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.

Post Conference Reflections

I apologize for not posting in a little while. It’s taken some time to process all I saw at our conference. This was my first experience and it was really memorable for me. Over all I enjoyed it. It was great connecting with people from all over the country, reconnecting with old friends and meeting new ones. The Worship was great, as were the training sessions. And then there were the business sessions. While I found them informative and well run, it was hard to see the division that exists between us. These kinds of things feel very political and I hate politics. Because I never leave home without my sketchbook, I was able to sort of cartoon the journey. See if you can find the image where I just lost it. In the end, this conference was a microcosm for all of Christendom, there are many things that divide us, but there is One that unites us. When we turn our focus off our division and on to Him, He sets all things right. Blest Be the Tie that Binds.

The First Follower

An interesting point on leadership and following from Derek Sivers, founder of CDBaby.com Check out the video here.

There is a great lesson here in starting a movement. I praise God for the people in this little movement called AMOKArts.

Time to Launch and I Could Really Use Your Help

Ready to Launch

I just wanted to take a moment to make a few things known related to me and this ministry and after having a wonderful call with my coach yesterday and then having the IllustrationFriday.com challenge today being the word Launch, I decided this might well be a sign and what better day than today. As of July 20 the job that has supported my family and this ministry for the last 12 years is going to be cut from full time to half time. I have felt for a while that this might be a God thing to push me out of my comfort zone and into really pursuing the speaking/live painting portion of this ministry. I have done it on and off for years but feel it is time to really launch. That being said, I am looking for opportunities to speak and paint in churches and other venues. If you’ve watched my videos or followed this blog you know the kind of work I do and what is on my heart. I want to help people to find and use their God given gifts to build the Kingdom of God. If you would like more information on bringing me in for your event or know someone who might, please contact me Dave Weiss at amokarts@aol.com. Thank you!
My full website can be found at http://www.amokarts.com

#Trust30 One Thing!

Dave Weiss' Art/Speaking Ministry

The Challenge:
Do your work, and I shall know you. Do your work, and you shall reinforce yourself. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Take a moment, step back from your concerns, and focus on one thing: You have one life to achieve everything you’ve ever wanted. Sounds simple, but when you really focus on it, let it seep into your consciousness, you realize you only have about 100 years to get every single thing you’ve ever wanted to do. No second chances. This is your only shot. Suddenly, this means you should have started yesterday. No more waiting for permission or resources to start. Today is the day you make the rest of your life happen. Write down one thing you’ve always wanted to do and how you will achieve that goal. Don’t be afraid to be very specific in how you’ll achieve it: once you start achieving, your goals will get bigger and your capability to meet them will grow.

I want to be a professional speaker/minister/performance painter. This has been my goal for a long time to use my gift to share the most important message ever, the message of Jesus Christ.

How will I achieve it?
Develop more presentations which meet the needs of individuals and churches.
Specifically these will include, Be the Body, which deals with calling people work together using their individual gifts to serve the Lord in the church and make a difference in the world. This is nearly complete. I will then also publish a short “manifesto” type book and make it available for sale.

Refine the Running AMOK arts Ministry workshop and create a related weekend seminar. In addition I will finish editing and publish the related book.

Refine my Christmas presentation The Gift in time to be presented this year.

Refine the History Makerz youth seminar/workshop and start booking it.

Create some better promo material for all these events and get bookings for them.

Create some new performance pieces.

Increase my networking connections and let people know I am available. (This post is the first step on that journey. :D)

Running AMOK

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1 Kings 7; Proverbs 16
You can also download your own chart here.

#Trust 30 Alternative Paths

Sometimes the toughest thing about art is the idea

The Challenge:
When good is near you, when you have life in yourself, it is not by any known or accustomed way; you shall not discern the foot-prints of any other; you shall not see the face of man; you shall not hear any name; the way, the thought, the good, shall be wholly strange and new. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The world buzzes about goals and visions. Focus. Create a vivid picture of exactly where you want to go. Dream big, then don’t let anything or anyone stop you. The problem, as Daniel Gilbert wrote in Stumbling Upon Happiness, is that we’re horrible at forecasting how we’ll really feel 10 or 20 years from now – once we’ve gotten what we dreamed of. Often, we get there only to say, “That’s not what I thought it would be,” and ask, “What now?” Ambition is good. Blind ambition is not. It blocks out not only distraction, but the many opportunities that might take you off course but that may also lead you in a new direction. Consistent daily action is only a virtue when bundled with a willingness to remain open to the unknown. In this exercise, look at your current quest and ask, “What alternative opportunities, interpretations and paths am I not seeing?” They’re always there, but you’ve got to choose to see them.

My Response:
The life I am currently living at least in regard to my ministry and vision are already an alternative path. My vision was and to some degree remains to have a group of artists serious about creating productions, performances and exhibitions that tell people the story of Jesus and His love for us. The inability to get that group to gel caused me to share the things I was creating on the web and going to churches and sharing live. This has opened doors to me to share with folks all over the world. It’s also changed the way I look at life to some degree. I now try harder to be faithful with each day and let the day serve God’s plan. The best advice I can give is to hold onto God tightly and my plan loosely. Use each day as best you can, work toward your goal but let God steer.

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
1Kings 5-6; Proverbs 15
You can also download your own chart here.

Tell a better story… The Good O Meter

Okay this one is a little corny, but it illustrates the point really, really well. How could you tell a better story?

John Lennon Was Right…

In the late sixties, John Lennon of the Beatles touched off a firestorm by saying that the Beatles were “bigger than Jesus.” Now of course I don’t believe that the Beatles were bigger than the creator of the universe, that would be stupid. I’m not even a Beatles fan, but in terms of pop-culture at that point in history, they were extremely influential, especially among teens, quite possibly more so than Jesus. Of course the Church was outraged (or so I’m told I was a first grade student at the time and had bigger fish to fry) as they should have been. The problem was their anger was directed at the wrong people. We were upset with a boastful English pop-star. We should have been upset with ourselves.

How does a rock band with a misspelled name become more popular than the Creator of the universe? I think the answer is that those who represent Him were asleep at the wheel and if you think they had problems, look at our culture today. Today lots of things are “bigger than Jesus” and it’s up to us to do something about it. It’s up to us to represent Him well, as He is as reflected in His Word. It’s up to us to use whatever gifts we have received to serve others. It’s up to us to love our neighbor as ourselves. It’s up to us to preach the Word in and out of season. It’s up to us to speak the truth in love. It’s up to us to humble ourselves. It’s up to us to love our enemies. It’s up to us to pray. It’s up to us to read, know and follow the Word of God and it’s up to us to lay down our pride, deny ourselves and take up our cross.

Jesus, speaking of going to the cross said, “But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” Today, lifting Him up is up to us. Pointing to Him, going and making disciples, being His witnesses to the ends of the earth—these are our mission, church. We represent Him not as self-righteous judges, but as humble servants, using whatever He has given us in His name to bring Him glory. It’s up to us, but it’s all about Him, all about Jesus and as we faithfully serve, it’ll be as it was with John the Baptist. Jesus must become greater (in the eyes of the world He came to save) and we must become less until when people look at us, they see Him. The video below illustrates this. How can you use what you’ve been given (your gifts talents, resources,life) to lift Jesus up.

Nothing and no one is bigger than Jesus!

Bible Reading Guide
An important part of following God is knowing what He wants and a great way to know what He wants is to read His Word. Follow this plan and you will finish reading the Bible in a year.
2 Samuel 12-13
You can also download your own chart here.

IllustrationFriday.com Shadows

IllustrationFriday.com Challenge: Shadows

The illustrationFriday.com challenge of the week was the word “shadow.”For this one I started to think about all the shadows that follow us around. The voices that we heard long ago that told us that we were no good, that threatened us and hurt us—those thoughts and memories that haunt us. The challenge for us is two fold. First of all is to watch our lives and be careful of the shadows we cast with our words, attitudes and actions. These shadows are not easily removed. Secondly, for some of us it’s time to strip away those shadows and seek a little truth. You are important, you are loved, you are blessed, you’re not an accident, your past can be forgiven. You can be healed. Something better is coming beyond the shadows. …on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. His name is Jesus and He loves you and wants to help. He’s the light of the world that can overcome any shadow. I’d love to tell you more. Leave a comment or contact me at amokarts@aol.com

Post-it Question #Trust30

This was today’s challenge from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance.

That which each can do best, none but his Maker can teach him. Where is the master who could have taught Shakespeare? Where is the master who could have instructed Franklin, or Washington, or Bacon, or Newton? . . . Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare. Do that which is assigned you, and you cannot hope too much or dare too much. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Identify one of your biggest challenges at the moment (ie I don’t feel passionate about my work) and turn it into a question (ie How can I do work I’m passionate about?) Write it on a post-it and put it up on your bathroom mirror or the back of your front door. After 48-hours, journal what answers came up for you and be sure to evaluate them.

Bonus: tweet or blog a photo of your post-it.

Here’s mine!

Post-it Question for me. What's Yours?