damien - for the Vancouver region:
http://www.watchmen.org/updates/updateJan02/english/index.html
"…3) Releasing Training Centres
For many years, we have cried out to the Lord to release Canada's destiny
for training, not just for our nation, but also for the nations of the world.
We believe the leadership covenant of Kelowna created a spiritual covering
in our nation that will release, among other things, apostolic and prophetic
training centres for teaching, impartation and 24/7 intercessory prayer and
worship.
The training centre we envision for Vancouver will also focus on releasing
the arts (music, drama, dance, visual arts) to prophesy to the culture of
our nation. For e.g. we see unbelievers listening to prophetically birthed
music that will impart freedom to their spirits. We also see a media centre
that will use TV, video and the Internet to teach and impart truth to believers,
as well as to innovatively communicate the gospel to unbelievers…."
------
From recent word by Rick Joyner re the Vancouver region:
http://www.morningstarministries.org/pages/strategic_words/Canada/Vancouver/Vancouver_7_9_03.html
"…VANCOUVER: I saw the city of Vancouver become a major port for hospital ships. These were sailing all over the world, but primarily to Asia, and South and Central America. This region of Southwestern Canada will soon become one of the great missionary bases in North America, particularly for reaching China and the strategic nations of Asia. Many great healing ministries will rise up there, and some will move there to make it their base. Another bridge for missionaries to cross over into these Pacific rim nations will be Western Canadian businesses, which will rise up and establish strong business links to these nations. The future of Southwestern Canada is strongly linked to Asia…."
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PROPHECIES
regarding Music and the Arts/Musicians and Artists
*****************************************************************************
=============
NETWORKING:
=============
GALLERY 7 THEATRE COMPANY -- Eben-Ezer Church - Abbotsford
Gallery 7 Theatre Company, located in the Eben-Ezer Mennonite Church in
Abbotsford, B.C., is a community drama group dedicated to presenting thought-provoking
and entertaining theatre that reflects a Christian world-view. Secondarily,
the company attempts to provide useful resources to community, school and
church drama practitioners in the form of workshops and on-line discussion
boards.
A typical season will generally include two mainstage productions, a one-act
play festival, and a guest performance. Workshops covering topics in acting
and technical theatre production are also held through-out the season.
Plays for any given season are chosen for their biblical and spiritual implications,
entertainment value, and artistic integrity. Auditions are open to all male
and female community performers who may or may not have previous experience.
Volunteers wanting to work behind the scenes in such areas as stage management,
props, and publicity are also invited to be
involved.
Gallery 7 is now embarking on it's 13th annual season and is once again presenting
a full calendar of plays, workshops and guest performers. Complete information
can be found by visiting the company's website at www.gallery7theatre.com
or by calling 604-504-5922. Gallery 7's administration line, reserved for
business calls, is 604-504-5940 gallery7theatre@telus.net
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
CREW PRAYER NETWORK
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"CREW is a group of Christian professionals in Vancouver who have been inspired by the Hollywood Prayer Network to bring prayer to the Canadian entertainment industry.
We meet once a month before a CAST meeting to pray over the needs of the entertainment world. If you have a need, or would like to request prayer please fill out a request form. We will post your prayer request for general prayers, unless you do not wish us to do so, and we will set you up with an intercessor to pray for you specifically. For more information please select from the menu to the left, or if you wish to become an intercessor please e-mail KellyAnne at lady_kas@hotmail.com
"Do not withhold your mercy from me, O Lord; may your love and your truth always protect me." -- Psalm 40:11"
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FELLOWSHIP OF CHRISTIAN ARTISTS - in Burnaby - contact: Joseph Shore - revjoe@shaw.ca Phone: (604)266-4240. 206-4505 Grange Street, Burnaby, BC V5H 1P7 www.josephshore.com
#####################
RESOURCE
NETWORKING FELLOWSHIP FOR LOCAL MULTICULTURAL CHRISTIAN MUSICIANS & ARTISTS
- Surrey, BC - contact: GCWAC@DiscipleTheNations.org
COLUMBIA BIBLE COLLEGE WORSHIP &
ARTS PROGRAM - Abbotsford
============
RESOURCES:
============
Assisting Multicultural
Churches With Their Various Expressions of Worship
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reel
Spirituality: Theology & Film in Dialogue - book review
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Francis Schaeffer's
Perspectives on the Arts
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Music & the Arts
and the Bible - Lots of Scripture!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Spirituality,
Creativity and the Imagination
==============
Please feel free to forward to others that you think would be interested in
subscribing to this free weekly/bi-weekly "Christianity & The Arts"
e-resources list.
To subscribe, email: GCWAC@DiscipleTheNations.org or gracew@idmail.com and put 'FREE Christianity & The Arts' Resources in the subject line. Thank you!
For the Jun 15/03 7 - Aug 15, 2003 editions, please request at same email address.
Please send me relevant information which you think should be included. This is mostly for folks in the Lower Mainland in BC so events will mostly reflect what's happening in this region, but others are welcome to receiving it as well, however we may not necessarily promote events in other regions (at least not at this point).
Many blessings!!
Grace Wiebe,
Great Commission Worship & Arts Center - Surrey, BC
http://DiscipleTheNations.org/index9.html
==================
Back to Intro info on this resource
Great Commission Worship
& Arts Center
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