Tyler van der Hoeven
Not Quite Buried
I doubt if many people will end up reading all of this and I can't say that even I would, flickr is not a blog but rather a huge image sharing site. However, I cannot go on without mentioning a few things that are going on in my life as well as covering some ground on the direction God is leading me in.
I am called to be a missionary, not a photographer, designer, or illustrator. God's leading on my life has often confirmed this calling yet here I am, with a handful of the world's best tools for photography, design, and illustration. I didn't ask for these tools, I did not seek them out, I didn't save up my money for years or even months to be able to purchase these tools. I was flat out given a license code to Adobe CS4 Web Premium, which just "happened" to be purchased close enough to the release to CS5 that I was given a free upgrade. I'm not a web designer, I don't know much HTML, CSS, or Javascript, I didn't even fully know how to use Microsoft Paint much less Photoshop CS5 Extended. Here I was, minding my own business, pursuing missions and my own slight interest in photography when God said, "Here are the industry standard tools for manipulating and creating art, what will you, as my son, create with these tools and the hidden talents and abilities I have given you?" Create!?! I don't even know how to use these tools! "Learn!" So I learned, through many hours of tutorials and just plain fooling in photoshop I learned the tool, I figured it out, yet I wasn't creating anything, I was just messing around. So I joined flickr in an attempt to learn and eventually show off my skills I had learned. Well, God had other plans, not two days after I joined and went pro who would friend me but the one and only Brandon Peters. O joy, my first contact! I visited his stream and as God would have it he was a strong brother in Christ, using his stream not to learn or display his work mainly, but rather to first and foremost glorify His Father in heaven. Oops, embarrassing moment, excuse me while I blush for a moment, I guess that's what I should be doing myself. Okay well, I suppose I can do that, I can use my stream to glorify God, posting my "amazing" pictures and then say a little something about God. I was met with a small amount of success, everyone was saying how "neat" and "amazing" my images were, how "talented" I was. It went right to my head, as so many things do, and I began to think perhaps I had something to offer the world, for a price. Well then I got invited to post on the Christian blog www.INSPIKS.com, offering my few tutorials and few devotional style posts for the INSPIKS world to enjoy. That got me thinking, if I was given all of this, these computer tools, the computer, the cameras, the lenses, the time, the talents, and contributed so little to the acquiring of these gifts, why do I expect to receive anything? I quickly shoved the question out of my mind and have spent the past few months attempting to build a small business around my work. Yet those who were interested in having my do work for them were from church, how could I charge my own brothers and sisters in Christ for something that I would not be able to do for them outside of God's immense blessing?
The lights began to come on. I have been given a gift in my photography, design and illustration but not for me to get rich and famous from. Yet here I am, a few weeks away from launching my photography website from which I will charge customers for downloads of my images. Not only that but I am in the process of building a business around my t-shirt designs, attempting to sell them, either as my own designs on my own shirts or to larger companies like www.kerusso.com or www.threadless.com. Why? How is it right to ask for money online or from large companies when it would be wrong for me to demand the same from my close friends and fellow believers? There are several answers to that question and I would like to share one with a story.
There once were two men who were both equally gifted in healing, even from the time they could utter a prayer for healing, those who were sick or injured were healed within 3 days of their prayers. They both got older, they both got married, they both needed work, they both set up hospitals where they would go around the building praying for their patients. They both charged for their services, not much, but enough to provide for their families and a few comforts. They both tithed excessively, giving thousands of dollars each year to various ministries and missionaries. Yet the older they got, the richer they got and the more they craved for more, they went to church less, and began charging more for their services of healing. They were celebrities, invited to all the major parties and social gatherings. Then one night, they both had the same dream, a boy, torn, dirty and ragged, with little clothes and even fewer teeth was standing on a dirty street. He was walking towards them, slowly, when all of a sudden he fell, coughing, wheezing, dying. At that instant both men awoke, sweaty but relieved that it had only been a dream. The vividness of that dream did not diminish on iota for the rest of the week, and Saturday night it came again, more real and horrific then the first time. Sunday morning they both arose, both got dressed, one for church, and the other for a party with the mayor. The one rededicated his life to Christ that morning at church, the other got drunk and forgot all his troubles. The next day they both went back to work, the prices remained the same for their work, yet for the one man, in joy and cheerfulness he gave it all away, he kept back for himself not one single penny, yet for the other man, he stopped giving at all, holding it all back in his vain pursuit for more. The one man soon gave up his practice as a doctor and in great joy left everything and with his equally ecstatic wife left for Africa where he might be able to be of some use for the Kingdom of Christ. The other became exceedingly wealthy, he cared nothing for God yet still, his gift of healing remained so he continued to stockpile wealth and fame. Many years later when both men were old and nearing the end of their lives the one was working alone, having lost his wife a few year before to cancer, yet still offering up prayers for the healing for the lost people of Africa. The other had many friends and the best care. He had long since given up his doctoring, pursuing the more enjoyable pursuits of retirement; cruising, golfing, touring and the like. He too had lost his wife many year ago to depression but had since remarried several times. Then, quite suddenly, both became very ill and died. Both left this earth with just as much as they came with, nothing, yet they did not arrive at heaven's gates empty handed for both had a record on their souls of how they had lived their lives. The one was received into heavens joys with trumpet sound and much great rejoicing to rule the heavens and the earth along with His glorious Master and Redeemer, having stood firm. The other too was received, but not into the joys or glories of heaven, for that same Lord who had greeted with love and overwhelming affection the one, looked with disgust and even hatred upon the other. "Sir," said the man, "did I not heal millions in prayer to you? Why will you not now grant me access to this excellent place as my deeds deserve?" The Lord replied, "I never knew you, I've never heard your voice, your feet have never touched my throne room, indeed your head has never rested upon my bosom, and your sins where never paid for, until today, depart from me you worker of iniquity for today your actions have spoken to the condition of your heart, that you were never saved." In great anger and hatred the man rushed upon the Master in order to force his way into heaven but the Master rose quickly and with lightning speed thrust his great sword into his belly and that wicked man fell, deep into the abyss.
Great truths require radical change. For those of us who are truly saved we will never be satisfied until we have done all to please and glorify our Lord and Savior. We will be deep in prayer, deep in our evaluations and constantly repenting of the times we fail. God does not seek for perfection, He does not look for talent or ability, He seeks for worship. We all worship something, we all have a god, whether it be money, ourselves, our friends, our talents, our equipment or the One true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Yet only God is big enough to bear the weight of our worship, any other thing will bend and break under the weight of our worship. Worship money and will never be satisfied, you will always want more. Worship yourself and you will perish, unsatisfied and bitterly disappointed. Worship friends and they will disappoint, die, or betray you. Worship your talents and they will never be sufficient and you will spend your days trying to be the best, be better, and will die having come up short. Worship your equipment and you will never have enough, always seeking to upgrade you will find yourself always looking and longing for the new best toy. Worship the One true God and you will find Him to be a strong and mighty tower, worthy and strong, able to bear it and return your greatest joy and satisfaction, more then you ever could have dreamed of.
So then, we must worship God, and if we do will will find our greatest joy. Money is not evil, lots of money is not evil, it is the heart of the person who has money that can choose to use it for evil or good. I can choose to use my last twenty dollars to buy a pack of cigarettes, or I can relinquish my claim on a fortune of $5 million dollars by seeking through prayer on whom to give it to. Money in the hands of a believer who is seeking to honor God in all things can be a tremendously useful and blessed thing. I want to be that person, able to be the conduit through which God can bless those whom he desires to. Not laying claim to anything as "mine", but "His", under His control and use, realizing that nothing on this earth is rightfully mine for I came here with nothing and will leave with only a record of how I lived in the light of the reality of who God is.
So back to the question. How is it right to ask for money online or from large companies when it would be wrong for me to demand the same from my close friends and fellow believers? Well, the answer for me is that I would like to use my talents and abilities to glorify God. To create art and sell it that I might have money that has been used for unrighteousness, the wealth of the world, and redeem it to be used for righteousness, to give it away to be used by God to multiply a hundred fold that many might come to know the Savior by appropriate use of these resources. That through prayer I might be the wise steward who took what was entrusted to him and multiplied it to the honor and glory of the Master. At the same time however not holding back my talents or gifts merely because someone cannot pay for them. Freely I have been given too, freely should I give. What about friends, family and brothers and sisters in Christ? Well, keep it to prayer but for me, how can I demand a profit from a believer and expect that to glorify God? Its hard to run a successful business this way, but I'd rather fail at business and be a success in the eyes of my Father then gain all riches of the Kings and have the frown on the blessed face of my Redeemer to look forward too.
Well this has been long yet I have much more to say so I will try and split it up over a few more posts. Again, not too many folks will get to the bottom of this post but if you have, then thanks for taking the time to listen to the ramblings of a young guy trying to seek to do all things to glorify his Master.
Not Quite Buried
I doubt if many people will end up reading all of this and I can't say that even I would, flickr is not a blog but rather a huge image sharing site. However, I cannot go on without mentioning a few things that are going on in my life as well as covering some ground on the direction God is leading me in.
I am called to be a missionary, not a photographer, designer, or illustrator. God's leading on my life has often confirmed this calling yet here I am, with a handful of the world's best tools for photography, design, and illustration. I didn't ask for these tools, I did not seek them out, I didn't save up my money for years or even months to be able to purchase these tools. I was flat out given a license code to Adobe CS4 Web Premium, which just "happened" to be purchased close enough to the release to CS5 that I was given a free upgrade. I'm not a web designer, I don't know much HTML, CSS, or Javascript, I didn't even fully know how to use Microsoft Paint much less Photoshop CS5 Extended. Here I was, minding my own business, pursuing missions and my own slight interest in photography when God said, "Here are the industry standard tools for manipulating and creating art, what will you, as my son, create with these tools and the hidden talents and abilities I have given you?" Create!?! I don't even know how to use these tools! "Learn!" So I learned, through many hours of tutorials and just plain fooling in photoshop I learned the tool, I figured it out, yet I wasn't creating anything, I was just messing around. So I joined flickr in an attempt to learn and eventually show off my skills I had learned. Well, God had other plans, not two days after I joined and went pro who would friend me but the one and only Brandon Peters. O joy, my first contact! I visited his stream and as God would have it he was a strong brother in Christ, using his stream not to learn or display his work mainly, but rather to first and foremost glorify His Father in heaven. Oops, embarrassing moment, excuse me while I blush for a moment, I guess that's what I should be doing myself. Okay well, I suppose I can do that, I can use my stream to glorify God, posting my "amazing" pictures and then say a little something about God. I was met with a small amount of success, everyone was saying how "neat" and "amazing" my images were, how "talented" I was. It went right to my head, as so many things do, and I began to think perhaps I had something to offer the world, for a price. Well then I got invited to post on the Christian blog www.INSPIKS.com, offering my few tutorials and few devotional style posts for the INSPIKS world to enjoy. That got me thinking, if I was given all of this, these computer tools, the computer, the cameras, the lenses, the time, the talents, and contributed so little to the acquiring of these gifts, why do I expect to receive anything? I quickly shoved the question out of my mind and have spent the past few months attempting to build a small business around my work. Yet those who were interested in having my do work for them were from church, how could I charge my own brothers and sisters in Christ for something that I would not be able to do for them outside of God's immense blessing?
The lights began to come on. I have been given a gift in my photography, design and illustration but not for me to get rich and famous from. Yet here I am, a few weeks away from launching my photography website from which I will charge customers for downloads of my images. Not only that but I am in the process of building a business around my t-shirt designs, attempting to sell them, either as my own designs on my own shirts or to larger companies like www.kerusso.com or www.threadless.com. Why? How is it right to ask for money online or from large companies when it would be wrong for me to demand the same from my close friends and fellow believers? There are several answers to that question and I would like to share one with a story.
There once were two men who were both equally gifted in healing, even from the time they could utter a prayer for healing, those who were sick or injured were healed within 3 days of their prayers. They both got older, they both got married, they both needed work, they both set up hospitals where they would go around the building praying for their patients. They both charged for their services, not much, but enough to provide for their families and a few comforts. They both tithed excessively, giving thousands of dollars each year to various ministries and missionaries. Yet the older they got, the richer they got and the more they craved for more, they went to church less, and began charging more for their services of healing. They were celebrities, invited to all the major parties and social gatherings. Then one night, they both had the same dream, a boy, torn, dirty and ragged, with little clothes and even fewer teeth was standing on a dirty street. He was walking towards them, slowly, when all of a sudden he fell, coughing, wheezing, dying. At that instant both men awoke, sweaty but relieved that it had only been a dream. The vividness of that dream did not diminish on iota for the rest of the week, and Saturday night it came again, more real and horrific then the first time. Sunday morning they both arose, both got dressed, one for church, and the other for a party with the mayor. The one rededicated his life to Christ that morning at church, the other got drunk and forgot all his troubles. The next day they both went back to work, the prices remained the same for their work, yet for the one man, in joy and cheerfulness he gave it all away, he kept back for himself not one single penny, yet for the other man, he stopped giving at all, holding it all back in his vain pursuit for more. The one man soon gave up his practice as a doctor and in great joy left everything and with his equally ecstatic wife left for Africa where he might be able to be of some use for the Kingdom of Christ. The other became exceedingly wealthy, he cared nothing for God yet still, his gift of healing remained so he continued to stockpile wealth and fame. Many years later when both men were old and nearing the end of their lives the one was working alone, having lost his wife a few year before to cancer, yet still offering up prayers for the healing for the lost people of Africa. The other had many friends and the best care. He had long since given up his doctoring, pursuing the more enjoyable pursuits of retirement; cruising, golfing, touring and the like. He too had lost his wife many year ago to depression but had since remarried several times. Then, quite suddenly, both became very ill and died. Both left this earth with just as much as they came with, nothing, yet they did not arrive at heaven's gates empty handed for both had a record on their souls of how they had lived their lives. The one was received into heavens joys with trumpet sound and much great rejoicing to rule the heavens and the earth along with His glorious Master and Redeemer, having stood firm. The other too was received, but not into the joys or glories of heaven, for that same Lord who had greeted with love and overwhelming affection the one, looked with disgust and even hatred upon the other. "Sir," said the man, "did I not heal millions in prayer to you? Why will you not now grant me access to this excellent place as my deeds deserve?" The Lord replied, "I never knew you, I've never heard your voice, your feet have never touched my throne room, indeed your head has never rested upon my bosom, and your sins where never paid for, until today, depart from me you worker of iniquity for today your actions have spoken to the condition of your heart, that you were never saved." In great anger and hatred the man rushed upon the Master in order to force his way into heaven but the Master rose quickly and with lightning speed thrust his great sword into his belly and that wicked man fell, deep into the abyss.
Great truths require radical change. For those of us who are truly saved we will never be satisfied until we have done all to please and glorify our Lord and Savior. We will be deep in prayer, deep in our evaluations and constantly repenting of the times we fail. God does not seek for perfection, He does not look for talent or ability, He seeks for worship. We all worship something, we all have a god, whether it be money, ourselves, our friends, our talents, our equipment or the One true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. Yet only God is big enough to bear the weight of our worship, any other thing will bend and break under the weight of our worship. Worship money and will never be satisfied, you will always want more. Worship yourself and you will perish, unsatisfied and bitterly disappointed. Worship friends and they will disappoint, die, or betray you. Worship your talents and they will never be sufficient and you will spend your days trying to be the best, be better, and will die having come up short. Worship your equipment and you will never have enough, always seeking to upgrade you will find yourself always looking and longing for the new best toy. Worship the One true God and you will find Him to be a strong and mighty tower, worthy and strong, able to bear it and return your greatest joy and satisfaction, more then you ever could have dreamed of.
So then, we must worship God, and if we do will will find our greatest joy. Money is not evil, lots of money is not evil, it is the heart of the person who has money that can choose to use it for evil or good. I can choose to use my last twenty dollars to buy a pack of cigarettes, or I can relinquish my claim on a fortune of $5 million dollars by seeking through prayer on whom to give it to. Money in the hands of a believer who is seeking to honor God in all things can be a tremendously useful and blessed thing. I want to be that person, able to be the conduit through which God can bless those whom he desires to. Not laying claim to anything as "mine", but "His", under His control and use, realizing that nothing on this earth is rightfully mine for I came here with nothing and will leave with only a record of how I lived in the light of the reality of who God is.
So back to the question. How is it right to ask for money online or from large companies when it would be wrong for me to demand the same from my close friends and fellow believers? Well, the answer for me is that I would like to use my talents and abilities to glorify God. To create art and sell it that I might have money that has been used for unrighteousness, the wealth of the world, and redeem it to be used for righteousness, to give it away to be used by God to multiply a hundred fold that many might come to know the Savior by appropriate use of these resources. That through prayer I might be the wise steward who took what was entrusted to him and multiplied it to the honor and glory of the Master. At the same time however not holding back my talents or gifts merely because someone cannot pay for them. Freely I have been given too, freely should I give. What about friends, family and brothers and sisters in Christ? Well, keep it to prayer but for me, how can I demand a profit from a believer and expect that to glorify God? Its hard to run a successful business this way, but I'd rather fail at business and be a success in the eyes of my Father then gain all riches of the Kings and have the frown on the blessed face of my Redeemer to look forward too.
Well this has been long yet I have much more to say so I will try and split it up over a few more posts. Again, not too many folks will get to the bottom of this post but if you have, then thanks for taking the time to listen to the ramblings of a young guy trying to seek to do all things to glorify his Master.