Five Solas

This image was inspired by another image that I saw online a while ago. I could, however, not make out all the words but I thought it was a pretty cool effect. So, here it is... Another wallpaper to remind us of the reformation and those important "sola" doctrines that the reformers rediscovered and that we need to treasure in an age of relativism and surrounded by the secular world that scoffs at such glorious concepts as being "saved by grace through faith, and this not of ourselves but a gift from God."

Therefore, let us always live Soli Deo Gloria!



The "Sola" and derivatives are in "University Roman LET", the other half of the phrase for each sola is in "Times New Roman" and the phrases beneath each sola are in "Cardinal Alternate". I think I should also acknowledge that the background is by no means my artwork (in case you don't recognise it). Rather, the background is a painting by Van Gogh, I hope he doesn't mind :).

Also, just so that you know, yesterday I posted a *very* late image (I missed posting one last week)...

Soli Deo Gloria!

Reformation Poster

Okay, this post is exceedingly late, it's also rather different to the others.

While browsing the Monergism website... ahh... (listen to the Curt Daniel lectures if you have the chance and the bandwidth to do so...) I began to think about having a nice shirt with a cool quote or a picture of Spurgeon or something. Later I saw some relatively abstract posters and suddenly thought of designing one!

So this is my attempt, it's designed to be A2 (that's the size of four normal A4 pages). I would like to print it but if I do that I'll need a bunch more people who are interested in getting this poster :).

Anyway, without any further ado:

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

While participating in forum debates, I realise more and more that John 12:40 "HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM." (uppercase because NASB capitalises quotes from the Old Testament) is true.

It is a sad thing to consider that some people will simply never have their hearts of stone changed for hearts of flesh but it is, therefore, a glorious thing to consider that God has done this work in your life (if indeed He has, see 1 John 2).

When defending the faith I find that it is regularly necessary to step back and remind myself of 1 Corinthians 2:1-2 which says "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."

It is important to remember that salvation is entirely the work of God for His glory. We do not need to be intelligent, eloquent, talented or any other thing. We need the word of God and we need to proclaim it. As Paul Washer said at a missions conference, "The problem in the church is not a lack of zeal for missions. The problem in the church is much greater: A lack of zeal for God and His word". When those things fall in place then we will see God's work being done because we will not be embellishing it with our own ideas or distracting from it with other plans.


The verse reference is in "Tolkien" and the verse is in "Times New Roman" except the last line which is in "Times New Yorker".

Contemplate carefully

Mark 15:37-39

Sorry, a bit late again, I think I will need to revert to fortnightly uploads at some stage...

The Gospel never ages, it is as glorious today as when I was regenerated. For this reason, my mind has been mulling over this subject. One of the past images had the same phrase "It is finished" on it, I wrote there as well, that this phrase in the Greek meant "Paid in full". We have a resplendent God and this is His gospel, that we who are infinitely deserving of eternal destruction have punishment pass over us and on to the Son of God! I cannot comprehend a reason for this thought to ever get old. The text is Mark 15:37-39 which says "And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. When the centurion, who was standing right in front of Him, saw the way He breathed His last, he said, "Truly this man was the Son of God!" ". The following quote is from a sermon by Melito of Sardis (translated by James White),

Who is this Jesus?
----
And so he was lifted up upon a tree and an inscription was attached indicating who was being killed. Who was it? It is a grievous thing to tell, but a most fearful thing to refrain from telling. But listen, as you tremble before him on whose account the earth trembled!

He who hung the earth in place is hanged.
He who fixed the heavens in place is fixed in place.
He who made all things fast is made fast on a tree.
The Sovereign is insulted. God is murdered.
The King of Israel is destroyed by an Israelite hand.
This is the One who made the heavens and the earth,
and formed mankind in the beginning,
The One proclaimed by the Law and the Prophets,
The One enfleshed in a virgin,
The One hanged on a tree,
The One buried in the earth,
The One raised from the dead and who went up into the heights of heaven,
The One sitting at the right hand of the Father,
The One having all authority to judge and save,
Through Whom the Father made the things which exist from the beginning of time.
This One is "the Alpha and the Omega,"
This One is "the beginning and the end"
The beginning indescribable and the end incomprehensible.
This One is the Christ.
This One is the King.
This One is Jesus.
This One is the Leader.
This One is the Lord.
This One is the One who rose from the dead.
This One is the One sitting on the right hand of the Father.
He bears the Father and is borne by the Father.
"To him be the glory and the power forever. Amen."

The font used for the reference is "Hard Rock", the verse is in "Cardinal" and the centurion's quote is in "URW Chancery". The phrase "It is finished" is in "Deadly English".

Psalm 115:1 Soli Deo Gloria

For any of you who may be regulars, last week I was kind of bogged down and so I couldn't get a new image done - sorry.

A day later than I would have hoped. Nevertheless, I have been listening to some seminars by James White on church history (as well as some Curt Daniel). So I'm sure that you can guess how this image was inspired. In case you don't know, at the time of the reformation, the reformers (and people slightly later than that) presented these five points (in Latin); "Sola Fide" - "Faith alone", "Sola Gratia" - "By Grace alone", "Solus Christus" - "Through Christ alone". Obviously I have added the first words "By" and "Through" to the explanations because this is what they meant, in that they referred to the process of salvation. The other two points are: "Sola Scriptura" - "Scripture alone" which was to combat the notion of tradition and general reliance on anything extra-biblical (like councils or creeds). Finally, "Soli Deo Gloria" - "Glory to God alone" since this is the chief end of everything; the glory of God. To any Calvinist, these already sound like the makings of Calvinism since the way God is glorified is via salvation; faith (which He gives us) by grace (which he then bestows on us) through Christ (not of ourselves - at all!). It will be a good indication that there are either very few followers or very sound followers of this blog if there are no comments (unless I have blundered - which is not beyond belief). The scripture that I have used is Psalm 115:1, "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth." because it further emphasises the point - "Glory to God alone!". And lastly, for us Calvinists, I just stuck in the word Sovereignty (and a tulip) since that is an attribute of our God (not the tulip)!


I used Tiza for "Soli Deo Gloria" and just "Arial" for the other points around the circle. The word "Sovereign" is in the font "Narnia", the verse is in "Times New Yorker" and the reference is in "Ruritana".

Ezekiel 36:25-26

If you haven't heard of Paul Washer, I would encourage you to go and look him up on sermonindex.net or sermonaudio.com. Since watching a little clip made from one of his sermons, I have had this text on my mind. Look up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gP-oD7Y0Ag where a few clips of him preaching this are stuck together. Basically, "Salvation is all about the work of God demonstrating the glory of God, and that is why men such as ourselves should guard it so severely and preach it so carefully, because its all about God and His name, that His name be great among the nations." in the typical Paul Washer fashion. Anyway, I now really appreciate this text and this was the result:


The verse is just written in italic "Times New Roman" and the reference is in "Tiza"

2 Timothy 2:1-4

This image was sort of inspired by mdg's comment a while ago. I love this passage of Scripture, 2 Timothy 2:1-4 "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier." First it speaks of enduring in the faith and not being like people spoken of in 2 Timothy 4:3 who "will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear" (MKJV; I like the "tickling ear" idea that the MKJV gets across that the NASB does not - and it is in the Greek "κνηθομενοι"). Secondly, it speaks of both discipleship and evangelism. So we are told to stand firm in the faith, to disciple and evangelise. Thirdly, endurance through sufferings is encouraged as Paul exhorts us to many times looking forward to the welcome we will receive upon our entrance into glory. And finally, to not become entangled in things of the world, as in 1 John 2:15 "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Recently I found this hymn which has also been running through my mind:

My goal is God Himself, not joy nor peace,
Nor even blessing, but Himself, my God;
'Tis His to lead me there - not mine, but His -
At any cost, dear Lord, by any road.

No matter if the way be sometimes dark,
No matter though the cost be oft-times great,
He knoweth how I best shall reach the mark,
The way that leads to Him must needs be strait.

One thing I know, I cannot say Him nay;
One thing I do, I press towards my Lord;
My God my glory here, from day to day,
And in the glory there my great Reward.

I think that pretty much sums it up - not joy, nor peace, nor even blessing, but Himself, my God. "At any cost, dear Lord, by any road." that is my prayer. Perhaps you should also go and look up the hymn "All for Jesus" - amen.


Most of the verse uses "Cardinal Alternate" the "Y" at the beginning and the reference are written in "Teutonic 4" and the background words are in "Times New Yorker"

John 1:5

This wallpaper I actually made a while ago, I've been busy with exams so I haven't had much time for hobbies :). Anyway, this sort of goes with the last wallpaper, no one will ever understand the glorious majesty of the death of creation's maker but by the grace of God. Jesus Christ walked on earth and yet, people did not follow Him (and if you think that God is being unfair, take a look at Romans 8 and 9 - And read some commentary, I like John Macarthur's comments although Calvin or Spurgeon will also do). Nowadays we have a lot of people doing some strange wonders and miracles but I think back to Jesus' words in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone is rises from the dead". The text in this image is taken from John 1:5 "The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."


The verse is written in the font "Times New Yorker" and I can't remember what font I used for the reference (If I do remember I'll update this post).

1 Corinthians 1:22-23

I pretty much made this image as I went along, the cross in the center was an obvious choice (If the centrality of the cross is not then perhaps you should visit www.needGod.com). I decided on the verse because of the prominence of the cross. I then added, on the left lightning - for the signs that the Jews seek, and on the right, the Chinese calligraphy for the word "wisdom" - for the wisdom that the Greeks search for. Contrary to that; 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 "For indeed the Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we teach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness."


The numerals in the verse reference are "Birth of a Hero" and the text is "Archeologicaps". The first verse text uses "Hard Rock" and the second uses "Academy Engraved LET".

How true this verse is; the Jews reject Christ because they did not expect Him to die but to reign. The Gentiles reject Christ because following a man who supposedly rose from the dead is foolishness in the eyes of the world. Now I can glory in the fact that but by the grace of God I too would be looking for signs or wisdom but instead can boast in Christ!

Colossians 3:2-3

The text is from Colossians 3:2-3 which says "Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. " I chose this text while listening to a sermon by John Piper called "Live to Die". The main thought that I really pulled out of it was a resolve; "To live so outrageously that my life and actions only make sense in light of the resurrection of the dead". This is something that God has been challenging me with recently, we are told to count the cost of following Christ (Luke 14:26-33) and not to store up treasures on earth but in heaven (Luke 12:16-21). My prayer is that this wallpaper will inspire you to live a life that is not wasted; one that, once ended will have you standing before your beloved creator who will be saying to "Well done, my good and faithful servant".


The font for the verse was "URW Chancery L Italic" and the reference was "Even Badder Mofo"

Isaiah 9:2 and Matthew 4:16

Okay, I missed a week but I was planning on doing a new one every fortnight... This wallpaper was from a suggestion that I was emailed. The verses are both Isaiah 9:2 and Matthew 4:16. The Latin quote "Post tenebrus, lux" is translated "After darkness, light". You may notice that the cross has Christ hanging on it only on the left, dark, side. This is because the resurrection of Christ is our light - as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:19-20 "If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep."


I used "Birth of a Hero" for the Latin quote and the verse references, "Cardinal Alternate" for "After Darkness Light" "URW Chancery L Italic" for the actual verses

Romans 3:25-26

I made this image a while ago but I couldn't decide what text to put onto it. One thing that God has really been showing me recently is His glory in being just and the justifier; the Judge who must condemn, against whom I am guilty of infinite crime, yet the One who has paid my fine and can now satisfy justice and declare me righteous by His blood. What a glorious thought! So the verse is Romans 3:25-26, it really starts in verse 24 though and verse 23 gives nice context so: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.". Of course with only one of the most majestic verses in the entire Bible, the image would have seemed empty so I added the last two verses from one of my favourite hymns All For Jesus (if you want to hear it, check out this site: songsandhymns.org - if you are not familiar with the hymn, follow the link and read the lyrics... wow! Let that be true of me!)


I used "Teutonic No3" for the verse reference and, once again "Times New Yorker" for the verse. I used "Narnia" for the background words and "URW Chancery L" for the quote from "All For Jesus".

Isaiah 6:8 "Here Am I. Send Me!"

Inspired by Enfield's (The band that does the music for resolved conferences (woohoo - we're having one in South Africa!!!)) song "Here Am I" of their album "Oh For That Day". This really is my prayer - that God would send me wherever He wants me to go and that I would, in ecstasy, follow His will, whatever that may be. The text is from Isaiah 6:8 which says "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I. Send me!' ".

The fonts used were as follows: Ruritana for the verse reference, Tiza for the quotes "Whom shall I send..." and "Here am I..." and Times New Yorker for the rest of the verse "Then I heard..." and "Then I said,".

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

At the time I was inspired to do this wallpaper, I had been reading through 1 Corinthians. In case you don't know, "doulos" is the Ancient Greek word for a "bond-slave" or "bond-servant"; a doulos was someone who had essentially agreed to become his master's slave freely and forever - in the Jewish law, slaves would eventually regain their freedom; a doulos would not. Teleo is the word that Jesus said on the cross meaning "It is finished" but this word has the connotation of something being paid, it has been found on ancient receipts. I think it is an awesome picture of Jesus having paid my ransom in full.


The verse's font is "Birth of a Hero" as is "Teleo", the words next to "Teleo" are in "Deadly English" and DOULOS as well as the verse reference are in "Impact".

Psalm 19:1-4

This is one of my favourite psalms, Psalm 19:1-4 "The heavens declare the glory of God, the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech, night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."


The earth was a screenshot out of Celestia and I used "Cardinal" ('alternate' - I think) for the verse and "Ruritana" for the reference.

Agnus Dei

Inspired by the third verse in the hymn "Man of Sorrows". It's undoubtedly one of my favourite hymns because not only does it cover the wretchedness of man but the glory of God. It's like singing a mini-sermon! Such amazing truths! (In case you don't know, "Agnus Dei" is Latin for "The Lamb of God"). Originally I didn't know the exact words so if you like, I've got the same picture with the words "Filthy, vile, wretched we..." but I thought I'd rather go with publishing from the hymn.


I used "Deadly English" for the English and "Narnia" for "Agnus Dei"
And because I can't talk about such an awesome hymn without publishing it:

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, Who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
Full atonement can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
"It is finished!" was His cry;
Now in heaven exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we'll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

CT Studd - Rescue Shop

This is in response to SFAforester's request for a widescreen wallpaper with CT Studd's quote "Some wish to live within the sound of church or chapel bells, I want to run a rescue shop withing a yard of hell". Just so that you know, I probably wont be able to produce requests this quickly in future... Charles Studd is known for his cricketting ability and, post-conversion; his evangelicalism and his missionary work. He founded what is now the WEC International (Worldwide Evangelisation Crusade) which was called Heart of Africa Mission. He is a well known and respected Christian author. Hope you like this - all glory to God Almighty:

Jeremiah 20:9

So here goes, my first wallpaper, I originally made this picture partly as a Bible Ed project but I would have made it anyway. Jeremiah 20:9 is the verse and it says, "If I say, 'I will not mention Him, or speak any more in his name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in. And I cannot"

Images of The Invisible

Please note that I basically make these wallpapers for my specific screen resolution at the time of making (generally 1280*1024 or perhaps 1280*900), if you would like a different resolution when you request, please tell me. If you would like one of the wallpapers that are already uploaded modified for a different screen resolution, I can generally do it for you if you ask nicely :) (although sometimes it'll just look rubbish). If you feel the need to declare your immeasurable appreciation for any of the wallpapers, please say so int the form of how much undeserved grace you believe God has afforded me with regards to these things (i.e. please make sure you point glory in the right direction).

If you are making a request, use the following format;
Phrase: "Something amazingly profound" - Author's name and surname (if possible)
Colour Scheme: What the predominant colour should be and the colour of text (hex values couldn't hurt)... (I'll probably think about it and then ignore it anyway but please put it here)
Visual Elements: Explain what stuff you think should be there, weird flame things or fire, fog, planets... You get the idea...
Screen Resolution: [Optional - otherwise it'll probably be 1280*1024]

And just so that you know, I like the fonts "Cardinal Alternate", "Birth of a Hero" and "Times New Yorker" (among many others), I use Inkscape and The Gimp for all the production stuff. I like Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards and I'm a 100% 5 point calvinist, fundamentalist, right wing conservative, literal 6 day creationist, literal, grammatical, historical interpretive method and if you don't want division, just agree with me and there wont be any :). (and I may have a hint of dogmaticness, but I will gladly debate any of these issues with anyone)