Genesis 28:12

He placed the cherubim inside the innermost room of the temple, with their wings spread out. The wing of one cherub touched one wall, while the wing of the other touched the other wall, and their wings touched each other in the middle of the room.

I Kings 6:27

Okay. Now I can’t put off my project anymore.
Grace and peace to all!

However, I agree with Kerry in feeling a bit of hypocrisy from this group. Though Mike may not have mentioned “wasted money” himself in only referring to the political-spiritual aspect, I seem to recall much of the posts on that day commenting not only on the political-spiritual, but also on the money spent and how it could have been used better.

I read back through the discussion (August 11) and noticed that it quickly turned into a debate on poverty and money. The majority of posts had something to say about the monetary uses as well as political. That bothers me… We griped about a church “wasting” 250,000 and then praise one of our own for “glorifying God” with 3-5 million (not sure of the exact cost). Sounds exactly like the speck vs. the log.

If we’re going to use art to glorify God, let’s just be careful not to judge other people’s contributions. Others aren’t helping the poor, but not me, I’m glorifying God.

I wonder if we had talked about Jacob’s Ladder, and then the Memphis statue came up after that, if our response might have been less critical.

The sculpture looks amazing, and I’d love to see it, but I’m a little bit wary of calling it “sacred” or implying that the ground aroud it is more holy than some other piece of ground. That’s nothing against the art or against its ability to inspire and uplift people. I’m just saying that ideas about sacred space can lead to misunderstanding our faith if we’re not careful. Even as we move towards a much-needed balance on the issue of religious art and its real usefullness in the church, we should be wary of attributing holiness to things made with our hands rather than with God’s hands.

Again, I like the statue, and I’m glad taht ACU has it on its campus. Praise God for the gifts He has given to the artists involved in this project, and I hope that the sculpture will inspire others to more closer to God.

Thank God we are beginning to see a new day.

Mike, thanks for allowing a forum that permits discussion like this, as difficult as it may be. It’s healthy, and I am blessed by it. Mayber there is hope that we are growing past our staid and stifling heritage into the freedom of the sons of God.

Some people do not understand art and it’s origins. And not because they are all mean and hateful, but because they just do not understand it. What we don’t understand we are always leary of. The ability to create began with THE Creator.

No my artwork won’t feed the hungry. But perhaps, it will inspire just one person to seek deeper into the heart of God and individually be moved to go out and feed the hungry. And as I make a living with my God given gift, I can provide food, clothing and shelter for not only my family, but the needy that God sends my way.

The God I serve is a lavish and creative God who loves to shine through beauty. If it were not so, the sun would set quickly and without the blazes of color I see each afternoon in breath taking hues of violet, oranges and reds. He would make the seasons change without the incredible golds and reds of turning leaves in the fall and the clear unmuted greens of the spring. Do all these creative gifts in nature make sense? No, not to human minds. But each time we see these gifts we reflect on the majesty and generous spirit of God who did all this just so that we could be surrounded by His beauty.

As for the Memphis artpiece. I think it was odd, that’s just my opinion. But deep within someone, they were moved to express the unity of man, country and God. That particular art piece did not speak to me and didn’t speak to many of you. But it doesn’t make it invalid expression.

I do believe it’s a valid point that one piece of art would be praised on this blog (not just Mike, but many commenters) while yet another is presented with praise. We ALL tend to criticize what we don’t understand. Some don’t understand the Memphis artist while others dont’ understand Jack and Jill Maxwell. But when an attempt is made in art to glorify the Creator, we need to be a little less judgmental. When a child gives their parent an odd, even confusing piece of crayon or painted art, we don’t criticize them for their attempt. We enjoy the fact that they took the time and effort to attempt! Because it is a gift of love.

Jack and Jill Maxwell have blessed me time and time again through Zoe. Their artistic expressions at the conferences have made strong visual memories for me that cause me reason to celebrate. Sometimes I will forget the words of a speaker, but seeing one of Jack and Jill’s images will bring back the lesson and the heart felt emotions that were stirred.

My apologies for the long post, but as an artist, I take this very personally.