Monday, April 30, 2012

Akiane Kramarik - 2012

Akiane Kramarik (Age 17)
I've written a couple of articles about Akiane over the past couple of years. I find her art fascinating and her story interesting. Perhaps the most intriguing thing about Akiane is that she's very hard to put in a category.

Is she a Christian? Is she a "New Age Indigo Child?" One thing for sure - she's incredibly talented.

For those of you who aren't familiar with her back story, Akiane shocked her parents when, at age 3, she began to describe dreams and visions from God. Her mother encouraged her to write down what she saw and thus began an incredible artistic journey.

These visions and dreams eventually lead her entire family on an ongoing spiritual journey. I have written previously of my impression that the church didn't know what to do with Akiane and her visions, and a great many Christians "behaving badly" likely contributed to her not participating fully in the life of church. (These are my inferences from what I have read and heard.) She has been told hateful things like "Burn your paintings~ they are the works of the devil'' and ''You are Satan's daughter.'' Nice.

It's interesting to hear Akiane speak of her faith. She says of Jesus: “He is the only way to God — the only way to heaven and joy. My personal views on Jesus have only matured and deepened since age 4.  As I grow I see how vast and unlimited His love is.”
 
“Jesus remains my highest authority, love, and God,” she adds. “I pray every day that people will one day follow Jesus, His teachings and feel His love.”

Because of her isolation - she admittedly has few friends outside of her own family - it's hard to pin down what she truly believes, and maybe that's part of her appeal. She continues, however, to make Jesus a regular subject in her art, he's been featured in 9-10 of her paintings. Below is a recent picture of Jesus she completed called "I Am."

Akiane at 17 with her original painting "I Am"




One story that drew attention to Akiane's work was the story of Colton Burpo, the young boy who was the subject of the book "Heaven Is For Real." He identified her painting of Jesus as the image that most closely represented what he had seen when he had a dramatic experience on the operating table. The feature that both of them keyed on was the eyes. "All I remember were the eyes," Akiane says, "and they were like no other colors that were ever created. The closest color I can depict through paints is a sapphire hue." Colton identified the color of Jesus’ eyes as blue-green. I've included the painting below.
"Prince of Peace" Akiane (Age 8)
For all of her mystery, Akiane remains a prodigious talent, with some paintings selling in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Her gifting is obvious, and the source, she insists, is God Himself. I won't argue with that. I continue to watch her career with interest and hope that she can find a church, "the Body" of the Christ she loves so much, because God calls all of us to community.

Related Articles:
Akiane Kramarik
Drawing Heaven
Is Heaven For Real?
Akiane
Book Review - "Heaven Is For Real"





 

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Akiane is talanted and was going to read every single comment for every picture on her web-site and hasn't even finished yet when I discovered that she is missing the key: she never directly witnesses about Christ.
Also by looking at her picture named "Enlightment" we can see she's gone too far.
I was not able to find an evidance of her attending a church of reading Bible.
So far I should admit she fails the spiritual test given to us in 1 John 4:1-2.
Ans if 13 years of claimed closeness with God wasn't enough I doubt she will make it.

Anonymous said...

(regarding the first comment, by Anonymous)... I'm guessing here that this young girl knows her God better than you, or any book, possibly can. Are you really questioning her faith, b/c as far as you're concerned, she does not witness or attend church? I imagine you do go to church, since you are writing this. Yet, what are you leaving behind for others?... save some negative comments about a talented and special girl who has gift she wishes to share with the world. You should be thanking her, regardless of whether or not she shares your ways of expressing and sharing your faith... or, for that matter, whether she recognizes herself as religious, or not. As far as I can tell, she is 'witnessing' better than ANYONE I've ever seen attempt it. Her work is stunning, truly... a blessing, whatever you believe in (or not).

Anonymous said...

(regarding the first comment, by Anonymous)... I'm guessing here that this young girl knows her God better than you, or any book, possibly can. Are you really questioning her faith, b/c as far as you're concerned, she does not witness or attend church? I imagine you do go to church, since you are writing this. Yet, what are you leaving behind for others?... save some negative comments about a talented and special girl who has gift she wishes to share with the world. You should be thanking her, regardless of whether or not she shares your ways of expressing and sharing your faith... or, for that matter, whether she recognizes herself as religious, or not. As far as I can tell, she is 'witnessing' better than ANYONE I've ever seen attempt it. Her work is stunning, truly... a blessing, whatever you believe in (or not).

Anonymous said...

let he who is without sin cast the first stone

Anonymous said...

To the first person commenting, Amen! Being discerning these days is automatically viewed as judging, pretty sad. Do I doubt this girl? Hard to say, not met her. Do I think her paintings are new agey? Yes. Is she talented? Yes.Does it automatically make them christian just cause SHE says they are? No. Is there a reverence to the Word of God? No. Does she quote scripture often in her appearances and books? No. Truth is, anyone can come out and talk about the same things and many have. Does anyone, anyone know scripture these days?!? Cause the Bible clearly admonishes us to test the spirits, to NOT believe every spirit. For crying out loud the main and most emphasized sign or the end times that Jesus Himself spoke of was deception. 1 Corinthians 9 speaks of "another Jesus...another spirit" of Satan coming as an angel of light. Has Christendom become THAT non-discerning to where we believe anything that looks, smells, and feels like its God?!? I am not gonna judge this girl's heart, but it doesnt take a rocket scientist to know that our authority should always be tested by the Word of God. And some of her quotes...are very ecumenical.

ColoradoMom said...

I've spent some time trying to assess where Akiane is coming from, by looking at her paintings, reading her poems, listening to her interviews, etc. Even though she speaks often of Jesus, is he the Jesus of the Bible? Sadly, I've come to the conclusion,that hers is a New Age Jesus, and not the Jesus revealed to us in Scripture. Listen to the poem that accompanies her 'Jesus the Missing Years' painting:

"You are the breathing survivor
of spiritual perfection
in the sevenfold universe..."

What is the 'Sevenfold Universe'? Well, google it for yourself and see. It is NOT Biblical, but Theosophical, a blatant, New Age, demonic belief system. The very thing we were warned against falling prey to in Scripture!

Take a look at her 'Enlightenment' painting. It is a picture of a Hindu Swami and this is what Akiane says about the painting:

"The Enlightenment is not only about the Hindu worship and prayer, but about all of us finding our own way to spiritual enlightenment, peace and contentment."

Did not Jesus himself say, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father, EXCEPT THROUGH ME."

Any promotion of any other way to God is completely incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Himself!

On the homepage of her website, Akiane also links to her brother Ilia's webpage of his poetry, paintings and "Quantum Philosophy". Check it out for yourself and see if what is being promoted is Biblical or New Age?

If Akiane truly encountered Jesus in all His glory, would she be pointing people to OTHER ways??

Please, my brothers and sisters in Christ....be careful! We were told there would be false Christs, false prophets, and demons appearing as angels of light. We were told that the very elect would be in danger of being deceived. Please pray for wisdom and discernment.