You may have to wait a while for the gallery you have chosen to load up. Once the paintings appear on your screen you can click on any image you can see and it will come to the middle, or, you can use the scroll bar below the images. Then, you can click on the central image and it will enlarge. Scroll down to see the description. Click on it again to reduce it.
Just click the central image to enlarge it and then right click on the image and "Save Image As..."
![<br><i><b>Acrylic 18” x 24” - Revelation 6:1-7; Daniel 7</b></i><br>This image was commissioned to portray a particular interpretation of the end times. The main figures were based on Pat Marchenko Smith's painting of the same title. <a href="http://www.revelationillustrated.com/shop/image08.asp" target="_self">[View Pat's page and image here.]</a> The four horses with their riders are from the book of Revelation and represent kingdoms of power in the end time that will rise up and have their dominion. Behind each rider is an animal image that corresponds from the Book of Daniel. Both Daniel and Revelation describe the emergence of three kingdoms that will rule and will then be displaced of subdued by the fourth kingdom which will be different from the rest. <br>
The white, red and black horses with their riders identify three current world kingdoms. The first is the conqueror with a bow and a crown. The animal from Daniel behind it is the Lion with wings of an eagle. This suggests something noble but extremely powerful and ultimately bent on conquest. The red horse with its warrior rider and huge sword causes there to be no peace between people. The animal image behind is a bear that is attacking. Similar to the white horse, its purpose is clearly to wield power. The black horse carries a rider whose kingdom causes famine. In the hands of the rider is a set of scales with the symbols of oil and wine indicating the control of the markets. Behind it is a leopard representing cunning and agility. The final horse is sometimes called the pale horse. The word for pale actually comes from the same root as Chlorophyll. It literally means green. The rider is named Death with Hades following right behind. The animal imagery behind it is reminiscent of a huge reptilian creature. Daniel says that it is terrifying and very powerful and that it is not like the other kingdoms. This suggests a kingdom that is not so much geo-political as it might be an economic union or a coming together of world powers around something like the environment [green].](fileadmin/Paintings_for_web/Four_Horsemen.jpg "Four Horsemen")
![<br><i><b>Acrylic 36” x 48” - Isaiah 40:27-31; Hebrews 12:7-13</b></i><br>
This is from my own experience as a pastor, although it can be anyone’s experience who follows Christ. There will always come a time of breaking or crushing. No one likes it at the time nor even understands it, but we are told that maturing comes through these times. I guess it’s like a seed that has to die first and be dried out before it can grow. My story involves upheaval in the church, having to leave, and loosing any sense of worth in God’s eyes. The image shows a church in the city burning down. The upheaval is the dirty smoke. The person in the foreground looks as though they feel responsible for it all, crushed and even defeated. <br>
Thoughts may pass through your mind about your own experience of desolation and distance from God. “Why did you call me to this? I thought your purpose was to build your church? What did I do wrong?..... Honey, remind me never to accept a call to be a pastor again...” Having lived through this more than once, will I ever learn what God is teaching me? His ways are not my ways and His purpose is much greater than just building a tidy local church. God is preparing pastors and leaders around the world for a great awakening and He needs our complete attention. It seems that my original sense of God calling me to be a pastor still holds the key. I never wanted to be a pastor because I thought I would never fit the picture [and I still don’t]. God wants me precisely because I do not fit the picture, and what I will do for God will ONLY be due to His power through me. <br>
He told me, “I will make you a fisher of men...” So, from across the water comes an eagle carrying a fish as though God were reminding me of this. Over the whole image of brokeness the Spirit of God like a great eagle, the prophetic mantel and word, nurtures His little one. This union with the Spirit of God is framed by and even enhanced by the contrasting trials of ministry below and the glorious light in the watchful eye of God over the whole scene above. The head of the eagle comes down towards me as though He knows my heart and pain. <br>
The words to the song by Kevin Prosch with the same title were an inspirational source to this painting.](fileadmin/Paintings_for_web/When_You_ve_Been_Broken.jpg "When You ve Been Broken")
