The Like a Tree study is our foundational study for any Christian who desires guidance in investing their lives for eternal significance. This study is based on Psalm 1:1-3 1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers, and Jeremiah 17:8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
God's Word has much to say about being productive followers of God, in fact Jesus often used horticultural language when illustrating His desires for God's children to grow from a small seed into a healthy and fruitful tree or plant. When Jesus came into Jerusalem on Tuesday morning of Holy week, He walked to a fig tree expecting to get some fruit. The tree was bare of fruit so He cursed it. The Gospels use this event to also illustrate the unfruitful state that Jesus found the religious system of Judea, that was centered in Jerusalem.
When I asked God what He wanted my life to look like, I felt the Holy Spirit lead me to the very visual image of a fruit tree from Psalm 1:3. During this time, I had a small fruit tree in my yard that was bare of healthy fruit. I had a friend in my church that taught gardening classes who I asked to teach me how to take care of this tree. He taught me what makes a fruit tree become productive through processes of fertilization and pruning. After spending time learning these processes and seeing my tree improve, the experience taught me a lot about the simple truths that Jesus was teaching in His parables. God created all of life to grow through life cycles, from plants and animals to all of humanity. If we follow God's plan and treat ourselves as His creation who was created for a purpose and is loved and provided for by Him, we should all see these promises that God has made in His Word, become the definition of our lives.
The story behind Like a Tree
Krel grew up in a family where planting a garden to provide food for their large family was a yearly routine. His parents land included many trees that produced both fruit and nuts that they harvested and used to prepare meals.
As Krel became an adult, growing a garden and working with fruit trees became a passion of his to the point that he took horticulture classes at his local community college.
His Bible study and his study of horticultural processes for taking care of plants and trees meshed together as he began to see the miracle of how God develops all of life from seed to healthy produce. These processes came to life for Krel both physically and spiritually as he began to seek God's guidance to become that productive person that God created him to be. Krel then began to develop these ideas through his sermons and Bible studies at church to the point where he and Kathy produced a Bible study booklet and Krel produced the paintings to illustrate the messages.
Our Process Begins with Bible Study
Like all of our projects at K. L. Buckelew, our process of creating always begins with Bible study. After developing a topic that God is leading us to present to our audience, Krel and Kathy write the Bible study. Krel then paints the artwork, most often oil paintings and sometimes acrylic paintings, to illustrate the Bible study. All of this creative work is handed to our design team to develop the materials into products that we can produce in our own studio. We print our booklets, and print and frame our canvas prints all inhouse from raw materials to the finished products ready to share with anyone who has a desire to learn, teach, and enjoy God's Word where they are. We are in full time church ministry and work to develop Bible studies and other products that we can use in our church to teach God's Word before we ever pass them on to anyone outside of our community.
Framed Fine Art Canvas Prints
Krel Buckelew has been an artist since his career began in high school forty years ago when he got his first job as an artist for a printing company. He later purchased picture framing equipment and learned to frame his paintings himself and opened an art gallery and custom frame shop. After becoming a pastor in 2014, Krel and Kathy turned their attention from selling fine art, to producing Bible study material for the churches that they serve. This ministry has grown to include creative Bible study booklets as well as high quality framed canvas prints that Krel paints, prints on canvas, mounts onto a durable wood panel, finishes by hand with a thick textured coating that dries to look like the original painting, and then frames each print all in our studio frame shop.