God is Creativty

I was challenged by Robert Mackenzie at the Simply Jesus Conference here in Calgary this weekend. We know God as creator and that he is creative. But imagine that God IS creativity.  God's first creative act was BEING. He didn't have to DO anything, he just IS. Made in God's image, we are creative. It is apart of our spiritual DNA.

Creativity is a way of connecting with God. Like a voltage of electricity pent up is in a creative state. When plugged into, creativity is released.

Thoughts to ponder.

I find Anna Devear Smith very intriguing. She is a phenomenal actress and impersonator. It's amazing how well she rehearses and portrays her characters. I also appreciate her voice on racism. In this TED talk below, pay special attention to the Koren shop owner that she portrays.

We Are Mennonite

We Are Mennonite, integrating faith and performing art into what I call "making schput." The video below is a group on non conservative mennonites making schput of their own faith or should I say culture. You see, Mennonites do not hold the baton on Anabaptist theology. There are many others that adhere to Anabaptist theology, but do not call themselves mennonites.  For some culture becomes its own performance. Don't get me wrong - this video is hilarious!

on again - off again

Leading into the Middle Ages, the church was the one to shut down the theatre in western society. Ironically, they were also the ones to restart it as a form of teaching bible stories. They created Mystery Cycles - plays performed on carts that travelled along a parade route. To an illerate population this served as an asset in retelling stories of the Bible. After subjects turn political in the heat leading up to the Prostestent Revolution, the church shuts it down again. History reveals that theatre has been an "all or nothing" acceptance for the church, an on again - off again relationship.

Why? Because!

As a child, I often recalling asking the "why" question repeatedly. After ten logical answers, the grandioso word "BECAUSE" would finally come out of frustration and a desire answering questions. If it was a more personal question, regarding why I need to obey, I would hear "BECAUSE I SAID SO!"

From my time in YWAM, I have focused so much energy on creating change. It's like I was creating my own answer to the "why" questions. I wanted a reason to do it as if I needed a sense of accomplishment, which is very self righteous thinking that I can do God's job. I need to do it BECAUSE. BECAUSE GOD SAID SO. I'm not to "fix." I'm to "be."

The Consequences of Ideas

I've just found a new book I'm entertaining: The Consequences of Ideas by R.C. Sproul. When teaching theatre history, I always try to examine the contents of the culture and the worldview that that culture is emminating. So, my curiousity was raised as I saw this book. Sproul covers Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Descartes, Locke, Hume, Kant, Marx, Kierkegaard; Nietzsche; Sartre, Darwin and Freud.

I'm looking forward to hear his argument.

19th Century Influence on the World

Today we discussed 19th century culture and the dominante philosophies and ideologies of the time. This was a difficult era for people of the Christian faith b/c their underlying foundations of their belifes were challenged with the writings of Karl Marx in The Communist Manifesto, of Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species, and of Sigmund Freud's psycho-analytical theroies.

Marx, moved by the unjustice that accompained the industrial revolution, wanted a utopian classless society. Darwin questioned the inconsistencies of science and the age of the universe, therefore shaking Christian foundation of the creation. His concept of "survival of the fittest" challenged the belief of the superiority of humans over animals, categorizing humans as animals.
Social Darwinism (not condoned by Darwin) took the theory to the Nth degreee, seeing natural selection as the founding ideology of anti-semitism. Freud followed Darwin's philosophy in that he posited the two innate drives of humans were to survive and to procreate. It is only with socialization that humans know how to "behave."

All three of these men wrote God out of the equation. I am not a philospher, a scientist, or psychologist. How can I rise to challenge these great men? If we are all made in the image of God, what part of God's image are these men reflecting (even if so small)? We can't be afraid to examine their works in fear that "our" gospel will be changed. Instead, we need to dig into the gospel to examine their work against the word of God. What fits? What doesn't? What isn't clear? Take it all with a grain of salt ... and for heaven sakes spit out the bad.