New Art Series: Broken & Redeemed

These works “speak” of

Objects and materials, unexpectedly transformed from

Ordinary, discarded, broken, unusable, into

Remarkable, precious and redeemed.

These works “speak” about me -

Ordinary, discarded, broken, unuseful,

And the utterly unexpected transformation

To remarkable, precious and redeemed;

Not by anything I did or ever can do,

But purely by the grace of God

Through Jesus Christ.

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How we interact or relate with art like this tells us a lot about how we interact and relate with people, and even our God.

How we view art like this tells us a lot about how we view ourselves in relation to others.

Do we automatically dismiss and not respect art that looks like this just because we don’t like how it looks, or because it doesn’t meet our expectations?

Do we look down on others because they are different from us, or do we have a hidden feeling that somehow we are “better” because we are Christians and don’t act like they act?

Do we look disapprovingly at what form others worship make take because it is different from ours?

Do we dismiss others at first glance just because they don’t meet our criterion for what we want to see in someone else?

What is our attitude towards others…toward God?

Do we dismiss and not hear God because his answers and direction don’t come in the form we think they should be in?

Is the “something” that we are missing in our life or our relationship with God, based in dismissing and not hearing God because we are trying to get others and God to act like we think they/He should?

 

“God chose what is low and despised in the world,
even things that are not,

to bring to nothing things that are,

so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.”

Lest we become unexpectedly ordinary and broken before God,

We cannot realize the unearned - the unearned - grace of God,

Through Jesus Christ,

And be transformed remarkable, precious and redeemed.

 

Facebook link for Prodigal Arts is:

https://www.facebook.com/prodigalartsministry?ref=hl

Visions: river of life

Visions: river of life: I've been working on a new series of assemblage artworks that explore the concept of home - for me, I can't really think about home without ...

ART LESSONS FROM THE GREAT CREATOR

Creation. This is a word that evokes many thoughts, feelings, and even fears. Creation involves something new, original, authentic, or unexpected. Depending on the artist, it can be intimidating, or if the truth be known, frightening, to be confronted with a blank white canvas. Some artists have to sketch everything out and have a specific plan of what the outcome will be. Other artists will embrace the unexpected, and start laying in paint and let what happens determine the outcome.

We who are Believers are new creations. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul wrote “…if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” Indeed, how wonderful it is to be that new creation! But, even with the best of intentions, we sometimes fall into what I will call “a place of sameness”. That sameness may be a place of complacency, or reach all the way to wanting the sameness of that sweet place we find when we worship or pray. Either place can be deadly. We are creatures of habit. We resist change. We all are susceptible to spiritual inertia. Change can be frightening. It usually includes the unexpected, and often, some degree of risk. It makes us uncomfortable to not be in control of the outcome. We may even say, “Use me God,” but what we really are meaning inside is, “Use me God, but only as long as it doesn’t it doesn’t involve anything radical, risky or uncomfortable.” But, when we try to control the outcome with God, we limit Him and what He desires to do in our lives and with our lives.

Imagine what it would be like if we asked the Great Creator to create something new, something unexpected, in us today? What would happen if when we approached God , and as wonderful as His presence has been felt each time we have approached Him before, we asked Him to create something new and unexpected this today? What would happen if we did that every day? How much richer would our lives be? How much more would the unsaved see Jesus through the body of Christ if we asked God to create something new in us - every day?