Well Dressed Walking Dead

First real Visual effort for one of my pieces shot by the incredible Nathaniel Tetteh of RyBen Media (Please check him out on facebook, instagram etc)

Literally planned, preformed and filmed in a single day, saying he’s dope is an understatement!

Anyway hope it speaks to you!

TBF 03 The Creative’s Journey

We’ve been having so much fun recording the podcast “The Blacksmith’s Furnace”. I just wish to extend my sincere thanks to everyone that’s subscribed, shared, commented and listened to an episode. It really does mean alot.

It’s especially great because we’ve been learning from each other and, at the very least, for me I’m definitely growing and becoming better as the bible says iron sharpens iron(which was the reason we chose the name The Blacksmith’s Furnace in the first place).

In this week’s episode we are joined by Jemilea “PoeticJemz” Wisdom-Baako, and Jolade Olusanya. We talk about the various challenges we all face as creatives, we discuss art and its relevance to the Church and the state of artistry in Christendom at the moment.

As should be expected from us,we of course go off on a few tangents and discuss some loosely related sub topics but by the end of the podcast there were quite a few nuggets of wisdom dropped. One such nugget is a list of recommended books for your reading pleasure and also that might enhance your creative self. Here’s the list:

Imagine: a vision for Christians in the arts by Steve Turner
Letters to a young poet by Rainer Maria Rilke
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon
The Space Trilogy by C.S. Lewis
Ghana must go by Taiye Selasie
The Bible

I’ve actually already bought a couple of these off kindle since recording, so I hope you find them useful too, however, what books would you recommend for a young creative, or what books have most impacted you, let us know in the comments.

Anyway lastly, you can find more from Jemz at http://www.writerznscribez.com/  and for more from our resident Celebrity, Jolade check him out at http://www.jolade.com/

The Blacksmith’s Furnace is also now available on itunes, just search for The Blacksmith’s Furnace to subscribe, you can also find us on any app you might use for your podcasts, you can also join in the conversation on soundclound at https://soundcloud.com/theblacksmithsfurnace

Alternatively you can listen right here,

Take care and be blessed,

Signing out.

 

What if?

A piece I wrote ever so long ago and only just realised isn’t here on the site.
Hope you enjoy it!

Let’s say we’re wrong,
Us Christians and what we sing in our songs
let’s say the disciples of Jesus
went all out to fool us
and the stories of the bible
were bedtime stories for the people
say it was all some sort of fable
a tale from a land distant and impalpable

We are Poems

This is not a drill!

Entirely random thought, but I just realised I’ve never had to use that phrase before in real life!!

Anyway, I’ve got a companion post for The Big X photo gallery I recently posted in the works but whilst that’s on the conveyor belt I wanted to share a video with you from an event  I literally just got back from.

I had the pleasure of ministering at The Grace Convention which was organised by Emmanuel Danso Ministries, it was a great event and Emmanuel really shared some powerful thoughts on the Bible, and religion, and the true meaning of Grace, and I’m sure everyone in attendance was blessed. I know I was!!

Beached…

Beached on our shores, worth noting; willingly
He hung like a portrait of where we were meant to be
He hung, more desiring of us than of living,
beaten and bruised but by no measure broken!
So Dear were we, Death was the cost of loving His bride
and to love us He’d been saving up His whole life

U

You are both rising peaks of the letter,  U is perfect for you are ever rising, ever growing, ever new…

For my unborn kids

I will read poems to my children, they will have bedtime sonnets,

and I will present literary bouquets of roses to their senses,

I will show them the bible as more than a weapon to win theological debates with,

I will teach them to avoid debates in general if they’re with swine who are stupid,

I will teach them to say the Lord’s prayer with none of the words written there,
that it isn’t their rehearsed words that God desires to hear,

but what truth, what joy, what pain, that they might hold in here,
I will teach them to live the Lord’s words out

for it is a living word that spouts from the good Lord’s mouth.

I will tell them they are beautiful for they are masterpieces

and to live their purpose out as they are the master’s pieces

of poetry, in purity, to let their  worn out socks mimic them and also be holy.

I will teach them to live life from outside of its temporal confinements,

To know time is only part of our daily finances,

but to spend it wisely, in investments, to save it, not recklessly waste it

I will teach them the works of Christ and show them that is how to love a spouse,

and after 18 to 20 years of preparation, then take them to Solomon’s instructions on practically working that out.
I will tell them it’s ok to be afraid,

That Elijah ran from a lady after calling down fire like it was the rain,

I will tell them it’s ok to make mistakes,

like Joshua did, but to learn from them and never repeat again the same.

I will show them that greatness is in their blood,

that the good Lord made it Prerequisite of their bone marrow,

That it simply is who they are , they need not do anything for others to know,

and if the world can’t see their beauty, to know it’s not their fault the world is crazy,

and that they need not act in any way or conform, to be content in who God designed them to be.

I will show them the beating of their very hearts is the drumroll before something incredible

and lay down a wealth of random quotes

My Father says to make all things worthy of praise or edible.
they’d quote
I will say to them to never give up.

for so long as you can breathe,

so long as you can feel,

So long as you’re alive,

You are amazing by default and only cease to be when you try to be, something that you’re not.

I will read the book of Job and show them it is more poetry than tragedy

and recount the story of Abraham and Isaac as a happy ending parody

of the drama unveiled at calvary.

I will read poems to my children, they will have bedtime sonnets,
and I will present literary bouquets of roses to their senses,

and pray they have sweet smelling dreams,

on pillows with rose petal beauties between the seams.

Close Call #1: Motion

A picture is worth a thousands words
But actions speak worlds
So if poetry in motion is dance
Let me dance you dizzy van Gogh’s
Blurry eyed visions of beauty and pain
Let me stain the canvas of your soul with whatever remains of mine
And let time be the gardener
That will nourish and prune that Eden into a heaven
Where you may not run away from God
but Thank Him for my existence.
Praise Him for making my Presence, pleasant
For making my voice rush into welcoming ears
Like fears into haunted house volunteers
For making my touch one that you crave
Like graves crave corpses
For making your fluttering eyelashes
the pass code into the vault of my heart
Where I store up for you, art
And where you may safely depart to in times of need.
Let each push and pull of my lungs
fuel,  push and pull the blood that I bleed
That keeps me dancing for you.
And from my heart
I’ll keep creating worlds of love for you

Tolerance

Have you ever seen pole vaulting leprechauns,
with rainbows as carry ons,
the same, denied entry to Noah’s ark for God didn’t want them to carry on,
those ironically un-lucky cousins of Hercules,
son of Zeus and His incestuous families,
are all currently considered partially proven mythology,

but could it be

that the same were the kids, of fallen angels and the daughters of eve,

yet regardless of these, these stories are considered the stuff of myth,

and when the same is said of our faith most of us have pleaded the fifth.

But instead I present this

 

Let songs sing statements saying,

Holy is the Lamb.
Let Parents tell tales teaching,

the terrors of I AM.

Let boys make up games in Honor of His great provision,

Let girls dress Barbies up and present them to Ken in submission.

 

My point is we’re missing in our generation,

and Our generation is missing the point.

Tolerance is a nice excuse for letting our loved one go to burn,

I’m not even talking about standing in public describing an unbeliever’s urn.

I’m talking in the church, or in your school,

in the gym, the swimming pool,

we’re covering up who we’re meant to be,

just so everyone can sit comfortably,

and though we’re not engaging,

we’re not protesting,

we’re tolerating, our loved ones dying.

Or maybe it’s just me

Zebra Crossings

His presence, is a present for the present,
presented in the indescribable present that is Jesus Christ.
Just as relevant in the present, as when He was physically present,
and will when the future becomes the present, and we are eternally present in His presence
We should make Him President for though He is resident in many,
In many hearts, He’s allowed to pitch up a tent, and present,
set amount of blessings per tithe payment as rent.
We’re only willing to sacrifice at lent.
Expectant of His intervention at set points in time
as though it weren’t a free gift, but God repaying what was lent 
to Him in the offering bowl.
The most vivid display of the spirit of entitlement 
can be seen at a zebra crossing.
Where though pedestrians are entitled it,
They do so with majestic strolling,
as though the black and white stripes transform into a royal carpet,
and having stepped into the territory of the metallic chariots,
they have transcended mere human status and are now capable of 
bidding these steel beasts, cease.
Yet should my brakes fail me, they die.
and similar is the consequence of our response to Christ.
It is as though, having given our offerings we are purchasing His provision,
and His intervention we require regardless of our submission, 
We forget, that though HIs Spirit submits to us,
His Spirit, with He created us.
and in an instant, could render us, ceased.
Humility and obedience are keys to any Father’s heart
and for one who’s strength is made perfect in our weakness,
it’s perfect to see God’s will sparked in us,
It’s not so important to chase the blessings instead it is He we should chase.
For Goodness and Mercy shall chase me when I’m staying at His place.    

4 I’s

Inconsistency Inevitably Invalidates Intensity

5 P’s

“Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance”

The Predator,

Kai Greene