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Beauty is in the Eye of Which Beholder?

| March 17, 2015 | Arts & The Bible | 0 comments

beauty eye of beholder

This is the fifth installment in the “Whatever” series on a biblical view of the arts, drawn from Philippians 4:8. If you missed the last four articles, you can read them here: Whatever is True, Whatever is Honorable, Whatever is Just, and Whatever is Pure.

Whatever is Lovely

It would be easy to assume that no one needs instruction in what is lovely. Many consider this to be a matter of personal taste without any need for study, discipline, or assistance. This perspective is, however, not biblical. While no particular human aesthetic can claim to have a corner on loveliness, Paul would not have included this phrase in Philippians if loveliness were entirely arbitrary. If anything could be lovely depending only on your taste, what would be the point of directing people to lovely things? We already like what we think is lovely—no instruction or commandment required.

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2015 Dinner and Artist Showcase

| January 28, 2015 | News | 0 comments

2015 Artist Showcase

Dear friends,

With great joy and anticipation, we cordially invite you to the Nehemiah Foundation for Cultural Renewal’s very first Dinner and Artist Showcase!

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Support Our New Kickstarter: Fiery Crash – In Clover

| January 10, 2015 | News | 0 comments

Kickstarter In Clover thicker letters

The Nehemiah Foundation for Cultural Renewal has completed recording and mixing our sixth studio album: In Clover by Fiery Crash, and we need your help to get it out into the world.

Visit the Fiery Crash In Clover Kickstarter page to watch the video, read the story, hear some clips, and pledge your support. Unless we reach our entire goal by January 18, this project will go entirely unfunded. We have a little over a week left, and we are just over halfway there.

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Review: Zach Winters – Monarch

| January 5, 2015 | Reviews | 0 comments

Zach Winters Monarch

And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (1 Kings 19:11-12; KJV)

In its best moments, Monarch, by Zach Winters, effortlessly creates silence. That music can create silence is one of many paradoxes you are going to have to get used to if you want to get to know this record. In the violence and foment of our instantaneous age, there are few things more alien than quality silence and intentional waiting. In all the hot noise of our weird, wired, wide, webbed world—noise which we often mistake for information and connectedness—our inner ears have become accustomed to ignoring the still small voice of God.

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Has God Really Called You to be an Artist?

| December 8, 2014 | Arts & The Bible | 11 comments

Calling in Your Ear header

Renew the Arts is regularly asked how we decide which Christian artists we support. Our criteria are actually quite inclusive:

  1. You profess Christ as your Savior and your life does not obviously contradict that profession.
  2. You believe you are called by God to be an artist or artisan.
  3. We believe your art is not likely to be served by the current art market.
  4. We believe we are able to provide something to you that you can’t provide yourself (e.g., production assistance, studio space, materials, etc.).

If you meet those four criteria and you want our assistance, we will do everything we can to support you in the way we think will best serve your art, benefit the church at large, and steward our limited resources.

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Does Artistic Purity Ever Demand Vulgarity?

| November 24, 2014 | Arts & The Bible | 2 comments

the crucifixion pixelated header

This is the fourth installment in the “Whatever” series on a biblical view of the arts, drawn from Philippians 4:8. If you missed the last three articles, you can read them here: Whatever is True, Whatever is Honorable, and Whatever is Just.

Whatever is Pure: Set Apart Art

Something pure (ἁγνός hagnos) is set apart or holy; such a thing is “free from ceremonial defilement.” This word indicates two main things about Christ-honoring art: it should not glory in sin, and it should not be tainted by unbiblical worldviews.

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