Artists Are Weird

Artist tend to be weird. So do musicians and writers. Eccentric, peculiar, strange. If a man plays death metal, he has to be insane. If a woman writes horror, she'd screwed in the head. If they paint alien landscapes, they are warped. You know how it is. The art reflects the heart. And to some extent I think that's true. Is Stephen King okay in the membrane? Was H.R. Giger normal? Surely the guys in Canibal Corpse are disturbed. Whatever is inside the soul makes its way out through the pen, the paint brush, the voice.
But I'm not complaining.
Let us look at some modern art, shall we? Weird modern art that you make you gape in wonder or shrivel in terror:

Zdzislaw Beksinski was a Polish painter. Was because he got stabbed 17 times in 2005 by the teenaged son of his friend. What a way to go at 75! He left behind a large body of work, none of which could be sold as wall décor at Walmart:

I think he waited to long for the groundhog.

Joel Osteen's new church.

Dr. Manhattan?

This gravedigger did a half-cocked job. Bum. This last piece was used as an album cover for metal band Antestor. I can't explain all the fingers:

Speaking of metal bands, Dan Seagrave does plenty of album covers for the death metal genre. From Morbid Angel to Demon Hunter, he is in demand. He lives in Canada, but grew up in England. He hasn't been stabbed yet, but maybe he'd paint it for you:

That's the Demon Hunter logo in the center. The Crystal Cathedral?

A bad experience in a McDonald's bathroom.

Cool.

 

Krypton on crack?

 

 

 

Isn't this an R.E.M. song? Shiny Happy People? Dan is a self-taught artist, which means he is awesome. I wish I was half as good!

Lastly, Marc Cooper of Mind Rape Art paints some whacked-out stuff. Nightmare-induced landscapes and abysmal humanoids populate his art. Go and see:

What the hell is that? What was going on inside his head? Now look at this:

That is the cover to Rings Of Saturn second album. Death metal bands have the best album covers. Imagine if Lionel Richie had a cover like this:

Oh, what a feelin', when we're dancin' on the ceiling! Can you see it?

Maybe Barry Manilow  will use this one. I'm amazed at this guy's art. Sure it's weird, but wow, he's good! There are countless more pieces, but this blog may never load if I jam it up with too many images.

So there you have it: Art by apparently disturbed members of our society. However, these guys aren't eccentric in person. They seem to be normal. Beksinski was said to be pleasant with a sense of humor. But, is art a window into the heart? If so, what's in that window?

 

Christians Who Failed

Every Christian screws up. None of them are perfect, even if some think they are. But when a big-name Christian falls, it really hurts the church. Christians look bad, look like hypocrites, and their message loses its power. It causes scandal, which some drink up like fine wine. Let us look at a few modern brothers who really messed it up.

Tim Lambesis

 

 

This guy was the vocalist to metal band As I Lay Dying. These guys rocked, man. Ever heard "Nothing Left"? Go listen to it now. They were a Christian band at one point and did pretty well for themselves. But Tim fell away from the faith, got into bodybuilding and steroids, listened to godless philosophy, had an affair, and finally tried to hire a guy to murder his wife. Fortunately it didn't happen, as the killer-for-hire was an undercover officer.

 

Tim had it goin' on until he got self-absorbed and had the bright idea to off his estranged wife. Now he's in prison and probably won't ever see his three adopted children again. His bandmates went on to form another band, Wovenwar. Hopefully Tim is using his time now to repent and return to his Lord.

Ted Haggard

 

 

Pastor of New Life Church in Colorado, Ted looked like a fine man with a fine family and fine ministry. Big church, big pay, big-selling books, big speaker. He had great ideas for ministry, too. The typical "he's got it all going on" thing. He did indeed have it all going on, with a guy named Mike Jones in a hotel room! Oops! Sorry, Gayle, I just couldn't keep my hands off that hairy man. This while preaching against gay marriage.

 

 



 

Ted lost his church, but not his wife. Miraculously, she stayed. She took her vow seriously. They  started a new church in their barn, and have since moved to a bigger, nicer smelling place. Ted said he has repented, but only God knows for sure. I hope so.

 

 

Bob Coy

 

 

Pastor of mega-mega church Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale, Bob really brought 'em in. Scores of people got saved there every week. A huge campus was built. Radio ministry. T.V. show. Popularity.  And all the while cheating on his wife. It's not widely known just how long he was having affairs, but it sounds like years.

 

And he was teaching the Bible! Effectively! At multiple show times! I mean services. How did he do it? You would think he would feel guilty and not be able to pastor effectively, but such was not the case. He did seem full of himself though, having gone there myself for a few years. He would dialogue with himself, which was pretty entertaining. Hence the big crowds. (I'm not sure church and entertainment are supposed to go together. . .)
I don't know what's going on with Bob right now. I hear he is living apart from his wife and getting some counseling. All hush-hush, I guess. Nothing wrong with privacy.

All three of these men had the same problem: They took their eyes off their Lord. They focused on themselves, and fell hard. It can happen to anyone. You. Me. The pastor. The president. Don't judge too harshly; you could be next. Sin strikes anytime it can. But thankfully the price has been paid:

God is in the business of redemption. That's what He does. He can heal anybody, He can save anybody. And he can restore a penitent man.
He loves to do that.

 

 

 





Will You Believe The Lie?

Many people believe we are living in the last days. They point to nuclear proliferation, terrorism, rampant immorality, economic chaos, pandemic diseases, and Lady Gaga as examples. "How much longer can we last as a species?" they ask. Good question that no one has the answer to.

But a sign of the end, at least in Biblical terms, is a great deception that many people will willingly believe. Read 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. This is the "man of sin" passage. After Paul describes this man, he goes on to say that his appearing will be accompanied by counterfeit miracles, signs, and wonders. We saw before how Satan can reproduce God's miracles to a certain degree. These lying wonders are meant to deceive those "who are perishing". Here are the next few verses:
  "They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."

Simply put, God will send a delusion to people who want to believe the delusion. He will give them what they want. They will refuse the truth, and choose to believe this lie even if it damns them.
But what is this "lie"?
Paul does not say what it is, so I will speculate based on what I see going on in the world.

• Alien take-over
• Atheism
• Ecumenical religion

There's that alien thing again! It keeps popping up. The belief that aliens are responsible for major shifts in our history is growing. As is the general belief in UFOs and abductions. Are we getting prepared for something big? Possibly the "lie" will be a global belief in aliens after some kind of disclosure or even an "appearing".

"Jesus was one of us". "It was us who parted the Red Sea". "Where do you think your technology came from?" People will believe them and worship them. That great question will finally be answered!
"Where do we come from?"
From E.T.!

Number 2: Atheism. This philosophy is spreading like wildfire. Just go on the Internet and you will see some serious negativity directed toward religion, especially Christianity. Atheist scientists like to point out how our universe didn't need a designer or a beginner, thus eliminating God from the picture. They try to evangelize the masses with their message, but the big problem they have is that people want to believe in God. Atheism looks to be trying to turn itself into a religion, which may help it's cause, since it gives a person something to believe in. Even if it's nothing.

As we unlock more and more mysteries of the created order, we may find we don't need God anymore. This is the atheist's greatest weapon.

Number 3: Ecumenism. This is the syncretizing of all religions. "All roads lead to God." If someone could fuse together the great religions of the world we would all be better off. There is a huge movement for this, especially from the Vatican.

Yeah, I know it's not the current Pope but it's a cool pose. I bring him up because they're an easy target. His followers won't blow me up. (I'm glad Catholics have a sense of humor!) But really, the coming of the man of sin, who sets himself up as God, is in accordance with counterfeit miracles and the delusion that follows. Perhaps Paul was referring to the coming Papacy and all the miracles that flowed from Catholicism (stigmata, saints performing miracles, etc.). Maybe the alien disclosure will come from the Vatican! Supposedly they have been preparing for their arrival for years.

Ken Ham believes "The Lie" is a great book title. I mean, he believes "the lie" is evolution. I don't think evolution is going to make people abandon God, since a lot of folk just combine the two. Sorry, Ken, but you can believe in both and still go to Heaven!

So what does that leave us with? What lie could deceive the whole world? How about this: The lie that God isn't watching. That He's impotent, aloof, uncaring. We all believe this already. We behave as if He isn't there, as if He isn't keeping an account. And that is the biggest deception of all, for we go on building our lives on sand without any concern that a storm may come and blow us all away. We are constructing a new Tower of Babel while shoving God out of the way so we can deify ourselves. In effect, we are saying "We don't need you anymore."