Understanding how the Lordship of Jesus Christ extends to all areas of life.
Thomas Kinkade "Painter of Light"
Thomas Kinkade, the “Painter of Light” died of natural causes on “Good Friday,” April 6, 2012 at his home in California. The irony of the timing of his passing has inspired me to share with you a personal conversation I once had with Mr. Kinkade.
A week or two before I met him, I had read a magazine article on his work that made the claim that Kinkade was trying to reflect a utopian world. The author said that Kinkade wanted to demonstrate what life would be like if there had been no original sin, or no Fall.
If you think about it, you hardly ever see any tragedy in his work. It’s all very lovely and picturesque.
So I asked him if that was an accurate reflection of his goal in creating Art; to show us what life might be life if sin had not entered the world. He paused for a moment, obviously considering if that was true. Then he said, “No, definitely not. In fact, the piece that I consider to be perhaps my most definitive work is ‘The Cross.’ If that isn’t a reflection of sin entering the world, the fallenness of humanity, and our need for redemption, than I don’t know what is!”
Once again he became thoughtful. “No, I think that every artist, within the body of their work, has a responsibility to reflect the world as it truly is; broken. However, as a Christian, I don’t want to dwell on that brokenness. There are plenty of artists who do that, I’m not making judgments about their work. For me personally though, my desire is to give people a message of hope. You can see despair everywhere you look. If I am going to take the time to paint something, I want it to reflect beauty and give people hope.”
His line about despair made me think of Dr. Francis Schaeffer, and his teachings about the Christian and artistic expression. I asked Kinkade if his work had been influenced by Dr. Schaeffer, and if so, in what way.
“Oh, most definitely. I’d say the thing that I gained the most from Dr. Schaeffer was the concept that beauty has value in itself; because it reflects the nature and character of God. Beauty is an inseparable part of God’s nature; of who He is. So when you create Art that is beautiful, you are reflecting the nature of God.”
I think it is ironic that Mr. Kinkade, whose pivotal artistic work was “The Cross,” was able to enter a world that TRULY has no pain or suffering (a perfect world), on the day when we celebrate his Lord’s payment for sin and death. I’m sure that he will be amazed to find his resting place to be far more beautiful than he could ever reflect in his paintings.
Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who serves the Lord through Wisdom’s Gate Ministries.
Frank Peretti
Israel Wayne: What does it mean to write fiction from a Christian worldview?
Frank Peretti: When you write fiction from a Christian worldview, you are assuming that there is a personal, loving, redeeming God in charge of this universe and that His principles provide the ultimate answers for life and all of its difficulties. You are assuming that man is fallen and that his problems are the result of the fallenness of this world and his own inherent sinfulness. You are assuming that the true hero is the person who, despite hardships and challenges that would impress him to think and act otherwise, comes to rely on and act upon Truth as God has created it to formulate the solution to his problem.
Israel Wayne: Is there a particular theme or over-arching message that spans your body of work?
Frank Peretti: Every novel I’ve written reflects what I was thinking, learning, and growing through at that particular point in my life, so I suppose an overarching message would be that God always has something new to teach us and that His path for our lives leads us from season to season, lesson to lesson, always for our good.
Israel Wayne: If you could see anything change in the world of Christian fiction, what would it be?
Frank Peretti: Not wanting to be a judge of others or their work, let me speak only for myself: I want to be an honest writer who writes from what God is working in his heart even though such a choice may push against the fleeting dictates of the popular culture. I would like to be out front and leading by example, not following.
Israel Wayne: 100 years from now, how do you want people to describe your work?
Frank Peretti: I would like to be remembered as a significant cultural influence, equipping and edifying the body of Christ but also keeping the awareness of God and His ways before the eyes and minds of the people of my day. Historians may regard my work as a study in where the Christian evangelical mind was toward the end of the 20th century and through the first decades of the 21st.
Israel Wayne: What advice would you give to upcoming fiction authors?
Frank Peretti: Know what you’re doing. It’s not enough to want to write a book. You have to devote yourself to learning the writing craft, knowing all the nuts and bolts, rules and fundamentals of good fiction writing. I’ve often heard would-be writers advised to “never give up,” but that’s the worst thing you can tell somebody who has no skill, no knowledge of how it’s to be done. That person can never give up, and consequently waste his/her whole life producing unmarketable material. Know what you’re doing.
With more than 15 million novels in print, Frank Peretti is nothing short of a publishing phenomenon and has been called “America’s hottest Christian novelist.” In all, including his current work, Illusion, Frank has written nineteen books of various size for various ages. Frank and Barbara live a simple life in rural Idaho. He leads worship at their church, Barbara paints in watercolor, and they enjoy being with their close friends.
Visit Frank on his current “Ask Frank” blog tour: http://askfrankblogtour.weebly.com
The Carpenter’s relationship was an all-American love story, complete with a romantic courtship and marriage, followed by a “happily-ever-after” ending. That is until they were both nearly killed in a dramatic car accident the day before Thanksgiving in 1993. They had only been married for three months. To make a long story short, Krickitt emerged from the accident with no memory of Kim whatsoever. She had lost several years of her memory completely, and had no recollection of ever meeting, let alone marrying, Kim. The book details Krickitt’s struggle to come back from the brink of death, and their desire to maintain a marriage, that no longer held shared memories to help hold it together.
This book would be a great read for anyone who is dealing with head trauma in their family, is experiencing marital conflicts, wants to have a successful marriage, or for anyone who simply loves a good story.
Kim and Krickitt are very honest about their own struggles and failures and I appreciated that their book wasn’t overly simplistic. They demonstrated that life is sometimes hard in the long run and everything doesn’t get neatly solved in a half an hour.
Kim was committed to his wife, even though she didn’t love him anymore, even though she didn’t LIKE him anymore, even though she didn’t even remember him anymore. Krickitt had to learn to trust God to give her love for a man that she no longer knew. Their true story is an inspiration because it shows ordinary, everyday people, being heroic simply be doing the right thing; day after difficult day.
The book was made into a movie that hit the theatres in early 2012. http://www.thevow-movie.com/ I have not seen the movie, but from what I can gather, there is little to no emphasis on their Christian faith reflected in the new film. To hear a bit about the real story, check out this interview:
On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this a 3.75 overall.
224 Pages.
The Vow
(The Kim & Krickitt Carpenter Story)
By Kim & Krickitt Carpenter, with John Perry (and Dana Wilkerson
Copyright 2000 & 2012
Broadman & Holman
ISBN#0-8054-2130-0
ISBN# 978-1-4336-7579-9
I saw a post on a friend’s Facebook wall the other day. There was a discussion about worship styles (traditional vs. contemporary) and someone made the statement, “Well, who are you to say what is worship and what isn’t?” I can’t get that out of my mind.
The person making the statement was implying (I believe) that there is no objective standard by which to determine what is, or is not, proper worship. That is simply not true. On the other hand, WE as mere humans are NOT that plumb line. The scripture says “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth.” (John 4:24)
True worship must be intellectual. We must love our God with all of our minds (Luke 10:27). It should not be shallow or meaningless repetition (Matthew 6:7), but should be directed to God, and must reflect accurately who He is and what He has done.
True worship must be Christ-centered. There is no other name that has been given under heaven whereby we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Apart from the Lordship of Jesus Christ over the totality of life, all worship is devoid of purpose.
True worship must be heart-felt. We should not fall into the trap of going through the motions in an attempt to psych ourselves up emotionally, or trying to impress God with our stalwart devotion. We are to LOVE God with ALL of our heart (Luke 10:27).
Worship is not about what we like. It is not about style. It is about worshiping God in the way that He wants to be worshiped. Worship is about giving all that we are, for all that He is. Worship should not be a narcissistic expression of us and how great we are. In worship (which is much more than just music or singing), we should respond to God out of a heart of gratitude for how great He is, and for what He has done for us.
While we cannot help but express our thankfulness to God in culturally diverse ways (we are, in fact, culturally diverse), true worship is ultimately not about culture, or Art, or expressions of talent (although these factors are sometimes involved). Worship is about the God who is there. It is about knowing Him, and being known by Him.
Worship should never be divorced from sound theology. Worship should not be divorced from church history. Worship should never be about preference and style, and most importantly, worship must NEVER be about us.
Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who serves with Wisdom’s Gate Ministries.
This is a great little clip from my friend, Dan Jarvis, a pastor and blogger, on dealing with your doubts as a Christian:
Asaph said in Psalm 77:
6I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders:
7Will the Lord reject forever?
And will He never be favorable again?
8Has His lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His promise come to an end forever?
9Has God forgotten to be gracious,
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?Selah.
10Then I said, “It is my grief,
That the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11I shall remember the deeds of the LORD;
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
It is in remembering the faithfulness of God in the past, that we have strength and hope for our future.
By Norman L. Geisler & Frank Turek
I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, by Norman Geisler and Frank Turek, is a modern-day Christian apologetics classic. I have to place this book in the top ten books written so far on regarding understanding a Christian philosophy of of all of life.
This is a very linear, comprehensive work that seeks to answer the major questions of life and religion. The book begins with Epistemology and the fact that truth can be known. It then moves to Cosmology and addresses the origins of the universe. It addresses the questions of morality, the existence of miracles and the supernatural, the historicity of Jesus Christ and His claims to divinity, the compilation and canonization of the New Testament texts, the bodily resurrection of Christ, and includes some good appendix chapters that address things like “If God, Why Evil?” and “Isn’t That Just Your Interpretation?”
Another outline could be:
To give you an idea of the general acceptance of the overall soundness of this book, it is endorsed by: Ravi Zacharias, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Phillip E. Johnson, Cal Thomas, William A. Dembski, Hank Hanegraaf, John Ankerberg & J. Buudziszeski.
As with all of the Hovel audiobook titles, the narration is excellent and the quality is superb.
Hovel Audio
ISBN: 978-1-59644-399-0
Copyright, 2006.
www.ChristianAudio.com
Crossway Books
ISBN: 1-58134-561-5
Copyright, 2004.
www.crossway.com
448 pages. On a scale of 1-5, I’d give this a 4.5 overall.
Review by Israel Wayne.
Here is a clip of Israel Wayne discussing homeschooling on a national Christian television program:
Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who works with Wisdom’s Gate Ministries, publisher of the Home School Digest magazine.
