CCM: Creative Challenge Monday!

 One of the things that has been impressed upon me is that we as creatives have a unique gift to make the complex understandable, thus helping people to understand the Gospel and come to know and follow Jesus. I want to help us to key in on that in the weeks ahead so from this day forward each Monday will be CCM: Creative Challenge Monday. I will post a word, a concept or a verse. Your challenge in that week is to create something that expresses the concept in whatever God glorifying way you choose. Write a story, create an image, make a video… The possibilities are endless.

This Monday’s challenge is:

Salvation

Acts 4:12  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

What does grace mean to you? How would you like to express it to the world? How do people miss the point on this concept?

If you want you can share your results by posting a link to your work in the comments. If you don’t have a way to post your work, you can share them on the AMOKArts Facebook page.

The Other Side of Prolific and the Scariest Verse in Scripture

As I mentioned yesterday, there is a downside to being prolific and it comes not from the desire to do lots of work, but from the motivations of your heart. Why do you want to do a lot of work? To glorify God or to earn your place in His Kingdom? You can’t earn your place in His Kingdom, or His love or anything else. He has already given that freely to all who will receive Jesus. Also don’t do it for the praise of man because if you do that it’s a never ending cycle where you’re only as good as your latest piece. We have to do all we do with the right motivation.

In my devotions on the morning I read this post I read this verse and thought about how scary it was:

Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’–Matthew 7: 22-23

Think about what that means. We can do a whole lot of stuff for God and not have a connection with God. Can we utilize the power of God without really being with God? With this verse it appears we can. I’m not saying this to get you to question your salvation, (though if you do question it, there’s nothing wrong with asking Him to save you again. Rather a hundred times too often than once not enough.) but merely to get you to check yourself. While we do serve the Lord, remember He doesn’t need you He wants you. He loves you not because you are good but because He is good. You can’t do anything to make Him love you more, because His love is perfect. Love Him and rest in His love and do what you do for no other reason than because you love Him and you want everyone to know.

It’s okay to want to do great things, even a lot of great things. Just make sure your heart’s right when you’re doing them.

This Year, How Will You Tell His Story?

As we approach a new year, especially as we look back over 2012, one thing should be abundantly clear. This world needs the Gospel. God has called uas and gifted us for a reason. We creatives need to be using everything God has given us to introduce the world to its savior.

You just watched one artist’s effort to share the Gospel. In 2013, How will you use your gift to tell His story?

The Christmas Story

If you’ver ever struggled to tell the story of Jesus and what that story means to us, you might want to show them this video.

To learn more about this artist and his ministry, click here.

12/12/12

Today is December 12, 2012 or 12/12/12 This phenomenon will not happen again for a thousand years (well actually 988 years if you start at 01/01/01). As such, it might be a great day to commemorate it by making something really cool or doing something once in a lifetime. Why not do something moumental? Create a fantastic memory. Maybe serve someone or better yet tell someone about Jesus, after all that will matter for eternity. In other words it will be the only thing you can do that will still be having a positive effect the next time 12/12/12 rolls around.

AMOKArts.com Message of the Week: Cast of Characters: The Un-Roofers

In this series based on Max Lucado’s Book Cast of Characters: Lost and Found we explore Mark 2:1-12 and look at a story of four guys who are so determined to get their friend to Jesus they tear the roof off—literally! How determined are you?

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Lost

The challenge of the week was Lost. Lately I’ve been dabbling with pop-art and there was this piece I was already working on that pretty much sums up the ultimate reason we get lost. It all comes down to a choice a long time ago. God told his first two people they could have everything they wanted in the paradise He created for them. There was only one thing they could not have. Unfortunately the one thing they could not have became the apple of their eye and they made a choice. Reject God for the only thing he did not give them. It sounds senseless, but we do it every day, every time we choose something that God tells us not to do.

What was their prize? The tempter told them they would be like God knowing good and evil. Let’s examine that. They already knew good, they were surrounded by everything good and had daily communion with God in person so what did they really gain by their sin? They got to know evil. In the same way when we choose sin we get the privilege of dealing with the consequences not to mention sometimes unleashing those consequences on the people around us.

You may finally ask the question, why did God put that tree there in the first place? Why did He allow them to be tempted? Believe it or not, because of love. You see love is a choice. Without an alternative, would ti really be love? They got to choose whether or not they would love God and they chose wrong. Today we are surrounded by billions of harmful choices, and the way to resist them is same as it has always been. Choose to love God more. Anything less is a lost choice.

Yes we are surrounded by temptations and consequences on every side, but hope is not lost. God gave His only Son to die on a cross to pay the price for our sins. If we will put our faith in Him, He will save us and lead us through this minefield called life.

Hope is not lost. Hope is a person. His name is Jesus.

(If you’d like to purchase a print of the image above, click the image, or get it on a T-shirt here.)

Having Trouble Understanding Easter?

Watch this and I think you’ll get it.

A powerful film parable.

What’s My Freebird?

As I get to do more presentations, I start to worry am I repeating myself? Am I sharing my stories too often? Will some of the things I do become stale and boring?

Are those the right questions? I started to think about some of the things God has given me over the years and how He constantly uses them to speak to someone and/or touch someone’s heart. Maybe I should just be praying, asking God what He wants me to say and trusting Him to lead me, repetition or not.

It’s like going to a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert. There are a lot of songs they could play but there is one song they must play. FREEBIRD! You will never go to one of their shows and hear a true fan say “Not Freebird again! Noooo!”

People don’t mind hearing things they love more than once. I don’t know what my Freebird is. I may not have been doing this long enough to have one yet but I have a few that might be close. I’m doing one of them tonight and welcome your prayers. I love it, I know it came from God and it always blesses someone. I can’t wait to present it tonight.

When I preach around this time of year at my church, the fear of repetition creeps in again, but it shouldn’t. The message of this time of the year is the Church’s Freebird. I’m of the opinion that it should come up to some degree every time a preacher steps into a pulpit. It’s the song of hope we sing to the world and it should be sung every chance we get.

I’m not sure what my Freebird is, but Church, this is our Freebird.

Sing it every chance you get.

LOVE