comic strip | The Creation Effect

We Are Many 👹

It’s one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. ...So let’s talk demon possession! Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recount the story of Jesus healing the “Gadarene demoniac.” Picture a naked man (bear with me…) living in the tombs outside of town. He’s constantly screaming and cutting himself with stones. He’s so violent that no one can pass by, and so supernaturally strong that he snaps the iron chains whenever townspeople are brave enough to bind him. Oh, and did you kno

Noel Powell

Aug 212 min read

Single-panel comic strip colored in watercolors, featuring a depiction of the feed of the 5,000 from the Bible. The little boy, whose fish and bread were taken by the disciples, sits alone and sad, with his fishing pole and empty basket, while thousands of people feast and celebrate in the background.

Zero Loaves and Zero Fish 🥖🐟

You were probably taught that the little boy was a generous and willing participant in the feeding of the five thousand. That’s what is taught in Sunday School, and I think there's a high probably that's what happened... but it’s not in the bible. If you read all four accounts of the story, and consider the historical context, another plausible narrative is that the disciples found him, commandeered his lunch, and then brought it to Jesus. Children had no social status, and i

Noel Powell

Jun 202 min read

Hand-drawn single-panel comic strip featuring a church worship team playing in front of a congregation of mostly older people in pews, holding hymnals. The team’s guitar player is wearing all black leather. He’s shredding on the guitar, playing behind his head, and kicking over a speaker, while everyone else watches in non-judgmental shock. The caption reads “Without warning, the new guitarist broke out into what the elderly congregation could only assume was the musical equivalent of speaking in tongues.

Rockin' in Tongues 🎸

Growing up in the 90s in my conservative home, there was good music (e.g.,Perry Como) and evil music (everything recorded after 1970)… I was always nervous listening to anything with an electric guitar. When my Vanilla Ice cassette tape was discovered, I thought my life was over. But the bible encourages the creation of new music (Psalm 33:3), and using a variety of instruments (Psalm 150:3-5) in our worship. As with everything, it’s not about appearance or style, but what’s

Noel Powell

Jun 141 min read

A hand drawn, single-panel comic strip featuring two preachers by the Jordan River in Judea. One is wearing camel hair, the other in a black suit. A man in the audience is letting another man know that's he's at the John the Southern Baptist's sermon, not John the Baptist's.

The Southern Baptist 📖

Given the massive crowd sizes and his... let's say, "unique condition"... John the Baptist, armed with the Holy Spirit, must have been a mic-dropping legend. Matthew 3: 4-6 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Noel Powell

Jun 61 min read

Single-panel, hand-drawn Christian comic strip about hypocrisy and judging others. A doctor treats a man with a huge log in his eye. The doctor asks if he has judged anyone in the last twenty-four hours.

Diagnosis Hypocrite 🪵

Matthew 7:3-5 “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

Noel Powell

Jun 31 min read