(Part of my series Letters to Dead People) Dear Rich, It was twenty years ago today that you left this world for our Father’s house. A car accident of all things (is that what you get for wanting to “go out like Elijah”?). I didn’t know at that time, nor would I have cared. In…
Category: Music
The Artist-Pastor Identity Crisis, Part 2
I was talking with a coworker recently. An English major when he was in college who loves writing stories and reading Dostoevsky, he is now studying at the seminary in order to hopefully plant a church overseas someday. We spoke of stories we liked and environments that seemed to inspire us, like gothic buildings and…
Louisville
Almost a year and a half ago, I was having a conversation with one of my pastors. At the time, I was set to soon be part of a church plant in Asheville, North Carolina. As I began to express a certain anxiety about my upcoming move, my pastor presented an interesting question, “Have you…
Review: Les Misérables
With many incarnations already under its belt, does the new film version of Les Miserables live up to such rich material? The answer is one of both glory and misery.
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday beings Passion Week (or Holy Week). The primary event the day commemorates is Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem on the Sunday before he was crucified.
The Shadows of Advent
I have never been entirely comfortable with the bright colors and bouncy music that pervades the stores, radio stations, and even churches this time of year. Maybe it’s my own somewhat darker disposition, or maybe there is something about this season that is supposed to have a hint of darkness.
Sojourn, the Pope, and Artistic Excellence
It seems fitting on the same day that Sojourn Music releases it’s latest album, a Christmas project called A Child is Born, that Peter Leithart shares this word from the late Pope John Paul II…
Your Halloween Favorites
Everyone has favorite traditions for each holiday… What are your favorite movies, TV specials, music, and literature to enjoy in the days and weeks before Halloween and why?
Great Art: The Sojourn Split-EP
Jamie Barnes and Brooks Ritter have crafted two EPs that would stand alone as great works, but as a complete album they stand as a masterpiece and an important milestone.
Jesus Christ Superstar and Me
How is it that a secular rock opera about Jesus Christ played a monumentally pivotal role in my spiritual life?
