Canadian Artist: Jim Logan

The first Jim Logan painting I saw was in the waiting room of the medical clinic when my oldest two were preschoolers. The painting was on the wall behind several chairs, 3 feet wide or so, and the waiting room was small, so there was no ignoring it.

That painting is not one of Logan’s that can be found on the internet, so I’ll have to describe it as I remember it and, since it’s a twenty-year-old memory, I guarantee I’ll get details wrong. What I won’t get wrong is the impression the painting gave. There are young children in a run down kitchen, with the older making toast for the littler ones. On the kitchen table and around the kitchen are several empty booze bottles, so we know the kids are fending for themselves because the adults can’t fend for them.

It was a powerful painting, but I wouldn’t have wanted it on my living room wall.

Here are a few others of Jim Logan’s work. His paintings, he says, “are snapshots of life in an Aboriginal community,” including, I suppose, Whitehorse’s Kwanlin Dun Village where he was once an Anglican lay missionary, and they “explore feelings of wanting to belong, about feeling abandoned, about living in poverty and of hope for something undefined.” 

 He Remembers His Brother

 

 

 

 The Women Are At Bingo 

 

 

 

 Evening News 

 

 

 

 The Last Time I Saw Him 

 

You’ll find more Jim Logan work here. 

Blood-Bought Blessings

From The Great Exchange, by Jerry Bridges and Bob Bevington: 

The cross is not a mere first step toward spiritual development; is is the all-encompassing foundation for Christian growth. ..[I]t first provides complete forgivenss of past, present, and future sins, and then it becomes a means of the deliverance by which we are freed from bondage to sin….

 
By tying the transformation of the believer to the cross, Paul makes his point aboundantly clear: everything we need for life and eternity is provided by virture of Christ’s great atonement. Furthermore, in everything God is for us; he is for us in Christ wisdom instead of ignorance, justification instead of condemnation, sanctification instead of sinfulnees, and redemption instead of slavery. “[God] is the source of [our] life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and santification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30). In view of this, it is no wonder Paul is adamant and unwavering regarding the centrality of the cross of Christ. The fulfillment of every hope we have is blood bought by the atoning work of Christ on the Cross. And the work of Christ on the cross must remain our only hope.

Expect a review of this book to be posted here soon. 

Reformation Day Symposium

I’m betting you’ve already read about it, but I’ll post the info here just in case you missed it. Tim Challies has put out notice that he will host another Reformation Day Symposium this year. From Tim:

…once again I’m asking you to consider blogging about the Reformation to celebrate Reformation Day. As I did last year, I’ll link to all of the posts from this site. And as I did last year, I’ll award prizes to the “best” entries (as judged by myself and likely a couple of other judges, and based on whatever subjective criteria we come up with).

You may want to reflect on a person, an event, or a particular point of theology. The topic is wide open, so long as it somehow ties in to Reformation Day. And remember, you do not need to be Reformed to appreciate the Reformation and all it stood for. If you do not have a blog of your own, but would still like to participate, why not ask another blogger if you can “guest” on his site that day.

And there be prizes! You’ll find more details here.