Last week we did one of our off-site book displays among some new friends, and we are so grateful to have been so well-received by a hospitable group of… wait for it… artists! Christian artists!  (What joy and talent and allusive richness we saw.) Organized by our new friends at Poiema Visual Arts, the event was low-key and lovely, thoughtful without being overly academic, filled with times of contemporary worship and prayer and fun fellowship. Plus we sold a good number of books, so we were glad to be of service.  

The Poiema Visual Arts event (held here in York, PA) was both similar to and yet distinct from some other faith-based arts events we’ve served. The old CIVA (Christians in the Visual Arts) events were spectacular with makers and philosophers, world-class theologians and cultural analysts presenting conversations on aesthetics and art history and the like. Folks there would naturally know our friend Calvin Seerveld (Rainbows for the Fallen World and Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves are books we cherish and take most places we go) and Jeremy Begbie, (say, Abundantly More: The Theological Promise of the Arts in a Reductionist World, or Redeeming Transcendence in the Arts: Bearing Witness to the Triune God, for instance.) We’re sad that that association has disbanded but we carry all the books in the seemingly related “Studies in Theology and the Arts” series by IVP Academic. We had them all at Poiema and they were noticed. I was maybe a little surprised by I even sold a copy of an expensive book we raved about at BookNotes a couple of. years ago, that had resonance with the CIVA audience: The Artistic Sphere: The Arts in Neo-Calvinist Perspective edited by Roger Henderson & Marleen Hengelaar-Rookmaaker. Three cheers for that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      All of these titles in the great IVP Academic arts series are stellar but I suppose if I had to highlight a few I’d note the newest, A Prophet in the Darkness: Exploring Theology in the Art of Georges Rouault by Wesley Vander Lugt, The Art of New Creation: Trajectories in Theology and the Arts edited by Jeremy Begbie, Placemaking and the Arts: Cultivating the Christian Life by Jennifer Allen Craft (a personal favorite) and, of course, The Faithful Artist: A Vision for Evangelicalism and the Arts by Cameron Anderson, which should be read carefully by any Christian of any sort working in the arts.

Our pals at Square Halo run a very cool event in Lancaster each Spring (save the date for next year, March 6-7 2026) which has a more Rabbity Room vibe, maybe, with discussions about the aesthetics of Tolkien and Lewis and the role of liturgical prayer and the sorts of books published by our favorite small publisher, Square Halo Books. We had at the Poiema event It Was Good: Making Art to the Glory of God edited expertly and designed colorfully by Ned Bustard — one of my all-time favorite books! — and Why We Create, edited by the thoughtful folks at the Anselm Society, the lovely little volume Naming the Animals: An Invitation to Creativity by Stephen Roach and, naturally, Lifting the Veil: Imagination and the Kingdom of God by the exquisite poet Malcolm Guite. Folks at Poiema noticed. Hooray.

Back when the extraordinary modern artist Mako Fujimura was starting out we sold books at his remarkable Manhattan event, IAM (a nod to his International Arts Movement.) Naturally we had Mako’s main books at the Poiema gig and we sold several. That included the new edition hardback of Refractions and the must-read Culture Care and Silence and Beauty, his wonderful study of Endo’s famous Japanese historical novel Silence. Fujimura’s important Art and Faith: A Theology of Making from Yale University Press was displayed and it gave us the opportunity to invite pre-orders of two forthcoming books by Mako, one coming this fall from Yale University Press, the next, co-authored with his wife, due next Spring.

You, too, can PRE-ORDER now. (We won’t run your credit card, if you leave us digits, until we actually send the book. Let us know how we can help get these to you.)

Art Is: A Journey Into the Light Makoto Fujimura (Yale University Press) $30.00 // OUR SALE PRICE 20% OFF = $24.00 This will release October 21, 2025

As the publisher notes:

“Bringing together the author’s written reflections and his paintings, drawings, and photographs, Art Is invites us to see the world in prismatic and diverse lights, helping us navigate the fractured, divisive times we live in.”

 

Beauty and Justice: Creating a Life of Abundance and Courage Haejin Fujimura and Makoto Fujimura (Brazos Press) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 20% OFF = $19.99 I know it is pretty far out but wanted you to know about this extraordinary project of Mako and his wife (who is a practicing attorney) Haejin. This will release in early April 2026.

Brazos explains:

“In Beauty and Justice, justice advocate Haejin Fujimura and internationally renowned artist Makoto Fujimura explore how beauty and justice are two sides of the same gospel calling. Through stories from their global work in the arts, advocacy, and cultural renewal, they invite readers to discover how beauty sustains justice work and prevents burnout, understand why justice without beauty can become harsh and ineffective, and embrace practices for cultivating a “generative life” of courageous service.”

BOOKS SOLD AT POIEMA

We had well over 100 different books on creativity, the arts, the calling of artists, and such at Poiema and so appreciated their support of our work. Something at Poiema captured us unlike these other good events at the intersection of faith, creativity, aesthetics, and the visual arts. It was really sweet and everyone was exceedingly kind and happy. A lot of the participants were informal artists, not full time or terribly professional and the talent and joy and struggle was palpable. Everyone encouraged each other with a creative sort of blessedness. The snacks and gifts kept coming. They talked about Vincent Van Gogh and they talked about prophetic art and they talked about serving the homeless. The balance of experiences, collaborations in art-making, outdoors and indoors, along with more traditional teacherly workshops was tremendous. Kudos to all who made it happen.

The theme this year (they host the event bi-annually) mostly revolved around our deep brokenness as humans and how we can find healing in the arts and by engaging in what some call art therapy. They had workshops on trauma, several good presentations on art therapy, and there was an awareness of the need for God’s healing mercy for those who have been abused or hurt (sometimes by the institutional church or other people of faith.) There was one keynote talk about a woman who has done collaborative art projects all over the country (with vets facing PTSD, with homeless folks, among prisoners, and survivors of domestic violence.)

One of the keynotes and workshops was by our old pal Scott McElroy whose new book — years in the making — called How to Care, is chock-full of ideas for anyone (practicing artist or church or ministry leader) wanting to use the arts as an avenue of building empathy and care for the emotionally distressed. Call it “trauma-informed arts ministry.” We were so very impressed with Scott’s brand new book that we bought extra to share with you here, now. You won’t believe how much good content is in it. I highly recommend it. We have it at an extra discount, this week only.

We want to offer Scott’s three books (and three others) at 30% OFF for ONE WEEK ONLY.

After that the price reverts to our more typical BookNotes 20% off. Okay?

ORDER BY AUGUST 7th to get the extra discount.

30% OFF  – while supplies last.

How to Care: Compassionate Artistic Response & Engagement — Crisis/Trauma/Mental Health Ministry with the Arts J. Scott McElroy with Jen Alward (New Renaissance Resources) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $17.49 one week only or while supplies last

I could go on and on about this new volume but I will be brief; it deserves a better treatment and I will write more later, I’m sure. For now you should know three simple things: Scott has been deeply involved in the movement of faith-based artistic work for decades. (See his two very useful titles below, also at 30% off this week.)

Besides being a guy who knows his way around the hefty conversations about aesthetics and inspiration, redemptive art and the hard work of craft and skill and output, he also knows his way around the language of trauma. He knows well the Biblical teaching about love of neighbor and has translated that call to serve the hurting into the post-Covid world of dis-ease, mental health issues, awareness of trauma, and the various ways humans have hurt each other in this fallen world. He knows our faith communities are to shine gospel-centered love on the world and yet we are often unaware about how to do this.

Besides not always being real good at creating safe spaces for the wounded, we are even more at a loss when it comes to treating (so to speak) these deep wounds by using artful modalities. In other words, we often don’t know how to help the hurting and we’re even less aware of how to use the arts to bring blessing to those with mental health challenges, living, as some do, on the edge of despair.

Those two things — that he knows a Christian approach to the arts and he understands the nature of trauma-informed care — should be enough to alert you to the immense value of this rare book. You should get it, and get another for your pastor or ministry leadership team. But thirdly, you should know this: How to Care is really built on that acronym in the title — it invites us to a compassionate, artistic, response and engagement. He unpacks each of these making the book not only a thrilling read but a literal handbook, a manual, a resource just loaded with ideas, suggestions, lesson plans, ideas, proposals, exercises. If you want something that is transferable, applicable, practical, you need this tool-kit of a book. Whether you are an artist or not, a counselor or not, this handbook for ministry with the arts will be exceedingly stimulating and useful. There is nothing like it in print.

Scott’s co-author, Jen Alway, by the way, has an LP, ATRL-BC from Notre Dame and is both an artist and art therapist practicing in Wisconsin. Very impressive.

Creative Church Handbook: Releasing the Power of the Arts in Your Congregation J. Scott McElroy (IVP) $27.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $19.59  one week only or while supplies last

Again, Scott’s great genius in his work and writing is his penchant for the practical. This is a high compliment given his advanced degrees in the arts and his decades-long work in enhancing the church by way of inviting a relationship with artists. Scott has encouraged artists — he fit right in among central PA’s Poem, which exists to encourage artists — even as he encourages church leaders to be ever-open to the Spirit’s leading to go deeper into arts ministry. This 2015 book is a veritable treasure trove of ideas and activities, a must-have handbook for any congregation with even the slightest interest in “releasing the power of the arts in your congregation.” Believe me, again, when I say there is nothing like it in print.

This wonderful resource reminds us that there are creatives in our midst who are longing to be of service to the church and while the church too often seems stuck in the past or unwilling to hear or look at work created by contemporary artists, many really are wanting to risk taking steps into this whole arena. I know personally of pastors who have said they just don’t know how to to start, what to do, how to minister to local artists or invite congregational artists to play a bigger role in local worship and ministry. This book can help.

There are lots of rave reviews stating how practical and useful this desk reference is. Manuel Luz (whose book Imagine That: Discovering Your Unique Role as a Christian Artist we had on display at the Poiema event) says:  it is “essential and compressive and inspiring. “If you are an artist of faith, or lead artists of faith, you absolutely need to get this book.” Or listen to Jason Leith (of SacredStreets.org, who was also at the Poiema event) when he says

“Whether you are a seasoned arts pastor or just investigating how the arts might benefit your church, this book’s gathered wisdom and curated advice will serve you greatly.”

Finding Divine Inspiration: Working with the Holy Spirit in Your Creativity J. Scott McElroy (Destiny Image) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $13.99  one week only or while supplies last

We’ve highlighted this book in many of our best BookNotes lists about faith and the arts and, again, I hate to sound like a broken record, but Scott has both the visionary theology to undergird his thinking about a Christian perspective in the arts, but also he has tons of practical common sense, bringing his transferable concepts to the printed page with gusto. That is, this book is rooted in a fine aesthetic of Kingdom vision for the arts but also is down-to-Earth practical. It isn’t quite the handbook of ideas and a desk-reference like his other two, but, as his first one (2008) he offers his ideas about how creative types can “collaborate with God.”

I put it something like this: there are two extremes that too many fall into when talking about our creative endeavors. Some act like God is just an unhindered pipeline for any painting, song, poem, or dance they happen to come up with, regardless of their own talent, perspective, work, or actual openness to the things of God. That’s just dumb. On the other hand, there are many of us who talk about inspiration the way secularists do, as if it just means some vague sense of being excited about whatever we cook up.

Finding Divine Inspiration is a responsible, theologically sound, and creative invitation to really view inspiration in terms of what God through the active Holy Spirit might be doing in and among us as we create and make and design and work. Can we talk about inspiration in a way that is Holy Spirited and theologically sound without being goofy and irresponsible. Yes, yes indeed.

McElroy is a remarkable thinker and artist himself, and both attends a Vineyard Church (making him mildly charismatic and in tune with things of the Spirit) and well aware of the broader, more ecumenical tradition of a theology of the arts. I love that he cites rock critic and poet Steve Turner (Imagine and Popcultured) and the great writer Madeleine L’Engle (whose Walking on Water continues to inspire Christians in the creative arts.)

To help explore how to listen to the voice and prompting of the Spirit in our art work (and, by extension, actually any creative endeavor) Scott wisely interviewed a host of practicing Christian artists, from painter Thomas Blackshear to rock star Dan Haseltine to winsome, award-winning author Walter Wangerin and more.

If you haven’t read deeply in this genre and topic, this is a fine place to start. If you have read some of the classics, this is a good reminder of at least one major truth: we can be inspired by God. Yay.

Discovering God Through the Arts: How We Can Grow Closer to God By Appreciating Beauty & Creativity Terry Glaspey (Moody Press) $16.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $11.89 one week only or while supplies last

In a workshop I did at Poem, I read a portion of this where Terry writes movingly about encountering a painting that led him, rather unexpectedly, to pray. This is merely the intro but is in a very powerful introduction written not really for artists or workers in the creative fields of the Lord but rather for ordinary folks who want to be formed to deepen their discipleship and wonder how viewing paintings and engaging other art forms might help.

That is, Discovering God Through the Arts is not just another good book on a Christian perspective on the arts or on normative aspects of Christian art-making but is a guide to Christian growth.

To put it simply, Terry here shows how the arts can assist us in prayer and contemplation. Of course it can enhance our sense of wonder, deepening our awe, which is no small thing. In a fascinating chapter he shows how viewing good art can help us regulate our emotions and mature in what another author calls “emotionally healthy spirituality.” He has a great chapter on how the arts can deepen our compassion and empathy and a very good chapter on justice. Our faith can be enriched by art. This shows how.

He asks on the back cover:

“What if the arts were meant to play a more prominent role in the Christian life? What if God cares as much about art as he does about words? About the heart and the eye and the hand as much as the brain?”

75 Masterpieces Every Christian Should Know: The Fascinating Stories Behind Great Words of Art, Literature, Music, and Film Terry Glaspey (Moody Press) $24.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $17.49 one week only or while supplies last

Let me say humbly that this book could be twice the price and it would still be well worth it. That this hefty paperback with good paper and full color reproductions is as inexpensive as it is makes it one of the great bargains in the publishing world these days. And it is, indeed, worth every penny.

I have a blurb on the inside and raved about it since its first edition (with a different publisher) years ago. We agree with author A.J. Swoboda who says it is “simply magical.” It is a treasure chest full of inspiring information and art of the finest calibre, explained and highlighted.

There is a reason 75 Masterpieces won a Christianity Today Book Award and was the coveted Gold Medallion winner for the ECPA — it really is an amazing piece of work.

It’s easy to explain: Glaspey gives the background of his pick of the best art pieces ever — including novels, paintings, classical music, pop music, sculptures, architecture, and film. He knows much about literature and pop/rock music and he is a man of deep prayer and Bible study. (And in his time in the religious publishing world he introduced several pretty important new authors who owe him for seeing their talent early on.) Terry is an amazing person and this collection rings true, very true.

Many will appreciate learning about the backstories of these great pieces of art — especially if you’re fond of the two great books by Russ Ramsey, Rembrandt Is in the Wind and Van Gogh Had a Broken Heart — and will be thrilled to hear about the faith-orientation of some of the artists. Many were orthodox Christians, others maybe not, but who were, in one way or another, speaking into a world in search of meaning and beauty. His passion for art history and contemporary relevance is wonderful and his balance is wise and good. Agree or not about his particular 75, you will be blessed to see how, as one reviewer put it, “God’s goodness is woven throughout each unique story.”

Why not buy a few now while we have them on sale to give as gifts (Christmas maybe?) to art aficionados that you know. Or maybe those who are not yet art lovers?

Bearing Fresh Olive Leaves: Alternative Steps in Understanding Art Calvin Seerveld (Piquant) $19.99 // OUR SALE PRICE 30% OFF = $13.99 one week only or while supplies last

I’ve often mentioned Rainbows for the Fallen World, the true classic, cited often, by the great aesthetic theorist and Bible scholar Calvin Seerveld, of Toronto, Canada. This is one first published in the UK and we are thrilled to have a bunch. Featuring a cover by Cal’s friend Henk Krijger, this is a collection of lectures, talks, keynotes addresses, and seminal essays by Seerveld, making it, in some ways, an even better view of Seerveld’s theories about the arts than Rainbows. I adore this book, have cited it often in workshops I’ve done, and can’t believe the high price used copies go for in some places. In any case, we have it at a lower-than-usual price and our 30% off special and we couldn’t be happier.

This is made with glossy paper so there could be full-color art reproductions, mostly modern and somewhat unknown works, although you’ll find some classics in here, too

It will be a joy for you to own this rare volume and with Seerveld’s colorful (if a touch eccentric) prose, you’ll have a blast with it. Believe me, it is unforgettable.

There are lectures on whether art is a “necessity of luxury” And a good art historical piece on trends in postmodern art (and radically Christian alternatives.) The chapter “Redemptive Artistry in Contemporary Culture” is amazing, and “Redemptive Art and the Problem of Propaganda” is vintage Seerveld. I learned the phrase “God’s glossolalia” from the study of Psalm 19 in Rainbows but he resists it in an Appendix called “Creational Revelation.” With the notes and index it’s just over 200 pages.

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