So I ran across a great blog from Makoto Fujimura. He is an incredible painter, kinda reminds me of Rothko, but with an x factor. In his latest post he makes the statement,
"The church would not be the first place a creative genius would look for to be trained in art."
You see the church was one THE place to be for artists (on a sad note it sometimes was the only place that would pay them) but still the church and art were often put in the same sentence. Is that true today? I take that statement very personally, both in a mentoring way and as a musician. Am I doing enough to bring up the next generation of musicians…nope… Is the art I present the best that my ability can give, its not bad, but I know it could be better…let that be a challenge to you as-well, this ideas translates to everything, since God made everything to begin with.
I'll leave you with some incredible art…Bill Gates, if you are reading this, I'll take one for Christmas!
From The Outside Looking In... 
April 16, 2006 at 11:16 pm
Art… that’s interesting. We should give our all to God. I am also a musician but like you said we don’t give it all. It can really be a catch 22 when you think about it. Yes… I have studied music most of my life. I graduate this fall with a degree in music. Do I struggle? Yes. We want to give our all to God but there are those that judge musicians and say that we are up there glorifying self or that it’s a rock concert and the list goes on. We need to first face ourselves and realize that we are playing to bring glory to God. That should be the foremost reason we are up there, that is to say we would worship the same way in private. We are not there to entertain, but lead others in as well as worship ourselves. On another note… if you’re doing a concert yes you should be worshiping God, but you’re an entertainer as well. People are paying to be entertained, they want a good show, good music, etc… THIS IS THE MOST DIFFICULT PART OF BEING A CHRISTIAN MUSICAN!!! As well as where most of us struggle. I have to remind myself over and over again that I am there for God, which supercedes the entertainment value. I struggle with people complementing me on my playing. I just say thank you and try to walk away as fast as I can. Anyway this is getting long, but your right the good art used to be within the church and it has drifted far from it. Maybe we need to go to the art and be Christians there instead of just in the church.
April 20, 2006 at 11:49 pm
Those are great points, but what I think I was trying to convey is the fact that I know my music can be better, Am I giving God my first fruits, or the ones that just come out of my mouth and hands with out thinking? Am I doing my best in equipping the handful of kids I teach and mentor… I know I can do better…just kinda giving myself a pep talk!
April 23, 2006 at 12:31 am
Man, we can all do better. Thats so true. We should give God our first fruits like you said. So many times though we let the fruit fall from the tree before we give it to God. The first fruit we desire to give rots below our branches. Could you imgaine what it would be like if art, not just music, swept its way back into the church? I love seeing those gys at youth events who paint a picture of Christ. It’s so amazing to see their work.