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Apparently there was a memo that went out saying that today was going to be a crappy day. At least, that’s the conclusion I’ve come to after reading the status updates from a handful of my friends.  Everybody seems to want the day to be over, and I cannot figure out why.

Honestly I’m a little fed up with all the negativity I keep hearing.

I understand that bad days happen.  Believe me… I know.  There is a time to mourn, and I respect that.  What I do not respect, however, is the needless complaining I hear day after day.  We Americans (Christians in particular) have so much to be thankful for, and I think it is a slap in the face of our Creator to ignore His blessings day after day as we wallow in our self-pity.

In these rough economic times I dare say everybody who is reading this can count a handful of friends or family members who don’t have jobs right now.  Yet, the complaining doesn’t seem to end.

There are two blind men who live in my apartment building.  Every time I see them I am reminded to thank God for giving me eyes that see –even if I need glasses with a strong prescription.

As best as I can tell you have two options: you can change your circumstances or you can change your attitude.

When was the last time you said “No” to someone?

We’re just past the halfway mark for 2008 and already I’ve had such a full year. Business is going very well, and it’s not because of anything I’ve done. So far this year, all of my official attempts at marketing and advertising haven’t generated a dime of business, yet I’ve been busier than ever. People and opportunities seem to pop up from nowhere at precisely the right time. I can’t help but think it’s God’s way of reminding me that He’s in control.

I ran across a verse in Deuteronomy today. Chapter 8:11 paraphrased “When so many things in your life are going well—make sure you don’t become so full of yourself and your things that you forget God.” Verse 17 “If you start thinking to yourself, ‘I did all this. And all by myself. I’m rich. It’s all mine!’—well, think again. Remember that God, your God, gave you the strength to produce all this…”

I feel like I go through life without giving God the credit He deserves, so this is me giving Him some long overdue and sorely understated props!

“When one teaches, two learn.”  -Robert Heinlein

I’ve spent several hours today (and last Saturday) working on my upcoming “Creative Lighting” tutorial, and it has been a learning experience to say the least.  Putting my thoughts into a tutorial and attempting to explain what I am just learning myself has been extremely enlightening, and it has brought an even greater clarity to my understanding.  I’m convinced that one of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else.

“To whom much is given, much is required.”

As Christians we are called to a higher standard. We have been given so much, but it’s so easy to lose sight of that and get wrapped up in our own trivial circumstances. When I start looking around and comparing myself to others it’s only a matter of time before I find myself exhausted, restless, and frustrated.

I’ll even rationalize my frustration with God. “If I’m supposed to live a life worthy of the calling I’ve received,” I tell Him, ” then why does it feel like it’s killing me?” There is a moment of silence, and God responds:

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” -Jeremiah 12:5

I’m becoming increasingly disturbed by the traditional sense of “missionaries,” “evangelists,” and our attempts at “reaching out to those in need.” It seems to me that whenever someone talks about “faith in action” and “the interplay of faith and life,” they are really saying we need to be feeding and serving the poor. Cue the mental commercial of African kids starving… Now, we simply cannot ignore God’s command to serve the poor, the fatherless, and the widow; but we are doing ourselves a disservice if we think it ends there.

I believe that “faith in action” has just as much to do with art as it does with serving the poor.

Every child of God is called to a life of missions; the Gospel of Christ compels us. Yet, we cannot overlook the unique gifts, talents, and strengths God has given us.  “Not everyone is called to go to Africa…”  Every church I’ve ever been to has said the same thing, and then in the very next breath they talk about ways to serve in the local church.  The point I’m trying to make is that unless we are steadfast and resolute in pursuing the mission that God Himself has placed inside of us, there will always be well-intended people who are eager to pull you into their mission.

We can do the right thing for the wrong reasons, but in the end we’re only hurting ourselves.

What is your mission field?  Find it.  Chase it.  Live it.

It’s interesting the way we perceive “natural” talent. A good number of people have said that I’m talented, but I think it would be more accurate to say that I’m disciplined. Ya see, I spent two years in isolation (more or less) reading, studying, observing, and learning all I could about visual arts. It wasn’t glamorous. It wasn’t easy. It certainly wasn’t natural. There were days that were utterly frustrating, and for the most part it looked like anything other than talent. But now, on the other side of that, people see me as one of those guys who was just “born with it.”

It’s important that we don’t overlook the role of discipline when it comes to talent. It’s all too easy to shrug off talent as something that was inherited at conception, but this undermines the value of our hard work or God-given gifts.

The bridge to Talent is called Discipline. Those who dare to cross it have earned my respect.

As I was reading my Bible* the other night I came across something so simple, yet so profound. When God was delivering the Israelites from Egypt it says, “God didn’t lead them by the road through the land of the Philistines, which was the shortest route, for God thought, ‘If the people encounter war, they’ll change their minds and go back to Egypt’.” Above all else, two words stood out to me: God thought.

For some reason, I’ve never thought of God as a “thinking” being. Sure, I know Him as a “knowing” God –omniscient even– but the idea of Him really thinking in the present tense is a concept I haven’t considered before. How does someone who is infinite in knowledge and time have logical, rational thought patterns? I don’t know, but what I do know is that I closed my Bible thinking, “That’s a God I can relate to.”

*The Message translation.

Even God was ready to give up on His creation:

God saw that human evil was out of control. People thought evil, imagined evil—evil, evil, evil from morning to night. … God said, “I’ll get rid of my ruined creation, make a clean sweep: people, animals, snakes and bugs, birds—the works. I’m sorry I made them.”

Does that defy His character? I’ve never heard a sermon abut the spirituality of frustration, nor do I have the answer. Every artist has experienced it –the urge to rip up the canvas, throw away the film, smash the sculpture. Even God wrestled with it. It’s somehow encouraging and yet simultaneously discouraging to think of that. I feel frustrated often, but I certainly don’t feel closer to God during those times.

I picture God as an artist stepping back from His canvas. A sigh of frustration muffles through the air, and He shakes His head slowly. “It was supposed to be so much better than this…”

In the account of creation God didn’t create something until He first prepared a place for it.  He created the ocean before He made fish to dwell in it.  He scattered the land with fruit-bearing plants before creating the animals who would eat it.  He established the rhythm of day and night before telling man to rest.

I think there is an important truth here that is often overlooked.  God doesn’t bring us into something until He has prepared us for it, and until He has prepared the place for us.  That was true of God’s character at the beginning of time and it’s still true today.

One of the most disappointing books I’ve read is about “Christ and Creativity.” Part of my disappointment comes from the fact that this is a topic of tremendous significance to me, so anything less than earth-shaking is prone to be a let down for me. However, the author takes far too much liberty in stretching various stories in the Bible to explain them as an act of creativity. I think the fundamental flaw with this approach is that we are looking in the wrong place entirely.

Search the Bible (NIV and King James at least) and you will not find a single appearance of the word “creativity.” Not once. That should tell us something about our Creator. He never intended for us to merely read about creativity, He wants us to experience it.

“The invisible things of God are clearly seen through His creation.” -Romans 1:20.

Look through a microscope, study how the human eye works, light a fire, observe the motion of animals –everywhere you look, creation is shouting in every language that God is the author of creativity. He wrote the book on it by not writing a single word about it.

I wonder how many other areas God is saying to us, “You won’t find the answers here. Stop trying to figure everything out. Just go! Live! Experience! There you will find Me…”