Becoming the Leader God Meant You to Be

"Every time God desired to do something great, He called a leader to step forward. Today He sills calls leaders to step forward for every work - both large and small." - John C. Maxwell

You probably know where I am going with this before I start don’t you? As a matter of fact, you clicked to read this because somewhere inside you, you know that God made you to lead people in some way. That may mean He meant for you to be a speaker, author, singer, songwriter, worship leader, and in some cases, all of these!

But it is very easy to have a “Who me?” attitude about this. After all, we are not encouraged after kindergarten to pursue creative things. Music and art degrees are met with scoff when compared with more “practical” degrees. Parents roll their collective eyes when you say you want to go after your dream to sing, to write that book, or work in the church.

It gets worse as you get older. Your spouse and friends think you may be crazy for wanting more than what you have. You do well in a job you don’t necessarily hate (or maybe you do). You provide well for your family, or take care of them at home. Why would you want to upset the apple cart?

On the other hand, many recognize your gift. The most frequent questions are: Do you have a CD? Why aren’t you using this gift? What are you waiting for?

So let’s unpack some things:

Three Ways to Realize Your Goals

What Are Your Goals?

Well that’s an easy question isn't it? I’m being facetious of course, but it’s a question we need to ask ourselves every day if we are going to get to that creative life we keep saying we want.

As you can see in the picture here, I've had this fortune cookie wisdom directly under my computer for a long time. It’s in my line of sight every day, and has been for close to a decade. (Along with other various and sundry toys and doodads!)

“Your present plans are going to succeed.”

That’s just one of the ways I keep my sight on what I’m trying to do. But I have other tricks!

Here are a few of them.

Are You Called to Do This?

"You have tremendous gifts to give; God sent them with you when you came to this earth. And while you might forget them, or doubt they exist, God does not forget and He will show them to you. As soon as your gifts are dedicated to His work, they will blossom. Chains that might have held you back for years will dissolve. And you will feel free. You will learn that your spirit is bigger than your circumstances, as soon as you put your spirit first.” - Marianne Williamson 

We talk about a lot of practical things in our different blogs and sites for Christian artists, musicians, and creative folks. But the truth is our ministry is more than concerts, websites, blogs, tweets, and CD/download sales.

One of the questions we ask people in our workshops is “Do you remember a time when you felt a calling to do this?” In other words, there was likely a time when you felt the Holy Spirit revealing to you that you needed to use your talent for His work.

How to Live a Creative Life (If That's Really What You Want) Part 1

“Protect me from what I want.” - Jenny Holzer

The actual title of this was much longer but wouldn't really fit in the Subject line. That title was “How to live your dreams, if that’s really what you want to do, by someone who does, and let me tell you it’s a lot of work and iffy living.”

Almost all the time when I meet new creative people, no matter what creative thing they want to do, they tell me “my dream is to quit my job and live only doing my creative thing as my career.”

That Special Freak

“I have spent a good many years since--too many, I think--being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it.” - Stephen King

As creative people, it is easy to feel like we are weirdos  As Ray Bradbury put it “I am that special freak, the man with the child inside who remembers it all.” We keep and feed our inner child, the one who is not afraid to dream and play and sing and paint, instead of giving it up to the seriousness of life.

Why We Must Learn, to Grow

A Wise, Learned Musician. Mark Baldwin

"If you have found wisdom, there is a prospect, and your hope will not be cut off.” - Proverbs 24:14

Are you learning? Are you growing? Are you doing everything you can with the creative gift that God has give you?

I mean right now? (Well, hopefully you are because you’re reading this blog right? ;) But elsewhere in your life are you consciously working on growing the knowledge and ability you have about what you want to do creatively?

How to Get Where You Want to Be

This is what we all want right? We see a future for our music and art, but how do we get there? We’re not looking for a free ride, and we know there really isn't one. But what are the steps to get where we need to go?

I have artists, composers, and technical folks ask me this every day. And the cool part of doing what I do is, I get to help them down that very road.

Step One. Admit You Have a Problem

Hi, my name is Eric and I've been an art-making addict for 40 years. How about you? Love writing music? Or singing? Or ministering? Or writing? Or just playing music?