spirituality

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #138 — Why the Church Needs Art, Pt 3

Standard

Scott EricksonTuesday we started a four-part video series by artist Scott Erickson called Why the Church Needs Art: Stories of an Artist in Residence. We’ve been learning wisdom from his experience as an artist-in-residence at Ecclesia Church in Houston, Texas. If you haven’t checked out his site yet, you can do so by clicking on his name above.

And of course, you know what to do…. grab your cup o’ Joe and join us again today for some great insights from a fellow artist on the journey of creativity!

Here’s part 3:

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #137 — Why the Church Needs Art, Pt 2

Standard

Scott EricksonYesterday we started a four-part video series by artist Scott Erickson called Why the Church Needs Art: Stories of an Artist in Residence. Together we’re gaining wisdom from his experience as an artist-in-residence at Ecclesia Church in Houston, Texas. Time again to grab your cup o’ Joe and join us as we glean some great insights from a fellow artist on the journey of creativity!

Here’s part 2:

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #136 — Why the Church Needs Art, Pt 1

Standard

Scott EricksonThe rest of this week we’ll be in a four-part video series by artist Scott Erickson called Why the Church Needs Art: Stories of an Artist in Residence. We’ll gain insights from his experience as an artist-in-residence at Ecclesia Church in Houston, Texas. So today through Friday grab your cup o’ Joe and join us for some great insights from a fellow artist on the journey of creativity!

Here’s part 1:

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #135 — Create Supernaturally

Standard

Create Supernaturally

Create Supernaturally is the ministry of Theresa Dedmon, who has been on staff at Bethel Church in Redding, California since 2003 where she currently oversees the Creative Arts department at Bethel’s Supernatural School of Ministry and in church life. This is her prophetic word, prayer and impartation for artists and creatives in 2015. Watch & be inspired!

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #129 — Free Indeed!

Standard

Koren War Vet Mem

The Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC makes this powerful statement:

Freedom is not free.

Take a moment, look at these images, and consider the cost.

Count the Cost

What did your freedom cost the young man above?

Natnl Cem

What did your freedom cost the men, the women, the families represented by the more than 285,000 headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?

From the American Revolution to the current situation in the Middle East, have you considered the cost paid for your freedom?

Don’t ever forget!

And don’t forget the cost paid by Jesus Christ as he took your sin to the cross and was buried in the tomb. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #123 — Illustrate a Sermon Through Dance

Standard

Mary & MarthaThis is a great example of an illustrated sermon. The story of Mary and Martha is told through dance. And dance alone. No lyrics, no words, no dialogue. Yet it beautifully illustrates the scripture passage found in Luke 10. Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #120 — Vulnerability in Creativity

Standard

Slide1

In this article entitled “Keys to Creativity: Vulnerability” by Diana Pitaru of Unleash Your Creativity blog, she encourages the reader to step into a place of vulnerability in their creative process. Yet she recognizes that’s much easier said than done:

“Vulnerability can be a hard to reach place because we’ve been trained to bury it and stay away from it. It feels uncomfortable because this is where all our demons hide: the things that marked us, terrible things we’ve felt and parts of us that we learn are unwanted. . . “

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #119 — Creativity A’Blaze’

Standard

Maddy prom selfieToday’s post is dedicated to my daughter Maddy in celebration of her birthday. You are Madelyn Ruth, Magnificent Companion of God! You are my BEaUtiful daughter, ablaze with adventure and life!

I’ve posted the work of artist Colleen Briggs of Fragments of Light before. Want to direct you there again! This artwork and her accompanying story will certainly bless your day. As you read the story, you will quickly see it is an analogy for something much larger.

colleenbriggs.com

colleenbriggs.com

So click here to head over to her post entitled Blaze, and allow the Holy Spirit to minister to you as you read and enjoy her work.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #116 — What is Creativity?

Standard
The Awakening Polymer Clay (c) Sara Joseph

The Awakening
Polymer Clay
(c) Sara Joseph

Speaking on creativity, artist Sara Joseph states:

“If it flows as an outpouring of your walk with the Lord, creativity becomes an organic entity with the potential to explode into unforeseen territories. It is like dropping brilliantly colored ink into a sparkling lake, watching the ink spread and change unpredictably in hue and intensity as it catches the light. The Lord can turn your limited creativity into something far more than you could ever have imagined, the more time you spend with Him and the more you trust Him with it.”

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #109 — Common Prayer

Standard

www.commonprayer.net

Common Prayer is a site created by Shane Claiborne & Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, designed to draw people together in a virtual setting to pray common (or the same) prayers. As we join our hearts together across the world in these prayers, we are united with God’s people and places and purposes.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #107 — Prophetic Word for Artists

Standard
"Passion" (C) Jubal Johnson www.dunamisarts.com

“Passion” (C) Jubal Johnson
http://www.dunamisarts.com

Today’s post was shared by artist, poet, psalmist and photographer Jubal Johnson who shares prophetic words (and other wonderful inspiration) on his website DunamisArts.com. Dunamis is Greek for “power.” His website is dedicated to celebrating the Kingdom of God and its King, the Lord Jesus Christ through visual arts, music, poetry, dance, theatre, film and photography.  Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #106 — Fun in Your Creativity

Standard

Conducting1From the lips of children and infants you, Lord, have called forth your praise! (Matt 21:16)

When I first saw this video I was first struck by this boy’s exuberance, then by his uncanny metronome-like sense of meter and timing, and then by his knowledge of this intricate piece of music. And then, of course, on the shear fun and laughter of it all! He is filled with energy and life as he conducts his imaginary orchestra! He captures the nuances of the dynamics of the song as it swells and collapses back down to near silence!

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #104 — Embodied Prayer

Standard

Embodied PrayerI consider Embodied Prayer: Towards Wholeness of Body, Mind and Soul by Celeste Snowber a must-read for any creative Christian who uses his or her body in their art form (dancers, actors, actresses, etc) and for those interested in praying through movement.

For many of us, we check our bodies at the doors of our churches like a coat-check at a restaurant. We engage our minds and our hearts in worship, but our bodies are in exile in the pew. We sit quietly and pray when our bodies long to reach out to Him who hears the words we can and cannot say. As a very kinetically-oriented person, this book awakened my mind to the Hebraic understanding of the body; my soul to the knowledge that I am a temple of the Holy Spirit; my heart to an awareness of God’s joy as I worship Him through movement; and my body to the possibilities in all of this!

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #103 — Create a Better Life

Standard

D Weiss Creative

Need some creative inspiration and practical tips to get your new idea, dream, vision, project, or product up and running? Then check out this latest offering on DWeiss Creative! He’s been working on a 48 day project since mid-April called Create a Better Life: finding your creativity, putting it to work, building a better life. With 48 days of posts, he’s been creating a webinar for people who want to…. yes, you guessed it….create a better life by bringing their ideas to life! As you watch the project unfold through the postings, you get to see step-by-step what it takes to bring a creative idea, brand or product to life!! This journey of creativity ends May 30th with the release of Dave Weiss’ own project: the Build a Better Life webinar! It’s been fun watching this project develop!!

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #102 — Creative Inspiration from Tamika Hall

Standard

Tamika Hall

I connected you with Tamika Hall Ministries back in January with a devotional podcast on 1st Peter. Wanted to share another of her podcasts today: How to Write & Publish a Devotional. Continue reading

Create-A-Day, your daily dose of creativity, edition#100 — Willow Creek Drama

Standard

We’ve made it to 100 creative resources!!

Referring you on over to Willow Creek Association today. They have a variety of creative resources to assist you in planning worship services. You can search for creative ideas by keyword. I have found some compelling dramas there. Both scripts and videos are available for the dramas, and most allow you to preview them.

Willow CreekWant to refer you to a specific drama today entitled “Let Go” with Ingrid DeSanctis. Paired with the song “Open Up,” It’s about letting go of the baggage in our lives. You can watch the drama by clicking the link above.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #97 — Brene Brown on Creativity

Standard

We spent the end of February digging into art journaling. Well, I have another amazing resource for you that I believe is worth checking out!!

B Brown CreativityToday I want to introduce you to Brené Brown, PhD. She is the author of not one, but two #1 New York Times Bestsellers: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead (2012) and The Gifts of Imperfection (2010). Her TED Talk on vulnerability is one of the most watched of the TED Talks.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #93 — What is a Meandering Book?

Standard

Cross ArtWhat is a Meandering Book? is the question posed and explained by blogger Jessica Hollowell, Owner of JessCreateIt.com.

I love this creative idea! It would be great for art journaling, Bible art journaling, and scrapbookers. Perhaps you want to create a reminder of God’s faithfulness; a book of your favorite scripture verses; compile pictures of people and missionaries you pray for; or have a reminder of a mission trip you went on. I think this meandering book would be a great option for all these ideas and many more.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #78 — Interactive Prayer Stations

Standard

P praying sunriseReferring you to the Interactive Prayer Station tab of Still Waters blog today. Still Waters is the blog of Pastor Theresa who is a self-described second generation Korean-American Pastor and Mother. On her blog she has posted instructions and photos for well over 50 different themed interactive prayer stations focusing on everything from Epiphany, Lent, and Advent, to various Gospel stories, social justice issues, as well as light, love and baptism.

Continue reading

Create-A-Day: your daily dose of creativity #72 — Finding God in Art

Standard
“Golden Sea” by Makoto Fujimura, 2011.

“Golden Sea” by Makoto Fujimura, 2011.

This is an incredibly powerful video featuring artist, writer, speaker and culture shaper Makoto Fujimura talking about how he found God through his own creation of beauty.

“It was almost like this voice coming over me…this voice that washed over me… and I realized at that moment this historic figure of Jesus was no longer just this historic figure but he was the one who was calling me all along in my creativity.”

Continue reading