Merry Christmas

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"


Luke 2:11-14

Love God or don't...

Created for a sermon series about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 


In Mark 12:30 Jesus shares with His followers "you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength" (which is based upon Deuteronomy 6:5). 


Why are we commanded to love God? Is he narcissistic or in need of a boost in self esteem? I don't think that's it at all. God knows that when we love him by following him, we find the peace of salvation and the rest and joy of truth and hope. The results of following him, is precisely why God wants us to love him. We are blessed and he is glorified. When we choose to disobey God, we find ourselves struggling with fear, doubt, and worry, but we're amazingly adept and denying or rationalizing these things away.  God's truth is revealed either way in the end. He simply desires we choose that which benefits us and glorifies him. Why wouldn't he?


The image also intends to show the reality that the world inevitably clutters both paths available to us and that both paths lead to their own end. Sorry, but no "one mountain many paths" thing. The above is daily reality for every one of us. 


Love God, or don't.

Showbread's new album is FREE.

Showbread is cool.

Roots

"Design equals soul." I selected this as the title for my blog after noticing it as I flipped through the Tom Peterson book, "design - innovate, differentiate, communicate". I purchased and read the book a number of years ago during an attempt to revitalize my passion for design, to remember the roots it had deep within me, to recall what it felt like to have creative microbes bouncing around awaiting their release from captivity. Somewhere along the line I had forgotten the excitement of raw design, of pulling from within the fragments and features of cool and mixing them together until the page was satisfied. I had forgotten that design is integrally connected to one's soul.

When I was a kid, I drew cars constantly... constantly. That's what the above picture is. I probably drew it when I was 12-15 years old. Back then design wasn't a job, it was nothing other than fun.  It was fun because all I was doing was freely and openly letting my pen present the vision I had within, and I apparently had a lot of those. At that age, when asked what I wanted to do when I grew up I easily replied, "I want to design cars!"

I don't design cars today. That's okay. I do design things though. Mostly products. Some graphics. Neither are new to me. Both go fully back to my roots, to my soul. Whether it was legos or blocks or car models, I built and created. And whether it was a car, an abstract design, or a typography piece, I drew and created. To have the luxury today of doing both as a means of living is beyond great. I love the work I get to do. But it is work and it is easy to get lost in the duty of design and forget the dream. This blog will be a record of my journey back to creating from within. I will share my creations and the insights into their development. I will also share some designs from others I stumble across that inspire and motivate me. Finally, I will share my struggles and successes as I daily attempt to explore and express with the freedom and fun I enjoyed as a kid. 


Life is often better the kid way. So is design.