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In the past seven years there has been an emerging renaissance movement in the church. God is raising up arts ministries and artists in a new way.

In 2006 I experienced several months of extraordinary encounters with God that became the nucleus of my ministry, Belonging House. During that season I received a clear call from God to \"raise up an army of artists to build Jesus a throne in the earth.\" For the past seven years I have prayed, pondered, and preached those words. This book is the result of the past seven years. I have attempted to distill in An Army Arising what I have learned about the call of God to the artist. I have also attempted to sort out how the artist fits into the picture God is painting right now at this time in history.

About 5 years ago I wrote a book called The Glory of A Wasted Life. That first book was largely my the story of how I came to grips with my own brokenness and the call God had on my life as an artist. At the time I didn't have the means to distribute the book before it was published. After publication, the last chapter and the postscript received the most feedback. This book is an expansion on most of the seminal ideas in those last few pages of that little book.

Last year Matt Tommey and I were having coffee in Boston and we agreed that there were three things desperately needed in the Christian art community: an understanding of the Christian worldview, excellence in skill and craftsmanship, and getting healed enough to use your art as an expression of God's glory in your life. This book is really about the first of those needs.

Since returning to the “first love” of an artistic calling, I have had to face the pressure from other Christians to conform to other more accepted avenues of ministry. These pressures, both external and internal, have made me stronger and tested my resolve. I pray that this book gives you to strength to run after the high calling of the Army Arising.

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