Small church

Kris Kelvin made this small church for Brother Robotius, the last space missionary.

Friday

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. - Genesis 1:24-31



Since Alyska hasn't yet made the sixth window in her Creation series, I figured I'd finish up the week with Brendan Powell Smith's rendition of Michelangelo's Creation of Adam.

Thursday

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. - Genesis 1:20-23



Alyska Bailey Peterson built this LEGO Creation window based on a series of stained glass windows from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bilton, Warwickshire.

Wednesday

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. - Genesis 1:14-19



Alyska Bailey Peterson built this LEGO Creation window based on a series of stained glass windows from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bilton, Warwickshire.

Tuesday

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day. - Genesis 1:9-13



Alyska Bailey Peterson built this LEGO Creation window based on a series of stained glass windows from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bilton, Warwickshire.

Monday

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. - Genesis 1:6-8



Alyska Bailey Peterson built this LEGO Creation window based on a series of stained glass windows from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bilton, Warwickshire.

Sunday

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. - Genesis 1:1-5



Alyska Bailey Peterson built this LEGO Creation window based on a series of stained glass windows from the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bilton, Warwickshire.

John Paul II

Tomorrow Pope Benedict is set to beatify his predecessor in the pontificate, John Paul II. Beatification is official recognition by the Catholic Church that an individual is in Heaven and can intercede with God. This is the last step before declaring someone a saint. John Paul II was known for his travels, visiting 129 countries while he was Pope, and he often rode in the Popemobile (here by Esbenkolind) so he could greet the crowds. After the attempt on his life in 1981, the vehicle was fitted with bulletproof glass.

Next year in Jerusalem

JStrouse made a version of Jerusalem from about 1000 BC, including the city walls, David's Palace, and of course the Temple on Mount Zion.

1077

During the middle ages, there was a constant back and forth between the church in Rome and local political authorities over who would control the power. At one point, Pope Gregory VII declared that as God was the sole source of authority, the Pope could choose to remove any sitting emperor. For his part, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV of Germany felt that he could appoint church officials, and threatened to remove his support for Gregory as Pope. Gregory excommunicated Henry, and in 1077 (here by Jojo), Henry traveled to Canossa, where he did penance and received forgiveness from the Pope. A few years later, though, Henry invaded Rome and forced Gregory to flee.

Saint Basil's

Schneider Cheung built a great LEGO rendition of Cathedral of the Protection of Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat, more commonly known as Saint Basil's Cathedral. This cathedral was originally built in the mid-16th century on the order of Ivan IV (aka Ivan the Terrible), to commemorate a military victory. The design features a central sanctuary (commemorating the intercession of Mary) surrounded by eight additional sanctuaries (each commemorating a Biblical event or a particular saint), each with it's own onion-dome-topped tower. A tenth sanctuary was added later to house the tomb of local Saint Vasily (Basil).

Empty tomb

Building on the word of God - that's what kids at First United Methodist of Pittsburg, Kansas are doing. Sunday school teacher Dorcia Johnson has her kids building LEGO models as a way to connect with events from the life of Jesus, including this large-scale empty tomb, on display at the church during Holy Week events.

Happy Easter

He is risen!, by Chris Wunz

Good Friday

When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals-- one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." -Luke 23:33-34
Easter in LEGO by Steve Adamson.

Church of Saint Hedwig

The Church of Saint Hedwig in Opava, Czech Republic (here depicted in LEGO form by Hana129) has a history as interesting as it looks. Construction was begun on this cubist design in 1933, but in 1938 German troops moved in. They used the church itself as a weapons storehouse and the tower as a lookout. Under Communist rule it continued to be used as a storehouse for medical equipment. It was only after the collapse of Soviet control that it could return to its original use. The church was consecrated in 1993 and the final details (e.g. the cross on the tower) were completed in 1999. I see this as a sign or renewal that this site ultimately was redeemed after the two oppressive regimes that interrupted its intended use.

Journey to the West

I've previously noted MOCs based on Journey to the West, a Chinese novel about the journeys of a Buddhist monk that also act as an allegory of the spiritual life. James37918130 has his own version of the characters: the Monkey King, the monk Yuanzang, the half-man half-pig Zhu Bajie and the sand demon Sha Wujing.

COB

Just after posting the Salt Lake Temple, the spiritual heart of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I also found another building from Temple Square in Salt Lake City by another builder, StevePoulsen. The Church Office Building is the administrative heart of the Mormon organization, helping coordinate their ministries all around the world.

Praying Hands

Albrecht Dürer was a German painter and mathematician who is often considered the greatest artist of the Northern Renaissance. In the early 16th century he was commissioned to create an altarpiece based on the Assumption of Mary. Unfortunately the altarpiece was destroyed in a fire, but a copy survives, as do many of his preliminary sketches. One of these, the Praying Hands (here turned into a LEGO sculpture by Raphael Heusser) has been repeatedly reproduced and gained popularity. I'm guessing from looking at the copy of the altarpiece that these hands were to become those of the martyred figure in the left-hand panel.

Salt Lake Temple

Central Salt Lake City is dominated by the Salt Lake Temple (here built by Xarquar), which is the largest Temple of the LDS and also home to the President and the Quorum of the Twelve, the leaders of the church.

The Playmo Testament

Markus Bomhard, a German priest began a project to illustrate biblical scenes with Playmo figures. His endeavor even earned favorable mention from the Pope. However, the fine lawyers at Playmo brought suit, and so the Klicky Bibel has been taken down. It may be back again someday in a different form.



I hesitate to bring it up, in fear of additional lawsuits, but it appears that another similar project is also available, the Playmobible.