280 - 5-Minute Mentoring:Created by the Creator to be Creative

As we close out this month-long celebration of the 10th anniversary edition of my first book, “Unlocking the Heart of the Artist,” I want to end with the beginning - or, more specifically, the forward of the book, which was written by my good friend, mentor, and spiritual father, Ray Hughes. 

Ray captures so perfectly the spirit of this book and how we, as artists, are not just blindly following some prescribed plan for our lives.  God actually created us to be creative, and by pursuing our art and fulfilling that creativity, we are truly revealing His Kingdom all over earth.

It’s so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness of life - the sports practices, the meetings, the emails, the grocery lists.  But there we’re just in survival mode - just getting through the day.  This, my friends, is not what God wants for us! It’s not what He created us for!  He wants us to thrive - and He’s given us all the tools we need to do just that.

So when you experience periods where you’re surviving but not thriving in your life, know that God has equipped you with the tools and skills you need to thrive, to go out and live the life that He designed for you in the Kingdom…because you were created to thrive!


Unlocking the Heart of the Artist: 10th Anniversary Edition on Amazon (Just Released!)
https://www.amazon.com/Unlocking-Heart-Artist-Practical-Fulfilling/dp/1460930258

Connect with me online:
https://www.matttommeymentoring.com
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https://www.facebook.com/thethrivingchristianartist
https://www.youtube.com/mjtommey to watch the podcast on YouTube!
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Transcript

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Have you ever wanted to have someone in your life who you could ask real questions about your art, your business, and even your walk with the Lord? Well, that's exactly what we do every Friday here on Five Minute Mentoring, where I answer one question from one of my awesome podcast listeners in order to help you start really thriving as the artist you know God created you to be. Well, hey, my friend, so glad that you're with me here today on 5-Minute Mentoring. We're taking the whole month and celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Unlocking the Heart of the Artist, my very first book. It's just incredibly gone all over the world and helped thousands upon thousands of artists step into the fullness of who God's calling to be. And I've just been choosing excerpts from the book during this month to just highlight things that I think are just really important in the book and just really powerful messages and You know, I only had four episodes to do this during the month of August, and I thought what I wanted to end on was the beginning, the foreword of the book. God brought Ray Hughes into my life early on in this journey, really just through a series of divine appointments. I had had this vision from the Lord of raising up an army of artists, had no clue what it meant. I shared it with a couple of my friends who introduced me to one of Ray's friends who to then open a door for me to be able to go meet Ray up in Kentucky. It was a crazy story. I was actually supposed to meet him at a conference, then he wasn't there because the schedules got mixed up or something. And I ended up having to drive another hour or two hours to, I don't even remember now, to another town, Middlesbrough, Kentucky. And not only I went to the service that day, met him and Denise and Ramey and Brian and went to eat Mexican food afterwards. I mean, it was just a great, great thing. I never will forget. I'm going to tell this on Ray because it's so classic of Ray. We had had lunch that day. And at the end of the thing, at the end of our time together, I was just so honored to have met him. I mean, I'd been watching him, you know, at Morningstar conferences and had his minstrel series for just years. And so very impacted by his ministry. And I was like, Ray, I'm just so, you know, honored that you would, you know, take the time with me today. And he looks over at me just as sly and dry as ever. And he said, well, if it bless you that much, you can buy my lunch. I'm surprised he didn't ask me for a Butterfinger, which is his favorite candy bar. And I was just like, give me a break. But it just started this relationship that has been a huge blessing to me in my life. And we don't see each other as often anymore, just because of moving and life and ministry and that sort of thing. But Ray was kind enough to write the foreword to Unlocking the Heart of the Artist. And it just set the tone for such an incredible book and an incredible journey for so many artists. And I want I wanted to use that as the excerpt today. And so this is the foreword for My Luck in the Heart of the Artist by my friend Ray Hughes. God created us in His image. We have been created by the Creator to be creative. He also created us to be worshipers. So if we are not worshipers of our Creator, we forfeit the reason or purpose for us to exist, a simple reality that is often overlooked. Sadly, this is one of the reasons why some of history's most gifted and creative people lived such tortured lives. Ever seeking and never finding is a sad lyric, to say the least. Yet that has been the song of many a dreamer with a locked heart. Truth be told, there are probably more Christians struggling with locked heart issues than non-Christians. I cite religious rules, unrealistic restrictions, and fear of man as the dominant violators of the born-again heart. However, the stories behind locked hearts can be as diverse and unique as the individuals that tell them. Life's situations and circumstances can ruthlessly rob us of the luster needed to live beyond our next crisis. Busy schedules become formidable and unconquerable enemies of our creativity and worship. How many lyrics have been lost to the clamor and clatter of busyness? How tragic to think of how many wondrously creative loved ones never had or took the time to fully live the greatest passions of their heart. Sadly, for many of us, too much living time is spent in existing and surviving, pushing true creativity and authentic worship into the backseat. When survival becomes our focus, heartbreak and disappointment lead us to shutdown. I believe worship happens when you sense an acute awareness of the presence of God and God senses an acute awareness of the presence of you. Because of those moments, and they're so precious, they should be fully lived. Those moments should become songs, poems, and works of art. They should be dances and sculptures, paintings, carvings, pottery, etc. By bringing our creativity into the atmosphere of worship to our Creator, we have the ability to expand the atmosphere and extend or magnify our worship. God made you and me to be one of a So our creativity is a way to capture those moments of worship and sustain them as a reminder or a memory to acknowledge that He is a one-of-a-kind, true, awesome, eternal God. timeless, wondrous God. Undoubtedly, Matt has been given a special gift and grace to help us all walk through the unlocking process. His insight and revelation are a vital key to a Listen, I'm so grateful for Ray and again, so many other spiritual fathers and mothers along my journey who were part of waking me up to the fullness of who God created me to be. And I'm so honored to be able to be used by God to be able to do the same thing in your life. I pray that you'll grab the book, that you'll just enter in to the journey of allowing the Holy Spirit to unlock your heart. So that you can step into the fullness of who God's called you to be in the kingdom. I love you, my friend. I hope you'll continue listening here on The Thriving Christian Artist. Until next time, remember you were created to thrive. Bye.