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 https://amokarts.wordpress.com/goal-2012/ or click the link over there. >>>>

Creative Challenge: Idolatry?

For my devotional reading this morning, I read the first 10 chapters of Jeremiah. (OKay I typoed in the first edition, there are not 100 chapters in Jeremiah) Don’t think me over spiritual, I was playing catchup after a busy week. In those chapters God is instructing Jeremiah what to say to the already captive Israel and the soon to be captive Judah. As you read you can hear the angry and hurting Father mourning over his chosen nation as they fall away from him and into idolatry. My first thoughts went to our own nation but I kept feeling God drawing me back to me. Is there anything in my lifethat is drawing me away from Him? How about you?

I was listening to Craig Groschel yesterday. In his message he brought up a great point. He said what you worry about most is what you value most. What is it you worry about most? Could that be becoming an idol for you? The next point Groschel made was what you worry about most is the area where you trust God the least. This could be another symptom of an idol manifesting itself.

So what’s the challenge. Search your heart and pray, then create something that expresses your idol or something in danger of becoming an idol in your life. Yes I know it may sound ludicrous to create an image of your idol, but I’m not done. The next thing I want you to do is either ruin it or paint the no sign over it and keep it as a reminder for you not to go there.

Idolatry breaks the heart of God. Let’s live to please Him instead. Keep Him first.
w=267, mw=2, mr=2

A Word of Encouragement

As we begin this day some of you are really looking forward to what this day holds. Congratulations, and enjoy it to the glory of God. For many others this day is not something you’re looking forward to. You might even be dreading it but there is good news. God is with you. Persevere, look for the bright side and give today your best. Remember to do everything you do as if you were doing it for God. He who began a good work in yo0u will carry it through to completion until the day of Christ Jesus and finally in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who are called according to His purpose. In case you’re wondering, if you’re a believer in Jesus, that’s you. So today give Him your best. He’s got it under control.

Video from Youth Explosion

Check it out…
http://www.wthitv.com/dpp/news/local/loads-of-fun-at-gilbert-park

Bring my Christmas Presentation “The Gift” to Your Church

I’ve been developing this presentation for a few years now and am excited to offer it to churches. Due to the amount of equipment needed to do this presentation, I can only do it in places within driving distance.

Here are the details…

Help your community receive The Gift.

Dear Pastor,
I am writing to offer you my evangelistic Christmas program, The Gift. It’s a unique way of telling the Christmas story through live visual art (painting), video, drama, and the Word of God. This 90 minute to 2 hour program explores why Jesus came, what He came to do and what it means to you. It will be a blessing to established believers and could be life changing to those who have not yet accepted God’s marvelous gift, Jesus Christ. An outline of the evening includes;

The Gift: An introductory video which tells the story of Jesus from birth to 
 resurrection.

The Names of Jesus: Prior to His birth, angels came to Jesus’ parents and tell them three names for their soon-arriving son. They say He should be named Jesus, He is Christ the Lord and He will be called Immanuel. Each of these names has clues into why He came. During this part of the presentation, I will explore these names and their meaning while creating two works of art related to the names.

The Cross of Sin: This part of the program takes us to Good Friday, a crucial part of why Jesus came. The Bible says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for , so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 

(2 Corinthians 5:21) Using a large wooden cross, I will demonstrate what the gift cost our Lord, a major key to appreciating His worth.

The Collector: Using live painting, video and drama, I will tell the story of an art collector who loses his only son in a war. This fictional story demonstrates the importance of receiving the Gift, God’s only Son, Jesus.

As the evening comes to a close, I will sum up the evening and give an invitation to receive God’s Gift. It should be a very memorable evening for all involved. I will create three original paintings (two in ten minutes or less each and one slightly longer). Two of those paintings will be available for purchase at the end of the evening. (This can be handled a number of different ways.)

Due to the amount of materials I need to bring, I am only offering this presentation to churches within driving distance of my church in Reading, Pennsylvania (2-3 hours, 100 mile radius, I will possibly go further than this if I can arrange for three services in an area.) It is available weekend (Fri, Sat, Sun) evenings between Thanksgiving and Christmas (contact me as to the availability of other evenings). Costs for the program are $100 for materials and a free will offering. If the location is beyond 50 miles (100 miles round trip) from Reading, PA, travel expenses of 50 cents a mile will be added. Churches beyond the 100 mile radius (200 mile round trip) should also include one evening’s lodging and breakfast.

I realize that many churches already have a Christmas program in place for the season. Think of this as a supplemental program, an additional community outreach and an evangelistic meeting. It’s another way of sharing the Good News and helping people to receive The Gift. I hope we can work together to bring God’s greatest gift to many in your community.
Thank you,

Dave Weiss

AMOKArts.com

589 Stone Road

Mohrsville, PA 19541

610-926-0488

amokarts@aol.com

To download a printer friendly version of this letter to share with your church or pastor, please click here. For additional details, click the logo above.

Starting a Church Arts Ministry

I get questions from time to time about starting your own arts ministry. One of the most impressive local church arts ministries I have seen so far is VineArts at Vineyard Boise. I decided to share these videos from their director Jessie Nilo. After seeing these videos I knew I had to go out to Boise and see what’s happening in person. I did that in May and it’s fantastic. Watch these videos and learn from them. Jessie has a lot of great stuff to share.

You Are Talented…

I’m reading the book You Are Talented by Patrick Kavanaugh. It is so good to find a kindred spirit. The book talks about discovering, perfecting and using your unique abilities to the glory of God. Today’s passage was too good not to share. It talks about how to make decisions with “where you’re headed” in mind. This book is full of great stuff and it’s available on Amazon.

Also a quick prayer request. At the end of the month I will be the speaker (and of course artist) at an event called Youth Explosion in Terre Haute Indiana at Saints Home Church of God in Christ. I would really appreciate your prayers that God would use me and touch the lives of many young people. I can’t wait for this event.

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

Combat Wombat

I am Facebook friends with Steve Wiggins singer, songwriter and former lead singer of Big Tent Revival. He came up on my people you may know suggestions one day and I sent him a friend request because I’m a fan of BTR. Anyway, Steve posts an almost daily feature called Free Band Name where he posts a usually humorous band name. This fired my creative juices and the name that came to me was Combat Wombat (by the way a google search revealed that is an actual band). What is a Wombat? A burrowing plant-eating Australian marsupial (family Vombatidae) that resembles a small bear with short legs. There is no point to it, it just sounded funny.

As I thought about it an image came to mind and I had too much time on my hands one day so I drew it up. Just for kicks I put it on a shirt in my Zazzle store. For some unknown reason it has become my biggest seller. (mostly to Australians it seems probably because they know what a wombat is.)

Why do I post this? Two reasons, first because one never knows what will connect with people. I drew this because it made me chuckle, but a dozen or more people on the other side of the world thought enough of it to wear it on their chests (and this with absolutely no promotion on my part). The things we create have the ability to resonate so we have to be careful what we put out there. It’s not so important for a cartoon creature with a funny name but ultra important when what we are creating is attached to the Greatest Story Ever Told.

Secondly, the internet has made the world very small. It used to be that in order to get something like this done. I would have to design it, get someone to buy it, promote it and maybe just maybe if all the planets aligned one day it might see the light of day. Now I can create something go to a website click a few buttons, put it on a multitude of products and have it available for sale in a day or less. Virtually all the arts have a similar stream now. The gatekeepers and the middlemen are a shadow of their former selves. This is both a blessing and a curse. One one hand the opportunities to get your creations to an audience have expanded a thousand fold on the other thousands or millions more people are contending for essentially the same audience.

Is it good or bad? Neither or maybe both. We can connect with far more people and we can be overlooked by far more people. In the end, it once again all comes down to faithfulness. We need to do what we do the best we can and create the best most outstanding things we possibly can (outstanding=to stand out) and then we need to trust God with the rest. Selling Combat Wombat t-shirts to Australians is not a life or death thing (though it is in a small way helping to finance my ministry), taking the Gospel to the world with out creations is. Pray to God for guidance, give God your best and share it with the world. From there it’s up to Him. Be faithful. Its a small world with six billion opportunities. God knows what He’s doing. Do what you do, the best you can, because you never know how God’s going to use it.

What I think of Jesus Part Two

Well this must be a recurring theme. Today I was asked to complete a poll for an author working on a book and the question was, “What do you think about Jesus?” Here is my response.

He’s my Lord, my savior. He came into my life at a time when I thought I had no value and made me His child. He loved me when I was pretty sure I was totally unloveable. He showed me my life’s purpose and helps me to live it. I owe Him everything and every day he blesses me with more. He is the most generous, the most patient, the most loving. He is everything. I’ll serve Him forever and yet strangely I feel like He serves me. He’s the creator of the universe, the ultimate artist, the King of kings and my best friend. I know it seems impossible for anyone to be all those things and more, but He can, because He is GOD!