Faith is not quite the leap into the dark that many people assume.

It is usually about making a reasonable jump based on trustworthy information. Buying a car or house, meeting up with some new friends from work, following a direction using satnav - all of these are expressions of faith where the ‘believer’ has listened to something and then acted on it.

A student recently asked me about proof and I answered with a diagram which eventually became this cartoon. You can only finally have proof when you have taken the step of faith. You can only be sure of your purchase once you have it in your hands, you know that you believed your friends correctly when they arrived at the place that they had promised.

Similarly, when Jesus promises new life, forgiveness, joy, hope… that he will take up residence in your life with a fresh vibrancy - all of this remains uncertain unless you 1. take in the information (which means mainly absorbing the content of the Bible) and then 2. make faith steps based on it.

My personal experience is that when we listen and then respond to the call that Jesus makes on our lives - THEN he brings proof in His own time in His own way. While I am very happy (and willing) to discuss the trustworthiness of the Bible documents I cannot prove the reality of a living God. That is an experience that is open for you to find out for yourself.

This challenge is both scary and exciting.

Thanks to Mike Tindall for suggesting the text.

Tags: Faith, Evangelism, Father, Grace, Jesus, Joy, Listening, Prayer, Redemption, Repentance, Crisis, Thankyou

From Genesis 14.
Commissioned by Scripture Union for the Wordlive site.

Tags: Faith, OT, Redemption, Crisis, Scripture Union

I had written this lengthy post but in the end I guess the picture should speak for itself.

Jeremiah 31:33-34: “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Tags: Steve Jobs, Crisis, Jesus, Redemption, Sin, Storms, Wisdom, Truth/Lies, idols

Lamentations 3v19-24: I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

Tags: Crisis, Storms, Repentance, Sin, Devil, Discipleship, Faith, Father, Holiness, Isolation, Friendship, Law, Listening, Prayer, Redemption, Truth/Lies, idols

Before this post fills with pungent bitterness I will just get it out of my system and move on: we paid a lot of money to take our child to see the ‘Mr Men Live’ roadshow and were utterly disappointed. It was mainly a very-thinly arranged set of miss-aimed karaoke numbers with little to make up for the promise of seeing those people of Hargreaves’ creation. He would be ashamed of it, I am sure.

Now I have vented - and if you are still reading - I will add that those expensively disappointing seats provided me with the inspiration for how to frame this personal tale of frustrated hopelessness. While I have experienced/shared a number of serious lows, I am confident that in Jesus there is always hope which is well qualified and can draw relief from the gloomiest of depths.

Are you facing anything similar? Is the path you are on unendingly grim?
Put yourself in the hands of the most qualified One. Trust me when I say that he can be found through trust and a simple prayer. When life is so very tough, what can you stand to lose in turning to King Jesus?

The wonderful epilogue text can be found at the end of the passage here.

Tags: Crisis, Devil, Evangelism, Faith, Jesus, Grace, Isolation, Joy, Redemption, Storms, Thankyou

Come back for more - this is a twelve part series.

Many thanks to Martin Saunders at Youthwork Magazine for commissioning this series.

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Tags: Youthwork Magazine, Jesus, Wisdom, Friendship, Isolation, Redemption, Repentance, Technology, Holiness, Grace, Faith, Evangelism, Crisis, Bible

So here we go - another experi-mental cartoon using my iPhone apps (for more see this site).

This one is more considered and probably(!) clearer. I wanted to convey the sense of someone who has been redeemed by Jesus and who is now on their way through the door to the other side. It is very simple but in my own mind extremely profound.

Interested in commissioning a similar styled piece? Get in touch.

Tags: Heaven, 3D, Jesus, Faith, Father, Grace, Holiness, Joy, Redemption

Psalm 36:8,9, Romans 11:33 and 1Peter 2:2.

There is a ton of stuff you can digest online - much of it is pretty interesting. You can explore what experts in a variety of fields are thinking and doing minute by minute. The trouble for this Christian was that he ended up listening more to what editors,writers and other artists were saying and less to what his Saviour has said.

In the end, enough is enough. You have to acknowledge that while grazing the surface has some value, the treasures that God has freely given us should be mined regularly - there are abundant riches that will surprise, astonish and ultimately nurture/nourish.

Thanks for the textual assistance: JT, DF, RL, TW.

Tags: Faith, Grace, Holiness, Jesus, Listening, NT, OT, Patience, Prayer, Redemption, Repentance, Sin, Thankyou, Truth/Lies, Wisdom

What a fab way to start the new year. After two years of work, this was released onto the iPhone/iTouch app store:



Some blurb from a recent e-newsletter:

Jason Ramasami is an RE teacher who wants to make the Bible memorable and accessible to students who may have little or no interest in following the Christian faith. Two years ago he embarked on the ambitious project of creating a wordless comic of the main events of Jesus' life for visual learners.

Somewhere along the line the project developed further into an iPhone/iPod Touch app that was approved in December for worldwide distribution.

The Jesus Comic (which is easily searchable in iTunes) is a 150 page comic that moves through 12 chapters and is intended as a discussion kick-starter - not a replacement for the Bible. So far feedback has been very positive -

"This comic is really inspiring; the first genuinely fresh retelling of the good news about Jesus that I have seen in ages. It manages to be faithful to the original text, yet visually creative at the same time. Required viewing!"

"It provoked discussion with my wife, our son and daughter. They spotted some stuff that I didn't and I spotted some that they didn't. This was fun!”

The accompanying website gives some further guidance on interpreting the bigger Bible narrative, but the main idea isn't to be a digital tract but an intriguing and fresh way of reflecting on the life of Jesus.

Jason is asking people to have a look and to recommend/rate it if they enjoy what they experience.

More info website:
http://www.thejesuscomic.com

App store link for the full version:
http://www.iTunes.com/apps/jesuscomic

App store link for the free sampler version:
http://www.iTunes.com/apps/jesuscomicnativity

Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Jesus-Comic/222779070030?ref=nf

Twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/theJesusComic

Tags: NT, Redemption, Jesus, Evangelism, Faith, Christmas, Art, thejesuscomic

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.

Tags: Jesus, Adoption, Crisis, Devil, Faith, Redemption, Sunshine, Truth/Lies

Although the 2 Corinthians 4 text is quoted at length within the cartoon it helps to see the whole thing here.

Although it took a while to draw*, this piece came fairly quickly to me when I heard someone at our local church talking about signing up to become 'flu-friends' and assist collecting Tamiflu in the local community when people are incapacitated.

From a Christian point of view this leads directly into parallels with what Jesus did in coming to this world with a cure for our greatest ailment. The text in 2 Corinthians 4 is great as well because it combines the rescue mission of Jesus with our own weary efforts at making a difference.

In particular my heart goes out to Akik, Mike, Andy and the Stovell gang. I hope that this is a useful piece for your efforts.

*and also it is worth noting that this is the first cartoon for many years that I have produced virtually 1:1 ratio. I used a 0.05 pen to ink it initially.

Tags: Swine flu, Redemption, Jesus, Friendship, Evangelism, Death

Fantastic!

I have been asked to revisit a few older EpilogueTV cartoons and reformat them for Sorted magazine. I took one of my first ever pieces (found originally here) and redrew it, making a few changes to the text, composition and pacing. The newer version is much much better and hopefully reflects some personal improvements over the five years I have been pushing these little babies out.

Tags: Jesus, Redemption, Faith, Crisis

A huge thing in Christian thought is the idea of being set free from slavery by Jesus’ Cross-work.

Steve Farrar wrote a really great book called ‘Finishing Strong’ a few years ago. It is about being a solid Christian man (I am making no claims here...). I actually remembered this quote through something that Peter Lewis had published online.

Tags: Sin, Redemption, Jesus, OT, NT, Devil, Truth/Lies, Steve Farrar, Peter Lewis

There isn't a text for this particular piece because it is something that is written across the whole Bible.

This was really difficult to do because the story was horrible. I think that one of the unnerving aspects to the news was that the events had happened so long ago, and that there are probably kids going through some similar evil right now. I guess that the sense of powerlessness in the face of such cruelty is the big idea here.

The cartoon is really about the letter 'P'. The use of the letter is in itself interesting because it means that the child is impersonal to the wider public. In the news reporting at the time, the word 'punchbag' was used many times to describe some of the cruelty that he went through.

The cartoon aims at a few things:
1. The contrast between the word Punchbag and Precious - that the storyline of the Bible is all about God expressing our worth in the highest most glorious terms.
2. That the suffering and loneliness of the child was something that Jesus entered into willingly.
3. That the christian worldview holds great hope for this child - who knows? maybe in the darkest hour Jesus comforted him, and now after such a short and miserable life there is something better beyond the grave.

I deliberately placed the panels in this order to reflect the idea that Jesus was aware of what would be coming when he suffered. I also repeated the same punching torturer in both panels to give a sense of the same experience being delivered to both.

The amazing thing about the Bible story is that God has entered such a bleak landscape with such incredible passion and depth.

Tags: Sin, Redemption, Jesus, Judge

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

We went to the Tate Modern over the half term break and visited Doris Salcedo's sculpture. I was quite worried about grafting a christian message on to something that is meant to be vague, but surely the cross of Christ is all about this kind of thing? The Ephesians text in chapter 2 talks about how the gospel brings down ancient barriers between political and social differences as cultures are finally reconciled to God through Christ's death.

I played about with a more painterly feel, but couldn't get the cross to look like blood. I also bust a gut that week doing two big commissions and decided to cut my losses and go for simple shading.

There is an allusion here to the chap who does sculptures using blood transfusions, and I also wanted to have some fun with the extremely jargonistic 'WWJD' bracelets which lots of teenager christians wear. Personally I think you should be known by how you live and not this weird trinket-culture, but there you go...

Tags: Art, Tate Modern, Jesus, Redemption

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

Danny Boyle has made a few really decent films. His latest movie is the basis for this one. I am aware that loads of people wont have seen it, so the strip needs to work without the audience being able to make the connection, which I think it does... anyway, the film is a tremendous meditation on the experience of flying into the sun, and the subsequent dangers. For sci-fi freaks out there (like myself) this is a treat of the highest order, and for those non-plussed with flying about in zero-gravity, this is still a very deep piece of work.



From a christian point of view it echoes lots of themes that are writ large across the Bible. God's holiness is a terrible and dangerous aspect to His being and one would do well to wear protection! The strip points at the only protection that will do - the shade that God has provided.

This is my first serious use of tradition ink dipping pens. I have been really struggling to find something decent and worth swapping with the existing stuff that I use, but I made the discovery a few days back. There is a big romance with using black ink and old-style nibs on crisp white paper. It is more scary, but feels so authentic.

Below are a few of my sketchbook developments. Email me if you see the film. I suspect that, like The Matrix, loads of Bible talks are going to based on his film in the coming months.

Tags: Danny Boyle, Sunshine, Jesus, Redemption, Holiness, Sin, Death, Wisdom, Film, Judge

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

This one was related to the whole Madonna/celebrity adoption fiasco that hit the headlines. Can a celebrity bypass correct protocols and take a child from africa? Isn't it in fact a compassionate move to share their lives with those less fortunate? Is it right to remove a child from his/her home situation and place them in the ultra-consumerist setting of a celebrity home?

The debates are many, but I wanted to use this situation to look at how Jesus' mission is rather like this: he snatched us from slavery to the devil and brought freedom and blessed adoption. The really great bit is that he didn't bypass any of the necessary protocols - death on the cross and a mighty resurrection put paid to any arguments about the legitimacy of the move.

I enjoyed imagining the angelic celebrations...

Scott McCloud refers to how cartoonists should try to develop the interaction of text and image in their compositions. I tried to do this with this piece after really getting a kick out the Stockholm Syndrome piece two months previously. The three panel layout is something I am really pleased with on this, and I deliberately kept to a simple stick person-type display. This is how I tend to do stuff at school when I am using my white board to teach stuff, and I think that it probably makes a good impact in my strips.

The dedication is for one of our then-newly-joined friends at church. The great thing with a real christian church is that it goes way beyond the idea of pews and formality - it becomes a family in an organic and vibrant way that people often don't see.

Tags: Adoption, Jesus, Redemption, Sin, Death, Devil, Eyewitnesses, Crisis, Holiness, Wisdom

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

Probably one of the most chilling stories ever had come to light. I mused on the idea of 'Stockholm Syndrome' (a condition that I had heard of before) and thought that this is exactly what happens when people are faced with the amazing truth of Christ's rescue plan. The attachment to the slavery of this world really gets in the way of someone openly coming to faith in Christ, and it takes an amazing work of God's grace to bring them beyond themselves.

This is probably my favourite strip of the EN series. The title text is fundamentally part of the composition and the panels develop in a way that I personally get a buzz out of.

The dedication is for the three new workers in our church. I wanted to say 'thankyou' for their immense hard work and brilliant contribution to the family. I had better stop now before this gets into an Oscar speech.

Tags: Redemption, Jesus, Sin, Sunshine, Truth/Lies

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

Terry Wogan earns a huge amount of money. I thought that this was well worth using because it raises the big question of 'who is worth that?'. The lovely thing about being a christian is that God places infinite value on us by giving His life for us on the cross. People with little or no self esteem can be cherished and cared for in the arms of God. Amazing.

I cheated a little here. The image comes from a set of three pictures I produced for the Brighton Festival Fringe.

Tim Bongers is the dedicatee. I did this specially for him and then the EN staff inadvertently chopped off the whole right hand side of the strip... it was made worse by me telling Tim to look for it. Sorry.

Tags: Work, Consumerism, Credit Crunch, Crisis, Hypocrisy, Wisdom, Redemption, Entertainment, BBC, Terry Wogan

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

I really like this one. The Muslim cartoon protests were hitting the headlines big time. One of the things about doing this strip is that there are sometimes easy targets and then less obvious ones. The end example is something I am pleased with because it doesn't do the obvious thing of criticising Muslims - it goes one better (in my view) and asks the question what is sacred to the secularists?

Fundamental to the whole event is the attitude of the secular press toward sacred beliefs, and I wanted to turn the tables.

My favourite bit is the caps lock gag. Thanks to the editorial assistance from John Batchelor who was a good mate to us at the time. Man can he laugh.

Tags: apologetics, Truth/Lies, Jesus, atheism, Redemption, Holiness

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

7/7, as it is referred to, was yet another defining moment in our shifting culture. I reflected on the parallel steps of the bomber and Jesus, how they both involved death, both were puzzling, and yet had such dramatically different consequences for anyone connected.

Flippancy is something to be avoided with this material, and I think it manages to do that. A lot of the time these strips require you to compare parallel compositions or scan repetitive elements. This one uses that device.

Tags: Terrorism, Jesus, Redemption, Holiness, Crisis, Sin

The Bible epilogue text can be found here and here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

Anti Social Behaviour Orders might well be an effective measure for preventing crime, but if you look further back in each persons history, where are the Dad's who provide a loving context for discipline and nurture? The strip points toward God as the ultimate father who can repair the damage.

I like the 'pof' frame as the missile is launched from the Bible.

It is interesting that I got a complaint from one gentleman for the language being used in the title. He felt that it was inappropriate to use sacred references in this way. I had to respectfully disagree - I think that once you get into 'sacred' forms of language you are heading into the direction of holy places, a view that I think the Bible refutes quite heavily in the new testament.

Tags: ASBO, Father, Youth/Age, Wisdom, Sin, Redemption, Adoption, Law

The Bible epilogue text can be found here (you may have to scroll down a bit to find the exact part...).

The story in Luke is known as the 'Prodigal' or lost son. It is about family reunion after some difficult times. This is a slightly different take on that story about something which happened to me. The most helpful thing to say here is that part of the key for me to find reconciliation in the particular situation required letting go of past baggage - hence the bin.

This has very little text for good reason. I think it works well as it is.

Tags: Father, Youth/Age, Redemption, Repentance, Friendship, Crisis, Adoption

If you look closely you can see an Xray of my shoulder complete with the staples that were holding my operation wound together. Yes, this one was drawn with no drawing, post motorbike crash.

Tags: Mel Gibson/The Passion, Film, Jesus, apologetics, Evangelism, Redemption