THE JESUS PAINTER

Mike Lewis has been painting at Christian events since mid 1998. He paints large portraits of Christ in under twenty minutes. It began when his close friend, Christian songwriter Seth Haines, told him that he had written a song called "Intimate Portrait" and wanted Mike to paint a portrait of Christ on stage during the song. Although Mike was in art school, he had never really painted before. The request was actually rather unreasonable in terms of possibility. Seth wanted a portrait large enough for an entire audience to see and also a likeness to Christ painted in seven minutes. Artists will tell you that usually portraits are very time consuming and some spend years on a single piece. Intimidated by the request but challenged by God Mike decided to trust him and began planning for the painting. After several months of thought and preparation the night arrived. Mike did not have the available funds to do a practice painting so the first try was live on stage. After a short prayer with his friend Mark Herrera that whatever happened God would be glorified through the artwork he walked to the stage and began to paint. Mike says that immediately everything disappeared except the canvas. He has described it as his most peaceful personal time with Christ. He began to swirl colors from the entire spectrum into the face of Christ, then at the end of the painting when the face was recognizable he began to throw blood (red paint) right in Jesus' face. This can be painful to watch but we need to realize that we are responsible for the blood that he shed. Many people were in the crowd who wanted Mike to come paint for a youth group or church service, the rest as they say "was history". Now there are eleven different compositions that Mike has developed, four of which are available to the public. He now paints and speaks on a regular basis. A new ministry is born. Glory to God!