Worship Painting

The Glory of the Lord Fills the Earth

The true fast is not to give up food but to share our food with the hungry.

“Is not this the kind of fastingI have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to cloth them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then
you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. Isaiah 58:6-8

At Home With God

If you make your home in Jesus' teachings, he and Father will make their home with you.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. John 14:23

The King Maker

The politicians maneuver and rant but it is God who sets up kings and other leaders--and upsets others.

The Heart of the Lord is for the Nations

The Name of Jesus

Too often overlooked or shied away from, the name of Jesus is vital. Without the name of Jesus, the nations have no hope (Matthew 12:20-22), Jesus doesn’t join us in our groups with his presence (Matthew 18:19-21). Without it we don’t have the “the right to become children of God” (John 1:11-13). There are so many benefits to this wonderful name—the list is long! The meaning of his name, whether pronounced as Yeshua, Jesus or Isa (or another language pronunciation), is “salvation” or “God saves” (Joshua). Don’t be afraid of using it, believing in it and walking in it. Some may be “scared away” by the name of Jesus but most long for what he offers. Without the name of Jesus, we are like the proverbial “emperor with no clothes”; we are without. I’ve painted the robe with Joseph’s “coat of many colors” in the back of my mind, which many scholars believe was a sign of authority. Followers of Jesus are sent forth in the authority of his name.

Light & Life Overcoming Darkness & Death!

Art teachers ask, “What is the painting about? Make that the emphasis.” This painting is about Light and Life overcoming Darkness and Death so I’ve made the later the smallest part while Light and Life overtake the space.

Since they’re so significant in scripture, I use palm trees to represent the Tree of Life. (Notice that the palm isn’t rooted in “the darkness” but is on top of it).

Adam and Eve missed their opportunity to eat from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden but followers of Jesus get a second chance to live forever—because of Jesus’ death and resurrection!

One in Jesus

In my sleep I had a vision of a mature wisteria vine with a sturdy trunk and two branches growing from it. The left branch had three blossoms in yellow-gold. The right branch had three purple blossoms. The image came to me in a modern stained glass style.

The yellow-gold blossoms represent Jewish believers in Jesus and the purple blossoms are the non-Jewish believers (I don’t call us Gentiles since Paul contrasts the believers with the Gentiles.) Though there are many more non-Jewish believers than Jewish (or even than any Jewish people), both are represented by an equal number of blossoms and vines of the same height since, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

We must be grafted into the “trunk” of our Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God or we have/are nothing.

Stained glass can have a certain beauty on its own, from the design, the shapes and somewhat from the colors but as with followers of Jesus, it’s made for the light! When light shines through it is when true beauty is revealed.

Properties of wisteria:
Very fragrant
Largest on record covers 1 acre and weighs 250 tons! (In California)
“Among their attributes are hardiness, vigor, longevity and the ability to climb high.” http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1246.html

From Darkness to Light

I often do worship painting at church—painting as worship during worship music. The Lord always gives me a teaching as interpretation of what I’ve painted but last Sunday, he took me further--into a prophetic act with each stage in the process having meaning.

A lovely red and a beautiful green.

Mixed together they make black—representing good things in life put together in an unholy way.

I added some Mars Black and Ochre to make it really dark. I rarely use black paint since black doesn't reflect light.

Then I scribbled over the painting and chomped it with my pliers.

Most of us had made a mess of our lives in going our own way.

But when we become followers of Jesus, we die to our old life and its ways—represented outwardly by the waters of baptism and here by washing the brush.

Jesus took our old life and reduced it to nothing.

Replacing our old life of sin, selfishness and destruction with a new life—a new start.

Instead of following in the ways of death and destruction, we turn around (repent) and live our lives in obedience to Jesus and for his glory.

I will walk about in freedom for I have sought out your precepts. Psalm 119:45 (they are) the theme of my song He has brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves (out of the dominion of darkness!) Colossians 1:13

Jews & Gentiles One in Jesus

You Can Do Nothing Without Me

The Pearl of Great Price

Every Tribe--One in Jesus

All the followers of Jesus from every tribe, tongue and nation are one family—the family of God. They are no longer “those people over there” but we are to rejoice with them and mourn with them.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:28

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

Laying Down Our Swords ForThe Glory of the Lord

The two dark areas represent the breaking of our swords (any weapon of the flesh whether greed, manipulation, anger or literal military weapons of war) over our knees. The glory & power of the Lord is released in our lives when we truly follow Jesus’ teachings to love our enemies and not use “carnal weapons” but the mighty ones of the Holy Spirit-represented here by yellow, metallic gold, iridescent white with energized lines for power.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3, 4

There will be…glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good …”Romans 2:10