What are you giving Jesus for His Birthday?

By now, I’m sure you are wrapping up your gift list for your Children, Grandchildren, your Mom and Dad, your Grandparents, yours Aunts and Uncles, Nieces and Nephews, Cousins, and Friends!  It is Jesus birthday, what are planning to give Him?  Before you give it some thought, remember He owns it all, everything you have, everything in the world.  We have all we have by His grace, He can take any or all of it back in a moments notice!  I can tell you with great authority, (the Word of God),  that He only desires one thing,  your heart.  Jesus did everything He did so that we might accept Him and receive forgiveness and eternal life.  That’s why he came and why we celebrate His birth!

A new spiritual journey started for me in August when we held our Faithful Friends Retreat.  I was looking for new Christian films to share during our devotional time.  I found and purchased a new film, Do You Believe.  I watched it and was immediately, deeply impacted.  A scene at the beginning the movie riveted me with a question I have  been wrestling with ever since.  Early in the film a pastor is driving through the city at night when he sees a black street preacher dragging a huge cross and talking to people on the street, he rolls down his window as the preacher approaches his car.  The preacher asks him, “Young man,  do  you believe in the Cross of Christ?”  The man answers, “I’m a pastor.”  But the street preacher says, “You didn’t answer my question, I asked do you believe in the Cross of Christ?”  to this, the man in the car,  the pastor, says,”yes”. The street preacher goes on, “You see the cross is bloodstained, painful, it loves, forgives and demands…but what does it demand?  That we profess it to this dark world…and if you believe then the question is….what are you going to do about it!”

In the months since I saw that film and listened to that line from film, over and over, and the question remains for me, what am I going to do about it!  I’ve watched news reports of Christians being beheaded, students in Oregon being asked if they were Christians, and then shot if they said yes.  I’ve been bombarded with all kinds of groups that want Christmas erased from our society.  My faith is under attack, people are hurting and lost, and the world wants to eliminate their only hope!  So, what am I going to do about it?

I’m going to stand for Christ.  I’m going to unashamedly live for him, love for him, reach out to the hurt and lost for Him.  Today I’m forming an organization of men and women that want to take up the cross of Christ and serve a lost world for Him!  There are no dues, no officers, no meetings, no charter, no by-laws, just and agreement.  If you want to join with me, you only need to do one thing, decide for yourself if you are ready to make a stand for Christ, to accept Him into your heart, give your life to Him, and openly proclaim that you belong to Him.  That’s it!  If you want to send me an email saying,  “I’m in”, with your name and email address, so we can stay in touch with you, that would be great, but you don’t have to even do that.

My friends the Oakleys in St. Augustine Florida have designed what they call G Beads or God Beads, shown below, I would encourage you to go to their new website which I will announce here very soon, and pickup a G Beads bracelet.  As a way of us recognizing that we belong to the same army for Him.  I have no financial ties with them whatsoever.  The G Beads can be as reasonable as $20. and they will have a selection with beads from other exotic woods, lava rock, and other materials should you desire something different.  My wife has one with river pearls which is very dressy for women.  I hope this will become a modern day ichthys for us, a way of signaling to one another who we are and an opening to witness to those that ask about the beads.  The central three beads are made from the Olive Tree from Bethlehem and the two beads on either side for ASFC members will be deep blood red.  The three beads are for the Father , Son, and the Holy Spirit, the two red beads for the blood of Christ.  The other beads are decorative and your choice.

So what is ASFC.  I wanted a way artists of all stripes, photographers, musicians, painters, sculptors, designers, writers, all artists to join together to honor Christ with our art and craft.  You don’t have to be famous, or a professional artist, just a follower of Christ willing to make that pledge, that you will stand for Him!

This is NOT a call to confront the lost.  I believe the most effective way to reach out to others is the model Jesus showed us in His ministry on earth, it is to love others, with God incredible love.  People were drawn to Jesus because His love was like none they had ever experienced, it was love that was unconditional,  it was love that forgave, it was love that renewed.  When we accept Him into our hearts we have that love, His Love!

I’ve never asked you, my readers what I’m about to ask you, but I will this once.  If anything that I’ve ever written could go viral, this would be the message I want spread far and near!  Dear friends are spreading the word now.  Ricky Skaggs is telling the country music world, Ken Jenkins is informing the film making community, I’m starting spreading this through out the photography community.  We need dedicated, committed Christians, fellow bothers and sisters of  ASFC, to spread the word through out the art world!

So what are you going to give Jesus for His birthday?  How about your heart and your service to Him!

Merry Christmas,

the pilgrim

To register as a member send your name and email to:   billfortney@earthlink.net

In case you were wondering about Ichthys

 According to tradition, ancient Christians, during their persecution by the Roman Empire in the first few centuries after Christ, used the fish symbol to mark meeting places, or to distinguish friends from foes:

According to one ancient story, when a Christian met a stranger in the road, the Christian sometimes drew one arc of the simple fish outline in the dirt. If the stranger drew the other arc, both believers knew they were in good and safe company.  

Our Log Art:  The first three crosses stand for the three crosses on Calvary, that of Christ’s and the two criminals crucified with Him, the last is our cross, the cross we bear and where our sins were forgiven and a new life began!