What the Church Can Learn from Pixar

Pixar

Pixar is one of the most creative companies in the world.  They consistently push the boundaries of technology, release hit movies, and tell touching stories.  I have loved Pixar movies since I first saw Toy Story and I continue to love both their movies and their approach to being a creative organization.  In the Church we may not be creating movies, but a significant portion of our work is about telling the story of Christ and life change within our midst and finding creative ways to do so.  Because of this I think we can learn a lot from Pixar’s approach to fostering creativity.

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Upright Piano Turned Midi Controller

I recently saw this video on Hillsong Collected and thought it was an incredible example of creatively using technology within a classic upright piano.

 

All Access

 

This past Sunday we started a brand new series for our Middle School students entitled “All Access.”  For 3 weeks, we will be discussing prayer.  Because of the death and ressurection of Jesus we have complete access to God.  Because we have complete access to him, it is important that we use that access we have and continually be praying.  Throughout the series, I will be sharing some of my notes from the lessons (except for the first lesson, which I did not give).  If you’re looking for a series on prayer and want to steal any of these ideas or graphics, feel free.

Week 1: Why Pray?

Week 2: What is Prayer?

Week 3: How to Pray?

For a copy of our additional background slide: download it here.

Waiting for Inspiration

Light bulb

The most difficult temptation to overcome in creativity is the idea that we must wait for inspiration.  There is not a creative person on the planet that doesn’t love the moments where an idea seemingly bursts out of nothing in the middle of the night.  These inspirational moments are important, but they are not the norm.  One of the most difficult things to do in the act of creation is to face an empty canvas on a day that you feel uninspired.  The choice you make when you face the blank canvas and have zero inspiration determines whether you will create mediocre art or great art.  You are left with two options:

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Sermon Series Branding Questions

Questions

[This post is a part of the Creating a Sermon Series series]

An important part of the series creation process is the point where you work through key details that need to be discussed in order to execute the series.  In order to help our team discuss the branding of a series, I put together a few different questions to help work through the details of a series.  There are certainly other important questions and discussions that may come up, but these questions help set up a framework for us to discuss some of the creative elements to our upcoming series.

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Top 10 Posts of 2011

In 2011 I significantly increased the frequency of my blogging; I’ve taken a few days off over the Christmas weekend and am excited to continue sharing my thoughts and improving my writing over the next year.  Here are my Top 10 posts of the past year.

10. How Not To Use Facebook

9. Catalyst 2011: Session 5

8. Martin Luther’s View on Music

7. Mangering

6. Catalyst 2011: Session 2

5. 4 Questions To Ask Yourself When Writing a Sermon

4. A Disney World Surprise

3. Catalyst 2011 Notes

2. 4 Ways to Use Google Voice in Youth Ministry

1. How To Use Google Voice To Send Mass Text

Which was your favorite post?

The Kings of Christmas

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The Christmas story is a story about a king and full of kings who have opinions about this newborn king.  We commonly sing about the Magi who visit Jesus as the “3 Kings” or “3 Wisemen.”  They come to visit Jesus with a set of unusual gifts.  We also cannot forget the evil King Herod who seeks to kill the newborn baby Jesus.  There’s also a third king that we less often talk about, but is mentioned and that is Caesar, who rules even over Herod.  The implications for the birth of Jesus, the newborn King, can be seen in the lives of these kings in the Christmas story.  The kings force us to ask ourselves who do we worship… who is our king?

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Using Spotify For Worship Planning

Spotify

I’ve recently been spending some time with our worship planning team as we’ve discussed Christmas services and the upcoming calendar year.  One of the tools that I’ve found indespinsible when it comes to discussing music for worship services is Spotify.  I’ve had Spotify for several months, but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve really found the full potential of what’s possible.

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Why I Celebrate Hanukkah

Menorah

Every year as we decorate the house to celebrate the Christmas season, we make sure to get our non-Christmas decoration out on the mantle.  We put up our Christmas tree filled with ornaments, hang our stockings, put out the Christmas kitchen towels, and set the menorah up on the mantle.  I’m not Jewish.  I have never been Jewish, but I love to celebrate Hanukkah during the holiday season.  Why?  Simple, because Jesus celebrated Hanukkah.

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Preachers That I’m Listening To

Preacher

If you want to be a better preacher, whether to students or adults, you need to not only be doing it yourself but also reading and listening to others who do it well.  I am constantly downloading new sermons to listen to and always looking for new ones to get into my list of podcasts.  This list is not based on the accuracy of their theology, but instead on their ability to communicate well.  There are certainly some on the list that I would reccommend to anybody to listen to and others that I would be cautious about recommending to somebody if I’m unsure of there ability to listen critically.

A Few Preachers I’m Listening To:

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