The relationship between art (and artists) and the church was a chilly one when I first came to faith in Christ in the `70’s. Evangelicalism had a serious case of amensia, leaving itself disconnected from 2000 years of church history. We got kitsch instead of thoughtful, provocative, beautiful art. It’s a lovely thing to see the tide turning. Lovelier still, to be able to surf on it. The old, false, mean-spirited walls are crumbling. It is a slow process, but... Read more

I didn’t even know I’d been entered in the Evangelical Press Association’s contest, but apparently my story “Tina Meets The King” came in fifth in the Fiction category. Here’s some irony for you: (1) Since I wasn’t aware that Discipleship Journal had entered the piece in the competition, coming in fifth was a nice little surprise. (2) I’d originally written the piece after my first visit to the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. The visit solidified my conviction... Read more

Jacob, 20, holding a copy of a screenprinted illustration he’s selling. He’s an art machine. He sees the world in a completely different way. Love it. Love him. Contact me if you want to know how to own your own copy. Read more

This was the music of Christian counter-culture, circa 1970’s This music INFURIATED a lot of people back in the day. Christians singing pop or rock? Larry Norman (on the left) penned the immortal words “Why should the devil have all the good music”? in response to the scathing criticism from most in the mainstream church to his music: the sounds of rock `n roll married to songs about (and to) Jesus. Last night, while watching American Idol, I was struck... Read more

Is the glass half-empty or half-full? My own tendency is to see the glass as half-empty, and suspect that the other half full of some kind of odorless, tastelss clear toxic chemical. Some pretty serious things have happened in the last few days: – A freakish series of events in the last week may (?) have deep-sixed the publication of the book manuscript I just finished. – My husband was in a car accident. The other person involved in the... Read more

My husband Bill began college in 1973 at Elmhurst. After a year there, he transferred to Trinity College. He loved Trinity, but had to drop out after three semesters there because of a serious accident that left him in the hospital for a month. After we got married in 1979, he realized that his lack of a degree was holding him back from advancing in his Information Systems career. Elmhurst had recently started an adult degree completion program, so he... Read more

Dan at Cerulean Sanctum posted once again about the bizzy-bizzy nature of the Christian subculture. It’s a theme he’s tackled again and again, and I hope he keeps at it. It reminded me of another post I’d read a couple of months ago at the Christianity Today Gifted For Leadership blog about how easy it is for well-meaning, gifted people to slowly get sucked out of the rhythms of our own lives with God because we’re trying to serve Him.... Read more