Title: 31 Prophet of Fear 1995
Size: 30" x 40"
Description: Mixed Media Collage on canvas
Comments: This is a “Prophet” series I did. I define a prophet is one who hears God and speaks for Him to bring deliverance or repentance to a people. Unfortunately the Bible speaks of false prophets who speak with authority but do not speak for God but for themselves. It is the false prophet that I am addressing in this series. No one consciously says proudly “I am a prophet of poison”, it would make it easy not to listen to him. But they come clothed in sheep clothing, they seem sincere and truly loving, but in the end they are wolves ready to devour you. I also wanted to put a face on evil. A physical face on something you can’t see, touch, or feel, because it is spiritual and emotional. I feel the call of God to speak his voice but this is the flip side to that call. It is very easy to not be follow the road of the false prophet and very difficult to follow the road of a true prophet of God because most often there is no financial gain for the true prophet of God. Kind of like being an artist. In my culture fear motivates and runs our life. Fear and hatred seem to go hand in hand. It seems not only to permeate our society but my church as well. A picture of one of the religious leaders in Japan, who was behind planting nerve gas in the subway in Tokyo, startled me. When I visited Japan in 1989, I felt as safe as I ever been. The thought of getting mugged let alone having a terrorist gas me with poison was laughable. A nation that had a place so safe that you didn’t have to worry leaving a bike at the subway station without a lock, suddenly was faced with the same fears the rest of the world constantly faces.