road to heaven?

Ross Conklin is consistently stretching himself for this project, and the results are always impressive. Today's work from Ross is a colored pencil drawing titled, "The Road of Life."

For this piece, Ross refers to Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that lead to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road that lead to life and only a few find it.” You can see all of these things in his modern illustrationof this scripture, including the road to hell that is paved with good intentions.

To underscore that it is each individual's choice, Ross points to Joshua 24:15: “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” He reminds viewers that "we have only one life to live on earth, so be alert!" Finally, Ross underscores the concept of the road to hell that is paved with good intentions instead of accepting Christ with Proverbs 14:12: “There is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it leads to death.”

a real home

The next page I'll share with you from my altered book, "Visions of Heaven," has another Polaroid transfer on it, accompanied by Colossians 3:1. "Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand." This speaks volumes, first of all, that heaven is a reality, and that it is something that we should be looking forward to. I especially like this New Living Translation, which I think emphasizes the tangible qualities of heaven, mush more than a purely spiritual realm.

One of following pages in this altered book, emphasizes a different aspect of heaven, spelled out in the selected letters of the text, h-0-m-e, and illustrated with a Polaroid transfer and my ubiquitous palm motif. The preceding page has a quote from Jesus on it, "Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father's home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." (John 14:1-3) While Jesus does not use the word heaven, by calling it his "Father's home" he is giving the very definition on heaven, that is, God's dwelling place. Wherever God is, that is heaven, and Christ is making the place ready for us - we should get ourselves ready, too!

mystery, excitement, encouragment

Here's another acrylic work from Ross Conklin, titled, "The Coming of the Lord."

"Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are alive and remain shall be changed and caught up together with the Lord in the air. So shall we forever be with Him." This is the main theme for this piece, coming from 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52. Beginning in verse 15 and continuing to verse 58, that chapter speaks extensively of the resurrection of the dead to be with Christ, and of the nature of the resurrection body, different from our current bodies.

Ross illustrates this event, showing the trumpet being blown, and believers joining Christ, above the trumpet blower, in the air. Ross shares his excitement about this event, as with his previous pieces, in his choice of palette; the bright, nearly primary colors making our hearts race just a bit, and we are encouraged, as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18:

"Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words."

Thanks for sharing, Ross!

halleluia

Here's another acrylic work from Ross Conklin; the man has certainly been busy painting.

This piece is titled, "Halleluia," portraying the welcoming committee at the gate of heaven with singing and dancing as the "Saints Go Marching In." Once again relating his visual work to his musical roots, Ross this time finds inspiration in the old Negro spiritual. Ross also says, "Notice the joyful faces welcoming a newcomer at the gate of heaven."

Ross offers scriptural references supporting a big party at heaven's gates first from Isaiah 35:10.
"And the ransomed of the Lord will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

While 1 Corinthians 2:9 has been used to support the concept that we can't envision what heaven will be like, the first part of verse 10 clearly states that we can. In it's entirety, the passage says, "However, as it is written:
'No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him'
but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit."
Ross uses it here to point out that it will likely be even better than we can imagine or possibly depict in our limited capabilities as human artists. Nonetheless, his depiction stirs our imaginations.

Once again, Ross points out that any who ask can be a part of this great celebration by pointing to Revelation 22: 14-17. "'Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches, I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.'
The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him show hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

I'm certainly looking forward to being at that party!

more from ross

This is another piece from acrylic painter Ross Conklin titled, "The New Jerusalem."

For this piece, Ross, who has spent much of his life as a musician as well, draws from the old slavery spiritual, "Goin' to that Beautiful City." He shows us the new Heaven and new Earth coming down from heaven, referred to in Revelation 21, then also refers to Isaiah 12, a song of praise looking forward to the new Jerusalem.

Another reference that Ross uses for this piece is Ecclesiastes 12:5,
"When men are afraid of heights
and of dangers in the streets;
when the almond tree blossoms
and the grasshopper drags himself along
and desire no longer is stirred.
Then man goes to his eternal home
and mourners go about the streets."

Ross points out that believers will be welcomed in the New Jerusalem with 2 Peter 1:11, which says,"And you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."Echoing the sentiment, Ephesians 2:19 says, "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."

Finally, Ross refers to Revelation 22: 14-17, which points out that all who invite Christ into their lives will be invited into the New Jerusalem. "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral,the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.'
The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' Whoever is thirsty, let him come, and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life."

work from ross conklin

Ross Conklin is often one of our more quiet artists, but he certainly doesn't lack anything to say. It seems that Ross carefully considers his words before sharing and the same applies to his artistic expressions as well.

Ross works in acrylic paints, and his control is amazing when you see him write or draw, because you realize that he has tremors in his hands that would deter most people from even attempting such fine motor control. Ross says that he uses both hands to control his paint brushes, and is rewarded with results that many artists without such physical hurdles would be proud of.

This piece is Ross's first Vision of Heaven, which he actually painted before we began this project, titled "Watch and Pray." Ross explains, "For the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect Him. All eyes will see Him. We must come to God as little children. Old things shall pass away and everything will become new. We are redeemed by His blood." He provides several scriptures to support his work, including Isaiah 9:2, which says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." He also sites Isaiah 12, a song of praise to God, and Isaiah 40, which describes how God would release Israel from captivity to Babylon as well as the final days when Christ returns to earth.

Ross seems to almost explain his artistic vision with Daniel 7:13, which says, "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence."

The child figure in the piece is explained by Matthew 18: 1-6, in which Christ speaks of entering into heaven as children and in Matthew 19: 13-14, when Jesus says to allow children to come to him. In Matthew 24 Jesus teaches about the future, his return, and about being watchful, giving overall context; it's also from this scripture that the piece gets its title.

An all too common refrain when Christian concepts are discussed is that it all seems a bit crazy, but Ross points out I Corinthians 2: 14-15, which explains that "the man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment."

The importance of the cross as access to heaven is explained in Colossians 1:20, "And through (Jesus) to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross." And again in Colossians 2:14-15: "Having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

Finally, Ross directs the focus of the whole artwork on the sun, a metaphor for God's son, illustrating Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

something from Eileen Downes

One of our resident collage artists, Eileen Downes, sent a heaven image to me, created in response to her father's death, I believe a few years ago. She says, "It is about talking, visiting, and communing with God in his dwelling place, heaven. Clock imagery is added as a reference to time both eternal and to our time here on earth. Some words and phrases are visible, but most important is the phrase 'to embrace the dream.'"

Eileen pairs the piece, a 13 x 10" collage titled "My Visit With God," with the Biblical reference that God has prepared a place for us in heaven to be with Him. "In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. And I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also will be where I am. You know the way to the place that I am going." John 14: 2-4

The subject of heaven and loved ones that have gone through the door of death form a natural juxaposition. It can also be a great source of comfort for those of left behind. I personally find this piece interesting because I, too, have a piece of artwork that I was working on when my father died, and it became part of my grieving process. In its own way, that piece also references heaven, so maybe I'll post it as well, at some time in the future.

timeline notes

I wanted to explain a bit about my "Timeline of Heaven" piece, just a couple posts below...

The whole concept for the piece came when I was reading Randy Alcorn's "In Light of Eternity," and he was mentioning something about the five stages of heaven. This thought was brand-new for me, and frankly started to trigger some skeptical thinking. I adopted a "where is it written?" attitude to teachings about the Bible a long time ago, and I wasn't going to take Randy's word about five stages of heaven lightly and just keep moving on. So I started to study his references and being a visual person, I decided to draw a time line to help me literally see what he was talking about.

It was pretty amazing to me how the whole thing played out - and though it's not labeled in the Bible, the five stages of heaven concept certainly held up to scrutiny. In fact, Paul actually refers to the "third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, which totally blew my mind, because that's where it fit on my time line.

Briefly, the five stages are as follows, in case you can't read my scribbles on the page above. There are actually more Biblical references than I've noted here, but I've kept it fewer in the interest of keeping my visuals simple.

First: Heaven before the fall of Satan. Satan's fall is found in Isaiah 14:12-15 and Ezekiel 28:12-17.

Second: Heaven in Old Testament times and before Christ died, often referred to as "Paradise" as in Luke 16:22.

Third: Heaven presently, after Christ's resurrection, Christ is currently in Heaven as found in Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Hebrews 9:11, 23-24; Acts 1:11 and Hebrews 8:2.

Fourth: Christ's millennial reign on earth, as depicted in Revelations 19:11-16 and Revelations 20:6-10.

Fifth and eternal: Heaven on earth, called the "New Heavens and the New Earth" in Revelations 20:14-15, Revelations 21 & 22, as well as in Isaiah 65.

Once I got all that down on a time line, it suddenly occurred to me that it would make a great overlay for one of my new earth images, which finally resulted in the finished piece as posted previously.

Of course, that doesn't explain the palm trees along the edges, but that will wait for another day.