Building Character

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

Although I have never experienced physical persecution, as many Christians in other countries do, I know that even the minor irritations I sometimes experience can be used by God to build character in me.

At work, my boss is the Design & Graphics Editor for the city newspaper, and I am a Contract Graphic Artist there (he and I are the only ones who do the artwork for the newspaper). He is a strict perfectionist who constantly criticizes me and my artwork.

The following are some illustrations I did in Adobe Illustrator CS2, which my boss said were not good enough to publish (or else he just didn't like them). Basically, he gave me an assignment to draw something, then, after I drew it, he said it wasn't good enough. This happens often. The bottom one is a scan of a sketch I did, which he also rejected. A few times he has said that my work was very good, and obviously, many times my artwork has been published (or else I would have been fired long ago), but very often, he says that what I drew is not going to work, or that its not good enough, or that he just doesn't like it. In the case of the illustration of the City Manager below, even though he rejected my illustration, he used a couple pieces of it in his own artwork, and he signed only his name to it. Many times he will have me draw a few items, which he will add to the artwork that he has done, but he will sign only his name to it, and take all the credit. Ah, well, he's my boss, after all, and I am getting paid to do it, so I guess I shouldn't complain too much. Plus, as I said, I have already had many things published under my name. After a while, the initial rush from having your work published starts to wear off and become old, anyway. Fame is not all that its cracked up to be.

Art is a very personal thing, and having your artwork rejected, especially on a constant basis, is frustrating. Nevertheless, I am trying to keep my eyes on eternal things, and not on the things of this world. This job is only a temporary thing, after all. Less than 60 years from now (maybe far less), I will be in Heaven, and these minor frustrations will be forgotten.

Some of my rejected artwork:

Dan Lacey's "Faithmouse"

Note: Click on images to enlarge them

'Jesus art'

Some images found on the Internet:

Regarding the Second Coming of Jesus:


Regarding the typical viewpoint of American Christians who are Republican:


Regarding the Christian's business decisions:

Generational curses

Ah, televangelists. They spread the gospel all over the earth via television. Yet, at the same time, they often give a bad name to Christianity, because of things like committing adultery or their extravagant wealth and spending. Unfortunately, and more and more it seems, these are not their only faults. Many of them also teach false doctrines which are not biblical. I could devote an entire blog to this. Yet, my purpose is not to attack other Christians. After all, we are all sinners; therefore, none of us is perfect. In addition, with any person on this earth, I could eventually find something that they believe that I disagree with. But, at the same time, I do want to warn against false doctrine. In this post, I merely want to briefly address one such widespread false doctrine which is extremely common among Christians today (at least, American Christians); and that is, the idea of 'generational curses.' The following quote sums it up nicely, I think:

"Question: "What does the Bible say about breaking generational curses?"

Answer: The Bible mentions “generational curses” in several places (Exodus 20:5; 34:7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 5:9). It sounds unfair for God to punish children for the sins of their fathers. However, this is looking at it from an earthly perspective. God knows that sin is passed down from one generation to the next. When a father has a sinful lifestyle, his children are likely to have the same sinful lifestyle as well. That is why it is not unjust for God to punish sin to the third or fourth generation – because they are committing the same sins their ancestors did. They are being punished for their own sins, not the sins of their ancestors. The Bible specifically tells us that God does not hold children accountable for the sins of their parents (Deuteronomy 24:16).

There is a trend in the church today to try and blame every sin and problem on some sort of generational curse. This is not Biblical. The cure for generational curses is salvation through Jesus Christ. When we become Christians, we are new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). How can a child of God still be under God’s curse (Romans 8:1)? The cure, then, for a generational curse is faith in Christ and a life consecrated to Him (Romans 12:1-2)."

from:
http://www.gotquestions.org/generational-curses.html

More Art

I didn't post anything yesterday, because I had the worst stomach virus that I've had probably since I was a child. I'm still feeling lousy, but much better than I did yesterday.

Monday and Tuesday I posted revisions of the two magazine covers I did. They actually had me do one more revision of one of them on Tuesday, which ended up like this:


They did a silly little video, which shows my cover illustration very briefly at the beginning, then more completely towards the end. Here's that silly video:

(That video comes from: http://www.ocala.com/section/entertainment)

In addition, I did this little banner as well (I drew the gavel in Illustrator and put it all together in Photoshop), which can be seen at http://www.ocala.com/section/news:


Some Christians, afraid of creating graven images, have steered clear of artistic creativity. However, the Bible offers a robust affirmation of the arts. In fact, the Old Testament even lists certain individuals to whom God gave specific artistic talents in order to build the tabernacle. The human impulse to create reflects our being created in the image of a Creator God.

Because human beings are made in the image of God, we not only love and feel emotion, but we also have the capacity to create. People all over the world, in every culture, produce art. Creativity is intrinsic to our humanness. (Note that, though the Old Testament forbids the making of "graven images" to use for idolatry, it does give instruction for the use of art and craftsmanship toward the true worship of God; i.e., Exodus 20:4; Exodus 25:18; 2 Chronicles 3:6,7; etc).


"The nature of art

There are, I believe, three basic possibilities concerning the nature of a work of art. The first view is the relatively modern view of art for art's sake. This is the notion that art is just there and that's all there is to it. You can't talk about a message in it, you can't analyze it, it doesn't say anything. This view is, I think, quite misguided. For one thing, no great artist functions on the level of art for art's sake alone. Think for example of the high Renaissance, beginning with Cimabue (c.1240-1302) and leading up to Michelangelo (1475-1564) and Leonardo (1452-1519). All these artists worked from one of two viewpoints, and sometimes there was a confusion between the two. They worked either from their notion of Christianity or from a Renaissance form of humanism. Florence, for example, where so many excellent works of art were produced was a centre for the study of Neoplatonism. Some of the artists studied under Ficino (1433-99), perhaps the greatest of neoplatonists and influential throughout Europe. These artists showed their point of view in their art.

The second view is that art is only an embodiment of a message, a vehicle for the propagation of a particular message about the world or the artist or human beings or whatever. This view has been held by both Christians as well as non-Christians, the difference between the two versions being the nature of the message which the art embodies. But this view reduces the art to merely an intellectual statement and the work of art as a work of art disappears.

The third basic notion of the nature of art - the one I think is right, the one that produces great art and the possibility of great art - is that the artists make a work of art, and that then the body of his work reflects his world view. No one, for example, who understands Michelangelo or Leonardo can look at their work without understanding something of their respective worldviews. Nonetheless, these artists began by making works of art, and then their worldviews showed through the body of their work.

I emphasize the body of an artist's work because it is impossible for any single painting, for example, to reflect the totality of an artist's view of reality. But when we see a collection of an artist's paintings or a series of a poet's poems or a number of a novelist's novels, both the outline and some of the details of the artist's conception of life shine through."
http://www.homeschool.co.uk/resource/art-and-the-bible.html

Interview with a tattoo artist

I don't like tattoos. Though I am a Graphic Artist, I personally think tattoos mar the beauty of the human body. However, both my nephews have tattoos (plus, my niece has her tongue pierced and her lower lip pierced), and a friend of mine, who is a strong Christian, has both arms covered in tattoos (though he got them before he was saved, and he regrets the tattoos now).

Leviticus 19:28 even says, "Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord." However, this was a command from God, specifically to the Israelites, after they had left Egypt as former slaves. They were going to the Promised Land, which was Canaan. Canaan was currently occupied by pagans who practiced child sacrifices and other horrendous acts. God did not want His followers---His people---to disfigure their bodies after the manner of the pagans. Lacerations and disfigurement were common among pagans as signs of mourning, and to secure the attention of their deity. God wanted His people to be separate from these pagans.

Not only that, but the verse before (verse 27) says, "Do not cut the hair at the sides of your head or clip off the edges of your beard." This is a prohibition still followed by orthodox Jews today. Yet, this verse demonstrates that these commands were for a specific people. I don't know of any Christians who believe that if you cut your hair, you are sinning. In fact, when I was attending Bob Jones University, they had a rule that your hair could not touch your collar or your ears, and your bangs had to be at least an inch above your eyebrows. I was told that someone actually used the verse mentioned above (or possibly a similar verse) to try to keep from getting a haircut! However, I think they still made him get his hair cut.

Many Christians today would consider a tattoo parlor an ungodly place. Yet here is a guy who apparently uses the art of tattooing for the glory of God:

Using martial arts weapons to paint with

"The lordship of Christ should include an interest in the arts. A Christian should use these arts to the glory of God, not just as tracts, mind you, but as things of beauty to the praise of God."
(Francis Schaeffer, "Art and the Bible")

Philippine-born Rick Alonzo paints with martial art weapons:

Christianity, the Arts and the Martial Arts

Man was created in the image of God. God is the original Creator of all things. God also loves beauty (as evidenced in His Creation). Man, too, was given the ability to create. Man was created to glorify God and serve Him. However, some churches seem to think that Art and Drama are not legitimate for a Christian to partake in, unless they have an obvious 'religious' connotation to them. For example, drawing pictures is OK only if it is used to create something like a gospel tract; or, Drama is OK only if it is used to accurately depict something from the Bible. And I would agree that both Art and Drama have been used, at times, to depict things that are ungodly, or even perverted; or even have gone so far as to explicitly mock Jesus. Yet, I think most of the time, Art has been used simply to depict people, or things in nature; and Drama has been used largely to depict interaction between people, whether it be something historical, or something fictional.

Therefore, for a Christian (or a church) to say that Art or Drama for their own sake are not legitimate or appropriate for a Christian, unless they are 'spiritualized' by having direct 'religious' connotations, is to deny the fact that different people are given different talents by God, and that people create things because they were made in the image of a God Who created the heavens and the earth. And for a church to imply that a person's gifts or talents are not legitimate or appropriate unless those gifts or talents are used within a church service, or to promote the church, or to help with the building and upkeep of the church, is to have a far-too-narrow view of people's God-given gifts and talents.

For example, some Christians might not think too highly of my using Photoshop to create something such as this:

Original photo of me in 7th Grade:

The same photo after doing some things to it in Adobe Photoshop CS2:

In addition, some Christians think that the martial arts are evil and inappropriate for a Christian---either because they promote violence, or because they are rooted in Eastern Religions. When I first asked Jesus to come into my 'heart' and take over my life at 19 years of age, I immediately gave up weight-training and karate. Why? Because they were the 'gods' in my life. In other words, they held the priorities in my life. Years later, the Lord allowed me to get back into weight-training and martial arts---just without having them as priorities in my life. He doesn't want to take away our fun and enjoyment; He simply wants us to put Him first.

I find it interesting and ironic that some of those Christians that are so opposed to martial arts are strong advocates of owning a gun; while I, on the other hand, would not want to own a gun, because I hate guns, and I hate the thought of shooting a human being with a gun.