Artistic Theology

                                        The Bible story of David and Goliath is famous for the extraordinary courage and faith of a shepherd boy who defeated the most powerful warrior on earth. Many archeological sites and discoveries have been unearthed since the Tel Dan Stele (1993)  that provide evidences consistent with the Biblical history surrounding this account. From the "house of David" inscription recorded by Israel's enemies to giant-sized city structures, weapons and tools fit for extraordinarily large humans, these discoveries support the accuracy and truth of the Bible.   There are many lessons one can learn from the narrative of David and Goliath. Many people draw parallels with bravery, faith and the belief that God can use seemingly insignificant people to accomplish the impossible. I chose to focus on something a little different when preparing a VBS lesso...

The Church of Philadelphia Before we look at the letter to the Church of Philadelphia, we should recall that the last four letters are different than the first three. They have a different configuration in that the promise to the Overcomer is moved into the body of the letter, and they all contain a clearly expressed reference to the second coming of Jesus Christ, whereas the first three do not.   The name Philadelphia means "brotherly love", signifying the love that believers are to have for one another. Like the Church of Smyrna, Philadelphia was not criticized or condemned, but only given encouragement and promises. Jesus presents himself to this church as holy, true and having the Key of David, with all the authority that entails. He tells them "thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name." (Rev 3:8) This echos Jesus words while he was on earth "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also befor...

                                  The Church of Pergamos      The name Pergamos comes from the suffix "per" which means improper or undesirable and "gamos" which means to marry or marrying.  So, Pergamos literally had a name that meant "undesirable marriage," which is a fitting description of this church; since it was characterized by being married to the world.       We are told in scripture "to be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Peter 5:8) It comes as no surprise that when the church could not be stamped out from without by means of persecution and execution, Satan turned to the tactic of conquering from within.      The church of Pergamos was commended for holding fast to the faith and the name of Christ even though they were located in an area renowned for pa...

                    In the beginning of the book of Revelation, Jesus gives John seven letters to send to seven churches existing at that time in Asia Minor, which is present day Turkey.  These letters contained words of encouragement, warning and promises that held meaning for not only for these specific churches, but also for the church and individual believer throughout the ages.     Many scholars believe t here are several levels of meaning contained within these letters. First, there is the local level, as these were written to literal churches in Asia Minor. Second, there is an admonitory level - as Jesus words of  admonishment, warning and encouragement are edifying to the church throughout the ages. The third is a personal level, as the words within each letter - "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches" - are directions for the individual. You and I can choose to "hear"...

                                          The book of Revelation is a powerful, divine disclosure from God, written specifically for believers, that unfolds the history and future of the church and reveals the culmination of end-time prophesies about world events. The word Revelation comes from the Greek word "apocalypse" - which is singular - meaning the unveiling of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes you may hear people incorrectly refer to the book of Revelations - but it is only one Revelation - the whole book being about the unveiling of Jesus Christ.  At the beginning of the book, John is recorded as the man to whom God gave the task of writing down the heavenly visions and words he saw and heard.  Some scholars believe this John, who describes himself as an exile on the Isle of Patmos for his Christian testimony, wrote this around AD 95. Below are the opening verses of t...

                                 This circular oil painting, The Bride of Christ , is the center piece in a larger work about the persecuted church.  This work is still in process, as it is a mixed media piece comprised of many different parts.  Within the Bible, the church is referred to as the Bride of Christ through imagery and symbolism. In this scene, the church is pictured as a bride, traversing through this fallen world - a world that contains evil and pain.  Whether the light-filled staircase represents those who die in Christ or those who will be part of the rapture, God's promise to those who put their trust in Christ cannot be missed.  Revelation 19:7-9 "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine...

                                    Creation of Adam and Eve is a mixed media piece I created from the inspiration of Genesis 1-2.  The highlighted verse in this piece is Genesis 1:26:  "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."  The words a bove Adam and Eve read " Imago Dei" - the Latin translation of "image of God." Imago Dei embodies the theological truth that humans are set apart from the rest of creation in that they alone are uniquely created to bear the image of God. Scholars throughout the ages have studied the various, distinct ways in which humans reflect God's image and have found evidence of relational, functional and substantive traits. There are several parts of the Genesis account present in this piece; God forming man from dust and breathing into him the breath of life, the creation of Eve out of Adam...

        Jesus said " Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven." (1)       When I painted  Beloved,  I wanted to focus on God's love for the children who are trapped in human trafficking.  The verse within this painting is taken from Matthew, chapter 18, which opens with Jesus' disciples approaching him to ask who would be the greatest in heaven.  In answer to this question, Jesus called a little child over and sat him in the midst of them. He then went on to tell them that except they "be converted and become as little children" they would "not enter into the kingdom of heaven." (2)  As Jesus explained the child-like faith and humility required to enter the kingdom of God, he referred to those believers who come to him as "little ones."            Although s ch...

            "IMAGO DEI" is Latin for the "image of God."   This term materializes in my mind whenever I think of the beginning of a human life.  It comes from Genesis 1:27, where it says  "So God created man in his own image..."           In recent years, the exponentially increased scientific ability to look inside the womb and qualify what an unborn human is has rocked the world.  Studies show that the unborn has a unique, human, genetic signature,  DNA distinct from her biological parents, and is an organism whose parts work together for the good of the whole (rather than mere tissue), among a myriad of other new information about amazing things such as facial recognition, sleep patterns and senses.             The verses that comprise the art piece above were written thousands of years ago, yet they are living words - words that describe what contemporary scie...

        When you look closely at the face of a flower, the evidence of design is not only apparent, but outright stunning. From its beautifully intricate structure and radiant color to its perfect internal synchrony with time, light, heat and season, evidence of a divine creator is observable. The order, the mathematical sequence, the exquisite beauty in complex detail - these elements articulate a truth beyond aesthetics.            I find it so interesting that Jesus described flowers as clothing for the grass of the fields and declared that just one wildflower is more glorious clothing than that of King Solomon.  "Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." Luke 12:27 Why did Jesus tell us this?  He explains in vs 28,  "If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and to morrow...

 A few days ago, on January 11th, we recognized National Human Trafficking Awareness day.  This mixed media sculpture is one I created for a Destiny Rescue charity event a few years ago. Destiny Rescue is an organization that works to rescue children out of sexual slavery around the world and also provides aftercare and vocational programs. I was challenged to create a sculpture that would represent the 1,000 rescues Destiny Rescue had accomplished so far that year, but at the time of the event, the total rescues were over 1100.  I chose to represent the rescues through 1,000 butterflies that had escaped a rusty cage. The cage contained the problems keeping children enslaved, symbolized by greed (a gold snake with world money scales and symbols) and lust (venus fly traps with eyes).  The butterfly trapped in the web symbolizes the thousands still left to rescue. Click the link below to learn more. https://www.destinyrescue.org/us/  

       This was my view this morning when I realized I had not stopped and climbed out of "the hamster wheel of life" in a very long time. It is day 4 of my covid isolation, and this time around is a breeze, so I was in my sunny studio, reading and working on a few art pieces.  I wanted to read my Bible, but was feeling too tired to climb the stairs again to get it, so I opened the beautifully illustrated St. John's Gospels I keep in the studio and began reading.  After several pages, I stopped reading and just sat there.  It had been a while since I just sat still.   I felt so aware, so deeply quiet in my spirit and excessively thankful for the beautiful sunshine falling across my face. Both yesterday and today, I gave myself some time to just sit without an agenda, without a to-do list or task; and this morning, it hit me that I have not allowed myself to truly come to a stop mentally in far too long.       I'm a thinke...