This passage of scripture has been on my brain (and my heart) a lot lately;
So I just thought I’d share with you.
(I really like the way that the Message puts it… it really just paints such a CLEAR picture!)

1 Thessalonians 5
^1-3I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—”We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.

^4-8But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

^9-11God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.

It’s finally fall, and I have more art!

Wahoo, I’m posting again!

Since my last update, I’ve been cleaning, organizing, cooking, washing dishes, using power tools, and – of course – making art & going to the prayer room.

So, with all that in mind, here are some more paintings!

 

Heaven Minded

 

Buy Oil

 

 

Untitled: Psalm 143

 

Untitled: Revelation

(The first two were done at the very end of September…)

I’ve also had a chance to take some photographs too, which has really just served to remind me of how the Lord took great care in creating all things.  Just look at the flowers!

Mixed Media!!!

I found a whole box of old hymn books last weekend at a yardsale.  It was a real treat, especially when I found out that they were only 25 cents a book!
So, I gathered the 2.50 together and got 12 old hymnals (that’s right, 12 for 2.50 at 25 cents a book, that means I got them for LESS than 25c each!  I mean, I know it’s only 50c, but still, it was a little gift on top of the HUGE gift of even finding the books.)

I’ve been looking for EXACTLY this kind of thing, so I can start doing mixed media too.
This is what I’ve got so far.

Heaven & Earth (Psalm 19)

Call to Arms (Psalm 45)

More Paintings

Well, I didn’t really expect this to become a forum for sharing artwork, but here I am, painting, and posting more pictures of new pieces.

Here are 2 (smaller) recent ones, with more to come…. I’m painting tonight!

Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2)

Shine Like the Stars (Daniel 12:3)

Prophetic Painting

Well,  I guess this is what I do now.  ”Prophetic painting”
I hadn’t really thought of it this way before now, I mean, not truly…

Today I had the opportunity to paint a piece with a specific person in mind.  And, well, THIS is what came to life:

Contend for the Presence

It was certainly fun, though, once again, I’m not sure how well the painting is actually represented in photo… But, oh well.  I’m off to paint some more!

2 new paintings

this has been a most interesting week.
i was able to help replace the water pump in our well, and fix my car (both horn and brake lights) with a screwdriver.
and of course, stayed up late several nights painting.

here are the latest:

Transformed (2 Cor 3:18)

Waterfall

I hope to have more paintings done soon.  I’ve actually been asked about painting several pieces for a family friend’s home, and have even been presented with some opportunities to get into art rotations at a few coffee shops around the city.  I’ll have more details on these things in the future, and am really excited.
Leslie and I are also doing a few art/craft shows this fall as well, which is really awesome, and right around the corner, so I’ve got a lot of artwork to get done…

I would like to invite you to consider donating to help support me as an artist and missionary.  You can use PayPal to make a one time donation, or consider partnering with me monthly as I continue in my work before the Lord.
And of course, I ask also that you keep me in prayer during this time.
Thank you!

Paintbrushes & Pastels

I’m pretty sure I’ve finished another painting.

Will have pictures tomorrow, I hope.

I invested a few dollars in a set of oil pastels.  I’m excited about trying them out… I’ll let you know how it goes.  The water’s off at my house (we have a well, and personally, I think it’s simply an issue in the circuit breaker that runs the water pump) so I can’t really paint anything new, since I don’t have an effective way to wash my brushes.  That being said, I’ll likely start experimenting with pastels tomorrow after church.
It looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be a good day to experiment, since we’re going to try our hand at stretching canvas (mom’s going to help me).  We have the staple gun, and some canvas, and I have a bottle of gesso to prime them after we’re done.  So today, I also spent a few dollars on stretcher bars so that I can put together two more canvases.  I’m praying it will absolutely pay off in the end, because this is a FAR more cost effective way to do things.
Stretching canvases tomorrow will also mean that I learn to gallery wrap my own canvases (that means there will be no staples showing, so the paintings won’t need a frame at all), and should also be able to begin painting less-than-standard sized  pieces.
I’ve found heavy duty stretcher bars too, so I can work my way toward stretching & painting BIG canvases (like 48″x60″ or more!), and I can also begin to use them on smaller pieces as well.  Personally I really like paintings done with the heavy duty bars – they’re like 2x thicker than standard sized bars, so it makes the frame much deeper.  The best part is that there’s no rule saying you can only use heavy duty stretcher bars for really big paintings… so it’s up to me, and that means I can do smaller pieces with a deeper frame, just because I like the look.
(I really love art so much.  There’s a ton of freedom and expression that I never realized I needed to experience.  I’m so grateful that the Lord has been teaching me to paint, and just been pouring out creative ideas for other things as well… like jewelry, and I’d even like to learn to make pottery, and glassblowing! )

Also, prayer request:
Provision, both in general, and in/for supplies for more paintings; there is also a conference in North Carolina in the beginning of October focused entirely on worship and the arts, so please keep me in prayer for provision to go to that conference as well, that I might learn even more about prophetic painting!

More art…

Painting is so much fun!

I’ve also done a few small things on wood scraps that my friend Paul brought me.
As a result of this fun experiment (and the fact that I painted my Bible a while back), I’ve decided that I’m open to painting on pretty much anything… Canvas, wood, windows, Bibles, etc…

So, here are the small paintings done on wood:

MERCY

Paintings!

Recently, I began asking the Lord to teach me to paint, and He’s been doing just that!
So, I’ve been painting….

Here are the 5 most recent:

You See Bones (Ezekiel 37)

(these paintings ARE available for purchase, so if you’d like to help support me as a missionary, shoot me an email and let me know!)

long time coming…

It’s been awhile since I last posted.  And believe me, I have several more journeys through scripture (you know, those crazy prayer room team posts), but tonight is not the night for such things.

I’ve been asking the Lord to pour out creativity, and to teach me several things.  Painting has been my first request in this area for a long time, and back in May at Awaken the Dawn, it was prophesied over me.

So for the past week or two, I’ve been painting, and loving it.  I stay up late, and my fingers are usually covered in colors by the time I’m done, but I like it that way.
I even painted the cover of my Bible… so now, it’s really mine.  (This is the Bible that was given to me two months ago.)

But I wanted to share a few of these paintings.  I really enjoy creating them, and it’s amazing to look over these small beginnings and already see the Lord at work teaching me in it.

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