All Tied Up and Everywhere To Go

Well, I've been on vacation all week now...

First few days full of mowing and other outside activities.

By the third day I couldn't quite grasp "not doing anything" and my body was trying to tell me to do something. I couldn't sleep and wasn't quite sure what else to do.

By day four and five I started to relax a bit. I've been reading multiple books. Really enjoying "The Tipping Point" by Gladwell. Very intriguing stuff. Next up - this book. I have heard it is amazing.

It's Saturday. Softball makeup games - all six of them. Tomorrow? Off to St. Louis with friends. Going to try to check out services here. Rumor has it that this guy will be there over the weekend as well.

Still lots to do and think about. One week to go.

MH Worship Concert 2008

We completed another year of the Meadow Heights Worship Concert. This weekend seems to get better and better every year!! Of course, it would not be possible without an awesome team (I think more than 40 music team members participated this year!) and some great people leading those teams (props to Jeremy and Craig for a job well done!).

It's amazing to me how God has grown our Creative Arts teams over the past year. The funny thing is we still get comments from people that don't think they could possibly be a part of the team - and boy are they wrong! We are continually looking for more artists and I'm pleased to say that we'll be adding a few more this month. We'll be adding a new musician and a new vocalist to the team as well as adding some new folks to our tech teams.

I thought it would be interesting to post this year's top ten. You can go here and check out last year's top ten as well. The number one song held steady for the second year in a row. It was nice to see some new stuff cracking the top ten as well. Thanks to all of you who voted. We'll do it all over again next year!

Don't Stick A Fork In Him Yet...

Matt West, a.k.a. The Tech Master, is now blogging. Check it out here.

You can also follow him via Twitter here.

Oh...and in case you're interested, you can follow me via Twitter here.

FACES

Frustrated. Amiable. Contemplative. Elusive. Satisfied.

Five emotions I experienced today. How about you?

DonoWHO?

Lanny Donoho is one of the funniest people I have ever met (okay, I haven't technically met him, but I did see him from 30 rows back at the Catalyst Conference). His humor, creativity and passion for life are nothing short of contagious. Now you can experience all this and more in his latest blog, "What If?" (although this may be changing...)

Lanny is looking for your unique words and titles. Are you creative? Do you use words in conversation that cause others to tremble in fear at your intellectual prowess? Click here for more details.

And why you're there, don't miss the incredible story of Jack...check it out here.

Innovate08

Just watched the Innovate08 trailer from the Granger crew. Looks like it's going to be a great conference. You can find out more info and register here.

Adobe's After Effects is becoming the mainstream choice for many videos, especially trailer, intros and the like. I've used AE for about 5 years now, but I haven't taken time to learn the "new ropes." Does anyone have any suggestions or thoughts? Anyone currently using AE?

Best Message Promo Ever?

This video promo is probably THE best I have ever seen. Kudos to the gang @ LifeChurch.tv for putting this piece together. Enjoy!

Not For The Squeamish!

I had an unfortunate run-in with some glass yesterday. My wife had set up some candles for communion over the weekend and I was helping her remove them from some glass containers. One candle in particular was stuck in a long 10" glass cylinder, and when I pushed on the cylinder it completely exploded - directly into my right hand.

As a musician, my hands are an important part of my livelihood. Not that everyone's hands aren't important as well, but this is a major part of who I am so I was a bit concerned. After 17 stitches I hope things will heal properly and I'll be back to normal in no time. I'd appreciate you prayers that everything goes as planned.

In the meantime, I can't play my instrument (although I have a gig on Friday...we'll see...), I'm out of softball for a few weeks, my typing is very sucky, and most importantly, I haven't figured out how I'm going to wipe myself when I have to use the ole' potty!

For your viewing pleasure, I've included a few pics below.

TTJ Video Opener

I never got around to posting our "opener" video for the "Take This Job" series. We were within a few days of launching the series and some quick creative content was rapidly in the works!

Thanks to Steve for the initial artwork design and some ideas for the video. And of course, thanks to the "star" of the opener, the infamous Wilbur Leach!

We shot about 10 minutes of footage including some quick "stop time" stuff. It took a total of about an hour to edit, render and export. A quick idea that didn't turn out too badly. ENJOY!

Take This Job and Love It!

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men. TITUS 3:1-2 (NIV)

Our new teaching series, “Take This Job and Love It” has generated a lot of great discussion about God and the workplace. I’ve heard many of you talking about how this series has stretched you out of your comfort zone – especially dealing with many of your co-workers. While it’s been a great personal challenge for each of us, I’d like to shift the focus to a different topic.

What does it look like to honor God up, across and down? Sometimes we live in our own world, but the Bible is very clear about submitting to one another, including those in leadership above us. Listen to this passage in Hebrews 13:17, “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” God has commanded us to submit to authority.

What about leading across? Have you honored God by loving and respecting your co-workers? This is one of the challenges Jeremiah issued this past weekend. How is that going this week? Are you making progress?

Finally, God has asked us to lead down as well. This means those that you have authority over. Go back and re-read Hebrews 13:17. Are those under you leading up? If not, you may not have set a very good example. Instead of blaming them, take a look inside yourself and identify ways you can improve.

The workplace can be a fulfilling environment. If you’re facing challenges at work, let me encourage you to keep God’s word close to your heart. How are you doing leading up, across and down? Are you honoring God and others? I pray for an incredible closure to your work week as you continue to “take this job and love it!”

Creative Process Videos

For you creative gurus out there, head over to this blog and check out the creative process at Fellowship Church in Texas. Fellowship has been a leader in creative design for the church for a long time, and their C3 Conference is phenomenal!

Pace is doing a great job - make sure and leave him a comment!

Beauty In Action

My wife and daughter accompanied me to a video shoot last night and we decided to take the "back way home." What is normally a very beautiful drive turned into a fantastic display of God's beauty in action. Check out this pics below - this spot is only 12 miles from our house! Unbelievable! (sorry for the quality...shot from my Blackberry!)

Say Hello to Mr. Toilet

I've made the statement before that two of the best places for creative thinking are the shower and the toilet. Don't ask me why, but I have a sneaking suspicion that those of us with kids know the answer!

Tonight's question:

Where's your best spot for creative thinking?

What A Day For A Daydream

Love this quote from Butch Whitmire's blog:

If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music…I get most joy in life out of music.

- Albert Einstein


Music has always been something near and dear to my heart, or perhaps I should say my soul. No one in my immediate family had much musical expertise, but somehow God found a way to take a small town boy and give him a lifetime of experiences.

Most of what I learned at an early age came from John Howser. John and I are kindred spirits, soul mates, or whatever other "trendy" title you want to put on it. Most of who I am should also be credited to John as well. I appreciate him more than he'll ever know - both musical and life lessons have captured my heart for eternity.

I've been fortunate enough to play saxophone at many different venues, from an audience of one to an audience of over 15,000. I've played in countless states, been in the studio, recorded jingles for everything from car dealerships to the St. Louis Cardinals. I've played for big bands, small bands and every other band from jazz, funk, swing, hip-hop, rock and other styles I can't pronounce.

But more important than all the adventures God has blessed me with are the countless stories of changed lives from my previous students. Even though I find great joy in music, I find even greater joy in watching others experience music. Some of the most enjoyable conversations are from those who write, email or simply stop by to tell you how much they appreciated the time invested in their lives. Those are moments to be cherished forever.

I pray that we will all be lifelong students - learners until the end. Everyone is a student of something; weaving a story to be told through the ages.

I just prefer to find that story through music.

Hearing From God

There's no doubt that it's important to hear from God. But it's more important to listen to God. There is a difference. I sometimes think that God is humored by people - they want to hear from Him so badly, but they don't slow down enough to listen.

You know how to tell if you're hearing from God or listening to God? By what follows next. Are you being obedient? Are you following up your conversation by doing something? Far too often, I'm afraid, we're scared to death that we'll "hear" from God (which ultimately means we have to "do" something) that we just pretend that God hasn't spoken yet. Have you been guilty of this?

I pray that we will not only listen to God as individuals, but as a church body as well. And because of what we do that our communities will begin to understand more about the incredible relationship that God wants to have with each and every one of us. I pray that we will be consumed by finding God and our world will be changed forever because of those small moments when we stopped to breathe life in and listened to God.

Creative Barriers Part 2 - Tyranny of the Urgent

Many times I have found a creative barrier simply due to lack of time. It's tough to think "outside the box" when you're crammed smack dab in the middle of it. That's what I've fondly labeled the "tyranny of the urgent." Tyranny of the urgent means that what gets done is what's pressing at the time - no time for creativity; only time for action.

Seth Godin nails it in this post. I encourage you to take 60 seconds to read it. Here's my favorite quote:

Add up enough urgencies and you don't get a fire, you get a career. A career putting out fires never leads to the goal you had in mind all along.

I guess the trick is to make the long term items even more urgent than today's emergencies.

Sometimes creativity turns into an emergency. But even the worst of emergencies still needs a doctor and time to heal.

Creative Barriers

My wife sent me this link yesterday.

While I consider myself an eternal optimist, there are days when I feel like my creativity is non-existent. That's not a good thing if your job depends on it!

I love the viewpoint brought out in the article - sometimes we need to be drained creatively. There are many times that God wants us at the bottom to remind us how good we have it at the top (not to mention all the time in between). It's in those times that our creativity is renewed. The amazing thing is that we surpass the barriers that restricted us in the first place - barriers that would never have been broken otherwise.

I'll be blogging about creative strategies and what has worked for me in the past and present.

As for the future, what inspires you? What raises your creativity level?

Let's get the discussion rolling...

Open Up and Say "Ahhhh...."

Music to my ears:

"IBM Thursday disclosed that 100 of its researchers are giving Apple Macintosh computers a go to find out whether they are a strong option for use in the workplace."

Full article here.

Somebody give me a shout out if you're a Mac user...

Catalyst Is LIVE!

The Catalyst Website is now live! Stop whatever you're doing and go check out this site. If there is one conference I would recommend (and there are lots of GREAT ones) - this would be it.

Go. Now.

Does God Speak Through Music?

Okay...an interesting thing happened this afternoon.

Our youngest daughter, Emilee, was scheduled for Kindergarten screening today. A most important day in the life of any five year old. She was pumped, and I have to admit, I was excited for her as she is ready to enter another chapter in her book of life.

Everything sounds normal, right?

They changed the venue this year for the screenings, moving them to a local church (I won't mention any names, except to say it wasn't Meadow Heights). Everything was going smoothly - Emilee was with someone going over her motor skills, verbal skills and the like (which, I might add as a proud father, she scored extremely well on!) while her mother and I were sitting by ourselves at a round table filling out an endless supply of paperwork.

Here's where things get interesting...

In the "multi-purpose" room in this church were several school employees, a few parents with their kids and my wife and I. I didn't really notice at first, but they had some music playing through the overhead speakers in the ceiling (you know, those really crappy, minuscule speakers that some local chop shop must have recommended). For some reason the style of choice today was country (go figure).

Now I don't listen to any country music, but I did happen to recognize the song that started blaring over those inadequate speakers. I don't know if it was a sign from God or Satan having some fun, but Hank Williams Jr's hit song from the eighties, "Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound" soon filled the air and I had to smile (strike that, I chuckled out loud) at the irony of that particular song, in that particular place at that very particular time.

I appreciate a good laugh...

And today...

Today, I wasn't disappointed.