Michael Card, Part 1: The Imagination

In a career that spans 25 years, Michael Card has recorded over 20 albums, authored or co-authored over 14 books, hosted two radio programs, and written for a wide range of magazines. While he has penned such favorites as "El Shaddai," "Love Crucified Arose," and "Emmanuel," he never imagined selling more than 4 million albums or writing over 19 #1 hits. The popularity of his work seemed a stark contrast to his goal in life--to simply and quietly teach the Bible. 

In addition to teaching, performing, and writing, Card hosts a radio show, In the Studio with Michael Card, which is broadcast on many radio outlets across the US, including Moody Radio stations and affiliates. Each show features Bible commentary, a look at the creative process, and demonstrations of faith lived out in community.

Whether it's through his writing, concerts, teaching or his radio program, the core of what binds these seemingly diverse endeavors together is biblical community. It is at the heart of everything Michael Card does.

LeAnne: You write in your book, Scribbling in the Sand: Christ and Creativity, that we hunger for beauty. Why is that?

Michael: I believe our interior hunger for beauty is a reflection or perhaps a vestige of our being created by the God who is beauty. Most of our behavior connects back at some point to this fact.

LM: What is the call to create and where does it come from?

MC: The call to create is universal and goes back to our having been created by a creative God. It is part of His fingerprint on us. It comes from Him I suppose but you might also say it is imprinted on our souls. It comes out through various creative drives we all have.

LM: Why is it important for Christians in the arts to understand the imagination? Where can we go to learn more about it?

MC: Christians need to understand the function of the imagination in order to communicate truth and beauty more biblically to a world that hungers for them both. The imagination is a God-created bridge or connection between our hearts and minds. It allows art to speak to them both. It allows us to communicate to a more fully-integrated person. I think we go to the Bible to learn more, as we seek to interact at the level of the imagination with the text. That is the best place to see how it "works."

More from Michael Card on Thursday.