Foreword
This book is completely out of the ordinary. It is the life’s work of a man, who, as a child, had a vision of God and His glory. Needless to say, his experiences were not understood by those around him because of the then ‘popular human perceptions’ toward anything supernatural. Consequently he was ‘shut down’ by his superiors from verbalizing his experience with God. However, the vision never faded; in fact it grew over time.
This is not a long drawn out autobiography but rather tells of a practical, down to earth,
Biblically based lifestyle lived out by a family which has proven that they can lead without bowing to the social pressures and norms of society.
You will find this story intriguing, fast-moving, spell binding, but you cannot read it quickly with full understanding, as there is simply too much information.
You will want to keep this book with you always and use it as a tool to show the ‘Gospel of the Kingdom of God’ to anybody you meet, by simply explaining the many pictures provided by the artist/sculptor.
For the first time we Christians will have pictures of the Spirit world that prove our faith, and confirm that deep ‘knowing’ that comes to you when you give your life to Jesus. You can now share it with all your loved ones, and those you could never reach before.
You will, along with all who have visited “The Shoe”, echo their findings that these revelations can only be from God. No person could ever know these things unless they had been given by God.
After so many years of waiting we can finally say, God has used Ron van Zyl and his family in an exceptional way to create a visualization of, what can only be referred to as Unique.
Introduction
The Artist’s Story
When I was a boy of about 5 years old my mother told me a Bible story. The one about Samuel who as a boy heard the voice of God. My mother said that I could also give my life to Jesus and He would talk with me. I went on my knees and after giving my life to the Lord, I saw this “High Place”. It was gold in colour and Jesus was there. . It was full of joy, song, happiness and peace. It is a place where you can have anything you need. Being only five years old, I thought everybody knew about that place and so I talked about it freely all the time. My Mother finally cornered me and asked me: “What are you talking about?” I told her ‘it’s the picture I saw when I gave my life to Jesus, its here, inside my mind’!
She was very upset and told me never to do that again because it was meditation and eastern of origin, that it was from the devil and so on. My Mother had come out of a strict religious background with little or no understanding of the “Spirit Realm”, thus, any such ‘mystical’ experiences were, in her opinion, from satan, not God.
But still I measured everybody I met in life against what I had seen as a child. When she took me to the church, nothing that I saw or heard there looked remotely like what I had seen that night. Heaven is full of joy, song, happiness and peace, not so religion!
Not finding anything of substance in the everyday lives of ordinary people around me, in the town of my birth, Cape Town, South Africa. I set out to find my own space, settling in the Eastern Transvaal, now called Mpumalanga. Here I lived the solitary life of an artist. It being a farming community, I was ignored as an eccentric.
At the age of 24I decided to give my life and talents to the Lord Jesus. I joined my brother who had a mission station in the Eastern Transvaal (Mpumalanga) and together we built a Bible Sculpture Garden as a tourist attraction.
It is logical, that an artist, who remains in the presence of the Holy Spirit, will be able to reveal through drawings, paintings and sculptures, what the ‘Spirit Realm looks like’. But it was only in 1974, 19 years after my childhood vision of ‘ The Heavenly Realms’ and with Holy Spirit instruction and guidance, that I was allowed, by God, to ‘expose the spirit world’ through my art.
My first attempt was a 15 meter high rock face sculpture, completed at the age of twenty six and named “The Hell”. My brother Paul helped me build a scaffold and I started at the top working downwards behind a screen for privacy as the tourists would keep me out of my work. Because of the screen I could never stand back and look at the work. I was not able to examine it from a distance for uniformity or balance.
While I was away on a weekend trip my brother broke the scaffold down saying that at the speed I was going I would never finish. By so doing he forced completion of the work. On returning I was amazed to see that all the work was in perspective, the figures at the top were seven foot six inches (2,3 metres) tall and at the bottom five foot six inches (1,7 metres). That happened by itself and I began to recognise the Lord’s hand in my work.
This rock face is where I got rid of the frustration of not finding that heavenly place I had seen as a boy. It had taken two years to complete, as I was studying anatomy at the same time. It also put me on the path to reading scripture to find out what hell is. Out of these studies came intriguing subjects to paint and sculpt. Most people are familiar with bible stories and my art proved to be a great way to connect with tourists.
Strangely, there was not even one person who would say what they thought of it, and I began to think that it offended people, until one day my Father came to look at it and he said: “It is alright”. He was a very hard man and if he said that something was alright, that is exactly what it was. That’s the closest I got to receive any compliment, but again I recognized the Lord’s hand in it – warning me – if I wanted to work for Him the glory would always belong to Him – and Him alone! Our Merciful and Gracious Lord was protecting me from pride.
Two years later, in 1978, I married Yvonne and built a house for us. Along with my wife, we ‘created’ everything we needed with our own hands, together we learnt to live by faith. From the mountains we took rock to build our home and wood from which to carve. By means of very hard work and faith in our Creator, God Almighty, we were led through gruelling deserts of life by the Holy Spirit. We discovered that you can have anything you need, supplied by your Father – Almighty God.
The end result is that we as a family, Yvonne and I and our two children, Michell and Aldo, have become a tower of strength to those around us in a world that has run out of answers. Through the explanations and living testimonies contained is this book you too will see how you can get anything you need, Yes, anything you need, supplied by your Father – Almighty God – it is His Desire for you.
This is the ‘Heart of God’, summed up in the words “ .. Father of mercies,3628 and the God of all comfort;3874 … “ – 2 Cor 1:3 (KJV) (Strong’s Numbers).
Check it out for yourself. The words ‘mercy and comfort’, sometimes translated only as ‘merciful’, as in ‘merciful Father’ or ‘merciful God’, carry with them the heart of God, which include, interalia, the following:
‘Pity – God pities us in our circumstances’,
‘Compassion – God has co-passion together with us in our circumstances’, and
‘Desire – God desires to give us all good things’.
Isn’t it time that we captured the ‘Heart of our Father’, who is after all God Almighty, and hence enter into ‘Life’ living in ‘His Desire’ for us?
You will quickly find out the general mistakes we Christians make. You will no longer search for your blessings in the church, but will become a blessing to the church.
The only demands on you, is a disciplined dedication to know and understand the Lord Jesus Christ with all your heart.
This book is meant to take you there, step by step. We will take you through a series of sculptures, paintings, drawings, stories, and practical application to where we will watch you walking ‘high and free’ – giving God alone the praise.
We are not religious! We have a relationship! Religion is Not Freedom!
When they call us religious it is not a complement. The Sadducees and Pharisees were religious and their religion was hated by Jesus. He called them scorpions and vipers.
We have a relationship with Jesus Christ; His Spirit teaches everything we need to know.
This is our prayer for you also.
Please enjoy this book as a revelation of the ‘greater things’ available for each and every one of us in Christ Jesus.
Ron van Zyl
Get his book by ordering here.