Thursday, June 30, 2005

Here's an article that appeared on the SC Baptist website about me. I'm putting it here so it doesn't go bye-bye forever.


Marty Gordon...A Creative Ministries Journey
Marty Gordon’s creative ministries journey began in 1990. Having grown up at Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida, and accepting Christ at the age of 17 at youth camp, Marty was no stranger to ministry. His formal education to become a visual artist began in 1980 as he entered college but his frustration soon grew as he found few ways to use his talents in the church. There was the occasional poster that needed to be drawn and the Christmas and Easter Pageants were there for some musical and dramatic opportunities, but Marty wanted more.
In 1990, Olive’s college minister, Rew Randolph, sensed Marty’s frustration and provided him with an opportunity that would change his life. With Rew as his guide, Marty attended the 1990 National Drama Festival held at Two Rivers Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee, and sponsored by the Southern Baptist Convention. At the festival, a whole new world of ministry possibilities opened up. At the festival, Marty attended several of the many classes offered in puppetry, clowning, interpretive movement and drama. He also witnessed many wonderful performances by Christian artists. A standout for Marty was The Company, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s drama team. On the way home from the festival, Marty and Rew were so inspired that they planned a creative Christmas service for college students and performed it in December of that year.
Having been jolted into the reality that artists can use their gifts for God, Marty soon accepted a call to ministry and started at Southwestern in 1992. In 1993, he joined The Company, the group he was so inspired by at the festival in 1990. During his stint in The Company, Marty honed his skills as a dramatic artist. He returned to the National Drama Festival in 1994, only this time as a faculty member. After leaving The Company and the seminary behind in 1995, Marty joined Face to Face Ministries. This group was comprised of former Company members pursuing their vision to communicate the love of God through artistic mediums. After a year with Face to Face, Marty left to take a youth ministry position in Columbia, SC.
When Marty arrived in Columbia, two new creative ministries opportunities opened up to him. He was contacted by Angela Dowless of the Youth Ministries Group of the SC Baptist Convention about helping write scripts for Evangelympics. Marty is now in his sixth year of serving on the scriptwriting team for youth events such as Hardball and Summersalt.
Around the same time, Marty attended the SC Creative Ministries Festival where he ran into Rose Crane Grayson. They had met the year before when Face to Face served on faculty at Curtain Call, the North Carolina Festival. Rose asked Marty to not only serve on faculty but to be a part of the planning team for the festival. Marty just recently served at his sixth festival in SC.
Marty presently serves as Minister of Arts and Worship at Lakewood Church in Irmo, SC, where he attempts to communicate the gospel creatively through all of the arts.
Car update: Just as the lottery grows to a sizable amount, so does my jeep estimate. So far, it's up to $1600. Could go up...won't go down. Seems the engine is flopping around in there alot more than they thought. The bolts that hold it to the mounts broke off and are embedded in the engine block. Lovely. They will salvage the engine block if they can...if not...new engine block which equals megabuckaroos. So...what will I be doing for the 4th? Something cheap or free...that's what. The good news is my new friend Hayden is letting me borrow her car for the weekend. She is one of the co-owners/operators of the coffeeshop next door to the theater. It's called the Green Bean. Cool place. Hope to exhibit my art there sometime soon. So, that's the news that fit to print today. More later in this life I call dull but never boring.

Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Okay. So I'm in Seattle, right? It's been a year of things not going so good for me. Sarah's the only good thing in my life. (why else do you think I would follow her 2000 miles to the Pacific Northwest) Well, my jeep arrived today. Had it shipped cross-country. I was thrilled to have it back and I drove it...down the road to mechanic. Something is obviously wrong. I get there and the things that hold the engine up (can't remember their name) are broken. So the engine is just flopping around in there like a fat man on the tea cup ride at Disneyworld. The good news is that it won't cost as much as I thought it would and I should get the car back tomorrow. The bad news is...I don't have any money to spare right now...being unemployed and all and...I want my freakin' jeep! So...there's my rant, my tirade for the day. Seems a bummer to journal lately. Everything is negative. Life kinda sucks. Here's hoping things look up soon.

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Wow! I haven't blogged in over a year. The last entry was the day I lost my job in SC. Oh well. Now, I am in Seattle. Having moved to NC shortly after being fired, I worked for AC Moore and spent time with Sarah. Now, Sarah gets a job in Seattle and -BOOM- I'm moving again. Life is crazy. So, now I have to find a job and an apt. and start all over again. Will I ever get settled? Who knows?