August is a yellow month, it seems, in native flowering plants and it is a great color, as with this water lily. I always think of yellow as representing the Glory of God when I am doing my praying / finger painting. I find the combination of prayer with the created visual image really connects me to God in a deep way. There is something about releasing our creativity which opens us up to communicating with God in a freer way.

August is also a great month to Kayak and we keep ours at a local state park for the season. The underwater plants are often hidden below the surface by the flashing reflections of the sun. It reminds me of how important it is to be real about our relationship with Jesus and not put people off when we talk about Him. I spoke at a gathering in our village after several people had been baptized by a local pastor in his swimming pool about how important it is the first time someone hears about Jesus. The ‘law of the first mention’, underscores how important it is the first time something is mentioned in scripture to compare following occurrences with the initial one. Hence when we talk to people about Jesus it has to be done with love whatever the situation. So often it seems that people use the scriptures as a tool for condemnation, rather than a message of God’s love backed up with their own. How the story of Jesus is told is so important, it can turn someone away for ever or open a door to a new life.

We had the opportunity to visit a local college’s art museum recently and found ourselves leaving really quickly. A lot of the material on show was literally demonic and focused on the demonic. One of the less offensive pieces was a German video we saw last year at the Venice Biennale. As we are involved with the arts and minister through them we find it very destructive when the arts are purposely being used for the demonic. However, the fact that this is happening in a respected college, which is educating the next generation of intellects, is a time bomb for our culture. This appears to now be the norm.

Christine is excited to be hearing from God ‘to help alleviate the suffering of the very young children in our village’. A good parenting class could help both the parents and the children so we are starting to see who is working in this arena already and how Kingdom Arts Ministry can help create opportunities for young families. There are many very young adults with children and there is also a heroin problem among the youth, so caring for the small children will be very important over the next few years.

I have the good news that as I continue to pray for the monk who lost the left side of his body through a stroke, God blessed us by moving his toes in our last session.

So much goes on, not least of all great tomatoes being grown in our garden by Christine and the Artist dinner is still active even through the heat of August.

Please pray for us for wisdom and direction and let us know how we can pray for you. How to light a fire and keep it burning- even in the water.

“We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers” Thessalonians 1:2

Blessings and love,

Michael and Christine

Mick’s Website    Christine’s Icon website   Christine’s paintings