Thoughts On Being Creative [Creativity]

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thinking-cap

Creativity is a funny thing. People think that it’s something you’re born with… and if you’re not… your out of luck. Though I agree some folks have creativity overload, I do not agree that if you’re not naturally creative that you cannot be a creative person with great original ideas. Here are some of my thoughts on creativity.

I believe you can pray for creativity. Some folks are born more naturally patient than others… but does that mean the rest of us can’t ask God for patience when we need it? No! God gives us gifts when we need them. Creativity is no different. It’s a gift from a loving God that can be given at a moment’s notice. The key is…

Creativity comes when you put yourself in a situation where you must be creative. Creativity is hard work… even for the naturally creative. It takes time and brain cells. Most folks will settle for less than stellar ideas because it’s easier or because they have other alternatives. It’s easier to look up an object lesson than to create one yourself for instance (not always actually). It’s easier to pay someone to do it rather than risk doing it yourself. When we eliminate all other options… and force ourselves to be creative… that’s when genius comes.

The only difference between a creative person and an uncreative person is how long it takes to create. Have you ever listened to a comedian and really related to what they were saying… but found it hilarious because of the perspective they took on it? It’s one of those moments where you may say to yourself, “That is so true… I just never thought of it that way.” That’s the difference between them and us. They see something… but think it through one or two levels further then we do. It’s almost like we could have come up with that ourselves if we’d sat long enough. Creativity is like that. Naturally creative people come up with ideas pretty fast. Folks who would call themselves uncreative can do the same thing… they will just need to push a little harder and stick with it a little longer. I call it The Third Idea.

It goes like this: The first idea you come up with, you’ve got to assume that it’s the first thing that would come to anyone’s mind. Push yourself to keep thinking. Your second idea is going to be better… but again, anyone who invested just a little time would probably come up with the same thing. The trick is to not fall in love with your ideas an be willing to push yourself through to that third idea. That’s going to be the place where almost no one would go. Truly original and creative ideas start coming through at this point. Try it yourself. You’ll hear folks say, “I would have never thought of that,” and they’re right.

What thoughts and input do you have on this topic? Leave them in the comments!

Visions Aren’t Everything

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Several years ago I had an issue with one of my leaders in Children’s Ministry. It was over uniforms for a girls group. The group were supposed to be wearing them… but they weren’t even being offered uniforms by the group’s leadership. When I approached the leader I was told that the girls couldn’t afford the class A uniforms. I proposed that we go with a class B or even C option which would be a matching T-shirt with a sash for badges. This idea was whole-heartedly rejected by my leader.

Why? She wanted the class A uniforms and was willing to wait. It had been over 5 years at that point with no uniforms. It was time to admit something: that we were never going to have perfection. We needed to settle for (in her mind) something less… because it was better than nothing.

I’ve recently applied the lesson I learned from that experience to my marriage. I find that I have this perfect vision of what I want my family to be… and vision is a good thing don’t get me wrong. But it doesn’t make sense to stubbornly demand your vision at the expense of an obvious reality.

We may want our spouse to act or be a certain way. We have a vision for them… but what power do we have to change them? None! It may be time for us to adjust our ideas and accept something ‘less’ in order to ultimately get more from our relationships.

Our vision is probably not as ‘perfect’ anyway. We’re flawed people. Often our expectations of our spouses are based on overcompensations for some unmet need or emotional injury from our past. It’s ultimately very unfair to hold others to our own standards. It assumes to much in the first place… that we know exactly what everyone in the family needs to be happy.

Meanwhile, while we’re all waiting for that perfect dream… everyone’s miserable.

We can’t change people… but we can provide an atmosphere that instigates change. That atmosphere cannot be one of judgment and disapproval but rather one of unconditional love, understanding, selflessness and example setting. We aren’t settling for less… rather we’re improving our situation by accepting reality and making selfless, sacrificial adjustments from where we are now… which ultimately get is closer to where we need to be, rather than where we dreamed we’d be.

My Live Character: JoJo The Christian Clown

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Jo-Jo's Picture

Every week in JAM City, our elementary children’s church) I perform the live character JoJo The Christian Clown. He’s a newly saved overly-excited Christian who is not allowed to work in children’s church… but that’s not going to stop him from trying to prove to everyone he’s got what it takes.

This video was shot as a service intro for our 2009 graduation service. I had to be in the room the entire time… so this video was born. The little girl is my daughter. She’s awesome.

For more JoJo goodness, check out his other video. Note: his voice is different now because I got tired of folks saying he sounded like Adam Sandler! 🙂

Home Grown Object Lessons

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By way of a follow-up to yesterday’s post on Creating Your Own Object Lessons, here are a few illustrations I’ve created using that method:

The dual-purpose of the Christian: To Love God and Love Others – A hammer has two jobs. Hammering nails and pulling them out. You can use hammers for a lot of other things… but they were created for only two things… just like us. Continue reading →

Creating Your Own Object Lessons

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Books are expensive. Especially when you’re in a position where the church copier has a bigger budget than you do (and nobody expects the copier to sell candy bars). There are tons of books full of object lessons out there but even aside from the cost… how much time do we spend pouring through them looking for that one perfect illustration for the point we want to make? A lot!

What I’ve found is that an object lesson that I create myself, though it may not be as fancy and cool, takes less time, money and actually does the job much better… because it fits perfectly. I also believe God blesses such creative endeavors.

Before you convince yourself you could never be creative enough to come up with your own object lessons and quit reading… let me spill out the process I use to help illustrate a bible point or idea.

1. Make a Point

Simplify and distill your idea into a short phrase. Rather than, “God loved you so much that he sent his Son Jesus Christ to die for you on the cross to save you from you sins so you wouldn’t have to pay the price for your own sins and suffer eternal spiritual death” you might distill it down to, “Jesus took your place” and illustrate that.

2. Ask Yourself: What Does The Same Thing In Real Life?

Object lessons use objects to illustrate a point… so our next step after getting our point is to find an object that accomplishes a similar task or fulfills a similar function. Continuing with our “Jesus Took Your Place” point you might use two pieces of paper, damage one and start to throw it away. Then take a second sheet that is flawless and throw it away instead. It’s the same thing… but with objects. It’s not fancy… but it works.

3. Preach The Lesson Not The Object

The biggest mistake I see children’s ministers make with object lessons is they get so focused on the object that they forget about the lesson they’re actually teaching. That’s why I’m not a huge fan of spending a lot of money on pre-made props and illusions… it puts way to much emphasis on the wrong part of the lesson. Jesus used objects like nobody else… even if he didn’t happen to have them on hand… he was the master… but they were normal, obvious, everyday things. The focus was the message, not the story or illustration.

That’s how I do it! I’ll be honest. It’s not easy… but it’s the best investment of time you can make. Give it a shot this week. Ask God to help you… put yourself in a place where he must… and he will.

Questions? Input? Post them in the comments!

Viewing A Child’s Dual Potential

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happyangry

Kids, in a nutshell, are potential. An oversimplification yes… but still true. Everything a child does prepares them for their future. Even play is working to that end. My 4 year old daughter works harder at playing than I do at working sometimes.

When I look out at my group every Sunday morning I can’t help but see two future potentials for every child: The one God has planned and the version that Satan would have happen. With some children the God Version is easer to imagine. They seem like they’re going to end up that way almost automatically, though inside I know that is often far from true. Then there are kids who’s current behavior and/or situation make it easier to see the Fallen Version. They seem destined to become the back-row kid in the Youth Group.. mocking the kids who regularly fill the altar area during worship. Or even worse… they become involved in gangs, drugs, alcohol and start having destructive relationships with everyone they meet.

I value both of these views because both have value. One is a goal, the other is something to be avoided. Part of my job is to help one Version to win and the other to fail. If I can see each child through the eyes of my enemy, I can start to minister in a way that will minimize the chances of the Fallen Version to become reality.

If a child deals with anger chances are Satan plans to turn that child into a hateful, spiteful adult with a short fuse. The jails are full of men who were once children with attitudes and issues. But God has a different plan. A plan to help that child work through the anger, heal that heart, and help other people heal after being abused, injured or neglected. No jail time for helping others!

Same goes for kids who are the ‘good’ ones. We children’s workers can get a pretty twisted view of who’s ‘good’ and ‘bad’ because we typically only see them in the context of a large group… for only a couple of hours. We have no idea how they are at home, at school… and how they are inside their thought life where nobody sees them at all. The ‘good’ kids are just as much at risk as anyone. Even the ones who really are good… if you were the enemy of humanity… who would you go after the most? The kids who are already halfway there themselves or the kids who are truly pure in heart? Darn straight… I’d be going for the goodie-goodies. Those kids need you to see both sides of their potential as well.

I could keep going with this all day. Ask God to give you a dual view of your kids. Then ask him to help you minister to them and their families in a way that will draw them toward what He has for them. It’s not our job to do it all… but we can do our part better when we see our kid’s potential. Both potentials.

Announcing the launch of CleanCasts.com – The Clean Podcast Directory

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cleancasts

I’ve been hinting about a new project for a little while now… and today’s the day to let the world know!

CleanCasts is a directory dedicated to listing clean podcasts (G and PG)… and that’s about it.

If you’re a listener, head over and check out the growing list of shows and be sure to tell your favorite clean podcast so they can get listed.

If you’re a podcaster with a G or PG rated show, head over and add your site today!

CleanCasts.com

HUGE THANKS go out to Philip M. Hofer (Frumph) from WebComicPlanet.com for his amazing coding skill and willingness to give.

Inspired By A Beer Blaster [Resources]

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beer_blaster_blue

This thing is very cool. It will shoot ANY carbonated beverage (not just beer) up to 10 feet. This is a messy stage game waiting to happen!

The only unfortunate thing is that it’s shaped exactly like a real gun… which may or may not be an issue for your group… but with a little foam or other embellishments it could look just as harmless as a water pistol.

See it in action:

They come in several colors (including pink) and run between $22 and $33 bucks.

[Link]