This will explain my world view, as well as my eternal view… it’s my truth, my testimony. It's worth the full read!

Warning: Most people go through life with a pit in their stomach, an emptiness that no matter what they try to fill it with, they always feel empty. Are you curious when you meet someone and they have a joy that is unspeakable? There is just something different about that person. Well, I'm about to tell you what's different about me.

When many start reading about God or someone's testimony, a voice inside their head begins whispering to them, trying to convince them to close this tab and read no further, it will be a waste of your time. I hope you silence that voice (it's not from God), resist the temptation and keep reading! I believe there are spiritual battles happening all around us every day, we can't see them but they are happening. And I also believe that you are reading this for a reason, it's not an accident you are here.

God is the creator of all things – the heavens, the earth – and that makes me His child, made in His own image (Genesis 1:27). His creativity astounds me every day. I guess I've inherited a bit of that creative spark because I love to create art that showcases His ultimate masterpiece.

God has blessed me with artistic talents, and I believe it's my responsibility to use them for His glory. My art isn't labeled as 'Christian art,' but as an artist who follows Christ, I create with the intent of showcasing His majestic creativity. Make sense?

I hope you like my art and even want to purchase it for your home or office, but if you
don't... It doesn't matter. I created it for an audience of one, it is hopefully a fine aroma offering to my King. If you do like it, I hope it reminds you when you look at it on your wall, that you are a child of God, and He loves you and wants a relationship with you. Ultimately, nothing else matters.

My faith in Jesus Christ is at the core of who I am, it guides my entire life. It’s not religion, it’s a relationship. I'm broken, a sinner, unworthy on my own, but through Christ, I've found salvation, forgiveness and a life of meaning.

God's nature is both perfectly holy and loving, and it's through His sacrifice on the cross that we can find reconciliation.  I'm not worthy or able on my own to have an eternal relationship with my heavenly Father due to my sin. So, what does that actually mean?  Have you ever really thought about that?

Since the foundation of the world, God has been on a mission to reconcile two
unchangeable, yet seemingly contradictory, attributes of His nature. On the one hand, God is perfectly holy. That means there is no sin allowed in His presence. Yet on the other hand, God is perfectly loving. He loves us so much that He would give anything to have us in His presence (John 3:16). God doesn’t want any to perish but for all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9 NASB). Yet at the same time, the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). Anyone’s head spinning yet?

So here we are, relentlessly sinful, born into sin; and when left to our own devices, we
continue to sin. Our hearts are “deceitful . . . and desperately wicked” (Jeremiah 17:9 NKJV). Yet God loves us and wants to be with us. But He simply cannot let our sin go unpunished. Such an oversight would be a violation of His law, a compromise of His perfect justice and absolute holiness.

How can He be perfectly holy and true to His Word, yet fully loving and accepting of us at the same time with all our faults, sins, and failures? The answer is found in His blood covenant made on the cross. So, let’s dive into that a bit.

Did you ever wonder why lambs (and other animals) were sacrificed on the alter in the bible?  Throughout the Old Testament (B.C. = Before Christ), an unblemished lamb was sacrificed on an altar as an act of worship to God and the means of atoning for sin. The Hebrew word “kaphar” is translated into the English as “atonement”, which means to “cover over.” Atonements in the Old Testament involved the sacrifice of an innocent animal, and by the shed blood of that animal, God would see the sins of the person(s) who offered the sacrifice, covered. God commanded such sacrifice because He is holy, and mankind as sinners needed a costly way to have their sins covered, so they might be in right relationship with God. Those who wanted to know God, and fellowship with Him, would by faith, offer the sacrifices to have that relationship and fellowship with Him. Those who were not people of faith, didn’t sacrifice, and therefore would not have their sins covered, and thus be separated from God. God never intended this sacrificial system to be an end in itself, or to be the only answer for the sins of people. Atonement, being only a temporary covering of sin, was never the ultimate answer to solve mankind’s greatest problem. Rather, this system of sacrifice merely prepared this nation of Israel, and the whole world, for One (innocent and unblemished) who would come, and offer His own life as the ultimate and final sacrifice for sin.  That brings us to the New Testament in the Bible when Jesus comes on the scene.

The sacrificial lamb was a substitute for the sin of man.  Jesus Christ is also known as the Lamb of God. Are you starting to get it?

The belief that Jesus is both God and man is of fundamental importance. The apostle Paul wrote that an affirmation of the divinity of Jesus is required to be saved (Romans 10:9), and the apostle John provided a sober warning that those who deny Christ’s true humanity are promoting the doctrine of the antichrist (2 John 1:7). The Triune God of the Bible has existed and reigned from all eternity, and the second Person of the Trinity, the Son (Jesus), took on human flesh at a particular point in time (Luke 1:35; Hebrews 1:5) in order to become a redemptive sacrifice that “covers over” your sins and mine. 

The late Reverend Billy Graham (who I met and had a photoshoot with in my early 20’s when I was a staff photographer at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, so blessed to have met this man), he said: “Only one sin that can’t be forgiven is on God’s list — and that is the sin of rejecting Him and refusing His offer of forgiveness and new life in Jesus Christ. This alone is the unforgivable sin, because it means we are saying that the Holy Spirit’s witness about Jesus is a lie (see Luke 12:10). Why is it so serious to reject Christ? The reason, first of all, is because of who He was. He wasn’t just another religious teacher; He was God in human flesh — but when we deny this, we limit Him and assume He is unable to save us.  The main reason why it’s so serious to reject Christ, however, is because He is God’s appointed means of salvation. Our greatest need is to have our sins forgiven; if we don’t, we will forever be separated from God. But by His death and resurrection Christ provided the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed of all our sins.”

Through Christ, I've been forgiven, and that's a gift I cherish above all else. It doesn't make me better than anyone else; it's simply a reflection of God's grace. It’s a free gift that God offers to everyone, and I accepted it. 

If you don’t have that peace (if you died tonight, you would absolutely be in heaven?) and would like it… then right were you are at, just say these words (known as the sinners prayer of salvation):  “Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God, that you died on the cross to rescue me from sin and death and to restore me to the Father. I choose now to turn from my sins, my self-centeredness, and every part of my life that does not please you. I choose you. Please send your Holy Spirit to now live inside me.”

If you prayed that prayer and meant it (God knows our intent, you cannot hide anything from Him), I know you felt the Spirit come over you… it’s unexplainable.  It’s glorious.  Welcome home, heaven is rejoicing! Don’t keep it a secret, tell someone. If you don’t have anyone, email me. I prayed that prayer when I was around 7 or 8 years old with my Mom… that forever sealed my eternity. That emptiness you felt before is now gone, isn't it? That is your soul, now filled with the Holy Spirit.

If you aren’t ready or maybe unwilling to say that prayer, don’t ignore the signs (that lump in your throat that is making you feel that this page is speaking directly to you) or the feelings you just had, that is the Holy Spirit nudging you. That is God knocking on your door! You didn’t come to my website by mistake, you didn’t click on this article by mistake or by chance… God was leading you to this, you needed to hear this. God is real. But just believing in God won’t get you to Heaven.  Did you know that Satan (the devil and all his demons) believes in God, very much so… but they are banished from Heaven in a place called Hell (the absence of God).

Unfortunately, being a good person doesn’t get you into Heaven… only accepting the blood of Christ as an atonement for your sin, that is the only way.  There are not multiple ways to get there. Man’s attempt at religion(s) would have you believe that there are many paths, again a lie from the deceiver.  In our world today, Satan has done such a convincing of peoples minds that you just need to live your own truth and be a good person… that if God was truly a loving God, He would let you into Heaven.  90% of a truth is still false.  Satan wraps most of his lies in partial truths, after all he is the great deceiver. Part of this deception is that many people say that a God of love could not create man and then condemn him to hell.  The bible says that hell was not prepared for man, but for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).  God has made full provision to prevent man from going to hell.  But if they reject His redemption (that is why He gave us free will), preferring to serve the devil (which is anything of this world), then they choose to go to hell with him.  So, it is by the devil’s will, not God’s, that man go to hell. Misery loves company, right!  I’m not making light of it, I’m just telling the truth.

Every man and woman must face their own mortality at some point. Better to hear the truth and repent now than at the day of judgement… which will be too late.  That is why I want to be bold for Christ and tell others that not only has Christ saved me eternally,
but He has changed my life here on earth. When you accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit (the third in the trinity) to dwell in you, to guide you… and you get to experience a little bit of heaven here on earth.  It doesn’t mean I don’t struggle with the world, and God doesn’t promise an easy life on this side of heaven… it is still a fallen world.

So, what’s next? Now what?

If you did just pray that prayer, I would urge you to get a bible if you don’t have one (I would recommend the NIV version… it’s written in modern day English, easier to understand than the King James Version).  Not sure where to start (it’s a big book after all), just ask God to guide you… He will bring you to the right page, the words will come alive on the page.  Dive in, devour His word as much as possible, after all the bible is God’s word.  The biblical basis for this clarity is derived from two sources. First, the words of Scripture are self-attesting because they claim to be from God (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21). Second, the Holy Spirit's dynamic power applies the truth of Scripture, resulting in a confident assurance in the Word itself (1 Cor 2:4-16).

Then ask the Lord to guide you to the right church body, this is so important… you should not be on an island by yourself.  This church you choose needs to believe and preach the entire word of God (some may refer to this as the “Inerrant word of God”), not just the parts that society likes… those are false churches and unfortunately are all too common place.  If you live in the Denver area, I can give you a recommendation of a great church to get plugged into.  Also remember, you won’t find perfect Christians anywhere.  The reason there are no perfect churches is that there are no perfect people. Add a sinner to a room full of sinners and it is hardly surprising that we encounter sin.

So, I think a healthy way to view church is… “I don’t go to church to get something (although I am given much when I do), I go to church to give my King the worship He deserves. The church isn’t primarily a place you go to (the building). It’s a gathering of people you belong to”. 

I don’t have all the answers, but I know where I can find them… at least the answers that are on this side of heaven.  If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to email me.  Thanks for allowing me to share (at length I know), my hope is that God uses me and my art for his glory.

-Kyle Whaley