July 3, 2005

my thoughts on creativity

i am not a very creative person. some people think that i am creative and have told me that i am but that’s just because they have never really met a truly creative person. i’m simply not creative but i have learned a good substitute for creativity … time.

jonathan, our minister of belonging, and i discussed this recently regarding the welcome tables he sets up each week. jonathan tries to establish a different and creative welcome table for each week’s youth oriennted worship gathering. two weeks ago he stated that he was running out of ideas. so i told him my ideas on time being an effective substitute for creativity. here are my thoughts.

if you plan far enough ahead you have the opportunity to have many experiences that will contribute to enhancing your plan. so i try to plan my messages and worship services out for a minimum of six months so that i have time for the messages and services to “simmer” and for the experiences around me to build up and find connections with the services and messages. the most creative messages and services i ever contribute to are always ones that have been able to “percolate” and “ruminate” for a long time. time gives me the ability to discuss the message with other people and get their input and help on it. time gives me the chance to have random experiences to suddenly become very pertinent to the worship service. time also allows me to “accidentally” wander into the resources i need to accomplish the plan that has developed. i guess you could say that my basic thought is that time gives one the chance to truly be inspired by the SPIRIT rather than just trying to winging it.

for me worst problems are when i try to “wing it”. you can always tell when i have not put enough time into something. it’s shallow, vanilla, and boring. the SPIRIT isn’t there to give it life and spice because i haven’t allowed it to simmer long enough for any real inspiration to occur.

shane yancey at confessions of an average youth minister just posted about having things “pop up” at the last second and how disturbing they are. i usually hate those last minute ideas for a different reason – for me they are usually just not that creative.

July 3, 2005

we don’t need no stinking badges!

here’s the afi’s list of 100 greatest movie quotes yet. it’s quite interesting.

here are some of my favorites:

12. “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” “Apocalypse Now,” 1979.

21. “A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti,” “The Silence of the Lambs,” 1991.

24. “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small,” “Sunset Blvd.,” 1950.

53. “One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know,” “Animal Crackers,” 1930.

64. “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”, “Dr. Strangelove,” 1964.

79. Striker: “Surely you can’t be serious.” Rumack: “I am serious … and don’t call me Shirley,” “Airplane!”, 1980.

98. “Nobody puts Baby in a corner,” “Dirty Dancing,” 1987.

what are yours? which quotes do you think should have been on the list and weren’t?

July 3, 2005

a whole lot of shaking going on

harrieder.freeprohost.com some of you may have heard that friday there was a 6.7 magnitude earthquake near diriamba, nicaragua (you can read more here) and that our friend kate is already there on a month long mission trip. i am glad to report that i have it on first hand authority (stephen – her boyfriend) that kate is fine and dandy though a little but shaken by the experience.

actually, from reading the news stories on the earthquake it’s quite amazing. 6.7 magnitude is a pretty decent earthquake. it was in the ocean but still close enough to the land that there could have been extensive damage and injury. yet, there wasn’t any. no one was hurt and there doesn’t seem to be any reported property damage. it did cause a tsunami warning for the california coast but that didn’t happen either.

July 3, 2005

mike yaconelli memorial basic school

our mini-bus started to slow down, and i noticed (car-sick boy that i am, sitting in the front) that there were a group of women standing on the side of the road. they were all wearing brightly colored african skirts and headwraps, and white blouses. they cheered and danced as our bus slowed down next to them, and it was then that i noticed the government sign next to them:

Zambia Ministry of Education
Mike Yaconelli Memorial Basic School
Kisasa”

if you are a fan or yaconelli then you have to read marko’s description of he, tic, and karla yaconelli going to dedicate the school that has been built in yac’s honor. my wife and i both fought back tears.

i was only able to meet yaconelli twice and to spend 20 or so hours under his instruction. still i miss him.