Remember drawing and painting for your parents when you were growing up? I do. My parents' excitement about something I'd created built my confidence. It's the same kind of confidence God builds in us when we are faithful to introduce others to Him. Like you, I do evangelism using creative methods like we suggest in On Mission. But, as an artist, I have unique abilities I use to draw people to Christ's light.
I learned about the amazing relationship of light to art while a student of Dr. Lowell Vann at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. One day he created a chalk drawing for our class. Then he turned off the overhead lights and slowly dimmed spotlights onto the drawing that illuminated images and colors that we had not seen before. It was definitely a wow moment for me to see how light can change your focus.
Our lives are much more complex than a drawing or painting, and yet, I believe our lives are our canvases, if you will. Each of us is given a palette full of vibrant colors that are the unique gifts and abilities given to us by God, the ultimate Creator and Artist. But it's how we choose to let His light shine through us that determines what others see in our lives. Ephesians 2:10 says: For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (NLT).
God has given me a second canvas as design editor for On Mission. Within our pages I attempt to illuminate the stories by using a light that goes beyond natural comprehension. Like Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light, I find myself guided--inspired--to use the palette of abilities God has given me. My vision is to bring visual understanding to sometimes complex communication. Kinkade believes art has the power to touch people's hearts and change their lives. He says: "My consistent goal has been to create inviting worlds that draw people into their depths and encourage them to seek a better, brighter, more hopeful existence."
You'll find Kinkade's work on our cover and also illustrating "Inside the Lighthouse," a short story by Nate Adams beginning on page 18.
My prayer for the pages of On Mission is that the art, the photos, the design, the entire presentation will provide a new light, a new focus on how you can share Christ with the people around you. It's just like revealing new colors in your palette to make a masterpiece that God has designed. God has positioned me for the unique task I was called to do, and He also has positioned you to touch people's lives. In the same way that most artists will go to the trouble of stretching a canvas before they paint, we need to make ourselves available to God to be stretched.
We truly are His works of art.
Missy Greenoe, Design Editormgreenoe@namb.net