Join your hosts, Justus and Michael, as they field your questions and discuss your comments from two seasons of the Renew the Arts podcast. What was our most controversial episode? What’s so great about raw milk? Were we wrong about Tolkien? Stay tuned through the end to hear the lyrics-included version of the Season 2 theme song, “Sounding Brass,” by Civilized Creature from Of the Uncaused Cause.
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I just listened to this episode on the way home from work.
I was introduced to Renew the Arts by one of my friends, Rusty Hein, and I’ve been catching up on podcasts ever since.
As an author, I was really happy to hear you talk about the Lord of the Rings in a bit more detail and about some of the pitfalls of fiction. As well as chatting about Lacrae, who helped formed my voice as a Christian author who doesn’t write Christian Fiction. Just as he is a Christian who doesn’t make Christian music, as he so often talks about.
I wonder, I’m not sure if either of you have ever dabbled much in fiction writing, or if you are big fiction readers, but I would be very much interested to hear more thoughts on writing and books in your podcasts. As I came into the writing space as a Christian I was forced to face a lot of questions like how to handle violence, sex, swearing, and other sin issues, or pressures from the fiction community (which is increasingly liberal) about handling things like the LGBTQ community.
My own writing tends to be pretty “dark” and so there are a lot of Christians who feel uncomfortable reading it. And it also doesn’t always fit well into the secular space, though it is written for that audience, because I explore issues like personhood and abortion through fictional situations.
I’ve really loved listening to your podcast, because it addresses a lot of the issues I’ve had to face as a Christian writing fiction for a secular market.
Thankfully my church and particularly my pastor, are very supportive, but it’s still good to hear from other artists facing similar situations.
I’ve actually turned a few authors from the author collective I’m part of onto the podcast too. Anyway, if you guys were up to it, I’d love to hear more content in your podcasts on the subject of fiction from a Christian perspective. If you are at all interested, this is where I ended up landing… at least for now: http://www.jillanepurrazzi.com/non-fiction/2017/8/7/how-my-faith-informs-my-fiction
Thanks for commenting, Jill. I write and read fiction quite a bit, and I would love to talk about it more on the podcast. I am currently leading a poetry workshop for pastors-in-training. We’ll probably be posting videos of those sessions here soon, and many of the ideas I have shared there apply quite equally to any good creative writing. I think poetry is the root of good writing in any language, since it forms the basic building blocks of intentional, concrete communication. I’ll make sure to let you know when those become more widely available. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and your work and for being so supportive!
Hi! Thanks for your podcast. As a young christian artist I find it really helpful. 🙂
You mentioned Lecrae in this episode, that (to Michael) it seemed like he was headed to a crisis of faith. Have you listened to his most recent album though (All Things Work Together)? I would beg to differ. Check out this article on Lecrae by John Piper; it gives a much different perspective. 🙂
Thanks again and have a great day!
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2017/october-web-only/john-piper-lecrae-white-evangelicalism-gives-me-hope.html
Hi, Langston. Thanks for commenting. I think even Justus may have misunderstood what I meant by “crisis of faith” concerning Lecrae. I don’t mean that I think he is abandoning Christianity. I do think he is being forced into a position where he has to make a decision or judgment (the root of “crisis” is the Greek krinō—“to judge/decide”) concerning his identity with the church. I have listened to All Things Work Together quite a bit. It’s good, but it continues to show that Lecrae is being drawn into an antagonistic relationship with his critics. If the nearly exclusive focus of your work becomes negative (“against something”) rather than positive (“for something”), a crisis seems looming. This is more an “identity crisis” that I’m referring to, and it’s been developing since before Anomaly. I pray for Lecrae regularly, and I recommend you do as well. I know the powers of darkness would love nothing more than to derail his ministry and impact. Anyway, I really appreciate your input, and thanks for listening!