Peter N Millward

Monday, 18 May 2020

Scripture Clock

Scripture Clock

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Private Collection - © Peter N Millward

What exactly does the Scripture Clock mean? That was the question I was asking myself. This curious clock and explanation are contained in a book called "Memories of Gospel Triumphs Among the Jews During the Victorian Era" (1894) I bought it years ago, a fascinating book to study, but I always felt something more could be done with the Scripture Clock than just leave it unseen within its pages. For those of you familiar with the designs by William C Miles - Gospel Compass and Gospel Target prints one can see similarities, but the Scripture Clock is very different in application and specifically in helping Jewish people know their identity, hope and destiny contained in the scriptures. It was originally designed and published by Rev John Dunlop - Secretary of the British Society for the Jews. The original format and image was only black and white and limited to being printed within a book. Making it now into a colour print with explanation, should reach a wider audience displayed on walls and homes. The text is written, as found - English language from 1894, readers then would have understood. But today's readers? It isn't easy, the language even though English belongs to a different era. The use of Roman Numerals for the scripture texts is also a further challenge for the unaccustomed. I listed all the 12 scriptures used in the hours of the clock below to understand better. After some prayer and meditation it started to dawn on me what the Scripture Clock means. It is 12 carefully selected scriptures to use when presenting the Gospel to Jewish people. Each scripture is a reminder, to help Jews know who they are, their nation, their land, their need....and their Saviour. If these scriptures are adhered to in presenting the Gospel, it should lead many to the 12th hour of the Jewish Clock - “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe”

It speaks on so many levels to the identity and destiny of the Jewish people.

So here it is, republished in 2020 after 126 years! You could say a lot has happened since 1894! The Jews returned to their home land and now visibly established as a nation once again, Israel - Just as the scriptures teach.

Why are the four seasons displayed on the clock? - Summer, Winter Autumn, Spring? And why are they arranged so curiously? The sons of Issachar will know - The are called to understand the times and seasons - And also this Scripture clock.

"And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment." 1 Chronicles 12:32 (KJV)

Below are the 12 scriptures - I left them in Kings James Version as that is how they were written to be originally understood.

The Scripture Clock - 12 hours - 12 Scriptures

1 “Jews” - The first occurance of this word “The Jews” in the Old testament “At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.” 2 Kings 16:6 (KJV)

2 “The Jews”The first occurance of this word “The Jews” in the New Testament “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him”. Matthew 2:2 (KJV)

3 - Jews by Nature - “We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles,” Galatians 2:15-21 (KJV)

4 - “The Land of the Jews” "And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree:”, Acts 10:39 (KJV)

5 - “The Nation of the Jews” “And they said, Cornelius the centurion, a just man, and one that feareth God, and of good report among all the nation of the Jews,” Acts 10: 22 (KJV)

6 - “For Salvation is of the Jews” “ Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.” John 4:22 (KJV)

7 - “Write not the King of the Jews” “Then said the chief priests of the Jews to Pilate, Write not, The King of the Jews; but that he said, I am King of the Jews.” John 19:21 (KJV)

8 - “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews” “And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross. And the writing was Jesus Of Nazareth The King Of The Jews.” John 19:19 (KJV)

9 - “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a Stumbling block”. “But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness” 1 Corinthians 1:23 (KJV)

10 - “Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks.” “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21 (KJV)

11 - “I became as a Jew that I might gain the Jews.” “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law” 1 Corinthians 9:20-23 (KJV)

12 - “Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe” “And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: Acts 21:20 (KJV)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Explanation of the Scripture Clock - Rev J. Dunlop - Secretary of the British Society for the Jews.

The Voice of the Clock.
JOHN BERRIDGE wrote, and pasted on his clock, the following lines : —
" Here my master bids me stand,
And mark the time with faithful hand ;
What is his will is my delight,
To tell the hours by day, by night.
Master, be wise, and learn of me,
To serve thy God as I serve thee ! "

So would we give the clock a voice, as it strikes the hours, and make it speak the words of God, concerning the Jews.

The Clock strikes
I. " Jews."—" This word " says Dr. Eadie " first occurs in this passage (ii. Kings xvi. 6), and denotes the Judeans, or men of Judah, in contradistinction from the seceding ten tribes who retained the name of Israel. The name Israelite's was applied to the twelve tribes or descendants of Jacob (Israel) as a body; but after the separation of the tribes, the above distinction obtained until the Babylonish Captivity, which terminated the existence of the kingdom of Judah; and thenceforward, until the present day, the descendants of Jacob are called Jews, and constitute one of the two classes into which the whole human family is frequently divided, viz., Jews and Gentiles." (Rom. ii. 9, 10.)
II. " The Jews." -Here the word "Jews" occurs for the first time in the New Testament. The Jews were regarded by the wise men, as a people, with Jesus as their King.
III. "Jews by Nature."—"Jews by nature," not by proselytism, Jews like Paul and Peter, have cast away their trust in the law, and have been justified by believing in Jesus.
IV. " Land of the Jews."—That land should be to us most interesting, as it wras trodden by the feet, and hallowed by the presence of Immanuel.
V. " The Nation of the Jews."—" A nation that living shall die, and dying shall live; that trampled by all, shall trample upon all; that bleeding from a thousand wounds, shall be unhurt; that beggared, shall wield the wealth of nations; that without a name, shall sway the councils of kings; that without a city, shall inhabit in all kingdoms ; that scattered like the dust, shall be bound together like the rock; that perishing by the sword, by the chain, by famine, by fire, shall be imperishable, unnumbered, glorious as the stars of heaven."
VI. " For Salvation is of the Jews," —The Author of Salvation, the first preachers of salvation, and the word of salvation, were all " of the Jews."
VII. " Write not the king of the Jews,"—said Jewish Priests to Pilate. But Pilate neither would nor could alter what he had written.
The Clock strikes
VIII. " Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews.',
IX. " We preach Christ Crucified unto the Jews a Stumbling-block." Seeing that the preaching of the cross excited the deepest hostility of the Jews, why did the Apostles preach it ? Because there was no other way of bringing them to penitence, pardon, peace, and purity. While the preaching of the Cross was to many Jews a " stumbling-block," it was to many the stepping-stone from Earth to Paradise.
X. " Testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks."
XI. " I became as a jew that I might
gain the Jews."—These voices of the clock, teach us how to win the Jew for Jesus. While testifying of repentance toward God, and faith in Christ, treat the Jew as a brother.
As the clock strikes ~
XII. we learn the grand result of adhering to this method.
"Thou seest, brother, how many thousands (lit., myriads) of Jews there are which believe."—Let the disciples of Christ adopt this method now, and the same result will follow. In it we have the prophecy of a golden time coming for God's ancient and beloved people.
" The Jews," said one, " have been sprinkled like millions of globules of quicksilver over the length and breadth of the world; every drop reflecting bright beams from the past, and mirroring forth the morn' ing of a glorious future."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Clock and the Society Commended by the late Rev. C. H. Spurgeon.
Our friend, Mr. Spurgeon, was kind enough to give our Scripture Clock the first place in his admirable Magazine " The Sword and the Trowel," for May, 1880, and with it the following interesting note :—
" This Clock was brought out in the Jewish Herald, which is the excellent monthly organ of the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel among the Jews, and it struck us as worthy of a wider circulation. We commend it and the Society to the thoughtful minds of all believers. Has not the time come in which the Church will lay the seed of Israel more upon her heart ? "

The Scripture Clock

Peter N Millward 0

Saturday, 16 May 2020

Prophetic Art 21:15

The Gospel Ship

picture of "Gospel Ship" sailing on the ocean showing Bible verses on sails and rigging

The Gospel Ship - Click link or image for Prints cards and much more

Private Collection - © Peter N Millward

The Gospel Ship is now republished from an original Chomolithograph print circa 1880s - 1900s. The designer HY. P - Henry Pickering (1858–1941) was a well known Christian publisher and Journalist. And made an ingenious way to apply scripture and Bible texts into a maritime theme. Research so far shows three very similar versions. One other similar picture had been designed about the same time and mentioned in an article in the Herts Advertiser 29th January 1887. Title "Homeward Bound" designed by WCM - William Charles Miles, journalist and designer of the Gospel Compass and Gospel Target. It is not known if any examples of WCMs "Homeward Bound still exist...but if any visitors know of any examples, please contact me. It is not known if Henry Pickering designed other pictures, but one other design is similar - The Gospel Lifeboat, is a similar idea with Biblical texts and scriptures.

The story behind the allegory

Early Gospel Ship Publications

The idea of the Gospel as a ship carrying believers to safety predates the illustrated print. Several nineteenth-century publications use the same theme, although a direct connection between these individual works and Pickering's illustration has not been established.

The Gospel Ship - an early booklet

Toronto Public Library's Digital Archive lists a small religious booklet, The Gospel Ship, with the date 1855, in its collection of early children's books. The title page identifies a Birmingham printing for J. Groom, Broad Street, and the Bazaar, Soho Square, London.

It tells of the City of Destruction, the voyage to Immanuel's Land, and Christ as Captain. This is an early witness to the allegory, not proof that this particular booklet supplied the inspiration for the later chromolithograph.

The Gospel Ship: Her Voyage to the Better Country - Rev. J. Harvey

A separate book bearing this title was written by the Rev. J. Harvey. It is listed in The Publishers' Circular of 1 October 1890, among the publications of James B. Knapp's Primitive Methodist Book Depôt, London. This establishes that the book existed by 1890; its original publication year is still uncertain.

EMIGRANTS.

Emigrants for Emmanuel’s land should lose no time in having their berths secured, as ONLY ONE vessel can ever succeed in reaching that country.

Vessel’s name Gospel ShipRomans 1:16

Port which it leaves City of Destruction2 Peter 3:10

Bound for Emmanuel’s landHebrews 11:16

Time of Sailing To dayHebrews 3:7–8

The Fare Without money, and without priceIsaiah 55:1

Captain’s name Jesus ChristHebrews 2:10

Crew Workers together2 Corinthians 6:1

Passengers Sinners saved by graceRomans 5:1–2

Sea, over which it passes TimeRevelation 10:6

Lighthouse The Holy ScripturesPsalm 119:105

Compass TruthJohn 8:32

Sails Faith and Love2 Thessalonians 1:3

Wind The Holy SpiritJohn 6:63

Storage GraceIsaiah 55:2; 2 Corinthians 12:9

Anchor HopeHebrews 6:19

Passengers are supplied with everything on the voyage. Philippians 4:19 — “My God shall supply all your need,” etc.

The vessel affords ample accommodation. Luke 14:22 — “and yet there is room.”

******************
For further reflection.......

A vision of a Gospel ship on dry land was seen by many during the Hebridean Revival...

"Another night, as we left, we saw in the open field, a ship, as if it was a navy ship, all lit up, all lit up between the masts and everything. But we knew it wasn't real...... for it was on dry land, it was on dry land. We couldn't, we couldn't say a word. None of us could even speak. "Be still, and know that I am God" That's all that we could say." Donald John Smith. (Eyewitness)

Alistair Petrie commenting on the Hebridean Revival and vision of a Gospel ship...."Where they see His profound divinity coming as a Gospel ship which a whole lot of them saw at one point, and they all saw this ship which has been seen only a very few times in history so I'm told."

The above qoutes from video from The Sentinel Group

The Hebrides Revival: A Retrospective

In October, 2007, George Otis, Jr., along with son, Brook, and a small team, returned to the Outer Hebrides in Scotland. Their purpose was to meet people who had experienced the extraordinary revivals that occurred there in the 1920s, '30s, '40s, and early '50s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also an article written in 1872

Vision of a Bible Ship

The following article was found among the papers of the late A.W. Pollok, B. A., who graduated from Dalhousie College in April 1872, and was drowned at Port Hawkesbury in August of the same year.

"As I lay musing a vision passed before me of a noble ship. She was built in the New Jerusalem, and her builder and maker was God. Her timbers were of the strong oaks of Zion, her masts of the tree of Calvary, and her rigging of the cords of love, her cable of the three-fold cords of faith, hope, and love, which could not easily be broken. Her helm glittered like the star of prophecy. Her anchor was from Immanuel's land. Her figure-head was the emblem of righteousness, and her name was the Word of God. From stem to stem, from deck to keel, she was a goodly ship. Her deck was the broad platform on which Christians stand. Her guns thundered forth the terrors of the law, but her mission was emphatically peace. 'Her weapons were not carnal, but spiritual, mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds.' Her painting was beauty. She was streaked with white, and sprinkled with blood. Her ship's crew were the Apostles and Prophets. Her captain the Prince of Peace. Her cargo was truth, and her broad banner love, the inscription 'Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth and good will to men.' She sailed over a tempestuous ocean. The billows of hell drove furiously over her bows, but her bulwarks were impregnable. She carried no boats for her safety, because she never could go down. Her progress was onward, wafted by the breezes of the Eternal. She sailed from the port of heaven, and her destination was to the habitable parts of the globe, and her mission to the ends of the earth. The nations hailed her approach with joy. She scattered blessings in her course, and returned homeward bound, freighted with living souls, and anchored under the throne of God and the Lamb.

*Chromolithograph printing is a method of printing superseded by Offset printing in the 1930s. Even though it was an old method of printing - Chromolithographic prints are highly regarded.

To find out more about Chromolithograph printing, please visit the link here

Peter N Millward 0

Saturday, 2 May 2020

Scripture 00:20

Trust and Obey

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Click Link for prints and cards and much more

While looking through old sketches and photocopies of sketches....I came across one I did years ago as a commission..... Somehow it seemed appropriate to look at it again and make it into colour.....I sketched a young woman walking through a forest full of scary trees next to a cemetery, and a freshly dug grave nearby with arrows in various places which had missed along the path. Psalm 91:4-6.."He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday." In the colour picture I placed words from the old hymn Trust and Obey.....Some how it sums up the life of a believer and all who would embrace the words and promises of God in Psalm 91.......Trust and Obey.

1 When we walk with the Lord

in the light of his word,

what a glory he sheds on our way!

While we do his good will,

he abides with us still,

and with all who will trust and obey.

Refrain:

Trust and obey, for there's no other way

to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

2 Not a burden we bear,

not a sorrow we share,

but our toil he doth richly repay;

not a grief or a loss,

not a frown or a cross,

but is blest if we trust and obey. [Refrain]

3 But we never can prove

the delights of his love

until all on the altar we lay;

for the favor he shows,

for the joy he bestows,

are for them who will trust and obey. [Refrain]

4 Then in fellowship sweet

we will sit at his feet,

or we'll walk by his side in the way;

what he says we will do,

where he sends we will go;

never fear, only trust and obey. [Refrain]

Songwriters

John H. Sammis

Published by

Public Domain

Peter N Millward 0

Friday, 1 May 2020

Testimony 22:31

Time is Short

I wrote to a friend in 2017 - sharing something which was significant to me about three years previously....Which now would be about 6 years ago. I thought it worth sharing and include it below with minor editing.

The Lord has times set for us....I had been watching an old film made in 1970. Jane Eyre. It had Suzannah York and George C Scott starring. The theme music is very powerful in the film Music of Jane Eyre perhaps this might make a picture too! Anyway, afterwards I got looking on google looking to see what happened to the lives of these stars. They are both no longer alive. I was so incredibly sad....these are the film stars I once knew so well on TV and cinema as I grew up. When I read about their lives....I was sad. their lives are gone. yesterday they are stars at the pinnacle of their careers and now their lives passed by and gone into eternity. Out of nostalgia I then went and watched A Christmas Carol on Youtube starring George C Scott. It was made in 1983-4 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire - My county town! I remembered it as though it was yesterday being filmed, I was about 23 yrs of age. But I never went to see the movie....I have to say A Christmas Carol is shown every Christmas in the UK so I tend to avoid it. But to my amazement and shock I saw two deeply impacting scenes in the movie. (Please see clips above) faithfully following the book. I then understood what Charles Dickens was trying to do. I read up on Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" - The book created some kind of social earthquake in the UK when it was first published. and could be credited with helping create and cultivating a social conscience where there hadn't been one. An incredible work of art which changed how many think about the poor. (I posted these two clips together with Portuguese subtitles) But when I look at Brazil.....and see the news, the statistics and multitudes of poor... I would to God we had artists who could bring the Kingdom of God here, instead we have this holocaust of youth dying in their thousands because of violence....which was going on before the pandemic and continues God have mercy...we need something from Heaven.

And this is where I come to my point. I was so impacted by these films from my youth, so impacted that these stars are no longer with us...George C Scott was about my age when he made a Christmas Carol in 1984 - now he is gone. I saw my own life in the context of this film.....to me it was like yesterday being filmed in Shrewsbury. And now I am in the blink of an eye in my middle 50s! (2014)

So I went outside late one night where we have meetings in the school. and poured out my heart to God. Life is short......and I just sensed a great need to connect with God about this and get some realignment. I sensed it was very important.......on this side of 50 we need to carefully examine our lives. For me it was significant...... and some how that's why I am much more animated and focused about life - time is short.....I cant dawdle any longer. Time is a precious gift. As Stanley Frodsham said. "Make much of the Word of God, make much of the Blood, and make much of the shortness of time."

I keep being reminded every time I see an old movie - time is short.....and I got a lot of pictures to make!

Peter

Peter N Millward 0

Monday, 27 April 2020

Testimony 19:06

The Battle God Won

The Battle Which God Won

Artwork © Peter N Millward

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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.

Little did I know when I began the Charge of the Light Brigade picture ......There was another battle going on, a heavenly one ....It was a battle which God won for my soul. As I grew up I would often read stories of famous battles in history, and would often paint different battle pictures.... so I found the story of the Charge of the Light Brigade very inspiring. When I was younger I had even seen the 1968 movie of the same name. So when I started the Charge of the Light Brigade painting 1981 I was going to put all my effort into it, up until then I only made pictures which took a day or a week or two ...but this was going to be different. Because this picture I was planning to enter for the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, I was 21 years of age....and no idea how long the picture would take...it didn't matter...I was going to make a great picture, at least try to. It took one year alone for composition and sketching!

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

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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.......

Peter N Millward 2

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

Prophetic Art 10:55

Wise to Salvation

Wise to Salvation

Some days ago (March 2020) while listening to the 1984 song by Foreigner - "I want to know what love is" Somehow the thought of well known clown, singing this song before the Cross of Jesus came to mind. - I was astonished and amazed as I listened and thought of the clown singing these words! I thought Yes! Perhaps someone, somewhere impersonates this evil clown...but God has a plan! Anyway, the music and the image of the clown singing didn't go away.....and so I decided to make a picture - What the enemy meant for evil, God will turn for good! According to the Gospel there is no-one actually beyond redemption. If a lost sinner willingly come to Christ, the Lord will never cast them out or turn them away if they seek Him with all their heart and humble themselves like a little child ......The Lord indeed wants the world to know this - There is no-one too far gone or beyond redemption.....As Charles Wesley's hymn- O for a thousand tongues to sing makes perfectly clear - "His blood can make the foulest clean;" The power and the victory of Jesus Christ is total!...but we must come on His terms! He bids all sinners come to Him through His sacrifice on the Cross. Christ has made the way, and has the power to save totally all who come to Him...and has the power to transform any sin wrecked soul and make them a new creation. "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation." 2 Corinthians 5: 17-19

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Scenes from the picture below - Detail and Scripture verses

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16

"And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"

1 Peter 1:3

Peter N Millward 0

Tuesday, 24 March 2020

Prophetic Art 13:38

Taxi to Fortaleza - Another Day in Paradise.

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Taxi to Fortaleza - Another Day in Paradise.

It was a very hot day last week 20/03/2020 in Caucaia and so I decided to take a taxi to Fortaleza, at least the queues to pay bills should not take hours.. The taxi was a good one, nice air conditioning... and sound system.......and so settling down for the journey, my thoughts once again returned to the health crisis engulfing the world.....and certainly apprehension for Brazil, for friends, neighbors and the vulnerable ....But just as we are driving along The taxi driver reaches for another music disc to put in the player. Deep in thought, I am not paying much attention...but then begins a familiar sound I have not heard in years, its one of Phil Collins - As I listen ....its as though I had never listened to the words before, and somehow I was transfixed by what was sung. I could see a scene being played out, a scene which must have been played out a million times before in Brazil...It was as though God showed me In all this world crisis.....What He sees everyday.......The poor and forgotten, the street kids, the street dwellers and the marginalized. There in that taxi...I was shocked. When we arrived at Fortaleza.....What was I going to do about what I saw. The picture - Another Day in Paradise - (I made a few changes to the words of the song).

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Peter N Millward 0

Sunday, 8 March 2020

Prophetic Art 03:08

The Stone Prayer Rail - 2 Chronicles 7:14

The Stone Prayer Rail

I woke one morning......dreaming of a man who was weeping at a prayer rail made of stone....On the old stone rail covered in moss and lichen were the words "if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14. Then I awoke, and wondered what can this mean....A Stone Prayer Rail?.....One can usually see them in some old churches....but usually they are used for receiving communion and blessings. But this stone rail in the dream was for prayer and situated outside. I have prayerfully meditated on this and this is my visual interpretation of the dream I added a scripture in the picture "Your troops will be willing on your day of battle. Arrayed in holy splendor, your young men will come to you like dew from the morning's womb." Psalm 110:3. The world is getting darker and everything that can be shaken is being shaken......only unshakable things will remain....We as people of God must do our part...allow Christ in us to reign through our lives...live out 2 Chronicles 7:14 - The Lord has promised to fulfill His Word if we humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways. As the scripture says Psalm 110:3 His troops will be willing on the day of battle.....are we ready for the day of Battle? ....We just need to look at Church History and we will see.....ordinary people with an extraordinary God.....do extraordinary things through Christ - .if you know Christ - Then this is your destiny!

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Peter N Millward 0