The Bible IS NOT JUST ANOTHER BOOK!

I don't think I have mentioned that I am part of a Facebook group called Journaling Bible Community.  It is only 2 months old and has almost 3200 members already!  The beauty of the whole idea is that people are getting interested in their Bibles again.  Some are even buying their first Bible because of the group....AWESOME!!!  I love that!

But...

Occasionally folks will question the act of drawing in a Bible, is it disrespectful?  My take on it is, it HELPS me to meditate on the Word and I LOVE flipping through and catching a glimpse of a picture and I know instantly what is on the page and the scripture repeats in my head. I haven't mentioned the group so far because while I am very careful not to cover any text, and I am illustrating what I read, some other folks are just "doodling" for doodling sake....some are completely covering the text!  I cringe every time I see text covered.  The flower doodlers don't bother me so much because they will get the same benefit of flipping through and getting instant recall...BUT, I really do have a problem with folks covering the text so that you can't read it!!!  EVERY WORD MATTERS!!!

Sorry, back to the occasional threads questioning any form of marking up Bibles.  I have been appalled at some of the responses to the question!  A couple have even said... "It is just a book, just like any book."   WHAT?!!!  My first thought was to disassociate myself from the group, but then I decided better to stay and say what I am thinking ... I guess it would call it being passive aggressive...

This is my new title page of my Bible... posted to the group... not very beautiful but I hope it gets the point across ...

 

The Bible is NOT JUST ANOTHER BOOK!!!

 

1. - It is actually a collection of 66 books
2. - Written by 44 different authors
3. - In 3 different languages
4. - In 3 continents
5. - It took over 1600 years to write and it is still being read and changing lives!!!
6. - It is a love letter from our Father God
7. - It is THE instruction manual for how to live life (yes, life DOES come with instructions!)
8. - It is THE HOLY Bible!!! (all three of those words are significant)

• THE - meaning THE ONLY
• HOLY - sacred, reverent, deserves respect
• Bible - the collection of sacred writings of the Christian religion, comprising the Old and New Testaments. authoritative, the most important book in a given field.

 

NO! NO! NO! The Bible IS NOT JUST ANOTHER BOOK!

Signs of "The End Of The Age" Matthew 24

The TRUE Vine

I usually like to stay away from the soooo obvious, but, sometimes ya just gotta, ya know?

I used ranger distress markers and a regular black ballpoint pen.

Taking My Drawings to My Bible

Hi All!  Long, long time no talk!  Is this really typing in red and underlined???  Weird not sure why or how to fix...I'm using my iPad and things work differently!  Sorry! I will try to fix it when I get back to my PC.

 

Anyway, LOTS has been going on here.  I am making lots of things for a party my niece is planning for her wedding in October.  I have built (am building) a website to sell stuff!   YAY!   And I've made lots of stuff for craft sale season.  Oh! And I joined a Facebook group called Journalling Bible Community, created for folks like me that want to do Bible art...but the difference in what I have done in the past is we are dining it directly into a Bible.  

 

Below are some of the things I have done so far.... I am LOVING my Bible!  It is the EVS single column Journalling Bible so the margins are big enough to play in ...at least 2".

Numbers 13 and 14 - The Hidden Treasures

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That's right, buried in the middle of chapter after of chapter of numbers of men in each tribe and more sacrifices for sin, are some treasures that can be easily passed over while trying to "just get through" the book of Numbers.  It is almost like someone dropped all the pages that Moses wrote and because the pages weren't numbered a few pages explaining their trip out of Egypt got put back in the wrong place... (not really, but kinda!) 

In the middle of Numbers we find out why the Israelites missed out on their "PROMISE" of the land flowing with milk and honey and spent the next 40 years wondering int the desert instead of receiving what God had for them.   GOD'S PLAN for them was to take them right into the promise land...BUT THEY LOST THE PROMISE because of FEAR OF MAN, rather than TRUST IN GOD...that, and they grumbled, yet again, about their circumstances!  

When I first realized all the above I started thinking about all of the promises I may have forfeited because of my fear of man, or circumstances, or complaining about the journey to the promise instead of trusting in and being patient with God!  SCARY!!!  So, I decided right then and there to stop thinking of myself as a grasshopper.  As long as God is on my side, I am NOT A GRASSHOPPER!

A few years ago I was getting prepared to lead a devotional on the subject and decided to read the "whole story"... when suddenly I saw that God views unbelief as CONTEMPT towards him!  LOOK THE WORD UP!!!   Forget, just being afraid!  God sees that as me DESPISING HIM!!!!  YOUCH!

If God makes a promise, TRUST HIM TO BRING YOU THROUGH TO IT!!!  Your ATTITUDE MATTERS!!!
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OH!  And I got a new tool to help keep my text lines straight!  It is called a SliderWriter.  VERY COOL!!!  I do everything in my lap on the sofa so this makes a great "table" and helps me write straight!... a long time desire. I still need to work on spacing between lines but that was my fault...there is a ruler on the right side so I should have been more consistant... but, I wrote the "Contempt" first so I didn't plan very well.... but, I am VERY HAPPY with it so far.

Ten Commandments ... (3)

Today's Ten Commandments

It actually took three tries on this! It wasn't until the third time that I got smart enough to not draw the bottom of the border until the end so that I could continue to draw exactly the right number of lines! DER! And, if I were willing to do it yet again I wouldn't do the right side until i was finished either....thus avoiding the jammed words and maybe some of the gaps. Live and learn.

Moses - (part 1)

This particular challenge is taking me much longer to accomplished than I expected. When I started the plan was to draw one picture on each page of the 52 pages of my Bible Art Journal, one for each week. .... But, how do you do that?!  Everything is a picture for me.  Now, I suspect that will probably change, but, in the meantime, I'm not moving too fast!  

I guess you can probably tell this is about Moses, up through the plagues, or the first 12 chapters of Exodus. It is on 1/2 of a 5.5" x 8.5" page... So this part is actually only about 4.25"x 5.5".

It Takes Practice

So, today i practiced "real" writing with The Ten Commandments....for my "how many ways" challenge.

And I started working on my RAKs....

The front goes pretty quickly, I just don't love doing the back.

Posted via DraftCraft app

NO! They Can't Take That Away From Me!

As usual when I start reading the Bible from the beginning, I can't get past Exodus.  I LOVE EXODUS!  (I think I've said that before)

I've been meditating a lot on the 10 Commandments and how far off we are from it now so I created a Pinterest Board and I think that I'm going to start a "series" on the 10 Commandments.

Challenge: How many ways I can show them? Here is something I did last night: 

Has anyone noticed how upset people are right now about the possibility of the government taking away their guns?  I have...and I find myself just as upset about it....no, I don't own a gun, don't want one, but to be told I can't have it makes me a little crazy.  But, that isn't my point here... my point here is that I wish there were as many people as upset and vocal about the government forcing the 10 Commandments out. That makes me REALLY CRAZY!  I've been thinking about that a lot lately...so my answer to that is to put it everywhere I have control over.... hence the list to the right >>>

Another thing I've decided to do is make A BUNCH of 4 x 4 canvases and pass them out to anyone and everyone...waiters, mailman, store clerk, whoever!  But rather than being "in your face" with it I decided to say something on the front that I think is a "good word" but not controversial... but, I am putting the 10 Commandments on the back as a liner.  Here is my prototype:

I know, kinda sloppy, but I'll do better on the real deal....maybe, I have ordered 384 canvases so I need to be able to make them FAST!

Wondering why the number 384?  :-)  They sell them in packs of 24 and I bought as many as I had to to get the next price break...I'm all about price breaks.

Here is what I ordered from Dick Blick to get the ball rolling....

Item	Item Detail	Price	Qty	Subtotal
07015-1044	DB ECONO CANVS PANEL - 4INX4IN 24/PK	$2.51	16	$40.16
19900-1129	SHARPIE BRUSH MARKER - ASSRTD 12/SET	$15.26	1	$15.26
21383-0089	SHARPIE CHISEL TIP - 8 COLOR SET	$7.05	2	$14.10
21383-2020	SHARPIE CHISEL TIP - BLACK	$.95	12	$11.40

Check out the price of the canvases!  That's a little over 10 cents a piece!  Not a bad price for so many RAKs....and putting the 10 Commandments "out there".

I know, its a bit of overkill on the markers, but I was going for the the price break AND I don't know how many it will take for that many canvases!

Let me know if you want to do something like this and I'll send you the 10 Commandments liner file.

I get the order tomorrow, so excited.

The 10 Commandments... NO, they can't take THAT away from me!

I would LOVE more ideas/help for getting it out there.

Can You Guess What I'm Working On

Posted via DraftCraft app

OF COURSE God Can Use YOU!

Exodus 4:2 "What is that in your hand"?

All Moses had was a STICK!  If God can use an 80 year old man and a STICK, of course He can use YOU!

Case in point:

In May of last year I posted one of my first attempts at drawing what the Lord showed me in the Word... this one:

Well, imagine my SHOCK yesterday when I saw it on Facebook!  One of my friends had shared it from another friend that (I think) got it from a FB site called There Is Power In The Blood Of Jesus .... WHAT?!!.... I knew that it had been "pinned" on Pinterest a lot of times (? not sure how many?) but I just never expected it to just show up like that!  The super cool thing about it is that it has been shared on FB 1012 times!... in less than 2 days from the original upload to that site.  That means that at least that many people have been blessed by something I did, sitting here "just playing" with "what was in MY hand"... over 7 months ago.

No, they don't know me from anybody... there is zero reference to me and my site anywhere (until I commented...but who will actually read that?!)... But you know what, that is a GOOD THING!  It isn't about me!  It is about what GOD can do with a little task HE GAVE ME to do.  AWESOME!!!!  

And, even more awesome is that He let me see it!  WOW!

PS... don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone "stealing" my drawings to make money .... but to bless folks with the digital form? Sure!  Reference back here is the hope. :-)  I've prayed over everything and asked God to protect any recognition that HE wants me to get, so I'm confident that HE has that covered!

Yes, God Can/Will Use Even You

this week I have been in Exodus again. I LOVE EXODUS!!! there is just so much to learn about God and His ways there. Like this....

Think about it. While God was explaining how to build the tabernacle, how to make the priest's clothes, telling Moses that He wanted Aaron and his sons to be those priests.... Aaron was down the mountain BUILDING THE GOLD CALF "god" !!! And then he lied to Moses about it! "I threw the gold into the fire and OUT CAME THIS CALF." !!! LIE!!! But you know God knew all that before he let Moses know he was going to use Aaron.

People feel so guilty and/or unworthy and/or inapt they think there is no way God could/would use them.... BUT GOD....

Hummmmm.... I was thinking that I might use "Perservere" as my word for 2013 but I think that just changed.... This year my word(s) are "BUT GOD..."

Genesis 24-39

I didn't want you to think i had given up on drawing my Bible reading. It is going slower than I wanted but life keeps getting the way. Here is what I have so far for page 2 of 52.

And, last night I finished up my Pinterest Doodle Journal....well, as far as I'm going before I make copies to give to friends for my birthday this Wednesday. I am the world's worst when it comes to other people's birthday so I'm going to start a new tradition of giving them gifts on MY birthday. Not too sure how much they will like that plan but gonna give it a try....better than nothing right???

Anyway, here is another something from it that I did last night.

Just so you know, I am trying to do this post entirely with my iPad from picture taking the above to typing it now...so far there are 3 apps involved....I don't have a clue what it will look like! Fingers crossed.....

You HAVE to READ THE BIBLE COVER TO COVER!

OK, I'm back.... I have really had a hard time acting like "this is just another day".  The election results have about messed me up!  How in the world do I go about thinking and doing like I did before the election???  

YES, I KNOW "God is still in control"

.... But THAT is exactly what unnerves me!  We are about to see God's JUDGEMENT on this nation like never before!  All you have to do is read the Old Testament to know that when a nation  rejects Him and is disobedient THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY!!!  and I'm afraid that 

"we got the king we deserve".

So, with all that in mind, I have a new urgency to get as much of the Word down in my heart as possible!

One of the things that disturbs me a little bit about Pinterest is that lots and lots of people pin the "feel good" scriptures.  On the surface that seems like a great thing.... get that WORD out there!  BUT...thing is, a lot of the time that is all people ever read... the "feel good" scriptures!  So they don't really know God at all, they only know the "Gift Giver" side, not the "correction/judgement" side.  It really amazes me the "church going" people that can quote SOME of the Word but are CLUELESS about what the REST of the Bible says!

YOU HAVE TO READ THE WHOLE BOOK PEOPLE!!!

One of the things I planned to do in 2013 was read the Bible through again, but this time draw as I go.  But, I suddenly feel an urgency to START NOW!  There is no time to waste, I have to get focused!

So, I have created a new journal for myself

I found a 1 year reading plan that says if you read 3 chapters a day and 5 chapters on Sunday you can read the Bible through in a year.  In all honesty, I've never actually been able to "stick with it" doing it that way.  When I go that slow I tend to go into "study" mode instead of "reading" mode.  I know, study is a good thing... but I never get out of Genesis!  I need to read faster if I ever hope to get through cover to cover.... that's why I read my first "week" this weekend.

One thing I MIGHT do though is skip around.... and I can do that with the way I set the journal up.  There are 52 pages (times 2 if you count the blank page) with 23 chapters per page.  I put a column for the date read, on listing the chapters to read in a day then a column to put a sentence about what happened in the chapter. (not enough space!)  

The right side is completely blank... ready for whatever happens.  If I decide to read Luke this week I can, BUT I have to complete at least one "page of chapters" a week and have EVERYTHING done by the end of 2013 (sooner I hope)

Here you go... week one ... can you "read it"?

There is A LOT that happens in Genesis Chapters 1 - 23!!  I have a feeling that there will be some pages that are FULL of pictures, like this one, but other's may just be key scriptures...because not all scriptures bring a picture to mind.  Who knows....we shall see!

John 6:29... BELIEVE

I have been crazy busy the last couple of weeks and haven't been able to doodle anything so today I decided to do a really quick something on the PC.  Even though it is all PC, it is all MY STUFF.... I created both True Type Fonts (MFH Sticks and Stones ...and MFH Chunky Doodle)  AND I also created the fill inside the "Believe" early last year using the software on a site called "ColourLovers.com" ... so it really is "all me".  Just not all today.

Here is what I wrote last year about ColourLovers... I created lots of patterns last year but kinda go bored with it and stopped....


MARCH 2011 I wrote (on my other blog)

You know, there is absolutely no reason to buy any digital background anymore!  There is a way to make it yourself, with just a few clicks, somewhere "out there" on the web...there's a place to make plaid (see yesterday), stripes, and today I found THE background site!  OH MERCY!  I have been there for the last EIGHT HOURS!!! It is www.ColourLovers.com .   WARNING!  Once you get there you may not be able to leave!

There are almost 17,000 patterns already and you can make your own!  The first three below were there already,  I just chose the colors (the pattern determines what will be the same color) and notice, once you color, you name the pattern/color combination

I created the next pattern myself, and colored it twice. Now that I have created the pattern it is out there for anyone else to color.  It took a while to figure out how to create an original pattern and I THINK you are limited to the little clip art (like the daisy shape) that they provide so it looks kind of "cookie cutter" but this is yet another challenge... how to make a pattern like the ones above ....for another day.

Same thing only different

OR...your third option is to just download any already created and colored pattern on the site!  They are there for the taking, FREE!

In Action:

Psalm 56:4

I haven't had any time to doodle lately because I'm trying to scan and re-scan old pictures so I can print them out without my little bee....PAIN!  I want to print them out and make a spiral book out of them...but this is taking FOREVER!  May have to rethink that plan!

While looking through my doodle journals I found this... well, actually, just the top part.  All I did was double that then flip it to make the whole frame...then added the scripture using my MFH Dashes and Dots font.

Matthew 6:30

Just started with the dandelion to see if I could because it really is a bit tricky...How to make it so that it looks like there are seeds facing you  ???  Not sure if I pulled it off ??  This was what I did before I thought of a scripture to use... I love having a frame that needs text, that means the hard work is already done when I need something quick....

 But then I thought about what I could use and decided on Matthew 6: 30 and had to modify the frame a bit:

Proverbs 3: 5-6

I really don't have time to doodle today, and no ink in my printer so today it is 100% PC, sorry....but I wanted to do something with a "Trust" scripture, so....

See why I love my hand doodle fonts?!  Great for "no time today" days :-)

OH!  I mentioned yesterday that I had cut my composition book in half and the plan was to stitch cardstock .... here ya go... nope, not exactly half and half....I measured wrong .... oh well....

I have a heavy duty paper cutter so I was able to cut it myself but I would image that Kinkos would cut it for you.  Actually, I would ask them to cut more than one at a time (stacked) so that you only have to pay for one cut.  They have the kind of cutters that will cut through at least a ream of paper at a time so there shouldn't be a problem.  Heck, my manual cutter went through it like butter so their monster machine would have no problem.