Amazing spontaneous song from Carols Whitaker and a homeless man who comes up and starts praising God. As Carlos writes, “Save us from these comforts.Break us of our need for the familiar. Spare us any joy that’s not of You And we will worship You.” And for Danny, “Hallelujah is the highest praise.”
Great post from Kem Meyer that rings so true and is also reminiscent of Rory Noland’s writings in the Heart of the Artist. We need to stop feeding the stereo types of artists and LEAD. And while that is true, leaders need to learn something from artists to make their leadership more effective. Good thoughts…
Leaders should act like artists & artists should act like leaders…
How leaders should act like artists (from Harvard Business):
- Artists constantly collaborate. The example given was the common occurrence of an exhibition with multiple artists showing together, or the so-called “group show.” Even in the context of a solo show, the artist works with the gallery owner, the curator, the framers, the installers, the lighting person, the publicist to bring their vision to life. Every exhibition is a collaboration to the nth degree.
- Artists are talented communicators. The whole point of a work of art is to communicate something — a thought, an idea, a feeling, a vision. More explicitly, the artist frequently gives a talk to explain the thought process behind the artwork. Engaging the audience in a meaningful, expansive dialogue is often critical to the exhibition’s success.
- Artists learn how to learn together. Perhaps the reason why artists collaborate and socialize so well is that they learn in the studio model — ten or more students in the same room for hours on end. Bonded together in a personal space of intimate self-expression, they come into their own through the familial ties of the studio setting. When interviewed recently about the differences in her education at Brown and at RISD, one student who is getting a dual degree from both institutions said, “At RISD there’s a lot of learning from your peers. Brown (in the classes I’ve taken so far anyway) is about listening and note-taking in class.”
How artists should act like leaders (from Accidental Creative):
- I speak my mind and fight for ideas but refuse to play the “victim” when my idea doesn’t win out.
- I do what’s in the best interest of the team and the project, even when it costs me something.
- I do the little things that matter even when I could feasibly cut corners.
- I stretch myself to see things from new points of view.
- I think strategically, even when I don’t have all the information I want.
- I don’t point fingers, talk trash or assign blame behind closed doors.
I have something that guides my creating beyond comfort and preference.
Well, we’re doing the Jesse Tree at our house and really enjoying it. Each night, I’ve been reminded that all of the OT is God’s story. It’s not just a series of individual stories that don’t have a connection. Jesus is the point of the whole Bible. Last week we saw that Joseph pointed to Christ. As I was looking ahead to this Sunday’s reading, I was struck that we have another OT character who is a type of Christ. David! David is a type of Christ and we see that both of them are shepherds for the people. It all starts in 1 Samuel 16:11. The prophet Samuel shows up at the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel. He goes through Jesse’s sons and God rejects all of them.
So [Samuel] asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered, “but he is tending the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”
So we meet David as a shepherd tending sheep. Much later after killing Goliath and running from Saul, David finally becomes King over Israel. At that time…
All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood. In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’ ” -2 Samuel 5:1-2
So here God has told David that he will be a shepherd to Israel. Again skipping ahead, David is king and wants to build the temple for the LORD. Nathan the prophet comes to tell him that the LORD wants David’s son, Solomon, to be the one to build the temple. We pick up the story in 2 Samuel 7:2-9, 12:
That night the word of the LORD came to Nathan, saying:
“…tell my servant David, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. I have been with you wherever you have gone…When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.
That’s quite a promise, eh? Fast-forward to the time of Christ. Jesus is that fulfillment and the one who will establish David’s throne forever. However, notice what Mark tells us about Jesus…
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. -Mark 6:34
As we see in the 23rd Psalm, “The Lord IS my shepherd” and his name is Jesus. Paul picks up this same theme when he writes,
May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. -Hebrews 13:20-21
So again, we see that David, the shepherd of Israel, points to Jesus the great Shepherd of us, the sheep. The OT points to him as the only one who can save us by his blood, equip us for good and work in us what is pleasing to HIM. When I see how scripture all fits together like that, it gets me even more excited to get ready for the Christ-child. To make room for him in my life and to give Him glory for ever and ever.
I was thinking about this again as I get ready to head to IWS in January. All of history is God’s story and worship is the way we retell and re-enact that story. And by worship, I not only mean our gatherings on the weekend, but our lives. We have the opportunity to see how our small story is being woven into the larger, cosmic story of God in the world. Actually, Tim Keller says it better so I’ll let him take over…
…we usually read the Bible as a series of disconnected stories, each with a ‘moral’ for how we should live our lives. It is not. Rather, it comprises a single story, telling us how the human race got into its present condition, and how God through Jesus Christ has come and will come to put things right. In other words, the Bible doesn’t give us a god at the top of a moral ladder saying, ‘If you try hard to summon up your strength and live right, you can make it up!’ Instead, the Bible repeatedly shows us weak people who don’t deserve God’s grace, don’t seek it, and don’t appreciate it even after they have received it. If that is the great biblical story arc into which every individual scriptural narrative fits, then what do we learn from this story? -Tim Keller, Counterfeit Gods, pp. 36-37 (emphasis mine)
Tiger is all over the news this morning and it only took me about 2 min to walk away sad for both him and his family. Sin is a terrible thing. We lost a faith-filled brother to cancer this week. He was in the prime of his life and cancer which is a great evil caused by sin took him.
As I walked away from the TV screen, I remembered this blog I read earlier and wanted to share it with you…thanks to CJ Mahaney for his perspective.
Hunting Tiger Woods by CJ Mahaney
Tiger Woods wants his privacy back.
He wants the media entourage to disappear from his life.
He wants to be left alone so he can manage his personal problems in private.
Not a chance.
The story began unfolding in the early hours of last Friday when he crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a tree and a fire hydrant near his Florida home. He refused to speak with the police about the incident, raising curiosity about the circumstances. The story has now escalated into allegations of marital infidelity, and that generated a blog post from Tiger that stated, “I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart.” This statement by Tiger has led most to believe that the allegations of infidelity are true.
Hunted by the Media
As expected, the allegations of adultery involving a public figure are attracting a media pile-on. This is a big story with a big audience and it’s a story that will not disappear soon. Tiger Woods is being hunted by the media.But let us make sure we do not join the hunt. A Christian’s response to this story should be distinctly different. We should not be entertained by the news. We should not have a morbid interest in all the details. We should be saddened and sobered. We should pray for this man and even more for his wife.
And we can be sure that in the coming days we will be in conversations with friends and family where this topic will emerge. And when it does, we can avoid simply listening to the latest details and speculations, and avoid speaking self-righteously, but instead we can humbly draw attention to the grace of God in the gospel.
Hunted by Sin
But Tiger is being hunted by something more menacing than journalists. Tiger’s real enemy is his sin, and that’s an enemy much more difficult to discern and one that can’t be managed in our own strength. It’s an enemy that never sleeps.Let me explain.
Sin Lies
The Bible in general, and the book of Proverbs in particular, reveals an unbreakable connection between our character, our conduct, and the consequences of our actions. These three are inseparable and woven by God into His created order.Deception is part of sin’s DNA. Sin lies to us. It seeks to convince us that sin brings only pleasure, that it carries no consequences, and that no one will discover it. Sin works hard to make us forget that character, conduct, and consequences are interconnected. And when we neglect this relationship–when we think our sins will not be discovered–we ultimately mock God.
Sin Hunts
We’ve all experienced it: Sin lies to us. We take the bait. And then sin begins to hunt us.One commentator on Proverbs articulated this truth like this: “The irony of a life of rebellion is that we begin by pursuing sin…and end up being pursued by it!….You can ‘be sure your sin will find you out’ (Num. 32:23…).”* In other words, sin comes back to hunt us.
In light of this fact, sin is an enemy Tiger can’t manage. He can’t shape this story like he does a long iron on a par 5. Tiger doesn’t need a publicity facelift; Tiger needs a Savior. Just like me. And just like you. And if by God’s grace he repents and trusts in the person and work of Christ, Tiger will experience the fruit of God’s promise that “whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Conclusion
Tiger cannot intimidate this enemy like he can Pebble Beach or any of the field of professional golfers. And there is no privacy he can claim from this enemy, regardless of his resolve, his silence, or the name painted on his yacht. It’s likely Tiger only perceives the press hunting him out of a vain “curiosity about public figures.” But Tiger is being hunted and hounded by a far greater foe: the consequences of his sin.And this story should humble and sober us. It should make us ask: Are there any so-called “secret sins” in my life? Is there anything I have done that I hope nobody discovers? Is there anything right now in my life that I should confess to God and the appropriate individuals?
And this should leave us more amazed by grace because there, but for the grace of God, go I.
This article originally appeared on Sovereign Grace Ministries Blog.
—————–*John A. Kitchen, Proverbs (Fearn, Scotland: Mentor, 2006), 294-295.
It doesn’t seem like Christmas. It should. I LOVE Christmas! Our Christmas lights are up, stockings are hanging over the fireplace and the Christmas tunes are playing non-stop. We even hung garland on my daughter’s canopy bed! It SHOULD FEEL LIKE CHRISTMAS! But it doesn’t…
Is it the warm weather?
Is it the lack of snow?
Is it crazy life circumstances that keep me running around from event to event like a totally, crazy man?
Maybe.
Whatever the reason, Advent is slowly helping me get ready for it. Advent (and the Jesse Tree) is forcing me to bypass the crazy, Christmas sales, the lack of snow and the hectic schedule. It’s forcing me to focus on God’s story throughout history and as I do; I am again seeing God’s heart. For God so loved the world that he wouldn’t let it continue to fall apart because of sin. He sent his only Son to become flesh to reach out of the needy and help the poor. He came to take care of the wickedness in OUR hearts once and for all. And he did that by giving us His righteousness and faithfulness.
That goes far beyond tinsel and music. Speaking of music…can you hear that? That is God’s little voice calling you and me to join him in this cosmic mission to show the whole world what it means to be flesh and blood and have the spirit of God inside of you. He is calling us to reach out to the needy and help the poor. He is calling us to take care of the wickedness in our own hearts through His sacrifice. He is calling you to accept His righteousness and faithfulness.
Become like a little child and see how amazing this season is…as my daughter likes to say, “Dad! LOOK!…IT’S A MIRACLE!” And it is…God sent us the God-baby, Jesus.
I’m still not ready for Christmas…but I’m getting there.
Ever wonder what it might have been like to worship at the OT temple? I’m thinking it would have been rather bloody. This series of sketches from Urban Sketchers gives a small picture of what it might have been like to actually have those animals slaughtered. No doubt in anyones mind back then. It was obvious…sin is costly. Check it out…
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