First Sunday in Advent

"The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity—hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory—because at the Father's will Jesus Christ became poor and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross." ~ J. I. Packer, Knowing God

Today is the first Sunday of the Advent season. The season begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve. Advent tradition has its roots deep in Christian history that can be traced as far back as the 6th century AD with certainty (possibly as far back as the 4th with some question). It is marked with anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the birth of the Messiah. It is anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the coming of "hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory" that came with Christ.

Isaiah 9:6-7

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.

We are entering a time where we celebrate the coming of the Messiah who did establish and uphold His kingdom "with justice and righteousness." The justice was God's wrath poured out on Christ on our behalf. The righteousness is Christ's righteousness that is imputed to us by grace through faith. Both come from God and both are necessary so that "He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:26)

By His Grace,
Taylor

The Arts II

"The passion for encouraging the arts is understandable and in large part commendable. Not only does the Church have a long history of commissioning art, but the Bible speaks highly of those with gifts of artistry and craftsmanship... And let’s be honest, many of our churches are not exactly a haven for the artsy crowd... I think a renewed emphasis on the arts in our churches can be a very good thing or a very bad thing. It all depends on whether the 'art is the answer' crowd and the 'art is weird' crowd can find some common ground around some common sense." ~ Kevin DeYoung, "The Church and the Arts: Some Common Ground and Some Common Sense"

This article showed up on my Google Reader today (thanks Nathan for sharing it). I have written about the arts before because I think it is an important issue that the modern Church needs to think about more. I think the Church today (as a general rule) has done a poor job of supporting, contributing to, and critically thinking about the arts. By doing so it has lost touch with much of the postmodern culture and does not know how to express the truth it bears to said culture. DeYoung gives several good theses in the above article about Church-artists relations:

1. Allow art to be art and see the value it has in its beauty and ability to display different areas of truth (not just gospel truth).
   
2. Art is valuable but do not overstate the matter and try to make it the most valuable avenue of truth.
3. Do not try to make art do more than it can.
   
4. Worship should strive for artistic excellence, but never forget that the goal of worship is to edify the congregation and magnify God in our hearts.
   
5. Churches should learn to welcome artists, but artists should not expect the church to be an art gallery.
6. Artists can help us see our idols through their art, but artistic expression can be an idol too.

I would recommend the book Eyes Wide Open by Bill Romanowski for anyone wanting to get a good (in my opinion) biblical perspective on thoughtfully engaging the artistic part of popular culture. In it he wisely states, "The absence of a critical perspective makes people more vulnerable to the effects of the popular arts. The critic’s quest is to arrive at a 'place of wakefulness and clarity'... a place in which perspective can be applied to understanding and evaluating the popular artwork." (138)

By His Grace,
Taylor