The Lord is my Strength

“The Lord is the strength of his people;
     he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
Oh, save your people and bless your
             heritage!
     Be their shepherd and carry them
             forever.”                (Psalm 28:8-9 ESV)

To whom and for what should I live my life if not the Lord? It is not enough to be moral. Even moral people make mistakes, and who is there to set them back on the right paths and hold them accountable? It is not enough to be happy. All my life I have heard my parents and others say they just want their children to be happy. The pursuit of happiness alone, much like the pursuit of property has proven time and again to be a gateway for selfishness. If I am only worried about my own happiness then why should I care about anyone else’s happiness? To follow this logic we become like children clutching their first toy and shouting, “Mine!” In doing so we cut ourselves off from the blessings of the Father’s love, of community, and of family. If we want to be one nation under God we must consider our purpose. Are we only interested in ourselves, or are we willing to listen one another? Are we only willing to listen to those who tell us what we want to hear, or are we willing to listen to God? I have a dream these words would be written on the heart of our American nation.

“Blessed be the Lord!
    for he has heard the voice of my pleas
           for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
    in Him my heart trusts, and I am
           helped;
my heart exults,
    and with my song I give thanks to
           him.”         (Psalm 28:6-7 ESV)

Is Your Dream Big Enough?

Picture it! August 1963, Washington, D.C. standing atop the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Dr. Martin Luther King Jr proclaimed he had a dream. King's dream was to see the liberty promised in the Declaration of Independence, and the freedoms prescribed in the Emancipation Proclamation paid in full to the African Americans who were still being persecuted in the United States in the 60's. King wanted to see his four children able to play with any other children regardless of of any race, creed or color. When you think about the challenges African American's faced at that time those were impressive dreams. As I consider those dreams I wonder about my dreams for America today.Americans have been gifted by our forefathers with so many protections of liberty in the U.S. Constitution. What do we do with those freedoms?

I've been rereading Psalm 24 and while wondering about the freedoms we possess considering our dreams for this nation and specifically for the Body of Christ. King David refers talks about the kinds of people who will enter the kingdom of heaven in Psalm 24. Who will enter the Kingdom is important because it begs the question who is worthy. David explains it this way.

4(F) He who has(G) clean hands and(H) a pure heart,
   who does not(I) lift up his soul to(J) what is false
   and does not swear deceitfully.
5He will receive(K) blessing from the LORD
   and(L) righteousness from(M) the God of his salvation.
6Such is(N) the generation of those who seek him,
   who(O) seek the face of the God of Jacob.[b]
                                                                                  Selah

My dream for America is we would become the generation David is talking about in Psalm 24. In no other nation in the world do we have the freedom to worship, the freedom to serve our fellow man, the freedom to share our faith with someone we meet in Starbucks, or Bojangles without fear of punishment from the government. Too many people abuse the freedoms we have in this great country. My dream is that the Body of Christ would dust off their swords and use their freedom to share the love of Christ with everyone they meet.

Let's face it. A wood burning, 

steam powered robot with a jack hammer for an arm 

is pretty cool.

The Mouse Captain

Mouse Captain 
                                       of the Under Sea
I decided to let loose a little more with this one, and to let go of a lot of the predrawn detail. I like this one better than the others because it's simpler, and still communicates very clearly. Plus I thought it would be interesting to draw a mouse missing the lower part of its leg and replaced with a fish hook instead of a peg leg. The whole mouse thing appeals to me because a couple of months ago I watched "The Secret of NIMH" again, and I'm convinced Don Bluth is a genius when it comes to characterization. His characters are easy on the detail, and communicate really awesome emotions. It's really great.