Keni

All sAints in Pasaden.

If you want better results when telling people about Jesus, try using current events, popular regional locations, and other examples that the person your are talking to can relate to. When Jesus spoke to people during the time He ministered here on earth, He often used examples of farming or fishing or the temple; things people were familiar with.

When I was painting this scene, a man who seemed to be in a big hurry asked me where a certain address was. I wasn’t exactly sure, but I told him that I thought it was one direction. He decided to go the other direction. However, before he jetted away, I handed him a ‘Talent Search‘. I watched as he scurried down the street flipping through the TS.

A few minutes after he diapered around the corner, he came rushing back toward the direction I had suggested. As he passed me, he waved the TS in the air. Smiling, he said, “Thanks, I’m an actor!”

Why was that meaningful? First, here in Southern California is Tinseltown… Hollywood. Secondly, the theme of Talent Search is all about Hollywood, but told from the perspective of the scriptures.

So if you live in Detroit, talk about the Bible from the vantage point of automobiles; in Seattle, coffee; in Florida, gators   Whatever your environment, God can use it to reach people around you.

For purchase info. of artwork, use the ‘Contact’ link.

“What is your talent? Do you believe it came from God? What is your purpose in life?”

Those are some of the questions I asked onlookers who stopped to watch me paint here at California African American Museum.

No, I wasn’t there to interrogate people.  First we chat, usually about my art, but I quickly turn the focus to their passion or hobby. Continue Reading →

The lady pushing the stroller  said that she attends a mosque. I asked her what she knew of Christianity. She said that she respected all religions and went on to say that she was a Christian on some days, a Muslim on others, a Buddhist on others…that they are all the same and all lead to God. Is that so? Continue Reading →

One very interesting aspect of walking by faith is that you can never be absolutely sure you’re doing what you believe God is telling you to do while you’re doing it; otherwise, it would not be by faith. Usually it’s hindsight that will confirm or contradict your actions.

I did this painting during one of my JEPA Workshops. The building is the Natural History Museum in Exposition Park, Los Angeles. It was painted from the beautiful Rose Garden.

In September of 2001, I was in Detroit, Michigan working on the movie, 8 Mile. Whenever I had the weekend off, I would go into the community and paint. This area was once populated by the wealthy whites living in their stately mansions. However, riots ripped through the city in 1967 and many of the homes were destroyed or burned. Some 24 years later, the city had not yet removed the eyesores even though the area is spotted with structures which had been purchased and restored by blacks now living in this war-zone looking area. Continue Reading →

Mountain Miraculous

Soon after I turned onto Chaney Trail, I was stopped by a roadblock. The sign above and to the right said that the road was closed to traffic due to the recent fires. Several months ago, a fire roared across the San Gabriel mountains and scorched the top two-thirds of the landscape. I remember watching it from my front porch at night. The fire, known as the Station Fire, was like an enormous torch being handed off from one hill to the next as it sprinted west to east. Continue Reading →

God has all the answers. The more I talk to people on the streets, the more I learn that He has put a bunch of those answers in other people. Such was the case with Joel (not real name), who I met Monday afternoon. Continue Reading →

Sometimes it’s good to get away from the city to a quiet place. I stopped on the side of the road on my way to a desert place to paint this wind farm. I became aware that much power can be generated without a lot of noise. I thought back on times when I saw men standing on street corners (usually in downtown Los Angeles near skid row) belting out warnings of doom and damnation coming to those who rejected Jesus. Continue Reading →

Is God calling you to take the gospel to the nations? You’ve probably heard the admonition to start in your own back yard (neighborhood). That’s not only scriptural (see Acts 1:8), but it is practical. Continue Reading →

Los Angeles is a city of hidden identities. Actors take on names to support their oversized egos as middle aged moms take on figures and faces to mimic their favorite supermodel heroines. Los Angeles is not alone in its efforts to mask something unsavory on the inside with something glitzy on the outside. Continue Reading →