It flows from the very character of God. God is a creative God. God is a creative God. In fact, He invented creativity. It was His idea. Creativity is part of the very nature and character of God. The fifth word in the Bible is created—“In the beginning God created …” (Genesis 1:1). God kicked off the creative process and it’s been moving forward ever since. Ponder creation for a moment. God created the entire universe out of nothing. He formed all original things (like an in

Excerpt from my doctoral dissertation on the Theology of Music, written at Dallas Theological Seminary 2011. Doctrine of Imago Dei This leads to the fifth element to build a biblical theology of music: to realize that humans are to be creative as God is creative. This is possible because of the doctrine of the Imago Dei—humans are created in God’s image (Gen 1:26-27). The Imago Dei is concerned with the inner nature of the musician, and the creation mandate is concerned with

Excerpt from my doctoral dissertation on the Theology of Music, written at Dallas Theological Seminary 2011. Theological Importance of Art The second element for a biblical theology of music is to recognize what the Bible says about art as a whole. One of the key passages on which to build a theology of music is a passage that does not deal with music at all. Rather, it deals with architectural art. God called and gifted two men to become leading artists in the construction o

Excerpt from my doctoral dissertation on the Theology of Music, written at Dallas Theological Seminary 2011. Elements for a Biblical Theology of Music Music is woven through the Bible as a unifying thread that crosses path with creation, fall, redemption, grace and hope. Jeremy Begbie warns that a theology of music cannot be built only on passages about music in the Bible because, “It certainly does not supply anything like a ‘theology of music.’ No verses or passages address

Dear Young Artist: Remember your first love—how much you enjoyed creating as a child. If you ever lose that sense of joy, you will need to reflect on why you lost that spark. Of course, the craft of expression takes much “dying to self” and much discipline. A discipline of any form takes perseverance. But when we are going through a period of training, we must remember the reason for our training. Our journey needs to have a specific direction. Our direction need not be towar