This picture has gone across facebook today in the theatre community. I saw my brother Elic's repost of it. The thing is pretty powerful - a note regarding a tech rehearsal from a theatre production that puts the healing power of storytelling into perspective.

Everyone who creates art in some way will have their own take on this story and the meaning of it, and so here's mine: We may not ever be able to see it as clearly as it is described in this paragraph, but do not be mistaken about it - the storytelling that we do, be it in video, theatre performance, podcasting, writing, poetry, dance - you name it - it accesses the healing power that can only be found from a loving God who wants to be in relationship with us.

The reason that we storytellers love to tell stories is on the off-chance that a moment like the one described in the picture could occur - that God would work in an incredible way. He does, He is, He will.

We just have to be brave enough to keep telling the stories, no matter the cost.

If your computer is "image impaired", here is a transcript of the note that was taken during a tech rehearsal for this show: "It was generally agreed by all that the show was "kind of rough" (tech wise). But after the show we learned that there was a 5 year old autistic child in the house. He had never spoken. But as the lights went down, he began to talk. In full sentences. He called the teacher by name. She had no idea he even knew her name. He was engaged in the show - at one point commenting to the teacher that if there is a dragon then there will be fire. And there was fire. He talked all throughout the show. When the lights came back up - he quit talking and returned to his world. So, yes, I could list all the little things that went wrong today but that is not what this show is about. And that little boy certainly didn't see those things as he sat talking in the dark theatre watching Harold and his Purple Crayon."

Keep story-telling, storytellers.

If you aren't watching ABC's "Once Upon a Time" on Sunday nights, you should be.

Especially if you are a pastor, or work or lead in the creative arts at a church.

See if this sounds familiar: a show takes on fairy tales of old, by taking these old, familiar stories and repackaging them in a way that not only makes them fresh for a new audience but plays upon the collective memory of the old story itself, so that one is simultaneously drawn to the the old, old story but are now witnessing that old story in a new light. Sound familiar?

The show itself runs into trouble from time to time with some less-than-stellar dialogue, and some very obvious CG, but its efforts in telling a story of good and evil, not to mention addressing omnipotent characters and the handling of characters within such a story, well, they are commendable, and there is a lot to learn from them.

Right now you can still see the show for free, streaming all the episodes on abc.com. Check it out and tell me what you think!

And if you want to hear more from me on the topic, download the January 10 episode of the Pop Culture Pulpit Podcast. You can subscribe through iTunes by clicking here.

If you've ever felt like you were chained to the almighty dollar, then you might like Community Christian's new video all about the fact that for most of us, the almighty dollar has "really got a hold on us."

Enjoy the sweetness, and have a great day! This video kicked off our brand new series "The Ladder", where we as a church are spending three weeks to delve into what steps are needed to become a generous person, and how God wants to come alongside us to break the chains. You can check out the entire message at www.communitychristian.org, and the video short is available here or click below.

On Monday, I read a blog post from Tim Schraeder, a friend of mine who consults in the arena of church communication. He has written/compiled a brand new book called Outspoken, and is generally a totally awesome, humble guy. You should follow him on twitter, read his blog, buy his book, and stalk him relentlessly.

His post was called “A Plea for Originality”, and his argument is that our churches need to foster originality, that the world needs it, needs it from our churches, and that when we borrow/steal/grab from pop culture, or even other churches, to get our message across, we run the risk of becoming unoriginal, which can lead to becoming inauthentic, uninspired, or lazy.

If you would like, take a moment to read his entire post, because in my post, I would like to respectfully disagree with some of his assertions. I think he uses a killer example and makes an effective broad brush stroke, but I think there is something to be gained from taking a look at “the other side” of the argument.

Okay, here goes: Tim starts by showing some horrifying pictures of how the “Microsoft” store is copying the Apple Store with its look and feel, and how that reminded him of how unoriginal churches seem like the Microsoft in this scenario. He wrote, of the Microsoft store:

I wasn’t the only one who snapped a picture of the Microsoft Store and muttered words of displeasure over this blatant forgery. It’s hard to deny or hide, especially since the Apple Store was just a few storefronts down.

Then he connected that to the churches who are doing the same thing, in his mind. As he puts it, these churches

… take a great idea or concept and adapt their own cheapened version of it and claim it as their own.

Whether it’s taking cues from pop culture or “borrowing” an idea from another church, many churches are plagued with unoriginality. The end result is that to many people in the communities they are trying to reach, like the Microsoft Store, they can come across as unoriginal, inauthentic, uninspired, and lazy.

Okay, on one hand, I agree with the premise. I’m a creative guy. I like to think of creative ideas, and I like to express those creative ideas in the local church. I am grateful to Community Christian Church for giving me a platform to be able to do so with our very creative teams. And everyone who is responsible for creating in a church, should do exactly that. They should create.

But to put “cues from pop culture” or “borrowing ideas from other churches” exclusively in the category of being unoriginal, is not only throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but also coming close to excavating the entire tub.

A creative brainstorm can and should include source material from which you derive inspiration, and emulate content. There is no reason to be afraid of such things. Originality is not the same word as creative. There is a reason those are different words in the dictionary.

Let’s go back to Tim’s example. Let’s pretend for a minute that the Microsoft Store was not two doors down from the Apple Store, but rather, so far away and remote that literally, no one who walked by had any notion that there was such a thing as an Apple Store. What would that customer’s experience be? If Microsoft has learned by watching Apple and has emulated their shopping environment, and the customer is none the wiser, and has a great experience, then what is the harm to that customer? If they are satisfied with the product, it works well, and they have only good things to say about it, in what way is that particular use of these ideas damaging?

In many of the churches I’ve come across, I, as a practitioner, know that the song is by Chris Tomlin. I know that series title came from Andy Stanley. I am aware that Elevation church created that video. Or that the hilarious video I just watched (many currently available at www.bigidearesources.com) was from Community Christian. But does anyone else? Do they need to know? Is there a responsibility for a “full disclosure” statement in our programs with sources and links to the originals? I don’t think so. If it works, use it – God is not telling you to reinvent the wheel on principle.

But let’s stick with the example. Apple is creative, yes. And their products are killer. Typing on one now. But try going into the Apple Store to buy an Apple printer. You can’t. Don’t get me wrong, you can buy a printer there, it’s just not made by Apple. Cause they don’t make those anymore. I used to have an Apple laser printer back in the 90s (actually, it’s still in my house somewhere), but alas, Apple in a fit of un-creativity has “borrowed” printers from other churches and is selling them in their store. How unoriginal, right?

No, not right. Apple decided to unleash their creativity in one area of their core business by releasing another area to other experts. Printing? Sure, we could make awesome Apple printers. But if we let other people do that, then we can come up with the iPad.

Tim grants us that there are “no original ideas”, but then dismisses the possibility that God can use someone else’s original idea and repurpose it in a new environment. I agree with Tim that inspired design and creativity shouldn’t be rare in the church. But neither should sharing. And collaboration. And when we stick to our guns on one end of the spectrum, we miss out on the opportunities the other has to offer. Sometimes the best way to inspire new creativity is by celebrating (and using) the creativity of others.

It is possible to access and repurpose art in a church environment without being lazy or cheapening the image of Christ. It isn’t easy, and the traps that Tim describes are there, but it’s not a reason to dismiss it entirely.

So be original? Yes. But more importantly, be creative. And creativity must include using other sources. We make a lot of original content at our church, but we also purchase great video content from Worship House Media, we beg other churches to let us use their idea, or use their videos, we look to see what works and we use it. And I hope that others do the same with us. It turns out that when you work at a church, you must provide content 52 weeks of the year. No one has the wherewithal to remain completely authentically un-dilutedly original for fifty-two weeks in a row. It is literally impossible. Your brain would explode.

Except maybe this year. Since Christmas is on a Sunday, a lot of churches are taking that Sunday off. So, yeah, you could do it in 51. But not 52. That’s crazy.

Thoughts? Reactions?

Anyone wanna buy an Apple Printer antique?

In podcast #66 of the Pop Culture Pulpit, I spoke about today being not just Halloween, but JesusWeen. Listen to that here.

In the meantime, Happy Jesus-ween, and enjoy this article I found today all about how the church needs to do Zombie-outreach, the right way.

Have a great October 31st!

Hey y'all. Would love it if you would listen to my podcast [The Pop Culture Pulpit] - even more if you would go to iTunes and give it a positive review. Thanks!

Yep. You heard me. Free music from Jars of Clay. CLICK HERE TO GET IT, or enter your email and zip code below to make it happen. Enjoy the sweetness!

So I thought I would let my first post of October (eek) be a barrage of coolness: things I've seen/taken in this week that I think is/are awesome.

First up: my new episode of The Pop Culture Pulpit - for the first time I have a guest! My good friend and the "king of tv" Paul Goebel - he talks with me about the new fall tv season, and it was great to have him as a guest. Listen by clicking here.

Next up: Check out this "shadow artist" - his sculptures are crafted and shaped theough steel and shadows. Very creative.

Here's a trailer for a fascinating new movie called The Artist: a film made this past year that utilizes the craft of "silent movie making" to tell its story. What at first sounds cheesy and unnecessary sure does look cool and actually compelling.

Have you ever thought of Jerry Seinfeld as a prophet? You will after seeing this stand-up on the concept of answering machines and their functionality in our contemporary world of Facebook:

And finally, mashups seem to be all the rage, and this one combines the vocal stylings of Tom Waits with the visual impact of cookie monster, and, in many ways... it speaks for itself. Enjoy the clicking everyone!

If you ever wondered about the healing power of laughter, watch this video, compiled by "Everynone" - made up of videos found on youtube. Enjoy some laughs this Wednesday!

Several years ago I had the opportunity to direct the musical "Children of Eden" at Porchlight Music Theatre. It was so much fun, and very rewarding, as a guy who worked at a church to be able to bring my point of view to a work about the first couple of families in the Old Testament. With a score from Stephen Schwartz, the writer of "Wicked" among other great musicals, it was a blast.

The show uses its Act One to tell the story of Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. In the second Act, we visit Noah and learn all about the flood. It's a great story of generations and relationships of family. The show chooses to cast God as "Father", interacting among his "children" in the early stages of planning his great wonderful world. It's when we get in our own way that things get interesting. And no one seems immune. Not even, in this show, "father."

At church we are in a series called "Love at Last Sight", and it's all about making changes in our relationships to make love last - certainly a lesson that this show communicates.

This past weekend, Epic Theatre Company opened our production of the musical, to a standing ovation on the first performance! It runs one more weekend, with three more shows only! You can see the show on:
Friday, September 23rd at 7:30, or
Saturday, September 24th at 8pm, or
Sunday, September 25th at 3pm.
Don't miss it! Click on any one of the dates above to reserve tickets in advance (which isn't a bad idea to make sure you get a seat - after great word of mouth, I suspect that we will be filling the gymnatorasium with lots of Children of Eden fans! (Including my parents, as four of their five grandchildren are in the show!)

Here is a video preview: a segment from the song that closes Act One, "Children of Eden." Get your tickets today!