Testimony
19:06
The Battle God Won
The Battle Which God Won
Artwork © Peter N Millward
The picture, my visual interpretation of what happened the night I took a break from painting a battle picture and watch a TV program about the Shroud of Turin 1982. To understand one has to see through spiritual eyes! - Two pictures in one....The Charge of the Light Brigade painted 1981 - 83, in the background and in the centre when God broke into my life in 1982. depicting the Sword of the Spirit - The Word of God. For along time I have the battle picture (pictured below) in storage, not knowing what to do with it, but for me it marks a tremendous turning point in my life...and so I decided to make the battle picture divided in two halves and include my testimony.
But something special happened along the way, the most wonderful thing happened in my life...and that's why I made two pictures into one...its my story how God brought me to Himself through Jesus Christ. The Charge of the Light Brigade painting has a lot of soldiers with swords! But there is another sword far sharper which I want to show, its the heavenly sword, called the Word of God! ......The scripture says "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrews 4:12. Its this image of the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, I wanted to depict cutting in half the Charge of the Light Brigade ....because this was when God broke into my life.
Jesus Really is True!
Artwork © Peter N Millward
The picture - Flying bricks of unbelief...whatever is this? - The Shroud of Turin on a TV screen.....And the fiery Word of God, the Sword of the Spirit bearing down upon the young man seated watching....What does this mean? To give some background to the picture - The Shroud of Turin, this mysterious, enigmatic piece of linen cloth, some believe to be the burial shroud of Jesus Christ....still fascinates and baffles even after all these centuries because it is so remarkable, even if it is fake - It has to be the most remarkable work of art produced by an unknown artist....or any known artist for that matter. But what is even more intriguing is God should use the Shroud of Turin to ambush an artist centuries later - A careless unbelieving sinner....That artist happens to be me....Its part of my story which took place in 1982. But now in recent times I started looking again after finding the old TV program about the Shroud on Youtube which aired on British television all those years ago. It is very significant how we come to Christ...and so now I have been trying to understand better, my own story and the Shroud of Turin and the Word of God.
What is important to remember - Whatever the enemy wants to use for evil, God always works it for good....For those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose. "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 My testimony - As I grew up there were times when I had definite experiences of God and His mercy, but it wasn't until I was 23 years of age, I experienced what the Bible describes as Born again of the Spirit (John 3:3-8) Up till that time I was basically living my own life to please myself, never understanding what being a Christian really means, I was doing my own thing living for myself. Then one night I watched a program about the Shroud of Turin, which some think is the burial Shroud of Jesus, but I was curious about this and was just sitting back watching the program about the Shroud, when the thought suddenly hit me..........."What if Jesus really is true and He's coming back?!!!" It was quite a shock to my system - the fact was, I was living life as if God didn't exist, and then I started to catch a glimpse of what Judgement day means for those who do not belong to Jesus - it was too horrifying! - I knew I wasn't ready to meet Him. I could dimly remember the scripture that says about the wicked who run to the rocks of the mountains and cry "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?" Revelation 6:15-17
I could not rationalize or wriggle out of it. That night I went upstairs to find a Gideon New Testament which had been given to me by the Gideon's years before at school. I just had to check out what the Bible say's about Judgement Day and what happens to the wicked, I was reading it off and on for awhile, but the conviction grew the more I read, I knew I was a sinner and had to get right with God. I realize now it was the Holy Spirit convicting me, who Jesus promised would come. John 16:8-11. Finally one night I knelt beside my bed, and weeping I started making my peace with God. That night I yielded my life to the Lord Jesus Christ, I knew my prayers had been heard, I had passed from death to life. A few days later while reading the New Testament I saw the awesome majesty of the Lord I had never seen before, I bowed my head and rested it on the Testament and was filled with the Holy Spirit - a power came into my life I had not known before. This was in November 1982 I became a Christian, and it was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I still wonder and marvel at what God did, I used to be afraid of death but now I look forward to spending eternity with the Lord Jesus Christ, it is an amazing wonderful hope! Jesus promised that whoever drinks the water He gives will never thirst, indeed, the water He gives will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Those of us who have drunk the water Jesus gives will know the truth, the spring of water within is witnessing to us about the truth of His promise, its something the world simply does not know or understand many people demand evidence before they will believe and yet the evidence is here all along if we would but drink the water Jesus gives we would find evidence enough............Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life. Revelation 22:17
My life with the picture after I was converted?
Next year will be the 40th anniversary when I started the Charge of the Light Brigade picture. But its only until now I have been able to process this. I wrestled with the subject of my testimony and the picture for along time, trying to understand it......then there was the TV program about the Shroud. .....but after finding the program about the Shroud of Turin on youtube it helped me to revisit again, Seeing it after all these years and what happened felt strange after so many years.....but in a good way...I am so grateful to God for His mercy when I came to Christ....so I decided to make a picture.
Jesus Really is True!
The picture turned out a bit different than what I was thinking, and I am glad it did........When I finished the picture above .....I started to think about the battle picture I was painting at the time in 1982 when I took a break to watch the program about the Shroud.
Looking back is perhaps easier to be more objective: To give some idea of the struggle........ After I had became a Christian, I was wrestling inside myself about what to do with the battle picture and what the Lord wanted me to do with it... so I put it on the altar so to speak... the picture was about half finished.. So I decided I needed to burn it! and so when I thought the coast was clear, I tried to discreetly walk out of the house with the picture, but my father saw me and asked "Where are you going with the picture?....So I told him, I was going to burn it....If I remember rightly He said, "Dont do that....give it a rest for awhile, you might want to return to painting it. So I did just that, I relented and returned to painting it later. I have my father to thank for intervening, but I think some how the Lord alerted my father at the right moment too!
I did enter it to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1984. and I had some feedback from military experts... Apparently the Hussars tunics were not dark enough. My hope of selling the picture to the military didn't work out.....but you could say my interest in military pictures waned after my conversion...so I never did alter the tunics. The Lord now had my full attention! But for so many years I am baffled about the picture or what to do with it.......but now after dividing the picture into two in Photoshop and placing the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God and how God broke into my life. I think I am satisfied, I have shown the impact of what happened.
Questions: Could you have done this 40 years ago? Why did it take nearly 40 years to do something like this?
While I had a degree of natural raw talent and ability......I still had much to learn and experience ......When I started the Charge of the Light Brigade picture...I was at the limit of my ability, and had to loan library books to study the uniforms, weapons, regiments and what took place....a local library is limited what it has to offer. And I was miles away from the big libraries and museums. Whereas the World Wide Web offers a global library at our fingertips! Back then Computers were primitive and not readily available. The internet still had to be born - January 1, 1983 and it wouldn't be before February 19, 1990 that Photoshop software would appear. In the years since, the graphics industry has seen tremendous change....one could say a visual revolution has taken place...which simply did not exist during previous generations. .....and I got to be part of it. I first started to become familiar with computer graphics in 1999.......But if someone had told me back when I started the battle picture 1981, what I would be doing with graphics today, I am sure I would find it amazing and how much change has taken place.
Question: Did you enter more pictures to the Royal Academy afterwards?
I did...but my artwork was not accepted. It was a landscape picture....I think I can just about remember the journey back to Shropshire on the train with the picture. I had an empty feeling and had a lot of questions about being both a Christian and an artist..I was wrestling inside. Because at that time I still had a lot more to learn and it wasn't only painting......I can look back now with gratitude to God...because he is faithful!
This story continues...there is still a lot more to come.......
Artwork © Peter N Millward
