andrew dodson

I found this on Justin Taylor’s blog and it really hits home with me. Sort of shapes how I should view my work as a graphic artist.

1. Christian artists should view their talent as a gift from God and see its use ultimately as worship to God.
2. A Christian artist should have a sober assessment of his gift and neither
   over-estimate the opportunities it should given him or undervalue the
   contribution he can make with it.
3. The most authentic Christian art results from our joy in Christ overflowing
   into Christian art, not our strategies to do art that is Christian.
4. Creating art is an expression of faith and obedience, not of compulsion or identity.
5. The Christian artist should see his art as a way to love God, his people, and the world.
6. The Christian Artist sees the sovereign hand of God in both his opportunities and his obstacles.
7. The Christian artist is committed to truth in the way he lives and what he creates.
8. While the Christian artist is under no burden to make all of his art
   explicitly Christian, it would be an unbiblical use of his gift to
   intentionally create a body of work without reference to Christ.
9. The Christian artist rejects the worldly concept of artist as an outsider
   and embraces his place among God’s people in the local church as
   essential to his life and gifting.
10. The Christian artist should not ignore his personal responsibility to evaluate the theological soundness of his work.
11. Because the Christian artist trusts God, he will battle selfish ambition,
    competition, and any pretense of entitlement in regard to his art.
12. The Christian artist will see the evaluation of others as an essential help
    in both growing in their art and assessing its fruitfulness.
13. The Christian artist will resist elitism and care about the accessibility
    of his art to the average Christian in the congregation
14. The Christian artist must never confuse the joy of creativity with the joy of knowing and pleasing God.

There he goes, again. That John Piper guy is getting all literal on us, telling us that we should just throw our ESV away and go back to the KJV.

I’m really, really kidding. But, it’s an interesting word-study. He says:

The following meditation comes from my devotional lingering over Psalm
96:7. All the modern versions translate it, “Ascribe to the
Lord…strength” (ESV, NIV, NASB). Only the KJV renders it with the
literal, “Give unto the Lord…strength.”

There’s nothing unusual about this Hebrew word “give” (yahab). It’s used over sixty times in the Old Testament in all the ordinary ways the word give is used.

The word ascribe in Psalm 96:7 is an interpretation. It’s
a paraphrase. It’s a good interpretation, I think, but, as with all
paraphrases, it short circuits our reflection. But for me,
full-circuited reflection is where my soul gets its best food. So I am
glad I spent the summer of 1969 with William LaSor learning Hebrew.

That’s just a highlight. If you want, you can go read the whole article.

Howdy y’all (That’s Kentucky for “hello”).  It’s Derby Week here in the Bluegrass, and to be honest, I don’t care that much.  I always hate to say “I’m busy” because everyone is busy this day and time, but that would be more true right now than any other.  Seems like spring time is always my busiest time of the year.

I’m working on several recordings right now.  I recorded a southern gospel concert a couple of weeks ago, so I’m moving on to the mixing stage of that project.  I recorded last week’s Georgetown College Symphonic Band concert.  That recording should be wrapped up this weekend, since it was just a few mics.  Mixing will go quickly on that.  But, I turn around on Sunday to record the Central Kentucky Concert Band’s spring concert.  On top of all this, I’m beginning the process of picking songs for The Point’s first worship album.  It’s really more of a glorified “bootleg” concept.  I plan on recording all the services from now on, and every few months, making a low-budget CD of 10-12 songs.  I’ll manufacture all of them myself in small runs of about 100.  It’ll mostly be a good outreach tool, I think.  We’ll see.

I’ve been digging in to some new graphic design techniques as of late.  I’m a self-trained artist, so I still have a lot to learn.  Mostly, I’ve been digging into Photoshop a bit more to create stuff for web and print.  The majority of my time is usually spent in Illustrator designing shirts.  But, I’m doing more graphic work for The Point these days, and I’m looking to expand BADmedia some more.  So, I think learning more in Photoshop will help.  Mostly, I’ve been playing around with new brushes and the like to create the ever-so-popular grunge and distressed looks that are “all the rage” right now.  I feel like I’m jumping on the bandwagon, but I’m learning new stuff, so that’s always good.

I’m not doing a whole lot of web stuff for the time being, but I think that will change as I move into the summer months.  I have a few sites in desperate need of redesigns, and as mentioned, I’m working on getting some more clients.  I’ve struck up a small partnership with another local business that might lead to some new web clients.  More on that to come.

Tonight was PCG night, and our group went through the study fairly quickly.  It was a good study and I think we were all surprised that we hammered through it in under an hour.  So, I find myself with some free time that I don’t normally have.  Hence, this novel of a blog post.  I’m off to enjoy the rest of the evening…

I was sitting here reading the blog of a pastor from a local church.  I started thinking about how I agree with this pastor’s beliefs on the Bible and his theological leanings.  I then started wondering if his congregation agreed with him.  This led me to a question.

I wonder if they know if they agree with him or not?

Sadly, my best guess is the majority of his congregation doesn’t know if they agree with him or not.  Not because he’s a good or bad preacher.  It’s because they haven’t searched the Scriptures themselves to know what they believe.  I feel like this is the biggest problem with emergent churches and churches where false gospels are taught.  The members of the churches aren’t discerning enough to line up the pastor’s teaching with Scripture.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again.  Being a Christian is like being a politician.  We have to know what we believe on EVERY issue and be able to contend for our faith.  Would you vote for a Presidential candidate without first knowing their stance on certain issues?  Would you walk into the ballot booth with a blindfold on and start pushing buttons?  I would hope not!

Why then, are churches alright with sitting under a pastor’s preaching and not knowing if they agree with him or not?  I truly feel that if members of Joel Osteen’s church cracked the Bible open for themselves and started seeing its truths, they’d begin to see the problems with his message.  Too many Christians are alright with accepting what the pastor says as truth, without searching it out for themselves.

My advice?  First, read your Bible - more than on Sunday morning or Wednesday night.  Second, start asking yourself questions and searching for the answers in Scripture (What do I think about homosexuality?  Is drinking a sin?  What does the Bible say about tithing?).  Third, ask your pastor what he (emphasis on “he” - if it’s a “she,” you might want to look into what Scripture says about that!) thinks about these issues.  Do you agree with him?  Does he back his answers up with specific references to Scripture?  If you disagree, talk about your differences.  Are they Biblically based, or based on opinion or feelings?  It should be pointed out that you don’t have to have 100% agreement on every issue.  But, there are certain truths that must be agreed upon for unity in the church.

The answers to some of these questions might determine if you stay at that church or start looking for a new church.  Or, maybe the pastor is in the wrong and it’s time to round up enough church support to send him packing (based on Biblical principles, of course).  This is a very important issue to me.  I’m thankful that I’m part of a church that I know my pastor well and know he preaches Biblical truth.

This post comes from the April 24th entry of Faith Alone: A Daily Devotional by Martin Luther (James C. Galvin, General Editor).

Genesis 25:20

20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife.

Isaac was forty years old before he got married.  In those forty years, he undoubtedly experienced periods of frustration and fiery passion because of his physical desires.  A person’s physical desires are at war with the spiritual nature.  Yet Isaac was obedient to his father, Abraham, who taught him how to meditate on God’s commands and promises in the battle against his sinful nature.  Later on, God gave Rebekah to Isaac as his wife, and they lived together in harmony.

There is a lesson buried in this passage:  Isaac is a great example to young people of a person who abstains from sex before marriage.  This is an important subject, because all young people have to face this battle.  Isaac’s purity and moral integrity are clear indications of the way he was raised.  His father taught him to avoid bad friends.  Isaac meditated on God’s promises, prayed, and did useful work.  Though not specifically state in the text, it’s safe to assume that he diligently dedicated himself to mediation and prayer during the first forty years of his life when he wasn’t yet married.

But some might say, “Waiting for marriage is unbearable and aggravating!”  They’re right.  it’s very similar to other difficulties requiring patience that believers must face, such as fasting, imprisonment, cold, sickness, and persecution.  Lust is a serious burden.  You must resist it and fight against it.  But after you have overcome it through prayer, lust will have caused you to pray more and grow in faith.

More and more, we’re being bombarded with the idea of “going green.”  Eco-friendly products are becoming more and more available.  The process of making products is becoming more and more eco-friendly, as well.  With all of the fuss about going green, I wonder where God comes into play?

First, I must admit, I’m not an environmentalist.  But, I’m also not an anti-environmentalist.  I sit on the fence.  I don’t litter, and to my knowledge, my vehicle is the only not-so-environmentally-friendly product I use.  I don’t recycle, personally, but we do recycle cans at CLS (for a person we know - not an employee - that uses them to help pay her bills).  I’m supportive of our city’s recycling program (which I don’t participate in, only because I don’t own a home).  My guess is, if I researched my lifestyle in relation to environmentalism, I’m not doing all that I could to help the environment.

The story of Genesis tells of how God created the earth.  We also see in Scripture that God reveals himself through creation.  Scripture also tells of God’s sovereignty over the earth.

Part of me hears all of this fuss over going green and thinks it’s a futile human attempt to prolong the life of the earth.  Since God is sovereign, it’s up to Him, not us.  Another part of me thinks that since God did create the earth, we need to be good stewards of it, just like we are to be good stewards of our money.  All good things come from Him.  Another part of me is excited about the growing use of organic products to create things we use every day.  It’s like we’ve finally realized that what God created is sufficient for our every day needs.

Where do you sit?  Is Earth Day like Christmas for you?  Or, do you not care?

I’m happy to recommend a new blog by a somewhat new friend - John Martin (not to be confused with Josh, and no relation).  John and I go back to February of 2006 when I was considering buying an electronic drum set.  My boss recommended I speak with a guy who used to rent a house from him.  So, I called and met up with John at Memorial Baptist Church and he sold me on the Yamaha DTXpress III Special.  Since then, I’ve had occasional contact with him through CLS and church activities.  Recently, he joined us (some guys from The Point and me) on a trip to Seattle, so I’ve gotten to know him better in the last few months.  I learned about his blog earlier this week, but I’m just getting around to linking to it.

John is a great guy in this order - He loves the Lord, he loves his family, is a great husband and father, he faithfully serves his church as a pastor, and he is a great drummer & musician.  Go read his blog.

I normally like to get the bad news first, but in this case, I’ll give you the good news.  Here’s a wrap up of the latest from the Josh Martin Band.

Good News

Josh and Christy Martin are going to have a baby!  Josh had told me a few months ago that they were trying, and it has finally happened.  So, congrats to them.  Keep them in your prayers that Christy’s pregnancy will go well, and that they’ll be blessed with a healthy, happy baby.  She is due in December, which is also the month of Josh’s birthday.  And my mom.  And Jesus.  So, some pretty cool people were born in December.

The JMB is also working on new material.  Still no plans to record anytime soon, as we’re still working on making the songs sound like songs.  So far, we’ve just sort of hammered through chord progressions on a few new songs.  The next step is coming up with interesting parts to make them sound unique.  It’s a cool process, because it’s the first time we’ve actually written the music to the songs as a band.  They definitely have a different feel than our previous songs.

Bad News

We have, like, zero gigs lined up for this year.  If anyone out there would like us to come and play, let us know!

The really bad news is that we’re losing a member.  Bert Lace has decided to leave the band.  We’re going to miss him!  His family has decided to adopt from a foreign country, and that is one of the reasons for him leaving the band.  He also stays very busy with Cedarmore and Crossings.  Considering his reasons for leaving the band are to glorify God through his family and occupation, I can only be happy for him and wish him the best

(These types of posts always worry me a little bit.  I never know what the reaction will be - it could go either way.  I could be seen in a negative light, or plenty of people might agree.  But, I’m interested in your opinion.  Feel free to post a comment!)

I was driving on the interstate a couple of days ago.  I looked over to the side of the road and saw three small crosses planted in the grass - a memorial to crash victims, no doubt.  As I continued my drive, I started thinking about the idea of putting a cross where someone has died to honor their memory and the place of their death.  Sometimes, people just use a stake.  Others, a ribbon around a tree.  I’m sure there are more ideas that have been used.

Should we use a cross as a symbolic memorial of someone’s death?  I’m not trying to sound insensitive with this post, I promise.  I’m just not sure we should use a cross.

Here’s my reasoning:  This past Easter revealed to me how much Jesus’ death on the cross has come to mean to me.  I don’t take it lightly anymore.  The cross is huge to Christianity.  It has become the universal symbol of Christianity.  Even though a person’s death may be tragic, no one’s life or death accomplished what Jesus accomplished through the cross.

Part of me says, if I were to die, I would like to be remembered with a cross.  I would want people to know I was a Christian.  But, another part of me says I haven’t endured what Jesus endured - I wouldn’t deserve a cross as a memorial.  In fact, I’ve done plenty to deserve the cross as a punishment.  If it were up to me, I wouldn’t feel worthy to be remembered with a cross.

What do you think?