Pursuing Christ. Creating Art. Exploring Life at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity by Gary A. Molander (thoughts)

I started reading the book Pursuing Christ. Creating Art. Exploring Life at the Intersection of Faith and Creativity by Gary A. Molander and I am loving it.  But first a little background.

Gary and I have some similarities in the sense that we have both been in the ministry for some time.  He is older than I, has more kids, was a Pastor and is a Rams fan.  I, on the other hand am younger, was a youth director for 10 years, have one kid and am a Broncos fan.  (I know...the Super Bowl still hurts)

What we do have in common is the creative side.  We love doing exactly what the by line of the book says: Exploring life at the intersection of faith and creativity.

Faith and belief are so important in my life.  It is one of my strengths in the Stenghts Finder test and when I ask my self what I wanted to be when I grew up, no matter what it was I HAD to believe in what they were doing.  Christ is the perfect person to work for.  There is so much to do and so much that can creatively come out of faith and belief in Jesus.  

A Few Thoughts...

As I read through this book I am going to jot dow a few thoughts and reactions to Gary's words and hopefully they will resonate with the creative part inside of you.  

"Theologically speaking, everyone is creative.  We were fashioned and formed in the image of God.  God is a creative God.  So we're creative too.  We bear the divine imprint.  Our Maker is creative, therefore we are creative." - Gary A. Molander

I grew up in family that was creative.  My mom was a crafter and could come up with any number of things for my brother and I to do.  She is now a preschool director that puts on an annual art show of the students art in Colorado that attracts over 1,000 people every year. My brother loved to create and came up with some pretty crazy things in his life.  He is now working in design and video production.  I loved helping with anything creative at church growing up; music, decorations and drama all peaked my interest.  My dad was not as creative on the outside.  He worked with numbers and seemed to think he was a more practical type.  But even he joined the handbell choir and helped create beautiful music once a month.  Now he loves to cook and try all kinds of different recipes creating some rather amazing meals.  

The point is this: even though we claim to be the "non-creative" type there is no denying that there is creativity inside each of us somewhere.  The age old question is not evolution vs following the directions or did God hire a designer.  

God is Creator 

God is Designer 

God is...  

and we are created in God's image.  We are creative because God made us that way.  The hard part is finding where our creativity can be put to use.

"Creativity, in the Divine sense, is when we see a void, then fill it with ourselves" - Gary A. Molander

Search for a void in your life.  Where do you see a need?  Could that be where you are missing creativity?  Could you add a little creativity to that area of life and fill the void? Could your creativity fill a void in someone else's life?  

I know I can't ultimately fill every void in my life or someone else's.  Only God can fill those holes.  But imagine how you could be Jesus to someone by using your creativity.  

"Does and artist need to be creative?  Yes.  But does a Creative need to be an artist?  Absolutely not."  - Gary A. Molander

I am an artist and a creative.  I love that God had blessed me with the gifts and talents that bring glory to his name through photography, design, video, music, media and worship arts. I pray that I might be a light to others in my congregation and community to explore their own God given creativity so that Jesus may be glorified.  


Gary Molander is co-owner of Floodgate Productions and Floodgate Creative.