All posts tagged: faith

Bri Lassiter: Creative in Action

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Bri Lassiter is part of the ICFTS Team. She is a Faithful friend, Believer in Christ, wife and mother. Here is her view of creativity as she takes her action steps to pursue the purpose Christ has placed upon her heart. I used to define creativity as “arts and crafts” and I completely excluded myself from all connection to the arts because I didn’t fit in my own narrow definition of it. Recently I began asking God what His dreams are for me, and he reminded me of a childhood love I’ve had for lettering and calligraphy. I had planned on going to an art school many years ago so I could pursue that love but I had been deeply discouraged by others in my life at the time who believed I could not and should not pursue that dream. I was completely brokenhearted about it and that’s when I started putting up walls by saying that I’m not creative and began defining creativity as “arts and crafts ” and believing it’s “not my thing.” …

Breathe: Patiently Pursue the Promise

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Breathe: Breathe in the Rhema word of truth daily and let your soul be at peace. “The definition for Rhema refers to a spoken word that is active or activated for your personal situation, a word that comes to life for you by the Spirit.” See Numbers 13-14:38 When we meet Caleb of the Tribe of Judah, he is a man in his forties, recently delivered from the yokes of slavery in Egypt, on fire with faith in the God of Israel, and ready to take hold of what God has promised-the Promised land of Canaan that will be renamed Israel. Caleb along with eleven other men, is commissioned to go and spy out the Promised Land, to bring back a report to the people what it is that they are preparing to walk into. If you are familiar with the story, you know that out of the twelve, Caleb along with Joshua are the only two that returned from the spying mission with even greater faith than before they had seen the land. BREATHE: ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR …

To Walk on the Wind: Faith for Creatives

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Uitwaaien (out-vwy-ehn) “To take a break to clear one’s head; lit. “To walk on the wind.” ~The Dictionary Uitwaaien is such an amazing word, not just for the beautiful meaning, but also for its incredibly difficult but fun pronunciation! To take a break in order to clear one’s mind is a foreign concept for many of us. It actually seems counterintuitive to being successful in our creative pursuits. But when we look at scripture, we see the God of Creation not only taking a break from His work during the dawn of time but also during His three years of ministry here on earth as God with Us-Emmanuel. “And when He (Jesus) had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.” ~ MARK 6:46 NKJV With each moment of creation, the Lord paused to call His work good. With each moment of ministry that He completed in the form of man, He took the time to draw away and to breathe in the refreshing breath of God the Father. In Matthew 14:22-33, Christ Jesus …

Victory Before the Battle: Being Undevourable

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Colossians 2:13-15, “And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.” Yours is the victory! Christ Jesus has set you free from every enemy and every issue that could and would rise against you (ISAIAH 53). Your job is to believe it! Satan, the enemy of our souls–our souls i.e our minds, because if he can get us to believe lies then he can shift the trajectory of our lives to live lies, far outside of the redemptive promises of God and Christ even though we are saved–is fighting a battle he has already lost. But if you don’t realize he is defeated, you become devourable (I PETER 5:8.) Our enemy is fighting with broken …

Be Squared: Developing a Solid Foundation for Faith Moves

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Squared. In terms of algebra, every pre-teen’s favorite subject, to be squared is to be raised to a higher power. A numeral goes from its singular numeric ability and is suddenly given a boost that takes it from one level of value to another. In terms of our faith to be squared is to be foundationally grounded as you go from one level of glory to another. This month on ICFTS, we are going to prepare our hearts and minds as the Lord ‘squares’ us. Are you ready? THE PRINCIPLES OF BEING SQUARED: BREATH. BELIEVE. BEGIN The principles of being squared are not a one-time, step-program that you apply once today and for the rest of your life reap the results. Rather it is a constant reminder for how we should always renew our minds (ROMANS 12:2) as we prepare to step into not only a new season of greater glory but every day. To ‘renew’ is to re-establish or to repeat. Some synonyms would be to reaffirm or reassert. To renew in its simplest …

Meet the Team: Introduction to the ICFTS Crew of Creatives

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“I came for the soup…,”  a platform designed to encourage creatives to dream or dream again, in Christ-centered faith, helping them to discover their creativity, vision, and the courage it takes to make them thrive. ICFTS’s mission is to encourage and guide others to rediscover and take hold of their dreams and unique creative voice, in order to step out in faith and give life to their vision. That can be faith in how to raise a more Godly and united family, how to be more financially free, how to gain the courage to start your own business. Whatever it is you have a dream to achieve, ICFTS is here to come alongside you and walk you from imaginative moment to manifestation. With any vision, there is a team, a community, a family, that plant the seeds and bring in the harvest together. It is our pleasure to meet you! THE TEAM & COMMUNITY I’m Candice Coates I am the Founder of “I came for the soup…” I am a Fiction and Non-Fiction Author, who loves to …

Candice Coates: Creative in Action

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It is the pleasure of ICFTS, to the glory of God our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we get to embark on this new journey, Creatives in Action, or CNA, where we get to share the stories of Creatives in Christ who are pursuing their vision and dream to the glory of God! We are starting this journey off with Candice Coates, the Founder and Creative Voice behind ICFTS, with the help of Rachael Ritchey, who has graciously blessed us by conducting this interview. Anywhere you see RR, know that is Rachael speaking as CC is Candice. INTRODUCING CANDICE COATES: A CREATIVE IN ACTION Bio: Candice Coates, is the Founding Creative Voice of “I came for the soup…”. Born and raised in central Ohio, Candice has always had a love for telling a story, and learning the stories of others, not only those of fiction but of truth. She is a fiction and non-fiction author, as well as a visual artist, and jewelry designer. She began her walk with the Lord as a small child and has developed …

Waiting Like Bamboo: Learning to Progress One Step at a Time

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Over the years, I’ve been asked by several people I know, like I know you have been too, ‘what is your plan?’ They ask because they know my dreams. They ask because they have seen my struggle, and from their vantage point and sometimes even my own, it seems like nothing fruitful is happening. That seeming reality couldn’t be further from the truth. I once heard Joyce Meyer talking about growth and waiting on God. She talked about how she’d learned bamboo shoots, once planted, will spend up to five years growing deep roots before actually breaking through the surface. But once they break through they can grow a foot in a matter of hours. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” ~PSALM 119:105 That teaching was so encouraging but the reality is, nobody really wants to wait like bamboo. We want the deep roots TODAY and the foot-by-the-hour growth TODAY. All of this makes me think about the deceiving phrase of ‘overnight success.’ Again, one sees bamboo stretching …

Stumbling Through the Process: The Art of Fearless Creativity

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“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” -Thomas A. Edison Scrolling through Instagram, I happened upon a quote that said something like, “Even when I stumble I am one step closer.” I’m not certain if those are the exact words, but that was the essence of the quote. What moved me most was the audacity of the words, the blatant courage to stand up with mud on your face, blood on your knees, and raw palms, and still say with absolute grit, that I am closer than I was before, even if I had to fall to get here. Creativity is much like that. It is ‘that’! It is taking the risks and continuing on, even when our confidence wavers. It is pressing on and being your own cheerleader when those who once celebrated you on the sidelines have grown quiet. It is believing, even when you are the only one left to believe. You may be the only one that sees the value in the dream within you, but if …

Handful of Hope: A Short Story & Encouragement

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She wanted to see if they could float so with faith she tossed them across the sackcloth that would be the sky and watched as her handful of hope like diamonds suspended themselves and twinkled as stars. She wasn’t the King Creator, nor His Glorious Son, but she was born of His Spirit, and thusly imbued with the authority and call to create. She was learning how to do so with a voice and song uniquely her own, a song she longed to sing to please only His ears. So she tossed up another handful of hope and watched it twinkle and grow in light until the inky darkness bled away yielding to the brilliance of life. The cold uncertainty that had once made her limbs stiff with immobility began to retreat as her being grew warm with the fire of expectation and joy. Handful after handful of hope and dreams and faith jettisoned from her vibrant fingertips and ate away at the dreadful nothing that sought to blanket her with fear. Laughter erupted from her …