The art we consume changes the way we think, so where are the artists who speak Godly truth through their art, the balladeers that disciple the nations through their respective mediums?
We need a new generation of balladeers. Culture is upstream from economics, politics and society. Who shapes culture more than anyone else? It is the artists, those who consciously create or critique culture with their art. These people may be called modern-day balladeers. They are singers and songwriters, playwrights and filmmakers, writers and poets, painters and sculptors, choreographers and composers, architects and fashion designers. From these gifted artists we must call forth a movement of modern-day balladeers.
Christian artists! It’s time to understand and embrace the significance of your gift and calling.
Darrow Miller examines what it means to be a Christian creative making art from a biblical worldview. Christian creativity is more than a hobby, it serves a vital role of truth and beauty in the world. As the First Artist, God created the universe to be beautiful, and set a precedent for all humanity to create art, not for religious obligation, but simply for the sake of beauty itself.
With scrutiny and honesty, A Call for Balladeers takes a hard look at the faulty perspective toward art and beauty held by many Christians today and uses the Bible to make a case for why the Church should be concerned with a ministry of art. Christian painting, Christian dancing, Christian drama, Christian digital art, whatever medium God has given you the talent to use, it all serves the glory of the king.
Miller provides a hopeful, liberating outlook for Christian artists of all kinds who find themselves caught in a dilemma between their creative endeavors and their desire to minister to their community. There is no divide between art, beauty, and the Christian faith. God uses the arts and artists to advance His kingdom of truth, goodness, and beauty on earth as it is in heaven. A Call for Balladeers will help Christians think biblically about art, teach them about historical and modern-day balladeers, and encourage artists to use their God-given talents to minister prophetically, bringing transformation to their communities and nations through a ministry of the arts.
Meet and learn from other Christian creatives who recognize that ideas have consequences and culture-change is necessary at the level of worldview. Biblical artwork, whether it be Christian painting, dancing, writing, photography, or film, has a part to play in this beautiful work.
The Balladeers community is a social-media-style platform that allows you to find balladeers “near” you. On this platform, you can connect with incredible Christian artists with similar creative interests to you. The Balladeers community allows private messaging, and there is a public feed where you can post and comment.
Go to https://community.abundance-
Don’t miss the chance to participate on Tuesday, June 6 at 9 AM PDT (UTC -7)! We will start early for a time to greet one another and take questions at the end.
Our next featured guest will be Samuel Felix.
Samuel is from Brazil, where he has spent most of his life. Attending a ministry program in Australia, where he heard Darrow Miller speak, was a turning point in his life. Samuel is 37 years old and has been involved in the creative industry for the last decade, specifically working as a motion designer and creative director. His work consists in developing design concepts and animated graphics to tell stories, explain an idea, or sell a product. He is married to Carolina and a father of four children.
When asked to share about a “cultural lie” that he has seen in the creative industry, he responded by saying that some believe “beauty is a matter of personal taste or preference. I say that God is beauty, and we can see it clearly in His creation; so if we want to create beautiful designs with good purpose, we should aim for the Grand Designer as a reference.”
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Videos of Recent Events
Colin Harbinson is a Christian creative who has lived and worked at the intersection of worldview, missions, and the arts for 55 years. He is the founder and president of the International Festival of Arts, which had profound influence following communism in nations such as Russia, China, and Bulgaria, featuring hundreds of artists from around the world. Additionally, he is the creator of Toymaker and Son and Dayuma. Colin says, “The arts have truly opened the doors of nations.”
Jeremiah and Mona Enna of the Kansas City Culture House joined us in March. From humble beginnings to a 20,000 square foot building that includes music lessons, art lessons, dance lessons, and reaches from children and underserved neighborhoods to professional levels… The Culture House is bringing together people from all backgrounds for community, excellence, and meaning. Here is the video. Here is a link to the audio and transcript.
Darrow recently interviewed Christian dancing and artistic professional, Randall Flinn, the Artistic Director of Ad Deum Dance Company and a leader in the Youth With A Mission (YWAM) community for almost 40 years, where he has taught on theology and the arts in the School of Creativity. Learn more or watch their video interview here.
For those who attended our last webinar, there will be both similarities and differences in this session. First, how will it be different? In our last call, I interviewed Randall Flinn with Ad Deum Dance Academy, and in this call, I will be interviewing someone who couples visual arts with a ministry among the poor.
This individual struggled with the “dilemma” of choosing between “a ministry among the poor” and “doing art.” The church seemed to communicate that ministers are not artists, and artists are not ministers; people pick one or the other. My friend realized in a profound way that as a “balladeer,” their art is important to God and could disciple culture in substantial ways.
After determining that a balladeer could minister and do art, he began pulling a group of artists together twice a year to study an issue crippling his society. One time, they studied tuberculosis, spending several days in a tuberculosis hospital, talking with the patients, who were identified in the hospital via numbers, not their names.
After sitting with these anonymous patients, learning their names, and hearing their stories, these artists painted their stories, creating a human portrait of the disease. Once they were finished, they opened an exhibition, inviting politicians, business leaders, and various Christian and non-Christian religious leaders to visit. And an arts organization with a vision to shape society and raise up balladeers was born.
The work of the arts organization has continued for 14 years. In addition to hearing from my friend, we will be joined by the current director of the arts organization. Together, they will share their experiences running artist residencies over the years. In these residencies, visual artists are brought together for experiences of intense community and creativity to reflect and create art on current issues from a perspective of truth and beauty.
My friend says, “Art brings us together and shows us who we are and who we were meant to be.” I am looking forward to hearing them share what they have learned over the years about art, God, and the calling of a balladeer. Because of this balladeer’s location, the full webinar recording will not be available afterward. Please plan to join us live!
Darrow Miller is co-founder of Disciple Nations Alliance and the author of Discipling Nations, LifeWork, Don’t Let Schooling Stand in the Way of Education, and many other books, articles, and Bible studies. For over forty years, he has taught internationally on worldview and development, apologetics, Postmodernism, and the dignity of women.
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Listen to a recent podcast episode with Darrow as we discuss A Call for Balladeers and share the stories of Christian artists, or check out his other books below!
Meet Jeremiah and Mona Enna, leaders who use ballet to influence culture. They focus not just on making “Christian” art, but on making excellent art. Their lives help us understand what it means to be a balladeer!
In this interview with Darrow Miller, he emphasizes that artists play a creative and essential role in the church’s mission of discipling the nations. He issues a call to Christian artists everywhere to become “balladeers” by using their work to bear prophetic witness to the beauty, goodness, and truth of God’s reign.
God has given artists incredible gifts, but how can they use their talents in a God-honoring way? Should they leave their art behind to go become pastors and missionaries, or is there something uniquely powerful about art that can change the world as we know it?
Links to the new “Balladeer” song from Tyler Scott and The Threshing Floor
