bosalisbury.com Posts

For the Christian, failure to keep a vow or promise or covenant or contract is not merely a moral or ethical issue but a Gospel issue. This notion is on the mind of the apostle Paul when he pivots upon Galatians 3:15 to demonstrate that believers can rest their full weight on the Gospel because it stands upon the promises God made to Abraham — promises that can never be set aside or amended.

To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. (Galatians 3:15 ESV)

We live in a culture that rests upon many Biblical values, so even non-Christians expect people to keep their agreements.… Read the rest

Church • Ecclesiology Gospel-Centered Religion

The Pleasures of God

Some of the most heartbreaking episodes in my Christian experience have been encountering friends who have become disillusioned with the Gospel, defeated in their spiritual life, or disappointed with the church — they concluded, “Jesus really isn’t enough for me.” They don’t ever say that, of course — various reasons or rationalizations might be articulated, but no matter the story, the bottom line is Jesus wasn’t enough to sustain them in the Christian life. Having passed through a particularly difficult event like a church split, physical hardship, betrayal, a devastating personal failure, or an overwhelming test of obedience, these once enthusiastic followers of Jesus are left joyless, crushed, and hopeless. … Read the rest

Christianity • Religion Church • Ecclesiology Gospel-Centered

I find constant inspiration for painting from Instagram, where I discover some very fine compositions by friends and family. When I am working on a large painting or feel uninspired, I go to my collection of Instagram finds and work on a small piece or study. Recently, my friend Jonah posted a self-portrait of himself that was wispy and mysterious. I began by painting his portrait in color, as I imagined him without filters, and then glazed over it until I achieved the effect I wanted. Here is an example of the first stage along with the finished vignette.

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I heard a sermon a while back on Acts 4:32-5:11, the account of Ananias and Sapphira:

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

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Going through family photos, my eyes landed on one I had never seen before. My grandfather Arnold, is on the left with my grandmother Louise in the center. Her twin Lucille is on the right waving her kerchief. They are standing near the San Gabriel River in El Monte California, at the family ranch. The original photo was a sepia and I wanted to preserve that look while surrounding them with a sky blue. This is oil and acrylic on canvas.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

Daffodils Keep Coming Back

It’s a thing. It’s a perennial. It’s a recurring fascination. Like Daffodils springing up along our local highways in February, some Evangelical somewhere escapes the bonds of fundamentalism, gains new insights and clarity concerning what Jesus and the New Testament actually taught about this or that long-held, cherished doctrine or confession. Then, rather than move along down the road to enlightenment and into their newfound freedom from a dark, dank doctrinal prison, these initiates feel compelled to set the rest of us straight and usher Christ’s church into the hidden knowledge that will set the captives free from dogmatism (such a shame, too, because as Dorothy Sayers once observed The dogma is the drama).… Read the rest

Christianity • Religion Church • Ecclesiology Gospel-Centered Leadership Religion

Lisa Hunt didn’t win the Rock ’n’ Roll San Antonio Half Marathon on Sunday, but then again, she’s not dead either. That was a possibility for the 44-year-old teacher back in 2012, a few weeks after she ran in the 2011 version of the full marathon. You and I might view Hunt’s journey after that as either a mysterious tragedy that altered Hunt’s life forever or as intangible proof the human spirit cannot be destroyed.

Read about Lisa Hunt here: Teacher runs race, reclaims her life – San Antonio Express-News.… Read the rest

Media Coverage Necrotizing Fasciitis

I was reflecting on my dad, who passed away in 1996. I think about him often — probably every day. He was a memorable man and I’m reminded of him every time I look at my arms and hands. Back before the entire world owned smartphones, taking and developing photos was a bit of a pain. So, I don’t have many pictures of my father. This is how I remember him.

As a kid growing up in Whittier, CA, some of my friends absolutely hated their parents and, from what I could tell, usually for no good reason, if it’s reasonable to hate someone at all.… Read the rest

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Quarantine

This was a small painting born from sheltering in place during the early months of the COVID 19 pandemic.

The painting began years ago as one of my first attempts at oil on a black gessoed canvas. My first attempt was dismal. So, I decided it would be an abstract, but that became horrible. So, I thought I would experiment with collage on oil paint using pages from an old Bible and dried flowers.

I still wasn’t happy with it until I had the gas mask idea, inspired by current events. A friend from the coast really liked it — now, it’s his.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

I wanted to capture a downtown Grass Valley scene without the Del Oro Theater in it. So, here is my acrylic on canvas painting of Fable Coffee: 12″ X 16″… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

Let’s face it, Jesus says some hard things. One of the most offensive statements in the Gospels is this winnowing word about families and disciples or followers of Jesus:

If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26 ESV)

First, what is Jesus not saying? He isn’t barring or shutting anyone out of the Kingdom. Rather, He’s speaking the language of common sense along the same lines as this statement:

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

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Christianity • Religion Church • Ecclesiology Leadership Planting

duplicates#6 (hZGJrmnUTGCweH9D+YMw5w)

I thought I’d try my hand at hyper-realism, but I don’t think acrylic paint was the best choice. Live and learn, they say. I painted this from a photo of Olive and Sylvie I took at the Roseville Aquatic Center. It’s a 40″ X 40″ canvas and it’s found a home. … Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

Sunrise Over SPD

Sunrise Over SPD is acrylic on canvas 36” X 48”. This wasn’t my favorite entry, but it won the People’s Choice Award at the Nevada County Fair in 2019.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

It seems like forever ago when I walked into downtown Grass Valley for their annual classic car show, snapping away with my Nikon. When I got home and looked at all the photos I shot, it just seemed natural to paint the passage of time. I had to remove some cars that were parked out in front, but that guy actually walked out and began taking photos with his phone. Nevada Club is acrylic on canvas. … Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

This is one of my favorite paintings.

A friend posted a video on Instagram of her daughter running by on a dreary winter day — it’s a split second long. I loved the complementary colors and motion, so I thought I’d try to capture both on a small 12″ X 12″ canvas. … Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Family • Friends Fine Art The Last Postmaster of Camptonville

Nine of ten churches are either declining or growing so slowly they are not keeping up with the growth of the community. Many churches are just a few years away from dying and closing. Revitalization is an urgent need. Thom Rainer

“set in order what remains” (Titus 1:5 NASB)

We were part of a church plant back in 1988, which experienced the highs and lows common to Evangelical churches moving through the widely acknowledged lifecycle of a church. There are various labels or descriptions of the stages a church passes through on the way to revitalization or oblivion and it’s helpful to recognize where your church is in the process; especially if you have the sense your fellowship is declining numerically and/or spiritually.… Read the rest

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I began reading in bed the other night. I found my book mark here… with E.B. White in 1956:
 
“Mr. Truman, reminiscing in a recent issue of the Times, says the press sold out in 1948 to ‘the special interests,” was 90% hostile to his candidacy, distorted facts, caused his low popularity rating… The ‘Republican controlled press and radio’… gave vent to frequent horse-laughs in their editorials and commentaries… Some of the published news was distorted, but distortion is inherent in partisan journalism… I have yet to see a piece of writing, political or non-political, that doesn’t have a slant. All writing slants the way a writer leans, and no man is born perpendicular, although many men are born upright.
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I received my first commission and began with a full portrait from the waist up, but it wouldn’t work out in acrylic. So, I painted this portrait of Jesse in acrylic on canvas. I still have the original acrylic on a panel and hope to finish it in oil paint or pastel sometime in the future.


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This is acrylic on a 24″x 30″ canvas. I took a photo of Olive in a blueberry field on Christy Hill in Sedgwick ME on an overcast day and thought it would make a good composition, if I made up a horizon and cloudy sky.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art Maine: The Vista From Away

I noticed something about women’s fashion while working for the Postal Service: many if not most, blouses, tops, or business outfits for women don’t have pockets!

Most of my career was spent in Post Offices where I was the Postmaster or manager, so I organized them for me. I had pens located at a few stations I visited often during the day like the retail window, the desk, or the area set aside for receipt and notification of mail. But, I kept a pen in my pocket for the dozens of other places I would visit throughout the day. I couldn’t carry one around in my hand, because I was called upon to use both hands all the time.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture The Last Postmaster of Camptonville Women's Issues

I was looking at photos and video from our trip to Maine in July 2016. I wanted to paint these girls playing on a float on Blue Hill Bay in a way that would communicate activity and the passage of time. I decided to create a series of five small paintings in a left-to-right timeline depicting the girls in different positions on the float as they moved from one side to the other, in order to look at a crab they found. But, I was unsure if it would communicate what I wanted — and, that was the downfall of this project.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Fine Art

I spent a couple of hours arranging my upcoming book and, so far, it looks like I’ll have a 175-200 page general Introduction to the Baha’i Faith for Christian Readers. Actually, I’ll try to make it accessible to any reader, but it will be written from my perspective as an Evangelical Christian — I’ll be presenting the material in a semi-autobiographical fashion. There are a couple of reasons for this approach, but the most practical consideration for presenting this material to someone new to the Baha’i Faith is where we find ourselves in history — we are entering in on the “ground floor” of Baha’i history and development as a distinct religion.… Read the rest

Baha'i Blogging Books • Literature

Back in 1988, I received my first promotion to become the Postmaster at Camptonville CA. In 2014, I would become the last Postmaster of Camptonville, but that’s another story and another post. This one’s about the failure of musical education in the United States.

I needed a radio for my small rural post office with a good adjustable antenna to pick up stations from the Bay Area. It was June and I went to the local Long’s Drug Store (now, CVS), because they sold consumer electronics at the time. I found a ghetto blaster that looked promising: it had an impressive telescoping antenna, tone controls, headroom, and a cassette player.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Music The Last Postmaster of Camptonville

I’ve been wanting to return to the blog and have a number of posts in the queue — strange that this will be the first one published since back in March. It’s not a subject I felt compelled to write about in the past, but Denise and I just finished watching the Grateful Dead documentary, Long Strange Trip, on Netflix

We were real live Deadheads for a short time and this film pulled back the curtain to reveal why we never felt that compatible with the band’s following and eventually lost interest in the Grateful Dead, a band we enthusiastically embraced almost 50 years ago.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Film Music

I knew Winston Churchill was a painter, but only recently heard of his essay, Painting As A Pastime. Former President George W. Bush credited this little book with both his deliverance from “sitting on the couch, eating potato chips” in retirement and awakening in him a newfound passion for art and painting. I thought I’d read the essay online, but The Estate of Winston S. Churchill has a tight hold on the former British Prime Minister’s massive collection of writings and correspondence.

I read the reviews and found this gem on Amazon.com “used” — it was actually new and I picked it up for about the price of a sugary, dairy-based corporate coffee drink.… Read the rest

Art • Design • Culture Books • Literature Fine Art