International Blending Conference in Baarlo, The Netherlands (made with ...

Conference held in Barlow, Netherlands, speaker is Ron Kangas  Please follow this link to hear this message.

What is GOD'S ETERNAL PURPOSE?

What are OVERCOMERS? What is their purpose?

A Little Thought About Speaking to the Little Ones

When we "baby talk" to our children we actually take away their feeling of being able to be mature (for their age) and promote their feeling instead in a constant state of babyishness, and in fact may unconciously feel that the adult may not care for them unless they are a baby. Baby is the role they may play or fight fiercely against. We as admiring adults with our little ones may think that this is cute, but this habit of speaking undermines a child's self-image and self-worth as individuals desiring to grow up and impress the world with who they can be, and it can also make them unreliable, unresponsive and passive-aggressive towards your direction further down the line. This aggressiveness develops when the child is young and seems to be manifested as the child gets to be a little older, but the root may be that they are not held in a proper view from their adult caretakers.

All children need the adult's clear direction and defined boundaries, for these makes the child feel safe and secure. These are positive, but the child is also seeking the space in the adult's view where they also feel safe to grow and become a mature person like the one they are following. Their desire when they have the clear boundaries and direction is to become something that gains your respect and admiration. Our words and the tone of our words can truly give nurture their own self-respect through our respectful notice. These positive affirmations work especially if we don't overpraise them, rather positively notice them and when warranted compliment them. We are not trying to manipulate by our compliments here. We are trying to appreciate who they are and who they would like to be. Sure we influence, because we are the adult, but not control and thus miss the beautiful person they are meant to be by putting it in some idealistic box created out of our own desires and imaginations. When we go too far with our compliments then our words are not weighty in their ears and hearts for they didn't have to do much to earn them. They need to earn them, and then they will feel the warmth of those compliments warming the depths of their heart.  They will experience much more security in you and in themselves.

Each child deserves his/her parent's delight in them, and also seeks to earn your respect and earnest praise. I hate baby talking, except when given to babies, for babies seem to both love and need that. As the child grows, even while a baby, we also should grow in our appreciation of the child where they are. We need to restrict our speaking carelessly, with reckless or selfish emotion or intent and pause and reflect on the person these words are forming.  Our words are powerful to a child, and that power will break or ruin by its harshness or its spoiling, or that power will help the child grow by the strength and direction of those words.  May our little words have much reward.

A Triune Living Out From The Triune God Who Himself is the Source, Course and Reaching Supply of Life

The source of our triune living is God the Father the source of life. To enthrone Him in our daily activities, giving Him the center of our being and our doing, is allowing the initiation of all His life to be active in us. “We live with the Father as the source of life, but we live the Son as life,” (God's New Testament Ecomomy, W. Lee p 433). The Father as life comes to us as life in the Son who is the embodiment of life. We partake of live the Son who is our life by being supplied by such an all-inclusive Person, our Lord Jesus Christ. By calling on Him, and by coming to Him, praising and thanking Him for His Person and His work, then we are richly supplied with life. The practice of such a living will lead us to experience the enjoyment of Jesus as the sustaining Tree of Life in us, even in great tribulation and trial (Phil 1:19). By such experience of life, Christ becomes so real to us, but He is made real as the Spirit who is the Spirit of life. He reaches us and is made real to us in a stream of life, a flow of life, which is the Spirit of life. We need to heed the sense of life in our spirit so that there would be no hindrance to this powerful flow, so that the life we live on earth would be dynamically powered by the heavenly dynamo. This is a life of mingling, where this Triune Person is mingled to live in our tripartite being and where our living eventually becomes “Jesus living again on earth.” Today I am connected to such a power plant that can do and be everything in my living, but He needs to install many more “electrical” outlets and switches in my soul, so that He would be magnified in my living, have a greater part of my being and be glorified in so many ways by being mingled deeper into my being (Phil 1:20). For I know that for me this will turn out to salvation through your petition and the bountiful supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I will be put to shame, but with all boldness, as always, even now Christ will be magnified in my body, whether through life or through death.   Philippians 1:19-20

There is a Great Need for Shepherds and Teachers

Even the smallest and weakest can shepherd the smaller and the weaker.  It is no lie when the Bible says that a woman shall be saved through her child-bearing (1 Timothy 2:15).  The same is true for all who shepherd the Lord's sheep and feed His lambs (John 21).  

The Age of Grace is the Age of both Planting and Harvesting

The Age of Grace is the Age of both Planting and Harvesting

Some of us are doing our own things too much, occupied with our own affairs, captivated by distractions from the world.  The Lord of the Harvest (Matthew 9:38) is calling us still to turn to Him, to labor with Him, so that we may rejoice with Him at His coming!

Psalms 126:4-6
Turn again, O Jehovah, our captivity / Like the streams in the south.
Those who sow in tears / Will reap with a ringing shout.
He who goes forth and weeps, / Bearing seed for scattering, / Will no doubt come in with a ringing shout, / Bearing his sheaves with him.

(Matthew 20:1-16)

V. Van Gogh Sower

The Seed Became Bread

Isaiah 55:10 -  For just as the rain comes down / And the snow from heaven, / And does not return there, / Until it waters the earth / And makes it bear and sprout forth, / That it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
55:11  -  So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; / It will not return to Me vainly, / But it will accomplish what I delight in, / And it will prosper in the matter to which I have sent it.

2 Corinthians 9:10   - Now He who bountifully supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and cause the fruits of your righteousness to increase.

Grain is a seed that undergoes a process to become not only the life giving element to be sown into the earth for increase, but it is also the element that is able to become as food as bread is food.  So God's word is seed as the word of His mouth gives us life as well as waters this life and nourishes us with.

God as the Word went through the process of making Himself a man with the life of God within Him, 

so that He could be such a seed of life.  

He was God's seed.

He was born as the seed of woman.

He grew as a seed.

He lived a human life as such a seed for 33 and 1/2 years as a seed.

He was called the Bread of Life.

He was the Living Bread.

He was the Bread that came down out of Heaven.

He was the Meal Offering.

He died as a grain of wheat, 

He resurrected and became a life-giving spirit in His resurrection.

As such a resurrected seed He came to sow Himself as life into us the soil.

His word is planted into our hearts.

His word is water to cause us to grow.

For His multiplication and His increase.
For His harvest. 

He also came that man would eat Him as the Bread of Life.

That man would live by Him and not by teachings.

That every word would have a place in man's heart.

That man would have the element of God worked into His being.

That man would have God as the element of His living.

That man would be His many grains, His duplication and increase.

That food would be plentiful on the earth.

Please Listen to This Hymn and Consider it.

http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/ns/297

Some Very Fine Sowers

Nicolaus Zinzendorf

Hudson Taylor

George Muller

Frances Ridley Havergal

Watchman Nee

Albert Benjamin Simpson

Catherine Clibborn-Booth

John Nelson Darby

A. W. Tozer

Margaret E. Barber

Cambridge Seven

These portraits are only a few (read Hebrews 11) of those lovers of God who have sown their lives into the harvest for Christ had sown Himself so much into them. I could not find a free photo of Witness Lee online so I did not post his photo, but his ministry is such a pouring out of God that it makes me sad I don't have his face here. Witness Lee was Watchman Nee's close coworker so if I had a photo I should like to place them side by side.  All the photos might be better put in chronological order too, with at least a little statement about each of these lives,  but right now I just want to put some of these dear faces up together to remind me of who my real heroes are.

The Gleaners

Here it is springtime, sowing time, but I had to post a picture of one of my favorites, a painting by Jean-Francois Millet, THE GLEANERS, a harvest time picture.  Just like His painting of THE SOWER I admire this painting very much.  These paintings by Millet are rich in artistic value, but richer in spiritual meaning.  Gleaning is a delight, and unless you have been poor or needy, you cannot understand the comfort being provided for makes.  Here there is not a lone gleaner, but a group, as it should be.

The Apple Tree

Every time I work in the garden, the Lord who created all things and who is the Word (John 1:1)1, speaks to me.  He tells me how things are planted and how they grow.  So many pictures are in the Bible that help us to recognize God's speaking to us in His creation (Matthew 13:3)2.  Of course, He speaks to us in His written word, the Bible, but He also speaks to us in His creation (Romans 1:19-20)3.  God first set man in a garden and there had fellowship with him.  God is always speaking, so we need to learn how to listen.  First, we need His logos word, the Bible, then we need His rhema word, His instant speaking within us.  Of course He needs to dwell inside of us for His speaking to be heard as rhema (John 8:31, 15:7-8)4.  

The apple tree is a wonderful consideration and very meaningful.  In the Bible the apple tree signifies God as the rich provider of life.  He saves us by His grace and grants to us everything of Himself as life.  We will need His provision our entire lives.  Unlike, the darkened concepts of the painters of past eras, the apple tree does NOT signify the tree that Satan tempted Eve with. Trees are very significant to our God, and the Old and New Testaments are filled with verses concerning the trees and vines.  Each one has a poetic significance, and  learning the meaning of the symbols God uses in the Bible is another way He is able to speak to us in nature.  We need to see that God is daily providing Himself as grace to us.  We need to take His grace every day.  

Though an apple itself is not grace, merely a picture of grace.  It is a picture of God's bountiful supply of grace for a reason. There is an old saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Apples contain many nutrients that really do contribute to our maintaining our health.  They are rich in vitamin C and antioxidant flavonoids, and contain phenols to lower cholesterol. They are purported to prevent various cancers, especially eaten in their entirety, seeds and all.  They maintain body weight and regulate metabolism.  Eaten raw, they help the body maintain a proper ph balance by alkalizing. They are supposed to help our heart, lungs and our memory. There are thousands of varieties of apples.  Here in the United States, apples are available to us all year around, so why not try an apple a day, unless of course you just like visiting your doctor?

An apple is from the rose family.  

See it always has a calyx of five, just like the rose, and the fruit has a five pointed star in the center. You would find the same if you cut a rose hip in half.

Verses noted from above:

1- John 1:1 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

2- Matthew 13:3 - "And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, Behold, the sower went out to sow.

3- Romans 1:19-20 -  "Because that which is known of God is manifest 1within them, for God manifested it to them. For the invisible things of Him, both His eternal power and divine characteristics, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being perceived by the things made, so that they would be without excuse;"

4- John 8:31 - "Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, If you aabide in My word, you are truly My disciples"

John 15:7-8 - "If you abide in Me and My 1awords abide in you, 2ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you. In this is My Father 1aglorified, that you bear much fruit and so you will become My bdisciples.

Fresh but Controlled Watercolors - Featured Demonstration

A featured youtube video with a watercolor demonstration by Jason Hamer.  This artist keeps his paints fresh and moving yet retains a lot of tight realism.

Something Silly for My Sister - a video

Ola the Vole

Using the Eraser

It is an interesting effect to use the eraser over areas of texture to sculpt out the figures.  The texture creatures a dimension that lends itself very nicely to this technique.  

For the Birthday Boy

The Soccer Kick

Big Midwest Tornado - need I say more?

The Trouble with Creative Minds

     The trouble with creative minds is that they are always thinking.  These are always processing whatever they see and hear and do and adding it to various categories of experience and thought to synergize it and synthesize it with other elements of to fix problems, invent, or express, usually a combination of all three. The trouble with these minds is that they rule and whenever a project needs doing, to complete the task in the mind may be more important that finishing it outwardly, so many projects may be left undone for the brain is flying to the next project. So often, the trouble with creative minds is often they don't turn off. They don't shut down when the body says it is time for bed.  They don't go where you tell them to go.  Paul said in the Bible, that the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace, Romans 8:6. While creative minds create with passionate energy, they need the exercise and discipline of training, and the only successful training for the mind to give it life and peace is the experience God's spirit in our spirit.  The way to get the Spirit in our spirit is to call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Romans 10:13 says that, "Whoever calls on the Lord  will be saved."  The trouble with the mind is it not yet full of the spirit. Ephesians 4:23, "Be renewed in the spirit of your mind."

Any Comments on These Blogging Features?

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Children's Art Created in Digital

Is it Safe?

Little Bull with Rose

Swimming in Bubbles

Sketchy Doodles for children's illustrations

Sketches for children's illustrations

Often times I sit and doodle ideas for illustrations,characters and backgrounds mostly.  These are samples,  thinking doodles, a glimpse into a few moments of free thinking.  It is good to give yourself room as an artist to participate in different styles of thinking.  Sometimes we are too literal and we need loosening up, so we need some exercises that make us relax and enjoy the process of art.  I really enjoy the memories of childhood and the sweet images from my childhood books, so one of my ways to free up my style is to just let my imagination go when I doodle.  I'm not drawing a piece of fine art here, just some quick images to let go of adulthood for a moment, and go to a place that is pure imagination.  For more of my children's work go to my other blogsite: http://thesowerwentouttosow.blogspot.com/

Fuzzy Moth

Little elephant takes a drink.  

One of the circus acts was an amazing juggling spider.

Cat dropped his fiddle and began to dance

Lonely as the ice broke away from land, only the moon looked  comforting.

Uncle Bob told the absolute funniest stories.

Saloon Town. 

The land was dry except for the Billybong trees.

Mr. Warm and Fuzzy.

Honing Our Art Skills - Following Others

  To learn any new subject, we need to spend time to hone our skills.  We usually are too loose and free or too tight and restricted.  The first usually causes many accidents and the other greatly restricts the capacity that is hidden in the soul.  To hone our skills means that we need to restrict or build up one area of our learning and open up the innate abilities in another part of our being and let them fly.  Artists tend to be unbalanced at first, so it is good to follow others and practice what is learned from them exactly, but at the same time digging deeper in and finding the place where something innate is buried and teaching it to use its wings by the things learned from others.  Without our own wings, our soul never carries us in our artwork.  Without the discipline that comes from learning from others we never really learn to do things well.  Explore, experiment, learn who to follow.

Daisy in Spring Grass
digital