“Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned (forsaken) me?” Mark 15:34
Matt Durbin (c) 2010
mattdurbinart.com
Fear
I taste the juice of forbidden fruit
dripping from Adam’s mouth.
[Jesus] said to [Mary], “Dear woman, here is your son.” And he said to this disciple, “Here is your mother.” John 19:26
Matt Durbin (c) 2010
mattdurbinart.com
Mary at the Cross
I am not old. A bewildered mother
since conception who stored up
each moment. Now I will recall
the way you reached for me, a babe,
“I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
Matt Durbin (c) 2010
mattdurbinart.com
Note: the broken way in which this poem is formatted is purposeful. Imagine the broken, jagged breath of the criminal on the cross next to Jesus… gasping for every breath… just to simply form sentences.
Breath
Jesus, why are you
up here
with me, why
is our blood
mixing with dirt,
why do our lungs Continue reading
“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34
Matt Durbin (c) 2014
mattdurbinart.com
The People Stood Watching
Come, see a man who told me everything
I ever did. A man who healed my eyes,
fed me bread he multiplied, poured my cup
of wine, washed my feet, called me out
Several years ago our church creative arts ministry offered an event called “7” — a self-directed art-walk focusing on the last seven words of Christ spoken from the cross. Similar to a prayer-walk, an art-work utilizes art to help you prayerfully meditate while walking through a series of stations. There were seven stations and at each was a banner with the words of Christ, a poem by author and poet Sarah M. Wells, and a painting by artist Matt Durbin.
We will be re-creating a “virtual” version of “7” through the Create-A-Day posts with poetry by Sarah and artwork by Matt paired with songs. Our hope is that these posts will prepare your hearts for Resurrection Sunday, help you consider the cost of Christ’s priceless gift, and worship Jesus more deeply during this blessed season. Continue reading
The Stations of the Cross (or the Via Dolorosa), often done on Good Friday, represent a spiritual and physical pilgrimage to commemorate the Passion of Christ. Most often practiced in Roman Catholic Churches, today I will refer you to “The Cross as Journey: The Stations of the Cross for Protestant Worship” by Dennis Bratcher. The article provides historical description and background material, as well as a simple Service of Worship with preparations, supply list, the liturgy and song suggestions.
Creative Lenten Worship is a blog with creative worship ideas for the Lenten season, Holy Week, and Easter for pastors, worship leaders and creative arts teams. There are ideas for decorating your altar space for worship (with photos), as well as a reading for four voices for communion. There are also ideas for visual reminders such as Lenten nail pocket reminders and bags with thirty pieces of silver for family devotions. Instructions included for everything offered.
Need some fresh ideas for Easter at your church or for your ministry? Here’s a list of Creative Worship Settings and Elements from The Worship Closet: The Place for Creative Worship Ideas. It also includes ideas for Mission Projects. Lots of great ideas! Happy hunting!
worshipcloset.com
Want to make Easter something more than just another commercialized holiday for the children in your life or the children you serve in your ministry? Want to make Easter about Jesus? Then check out Christ-Centered Easter Ideas for Families from Erika {sweeting} Dawson. She has links to ideas and devotionals and crafts and books and more! She’s sifted past the springtime Pinterest posts and found creative resources centered on Jesus!
erikadawson.com
From now until Good Friday, I will be posting resources and inspiration geared towards Easter. Perhaps you or church will be inspired to do something creative to help others experience the breadth and depth of the Easter season.
Journey to the Cross is an interactive prayer walk focusing on the stations of the cross. It was done by the worship arts ministry of Level Ground Mennonite Church in Abbotsford, BC. The entire service with participant directions, readings, audio and video walk-through instructions is posted on rethink worship.com. If you’ve ever wanted to do Stations of the Cross but wasn’t sure where to start, everything is all laid out for you.
Easter Devotional and Creative Prompt (i.e., Challenge)
We are two weeks into Lent; Easter is only a month away. It’s important to journey through this season intentionally with your heart open to what the Holy Spirit has for you creatively. So take a deep breath, saying a prayer of openness, and move ahead letting Him move you as you read…
As you read the passage below, imagine the scene as part of a larger drama unfolding. Think of the setting (Ancient Israel; very early in the morning at sunrise; Springtime, chill still in the air), the plot (Mary finds tomb empty; brings Peter and John to investigate; they find it as she reported; the body of Jesus is missing), the characters (Mary Magdalene, angels, Jesus) and the dialogue (try to hear it as you read). Continue reading
Prophetic minister John Paul Jackson passed away February 18th after an eight-month battle with cancer. In memory of this fine man, I want to refer you to this video of Jackson reading 365 “I Am” names of God from scripture. This is a longer, meditative video so I recommend you grab a cup of coffee, sit back and use this time to contemplate the greatness of God. Or perhaps grab your tools and start creating while you listen! Let’s see what we create (and feel free to post it below)!
Bringing another TED Talk to you today. This one is A Choreographer’s Creative Process in Real Time:
Mark Lawrence is an artist with a heart on a mission! In Mark’s words:
My vision is to encourage and strengthen everyone who views my scripturally inspired art, through sharing the amazing love and grace that God has poured into my life. The closer I grow to God through Jesus Christ, the more I feel compelled to share with others the reality of my risen Lord and Savior.
Apolonia Davalos
Today I would like to direct you to an interview with Apolonia Davalos, executive producer of APOLONIAD Productions and actress in the movie The Good Book, the first evangelical silent feature to be released since sound was added to movies. Apolonia sat down with Miranda A. Uyeh who conducts interviews on her blog To Be a Person.
CIndy Fort has the heart of both an artist and a counselor. Her website 12tribesministries.com has great resources that help you explore your creative side, as well as your heart, soul and spirit through the creative process. I will be posting more from 12 Tribes in future posts, but I wanted to point you towards an exploratory process with circles.
We’ll spend the week looking at expressive writing, specifically through journaling. Perhaps you’ve thought about keeping a journal but never got around to it. Hopefully this week will inspire you to do so! Journals are good for artists of ALL genres!
Bringing you a TED Talk today from Julie Burstein entitled “4 Lessons in Creativity” — worth the watch!
As an artist or creative, have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in? Like others just don’t “get you” or your ideas? Have you ever felt peculiar? Then you need to listen to this podcast devotional on 1st Peter 2:9 entitled “You Were Chosen for this Work” from Tamika Hall Ministries:
Marlita Hill is a dance minister, a dance educator, a choreographer, and author of Dancers! Assume the Position, a Biblically-rooted examination of the dance minister’s purpose and role as artist.
Watch as she dances an excerpt from her book. And note that it is SO MUCH MORE than just an excerpt. It is a prophetic word to ALL ARTISTS and CREATIVES! If you only have 5 minutes today, watch and listen and be released as priests of God’s glorious praise!
Nurturing the Creative Spirit Within 