Eden Church hosted the first ICON event co-sponsored by Pathways Bible College - hopefully the first of many. Those who came, enjoyed meeting with others in the arts space to consider how we see faith and things that are true in our human experience speak to our audience.
The event was timed to run alongside the Auckland International Film Festival and the group were able to see one of the films on the Friday evening.
On Saturday, Sam Bloore (St Paul's Anglican) gave a potted history of photography and how we can use this medium to display creation that leads to worship of our Creator. Director Andrew Hunt (Valley Road Church) helped us understand the art of storytelling in film making and drama.
Ask yourself - if God wanted to communicate with humanity, what's the best way he could do it? Answer - He entered our world in Jesus to authentically show us what God is like and speak what God wants to say to us. God storied to us through Jesus and that story continues to this day as each of us play our part in reflecting him to our watching world by His Spirit.
On Sunday Richard Goodwin (Raleigh St Christian Centre) brought a message entitled "Truth: Inside the Frame, Outside the Box" from Acts 17 where Paul speaks to the Athenians and draws from their cultural philosophers who communicate truth "For in him we live and move and have our being"1 and "we are his offspring."2Paul references their poets and points to God the Creator, 'their unknown god.'
Question - When did this become Spirit-inspired?
When Luke penned these words?
When Paul spoke them?
When Epimenides and Aratus wrote them?
How does a poem written by a pagan and addressed to Zeus, become Holy Spirit inspired sacred scripture? Interesting to note that Dionysius and Damaris came to faith in the living God, through Paul's referencing of their philosophers.
We are encouraged to see truth whether it is attributed to our God or not. We can let the story of the creative writer or film maker present, with integrity, truth that we can use and like Paul point people in God's direction.
1 From Cretia by Epimenides
2 From Phenomena by Aratus
