One of the ideas I’ve grappled with over the years is, What is Christian art?  I mean, what makes an artistic expression like music or drama or dance uniquely Christian?  What does that term mean anyway?  And I’ve come to the conclusion that it isn’t necessarily anything that has Christian symbolism or religious themes or doves and crosses.  More than anything, Christian art must begin to reflect the overarching story of God, the Meta-Narrative, that God is in the process of redeeming that which has fallen, that which He had created, that which He loves.

The story of all that is, is the story of God.  He is writing this story, which goes like this: Creation, Fall, Redemption.  All of history, all of the Bible, all of what was and is and will be, reflects this three act play of Creation, Fall, and Redemption, that God is writing in the universe.

But that’s not all.  He writes this story in our souls as well.  For all of us have our own stories, our own vignettes of how God’s grace has saved us, changes us.  And our stories enter into His larger story of the redemption of the universe.

He served two terms as President. Many historians consider him the greatest of American leaders. A tall, white, landowner from Virginia. Impeccable credentials, but a couple of serious issues. Liaisons with “other women.” Well, we are kind of used to that by now. A supporter of slavery. Hmmm, that’s a real problem. An owner of slaves? This is . . . troubling. Created his own version of the Bible by cutting out all the miracles, leaving the moral lessons to be read among the gaping holes in the pages. That could be a problem. Founded the University of Virginia and insisted that a chapel would not be allowed on the campus. Unlike the other universities in the United States, his would be the first to have a library as the center, instead of a chapel. Knowledge instead of God. Interesting. A deist, slave-owning landowner from Virginia. Yes, this is Thomas Jefferson and one of our “founding fathers.”

I've been working on a series of talks on prayer that I am developing for a future prayer-centered retreat. The talks can be summariazed in eight points, but each point can also be its own message. The topic of prayer is rich and extensive, with lots of room for scripture study, interpretation, personal experiences and mystery.

For the next little while, I'd like to seek input from my Conversant Life friends. I want to learn from your experiences! Please use the comments section to share your thoughts on prayer as I put forth the aspects of prayer I'm exploring in this series.

CULTIVATING A LIFE OF PRAYER (PART 1): "PRAYER SHOULD BE PRIVATE"

Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck could be my favorite new writers.  I loved Why We're Not Emergent: By Two Guys Who Should Be, I really enjoy everything DeYoung writes on his blog, and when they write paragraphs like this I can't help but cheer out loud like a fruitcake. 

"Perhaps Christians are leaving the church because it isn't tolerant and open-minded. But perhaps the church-leavers have their own intolerance too--intolerant of tradition, intolerant of authority, intolerant of imperfection except their own. Are you open-minded enough to give the church a chance--a chance for the church to be the church, not a coffee shop, not a mall, not a variety show, not Chuck E. Cheese, not a U2 concert, not a nature walk, but a wonderfully ordinary, blood-bought, Spirit-driven church with pastors, sermons, budgets, hymns, bad carpet and worse coffee?"

I sat down with my friend Seeran recently to talk a bit about a trip she took to Turkey. Thoughts of reconciliation came to mind for me as we spoke. Specifically these verses from Corinthians,

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

Pilgrimages have a long history. And it’s not always about reflection and solitude. When Geoffrey Chaucer’s pilgrims went to visit the tomb of the slain archbishop, I’m sure someone in the group stopped along the way to buy a refrigerator magnet with the words I CANTERED TO CANTERBURY.

I’ve been on an extended vacation three thousand miles from home, and I’ve learned that tourists come in all persuasions. At Mount Vernon, we met a junior high school group taking a whirlwind tour of the East Coast. While one young man was finding himself enlightened by the history of his forefathers, another was trying to poke chewing gum through the cracks in Washington’s livery stable for the hell of it. Go figure. Traveling for some is a chance to embrace self-discovery and for others, it’s a chance to be familiarly stupid in a beautiful new location.

Mike Foster is the co-author of “Deadly Viper Character Assassins” and blogs at www.DeadlyViper.org  You can follow his thoughts on life and leadership at Twitter.com/mikefoster 

woe to those who justify unfaithfulness to the Church: will we be committed to the gathered people of God?

This is not about taking time to find a spiritual home in a new city or a new season.

Nor is this about house churches or centralization or institutions or organized religion or appreciating the diversity of the Body of Christ...

This is about cultivating a lifestyle of being spiritually transient.

This is about going from dessert to dessert, rarely sticking around for the main meal let alone the clean-up. This is about traveling from this worship experience to that creative teaching to this fresh community and that vulnerable small group...always grazing, never planting. 

Why? Reasons abound. The church is sickly here, ingrown there, out of touch, filled with hypocrites...We can appreciate God anywhere...We don't need to belong to a church to worship God...