There’s a New Tagline in Town: It’s Not JUST About the Art

You may have noticed a few differences on the main page of this site. In working with my coach, he has been challenging me to work on the way I present this ministry. I wrote something in one of my notes to him that really stood out to him. “It’s not just about art.” He called it out, tweaked it and now it’s the new AMOKArts tagline.

It’s sort of a crucial thing. I think a lot of churches see this ministry as just about art or  just for artists and as such may be hesitant to bring me in to speak. Maybe some people look at this site and think it’s just for artists. That really limits the scope of this ministry and it’s a limitation I don’t want and I don’t think God intends. I want to do more than just come to a church and make art and I want to help you dear reader to do more than just make art.

So what is it about?

It’s not JUST about the art… 

AMOKArts is about PASSION
It’s about a passion to know Jesus and make Him known.

AMOKArts is about VISION
It’s about helping people to find God’s plan and purpose for their lives, to find and use their gifts to glorify God, serve others and make the world a better place.

AMOKArts is about MISSION
It’s about helping churches to empower their people to be all God intended them to be so the church can fulfill the mission God has given them.

I want to help people and churches to have a passion for Jesus, live their vision and accomplish their mission. Art is the tool, but it’s all about Jesus.

That’s what’s on the main page of this site and it’s what’s on my heart. I want to see people come to Jesus and I want to see them find and use their gifts to serve Him. I want to see churches full of empowered believers reaching out with the tools God gave them to fulfill the mission God has for them in the world. I want to help the church to fulfill its mission. I want to help church leaders to move  their visions forward and reach a generation for Christ.

I am so passionate about this because my whole life was radically changed when a pastor identified my gift and gave me a way to use it in the church. One small art project was used by God to set this ministry in motion, a ministry that has taken me all over the U.S. preaching and teaching and yes, painting with a passion for introducing people to Jesus, helping them to become all God made them to be. I believe that there are thousands and maybe millions of people like me in the church of Jesus Christ who are just a nudge and an idea away from doing great things for the Kingdom. I want to be that nudge and bring those ideas.

Church leaders, what dreams and visions and missions could you accomplish if even just a few more people stepped forward and said, “I want to be used by God. I want to serve. Here’s my gift. What can I do?”   Let me help you see that happen.

At the Crossroads

Usually when we talk about crossroads we talk about having to make a decision and go one way or another. That’s not where I’m going with this. I just got off the phone with my coach and we were talking about my gifts and my passions and the direction I should take with my life. How I should invest my time and what I should be doing.

I identified two things I am really passionate about, (both of these involve art in my life). The first was I am passionate to introduce people to Jesus and secondly I love to sow into people’s lives (especially creatives) and help them to use their gifts to serve others and make the world a better place. When it comes to career and ministry and what I do, those are the two things that really fire me up.

My coach had asked me to create a list of ideas that I could use to earn a living and support my family that work with my gifting. I had a list of 29 things. He told me to look at the list and find the things that are at the crossroads between my passions, introducing people to Jesus and helping creative people to find and use their gifts and set up shop.

I want to live and work at the crossroad of introducing people to Jesus and helping people to find and use their gifts. With God’s help that’s where I will focus and build.

What’s your crossroad? Go there and build your life.

What Will You Do?

We’ve looked at our identity as children of God and how this is ultimately who we are. We’ve looked at the underlying motivation of glorifying God that should drive our efforts. Now it is time to look at what it is that we will actually do. This is the actual “work.”

I believe this is ultimately guided by a couple of factors:
First what did God make you to do? Each of us has been blessed with gifts, talents, aptitudes and experiences that will open doors as to what our “work” will be. I believe there was something each of us was made to do and when many different people do the many different things we were created to do in community, we form the body of Christ. So the first step is finding what God has created us to do and doing it to His glory, while seeking out others to share and collaborate with.

Next what are you passionate about? I believe God makes us passionate about the (positive) things He wants us to do. For example if you see something that makes you say someone should do something about that, especially if that thought keeps you up at night. Chances are the someone who should do something is you.

Next what is the need? Ultimately I believe this needs to be secondary but it is vital. Sometimes we need to go beyond our giftedness and so something just because it needs to be done. Sometimes someone needs help right now and simply can’t wait for a uniquely gifted person to show up. Sometimes “you gotta do what you gotta do.” I believe in these moments God gives us the grace to do what must be done. In some cases, God will even use these times to show you a gift and a plan you didn’t recognize.

There is a very big caution here though. We all have a temptation toward self-importance that forces us to just keep on taking on one more thing. I’m not convinced this is Godly but rather becomes a pride issue. Working outside our giftedness is okay for a time, but we should always be looking for the person for whom the activity will be their “sweet spot” and when we find that person we should step aside and let them take over.

Ultimately we will do our best, most God-glorifying work in our gifting. We need to seek out that gifting and develop and use it to God’s glory. We need not wait until we are perfect. Rather we need to give God our best today praying and believing and knowing that giving our best today will help us to be better tomorrow.

What will you do?

A new book all my readers should read, Quitter by Jon Acuff

The new book Quitter by Jon Acuff is an amazing and challenging resource for anyone who is thinking they want to be doing something different with their lives.

I just finished reading Quitter. Non-fiction books are rarely page-turners for me but this one is. Jon Acuff wrote a book about how to leave your day job and pursue your dream job, a topic near and dear to my heart, not because I hate my job because I don’t, I like it, but I have a dream. Maybe you do too.

There are quite a few things I love about this book. First of all it’s really funny. Jon Acuff has a clear gift for humor and it really helps him handle a tough topic. Secondly this book is really responsible. Jon Acuff got his dream job and it involves working for the Dave Ramsey organization. Ramsey is the pinnacle of personal fiscal responsibility and his philosophies are well represented by Acuff.

The first chapter in the book counsels “Don’t quit your day job.” This is such wisdom. I have spoken to more than a few people over the years who quit their jobs because “God told them to” leaving them in a panic trying to figure out how to pay their bills, keep a roof over their heads. I have very little doubt that God had a call on their lives, nor do I doubt that He gave them a dream and a vision. I’ve just always wrestled with God telling them to be irresponsible. Instead Acuff counsels to build your dream and work toward your dream while you have a steady job. He further advises you to “fall in like” with your day job and use it to practice the excellence you will need to live your dream.

Acuff gives a lot of questions to ask yourself, a lot of useful information and intersperses it all with stories from his own personal journey to his dream job. This is one of those books I will read over and over throughout my journey. Quitter is a Godsend for pretty much anyone with a dream.

Here’s his promo video. Please, please please read this book.

Be the Body: The Vision Network

Let’s join forces to the glory of God. Let’s find what we do and find ways to help each other to be what we were created to be. What’s your dream, your vision, your passion? What has God laid on your heart? Is there something in this world that You feel He wants you to do something about? Someone you feel led and called to help? Let’s see what we can do to help each other Be the Body.

For me it’s traveling throughout the church and the world using what the gifts and talents I have been given to help others to find and be what they were created to be. I think this is a good first step. Post your visions and passions and things here and let’s see if we cant network and help each other to live some of these things out to the glory of God. Don’t be afraid to share it, no matter how big it looks. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

As a side-bar, if I can be of help to your church to help you call out the gifted (and we’re all gifted) I’d love to come and speak to them. Contact me at amokarts@aol.com

Offense

Sometimes one needs to reassess one’s purpose. The purpose of this blog has always been to help creatives to use their gifts in ministry as well as their Spiritual lives in general. For that purpose, a few days ago, I posted my cartoon reflections from our recent church conference. I sketched the cartoons as I listened to some very difficult business sessions. They expressed my emotions in the moment and posting it was sort of like sharing my diary with the world. These were honest impressions of the things I was feeling, a sort of journal, if you will. My hope in sharing this was that the folks who regularly read this blog would see ways to use their gift to deal with their internal struggles in a positive outlet. That was the purpose. Now here’s what happened.

The cartoons were posted to at least one website for my denomination. That’s okay with me, I post these ideas in the hopes that they will spread. The good news is the previous record number of hits in one day for this blog was tripled and we had some really good interaction as a result. The bad news is several people were offended by my cartoons. Offense was not my intent but it happened.

So what can we do about offense? Well the first most honest answer is almost nothing. Nearly anything we do in this world is going to offend someone and the only way an artist can be completely inoffensive is to do work that will please everyone. I doubt it’s possible and if we tried the work would probably be completely bland and say nothing. When it comes to creative self expression, with few exceptions, everything you do will offend someone. Add a faith component to your work and the potential for offense goes up exponentially.

Perhaps the best advice I can give is to avoid being intentionally offensive for the purpose of being offensive. Don’t be hurtful. Adhere to the golden rule and love others. Speak the truth in love. From that point on, realize almost everything will upset someone. Listen to your detractors with an open heart and make a decision. If you’ve been wrong, take it down (I did that with one of my cartoons) but if you feel you’re right, sign your name to it, own it and stand by it. We can’t always be inoffensive but we must always be loving. Sometimes speaking the truth in love is offensive. Neither truth nor love can be omitted. Truth without love is mean and love without truth is a lie.

Offend as rarely as possible but sooner or later if you are true to your calling, you will offend. Jesus couldn’t avoid it, neither can we.

The Passion of the Christ(ian)

Wow, what a day! First of all, I want to thank whoever posted the link to my conference cartoons on your site. Please tell me who you are and about your site so I can share it. When I awoke this morning at 5:00 I was amazed to see that we had passed 150 hits for the day and at this moment we have surpassed the record number of hits for the day. What’s funny is I almost didn’t post those cartoons. It was sort of like posting my diary for the world to see. The conversation it has caused thus far has convinced me it was the right move and I thank all those who have joined the conversation. The conversation has led me to a topic I have been thinking of for some time. That topic is passion.

The denomination I am a part of is called a “traditional peace church” and to be really honest, the peace position always drove me a little crazy. It’s still a struggle of mine. My passion is evangelism and in this world it just kind of seemed that there were too many people who had to be reached to deal with an “unattainable goal” like world peace. I used to say things like “lay down your peace sign and take up your cross” and “World peace? We don’t have peace in our families and in our pews and you want to talk world peace?. The pacifists really drove me crazy. Why were they so emphatic about peace? There are more important things to be done.

Lately though I’ve been seeing something that has helped. It’s called passion. I’m coming to believe that passion is something God puts in us—something that fires us up and motivates us—something that causes us to need to act. Maybe God has made me passionate about evangelism and them passionate about peace and someone else passionate about something else and on and on and on. What if instead of being frustrated by one another, instead of wondering why they can’t be passionate about what we are passionate about, we cheered each other on? What if we realized we’re all on the same team with the same ultimate goal? What would happen if we all gave our best to our God given passions and loved each other? What would happen if diversely passionate people worked together for the good of the Kingdom of God? Seems to me we might just have a better functioning body of Christ. After all a body is not made up of one part but of many.

Don’t follow your passions, follow Christ, then let Him use your passions to further His Kingdom.