Upcoming book by Don Miller

I'm so excited about this new book. I cant wait to get my copy WHEN HE COMES TO MEMPHIS!

Crows on the Cross

So, I thought I'd share this totally random occurrence. Last Sunday, I am walking up to the church for The Stirring. I hear a lot of cawing and I look up at the top of the church. Gathered on the cross were three black crows and a moment later a fourth landed. It had a very Alfred Hitchcock feel to the scene. Like something out of The Birds. Very creepy and ominous. What were they doing there? What sort of meaning should one take for seeing something like that? Coincidence or not, those two things have tons of symbolic meaning that the artist in me was fascinated by. I can't help but wonder, "Um, God, what was that all about?"

From wikipedia "Crows, and especially ravens, often feature stories as a sign or warning of doom or death, because of their dark plumage, unnerving calls, and tendency to eat carrion. They are commonly thought to circle above scenes of death."

Luke 12:24 - Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!

Angry Conversations with God by Susan Isascs

I've been doing a lot of research on prayer for an up-coming art exhibit. I came across this book. It's too funny not to share (folks who get upset with the occasional curse word or have no sense of humor should not read this book).

Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir

by Susan E. Isaacs

Angry Conversations With God began when Susan hit hit forty and found herself loveless, jobless, and living over a garage. When a churchy friend told Susan that she needed to look at her relationship with God was it like a marriage, Susan decided to take God to marriage counseling.

Angry Conversations chronicles Susan's spiritual history, from childhood faith to a midlife crisis, and all the bizarre church experiences in between.

Acceptance of visual art in church. Words vs Image

So I was talking to a pastor of a Lutheran church the other day. I had this question, "Why are churches with very contemporary worship styles so slow to incorporate visual art to the worship?"

Think about it. I'll use a local church as an example. The Life Church of Memphis is a large multi-campus church. It's got a contemporary worship band, concert lighting, a TV broadcast, set design, professional graphic design and video, casual but hip dressing pastor, etc. You get the picture. Lots of churches are like this now, and I dont have any problem with that. I enjoy it.

If you consider all of those innovative and contemporary elements in the worship, it just seems to me that the next logical step would be to include visual art. Why not have a painter creating a work live on stage or have a gallery space? You're more likely to find an acceptance and appreciation of visual art in a very traditional church such as a Catholic, Episcopal, or Lutherian church. I expressed this to pastor Dave. It lead to an interesting discussion about theology. Dave's comment was that Protestant churches focus heavily on the Word. At the base of many of these worship expressions are words - song lyrics, the script in a drama or video, the text in a design, etc. It's all expressions of words and often based on scripture.

I would add that it is also easy to define. Words have set meanings. Images on the other hand (such as a painting) are open to personal interpretation. There are no words. You could also argue that this is the same reason that interpretative dance or ballet is rarely included in worship services.

What are your thoughts?

Dirt - creative conference in Little Rock

Huh, fall must be conference season. I just saw this and thought it was worth sharing since it is so close to the Memphis area:

Dirt Promo from dirt conference on Vimeo.

http://dirtconference.com/

Nov. 10-11 at New Life Church in Little Rock
registration looks like a good deal 99 to 120 depending on when you sign up
Memphis own Brian Pitre from The Life Church of Memphis is giving a presentation

I like their "about" statement:

Dirt is a non-typical creative church conference held at New Life Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.

We don't know about you, but just when we feel like we're on top of our game, we go to a conference that brings our confidence down to sub-zero temperatures. We leave feeling old school and defeated. We realize that's not their intention...but we see all this cool stuff that other churches are doing and we ask ourselves : How can we do that?

Especially on the budget we have right now! We know how you feel about conferences. We feel the same way. We realize that you don't want to attend another conference where you leave, yet again, with that "I suck" feeling.

We get it. Enough is enough. What if we told you you could look under the hoods of these churches that are breaking the mold:

Lifechurch.tv
Church of the Highlands
Seacoast Church
New Life Church
Healing Place Church
The Life Church of Memphis
C3 Church
Bayside Community Church
Celebration Church, TX
Newspring Church

And left saying, "I can do that!" What if we could show you how? What if we could pull back the curtain and show you what you can do? And then gave you attainable goals and the tools and personal connections to get it accomplished.

Dirt. Something from nothing.

Story Chicago - church creatives should check this out

Man, it's events like this that I wish I could attend. But alas, I'd have to do it on my own time and dime because I just volunteer at my church. Those of you who are church staff folk should certainly consider checking this out. I'd go just to hear DON MILLER speak and attend BRAD ABARE, Founder of ChurchMarketingSucks.com, workshop. Oh, this event looks so cool! Hmm, Chicago... that's only 8.5 hrs and 534 mi. but it would cost me 4 vacation days to attend since its in the middle of the week. :(

Donald Miller and Michael Hyatt - Exclusive Interview on Story from Story Chicago on Vimeo.

historytellers.org/about

STORY CHICAGO

October 28 and 29, 2009
The Paramount Theater
Aurora, IL

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators on Wednesday, October 28, at the beautiful Paramount Theater near Chicago. Over 1,500 church leaders, pastors, teachers, artists, and authors are coming to learn from some of the most effective communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told.

Bring your creative team to hear from six master communicators in this theatrical conference experience. You’ll be entertained. You’ll be enlightened. You’ll never communicate the same way again.

Go deeper in STORY. Register for a follow-up day of workshops on October 29 with some of the leading filmmakers, scholars, designers and thought leaders in ministry. You’ll be guided through a creative journey where you can ask hard questions and learn the latest breakthroughs in communication. Space is limited.