Brentwood Baptist Church Gallery – Sea to Shining Sea Exhibit
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Brentwood Baptist Church Gallery – Sea to Shining Sea Exhibit
June 1, 2015 - September 1, 2015
Brentwood Baptist Church’s Art Gallery has a different theme for their exhibit every quarter or so. Appropriately this quarter’s theme is “From Sea to Shining Sea.” Come out and see the art. Several of the paintings were painted by our President Craig A. Stevens. Each of the Paintings have stories attached to them. Here are some examples:
Our Civil Rights
Our Civil Rights is the 2014 Tennessee NRA Print of the Year. The original is a 48 by 40 inch acrylic on canvas painting of an America flag waving from a strong flag pole anchored in concrete with the Bill of Rights written into the background. The painting is the first painting of three in a series. Each painting represents one of three stages in our country. This flag represents where we were when I was a child. Our Civil Rights as our founding fathers explained, are granted not by government but by God and the United States Constitution ensures these civil rights in the Bill of Rights making them the law of the land. Without any one of the first ten Amendments in the Bill of Rights we are vulnerable to the tyranny of the powerful, leading to enslavement. Therefore, we protect our people and our land by preserving the constitution. The mission of the democratically elected representatives of the republic of the United States is to represent the will of the people, by enforcing the constitution and the laws of the land equally and without biases. Every appointed office holder and official protector in our land are here to protect the constitution from all enemies both foreign and domestic. To do otherwise is at best willful ignorance or at worse a form of treason and both punishable by law.
The Bill of Rights
Amendment I – Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II – A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III – No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV – The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V – No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI – In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Amendment VII – In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII – Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX – The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X – The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
High Crimes and Misdemeanors
High Crimes and Misdemeanors is a 48 by 40 inch acrylic on canvas painting of the shredded America battle flag. The painting is the second painting of a series of three, each painting representing one of three stages in our country. On this flag, words and concepts of division are written with the blood red threads of the tattered stripes (many are Biblical warnings). This flag represents where we are now, actively dividing ourselves into tribes. Not all division is bad. Although, we should segregate lies from truth and good from evil, we should not divide ourselves from each other, nor how we deal with people from love and respect. For a country to play along and ignore divisive tactics and lies from their public servants or enemies (foreign or domestic) is national suicide. Words that Divide Painted in the Treads of this Flag are:
- Tribalism
- Political Correctness
- Social Engineering
- Arrogance
- Anger
- Hate/Hatred
- Discord
- Apathy
- Ignorance
- Low Standards
- No Shame
- Wild Living
- Drunkenness
- Greed
- Self Interest
- Cheating
- Stealing
- Abortion
- Hidden Agendas
- “Rules for Radicals,”
- Progressive Socialism
- Fear
- Progressive Fascism
- Dissension
- Hateful Debates
- Biased Media
- Spin
- Propaganda
- Revisionist History
- Selfish Ambition
- Career Politicians
- Unelected Czars
- Power Over the People
- Voter Fraud
- Blackmail
- Lying
- False Witness
- Welfare
- Slavery
- Social Justice
- Human Trafficking
- Lust
- Impurity
- Pornography
- Sexual Immorality
- Adultery
- Homosexuality
- Terrorism
- Murder
- Envy
- Jealousy
- High Debt
- Monetized Debt
- Idolatry
- Witch Craft
Our Founding Principles
(the picture to the left was the pallet used to paint the “Our Founding Principles” flag above)
Our Founding Principles is a 48 by 40 inch acrylic on canvas painting of a rally flag . This painting is the third flag in a series of three. Each flag tells a story. The first flag points to our resent past, the second flag looks at our contentious present, and this one points to how we can turn our country around by remembering the basics. The words of our founding fathers and others, written in the background, serve to remind us of our founding principles.
Quotes from our Founding Fathers and Others Found In the Painting
- “…If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31,32
- “…My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14
- “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit. We must not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:22-26
- “Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He has chosen as His own inheritance.” Psalm 33:12
- “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor.” George Washington
- “Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable.” George Washington
- “The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity.” John Adams
- “We beseech [God] to pardon our national and other transgressions…” George Washington
- “Oh, eternal and everlasting God, direct my thoughts, words and work. Wash away my sins in the immaculate blood of the Lamb and purge my heart by Thy Holy Spirit. Daily, frame me more and more in the likeness of Thy son, Jesus Christ, that living in Thy fear, and dying in Thy favor, I may in thy appointed time obtain the resurrection of the justified unto eternal life. Bless, O Lord, the whole race of mankind and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son, Jesus Christ.” George Washington
- “True religion affords to government its surest support.” George Washington
- “Nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.” Abraham Lincoln
- “I … rely upon the merits of Jesus Christ for a pardon of all my sins.” Samuel Adams
- “In God we trust.”
- “We have this day [4th July] restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in Heaven, and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His Kingdom come.” Samuel Adams
- “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30,31
- “The name of the Lord says the Scripture is a strong tower; thither the righteous flee and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better.” Samuel Adams
- · “You do well to wish to learn…above all, the religion of Jesus Christ in our schools.” George Washington
- “The Congress of the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in all schools.” United States Congress 1782
- “The Declaration of Independence laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.” John Adams
- “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: it connected, in one indissoluble bond, the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.” John Adams
- “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” John Adams
- “As the safety and prosperity of nations ultimately and essentially depend on the protection and the blessing of Almighty God, and the national acknowledgment of this truth is not only an indispensable duty which the people owe to Him.” John Adams
- “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Patrick Henry
- “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is their duty – as well as privilege and interest – of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” John Jay – First Chief-Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court
- “…that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ and that the whole Earth may be filled with his glory.” John Hancock
- “The only foundation for . . . a republic is to be laid in Religion. Without this there can be no virtue, and without virtue there can be no liberty, and liberty is the object and life of all republican governments.” Benjamin Rush
- “Education is useless without the Bible.” Noah Webster
- “But for the Bible we could not know right from wrong.” Abraham Lincoln
- “He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy to his country.” John Witherspoon
- “The rights essential to happiness. . . . We claim them from a higher source — from the King of kings and Lord of all the earth.” John Dickinson
- “We the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution but to overthrow the men who pervert the Constitution.” Abraham Lincoln
- “We have staked the whole future of our new nation, not upon the power of government; far from it. We have staked the future of all our political constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern ourselves according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments.” James Madison
- “This Nation was established by men who believed in God.” Harry S. Truman
- “The United States is founded on the principles of Christianity” Franklin D. Roosevelt
- “Inside the Bible’s pages lie the answers to all the problems that mankind has ever known. I hope Americans will read and study the Bible.” Ronald Reagan
Craig also painted some landscapes that are also exhibited:
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