Dream In Soul – Creativity for the Kingdom:

From proclaiming the beauty in diversity to the justice of equality, it’s the messages of bold individuals like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who spurred our country into change so that we can represent the vibrant picture of unity that God intended.

For the past 10 years, Steven Loewenstein has been re-enacting many of Dr. King’s public speeches to educate, inspire and motivate others. Memphis to Montgomery is Steven’s 30 minute tribute to the greatest dreamer of our time—Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who dreamed a dream higher than himself and taught us to do the same.

I first saw Loewenstein present at my church where he is also a member and am inspired by how he passionately portrays the messages that inspired a nation into change. His delivery is so moving and spot on that if I heard the message from afar I would have believed I was listening to an actual recording of Dr. King.

Below watch the “I Have a Dream” speech reenacted by Steven Loewenstein at an MLK Essay Competition in Frisco, Texas.

You can watch more videos from Steven Loewenstein at his website www.montgomerytomemphis.com.

More From Loewenstein’s site:

“Close your eyes and open your heart and you too will relive THE DREAM.”
-Dr. Wm. Gregory Sawyer -Vice President for Student Affairs, California State University-Channel Islands

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once wrote, “everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” In the spirit of the servant, Dr. King, Steven Dean Loewenstein serves the community through his powerful oratorical tribute to one of America’s greatest leaders.

Steven presents a one-man performance, embracing Dr. King’s most beloved and heart rendering speeches. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “March on Washington” will come alive through Mr. Loewenstein’s interpretation of “I Have a Dream.” The dramatic experience of the “Letter from Birmingham City Jail” and the poignancy of the “Drum Major Instinct” will unfold before your very eyes and ears as Steven touches hearts with rhetorical eloquence only befitting a “King”!

Steven Loewenstein’s Performance of the “Drum Major Instinct”

Overcoming the Odds

It’s not everyday you get to know a living miracle, someone who has overcome great odds and the clutches of the valley of death, and yet who shines even in the darkest of situations. I am blessed to have met and to be inspired by someone who fits that description, my mentor and friend Evelina Solis.

A few years back Evelina was in the hospital clinging to life after being diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism (a near fatal blood-clot). After the long recovery process and when she thought the worst was over she was then diagnosed with lupus, another serious illness which left her in the hospital getting treatments for months, in the ICU for two weeks and even flat-lining at one point.

Contrast that near-death experience to the vibrant woman who is energetically living out her purpose as the founder of her motivational company Sol2Soul, a certified life coach, inspirational speaker and TV/radio personality. Instead of dwelling on her illness and what could have been, Evelina is living out her faith each day and holding on to God’s truth.

Evelina is traveling around the country telling her story of survival, and is supporting Dream in Soul Creative as a model and spokesperson, wearing T-Shirts from our collaborative clothing line when she speaks to students and other audiences. Recently she was on Macy’s Hispanic Heritage Month tour, sharing her story across the country. She’s also featured in the book Aim High: Extraordinary Stories of Hispanic and Latina Women by Laura Contreras-Rowe. She definitely lives out her motto of living life to the fullest, inspiring people to seek and follow their passion while leaving the world better then they found it.

I invite you to read Evelina’s inspiring story and the advice she gives on living out her purpose in the dark and bright places of life.

– Julene Fleurmond, Founder & Editor, Dream in Soul

Living with Passion and Purpose

Dream in Soul: Hi Evelina, Can you introduce yourself to Dream in Soul?

Evelina Solis: Hello Dream In Soul readers, I’m Evelina Solis, Certified Life Coach, Inspirational Speaker and TV/Radio Personality. I love to come into a room full of people and change the atmosphere when the energy is low, peers are unmotivated, or the membership in your organization is down. My purpose is to generate new energy and enthusiasm that will result in increased participation in projects and activities, inspire others to work hard and increase the organization membership. I have a passion for serving and educating people from all walks of life, volunteering at Shoreline Church and charities, bringing awareness to Lupus, traveling the world, playing and watching sports, writing about my adventures, participating in the arts, and spending quality time with my family and friends.

Surrender

Evelina was featured in a DVD devotional series entitled “The Fight of Your Life” for Shoreline Community Center Church in Austin, TX. She was one of three people who told their story of survival and recovery of serious trials in their lives. Evelina recounted her journey of surviving several life threatening illnesses, and overcoming physical and emotional trauma through her faith in God and the support of her family. Watch a preview of the series below entitled “Surrender”:

DS: Tell us about your journey with your health and where you are today?

ES: My journey with my health has been a roller coaster. Regardless of what my family saw or heard, we kept our faith in God and totally relied on Him for comfort, peace and healing. Back in 2006, I was at the prime of my health, or at least I thought, I was 26 years old working out 5 days a week, training for a marathon, and living the life in Miami, FL.

Then out of nowhere I woke up with a bruise on my left calf that ended up going from size of a dime to the size of a softball within a couple of weeks. After coming back from an awards ceremony at the University of Miami (my workplace), I had trouble climbing up the stairs to my office. I was out of breath and I was running a low grade fever. I ended up going to doctors a few times over the period of a month to find out what I had, but everyone seemed to think if I took some antibiotics that I would be ok. That same day I was rushed to the hospital by my roommate.

I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism (PE), a condition that occurs when an artery in your lung becomes blocked by a blood clot that traveled from your left calf into your lungs causing extreme difficulty breathing and severe chest pains. According to Mayo Clinic, PE is the third most common cause of death in the US, with at least 650,000 cases occurring annually. It is the first most common cause of unexpected death in most age groups. It was a miracle to survive that near death experience…
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What’s your dream? How do you feel God is calling you to use your gifts?

If you’re not sure where God is calling you, we’ll be listing resources on how you can get help on discovering it – don’t worry, you’ll still be able to enter this contest…

Stay tuned for more info on how you can win a T-Shirt from Dream in Soul Creative.

Click here to join our mailing list and join the Facebook page for updates.

Author, speaker and ministry leader Tony Snipes helps today’s gifted artisans answer questions about their purpose and creative calling through his initiatives Art Lessons From God and Kreative Kingdom.

“What is it that you love doing that you wouldn’t even have to have anybody pay you for… That’s your passion…the beauty of it would be that if you’re pursuing that and you’re getting paid for it then it’s not even like work.” – Tony Snipes

Be sure to check out the resource links at the end of the interview including a free download of Tony’s audio resource “How To Identify Your Creative Calling: Your CALLING, Your CAREER, Your JOB…What’s The Difference?”

Most everyone has asked these questions:

• Who am I?
• Why am I here?
• What should I be doing?

Artists in particular, from painters to musicians, may ask these questions regarding their gifts:

• Who am I as an artist?
• Why do I have this talent?
• What does God want me to do with it?

Tony Snipes, a gifted artist himself and founder of Kreative Kingdom, Inc. a non-profit faith-based art initiative, began asking these questions and created a resource to help other artists discover their creative purpose.

Tony’s project, Art Lessons from God delves into these questions of gifting and calling. The blog, workshops, books and other resources were created with the goal of helping artists and designers discover God’s purpose and plan for their artistic talent. Watch Tony introduce the site below:

Though the site is targeted toward visual artists it has much insight that could inspire artists of any type from writers and performers to musicians and filmmakers. Many of the topics explored can apply to a variety of arts, like “Anointed versus Talented: What’s the Difference?” to “Discovering a “God” idea vs a “Good” idea.”

Often in our society we acknowledge the “how” regarding talents of individuals but may not always consider the deeper questions involved with “why”. In this interview Tony Snipes discusses his background in the visual arts and gives advice to other artists in figuring out their “why” and God’s purpose for them:

Dream in Soul: Hi Tony, thanks for speaking to me today. Can you tell us a little about who you are: What is your background in art and your profession?

Tony Snipes: Well prior to going into graphic design and illustration I have been drawing and painting all of my life but especially kind of training myself to draw and sketch from my comic books as a kid. So I did a lot of drawing back then, and am professionally trained as a graphic designer – graphic design and illustration…that’s pretty much my professional background with art.

Below is one of Tony Snipes’ pieces entitled “Endure.”

DS: What inspired you to start your website “Art Lessons From God”?

Tony Snipes: What really started challenging me is and kind of pushed me towards starting the site was based on a conversation that I had with a young man back in the late ‘90s. He was an artist as well and he was about to graduate from high school, and was contemplating going to art school or taking something else… We were talking in church and both of us started asking, where is the artist in the Bible?

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Here’s the latest music Buzz from artists including Steven Curtis Chapman, V. Rose, Beckah Shae and more…

NeedtoBreathe – “Drive All Night” and “Slumber” from Upcoming Album “The Reckoning”

“Days; they force you back under those covers, lazy mornings; they multiply, glory’s waiting outside your windows. Wake on up from your slumber, baby open up your eyes…” -NeedToBreathe from the song Slumber

NeedToBreathe’s new album “The Reckoning” will be out on September 20th. Check out two of the songs from the upcoming album, “Drive All Night” and “Slumber” below…

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Video Pick: Not So Average from V. Rose

“So what if my nail polish always chips? So what if I prefer to where my kicks? You know, models aren’t really models when they’re not modeling…” – V.Rose from the song “Not So Average”

‘Not So Average’ from V. Rose talks about how we don’t have to measure up to society’s standards of worth, but God’s. I love the freshness and upbeat-ness of the song and video…

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In Rotation: Put Your Love Glasses On Music Video from Beckah Shae

“I believe the most necessary thing in order to share God’s love, is to first truly receive God’s love… to spend time in His presence where He can remind us of who we are and how He sees us. That’s where I find my strength to share. We can’t pour out anything unless we’ve first been poured in to.” – Beckah Shae

Check out Beckah Shae’s video for her song #putyourloveglasseson from her album Destiny, which debuted in August…

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Steven Curtis Chapman’s New Album re:creation and Video for “Do Everything”

“As Christians we have this tendency to want to draw that line down the middle of life and go, ‘okay there’s my spiritual life and then there’s just life– a job, work and that kind of thing,’ but God is in the details. He’s interested in all of it. Every moment matters and everything we do really should be done as an act of worship.” – Steven Curtis Chapman

Steven Curtis Chapman recently released a new album entitled re:creation. Check out the story behind the album and the music video “Do Everything” below…

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Inspiration: Blessings from Laura Story and the Story Behind the Song

“There is a blessedness that comes through waiting on the Lord. There’s an intimacy that comes in our walk with the Lord through walking through that valley. There’s a reliance on His word that we only know when everything else fades away…”
– Laura Story

This is the kind of song that can makes you think, and relate to how the trials in life may be blessings that grow us closer to God, from Laura Story’s album Blessings…

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