By Brent Wittmeier, edmontonjournal.com January 25, 2012

Wow! Brent did a great job with the article. It is exciting to be part of it.To read the article just click on Brent's name or the article title.

As I have been thinking on this for a few years I have found others pursuing the same and similar ideas and themes. God speaking to us through the creative arts and we in turn speak to him through the creative arts. I do it with painting, but Michael Card does in through his music. And we in turn can hear God through the mediums of each other. 

I will be leading three sessions on Painting Prayers. I want to give people the chance to experience it, so I will not speak long before we just dive right in to listening to scripture and music and painting what we are hearing and feeling and being moved toward through the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:14-17

14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

The Holy Spirit communicates with our spirit – deep inside us, our inner consciousness.

Gordon Smith, gave me words to describe what I was experiencing. In his book, The Voice of Jesus, he wrote this about our inner consciousness, "We affirm that the Spirit of God communicates inwardly to the consciousness of those who are prepared to listen."

I love this description that singer/ song writer, Michael Card, in Scribbling inthe Sand, wrote "Being the Creator-Artist that he is, the great Romancer, the perfectly loving Father, God calls out to us, sings to us, paints images in our minds through the prophet's visions. These sounds and songs, these visions, stand at the door of our imaginations and knock. Through them God opens the door of his own inner life to us. He paints pictures of His hopes for our future as well as his worst nightmares of what is waiting for us if we choose to go on living without him. He pleads with us to open the eyes of our hearts, to hear with our ears, to really understand....I believe human imagination is the door at which Jesus says he stands and knocks in Rev 3:20 – a door that we have the freedom to leave closed or to open up to him. ...Only a few verses later, as John's awesome vision begins in Rev 4:1, his comment is especially meaningful, "After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open."

I pray that as I head into the weekend, the Holy Spirit will move through the room where we are, touching hearts and lives in a way only He can. I pray for each person who participates that he or she will listen with their heart and open the door of their imagination and let God speak with them and they with Him.

In his book, Scribbling in the Sand, singer and songwriter, Michael Card explored the biblical foundations of true Christian creativity. He speaks to all people not those just with a creative bent. I resonated with much of his work, just as I enjoy his music and am myself inspired by it. Below I have put the song he wrote to go with the book – based on the passage in John 8 where the woman is caught in adultery and Jesus bends down and writes in the sand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic79r2_Mxl0&feature=related

At the end of his book, Michael Card was speaking of Jesus and his ministry of healing and feeding and going out of his way to connect with people. Michael Card said this on gifts and giving:

“Gifts are wondrous things. They can heal and feed people, and even set them free. We sometimes spend enormous amounts of time and money strengthening and developing them, and there is nothing wrong with that. The process of giving a gift to someone, whether it is a poem for a friend or a huge exhibit that tours the world, is a thrilling experience for everyone involved. But don’t settle for that.

“We are called to give more. If Jesus is truly our paradigm and pattern, as we confess he is, then like him we must be searching for new and creative ways to give ourselves to others for his sake. That is true creativity. It does not require perfect pitch. It does not demand digital dexterity. In fact, it does not demand anything at all except surrender. This is not to say that it is easy. There is a level of giving that we can achieve only through brokenness, but the burden is light precisely because the One who places it on our lives never completely takes his hand from under the weight. He never stops pursuing us, even to the very last moment of our lives. He creates a space in time that allows us to respond to his extravagant invitation. He welcomes our creative, worshipful response. He promises to never leave and forsake us, to never stop tracing his pattern in the sacred soul that is our lives.” (Scribbling in the Sand, p.158-9)

As we are into the advent season, giving is more on our minds. At least it is on mine. I think that is why this phrase particularly stood out to me... “If Jesus is truly our paradigm and pattern, as we confess he is, then like him we must be searching for new and creative ways to give ourselves to others for his sake.” Sometimes I begrudge the shopping for gifts. I am not fond of shopping, it is something I avoid, maybe because I am too frugal. I do not fighting traffic and lines of people. So, maybe I need to turn my attitude. Instead of looking at the lists as things to get done think about possibilities, get creative with those lists. Think about the person and what they would enjoy (and maybe it isn’t on the list). What is it about them that sparks an idea of a way to creatively give of myself.

One more quote: “Art creates a space in time when we can hear God...” - Michael Card What a gift that is! When we get creative and give more from our heart we open ourselves up to THE Creator, our God, who gave of himself for us in the form of a little baby in a manger.

One of my favourite Christmas songs by Michael Card is Immanuel. I have sung it in church and home and I would like to share it with you today and wish all of you a blessed Christmas! Immanuel! God is with us! May God be with you and your family this season!

Immanuel http://youtu.be/n-vTQqbofuM

With summer finally here (today is my daughter's last day of school), I am looking forward to sunshine and camping and the Strathcona Whyte Ave Art Walk. As I painted at the Bonnie Doon Mall this month a couple of times, I worked on this handmade paper painting of a place I dreamed of - of  summer, hiking and camping, and time with my family. I love going to the mountains on holiday.  Where do you like to go for a holiday?

The Strathcona Whyte Avenue Art Walk is Friday, July 15 - Sunday, July 17 from 10 am to 6 pm, in Edmonton. I will be under my tent in the middle of Iron Horse Park on the corner of 103 St and Whyte Ave. Stop by and say "Hi"

There is no greater love than this – to lay down one's life for another. (John 15:13)
As I reread the gospel accounts of the days leading up to cross this year, I noticed how often Jesus spoke of the upcoming event through conversations with his disciples, and parables, and even conflict with the pharisees and scribes. Jesus knew what was coming, but allowed himself to be handed over—not putting up a fight or defence. This is the passion of Christ.

"Passion is a kind of waiting—waiting for what other people are going to do...It is also the agony of being out of control and of having to wait. It is the agony of a God who depends on us to decide how to live out the divine presence among us. It is the agony of the God who, in a very mysterious way, allows us to decide how God will be God. Here we glimpse the mystery of incarnation. God became human not only to act among us but also to be the recipient of our reponses."(Henri Nouwen, Finding my Way Home, p110)

It is in the waiting that the story becomes complete, "it is in the passion that the fullness of Jesus' love shines through. It is a waiting love, a love that does not seek control." (H. Nouwen, p.114) God is waiting for us to respond: will we follow him or betray him; will we deny him or believe in him. In that waiting comes the love, the redeeming love that gives us hope. Just as the cross represents the suffering of Christ, it also is the sign of hope.
(Mark 15:16-20)Legend says that the crown of thorns, native to Madagascar, was the plant used by the Roman soldiers to form the cruel crown tearing the scalp as Jesus was whipped, beat and led to the cross. But the plant also symbolizes Jesus gift of new life and hope to a fallen world. The green leaves and red flowers remind us of the new life and resurrection. In the crease and where the two petals meet we see a cross with a drop of red like blood  in it's centre, reminding us of Jesus' love for us. How will we respond today?

Happy Easter! Christ is Risen!