creativity in my workspace

The Idea Sand Box blog posted a quote recently from Michael J. Gelb’s book ‘Discover Your Genius‘ that has me thinking about the new office I’ll be moving into soon:

Einstein’s parents encouraged his natural talent for imagination by creating a stimulus-rich, brain-nourishing environment. Psychologists have known for many years that the quality of stimulation provided by the external environment is crucial to brain development in the early years of life. Brain researcher Dr. Richard Restak emphasizes that this holds true for adults as well: “Throughout life, not just during the first few months, the brains’ synaptic organization can be altered by the external environment.”

Alter your external environment to liberate yourself from “cubicle-consciousness” and promote creativity in the workplace. Take over a conference room and transform it into an Einstein Room. Replace the standard office furniture with comfortable chairs and a couch, bring in fresh flowers and live plants, and hang inspiring art on the walls. Install a stereo and assemble a collection of favorite music. (Einstein particularly loved Bach and Mozart). Fill the room with large whiteboards and flipcharts and stock it with colored pens. Use this room for combinatory play* sessions on important work issues.

*Combinatory Play is the exercise of taking unrelated topics, items, thoughts, etc. and forcing them together to obtain new and novel ideas and apply them to the problem you’re trying to solve.

tonight is a great night of TV

I know there are many better things to do with my time and mind but I’m not going to hide the fact that I am pumped to just hang out at home tonight and watch The Apprentice. Tuning in to the last two seasons has gotten me hooked and I can’t wait for this new one to get started.

I enjoy watching the different business challenges the teams are given, seeing how the candidates interact with one another and trying to glean a few leadership principles in the process. I am pretty sure that if I wasn’t a pastor I would be in the business or law world, so The Apprentice appeals to my non-pastoral work ambitions. I guess you could say I live vicariously through the experiences of the candidates.

Another entertaining show to watch is Deal or No Deal. This show basically illustrates how money hungry people are. It is super funny to watch people sweat and agonize over how greedy they should be (and yet sad at the same time). The show is a great representation of the classic struggle over the question ‘how much is enough?’

If you got nothing better to do tonight you might want to check these shows out.

Update – How was The Apprentice? My wonderful kids didn’t allow me to watch more than 2 minutes of it.

post-wedding update

Everything went awesome last night at the wedding. Without Stephanie I would have been sunk, but thanks to her guidance I think it was a very special night. My message went great and many people commented on it being very personable, funny and centered on Jesus and the couple.

I was reminded how many people still have such a stiff view of God and church. People would come up to me at the reception and thank me for doing such a ‘different’ and ‘wonderful’ job. I don’t say that to toot my own horn, simply, there are a lot of people who would come to church is they didn’t think it was so stuffy and boring. I hope that my message helps people see that church and God can be fun and worthwhile.

Congratulations Joe and Julie. Thanks for asking me to play a part in your special day.

Way to go on your toast Mark, it was awesome.

my first wedding

So I am about to officiate my very first wedding. We are at a real nice place called Giants Ridge. The lodge is beautiful and the hills look sweet for snowboarding and skiing. Too bad I don’t have time for either. I feel like junk. I have all kinds of sinus pressure and occasionally my nose runs like a hose. Hope I don’t screw up the wedding taking drugs. Pray for me.

My wife saved my butt today during rehersael. She was awesome. Whenever there was a question she took it and ran with it- she found solutions, directed people and made me look really smart for marrying her. Without her, I don’t know what I’d do. Thanks babe, you rock!

i am the revolution

In October our church went through our very first capital campaign. We called it ‘Be the Revolution’ and we focused on God calling us to be revolutionaries in the Kingdom of God. It seemed like people bought into the concept because we were able nearly raise our goal of $500K.

But I read something lately that kicked up some thoughts about our campaign , our church and myself. This is what I read,

“If we want to be a revolution we have to live a revolution.”

What sort of counter-cultural revolutionary crazy things is God calling me to in my life? That is a question that we each have to ask ourselves. It is one thing to make a financial commitment to a church. I did this and I am all about this, but that can’t be the end of my Kingdom contribution. And it can’t be the end of yours.

The revolution of God’s love and presence breaking into this world happens on many fronts everyday. As followers of Jesus we have to ask ourselves 3 questions:

1. Where am I participating with God in his revolutionary work?
2. Where am I doing nothing because I am afraid or lazy?
3. Where am I preventing the ‘Kingdom breaking in’ because of my stubbornness or sin?

knowledge and growth in community

I am currently reading The Last Word and the Word After That by Brian McLaren. I had a light bulb go on as I read this passage. One man is describing to another that all ‘learning and knowing are ultimately communal experiences, social experience.’ He says:

“Think of the word consciousness, whose components mean know with. I’ve found I can only know so much until I find a community that shares my knowing. If I begin growing very far beyond what my community allows me to know, I need to persuade my community to think with me or else find or form a new community.” (p. 129)

Those words are powerful and dead on in my life. As I have been thinking about ‘living in community’ I have found very few people who are in a position to know with me. Therefore I am always feeling stuck, like I am trying to persuade people to share in the learning and knowing process. In many cases I cannot find or form a new community and thus I am required to try and make it work. But that is exhausting.

I love the concept of knowing with. I want more knowing with in my life. But I have to be patient and wait for God to bring it about, either that, or I have to have enough courage to cut free the relationships that are preventing me from growth and experience.

katharine mcphee is my pick for american idol

My female pick for the next American Idol is Katharine McPhee. She has a good attitude, nice style and the girl can straight sing like crazy.

Plus I think she looks like Rachael Ray.
Who do you think will win? Post your predictions in the comments.

welcome to the blog world pastor

Finally succumbing to my constant nagging Michael Grose, the Lead Pastor of Quarry Community Church, has begun blogging. More than anything else, he was inspired by the Blogging Church interview with Perry Noble.

I am blessed to work under Michael and to name him as my pastor, mentor and friend. He’s planted the Quarry and has been doing ministry for the last 15 years. I’m excited to read his stuff because I know it will be fluff-free and we’ll get great stuff on leadership and passion for ministry.

Check his blog out, and please help him come up with a title, because the one he’s got now just isn’t cutting it.

more about the sex topic in Indiana

Here’s another short clip of Pastor Mark Beason on Fox News talking about the mylamesexlife.com campaign. Check it out here.

polar bear, ice hockey, and wrestling

I have played in some crazy outdoor hockey games but I have never seen anything like this. A woman in Quebec jumped in front of a polar bear who was threatening her son. The woman wrestled with bear for a while before another neighbor shot and killed it.

Take a second and read the story here: Bear crashes hockey game, mom saves kids

The funniest part of the story is a quote at the end by a local police officer, “She’s lucky the bear wasn’t hungry,” he said. “If the bear was hungry, she would have been eaten pretty quickly.”