October is National Book Month, so I’ll be posting links to books for creatives, artists and worshipers the rest of September and throughout October!

New York Times Best Seller An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor takes spirituality out of the box. I love the way she suggests very non-traditional, creative ways to encounter God. As an artist or creative, her book will leave you with new ways to develop your own spiritual practices to commune and worship God.

Chapters include these spiritual practices:

1. practice of waking up to God
2. practice of paying attention
3. practice of wearing skin
4. practice of walking on the earth
5. practice of encountering others
6. practice of living with purpose
7. practice of saying no
8. practice of feeling pain
9. practice of being present to God
10. practice of pronouncing blessings

Did you know there’s an altar right in the middle of your world where you can worship, anytime, without four walls and a roof? Go worship!

I would also recommend another on of Taylor’s books called Learning to Walk in the Dark about walking into the dark places of life and learning from those dark places, in our world, in our lives, and in our souls. “A gift to every person who’s felt the darkness but not had the words to articulate it.” ~ Shauna Niequist

Blessings of ARTistry, CREATivity & BEaUty, Jody

P.S. Missed previous posts? Click here.

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What is Create-A-Day?  Just as One-A-Day® Vitamins help restore the nutrients we deplete in our bodies, so too do we need to refill, replenish and renew our creative souls. In 2015, watch for daily* posts to undergird your ministry; lead you to resources to nurture the creative spirit within; and draw you more deeply in worship of Jesus Christ. My goal is to provide you, the creative Christian, with over 250* resources to help you develop your ARTistry, CREATivity & capacity for BEaUty. Books, worship arts ministries, video series, websites, conferences—all geared towards artists, creatives, worshipers and people serving in worship and creative arts ministries. So, visit my blog every day* to see what creative resource I’ve hunted down for you. You can stay connected by following me on Twitter or Facebook. Or better yet, sign up to receive email updates by clicking the button to the left. We’ll watch the resources pile up as the year unfolds!

* I am a proponent of family time and Sabbath rest so don’t look for posts on weekends or Holidays.

Jody Thomae is the author of God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You, a devotional book with Bible studies to nurture the creative spirit within and to serve as a resource for creative Christians, artists, musicians and worshippers. She has been involved in worship arts ministry since 1997, coordinating artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts. She performs, teaches, choreographs, preaches, coordinates and leads workshops in the area of creativity, spirituality and embodied prayer. She has also recently released a devotional CD, Song of the Beloved. Her passion is for the revelation of God to be made more real through the prophetic use of the arts in church and formational ministry. It is her desire to portray the message of Christ’s desperate and unfailing love for His people to help sustain the hearts of the broken and weary. Life scriptures include Psalm 27; Isaiah 50:4-7; and Zephaniah 3:14-17.