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CHAPEL NEWS
The Newsletter of ARM and the Chapel Galleries™
The Newsletter of ARM and the Chapel Galleries™
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Art as Teaching Tool  "Healing of the Blind Man" by Daniel Jimick How can art be
used to teach the Gospel? In an earlier edition we discussed how Jesus
used parables to teach, giving word pictures and stories and weaving
truth within what He spoke as a means to communicate the Kingdom of
God. If we use the arts as a teaching tool for God, we presuppose that
we know God ourselves. So how do we know God? From where does that
knowledge come?
Anthropological
studies have observed that people groups throughout history have
practiced some form of religion. With one sentence Jesus disavowed the
atheist position (no god) as well as the other extreme, polytheism
(multiple gods) when He asserted that there is only one God (Mark
12:29). Not only that, He taught that the only way to get to know this
God was through Himself. Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the
truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you
had known me, you would have known My Father also” (John 14:6-7).
What a profound declaration to the people of His own day!
So in short, to know Jesus is to know God. For us today, since Jesus no longer walks on this earth as a Man, the only way to really know about Jesus is through the Bible. Philosophers go to Plato and Aristotle for their instruction; Buddhists seek advice from the Buddha’s Noble Eightfold Path; Muslims follow Muhammad’s writings in the Koran; but Jesus taught that the only correct way to know about Himself, and therefore God the Father is through the Scriptures. Psalm 19 teaches that the created order declares the glory of God and of His existence. Thus the atheist is without excuse. But the second part of the same Psalm explains how we really discover the nature of who God is, His divine attributes, His power, His mercy, and also our obligations toward Him. This includes not only the New Testament, but also the Old Testament, which Jesus taught is a witness and prophetic promise of Himself. Jesus said to the Jewish religious leaders of His day, "You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me." (John 5:39) So also it is that one can know a lot of theology and totally miss the relationship, the intimate walk with God; to know God and be known by Him. Therefore, our responsibility is two-fold. If we say we know God, there is no way to have a true understanding of who He is apart from His inspired Word. Knowing His Word takes time. We are obligated to learn it, to study it, and also to follow it. And by following the teachings of God’s Word we begin to walk with God, to build a relationship with Him. We never want to be one of whom Jesus says, “Get away from me you who practice lawlessness, I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23). All of us make mistakes, but if our manner of life is one of “lawlessness”, a continual life without God, we must seriously ask ourselves if we really know Him. If we do or if we don’t, we are in peril and must turn around. The fruit of our relationship should be evident more and more in our character and our actions. If we can say by our life’s fruit and also our knowledge of God’s Word that we know Him, we can be assured that the God we communicate in our creativity and we display in our lives is the God of the Bible. The One, the True and the only God, who alone is worthy of our worship and our service and everything of beauty our minds and hands can fashion into this thing we call art. Rev. Ed and Rosemarie Adcock Veritasse: Christian Artists Across the Globe  "Alpha and Omega" Woodcut by Joseph Field (Wales) We have seen a
movement of Christian artists and Christian arts organizations
transforming culture around the world. Veritasse is such an
artists’ organization based in Oxford, England. The aim of
Veritasse is to glorify God through the arts and serve Him with the
talents He has given us by:
1. Encouraging and supporting Christian artists and organizations by establishing links and forging friendships. 2. Promoting Christian arts at conferences, exhibitions, festivals and events, initially in the Christian field but also moving into the secular. 3. Playing an active role in spreading information about Christian arts, enabling artists to speak out God's message to their communities and the wider world. Veritasse offers individual artists many benefits, and churches may download images of artists’ works for their ministries. For information about what God is doing with our Veritasse friends in the UK, visit the Veritasse website For their free newsletters or information, contact Sue Newham: membership@veritasse.co.uk ARM Members in Focus: Works in 2 Museums "Crossing the Red Sea", a 48” x 60” oil painting by ARM President Rosemarie Adcock was included in the Museum of Florida Art Biennial V Exhibition, taking the second place award. The painting is on exhibition at the museum in DeLand, Florida through the month of August. Go to Rosemarie Adcock’s link at ChapelGalleries.com to see "Crossing the Red Sea".  Detail, "Crossing the Red Sea" oil on canvas 48" x 60" Daniel Jimick’s hand colored linocut, entitled Still Life
with 2 El Grecos, was accepted into the Westmoreland Museum of American
Art in Greensburg Pennsylvania for the museum’s Juried Biennial
exhibit. The exhibit continues through July 4. Go to Dan Jimick’s link
at ChapelGalleries.com to see "Still Life with 2 El Grecos".
 "Still Life with 2 ElGrecos" hand-colored linocut, 16" x 23" |
ARM Membership Group:
CAMMA
The Council and Association of Ministers Musicians and Artists People
gifted in the arts and music embrace the opportunity to use their work
for a greater purpose than themselves, accomplishing something that
will last for eternity.
CAMMA is a fellowship of artists and pastors who are committed to having their lives and their work used by God. We believe that just as our spiritual gifts are given to us to glorify God, so it is with our artistic gifts. If you are gifted musically or artistically and are being used by God in your work, or even if you are new to the faith and desire to see what God can do in a life totally committed to His glory, join our network to receive teaching and encouragement from others with artistic and pastoral gifting. Some of our members have many years of experience using the arts and music in ministry; but all of us need to be linked to one another and encouraged by leaders within the church body who are committed to living according to the teaching of God’s Word. ARM members are committed to historic Christianity and embrace the ancient Nicene Creed to define their beliefs about God. The Nicene Creed can be read at the ARM website at this link: http://www.arminc.org/faith_statement.htm Members also participate in weekly prayer support by way of email, receive our newsletters, and are included with information on the membership page with a link to their own websites. Visual artists also have opportunity to have their work juried for inclusion on the Chapel Gallery site and in our outreach exhibitions. The ARM member’s group costs only $25 per year to join. For more information about membership, find us at: http://www.arminc.org/camma.htm  Rev. Ed Adcock is the Director of the ARM members group, CAMMA "Pastors Concerned for Artists and the Arts, Artists Concerned for the Church." Practical Ministry Training: A Practical Diest? By Rosemarie Adcock  A Reading from the Book of Isaiah (detail) by Rosemarie Adcock With
our recent transition of home and office to the new place God had
prepared for us, I was reminded again not only of God’s sovereignty,
but particularly of His watchful care over the minutiae in our lives.
Yet the breathless grip of my stunned realization that I had to find
home, studio, and ministry office in less than 2 weeks time served as a
reminder to me how easy it is to fall into the role of a functioning
Deist.
Deism is the false notion that God launched the creation and all in it, like winding a clock, and is out there somewhere allowing the details of life, this clock, to run on its own. The end result being that we really need to make things happen alone and learn to function without His daily and intentional involvement. I would not have thought this of myself, but in the first critical moments-the first encounter of this trial- I know my natural response was a stunned breathlessness, a quiet gasp. Not the response instructed in James to “Count it all joy when you encounter various trials.” Hardly that. I recall a similar “first encounter” in an airport in Moscow having just arrived to oversee the distribution of an enormous gift-in-kind donation ARM had shipped to Russian Christian families. After 40 tons of supplies reached the Russian port, I was to meet and stay with the Archbishop of over 11 time zones of churches, but no one was at the airport to meet me. I was exhausted from the overseas flight while I searched for a telephone number to let someone, anyone, know my plane had arrived. I found a phone number to an office, but it was Sunday night. I recall my quiet gasp as I sank into a dirty vinyl chair, realizing I was alone in a foreign airport in the middle of the night and I didn’t speak Russian. I recall having to discipline myself to “take every thought captive.” A young woman behind a counter who spoke broken English saw my distress and tried to call the office number over and over for me, an exercise I knew was quite useless. But a remarkable thing happened as I watched her: I assumed this young woman was likely not a believer and I realized if the Lord had me marooned in an unsafe airport, He knew where I was even if my hosts did not, and joy and peace began to replace my fear. Riding the wave of God’s peace, I began to witness to the young woman about the saving love of Christ. Within an hour, quite miraculously, one of the ministers walked into the office to retrieve a forgotten briefcase and happened to answer the ringing phone. They had thought my plane was arriving the following day and were shocked to learn I had landed already. I gave thanks to God for His sovereign attention to me, His minutiae, grateful to embrace His care. Rosemarie Adcock “True theology is not theoretical, but practical. The end of it is living, that is, to live a godly life.” – Martin Bucer
Mission Impossible:
Praying for the Impossible  More About us……. Chapel Galleries™ is the business entity that fuels our mission. Our 501c3 charitable organization, Arts for Relief and Missions, Inc. (ARM), was founded in 1993 for humanitarian relief and other missions of the Church by use of the fine arts and music. CAMMA, the Council and Association of Ministers, Musicians and Artists is the membership ministry of ARM, committed to God’s Word as our sole authority for faith and life. Our members advance the work of the Church as “Pastors Concerned for Artists and the Arts, and Artists Concerned for the Church.  Rosemarie Adcock is the Founder and President of Arts for Relief and Missions, Inc., and leads the work of the Chapel Galleries™. |