The End of Joy is Grief
Posted by Troy | Filed under Faith
Illustration by Troy DeShano
Proverbs 14:13 - even in laughter, the heart is sad. and the end of joy is grief
At your family table this week there is one member who will eventually see all the others dead.
Not something we really like to think about, but deep inside we all know it is true.
The end of all joy is grief.
I’ve heard that we’re an accident
and when we’re dead we’re gone
If that’s true then what’s the point of living at all?
Meaningless, it’s all meaningless
King Solomon said that
We hang on to life for dear life
Horcruxes and all
But if death just might be something more
Then I may not have to fear it
and life is something too
So I live like I’m dyin
instead of tryin to defeat it
That’s been done
Death ain’t my master
it’s the next great adventure
Dumbledore said that
*Majority of this post inspired by and/or plagiarized from Tim Keller’s sermon “The Wounded Spirit” — except the illustration is stolen from Norm Rockwell of course.
Tags: bible, death, original illustration
It is Finished
Posted by Troy | Filed under Art/Design, Faith
Design by Jim LePage
Abaout a year ago I interviewed and featured Jim LePage and his Word Designs project – his unique and modern illustrated poster series of the 66 books of the Bible. Since then we’ve become pretty great friends (what’s the “guy love” equivalent of online dating?)
Today he posted the very last of his series of 91 total prints.
Please take time to see the entire series on his site and if you do not own one of these for your home (or the entire set for your church) then today is a great day to remedy that problem. Check the Revelation post to see how to take advantage of a sale going on right now – or how to win a free print of your own.
Proud of you Jim for sticking to it man.
Tags: bible, design, Jim LePage, Word Designs
Elisha the Troubled Superhero
Posted by Troy | Filed under Bible Study, Work
Illustration by Troy DeShano
I’m not sure what happened in Elisha’s life that lead to his role as possibly the most troubled of prophets.
Maybe it was abusive parents or no parents at all.. maybe that’s how he ended up with his master Elijah in the first place.
Maybe he grew up devoted to religion and watched his family exploited because of their commitment to Yahweh..
Perhaps he just grew sick and tired of witnessing Elijah working so hard to turn back the kings to God.. only to be consistently threatened and exiled.
Elisha’s not going to waste his time casting his proverbial pearls before swine… so he’s quick to send man-eating bears and hurl lightning bolts on any approaching mobs.
Tags: bible, elisha, original illustration
I Swore I’d Never Be
Posted by Troy | Filed under Bible Study
Illustration by Troy DeShano
What’s the one thing you swore you’d never become?
Your mother?
“The Man?”
A corporate cog?
overprotective parent?
a fundamentalist? immutable?
deadbeat?
a leech?
an a-hole?
a Republican?
Well… how are you doing with that? From what I can tell many, many people swear in their youth that they’ll never be this-or-that… usually related to the negative character traits they see in their parents or harmful personal experiences they’ve had at the hands of another.
Tags: original illustration, snake
The Real Tragedy of the World Trade Center
Posted by Troy | Filed under Culture, Faith, Thoughts
Illustration by Troy DeSahno
Sometimes even a poorly delivered message is still one worth hearing, and I wonder if the the saddest thing about the whole tragedy is that we didn’t get the message.
We like to think of ours as a nation made strong through the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness, but in reality we’re strong because of our unscathed ability to exploit, oppress, capitalize and conquer—all the while repressing any hint of remorse that might ever creep in (which I’m sure is slowly creating a collective psychological condition that will catch up with us when our nation hits mid-life). Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: 911, Faith, Islam, nationalism, New York, original illustration
If You Don’t Have It, Borrow It
Posted by Troy | Filed under Faith
Illustration by Troy DeShano
I was listening to Rob Bell speak today and I heard him say “If you don’t have it, borrow it from someone who does.”
So what are you lacking today?
hope? peace? guts? positivity? gumption? ideas? energy? vision? will power? patience? gratitude? perspective? compassion?
or maybe you just need a hand…
Find someone who’s got it and borrow.
Even if it is just standing next to her for a few minutes… you should be able to borrow enough in that time to get you through the day, and eventually you’ll get a great chance to loan some of whatever it is that you do have to someone else who needs it.
Tags: Faith, original illustration, rob bell
Eglon the Slightly Overweight
Posted by Troy | Filed under Bible Study, Culture, Humor
Illustration by Troy DeShano
Judges chapter three (in the Old Testament) specifically tells us that Eglon, King of Moab was “grossly fat.”
But in verse 20 of the chapter Eglon stands up.
He stands up?
Guess by good ol’ U.S. of A. standards he’d be described as “average” or “a little overweight.”
No “grossly fat” man in this great nation of ours would be able to stand up in the time it took Ehud to snatch the dagger from his right thigh with his left hand and plunge it permanently into Ehud’s belly.
Tags: bible, Judges, original illustration, strong odors
Creation and the Cross
Posted by Troy | Filed under Faith
Illustration by Troy DeShano
Chances are that you won’t hear any mention of Earth Day at Good Friday service this afternoon. Unless of course your minister is the type that loves sarcasm and a collective eye-roll from the congregation.
I’ll spare you, my fine readers another rant about how evangelicals’ disdain for anything remotely reeking of environmentalism has little to do with theology, but is rather one more manifestation of political partisan baby-with-the-bathwater tossing.
Ok, so maybe I couldn’t quite spare you the entire rant—I tried, honestly…
Along with the tendency for evangelicals to religiously align with their favorite pundit is an unfortunate doctrine that has permeated Christianity for ages—that the physical universe is intrinsically evil and therefore shall all be destroyed in the end to make way for a strictly spiritual existence.
Tags: cross, Earth Day, environment, Good Friday, gospel, original illustration
Crash into the Anvil
Posted by Troy | Filed under Faith
illustration by Jeff Gill
A friend linked to this post tonight and it really seriously affected me.
A big part of why my illustrated autobiography got stuck for a six months is that I did not know how to write about my stillborn son. His name was Teifion Llewelyn Rhys Gill. Teifion is an uncommon Welsh name that means anvil. He died a couple days before his birthday. Please continue reading…
(via Jim LePage)
Publisher Describes Love Wins Aftermath
Posted by Troy | Filed under Faith
This promotional video released this week and folks are coming out of the woodworks to shout “heretic!”
People love to pick on Rob for sure… I guess you can’t really blame them. Many of my friends have already shared links to articles around the interwebs sharing this vid and making claims like “At least now we know what Rob Bell thinks about hell.”
Really??
You know what he believes from that video?
Because to me it seems like a magical bit of marketing where he goes out of his way to say nothing at all… he asks provocative questions and the most conservative of critics everywhere think they’ve finally got the proof they need that Rob Bell is a false teacher that should be offically branded as “unorthodox” and believers everywhere should watch their babies, watch their husbands, ’cause he’s false teachin everybody up in here.
But honestly the biggest problem I have with the reaction is not misinterpreting such an ambiguous video, but that everyone is criticizing a book that they have not read. It hasn’t even been released yet!
Oh man, that makes me mad.
What do you think?
