A Church Giving New Life to our City
LampPost Café
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Building the city within our city…
by Sean Hutchinson
I have been really stirred by the words of Harold Best, inspired by the Word of God. Best is a musician, pastor, worship leader, and theologian and he writes both convicting and arousing words in his book Unceasing Worship.
I have no doubt that the deeper we go into the unseen things of faith, hope, and love, the more we will revel in the temporal stuff of life, the intertwining of divine and human handiwork, the sights and sounds of earth and art. Christians should be as delighted in the things of sight and sense as God is himself, when at the instant of every creational act, he declares goodness to be observable, enjoyable and usable. Of all people, Christians should have the best noses, the best eyes and ears, the most open joy, the widest sense of delight.”
Unfortunately, this has not always been the case for the art, music, media and creativity coming out of the Church (at least not in San Diego). Too long have we just scraped by trying to compete with our culture and making poor reflections of the good art, music, and media we have today, especially in San Diego. Christians should be amongst the greatest musicians, artists, creative hearts and minds for we know the Creator Himself. Our God is a God of wonder, majesty, and glory. The Psalmist declares, “You show me the path of life; in Your presence there is fullness of joy, in Your right hand are pleasures for evermore” (Psalm 16:11). Our lives are to reflect this truth. We are commanded to “sing the glory of His name, to make His praise glorious” (Psalm 66:2). Is the work of our hands, hearts, and minds glorious? Or does it pale in comparison with the “professionals.” The church should be producing the best graphic designers, film makers, songwriters, musicians, bands, poets, artists, construction workers, doctors, writers, etc…
San Diego
Jesus’ gospel not only secures our eternal standing with God but opens up our lives and enables us to begin living how we are meant to…caring for each other, our neighbors, and the city we live in. It’s messy and raw at times both dealing with the wreckage of our own hearts and the wreckage of issues in our town. Yet, with bright Jesus resurrection gospel hope and confidence, our vision is to see San Diego as a whole be reached as we live and love as gospel missionaries through one person, one street at a time.
