I am so privileged to live in Charlotte near Leighton Ford, founder of Leighton Ford Ministries and brother-in-law to Billy Graham (Billy is featured in this painting as the co-founder of Lausanne with John Stott). Leighton has become a cherished supporter of my artistic ministry, and is seen in these images holding the first of the 24 prints.

"Over the past several summers I have had the privilege of prayerfully painting visualizations of the Lausanne Movement's four pillars, one each year.  The first pillar: "The gospel for every person", was personified with a fisherman casting his net across the globe.  The second: "An evangelical church for every people", was the Bride of Christ being formed by believers from every tribe and nation.  The third pillar of the Lausanne Movement was painted last summer: "Christ-like leaders for every church", and was embodied in the "Good Shepherd" sitting among his sheep.  Vignettes surround the image suggesting the varied roles these shepherds play throughout the globe, from an iconic image of founder Billy Graham preaching, to young biblical David with his sheep, to a female chaplain in the army and asian pastor serving communion.  While wolves hover in the background and allusions to darkness and danger surround the flock, the Good Shepherd sits at the center of his charges with calm strength as a spiritual refuge and friend.  May our church leaders throughout the world derive their compassion, wisdom, leadership, and the sacrificial love to lay down their lives for their sheep from the true source of these qualities, Jesus Christ.  

As a prophetic metaphor of this shepherding posture and process, I invited a young artist I teach, Andrew Knotts, to join me in the early stages of this painting.  He and I worked together to pray over the design and sketch the imagery, we built the canvas together, and painted the abstract foundational layers side by side.  Andrew painted several of the wolves that can still be seen in the image.  I wanted to embed the very DNA of what it means to shepherd, impart, and empower into the painting itself, and am so grateful for Andrew's amazing talent and generous collaboration.  I have just finished building the canvas for pillar number four: "Kingdom impact in every sphere of society".  It will (Lord Willing) be revealed during Lausanne's Global Workplace Forum in Manila, Philippines this June 2019, when the other three images will return from international travel and the four will meet together for the first time along with Kingdom leaders from across the world.  I am so honored as a Kingdom-hearted artist to have a part to play through my craft in helping the "whole church to take the whole gospel to the whole world" [John Stott co-founder with Billy Graham of the Lausanne Movement].

The Original Acrylic on Panel Painting was 19.75 x 32”

A new “full size” giclee edition of 100 is available at the original 19.75x32” size of the painting.

The first edition of giclee prints were 13.5 x 22” in a very limited series of 24.

The second edition 12.5x20” print series of 250 is slightly smaller than the first limited edition of only 24 images. Shipping and insuring these larger and costly works flat or even rolled in a tube is a costly endeavor (time and material), so please note the reason for shipping charges and when possible click “no shipping fee” if you are local to me in Charlotte, NC and we can arrange a personal hand off.