Friendship!

Hello all! I was a little bored today so I started making some fun

ALIVE advertisements/posters for classes or ministries in the making :)

Enjoy!

-ALIVE

the anointing

hey friends!

so we just finished another ALIVE gathering :)

always an adventure.

i am blessed by this team.

austin and i worked on a new human video for awhile...

and then worked with the team to get it going.

its not finished...

:)

but it will be soon!

it feels really good to be making stuff again.

to just trust God to show up and create through us.

i was just reading a blog post by Pastor Steven Furtick.

and i love it...

read it here

he talks about the anointing.

if you don't know what that means...

here's what he says in the post - 

When I say anointing, I’m talking about the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit.

and the difference between doing something you're anointed to do and doing something you're just really good at.

one impresses people.

one impacts people's eternity.

when we were up at Trout Lake Camp recently the speaker Brian Sumner (really legit guy with a really legit story - you can google him...and watch his I Am Second video...good stuff)

also talked about the Holy Spirit and His anointing.

and i just couldn't even handle it...it was so powerful and i just pray pray pray that people were paying attention.

he talked about how we need to be doing what we're anointed to do.

he said he skates because that's what he's anointed to do.

he doesn't paint or sing because that's not what he's anointed to do.

God didn't call him to those things, He didn't move the Spirit to do those things through him.

and so he skates.

that is his ministry.  that's what God's calling him to do.

and that's where God moves through him.

what is your calling?

what are you anointed to do?

what does God want to use you for?

how do you know?

there is only one way.

get to know God.

ask Him.

listen to Him.

do what He asks you to do, change what He asks you to change, get rid of what He asks you to.

and then follow.

Brian also said this - 

if i'm anointed to skate and called to skate...

but i never get on a skateboard.

am i really a professional skateboarder?

or am i a poser?

if i'm called to be creative, if i'm anointed to create and share God's word

but i never actually do it...

am i living out God's calling?

am i actually a follower of Jesus?

or am i just pretending to be...

God doesn't call us to look good.

He doesn't anoint us so we can do cool things for ourselves.

He calls us because He's got a kingdom to further, relationships to build and lives to save.

so what are we doing?

-ALIVE

chase that...

loving these lyrics today..........

all I wanted was the money and the fame 

and the new somebody on my arm when I walk inside the room 

all I wanted was doomed, 

the same kind Alexander the great felt 

when the earth ran out of room 

he conquered all he could 

but yet he still was consumed by this never-ending quest for glory 

he couldn't fuel

  chasing glory I shouldn't own,

 stead of living to make His name known 

I'm running after His throne. 

 I'll never be who I used to desperately want to be, 

I'm too worried bout the Lord getting credit instead of me

you could have the money, 

and you could have the fame. 

but me I want the glory, 

I'm living for the name 

 I'm living for the kingdom

I was chasing my goals and every time I caught em they multiplied into more

 I never even thought about whether the Lord approved 

call it selfish ambition 

I call it "I'm making moves" 

but history repeats itself,

 evil's what it is 

cause lucifer was cast away for doing what I did

 created by the God that spoke the earth into existence 

instead of chasing the Father's glory he was chasing his 

he lies to us all, 

told Adam he could ball "why you following God when you can go get it all?" 

now there's a statement to think about.

gives living for ourselves, even in small ways, a little different perspective.

satan was cast out of heaven because he wanted glory.

he thought he deserved it

he wanted to be where God is.

but that wasn't his place.

so he was cast out.

do we ever feel a little frustrated when we don't get the glory?

when people don't give us the credit?

or do we ever do something for God... but if we don't get people's approval, we get distracted? 

I tell you what's better, or better yet worse. 

chasing your own glory while doing the Lord's work, 

so holla if it hurts, 

but we were made for greater 

our greatest satisfaction is making His name famous 

so if we're never named among the greatest, 

they don't critically acclaim us, 

ain't nothing to be ashamed of 

we gave it up for the savior! 

- Lecrae, "Chase That"

-ALIVE

When you're down to nothing, God's up to something...

So this semester I am in a drawing level two class at my school, our latest assignment was a wall drawing (4ft x 6ft) on the topic of Identity. Thought I'd share what I came up with for this assignment! Here is my artist statement on the piece:

One’s past, present, and future actions, beliefs, and experiences are all part of their identity. Some believe that what makes up one’s identity would mainly be their life experiences, and how different events shape them as a person, others would argue it has to do with family, and the list goes on. However, all of these things contribute to the idea of identity, when I think of the word identity I first think of one’s physical identity. If I were to identify someone, I would say his or her body type, race, eye color, hair color, etc. The thought that no two people on this planet – even twins – look exactly alike is astonishing to me. We all have two arms, two eyes, two legs, a nose, and a mouth; but yours are unique to only you. Some would say that the fact that no two people go through the same life experiences is amazing, which is true. But the combination and number of different experiences someone can go through is endless. No one is born with five arms, an extra eye, or without a belly button, we all have the same physical traits; but there are over six billion people on the planet, all who look different, and that is fascinating. My work is focused on the human body, and face, concentrating on physical identity and how it can define someone, and also give us insight to their personal, and emotional identity. While still focusing on physical identity, I incorporated parts of my own identity within my work. My experiences with my faith, friends, and family, have greatly affected me, and my own personal identity. The smoky imagery seem throughout the piece was done very purposefully; my oldest brother once had an extreme drug addiction that drastically affected my life, and how I view drug abuse. What happened with him is a huge part of who I am, this part of me is also seen with the smoke coming out of the mouth of the small portrait in the middle of the piece. This is just one example of many on how my work also focuses on my personal identity, including my portrait located in the center of the piece.

This was my first day of working, took about an hour and a half...

Finished Product!

And here are some details of the piece...

And after this massive project, our teacher gave us a break for a week! So it was nice to not have to worry about doing any homework after taking on such a Huge project!

Today in class we got to work with COLOR!!! So much friendship, haven't been able to do

a drawing assignment in color yet since I've been in college!

So... our teacher let us just kind of play with our pastels.

I like oils... Deys nice :)

And then its time for some complementary color still life studies!!! YAY!

not really..

But what's this the teacher is saying? "Try to come up with interesting line work, and different ways of mark-making!"

Processing...

Interesting mark making = scribbles.

TEAM

Had a good time in class today, listening to worship music and just drawing loving God and loving life. Then went on Facebook quick and saw a status update that I loved...

"When you're down to nothing, God's up to something..."

Such a true and comforting statement. He's got a plan, and its bigger and better than anything we could dream of!

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."

1 Corinthians 2:9

Thanks for reading, everyone! I'm out!

-Austin

-ALIVE

a new idea...

one of our members sent me this video.

she thinks this should be our next project as a team.

(watch here)

sounds like a valid suggestion to me.

maybe we'll start next week...

i'll need a little time to learn it first.

:)

-ALIVE