The Yellow Ochre Newsletter
A weekly curation of encouragement and practical wisdom to turn your art from a hobby into a purposeful blessing for your community and culture.
Poem: A Christmas Gift for Artists
I summon you, in 2025, to dig those God-given gifts, skills, and talents out of the ground. Put them to use.
This year, I give you artists out there something surprising…
A Shovel
Yes, a shovel.
I summon you, in 2025, to dig those God-given gifts, skills, and talents out of the ground. Put them to use.
No matter how far you have to dig,
how much broken cement obstructs the way,
how many bugs must be sliced,
how much mud and clay coats them…
Do not allow them to remain in the ground.
Do not plateau.
Do not compare yourself to Noah, digging for “seemingly no reason.”
Do not continue to walk over the sacred ground they lie beneath.
The Master may grant us yet another year to excavate, wipe clean, and make use.
Though he is clean, he looks for dirted hands.
He has custom-ready recipients your tools align perfectly with.
This is what he holds us accountable to.
The Restoration of Old Man Marley
Home Alone is, of course, a classic. The nostaglia hits the instance the opening scene begins.
I always loved when Kevin sets up the traps. Child-made justice rummaged onto wicked robbers hit the 10 year old heart.
“This is the place to be if you’re feeling bad about yourself.”
Old Man Marley
Home Alone is, of course, a classic. The nostaglia hits the instance the opening scene begins.
I always loved when Kevin sets up the traps. Child-made justice rummaged onto wicked robbers hit the 10 year old heart.
Childhood movies become part of our scenic background of development. And such memories can be most challenging to think critically about.
Last time I watched Home Alone, something dawned on me: Old Man Marley’s character arc.
He is initially portrayed as a spooky old man. Lore, myths, legends abound from the McAllister children. This fear drives Kevin through much of the movie’s background. The audience is left wondering, “Is Kevin more afraid of Marv and Harry OR Old Man Marley?”
Kevin, at least, engages Marv and Harry. He confidently prepares for their return multiple times. But with each glimpse of the Old Man, Kevin hides, runs away,
We finally discover the real Old Man Marley through the lens of Kevin’s transformation.
It’s no accident that the church building is where Kevin seeks help, and in walks a smiling Old Man, wishing him a Merry Christmas. We soon learn that the Old Man has a story—he carries worries and fears. He has an estranged relationship with his adult son. He is not welcome in his family’s lives nor their Christmas celebrations. Yet, he’s open to the perspective of a young child (Kevin).
Home Alone is about transformations. Two in particular. As I child, I figured it was Kevin’s. As an adult, I see it more as Old Man Marley’s. In the final scene, we find both he and Kevin joyfully restored to their families. The turmoil of Kevin’s few days without his family was a metaphor for what the Old Man felt for years being estranged from his son.
There is hope and restoration for all this and every Christmas.
“Old Man Marley” (2023), Matt Taylor
The Nations will Flow To The Lord
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. Isaiah 2:2
Reversed Waterfall (1998) by Olafur Eliasson @studioolafureliasson
“Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it.”
Isaiah 2:2
“There’s Nothing But This Manna!”
Sometimes, artists wish they had other people’s gifts.
Sometimes, we’re like Asaph the temple worship leader wishing he had what others had (Psalm 73).
Sometimes, artists view their gift of manna as a curse rather than a blessing.
God had provided.
He provided redemption to his people.
He provided a way out of slavery.
He provided guidance.
He provided miraculous wonders by dividing the Red Sea.
He also provided manna, God’s choice of sustenance for the people.
The people, however, complained, “who will feed us meat?” “There’s nothing…but this manna!” (Numbers 11:4-6).
Sometimes, artists wish they had other people’s gifts.
Sometimes, we’re like Asaph the temple worship leader wishing he had what others had (Psalm 73).
Sometimes, artists view their gift of manna as a curse rather than a blessing.
Forget not God’s provision for you.
Do not forget your gift brings a certain aspect of life to others.
Remember your unique gifting might be what your community needs for the next 40 years.
2024 Felt like a bust until I did this one thing…
I’m not sure how you felt, but 2024 felt like a bust. The mundane seemed all consuming. The toils of tiredness elongated the hours. And the sleepless nights made my feet feel like cement.
I’m not sure how you felt, but 2024 felt like a bust. The mundane seemed all consuming. The toils of tiredness elongated the hours. And the sleepless nights made my feet feel like cement.
But then I got out a notebook and decided to do one simple thing:
Reflect.
Yes, that’s it. I asked myself,
“What did our family make in 2024?”
By the end of my few minutes, I had 45 bullet points (and counting)! The list included things I had made, my wife had made, and things our kids had made.
By the word, “make,” I do not mean the things common (though you could include those) to our day such as, “I made 3 meals today.” I am more thinking about the actions and words of benevolent intentionality. The playful expressions of joy and purpose. The hands and feet of Christ expressed.
Make fruit.
Take a look back at 2024, and ask yourself:
What tangible thing(s) did you make?
What service did you make for someone?
What moments did you create to bless another?
How did you make the love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-controlling nature of Jesus manifest for others?
Gift the Benefit of the Doubt this Christmas
Love…believes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7)
What if we gift each other the benefit of the doubt for Christmas this year?
Like… give it as a gift.
Love…believes all things (1 Corinthians 13:7)
What if we gift each other the benefit of the doubt for Christmas this year?
Like… give it as a gift.
Got Some Frankincense You Wanna Share?
Got some Frankincense you’ve been wanting to share? Any allusive myrrh you’d like to pass on?…
"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11).
Got some Frankincense you’ve been wanting to share? Any allusive myrrh you’d like to pass on?
If you’re an artist wanting to share some Advent reflections, jump onto this event put on by the Network of Christians in Visual Arts (NCVA). The one-hour zoom meeting looks to be quite interactive.
Here’s how they describe the time: “Our Zoom-based gathering will include a Member Art Share and Fellowship in breakout rooms as we make room in our hearts and lives for the treasure that is Christ.”
Thanksgiving: A Freewill Offering
If you were to die tomorrow, read Psalm 50. Then, God spared your life and he happened to grant you another 60 years, how would Psalm 50 impact those remaining years?
If you were to die tomorrow, read Psalm 50. Then, God spared your life and he happened to grant you another 60 years, how would Psalm 50 impact those remaining years?
God was upset with Israel. They brought sacrifices to the temple, sure. And they did so over and over again. But there was a problem: They missed the heart of God by only offering these. They were religious, yet, did not take care of community/poor. They performed their services, offering temple sacrifices of bulls and goats. But Psalm 50 paints a fuller picture of their problem.
If you are only going to God to give him sacrifices, fine. God was not rebuking Israel for that. But God desires sacrifices of thanksgiving, or, freewill offerings.
Freewill offerings are different than burnt offerings. Burnt offerings would have been animals representing the sacrifice required for sins (Leviticus 1). Grain offerings would have been from your harvest, showing dependence on God (Leviticus 2).
But freewill offerings (or, “fellowship,” “peace” offerings) would have been spontaneous. They were voluntary, personalized, responses to God’s goodness. They acknowledge absolute dependence on God; expressions of thanksgiving. Imagine a potluck for the world’s best BBQ. Your contribution was as if you were sharing a meal with the Lord, emphasizing the peace one has with Him.
God says these types of offerings glorifies him (Psalm 50:23). They are not offerings to get something from God. They’re for you to say, “You’ve given me all!” It is the kind of reactive joy one feels Christmas morning opening gift after gift.
How to cultivate thanksgiving
“Our faith as to the present is revived by glad memories of the past.” (Spurgeon)“Offer unto God thanksgiving is the everlasting rubic of the true directory of worship.” (Spurgeon)
The only way I’ve come to learn how to cultivate this kind of thanksgiving comes from A Praying Life by Paul Miller. Miller says, “Cynicism looks in the wrong direction. It looks for the cracks in Christianity instead of looking for the presence of Jesus…In order to see Jesus…I would have to look at people simply, as a child does. I began to ask myself, ‘Where did I see Jesus today?’”
Miller’s book has been in my top 5 books outside the bible since I read it in 2011. But it wasn’t until this last year I put something into practice, inspired by his writing. Each day, I would try to think back on the day before and write down as many attributes of God I saw that day. Where was Jesus in the “hiddenness” of the day? Did I see someone show humility? Did I see God provide? Answer a prayer? Show up in someone’s act of courage? Where did I see truth, honor, righteousness, purity, love, excellence, and other praise-worthy things?
Suddenly, I’ve had myself a year-long Field Notes booklet of kingdom goodness. Don’t be a cynic, Miller says. Instead, fight for joy. Aim at remembering. And respond accordingly.
Thank Thanksgiving!
**Learn more about free will offerings:
Leviticus 3
Psalm 27:6
Psalm 69:30-33
Psalm 107:22
Psalm 116:17
A New Batch of Stickers
I just posted a slew of new sticker ideas for my fellow makers out there! Head over to Taylor Make Art Shop.
I just posted a slew of new sticker ideas for my fellow makers out there! Head over to Taylor Make Art Shop.
Jesus Answers Emos - “Bring me to Life”
I remember this beautiful song that came out my junior year of high school. “Bring me to Life” by Evanescence…
I remember this beautiful song that came out my junior year of high school. “Bring me to Life” by Evanescence. My friend and I listened on the school bus daily until tragedy struck. She and 3 of our friends were in a car accident. This accident shook me and our community of friends. Two of those in the car died.
Though my listening-friend survived, those days on the school bus were lonely without her (as she fought for her life in the hospital). Her absence was a symbol of the friends we had just lost.
What I didn’t realize was that the Evanescence song quickly turned into a prayer:
“Wake me up (I can’t wake up).”
“Save me.”
“Call my name and save me from the dark.”
“Wake me up.”
“Bid my blood to run before I come undone.”
“Save me from the nothing I’ve become.”
Thus opened the floodgates of the catalogue of emo-screamo-metal songs. Songs which are cries for help. Screaming in community of mosh-piters to our own “unknown gods.”
What I didn’t realize at the time was how Jesus would bring those answers. Over the years, I’ve come to understand him as a shepherd near to the broken-hearted (Psalm 34). He provides life (John 10:10). He is, in fact, life (John 14:6). Dying with him means we raise with him (Romans 6). He is the Savior my little emo heart cried out for (Ephesians 2:8).
Consuming Media
From the Every Moment Holy Vol. 1 book. A snippet of a liturgy before consuming media:
O Discerning Spirit, who alone judges all things rightly, now be present in my mind and active in my imagination as I prepare to engage with the claims and questions of diverse cultures incarnated in the stories that people tell.
From the Every Moment Holy Vol. 1 book. A snippet of a liturgy before consuming media:
O Discerning Spirit, who alone judges all things rightly, now be present in my mind and active in my imagination as I prepare to engage with the claims and questions of diverse cultures incarnated in the stories that people tell.
Let me experience mediums of art and expression, neither as a passive consumer nor as an entertainment glutton, but rather as one who through such works would more fully and compassionately enter this ongoing human conversation of mystery and meaning, wonder and beauty, good and evil, sorrow and joy, fear and love.
Read the rest here.
Change the Metaphor
“If you want to change the world, change the metaphor.”
Joseph Campbell
“If you want to change the world, change the metaphor.”
Joseph Campbell
Hip Hop Church
Check out my interview with my friend and church planter, Abraham Barberi, who I interviewed for the “Sparking Arts” podcast. He shares his story about church planting among the hip hop community in Mexico
Check out my interview with my friend and church planter, Abraham Barberi, who I interviewed for the “Sparking Arts” podcast. He shares his story about church planting among the hip hop community in Mexico:
Hear the podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s3e4-hip-hop-church/id1552338475?i=1000675608077
What is the Magistrate?
“The magistrate is an instrument of “common grace,” to thwart all license and outrage and to shield the good agains the evil. But he is more. Besides all this he is instituted by God as His Servant, in order that he may preserve the glorious work of God, in creation of humanity, from total destruction.”
Abraham Kuyper
“The magistrate is an instrument of “common grace,” to thwart all license and outrage and to shield the good agains the evil. But he is more. Besides all this he is instituted by God as His Servant, in order that he may preserve the glorious work of God, in creation of humanity, from total destruction.”
Abraham Kuyper