Inside the Big White Ball

I have only been in one other super-creative environment in my life. That was during the years we spent at the PTL Television Network. For all the bad press about the principal players, and the horrible crash at the end, during its heyday, PTL was unbelievably creative, and made a lot of room for creative people. Being at DW feels that way, "on steroids." I have been constantly amazed at the creativity here at Disney World, and the underlying message that you can "achieve your dreams". There is almost a spiritual message being given here, except that the emphasis is on you, instead of Christ. The principles, however, are the same. "If you can dream it, you can see it come to pass." Epcot is a wonderful place that blends science, innovation and a community of nations. On our final full day here tomorrow, we're going back to Epcot to spend some time in the various nation's pavilions. We've been able to see most of the things we planned, but there is so much more. The Spaceship Earth ride and exhibits inside the big white ball are great. That is Shawn in the picture with the sphere. It is interesting, though, our sons would rather ride the thrill rides, while and Kathy and I are enjoying the educational events. Nicole, our 16 year old, can go either way. Whatever you want to do, it's all here. It's very interesting, here I am on vacation, but I feel incredibly challenged to change some of my thinking and ways of doing things when we get home. This has been a restful "kick in the pants".

The Magic Kingdom Is Really Magic

Here I am in Disney's Studios, in the New York City part of the "back lot". We have been here 2 full days now and it is spectacular. Everything about Walt Disney World is 1st class. We've seen 2 evening outdoor shows, one at Epcot and one at Disney's Studios. Both of them had special effects that were unbelievable. It makes my attempts to jazz up our Easter productions with pyrotechnics look like a middle school science experiment gone bad. Several times I've wondered about the creative teams that put many of these events together. They must have had a lot of fun, in the middle of a lot of work. One of the things that makes DW stand out is all the little touches that you can tell really had the "customer in mind". I wonder what would happen if we approached our planning and thinking about the church with the same kind of open-ended creativity. This place makes thinking out of the box seem commonplace. While the focus would be different, and we'll never have the budget that DW does, we could do so much more. I hope to come home with a few good ideas that we can work on. Until then, it's off to Cinderella's castle...

Off to the Magic Kingdom

Tomorrow we leave for a real family vacation. We're actually going somewhere and not staying with relatives. Unless, of course, we run into a long lost uncle in Disney World. This has been an unbelievably busy year. My normal busy work schedule was increased for 17 months by the retiring of our senior pastor. I have enjoyed helping our church leaders in the process of selecting our next pastor, but at times it has made my overall schedule exhausting. Even though I know we'll be busy running around the Magic Kingdom, it will be fun and relaxing. I have never been to Florida, so this will be a real treat. We'll wind up our days away by going to the Florida Atlantic Ocean coast and swim, get knocked down by the waves and lay on the beach. I know it will be great, and relaxing. And maybe, if it works out, I'll sneak away one evening and go to a healing revival that has started in Lakeland, Florida. This revival started somewhat like the Pensacola Outpouring. The evangelist visited the church for a 3 day meeting and has stayed for almost 2 months. Thousands of people have come to visit. If I get to go, I'll write a blog from Florida. For now, I need to concentrate on getting my suitcase packed. M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E.

Slow Down and Enjoy the Ride

On my drive home from the church office, I turn left into our neighborhood on a street that has a gas station on the corner. I must admit that this has become a traumatic event every day. As I wait for the light to change, I stare at the gas price sign in disbelief, mentally calculating what my next fill-up is going to cost. This morning, however, I read some interesting information that sparked a way that might help deal with this. American Airlines is saving $4 million by having their planes taxi with only one engine on. Southwest slowed its flights by one to three minutes and is saving $42 million. Con-Way Freight shaved 3 mph off the top speed of their trucks and saved $13.3 million and are only adding 20-30 minutes to shipments.

Maybe, instead of getting depressed at my now un-favorite left turn, I need to think about ways of working with the gas price situation. Slow down, put more air in my tires, start off slower from a standing start, starting slowing down sooner at stop lights, pump my gas early in the morning when it is more dense and get more that way, and the list can go on and on. There is really nothing I can do as an individual about the price of oil. But I can change the way I deal with it. So I've decided that I'm going to take the American Airlines, Southwest and Con-Way Frieght approach. I'm going to do something myself about the situation. I'm going to slow down and enjoy the ride... If I believe that God can take care of my family and me, and He has never let us down, then now is no different. So later today, I'll be at that left turn into our neighborhood and I may be so distracted by the goodness of God that I'll forget to glance at the gas price sign. Plus, I may be reacting to the person behind me blowing his horn because I started off so slow...to save gas, of course.

Tapping Your Natural Weirdness

I just finished reading In a Pit With a Lion On a Snowy Day by Mark Batterson. Mark is the founding pastor of a very creative church in Washington D.C. In chapter 8 he cites an interesting study on divergent thinking, thinking outside the box. The study found that 98% of children between the ages of 3 & 5 core in the genius category for divergent thinking. Between the ages of 8 & 10, that number drops to 32%. By their teenage age years it drops to 10% and only 2% of those over 25 scored in the genius category for divergent thinking. According to John Putzier, who cites the study in his book Get Weird, the solution to this intellectual conformity and creative atrophy is "tapping your natural weirdness." Mark Batterson writes "tapping into our natural weirdness isn't just one key to divergent thinking, it is a key to divergent spirituality."

The Bible is full of weird and wacky stuff, talking donkeys, prophets who are instructed to do strange things, speaking in tongues on the Day of Pentecost, etc. Mark says "God love variety. He speaks and acts in divergent ways." I really believe that where our culture is today, Christians must tap into our natural weirdness in order to get the attention of people who are flying by without direction or purpose. Cookie cutter churches and cookie cutter Christians are simply not relating the wonderful truth that lives in them to the people around us. Our very familiar customs, programs, and ways of doing things do not relate anymore. Maybe it's time for some weirdness... Join me in reaching into the childlike parts of our being and let's try and awaken some of the out-of-the-box thinking that we were much more accustomed to as children. Maybe, just maybe, a creative idea for touching the lives of soon-to-be-Christians will emerge.

Alone On A Team

Robert Copeland, Ph.D., is the Head of Enzymology & Mechanistic Pharmacology at GlaxoSmithKline and an adjunct professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He said, "To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three men, two of whom are absent." I would expect that from someone who probably has to work through a lot of committees, boards, trustees, etc., in the course of his work. There are many times when I feel that same way. At the beginning of 2007 I decided to document the activities of my working day. I bought a blank page journal and began keeping my to-do-list, completed tasks and activities for each working day. It was amazing to me to see all the entries for some days. I quickly discovered that I needed to figure out a way to carry items over from one day to the next. Some items had to be carried over and over and over again. When I scan the pages and look at those items that had to be carried over, I see that most of these are things that other people have input into, or in some way affect the final outcome. You probably have similar situations. If you scan minutes of meetings, particularly the items carried over from meeting to meeting, you can begin to find a pattern. I think we're all tempted to say at times, "leave me alone and I'll get it done." The flip side of this is the idea of a team, and teamwork. Is it possible to work as a team, together, and actually get some things accomplished? We see good examples around us. Baseball teams aren't called "teams" for nothing. When the 9 players take the field, 4 of them can't go to first base and have an effective defense. Each one must play the area of the field they were assigned, to make sure that the team plays together effectively. However, even polished professional teams break down. One or more players makes an error and the other team takes advantage of them. A great team can accomplish a lot more than a group of individuals working independently. It takes a lot of effort to be a good team member. Sometimes you take a step back so someone can step forward. Sometimes your great suggestion needs to give way to an even better suggestion, from another team member. Sometimes the temptation to "do it yourself" needs to give way to the team doing it, and growing together because of the effort. Where is this all going... I'll write more on this again. Go team!

A Special Missions Convention

Last Sunday we completed our Missions Convention. I have been involved in many missions conventions in several of the churches that we have served. This one, however, was very special because our son, Josh, and his wife, Kelly, were part of the missionary team. Kelly served a year in Luxembourg as a missionary assistant, and Josh has been on a Book of Hope distribution team to Russia as well as on a church building team in Mexico. They have both been exposed to missions all their lives in the churches where they have attended. I think it is great, and scary, that they both have the same passion for foreign missionary service. Great, because they are working together for their immediate goal of spending two years with Book of Hope as Response Team leaders. Scary, because world travel and safety is always an issue, to say nothing about them being half-way around the world instead of living 5 minutes away like they do now. From the very beginning, Kathy and I determined that we would never try to manipulate our children into full-time ministry, but we wouldn't deliberately discourage it either. As it turns out, all three of our grown children are in full-time ministry. On one hand, I'm excited for them because Christian ministry is a wonderful way to spend your life. On the other hand, I get anxious for them because I know how difficult ministry can be at times. It stretches your ability to work with people, stretches your finances and stretches the time with your spouse and family. However, if I had it to do all over again, I would do the same thing. Back to Josh and Kelly, it was wonderful to hear them speak, sharing the vision of their ministry and to watch people respond to them. They are going to be good at this...it shows! God is good and it will be fun to watch His blessing on Josh and Kelly.