A little background on why I had two versions of each cartoon: when I first launched the website back in January 2007, I used many different English Bible translations for the Bible verses. I used the Amplified, the New Living Translation, the English Standard, the New Century, etc.; but mostly I used the New International and the King James versions. Then I started to receive requests from some readers wanting to know if they could substitute the KJV for the other versions. Sometimes it was just a personal preference on their part, but often someone would tell me that their particular church did not allow the use of other versions of the Bible. This was a revelation to me. I had not been aware that there were churches that discouraged, or even forbade the use of modern English Bible translations.

Anyway, I was undecided as to how to respond to these requests to substitute the KJV for whatever version I had used. I was reticent to allow anyone permission to alter my cartoons, but I wanted these people to be able to use my cartoons in their church. About that time, I was approached by a book producer who was interested in trying to publish a book of the cartoons. For the purposes of the proposed book, she and I decided that all of the cartoons should use only one version of the Bible, and that it should be the NIV. So, I went through all of my cartoons and changed all of the Bible verses to the NIV, and I thought as long as I was doing that, I would also make separate KJV versions of each cartoon. I changed all of the cartoons on the website to the NIV, and then I made a link that brought up a separate browser window containing a KJV version of each cartoon. Even though we never found a publisher for the book (I’m still hopeful we may find one someday), I was glad that it led to a solution for the KJV only readers.

Even though the KJV cartoons are no longer displayed on the website, they are all still available to anyone who needs or wants them. Just send me an email and let me know which cartoon you would like to have, and I will email it to you. I can even send you the entire lot of KJV cartoons in a compressed file if you wish. I will be including both the NIV and KJV versions of each new cartoon that I send out in my weekly emails. I’m hopeful that I will be able to restore the KJV cartoons back to the website someday.

I have to admit, I was not surprised. I expected that I might get that reaction. Santa Claus is a very distressing character to many Christians. I remember an incident years ago, in my hometown of Jacksonville, where a pastor hung Santa Claus in effigy outside his church. It caused a bit of a stir back then.

I can certainly understand why Santa is so upsetting to some Christians. The true meaning of Christmas is, of course, the birth of Jesus the Christ, the Son of God. What gets Christians angry about Santa Claus is that he has pretty much replaced Jesus as the meaning of the season in a lot of people’s minds. It’s ironic, since the Santa Claus myth is based on a real person, St. Nicholas, who was a Christian priest back in the fourth century.

In spite of all that, I have to say that I don’t really consider Santa Claus to be very threatening. In my mind, he’s just a fictional character, one that has been overused in television commercials, television shows, and movies. I know some people are horrified when parents pretend to their children that Santa is coming to their house on Christmas Eve. I see it as an elaborate prank that parents get to play on their children. My parents played the Santa gag on me. I remember my Dad taking me outside on a chilly morning to show me the reindeer hoofprints in the yard. Even though I was very young and gullible, I somehow wasn’t buying it. But, I was certainly willing to accept Santa’s gifts on Christmas morning.

The idea for the cartoon came to me while I was reading Romans chapter 5. There the Apostle Paul uses the word “gift” several times in referring to God’s grace to us in sacrificing His son Jesus on the cross, to redeem us from our sins. That word “gift” made me think of that famous gift-giving character, Santa Claus. I thought I could use him to picture the gift of grace that God gave us through His son Jesus. Rather than using Santa to obscure the meaning of Christmas, as so much of our modern American society does, I thought I could use Santa to point to the true “reason for the season”.

I apologize to all who were offended at my cartoon. It was certainly not my intention to upset anyone. Incidentally, not all of the email reaction to this cartoon was negative. I actually received more positive than negative comments. One person even told me that it was my best cartoon.

I first became aware of Christian cartoons when I was a kid, in the 1970s. I was a collector of the Spire Christian comic book series, most of them drawn by Al Hartley. There were several issues that featured the characters from the Archie comics: Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica, Reggie, etc.  I still have most of them, along with a few comics from other publishers. Then, there were the Jack Chick comic book tracts, which seemed to be everywhere when I was younger. I read several of them on the daily bus ride home from school. But Christian comics and cartoons have been around since even before my time.

An excellent online resource for researching the history of Christian cartoons can be found at the website ChristianComicsInternational.org. They have a web page devoted to Christian Comics Pioneers where you can find a wealth of information on over fifty different cartoonists who have used their talents to serve the Lord over the years. Another website, BibleBelievers.com has a collection of several vintage Christian cartoons by U.S. Abell, E.J. Pace, and Charles Ramsey. You can find the link to the cartoons in the middle of their index page. You can find more cartoons by E.J. Pace at PaceArt/Tripod.com.

I don’t claim to be an authority on the history of Christian cartoons. I’m sure there must be other Christian cartoonists from the past that I am not aware of. If you know of any, please let me know. I would be interested.

My collection of Christian comic books from the 1970s, most of them written and drawn by Al Hartley.

I received an email back in October of this year (2009) from Reinhardt Burger of South Africa. In the email Mr. Burger asked me if I would send him a high resolution file of one of my cartoons, titled “Faith Cup”. He told me it was the cartoon “that started a new walk with the LORD”. A text document attached to the email gave more details. The first sentence mentioned the cartoon: “On 14 November 2007 our Father moved the spirit of one of his servants through an email he received with the cartoon as seen below to start a Grace Café in Hermanus, South Africa.” The document went on to tell how the writer was inspired to open a Christian Coffee Shop ministry in his city. He described the coffee shop as a place where people can drink coffee or tea, read Christian literature, listen to Christian music, and receive sound, Christian counseling. You can find out more about this unique minstry at www.gracecafe.co.za.

I wrote back to Mr. Burger and asked him if the idea for the Grace Café was really inspired by my cartoon. It seemed unbelievable to me. He replied, “Yes, you are right. The Grace Café concept started with your cartoon.” What an encouraging example of how the Lord can take something you’ve done and use it to bless and inspire others in ways you could not possibly imagine.

The real Grace Café in Hermanus, South Africa

Piranha Pauly - version one

Piranha Pauly - version two

I liked version two. The client preferred version one, but wanted him to have the hat and frying pan from version 2. My friend, Amy Zackowski of Whispering Dog Design, created the finished logo. I don’t know if the restaurant has opened yet.

The finished Piranha Pauly logo

These images are not available for reprint.

The original camel cartoon

Usually, the idea for a cartoon comes from my reading, hearing, and thinking about a particular passage of scripture. For this cartoon, I had the idea, but didn’t have any Bible verse in mind. I eventually used James 5:11, which talks about the perseverance of Job, but I wasn’t completely certain it was the best choice. I went ahead and published the cartoon using that verse, and then I didn’t think much about it, until recently, when I was working on a Spanish translation of the cartoon. I decided to re-do the lettering and make the camel and riders a little larger in the picture. While I was at it, I thought I would see if I could find a better verse to go with it. With the help of BibleGateway.com, I believe the Lord lead me to a verse that is a better match for the picture: Romans 15:4.

The revised camel cartoon

This verse talks about how the scriptures can teach us, and give us endurance, encouragement, and hope. It seemed to me the verse really went well with the cartoon I had drawn. I hope the cartoon will be an inspiration to those who are in the midst of their own, personal deserts. And if you’re not there, you probably will be at some point. When we find ourselves in a time of trouble, we know we can endure the trials, if we have taken the time to store the Word of God in our hearts. We can find the encouragement and hope that will get us through them, when we turn to the scriptures.

I have an assortment of Bibles that I have collected over the years. A lot of them were gifts from schools, churches, family and friends. I have various translations: an Amplified version, a New Century version, and several King James versions. I have one particular KJV Bible that I take to church with me. They are all on a shelf in our home office, where I draw my cartoons.

Then there is the one I think of as “my Bible”. That is the one I read most of the time. I don’t keep it on the shelf with the other Bibles. It can usually be found in the kitchen or the living room, where I do most of my reading. It is the New International Version Bible that my parents gave me for my 18th birthday, nearly 30 years ago.

I was very blessed to have parents who modeled Bible reading for me as I was growing up. It was not unusual for me and my brother to see both of our parents reading and studying the Bible. I remember my Mom had a Dake’s Annotated King James Bible that she liked to read. My Dad enjoyed reading his Amplified Bible. I wanted a Bible of my own, one that was easy to read - a reliable translation into modern English. I expressed that desire to my parents, and they chose the NIV Bible for me. I think it was a Holy Spirit inspired choice. It was just the right Bible for me.

I wish I could say that I have read it every day for the past 30 years. Sadly, there have been times when I didn’t make Bible reading a high priority. But, in recent years, I’ve made it a part of my daily routine. I usually read about five or so chapters every morning, while I am eating breakfast. I feed my body and my spirit at the same time.

I recently completed the “Read the Bible in 90 Days” Bible reading plan on biblegateway.com.  I was a little concerned that I would not be able to keep up with it, but I decided to take on the challenge. It had been a while since I read the Bible straight through from cover to cover. I started on June 1, and ended on August 30.  I think it is a good exercise to read the entire Bible. Yes, there are some parts that are harder to read than others, lists of names and numbers and places that may not seem relevant today. But Paul wrote in his 2nd letter to Timothy, 3rd chapter, 16th verse that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” (NIV). I notice the word “all” in that verse. All of the Bible is useful, or as the King James says, “profitable”. And all of it is God-breathed, meaning it is the inspired Word of God. So, I’m glad I took the time to read the entire book, even the seemingly boring passages.

But, as my pastor has been recently pointing out to us, it’s not enough just to read the Bible. In John 5:39, Jesus, speaking to the Jewish religious leaders, says “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,” (NIV). Where the NIV says “study the Scriptures”, the King James says “search the Scriptures”. We should not just read the Bible, we should be studying it, and searching through it. And what should we be searching for? We should be searching for Jesus. All of the scriptures, both Old and New Testatment, testify of Jesus. I have lately been making more of an effort to study, and not just read the Bible. When I sit down to read, I try to make sure I have a notebook handy to jot down any insights the Holy Spirit may give me. In John 14:26, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will “teach you all things”, and I want to be a good student.

Well, the gold lettering that was on the cover of my Bible is all worn off now, but the book is still in good shape. There are no torn pages - no pages falling out of it. Maybe it will last for another 30 years.

Me and my Bible - 1979…and 2009

As the translated cartoons began to accumulate, I started to think about adding some foreign language web pages to the website. I am happy to announce that the first of these is now online: Caricaturas Alegre en Español. It is 99% complete. There are just a few finishing touches to make. There are currently 32 Spanish cartoons ready to view, and I’ll be adding more in the future.

I must thank some people for helping me with the translations. First of all, Luis Alvarez in the U.S., who got the ball rolling on translating the cartoons into Español. Secondly, Pastor Jose David in Spain, who made some very helpful suggestions. And third, Wesley Jones in Panama, who helped me finish the cartoon translations, and worked to translate the web page. I understand very little Spanish myself, so I couldn’t have done it without them.

I intend to add more foreign language pages to the website in the future. In the meantime, if you are interested in using any of the translated cartoons for your church or Christian group, please send me an email.