Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Getting Back to Nature and the Nature of the Beast
Things have been going well here lately, my latest art project has been a personal one. I am installing a backyard pond in my yard. What does that have to do with art ministry. Well I'll tell you. It is ministering to me. As I do all the work that it takes to make these plants and animals (well, okay, fish) a few things happen. First of all I work hard and sweat a lot which is good for my health. Second I get the chance to be upclose and personal with God's creations and marvel at the complexity of even his most overlooked creations and third, I see the amount of work that it takes to maintain just a small corner of God's earth. We look at all these things and take them for granted, but I have to tell you, doing this work has given me a new appreciation for my creator. Painting with God's "paints" is creating a masterpiece in my soul. Don't forget folks, ministry is a lot more than external, we also have to take time to work on the internal.
Speaking of external ministry, a lot of the folks in my church are under attack right now. Physical ailments and external pressures are really taking their toll on some of my folks. It has inspired a series of sermons called Preparing for battle. We've looked at Job and the enemy's attacks against him, we have looked at young Joshua in a battle with the Amalekites that depended on 80+ year old Moses' ability to hold his staff in the air and it led me to a point of demonstrating that everyone is needed in the battle. We need physical warriors (like Joshua) who have the strength and the stamina to do the physical work involved. We need the spiritual warriors (Moses) to keep lifting our cause to the Lord, and we need the rest of us no matter how weak, no matter how inept, to support the effort and keep Moses arms in the air. The painting I have done for this series has a mighy and armed warrior, lifting his sword high above his head. Behind him is a giant hand. This is to remind my congregation along with all of you, that no matter how tough the battle gets, the battle is the Lord's the way to victory is to lift our cause to the Lord and let Him fight on our behalf. He has already won.
Things have been going well here lately, my latest art project has been a personal one. I am installing a backyard pond in my yard. What does that have to do with art ministry. Well I'll tell you. It is ministering to me. As I do all the work that it takes to make these plants and animals (well, okay, fish) a few things happen. First of all I work hard and sweat a lot which is good for my health. Second I get the chance to be upclose and personal with God's creations and marvel at the complexity of even his most overlooked creations and third, I see the amount of work that it takes to maintain just a small corner of God's earth. We look at all these things and take them for granted, but I have to tell you, doing this work has given me a new appreciation for my creator. Painting with God's "paints" is creating a masterpiece in my soul. Don't forget folks, ministry is a lot more than external, we also have to take time to work on the internal.
Speaking of external ministry, a lot of the folks in my church are under attack right now. Physical ailments and external pressures are really taking their toll on some of my folks. It has inspired a series of sermons called Preparing for battle. We've looked at Job and the enemy's attacks against him, we have looked at young Joshua in a battle with the Amalekites that depended on 80+ year old Moses' ability to hold his staff in the air and it led me to a point of demonstrating that everyone is needed in the battle. We need physical warriors (like Joshua) who have the strength and the stamina to do the physical work involved. We need the spiritual warriors (Moses) to keep lifting our cause to the Lord, and we need the rest of us no matter how weak, no matter how inept, to support the effort and keep Moses arms in the air. The painting I have done for this series has a mighy and armed warrior, lifting his sword high above his head. Behind him is a giant hand. This is to remind my congregation along with all of you, that no matter how tough the battle gets, the battle is the Lord's the way to victory is to lift our cause to the Lord and let Him fight on our behalf. He has already won.
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