Turning the Corner Today – Creative Leaders in Christ, Rise Up

I want to speak to creative leaders in Christ, those willing venture outside the box of nominal Christianity to discover Jesus, creatively in His journey for our lives. He calls us ‘out’ to walk with Him in an expression of ministry that will hit the hearts of many who want to know His love, His salvation, His goodness and mercy.

Do you see God moving ‘outside’ the confines of our current definition of ministry?

Let’s walk with Him, step by step in humility and grace. God SYNCS each of us in Christ and into our creative expression. This by itself, moves us out and away from any box of comfortable Christianity. I like to call it creative expression in Christ, walking a true prophetic lifestyle in Holy Spirit.

As I move out, I immediately feel resistance. I face the choice of drawing back or to keep on walking with Him.

After years with this message stirring inside me, rising up and being shut down, today I am turning the corner. I can’t go back into what was. I press ahead. Join me on this journey as I turn the corner into the next phase of my glorious life. I write the story and perhaps you can glean something for yourself in all of this in the months and years ahead.

About 1 year ago, I attended a conference in Flower Mound, TX called ‘Limitless’. Focused on creativity in life, the revelation and impartation was amazing. There were deep times of worship, expression and waiting on God in an environment filled with His presence.

During one particular time, Jesus began to speak to me about the next phase of my life, my creative call.

I heard this……

Travel Scribe

Follow me in this okay? I want you to see yourself in this story.

When God said ‘travel scribe’, my natural mind kicked in and I found NO understanding as to what it meant.

Over the next year, God slowly showed me that it is a creative call, out of the box, defined by Him. It involves moving as Holy Spirit moves, involving travel, photography, speaking and writing. Along the way, we hope to establish a base in Raleigh, NC where a creative culture will be built. (Still mediating on this one as the attacks come telling me I lack everything to do this.)

This ‘travel scribe’ thing? The more I thought, the more my heart resonated with the very idea even though I had no complete understanding. Here’s my spiritual resume:

Travel – all over the world the past 20 years.

Writing through the eyes of Jesus prophetically

Love for adventure

Passion for  journey.

Still thinking how uniquely and creatively this revelation fills the very core of my being.

Next steps – a connection came with a glorious ministry out of Atlanta, GA. Check out the Scribal Conservatory Arts and Worship Center.

Something starts to form on the horizon, so small but something that draws me ever deeper into Christ as I follow along in this journey. He writes the story so I can’t stop to figure out the steps right now or I will be stopped dead in my tracks. I follow Him into what is on this horizon. He does this so as to keep me in sync with His Spirit, not my good ideas.

God wants to move outside the box and overall, change is resisted by the church at large. But, God will change His people and change the church as we know it in the process. I am part of that change? Are you?

God keeps talking about travel scribing, travel, and so much more. Places Iceland and Portugal on my heart. Opens up a trip to the San Francisco Bay Area for 2 weeks in July (my dearest home and a place I love). It’s my test trip out to see with the eyes of Christ, taking my family who live there along for the ride. I go with new lens for my IPhone 7 and fresh passion beating in my heart.

Do you see how God leads us one step at a time? Can you see a picture forming? Look for it in your own life.

I attend a Scribal Mentoring Course for 8 months, beginning in July.

Joined Tribe Writers with Jeff Goins.

I am reading, reading reading Creative Books.

Co-Creating with God Lyn Packer

Born to Create – Theresa Dedmon

I pray and worship daily as He downloads His revelation into my life.

Off I go…………..like many others, I like conclusions, a final picture or clarity but then I realize that God loves journey, adventure, walking with Him in life, NOW.

I look forward to you following along with me. God is writing my story. What about you? How is God leading you? It may be just a whisper. Don’t miss it okay?

 

Living with Passion and Purpose In Christ
Debra

Creative Friday -It’s finished, Moving on

We are free you know……again, it’s not some cliche that we hear and then walk away from without acknowledging the truth of it all. Why is it that we can’t take hold of these powerful words spoken by Paul and realize them deep in our spirits? Meditate on this.

The finished work of the cross purchased our freedom in order that we may EXPRESS an entirely new life. We ARE the creative expression of Christ in the earth NOW reflecting an eternal reality in heaven. 

My expression on this Creative Friday is my photo shot of a cross made of welded nails that I saw at Upper Room Dallas. Follow me on Instagram as Edenoutpost. 

Sharing in His death by our baptism means that we were co-buried and entombed with him, so that when the Father’s glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also RAISED with him. We have been co-resurrected with him so that we could be empowered to EXPRESS an entirely new life. 

Could it be any clearer that our former identity is now and forever deprived of its power? For we were co-crucified with him to dismantle the stronghold of sin within us, so that we would not continue to live one moment longer submitted to sin’s power. 

And we know that since the Anointed One has been raised from the dead to die no more, his resurrection life has vanquished death and its power over him is finished. romans 6:4, 6, 9 The Passion Translation

In Christ,
Debra
About Me
Rivers of Eden Ministry

 

Creative Friday: A Visual Feast – Prophetic Artist Karen Martin

Welcome to 1st Friday and a Visual Feast. This blog, riversofeden1, flows in creative expression in Christ. For me that flows through words, stories, and prophetic insights. For others, like Karen Martin, creativity flows through art. Enjoy!

Karen Martin – Lover of Jesus, Artist, Music Teacher

For an artist, inspiration comes from many sources. I can see a beautiful flower, a pond filled with Koi or some simple pots. My vision immediately focuses on the beauty of God’s creation in many different forms. This stirs my spirit to create.

 

My abstract works are often painted during a church service. I focus on Jesus and ask Him to guide me in what He wants me to paint that day. At that point, I can feel both excited and overwhelmed when I realize that the whole congregation may be watching me through the process. I often ask myself “What if nothing of His glorious nature shows up on this canvas?” Then I realize that I have to get out-of-the-way and remember that He will guide my hand and my heart. I paint and trust.

 

Other times, God challenges me to feel His heart for certain issues. I focus on abortion or human trafficking. This stirs up my emotions for some time and then at some point, an image emerges in the conscience part of my brain that reveals the issue to me in visual form. “How do I do this?” is often the cry of my heart. I feel incapable of painting something so gloriously revealed with my existing skill set. So, the challenge is on. How do I paint what I see in my mind?

 

Art seems to be in my creative DNA in Christ. I started painting as a child. My creative pursuit of art is enhanced by many various passions and hobbies in my life. Marriage, family, teaching, acting, and music – they all enhance my work.

Painting is always a struggle for me to this day…but it is a glorious struggle where I place this gift in God’s hands and both of us flow together in creating something that will bring Him glory. He is the ultimate artist, isn’t He?

 

Karen Martin
Follow Me On Instagram: Renwowart

Prophetic Soundings – Deep Deep Water

In my vision, I saw prophets in deep water, resting in its movements, not treading water or trying to resist the continual flow. These men and women knew God Himself brought them out to the deep. Ridiculed, persecuted, and many times labeled rebellious because they would not follow prophetic protocol laid down by the current trend of prophetic networks, they flowed out to the deep, guided by the hand of God. These prophets obeyed, risking rejection, facing loneliness and most of the time being misunderstood, labeled independent or not wanting to submit to the proper authority. Over time, humility worked its way deep within the heart of the prophet. Silence permeated their lives because God’s hand restrained them from speaking or even justifying why they found themselves alone in deep waters.

“You are mine!” says the Lord.

It was a time of diving into the depths of the ocean. Where else was there to go? With no land around, there was nowhere else to go but down, down, down into the depth of His being. Flowing within the currents of the Lord’s voice, it was a time of being set apart.

After a considerable length of time, words began to form close to the surface of the prophet’s life and one by one, many began to speak. Deep words of the reality of Christ Jesus, being in Christ. This message flowed from substance, flowed from transformation within the prophet’s being. This message is one that is released in the deep waters. To hear it, one must choose to come out into the deep, away from the shore. These are words of transformation engaging with the spirit of the listener. These are words of Spirit, life and truth. These are words of Christ, being in Christ flowing out in creative expression through the prophets of the deep that are learning to live, move and have their being in the person of Christ.

“I am yours and you are mine!”

I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine (Song of Songs 6:3 NKJV)

Wait, what is this that I see now? I look back towards the shoreline and see so many people splashing in the waves. From a distance, they seem to like the excitement of it all, lots of shouting, declarations and laughter. Lots of noise.

I listen closely and suddenly through the noise, I can make out distinct words like revival, breakthrough, acceleration, and so much more. Lots of prophetic catch words and phrases that sound like a remix of what has been said over and over through the years. Yet, it seems that the people really like it.

“I’ve heard it all before.”

The same promises, and the same sound for years on end. They sound out and because it’s so shallow at the shore, the sounds hit the bottom and rise up quickly, appealing to the soul and the emotions to those content to dwell at the shoreline. Individual lives, ministries, and churches rest in the shallows, hearing the sound of the shallow waters. These words seem to ebb and flow like the tide – going in, going out. I have heard these same words being spoken year after year after year.

For Christians to mature, we must respond to a sound declared from the deep. And that requires leaving the safety of the shore to listen and venture out by the hand of God.

I will speak from the deep to the substance of Christ within people. I will speak to the spirit within a person. Words of truth and life – something that the church at large seems unable to receive or understand in its current state, where preaching to emotion and need transcends everything else.

Where do you find yourself today and in what kind of spiritual atmosphere? Something to think about. There is so much to say about this that I will just keep writing. I know some of you are thinking some deep thoughts so please feel free to comment. This path that I am now in while writing this is long and expansive. Lots to say. Our journey in Christ in the deep waters. Hear what I am saying by the Spirit okay? Find yourself in these posts.

In Christ
Debra
About Me
Rivers of Eden Ministry

We Are Not Producers – Nate Pyle

Enjoy this great blog post by Nate Pyle – We Are Not Producers

Lately, the words have been harder to come by. So many times I’ve showed up at my computer, cursor blinking, and sat staring with a hollow mind. The words used to come fast. I could knock out a blog post in under an hour. Writing wasn’t the problem, finding the time to write all that I wanted to write was the problem.

Writing was easier before I was a “writer.” I was a pastor with a blog. Not a popular blogger. Not an author. Sure, I was writing, but I sure as hell wasn’t a writer. A writer knows how to use a semi-colon and, let’s be honest, those are more mystifying to me than the question of predestination. No, I was a guy with some thoughts and an internet connection. Not a writer.

Then I wrote a book and became a writer.

Have you noticed that success can sometimes be your worst enemy? When no one is noticing you, it’s easy to go about your business. It seems like it is easiest to do your best work when no one is looking, but the moment you get noticed, the moment people begin paying attention, there’s a new pressure. I think this is true whether we are talking about writing, painting, starting business, or teaching. Success changes how we approach what we love to do. There’s an expectation to keep doing what you’ve been doing, but with a new intensity. A greater consistency. Along the line something shifts, a subconscious transition that morphs the desire to create into the burden to produce.

Producing is very different than creating. Creativity is an act with intrinsic value and joy. Producing is an act that has value only because someone else has deemed what you produced has value. You don’t produce simply for the love of producing. You produce to sell. To market. To get shares. To gain follows and grow a platform. You don’t create for those reasons. God didn’t create the world to gain a world that would worship him. God created because he loves. God created because he is the Creator. And we, created in the image of the Creator, are to create for the simple joy of the act of making something new.

We are not producers, you and I. We are not what we produce. We are not even what we create. I get caught up in believing that lie. In my head, I know that I am not the crossed off items on my to-do list, but damn if I don’t feel better about myself when I’m crossing things off the list. In my head, I know I don’t have to produce to be worthy of love, but man I feel anxious when I haven’t published something in a while. I know sabbath rest is good for me, but it just makes me feel like I’m lazy.Somewhere along the way I became a producer, with my worth and my value tangled up in the value of a product.

A producer finds their identity in what they produce. They find their value in the value of their product. Which is horrible to think about since a product’s value is based on the demands of a fickle market. Think about letting your identity be determined by the same people who made the Snuggie popular. No thank you.

We are not producers.

We are creators.

As creators our identity is not in what we create or in people’s appreciation of what we create. No, we are simply creators because we are made in the image of the Creator.

So today, show up. Do what brings you joy. Do you love to write? Write. Love to cook? Cook. Do you love to figure out marketing strategies for your business? Then do it with joy. Do you love to teach? Then show up as a creator.

Whatever you do today, enter into the full joy of doing that thing for the sheer joy of doing it.

Nate Pyle – From One Degree To Another

From Debra: I want to share blogs that resonate with my heart, bring life to my spirit, and confirm the journey in Christ that I am on right now. This blog touched my heart. We are not producers but creators because Jesus Christ in us is the hope of glory. He longs to express His unique beautiful glory through our lives as we are the creative expression of Christ Jesus in the earth right now.

In Christ,
Debra
Rivers of Eden Ministry
About Me