Archive for November, 2011

Pursuing Christ, Creating Art by Gary Molander

by Tim Schraeder on 11/30/2011 in Books with 29 Comments

If there’s one book out of the nearly 30 I’ve read this year that I would confidently say is a must-read, it’s got to be Pursuing Christ, Creating Art: Exploring Life at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity by Gary Molander.

 

PURSUING CHRIST.CREATING ART. from Floodgate Creative on Vimeo.

If you in any way remotely consider yourself an artist [and the truth is, all of us are artists in some form or fashion], you owe it to yourself to pick this book up because there are some great insights and hard truths you need to hear about yourself and your art.

I don’t think that the world needs any more “Christian” artists, I think the world needs artists who are Christians. People who, regardless of their muse, give their lives to create things that give a hopeful glimpse of what’s possible and point to what’s unseen in the world around us and inside of us.

From the very early pages of the book, Gary is candid about his life and experiences as a creative arts pastor. Speaking from the wisdom of his years of experience, he’s assembled a collection of short essays on topics including: purpose, identity, pursuit, authority, blocks, creativity, church, and leadership.

One of the first bold statements that Gary makes in the book that really sets the tone for the remainder of what he shares is this:

“We don’t create art for God. He doesn’t need it. We create art in response to God. Because the world needs it.”

That’s a new way of thinking about it, huh?

The entire time I was reading this book I kept thinking to myself, “Man, I wish I would have had this book 5 years ago.”

Gary speaks a language that anyone who has been engaged in the artistic process in the life of a church can understand and relate to. He empathizes with our struggles and lovingly rebukes us of some of the ways we put ourselves at the center of what we do instead of focusing on what God wants to do through us and our art.

As a young leader, it’s very easy to slip into the trap of listening to the same voices, especially the voices of our peers, and we do ourselves a great disservice by not hearing the voice of wisdom that comes from those who have gone before us. Gary serves as a pastoral voice to church creatives and young leaders, offering sound advice and wisdom gleaned through experience. He speaks humbly, candidly and honestly about the challenges and great opportunities we have to steward with our creativity.

Whether you are using your artistic gifts inside the church or in the public square, as believers we all share the common calling of creating art that points people to our creator. In this book, Gary explores the space between our faith and creativity and challenges us to live authentically and honestly as we pursue our creative endeavors.

I related to so many of the things Gary shared in this book and even winced a few times as he said some hard truths about the dark side of being a creative. I saw myself and my journey all over the pages of this book, and as I said earlier, would have probably saved myself a lot of heartache and learning lessons the hard way if I would have had read it years ago.

Whether you are long into your journey or  just beginning, this book is a must-read for any  creative. I am grateful that Gary created this bit of art and poured himself into this project for the rest of us. It’s truly a gift and a book I know I will come back to many times in the years to come.

And, having had the chance to connect with Gary offline, I can tell you that he’s the real deal and is someone that I’m grateful to have speaking into my life as I continue to pursue Christ and create art.

The world desperately needs what God has put inside of you. However it will be expressed, with words or images, pixels or in brushstrokes, we owe it to God and to those who we serve to be the best artisans and creatives and to humbly give our art as a gift that points people back to our Creator.

This book will help give you perspective about your calling as an artist and creative, and will encourage and challenge you to do work that will show the world the beauty of Christ.

I love this book so much I’m going to give 5 copies away. Drop your answer to this question in the comment section below and I’ll randomly pick 5 of you to get a free copy of the book!

What is the biggest challenge you face in your creative process?

Labels

by Tim Schraeder on 11/29/2011 in Personal with 10 Comments

We live in a culture that rushes to label things.

We’re obsessed with labeling and categorizing.

Throughout the course of our lives, labels are used to define who we are and what we do.

There are labels of our heritage… our ethnicity, country of origin, or people groups our family members descended from.

There are labels that come from our family… we can be brothers, sisters, wives, husbands, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers and grandfathers.

There are labels that define who we are as individuals… our gender, sexuality, where we end to college, the sports teams we love, the social circles we associate with, the products that we purchase, the causes we passionately support.

There are labels that define our work… our field of study, our profession, our job titles, our ministry roles.

And there are other labels that we don’t like so much… the dark, sometimes unnamed parts of our stories. Our painful pasts, struggles and addictions. Failures. Broken relationships. Those kinds of labels are sometimes the worst. Some of those labels were projected upon us by others, and some labels we chose to place upon ourselves.

I am Tim.

I’m also male. I’m a son. I’m adopted. My biological father is Mexican. My mother is of European descent. I usually check the box marked ‘Hispanic.’ I am a brother. I have been blessed to be called an uncle. I’m a Peorian. I’ve been the “chubby kid” from as far back as I can remember. I am a Christian, although I prefer to say “Christ-follower.” I am a church communications guy. I’m single. I’m a co-worker. Someone mistakenly called me “pastor” once. I’m a consultant. I’m a blogger. I’m an Apple fanatic. I’m a coffee snob. I’m also pretty selfish. I try earnestly to not be prideful.

There are many labels that could define me, and there are many labels that could define you, too.

Personally, I don’t like labels. Whether they are personal, professional, or even spiritual.

Sure, they make life a bit easier and make things easier to identify. But all too often we rush to label things. Worse yet, we label people, and many times the labels we project onto others can be inaccurate. They can cause us to miss seeing the person or hearing the story behind the label. Labels oftentimes cover up what they are stuck to and we can miss what’s really there.

Throughout the course of our lives there will be many labels that we will bear.

What we are labeled isn’t who we are, though.

Our identity isn’t in the labels.

I’m more than a son, friend, church communicator, sometimes prideful guy who happens to be a caffeine addict.

You are more than your past. You are more than what you do. You are more than the labels others have used to define you or even the labels that you’ve thrust upon yourself.  Your identity doesn’t rest in what you’ve done, the titles you’ve earned, where you’ve come from, or where you are going.

Christ sees beyond the labels and sees us as who we truly are: children of God.

One of my favorite authors of all-time is Henri Nouwen. He wrote a lot about our identity as believers and once said:

“Your true identity is as a child of God. This is the identity you have to accept. Once you have claimed it and settled in it, you can live in a world that gives you much joy as well as pain. You can receive the praise as well as the blame that comes to you as an opportunity for strengthening your basic identity, because the identity that makes you free is anchored beyond all human praise and blame. You belong to God, and it is as a child of God that you are sent into the world.”

Once we choose to follow Christ, we are no longer living under the identity of our labels but live in the reality of who we truly are. While society and culture may try to label or define otherwise, who we are is nothing more than children of God.

So while there may be many labels that are used to define who I am or who you are, our true identity rests in the fact that we are all unworthy sinners who have received God’s amazing grace. We have the humbling privilege of being children of God.

Our identity isn’t in our labels but in Christ.

It’s an identity that can’t be stolen or taken away from us. It’s secure.

That’s good news… for all of us. 

And, it’s a challenge as we go about life and ministry to not rush and to label others. Peel back the layers. Strip away the labels. Hear someone’s story. Share yours.

Rejoice in the fact that we are all in Christ. We’re His children. Who we are rests in who He is.

I’m Tim. I’m a child of God.

Who are you?

—

I wrote this post prior to hearing about People of the Second Chance’s #LabelsLie Campaign. It’s fantastic and goes right along with what I’ve shared above. Check it out.

The Return of the Monday Mind Dump

by Tim Schraeder on 11/28/2011 in Personal with 7 Comments

It’s been awhile since I’ve done the Monday Mind Dump, but I decided to resurrect it to share some of my random musings and updates with you on a weekly basis.

    • Have you joined my email list? It’s true. I’m going to launch a monthly e-newsletter. I explain more about it here. If you sign up by December 1, you’ll get the chance to win the Ultimate Church Communicators Toolkit [nearly $100 worth of great swag for church communicators!]. Sign yourself up here. You’ll even get a personal thank-you reply from me!
    • Thanksgiving was a blast. I headed home to Peoria and loved hanging out with my family and friends. I also ate way too much.
    • Over Thanksgiving weekend I turned 29. Here’s to my last year in my 20′s. 30 is the new 20, so it’s all good.
    • I had the chance to chat with my friend Sarah Cunningham about the Outspoken book project over on her blog. Check it out and win your chance to snag a free copy of the book.
    • Speaking of Outspoken, thanks to everyone who has supported it by purchasing a copy. I’ve been humbled by the response and am grateful it’s been a helpful resource.
    • My friends from Hillsong Live were in Chicago last weekend and it was great to catch up with them. They are in the USA doing a tour to promote their latest project God is Able. During the middle of the concert they busted out with Shout to the Lord. I think the whole room lit up with excitement. It was a very cool moment and also pretty amazing to think about how far they’ve come.
    • Chad Jarnagin has something pretty cool coming together in Nashville in May. Watch for a post about it later this week.
    • Christmastime is here! If you haven’t had the chance to check out the Hillsong Christmas album, Born is the King, do yourself a favor and pick it up. It’s fantastic. Here’s one of the songs from the album.

  • Over the weekend I picked up my Christmas cards. One word: letterpress.
  • Catalyst One Day in Chicago was FANTASTIC. Great thoughts on leadership were shared by Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel and Bill Hybels. If you missed it, check out my conference notebook to see all of my notes and the leadership goodness that was shared.
  • I started reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp over Thanksgiving. Her talk at STORY was riveting and her book is as well.
  • So stoked for my friend Jesse Phillips who shipped a project he’s been working on: NeuYear. I got my 2012 wall calendar last week and am stoked to make 2012 a year of productivity!
  • Random spiritual thought: We’re all a work in progress. We all receive grace and need to freely give it to others, too.
  • Currently listening to: A Very She and Him Christmas. Love. It.
  • Current view: the home office.
  • Question of the week: what’s on your Christmas playlist?

A Gift to YOU on My Birthday

by Tim Schraeder on 11/25/2011 in Church Communications with 8 Comments

So this marks the beginning of the end… my last year in my 20s.

Today I’m turning 29. I know “30 is the new 20″ and my friend Steven Murray encouraged me saying that life really begins when you’re 30. Either way, I’m excited for one last lap in my 20s and am excited for what this next year has in store.

As I sat and reflected today, I set some goals for the next year, one of which was focusing on becoming a better blogger and more than that, to practice gratitude and giving through this little platform called my blog.

To kick things off, I’m excited to announce the launch of a monthly newsletter. 

Why an newsletter? Seems a bit dated, huh? I thought so, too. But, after realizing people are connected on many different channels, it made sense to create something that would add value across another medium… EMAIL.

Around the first of every month or so I’ll send a monthly newsletter to your inbox that will include…

  • The latest and greatest in the world of church communication.
  • Riffs and rants on church life, leadership, and culture.
  • Highlights from my blog [and from others!] over the past month.
  • Inside scoop on upcoming conferences, books, and resources.
  • Freebies and giveaways… lots of them!
  • Exclusive content that won’t show up on my blog!
  • …and much more as it morphs and takes shape [your input will be valuable!].

And, in the spirit of giving, I will select 1 person who signs up to receive my enewsletter to be the recipient of some of my favorite things, what I’m calling The Ultimate Church Communicators Toolkit:

To sign up to join my email list, simply click here.

Don’t worry, I won’t share your information or abuse my rights into your Inbox. Periodically I may get excited about something and send you an email more than once a month, but I’ll try and restrain myself. I promise.

I’ll randomly pick someone who signs up between now and December 1 to win the Ultimate Church Communicators Toolkit. The winner will be announced in the first edition of my newsletter.

And, if email isn’t your thing, always remember there are other ways you can stay connected:

I’m excited for what this next year has in store and look forward to growing, learning, and connecting with all of you!

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