Archives for September 2012

This is my fourth post on some reflections from my time with Rob Bell last May.

you can find the first 3 here:

1. Preaching and sermon development.
2. Sabbath and soul care
3. Dealing with criticism

This one will be #4 and some thoughts on Reading, thinking, brainstorming, and Idea Mining.

Whatever you think or believe about Rob, I think you’d be a fool to say he isn’t well read or doesn’t think outside the box in some very creative ways.  He surely does both of those things and whenever I find myself within earshot of someone like that.. I soak up all I can about some of their patterns and where they generate those ideas and learnings from.  I loved the stuff he was sharing to this end.

IDEAS FLOW WHEN I AM FREE.

If I am stressed out, slammed, and can’t get ahead…. ahhhumm…  then I shouldn’t be surprised when ideas drop like flies.  I have to create space in me for creativity and you have to create space in you.  This means protecting our best time for our best stuff.  It means taking care of your own life and soul.  It means post #2 above is critical to hearing ideas, brainstorming, and giving ourselves time to flush them out with God.   Take a break.  Go for a walk.  Leave it and come back to it. Give ideas time and space and visit them often.  Think day to day, not marathon and don’t underestimate the power of brainless space for fabulous conclusions over time.

“If you’re preaching on Sunday and starting prep on Thursday, that sermon’s probably gonna suck.”- Rob

ASK BETTER QUESTIONS AND YOU’LL GET BETTER ANSWERS.

For example, Rob said the fundamental questions when designing a service are:

“Can we create an experience that messes with the proverbial follow up question of ‘Great, now what’s for lunch’?”
“Can we create experiences where when it’s over, it’s not over?  Preaching should start, not end a discussion.”
“Can we mess with the ‘now what’ question?”

“How did this make me feel?… pay attention to all your senses when wrestling with ideas.” 

“What did I find intriguing?  What spurred my curiosity recently?  What are people becoming a connoisseur of?  What does that tell me about them, the human condition, and of God?”

In preparation for one weekend service, Rob and his team asked, “How can we help people dump their spiritual, emotional, and lifestyle baggage?  Literally.”

Their answer to this was that one year, at good Friday, they told people that they could come in from 3-9pm and just dump whatever was holding them back from God. So for 6 hours, people came in and dumped alcohol, computers, pictures, notes, you name it… they dumped it.   In an empty room with one cross lit up in the center and some music playing.  It was a culmination of a series called “leaving Egypt”.  Then on Easter Sunday, when they came back this HUGE pile was GONE.   I think they showed a time lapse video or something of the stuff being hauled away… but it was evidently massive and so literally moving for people.  [This is the kind of idea stuff that comes up when we start breaking the mold and asking better questions… the kind of stuff no one ever forgets.]

CREATE SEPARATE WORK AND CREATIVITY PREP SPACES. 

You have found this true.  I know you have.  We’ve all said this, “I can’t get anything done here.”  Wherever “here” is for you.  If you have young kids, you probably cannot prepare a sermon at home.  You might love to work in a coffee shop or you might just be interrupted 47 time by people who see you.  Your office might be a haven of productivity… but mine is a constant space of interruption.  I have to be in it and interruptible regularly, but I also have to get out, get away, and think.  Often, these can’t be done in the same space.  Just admit it, and go find somewhere to think and pray and get r done. I sometimes lock myself in our youth room instead of my office to do this some days.  There’s a big table in there and the students are in school and I don’t have my office door open and yeah… game on.

NO ONE CAN DO THIS ALONE.  THE BEST IDEAS COME IN GROUPS.

We got to spend several hours one day listening to the chief creator/producer of the TV show Lost, Carlton Cuse.  I’m not much of a TV buff, but it was a kick to listen to how a show is written and such. But bottom line, it’s 6-10 writers in a room, 450 million dollars an episode, and 425 employees feeding and creating and running with ideas that created that show.

To this end, they talked a lot about the ridiculousness of a tv show or a sermon or a talk hoping to be really really great when it’s been prepared by only one person hulled up in a study somewhere.  Got me thinking about the huge value of team sermon prep and some things I recently heard Perry Noble say on the subject.  But here’s some stuff Rob and Carlton said:

• A well organized group will out-produce and out create any individual any day.
• Don’t be afraid to fail.  In fact, embrace it.  To achieve anything of importance, you have to risk failure.
• If you have good people around your table and everyone is passionate about it, trust it.  
• Beware of the twin poles of procrastination and perfectionism. Avoid both.
• Use NLQ’s =  not a leading question.  In other words, ask one’s you’re genuinely curious about, not one’s you’re secretly trying to pitch an idea through.   
• Turn off your cell phone.  Distractions and a lack of presence destroy creativity. 
• Don’t squash the ideas of others.  Let the craziness sit for a while and springboard off of it. 
• Learn to love the process of discovery, not just the end product.
• Search for the simple that lies just beyond the complexity of things.

This is the third post on some reflections from my time with Rob Bell last May.

1. Preaching and sermon development.
2. Sabbath and soul care
3. Dealing with criticism
4. Reading, thinking, brainstorming, and idea mining.

This one will be #3 and is some reflections on dealing with criticism, something that if you even distantly follow Rob, you should be aware he’s received more than share of in the past few years.  One of the reasons I went to this was for this reason alone.  I wanted to hear Rob’s thoughts on the subject- especially since I knew my next book- which is currently in the writing stage- is on this very subject.

So here’s some stuff I gleaned from listening to a man share his life and reflect on his journey with us.

JESUS WAS CRITICIZED AND HIS TEACHING REJECTED. 

No, we don’t then assume that if your’e criticized, it’s evidence that you are like Jesus.  Just this… if Jesus was criticized, don’t be surprised when you are.  The authors of the gospels go out of their way to make sure Jesus was not without his critics

• John 6:52-67  people no longer followed Jesus because of a hard teaching.  Jesus even asks the 12 if they will be leaving too. 
• John 8:48.  Jesus is accused of demon possession
• Luke 22:47-48   Judas betrays Jesus
• Matt 2816-17  But some doubted.  

“The bigger and more prophetic your voice, the harder it is to find true community”- Rob

“This is who I married.”  Kristen, responding to why the front lines junk her husband Rob takes and she goes headlong with him into, is worth it.  Her love and grace was beyond profound to me.

“When Love Wins came out- no one said mean things to our face.  No one.  Even people who knew us and had our phone numbers. They said it on the internet and through someone else.”- Kristen on dealing with controversy as a couple and again, causing me to be deeply saddened at the state of the church in America.  

“We strived to protect our kids so they could be as normal as possible”- Kristen on raising kids in the wake of ministry and at times controversy where other kids at school would say the most ridiculous things about their dad, Rob, to them- clearly learned from their “christian” parents. This was unbelievably sad to listen to her share but reminded me of our role as parents and influencers on a profound level.  

DON’T SHARE IT WITH YOUR SPOUSE IF YOU WON’T FIX IT WITH YOUR SPOUSE.

If you’re not going to bring your spouse into the solution loop of dealing with criticism, then don’t bring them into the info loop at all.  If you get a critical e-mail and share with with your spouse and then meet with that person and bring repair the relationship, then you have to bring it full circle and come back to your spouse with the full story.   Failure to do this does not help with reconciliation.  As a pastor, your spouse should probably not be your primary outlet where you dump your criticism load.

BOTH YOUR FANS AND YOUR CRITICS CAN BE TOXIC TO YOUR HEALTH. 

Be careful who you listen to.

Last May I was given the opportunity to spend 2 days with a couple of friends of mine under the teaching of Rob Bell in a one on fifty scenario in Laguna Beach- something he’s done a few more times since then with other similar sized groups.

Anyway, I wrote a post in the days that followed about it, promising to write four posts, but never came through and stopped after the first when life got too crazy to blog faithfully.  Initially, I had planned to write about the following 4 things:

1. Preaching and sermon development.
2. Sabbath and soul care
3. Dealing with criticism
4. Reading, thinking, brainstorming, and idea mining.

So this week I’ll write on the next 3 from the notes I took then.  Up next:  Sabbath and Soul Care.
_______________________________________

Rob mentioned a theme God has brought up in my life many times since.  Primarily, the idea that we spend our lives searching for meaning and love through what we do and what others say about us, when God has already given it so freely to us.  In the process, instead of finding success- we often wound our soul, drain our energy, and fail to develop healthy rhythms of sabbath and energy management.

GOD IS PLEASED WITH YOU.

I don’t know many believers who live that way.  I don’t know many pastors who do. I really don’t know many people who think this is what God thinks, or if he does, then he might be pleased with you… but in the way that only a parent can be.  But Rob reminded this small group of primarily pastors that the very first thing the voice of the Father says to Jesus as he begins his public ministry is “This is my son, in whom I am well pleased.”  God is pleased with Jesus before he actually does anything.  So far, he’s been baptized.  NONE of the ministry recorded in the gospels has even happened.  At this point, he’s essentially lived a life of obscurity for 30 years and followed John into the water’s of baptism.  The reminder to the believer is this:  God’s pleasure is not something you earn or achieve a level of success to get.  God is simply pleased with you because Christ is in you.  Period.

“WHO YOU ARE NOT IS REALLY NOT THAT INTERESTING.”

If Rob said the above statement once, he said it 10 times in 2 days.  Stop spending all your time trying to become who you are not.  God has made you who you are and working to become who you are not results in a boring life.  So be you.  Be the best you that you can be.  Be the quirky, normal, funky, loud, creative, simple, adventurous, quiet, complicated and definitive you.  Stop apologizing for who you are and who you are not.   When you do this, you can empower others to do the same.

“SIN IS A CULPABLE DISTURBANCE OF SHALOM.”

Rob said or maybe quoted someone- I don’t recall- that sin is…. read this again carefully…. “A culpable disturbance of shalom”.   That’s some deep thinking there.  Sin becomes when life is not at peace. When my soul is at unrest because of some ill in my life, it’s an indicator of the entrance of sin because God is all about shalom.  He is at peace.  When we try to become who we are not, we lack shalom and we lack a piece of God…  A BIG PEACE.  Don’t do that. It jacks with your soul in profound ways and wounds you.

“DON’T LEAD PEOPLE AWAY FROM SIN, LEAD THEM TO JESUS.”

Order matters. In our lives and the lives of those around us. Movement towards Jesus will necessarily result in a movement from sin.  But focusing on sin will leave you empty and angry.  Focusing on Jesus will not.  Live and lead in a way that moves people with the positive.  Move your own soul towards potential.  If you’re in a hole, spend less time focusing on the depth and the walls and more time gazing and the sky and looking for a rope out.  Jesus is not in your life to point out the depth of your sin, he’s there to restore the imago dei in you.

FIND YOUR LIFE-GIVING RHYTHM. 

Creation has a rhythm to it.  Rob said, “Creativity needs patterns”.  Life does too.  Seasons have a rhythm.  Hours, days, weeks, months, years… have a rhythm to them.  Crops have a rhythm.  Ecclesiastes 3 speaks of a rhythm for all things, a time for this and one for that.  When pastors fail to find a rhythm in life, they work till they drop, ditching the sabbath, and then quit exhausted and burnt out.  Rhythm is part of healthy living.  Find a rhythm in work, in rest, in home, in everything.  This is why when you go on a month long vacation or missions trip and come home you feel a little out of sorts.  It’s a big break in rhythm.  We are designed for it.  You need it.  Sabbath is about a regular rest in your regular rhythm of life… and it’s soul nourishing.  Quit giving a head nod agreement to this and cancel some stuff.  Now.

ASK: WHEN ARE YOU MOST ALIVE?

Discover what feeds you: what is it that you could do forever?  Discover what drains you: what is it that saps the most energy from you and leaves you feeling like you need a nap or a beer?.. ha ha.  I said that last comment, not Rob.  Anyway, If you, like me, find that paying the bills exhausts you, then don’t do it in your most creative energy slot of the day.  If you’re a morning person, then structure your day around protecting your mornings.  If you’re a night person, then agree to meet with people for breakfast appointments and keep your nights for stuff you need your most creative and fully present you.

Wednesday I’ll post some thoughts on criticism. Ironically, the timing is perfect cuz I’m neck deep in my next writing project… a book on that subject alone.

If you’re in youth ministry, then an app that you can run off your computer and use a projector or flat screen is almost a basic need in most youth rooms these days.  Even if you’re just using your laptop for 3-4 students to have some fun, I found a sweet website the other day and grabbed a couple of apps that i’ve had some fun with.

It’s a website called digital stache and it has some great resources.

GAME SHOW, SPIN THAT WHEEL.
You pick up to 15 topics or  prizes or whatever you want and put them in the wheel.  Hit spin and game on.  I love that you can ask it to drop a prize once one has been hit, so you never hit the same thing twice.  This is a super helpful feature if you’re using it for questions or a crowd breaker and don’t want to do the same thing twice.

We sometimes have people make the spinning motion by the screen and then have someone hit the button in the back and it looks like they are spinning it. You can even jack with someone and press a button where it mocks you for not being a strong enough spinner.  Super fun.

Only downside I’ve found is that if you’re using it for topics or questions, you can’t have more than 3-4 words before they fall off the edge of the screen as the font doesn’t auto adjust very well.  But besides that, GREAT app.

GAME SHOW SCORE KEEP:
This app let’s you keep score on a big screen between 2 teams. It comes with several backgrounds to choose from and then a few more you can buy for a couple bucks.  I grabbed the guys vs. girls background and we’re definitely gonna use it during our dating series this year. Super fun and very easy!!

GAME SHOW, Ready Set Go.
This is a FREE app and it let’s you customize your countdown clock for even up to an hour.  Awesome resource for nothing.

There you go.  They have some other stuff for music and such on their site, but this stuff was what i needed. If you know of other sites and stuff that you use for youth ministry games, by all means, feel free to share it in the comments.

On Saturday morning I got the privilege of listening to Ken Blanchard, the leadership guru and author of the now infamous leadership resource, “The One Minute Manager.”

I went at the invite of Tic Long and got to spend some time with several of our staff and elders listening to this man in his 70’s spew life wisdom and experience like he’s made of the stuff.  Which after an hour of sharing, I concluded he is.

Here’s some nuggets from him.

“Humility isn’t thinking less about yourself, it’s thinking about yourself less.”

“Profit is not the reason you’re in business.  Profit is the applause you get for doing a job well.”