Cartoonist/Illustrator - Jeff Larson
Minnesota
 In 1971 John Lennon wrote the song "Imagine" encouraging us to imagine a world at peace without borders, religion, nationality, or attachment to material possessions. This song 'Imagine' is a message for our world choosing anarchy over order, insults over compliments, greed over generosity, crass over clever, profane over profound, hatred over love, war over peace, and violence over peace. While I love this message I would be happy just to imagine a world without rush-hour traffic and road construction. John Lennon Imagine shares a 'nice' broad brush imagination of a 'world living as one', BUT I must add the Gospel message (not religion) is the ONLY answer/salvation for this tumultuous world. Imagine that. DROP THE MIC!  Next, let's fast forward 30 years from John Lennon's 1971 song Imagine to 2001 when Bart Millard of the Christian Music band MercyMe released the song "I can only Imagine". This MercyMe song ponders some day Heaven and be standing before our Heavenly Father. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” 1 Cor 2:9 Now with this all in mind, let me share the side-by-side lyrics of 'Imagine' and 'I Can Only Imagine'. I will call this... 'The Dueling Imaginations'
 For those of you who kept reading this blog until the end, I pray you enjoyed and were blessed by doing a little Imagining where peace on Earth and the promise of Heaven is found in Christ alone.
Jeff (Imagining cartoons) Larson 6/6/2021 So very Earthly Minded I like the old saying ‘That fella is so Heavenly minded, they are no Earthly good.’ This describes a person is so in to church and ‘churchy’ things that they don’t add much value or function outside of church walls. He can barely change a light bulb let alone the oil on his car. Over the years I have smirked at a person or twenty that fits that description, BUT I have come to believe the irony is actually there are too many people are so EARTHLY minded to be much HEAVENLY GOOD.  It's just too easy to be caught up in this pace and 'stuff' of life (good and bad) to where God is put on the back burner. Instead of starting my day quiet before God, reading my Bible, and prayerful I often clutter my life with the very real demands of work, family, rush hour traffic, and.. maybe what is on the TV and become simply more EARTHLY MINDED than HEAVENLY GOOD. The real irony is.. When I drift from God is NOT when I am too busy or stressed but instead when life is good. No immediate worries or concerns so I relax my dependence, praise and appreciation of God to again become so earthly minded... and erroneously feelings of being self sufficient. Maybe even a little bit proud. So while I don’t want my life to look as out of place as an Amish folk high rollin' in Las Vegas.. I do want my spirit, and life to start and end with God. A place where my personal faith shows through in all that I do and say. My prayer for all of you is that this day and always be a life in love with God, and a life where God is not fit in around the details of the day. That sweet spot where our minds on God/Heaven impact our lives on Earth.  May your life be blessed and USED by God in ways that have both Heaven and Earth in mind.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Mt. 6:10 Be 'Blessed and Used' of course in ways that are BEYOND YOUR DREAMS and all that God intends for you! Jeff |
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116 pages of cartoons of 'Clean Humor & God's Truth' CRITICS ARE SAYING..
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3/25/2023
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