Christian artist

Create-A-Day 2015: your daily dose of creativity

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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!

** 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, 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.

Interview with the Author

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Interview with Miranda A Uyeh: Miranda is the author of To Die Once: An Inspirational Romance. She is also an entertainment and book blogger and editor of To Be A Person blog. She asked some thought-provoking questions. You can read our interview here. Her blog also has many other interviews worth reading!!

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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. You can purchase a copy of her book at: Wipf & Stock Publishers; Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Silence

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I am in the very beginning stages of writing my next book – about the healing journey of the artist and the artist as healer. This post and artwork touches on how God heals through the artistic process. It’s beautiful!

Fragments of Light's avatarColleen Briggs Images & Writing

Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls; 2014; 29" x 21"; watercolor. Unless a Grain of Wheat Falls; 2014; 29″ x 21″; watercolor.

There was a time in my life when I was stunned into silence. I unexpectedly received news of harm done to someone I love, two days later met the person who caused the harm face-to-face, and then several days after that received medical confirmation for my loved one of resulting lifelong disability.

It was too much, too fast. I shut down. People who cared deeply about me surrounded me, yet knew nothing of what was happening, or only bits and pieces. Grief penetrated like an arrow so deeply buried that even the shaft disappeared into the aching flesh of my heart. I stopped writing, and I stopped verbalizing anything that wasn’t absolutely necessary for some time after.

I understood why sometimes children cope with trauma by refusing to speak.  For some things, there are no words. Painting, however, over the…

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The Creator/Creation Metaphor

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Recommend you follow Dave Weiss’ blog. Great reading and resources for artists of all genres.

amokarts's avatarAMOKArts

I often wonder what people are thinking. As a speed painter, people see my work come together in a matter of minutes. The audience is privy to the entire process and there are always times in every creation where it looks like it is just not going to come together. In those moments I wonder if they think, “This guy isn’t good. Why did we bring him in?” The thing is, they don’t know what I know. They don’t know where I’m headed or what I hope to accomplish. They can’t. They’re not the creator. I am.

Every creative knows what it’s like to have a creation go through an awkward phase. That time when it looks like it’s just not coming together. The rehearsal goes terrible. The painting looks like it will never be what you see in your mind. The notes just aren’t falling into place. The story…

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“God’s Creative Gift” Book Review by Artist & Speaker David Weiss

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Book review of my book from Dave Weiss of AMOKArts

amokarts's avatarAMOKArts


For the last month and a half I have been using God’s Creative Gift-Unleashing the Artist in You: Bible Studies to Nurture the Creative Spirit Within as my devotional and it has been a real blessing. I got the opportunity to meet Jody Thomae in May when I did Pictures of Jesus at her church Five Stones Community Church, but we actually met online when I saw a Facebook post about this book and decided to look into it. It’s a really wonderful book.

Jody Thomae manages to walk the thin line of having a book that is both scholarly and accessible. This is a very intelligent look at God’s work in His artists today by looking at our very creative God and biblical accounts of creativity. The book’s chapters each begin with an in depth look at their topic and then five devotional studies digging deeper into the…

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YOLO You Only Live Once – Choose the Front Row

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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!

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The Easter Drama Unfolds: a Meditation on John 20

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As you read, imagine the scene below as part of a larger drama unfolding. Think of the setting (Ancient Israel; very early in the morning at sunrise; Springtime, chill still in the air), the plot (Mary finds tomb empty; brings Peter and John to investigate; they find it as she reported; the body of Jesus is missing), the characters (Mary Magdalene, angels, Jesus) and the dialogue (try to hear it as you read).

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had bMary by tombeen lying.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” they asked.
“Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener she said, “Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” which means “Teacher”.
John 20:11-16, NLT

Now, let’s understand the implications of this drama:
Jesus appeared first to a woman. In a world, time and culture dominated by men—a woman. Not Peter, the Rock upon which the future church would be built. Not John, the disciple Jesus loved. But Mary Magdalene, a woman he had healed, rescuing her from a slew of demons that had held her hostage until Jesus touched her and set her free.

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Holding onto the Light

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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.

Fragments of Light's avatarColleen Briggs Images & Writing

Holding onto the Light; 2014; 22" x 15"; mixed media: watercolor and pastel. 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.

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Dancing in the River: a Meditation on Psalm 65

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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)

Jody dance5

Photo by Heidi Weller

Quote from Walking On Water

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This is one of my favorite Madeleine quotes. It is so very true….

Home And Spirit's avatarHome And Spirit

Madeleine_lengle “…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

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Fearfully & Wonderfully Weaved: A Meditation on Psalm 139

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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)

hand loom weaver

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.

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The “Nature” of God: A Meditation on Psalm 19 (Excerpt from “God’s Creative Gift”)

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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)

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Photo by Gayle Martin

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Nurturing the Creative Spirit Within

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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!!

Jody Thomae © 2015 All Rights Reserved

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God's Creative Gift by Jody ThomaeJody 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.