Art is impossible during the holidays...

From Thanksgiving, through Christmas, and the New Year ... very little art is possible in my life. It is just a fact during this six week period.

One thing I never neglect, however, is my connection to the Lord especially throughout these days of celebration, thankfulness and expressions of genuine love.

Therefore, until I get back to serious focus on art, I'll share my meditative thoughts here on the blog.

My meditative thoughts today.....

There is a Psalms that describes the process and results of the New Birth, Born Experience. I'd not seen this until just now. This is so awesome...think on this: Psalm 51

Process of New Birth

The Recognition

¹ HAVE MERCY upon me, O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness blot out my transgressions. ² Wash me thoroughly [and repeatedly] from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make me wholly pure from my sin! ³ For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me.

The Confessions

⁴ Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment. ⁵ Behold, I was brought forth in [a state of] iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. ⁶ Behold, You desire truth in the inner being; make me therefore to know wisdom in my inmost heart.

The Plea to be Released from Guilt

⁷ Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean [ceremonially]; wash me, and I shall [in reality] be whiter than snow. ⁸ Make me to hear joy and gladness and be satisfied; let the bones which You have broken rejoice. ⁹ Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my guilt and iniquities.

A New Heart and A New Birth of Spirit

¹⁰ Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. ¹¹Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. ¹² Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit.

The Witness.

Proclamations Before all Human Kind

the Good News of Restoration & Revelation of Divine Wisdom.

¹³ Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted and return to You.

^{Deliverance Unto Eternal Life}

¹⁴ Deliver me from blood-guiltiness and death, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness (Your rightness and Your justice).

^{Praise & Adoration Breaks Forth}

¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.

Upon the day of Thanksgiving...

Thanksgiving blessings...

Truly if we have thankfulness and gratitude in our hearts that in itself brings blessings upon us.

Ungratefulness is a germ that infects the heart of some and harms relationships. With that in mind, I express my thankful for my friends who love me unconditionally and bless me with their thoughtfulness. I'm thankful for my family who support me and trust my judgment in family matters who are quick to forgive my blunders. I'm so thankful for my son and daughter and their spouses who make me so proud to be their parents. I'm thankful for a loving faithful husband that I can count on without question and trust completely. I'm so thankful for this country that gives me the freedom to express my ideas and opinions freely and gives me freedom from an oppressive government and the power represented in my single vote.

Finally, I'm thankful to our LORD for bestowing His merciful grace upon me, a sinner saved by Grace, which is a gift of undeserved and unmerited favor before Him, and for His written Words that anchor my soul through faith in His promises to his children. Promises that are for those who love Him and His Word. Thank you Lord for what you have done and what you are going to do in the future. -- In Jesus' Precious Name I Pray -- Amen

Some won't understand...others will.

For many years, I have had this burning desire to teach the Word and teach what I've been privileged to learn. Yet I've been hindered and often frustrated. What I have learned over my life time from my beloved Mother who is residing in the heavlies as we speak is this that God controls my circumstances and directs my lives. She admonished me so often when I became discouraged when nothing happened, "In His timing, He will bring it about." After 30 years of waiting ... He has finally brought it about ... it has happened and it was not by my doing at all.

On December the 1st ... a group of people most I do not even know will knock on my door to enter in with me into fellowship and teaching will begin. I stand amazed ... it amazes me every time this happens for this is when the invisible God becomes visible and very real. Why must it be like this and not my doing? So that I can KNOW that it is His will and He will therefore, enable me to accomplish whatever He desires.

Lord, take my weakness and make me strong. Lead me and I will follow. Thank you for what you are going to do through my teaching and fellowship with whomever you bring to my door. I stand amazed and completely humbled to my knees in thankfulness. At last. Mom, as usual, you were exactly right and I have the full assurance of my faith.

My prayer today...

It is interesting how negative people and negative critical words affect one's soul and the works of our hand. It is so easy to be sabotaged by these people. Everyday I thank the LORD that He is in control of my life and my destiny and when I remind myself of that and humble myself to His will, how truly joyful and happy I become. Therefore, I resist the critical garbage coming my way and turn to prayer for encouragement.

Father, Blow upon the embers of my heart and flame up the faith that is in me this day. Give me strength and wisdom and a forgiving attitude. Help me to be Christ-like in all I do, especially in the works of my hand. Muzzle my mouth to speak only your words. I pray for those who attack me and ask your mercy be upon them for they truly do not know what they do. If it be possible, reveal yourself to them in a profound way that will transform their thinking. Thank you LORD for this season of beauty and reflection upon your goodness toward us for it is your goodness towards mankind ...that leads us to repentance. Thank you for revealing your truth to those who have been given ears to hear and eyes to see. With thanksgiving I pray .... In Jesus Name, Amen.

Promises

Psalms 92:12 "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing; To shew that the LORD [is] upright: [he is] my rock, and [there is] no unrighteousness in him."

I was at church this morning worshiping. My custom is to turn to the Psalms and read as I worship and especially during the praise singing. I opened the book randomly and this was what I read. I've been feeling my age and thinking that I have started a serious study of fine art too late in my life. I wanted to teach the Word but have been prevented. The Holy Spirit quickened my spirit and I knew the Lord was speaking to me directly from His word ... and giving me a promise for my old age. I will be fruitful. Thank you Father ... you always give me just what I need in encouragement and your promises are true.

Edit: When one walks with the Lord on a daily basis, that one's priorities are kept in their place and when the spirit is fed spiritual growth comes. I desire to be spiritually fat. I know that my relationship with the Lord directly affects all the works of my hands and everything that I do in life ... attitudes and ambitions. I desire to flourish growing a very fat soul and I shall flourish no matter what my circumstances------- ;-]

Impossible to explain...the anchor holds firm.

anchor_wikipedia_image (one side of the anchor is the Promises of God to man and the other is God's Oath to man...in other words his covenant. This is what we "hope" in and put our trust in the fact that God cannot lie. This is why the Word of God is so essential to the believer and where we find strength for the storms of life.)

How truly blessed I am Lord; how satisfied and how comforted am I. What joy there is in my heart and peace . . . impossible to explain. Knowing you, Father, is an anchor to my soul in the midst of life's great storms.

Hebrews 6:¹⁷ Accordingly God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath. ¹⁸ This was so that, by two unchangeable things [His promise and His oath] in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled [to Him] for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before [us]. ¹⁹ [Now] we have this [hope] as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul [it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it -- a hope ] that reaches farther and enters into [the very certainty of the Presence] within the veil [i.e. literally reaching into the Holy of Holy's in Heaven], ²⁰ Where Jesus has entered in for us [in advance], a Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the order (with the rank) of Melchizedek [i.e. Melchizedek ... meaning an eternal High Priesthood never ending for all Eternity].

Awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something Truly Great Happened...

Frankly, I can't even believe it. I EXPERIENCED something at class last night that I can not even explain. We were doing an exercise where a piece of paper is put over our drawing/hand so that we draw blind. As I was drawing something happened in my brain...I FELT where to draw. OH MY!!!!

I received this email forward entitled Two Wolves... so the picture and cut line below are not mine and I'd give credit if I could.

I was immediately struck at how this illustrates a passage in scripture wonderfully.

TWO WOLVES

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson
about a battle that goes on inside people.
He said, "My son, the battle is between
two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment,
inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love,
hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence,
empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then
asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed."

Now CLICK HERE....and read this passage of scripture from the Amplified Versions

Zero in on this and ponder it.

Christ's Spirit taking up residence IN YOU. This is what is meant by being born again. So the two wolves are the flesh and the spirit. Which is in control of your body? Which one do you feed?

(There is much to say about this and if any of you do not understand this very basic concept of the Gospel, I would be happy to share more privately. The truth will set you free and when you are free, you are free indeed. If you are a prisoner of your flesh and this control has literally killed you, if you feel dead inside and do not want to live, you can be set free and come alive. When a man or woman finds spiritual understanding, and what is the purpose of living, though he were dead he shall surly live. Jesus said, "You must lose your life, to find it." I encourage you to feed your spirit; "if you seek me you shall surly fine Me" . . . and Jesus cannot lie.)

Establish the work of our hands...

"The days of our years are threescore years and ten (seventy years)--or even, if by reason of strength, fourscore years (eighty years); yet is their pride [in additional years] only labor and sorrow, for it is soon gone, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? [Who worthily connects this brevity of life with Your recognition of sin?] And Your wrath, who connects it with the reverent and worshipful fear that is due You? So teach us to number our days, that we may get us a heart of wisdom. Turn, O Lord [from Your fierce anger]! How long--? Revoke Your sentence and be compassionate and at ease toward Your servants. O satisfy us with Your mercy and loving-kindness in the morning [now, before we are older], that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad in proportion to the days in which You have afflicted us and to the years in which we have suffered evil. Let Your work [the signs of Your power] be revealed to Your servants, and Your [glorious] majesty to their children. And let the beauty and delightfulness and favor of the Lord our God be upon us; confirm and establish the work of our hands--yes, the work of our hands, confirm and establish it." -- Psalms 90

I hear you LORD. Thank you for your Word and the Holy Spirit to quicken me. I will go to figure drawing tomorrow night and grief will not defeat me. I will count the number of my days as precious; grief will consume them. Therefore, I will trust in you, Oh LORD, dry my tears and move forward. Grief will not defeat your purposes for my life . . . for in my weakness You are made strong. Thankfully Lord, unlike David, I am under Grace and not under Law in this age ... and all of my sins are forgiven and covered and favor resides upon my head because I belong to you.

"Sing to the Lord, O you saints of His, and give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, but His favor is for a lifetime or in His favor is life. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." Psalm 30:3, 4
-- Amplified Version

Heartache . . .

The depth of my soul is full of anguish and my body physically hurts. Heartache is physical pain . . . I had not known that and this is a new scary experience. I am dry, yet I am full of inner weeping. All desire to create art has vanished along with all ambition and motivation. Will it ever return? Will I ever feel normal?

As I worship alone today at Crossings, grasping my mother's worn Bible in my arms to my breast not knowing where it had opened . . . (I usually turn to the Psalms for comfort and guidance during praise time) . . . I am feeling overwhelmed with God's presence. I pull my arms down and my eyes fall upon the page to a one single verse "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." God promises are faithful and true. Thank you Lord. Amen

Absent from the Body...

Obituary:
http://www.news-star.com/obituaries/x1777821685/Edith-Juanita-Carruth

Edith Carruth, my mom, entered into the presence of her Lord and her Savior this afternoon at about 4:15. In death, she finished her race the same way that she lived her life: with great courage and steady faithfulness. She told me just Tuesday ... "I can hardly wait to see the Lord. I am ready ... I'm okay with this ... the Lord is in control (meaning ... in control of my living and my dying)."

This is the full assurance of faith that the scriptures speaks of that Christians gain when they have a relationship with the living God.

We her family rejoice in this day for we agree with David when he stated ..."Precious in the sight of the LORD [is] the death of his saints. O LORD, truly I [am] thy servant; (David proclaimed) I [am] thy servant ... thou hast loosed my bonds. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of the LORD. " (Psalms 116:15, 16).

As I am rejoicing and celebrating mother's life, of course I bear a great personal loss and sorrow of separation. The grief I feel is very different ... a deep loss ... yet knowing confidently ... that we cannot grieve as others grieve who have no hope. We shall be reunited one day soon. Therefore, my great loss is her greater gain and that comforts me now.

Mom became ill Saturday morning and was rushed to Presbyterian OU Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital in OKC. After scans and tests, lymphoma was found and the tumors were restricting the flow of brain fluid causing her symptoms. We were encouraged that they were treatable even at her age without much discomfort. So I held out a bit of hope for recovery, yet looking back, I think mom knew and didn't want to dash the bit of hope I hung on to. She was improving until Tuesday afternoon when she suddenly had a turn for the worse and was taken to ICU. A few hours later she suffered a brain hemorrhage which is a bleeding stroke leaving her left side paralyzed. She never regained consciousness. On the third day...today, she peacefully slipped into the arms of her savior. It was apparent to me, she was at peace even to the end.

Mom has had a love affair with her Lord and Savior since her twenties ... and she has borne great tragedy and grief just as she has experienced the ecstatic joy of a relationship with the living Lord ... Her love affair with the Word of God has also saturated her life and teaching. She is an anointed teacher and I have stood in amazement all of my life at the depth of her understanding as has other learned theologians.

Mom has continuously taught the Bible since she was in her twenties. She gave her heart to the Lord and a few months later, her son was struck and killed while crossing a highway that ran in front of their home. How could the Lord allow such a tragedy but it was that experience that drove this young woman into the Bible ... to find answers no preacher could give and so, a passion for the word of God began and grew and God healed her broken heart. Since that time she has devoted her life to the study of scripture and taught Bible classes.

At 91 years of age, she was teaching two adult classes right up to last week before falling ill. Teaching one class a week is one thing but she taught two different lessons weekly .... studying intensely for hours and hours each week. I've seen her study all day many times. My favorite story she tells on me was when I was a toddler. So accustomed to seeing my mother study, every time she would take a break from chores, I would go and get her bible and put it on her lap. I loved that I did that but it says how hard she studied.

She taught Bible ... always teaching verse by verse ... New Testament passage compared to Old Testament passages ... always harmonizing the Word. She taught in such away that the scriptures interpreted themselves and made perfect sense. She knew how to "rightly divide the truth."

That is a super natural calling and a devotion ... a motivation only the Lord can give ... a genuine call to ministry. She never tired of, or burned out of her ministry. She never asked anyone for anything monetarily for her ministry was truly non-profit in that sense. Yet, God richly blessed beyond measure overflowing exceedingly. Mom provided the refreshments for her class at her expense (a few volunteered occasionally); and notes were freely given. She was happy to do it. All she ever asked is that her students bring a pencil, note paper, and a Bible.

I have never sat under such teaching from any one else ... ever ... not even from learned preachers with doctorates. She was truly anointed and a chosen teacher of the Word of God ... and I feel humbled to have been her child. In our home town, I am happy to be known as Edith's daughter.

"Who can find a worthy woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. ... She opens her mouth with wisdom. Faithful instruction is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, And doesn't eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also praises her: Many women do noble things, But you excel them all. Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain; But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands! Let her works praise her in the gates!" --- Proverbs 31

How sorely I will miss your guidance, Mother. How I will lack understanding because I cannot longer hear your prayers. Whose hugs will give such comfort as yours gave? Yet your love continues to abide in me as a blanket upon my shoulders .... and "I rise up and call you blessed" today for all the days of my life you have walked consistently with God. How I yearn to again join you in worship and praise.

Already, I'm receiving calls and cards from people who have been touched significantly by your ministry. (I thought I knew everything.) It is your the young women who tends your beautiful rose garden and who clears the snow from your driveway .... who tells me how much you have helped her and how your wise guidance brought meaningful changes in her life. I see the tears streaming down her face and the love in your eyes for my mother and I am stunned.

If Mom were here reading over my shoulder, she would say .... "no no no, Patti, don't write that" ....and quickly draw attention away from her and insist ... "whatever crown that the Lord may give me, I give it back to Him for it is he who has done it through me. I was only a willing vessel." How many times she said, "don't make my funeral about me." Yet, Mom it is about you and what the Lord has done through you.

Thank you Mother for teaching me to love God's word and to apply it to my life. For opening the mysteries of God's Word to my understanding. For opening my eyes and ears that I might see and hear the truth which is the way that leads to life everlasting. Thank you for living before me a standard that I could never meet. Thank you for your consistency and steady walk.

Good bye my sweet Mother for now ... I will be there with you soon.

Growing again hinds' feet . . .

CORRECTED RE-WRITE OF THIS POST…

(I mistakenly thought David on Cennini Forum and then Jon who has posted on my blog for suggesting this book when all the time it was actually Eugene who suggested it. After reading my blog, there were so many mistakes I decided to re-write it completely.)

RE: Hinds' Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard

This is to EUGENE .... thank you for the suggestion to read this book!!!

After blogging about my fears in the previous post, Eugene suggested I read this Christian classic; an allegory about a very fearful girl and how the Shepherd from the High Places of the mountain (the Lord) helped her gain new feet (she was crippled) like those of a hind (female deer). As you know the hind is able to leap and bound across the roughest terrain … and in this case the rough terrain is the difficulties found in this life ... leaping above difficult circumstances.

What is written in this book is what I have experience throughout my life for I have met many difficulties and disappointments. At 66 years of age, I have been trotting on my own "hinds' feet” … romping with the LORD on the mountain tops through many a difficult circumstances for many years. That is why, when a Christian grows hinds' feet it is possible to declare, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you meet various trials, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. " (James 1:2).

Yet those who’ve grown “hinds’ feet” are not exempt from self-deception from time to time. Seeking the Lord is what I practice on any everything that troubles me for I've learned that answers will come eventually. I had been seeking an answer to why I was so un-productive as an artist. I thought it might just be mere laziness, or that there was a lack of skill. I did not see fear. This self deception had resulted in an artistic block. How wonderful to have been nudged by the Lord to get this book. Meanwhile, in desperation, I poured out my plight in a private message to the moderator, Rob Howard on the Cennini Forum. He stunned me when he suggested that my problem was fear. He said, "You must overcome your fears" and he gave me some advice for doing that.

Then that little book came and along with it a conformation from the Lord. None of this is happening by accident. The Lord is orchestrating an answer and a solution. This is His way. I am gaining some strategies as how to battle what I recognize is my crippling fears. Fear is the opposite of faith.

For such a long time I had been blocked and I literally could not finish much art. I was overly critical of myself and set unrealistic standards. A fear of failing worked on my pride. I hurled brutal self-criticism upon my work. Nothing I did was good enough. A fear welled deep inside questioning, “Will my work ever be of any value? Will I ever be nothing more than an amateur? Will I fail?” Clearly, now I see that I was lusting after worldly success forgetting that it is the LORD God who gave all the talent I will ever possess at birth. How can I add an inch to my height; why am I worrying about talent or skill? It is not God that causes us to prosper (Det. 8) on this planet? All we are to do is be faithful .... not successful ....to do the best we can and to take advantage of every opportunity. Finally, I am free. What a heavy burden has been lifted off my shoulders.

Oh how long, LORD will I struggle and lust after the success of this world and the approval of mankind?

Scripture says, that if we will judge ourselves then we can avoid the disciplines from our Father in heaven. Those disciplines allow our problems to fester (Romans 4:2 - the Goodness of God leads man to repent ... waiting patiently and mercifully for the festering process to mature). When pain cannot be borne a minute longer, it must be lanced in order that the pussy sore can be drained completely and the wound healed. Our scares should remind us to deal with problems quickly to avoid such pain in the future ... but as with my case, deception clouds the truth.

As I'd stated before, just because one has been given "hinds'" feet (the hoofs of a deer) doesn't mean that one will never struggle again with the flesh. This is what scripture calls ... spiritual strongholds. My artistic block was the result of self-deception from false pride ... and repentance sets us free. Repentance simply means “to have a change in thinking, to agree with God and turn from that attitude.”

Proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: ..."

The deception: I didn't want to examine my pride issue and selfish ambition for the things of this world. I still struggle with wanting man's acceptance but at last I have insight now. The opposite of pride is humility...genuine humility. What does God allow, my flesh to be humbled ... to bring me into submission ... I'm so okay with that and the pain is going away.

Consider this, if there is a blessing for being an obedient child to our earthly parents might there is scripturally speaking .... (Proverbs says to honor your mother and father "that things will go well with thee and your life will be long upon the earth) .... how much more then .... will things go well for us on this planet when we agree with our Heavenly Father and do things His way!!!!

The Proverbs speaks wisdom: "My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: For they [shall be] an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck." and ...."My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction: For whom the LORD loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son [in whom] he delighteth."

Thank you Eugene . . . you certainly were an instrument of God's will for me ... the Lord richly bless you and reward you my friend.

---Patti

Confessions of a fearful artist...

I've just discovered that I have an enemy; his name is Fear. What does fear do to an artist? In my own world, one product fear produces is a negative attitude and that is a prescription for a very big artistic block.

In my own meditation searching for a way to conquer this fear in me I had to look honestly at my ego and pride. I have such a great fear of failing; a fear that someone more knowledgeable more professional will pronounce my work as the worst sort of amateurish work. All that is ... is fear of embarrassment rising from false pride. So I am confessing.

Repentance from false pride....
Proverbs 8:13 "The fear of the LORD [is] to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."

Lord, forgive me and deliver me from false pride and arrogancy and the love of this world and all the false success of it. Remind me daily that all that is good in me is from you. Amen

Searching scripture this morning I came across these passages where the Lord admonished his children to not fear. There are two types of fear in scripture: one good one bad. Good fear is the awesome respect for the Power and Awesomeness of our Creator i.e. the fear of God is good for man. Bad fear is the opposite of faith.

These are the admonitions of the Lord:
• To Abraham God said..... Fear not, Abram: I [am] thy shield, [and] thy exceeding great reward.... also...fear not, for I [am] with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

• To Simeon ... Peace [be] to you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks:

• To Moses ... And the LORD, he [it is] that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.

• To Isaiah ...For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.

• To Israel ... Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called [thee] by thy name; thou [art] mine.

• To Jacob ... Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not...

• Jesus said to believers ...But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

• This is the confidence we can have through faith ...In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.

Since coming to understand my enemy, the negativity has gone for when an axe is put to the root of the problem, negativity is turned to positive attitudes full of faith that I am not my own; that the Lord has a purpose for my life and it is He that is directing it. What ever ability I have was given me upon my birth and may I diligently pursue to ever be mindful that I am learning, developing and discovering these abilities. I will have failure but it is in failure that often the greatest lessons are learned; that false pride will plant fear and we are debilitated. Fear is torment.

If I succeed in anything in this life, let it be to the praise of the Lord for this is what I believe:

Ephesians 2:6
"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised [us] up together, and made [us] sit together in heavenly [places] in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in [his] kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."

I have been saved, I am being saved daily, and I shall be saved at the end of this life; this is the walk of faith of every believer. All of the works of our hands are directed by the Lord...therefore, fear not.

Why...In God We Trust does not discriminate against atheists.

The following is a post I made recently on face book regarding why the phrase: "One Nation Under God" and "In God We Trust" and my premise was that these statements do not infringe on the rights of any human being regardless of religious theological view, or philosophical view, nor does it infringe on atheists who say they do not hold any belief in a higher power. The matter under discussion, revolves around the concept of what do you put your faith in versus a belief system revolving around theology or philosophy. This is ultimately about natural rights of our Creator versus rights bestowed by human law.

The First Amendment's Establishment Clause does not “separate” government from faith; it separates government from theology or philosophies of life.

The phrase "separation of church and state" is not found in the language of the First Amendment and it’s Establishment Clause. Rather the clause is designed to clearly prevent establishing a national church or a theological position of a particular view of God and this includes any kind of philosophical view of life including the atheist view. These are matters of conscience and belief. All mankind have faith in something and what this rationale is that humans are born with natural rights regardless of whether a man believes life evolved or just happened, or whether life began with creation of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Man has faith in himself or the Bible, the Koran, or the writings of Budha, etc. It’s all faith.

These phrases were placed on our national monuments, in our Constitutional documents, and on our currency by men who were both Christian, Deists, Agnostic, Atheist .... namely Jefferson a Deist, and Franklin who was most likely an atheist. There were many learned non-religious men involved in the forming of our government who were agreeable to the addition of these phrases. Why?

This is about Natural Law straight out ... which these men fully understood. Let me try to explain through this post:

Consider this, America has not nor have we ever been a nation of atheists and that while the minorities are represented and have their natural rights secured along with the majority, it is the majority that rules how the Constitution will be worded. The Constitution was ratified by the votes of a majority. That said, is it’s language discriminating against the small minority of secularist, atheists, and humanists who do not hold to a religious view point?

On the contrary, it is this language “One nation under God” that guarantees every citizen of every philosophic view that their natural rights will be forever protected. Without this language, there is no guarantee.

There is a very important reason our Founding Fathers included these phrases and also amended the Constitution to clarify their position with the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment. No doubt driven language driven probably by non-Christians statement of the time. However, note that there in no specific wording "separation of church and state" in this amendment. That phrase has been added over time and has become CONVENTIONAL WISDOM which is used to declare that we are NOT one nation under God but separated from God. If you think I am wrong, prove me wrong. Go read it for yourself.

The Establishment Clause prevented any religious denomination or sect … a certain theology or philosophy … from ever being established as America's national religion or philosophical view of life, therefore, preventing the teaching of a particular brand of theology or philosophy of life. In doing so the Founders prevented the creation of any specific government church or government view point that should be a matter of personal conscience and is improvable one way or the other. No one can prove there is a God or disprove there is no god. This is brilliant. This move keeps theology of any religious stripe or a philosophy of life from being dictated and imposed upon American citizens. Rather every citizen decides these things according to their own conscience. However, that Amendment did not deny nor did they ever separate this nation from FAITH IN GOD ... or faith in a god.

Faith in God or faith in a god concerns a belief system or philosophy of life and that is why Jefferson and others wrote extensively about natural rights of men. They included resoundingly these phrases such as ... IN GOD WE TRUST, and ONE NATION UNDER GOD in our documents of governance and then engraved the motto everywhere on this our currency and coins, and continued to chisel into stone these mottos all over Washington DC into the stones of our monuments and in our anthems.

This is why. Having a simple FAITH is vastly different from being a Catholic, a Baptist, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a New Age wacko who bows down to magic rocks, or even a Satanist witch bowing down to worship the black magic of Lucifer, or atheists who bow down to themselves and worship man himself thus making himself his own god. Like the Greeks did. All of mankind has faith in something.

Very smart men...weren't they? So if it is in God you trust or if it is in a god you trust or yourself you trust in there is a guarantee extended to by your which is your natural right.

Let me explain.

For example, if your god is yourself, and you think you know all things and the meaning of life and there is no other power higher than yourself according to your conscience and that creation evolved all by itself, and you have decided mankind holds all the answers to the meaning of life, you are quite free to pursue that philosophy freely in the United States of America. Find others who believe as you do, organize and go vote for your favorite atheist or humanist candidate. Maybe you can persuade one day the majority to your way of thinking. That is your natural right.

In my view, people who do that have just made for themselves their own idol... namely man … themselves. That is who they have faith in. Man will have faith in something. Some have faith in science, education, philosophy and so on; other have faith in the what the Bible says or some other sacred text. Yet, no person has the right to impose his brand of philosophy or religious view on another. There is the problem.

The Founding Fathers understood this concept.

Mankind is flawed. This also is a recognized fact. The Bible tells Christian believers and the Jew this truth; history also records this truth to the atheists and secularists. Can anyone say there is a perfect man without flaws? Can you honestly say mankind has improved the human character and over come his flaws? Power, wealth, envy, and covetousness corrupts and men resist it yet few overcome these temptations especially in governance. Would you agree?

THEREFORE, it was essential to get the nation to agree that there are certain natural rights that are given by our Creator that are inalienable. That means a right that no man can take away from another other man; further, no man can endow or give another person that right. It is these "inalienable rights that only God" can give or take away. Man is born with certain rights that only God has the authority to give or deny it to humans. God has that authority because he created all of us in His own image...they are Natural Rights.

Now this is an important principle for a group of people to agree upon because it guarantees human beings in America that they have an uncontested RIGHT TO LIFE, an uncontested RIGHT TO LIBERTY i.e. personal freedom, and AN uncontested RIGHT TO PURSUIT HAPPINESS....but that is UNDER GOD not under man or a government. Agreeing to these Natural Rights is the guarantee because it rests outside of man or government authority. Your rights can never be revoked by government or any man.

In this way all citizens are given a guarantee of these rights under our laws which are then fully enumerated in our Constitution, accepted by a majority of God fearing and non-god fearing individuals. All laws are judged against the Bill of Rights and that is why the Supreme Court Justices are so important...that is their job....they don't create law, they judge it but these natural rights stand.

Right now Obama Care demands that you buy something. Your personal liberty is now in jeopardy ... and that is the uproar. Simple. The government has no right to force you to buy something.

Now, on this subject, if you think differently, you, in my opinion, are not a student of the writings of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and the original founding documents.

Do you think they ever envisioned a monster of a proletariat government that is now in place? They knew that states rights were essential for dispersing power and de-centralizing it .... and so the Federalist Papers were written to clarify that and they also knew that there had to be a way to fix any problem they might not have foreseen with the Amendment processes but they divided the power to do so among the three judicial branches to make it extremely difficult and cumbersome to change anything and as any student of civics knows, this Constitution has held without further need of Amendment all these years except ... as the Fathers saw on women's rights and slavery issues.

It is brilliant thinking ... and it has worked pretty well for 200 years. It still reflects the majority position of this nation for over 95% of the population profess to be Judeo-Christian or other faiths and sects leaving a tiny few atheists who declare, in my view to be their own god ..... who say they have no faith in anything but themselves.

Atheist view is a silly notion in my view....but then I'm a Christian...I would think that.

THEN FROM THE OPPOSITIONS WHO WROTE:

I am a student of American history and government. The founders -- in religious terms at least -- were as diverse a group as our leaders today and perhaps as diverse as we ourselves.

Among them, were John Adams and Thomas Jefferson (author of the Declaration) who were deists and not Christians, George Washington whom I believe was Christian as were many of his peers, Ben Franklin who was either agnostic or atheist, and Thomas Paine who was an avowed atheist. Our nation is strong so long as we realize it is made up of all of us working together as one.

Historically and philosophically, it is of a movement that grew out of the European Enlightenment which came up with the novel idea that people should rule themselves and that nobody should be able to dictate their private belief or unbelief.

MY ANSWER: Ha, ha, ha. ....David ... did you not read all of the rationale I posted (ABOVE)? Yes, you are exactly right and my friend ... I think you are making my point nicely .... ( Maybe I lack clarity....ha.)

The fact that Jefferson and Franklin and many others at that time...back then supported "In God We Trust" and "One Nation Under God" language is significant ... and the mention of "Our Creator" and so forth apparently satisfied their views .... making my point precisely. They did not see that including those phrases to be any sort of a threat to their own atheistic or deist views at all. Ever wonder why?

Study "Natural Rights."

I hope all those who agree with my post will cast their votes for a return to common sense governance November 2nd .... all those who hold to America's core beliefs as found in the Constitution and Bill of Rights as well as the Federalist Papers, strengthening State's Rights and holding to the wonderful ideas of governance of our Founding Fathers.

So it is "In God I Trust" in my heart ... as I go to the polls and vote in a few days. Character is everything...we'll see if we still have knowledgeable people left in this nation. Move the power back to the center.

On Hope.

Hope what you please; but remember, that hope without truth at the bottom of it, is an anchor without a holdfast. A groundless hope is a mere delusion. -- Charles Spurgeon

"So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchiz'edek." --Hebrews 6:17

The anchor will hold through the greatest storms of life......awesome truth.

A Page Turner

Modern Art & the Death of a Culture
by H. R. Rookmaaker

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0891077995/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=AHNEEZ9CVAP3Q&v=glance

Walking through the front gallery of our local art center on the way to life drawing studios, a recent exhibit of contemporary art by local artists intrigued me for each stroll through left a different impression.

The first impression, I thought "this is really top flight work and well done. I'm so proud."

Second time through, my impression began to turn negative. I began to say, oh, that looks like this great artist of the past, or that great one. Where are the new images? This is not original. Creative yes; original no. I'd seen all this stuff before in one exhibit or another or from history. The art began to look dated to me. There is simply nothing new.

Third time through, I thought, this is really feeling empty and meaningless. These artists really seem to me to have nothing to say. Now, I am feeling very negative. My inner voice shouted, "Stop it! You can't do that. You have to LOVE this stuff. What is wrong with you?"

In my view, this art work is very well crafted. Crafted in that it was professionally produced and thought out. I've seen no art in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art any better constructed and that is saying something. It's professional.

However, I came to a truthful conclusion, the art here is simply projecting the pursuit of "ugly." Images of distorted figures ill-drawn to hide the inability to draw. You can be an artist but you don't have to draw. Well that is true. BUT, you have to have something to say.

The questions arose in me: "Is this real." "Is this truthful?" Contemporary masters, I've read have been searching for "the real." Most of the greats.

These movements in art of the 19th and 20th Century were no doubt a reaction to Impressionism, Romanticism, Classical and Religious art, and the "junk" produced in the ateliers and studios of the time but it still baffles me for to me it is praising the ugliest and darkest images of this realm of reality. It is certainly "real" and a lot of it is disgusting but is that for me? What is happening?

I have studied for literally years (with little success) in understanding though I have applied myself with great earnest. The "real" in life does have its balance. Reality is BOTH ugly and beautiful.

Representational art has always been a passion, especially in my idealist youth, for I have searched for beauty in living. For years, I thought maybe I was just not very smart to comprehend all this lofty arty stuff and could not grasp these deep deep concepts.

Bull crap. (An appropriate intellectual educated response.)

At last, I have found an author who puts this all in context and having lived through the sixties and seventies, being in a relationship with God Almighty, I see what has happened.

Culture has lost it's soul and is spirit-less. Art is reflecting that. Our culture is dying and some (and I say SOME) very good contemporary art is reflecting that death. The death of the pursuit of beauty. Rookmaaker has it right.

At last I have some understanding. How short changed I have been in my art education. No wonder the philosophy of art intrigued me but confounded me at the same time.

John Ruskin, the great art critic, made a very profound statement that has never left me in my journey to art knowledge. He wrote, "All art is praise." That is a very profound statement. I almost want to write the word "Selah" (meaning pause and meditate on this.) Ruskin was a very devout Christian and intellectual and he sung the praises of the great landscape and seascape master, J. M. Turner. If you look at Turner's greatest works (late) you see great abstract powerful shapes especially in his seascapes. He was painting for his time declaring the power and majesty of God's creation, the beauty, and glory of it; he discovered abstraction as a way to tell that to us pounding his images into the surface of his paint. This was his expressive voice. He made his sun blinding with brilliance by applying his intellect, and so his suns glow brightly.

Then the wheels came off. Man turned from God when he proclaimed that "God was dead" and so it is reflected in society's art.

This book by Rookmaaker has truly inspired me to produce art for my age and with a spiritual voice of my age. I have no desire to create "realism" as a camera would, and I want to give voice to my ideas that the viewer can relate to. I am in pursuit of the "real" beauty of our time; the praise of our age. For God is indeed not dead. I want to voice the "real" ugly of our time but from the standards of a spiritual person. I desire to experience true inspiration...a noble pursuit.

There is an honest voice and an independent voice developing in me. Yes, I am finding my artistic voice.

Mike Wimmer Portrait Workshop

The Portrait Workshop is coming up thank the Lord!!! I am praying that I will get something out of this two day event at the Cowboy Hall of Fame Museum. I'm still planning a portrait of my daughter in her wedding gown a challenge to my skill and creativity. Subject matter so trite, how can it be fresh and interesting and say something about the bride?

www.mikewimmer.com

I will blog about this and my continuing Life Drawing Class with Glen Thomas at City Arts studios.

Since September when my daughter got engaged and with the demanding Christmas and New Years activities, I've been unable to sketch or paint except for some Tuesday nights at the City Arts Life Drawing sessions.

It seems impossible.

I just can't get into anything serious with all of these distractions. Sometimes I think if earning a living as an artist would demand studio time and be beneficiary stress. Now I am in tax season and it falls on me to do all of the grunt work in Quicken and Excel files.

Sometimes I feel like running away to some far away place to work. Will I ever become productive and what is holding me back? Maybe it is the inferiority complex I have about my work. I'm pretty ordinary and "ordinary" has never inspired nor motivated me.

Nakedness vs Nudeness

Some might ask me, "Why do you, a Christian, choose to draw and paint nudes?" That is a really great question and I would like to address this since I am not ashamed of my nude drawings.

Note: According to some Adam and Eve were not really naked but clothed with the Glory of God which is the Shekina Glory ... a brightness that covered their nakedness which they lost when they sinned. Jesus was glorified when he was transfigured with the same brightness. Regardless, it was their innocence that they lost and I think this is still germane to the thoughts regarding nakedness.

• Genesis 2:25 -- And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

• Genesis 3:7 -- And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they [were] naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where [art] thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I [was] naked; and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee that thou [wast] naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

There is a difference, in my view, between "unashamed nudity" versus "shameful nakedness." The difference is in the presence of innocence (a good conscience) versus the consciousness of lust that leads to shamefulness . . . i.e. the knowledge that discerns good from evil.

In privacy humans return to innocent nakedness, do they not? For example, there is innocence in the simple act of bathing. There is innocence between a husband and wife who love each other privately. In childhood, there is no shame of nakedness until the child's soul awakens to discern good from evil. Childish modesty and shyness does not have to be taught.

It is possible to depict that innocence nudity in a painting. It is that image that strips a person of time; it is a person exposed with great honesty. The famous sculpture of David by Michelangelo. it is innocent, honest, and a dynamic portrayal of a man created of God for a purpose; a supreme creation.

An artist like myself is in search of an image of the human body that depicts this sense of innocence and in so doing depict the beauty of God's creative process and that will never bring a sense of shame to the viewer.

Note: The nude model is so important in the creation of art. I have drawings that frankly were anything but an innocent depiction mainly because of the model's inability to detach herself from the class. A model new to posing nude recently, I found, had this difficulty and her poses became suggestive. I've also had that happened with clothed models. I found that most of the poses were worthless as art and had to be discarded. So there are times when in class I have no control over the pose or the model, I could not get a good drawing. Other times, of course, I fail to draw well. It's difficult and that is why I keep drawing.

On a Personal Level...

My beloved sister, Diane went to be with the Lord at 8:30 AM this Saturday morning. I was alone with her through the night and at her moment of passing; it was a precious time.

It is said that if you are not ready for death you are not ready to live.

There are two scriptures that comforted me greatly.

II Cor. 2:5 "For while we are still in this tent, we sigh with anxiety; not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage; we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. "

Psalms 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints." (Who is a saint? .... Phil 4:24 "Salute every saint in Christ Jesus, the brethren which are with me greet you."

(Thank for all the kind words of great encouragement. This is the reason I have not updated my post in a while.)

Patti

Crisis kills creativity...

When a crisis comes it causes every thing in your life to come to a screeching halt. The focus turns to the life threatening moment at hand and all energy moves toward its resolution.

That is what has happened to me. After Christmas and the New Year, for me it has been one family crisis after another.

I tried hard to overcome all of this and return to Life Drawing Class. Last night, the fatigue just swallowed me. I could not think. This experience only proves that an artist has to be able to fully concentrate to accomplish anything. I simply could not get the cobwebs out of my brain to do anything at the easel.

Good things come from crisis but I'm finding art is not one of them. Maybe next week.