Check out the write-up by Eileen Flynn of the Austin Statesman on The Hope Arts Festival, where Arts pastor of Hope Chapel, David Taylor, is interviewed about the intersection of Art and Faith. David is a rare breed of artist, who rigorously tries to integrate theology, arts, and community.

Flynn writes: “Over the past decade, he has struggled against attitudes about Christian art and tried to show that it doesn’t have to be utilitarian or cheesy or even obviously religious.”

Check out the Transforming Culture Conference, which David is also involved in.

Read David’s Blog.

I just started listening to Paul House and Scott Hafemann’s series on “Preaching and Teaching Judgment Without Being Judgmental” via the Ockenga Pastor Builders series. Both House and Hafemann are committed to “whole Bible theology”–Biblical Theology. In fact, Hafemann advocates a paradigm of radical unity, arguing that there is just one covenant in the Bible, not two (works/Law vs. grace/gospel).

They advocate four elements in order preach/speak/believe/teach judgment without being judgmental: 1) God is the Judge, not us 2) Covenant is the context and standard of judgment, not us 3) Judgment is not the condition for people to be our friends 4) Redemption is always the goal of judgment.

I have avoided missional conversations with strangers and family members because I was afraid of what they would think of me, not of what I thought they would think of Christ. In these moments, I forsake Jesus and put myself in his place. Not talking to people about the most important thing in the world is set aside because of my own selfishness and insecurity.

Here are a few thoughts that address this weak-hearted, wrong-headed way of conversing (or not conversing) with others, ways to evangelize our own fears.

God opens hearts, not arguments. Neil Cole has a saying: “Wherever you go, the King goes, and where the King goes, people bow.” In other words, King Jesus woos and wins people, not well-honed apologetics. I need to face my fears with faith in the King who opens hearts and renews minds.

Don’t win the argument; speak with compassionate truth-telling.” This saying reminds me to open my heart and my mouth when talking to others, being alert to the needs of others that the gospel of compassion can fit into and channeling my energy in that direction.

You have an AK-47, use it. If you showed up to a medieval sword dual with an AK-47, you wouldn’t be afraid or doubt who would win. Others might think you were crazy, even mock you, but your weapon would secure a win. Although I don’t like the destructive metaphor, this does remind me that when I talk to others “all authority and power” is in the gospel, which is mighty to save.

I just saw the multiple Academy award-winning Pan’s Labyrinth, one of the many films put off due to parental priorities. It was worth the wait. The effects, design, and imaginative creativity are stunning.

But the storyline is more impressive. In a blending of the very real horrors of the Spanish Civil War and the mythology of fantasy fairy tale, Guillermo del Toro reveals the power of a counter-story. The central character, Ofelia, is caught between fact and fantasy. Her father replaced by a fascist army captain, her mother suffering in pregnancy, and war all around her. She retreats to the “safety” of her fairy tale world, a world in which she is a lost princess, approached by a faun who gives her three challenges, which must be passed in order for her to be reunited with her father and king of of the underworld.

Again and again, Ofelia turns to the challenges and promises of her fairy tale world for a sense of purpose and hope. If she can just pass the tests, she will live forever with her father. She will reign in a land of peace, without pain or terror. The hope of union with her father and a place among royalty enable her to persevere under the harshist of real-world suffering.

And so it is with the counter-story of the gospel of Christ. A story that facilitates, not escape but engagement. Like Ofelia, we are challenged to believe in the world to come, a kingdom in which we will reign with our father, a world without pain and filled with peace. A belief that motivates personal sacrifice, compassion, and love. The counter-story of the gospel offers us true power, hope and acceptance from a loving father in a never-ending, righteous kingdom, which is precisely why we can follow in Ofelia’s sacrificial footsteps. Unlike Ofelia’s fairly tale, however, our tale is no myth.