Archives For Faith

What Christians Can Learn from the Culinary Arts – #1: Beauty Matters

smgianotti@me.com  —  January 19, 2016

If someone visited the churches in your city—let’s say the Protestant ones—what would they conclude about Christians, in terms of beauty? If the sanctuaries in your city are anything like mine, they’d assume that Christians don’t care much about it.

Sure, we appreciate beauty when it crosses our path—in a song by Adele or a handmade leather wallet—but only if we have time for it. In the hierarchy of life, there are more important things—like paying our heating bills, getting the brakes fixed, and telling people about Jesus. 

Photo 1443808709349 353c8b390400Photo courtesy of Artur Rutkowski via unsplash.com

But, while we might prioritize necessity over beauty, God never does. From the beginning, he wove aesthetics into the necessity of life. His new world wasn’t just sustainable and durable, it was also beautiful. We catch glimmers of that beauty when God observes his work and calls it “good” and when Adam enthuses after seeing Eve for the first time, but we run straight into it in chapter three—at the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil Continue Reading…

In Art, Beauty, Chef, Christian, Christianity, Culinary, Eating, Faith, Food, God, Jesus , , , , , , , , ,
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When Has God Ever Done Anything For Us?

smgianotti@me.com  —  October 20, 2015

“God’s never done anything for me,” my friend said, “so why should I do anything for him?” 

 

Her question hung in the darkness between us—her final reason for rejecting Jesus.

 

Photo 1444220451343 9fcc0681ff8dPhoto courtesy of Gudbjörn Valgeirsson via unsplash.com, edited 

 

I wonder how many other people have asked that question this week. The relatives of the five people who died, three weeks ago, in a fiery crash near my office? The friends of the massacre victims at Umpqua Community College? The millions of Syrian refugees, fleeing for their lives?

 

Our world is in bad shape. We designate times of the year to fight certain evils, but we’re running out of months. Breast cancer has to share October with domestic violence. The brokenness never ends. It can leave us asking whether God is worth following and why, for heaven’s sake, he isn’t fixing things Continue Reading…

In Christianity, Faith , , , ,
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Sensing the Way into Worship

smgianotti  —  February 24, 2015

Filming Much Ado About Nothing (2012) in black and white worked for Joss Whedon–in minimizing the visual input he managed to accentuate the drama. But this technique doesn’t always work, especially when it comes to worship. 

 

Reading through the Bible, I get the distinct impression that God means to impress the Gospel on our senses. In foreshadowing Jesus’s death on the cross, God told the Israelites to smear lamb blood on their door posts (Exodus 12:1-13).  At Mount Sinai, Moses showered the people with bulls’ blood as a sign of God’s covenant with them (Exodus 24:3-8). During the Last Supper, Jesus invited his followers to drink wine, stating that it was the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20). 

 

24931 Offering Communion 1Photo courtesy of CreationSwap via Creationswap.com

My childhood church offered grape juice at communion, so I remember (quite clearly) my first sip of vino at a cousin’s church. A streak of warm flowed down my throat and nestled into my empty belly. A couple minutes later a soft fizz started dancing in my brain. Physically speaking, that one sip changed me. 

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In Christianity, Embodiment, Faith , , , ,
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Foot Problems, Paperwork, and Prayer

smgianotti  —  December 16, 2014

Paperwork e1418702769496

 

September 2014

 

I locked the office door and turned toward my car. The movie theater, with its sea of windshields glittering under the lamp light, greeted me. I crumpled into the driver’s seat and massaged my neck, trying to release the lead ball suspended between my shoulders.

 

Ten minutes later, the smell of fries—hot from the wire basket—filled the car.

 

“Why does it take me three hours to do paperwork?” I mumbled, cramming a fry into my mouth.

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In Christianity, Faith, Medlcine, Work , , ,
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