Writer | Artist | Anglican Deacon
Unlike your contemporaries, who churned out mostly happy-clappy loves songs to Jesus, you peered into your pain, stared into the darkness of the world, and saw the light of God piercing through that darkness. You used the hurt and brokenness of your life to form art beautiful in all its truthfulness.
The season of Advent is directly related to the season of Christmas, but it is not Christmas. Christmas itself begins Christmas Day and lasts for twelve days, followed by the also-related … Continue reading Advent is Not Christmas
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 … Continue reading The Artist-Pastor Identity Crisis, Part 2
I hate Christmas. The stress, the materialism, the consumerism, the deception, and the overall empty, kitschy, humanist messages unsettle me. Then came Advent.
I have developed a certain tendency to use the phrases “changing the world” or “taking over the world” when speaking with creative friends. I usually leave this without any particular … Continue reading Changing the World
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.
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.
How is it that a secular rock opera about Jesus Christ played a monumentally pivotal role in my spiritual life?
In answer to the question “Should we ban bad theology carols?” “Only with great care. For thousands, carols will be their only link with a church. At the same time, … Continue reading Sentimental Carols
Salvation Is Created: A Christmas Record From Bifrost Arts Artist: Bifrost Arts. Label: Sounds Familyre, 2009 One could safely propose that there are far too many Christmas albums in the … Continue reading Review: Bifrost Arts’ Salvation is Created
Carolyn Arends, a Christian folk singer-songwriter I first encountered a decade or so ago when I heard her cover Rich Mullins’ “Jacob and 2 Women” on a tribute album, has … Continue reading Why We Need Art in a Recession
On this day in 1886, Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth was born, a man who would be known as the most important Christian theologian of the 20th Century and the … Continue reading In Honor of Barth’s Birthday: Grünewald and Mozart
Jacob A. Davis 