The Beautiful Shepherd
Google’s AI, Gemini, just came to the same conclusion as I did… and I think the way Gemini put it was profound. Here is how it happened. A few years ago, I realized that our …
Art
Criticism: Any idiot can tear down…maybe, maybe not
In a sermon, the pastor at our church said, “Any idiot can tear down.” He then went on to discuss criticism and being critical. Certainly, there is a great deal of truth in what he …
Try Loving like Jesus in a Small Town
For those enchanted by the charm of small towns, the afterlife holds a surprising twist. Heaven, New Jerusalem, is portrayed as a bustling, vibrant, and large city in Revelation 21:2, where the Apostle John describes …
Exvangelical: Moses had horns, the Bible tells me so
Look at those horns on Moses! I teach art and art history at a religious, evangelical university. Every year, we have a fun discussion when it comes to pieces like Michelangelo’s Moses or Claus Sluter’s …
God for God’s sake: Learning theology from aesthetics
In a previous post, I wrote about having the joy of reading Aesthetics in a redwood forest in the hills near Santa Cruz. It was a great way to pass the time as my wife …
Love: The Final Ingredient
Heath Veuleman’s powerful article “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” got me thinking about so many different things. One of the main issues, though, ties into some artwork I began working on in 2003. …
Exvangelical: Not a journey, but a day
I’ve been in the world for thirty years,And I must have traveled a million miles.Walked by rivers where the green grass grows thick,And entered the frontier where the red dust rises.Purified potions in vain search …
This Is How We Pray Today
The poem, some say, has been given to us for times when prose cannot express the heart. It’s an art form that has been used to elevate, to devastate, and to strike a mood. It …
Music That Moves Us: Believers Engaging Secular Music
I am not a person who listens to a lot of Contemporary Christian Music. For perhaps four years in my late teens/early twenties, I listened exclusively to that genre, primarily reflecting my fresh faith and …
Five Evangelical Christs: Art as a Reflection of Faith
I had an academic project where I looked at images of Jesus, specifically five evangelical Christs, and discussed how they reflect evangelical beliefs. This essay is an adaptation of that research. Evangelicalism is not a …