News in Christian Arts; The Haven; WorshipInstitute; Tangle; Mac McConnell

The Haven, a fellowships for artists in New York City, offers two programs:
Of Life and Death 7 to 9 pm today, free at Calvary Episcopal Church, 61 Gramercy Park North at Park Avenue.

The Haven community welcomes curator John Knauss and music by Zach Williams. It's a new season of fellowship, accountability, worship, prayer, and creative collaboration. Click here for more details.

Concert 7:30pm Feb. 24, 2009. Charge at the door, Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street at Thompson. Harpist Bridget Kibbey and cellist Emily Hope Price share an evening of folk and contemporary music.


WorshipInstitute Offers Two Institutes
Northeast Worship Institute April 23-25 Philadelphia area
Pastors David Farina Sr and David Farina Jr will host joined by Steve Fry, Bob Sorge, Morris Chapman, Jose Dugand and the WorshipInstitute leadership team.

For more information on this event, click here.

Unveiled Worship Institute July 8–10, Dallas

Pastor Lawrence Kennedy and Worship Pastor Brian Ming will convene the institute at North Church in Dallas. Fry will be co-hosting the institute with Ming, Bob Sorge, Jason Upton, Rita Springer, Lindell Cooley and David Baroni.

God Tube, the Christian alternative to YouTube has changed its name. Check it out at http://www.tangle.com/

Bible Actor Mac McConnell will present his Christian drama, "Forever Changed" followed by a book signing of his historical novel by the same name 1:30pm March 6 at Covenant Village, 9211 W. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, FL. Find out more about Mac's ministry by scrolling down on the right of this page and clicking on the OneWay link.

LifeWay's Worship Leader Conference

Early registration for LifeWay's Worship Leadership Conference ends March 1. The event will be held at two locations:

June 29 - July 3
Ridgecrest, NC
Ridgecrest Conference Center

July 27 - 31
Glorieta, NM
Glorieta Conference Center

For information and to register, click here.

In addition, LifeWay's Worship Project launched its new digital product SongMap™, a web-based application that allows users to create custom arrangements of songs and produce corresponding audio files and sheet music.

For information, click here.

Comedian Torry Martin Presents Benefit Performance in Nashville

Torry Martin. Todd Hibbs photo

Lessons in Laughter
"Lessons in Laughter" featuring Torry Martin's stories about life in Alaska will be presented at 7 pm Friday at First Baptist Church, 108 7th Avenue South, Nashville. The performance will benefit The Lost Boys Foundation. The foundation aids refugees from the Sudan who have settled in the Nashville area.For tickets and more information, call 615-227-6443 or visit http://www.blogger.com/www.thelostboysfoundation.org.

The award-winning author of sketches for church services, writer for Focus on the Family's Adventures in Odyssey and award winning actor enjoys being able to use his gifts to help churches and organizations.

"Times are tough," Torry said, "but that doesn't mean people don't still need to hear about God's love. I'm happy to help wherever I can."

Hearing that many churches are struggling to reach out to their communities with fewer available funds due to a decrease in giving because of the economic crisis, Torry has worked with Masterwork Productions to offer a special "Flat Rate Tour." "The rates might be flat, but the jokes won't be," he quipped.

Book Torry at a Discounted Rate

During 2009, Torry will accept requests from churches unable to to afford the full fee of his performance plus all of the extra expenses for travel and hotel. The flat rate tour will allow churches to book Torry for the flat rate of $1,500 that includes the fee and all travel expenses. Masterwork Productions will book the flight and hotel so you don't have to. Only a limited number of performances will be accepted as Torry's writing and travel schedule permits, so don't delay.

Compare this rate with other possibilities and act right away to be part of the tour. Contact us at http://www.blogger.com/masterworkproductions@yahoo.com.

Torry's humor is great for an outreach event, a men's retreat or part of the Sunday service. Combine a performance with workshops for your creative teams on

-- Sketch Writing Part 1

-- Sketch Writing Part 2

-- Finding Your Calling/Discovering Your Gifts

-- The Art of Collaborative Writing

-- The Secrets to Free Publicity

-- Story Telling/Monologues

-- Comedy as Outreach

I'm in the Mood for Love

It's that time of year again, when minds turn to Valentine's Day and love. While feelings expressed through the giving of flowers or of a card smothered in hearts are nice, they don't define what love is. Relationships are hard and we don't always have an accurate picture of what love is in the face of dry spells, difficulties or even pleasure, for that matter (how many young girls still hear, "But if you loved me you would"?)

Many also can be confused by the concept that God loves them. If your earthly father was unkind or abusive, for instance, it might be difficult for you to imagine what a father's love should be like. If you've suffered the breakup of a marriage or betrayal at the hands of someone you love, it might be difficult for you to imagine that you can trust anyone's love, even God's.

When it's hard to know what love is, and you're doubting whether it exists or can be part of your life, look to its creator and see it reflected in the face of His Son. Jesus came, lived, died and lives again because He loves you and because God the Father loved you so much that we was willing to sacrifice His own child so that you could live and have a relationship with Him.

When you turn to the creator's own definition of love, as written in 1Corinthians 13, you see a way to put love into action:
Love is patient
Who's the person in your life you're sure will never change or love you the way they should? Don't give up. God hasn't given up on them either.
Love is kind
Abuse and betrayal aren't kind, so they are not acts of love.
It does not envy
Don't waste love by worrying about what you don't have or what others have. Embrace what you do have.
It does not boast
You don't deserve God's love and probably don't fully understand it. Be quiet and accept it.
It is not proud
You aren't perfect. You always can learn more about how to love.
It is not rude
You're not the only one who received God's love. Share it with others. God loves them just as much as He loves you.
It is not self-seeking
Think about what you can do for someone instead of what they can do for you.
It is not easily angered
It's easier not to get angry if your thoughts are on others instead of on yourself
It keeps no record of wrongs
So many churches would be happier, more productive places if their people would just forgive each other instead of letting disagreements fester.
Love does not delight in evil
God is love and evil has no part in God, so if you embrace evil, you're holding on to the enemy.
But rejoices with the truth
The truth will set you free and enable love to flow.
It always protects
We try to keep those we love from being hurt. When you love someone, their pain is yours So it is with God who feels your pain while counting your every tear and seeking to comfort you with His words.
Always trusts
He is unfailing. If you can't trust a particular person, you still can love him or her and trust God.
Always hopes
If you know Jesus, there is never a situation that can arise or a place in life where you can be that hope is not there also.
Always perseveres
Hard times are a given, but love it the way through them. He never will leave us.

Happy Valentine's Day from the creator. (1 Corinthians 13 NIV)

Review: Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession by Anne Rice

An Atheist Loses Faith and Returns to God
By Lauren Yarger
She grew up Catholic, wanting to be a nun, then turned away from the church and God to live as an atheist for 38 years until she found her faith again.

“Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession,” (Knopf 2008) is an honest, vulnerable account of Anne Rice’s spiritual journey, which, the author tells us, is cloaked in the plots and themes of her wildly popular Vampire Chronicles series featuring Lestat, among others. (Lestat was featured in a short-lived musical on Broadway with music by Elton John and in a film starring Tom Cruise).

Rice recounts her sheltered childhood, attending mass every day in New Orleans with dreams of joining the sisterhood and becoming a saint. Virtually isolated from the outside world through high school, Rice never quite fits in with children her own age, yet doesn’t belong in the world of the adults around her. It’s only after she copes with her mother’s alcohol-related death and goes off to college that Rice realizes there is a whole world of information and experience which she has yet to explore.

She begins to question what she feels are “anti-art, anti-mind” teachings of the church, especially when she meets people she likes who are good people, making their own decisions and not governed by the Catholic Church, or any church for that matter. A priest tells her she’ll never find anything but misery outside of the Catholic Church and that’s a defining moment for Rice. She departs “no longer a Catholic.”

Once she leaves the church, she leaves God too, because for her, the two are inseparable. She stops talking to God and looking to him for help. “Interview With the Vampire,” written following the death of her young daughter, is a lament to her lost faith, Rice says. Some 21 other books follow during her atheist years, all with characters who struggle to find meaning and good and evil in the atheistic world in which they live as outcasts. Researching those characters and studying ancient history lays the foundation for her return to faith, though she clings to her atheism with “a martyr’s determination” because she believes it to be true. When she finally loses her faith in the non-existence of God, she returns to the Catholic Church, different since the pre-Vatican II days of her youth, and finds God in a personal way.

The autobiography is revealing, if tedious at times. The first 120 or so pages deal with her childhood in minute detail, and while this might be of great interest to the fans who have come to love Rice after years of reading her novels, it proves superfluous for someone wanting the bottom line of what turned her off and then back onto God. A tendency to lead the reader to the edge of expectation and then say, “but wait, let me go back first” proves a little wearying as well, but overall, the blessing of Rice’s experience is worth the read. She feels that her writing now is for God and she’s written about the life of Jesus in her “Christ the Lord novels, “Out of Egypt” and “The Road to Cana.” “Angel Time,” the first in a series of metaphysical thrillers in a new “Songs of the Seraphim” series, is due out in October.

To buy “Called Out of Darkness,” click here.

For more information on Anne Rice go to http://www.annerice.com.

Haven Resumes Activities in NYC

The Haven, a community of Christian artsts in New York City, returns for a new season of fellowship, accountability, worship, prayer, and creative collaboration.

Upcoming events:
Zach Williams in concert 8 pm Feb. 6 at the Canal Room, 285 West Broadway at Canal Street. Rock out with Haven’s own Zach Williams, Sarah Fullen and the Stanleys, and the Gregory Brothers.

International Arts Movement Feb. 26-28 all day at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 200 Chambers St. at Greenwich Street. This year’s IAM conference focuses on art in action. Discounted tickets are available through The Haven.

For more information, contact info@havennyc.com

Transforming Culture: A Model for Faith and Film in Hollywood

I just spoke with Christine Gunn-Danforth. We were connected by Ken Wales, who thinks very highly of her. She spoke so passionately about how performing arts and media can effect the culture that I just had to order her book.