Psalm 2—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Bruce Butler

I’m Bruce, and I’ve been part of Park for nearly 13 years. I’m married to Jamie Rosenberry, and we have a two-year-old and another child on the way (likely having arrived by the time you’re reading this!). I’ve worked as a Graphic Designer for about 13 years, originally freelancing under the name Wise Bison, and now full-time with The Fire and Smoke Society, a spice company known for its killer rubs. I also play guitar for Park and in two bands: Last Ditch and Our Violet Room. Outside of design and music, I co-manage Victory House, a sober living home within the Providence Network, and love specialty coffee, cooking for friends and family, and attending shows.

Piece

I chose Psalm 2 as the basis for this piece. The psalm describes nations rising in pride against God, only for God to laugh at their defiance. He establishes His Son—the Messiah—as heir to all nations, calling rulers to serve Him and to “kiss the Son” while rejoicing with trembling.

I represented this theme by illustrating six rebellions against God throughout history, using the number six symbolically—representing human incompleteness and our tendency to fall short. These are not all cases of atheism vs. Christianity, nor are they equivalent in scope or suffering. The six rebellions are:

  1. The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)
  2. Pharaoh’s persecution of the Hebrews in Egypt (Exodus 7–12)
  3. The statue of Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3)
  4. The Roman Colosseum and Christian persecution (1st–3rd Century AD)
  5. The Crusades (1095–1291 AD)
  6. Christian Nationalism (present day)

The last two were/are carried out by people claiming to act in God’s name, but their actions in the name of Christ are antithetical to His teachings, with a complete lack of trembling and wisdom by their nation’s “kings.” Jesus, over and over, chose to disregard government, military, or any political movement as a means to achieve his goals, instead calling the Church to action through love. To clarify, there should be an overlap with the government’s pursuits and Jesus commands, like loving your neighbors, caring for the least of these, widows, and orphans, and so on, but Jesus never elected to use government as the means to carry out his mission.

Above these six examples is an enormous, ornate crown with an Alpha & Omega symbol at the crest, displaying God being the king, set apart and unfathomable. Radiating rays shine from the crown, symbolizing His ridicule of humanity’s vain attempts at power and control.

PROCESS: Digital Art

For the process, I used Adobe Illustrator for the line work, trying a few ideas but landing on this concept of the crown above 6 rebellions. Trying to represent them symbolically with minimal detail was a challenge, and after starting with two design styles with the symbols at the bottom, I paused and went to work on the crown, which was more fleshed out in my mind. After finishing that, the rest of the “rebellions” fell into place quickly. I brought that into Photoshop and tried a few textures, but the brilliant colors of the Final felt most fitting for the unfathomable God in His glory.

Psalm 1—Artwork

Learn more about Christ in the Psalms weekly artwork and see previous pieces here.

Person: Drew Button

Drew Button grew up in Colorado drawing pictures of animals and became interested in pen and ink artwork in high school. His first ‘sketchbook’ contained all the quintessential imagery you’d associate with an ’emo’. Drawing became a way for that angsty teenage Drew to reconcile his faith and morals with the world around him. Family members and teachers encouraged Drew down a creative path early on that has led him to where he is today; operating an art business alongside his wife, Emily here in Denver. His life as a husband, father and artist is a dream come true for that hopeless romantic emo version of his teenage self, lost in the tide of young adulthood. His works today still pull from the same themes as before but now include inspiration received from his wife and son; including but not limited to people, animals, Christianity, machines, architecture, landscapes and dinosaurs.

Piece

I call this piece ‘OA515’ (oasis) in response to Psalm 1’s presentation of two life paths for a person to live and walk. One path leads towards rootlessness and death, while the other towards a rooted, abundant, fruitful life in Christ. While reading Psalm 1, a ‘split screen’ image formed in my mind initially, giving the viewer a clear choice to walk down one path versus the other. Upon more readings, I began imagine an oasis in the desert, that one could step into our out of. This vision brought me closer to what you see in the drawing: an overlap of both realities in which we choose to live as sinners and believers. While we strive towards a life committed the Word and aligned with our Father’s desire for us to drink and eat of him, we still wander out into the heat and desolation of the world beyond the lush garden. We follow and become fixed to a windswept track that takes us swiftly towards our own desires. Therein lies the struggle and the choice. With His hand on our shoulder, we may yet again decouple ourselves from that sinful train of thought or action and find ourselves back at the water’s edge.

PROCESS: Ink Pen

I experienced a great challenge in creating this piece. Prior to drawing ‘OA515’, my collection of pens had accumulated a year’s worth of dust. Breaking the rhythm of churning out work, and finding space to let myself draw for Christ in the Psalms is something I haven’t done enough since I began working for myself. Once I began imagining the oasis in my drawing, it only became easier for me to come back to the drawing in order to finish it. I drew inspiration from my son’s current obsession with ‘choochey trains’ and our enjoyment of God’s gift of time. He gives us rest and shade where the palm trees sway, where the flamingos flock, and even in the city, where the trains trundle on the trestles over the trail, down by the river.

A Sabbatical for Joel Limpic

Joel Limpic, our Pastor of Liturgy and Arts since 2013, will be starting a three-month sabbatical next week. We’re glad for him to have this opportunity to pause and spend time with his family.

Sabbaticals provide a time to slow down, reconnect with Jesus, and focus on areas of healing, growth, and family life. We’re delighted to offer Sabbaticals to all full-time staff every seven years. This will be Joel’s second sabbatical.

It’s hard to communicate how thankful we are for the ways Joel has cared for and served our community. Please join us in prayer for Joel, Morgan, Tally, Alex, and Eleanor that this season will be restful and meaningful for them. We’ll miss them while they’re away and look forward to welcoming them back!

Liturgical Audit

A liturgical audit (or habit inventory) is simply an honest account of how you are spending your time during the week. The goal is not to foster comparison or shame, but to help you see the habits and rhythms that are shaping you, and to consider what they reveal about your values and desires.

WRITE: Make a list of your time spent during the week.

  • Write down what you do in the morning, during the day, and in the evening. Include the first and last things you do every day.
  • Write down how much time you spend on each activity, including the small things (time spent sleeping, getting ready for the day, on your phone, watching TV, getting kids ready, preparing & eating meals, exercising, time with Jesus, commuting, podcasts, time with friends, etc.)
  • Consider how frequently or infrequently you incorporate various activities. Consider how your weekend habits are different than weekdays.

CONSIDER: Consider your daily and weekly habits and write down some observations.

  • What is encouraging or discouraging about your habits?
  • What do they reveal about your values and desires?
  • How might these things be forming you, your family, or your community?
  • Are these things cultivating a deeper love for Jesus and for His calling in your life?

PRAY: Talk to Jesus about what you are seeing and feeling about these things.

  • Remember that Jesus loves you and is inviting you into deeper communion with him and a more meaningful life.
  • Ask Him if there are habits that should change in some way?
  • Tell Him about what feels challenging.
  • Ask Him for help as you continue to try to orient your life around His presence with you.

DISCUSS: Take time to talk about your observations and thoughts with a friend, spouse, or people in your Gospel Community.

Partner Highlight: Open Door Ministries

At Park Church, we work with local partners to love and serve our neighbors throughout the city. This last Sunday, we had the opportunity to hear from David Warren at Open Door Ministries. Open Door seeks to address poverty, build communities, and cultivate followers of Christ here in Denver through Housing, Kid and Youth Programming, Leadership Development, and Local Outreach. You learn more about Open Door, their work, and how to get involved by visiting their website.

Lent & Holy Week Artwork

At Park Church, we use visual artwork as an accompaniment to sermon series, church calendar seasons, church holidays, and some events. Besides the simple reality that good art is nice to look at, we also believe that—by engaging a different part of us than words do—artwork helps us learn.

Who is Avo Keerend?

Over the years, we’ve looked to different visual artists inside and outside of our church family to create our artwork. However, this year for Lent and Holy week, we’re looking several decades back in time to the work of an Estonian graphic artist named Avo Keerend. Keerend (1920–2012) was a trained painter and a prolific linoleum-cut artist, but turned towards making geometric-abstract pieces with letterpress and plastic printing (that is, by hand without a computer) near the end of his career in the 1980s. We’ve used five of these later, geometric-abstract pieces for this Lent and Holy Week collection. Learn more about Avo Keerend’s life here (your web browser will have to translate from Estonian!).

okay—Why does this matter?

We sing songs written before our time, enjoy a church building built before our time, and often reference authors who wrote before our time. Things like this remind us that we’re not the first or the last to live. Granted, for many in our community, these art pieces from the 1980s may not be “before your time!” Even still, to look back 40 years and be moved or challenged by an artistic work can teach us something.

Why these particular images?

In general, abstract geometry has always defied the world of art. Why should painting a circle be so hard? How can a mess of lines stir up so much emotion? How can complex narratives come to mind at the sight of simple shapes?

For a brief answer to these questions, let’s look to a few more-complex art forms. An elaborate oil painting, a hand-woven tapestry, or the sound of a full orchestra are each the work of a thousand soft touches. These types of art can wow us with their wonderful abundance of detail and nuance by giving our senses a lot of “information.” One might say this information comes with a decision to either sort it all out (“What am I seeing? What am I hearing? How is this possible?”), or to simply let it “wash over you” (“What am I feeling?”). How wonderful to choose either!

On the other hand, abstract geometry is wildly different. Compared to an oil painting, a handful of squares or lines pressed onto a canvas (with a just little shading) might take 100,000 less touches. The finished piece gives our senses so much less “information.” To some, this may lead to questions that sounds less like “What am I seeing? What am I feeling?”, and more like “Is this even art?” This is a common and valid opinion! Other viewers may feel significantly moved, even challenged to interpret what they’re seeing.

One Interpretation

As a fan of this artist and this style of artwork, I (JD Raab) wanted to provide one possible “reading” of each panel in this series. But before I begin, it’s important to note that these art pieces from Avo Keerend were not made for the application to which I’ve set them—I have enjoyed interpreting them and applying them as such. This is one of the beautiful strengths of this sort of artwork—it can mean many different things. Let me tell you what I see…

Ash Wednesday

The squares feel as if they move from left to right and create a narrative. Perhaps only one square moves, but we see it pictured in a few “stages” of its journey? The dark square at the beginning (hidden in the fold of the large left triangle) and the dark square at the end (falling out of the larger right triangle) work as bookmarks in a journey: a start and an end. In particular, we may see a movement reminiscent of Genesis 3:19—from dust to dust; a falling like gravity.

Lent

Though the shapes furthest back in this composition are dark (perhaps representing original “dust,” as referenced in the Ash Wednesday piece), there is a lighter foreground, appearing as a sort of sash over the purple rectangle (Lent is traditionally represented with the color purple). Taken altogether, this purple rectangle can illustrate the tension we feel in this season: mortality and sin is right behind us, but in Christ we are truly wrapped in His righteousness and life. Furthermore, in the image, the black shape is separated from the purple rectangle by this white sash—just as we are ultimately separated from our sin and death. The question of “how is any of that possible?” is appropriately felt!

Palm Sunday

Bright yellow shouts of happiness are present, but as in the previous piece for Lent, dark shapes are furthest back in our image. The irony of Palm Sunday is clear—those who know the whole story can rejoice with a “Hosanna!” while knowing that “Crucify Him!” can come from the same place. We say with David “Unite my heart to fear Your name!” (Psalm 86:11). This art piece also shows a white shape entwined above, between, and below the other shapes. As in our piece for Lent, I see this white “path” representing the presence and foreknowledge of Christ in all of the happenings of Holy Week (and how it plays out in our hearts today).

GOOD FRIDAY

As we get to this piece, all instances of light and warmth are gone. The black present in the other pieces is now the entire background. The white shape and/or path from the previous pieces has turned purple, and is wrapped in red and black serpentine forms. The white turned purple illustrates the royalty of Christ in His death (his upside-down throne). The red and back illustrate the hatred, the sin, and curses that fell on Him in this moment. It’s an entangling, suffocating mess, but the shape representing Jesus is shown as larger as the other shapes, extending well past them and even turning to “see” them. His sovereignty is unaffected.

EASTER

As you view this piece, I challenge you to picture it as “zoomed out” in comparison to the other pieces. Imagine that its scope has to be much larger! Shapes of yellow and black that previously seemed central are now laying small against a massive, layered backdrop that’s bright with the shades of a dawn sky. The white from earlier pieces now wraps around the sky and amongst the shapes on the ground, even supporting the yellow and black shapes. It’s as if the whole “stage” is now visible, and the end is clear.

Partner Highlight: Denver Rescue Mission

Denver Rescue Mission is committed to helping those experiencing homelessness and addiction in the Denver Metro Area and providing opportunities for change and rehabilitation. DRM serves our city by providing emergency housing services, rehabilitation, housing transition, and continued community outreach.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to love our neighbor through the joys of life and through its pains. We are called to be there in times of righteousness and in times of injustice. As the winter marches on, the needs of those experiencing homelessness become acute. If you or your Gospel Community haven’t considered volunteering with Denver Rescue Mission, now could be a meaningful time to do so.

Who is Served?

Denver Rescue Mission serves those experiencing homelessness and addiction in our city.

Why Is This Work Important

Approximately 9977 people experience homelessness in Denver. 71% of these individuals rely on organizations like Denver Rescue Mission for temporary places to stay safe amidst nights and the weather. (Source: Metro Denver Homeless Initiative). Learn more about the realities of Homelessness in Denver here.

How Can You Serve?

While there are many ways to serve, here are a couple of good starting places for individuals and groups:

How Can You Give?

To give to the mission, visit Denver Rescue Mission’s giving page.

Partner Highlight: CrossPurpose

On Sunday, January 12, we were joined by Michael Ramsdail and Mark Haug from CrossPurpose, a Denver non-profit organization that seeks to abolish relational, economic, and spiritual poverty through tuition-free career training and community development. If you missed their announcement, you can watch that above to learn more about their work and our opportunity to participate.

As Michael and Mark shared, an important element of CrossPurpose’s work is the cultivation of “Ally” relationships. This Spring Semester, we invite you, your family, or your Gospel Community to join CrossPurpose and its mission by becoming an ally.

What is a Cross Purpose Ally?

An Ally is a volunteer who walks alongside the CrossPurpose community and career development program participants (called “Leaders”) to encourage and build friendships.

On Wednesday nights from 6–8pm, we come together for “Family Gatherings.” Three to four allies share a meal with 10–15 Leaders, play a game or two, and check in on how things are progressing in our Leaders’ lives and careers. Allies help provide Leaders with social capital and community outside their normal circles.

Learn more about becoming an Ally

Missions Partner Highlight: CrossPurpose

This spring, we want to focus on reflecting the love of Jesus by reaching out to others with compassion, unifying grace, and sacrificial action. Below, you can learn more about one opportunity we would love to invite you to begin thinking and praying about.

Cross Purpose

CrossPurpose is a non-profit organization that seeks to abolish relational, economic, and spiritual poverty through tuition-free career training and community development. An important element of their work is the cultivation of “Ally” relationships. This Spring Semester, we invite you, your family, or your Gospel Community to join CrossPurpose and their mission by becoming an ally.

What is a CrossPurpose Ally?

An Ally is a volunteer who walks alongside the CrossPurpose community and career development program participants (called “Leaders”) to encourage and build friendships.

On Wednesday nights from 6–8pm, we come together for “Family Gatherings.” Three to four allies share a meal with 10–15 Leaders, play a game or two, and check in on how things are progressing in our Leaders’ lives and careers. Allies help provide Leaders with social capital and community outside their normal circles.

Learn more about becoming an Ally