by Steve Thomason | Sep 6, 2025 | Bible
This week’s Gospel reading (Luke 14:25–33) is a hard one. Jesus turns to the crowd and says:
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple.”
That word—hate—lands with a sting. It was provocative in Jesus’ day, and it feels even sharper in ours. What could he possibly mean?
In this visual meditation, I slow down and enter the text with my pen, letting images, movement, and scripture interweave. As I draw, I listen for the deeper challenge of discipleship: Is Jesus calling us to despise our families? Or, is there something deeper? Is he calling us to deal with the cost of following him.
by Steve Thomason | Aug 12, 2025 | Devos
What is the portrait of Jesus that you carry with you? If you have a moment, stop right now and either draw a quick image, or jot down a few words that would describe what Jesus is like for you in your imagination. I wonder if it matches the guy who spoke the words...
by Steve Thomason | Jul 18, 2025 | Devos
We live in a world full of distractions. They ping us on our smart phones and lure us to doom scroll through the overwhelming news of all that is going wrong in the world. And then, when we feel overwhelmed, we medicate with cat videos or the eye candy of your choice....
by Steve Thomason | Apr 19, 2025 | Art Pastor Live
This session focuses our attention on the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. We remember this horrible event each year on Good Friday. In this session I begin the story with the Tree of Life planted in the Garden of Delight (Eden). I start there because the Gospels tell us that the curtain that separated the world from the Holy of Holies in the Temple was torn open from top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross. The early Christians believed that Jesus’ death re-opened the free access to the Holy Place, the Garden of Delight, the Tree of Life.
by Steve Thomason | Apr 9, 2025 | Devos
In this post I reflect on how the Gospel of Luke tells the story of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. The crowds shout “peace in the heavens, and glory in the highest!” What does this mean?
