EN80 Heart Spill
02/06/10 14:39
The recent Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill is reportedly the worst eco-disaster in US history. The powerful image of this stuff leaking endlessly into an unsuspecting environment is disturbing to say the least. This is the kind of image that Jesus evokes in Matthew 15 when he talks about the natural condition of the human heart. Though wonderfully made in God's image, we are also capable - and regularly achieve - the most polluting of choices.
And by this, I am not necessarily talking about being some kind of Hitler figure. We often recognise that we let ourselves down in ways that seem surprising. When a person looks honestly at their life they often see that life took some darker turns because of deep-rooted selfishness that they were often powerless to prevent.
The Bible is wonderfully clear on the solution to this issue - there is a theme that develops throughout the Old Testament timeline of people being made 'new' in some special way. This culminates in Jesus Christ, who make the explicit promise to not only 'top kill' the rusty pipe of sin, but also replace the flow with something altogether different - something linked to source and giver of life: God Himself.
EN76 Heart Realities
31/01/10 21:49
Showing some interest in God is often confused with actually being accepted by Him. Fortunately, He is kind enough to fill us in on the heart realities.
EN75 The Son has Risen: let nightmares cease!
07/01/10 07:40
Based heavily on some recent personal experiences, I have been reflecting on how a parent might bring comfort to a child who is having nightmares. From this I began to move further outwards and think what basis is there for any of us being comforted in the face of the ultimate nightmare of mortality and suffering.
Cutting Him out
07/11/09 20:21
The latest submission for Sorted magazine.
(click to enlarge)
The previous version of this cartoon can be found here.
(click to enlarge)
The previous version of this cartoon can be found here.
Satisfaction and True Peace
07/06/09 20:46
EN56 The 1967 Aborton Act
22/06/08 13:54
The Bible epilogue text can be found here.
It is easy to take up extreme positions when it comes to something like Abortion. Shouting matches don't seem to be the right way forward for true gospel people, so I was interested in hearing the testimony of a woman who I featured in the top part of the strip. I didn't want to rubbish people who choose termination but to reflect the relative gravity of each situation. Read More...
EN52 Cutting out God
22/01/08 13:54
The Bible epilogue text can be found here.
This strip uses a quote from one of my regular RE lessons. We were looking at the ten commandments and I was aiming at trying to get the kids to understand what the original meaning for Israel was. It was as if I had started a war or something! Read More...
EN46 Our days in His hands
01/07/07 13:53
The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
Apologies for no extra text. I have just fractured my elbow and typing is not as easy as it was.
EN37 Secular Sunday School
01/10/06 13:52
The Bible epilogue text can be found here and here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
One of the regular things I am interested in exploring is the shift from a predominantly pre-war christian worldview to an overwhelmingly modern secular one. This strip pokes fun at the age-old joke among christians that the answer to every sunday school question is 'Jesus'. In a secular age God gets replaced with something else, and Google seems to be doing just that.
Just before doing this strip I had been slightly disturbed by the way in which Google had really achieved a fundamental role in the way I was operating on the web. I began to reflect on the link between the parallels between my online dependencies and greater worldview ones.
I just went for something really simple here with the carpet suggesting the worldview shift. I like dots.
The Zechariah bible text is something I had stumbled on in the early 90s when I had just started at university and was reading this magnificent old testament book. The images keep on reflecting something of God's omniscience and power for a people who were feeling the pinch.
EN34 Three Yellow Cards
01/08/06 13:52
The Bible epilogue text can be found here and here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
Poor old Graham Poll. He was the inspiration for this philosophical debate based on the governing principles of a football match and what happens when you change things at the foundation level. There is a lame literal gag about shifting the goal posts that I just had to stick in there... the big idea here is that if you ditch the absolutes of God you are making a very serious step into relativism.
This was wrongly produced in colour... I thought we'd moved to a regular colour print but was put right soon after by John Benton.
Thanks to Radcliffe and Mike Tindall for their helpful comments online about this. I think I dedicated it to John and Demelza because they had both just moved on from previous ministry positions. Great people, much missed.
EN33 Fooling the Speed Camera
01/06/06 13:52
The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
I have been obsessed with these things for ages, and this was a great chance to do something about it. A friend had been asking why it was that we slow down for speed cameras and then speed up after. I reflected on this and made this sequence where a person feels like they have fooled the law. The psalm 10 text makes the point that when it comes to God there is no fooling...
I love this one stylistically. One detail you may not notice is that the circles on the back of the box are actually shut eyelids. The box snoozes while being fooled.
This is based on the speed camera heading towards the marina seafront direction in Brighton. I want to make a film based on this one day.
EN31 Planet Earth: did they plan it?
01/05/06 13:52
The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
I really don't know if this point is that obvious, but I will try to explain it...
The Planet Earth series was hugely popular with lavish filming techniques and equipment being used to capture amazing things around the world. The ironic problem (as I saw it) was that while we were being expected to accept evolutionary assumptions about how the world is randomly gorgeous, the end 'making of' section undermines this idea. How can we accept hat the world is the way it is through chance, when that is the last thing that is being used to make the program. It is incredible how purposeful and creative the process is for the filmmakers - sometime spending weeks in a small room with a camera trying to capture a bird or some such creature. After watching the program you are amazed at how deliberate and personal every edit is, but are still expected to see nothing of the creator in the world at large.
I don't know if this is very clear, but at least I tried...
The parallel text and image layout is okay, but I think it actually confuses things. You have to really work hard at spotting the difference. Not happy.
Those are screengrabs from the episode where the elephants are swimming and some guy is chasing something in a helicopter.
EN19 Secular School Dinners
01/04/05 13:50
The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).
Who wasn't moved by Jamie's School Dinners? I loved the way he made the link between dietary intake and the kind of children we are creating. It only follows that in a secular educational system obsessed with grades and levels you produce a form of spiritual blindness.
