My New Speaker Site

I’ve been doing this site since 2010 and it will continue hopefully for many years to come, but I was having an issue. It was difficult for some folks to find all my speaking information. Since the speaking part of this ministry is a huge passion of mine, not to mention something that helps me to support my family, I decided to break it out onto it’s own site at DaveWeissArtistSpeaker.com

I will also leave all the speaking information here on the site, and while it is a little redundant, I know that many folks already come here for that information.

Please go on over and check out the site and if you feel so led, subscribe. I’m looking forward to great things ahead!

#Trust30 Your Ordinary Self

The Challenge
Good and bad are but names very readily transferable to that or this; the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are our most potent at our most ordinary. And yet most of us discount our “ordinary” because it is, well, ordinary. Or so we believe. But my ordinary is not yours. Three things block us from putting down our clever and picking up our ordinary: false comparisons with others (I’m not as good a writer as _____), false expectations of ourselves (I should be on the NYTimes best seller list or not write at all), and false investments in a story (it’s all been written before, I shouldn’t bother). What are your false comparisons? What are your false expectations? What are your false investments in a story? List them. Each keep you from that internal knowing about which Emerson writes. Each keeps you from making your strong offer to the world. Put down your clever, and pick up your ordinary.

My Response:
First I want to say I disagree with Emerson’s assertion that “the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it.” I believe that right and wrong a clearly defined by God in His Word. When we start to get into right and wrong as defined by me, things get cloudy and mirky. God’s way is the way to go.

Now let me also say I really agree with what the challenge writer posted about comparison. When we begin to compare ourselves to others, we begin to try to be like them and stop being what we were created to be or we walk away defeated because we are trying to be something we were never supposed to be in the first place. I’ve fallen into this trap many times. I’ve quit doing things because I don’t feel like I measure up to someone else. but what if I was supposed to invent a different way of doing it. Did Picasso quit because his work didn’t look like everyone else’s? No, and he became one of the world’s foremost artists precisely because of his difference.

False expectations will also kill you. How many people have quit something because they couldn’t be the best in the world (or even in their community) at what they do? I know I have. There is one thing I am the best in the entire world at and it is the one thing I can do beyond the shadow of a doubt. I am the best person at being THIS David Weiss (yes there are others and I can’t be them) in the entire world. My job then is to do that well. To clean up the edges, polish the gifts, submit that will to God and go forward in being who I am made to be. His plan for me is unique in the entire universe and my life is part of that plan for the universe. I don’t get to pick if it’s large or small, I’m just privileged to be a piece in that puzzle. Congrats, you’re a piece too. Did Bob Dylan give up because he is not the world’s best singer. No, he sang his song and became the voice of his generation.

It hasn’t all been done. You still have a part to play. Play it for all your worth. Give God your best and watch Him do His best in you. This prompt really made me think about all the Bible people (or at least the good ones). We look at them as if they were superheroes but with the exception of Jesus, they weren’t. The Bible is pretty good at pointing out their flaws and their foibles. They were ordinary people just like you and me. What made them extraordinary was simple and available to everyone of us even you and me. They were ordinary people who put their ordinary lives in the hands of an extraordinary God andthat made all the difference.

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 15-16; Psalm 53
1 Kings 17-18; Psalm 115
1 Kings 19-20
You can also download your own chart here.

#Trust30 You Know

UBU!

The Challenge:
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. Absolve you to yourself, and you shall have the suffrage of the world. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

We live in a society of advice columns, experts and make-over shows. Without even knowing it, you can begin to believe someone knows better than you how to live your life. Someone might know a particular something better – like how to bake a three-layer molten coconut chocolate cake or how to build a website – but nobody else on the planet knows how to live your life better than you. (Although one or two people may think they do.) For today, trying asking yourself often, especially before you make a choice, “What do I know about this?”

My response:
This is one thing I often share with people when it comes to sharing their faith in Christ. They inevitably talk about not sharing because they don’t know enough. It’s as if the only ones qualified to share this life-giving, life-changing message are people with a theology degree. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most pastors, most theologians are seen as paid salesmen by the people outside the church. Their response is usually far better when a trusted friend shares and invites them to faith. A friend is seen more as “satisfied customer” than “salesman.” There may be people who know a lot more theology than you, but you are the world’s foremost expert on your experience with Christ. This is a story no one can tell better than you. 1 Peter 3:15 reminds us to: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect…”

Tell the story you know best… Your story

#Trust30 Speak Less

The Challenge:
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think. This rule, equally arduous in actual and in intellectual life, may serve for the whole distinction between greatness and meanness. It is the harder, because you will always find those who think they know what is your duty better than you know I. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I once received a fortune cookie that read: “Speak less of your plans, you’ll get more done.” What’s one project that you’ve been sitting on and thinking about but haven’t made progress on? What’s stopping you? What would happen if you actually went for it and did it?

My response:
I just had this talk with a trusted friend. I was lamenting how far away my dream lives from reality and how many things I was missing. He asked me what do I need to get this done. I said well maybe more training, more experience, more credibility. He started to point to all the things I have already been doing and asked the question, “What if you’re enough?” What if your story, your passion and the things you’ve already done are enough? At that point there was only one right answer, “I’d have to actually do it.” I’d have to commit and launch. I’ve known this was true for a long time and I have been taking steps, but what I really needed was the affirmation that I needed to stop focusing on what I don’t have, work with what I do have and do the work. Stop lamenting, take what you have and do it! Speak less. I tell people this all the time, but sometimes it’s harder to internalize it than it is to tell others. So I close with this question:

“What if you’re enough?”

#Trust30 Invent the Future

The Challenge:
A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages. Yet he dismisses without notice his thought, because it is his. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

My favorite quote of all time is Alan Kay: ‘In order to predict the future, you have to invent it.’ I am all about inventing the future. Decide what you want the future to be and make it happen. Because you can. Write about your future now.

My response:
Well I feel like I have been talking about this a lot lately, but maybe that’s the point of these exercises to take us past talking and thinking and into creating and doing. My future is in ministry. Because of this I know it has got to be led by God. For this reason, I know I have to hold on to the plan loosely and onto God tightly. In my ideal future, I am traveling all over the world. I’m going to churches to encourage believers to use their gifts to serve others by using my art and speaking gifts to serve them. I’m helping churches to utilize their people, create new ministries and to abandon their “warm body” positions. These being the ones that they force themselves to continue even though no one really has the gifting or passion to sustain them. I have a home base church where I teach and preach, but I also have sufficient excellent leaders to sow into and allow me to do the other things to which I am called. This home church will also serve as testing ground and leadership development. I am also doing “performance painting shows” using the gift to tell stories, share truth. I’m using the internet to resource arts ministries with the resources I create and resourcing and encouraging other believers to use their gifts, thus expanding the reach. I’m able to afford to live and care well for my family and have resources to sow into start and fund churches and ministries and care for the poor. In the ideal world my family will be able to travel with me and minister with me. That’s the future to which I look forward and I pray it becomes a reality. But I’m not just praying, I’m working toward it now.

#Trust30 Wholly Strange and New

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

Can you remember a moment in your life when you had life in yourself and it was wholly strange and new? Can you remember the moment when you stopped walking a path of someone else, and started cutting your own?

Write about that moment. And if you haven’t experienced it yet, let the miracle play out in your mind’s eye and write about that moment in your future.

My Response:
This is pretty much what I am doing right now, though there are some differences. When I first began in this journey of joining art and ministry, I had this feeling that I was for the most part alone. Then slowly as I moved along, I began to meet others with a similar passion. Today there are quite a few out there and the challenge becomes new. Now we need to network ourselves, encourage each other and let the ones who think they are islands realize that they are not alone. The challenge is getting out to the church and convincing artists that they can serve the Lord with their gifts and convincing churches that it’s okay to allow it. It’s about helping God’s people see that creating a venue where people can create and use their talents can be a valuable tool for outreach. These are all part of my journey and I am very grateful for all my readers who are moving out in their gifting and coming along for the ride.

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 8; Psalm 58
You can also download your own chart here.

#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.

Help Us Run AMOK

A little note talking about different ways you can support AMOK’s ministry.
The main one is prayer and booking me as a speaker/painter but there are other products available.
Also featured in today’s post are videos of two creature paintings I am doing for a two fold purpose. First to remind us all of the transformative power of Christ. They are based on the King James Version of 2 Corinthians 5:17, which says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” Simply put, Having Jesus in your life is supposed to change your life. Trust Him, He can help.
The second purpose is more pedestrian. I am trying to raise some funds to expand the reach of AMOK so I am offering these paintings for sale on my Etsy store at http://amokarts.etsy.com