A Prayer Request and a Thought, God Believes in You…

I’d like to ask you all to be praying for me as I have the opportunity to paint and co-lead a workshop this weekend at the Call2 Ministry Conference in Ringgold, Georgia this weekend. This is a conference for young people who are feeling the call to ministry. I am humbled by the privilege and it brought me to a thought.

I was chatting with an arts ministry friend, Lisa Marten from VineArts Boise, about this opportunity and I became overwhelmed. When I was the age of the people I am going to be speaking to, I was far from God. The idea of ministry for me seemed so far outside the realm of possibility. I wasn’t even really a believer. Now here I am and in a little over a day God will be using me to speak into the lives of people so precious to Him. People He has called to spread His Gospel to the ends of the earth. God is going to somehow use me to do this. Guys, I claim no glory for this. It’s all God, but what He has done for me and how He got me from there to here is nothing short of a miracle.

To say I believe in God is an understatement, but that’s not the mind-blowing part. When someone has done as much for you as He has for me, belief should be a no-brainer. No the mind-blowing thing is God has entrusted this privilege to me. God believes in me! I can’t even wrap my head around that, but He does and it’s not just me, He believes in all He calls.

God believes in you. He knows what He put in you and He knows what you will do. Be faithful and move forward in your call. God is with you, God loves you. God believes in you…

Scott Erickson: Amazing Artist

My online friend, Scott Erickson has been cranking out amazing stuff for a long time now. Scott is the artist in residence at one of the coolest churches I’ve seen (How cool does a church have to be to have an artist in residence?!?) Ecclesia in Houston. Scott has an amazing style and I really love his stuff. He does a lot of work at youth conferences, for World Vision, did a series of paintings for the Derek Webb Feedback album and several other great ministries. He’s an artist you should know about. Check out the video he did for Brenton Brown’s song Joyful.

Check out more of his stuff at http://www.scottericksonart.com/

Video of the Day: David Garibaldi

I had the pleasure of meeting this man a few months ago and his presentation is electrifying. Started out doing graffiti, when a teacher took an interest in him and set him on a different path. Today he travels the world painting portraits of pop stars and encouraging people to use their gifts to make a difference. He is someone you really need to check out. I’m attaching three of his videos here. The first one gives his back story, the second shows his passion and the third shows his most important subject. There are many videos of him in action. Check them out.

Need a Speaker and/or Painter for Your Next Event or Service: Check out Dave Weiss and AMOKArts

Artist/Pastor/Speaker Dave Weiss would love to come to your church and share his unique ministry. Dave is the founder of AMOKArts.com a ministry dedicated to helping people find and use their God-created purpose. Dave’s life was transformed when a pastor found a use for his unusual gift and his mission is to do the same for others. If your congregation has anyone in it that is having a hard time finding their purpose and where they fit into the body of Christ. Dave’s presentation is for you. For more information contact Dave Weiss at amokarts@aol.com

Two Events I Am Really Excited About

I wanted to alert you about two events in which I will be participating. These are put on by the Crossover Group. The first is Snowstorm 2011 Dec. 27 to 30, 2011 at Winterplace, WV

and the second is Saturate 2012 at Great Wolf Lodge in Concord NC.

If you’re anywhere near these venues or if you’d like to plan a trip check out the websites by clicking the images. I hope to see you there and if you have an event you’d like to have me paint and or speak at, contact me at amokarts@aol.com.

Excited about seeing one of my art heroes tonight

Just a quick note. I am going to see and meet performance painter David Garibaldi tonight (Lord willing) This guy is such an incredible talent and he acknowledges God for his abilities which is very cool. Check out the video and if he comes to your area check him out.

One of the things I get every time I watch David is “I want to do that.” It is so cool to watch him work. Truth be known I should not envy what he does, and neither should I attempt to copy it, what I should do instead is allow his work to inspire me to become the best I can be at what I do. How have your influences inspired you. Watch a great artist work, take in a show or an exhibit and instead of thinking I want to do that, ask God to use it to inspire you into His plan for your gift.

Help Us Run AMOK

A little note talking about different ways you can support AMOK’s ministry.
The main one is prayer and booking me as a speaker/painter but there are other products available.
Also featured in today’s post are videos of two creature paintings I am doing for a two fold purpose. First to remind us all of the transformative power of Christ. They are based on the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Simply put, Having Jesus in your life is supposed to change your life. Trust Him, He can help.
The second purpose is more pedestrian. I am trying to raise some funds to expand the reach of AMOK so I am offering these paintings for sale on my Etsy store at http://amokarts.etsy.com