Finding Opposition When You Stir Up Spiritual Gifts

When people start to grow and learn in their spiritual gifts, I think one thing in particular goes unaddressed, and that is spiritual opposition towards using and growing in it, after all, it's there to strengthen and help the church, and that's one of the last things Satan wants. When something is important in the production of good, it becomes a special target of Satan for obstruction.

My church just had a miniseries on spiritual gifts, and I honestly don't think we are prepared for the after math of the spiritual battle that is going to come.

I have had considerable resistance to trying to connect in my church, and it's so much of no one's fault and yet I feel neglected and isolated. Just what Satan would like. He would also like it if I got angry and indignant at these people who really haven't done anything wrong. But those feelings are distractions from the important thing that needs to happen. I need my church, and they need me, in matters of spiritual gifts and otherwise, and I can't possibly be the only one facing resistance.


1 Spiritual gifts produce important results. But they are important as God judges importance, and may not have the impact our small eyes want to see, or the attention our small egos want to hear. So have faith when your efforts do not seem worth the fruit, for it is ours to plant, and for God to make it grow.

2. If you call for spiritual gifts to be practiced, you will be resisted. Satan doesn't like God's important things, and tries to ruin them. This is no different. Expect opposition on every level, from the exsistence of spiritual gifts, the definitions, the growth, and the fruit. We face resistance from the lies we believe about ourselves, the trust in our inadequacies to fill our gifts more than God's actions through us, and the external resistence from others with or without malice. The exercise of our spiritual gifts is more valuable than the cost of our ego, we must sacrifice our expectations of how we are to be treated or respected and focus on the goal of the gift that is required of us. It is so easy to be tangled up in the lies of imagined slights and politics and destroy the opportunity to do God's work because the circumstances to producing the fruit were not politically correct or comfortable. Our fruit is more important, and Satan will do anything, no matter how cheap and petty, to prevent the exercise of our gifts. In fact, he loves the cheap and petty, so watch out for low blows and irksome tiny things that, really, don't have anything to do with Eternity.

3 Resistance is aimed at us. Nothing can prevent God from doing anything, he is God. So Satan must try to prevent us from doing God's will. Resistance is not a consequnice of our wrongdoing. Sometimes we have punishments and consequences for what we do on Earth, and that is not the same as being opposed or going through a hard time for something good.

 Satan will attack the discovery of our gifts with decit that they don't exsist, and lies that you are not good enough to weld them. Get up. Satan will fight at the growth of our gifts, he will attack every mistake and failure. Get up. He will attack the fruit of our gifts with put downs, neglect, and lies of unworthiness. Get up, we need you .



Fight, babies, as you take your first steps, fall and get up. Get mad at the inevitable gravity of our human nature. Fight and walk, and trust that one day you will run.

Spiritual Gifts and The Great Adventure

We all have a special part to play in the big story that God is writing, and I feel like spiritual gifts are his gift packet to us; tools we need treeto plaas Paul our part. When we don't use our gifts, we cannot fill our role, and miss out on our part in the Grand Adventure God is writing . God's Grand Adventure is the only true fairy tale, it is the only story that counts, and it is the one that tugs at your heart to do something meaningful, to play superhero, to change the world, to find satisfaction in a hollow world.
The desire to be a part of God's Grand Adventure, and the sour, bitter pang of lonliness and meaninglessness of our efforts in life to be a somebody when we don't participate with God's story, this is what drives us to addictions and escapism, and idolizing fictional characters with lives more meaningful to us than our real ones.

And at the moment, not using my spiritual gifts has distenced my fullness in playing in the big story, and I feel lonely and unused, unsatisfied, and unhelpful. I'm trying to connect at church, it's very hard when I work so much.

The gifts I have in my tool bag are knowledge, teaching, and visions. I'm not sure which gift these visions fall under, I was thinking prophecy.  But I want to use them more. I'm thinking that the book I'm very slowly working on works with most of them.  Painting during the church services, and the prep for that, has generated a few images from God, and sometimes a long teaching blog post to explain it, like the one above was specifically for my church.
The gifts of knowledge and teaching I know how to develop, they are more easy to discuss and practice in our Western culture of books and quantitative data. Visions, not so much. I don't know how to develop those, or "fan into flame" as Paul told Timothy, because it's so easy to just imagine something.

Why are visions important to me? It's a rarer gift, and kinda fun, and it strengthens my faith in the unseen, much more real world, with it's more real battles. It's a glimpse, a very direct confirmation of the more real world, and God's connection with all of us. With visions of spiritual war, I feel like my prayers are more effective when I see what I am fighting. They are metaphors and symbols; reminders.

I want my visions to go in the direction of being for specific people, or messages for the church. I need to get more involved with my church to do that.

Ideas for Creature Making

A roly poly soot dragon. The current idea, and the many iterations of it. I have a large box of donated fur coats to make creatures out of. Normally i wouldnt pick real fur to work with, but the coats are not in good enough of shape to be worn or donated for anything else, so I shall make creatures. So far I have mostly brown, dark rust, and black fur, with a little faux gray and really cheap tan. So cheap I'm having second thoughts about using it at all. Maybe to practice with.c

Creature Making Inspiration

this one is mine

Its hard to define the kinds of creatures I want to make, but done of the first steps that I can do it find things like it.
I have quite a bit of random materials, and would love to populate a craft booth with creatures like these.


This  is a good example of the kind I want to make:
http://www.dollmakersdream.com/free-polymer-clay-tutorials-creature-6.html

Its semi realistic, soft bodied, and also has polymer clay sculpting.










Also like these:
http://santani.deviantart.com/art/I
nari-Foxes-418720127

http://lisatoms.deviantart.com/art/Silver-aqua-dragon-spirit-411076252

http://wood-splitter-lee.deviantart.com/art/SOLD-Poseable-Hand-Made-Baby-Fum-420878939

http://scenceable.deviantart.com/art/Exalt-435968577

Polymer Clay Creature Concept Drawing

I've been driving to make more polymer clay creatures. Maybe one day to design them for mmorpgs or illustrate them for card games. Here's a sketch.

A Riddle For The Outcast and Lonely

There is a special section in the store just for these items. They are often set apart from the others. The majority of customers do not buy them, or even look for them. When you do look for them, you can look very hard and be very excited when you find it.  Sometimes they have special packaging. They fluctuate in quantity, you never know what you will find.You feel like you got a deal when you buy it. Often, it is what you can afford.


      So, is it discount merchandise at the grocery store, or a rare gem at a jeweler's?

  Maybe you feel you are cheap , that no one searches for you. That you are weird. And you find yourself thinking you are a malformed item on a discount shelf. But perhaps the truth is very different.


God refines us though fire, and the result is something more valuable than fine gold. He sets us apart so we are no longer common, we are precious.

But we are costly, and few will pay for something rare when they can get something shiny and pretty for much cheaper. 

At what cost to them? And yet, it is their loss, and they don't even bother to find out why. Our packaging it different. We have something to guard. There's security, laser lines and
pressure plates like a rare jewel in a museum. And we don't have to  apologize for our boundaries when they protect something precious.

.

heheheheh

Few have the skill to navigate those boundaries, because few appreciate the value, and even less are willing to put in the effort to get it.






Don't apologize for your boundaries when you protect something precious. Don't worry that you are hard to find, that God puts you in the back of the store. He's protecting you, he knows you are valuable, and only those who know the high cost can have you.

For we are far above rubies.

Encouragement From Success and Encouragement From The Trenches

To pay my bills, I work as a janitor. And I hate it with a passion.

Monotonous, and doing the EXACT thing day after day with no accomplishment or anything that really gets "done." And it doesn't really use much brain power either. Which is hard when I have 180 credit hours from college and I'm not
using a single one.

When you find your passion, and are prevented from using it, everything you do tastes like ash.

And it's in this situation that I feel God wants me to write a book, a devotional workbook for artists.
Most of these kinds of books are written by people who work at art as a living, or at least full time, maybe even through church. And I would think there are a lot of artists who don't.

This book would be written by one in the trenches. By one who hasn't had the "success" of profit through art, or the joy of being able to do it full time, and is not writing it out of that confidence. Also, I don't have that kind of success to validate what I am saying. But if God wants me to write this, why should I need ANYTHING else to validate my credibility? Worldly success won't validate it more than God does. Noah didn't have a degree in ship building. If you don't listen to me just because I don't have the resume that you think I need to qualify to write this, you are dismissing God's truths based on worldly value. So I won't tell you what I have that would remotely qualify me to write all this.

It's more important right now that I'm not, and that I haven't seen success yet, and that I am writing out of a place in the trenches, with the rest of you who also have not seen the success you want. It's easy to take the "advice" of a Christian artist who is successful and rich, apply it, and get happy or angry depending on how much that advice "worked."

It's easy to make faith based decisions when you see them physically rewarded.

But I write as a challenge to you to faith in the times when you aren't "successful," and have no confidence that you will ever be. That is where faith is tested. And we are very much in it together, I have no guarantee that this book will make any money. Maybe it can be free.

I wanted crowd funding to take time off to write the book. I have two jobs and don't want to quit either of them.But

I think God wants me to write this as janitor me. 

Not as a person working in the ministry full time, but someone who still struggles. On the other hand, if I don't depend on this for income, there is a lot less temptation to make it look and sound pretty just so it sells more. I'm after excellence and impact, not popularity. And I have the freedom to do that and my job isn't at stake. In a way, it's less of a risk. 

 Yes, I'm scared of being mediocre and amateurish. I'm scared of it being too big and my ideas getting in the way. I'm scared of all the permissions I have to get just to quote the Bible in my book.

I will do the thing. 

Now I actually need to do the thing.




I have already had opposition to the thing, which I take as a sign that its a good thing.

The Labor Pains of Art and Wanting

I had a recent attack of depression that was triggered by bitterness and disappointment at things I wanted but assumed I couldn't have. I felt taunted, like "here's the awesome thing you can't have" and somehow it was my fault that I couldn't have it. Punishment for acting "irresponsibly;" punishment for not being good enough.

What bugs me the most is that my gut reaction was to suddenly be disappointed, bitter, and start crying. These are not a mature reaction to seeing good things. God's gifts do not bring bitterness.

I was bitter that I did not have the money to do the things, these "perfect" things that would strengthen my gifts. Why show me something so "perfect" if I can't have it?

And I think it's because I was trying to earn it.

Here's what I learned:

God made the whole universe. All of it. he made the materials that we print money from, it's not like his resources are limited, and he gives it all to us, when it is best for us. And he does not withhold good things from us

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"  Romans 8:32

If I can't earn the biggest gift of all, why am I trying to earn the lesser ones? God gives us what we need when we need them, and sometimes we need to struggle in order to grow more than we need a vehicle. Sometimes there are more opportunities to "minister"when we are the ones asking for water. Jesus asked for a very human need to be met in John 4, he asked for a drink of water from a social outcast, and gave back something even greater.

As an artist, I need materials, and God has spoiled me with them. I buy them, I find them in the trash pile, people gift me, I can use almost any thing I find to make art with. And I still struggle to use up the materials "in case I run out."

That seems pretty silly now.

"Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God." 2 Corinthians 9:10-11

God does provide seed to the sower, in fact, free materials are everywhere. But we must gather them and learn how to use them. "Some plant, some water, but God makes it grow."

     "So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes      things grow." 1 Corinthians 3:7

And we must sacrifice the things we have to let it grow.

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." John 12:24

And art is very much like a plant; little messages in bottles that you send out and hope that people will read (and plant more seeds) Art is my fruit.
So I have to use it up in order to make more. Then again, I could sit on it. Here, I have the paint you gave me!   And look where it got this guy: Matthew 25:14-30.

If you have something, and are called to that ministry, don't be afraid to use it up!! God created the world, he can turn your one little offering into a feast for thousands. John 6:1-14

What is the fish and bread you have to offer God?

If I have something, it's an opportunity to "minister" to others. If I have a need, it's an opportunity for them to minister to me, and for me to learn the humility of accepting it.

Until we learn the humility of accepting the small gifts from others, we prevent ourselves from being used by God as a channel of the larger gifts. 

Do you accept charity with humility and gratitude? Or with entitlement or bitterness that you couldn't do it yourself? You sabotage yourself from participating in God's Big Wallet when you limit yourself to only the resources you think you are responsible for.
 
 So if I don't have that perfect thing, there are many reasons for why I don't have it.

• it's not good for me, it's artistic junk food
• God has something healthier in mind, even if it doesn't taste as good
• I am trying to earn it on my own
• It's a chance for someone else to minister and for me to participate in God's Bigger Economy

 In Conclusion: 

Here's the first layer. more to come.

Firstly. I am making a painting that reminds me that God owns it all, that it's my job to gather what I can, sow and let the seed die, water, and harvest, but only God can grow it and multiply it. Pictures up soon!!

Secondly, that I need to ask, and I can't always "earn" the bigger gifts by behaving like a good little Christian.  Sometimes God fills your needs with amazing circumstances that he set up for years in the making, and you just became aware of it. Maybe you haven't even told anyone yet. Maybe you need to.

So I set up a Donate Button on my blog.

Like that good old song says, friends can't fill the needs you don't let show.

So what is it that I want? 

These things, or things like them, as they specifically strengthen my gifts:

• OM Arts Training, Incarnate 2014 - Visual Artists (Artslink) (Italy)
• A Membership To Christians in the Visual Arts
• Gathering of Artisans Scotland

Donations would go towards these things, and art supplies, unless you signify otherwise. Any amount helps, $5 even.

And it's on my honor, if you don't trust that, don't give, that's ok too. Maybe someday I can make it so I can gift those who donate with small pieces of art.

Donate if you can, take the idea and ask for donations yourself if you need them. I look forward to participating in God's Big Economy with you.

And suddenly, I'm not bitter anymore.


Might I mention that a few days after writing this post, someone gave me a gift card to www.dickblick.com for $50. 

So Many Projects And Jobs Time Management

God has given me many opportunities and ideas lately. This just happens to coincide with having two jobs. But if God wants it done, we will make the time.

Writing a book for visual christian artists. An art show that wants 40-50 seasonal pictures. ( I may have stepped into that one, but I'm looking for people to share it with me.) and two jobs. And preparing for a move, and the portfolio to get me a job when I'm moved. And a reiteration on protestant prayer beads, which requires a booklet as well.

So in the meantime, I am praying and fasting to get confirmation on all of these things.  I see the need for the book, even all the wild and crazy ideas I have for it. I would even love to take a lot of time off to work on it. And I want to paint.

The idea of moving still feels pretty sure, but what my career out there will be once I get there is still pretty open. Originally, I thought it was games, digital computer and video game art. Now, I feel like my passion is elsewhere, but it could also be because that's what has been in my brain lately. These jobs and projects are what I have been feeding into my brain, and those are the ideas it's producing. I don't have too many complaints, but I do feel wishy- washy about my career.

My ministry wasn't going to be tied to my career, that's what I thought I heard. Maybe it's changed or I didn't hear right, I don't know.

So if you have the inkling, drop a word in with God for me to get these thing sorted out.


There are so many art projects I want to do.

Lots of great ideas, only one life.

Art Hop October 3, 2014

Pixels, Paint, and Ink

Yes, this is the place for Art Hop Information! 

October 3, 5:00pm-7:45pm

Free Drawing at 7:00pm

Fire Historical &
Cultural Arts Collaborative 

 1249 Portage Rd., Kalamazoo, MI 49001

1. There will be a live painting projected onto the side of a building A wall, possibly. It's rather rainy.  Well, it's looking more like a wall inside the building. But come on, that's cool.

No, I don't know what I'm painting yet. So far there have been lots of landscapes.

2. There will be a drawing for free art.

 The rules: You must have a ticket. The tickets are free. Only one ticket per person. You must be present at the time of the drawing. You must tear off the portion of your ticket with the number and put it in the box provided.The drawing takes place at 7:oo pm.

     I will post pictures of things you might win soon, and locations to find tickets in advance. You will also be able to get tickets at the door.  There will be an estimated worth of $150 of art given away, from ACEOs, 8"x10" to 18"x24" or larger. 

3. There will be food. 

No, I don't know what yet. No alcohol though.

4. There is a coupon for 30% off one painting hidden in one of my blog posts.  

Try to find it! You must have it printed out, pictures on smart phones are not accepted, one coupon per person. and it's only valid during Art Hop. Happy hunting!

 

What could you win? It could be one of these:

 

 

And here's some others you'll see that night:

Art And Painting For The Church: A Story On How Collaborations With God Develop

               

  God has gifted me with another chance to paint at church, and I'm really excited for this one. 

Instead of something spontaneous, or almost spontaneous, this piece has taken more planning, and feels more like a collaboration between God and myself rather than a "verbatim interpretation," for lack of a better phrase.

This painting is for a Sunday that wraps up a series on Consecration at The Bridge.

Here's a link to media from those services.

http://www.thebridgeportage.org/listen-and-watch-online/

http://www.thebridgeportage.org/listen-and-watch-online/ 

The inspiration for it came to me two or three weeks before I am to paint (which is tomorrow, as I write this) and I really wanted confirmation from God that this was what he wanted, because if it was all my imaginings, it would fail. The subject is too epic to attempt on my own power, and I didn't have as strong of a tug that this was from God. This image would be powerful if created successfully, and an embarrassing failure if I attempted it on my own. So, until I hear strongly otherwise, it's a slight risk. I am also grateful that my church family give me the freedom to paint "whatever I want," or more precisely, does not have any contention when I say that an image is from God. I am so grateful!! Of course, if they wanted a specific image illustrated, I would be happy to oblige. :)  And I know that if I fail, they have the grace and forgiveness to deal with it. That's a big gift too! \

There were two specific sections of Scripture that inspired this piece.

Isaiah 6:1-4 and Hebrews 12:8-24. They are written out in the blog post here, but you can get out your Bible too!

So I enlisted a bunch of people to pray, and answers started to appear. 
I haven't felt a "no" yet. And the very verses that inspired the painting showed up in the church messages, a week after "I had the idea."

The painting would be a comparison of the old glory found in the old covenant and the new life-giving glory in the new covenant. 

Mt. Sinai, doomsy clouds, a dead goat, all very scary looking, and then above it the new glory of Heaven, with God on the throne and seraphim above him.  There would be angels (without wings,) and an altar, and the lamb's book of life, and us consecrated by our death with Christ  approaching the throne in confidence. And the crystal sea...
And all I had at the time were two 30"x24" canvases. So I'm attaching them together to make one 5' canvas. And it would be painted live during the two services.

And my first thought after "hearing" all of this is "yeah, sure, let's do all of that in two hours....."

Maybe you can see why it's so important to get God's stamp of approval for things this epic. For whatever reason God has, the seraphim are important. I asked to see one in a dream to confirm the image, but the answer was no. That's ok. They were mentioned three times in the next church service, Isaiah 6:1-4 was quoted,

   Isaiah 6:1-4 

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ² Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. ³ And they were calling to one another:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty;
    the whole earth is full of his glory.”

⁴ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke."

and I noticed that they left out a verse in one of the songs that specifially mentioned seraphim. Yup. Glassy sea too. Go figure, God is fun like that.

Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty:
" Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee, which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be."

So at that point, I figured I had my answer. But that didn't make the thought of filling a five-foot canvas in two hours any less daunting, especially when we're dealing with some big theology. And lambs and clouds, both of which I have been having an "interesting" time drawing these days. But this painting will be more controlled than the others, I think. And unlike the others, I sketched it out. I knew that this one would take more preparation.

    Here's the sketch!

As you can see, the everyman priest is in the center. I intend to gesso a strip of paper to it after I attach them together. You other artists can understand my pain at trying to paint over that joint. 

Collaboration

God was very specific about many of the elements in this one. The design started out as two canvases, one to be done for each service. But that would give each glory an equal artistic and visual importance. I worked out how I could show the six wings of the seraphim. God wanted the altar to come out of Sinai. I think it was my idea to have the angels drawn as swooshes. And there were lots of design edits to the throne.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 What does this painting mean?

Holiness is a very serious concept, not to be taken lightly in a world where the sacred is mocked. The old testament people understood this and were taught with lethal lessons. The first glory was terrifying. Even when God asked them to come closer, they would not.

^{Exodus 20:18}  "When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance ¹⁹ and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

²⁰ Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

²¹ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was."

 But the glory that comes with the new covenant is bigger and is here now. And this is what the top part of the painting is about.

2 Corinthians 3

⁷ Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, ⁸ will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? ⁹ If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! ¹⁰ For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. ¹¹ And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

¹² Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. ¹³ We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. ¹⁴ But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. ¹⁵ Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. ¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸ And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate^[a] the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

   Hebrews 2:11 "Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters."

               Ephesians 3:12

"In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence."

            
And so, through our communion with Christ in his death, and the sacrifice he made once and for all as the Last Lamb, we are made Holy. We no longer have to be terrified to approach God when we are cleaned by Christ, and we have become the royal priesthood mentioned in  1 Peter 2:9 "But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light." and that is why the everyman in the center is dressed like a priest and holding communion.  And everyman approaches God. A very Holy God. A very Beautiful and Holy God. There is Christ the Last Lamb, and the Lamb's Book of Life, where names are written. And in that book is the very name of that person who comes before God. 

I write this with a mixture of reverence and joy, and they are not opposed to each other.

     Hebrews 12:8-24 

 "⁸ You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; ¹⁹ to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, ²⁰ because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”^{[c] 21} The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”^[d]
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, ²³ to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel."

So, there is a big painting happening at church tomorrow.


Here is is!

"Glory" 24"x60" Acrylic September 21, 2014

ART HOP October 3!!!

Pixels, Paint, and Ink

Yes, this is the place for Art Hop Information! 

October 3, 5:00pm-7:45pm

Free Drawing at 7:00pm

Fire Historical &
Cultural Arts Collaborative 

 1249 Portage Rd., Kalamazoo, MI 49001

 

1. There will be a live painting projected onto the side of a building. No, I don't know what I'm painting yet. So far there have been lots of landscapes.

2. There will be a drawing for free art. The rules: You must have a ticket. The tickets are free. Only one ticket per person. You must be present at the time of the drawing. You must tear off the portion of your ticket with the number and put it in the box provided.The drawing takes place at 7:oo pm.

     I will post pictures of things you might win soon, and locations to find tickets in advance. You will also be able to get tickets at the door.  There will be an estimated worth of $150 of art given away, from ACEOs, 8"x10" to 18"x24" or larger. 

3. There will be food. No, I don't know what yet. No alcohol though.

And this too.

 

 

Painting During the Church Service As Worship

Painting during a church service is something fairly new to the church these days, and I am honored to be part of it. I can understand how it can also be controversial, and I personally hate church services that are too performance like. However, one of my pet peeves is when "worship time" is always assumed to be musical. There are hundreds of ways of worshiping God together, and music is just one of them. I don't want to be a performance, but watching the process can be just as illustrative as a whiteboard note.

Here are the paintings I did during church services. I did all of them in the service, so none of them took me over 45 min to do.

The River Church 

Bride of Christ, 30"x40"

This service was talking about "trash to treasure" in terms of God's grace. That's all I knew about the sermon before I painted. So I wanted to make that quite literal. I had people gather trash before the service and used it in my painting. Her bouquet is made of torn pages of flowers from magazine, the stained glass is melted crayon (melt with a glue gun) and lots of her dress are sheets of old homework. Her veil is a plastic bag I found in the parking lot.
I don't have a very good picture of it, but the bottom is all metallic gold. One of my favorite memories about making this is about the beginning (no pun intended). Pastor Rob started off his sermon by quoting the verse "1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.…" and just as he was saying that, I was painting drippy black on to white, a huge canvas, that spread out and filled the background. That was rather dramatic, and I liked it. Someone offered to buy it from me, but I felt it was the church's. I also paint vigorously, I needed a bath afterwards. Don't worry, I always put down lots of drop cloths.

The Bridge  Church

Ezekiel, 2010, Clay

I don't remember the sermon for this one, but I do know that I modeled it after Ezekiel 37 (Zombies!) and Pastor Dan mentioned that same story when I was half way done with it. I don't know what they did with it afterwards.

The theme of the day was Pentecost, fire, and the Holy Spirit. This was a worship focused service with no sermon. It was almost all music playing, prayer, and a time to share.

Rain Down, 2014, Acrylic

it's a big one, not sure of the size. At least 20"x something. I prepared the canvas for a particular song that was full of energy. This one I wanted to be dramatic.   Song: Rain Down

Invitation, 2014, 24"x36" ?

There was also a dancer for the song Oceans. 
 I had prepared the background for the beginning of the service, and added the dancer as she started to dance, and the dove last, by finger painting. It was given to the dancer.



The grass is just grass...

Hands On You

I had something else planned, but God put this image in my heart and told me how to do it, even down to when to stop dripping paint, or how far down the sky should go, etc. I love collaborative
art with God. It is a message for the Bridge. And yes, the wings are hands. Pastor Jeff grabbed it mid service to show it and talk about it, and I wasn't finished yet! I'm not sure I even had the dove motif, but mostly I was afraid of it getting all over the non-drop-clothed area, it was very goopey and drippy. I teared up a bit when painting it.











Here are a few links about painting and doing art during worship:

http://manuelluz.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/why-paint-during-worship/

Another really big painting done during the service that I'm proud of:


 http://dabblebag.blogspot.com/2014/09/art-and-painting-for-church-story-on.html

Hoarding and Overspending: When Your Stuff Emotionally Blackmails You

 Money is a tool to be ruled. A system to serve, not to rule you. When your mind is impulsing you to

get something ask yourself who is in charge, and who is giving the orders. Take back command. Run your castle smoothly, let it serve you. When you become a servant to it's desires, it's idolatry. And a  fine line.

If your stuff stops you from doing what you want, ask yourself what benefit does it give you daily? It could be holding you back without giving anything in return, or taking more effort to maintain it than the value it gives you as a tool. And when that object wants you to hold on to it because you wouldn't love it otherwise; it's emotional blackmail. 

The definiton of emotional blackmail from the general internet is

"Emotional blackmail is a form of psychological manipulation, employing a mixture of threats, appeals and emotionally punitive behavior to control an intimate. It may occur between parents and children, husbands and wives, siblings or close friends.

 Emotional blackmail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"

 I often hear threats from the objects of my desire that I can't do without it, that I would love this memory less if I got rid of x thing, as if I didn't value it. But that single memory of something, that is over and done with, is holding me back from my future. You cannot live in the past and make a
difference to the world. You can hold on to a memory without the object from the past taking up your present.

When I'm shopping, the impulse to buy something is very strong, for so many reasons. It could be threatening me that I don't value X if I don't "invest" in it. But like I told my brother, "Why invest in an oar if the boat won't float?"

Your impulses are emotional reactions to a situation of something you like. In any relationship, our first reaction to someone may not reflect our priorities with them. We love them, but we want to yell at them. So our impulses react to "cool new stuff" without really reflecting our goals and interests. Experience the feeling, appreciate the cool new thing for being interesting, and put it down.

"If you can appreciate something without the need to 

possess it, the world is yours."

            I have had so much stuff that I didn't have a place to sit. The piles of stuff were literally taking over my throne. I had to move it to have a place to sit. That's when I was serving the stuff. Sometimes I have to get rid of things that I paid a bit for, because holding on to it was taking up more effort than the actual project. So I have thrown out canvases with failed paintings, not because I can't salvage them, but because it's not worth my time.

  I've had enough of overspending and impulse buying to the point where I've become irresponsible. So I asked God to change me from the inside out; no new accounting systems, or banking programs. I know I'm too ADHD to stick to any new plan for longer than a few days. But being changed is something else. So this is what God told me.

Creating Texture On Canvas

 I love texture! This was done for a class, and with my very first hand stretched canvas, so it's kinda wobbly in the frame. Can you guess what I used to texture it? You can stick almost anything to a ground with gesso, except sugary things, which dissolve. Through bad storage some of the lentils have fallen off too. But it was fun! Everyone wants to touch it. I think it's 16"x20", 2009