29 Ways to Stay Creative

I just saw this on Provoke Ministries blog and thought I’d share it with my humble readers. You may have noticed I have not posted one of my own videos in a little while. The reason for that is simple, my long-suffering camera finally gave up the ghost. Hopefully a new one is coming soon. In the mean time, this video is really good…

What is your Perfect Moment?

The Traveler’s Gift Author Andy Andrews has just published a free e-book called The Perfect Moment. To get it all you need to do is go to this page and sign up for his e-list (which is very non-intrusive and also usually contains great stuff). It tells a short story of a simple moment on a fishing outing with his son and helps one to begin to look for and realize the “Perfect Moments” in life. It’s a simple and beautiful story.

Here’s a brief excerpt:
After a few minutes of not catching anything, he said, “The reason I
like to fish is because when everything is still and quiet, your whole
self is full of hoping. And whether you catch anything or not, you
get to hope. It’s a great feeling isn’t it? Hope, I mean. It’s next best
to excitement.”

The second half of the book is a guide/workbook that will help you to identify your own perfect moments. If you ever find yourself in a position of having a hard time finding gratitude or, for that matter, hope. This short creative book is for you.

How often can you get something that will change your perspective for free? As a side bonus, this book inspired me to think of ways to create similar content. Is there a topic in you that you could express in this way? Go and check it out today.

Creative Church Conferences

Home.

A couple of my friends are involved in this and it should be fantastic. Both dates conflict with other things on my schedule, but you should definitely check this out.

What Do You Expect?

“On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister ran the first under-4-minute mile in recorded history. Doctors said it could not be done—that the human heart would explode with such exertion. Six weeks later an Australian runner duplicated that feat. Approximately 1 year later, 8 college runners at 1 track meet all broke the 4-minute mile. What changed? Did humans suddenly evolve to be faster than ever before in history? Not likely. What did happen is that the level of expectation changed. What was believed to be impossible was proven to be possible. Most of us operate under clear beliefs about what we are able to accomplish. If those beliefs are changes, the results change as well.

Zig Ziglar has a famous story about flea training. If you put fleas in a jar with a lid on it, they will desperately pop up against that lid in an attempt to escape for about 20 minutes. Then, while fully convinced they cannot get out of the top of the jar, you can remove the lid. With a perfectly clear path to freedom, those little fleas will starve to death in the jar. They tried escaping once and they believe they have no other option. I find many people living their lives within boundaries that exist only in their minds.

“The best way to predict the future us to create it.” Stephen Covey”
—Excerpted from 48 Days to the Work You Love by Dan Miller

I loved this passage from 48 Days but it made me wonder how many times I have stopped short of my goals and dreams because of an invisible lid or the fear that my heart would “explode” before I reached it. We get really caught up in expecting things to be impossible. How does that work for people who follow a God with whom all things are possible? I don’t think it does at all. Maybe we need to fear less and trust God more.

What do you expect? I expect God to be good and faithful. What He says He will do, He will do. What He calls me to, He’ll bring me through.

Proof

I’ve been having a chat with an atheist who has challenged one of the cartoons from the Creacher site. Well to be specific, it’s the one where the statement was made that atheism requires too much faith. The person is clearly very well read and intelligent, scientific minded, respectful and brought forth some challenging and thought provoking questions.

The part that makes me sad is I really wish I could offer scientific proof of my faith (not that I’ve really been asked for any) it’s just my faith has become so real to me that I wish I could share it on that level. The best I can do is what I experienced tonight.

I was working in my yard, planting some flowers around the small goldfish pond. I dug that pond 8 years ago, the summer after I had a heart attack at 40. I was so scared, having reactions to my meds, panic attacks, the whole thing. It was a really dark time in my life. Part of me felt like God had let me down and part of me realized the problem wasn’t with God it was with me. I had fallen back into my workaholic tendencies, rationalizing that I was doing all this stuff for God so I would be okay. The attack was a wake up call. I needed to slow down, trust God and realize that his plan for my life did not involve me working myself into an early grave.

For me digging the pond by hand was proof that I wasn’t going to break that I would survive and that I was capable of more than I thought. It remains a constant reminder of God’s goodness. When I look at that pond, I see all the things that God has done in my life since and I praise Him.

The other proof for me is my son, Chris. He graduates from High School in just a few days. My wife and I and our older son Brandon were wanting to add another child to our family. When we found out Dawn was Pregnant we were very happy but then she miscarried. I didn’t handle it well and retreated into my work. When she miscarried the second time, I was furious at God and buried myself deep in my work. Brandon and Dawn needed me and I needed God but I was so angry all I could do was plunge deeper and deeper into my work. I was losing everything and I couldn’t even see it. When we found out Dawn was pregnant for the third time, We could scarcely bring ourselves to tell anyone. When we went for the ultrasound, where we got the bad news the two previous times, I almost couldn’t bear it to be in the room and when I heard the heart beat I wept like I hadn’t wept for a long time. When Chris was born, we were told that we should probably not try to have any more children. We lost two children so that we could have Chris. I believe I’ll meet them one day, but this much I know for sure God had shown his faithfulness once again.

These are just two of the times, there are many more. I don’t know if these stories would serve as proof for my new friend. I just know I’ve seen God come through and answer my prayers too many times to be an illusion. I know He is real, I know He is exceedingly patient and I know He loves me. He loves you too.

A Fantastic Book on Creativity

I just finished Blaine Hogan’s fantastic book Untitled: Thoughts on the Creative Process. Hogan is a creative director at Willow Creek and it is very clear that this young man knows his stuff on creativity. In it’s pages he explored the ins and outs of the creative mind. I’ve been a creative professional for over 25 years and there are still times when I wrestle with so many of the things written on these pages from fear of failure to fear of success to all the other struggles faced by all those of us who attempt to create what has not been done before. This book was immensely helpful to me. It is short, easily digestible and well organized (not to mention inexpensive). I recommend it highly to creatives and the people who love them. It will really help you to understand what goes on in the creative mind. Five Stars!

A Thought on Creativity from Creacher

For a creative failure is not an option… It’s a necessity an obligation. If you never fail, you’ll never create anything new.

What Will You Do?

We’ve looked at our identity as children of God and how this is ultimately who we are. We’ve looked at the underlying motivation of glorifying God that should drive our efforts. Now it is time to look at what it is that we will actually do. This is the actual “work.”

I believe this is ultimately guided by a couple of factors:
First what did God make you to do? Each of us has been blessed with gifts, talents, aptitudes and experiences that will open doors as to what our “work” will be. I believe there was something each of us was made to do and when many different people do the many different things we were created to do in community, we form the body of Christ. So the first step is finding what God has created us to do and doing it to His glory, while seeking out others to share and collaborate with.

Next what are you passionate about? I believe God makes us passionate about the (positive) things He wants us to do. For example if you see something that makes you say someone should do something about that, especially if that thought keeps you up at night. Chances are the someone who should do something is you.

Next what is the need? Ultimately I believe this needs to be secondary but it is vital. Sometimes we need to go beyond our giftedness and so something just because it needs to be done. Sometimes someone needs help right now and simply can’t wait for a uniquely gifted person to show up. Sometimes “you gotta do what you gotta do.” I believe in these moments God gives us the grace to do what must be done. In some cases, God will even use these times to show you a gift and a plan you didn’t recognize.

There is a very big caution here though. We all have a temptation toward self-importance that forces us to just keep on taking on one more thing. I’m not convinced this is Godly but rather becomes a pride issue. Working outside our giftedness is okay for a time, but we should always be looking for the person for whom the activity will be their “sweet spot” and when we find that person we should step aside and let them take over.

Ultimately we will do our best, most God-glorifying work in our gifting. We need to seek out that gifting and develop and use it to God’s glory. We need not wait until we are perfect. Rather we need to give God our best today praying and believing and knowing that giving our best today will help us to be better tomorrow.

What will you do?

Two word thought of the day…

Why Are You (Am I) Here?

Once we’ve established our identity in Christ, “who we are?” if you will, we are ready to begin to look at why we are here? What are we here to do? This is where we begin to explore purpose and calling. Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared for us to do.” In other words we were created on purpose, for a purpose, to live out a mission. There is something by definition that we were created to do.

I think sometimes we want to rush into the nuts and bolts of this. What are we to do and where will we get the resources to do it? Both good questions which will be answered in time, but first I think we need to look at the overarching reason we, as followers of Jesus Christ, do what we were created to do. In Matthew 5 Jesus calls us the light of the world, which is quite an honor because, He also called Himself the light of the world. He says we’re like a city on a hill that cannot be hidden and that we shouldn’t hide our lights under a bowl but rather put them on a stand so they can give light to everyone in the house and then He says, “In the same way let your light shine before men, so they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.

Quite simply put it means the end purpose of all the things we do in this world should be done for the purpose of giving God the glory He so richly deserves. This should be the first and foremost purpose of every believer, no matter what their gift.

Is it why you do what you do?

Now that we know who we are, and what we do next time we will look a little more closely at what it is that we will do.