Embroidery I did as a teenager (age 15?). I have since sold one-time-use rights to several people, and finally appliquéd it to the foot of a bedspread so I could enjoy seeing it everyday. It’s a symbolic reminder that our lives are like trees giving shelter and shade for a season or many seasons to those we love and carefully hold dear in our boughs and branches, or who sit under our umbrella of protection.
VERSE OF THE DAY “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” — Luke 6:38
The more we use our talents, strengths, gifts to glorify God, the more He gives us. It’s amazing to experience this artistically and have a never ending source of creative inspiration. The more we use it – the more we get!
|
The best way to bring Glory to God is through the gifts He has given us. “To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy — to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!Amen. — Jude 24-25” To give purpose to your art – do it with the main intention of bringing glory and majesty to God!
 |
FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE CHURCH by W. David O. Taylor
Praises for this book….
“The called out, multi-gifted, and working church ought to be synonymous with all good gifts and stewardship of the earth. And it most certainly ought to be synonymous with the stewardship of the arts. For the Beauty of the Church reminds us of this essentialtruth and many more.”―Charlie Peacock, co-director, Art House America; author of New Way to Be Human
“Pragmatic and theologically astute at the same time, For the Beauty of the Church is a gem-packed collection for those navigating between the realms of the arts and the church. David Taylor is one of the leading pastors in the church’s effort to reach out to artists. I am delighted that he has brought together these important and lucid voices for our edification.”―Makoto Fujimura, artist; founder and creative director, International Arts Movement
“One reason the church exists is that our hunger for beauty will not go away. These essays remind us why. The splendid chapter by Barbara Nicolosi is worth the price of the book itself.”―John Ortberg, author, pastor of Menlo Park Presbyterian Church
“This book is an urgently needed wake-up call for the church! Why have we failed so badly to honor, support, nurture, respectfully critique, and listen to the artists among us? I pray that this book will encourage more artists and churches to offer each other their respective gifts.”―Marva J. Dawn, author of In the Beginning, God and A Royal “Waste” of Time; teaching fellow in spiritual theology, Regent College, Vancouver
“Be enriched and encouraged as you read the words in this book, sharing its vitality with others in your communities of faith.”―Luci Shaw, from the foreword
“This book is encouraging, celebrative, and hopeful, but it is also explosive. David Taylor and his friends want very simply to make worship come alive. This conversation is critical not only for its practical suggestions about the arts but also its bracing theological framework that will help make artistic and spiritual worship the transforming experience God intends it to be.”―William Dyrness, professor of theology and culture, Fuller Theological Seminary
The Artist’s Way Introductory Workshop $15.00
Wednesday May 1st, 2013 11:30 – 1PM
Third Floor, Big Room @ MONDO 426 Springfield Ave, Summit, NJ
Join us for an introduction to THE ARTIST’S WAY, the award winning, life-changing book and video series by Julia Cameron that has helped millions of people all over the world to identify and remove blocks to their creative energy, and lead richer fuller lives. Whether you are a business person, homemaker, nerd, brainiac, or already immersed in music and the arts, this workshop is for you! Based on the core belief that all people have seeds of creativity planted in the soil of their souls, THE ARTIST’S WAY equips you with the gardening tools to water, tend and grow those seedlings to their full fruit bearing potential.
Come meet other creatively curious people and participate in activities designed to help you identify and nurture the dormant artist within you. The workshop will introduce you to some specific tools that will help you begin the adventure of creative self discovery as you awaken your sleeping artist and allow creativity to permeate every area of your life.
Register now for the 6-week accelerated course also, and you’ll receive $5.00 off the workshop fee. Prior to attending the workshop, you should read the introductions up through page 24 of THE ARTIST’S WAY book, available through Purpose Driven Arts and MONDO.
————-
The Artist’s Way Accelerated Course, 6 weeks $125.00
Wednesdays May 8th through June 12th, 2013 10:30 – 12:30
Third Floor, Big Room @ MONDO 426 Springfield Ave, Summit, NJ
Throughout this course we will dig deeper into THE ARTIST’S WAY, the award winning, life-changing book and video series by Julia Cameron that has helped millions of people all over the world to identify and remove blocks to their creative energy, and lead richer fuller lives. Whether you are a business person, homemaker, nerd, brainiac, or already immersed in music and the arts, this course will help you to unction more fully and presently in every area of your life. Based on the core belief that all people have seeds of creativity planted in the soil of their souls, THE ARTIST’S WAY equips you with the gardening tools to water, tend and grow those seedlings to their full fruit bearing potential.
Come meet other creatively curious people in a “creative cluster” and participate in weekly activities designed to help you identify and nurture the dormant artist within you, setting you on a path to higher creativity. The course with its weekly readings, private tasks, and group activities will help you to reclaim a sense of safety to take risks and begin the adventure of creative self discovery as you awaken your sleeping artist and allow creativity to permeate every area of your life.
Prior to attending the first class, you should read the introductions up through and including week 1 and 2 of of THE ARTIST’S WAY book, available through Purpose Driven Arts and MONDO. Thereafter, you will need to read approximately 30 pages per week for the duration of the 6-week class.
The workshop and six-week accelerated course are brought to you by Purpose Driven Arts, LLC. The owner, Monica Giglio has taught the popular 12-week course THE ARTIST’S WAY in Summit at Renaissance Church. She is a lifelong and internationally known fine artist and published writer with art overseas in the federal Arts in Embassies program and pens a regular humor and inspiration column, Monica’s Corner, in the Warren Showcase Magazine. She taught elementary school art, and still offers private lessons occasionally. In 2003, Monica parlayed her artful passion into launching Giglio Interiors LLC, an Interior Design company as it’s name implies, where she currently works. It was her experience teaching THE ARTIST WAY that led her to create Purpose Driven Arts with the goal of promoting the concept of art as a spiritual pursuit.
The Artist’s Way Introductory Workshop (Bring Your Own Book) $15.00
The Artist’s Way Introductory Workshop with Book and Journal $40.00
The Artist’s Way Introductory Workshop AND Accelerated Course (Bring Your Own Book) $135.00
The Artist’s Way Introductory Workshop AND Accelerated Course with Book and Journal $160
The Artist’s Way Accelerated Course, 6 weeks (Bring Your Own Book) $125.00
The Artist’s Way Accelerated Course with Book and Journal $150.00
The Artist’s Way book and journal only $25.00
Private Message me if interested, or email purposedrivenarts@monicagiglio.com
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me — put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. — Philippians 4:9
Are we our brothers’ (and sisters’) keepers? This verse points to the importance of fellowship with each other and sharing the wisdom we have rec’d from God with each other. We help each other practice faith by the way we live our lives so others can see the peace that surpasses all understanding, despite difficult and sometimes impossible circumstances. And they will understand how that same peace of God can be with them!
In the beginning, God CREATED! Most people acknowledge humans have a sense of creativity that differentiates us from all the animals on this earth. It’s because we are created in the image of God, and God is CREATIVE. The first recorded act of God is that He CREATED! And then He made us with the ability to create, change, and transform our world, the world that He made. Let’s use that creativity to promote His love and truths, and make each of own little our worlds a better place!
What if we saw the arts in worship as part of discipleship? What if we saw the arts as essential, rather than optional, to the Spirit’s work of forming us in the image of Christ when we gather as a corporate body? What if a carefully crafted work of visual art enabled a congregation to see its mission in a radically new light? What if art in worship could yield a substantively formative experience? …see more at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/april/art-in-worship.html
God so loved the world that He gave His only son….
My theology about much, if not most, human suffering is succinctly defined in John 9:3-4. Jesus’ answer to the question of why of suffering: “so that the works of God can be displayed, and we must work those works while it is day”(paraphrased). I think it’s a powerful commandment to tell our stories; the sad ones; the ones we don’t want to be identified by; the ones where God allows our hidden suffering and our prayers are unanswered.
The pain inside
It’s an effective witness of God’s work in the hearts of His people when we share how Christ works in our lives and that through Him, we have a life of trust in God and the joy in our lives and peace that passes all understanding. While we dont understand unanswered prayer completely, this is one way to make sense of it – it can be used to help others. After all our purpose is to glorify God on this earth in everything.
My watercolor series on the subject of human suffering can be seen at http://www.monicagiglio.com
Your interpretation of the last book of the Bible may earn you the Apocalypse Prize… I am not associated with the sponsors of this contest, but I want to help spread the word! It appears to be extremely well-thought and very challenging. It will require you to dig deep into one of the most confusing misunderstood books of the Bible. If you are interested like I am, we have ten months left to work on our submissions. Really, really, really interesting. I’m gonna take a shot at it:) Follow the link to learn more.
http://apocalypseprize.com/
Remember this quote….
“Metaphors have a way of holding the most truth in the least space.”
Take a look at Penny’s blog (click on red text link below) …. another believer doing what they do to glorify God in Heaven and bring peace to people on earth!
Click on the red text-link below to see and hear my nephew’s band doing what they are good at; using the gifts they were blessed with!
Do it well, do it often, and glorify God in Heaven
Do you know any church or organizational leaders who would find this interesting? Help me spread the word! Purpose Driven Arts has several major objectives; to help people IN ANY VOCATION to understand the creative gifts given to them by God and how to use them in their everyday lives. Also to be a missionary witness of Christ to the arts culture and to help develop purpose-driven artists. Also to bring visual arts back into worship privately and publicly. I have seen firsthand the powerful impact this can have. It could be something as simple as thematic art shows at Christmas and Easter and/or during special sermons or series. It is a way to creatively express God’s eternal truths in new ways as an act of worship. At the same time it’s a way for others to view and understand God’s truth in new ways as expressed through various visual art forms. I can work with your church or organization for a surprisingly reasonable fee. Please ask your pastors if they’re interested!
Whenever we make a thing of beauty, we first of all are using the gifts God gave us. He made humankind in His image – His creative image. He gave us the ability to make things of beauty, tools, science, etc. So when we use the gifts He gave us, it’s a way to worship Him and bring Him glory… Whatever you do; do it all for the glory of God.
This is one of my designs. One of a kind jewelry
In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. — 1 John 4:17
How do we reflect the image of God in this world? The Bible says love is made complete among us. God’s love is a gift to us and through us to others. God CREATED and made us as creative beings also. Through the arts and through our everyday lives we can bring to the world images of love – God’s love. When a love song is performed opera or rock-n-roll, when Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling, when a house is built and designed to provide shelter for a family, all of these can be reflections of God’s love. Worship Him with your gifts and spread God’s love and truths, make His love complete among those in your life, because “…in this world, we are like Him” !
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. — 1 John 4:15
So grateful that we have a living God who is in us, and “gets us”. Life would be so hard without Him and the gifts He gives…
Christ came to earth as a baby
John 3:16 For God so loved ithe world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The leaves in the background, slightly out of focus gradually take on the shape of lonely hearts. The foreground leaves almost jumping off the paper at the viewer represent the forces invading a person’s life that may prevent them from attending to the needs of their loved ones, and neglecting their own need for intimacy. Sad casualties of becoming too consumed with work, hobbies, careers and self are lonely hearts left behind, one of which may even be their own.
I received a note from one of my High School (over 30 yrs ago) ART teachers who evidently knew back then, even before I did, that the creative spirit of God had taken hold in me and was moving in my life! She recently saw a Newspaper article about me that prompted her to write me and her correspondence was surprisingly like cold water to a thirsty soul. I had a visceral, emotional response to her words and even welled up with tears. The following is an excerpt
“…I was overjoyed to read about your successes and view your portfolio. I must tell you I am not surprised by your strong compositions, nor that your multi-talents cause you to move from medium to medium. I remember you as the creative, artistic young lady in my class whose art permeated her existence. Just wanted to wish you well and tell you I’m proud and thrilled you are following your passion…”
My Prayer: Thank you Lord God, for supportive teachers everywhere for all students, and I thank you especially for the ones that have influenced me, and believed in me when I wasn’t even looking. Amen!
Smiling through pain…
There was a time when Art was recognized as integral to worship in the same way music is. Now, at best it might be seen as ancillary. However, there is a movement – and it is worldwide – to encourage the re-emergence of the visual art s as worship, and that includes privately and “publicly” in the church as part of services.
Make your art, write your songs, act your plays, play your music, build your business, think outside the box! Do it well. Do it often. Do it privately in your studious moments. Perform it publicly. And remember who your gifts come from.As the Bible puts it:
Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. Matt. 5:16
Whether it’s being a singer, painter, actor, dancer, lawyer, teacher, doctor, scientist, builder, etc – you all – we all – need to be in touch with the creative gifts that were given to us by God. Using our gifts for Him can be an act of worship. It can also be a way of expressing His truths to others, but even if the world never see what we do – God does. He may be our only audience sometimes! As the Bible puts it in 1st Cor. 10:31b … whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
Life begins with a kiss…
Rev. Michael Radford Sullivan says: “When we are able to give ourselves over to something greater, we begin to participate in a kind of spiritually-led process where our eyes are opened. We might see things that we would not have otherwise seen. I would argue that creativity is something greater than we are.”
Pain and Growth
Many churches find that adding—or improving—an arts planning process reveals God’s grace in startling ways. Creating art for worship can sink Scripture into people’s lives, connect people from different cultures, and build bridges into the community. – Calvin Institute on Worship
Click her for: NOT YOUR MOTHER’S BOOK: Newspapers cover Monica’s Art and Writing
I continue to glorify God with my gifts and bloom where I am planted. The recent articles in The Home News tribune, Courier News and other papers have mentioned the work I do at Renaissance Church in Summit. 2013 is an exciting time for the arts in Christianity and Christianity in the arts!
From the Calvin Institute on Christian Worship… I found these ten principles helpful as I consider the role of the arts, all of the arts, in worship… “They are timeless truths from Scripture and the rich history of Christian worship. Today, each conviction remains theologically crucial, pastorally significant, and culturally threatened. The importance of one or all of these convictions risks being obscured by cultural trends outside the church, and disputes about the mechanics and style of worship within the church. This attempt to reiterate and reinforce the importance of these ten core convictions will lead, we pray, to more fruitful (if not necessarily easier) conversations about the meaning and practice of Christian worship.”
TOP TEN CORE WORSHIP PRINCIPLES
I know my mission. I understand it. To help people of faith understand their roles as vessels of God’s creative energy, I will conduct workshops, teach classes, and help bring fine art back in to the church at large. I will lead artist’s retreats at various locations, and help artists depict God’s eternal truths in new ways. Researching the topic of the arts in Christianity, I found some other resources dedicated to similar objectives:
CHRISTIAN-ART on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christian-Art/180311992094725
Image Journal, Gregory Wolfe, Editor in Chief, 3307 Third Avenue West, Seattle, WA 98119, 206.281.2988
image@imagejournal.org, http://imagejournal.org
IAM | International Arts Movement, 38 West 39th Street, 3 Floor, New York, NY 10018, PO Box 46365, Seattle, WA 98146
www.internationalartsmovement.org, info@internationalartsmovement.org, http://www.facebook.com/InternationalArtsMovement, http://www.twitter.com/intlartsmvmnt
The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art and Architecture, Editorial Offices:, 47 Grandview Terrace, Essex, CT 06426
www.faithandform.com, twitter.com/faithandform, faithandform.com/linkedin
Michael J. Crosbie, Editor-in-Chief
mcrosbie@faithandform.com, www.faithandformawards.com.
Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids MI 49546
worship.calvin.edu, worship@calvin.edu, worship.calvin.edu
CARE, Center for the Arts,Religion, and Education, 1798 Scenic Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94709
www.care-gtu.org, carin@care-gtu.org
Incarnation, Chicago, Illinois
www.incarnationChicago.org, info@incarnationChicago.org
What is the very first recorded act of God. “In the beginning, God _______…” The very first recorded act of God, is that He CREATED. He created the heavens and he earth, and later He went on to create US in HIS image. He gave us the ability to CREATE also; song, art, science, etc… He is creative and He made us that way too; for a reason; for a purpose. All of us are charged to wo
rship God with our hearts, souls, minds; all of outs gifts. He want us to be vessels of co-creation with Him. God created for 7 days, and from then on, He relied on us allowing Him to work through us to accomplish the spread of His love and good news. Our gifts are given to us to edify each other and glorify God. Whether you are writing a song, creating a scientific formula, writing a lesson plan, scripting a play or sketching, etc, whatever it is; use it to express God’s unchanging truths, in new ways and in so doing, glorify God on this earth.
What if we saw the arts in worship as part of discipleship? What if we saw the arts as essential, rather than optional, to the Spirit’s work of forming us in the image of Christ when we gather as a corporate body? What if a carefully crafted work of visual art enabled a congregation to see its mission in a radically new light? What if art in worship could yield a substantively formative experience? …see more at Christianity Today:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/april/art-in-worship.html
I’ve excerpted some of my favorite lines from Churchill’s piece entitled Painting as a Pastime
…Happy are the painters, for they shall not be lonely. Light and colour, peace and hope, will keep them company to the end, or almost to the end, of the day.
… If you only knew, there is close at hand a wonderful new world of thought and craft, a sunlit garden gleaming with light and colour of which you have the key in your waistcoat-pocket. Inexpensive independence, a mobile and perennial pleasure apparatus, new mental food and exercise, the old harmonies and symmetries in an entirely different language, an added interest to every common scene, an occupation for every idle hour, an unceasing voyage of entrancing discovery—these are high prizes.”
…To be really happy and really safe, one ought to have at least two or three hobbies, and they must all be real. …Broadly speaking, human beings may be divided into three classes: those who are toiled to death, those who are worried to death, and those who are bored to death.
…But, best of all and easiest to procure are sketching and painting in all their forms. I consider myself very lucky that late in life I have been able to develop this new taste and pastime. Painting came to my rescue in a most trying time, and I shall venture in the pages that follow to express the gratitude I feel.
Painting is a companion with whom one may hope to walk a great part of life’s journey,
‘Age cannot wither her nor custom stale Her infinite variety.’
I’ve been called to develop purpose-driven artists among the body of Christ and bring fine art back into worship, and have seen firsthand the powerful impact this can have! It could be something as simple as thematic art shows at Christmas and Easter and/or during special sermons or series. It is a way for some congregants to express God’s eternal truths in new ways as an act of worship. At the same time it’s a way for other congregants to view and understand God’s truth in new ways as expressed through original fine art.
If you’re interested in exploring how fine art can have a place in the worship experience at your church, I would like to meet with you and help you launch it. It actually takes very little in the way of administration, except for deciding on the space to hang it. It can be gallery style in a fellowship hall, library, or café’, or it can be on the auditorium walls in support of the Sunday messages, like the stained glass windows of old.
What if we saw the arts in worship as part of discipleship? What if we saw the arts as essential, rather than optional, to the Spirit’s work of forming us in the image of Christ when we gather as a corporate body? What if a carefully crafted work of visual art enabled a congregation to see its mission in a radically new light? What if art in worship could yield a substantively formative experience? …see more at http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/april/art-in-worship.html
Purpose Driven Arts 