Cartoonist/Illustrator - Jeff Larson
Minnesota
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In this modern world 'good parents' monitor the time their kids play video games, and the content of those games. Video games can be a sensory overload for young impressionable minds.  After all, staring at a screen for hours clicking on buttons living a virtual existence stimulated by role playing, and first person shooter games while never interacting with a real person is not healthy, wealthy, or wise. And let me add my 2 cents. "Hey video playing KID, turn off your Xbox/Playstation/Nintendo game thingy, get outside breath some air, talk to real people. build something, read a book, do something, ANYTHING that does not involve electronic brain manipulation." Kids these days.  Then I settle in after busy busy day. I'm tired per usual and plop down in my comfy chair and with one hand I turn on my HD TV to watch the evening (all bad all the time) news, followed by 3 hours of channel surfing (200 channels of sameness). I then order pizza delivery from my smartphone with my other hand while tweeting with my 'peeps'. By my side I have my laptop to browse for any nook or cranny of info my overloaded brain may have missed with my smartphone and HD TV. -gasp- My life is becoming like the 1982 movie TRON! where a computer hacker is abducted into the digital world with little chance of escape. My captors are all the above electronic feeds into my life where I prepare to be assymilated. Then I hear tapping on my window, and the above mentioned kid shouts to me.. "Hey OLD MAN, turn off your TV, smartphone, and laptop too. Go outside make some friends that are not on Facebook, and stop tweeting. Build something, read a book, do something, ANYTHING that does not involve electronic brain manipulation". I hate that kid.. and I reply to him.. "GET OFF MY LAWN." But then in my Bible Paul shares words of truth and gentle conviction for me, maybe you, and certainly that video playing kid that is still on my lawn. whatever is true, .. noble, .. right, .. pure, .. lovely, .. admirable, AND if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—I will think about such things. Phil 4:8.  BAM! So Lord I pray not be sucked in by the 24/7 gloom & doom, fake & baked news vortex to sin. I thank you instead for my very REAL family, friends, FAITH, and a church home that desires to serve you. May God bless each of you with your faith journey and that you avoid a life found in a reboot of Tron. I even thank you for that smart mouthed kid who is still on my lawn. - Amen - Jeff (not Tron) Larson  sad confession: I like video games too. Insert PRAYER INTERVENTION here?
10/29/2021 Using a SKOSH-meterSKOSH.. From the Japanese word "sukoshi," pronounced skosh. That also means a little bit. For example, "I'll have just a skosh of that pie..."  Skosh is a great underutilized word, and though I don't recall Skosh ever making it into any translations of the Bible I am sure it can by implied and rest assured it will be in my Back Pew paraphrase. In fact I would like to create a Skosh-Meter to measure small amounts (a skosh) of.. 'stuff' you cannot measure with your standard ruler or scale. For example, Ned crossed through the Red Sea with the nation of Israel in Exodus 14 and the Skosh Meter would indicate with just a Skosh of faith.  or.. when God asks Adam and Eve "Did you eat of the forbidden fruit?" .. They answered in unison.. "Umm.. maybe just a skosh." but.. the Skosh-Meter is waved and.. beep, beep, beep Oh they ate more than a skosh.  Next, how to insert the word 'skosh' in a loving words shared between a husband and wife. Wife: "Honey, are these pants too tight?" Husband: "umm, maybe just a .. skosh tight" Ok on this one, don't wave your Skosh-Meter anywhere near your wife's butt (can I say butt?) You might as well paraphrase President Trump and say "My dear, you look a bit BIGLY for those pants! Then using a SKOSH-METER to measure my love for God Let's try it on God's two greatest commandments. Q: Do I love the lord God with all my heart and soul and mind, and others as myself. A: After a long work day, I would sigh, but still say.. Yes but.. I am not really sure what my trusty SKOSH-METER will say. I want it to be pegged all the way to the right by the words WITH ALL MY HEART, and far from the left side of the skosh-meter by the red letters -just a skosh- and no beeping sounds please  Then again, I really don't want a Skosh-Meter thank you very much. I prefer God's grace and God's Truth better. God will not reject me from Heaven for scoring 67/100 on Heaven's Entrance Exam. He knows I have problems memorizing scriptures and story problems confuse me. I mean missing out on Heaven by 3 lousy points (technically a skosh) is very un-Godlike. *note* To those of you that I worried for a moment.. There is no Entrance Exam. No minimum score.. only grace for the repentant heart. But seriously back to loving God with all your heart soul and mind and others as yourself. These truly are the two greatest commandments and my daily pursuit until someday Heaven. Pursue God with my whole heart (not a skosh) put all (not a skosh) of your hope in Him, and I believe my love cannot help but grow for Him and a natural extension of this love for God is a love for others.  May God bless each of you in your journey to know God, and.. to know God is to love God in ways that are much more than a SKOSH but instead BEYOND YOUR DREAMS.
Blessings Jeff Oh, and if you ever have the need to move a mountain.. I hear just a skosh of faith (mustard seed size for you gardeners) will be enough. 5/14/2021 Changing Lanes? As a guy.. I am a TV Commercial aficionado. While I respect my wife.. when it comes to TV Commercials hands-down I have a deeper appreciation for their .. art. Case and point is a TV commercial by AT&T where a tattoo artist tells his client he is just an ok tattoo artist but not good one. Then the concerned client questions the tattoo artist not drawing the image before inking the real tattoo.. and this 'just ok' tattoo artist tells him "Stay in your lane bro." Funny stuff, and it makes me smile every time it pops up on TV. Message of this commercial? Don't settle for just ok.  But of course in my mind I see a spiritual correlation in this commercial. When I talk (aka pray) to God, I am NOT talking with a just an OK deity. I am talking with the Creator of this World. Omniscient, Omnipresent, and our perfect loving Heavenly Father. And when I vent (aka pray) to God my busy mind swimming in a big bowl of worry. I tell God "I don't know how this is going to all work out." And this is when God whispers to me.. "Stay in your lane bro." ok, I paraphrased.  Unlike a 'just ok' deity our God is sovereign. He has this bowl of worries of mine along with everyone else's favorite rage and/or anxiety recipe and though mankind has again made a mess of things.. God is not caught off guard. He is not surprised, and NEWS FLASH none of this is a ripple in God's great plan. I do want to be clear there will always be consequences for anyone and/or nation who rejects God's will, and there is pain in being a part of this world compromised by sin, but there is peace in knowing God is sovereign.  Important NEWS FLASH.. It is also important to share this life, our moment in time is not about ME or YOU. This life is about being faithful to our God in word and deed. This our lane.
So I pray.. Heavenly Father bless and use us for your glory in ways that only can be described as beyond our dreams or understanding. This is God's lane Jeff (drifting over the center line) Larson 3/8/2021 Figures of Faith-Speech The teachings especially in the New Testament are full of figures of speech that if taken literally would be reason for a great deal of angst in our lives. Here are just a few.
But thankfully these are much more than figures of speech for those who place their hope in God. These are words holding important life changing/saving truths.
 Finally let me leave you with a phrase I don't think can be found in our Bibles. This phrase is maybe not a figure of speech, but words that also have a double meaning when they are wielded together.
When the dreaded 'Fine, Whatever' combination is muttered by a wife.. well it is anything but FINE, and WHATEVER is the last thing you should consider. May God bless your day with clarity, with purpose, a strong understanding of God's word, and nary a FINE, WHATEVER mentioned to you husbands. Jeff 12/28/2020 It is really .. A Wonderful Life Even in the year 2020 (the mother of all bad years) the classic It's a Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart and Donna Reed plays on. The story of George Bailey through the assistance of apprentice angel Clarence learns the impact he is unknowingly having on those around him... culminating in George realizing though in a true moment of despair.. HIS LIFE IS WONDERFUL! Just hours before the angelic intervention of Clarence, George Baily is stressed, depressed, desperate, and feeling hopeless to the point of contemplating suicide believing his life has been a waste never accomplishing anything of significance, and the world would not miss him in fact would be better off without him. So he whispers a prayer (while sitting at a bar) .. "If you are out there God, I need your help."  So here I am Jeffrey ( George Baily ) Larson who at times feels a tad stressed and depressed, and at times feeling less than a success. Often I am 'financially challenged', my body aches while wincing in pain from arthritic joints, failing eyesight, a herniated disc or two, and in my case a surgically repaired knee reminding me my physical prime is in my rear view mirror... on the distant horizon. Then, I look in the mirror to see an aging face made for radio, a voice made for blogging, and my gramr & spellin not 'gooderer' than a 4th grader. Then there are times I become oversensitive to what others think of me like a teenage girl with a big ol' honking zit on her nose on prom night. LIFE IS HOPELESS! Ok, per usual I embellish MUCH to make my smirky points. THIS IS A WONDERFUL (dare I say BLESSED) LIFE!
 I know each of our lives have blessings and burdens, and my wonderful life list above may not be real to you, but I pray for each of us that no matter any circumstance we each may face that putting our faith in the creator of the Universe.. should take our breath away. The promise of eternity with Him in Heaven outshines the weight and burdens of this life on Earth.
May God bless each of you with His Spirit to provide perspective that only comes from Him. That we may realize IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE full of hope, and promise. Jeff 11/24/2020 The Creed-toon From time to time.. ok daily.. I find it important to declare the truth of what I believe beyond any circumstance in my busy busy mind that may be troubling me. Of course that is doubly true in 2020. What I believe should not be reduced to a cute Christian cliche.. but instead it IS a rock steady truth that goes beyond the high or low found in any day. What I believe should not be reduced to a rote list of dos and don'ts. What I believe is in a personal relationship with the creator of this world.. The rest of .. What I believe is trivial pursuit in comparison. So today I am re-sharing (complete with of course cartoons) the song ‘The Creed’ written by Rich Mullins and later performed by Third Day into a cartoon vehicle for the Gospel message. Here we go… THIS IS WHAT I BELIEVE TO BE TRUE..  THE CREED.. I believe in God the Father, Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth, And in Jesus Christ His only begotten son our Lord. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary. Suffered under Pontius Pilate where he was crucified dead and buried. Chorus: And I believe what I believe in is what makes me what I am. And I did not make it, no it is making me It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.  2nd Verse: I believe that He who suffered was crucified, buried and dead. He descended into Hell and on the third day He rose again. He ascended into Heaven where He sits at God's mighty right hand. I believe that He's returning to judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men. Chorus: And I believe what I believe in is what makes me what I am. And I did not make it, no it is making me It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man. I believe it, I believe it. I believe it. I believe it, I believe it. I believe it.  3rd Verse:
I believe in God the Father, Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord. I believe in the Holy Spirit, one Holy Church The communion of saints, the forgiveness of sin I believe in the resurrection I believe in a life that never ends. There you have it. We all have to believe something, and this is what I believe. It is a powerful song based on the powerful TRUTH of the Apostle’s Creed, based on the very truth of the Gospel message. Of course cartooning the Creed (should be recognized as the CREEDtoon) may make some of you cringe.. but hey.. that’s what I do. May God bless each of you in great ways today with a faith and a creed stating your devotion to the ONE true God. .. accept no substitute! Jeff 11/19/2020 The Smell of Fear in 2020 I just finished reading the book 'The Danger of Shallow Christianity' by AW Tozer (can never lose by reading Tozer) where he in one chapter spoke on the dangers of living out of prosperity and adversity. One is self sufficient, one is hopeless. BOTH are wrong thinking. Prosperity by the world's standards (money, status, lifestyle) have never been a 'problem' in my humble life. But prosperity can lead to the wrong thinking of self-sufficiency, and an air of superiority. Adversity can be found on the other end of the spectrum of prosperity. Adversity can challenge us on to persevere through the challenges of life, or instead fuel anxiety, doubts, and even a sense of dread. Now while prosperity has never been a 'problem' for me.. or even on the radar for me.. but adversity I can relate to. Don't get me wrong, life is good, but I have no illusions of being self-sufficient as my bank account can attest to. Also, I do relate to issues of doubt and insecurity. Anxiety and depression are emotional first cousins that have come to visit me more frequently than I would like to admit.  Then let's add the realization I am not getting any younger. I am 63, wear bi-focals, a 'couple or 20' pounds over my ideal weight, and arthritis now speaks to me which I hear fine without the aide of my hearing aides. Then, outside my control are societal ills including IMO oppression by Covid-19 related government mandates with more than a dash of 'Big Brother', political unrest, voter fraud, and a truly Godless media gaslighting lies while suppressing truth all to promote their own biased narratives. We also have Social Media (ie Twitter & Facebook) actively suppressing conservative and traditional Christian free speech by allowing certain views to be spoken and others are 'fact checked into oblivion'. It's not fact checking at all but is manipulating the public conversation by banning (ie fact checking) conservative and/or traditional Christian voices. THIS fans the flames of FEAR.  At the core of this suppression is not actually the politicians, but the 'we the people' who voted these partisans into office. While I agree we all have the right to vote our conscience, but the problem is too many and too many in the church itself do not vote with a Christian world view. We want to be 'progressive', and want the world to like us so we act like the world. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. John 15:19  Too many in the church support
So the people in our country and in our churches (including me).. worry me. This is The Smell of Fear in 2020 I share all this because I don't think I am alone. Many if not most of us face challenges that we did not sign up for. Our individual situations and/or challenges may be our own doing, or out of our control. It could be a diagnosis that compromises your life. It could be a lost job that was or was not your fault. Maybe problems in your marriage or with your children or grandchildren that break your heart. Maybe the issue is a vice/addiction. So we become afraid... and we can smell the fear. The issue front and center for me today in November 2020 where Covid-19 is king, and FEAR is our God. It is dividing our nation, our families, it is suffocating our churches as we live muted lives zooming our faith instead of in person as God wants us to be. I know Covid-19 is a risk for the elderly and those with compromised health issues, BUT shutting down our economy and our freedoms have a cost too. Through all this I know God to be the answer in my life. I believe He is loving, and NOT indifferent to any of our situations.  From Job to the Prodigal Son God was faithful and caring. Look through the Gospels and read Jesus teachings, and look at his examples where He listened, wept, He healed, and He was truth in love, and even on the cross he promised paradise to the thief on the cross next to him.
What a blessing it is to serve our loving God. The creator of the Universe is intimately interested in each us and our fears. I pray God's blessings and providence for his church today, and for a lost world that needs to know our loving Savior. As the slogan goes No Jesus, Know Fear. Know Jesus, No Fear. Jeff 11/2/2020 My Faith Box for 2020 I guess by strict definitions I am a protestant, but technically more of a protestant MUTT. Actually I would like to be simply defined as a CHRISTIAN thank you very much. I am not being a rebel, but I don't fit nicely into any denominational box. I respect the views of others, but have to come to my own conclusions on all the nooks and cranny faith issues. And let me be clear I am not judging anyone elses choice of 'box' unless.. you have a SNAKE in it. So with this in mind I place all I have learned from God and his church and it all fits nicely in 'My Faith Box'.  The next challenge is fitting My Faith Box into the ever changing Post Modern Society box aka the PM Society box. This is a big box with lights and sounds. Inside their is a society of blended cultures with ever changing faster than a speeding bullet technology, and much much more. All the bells & whistles of the PM Society box are distracting and often attractive BUT I need to be careful when fitting My Faith Box in the PM Society Box. This can be messy. I believe a classic Billy Graham message shared.. We are called to be in the world, but not of it. And certainly not a frog simmering in a pot of secular values. So In this PM Society box I find things like.. The internet. Which is both an incredible resource for
The internet also offers the ever evolving social media kit at no extra charge where I can text, Tweet, post on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TicTok, or blog.. Blog? Sounds like a cheap horror movie from the 1950s.. 'The Attack of the 50 Page Blog'.  In our PM Society box I can also stream music, videos or even sermons (if I am feeling particularly spiritual ) of any big name preacher or subscribe to Cyber Clyde's Bed Hair Pod Cast. Rumor is Cyber Clyde is trending... maybe. This can all be done from the convenience of my office chair while donning the same gym shorts, tank top, and bed hair just like Cyber Clyde.  When PM Society is not on the computer it is on your smartphone, or surfing HD TV with a bazillion (I actually counted and there are actually ONE bazillion) sports, news, and movie channels. In PM Society Box people buy meals, high buck coffees and lattes through a drive through window... or have them even delivered to their door. They will soon even have their groceries delivered by little retail drones. I can't wait til they do appliance deliveries via drones. When that happens I am canceling Cable TV and just following the Home Delivery Channel. My Faith Box is now feeling a little agitated and stimulated at the same time. So far I am having trouble keeping all this PM Society box stuff out of My Faith Box. I see a TV remote is in my Faith Box, and an Amazon Prime Card. In fact I think grease from a leaky fast food bag from the PM Society box is soaking into the corner of My Faith Box and sadly I like the smell. I kind of like some of this PM Society stuff, and it is easy to justify their place in my Faith Box. I THINK I NEED HELP.  OK, I may not be so desperate that I need a Faith Box Exorcism, or an Exterminator, but I could do some spring cleaning... here in November. My serious prayer is to have an honest Faith Box, with the word of God in it that never changes and a prayer list that is ever changing. In this box I pray I do not confuse my political beliefs are important but should never be confused with my Faith. I want to be in this world but not of it. This world (aka PM Society Box) is a mess! It is filled with noise, smells, and sights that are often far from God. It is a box that NEEDS GOD, not religion of man, but needs GOD THE CREATOR and JESUS OUR SAVIOR. In this world now, in the PM Society box is needed a return to God's Truth. WE NEED A REVIVAL.  Regarding Revival: I listened to a sermon a while ago by Louie Gigglio and he said "Where there is pain, where there is a mess this is where a revival can happen". No one has a personal revival when life is going perfect. So by this definition this world is ready for a revival, and better year in need of a revival is this hot-mess Covid-19 compromised 2020.
OK, probably I took the box analogy a bit too far about a half a blog ago, but if you are still with me I pray God inspires in us a love for Him and His ways that make us truly salt and light in a PM Society box that is in contrast bland and existing in the dark like a mole eating rice cakes. Jeff (All Boxed in) Larson 10/31/2020 The Skosh Meter SKOSH.. From the Japanese word "sukoshi," pronounced skosh. That also means a little bit. For example, "I'll have just a skosh of that pie..." Skosh is a great underutilized word, and though I don't recall Skosh ever making it into any translations of the Bible I am sure it can by implied and rest assured it will be in my Back Pew paraphrase. In fact I would like to create a Skosh-Meter to measure small amounts (a skosh) of.. 'stuff' you cannot measure with your standard ruler or scale. For example, Ned crossed through the Red Sea with the nation of Israel in Exodus 14 and the Skosh Meter would indicate with just a Skosh of faith.  or.. when God asks Adam and Eve "Did you eat of the forbidden fruit?" .. They answered in unison.. "Umm.. maybe just a skosh." but.. the Skosh-Meter is waved and.. beep, beep, beep Oh they ate more than a skosh.  Next, how to insert the word 'skosh' in a loving words shared between a husband and wife. Wife: "Honey, are these pants too tight?" Husband: "umm, maybe just a .. skosh tight" Ok on this one, don't wave your Skosh-Meter anywhere near your wife's butt (can I say butt?) You might as well paraphrase President Trump and say "My dear, you look a bit BIGLY for those pants! Then using a SKOSH-METER to measure my love for God Let's try it on God's two greatest commandments. Q: Do I love the lord God with all my heart and soul and mind, and others as myself. A: After a long work day, I would sigh, but still say.. Yes but.. I am not really sure what my trusty SKOSH-METER will say. I want it to be pegged all the way to the right by the words WITH ALL MY HEART, and far from the left side of the skosh-meter by the red letters -just a skosh- and no beeping sounds please  Then again, I really don't want a Skosh-Meter thank you very much. I prefer God's grace and God's Truth better. God will not reject me from Heaven for scoring 67/100 on Heaven's Entrance Exam. He knows I have problems memorizing scriptures and story problems confuse me. I mean missing out on Heaven by 3 lousy points (technically a skosh) is very un-Godlike. *note* To those of you that I worried for a moment.. There is no Entrance Exam. No minimum score.. only grace for the repentant heart. But seriously back to loving God with all your heart soul and mind and others as yourself. These truly are the two greatest commandments and my daily pursuit until someday Heaven. Pursue God with my whole heart (not a skosh) put all (not a skosh) of your hope in Him, and I believe my love cannot help but grow for Him and a natural extension of this love for God is a love for others.  May God bless each of you in your journey to know God, and.. to know God is to love God in ways that are much more than a SKOSH but instead BEYOND YOUR DREAMS.
Blessings Jeff Oh, and if you ever have the need to move a mountain.. I hear just a skosh of faith (mustard seed size for you gardeners) will be enough.  Labor Day to me marks the last day of summer as it falls nicely on the first Monday in September. MY LABOR.. over the years has included such occupations as grounds keeper on a golf course, Logger, convenience store attendant, computer programmer, sports official, and school bus driver. Now in my 63rd year of wandering this Earth I am semi-retired while driving the above mentioned school bus. .. oh, and I draw a cartoon or two or three. another kind of labor day ----->  So with Labor Day here I am reflecting on these sobering social & economic times where the response to Covid-19 has complicating the employment and budgets of many. With this and more muddling my life I am choosing to AGAIN claim the great scripture.. Trust in the Lord with all my heart, in all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 TRUST is a little 5 letter word (infinitely better than any 4-letter profane word) and the above scripture should be spoken out loud in my opinion. I can reflect on the words all I want, but I then need to come to the conclusion to Trust God. In my opinion it would not be trust if it was easy.  Just like walking on water for Peter made no logical sense, neither do the answers to the many of the troubles we face. Walking on water is of course a miracle and not a parlor trick or slight of hand.. er.. slight of foot.. BUT maybe the answers to my prayers are your prayers are no less a miracle even if they appear to be more subtle. For example when a person prays for a tragic family situation that seems hopeless and rolling out of control BUT prayer intercedes and life no longer is hopeless but is back on track.. that may be GOD'S SUBTLE MIRACLE. When you have no way of paying your mortgage and the deadline is here, and you work so hard, and you prayer so hard, then TRUST God.. and somehow the funds are available.. it may be a subtle miracle of God. On the sobering side of prayer we do find man has free will and sometimes must accept that God's will and his providence is bigger than any circumstance. Bad things do happen to good people. This is a fallen world with much sadness and tragedy. We do hurt, we are fragile, there is sickness, and we all will die.. BUT this does NOT discount the the loving miracles of God. I believe it was Albert Einstein who said "Coincidences are miracles where God wished to remain annonymous."  Of course right after Labor Day we return to rush hour traffic, work, or school, but as I reflect on Labor Day.. I hope and pray for a day to regroup and recoop our energies for another season of trusting and serving our Lord. Let's take the lid off of what is possible when we trust God.
I pray today for God's care to be on display in big and small ways. Where we are truly BBYD = Blessed Beyond our Dreams. May God find us obedient on this Labor day and those other 364 days too. Jeff (not breaking a sweat today) Larson |
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Back Pew - Draw Close to God
116 pages of cartoons of 'Clean Humor & God's Truth' CRITICS ARE SAYING..
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©2019 Jeff Larson - All Rights Reserved
12/2/2021
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