christopherhildreth

Artistic Beauty

Posted October 19, 2007 by Chris
Categories: Context, Creativity, Cultural Ideas

I think we tend to devour the world we inhabit, instead of enjoying it. I remember back to when I was eighteen and noticed the blooming of a dogwood tree in my family’s front yard. My parents informed me that the tree had been in bloom for quite some time, but I had not noticed it. That was the first major time I can remember being aware that I had missed out on something and had been oblivious to the peripheral things in my life.

So often we take the natural beauty of the world we live in for granted and go through ritualized motions. Our inner voice may call out for us to wake up, but we frequently chose to ignore it in the pursuit of “bigger things”.

What could possibly be greater than the miracle of the life we live?

I watched an interview with actor Sean Penn and he commented that he was not a religious person per se, but that even if there was nothing after our life, wasn’t the joy of a life well life enough? Did we really need anything more than that? His words speak so much truth. Is there anything more ignominious than to breathe and yet not live?

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New Book

Posted October 18, 2007 by Chris
Categories: Books I'm Reading

I have been wanting to read this book for a while, but I had many others in the way. I finally pushed them aside and now I’m into the book. It is a great book about being different for the right reasons, and the fact that nobody is as important as everybody. Fast Company magazine has been one of my favorites for quite a while, so having William Taylor as a co-author meant that the material would be relevant and useful. I’m not done, but when I am finished with Mavericks at Work, I’ll do a fuller review.

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reverb

Posted October 17, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst conference, Influence, Production

I don’t know if I need to recant or what, but what I do know is that – though subtle – I know that the beginnings of a “reverberation” are taking place personally. The conference was, from my perspective, what I’ve written. However, I think that I’m finding that even though the production aspects weren’t what I expected, there does seem to be an awarness of some things that I previously ignored.

One of those is that the events that have the most impact, like the services we produce, may not be the ones that are the smoothest and sharpest. I strive for our services to have a high “wow” effect, but I have to admit that I would rather have “wow” impact than “wow” effect. The influence we have on others has to count for more than a good show. Something must be left when the environment is gone. In other words, Catalyst could not have been that bad if I am still earnestly thinking about it.

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Whatever It Takes

Posted October 12, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst conference, Influence

For the past few weeks (6 ) we have been doing a series called Whatever It Takes. The purpose has been to create a culture of serving within our people. The third week of the series was the week we went to Catalyst. Since returning I really have found that there were things that occured during the conference that just now are beginning to surface. True, I’ve posted about the things in Catalyst that I didn’t care for, but last night we had a group meeting and decided to discuss what positive benefits we gathered from the experience.

I had to think awhile, but the resounding idea that kept coming to my mind was the importance of leveraging our influence as a generation on the future of the next generation. Instead of trying to accomplish and invest in endless projects for ourselves now, why not think in terms of the “long tail” of our own influence and begin to do things purposfully for the future. It is important not to become too “future minded”, but it is vital that we look ahead and become, almost like David, a stockpiler of influence and knowledge for those who will come after us. We need to become known as people who “live the life” instead of a church that does this or that project – our good deed for the year.

I’m not saying that individual projects should be abandoned, just that they should be done in the context of a complete approach to a life of service and responsibilty.

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last about the Catalyst conference

Posted October 9, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst conference

All in all the conference was alright. Do I feel I got my money’s worth? Yes. However, compared to earlier years when I thought I got my money’s worth in the first session, I had to wait until after lunch the second day before I felt the same way.

In the same thought though, I am looking forward to the Orange Conference with Reggie and the Q Conference in New York this coming spring. Gabe Lyons, who founded Catalyst and left it a couple of years ago to create Fermi, is an example of someone who has his ear to the pulse of the culture. Perhaps they should ask him to consult for next years Catalyst.

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the conference – Day 1

Posted October 8, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst conference

I know I’m writing this after the conference is officially over, but I needed some time to see if my gut reaction was due to personal preference or not. I have to say that prolonging a mediocre at best event by 2 hours was , let me see….. trying. Considering that this is a leadership conference, it was obvious from the beginning that someone – and I have to think there’s more than just one – dropped the ball in the leadership department.

Let me say that I know some of these guys and it’s not easy to be critical. Had there been only a few problems, I could overlook it and cover it with good stuff- I couldn’t. Lanny was off -really so was Reggie. They seemed more uncomfortable than in previous years. The speakers were alright and the highlight had to be the discussion between Steve Foster of XXXchurch fame, Tri Robinson, Gabe Lyons and David Kinnaman.
The theme was reverb, but not much effect happened the first day.

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unChristian

Posted October 7, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst labs

Definitely a highlight, the unChristian session in the evening was almost as good as the book itself. I had purchased unChristian before the conference and had worked my way through a major part of it. During Q this past Spring we had heard about the book and had been able to hear from David Kinnaman. The research is great and the insights are eye-opening to say the least.

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Third Session

Posted October 4, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst conference

I have to say that for this session I was in limbo. There were a couple of labs I wanted to hear, but couldn’t decide. In the end I stood in the back of Jud Wilhite’s teaching. His talk was full of stories that he has experienced over the years in his work in Las Vegas. Definitely going to take a second look at his book, Stripped.

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Second Session

Posted October 3, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst labs

Well, I didn’t have access to do updating of the blog on the fly. So I decided I wanted to hear Reggie McNeal, but instead I’m listening to John Ortberg’s wife Nancy. I didn’t plan on hearing her, but I can tell you that she has a presence in speaking that is both captivating and gentle. You know that when she talks about “Catalytic Leaders” she knows catalytic leaders. Throughout the discussion she brings up examples both personal and professional that point to her own point which is that for leaders to become catalytic they must take advantage of moments and opportunities that are presented to them.

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First Session – Mark Batterson

Posted October 3, 2007 by Chris
Categories: catalyst labs

The first session is being led by Mark Batterson. He is the pastor of National Comunity Church and the author of In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day – a great book. During this session he simply stated that we should live life on offense and not on defense. Three things, he said, should be primary to us. We should do things that are Scary, Crazy and Risky. Attack the lion of life and you will be living a life that is worth telling stories about. I wish he was going to be speaking in the main Catalyst Sessions, but I’m definitly glad that I was able to get to hear him in person. His book, by far, has been one of the most influential in my life this year.

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