Creativity | christopherhildreth

Archive for the ‘Creativity’ category

One Prayer Week Two

June 28, 2008

Tomorrow we will be hearing from a great guy. Mark Batterson will be following Craig Groeschel from last week with his One Prayer – Lord Make us Dreamers. Having a dream is such an important part of living a fulfilled life. Mark pastors in Washington D.C. where his church also runs an award winning coffee house, Ebenezer’s.

Mark wrote the book, “In a Pit, with a Lion on a Snowy Day”, a book that had profound impact to me personally and because of that to the church itself. We’ve only got a few of the books to give away for each service so – heads up.

Categories: Books I'm Reading, Creativity, Lifepoint, Message Series

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When Balance isn’t really Balance

June 27, 2008

I’ve written quite a bit about the importance of being balanced. I feel that to find success in any area of life, balance must be a part of the equation. But what kind of balance? Sometimes I can sit outside or take a day off or go somewhere else and feel like I have found balance. I can begin to hear my internal dialogue and interior silence grow. I can even have the beginnings of an enraptured feeling where I think I have it “all figured out”.

Is what I’m feeling true or not? You’ve probably experienced this before and wondered the same thing. I think that the only way we know if we are in balance is to be in balance in the regular rhythms of life.

Moments of self-discovery are essential, but can actually be detrimental if we lead a life hopping from one of those moments to another. Everything in life is balanced on the pivot of “now”. I have no control over event in the recent or far past; neither do I have any control over things yet to happen. The only place that I have any ability to “do” anything is right here, right now.

If the only way I can feel “in balance” is to escape living life in community, I have become severely off balance in both perspective and execution of life.

John Maeda is becoming a mentor-at-large. He had a conversation with a colleague about insecurity. And I think it has great significance on the idea of real balance. He said, “The thing about insecurity, is that if you are too insecure, then you don’t grow – because you’re paralyzed by fear of failure. On the other hand, if you have no insecurity, then you don’t grow either – because your head is so big you can’t recognize your failures.” The colleague replied, “Balance in all.” John continued, “If you are in the middle, however, you have to shift towards the edges and oscillate a bit in order to know if you are centered.” He responded, “You can get lost in the middle. You need mentors to give you courage.”

To this John questioned, “But all your mentors tend to go away as you age.” The answer, “Yes, because you don’t need them anymore.”

The key is to embrace the oscillation around center/balance, always checking that the pendulum doesn’t swing too far in any direction.

Categories: Awareness, Belief, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Life, Me, religion, Strengths

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Small and Simple

June 26, 2008

John Maeda is a genius. One of the most enlightening things I’ve read in a while is his idea concerning small and large items and our expectations about something big or something small.

When we find that something small exceeds our expectations we are amazed and will likely say, “I can’t believe all of that came out of such a small thing!” However, when something large exceeds our expectations, our sense of awe is considerably lower. John says, “The smaller the object, the more forgiving we can be when it misbehaves.”

Something that is larger than us demands a rightful respect, but something small deserves our pity. The science of making an object appear fragile is a skill that has been practiced for ages in art. The iPod is a singularly great example of something appearing fragile but exceeding our expectations based on size.

“Pity”, says John, “gives way to respect when much more value is delivered than originally expected.” This is especially true when, through technology, we can hide functionality within simplistic design.

There is even more. When an object is small and simple and functionality is hidden for the owner to manage the items complexity, the object must also convey an embodiment of value.

The combination of these three attributes creates a unique end result. It can bring us to the place where how the things we own feel actually changes how we feel.

John says it best when he says, “Lessen what you can and conceal everything else without losing the sense of inherent value.”

Categories: Books I'm Reading, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence

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Reduction

June 25, 2008

I’m loving the book, “The Art of Simplicity” by John Maeda. The first sentence of the book says, “The easiest way to simplify a system is to remove functionality.” He goes on to use the DVD player as an example. We really only need one button – play, but there are some who would like more, maybe to go back or go forward, still others would like more features.

The balance between simplicity and complexity is the basic question. How simple can it be and how complex does it have to be?

“The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.” When you remove something, just think about it before you do it.

I am thinking about this in terms of life and church. How do we balance simplicity and complexity in those venues? Last week I wrote about the struggle between personal and professional vision. If we continue to add and add more and more we will soon drown in our own “vision”. There has to be a give and take if we are to “thoughtfully reduce”. This concept of reduction is John’s first of ten laws dealing with issues related to simplicity.

I leave you with one more thought coming from page two. When faced with the need to reduce we have to deal with the problem of deciding what lives and what dies. John says that these decisions do not come easy to us because we are not trained to be despots. Our default is to let what is living live. Inevitably we would allow all functionality to stay if we could.

Categories: Belief, Books I'm Reading, Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas

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First Week of One Prayer

June 22, 2008

Lifepoint is a wonderful place. Can I say it again? Lifepoint is a wonderful place. The first week of One Prayer was great. Hearing from someone else and matrixing their point of view with our own has a magical quality about it. Sometimes a whole new perspective is gleaned. Sometimes when we hear something from a third party it carries more weight and we respond better. Think about (if you have kids) when you have told your child to do something and their response was let’s say…lacking.

Now think of times when the same words that come out of your mouth, came out of another adult’s mouth and your children reacted as though that were the first time they had ever heard those words. Same thing when hearing from someone somewhere else. We listen with different ears, and the results can be amazing.

We accomplished the change in the set by using a stencil of one of the One Prayer logos. The effect on the floor was done by using a gloss paint over a flat of the same color.

One of the things I loved about this morning was the baptisms. They have to be my favorite aspect of displayed Christianity. It is such a visceral moment to watch someone you know be baptized. I’m so very grateful to be part of the large story God is telling through the lives and events at Lifepoint.

Can’t wait until next week! I’ll tell you more about what’s coming up later in the week.

Categories: Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence, Lifepoint, Message Series

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One Prayer

June 21, 2008

We are starting the series One Prayer tomorrow. We are one week behind other churches because of our own church schedule, but we are excited about this experiment of using messages by video from other churches around the country.

This will be a first for us, but I think it will have a great impact and also let our attenders take a look into other churches and hear other communicators. I can’t wait, it should be great!

Categories: Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Lifepoint, Message Series

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What does it mean to improve?

June 20, 2008

As a staff we have been to many conferences at or about Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta. During one of these [DRIVE Conference 2005], they shared that the momentum in an organization increases by either “new, improved or improving” ideas/facilities/volunteers/programs/etc.

This is a great idea, and one that continues to be a benchmark at Lifepoint when we evaluate whether to add to or subtract from some aspect of the church.

But what does it mean to improve? We can begin to think that to improve a program/ministry we need to add something to it. John Maeda, a favorite author/artist of mine in his book The Laws of Simplicity, explores in detail the notion of “improved” meaning to add on. In contrast he posits that to “improve” many times requires us to simplify and take away.

As you look at your life today, think of how you can improve one area by subtraction instead of addition.

Categories: Books I'm Reading, Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Life

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Insultants

June 14, 2008

Last week I read a book in which a key way to produce action and innovation within an organization is to activate “insultants”. I have to admit, at first I thought he was talking about having people who are free enough to tell you, the leader, the hard things and in fact, insult you. I was wrong.

The author used a different point of view on the idea of “consultants”. Typically consultants originate outside of an organization. They provide valuable insight because they are outsiders, however, that same reason – coming from the outside – blinds consultants from culture nuances and unsaid generally accepted protocols unique to different businesses.

The suggestion of “insultants” – consultants from within the business structure – is a great idea that has implications far beyond work environments. By giving some a responsibility to become aware and constructively question practices and actions, a wealth of information can be gleaned.

We can turn this practice to our own lives. If we do not have someone who knows our quirks and also has the freedom to tell us when we vear close to or cross the line, we should look at our relationship account and consider it lacking and in the red. The most valuable asset we can have are people who can constructively view our lives through the “who we are now” while looking toward the “who we want to be” and help us to get there.

If you don’t have a personal “insultant” hire one and you’ll be amazed at the difference a shift in perspective and a new voice can make.

Categories: Context, Creativity, Influence, Life, Me

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What Are We Here For?

June 8, 2008

Today we finish out the series “God and Your Bod”. We’ve discussed the eyes, ears, mouth, feet and conclude with the hands. How to glorify God with our hands.

I’m writing this after the musical portion of the first of our three services. The last song we sang was “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)” made popular by Chris Tomlin. Louie Giglio the founder of the Passion movement spoke about how this song came about. Chris had been asked to remake “Amazing Grace” for the movie of the same name about William Wilberforce’s struggle to end slavery in England.

Talk about a tall order. Remake the most familiar song in the world? As it turned out, Chris did remake the song, and by all accounts did a great job. Louie jokes that some of the kids listening to Chris and his contemporaries will think he (Chris) wrote “Amazing Grace”. In the chorus, Chris took the context of the song and put it into words of action – “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free.”

I have to be honest, as a Creative Pastor, it is a great thing to plan services and create environments condusive for people to meet God, but what is greater than that is seeing it happen right before your eyes. Greater still is to be able to experience it alongside the people whose stories you are familiar with, and know that their chains are gone and they have been set free.

No greater joy is there than when you have done all that you can do and then see God take it a quantum step further. None of it would be possible without a team of people – musicians, singers, tech people – who have the same desire of creating environments that help people “tune in” to God.

Today we talk about using our hands to glorify God. I’m grateful for those who use their “hands” each Sunday to glorify God.

Thanks to: Gerry Marshall, Kevin Kinkade, Joe Booker, Kim Hague, Chris McCray, Gary Lane, Amy Hildreth (who gives me more support and love than I think I’m worth), John Sloan, Eli Hoffman, Jed Broussard, Lauren Evans, Casey Leeb, Lauren Gill, Bianca Broussard, Laura Kinkade and all of the other volunteers who make Sundays run so smoothly.

What are we here for? We are here to use what we have for the greater good, in the moment, to glorify God by actively pursuing God’s “kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven”.

Categories: Context, Creativity, Influence, Lifepoint, Me, Message Series

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True Innovation

May 29, 2008

Innovation is too often linked to technology and the newest gadgets to flood the market. True innovation goes much deeper. True innovation is onlyfound in the minds of those willing to think the thoughts that others – those who define the status quo – have ceased to think.

In many cases, the ones who currently sit with the reigns of culture in their hands, have gained their position because of their own innovative thinking. Now they find themselves defending a change to the status quo trying to hold on to their position by recycling old ideas.

Real innovation challenges everything and once a truly innovative idea has invaded culture, nothing remains as it was. Only the truly innovative embrace the fact that their “great idea” will soon be replaced by another. Those who innovate, change; those who do not will simply pass by into the ether of the past.

Categories: Creativity, Cultural Ideas, Influence

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