Help Needed

I was out this past weekend at the Call 2 Ministry Conference. It was amazing. I had the opportunity to speak into the lives of young people exploring a call to ministry. It once again cemented something in my heart. This ministry called A.M.O.K. is my calling and what I want to do with the rest of my life. It’s a lot more than painting pictures and telling stories for Jesus. I want to use my gift to spread the Gospel and encourage believers to find and use their unique gifts to serve the Lord and spread the Gospel. I want to be able to go wherever I’m needed and help as many as I can.

You see there is a huge need. First of all, the majority of the people in this world are still in need of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The harvest is ripe and the workers are few. I feel a call to the harvest and the workers. I want to be out there sharing the Gospel, but I also want to be showing and encouraging others to use their unique gifts to serve the Lord. I want to be out there helping congregations to find and create ministries for the people in their midst so that they’re better equipped to reach their communities.

The arts and the media are one of the most powerful tools to spread a message in the history of the world and while I believe my call is to the whole Church the way God has gifted me puts me in a unique place to reach these often underutilized people. The next C.S. Lewis may well be in the church now. The next Coppola, Rembrandt, Beethoven and Van Halen may maybe out there too, not to mention the geniuses and the masters of the new media. We need to reach them to put their gifts to work for the good of the Kingdom. Again the harvest is ripe and I want to be used to bring it in. I need your help.

How can you help:

1. Pray.
I am building a prayer list and a prayer team for this ministry. If you’d like to be a part of it, please contact me at amokarts@aol.com.

2. Spread the Word.
I post this blog and create the videos and resources I post here to further the Kingdom and the Gospel. The more people that know about it the better. Repost it, tweet it, share it on your Facebook page, email it to your friends, use the videos in your worship services. It’s been freely given, so freely give. The more people that know what we’re doing here, there better.

3. Bring me in for your next program/service/etc.
I love to paint in worship and do creative things to bring forth a message from the Word, and I’d love to paint for your conference, concert, service, etc. And I don’t just paint, I do workshops on a variety of topics, including using the creative arts in ministry. I create evangelistic programs, youth retreats, revivals and more. I’ve been a pastor for nearly 10 years and was a youth leader for five years before that. I’m a story teller/parable maker. I’m an experienced preacher/speaker who believes that the Bible is the unchanging Word of God. These opportunities help to support and further this ministry. You can see the recommendations of some of the people I’ve worked with here.

4. Donate
Donations will also help further this ministry and help me to reach more people and congregations. I’ve not yet incorporated this ministry, instead for now, it’s a ministry of my church, New Creation Fellowship in Reading, PA. If you’d like to donate, you can mail a check to New Creation Fellowship, 3646 Pottsville Pike, Reading, PA 19605. Please designate AMOKArts on the memo line. Thanks for the way you have supported this ministry over the years. I appreciate your support more than you could ever know.

I’ve told you how you can help me, now here is the bigger question.

How can I help you? Because I want to.

Follow “my” progress!

You’ll see a link just to the right of this page called Goal 2012. Basically this is my daily challenge for the year. Every day this year, my goal is to do at least one thing to advance the Kingdom and/or the speaking/painting/writing Juggernaut called AMOKArts. If you want to follow along on the journey, go to http://amokarts.wordpress.com/goal-2012/ or click the link over there. >>>>

Be The Body New Blog Announcement

If you’ve been following the AMOKArts blog you’ve been hearing about this for a little while but I’m also starting a new blog specifically for Be the Body and while I will repeat a lot of these posts on both blogs, (yes the AMOKArts blog will continue) my reason for starting the new blog is pretty simple. The arts are just one part of the Body. Be the Body is for all the Body of Christ. The purpose of Be the Body is simple. I want to help people to find and become what God created them to be. I want to help people find and use their God given gifts and to do it in community with other believers so that we truly become the Body of Christ.

As soon as I start to talk about gifts and using them for God, I can almost see the walls go up and the excuses start to fly, I’m not enough, I’m not good enough, maybe some day but not now. Now I’m all for improving and developing and all of that, but what will you do today? Each of us has to start where we are. We have today to give God our best today. Stop pressuring yourself to be what you’re not yet. Take what you have, give it to God and be faithful. Trust Him for improvement and results, you just be faithful to do what you can do and offer it to Him. Give God your best each day and if you feel like you’ve failed to do that, don’t wallow in guilt, that will only mess up tomorrow and the next day and the next and, well you get the idea. Instead, tell God you’re sorry and and ask Him to help you do better tomorrow. Keep moving forward in Him.

Philippians 1:6 says “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” In other words God started the good work in you. He did that when He gifted you with whatever He gave you. He did it when He planted a vision in your heart. He began it and if He began it, it is a good work. God can’t do anything but good. Further it says He will carry it through to completion. In other words God started it and God will see it through until it’s finished. All you need to do is be faithful to serve Him as He leads. He has it covered. Trust Him and Be the Body.

To see the Be the Body blog go to http://bethebodyministry.wordpress.com/