Henri Matisse and the Nuns of Vence

It's been a while, but I'm back after finding an interesting new inspiration...from my job as an art teacher, no less...

I read my students several books about great artists by an author named Laurence Anholt.  I have read to them about Vincent van Gogh (my favorite artist), Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Mary Cassatt, and others, but really raised my eyebrows by recently sharing Matisse:  The King of Color.  I didn't know a whole lot about Matisse, and didn't really hold him as one of my favorite artists, not in the least.  The story, though, verges on the spiritual, due to the circumstances of the story, which is by the way true.

It concerns Matisse's last years as he was recovering from cancer surgery.  He required a nurse much of the time, and befriended a young nurse who became a Dominican Nun in Vence, France.  When Matisse learned that the nuns of Vence had no chapel in which to worship, he helped design and finance one for the nuns.  While his abstract, modern style wasn't popular with all the nuns there, the resulting Chapelle du Rosaire has become a work of art that Matisse claimed to be his masterpiece, as well as a working house of worship.

After sharing the story, from the art point of view, to several classes, I decided to research the story more.  I found that the nuns have a website, so I emailed them (in English) if they had any resources for me.  Through the course of several emails, which eventually morphed into the French language, I ordered a small book, which arrived today by way of snailmailbox.  

I just read it, and am amazed at how every single aspect of the design of the church was planned to intentionally lead the worshippers to Jesus and what He did for us on the cross.  I had never been able to correlate much modern art with Christianity, and frankly much of it flies in the face of our faith, but this story really has moved me.  I would love to visit the little chapel, although I know I probably never will.  I have truly enjoyed learning about the story of Matisse and these simple nuns, though.

90 Minutes in Heaven

For part 2 of my sermon series on heaven, I'm speaking on the book 90 Minutes in Heaven by Pastor Don Piper.  While this book is very, very different from last week's, Heaven Is For Real, it delivers some interesting ideas about the afterlife and the life we live here.  This book follows the story of a man who was apparently declared dead for a period of about ninety minutes, during which he got his first taste of heaven.  His experiences there were much different from little Colton Burpo in last week's book, but similar in some important ways too.

I recommend this book to our church folks, too, but doubt it will take off in the same way Heaven Is For Real did amongst our flock.  That little yellow book is still making the rounds through Drennon, being passed from parishioner to parishioner, far into extended families.  

I'm not getting ready to read our third and final book for this series, The Boy Who Came Back from Heaven. This one comes once again from a child's perspective, so I'm hoping it will speak to me kind of like the first one did.  Regardless, it's been a joy to see the members of our little church share a common enthusiasm about Christian books.

Heaven Is For Real

This new book is such a blessing.  I heard about it from a parishioner, who referred it to me on a Sunday and then spoke about it to the whole group at our Wednesday night Bible study.  The word spread like wildfire, and now a pretty good sized bunch of Drennonites has read it.

The book concerns a preschooler who apparently has a heavenly experience while on the operating table.  The descriptions of heaven that the little boy shares are spot-on when compared to Scripture.  It's amazing that this little boy had this experience, a little boy who couldn't read and had no reason to share these experiences.

I recommend this book to anyone and everyone, and hope that the discussions in our church grow more and more, and that this thirst for reading Christian literature spreads through the congregation.

Acts 11

This week I'm speaking on Acts 11, the passage of Scripture in which Peter explains his vision of animals, including some that were at that time ceremonially unclean.  He is told to arise, kill and eat.  His response and the explanation he gets serve as the foundation for sending Christ's message of love out to the gentiles.  The world forever changed with that vision, as now the message of Jesus was not only reserved for the Jews but for all.  Love all equally, because He does.

Friday I saw such evidence of this in the experiences I had throughout the day.  In the morning, the team of teachers with whom I work went to a neighboring school to observe some really cool teaching ideas.  While there, I saw a sign on the wall that said "Respect Others and Their Differences."  I immediately snapped a picture on my phone to use on Sunday, because I thought it was so appropriate.

When I returned to school I spoke to the substitute teacher who had filled in for me that morning.  I asked how things had gone, working with the extremely messy clay I'd been teaching the past several weeks.  He told me that the first thing that had happened was that a boy had come into the classroom and handed him an adult-sized apron, which made his day.  I knew exactly which boy this was, because he did the same thing for me a few days prior.  He's what might be referred to as a "special" child, and this small expression he made toward a stranger, with no other reason than to be helpful, really touched me.  This little boy just sees a need and takes care of it, with no reward expected.

The final big thing I'd seen Friday was when my wife Harriet and I went out to a special Valentine's dinner.  She had seen an ad the day before in the Henry County Local (where our church is) that advertised a special sweetheart's dinner at a small restaurant/antique shop.  It was located in a remote little town a few miles past our church, which is in a pretty remote spot itself.  I called on Thursday night to make a reservation, and then when we arrived Friday night the Mom-n-Pop that ran the place treated us like special guests.  I believe we were the only non-regulars there, so perhaps we were the only ones that benefited from their ad.  We loved the dinner and had a great time in this tiny, quiet town on the Kentucky River.  After we finished eating, we were browsing the antiques shop, when a two-man bluegrass band came in.  The mandolin player happened to be a pastor from our capital city, Frankfort.  Our hostess described him as looking like Moses, which I guess he did.

These random experiences touched me Friday, and confirmed to me that the Scripture that drew me in for the week was the exact right one.  I had seen a written confirmation of the concept posted on a school wall, then had heard of one of my students--a special needs student--welcoming my substitute, then had been treated very hospitably by complete strangers in a locale that wouldn't be called glamorous by most.  I felt humbled and blessed.

The King's Speech

I've been going on and on lately about the new version of True Grit, and will continue to do so.  As a connoisseur of all things Western, movies, books, travel, etc., I think it's one of the best and an overdue and welcome addition to the history of Western movies.  When the Oscar nominations came out, I was thrilled to see that it garnered ten nominations.  Hopefully it would win at least a couple, maybe even Best Picture.

The only movie that received more nominations, and maybe more Oscar buzz was The King's Speech, a British period piece about the struggles King George VI had with his speech impediment.  I had never known about this story from history, but love a good British movie.  My wife and I just finished watching the first season on Downton Abbey on PBS Masterpiece Classic last Sunday night, so we were going through British movie withdrawal.  Harriet came up with the idea of going to see The King's Speech last night, and it was fantastic.

You can tell from the first couple of minutes that the movie was going to be special, with the music, the detail and most of all with Colin Firth's amazing performance as this tortured man.  It's hard for "commoners" such as ourselves to find sympathy with the royals, but this man Bertie, also known as King George VI, struggled all his life with the demons of growing up scared, repressed, timid and underconfident.  The crisis reared its ugly head when the radio came into being, requiring the royals to appear over the "wireless", giving speeches and goodwill messages to the people of Britain and the world.  With a terrible speech impediment, this was horrible news for Bertie.

Without giving the movie away, I have to say this is an incredibly moving film that I would recommend to all.  The R rating comes from the fact that Bertie and his speech pathologist, Lionel Logue, use curse words to help Bertie be able to speak more freely and confidently.  Those instances of cursing are the entire reason for the R rating.  No violence, no nudity, no carousing, nothing more than the cursing and the themes of the movie concerning family crises and impending war.

I mention this in a Christian blog because I think the movie is very cathartic, very purging for anyone who struggles with something deep down inside, such as the king's stuttering.  The church plays a role in the movie, since the king is the head of the English church, since Bertie's brother abdicates the throne due to his marrying against the church's teachings and wishes, since the pivotal coronation scene takes place in Westminster Abbey, and since the Archbishop of Canterbury is one of the main characters in the film (although he doesn't exactly prove to be a very positive character).  Christian or not explicitly, the themes of The King's Speech are very Christian at their core.  If you can stand to hear the cursing, which comes off hilariously in this movie, go see it and fell the inner triumph of Bertie's coming to grips with his problem.

Lump

A few years ago while my family was attending Northeast Christian Church in the Louisville area, we saw an incredible ten-minute video called "Lump," by a pastor named Rob Bell.  We were in some sort of Sunday School class, I believe, and this video served as the discussion starter.  I have seen the video a couple of times since, and each time it has really impacted me in the way I deal with my kids, specifically my son.  The video concerns a situation Rob encounters with his son, and serves as an example of God's unending love for us.  I plan to show the video this Sunday at Drennon Christian Church, and hope it will prove as impacting to our congregation as it always has to me.  All of Rob Bell's videos, including "Lump," can be found (with Spanish subtitles!) on YouTube.

Holy Relics: This Time Paul's Chains

As I was preparing for this week's message I wanted to speak about "Why Be a Christian?"  A great Scripture passage for that question comes from Paul's conversation with King Agrippa in Acts 26.  Paul tells the king exactly how and why he became a Christian, and very nearly converts Agrippa, from the infamous line of Herod, on the spot.

Doing research on the text and the theme I came across mentions of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome, where Paul's remains lie (except for his head, which is kept at another church nearby--he was beheaded, you know).  Here the church has guarded relics of Paul's life and work, including the chains with which he was bound while he was in Rome during his final couple of years on earth.  I find it fascinating that historical remnants such as these are still available to be seen by our naked eyes, straight from the Bible.  I may never visit Rome, or Turkey, or Greece, or especially the Holy Land, but through the wonders of technology I can see items such as these, which once again validate and confirm my faith.  

I don't need these relics for my belief, but I love finding them.  Now, if those Christian Chinese explorers can get on with their next expedition to their location on Mt. Ararat and give us more on Noah's Ark...

Going My Way

Harriet and I just had the wonderful opportunity to watch a movie together on this snow day.  I had first stumbled upon Going My Way, starring Bing Crosby in 1944, about a year or so ago.  I was flipping channels late one night and went to the Trinity Channel.  The movie had already begun and was well into itself, but I absolutely loved what I saw of the remaining hour and a half or so.

I ordered it on Amazon.com lately and just got around to watching it lately.  Bing plays a young priest who is assigned to a struggling church in order to help the elderly minister, unbeknownst to the older priest.  The movie is a beautiful testament to Christian humility, and lives are transformed all around Bing's Father O'Malley.  This movie is a true inspiration to me, and was a tear jerker several times (in a good way).  I would recommend it to audiences of all ages, as it is, naturally in 1944, clean as a whistle and simply beautiful.

Noah's Ark Found?

Now that I have figured out how to post videos to this blog, I have to put up the video from the Chinese expedition team that explored a site on Mt. Ararat a little over a year ago.  The visited a manmade structure buried in the ice at around 13-14,000 feet up, complete with all sorts of rooms and chambers, some even including straw on the floors.  The construction fits with what is known about ancient times, and is far above livable altitude.

I continue to check the website of this team periodically, hoping that I will hear more.  Where it stands now is that they are currently putting together a new expedition team for a return visit this coming summer.

What a great find it would be for the world to be able to see and study Noah's Ark.

The Real Face of Jesus?

My wife and I watched an incredible special the other day from The History Channel.  I always take these sorts of specials with a grain of salt, because there have been some real "winners" amongst their so-called Christian documentaries.  Probably the silliest I've seen was one of theirs concerning Noah's Ark, which degenerated into a speculative mess that completely undermined the Ark story, but without much substance to back up their analysis.

This special, though, which apparently first aired in March last year, concerned analysis by scientists of the Shroud of Turin.  Of course the Shroud itself is controversial, with most folks dismissing it as a hoax.  I myself like to think about the possible authenticity of it, especially since the definitive carbon-14 dating performed on the Shroud has been thrown into very serious doubt due to slipshod methods.  So much documentation over the past two millenia points to a Shroud existing and passing from church to church, country to country, ever since the time of Jesus' death and resurrection.

This special explores just how such an image could exist on a piece of cloth that is at the very least seven hundred years old and quite possibly two thousand.  Not only do the scientists and theologians involved leave the viewers with the conclusion that they have no idea how this sort of image could occur on cloth, at any point in history, unless it was a divine act such as the Resurrection of Jesus, but it also uses modern technology to show just what the person shown in the Shroud would actually look like.

The picture above is from their findings.  Is this the real face of Jesus?  There is really no way we could ever know, here at least.  I sure do enjoy the possibilities, though.  Below I have attached a video showing the image from the Shroud transforming into a possible Image of Jesus.

The Pursuit of God

Yesterday we were listening to Chip Ingram on 94.7 FM, Christian Talk Radio.  Chip was preaching on reading great books, specifically great Christian writings.  The first author he mentioned really learning from was the great pastor and writer, A. W. Tozer.  A couple of his most famous books were The Knowledge of the Holy and The Pursuit of God.  Since I love all things iPhone, I looked Tozer up to see if there were any apps.  I downloaded The Pursuit of God and started reading it today.  The first chapter alone was enough to draw me in, as Tozer wrote about "Following Hard after God," which was his chapter title.

We as Christians must truly follow hard after God.  Even when we're trying hard to worship in a body of believers, study, pray and read the Scriptures, at times we don't really follow hard after God.  Tozer wrote about truly making God our focus, in which case nothing else matters quite as much as serving Him in all aspects of our lives.  When we live our lives focused on Him, everything else is viewed through a much better lens.

I look forward to reading more of Tozer's book on my iPhone, and learning better how to follow hard after God...