Post for 1st July

6th July 2008
So... God and the arts. Your called to be an artist aye? The answer is yes. Maybe you know that you are creative in some way, but you are still trying to figure out how it fits in with your life goals. Maybe you know for sure that you are called to the arts/entertainment sphere, and called to greatness in that area. Maybe you already call yourself a "film-maker". Maybe you are writing songs, and wanting to record them. Maybe you design clothes, or maybe you design computer software. If you are heading somewhere in the creative arts, or the entertainment industry, this message is for you. My encouragement to you, is that you read and respond to this.

My vision is to see Christian to rise up and take over the arts and the entertainment sphere in our society. I believe that we can do this if we passionately pursue God, and if we passionately pursue our call.

1st July 2010

Around two years ago, I had this idea: to write a monthy email/letter/encouraging word type of thing - specifically to those who are in, or called to work in the creative arts/media arena. If you are a Christian leader or Pastor, and you care for those that are in those areas, then I believe that you will also be helped by this.

It's been a while since I first came up with this idea - and I've started writing this out a number of times. But now is the time to go for it, and send you something that will I believe help you with your walk with God.

Life gets busy. And I appreciate that you have taken time out of your schedule to read this far. I want to share with you about something more important than reading your emails, more important that browsing Twitter, it's more important than spending time practising, or personal development... I want to talk about spending time with God.

Mark 1:35

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”

Jesus had His priorities straight. Above everything else that He had to do that day - He made spending time with His Father the priority. In this verse, it says that Jesus got up early in the morning, while it was still dark, and went off to a solitary place, by Himself, to pray. This passage has plenty to speak to us today.

There's a fair chance, that for you right now, things are busy, maybe you even feel like things are pulling at you from many different directions. So much to do, so little time... I know that feeling well, in fact so did Jesus. If we look at the above verse in context:

"The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. " (Mark 1:33-35)

Do you feel like you are under pressure? Jesus had the whole town of Capernaum "gathered at the door" (v 33). Now that's pressure! Because of His past success, verse 28 says that "His fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee." (NKJV) Jesus had fame!!! He had pressure from all sides, and He was living out what He was called to do (verse 34).

Yet in the midst of all this, it says that very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, and spent time with God.

How do you handle pressure? We all handle it in different ways. But trust me, one of the best ways to handle it, is to spend time with God. I read a great quote on Twitter once: "It takes time to hand your burdens over to the Lord - take time in prayer."* It's a very important key for prayer I reckon - time.

It's taken a while for me to learn the lessons of this passage in Mark, and of course I'm constantly relearning it. Personally, I love spending time with God in the mornings. Sometimes it's a discipline, sometimes I have to really MAKE myself do it, but overall, it is something I really enjoy doing. I've found that there's nothing better than starting the day spending time with God (and coffee's always nice too!) I find that spending time with God fuels me. It sustains me. There are lot's of things I struggle with, but trust me, life would be even harder for me if I didn't spend time with God every day.

No matter what you are called to do - spending time with God daily is a must. Whether you get up early, or do it during another time of the day, is between you and God. How you spend time with Him, is obviously between you and God as well! I would recomend reading the bible in there somewhere!!!

God bless you heaps as you draw near to Him.