Self Portrait-2009 Finished!

"Self-Portrait 2009"

11"x14" Oil on Stretched Canvas

Free Portrait Contest!

What Do I Win?

A FREE hand painted 8"x10" oil portrait of your choosing done by "yours truly."

What are the Rules?

1. All you need to do to enter is send me guitargriff@comcast.net an email and say "Sign me up!" The winner will be notified by email.

2. Of course, in all good contests there can be only one "lucky" winner.

3. You may enter the drawing only once. (As soon as the winner have been chosen, all email addresses will be immediately and permanently erased.) I will put your email address into a "hat" and choose randomly.

4. If I have to ship the painting, you will need to send me about $10.00 to cover the cost of the UPS shipping.

5. The winner will need only to provide a decent size JPEG file picture which can be emailed to me.

How Soon Do I Need to Enter?

Entries will close on December 31, 2009. I will announce the winner on New Year's Day 2010!

Self Portrait-2009-Umber 5

One more stage with more details and signature and I'll be done.

Ultimate Christmas Decoration!

This was a real Christmas decoration, but the home owner had to take it down due to traffic safety. Too many people were trying to stop and help, "the dummy!"

Ridley Scott's Robin Hood

Coming 2010! "He's going to break medieval....literally!"

Self Portrait-2009-Umber 4

You really do not see the top of my head, you only think you see it. It's an optical illusion!

On this painting, I'm doing nothing but refining contrast between light and dark. The freedom "from color" is allowing me to concentrate on details. One more stage and I'll be finished.

Big Foot Caught on Hidden Camera

This mysterious figure above was caught on tape. What do you think? (Vote on left column). I would encourage you to read the article before jumping to conclusions.

Whatever Happened to Free Speech?

"When they kick at your front door, how you gonna' come
With your hands on your head or on the trigger of you gun?" -The Clash

Brothers, Not Enemies

Some good advice from Dr. David Field concerning brothers who do not agree on ecclesiastical issues:

1. Treat a disagreeing brother as a brother and not an enemy.

2. Sit in a room with a brother you disagree with and pray with him.

3. Open up your Bible with him.

4. Define your questions clearly.

5. Play the ball, not the man.

6.Don't play "guilt by association."

7. Don't decide theological questions by a head count.

8. Be transparent and abhor politics.

9. Keep perspective: If your brother says, "I believe the Apostles Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Calcedonian Definition, and the Reformed Confessions of the 16th, and 17th Centuries," and then unless you've got blatant, repeated and demonstrable, reasons for doing so, don't doubt his confession.

10. Don't entertain gossip. Don't play games with pious language. Don't tell me your problem with him unless you've gone to him first.

11. Don't turn "quirky" brothers into the problem or the enemy.

12. Slow down.....calm down.....check you facts. Look at the boundaries of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

13. Check when you say, "Do you know what he thinks?" with what he says and see if that is a true representation of what he believes.

Self Portrait-2009 Umber 3

I mixed a 7-value range of dark to light using burnt umber and naples yellow on this go around. I do not think I'll paint this picture in color, but rather continue to refine details using the the 7- value scale. I may add a bit of "cool" white in the highest highlights and maybe a "warm" black in the deepest shadows.

Because this is a face "only a mother could love" I plan to give this painting to my mom for Christmas!

Self Portrait-2009 Umber 2

Finally! The paint sticks! On this stage I've continued to establish shadows.

I'm beginning to think my mouth might be crooked in real life. Painting this picture is similar to getting that familiar feeling of staring into a mirror for long time and you begin to think you're looking at someone else. Why is that?

Self Portrait-2009 Umber 1

I'm happy with the way this is looking on one level, but on another I'm not. I've had somewhat of difficult time getting the umber to stick. I've used a new brand of T.R.P.S. and it's eating my imprimatura off of the canvas as I paint. I started painting on Friday evening and could not get the burnt umber to stick at all. I was a little more successful this go around on Sunday evening, but you can see those glowing bright orange looking spots, ie. on the beard, where the white canvas is showing through. I may need to go back to traditional turpentine.

Avett Brothers-Laundry Room Live

The Avett Brothers make me proud to have lived in North Carolina as a boy! This video is worth watching all the way to the end.

Self Portrait-2009

This will be my first attempt at a self-portrait. I realize the practice itself is somewhat narcissistic, and yet I want to paint myself as I truly look and not the "ideal" me.

On this stage, I've successfully transferred my drawing to the canvas and laid down a very "lean" layer of olive colored mixture thinned with Turps. I love the smell, but it gives me a vicious headache!

Octopus in Love!

Uncle Billy Salutes Veterans

This is a video of my Uncle Bill saluting veterans!

Northern Light-Finished!

On this stage I painted details....details......oh, I did I mention details? I worked on it for about 4 hours this afternoon. Inevitably, I'll find problems with it, but that's okay. Every new painting is a new challenge a new learning experience!

O Twas a Joyful Sound to Hear!

O Twas a Joyful Sound to Hear - Psalm Sing from Daniel Foucachon on Vimeo.

Northern Light-Color Stage 8

Scumbled Naples Yellow onto highlights and glazed a mixture of Van Dyke Brown and Alizirim Crimson onto shadows. Next step will be to refine details.

Military Father and Child Reunions

Warning! You may need a Kleenex for this one!

The White Horse King

A kind soul, (my mother) bought this book for my Birthday. I'm looking forward to reading it with such anticipation I can barely sleep at night! Well...that may a be a bit of an exageration, but it does have a cool looking cover! Oh, yeah...don't forget to check out the video just below to view trailer for the book.

The White Horse King trailer from Gorilla Poet Productions on Vimeo.

For low-priced Christian books and discount Bibles visit Scripture Truth Book Co.!

Northern Light-Color Stage 7

I scumbled opaque flesh colors over skin areas and opaque light blue over curtain. Darkened shadows in hair with Payne's Gray.

My next step, when this dries, is to scumble opaque light on the highlights of her face, and add details with a small brush. I progress by glazing on one stage, and scumbling on the next. The effect? Luminosity!

Northern Light-Color Stage 6

I'm re-establishing shadows and capillaries closest to surface of the skin. I've also worked on some of the shadows of the curtain. I'll "scumble" (opposite of glazing) next go around.

Chris

Red Mask in the Mailbox Chapter 9

Monster on the Pan

“Hello, anyone home in there?” Joe asked, as he snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s face. Thomas’s mouth hung open, and his tongue dried like cool clay in his mouth. His eyes were blank.

“Can you stand up, Tommy?” his Dad asked.

Oh no, Margie thought, he’s been hit by a car! Her knees buckled and she grabbed the wall. A cold, steel bear trap tripped and grabbed the inside of her stomach. It was paralyzing and painful.

She had been inside watering plants when she had heard the shattering crash. “Joe, what happened?” Margie screamed from the doorstep.

“Dad…? You look funny...,” he said. “...and everything looks weird.”

Margie looked out the front door, and saw the car stalled in the road. She ran across the lawn and down the steps where her son sat on the sidewalk.

She hugged him to her chest, and rocked him back and forth. The blood from the cut on his head stained her white blouse.

“Mom, I’m O.K.,” he said, his words muffled by the hug of his mother.

“Is the boy hurt?” Mrs. Lucado asked, as she ran across the street; her hair in a big, fat, bun. “I’ve already called an ambulance,” she said. “I was in the kitchen mixing up a big pot of vegetable soup when I heard what sounded like a bomb landing inside of my house,” Mrs. Lucado said, bent over with hands on her knees, and investigated Thomas. “I want to tell you, I ran into the living room. It was like one of them Arctic blasts coming inside my house! I swanny it was cold. That’s when I saw the broken window, and found Frank Sinatra lying dead on the floor. Don’t cha’ know, whatever it was, came in through the window and broke the fish tank...sliced that fish right in two!”

“Oh Mrs. Lucado, I’m sorry,” Joe said.

“It’s okay, I can always get a new fish, but it’s your boy there I was worried about…, so I went ahead and called the ambulance.

“Yeah, that was a good idea,” Joe said. “Thanks.”

Neighbors watched the paramedics place the young boy on a stretcher. Some talked to Joe and Margie, others stayed on their porches and watched the red lights twirl.

Paramedics strapped him down, stretched a green-tinted, plastic-mask over his head, and pumped oxygen to his air starved brain.

“Tommy, you’re gonna’ be all right,” his Dad told him.

“Dad, I feel fine,” Thomas said. His voice sounded like the tin-can radio they built together. “but, everything looks so weird.”

“What do you mean?” his father said. “Do you mean things look blurry, or what?”

“Things look brighter Dad,” Thomas said, “that’s all I can tell you, is that things look brighter.”

His parents were not allowed to ride due to insurance purposes, so they followed close behind. Christmas red lights blinked on and off in the back of the van. The new color produced a dizzying effect, and his forehead throbbed with pain.

Sterilizing supplies and instruments hung from racks along the inside of the vehicle. A bag of fluid suspended from a chrome stand bumped and swayed with each bump in the road. A steel bed pan beside his head rattled against the wall. It sounded like an insane Hawaiian drum.

They stuck a needle in his arm and injected a pain killer. It stung at first, but gradually eased his discomfort. Thomas rolled to one side, looked face to face with the insane Hawaiian drum, and fell into unrestful sleep.

The ambulance hit a pothole and knocked him awake. The pan clanked beside his head and his eyes opened wide with horror. The face of a monster stared back at him. For the first time in his life, he saw the red exclamation point stretched across his face. He rubbed hard on the mark, but it would not come off.

And from a distant place in his mind, he heard the voice of his father echo from an empty can of lima beans, “I’m the Monster in the Can,” and he began to cry.

The End

Northern Light-Color Stage 5

Sunlight
I've added the "magical" color of Naples Yellow. It gives the mysterious impression of sunlight shining on flesh. It has some very unusual properties. I could not paint a picture like this without it!

Red-Headed Girl...Not!

I've also continued to refine hair. It's a little too "red," but I can easily fix that with a glaze of a transparent "green." I'm really pleased with the results of her hair so far. I'm not sure "how" I did it, but it seems to have worked!

Switched Medium

As a medium I've switched from store-bought Liquin to a homemade medium. I make this by adding 2 parts turpentine, 2 parts Damar Varnish and 1 part linseed oil. I add a "fatter" medium, the closer I get to completion.

Northern Light-Color Stage 4

I've tried to re-establish shadows with a mixture of raw umber and cadmium red deep in order to get "warm" shadows. Next step will be to begin to add cool, northern light from that window onto her face!

Below is a rare, behind the scenes look into my "super-organized" studio/office. I've added arrows to identify points of interest. See list below to identify green letters and arrows in picture.

A. Painting by daughter

B. Transistor radio on shelf behind canvas, (playing rock and roll only!)

C. Paint rag, (I almost guarantee you I will sit on this)

D. Coffee Cup (half/caffeine. in the evening)

E. Paint thinner (perilously close to cup of coffee!!!)

F. Homemade paint palette

G. Computer monitor (I paint from this in the later stages...I can zoom like crazy!!)

H. Paint brushes (I only use sable brushes)

I. One of my first paintings I have hanging on the wall for inspiration.

J. Canvas on easel, upside down, (I paint this way often in order to exercise the right side of my brain)

K. Color wheel, and flammable materials on top shelf.

Northern Light-Color Stage 3

I've glazed what I call my "flesh" color; a mixture of burnt umber, raw umber, raw sienna+ titanium, and flake white, over the skin areas. I also glazed mixture of prussian blue, small amount of yellow ochre, and white over curtain area. This "cooled" it down a bit. I also glazed Alizarin crimson on dark background areas to warm them up a little.

My little secret when it comes to shadows is; warm light=cool shadows, cool light=warm shadows. Works every time!

My next step will be to re-establish "warm" shadows on facial and hair features. When that dries, I'll begin to add light with one of my favorite colors: Naples Yellow!

Northern Light-"Putting in the Apple"

I follow Fred Wessel's advice when "putting in the apple." The quote below is from his website.

"This step the Medieval artist's called 'putting the apple in the cheeks'. A thin glaze of vermilion or cadmium red light is applied to all facial areas where bone or cartilage is close to the skin [ie., areas where the flesh appears pink such as the cheeks, tip of the nose, ears and chin]"-Fred Wessel

Northern Light-Color Stage 1

I glazed raw sienna onto skin areas, burnt umber onto hair, a mixture of prussian blue/burnt umber onto dark background areas, a mixture of ivory black, prussian blue, and flake white onto bright areas of curtain.

The camera blurred a little on me, and my battery is low. This was the best picture I could get.

After this dries a few days, I'll "put the apple" in her cheeks, nose, chin and ear. Stand by for bright red!

Northern LIght-Penumbra Stage 2

On this stage, I've continued to establish contrast between light and dark; attempting to "bump" the painting up to an image that corresponds to reality. Of course, if I spent a million years refining this image, it would never be my daughter, but only an image of her. My hope is to capture some of her vivaciousness at five years old, if only in a snapshot.

Northern Light-Penumbra Stage 1

First go at the penumbra stage. You can see some of the "umber layer showing through in certain areas. I like to keep the paint very thin in these early stages, especially in the darker areas.

Her nose gave me a little trouble, but otherwise a fun time. I can always go back and correct mistakes on the next session.

I had rock-n-roll on the radio while I painted and just about got completely lost in the moment!

The Law is Good News!

Most Evangelicals agree; Scripture teaches we are justified by grace, through faith in Christ alone. So what about after one believes the Gospel? No doubt, we want to keep believing what God did for us 2000 years ago in the person and work of Christ, and on this basis we are justified: past, present and future. But does one have to be obedient to the law in order to keep being saved? Is sanctification now up to us? How do we explain Christians who leave the faith?

Keeping the law, although not the basis of our justification, is not an option for Christians. We're justified by faith alone, yes. However the kind of faith that saves is also the kind of faith that loves God's law. The law itself is good news, the Gospel is law (it must be believed!).

God's law tells us how to be happy as God's people. Away with such sharp extra-biblical distinctions of Law & Gospel so prevalent amongst some Evangelicals today! God is kind to His people and gives them everything necessary to keep and maintain healthy relationship; that goes not only for our relationship with Him, but with one another as well. The giving of the law is gracious. God expects His covenant people to be obedient because He knows what is best for them. He saved His people from under the brutal yoke of Pharaoh and then gave them His law! He expected them to obey it and judged them when they did not! God's yoke is easy and His burden is light.

So no, I don't support works-righteousness in order to stay saved, I only agree with the Bible when it says "apostasy happens." How else to you explain passages such as Hebrew 6:4-8?

Is the Trinity an Easy Doctrine?

Does the Bible teach the doctrine of the Trinity? Would it be naive to think the Trinity is easy to show from Scripture? Does Scripture expressly teach God is "one Being in three inseparable Persons: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit?" Does it teach this clearly? Yes! Yes! and with unequivocal passion I proclaim with resounding gusto, YES! Well, yes...., with one qualification; It is easy for us because we're living on this side of the Nicene council! The controversy concerning the Doctrine of the Trinity raged for years in the early church and has experienced a resurgence with folks who would discount the ecumenical creeds and confessions of faith with a flip of the wrist. Hence the comeback of such Arian heretics like the Jehovah's Witnesses, etc. It is not wise to cut off the branch from which we sit. Are you aware of Athanasius?...

(Painting of Athanasius of Alexander 293-373 A.D.)

Northern Light-Umber Stage 2

On this second stage I continued to darken shadows. Penumbra stage up next!

Table of Contents as a Creed

As soon as someone sets out to read the Bible, the next logical step is to interpret it and formulate doctrine. The Bible does not read itself and it needs to be understood as a collective unit. Unfortunately even the best of Christians can misinterpret the Bible. That's why the Holy Spirit has given various gifts to the Church and those gifts, ie. teaching, wisdom, etc. are to be used collectively, as a body. The Bible did not just "fall out of the sky." It has it's own history.

Someone once said, "Before we come to the Word of God in Genesis 1:1 we come to the "word of the church" in the table of contents of the Bible." And my point? Those who boldly proclaim, "No creed but the Bible," unwittingly hold to at least a couple of creeds:

1. The creed which says, "No creed but the Bible." (Try though you might, you will not find it in there! Neither will you find "God helps those who help themselves," nor "Cleanliness is next to godliness."

2. The Table of Contents in the Bible is itself a creed. Again, the Bible did not just fall out of the sky. Somewhere down through the course of history we're trusting that when someone acknowledged the 66 books of the Bible were indeed the Word of God, they got it right!

The Westminster Confession of Faith is not on the same level of authority as The Bible and neither are our moms and dads. However this does not negate that creeds such as The Apostle's, The Nicene, Etc. along with the Three Forms of Unity, and others carry authority. When a parent says, "Eat your peas, Junior!" that's authoritative, and God supports that kind of authority. The creeds and confessions are authoritative as long as they correctly interpret and stand under the Bible as secondary authorities.

If you are interpreting the Bible ONLY as an individual, you are not holding to the doctrine of sola Scriptura but rather SOLO Scriptura.

Northern Light-Umber Stage 1

And we're off... and into the second dimension! Light is amazing, isn't it? Light and shadow and the interplay between the two are what make a painting look real. Kids are HARD to paint because their features are less defined.

These early stages are always my favorite part because I feel like I have lots of freedom to make mistakes. Each stage is a series of corrections to bring the painting to correspond more and more to reality. The later stages make me more nervous because I'm afraid I'll mess it up!

Infant Baptism: A Fruit of the Gospel

A distinction must be made between defining what the Gospel "is," vs. the "fruit" of the Gospel.

The Gospel is the proclamation of the historical fact that the second Person of the Trinity took on human flesh, (born of a virgin) approx. 2000 years ago. He lived a sinless life, was crucified at the hands of evil men and died a substitutionary death for the sins of His people. He was raised on the third day, ascended to the right hand of the His Father where he rules and reigns as both King of kings, and Lord of lords. This is the good news! Christ is the risen Lord! And it has happened outside of myself.

The fruit of the Gospel pertains to things like believing it and being sanctified by it. The fruit of the Gospel and the Gospel are very much related to one another, yet they are NOT the same thing.

Let's take the covenant sign of baptism as an example of a fruit of the Gospel. Parents have the responsibility and joy of having their children baptized into the triune name of God because Christ has come. Some believe the covenant practice of paedobaptism, or "infant-baptism" distorts the Gospel and gives parents false assurance of a child's regeneration. But is that true? Does the Reformed teaching of baptism give parents confidence that their children will grow up to be believers in Jesus? Yes and no.

It is helpful to understand the difference between the Historic, or "visible" church vs. the Eschatological or "invisible" church. Paedobaptism is the covenant sign that children of believers are part of the Historical Church. Just because a child has received the covenant sign and seal of baptism does not guarantee the will grow up and believe the Gospel. However, a parent can have good reason to hope if they are faithful parents, their children will grow up to possess saving faith. So receiving the sign of the covenant, (think Historical Church) and being regenerate, (think Eschatological Church) is not the same thing.

Wouldn't it be easier if we only knew who the regenerate were? But we do not and God has a good reason for it. Every denomination has both"wheat and the tares." Spurgeon said if he knew God had put a yellow stripe up the back of all the elect, he would go around lifting coat-tails. That's not the case, so rather, he shared the Gospel with everyone! The Bible tells us in very plain language, there are tares amongst the wheat.

God had no problem giving the covenant sign of circumcision to infants in the Old Covenant. It did not guarantee they would be one of the regenerate. But it did mark them out as a child of the covenant, (notice I did not say it automaticlally regenerated them).

So why do some struggle with the Reformed doctrine of infant baptism? Partly because they believe it gives parents unfounded confidence in their child's salvation. The Reformed doctrine of Baptism does not teach that water baptism alone saves our children. That is a false teaching and would contradict the message of the Cross and the cardinal doctrine of the Protestant Reformation: Justification by Faith Alone. It is important to know the Westminster Confession of Faith teaches "the efficacy of baptism is not tied to the time wherein it is administered."

When it comes to the idea of covenant, God always deals with families. Just as Noah entered the ark with his family, the Israelites went into the Promised Land together as families and as God's covenant people. Peter only repeated that pattern in Acts 2 when he said, "this promise is for you and your children.."

But why do we see mostly adults getting baptized in the New Testament? As the Old Covenant gave way to the new there was a great influx of Gentiles (ie. Ethiopian eunuch, Philippian Jailer, Lydia, etc.) into the commonwealth of Israel.

I conclude with this: For all practical purposes, if you are teaching your children to call on God "as Father" prior to knowing whether they are regenerate or not, you are in principle doing the same thing as infant baptism. If you are reading to them from the Bible before they can understand English you are in a sense doing the same thing as infant baptism.

So, baptizing our children, partaking of the Lord's Supper, teaching our children to pray to God as Father, even believing the Gospel are all fruits of the Gospel, but they are not the Gospel. The person and work of Christ is the Gospel.

Started New Painting "Northern Light"

I drew the picture of my daughter onto canvas with a gel pen. This painting will be 16"x20".

"Who Told You That You Were Naked...?"

Question: Who told Adam and Eve they were naked? Answer: Their eyes were opened to the knowledge of good and evil when they ate of the forbidden fruit.

God had already defined good and evil when he told them not to eat of the tree. Exposure/shame was a result of the fall. When Eve looked at the fruit she saw it was "good for food, it was a delight to the eyes, and it was to be desired to make one wise.... " But what was really there? What did Eve see? All the things mentioned above. The fruit really was "good to eat, delighted the eyes and would make one wise"....however they had been told to not eat of it. Let's reel the tape back for a moment for an instant replay. Eve sinned the moment she doubted God's love and that had happened before her lips even touched the fruit.

And isn't it interesting that God restores us to himself in the very opposite way in which our first parents fell? They doubted God's love. We're restored to God by faith alone!

I'm persuaded our original parents would have been allowed to eat of that fruit if they had grown into maturity. The fruit was not bad, it was disobedience to God's command which resulted in their knowledge of nakedness. The human race begins in a garden and in the last book of the Bible we find them in a "garden city." It was always God's intention for mankind to exercise dominion over this world. God does not have a Plan B!

Christian Religion w/Out OnRamp of Reason

The Christian Faith is a fully-orbed faith. It encompasses the entire scope of creation. There is no such thing as an "uninterpreted fact." All facts are God's facts. So the entire realm of creation belongs to the Creator/Redeemer God. This would include all religion, science, politics, art, the future, etc.

I'm not opposed to reason and rationality given their proper place. The Christian Faith is the ONLY rational explanation for the world in which we live!

Some may accuse me of falling into the trap of circular reasoning and thereby accidentally stumbling into relativism. But this is nonsense! Everyone argues from a system of faith, whether they realize it or not.

The Christian Faith is a circle, in that its consistent with the world God created. There are no "on-ramps" of reason into the new Creation. The same Being who authored the Bible is the same Being who created the world and He is consistently true as regards to creation and His Word. What I mean is both natural revelation (creation) and divine revelation (the Bible) are infallible/inerrant. It is fallen man who "gets it wrong." He views the world through tainted glasses and those glasses are willfully cemented to his head! Because of the Fall and the corruption of the total man, mind/will/and emotion, he has become a bad interpreter of both natural and divine revelation. Indeed, it is IMPOSSIBLE for him to interpret these things correctly....

Calvinism is another term for a consistent Christian faith. The Bible teaches only the Holy Spirit can give new life and understanding. Jesus said, "unless you're born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God." It takes new eyes to see and only God can give those eyes through the wonderful working of the Holy Spirt! In other words: God saves sinners!

My Arminian brothers are "brothers" in the sense that we're fellow believers, but Calvinism is the only way to be a consistently biblical Christian. Arminian theology as well as Arminian apologetics is inconsistent, and lacks a full-orbed faith. It's either all of grace, or none!

Waxin' Van Tillian

Life, in the most absolute sense, is non-sensical apart from the Bible. The God who created all things, rules all things, and controls all things is entirely consistent with the God we find in Holy Scripture.

The unbeliever is willfully and joyfully blind. He would love for the Christian to "come on down and sew your eyes shut so we can converse on the same level...." However, his life is inconsistent in that he finds huge gaps of meaning. For the skeptic 2+2=4 is complete and utter nonsense unless he borrows capital from a Christian worldview, in order to make some kind of sense of his own.

Smooth and Sock Puppet

That Was Smooth: Sock Puppet from Journey Church on Vimeo.

I was "Smooth's" youth leader at one time. This may have contributed to his dementia! You can check out his blog here: smoothvia.com

KJV Windsor Calfskin Bibles only $23.95

Great Bargain for Thine Library!!!

For a limited time, (please ignore the cheezy telemarketer language) , the company I work for is selling KJV Windsor Bibles in Calfskin leather for only $23.95! That's right! I said CALFSKIN GENUINE LEATHER. They are published/printed in England by the Trinitarian Bible Society. Size 5 1/2" x 8" x 1"

I've worked for a Christian bookstore for years, so I'm not kidding when I say these Bibles are every bit as nice as Cambridge Bibles! They are available in either black or burgundy.

More Thoughts About the Bible and Marriage

I admit, many are ignorant when it comes to the subject of biblical marriage. Just because you see people doing nasty things like Abraham having a child with Hagar, David committing adultery with Bathsheba, and various persons engaged in polygamy in the Bible, it doesn't mean God approves.

While we're on the subject, what exactly does a "biblical marriage" look like if you have people doing stuff like that in the Bible of all places?

Jesus defines marriage in this way: "He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?" Matt. 19:4 (ESV)

"Okay," you say, "but what about those people who raped women or committed incest and got away with it?

Stealing has always been wrong, even before God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, just as murder was always wrong, (ie, Cain and Able). I would view rape as a severe form of stealing. As for incest..., Yes, I believe Cain married his sister, but the same conumdrum comes about with Noah and his family after they leave the ark. But the world has to be populated/re-populated somehow. God establishes all moral standards and the laws against incest did not come down until many years later.

"But hasn't the Bible been edited throughout the years?" You say.

Yes, in one sense it has. There are "editions" out there which are very bad (ie. Jehovah's Witnesses' New World Translation, etc), but it's important to remember the Bible was divinely inspired in the original autographs. Translations are NOT inspired. However, most scholars will agree, the English Bible we have today is very reliable/accurate when compared with ancient Hebrew/Greek texts....

And besides, the very fact all those wrinkles and warts are left on those people only serves to seal the authenticity of it!

Incest and All That Other "Icky" Stuff

If the Bible were like any other book, don't you think, down through history all that "icky" stuff like brothers and sisters marrying one another, killing Canannites, sleeping with maidservants, etc. would have been edited out? (Okay, God did tell the Israelites to kill the Canannites, but that's for another post!) Just because we find these sorts of things recorded on the pages of Scripture does not mean God condones those practices. In one sense, the very fact they are there proves the authenticity of the Bible!

I'm curious; rape and incest are wrong, but where does one derive such standards? Without hesitation, I would say those things are wrong because God's Word says they are. By what standard do you appeal? How do you know the scales you're standing on are accurate?

Spurgeon in Multiple Layers

Here are stages of a painting I did for a friend last spring. I did not post it at the time because it was a surprise gift.

I've painted this in what I call the "classical-layered" method. As you can see, I painted in stages, building one layer upon another, and letting each successive stage dry before applying the next. I applied those in extremely thin coats, so as to build, rather than obscure what is beneath.

I have not included all the stages, but hopefully you can get an idea of how I do it. Below are a few very short videos showing how I begin.

Concerning Halloween

This outstanding article on the subject of Halloween was written by James Jordan. Concerning Halloween

Socialist Kids in New Jersey Praise Obama

"...equal work, equal pay."

*This video has been removed due to the recent Socialistic grading curve on the test we call America.

Singing Butler-Finished!

16"x20" Oil on Stretched Canvas.

Painted in the classical layered method.

The "Tookish" Side of Bilbo Baggins

"As they sang the hobbit felt the love of beautiful things made by hands and by cunning and by magic moving through him, a fierce and jealous love, the desire of the hearts of dwarves. Then something Tookish woke up inside him, and he wished to go and see the great mountains, and hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls, and explore the caves, and wear a sword instead of a walking-stick."-from The Hobbit by Tolkien

(painting by Frederick Church "Twilight in the Wilderness 2)

Singing Butler- Color Stage 2

Easy, peasy, ....Japanezze! Couple more color stages and I'll be finished. The devil is always in the details!

Billie Jean- Classical Guitar Style

Singing Butler-Color Stage 1