Album review: “Jonathan Rundman” Retrospective
Posted: May 18, 2012 Filed under: Church, Creativity, Culture, Lent, Love, Music, Reviews | Tags: album review, Art, christian music, Christian Theology, Christianity, church, Creativity, Intentional Living, Jesus, Music, music review, religion, Theology Leave a comment »Just last week, Sparks and Ashes featured musician Jonathan Rundman in the “Sparking Creativity” interview series (you can read his fantastic responses here).
Today, good friend and music aficionado Anthony Ashley reviews Rundman’s recently released 20 song retrospective album.
Whether it be semi-obscure Christian holidays, the human condition, death or theology, Jonathan Rundman’s songs deal with big ideas that matter. Rundman has just released a self-titled, twenty-track, retrospective album drawing from four of his albums released over the last decade and including new works and remixes.
The first song that really stood out to this writer is called Librarian. Being an incorrigible librophile, the song quickly found it’s way into my heart. In this librarian’s autobiography Rundman sings,
“I bring order out of chaos I shine light into the dark
because power comes from knowledge just like fire from a spark
Like Gutenberg and Luther with press and pen in hand
I take the message to the masses in a form they understand”
It’s at this point in the album I realize, this guy is smart and actually has something to say.
Shots in the Dark – Paul’s review of “God Bless America”
Posted: May 15, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, film, Intentional Living, Political Engagement | Tags: Art, Bobcat Goldthwait, Cinema, Film, God Bless America, Intentional Living, Movies, religion, Review, right wing extremist, Satire, Violence Leave a comment »
This morning over at Christianity Today‘s entertainment blog, I review Bobcat Goldthwait’s recently released film “God Bless America.” It’s a bang, a miss and a hit all at the same time.
Satire is a loaded gun. In the hands of a skilled marksman, it is an effective weapon. When wielded by an amateur, it is dangerous.
When aimed by acclaimed filmmaking iconoclast Bobcat Goldthwait, well, everyone had better dive for cover.
In his new black comedy God Bless America, now playing in limited theaters, Goldthwait wages a vigilante vendetta against the worst elements of the pop-modern American lifestyle. The title is pure irony, twisting the patriotic phrase to highlight the moral and cultural shallowness of our national consciousness. The film is a bleak and bloody fever-dream of suppressed rage. In the middle of the cultural carnage, however, lingers a profound question: What’s a thoughtful person to do when confronted with the banal insanity of a selfish and shallow culture? Read the rest of this entry »
Vintage Poe Illustrations
Posted: May 11, 2012 Filed under: Art, Creativity, Culture, Literature, Weird | Tags: Art, arts, Creativity, Edgar Allan Poe, illustration, Poe, tales of mystery and imagination Leave a comment »
From the 1919 edition of Poe’s Tales of Mystery and Imagination comes this fantastic set of illustrations by Harry Clarke.You can view high-res scans of the entire collection here.
Three cheers for the public domain!
via Neatorama
Sparking Creativity: Musician Jonathan Rundman
Posted: May 10, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, Intentional Living, Love, Music, Sparking Creativity 4 Comments »
For today’s entry in the ongoing Sparking Creativity series, we catch up with acclaimed musician Jonathan Rundman. He has an impressive discography, ranging from pop-rock to sacred arrangements inspired by the liturgical calendar to traditional Finnish folk music.
Jonathan is releasing a 20 song retrospective album in June (available for purchase now), which will be featured in an upcoming review here on Sparks and Ashes. You can find more about Jonathan and his musical pursuits at his website.
Today, Jonathan reflects on the relationship between his faith and art, shares about his personal creative process, and how Finnish folk tunes make him a better musician.
Paul: Talk about the intersection of faith and art for you. What’s the relationship between creativity and Christianity?
Jonathan: Hmm…well, I don’t think Christians have any particular advantage or authority regarding creativity, compared to other faith groups or non-faith groups. I think things can get theological, though, when the creative/artistic work is approached and lived-out with a sense of Christian vocation. Read the rest of this entry »
N.T. Wright sings … Bob Dylan?
Posted: May 9, 2012 Filed under: Biblical Studies, Church, Community, Creativity, Intentional Living, Music | Tags: Bob Dylan, Christian Theology, Christianity, NT Wright, religion, Theology Leave a comment »The unexpected juxtaposition of two of my favorite theologians.
via The Rabbit Room
“Two Oregonians” meet Italian art. Great pictures ensue.
Posted: May 7, 2012 Filed under: Art, Community, Creativity, Culture, Travel | Tags: Art, Creative Process, Creativity, Italy, RTW, travel, Two Oregonians Leave a comment »
Over at good friends Ted/Bethany’s blog is a fantastic post on their day spent experiencing a lovely Italian creative space/museum.
We paid a visit to Forlì, Italy, stopping in at Musei San Domenico, a restored 13th century Dominican convent turned creative arts space. Serendipitously, our visit coincided with a temporary exhibit running January 28 – June 17 featuring the work of Italian sculpture Adolfo Wildt (1868 – 1931). The collection offers a glimpse into a creative man’s inspiration and expression, featuring his own works and those of influential predecessors and contemporaries arcing from classical tradition to romanticism, art nouveau, and modernism.
Go check it out, Sparkies!
For those of you who don’t know Ted and Bethany, they’re currently living a longtime dream: a year-long trip around the globe. They share thoughts and photos of their adventures here.
Image credit to TwoOregonians.com
Chip Kidd on Book Design at TED
Posted: May 3, 2012 Filed under: Books, Creativity, Culture, Makers | Tags: book design, books, Chip Kidd, consumer attitudes, design, publishing, Reading, TED, thought and language Leave a comment »The confluence of savvy publishing and “a Lady Gaga skanky mike” has never been so enjoyable. Enlightening, awkwardly funny, and . . . what on earth is up with that jacket?
Oh my.
via Boing Boing
The Art of Craft – “Furniture Fit for the Kingdom”
Posted: May 1, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, Ingenuity, Intentional Living, Love, Makers, Personal Growth, Simplicity | Tags: Art, Christian Theology, Christianity, christianity today, Craft, Creative Process, Creativity, Furniture, Sparking Creativity, Theology, This is our city, Woodworking Leave a comment »A wonderful video on craft and Christianity, from my colleagues here at This is Our City. Please view the film here.
Harrison Higgins builds furniture made to last literally hundreds of years. In this short film, the Virginia woodworker describes the theology behind his furniture-making—and the beauty revealed when we treat the creation as more than a resource or even a social cause, but as a sacrament.
Absolutely lovely.
Via @ct_city
Man without Money: Daniel Suelo
Posted: April 27, 2012 Filed under: Bikes, Community, Culture, Food, Ingenuity, Intentional Living, Money-free, Natural Living, Personal Growth, Simplicity | Tags: american lifestyle, Awesome, Cave, communal life, consumer attitudes, Daniel Suelo, Dumpster diving, foraging, Free, government aid, Money, Money-free, occupy-wall-street, politics, roadkill, Utah, vimeo 1 Comment »A brief video from the BBC returns some attention to free-mium hero and generally awesome financial iconoclast Daniel Suelo, who live without money or government aid in a Utah cave. Along the way, it rightfully points out that our average American lifestyle is a horrifically artificial and predatory system, tied to values that in no way reflect the actual dynamics of human communal life.
Suelo is no isolationist, rather he is quite involved with the local community. So why is our default reaction to view him as an outsider?
On his philosophy of economic life, Suelo comments
“We can cultivate freely giving and freely receiving no matter what station of life we’re in. That’s our true nature, and it exists in everybody.”
Amen to that, brother.
via Boing Boing
The Followers – “Wounded Healer” Free Album Download
Posted: April 25, 2012 Filed under: Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, Intentional Living, Love, Music, Oregon | Tags: Art, Christian Theology, Christianity, church, Creativity, Door of Hope, Jesus, Music, Oregon, Portland, religion, Worship, Worship Music Leave a comment »
Please enjoy this project from a great group of Portland musicians at the Door of Hope community in SE. Eric Earley (of Blitzen Trapper fame) teamed up with some friends for a “70′s infused worship experience.”
It’s fantastic.
No, seriously – it’s really quite good. Here’s a taste:
Free download here. Per the usual, Noisetrade delivers. So tasty.
Perhaps this is a good time to revisit Derek Webb’s words on the wisdom of free music. Read here.
Internet Monk on Doug Wilson’s “Esau Christianity”
Posted: April 23, 2012 Filed under: Biblical Studies, Church, Community, Culture, Love | Tags: Christian Theology, Christianity, church, Gender Studies, Masculinity, religion, Theology 2 Comments »
A thoughtful article from the Internet Monk responds to Doug Wilson’s abysmal blog post on “effeminate worship” and coins a useful term for the old but increasingly virulent strain of churchianity that imposes funky cultural gender roles on our new humanity: “Esau Christianity.”
Just go read this excellent piece here, please.
Then go thou and do better.
Via @Brianleport
On Christian Creatives, “Edgy” Art, and Telling the Truth
Posted: April 20, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, Love | Tags: Art, Christian Theology, Christianity, Creative Process, Creativity, Incarnation, Jesus, religion, Theology, thought and language 6 Comments »
Over at faith/culture blog Two Handed Warriors today is an interesting brief piece by Jeff Goins. Responding to a previous blog post discussing the relationship of Christian art to “edgy” themes like sex and violence, Goins advocates for artists to do a bit of soul searching about their motives. Paramount though, is telling the truth through the things that we make. He writes:
Ultimately, we all want our work to matter. We want our creations to count. And the only way to do that is to approach our crafts with honesty and integrity. To write what is true even when it offends.
There’s nothing wrong with writing edgy, and there’s nothing wrong with writing not edgy. What is wrong — especially for a person of faith — is to write something that isn’t true to your deepest convictions and core beliefs. True to who you are and what you stand for. Denying that creative impulse would be a tragedy. . . we all need to write words that are honest.
True that.
Rage and Resurrection
The impulse to clean things up when we tell stories about the world is understandable. There is a universal human yearning for things to be different than they are, for the pain and disappointment of life to simply be gone. For the Christian, this yearning has a definite object: what Jesus calls (in the book of Matthew) “the restoration of all things.” We want this, want it desperately. When life cuts us, we rage back, with something inside telling us that there is a possibility of something different. Read the rest of this entry »
Paul’s poetic review of Sullivan’s “The Forgotten Jesus”
Posted: April 16, 2012 Filed under: Church, Community, Creativity, Culture, Love | Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Christianity, christianity today, church, Jesus, leadership, leadership article, leadership journal, Limericks, Poetry, religion, The Forgotten Jesus, Theology 2 Comments »
Note: I wrote this piece for Leadership Journal‘s Out of Ur blog. Please view the original here to keep up with the comments and responses. -Paul
While children’s poetry is an unusual form for a Leadership article, this is what emerged after reviewing Andrew Sullivan’s thought provoking article, “The Forgotten Jesus,” in the April 9 edition of Newsweek. I’m glad that the disparity of church behavior with the teachings of Jesus is becoming a prominent national conversation, but it is often framed as a false choice between either Jesus or the church. Still, Sullivan’s piece is an important article on the institutional church and the gospel of Jesus in our current American context.
There once was a writer named Sullivan
who wanted to give Christ a mulligan,
so he said “people, please—ditch the Church so diseased,
and remember what Jesus taught us again!”
His article published in Newsweek,
caused Americans widely to now speak
about clergy corruption, and “Christian” eruptions
of behavior not loving or meek.
My thoughts on the matter? As follows:
his argument’s not at all hollow,
the critique is well taken, “churchianity” shaken,
an indictment we’d do well to swallow . . . Read the rest of this entry »
Exit to the Labyrinth
Posted: April 13, 2012 Filed under: Art, Community, Creativity, Culture, Ingenuity, Makers | Tags: Art, Berlin, Creativity, Documentaries, Eileen Yaghoobian, Fear, Found, Germany, Labyrinths, Lost, Mazes 2 Comments »Labyrinths are an ancient experience, a symbol that can stand for danger or a safe haven, the limitless wrong turnings of a life or the single guiding thread to freedom. Whether one seeks the Minotaur, the stark mathematical infinity of Jorge Borges, or just the candy at the end of a Halloween corn maze, it’s tough not to be fascinated by the lost-and-foundness of labyrinths.
Eileen Yaghoobian’s chance encounter with a stranger at a Berlin party left her with a hand drawn map, a potentially dangerous journey into the back alleys of East Berlin, and very unusual experience involving a modern labyrinth (months in the making) made from re-purposed industrial garbage and a heaping dose of creepy. The result is a dangerous, confusing metaphor for modern life – Peristal Singum’s Labyrinth. Read the rest of this entry »
MilkThistle on “Loving the Little Ones”
Posted: April 11, 2012 Filed under: Community, Culture, Intentional Living, Kids, Love, Personal Growth | Tags: Children, Christian Theology, Christianity, Intentional Living, Jesus, Kids, motherhood, Parenting, wedding, Weddings Leave a comment »
From my ever thoughtful Emily comes a great post on the sacredness of parenting. When we parent as a sacred act, we “see Jesus in the eyes of our little ones.”
Emily’s thoughts were prompted by unexpectedly hearing a conversation at the local library:
…As I sat in a chair designed for a 2-year-old and helped my daughter with a puzzle, I overheard an interesting conversation between two librarians.
The two women in their mid twenties were talking about an upcoming wedding and how the bride’s married sister will be pregnant for the wedding. They talked about how inconsiderate it was of the sister to get pregnant before the wedding and how the bride was furious with her. Um, I’m sorry, I didn’t know this was a huge faux pas…anyone else with me on this one?
At first I thought I must have heard wrong, but as they continued to talk about the rudeness of the timing of the pregnancy and wonder who would take care of the baby if it came before the wedding, I realized they were serious. To top it all, the mother-of-the-bride (who also worked at the library) came in and gushed about how upset she was about the whole ordeal…
Read the full post here, for thoughts on the perennial human tendency to downplay the importance of parenting . . . and the inescapable greatness of our little ones in the kingdom of heaven.
Sparking Creativity: Interview with Kevin Weir
Posted: April 9, 2012 Filed under: Art, Creativity, Culture, Fun, Ingenuity, Sparking Creativity, Technology, Weird | Tags: Animation, Art, artist interviews, arts, cool project, Creative Process, Creativity, illustration, Kevin Weir, photo manipulation, public domain photographs, Sparking Creativity, Surrealism 2 Comments »For today’s post in the ongoing “Sparking Creativity” series, we’re pleased to share an exclusive interview with gif artiste Kevin Weir. Kevin takes vintage public domain photographs, and manipulates them into surreal, evocative looped images.
Today, Kevin shares his perspective on the gif as a medium, his creative process, and what it’s like to have your work go viral.
Kevin: The attention has come as a big surprise. I’ve always thought of this as a cool project, but until recently I haven’t actively tried spreading it outside of friends and family. It’s exciting to see so many people sharing them. Read the rest of this entry »
Easter Sunday
Posted: April 8, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Lent, Love | Tags: Christianity, church, Easter, Easter Sunday, Holy Week, Incarnation, Jesus, religion, Resurrection Leave a comment »
May Christ’s life be your life,
today and tomorrow and forever.
Happy Easter.
-Paul
Black Saturday
Posted: April 7, 2012 Filed under: Art, Biblical Studies, Church, Community, Creativity, Lent, Love | Tags: Art, Black Saturday, Christianity, Creativity, Dance, Easter Vigil, Holy Saturday, Holy Week, Jesus, scripture Leave a comment »Today, Christians commemorate Black Saturday, a day to contemplate and mourn the burial of Jesus. Tonight will begin the great Easter vigil – the end of the church year, and the start of our Easter celebrations.
Take a few minutes to enjoy this (quite creative!) video of a fitting scripture reading for a day we remember darkness. It comes from last year’s Easter vigil at our church.
via Church of the Resurrection. More creative Easter readings after the jump.
Good Friday
Posted: April 6, 2012 Filed under: Art, Biblical Studies, Church, Community, Intentional Living, Lent, Love | Tags: Art, Christianity, Good Friday, Incarnation, Intentional Living, Jesus, Theology Leave a comment »
“Whoever would be my disciple,
must deny themselves,
take up their cross daily,
and follow me.”
photo credit to flickr user carulmare.
Maundy Thursday
Posted: April 5, 2012 Filed under: Church, Community, Lent | Tags: Christianity, Holy Week, Jesus, Last Supper, Maundy Thursday Leave a comment »
As Holy Week enters its most serious and joyful phase, I wish your spirit well. May the bread broken so long ago feed you, the wine replenish you, the fellowship of Christ’s table encourage you.
“I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. . . . For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink . . . the one who feeds on me will live because of me.”
. . . On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
It is a hard teaching. But I, for one, find nourishment at that table unlike any I have ever known, a raucous eternal meal, a celebration that only grows bigger as the night pulls on.
Our host knows how to throw a party, I can tell you that. Please, join the feast.
Infographic: American Opinions of Human Origins
Posted: April 4, 2012 Filed under: Church, Community, Culture | Tags: Christian Theology, Christianity, Creation, Evolution, Human Origins, infographic 4 Comments »Via the consistently excellent BioLogos Forum, an infographic on American opinions of human origins, grouped by differing demographics. (Click for full size image.)
Your thoughts?
The Devil’s Apricot
Posted: April 4, 2012 Filed under: Creativity, Culture, Music, Weird | Tags: Music, Rock Leave a comment »In case you’ve ever wondered who goes to the trouble of putting evil subliminal messages into rock music to corrupt the minds of the young, meet Damon Lewis. A producer for Treble Six records, Damon works directly with Satan himself, to ensure that no decent rock song leaves the studio missing its most important ingredient – a heaping dose of pure, soul-twisting evil. Rock on!
Sparks and Ashes Generously Funded by Very Beloved Foreign Benefactor!
Posted: April 1, 2012 Filed under: April Fools, Culture, Food, Fun, Weird | Tags: April Fools, Funny, Kim-Jong Un, travel, uhf television, wealthy patron 1 Comment »
In an exciting and unforeseen financial development, Sparks and Ashes is benefitting from a mysterious wealthy patron who chose to give a vast quantity of land and natural resources through our donate button. Read the rest of this entry »
Blackballed like Jazz?
Posted: March 29, 2012 Filed under: Art, Church, Community, Creativity, Culture | Tags: Art, Blue like Jazz, Christianity, christianity today, christianity today magazine, Creativity, Donald Miller, Film, Movies, Steve Taylor 2 Comments »An article from my pal Mark Moring over at Christianity Today magazine outlines the recent drama (pun intended) surrounding the upcoming release of the film adaptation of Don Miller’s bestseller Blue like Jazz.
According to director (and thoroughly respectable artist) Steve Taylor, the “Christian Movie Establishment … is out to get us.” CT’s explanation of who is claimed to be behind the media siege seems sadly, all too plausible. Baptist pastor and studio executive Jim McBride (of Courageous, Fireproof, and Facing the Giants “fame”) is said to have issued a “fatwa” against the Taylor/Miller film, denying a future job on any of his productions to people involved in the production of the movie. The trailer is being pressed from screenings because of false information (including the blatantly false claim that a voice-over on the preview says “I hate Jesus”).
The full article is here. Plenty more head scratching and sad machinations after the jump.
I had the opportunity to watch the rough cut of Blue like Jazz last fall, and thought it well made, provocative, and generally SHOCKINGLY GOOD. Though I’ve not seen the final edited version (releasing April 13th), they would have to have done something mighty drastic to ruin it. At the time, Taylor and Miller mentioned vague worries about distribution difficulties within the mainstream Christian film establishment. It’s too bad that those worries seem to have materialized.
The film was well written, well acted, well shot, and ultimately (though a completely different experience than reading the book) an honest and relate-able account of one young man’s struggle with Jesus. It is a genuinely Christian film, telling the truth about people, including our flaws and betrayals, our joys, human strength, and uncanny ability to profoundly mess up our lives.
And that might just be the “problem.” In a recent blog post, Steve Taylor comments on the state of “Christian” film:
“[O]ver the last five years or so, “Christian Movie” has calcified in the public consciousness into a genre where:
- Sentimentality trumps substance
- Good intentions trump artistry
- All conflict must be tidily resolved
- “Safe for the whole family” is a de facto requirement
- Or as writer David McFadzean summarized, Christian movies are like porn – poorly lit, poorly acted and you always know how they’re going to end.
. . . So maybe I should be flattered that, based on recent evidence, the Christian Movie Establishment . . . is out to get us.” Read the rest of this entry »
Trilobite of the Month – March
Posted: March 20, 2012 Filed under: Fun, Trilobites | Tags: fossils, trilobites Leave a comment »Meet March’s Trilobite of the month, Monkaspis daulis.
As you can see,
“The serrated pygidium contrasts with the completely unspined cephalon and thorax. Although subisopygous, the transition from thorax to pygidium is very subtle, and it is not at all clear to me how many thoracic segments there are on this specimen! (Are there 11? Perhaps 12?) The exoskeleton on the left half of the cephalon is missing, revealing wonderful terrace ridges on a wide doublure.”
I really couldn’t have said it better myself.
From http://www.trilobites.info/
