Welcome!
www.eds-art.net
Casting Art to the Net
Art is a celebration of God's gifts
My website's commercial free and crafted towards ages 12 and up. Some content is not suitable for young children.
This sociocultural art based self-portrait website's five page intent and purpose is to answer my daughter's request for a little "dad" history
plus entertain and encourage everyone else that visits in some good way.
It’s a work in progress!
Please feel free to share any and all of this website with others as long as you keep sharing it for free.
This is not my life story, but it's close. I make every effort to relay a positive attitude in sharing my experience, work and hope.
I respect your time so I've done my best to keep my website entries brief and to the point.
In my art, humor and motorcycle adventures, I'm sharing pieces I hope you find fun, intriguing and aesthetically pleasing!
In my writings and art about mental illness, I'm sharing my own personal experiences. I hope it helps shed light on a typically dark subject.
In my writings and art about religion I'm sharing my own personal view. Yours may be different, so I hope you're not offended but intrigued.
Ed (Bear)
I love and respect bears. By and large, they are powerful and gentle creatures. Their demeanor is usually quiet, steadfast and to the point. As with most wild animals, they typically mind their own business and try to keep away from humans. Which makes them smarter than dogs and cats. But if they lose their fear of humans because of readily available food, they most often end up being euthanized. So please don't feed the bears!
Ed's Art Net Started
September 28, 2007
Hint: Underline text is a Hyperlink
Latest Additions
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April 17, 2022
April 8, 2022
Latest Updates
May 22, 2022
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I highly recommend my youngest for her professional health and wellness talents in helping others convalesce!
Visit Katie's Website for more information about how she can help you with wellness healing!
I also highly recommend my good friend Travis Echols who helps make retirement confidently manageable!
Visit Travis's Website for information about how he can help take the worry out of retirement!
Page contents:
1. Workings
2. Writings
4. Meanderings
5. Meetings
Most of all, thanks to God who deserves ALL the credit!
Thanks to my family for the help with spelling and grammar. But mostly for being family!
Thanks to everyone for the life lessons, love and patient understanding!
The truest True lives inside each one of us!
Glory belongs to God!
Artists finish their work ~ An audience completes it!
Casting Art to the Net
We are all without excuse...
If you’re anything like me, you have always had three voices in your head. These voices challenge, guide, and console you. These three voices are your lifelong inner companions.
First and foremost, is your consoling “self” voice. The one you control and are responsible for. This “self” inner voice communicates with the other two inner voices. “Self” serves as judge and jury for your conscious and decides how well you feel. How you feel about yourself depends on which of the two other voices that you “listen” to.
Which brings us to voice number two. At some point, all of us struggle with this creature. Voice two is a little bit annoyingly aggressively intimidating or a lot intimidating depending on how your “self” deals with this particularly challenging inner voice. Voice two is evil and encourages you to do bad things. Like ignore someone or some creature who needs your help. Take that something that doesn't belong to you. Purposely break a window. Harm yourself or someone else. Or try to convince your “self” that you don’t need that third inner voice. Voice "two" is your enemy.
Which brings us to the third and most incredible voice. Incredible because of voice three’s wonderfully delightful and powerful techniques of communication. Voice three is benignly patient and listens more than talks because He can get His point across in many simple and subtle ways. Voice "three" is your guiding friend.
The Bible teaches us that we should not expect to be perfect, but we can improve and we can love!
Across our planet, relating to a deity takes on many different belief “details”. And while each of us grow uniquely throughout life as individuals, no matter where we live or what we believe, the spiritual bottom line is that human behaviors follow familiar good and bad patterns.
Our three part attitude determines our spiritual altitude.
Loving God is easy, especially when we try and take in all of Creation. There are so many wonderful things that populate our universe. If you love a sunrise, sunset, star filled night, trees, flowers, mountains, rivers, animals... you are loving God.
Loving people is easy with some, but not so easy with others.
Loving oneself is easy if we follow God’s will. But loving oneself is difficult if we continually focus on our mistakes.
Works
Everyone has issues of some sort. You’re not alive if you don’t face problems.
Many of our own problems go inwardly unnoticed if our thinking stems from self righteousness or self loathing. If we believe that we are superior or inferior to any others, we fail God’s will for
our behavior.
We are all equal in God's eyes. And we are ALL works in progress.
When I was a child my parents wanted me to learn about Jesus so they took me to church and enrolled me in Sunday School at Concord Baptist Church in Mableton, Georgia. They also took me to hear the Sunday sermons.
Preacher Davis wore glasses and was a heavy set man with thinning greyish white hair that he oiled and combed straight back. He rendered fire and brimstone style sermons. He would shout, scream and sweat profusely at the pulpit while delivering his messages. He always had a handkerchief nearby.
When Preacher Davis preached about Hell, he was especially fiery. He preached that we must be saved or else burn for eternity. So when he invited the congregation to come down the aisle to be saved. I quickly did so without fully understanding. All I knew was that I did not want to endure that much pain for a second let alone eternity.
I know Preacher Davis meant well. And I’m not even sure that I’m remembering what he said accurately. But at the time, I got the impression that I was safe from burning in Hell through baptism.
A number of years later, after seeking God on my own and actually studying the Bible, I came to the conclusion that God would not burn any one of his creations for an eternity. And that my heart and behavior determine my soul's state in the afterlife.
The Bible teaches that we need three things to enter Heaven. If we fail those three things we will enter Hell and die a second time. We won’t be with God and we will end up dead for eternity.
I can see the Devil taking delight in torture but not God. But I do not fully understand God and I'm not expected to. I am expected to follow His three most important commands.
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." 1 John 4:18 NIV
Good ultimately prevails over evil...
darkness seeps...
only 'til light casts it back to the deep
If we reject God, we are spiritually alone and left with only our own designs and conclusions to deal with Satan. We're no match by ourselves
against the Devil. Without God we have to explain away our world so that the universe conforms to our man made rules... And without God our rules are imperfect leaving us with an artificial
sense of purpose or no sense of purpose at all. Without God we become our own flawed god and remove ourselves from the great goodness and reward that comes from seeking a relationship with our
Creator. see Hebrews 11:6
Without God we fall prey to Satan, easily hating and raising ourselves above others since we perceive ourself to be the highest authority. We need God because we cannot grow properly without Him. Without God we are like lost or spoiled children living without supervision pretending to successfully fend for ourselves. see Ezekiel 5:10
We need God so we can more readily overcome evil. All of us need God's love! We need God because without Him we become self-righteous. Even us good intentioned Christians can act with self-righteousness by uninvitedly imposing our own belief doctrine onto non-Christians. We need God's Word to guide us into properly loving others to celebrate that we are all uniquely different. see 1 Peter 3:15
God communicates with everyone and everything at the same time
without blinking an "eye"... which is mind boggling to us... but must be routine for Him. I love God with all my being. It's the easiest thing I do. When you know God, you will agree! Knowing
God means that you realize He is beyond our understanding and treasures us when we reach out for Him. see Job 37:5
see Malachi 3:17
God disciplines us when we seek Him and listen. Listening is not always easy. When we're actually able to pay attention, we sense unimaginable compassion for each one of us. He let’s us know that He loves us deeply and He does so in many different ways! If we look for God's messaging, we will find Him throughout Creation. see 1 John 4:16
Problems we face usually work out for the good, even the difficult ones when we persevere. Jesus tells us not to worry about our lives. see Matthew 6:25-34 I know that's a tall order but trusting in His goodness and light is what He wants us to do, especially in trying times. Not all of us are equipped to battle evil at the same level, but all of us can trust in God... Evil can win a battle but it cannot win a war... In time, and most definitely at the end of time, goodness and light will prevail. see Revelation 21:1-8
Each one of us has a God given purpose. Some are called for battle. Some are called for teaching or healing. Many are called just to be a good neighbor. see Romans 15:2
Our military, firefighters and law enforcement warriors are following a high calling. They too often lose their mortal lives, limbs or mental faculties in pursuit of peace, respect, safety and security for the rest of us.
Warriors battling for good should never be taken for granted. The good neighbor warriors that lift us up, the
distribution warriors that supply us with sustaining goods, the environment warriors that manage our waste, the media warriors that keep us informed of the
truth, the teaching and healing warriors that help us grow and heal, the political warriors that honor the people and especially the military, fire and policing
security warriors that physically protect us from evil's many selfish schemes.
Our good and purpose driven warriors deserve far more reward from us than what they typically
get. It's regrettable that we tend to hold various performing artists of stage, screen and sports in higher esteem, especially financially. That tendency is a sad reflection of our culture. We are
more focused on entertainment than we are enlightenment and well-being.
This cultural trend may not end until God's children reach Heaven. This old Earth is a fallen world where wide and well traveled is the road to destruction.
Perspective, Path and Purpose...
We are all traveling a spiritual journey. We are constantly making "steering wheel" decisions. Our final destination is indicated by our interaction with others which is a reflection of our relationship with God.
Blue Ridge Parkway
In the above BRP photo, we are heading north. North is up. Up is toward Heaven. I can see the shape of a cross in a tree that’s up and around the bend on the horizon. I enjoy finding subtle messages from God like that. It’s affirmation for me because that’s what I choose to see. It's my imagination, faith and God's Spirit that enables me. see 1 Corinthians 1:18
Pareidolia
I see God reflected in everything. Also in the above BRP photo, the reflection of the sun on the camera lens is another pareidolia that I choose to see... God explains to us in His Word and when we study the intricacies of life and the universe that He is beyond our understanding. God seeks us when we seek Him. And when we seek Him, He rewards us infinite times over what we typically deserve... I see the sun reflecting on the lens (apparently pointing at the pareidolia tree forming a cross) as God beaming with pride in His Son Jesus Christ (God in human form) who died on the cross as spiritual payment for OUR sins. see John 3:35-36
Rapture
God in Christ Jesus sacrificed His human mortal life so that we would be able to live in His holy presence. see John 11:25 This will physically happen for those of us who are still living our mortal life when Jesus returns for the second time after His resurrection (the Rapture). see Thessalonians 4:17 God's home will be among us. We will live eternally in His holy presence without pain or sorrow and all things will be new. see Isaiah 65:17 Those that had already passed will have been with God in Heaven "waiting" for us. Heaven is outside our space time dimension as evidenced by Christ's appearance inside a locked room after His resurrection. see John 20:19
Road to Death
Road to Life
If we repent, we can overcome the second death by seeking a relationship with God. see Luke 23:38-43 I recommend beginning with the Bible book of Job. Some Bible scholars believe Job is the oldest writing in Scripture. Job teaches us a fine lesson in humility, which is a good preparatory introduction into meeting with God. If you want to find God, you will... and you'll be amazed by how loving and receptive He is and at how prominent He is reflected in everything. Just remember that God's love includes His discipline... evil will not enter Heaven. see Matthew 7:21 see 1 John 4:16
Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God." Luke 9:62 NIV
I would love to know more about the writers of Scripture. I expect they would be fascinating people to meet. Much of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah's writing is beautifully and emotionally charged. John had a special relationship with Christ. James grew up with Jesus and although she probably didn't write about it, Mary would most certainly have more stories to tell about Jesus's childhood. I'm looking forward with hope to living outside time constraints.
Faith in God means we shouldn’t worry and that we should keep a positive eye on the future.
"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27 NIV
The Right Path
God commands us to treat each other how we want to be treated. We ALL are God's
family!
see James 1:19
Free Will
God gave each one of us independent thought. We can choose to be inspired by the abundant miracles in life we encounter
or we can pick our inspiration from a perceived single endpoint of death... everything points from and to nothing. If we choose death as an end, we won’t mind lying, cheating and disrespecting
others. That destructive road is well traveled. see Matthew 7:13
But if we choose to focus on life, then we will want to respect others and take inspiration from even the "simplest" things that God has provided. The living road leads to God’s good and perfect plan for us to meet Him in His loving and peaceful presence... for the rest of eternity.
Revelations
God teaches us how to behave through the writers of Scripture. i.e., see Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 God also tells us that He loves us through Scripture (see 1 John 4:16) and His love is also revealed to us by the world we live in. God's signature "fingerprints" are everywhere. So we are without excuse. see Romans 1:20 He explains through Scripture (see Job 36:26) and we learn through our own scientific study that we cannot fully understand Him nor can we explain life's intricately designed detail without Him. see Job 37:5
End of the Road
God lovingly teaches us how we can die or else live renewed in His truth, beauty and goodness for eternity. see Galatians 6:8 No one but God the Father knows when this world will end.
see Mark 13:32-33 He has always
known... He knows EVERYTHING! We do well to listen.
When we listen, we realize that God works everything out in His good and final earthly purpose. see Revelation 21:1-8
"My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." James 1:19 NIV
Thank God our universe is not just black and white... what a bore that would be. — Unless we didn’t know anything about color. I suppose that if God wanted to, He could have made us all blind to color. But that limits our potential.
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." Matthew 7:12 NIV
We are one human race made up of billions of INDIVIDUALS. We each have unique thoughts, so having different detail beliefs about God is
expected.
We should think rationally about other’s cultural inheritance and respect that we all have unique life experiences. The “only Christians make it to Heaven” is false doctrine and self-centered irrational thinking.
The Christian foundation: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son." John 3:16-18 NIV
Taken literally, John 3:16-18 indicates that only believing in Jesus Christ allows us to be with God in Heaven.
John was a man. John and Jesus had a special relationship. Jesus's death and the way he died would have hurt John especially deeply. There's a great deal of emotion in John's writings. He had just
cause to be hurt and angry about his Friend being taken from him.
Taking John's words figuratively, like the method Jesus uses to teach, the message is that as Christians we must believe in Him with our minds and follow His teachings in our heart. People can follow Christ's teaching in their thoughts and behavior without being Christian. We do best to follow Jesus's teachings and not John's.
We can appreciate John's writings just as we appreciate all the human writers of the Bible. But our "rules" should only come from the one God through His son, Jesus Christ.
“... No one comes to the Father except through me.” Those words spoken by Jesus tell us that we will only make it to Heaven by following His teachings. His teachings are summarized by the three most important commands from God.
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." Ephesians 6:10-11
One of the Devil's schemes is to try and confuse us regarding God's three persons. How can three persons be one... It's not simple so Satan takes advantage.
A typical traffic signal is one thing with three major functions. Color helps us communicate and differentiate. I'm using five colors (yellow, green, red, blue and black) to help symbolize and highlight the three major functions of the Trinity. I'm symbolizing the singularity of the Holy Trinity with white.
God is our Christian guiding
LIGHT of the
FATHER
SAVIOR
MENTOR
God's mentoring SPIRIT is everywhere. When we study the Bible, we learn that God is not separate from His creations. His Spirit is inside us and we decide on our own whether to communicate with Him or not.
Christ JESUS was immaculately created in Mary's womb as a divine human. After Jesus's resurrection, the Son of Man ascended to Heaven to join with the Father. Christ's purpose is to lead us into Heaven.
The Holy FATHER created all things and knows all things. He is wise and powerful beyond our understanding.
As our focus on God becomes clearer, we realize that the Father, Son and Spirit are
one GODHEAD separated only by function.
I'm not comparing my wife to God but merely making a simple point... she is a spouse, mother and grandmother... three different major functions in one person.
WHITE symbolizes the Godhead (Trinity), sum of the Father, Son and Spirit since white reflects all of light's colors (God is reflected in everything throughout the universe. He is the Artist with the largest palette and singular divine infinite and perfect skill.) see Isaiah 40:28
Warning: We cannot look safely at the sun without machines because
damage will occur to our naked eyes!
YELLOW symbolizes the Holy Father as reflected by the sun when photographed through the Earth's atmosphere at certain times of the day. (The Father is the "life source" that sustains us.) see 2 Corinthians 6:18
GREEN and RED symbolizes Christ Jesus's life and purpose as our savior. (Jesus's life is our living example to follow and His blood is our "door" to Heaven.) see John 14:6
BLUE and BLACK symbolize the Holy Spirit like the beautiful daytime and nighttime sky all around us. (God's mentoring Spirit interacts with us constantly like the atmosphere we breathe. When we are "still", He is readily apparent.) see Psalms 46:10
"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10 NIV
Signs, Space and Hope...
This website reflects what I realize about God and Satan. Nothing is more inspiring than God's love. Nothing is more disastrous than succumbing to the
Devil's influence.
Patience
When we pursue God, we learn that He is, and always has been, walking with us. He loves us more than we can fully understand! He is infinitely communicating with us, but we mostly choose to ignore Him. (How great and patient is God!) We get caught up in the daily grind of dealing with life’s stresses and shut Him out. And we sometimes take the miracle of our surroundings for granted.
Benevolence
God understands us better than we understand ourselves. But God does not have infinite patience. He has benevolent
patience and is always here for us whenever we are ready and willing to listen. God helps us deal with Satan's pursuit when we pray and pay attention. The more intently we pursue obeying God's will, the easier it is to listen and shun Satan.
Reward
If we choose to pursue EVIL we will die twice. see Luke 8:12
When we seek God, we discover His redeeming Message. see Job 19:25
Happiness
It’s a blessing to have dependable transportation, a comfortable home and nice people who love us. These blessings provide earthly contentment and pleasure. But earthly blessings do not satisfy the soul. Happiness happens when we experience God’s love.
"But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding." Job 32:8 NIV
Susan with one of her many critter rescues.
God reveals Himself to everyone so it's NOT up to us as individuals to impose OUR awareness onto others about God's plan and existence. However, it's good to share our hope and answer questions with seekers of truth when we are asked. And we should always share our joy with gentleness and respect.
"Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 1 Peter 5:8 NIV
The more we resist life’s evil temptations and make ourselves aware of Satan and his evil ways, the weaker his influence on us. Satan wants us dead. see Luke 22:31 He was cast out of Heaven and is extremely bitter. Satan is God the Father's most beautiful angel creation, but he
has a purposeful kink in his get-a-long.
God communicates with Satan and God already knows ALL about our thoughts and behavior.
Black Hole of Death
Image credit NASA
Satan is not funny. Beautiful, but not funny. He is deadly like a black hole. And just like a black hole, Satan wants to draw us into his singularity of a hellish death. Pray to God and ask Him to help you... He WILL and you will grow stronger in God Christ Jesus! see 1 Peter 4:11
Rapture
God is omnipresent and omnipotent... in simple words He is everywhere and anywhere at the same time and in control. Our free will can make it seem to us that God’s not in control but that is due to our mortal human limited sight distance perspective. When we recognize that God has no limits, we begin to understand how great He is. The more we seek to know God, the more our eyes are opened to His power and compassion. God knows everything... past, present and future. His plan for us has always existed. And God's timing is impeccable. Jesus Christ was born at just the right time to seed Earth's civilization with His Message. see 1 Corinthians 1:18
There is no greater love than to sacrifice one's life for another.
Jesus’s death was the greatest tragedy and yet the greatest humanitarian event of all time. Why did He have to die at such a young age? How could we kill the lamb of God? The answers are found in Scripture. Jesus Christ tasted death for all of us. Yet, none of us deserve Christ's sacrifice but it was God's plan to overcome death before this universe existed. see 1 Corinthians 2:7
Jesus's Purpose
Intending to protect their religious power, evil acting men killed Jesus.
Through Christ, God basically took a bullet from Satan for all of us. Jesus’s sacrifice opened the door to Heaven for those who love Him. And loving Him means you follow Jesus’s teachings and shun the Devil’s evil influence.
God made a provision for all of us, even the criminal, to repent from evil behaviors and do what Christ Jesus teaches us to do. Which is... love Him
(God), our neighbors and ourselves in our heart and actions.
If we love Jesus, we suffer from His death and celebrate His life.
God is perfect without sin. God wants us to live with Him for eternity. God made a provision for us by compressing Himself into human form and living a perfect, free from sin, human life. see John 16:33
Jesus provides us a surrogate to do our best to live through. His teaching opens our eyes to proper behavior. see Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7 His crucifixion opens the door for us to enter Heaven.
Only through Jesus's spotless death can we enter Heaven. see 2 Timothy 1:9 If we are repentant of our sins and have Jesus Christ in our heart, we will live a second time thanks to God’s good and perfect plan! Which was in place before time began!
The most essential and pertinent aspect of our mortal human life is God's healing power through Jesus Christ, inherent in following His good, pleasing and perfect will.
"Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." James 1:22 NIV
God has a plan. He loves us all. His plan is proof... His good and perfect plan! He spells His plan out for us many times over. His messaging is broadcast multiple times throughout Scripture and Nature. Sometimes we miss God’s "show" because we are too caught up in producing our own show.
John Lennon of the very popular Beatles rock band once made the comment that they were more popular than Jesus.
From a young John Lennon’s vantage point, I’m sure that appeared true or he wouldn’t have said it. But instead of compassionately investigating why he would say such a thing, there was a public outcry basically for his head! People burned Beatles records and condemned John for his simple comment.
I’m sure in the limelight that the Beatles were living in, and from the self centered mindset of society, that just seemed true to John. Maybe it was true.
But instead of society taking responsibility for giving a young artist that impression, society basically crucified John Lennon out of fear that he was right.
Sounds familiar doesn't it.
Communication
Antagonist
God will wait, but not forever, for us to recognize His good, pleasing and perfect will. But the Devil is strong... it takes a lot of prayer and perseverance to overcome the Devil's influence. Satan does not want us to know God’s good and perfect plan because when time terminates... it will be the end of evil, and of course, Satan’s demise. The Devil works hard to confuse us. Satan knows he is doomed but he doesn’t know when. Satan knows he is evil and that God rules over him but he is hardened in his purpose. Satan does his job all too well. see Philippians 2:13
M31: The Andromeda Galaxy
Image credit NASA Copyright Robert Gendler
What does God reveal to us about Heaven? There are some key details that, for His own good reasons, He leaves out. For example, God doesn’t let us know what happens to unborn children at the
Rapture. He also doesn’t let us know how we will appear physically in Heaven. Jesus wasn't easily recognized by His friend Mary
Magdalene or His followers after the resurrection.
God does not reveal EVERYTHING to us at once. Sometimes he waits a lifetime. Some of us need to digest life first. Many of us are afflicted and need time and experience to enable our ability to fully comprehend His messaging.
God does reveal to us that we will be in His physical presence and that ALL things will be
new! Those two nuggets of information seed infinite possibilities. We know that our sins will not come to mind, plus pain and sorrow won't exist. Jesus healed many
people suffering physically and mentally during His earthly ministry. God explains enough for us to understand and know that Heaven is where we want to
be. see Isaiah 65:17
God's Children
God makes it abundantly clear that we are the apple of His eye. We are all God's toddler children. He created an entire universe so we could experience His great Love for us in this mortal lifetime. His good and perfect plan is for us to grow from this tiny finite earthly cradle into His very glorious and beyond beautiful infinite kingdom paradise!
Ed (Bear)
Casting Art to the Net
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