Happy New Year

I’m only making one resolution this year and that is to avoid getting caught up in things over which I have no control. Things like politics. My word for the year is “REVIVAL” and the plan is to work toward things in Christ that will reach people and bless them, pointing them to the only real hope, Jesus Christ. He can turn this nation around, and frankly, He is the only One.

Now onto the focus of this site. First of all, I apologize, I got really busy this year and my posting here as suffered, as a result, my readership has shrunk a bit. So if you’re still here, thank you and my goal is to do better in 2019. I honestly feel like the things I do in ministry and in encouraging all the people God puts into my life to use their gifts to serve Him is probably the best way I can work toward revival. Hopefully you, dear reader will reap the benefits of that. So here are a few of the goals I have set for the year.

On this blog: I hope to post at least five days a week this year. I also plan to post creative challenges based on Scripture on a regular basis. I am unsure of the frequency of these, but I was thinking about daily. If you decide to do these, don’t feel pressured to do them all, just all them to inspire you to create. I would appreciate your feedback on the frequency and the content.

As far as the other content, I am hoping do more informational content as is usual, but I am also hoping to create more downloadable content that people can use in churches, etc.

Some of the art I have been doing over the last year or so, has not really fit into the content of this page so I’ve decided to move that over to a page a started a long time ago and left got dormant. It’s called Beware of Artists. The title is based on a quote attributed to Queen Victoria that said, “Beware of artists, they mix with all classes of society and are therefore most dangerous.” That’s the kind of “dangerous artist” I want to be.

Creacher, my webcomic also continues. I hope you enjoy it.

My hope is to do even more speaking this year. I have set a goal of 40 engagements this year, Lord willing.

On the personal side, I want to finish the class work for my Masters and get to work on my thesis. The theme I am planning on is one that is near and dear to my heart, namely “The Imaginative Church.” I also want to finally finish my novel “Masterpiece Max” and I have outlined another book of prompts which will be available soon. In my church ministry, my big goals include encouraging the people to be in the Word and to find new ways to use their gifts to serve the Lord and reach out community.

Now of course all of these are goals, and as I look at the list, I’ll be the first to admit, it looks aggressive, but it gives me something to shoot for. I will break these down into manageable steps and hopefully will accomplish.

What about you? What are your goals for 2019?

It’s Leap Day

This day happens only once every four years and it’s a huge marvel when you think about it. Long before the advent of computers, satellites, etc., back as far as the 1500s, someone figured out that it takes 365 and a quarter days for the earth to travel around the sun. To some that quarter day, six measly hours, wouldn’t make a difference. In fact the difference it makes is huge. Every four years, we’d lose a day and eventually seasons would get all mixed up, summer would be winter and vice versa. It would create a plethora of problems. Leap day was the solution. Once every four years, February gains a day and the problem is solved.

So happy leap day. Now let’s take it a little further. A once in four years day deserves something special. So today the challenge is to create something worthy of a day that happens only once in four years. Maybe something odd, or unique, or just plain cool. What will you create for leap day?

I’d love to see it. Share a link in the comments.

Design Considerations

I have a piece I’m working on for an upcoming presentation (more on this on Monday). Below is a sketch for it. It’s not really coming together for me. Oh the image is fine, I even kind of like it, but when you’re working live, sometimes there is more to consider than just what the final piece will look like. Even though the final piece has to be done in only a few minutes, people are watching me create it, so the process also matters.

You see I don’t just paint with my messages because it’s my gift and it’s not just about the art. Art is a tool I use to engage the congregation or the audience. To me an important element is keeping them guessing. There has to be some surprise, some misdirection, something that makes people say, “What is he doing?” That way they’re hanging on my every word, not because I’m that important but because I am trusting God to bring a message that someone or maybe everyone needs to hear. For me, the art is always subservient to the message. The art is important to me and I want to do my best, but the art is temporary. If the message hits home and is used to change a life, then the message is eternal.

There are a lot of considerations in designing to do live art. When it comes to art in ministry, many of them have nothing to do with the art.

What are your considerations for the work you do when you’re “letting your light shine before men?”

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Moustache

I just wanted to remind you all about IllustrationFriday.com. It’s a great way to challenge yourself every week. They give a one-word challenge each Friday and you create whatever the word brings to mind. Then just post it to their site and see what everyone else comes up with. What a fantastic way to break creative block.

IllustrationFriday.com: Onomatopoeia

Okay this was a first. I got the challenge of the week and I had to look up the word. I remembered it from seventh grade english but seventh grade a a LONG time ago so here’s what it means.

on·o·mat·o·poe·ia

ˌänəˌmatəˈpēə,-ˌmätə-/

noun

 1. the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (e.g., cuckoo, sizzle ).

Here’s how I designed it. Please forgive me I was in a strange mood.

Is there any spiritual significance to this? Not really. I just find the idea of words made out of sound effects amusing.

Here’s another example of onomatopoeia…

and another

and another.

Hope you like ’em.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Jungle

Maybe it’s because of the era I’m from, but I can’t hear the word “jungle” (this week’s challenge) without hearing “Welcome to the Jungle.” Because of this, my first thought ws to do a cartoon of Axl Rose facing down an actual lion and shaking in his kilt. It would have been funny, but then I thought of something more important.

He had his day in the sun, 2000 years ago, give or take, as he watched the Son of God gasping for every breath, hanging on the cross. He had managed to convince the very people Jesus came to save to scream for his execution. You know he was elated when he heard the words, “It is finished.” Ah sweet victory, but sometimes victory is short lived, especially when you mess with God.

Oh, make no mistake about it, there was victory that day, but it was not as it appeared. Not many days before, Jesus reminded His disciples that He would die for their sins and that no one takes His life away but that He lays it down freely. He has the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again. What looked like victory was really a crushing defeat for death, hell, the grave and the devil as Jesus paid the price for our sins and bought eternal life for all who would believe. Jesus won the victory. In His human form, he looked easy to defeat for the mighty fallen angel, but the fatal flaw was forgetting that the suffering servant was also the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Welcome to the Jungle.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Robot

The latest IllustrationFriday.com challenge was the word, ROBOT. It got me thinking about one of the charges I hear against God. Why would God allow sin to enter the world? It’s a deep question but part of the reason is because we’re not robots. We’re not pre-programed. God loves us and wants us to love Him, but love requires a choice. To have a choice, there has to be an alternative. There is an option, we can choose God or choose sin and because they are at opposite ends of the continuum to choose one is to choose against the other.

Moses set a choice to the Israelites, they could choose God or they could choose the gods of the people God drove out before them. He set before them blessings and curses and then he said choose live that you might live.

You have a choice, you’re not a ROBOT… Choose life… Choose Jesus.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Travel

The challenge this week was the word “travel.” Since traveling is one of the things I really want to do with this ministry, I decided to do this little piece. Have Paint Will Travel. I speed paint, tell stories and use it all to introduce people to Jesus and help them to find and use their gifts to serve the Lord. I love to use this gift to serve the Lord, it’s been an awesome adventure.

If you like to use art to serve the Lord, the design is available on a shirt, proceeds benefit fulfilling the mission of this ministry.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Worn

Maybe it’s the wonderful but long week I am coming off of this week of vacation, but when I saw the word “Worn” as the challenge from IllusrationFriday.com, this was the first thing to pop into my head.

Have you ever had a time when you were past tired? Bone tired? Exhausted? Burned out? It may have been great experiences or terrible ones, but the result is the same… You’re worn out. Well there is good news from the Word of God for you. Jesus says “Come to me you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.”

Believe it and do it, you don’t even have to wait til you’re worn out.

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge I: Children

When I saw the IllustrationFriday.com Challenge of the week was the word Children, this was the first thing that popped into my mind. This one is for my friend Mary. I spoke at a youth event for her once and I kept calling the youth “kids.” It’s a habit of mine and of many others. Eventually Mary lovingly challenged me on it. This may seem like a small thing, or like Mary was just being picky, but it’s a lot more than that. We aren’t goats, we are the children of God. In a sense, Mary was trying to remind me not to pull down that which God has elevated. Whether or not you use the word “kids” don’t forget who you are…

You are a child of God.