imagine art
I have an ongoing love affair with the city of Austin. It's totally on and serious. There really isn't a part of Austin I don't love, but there is one neighborhood that makes my heart race and it's in Austin's lower East side. I don't know when my affection for it started, if it was in the kitchen of Mission Possible cooking an impossibly huge meal of chicken tetrazinni for Church Under the Bridge, or if it was drinking coffee on the patio of Azul all alone. Or maybe it was in the small prayer room of Austin House of Prayer when they were at MLK and Chicon. Or maybe it was the early Sunday morning I drove through the streets crying and singing Amazing Grace. I was angry that morning, wanting to see Jesus on his horse right then. Tired of waiting.
Maybe it was the time I went to hang out with Barbara Bucklin and hand out pastries from the trunk of her car. How do you explain love? How do you explain the heart? How do you explain the love that comes from the heart of God?
A few years ago I led a bible study at Imagine Art, a non-profit, faith-based ministry for disabled artists. They work out of a little house at the corner of E. 12th and Poquito, that is lit up on the inside with beautiful bright artwork. The founder of this ministry, Debbie Kizer, is a partner at the Austin Stone. She and I are friends, and one day she mentioned they needed someone to come alongside what they are doing, to help shore things up so that they can implement the vision. To make coffee.
I went over to Imagine Art the other day for an interview that turned into an all morning conversation with Debbie and with David Gaddy, the new Executive Director. As we talked about what God is doing there, and how they want to see lives transformed through His supernatural power, I saw in my mind's eye an opening blossom on the East side. The mark of ashes being turned into beauty, lives being made into more than able - being made into glorious testimonies of God's power.
I already know one of my joys there will be to write about these artists and tell their stories, as much as they will allow, and to promote their art however I can. And to make coffee. Where Jesus is, and paint brushes and coffee, I will surely go...
The roots of Austin began in this neighborhood. God hasn't forgotten that. He is reviving, He is restoring. Every ministry in the neighborhood will play a part, Mission Possible, Imagine Art, and the Austin House of Prayer to name a few. The churches are rich in love and heritage.
And Jesus you are there, You sing over the streets, You breathe into the people; You carry the hearts that carry You in their hearts.
God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:20 (the Message)
Maybe it was the time I went to hang out with Barbara Bucklin and hand out pastries from the trunk of her car. How do you explain love? How do you explain the heart? How do you explain the love that comes from the heart of God?
A few years ago I led a bible study at Imagine Art, a non-profit, faith-based ministry for disabled artists. They work out of a little house at the corner of E. 12th and Poquito, that is lit up on the inside with beautiful bright artwork. The founder of this ministry, Debbie Kizer, is a partner at the Austin Stone. She and I are friends, and one day she mentioned they needed someone to come alongside what they are doing, to help shore things up so that they can implement the vision. To make coffee.
I went over to Imagine Art the other day for an interview that turned into an all morning conversation with Debbie and with David Gaddy, the new Executive Director. As we talked about what God is doing there, and how they want to see lives transformed through His supernatural power, I saw in my mind's eye an opening blossom on the East side. The mark of ashes being turned into beauty, lives being made into more than able - being made into glorious testimonies of God's power.
I already know one of my joys there will be to write about these artists and tell their stories, as much as they will allow, and to promote their art however I can. And to make coffee. Where Jesus is, and paint brushes and coffee, I will surely go...
The roots of Austin began in this neighborhood. God hasn't forgotten that. He is reviving, He is restoring. Every ministry in the neighborhood will play a part, Mission Possible, Imagine Art, and the Austin House of Prayer to name a few. The churches are rich in love and heritage.
And Jesus you are there, You sing over the streets, You breathe into the people; You carry the hearts that carry You in their hearts.
God can do anything, you know - far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Ephesians 3:20 (the Message)