~ by Travis and Laura Stewart ~JJ Heller, an independent artist who writes and performs with her husband Dave, experienced a dramatic increase in exposure this past year when their song "Your Hands" was used by dancer Diana Drexler on the TV show "So You Think You Can Dance?" and suddenly found their music at the top of the singer/songwriter charts on iTunes. Along with my daughter 12 year-old daughter Laura, I had the chance to interview JJ for our viaRenovo artist ...

~ by Margot Starbuck ~ About twelve minutes after enthusiastically posting “GOOD HAIR ROCKS!” on my Facebook page, I came to my senses and quickly deleted. I’d just enjoyed Chris Rock’s HBO documentary about the African-American hair product industry, Good Hair, and wanted to get the word out. As the comments started coming in, though, I realized that it wasn’t entirely clear, in cyberspace, whether I was announcing that Rock’s film rocked—which was my clever intention—or I that was touting the fact that smooth shiny bouncy hair sprung effortlessly out of my own ...

Word Pictures; Knowing God Through Story and Imagination by Brian Godawa IVP Books ~ Book Review by Travis Stewart ~ Brian Godawa writes in the first chapter of Word Pictures that he was a "mind-oriented" Christian and that he "thought mere theologically correct belief about reality was the same things as inhabiting that reality. Emotions were irrational and thus irrelevant..." He then goes on to write a book extolling the values of story and imagination and exploring how God uses both word and image in nourishing our faith, and he does so in such a way that uses both word and image ...

Precious 2009 • Rated R Directed by Lee Daniels Review by Craig Detweiler Precious is the most basic, extraordinary and humane film of 2009. After a summer of silliness, Precious arrives as a bracing alternative, powered by jolting performances from Mo’Nique and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe. It takes viewers inside the tragic life of a teen mother. It puts a face on poverty, abuse, and perseverance. Precious offers hard-earned hope amidst overwhelming odds. I had the privilege of seeing Precious on the night it won the Grand Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Director Lee ...

~ by Natalie Haynes ~ So you may not know this, but there is this entire sector of the blogging world that does nothing but blog about home design. They are called "design blogs." Mostly they blog about new things that they are trying in their homes, or neat things that they have seen done in other people's homes. These women are normally operating on a budget, so they are always concerned about that. They are also always concerned about making a home that is practical for their family, and inviting. One of the most famous design bloggers, The Inspired Room, is actually the wife of a ...

Up Pixar Animation Studios 2009 • Rated PG Directed by Pete Docker & Bob Peterson There is a lot of beauty is Pixar's latest film Up (released on DVD 11/10/09), not the least of which is the stunning animation, brilliant colors and spot-on "set design". But the transformative power of the story lies in two primary relationships: Carl and his wife Ellie and later, Carl and young Russell. The former relationship (which technically last through only the first 11 ...