Art and the pulpit

“A special service where the guest speaker who presents the message- not only brings the Bible- but also his paint brush.”

  For the past 10 years John Zender has been seeking inspiration from the pages of the Bible to paint his canvases, drawing viewers and collectors to his exhibitions displaying a large collection of spiritual abstracts.  Most of theses exhibitions were organized by spiritually based galleries such as Blue Bird Art house in Whittier, the JR Gallery in Manhattan Beach and St. Johns in Orange. Currently some of his paintings are a part of a traveling exhibition called “Dawn to Dawn” currated by an arts organization called Seeds with stops at Riverside, Laguna Beach, Concordia University and other locations. Often large groups of spectators come to see John give demonstrations of his painting process and explain how his work moves from spiritual ideas to large works of art.  Throughout the process he makes references to scriptures and uses mixed media to create layers of colors, add linear and organic elements and create dimensions in space.  He explains why he uses science and the metaphysical to capture the essence of what he sees going on in the inner part of humanity. One of John’s latest painting series is called “the Elements of Salvation” where he collaborated with his wife, Faye, a writer to produce a small book to explain and discover the beauty of Salvation.     
John was asked one day to share his message with a youth church at Blue Bird Art House in 2005.  Using a live DJ to create the mood, he shared a message on the heart of man.   Now he is invited by many different churches to share this combination of art and scripture directly from the pulpit and in front of a church congregation.  

Will this be a new way God can communicate His word to His people, using the visual language of art to see hidden mysteries?  In the book of Daniel, God wrote on the wall with his finger to give a message to King Belshazzar.  In Genesis God painted the rainbow for Noah as a sign for a covenant between God and earth.  Perhaps unlike some religious paintings of the Renaissance that tried to place man at the level of God now God can use an artist and his creation to paint messages to encourage, instruct, uplift and edify His church.  After all a picture is worth a thousand words, and is not God the ultimate creator and architect who designed and painted this world we call life?