Colleen Briggs is an artist who shares her work and life with beautiful transparency on her blog Fragments of Light. For example, in her post, Lunge for the Light, she shares that it is “for the days when leaning for the light is not enough,” referencing a previous painting entitled “Lean for the Light” posted two weeks earlier with a short poem of ragged intensity.
Tracy Verdugo is an artist from Australia who’s paintings are bright and vibrant and speak life, beauty and joy!
“Tracy is an inspiration instigator, prolific painter, singer/songwriter and lover of the written word, smitten traveller and soaker up of all that is beauty-full. She teaches her Paint Mojo and other creative workshops all over this amazing planet and reminds her students of the wonder that already resides within them.” (tracyverdugo.com)
I wanted to point specifically to one of Tracy’s workshops—one that is highly-accessible to all.
Introducing my creative friend Dave Weiss of A
MOKArts —devoted to helping creatives in the church and helping churches to be more creative! Dave is a pastor, an artist, a storyteller, a blogger, an author*, and a wonderful proponent of the arts in our churches. Dave visited our church last Spring for our Sunday morning service. As he painted he told wonderful stories of God’s redeeming love and amazing grace. He also shared a part of his testimony and the saving message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was very powerful! This is some of his artwork hanging in our church: 
Continue reading
Abbey of the Arts encourages transformative living through contemplative and expressive arts. It is an online global monastery offering pilgrimages, retreats, books and reflections to nurture contemplative practice and creative expression. You can sign up for their email newsletter and other free creative resources on their website abbeyofthearts.com. 
This amazing website, filled with resources, is brought to you by Christine Valters Painter, PhD, a Benedictine oblate and author of many books including The Artist’s Rule: Nurturing Your Creative Soul with Monastic Wisdom. On the Abbey website she states: Continue reading
Seems appropriate that our first creative resource is Rory Noland, Director of Heart of the Artist Ministries at www.heartoftheartist.org.
For me and many other creatives in the church, The Heart of the Artist is the book that started it all! Before reading Noland’s book, the only “art” I thought applied to church was music and a
n occasional drama, and frankly, I’m not even sure I thought of music as an “art.” So much has changed since then! Noland now has four books—all worth reading. He also leads retreats for artists and worship workshops for churches. His site has a link to direct you to a new worship CD he has out. Here’s a quick preview!
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. So in 2015, I will be doing a daily* post to undergird your ministry, to lead you to resources to nurture the creative spirit within, and to draw you more deeply into your worship of Jesus Christ. Starting in January, watch for “Create-A-Day” blog posts. My goal is to provide you, the creative Christian, with over 250* resources to help you develop your ARTistry, CREATivity & capacity for BEaUty. What kind of resources? Books, worship arts ministries, video series, websites, conferences—all geared towards artists, creatives, worshipers and people serving in worship and creative arts ministries.
Whether you are a musician, singer, composer or worship leader; a painter, sculptor, sketcher, photographer or graphic artist; an actor, playwright or film producer; a weaver, potter, seamstres or silversmith; a writer of poetry, prose or non-fiction; a dancer, flagger or abandoned worshiper, I hope to post resources that will help you as you develop the creative gift God has placed within YOU!
So, visit my blog every day* to see what creative resource I’ve hunted down for you. You can stay connected daily 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!
Create-A-Day
http://www.jodythomae.com
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, serving as worship arts ministry pastor, worship leader, and creative arts director. She has coordinated artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts and has had the opportunity to perform, teach, choreograph, preach, coordinate and lead workshops in the area of creativity, spirituality and embodied prayer. She has also recently released a devotional CD called 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.
I am deeply humbled by Colleen Brigg’s words in this blogpost about prophetic art. God is calling his artists to rise up, to speak, to make His glory known in this earth. Thank you Colleen for demonstrating courage—the courage to explore, experience and encounter God through your artistic work (which is amazing BEaUtiful)!!
Whatever It Takes; 2014; 28″ x 20″; watercolor.
“Art is the language of the soul.” With these words, one of my lifelong friends exhorted me as I wrestled for years with an insatiable need to express myself visually. For decades I tried to suppress this language, feeling it could not urgently or adequately address the evils I witnessed in the world. It felt too slow and clumsy to reverse urgent emergencies such as poverty or abandonment. But it was a language that swelled within my being and refused to be silenced. Aristotle said, “A soul never thinks without a picture.” My own soul craved color, texture, pattern and images; and no matter how fast I trotted around the world or how passionately I tried to speak in other ways, it was a soul-whisper that would not be denied.
At times when I surrendered to my native “tongue,” images hounded me…
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My friend Merri (great name, right?) sent me this captioned photo the other day. It got me giggling… smiling… and then thinking…
The ladies in the front row caught my eyes first—their skirts a-billowing and laughter erupting! They are caught by surprise by the rushing wind, giving them a joyful thrill. One lady has ahold of her hat and if you look closely, the other has hers tucked between her knees. And, oh my! There might be a girdle or two showing. But they are happy, oh so happy!
Another talented artist friend I’ve met here on WordPress. She is definitely worth the follow. God uses her artwork, photographs, and writings to anchor one’s soul to something much deeper and more profound than this world could ever offer.
Holding onto the Light; 2014; 22″ x 15″; mixed media: watercolor and pastel.
Roots tuck under ebony blanket.
Tree-top, reluctant to sleep, teases black sky,
clouds swirling heavy, mounting high.
And in the space in-between,
branches cradle last light in tender arms,
as if tearfully crooning, “so long…”
But when creeping night looks the other way,
they stealthily syphon those silver rays
into secret stashes,
burning bright and clandestine,
‘til morning once more arrives.
Oh, visit the earth,
ask her to join the dance!
Deck her out in spring showers,
fill the God-River with living water.
Paint the wheat fields golden.
Creation was made for this!
Drench the plowed fields,
soak the dirt clods
With rainfall as harrow and rake
bring her to blossom and fruit.
Snow-crown the peaks with splendor,
scatter rose petals down your paths,
All through the wild meadows, rose petals.
Set the hills to dancing,
Dress the canyon walls with live sheep,
a drape of flax across the valleys.
Let them shout, and shout, and shout!
Oh, oh, let them sing! (Psalm 65:9-13 MSG)
Photo by Heidi Weller
Beautiful artwork paired with beautiful quotes — worth following!
This is one of my favorite Madeleine quotes. It is so very true….
“…We must pray when prayer seems dry as dust; we must write when we are physically tired, when are hearts are heavy, when our bodies are in pain. We may not always be able to make our “clock” run correctly but at least we can keep it wound so that it will not forget.” Madeleine L’Engle: Walking On Water
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous — and how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God! They are innumerable! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up in the morning, you are still with me! (Psalm 139:13-18)
Psalm 139 is one of my favorite passages of scripture. It tells of his protective love and covering over us. It reminds us that no matter where we are in life, no matter how far we’ve gone astray, no matter what problems assail us, he is there, and he knows what we’re going through. In the midst of this, we find these verses that again hearken back to the creation narratives found in the very beginning of our Bible. However, instead of the potter and clay image found in Genesis 2, we find another artistic image, that of a textile weaver. This image is also used in Job 10:8–12 as we see God knitting together skin, flesh, bones, and sinew—God as the Master Weaver.
An excerpt from “God’s Creative Gift–Unleashing the Artist in You: Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within.”
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4a)
Photo by Gayle Martin
As Christian creatives, artists, worshipers, and those who appreciate beauty, we must enter into the Word of God on a regular basis in order to hear God’s voice firsthand, for ourselves. We must study, know and memorize His word so that we can recognize His voice among all the other voices in this world. We must know the choreographer of our steps… the designer of all our designs… the Creator of our creative heart, soul, mind and body… the author and perfecter of our faith.
And we must know Him intimately.
The Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit series was written as an end towards this goal… to encourage those who are moved by artistry, beauty, creativity and worship to dig more deeply and mine the treasures contained in the Written Word of God so they can understand more fully the Living Word of God, Jesus Christ. While these books are filled with wonderful information about the Bible, they were designed to transformational, not informational in nature.
There are two books in the series: The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful and God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You.
“So much beauty for ashes and diamonds in the rough are offered through these well written devotional pages. A must for those broken creatives who need to find hope to be restored!” ~ Randall Flinn, Founder/Artistic Director of Ad Deum Dance Company
What if you could gather up all the shattered and scattered pieces of your broken heart and surrender them to a Master Artist who would then piece it back together into a BEaUtiful work of heART? A powerful kind of…
Kintsugi of the Soul
Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with a lacquer mixed with powdered gold. When an object is broken, rather than discarding the damaged and broken, the pieces are mended, and cracks are filled with precious metal and, in many ways, make the object more beautiful than it was at the start. As a philosophy, it is rooted in the inherent beauty of all objects, no matter what they’ve endured.
The philosophy behind kintsugi is the same one that inspires this book.
Kintsugi is a powerful metaphor of Jesus Christ, the Master Artisan, filling and healing the shattered places within. As the broken places are tenderly pieced back together and repaired with his golden healing balm, they become a beautiful place where God’s glory is revealed in our weakness.
Cover designed by Donna Godwin
The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful is my second book in the Bible Studies to Nurture the Create Spirit Within series. In it you will discover a path to wholeness, healing, and restoration with a focus on artistry, beauty, creativity and worship. Based on the Formational Prayer Model developed by Dr. Terry Wardle, The Creator’s Healing Power is an in-depth and interactive Bible study exploring the connection between healing and creativity, prayer and redemption, surrender and beauty, worship and wholeness.
Designed in an 8.5 x 11″ workbook format, The Creator’s Healing Power is designed as a devotional Bible-study that focuses on a creative process towards wholeness, healing, and restoration. Each chapter is comprised of two sections: the beginning of each chapter is intended as foundation for the subject area, and the end of each chapter has a series of five devotionals related to that subject area. The chapters are as follows: Awakening, Resting, Confronting, Lamenting, Encountering, Journeying, and Adventuring. Each chapter includes poetry, coloring pages, and testimonies from fellow artisans on the healing journey.
Are you ready for Jesus to restore the broken places within?
You can find a Bible study excerpt from the book here and another excerpt here.
“A necessary book for every creative spirit.” —Sarah M. Wells, Writer, Author & Poet
God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You was written as the first book in the Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within series. It is a devotional resource for the creative Christian, those in worship arts ministry, and those moved by artistry and beauty. It is intended for both professional and lay artists, for the casual crafter and creative hobbyist, for those in both sacred and secular settings. It is for those who see things where others do not, for those whose imaginations cannot be confined by religious dogma and tradition. It is for musicians and singers, painters and sculptors, dancers and dramatists, writers and poets, craftsmen and women, carvers and weavers, graphic designers and film editors, photographers and filmmakers, architects and designers. Whatever your craft or artistic bent—whatever the level of expertise—if you are a Christian artist or creative, this book is for you.
Originally I had planned to write a book specific to the area of sacred/liturgical dance, but as I began to write I found that much of what I wanted to say applied to all area of the arts. I began to see that movement was as much a part of the visual arts as painting and that painting was as much a part of dance as movement. I began to see the creative and the Creator in the architect and the weaver, the singer and the songwriter, the sculptor and the welder. I began to see inspiration for craftsmen and women of all types of mediums and materials—silversmiths, woodworkers and jewelry makers. I realized that video editors, filmmakers, graphic designers and photographers all captured beautiful, sacred moments in a way that was divinely artistic. God opened my eyes to see that the “artist” was so much more than just those who work in the area of fine arts. I also knew that God wanted to inspire all of these people, not simply because they were creative, but because they were made in His beautiful image.
The book is designed as a seven-week devotional Bible-study that focuses on unleashing the artist within each of us. It is designed to help you draw your creativity and inspiration from a Deeper Source. Each chapter is comprised of two sections: the beginning of each chapter is intended as foundation for the subject area, and the end of each chapter has a series of five devotionals related to that subject area. The first chapter looks at Genesis 1 and the role of Creation and creativity in the life of the artist. The second chapter looks at John 1 and the role of Incarnation in the ministry of the artist. Chapter three begins to explore the idea of a Theology of Beauty. Chapters four and five cover, respectively, the Priestly and Prophetic Roles of the artist. Chapters six and seven focus on the creative process as a way of Prayer and Seasons in Your Spiritual Life.
It is my prayer that these subjects, their related devotional studies, and the transparency with which I write will help the creative Christian know the Master of All Creators more intimately. My hope is that you will “embody” these ideals in order to understand why every action, movement and step; every vocal inflection, mime or character portrayed; every note, harmony and song; every brushstroke, color and hue; every pinch of clay and turn of the wheel; every word, metaphor or literary device; every graphic, photo, angle and frame; every choice you make as a creator of art, has meaning—for the audience, the artist and, most importantly, the Divine Artist who is glorified through our humble creative offerings.
You can read an excerpt of one of the Bible studies here.
God’s Creative Gift is available through: Wipf & Stock Publishers, Amazon and in Kindle Format and The Creator’s Healing Power is available through Amazon and Kindle and is offered FREE through KindleUnlimited. If you would like to purchase 10+ discounted, signed copies of the books for your creative / worship arts group study, contact me directly at jodythomae@gmail.com for bulk rates.
I’ve posted excerpts from my books so you can get a feel for them. One is a meditation on Psalm 19 about the “Nature” of God from God’s Creative Gift. You can find that here. The second is a reflection on a very difficult passage of scripture, the rape of Tamar found in II Samuel 13, which is from The Creator’s Healing Power. You can find that here. An additional excerpt is available here.
God’s Creative Gift is an “incredibly insightful and inspiring book by Jody Thomae [that] is a must for all Believer-artists. I have been enriched by reading through each page and hearing deep truth from the heart of a fellow laborer in the arts.” And The Creator’s Healing Power is “highly recommended!! So much beauty for ashes and diamonds in the rough are offered through these well written devotional pages. A must for those broken creatives who need to find hope to be restored!”—Randall Flinn, Founder and Artistic Director, Ad Deum Dance Company, Houston, Texas
“God’s Creative Gift is, simply stated, a beautiful gift for the people of God. Integrating Scripture, experience, and insights from a broad spectrum of scholars and practitioners, Jody Thomae provides a pathway to freedom and well-being available through creative expression. She reveals that we, the creative gift of the Father, hold within the potential to unleash beauty and healing creative gifts as acts of worship to God and healing to one another. An amazing thought!” —Dr. Terry Wardle, Institute of Formational Counseling, Ashland Theological Seminary
“In God’s Creative Gift, Jody Thomae emboldens every artist—amateur and professional, aspiring and accomplished, bold and hesitant—to embrace the power and potential of creativity in all its forms as a mode of worshipping the Creator. Through enriching chapters and devotional studies, artists will grow in deeper understanding of themselves and God’s relationship to their creativity. A necessary book for every creative spirit!” —Sarah M. Wells, author of Pruning Burning Bushes
“This is a wonderfully insightful book [of] excellent theological and biblical reflection that invites its readers to know themselves as created in the image and likeness of God, the Divine Artist. The ‘Digging Deeper’ sections, which enable readers to embody the various themes of the book, add style and grace to her work.” — Robert VerEecke, SJ, Jesuit artist-in-residence, Boston College
“I own a Christian Dance & Fitness facility and used this book as my Faculty Bible Study book. What a break-through! Some faculty members are gifted in dance, fitness, music, promotion and this book ministered to each of us and our specific fields/giftings. By the time we got to the end of the book dealing with seasons we were in tears. Week after week the Holy Spirit spoke directly to our need, as if we had each individually wrote a special request to Jody on the topics that were covered. Validation! Just to know we aren’t alone in the struggle and definitely not crazy in what we are experiencing in ministry – that alone set us free! If you are in ANY form of Arts Ministry I HIGHLY recommend this book. Blessings to you Jody and everything you endured to come out with this gold nugget. For the passion, endurance and obedience it took to publish this book – the faculty of Faith in Motion in Marion, IN are forever grateful. To God be the glory!” —RaChelle Fears-Neal, owner, Faith in Motion Christian School of Dance
“Jody Thomae is a wonderful creative worshipper that I connected with after ordering her book: God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You which is by far the best Bible Study for creatives AND encouragement I have read in years!” — Cindy Fort of 12 Tribes Ministries
The Creator’s Healing Power “is a much-needed resource for Christ followers. Many of our church traditions have a strong focus on left-brained theology and teaching, and have left us bankrupt in the area of using the creative process for healing. This resource reads less like a textbook and more like a field manual for those of us in the wilderness of this healing journey. Jody provides clear landmarks for this journey. Prayer, Scripture, poetry, music, art, and sound teaching provide the structure for an intentional pathway of healing. I recommend this resource highly and pray that many will find themselves drawn to the healing light of Jesus through its pages.” — Amazon Reader “Cherished One”
“There are so many books to read and so little time to take it all in. So I skip through different genres, topics, and themes, as my moods change. Many books are quickly forgotten, others offer something, and still others become memorable. If I can glean one good idea that matters from any book I read, then I consider it having been worth my while. The Creator’s Healing Power has more than delivered, falling into the category of a book I will cherish.
It is a Bible study workbook and a slow read, not because it is dense and difficult to understand, but because it is rich. To truly benefit from this book you must work your way through it slowly and thoughtfully. I found it to be more insightful than the usual Bible study, which often tends to be unidimensional.
Intended for creative Christians, this book tackles transforming the brokenness of the human spirit into a work of beauty by yielding to the Holy Spirit. The author has applied the truths in the Bible to her own life and this book is the fruit of her insight gained from experience. This is a well written book that will encourage, uplift and deepen your walk with Jesus.
Following her prompts and references to outside resources like YouTube videos will truly enhance the slow, mediative pace of the journey that she takes the reader on. The theme of restoring the broken to beautiful is gently and delicately dealt within its pages. This book is truly anointed and well worth the read. I would highly recommend it if you are a Christian and would like to, as she puts it, ‘nurture the creative spirit within’.” — Sara Joseph, Artist/Author, Gently Awakened. Developer / Administrator, http://www.christian-artist-resource.com.
In Review, “The Bookshelf”
Worship Leader Magazine (May/June 2014, p. 106):
Jody Thomae
“God’s Creative Gift” from Wipf and Stock
“With God’s Creative Gift: Unleashing the Artist in You, Thomae offers encouragement and helps artists of all descriptions mine suppressed creative impulses, embrace hope that may have been diminished by inner self-doubt or outer criticism and to release the beauty hiding or hibernating within. She weaves together Scripture, personal stories, prayers, and references the art and writing of authors, worship leaders, and dancers, delivering a detailed script for devotion and discovery with both suggested “readings” and “listenings.” Writing as an empathetic pastor—and a poet—she explores creativity, incarnational ministry, a theology of beauty, and both the priestly and prophetic roles of the artist. Thomae provides disciplines for deepening your life of prayer and creates a deep and rich experience. Both for individual and group study.”—Andrea Hunter
You can find out how other artists and creatives are interacting with my book by checking out my media page here.
I have several other books geared towards creative Christian embodiment and living the fully-embodied, whole-hearted life. You can read more about these resources here at jodythomae.com or find them on Amazon here:
O My Soul: Bringing the Psalmist’s Cry to My Movement, My Meditation & My Mat
Jesus In My Practice: Bringing the Questions of Jesus to My Movement, My Meditation & My Mat
Voices of Wisdom in the Body: A Christ-Centered and Bible-Based Exploration of Energy
I am the author of God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You and The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful.
I wrote God’s Creative Gift in obedience to God. While I was attending seminary, God planted a tiny seed in my heart, nurturing and watering it along as I learned. At the time I was training young women in the area of worship dance and embodied prayer, so I wanted to write a book for dancers filled with Bible studies. The Bible is filled with mandates and instruction for the creative Christian, and I wanted them to have a strong Biblical foundation from which to serve and minister to others.
Yet as I wrote, I quickly found that much of what I was writing applied to all areas of arts and creativity. I knew God wanted to inspire artists of all levels and genres, not simply because they are creative, but because they are made in His beautiful image. So I wrote, and just kept on writing until God said it was done. The result was eight chapters filled with Bible studies to inspire the creative Christian. HOWEVER… if you have my first book you know there’s only seven chapters in it! What happened to the other chapter?
Under the wise counsel of my dear friend Dr. Terry Wardle of Healing Care Ministries, a chapter on the dual exploration of the healing journey of the artist and the artist as healer was prayerfully laid aside for another time. That led to my second book, The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful—the story of my own healing, scriptures that led me through the dark places of my journey, and encouragement to enter a creative process that leads toward healing, wholeness, and restoration with a focus on art, beauty, creativity, and worship. Within that book you’ll also find healing testimonies, poems, music, coloring pages, and inspiration from wounded healers on the journey of reclamation, redemption, and restoration themselves
You can read more about my books and what inspired me to write them here.
But who am I really? Beyond the “author” title…
I am a preacher’s kid, well, kinda.
My father was a preacher before I was born. By the time I came around, his work in Christian education had led him to a position as dean of Ashland Theological Seminary—the very same seminary I attended decades later. If you told me way back then that I would be in ministry now, I would’ve laughed. My brother, Joe? Yes! But me? Don’t think so!
Not sure when I finally realized the call on my life. Somewhere between worship team rehearsals, Christmas plays, and a desire to go to seminary, God pushed me into his will and ways. At some point, it finally dawned on me that I was already answering the call. I suppose it was part of my DNA.
I am a piano teacher’s daughter.
Growing up with a mother as a piano teacher meant that children of all ages, skills, and abilities sat at the piano in our living room and chipped away at the music lessons in the books propped on our beautiful Steinway. Day after day I heard the same simple tunes and scales—the very same ones I attempted as my mother tried to teach me piano (with little success, I might add, not due to her lack of persistence, but mainly mine).
She is a remarkable artist at the piano, but her artistry was most evident when she practiced in the privacy of our home. She benefitted from her practice by being a great pianist. I benefitted from her practice by learning a deep appreciation for music, and for finding God in the midst of her playing. To this day the piano is the one instrument that easily takes me into the Lord’s presence. It calms my soul and brings me a deep peace that resonates in my spirit.
I am a jack-of-all-trades; master of none.
I sing, lead worship, play guitar and flute. I have painted and crafted—on both large and small scales. I love drama, dance, and embodied prayer. I write—songs and books. I preach, teach, and lead. I coordinate large community worship gatherings and workshops. I teach on embodiment, creativity and spirituality. I work with people in recovery and with those who have experienced trauma and wounding to help them reclaim their bodies and sense of self. Yet, I do none of these in a full-time capacity.
In the past, I hated this aspect of my skill set, until my friend Aaron Wardle (a gifted worship leader & songwriter) told me that this “jack-of-all-trades” approach to ministry was a great asset. He admired my courage—he saw no fear in me that couldn’t be overcome by my faith in God to equip me in any given moment. Instead of waiting until I had perfected some art form, I stepped out in faith, expecting God to fill in the gaps. And he did.
And because of this breadth of experience, God has given me a heart for artists and creative Christians regardless of art form, genre, or medium. I love to see artists empowered to give their God-given creative gift to the body of Christ and to a world desperately in need of his unfailing love. He has also given me a heart for those who have been hurt on this journey, for those whose bodies feel “not-quite-their-own” due to life in this crazy, mixed-up world.
I am a wife and mother.
These priorities have always taken precedence above all other activities in my life. All decisions are made with the question, “How will this affect my family?” When I went to seminary, I took day classes and only one or two at a time so I would be home when the kids were home. It took me more than five years to complete a two-year degree.
My firm belief is that the greatest area of ministry is right in your own home. After all, if your own husband and children reject the gospel of Jesus Christ because you were too busy to be concerned with them, then you have failed to realize the mission field in your very own home.
That’s my soapbox, I’ll get down off of it now.
Above all else, I am a beloved daughter of the King.
Through Christ’s sacrifice, I am forgiven.
I am reborn, redeemed, and restored.
I am filled with the gift of his precious Holy Spirit.
I am my Beloved’s and He is mine.
I am…
…because He is the Great I AM!
Want to hear more? Read an Interview with the Author.
_________________________
Jody Thomae is the author of several books including God’s Creative Gift—Unleashing the Artist in You and The Creator’s Healing Power—Restoring the Broken to Beautiful, in-depth, interactive devotional books that are part of the Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within series and serve as resources for creative Christians and artists. Jody has been involved in worship arts ministry since 1997, serving as worship arts ministry pastor, worship leader and creative arts director. She has coordinated artistic involvement in church services and regional worship events through dance, drama, poetry and fine arts and performs, teaches, preaches, and leads workshops in the area of creativity, spirituality and embodied prayer. She also leads worship at local seminars, retreats and women’s events. In addition, she has recorded a devotional album entitled Song of the Beloved, which is available through popular musical outlets (Spotify, etc).
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. She is particularly interested in the way in which God uses the arts to bring formational development and healing to His people. Life scriptures include Psalm 27; Isaiah 50:4-7; and Zephaniah 3:14-17.
Activities: Leads workshops, retreats and a training on embodiment in the spiritual journey at her prviate lakeside studio in North Central Ohio. On faculty with Healing Care Ministry’s Certificate Program in Spiritual Formation & Spiritual Direction. Leads worship and directs creative and formative worship experiences.
Teaches on: Creating Safe, Sacred & Brave Space; Creativity, Embodiment, Healing and the Artist; The Effects of Trauma on the Body; Biblical ABCs of Creativity; Incarnational Artistry; Theology of Beauty; Dance, Movement and Postures as Prayer (Embodied Prayer); Portraying Scripture through Movement; Flags, Banners & Color Meanings; Symbolism in Worship Movement and the Creative Arts; Moving/Beauty from the Core; the Prophetic and Priestly Roles of the Artist in the Church.
Education: BA in Public Communication, Ashland University (1988); MA in Organizational Communication, Ohio University (1990); MA in Religion/Spiritual Formation, Ashland Theological Seminary (2009); and an ordained minister through Christian Global Outreach. She is also a certified spiritual director and yoga therapist specializing in a Christ-centered approach to reclaiming the body.
Artists are sensitive.
And that’s a good thing. A real good thing.
Not everyone feels what we feel…
sees what we see…
hears what we hear.
So we need to help them feel. see. hear.
God placed his creative spirit inside each of us. For reasons beyond our comprehension, some have the capacity to hold more of that spirit than others. And that’s okay. We were all created with a unique ability to interpret the world around us. And each of us interprets this world a little differently. We can’t all be artists. The world needs scientists, engineers, and accountants, too.
See God is big and mysterious and beyond our understanding. Made in his image, each of us reflects a tiny glimpse of him. As we live our lives in the unique way he designed us to live, we reflect God’s glory to a lost, broken, and sometimes very dark world–desperately in need of His light, and glory, and goodness.
My passion is to encourage the artist, to nurture the creative spirit within, so that together we can reflect His radiant light.
Be sure to explore Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity—posting creative resources, tools, ideas and inspiration to nurture your soul!!
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Jody Thomae is the author of God’s Creative Gift–Unleashing the Artist in You: Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within. Her book is available at: Wipf & Stock Publishers; Amazon and Barnes &Noble. It is also available in Kindle Format through Amazon.
Nurturing the Creative Spirit Within 