Posts Tagged ‘Christian art’
Easter T-Shirt Design
April 15, 2009
T-Shirt –
http://flokot.redbubble.com/sets/30716/works/2898300-1-inri-inspired-by-easter
As an Art Print and Greeting Card – http://flokot.redbubble.com/sets/31396/works/2898307-2-inri-inspired-by-easter
RedBubble Profile – http://www.redbubble.com/people/flokot
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Here’s my latest t-shirt design, which is available for purchase at RedBubble.Com. I entitled it “INRI,” which is an abbreviation of the Latin for, “Jesus of Nazereth, King of the Jews,” that is often seen on images of the Cross in Roman Catholic Churches. That said, as always my art here is intended as a non-denominational celebration of the foundational aspects of Christianity that followers of Jesus hold in common.
While I do not have time to go into great detail here, I thought that a brief summary of the Gospel message is in order:
– in the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and they were perfect. There was no suffering or death.
– Satan was a great angel who, in his pride, sought to take God’s place. As a result, he Fell and became the Devil. He is not the exact opposite of God, but rather a corrupted, and very powerful, creature.
– God appointed the first humans to be his representatives on Earth. However, they gave up their authority by obeying the Devil. Later, in the Gospels, the Devil is seens as telling Jesus that he (the Devil) was given all authority on the Earth (see Luke 4:6). All that was under the dominion of Humanity was now the Devil’s.
– This was the beginning of the Curse, the entrance of death and suffering into human existence. The punishment for humanity’s sin (disobedience to God’s commands) is death. All humans who have since existed inherit this sin from their fathers. However, God promises to one day send one who will be of the seed of a woman – not a man. The only way for men or women to reach God is through the shedding of blood of an innocent individual.
– God the Son, one of the three persons of the Trinity (the Trinity being One God who is represented in Three Individual but Indivisible Persons… phew! I know, it can be such a mystery, can’t it?!), took on human flesh. That is, though He remained fully God, He was also fully man. He was born of a Jewish Virgin, but not of a human father. God the Father was His Father.
– Jesus lived a short life, but in only three years of ministry transformed the world. His ideas were radical and often offensive to the people of His day, who plotted to kill Him. The Devil probably thought that he had won by killing Jesus… but, in the shedding of Jesus’ innocent blood, the perfect payment for all human sin was made.
– After three days in the Tomb, Jesus rose again and subsequently appeared to hundreds of people before being lifted to Heaven. He sent the Holy Spirit of God to live in believers, empowering them to continue Jesus’ earthly work.
It is an astounding Gospel and very good news for any who has ears to hear and an open heart. Admittedly, it took me several years to be convinced of it as being True… oh but it is glorious!
A few thoughts:
– think of all the various religions, spiritualities and rituals that demand the shedding of blood and sacrifice. What does it mean if God Himself has become the sacrifice? What exactly are all the religions shedding blood for, anyway?
– The Bible tells us that no one can earn their way to God through their own efforts of work (Ephesians, Chapter 2). For me, I was quite shocked at this. I had spent years thinking that my own goodness and morality would be enough to find God, and I was upset to think that it wasn’t enough. However, I eventually realised that it was a great relief. How would I have known that I had done enough for God? How would I be able to tell between good and evil, for that matter? What place, then, do good deeds have in the Christian life?
Good books…
If you want to learn more on this topic there are countless resources out there. If you’ve only ever read anti-Jesus conspiracies, but consider yourself open-minded, you may want to check out the pro-Jesus books (to balance your views).
Some useful books are The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, which takes a court case approach to the Gospel accounts of Jesus. The Jesus I Never Knew and What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey are fantastic books that really challenged all my assumptions about Christianity. Ravi Zacharias’ Jesus Among Other Gods is also a good book; and a fantastic read that really dissects the questions about Jesus and the Gospels is Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. Last time I checked they’re all readily available. You might want to try Australian bookstores like Koorong and Word.
Wild Donkeys
September 29, 2008
10.02 am – Thursday 29 May 2008
The world is full of amazing creatures. Just read the Bible – Job 39 – for a sense of their wonder. This was inspired by Job 39:5-8. I’m drawing from memory. There’s many species and subspecies of wild ass, onager, donkey, etc., each unique and with incredible endurance and swiftness of foot… or hoof.
Random extra information: on this passage of Scripture!
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Job 39
5 “Who let the wild donkey go free? Who untied its ropes? 6 I gave it the wasteland as its home, the salt flats as its habitat. 7 It laughs at the commotion in the town; it does not hear a driver’s shout. 8 It ranges the hills for its pasture and searches for any green thing. (Today’s New International Version, from http://bible.crosswalk.com/.)
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From ICR’s Online Study Bible reference to Strong’s Concordance:
6501
arp , peh’-reh: or pereh (Jeremiah 2:24) {peh’-reh}; from 06500 in the secondary sense of running wild; the onager:–wild (ass).
Job 39:5
Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass?
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Wikipedia on wild asses…
Frightened of Small Children
March 7, 2008
Saturday 19 January 2008 – 6.07 pm
Sitting at church, in the Kids’ Church room supervising one of my children. I was probably not called to children’s ministry. Other people’s kids scare me… 🙂
Can barely hear the sermon over the sound of screaming kids!
Eschatological Musings
March 7, 2008
Friday 18 January 2008 – 11.57 pm
Reading a book about the End Times. That is, the end of the world as foretold by the prophets and Jesus. Scary stuff, but with a good ending!
Frustrations Of Self Directed Time Wasting
March 5, 2008
10.49 pm – Wed 16 January 2008
Summer holiday observations:
- despite my valiant resolutions I still continue to stay up too late at night
- I receive a bunch of books for Christmas and figure I’ll read them throughout the year. Instead, I read all 20 books in about 2 weeks.
- I promise I’ll finish that manuscript… then waste time watching tv show repeats
- I intend to play with the kids more… but spend too much time on housework
The Neighbours Had Kittens
February 18, 2008
9.57 pm – Monday 14 January 2008
The neighbour’s cat had kittens, and they play in our driveway. They’re so cute. I love cats… and dogs… and rabbits… and ponies… and cattle… and, well, I like animals. Simple as that – probably why I became a vegetarian (that was back in 1995 … still veg!)
Allergies Suck
February 12, 2008
Monday 7 January 2008 – 8.55pm
The disease* has become a prison. I can’t step outside. I hate the sickness so much. I hope there’s a cure.
Having an ok day… Spring cleaning in mid-summer. Better late than never!
~My House~
(these trees become polleny in December [allergenic])
(when this plant flowers I end up lying in emergency ward in hospital)
(these trees are poisonous)
(shed)
*I have serious allergy problems. They’re potentially life threatening and no one knows what causes them.
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A PS – looks like my body’s recovered from most of whatever the problem was. I still have allergy problems but not as severe as before.
199. Colourful Unicorn
February 12, 2008
This is one of the water soluble pencil paintings I did over the hot New Years season. I can’t explain it. I just draw unicorns, a lot. They are probably my default drawing! One of my dear friends has humorously suggested that perhaps there are tiny, invisible horses on my paper, and I’m just tracing them when I draw.
198. Christmas Inspired – Journey To Bethlehem
February 11, 2008
Dream Horse
February 11, 2008
Sunday 6 January 2008 – 8.06 pm
My afternoon dream naptime was a bit weird… I dreamt of a land of snow, ice, crazy horsemen, flying horses, murderers, and trees. It’s summer and I live in Australia – there’s no snow in these parts. Why would I dream of snow?!
A Morning At The Park
January 22, 2008
Saturday 5 January 2008 – 11.40 am
~ A Morning at the Park ~
Weather: blue sky, stinking hot, forecast 34 degrees C… oops… no… (make that) 37 degrees C (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit*).
I’m sitting under a gum tree.
The kids are playing on the playground.
Cricket practice is on at the oval.
The traffic is pumping out pollution.
* Temperature conversion at http://www.wbuf.noaa.gov/tempfc.htm.
Tartan Pants And Hot Weather
January 8, 2008 
Thursday 3 January, 2008 – 6.55 pm
It’s clearly too hot to wear my beloved tartan pants.
(Note: it’s summer here at this time of year.)
Gothic Vampire Theatre
January 5, 2008
30 December 2007 – 11.01 pm
A day at the theatre… How emotive! How moving! ~ It makes me wonder about some Gothic romance set in a dark forest. Maybe I should write that as a play. It would probably involve a vampire in the main characters.
Chinese Restaurant
January 4, 2008
Saturday 29 December 2007 – 7.17 pm
Sitting in the car in a car park while the husband is ordering Chinese takeaway. Stinking hot summer day. So very, very hot. There’s heaps of people around, shopping for take away. Whinging kids complaining about hot chips. Others lurking around the sushi shop. The pizza shop is shut… Church was quiet tonight. Must be Christmas week.
The Amalgamation 
