Why bother creating today? Even Just a Little…

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guitar and penWhen I woke this morning, I began to think about the things that have been weighing on my mind. Slowly I walk to the kitchen to make coffee, the family has already gone to work and school and I am wondering what today has in store for me.

Do I have time to create today? I resist the desire, then… I ask.

What does taking time to create do in my life?

The power of creative thinking is stirred but there is something more that happens.
As a Christian, when I create I usually try to make sense of my world, listen to God’s voice, meditate on his word, pray, ponder, consider….

This isn’t a bad thing to do.

So in some ways creativity for the Christian is a “spiritual discipline.”

Creativity a Spiritual Discipline?
Spiritual disciplines are those tasks and habits that help spur the follower of Jesus to a deeper relationship. We pray. We take time to read the bible and consider its application. We spend time trying to memorize verses of scripture that would be helpful.

These spiritual disciplines, are the like the pencil and sheet music, the piano and practice room the point where I listen and put something down.

I remember my time at Furman where in the midst of hours of study and practice, I would take a empty page and put melodies and words down. No these moments were not profound for the art that was created as much as for the heart work that was done.

Why bother creating today? Why bother slowing down and putting pen to paper? Why bother typing thoughts down in a blog post? Why pray and open the word? Because God is here! Because He wants to communicate to me and I need to communicate to Him.

Experiencing God’s presence by doing the work.
The ability to experience His presence as I create flows directly from my prayer, my worship, my time meditating in His word. There is a connection between writing a song and spiritual disciplines. Both require the tools, habits, time, commitment and perseverance to see fruit. Prayer that quickly passes without listening is like strumming a few chords only to put the guitar back down on the way out the door.

I don’t get as much out of time in God’s word by merely reading the daily passages in my YouVersion Bible app. Getting satisfaction from not missing a day! I want to be able to walk away from my creative disciplines, with the sense that I have done good work with God.

A little taste makes me hunger.
When I am done with my creative time I want to have experienced a glimpse of my purpose. I want to feel the hunger to continue, just as when I finish my “quiet time” with Jesus, and leave wishing I had time for more.

Creativity, just like spiritual disciplines, can be a place to see God at work.

Here are a few creative ideas that have helped stir both my desire for God and creativity.
Consider opening your Bible and your creative instrument at the same time.
As a musician it is very easy for me to see how God’s words connect to music however I also benefit from play music as I read which creates mood and tone. Can this happen as you do you art? Draw, Paint, Sculpt, Dance, Write a story. How could God’s word impact you today.
Don’t force it. Creativity for the Christian isn’t just making Christiany Art that merely parrots a Bible verse. Don’t force it. It’s ok to “play the music” without any words!
Read stories, biographies about other followers of Christ, use a prayer book, or devotion type book to get ideas flowing.
Take a walk.

Why create a little each day? It might just spur on your spiritual life too!

Redeemer Arts Video – Get Inspired

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I was inspired at the vision and work from Artists who are engaging their culture and work.
I hope this helps you consider how you can pursue God’s calling on your life in such a way that allows others to notice the work of Christ in you!

Matthew 5:16 “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Redeemer Arts from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.

books on shelf

Why Theology Matters to Musicians from Worship Matters – Bob Kauflin

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Our Worship Leaders Community in South Metro Atlanta meets monthly to connect, inspire creativity and cultivate our love for God and each other. We are currently discussion Bob Kauflin’s book Worship Matters. Bob has written a post about Why Theology Matters to Musicians.

When Christian musicians get together, we tend to assume we all have our theology down and we can focus on honing our chops, discovering new gear, and improving our techniques and methodologies. Or maybe we think that theology isn’t that important. Whatever the reason, I wanted to make clear that even at the Christian Musician Summit, theology matters.
Theology is literally the “study of God,” particularly as he has revealed himself in Scripture. It includes not only studying the Bible, but understanding how the different parts of the Bible fit together. Christian musicians need to know theology. But before I explain why, here are four potential objections people might have.
1. People just argue about theology.
Yes. Partly because we’re sinful. But mostly because there are some truths that are worth defending and fighting for. Even dying for.
2. Theology just makes life complicated.
It depends on what you mean by complicated. If you think that knowing how to play your instrument makes it complicated, then yes, theology makes life complicated. Theology doesn’t make like complicated. It actually makes life simpler. It protects us from reading verses out of context or reading only our favorite passages. Theology tells us what words like glory, gospel, salvation, and love mean. Theology helps us understand what we’re actually doing every Sunday. What complicates life is not theology but ignorance of theology.
3. Studying theology makes people proud.
It shouldn’t. The better we know God, the humbler we should be. The more we should realize that what we know will always be dwarfed by what we don’t know.
4. We’ll never know it all anyway.
Just because we can’t know everything about God, doesn’t mean we can’t know some things truly. God has revealed himself to us in his word and given us his Spirit so that we can know him.
Here are three reasons why theology should matter to Christian musicians.
1. You’re already a theologian.
Every Christian, musical or otherwise, is already a theologian. The question is, are you a good theologian or a bad one? We’re good theologians if what we say and think about God lines up with what Scripture says and affirms. We’re bad theologians if our view of God is vague, or if we think God doesn’t really mind sin, or is we see Jesus as a good example and not a Savior, or if we our god is too small to overcome evil or too big to care about us.
2. God reveals himself primarily through words, not music.
Because we’ve encountered God profoundly during times of musical worship, we can wrongly start assuming that words restrict the Spirit, while music enables us to experience God in fresh and powerful ways. If God had wanted us to know him primarily through music, the Bible would be a soundtrack, not a book. Music affects and helps us in many ways, but it doesn’t replace truth about God. By itself, music can never help us understand the meaning of God’s self-existence, the nature of the Incarnation, or Christ’s substitutionary atonement. Simply put, truth outlasts tunes.
3. Being good theologians makes us better musicians.
Theology teaches us what music is meant to do.
Theology teaches us that worship is more than music.
Theology teaches us that Jesus is better than music.