I couldn’t resist, one of my favorite bands was in town last night at the City market. So, Patrick and I went down to score tickets right without ticketmaster fees. It was well worth it. I still amazes me how quickly you can get around KC. It took us 15 minutes to get there and find parking. (which was only $10) The bands that opened before Death Cab were great. The Morning Benders were first act. The looked like a bunch of high schoolers but really sounded like the strokes and a little like vampire weekend. Next up were the Kooks, the latest brit band craze. They had a great sound not unlike the artic monkeys. Next up was Rogue Wave. They seemed like a they were in a different class all together. As I listened to them I could really see them becoming the next coldplay, they just have that anthem kind of sound. (I’m sure plenty would disagree with me)
Finally, around 10pm Death Cab for Cutie was on. I have been a death cab fan for year, before they were immortalized on the OC. Ben Gibbard is a great writer and Chris Walla is an incredible producer they make great records. What never ceases to amaze me is how they sound the same live as their studio recordings. What a great live band. They sang songs from everyone of their albums.
I don’t listen to the radio much, so I never realized how popular they were. Through many of their songs you could hear the crowd singing word for word right along with Ben. As I took it all in I was reminded of the power of community. Here I am thinking, I’m one of a few fans fo DCFC. But I came to realize that I am not alone. How do we bottle that? How do we reassure people who are far from God? How do we help them realize that they are not alone and help them discover the power of missional community. For which they were created? This is one of the many lessons I learned from a great time at the city market back in the city that I love, taking in some amazing music.
I have spent some time, while I was working, over that last few days taking in some of the ONE Prayer messages. If you haven’t heard about it over 1000 churches from around the world will be doing the same series in the month of June called ONE prayer. What makes this idea so innovative is that pastors are sharing their messages online so that 3 weeks of the series can feature other pastors. Each message answers the question if God would answer one prayer for the church what would you want it to be. You can preview them online and then download them to burn to a dvd to show on a Sunday. Craig Groeschel the pastor of lifechurch.tv conceived this idea. Lifechurch.tv has also provided series support such as graphics and bumpers. There is even kids curriculum to include them on the big idea.
Restore isn’t participating in ONE prayer, but I have been intrigued to hear all of these different speakers. There are over 60 messages online, it is an incredible opportunity to learn from the best of the best communicators in the church today. I am passionate about teaching, but I know I have a lot to learn. Watching the messages online is like my own personal teaching clinic. So far the one that has had the most impact on me is Wayne Cordeiro’s message entitled “make us wise”. I have never heard him teach before, but he is one of those guys that has instant repoire and seemingly has his notes memorized. (or he doesn’t need them) He had me from the first frame of his teaching video, because it started with him on the street of the downtown area of his community in Waikiki. Don’t miss this incredible opportunity, whether you need a break from teaching or you need to learn from the best.
I have been having this running conversation lately among some friends about creative environments. What kind of enviroments do you thrive in? What energizes you with creativity? (You might say nothing, because you aren’t creative. I would disagree with that, but that is another post.) For me, I have found that I thrive when there is room to let the art grow. What I mean by that is that when everyone present realizes that creating isnt an exact science and together we embrace the process of collaboration. People make the art better. But I have also worked in situations, where I am given direction on a project and expected to make it happen. No matter how specific or how ambiguous those directions are, I struggle to execute. Many times in the directive environment the person doing the directing comes back and their specific/ambiguous vision has been altered. Good or bad, they want to get the project back on track. In this environment there is usually one person that has the power of veto and what they say goes. I think that there are people who thrive with this kind of direction, I am not one of those people. What energizes me is the kind of collaboration where no ones ideas are deemed more sacred then anyone else’s and everyone holds the power of veto.
A friend of mine shared with me how she would begin discussions like this. She would say, “this may not be the best idea, but…” It was brilliant because she gave permission for someone to trump her idea. When we are given permission to make an idea better, we strive to do so. This is just another reason why I love it here, Restore is a collaborative community. Collaboration invites people into the conversation instead of excluding those who might have better/different ideas. My goal is to recreate this on a larger scale.
We want to gather all kinds of artists together; commission them and give them permission to create. This also gives us the opportunity to forge relationships with artist in the area and build a collaborative community for them. Some of the end results will show up in our Sunday celebrations and even as people connect in our groups. But, I am starting to see how artists that are a part of the restore community might even impact the world around them with their art. This is what could be, but it wouldn’t even be an option without collaboration. What about you? Are you in collaborative or directive environment? Which do you prefer? Comments?
Got a chance to be the Kid City communicator today at Restore. Janet who teaches in Kid City quite a bit was in “Big Church” teaching with Troy. So, I got to fill in for her doing the teaching role. I honestly can’t remember the last time I did any sort of Children’s ministry related activity. (maybe for my internship in college?) But, it was a lot of fun. I had DJ Mitch McMahon servin up the tunes for the our Hula Hoop contest between two parents. I got to share a little about Abraham & Sarah, which is part of our UFC series. But in Kid City the series is called Family Feud. The big idea of the mornig was: We can trust God to take care of our family.
I really enjoyed it, where I probably wouldn’t have been interested just a few years ago. Honestly, my friend Chris Bos who teaches at the chapel is the first children’s ministry communicator that ever made me think that I might be willing to try it. He is an incredible communicator and he has a lot of fun doing it. I guess what I am trying to say is that I have seen my fair share of strange children’s pastors who talk to kids like they are idiots, Chris was the first one that I ever heard that actually held my interest and kids, too. I have met plenty since. This is what made me even willing to try this and the fact that I have kids now that I talk to on regular basis, even though they don’t always listen to me. It is amazing how having kids of your own changes what your are willing to do.
I recently watch a documentary short on Death Cab for Cutie’s work in the studio and prep for their upcoming tour. It was really interesting. You get a sense that all of the guys in the band could be your friends. They are just down to earth normal guys. Something Chris Walla said was interesting to me. He was talking about the recording process in the studio. He said that they would record songs and parts to songs until they got to a point where they found themselves listening to one take over and over. He said they knew they had something when they wanted to listen to it over and over without making any changes. That really resonated with me.
When I work on video projects, I find myself doing the same thing. I start wide, by taking every cut and every take that I like and incorporating it into the piece. Once I have the basics in the timeline I start watching it and shortening it up. Then I make lots of tweaks. It is at this point that the whole visual concept of the video can change. But when I find myself watching it over and over without making changes, I know that it has taken on it’s final form. This principle works in sermon prep too. I know that I am ready to start internalizing my notes when I can read through it without feeling the need to reword something or cut something. That little documentary helped me verbalize a principle that I already utilize in the creative realm.
One of the biggest take aways I had from the exponential conference was a session with Mark Batterson that I attended. He talked about how the margins of his life were pretty thin and he has intentionally built space in. I can identify with those feelings. Life as been pretty frantic trying to keep up with all that I have put on my plate. What I am learning is that I need to learn to delegate and I need to create space in my life. But there are certain things that I can never delegate. Something Mark said in that session stuck with me:
“Your Church can find another pastor, but your kids will never have another dad”
I can never delegate time with my family. No one can fill that role, good or bad, like I can. The challenge is create moments and times where I am fully present. Working for church out of state as a video producer, being involved with restore here, and being a stay at home dad; they all are demanding. What I am ashamed to admit is that sometimes the kids get what is left of my time and attention. I need to create margins in my life so that they get the best of me. But, I am still trying to figure this out. Yesterday, was the first day since we have been in KC where Jill and I weren’t working. We need more days off as a family then once every 2 months.
The other thing that I can never delegate is my time with God. That sounds trite and true, but I need to be able to lead my family where God is taking me. If I have nothing to add or speak into their lives when we do have time together, then what good is it? This is such a challenge for me, there is so much work to be done. But what I’m learning is that it is never done. There will always be something that needs to be worked on. Just because something is urgent doesnt mean it requires my full attention. This is where I am learning to delegate.
Hopefully, these are some of the places that I can create margins in my life. Where do you need margins? Seriously, let me know in the comments… I’m serious, I want to hear from you.
The message from the week one of our UFC series, which I taught, is up on the Restore website. If you are dying to hear it now then download it right here. Also, if you want to follow along with what is on the screen here is the pdf of the presentation.I would welcome your feedback, because I know there is room for improvement.
Thats right my son turned 5 today. I can hardly believe how quickly time has passed. I am already one of those emotional dads. I don’t even want to think about dropping him off for his first day of school in August. He is such a great kid, and he is very smart… if you know him, then you know he is too smart. But I love talking with him and hanging out with him. Among other things, I got him a putter for his birthday. My hope is to find new ways to spend time together and journey through life together.
Had a great day today at Restore. I kicked of the our new series: Ultimate Family Challenge. This was my first time teaching since August. It was great to be able teach again. I forgot how much I missed it. As usual, I didn’t miss the preperation. I rewrote this thing a few times, and it was my first time using the Big Idea content. The great thing about not teaching everyweek is that I get more time to spend on each message. Because I felt a little bit rusty, I probably spent more time than I normally would have. What I used that extra time on is getting really comfortable with my notes. It felt great to not have to be tethered to my notes while I ws teaching. The morning was a whole lot of fun. In this series we are looking at conflicts that happen within the family. We started if off by looking sibling rivalaries in the faceoff of Cain vs. Abel. The big idea of the entire morning was that we have to accept responsibility for our actions in order to embrace the connection that we have with others. Here is a story that I told about my own sibling rivaly experience:
Post’s have been few and far between lately. The reason is that I need more margins in my life and I’m going nonstop. But more on my need for margins later. I have been working feverishly on the series that we are kicking off this weekend at Restore. I am actually teaching the first message. So, it has been a little more work than usual, but it has been a lot of fun, too. If you are around you need to be at Restore on Sunday. If not, look for the message posted on the website early in the week.
I am a lot of things... a stay at home dad... an off site video producer for the Chapel.. a media arts director for Restore Community Church and a wanna be church planter. Read here to see what happens when all of this collides.
I have been having this running conversation lately among some friends about creative environments. What kind of enviroments do you thrive in? What energizes you with creativity? (You might say nothing, because you aren’t creative. I would disagree with that, but that is another post.) For me, I have found that I thrive when there is room to let the art grow. What I mean by that is that when everyone present realizes that creating isnt an exact science and together we embrace the process of collaboration. People make the art better. But I have also worked in situations, where I am given direction on a project and expected to make it happen. No matter how specific or how ambiguous those directions are, I struggle to execute. Many times in the directive environment the person doing the directing comes back and their specific/ambiguous vision has been altered. Good or bad, they want to get the project back on track. In this environment there is usually one person that has the power of veto and what they say goes. I think that there are people who thrive with this kind of direction, I am not one of those people. What energizes me is the kind of collaboration where no ones ideas are deemed more sacred then anyone else’s and everyone holds the power of veto.
