Poetheology is opportunity to serve Conway
Saturday is the beginning of a ministry opportunity with the purpose of serving the city of Conway through the arts. The opportunity open to the people of our city is Poetheology.
Poetheology is the combination of two words; poet and theology. The former is any individual "who has the gift of poetic thought, imagination, and creation, together with eloquence of expression." The second word theology simply means "the field of study and analysis that treats of God and of God's attributes and relations to the universe; study of divine things or religious truth; divinity." Therefore Poetheology is an opportunity for an individual to express their knowledge of God as expressed in Jesus Christ through various artistic forms to include the literary, performance and visual arts.
Someone may ask though, "Why Poetheology? Isn't speaking about Jesus Christ restricted to Sunday, the pastor, priest or choir?" Well no. Francis Schaeffer stated, "If Christianity is really true, then it involves the whole man, including his intellect and creativeness. Christianity is not just "dogmatically" true or "doctrinally" true. Rather, it is true to what is there, true in the whole area of the whole man in all of life." God has created mankind and regardless of their faith in Him, He has given all of us gifts to use for His glory. In the culture of the arts, there are many Christians who are saved by God's grace and are not pastors or singers, but in the use of their gifts, are able to engage non-believers with the Gospel through the arts.
Poetheology begins with the understanding that the Triune God is the Creator of all things. The Bible expressly states that, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen 1:1). That by Jesus Christ, "were all things created, that are in heaven and that are on earthall things were created by him and for him" (Col 1:16). God is the master painter and we see that everyday with the bright hues of sunrises and sunsets. His artistry is visible in the arrangements of constellations, mighty Redwoods and the flowers which will bloom this spring.
Secondly, God is the master sculptor. All of humanity is created in the image and likeness of God. So the Master sculptor and potter, reached into the clay of the earth and on the sixth day made man. "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul" (Gen 2:7) God has made mans mouth, the dumb, the deaf, the seeing and the blind. Each of us has been fearfully and wonderfully sculpted to bear the image of God's Son Jesus Christ when we have faith in Him.
Lastly, God the Creator created the universe by speaking His Word and expressing His plan for mankind through the written Word. Can you imagine God speaking forth stars, moons, plants and mice; and it was so? He upholds all things that he has designed, crafted and painted by the power of His Word. That Word, the Word of God not only brought forth life but also has been captured for us to read and see the plan of redemption. So the Word spoken, the Word prophesied, sung and put into poetic language became flesh and dwelt among us. The written Word, His expressed will is that we would believe on Him that was sent, Jesus Christ.
Why Poetheology? God has made man to declare His glory. There are many ways in which God has His glory declared. "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handiwork" (Ps 19:1). Yet God has not called the trees and heavens to proclaim His glory found in the Gospel. He has called man and specifically those who have faith in Jesus Christ to accomplish this mighty task. Christian, you are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph 2:10).
God has gifted men and women who are believers to express the glory of God in Christ through the literary arts of writing (fiction/non-fiction), short story, poetry, screen and playwriting. Imagine hearing the grace of God in a particular rhyme and meter. Imagine wrestling over the sovereignty of God through a short story. God has further gifted many to express His love and attributes through the visual arts. The visual arts should not be confined to express pornography, violent images or the glorification of man. God has given some believer in Conway the gift to express the glory of God in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, drawings and computer design. Finally, God has gifted men and women who love Jesus Christ to express His power and majesty through the performing arts. Yes the dance, music, opera and theater are redeemable aspects of our culture that God will use to magnify Himself. Surely these are not simply meant to display tragedy, sounds of depression and lyrics laced with female degradation.
Why Poetheology? It is an avenue to put on display God's vessels, jars of clay that are gifted to magnify God through the arts. Through the presentation of redeemable images of the literary, performing and visual arts, God in Christ is magnified. It will be in the display of these gifts and the redeeming of the arts, Christ Jesus will be seen in the community of Conway as Lord over all aspects of culture.
(For more information contact Phillip Fletcher at Poetheology@gmail.com)