Creative Ministry

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I went to the store for my wife last night just before 9:00. No big deal: my wife knows I will do anything for her (unless it has to do with crawling & broken glass). While I was there I had the opportunity to encourage two different customers, a cashier, and a co-worker of mine. Plus I got a good deal on some fruit.

I have found that opportunities for ministry are everywhere. All we have to do is be a little creative and look for them.

A friend of mine, L.C. Campbell, goes to his local Walmart just about every evening. He really doesn't need to buy stuff all the time. He goes because he knows that is where people are, and people need encouragement. And that's what he does: he helps and encourages people. This isn't something new for him. I have known L.C. for over 35 years, and this has always been his lifestyle.

I know of other people who regularly go to Starbucks so they can develop relationships and somehow be a help and witness to their "Starbucks friends". Another person I know rides on public transportation so he can be around people, and find ways to creatively help those who need it.

Each week at our staff meeting, I remind our team that what we do is about people, not tasks. We need to simply see the people that cross our paths, and look for ways to touch them, to encourage them, to minister to them.

Some Christians squeeze their eyes shut and passionately pray, "Lord, show me who You want me to minister to today." I say open your eyes and look around: people are everywhere. Pick one and go minister!

Question: What do you do to creatively minister? Please respond below.

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A Goose-Eye View

I run several miles most mornings, and on my usual route the road I traverse splits between some woods and a small lake. At a little after 6:00 am, a family of Canadian geese are usually in my path, moving between the woods and the lake.

I have no desire to disrupt their family outing, so I swing out in front of them, giving a wide berth. They appear unfazed by the presence of a human. I appear to be unfazed by the presence of geese (except I have to be careful where I step).

I wonder what the geese see as I ramble by. A tall animal? Knees and shoes? My guess is they see what is in front of them, and not much more. Their goal is to move from the woods to the lake. They are focused on the task at hand, and on not much else.

Now when we usually think of geese, we think of a tight formation of flying honkers several hundred feet in the air. We see the familiar "V", and draw all kinds of analogies for life. Geese teach us when they are flying, not when they are taking early morning strolls.

But allow me to try a bit of creativity...

Sometimes we are like the geese I encounter each morning. We are busy "walking" from one thing to the next, event to event, experience to experience. Our perspective is limited by what we see in front of us, by our next destination.

Maybe we need to get a different perspective and rise above the ground-level path. Maybe we weren't meant to walk on the ground, but we were meant to fly.

Question: What do you do to alter your perspective? Please respond below...

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Creativity Amid Distractions

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I'm sitting in my office and preparing to write this, my latest Blog post. I have just listened to the final mix of a song that my wife had recorded, and I am feeling a bit creative. Down the hall, I can hear the muffled sounds of the Camp Sonshine band rehearsing for this evening's service. The stage is set for great creativity to flow from my brain...

All of a sudden, I am distracted by the obnoxious "tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum..." of a folding machine in another office. The beautiful melodies and harmonies of the Camp band vocalists are swallowed in the grind of the folder. The cool guitar riffs that I was enjoying have become less than background noise. Even the tempo of the folding machine doesn't even come close to what the band was driving. Tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum...

Arrrrgh! But wait, I tell myself. Creativity isn't always about the perfect setting, the perfect idea, the perfect "canvas". Sometimes creativity is about adapting to the situation, changing the tempo, going with the flow.

Life is full of distractions. There are always going to be "things in the way". The perfect setting may never present itself to us. But we can still be creative. In fact, I believe that the best creators are the ones who can leverage the distractions into creativity.

So what did I do with the "tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum, tiggy-dum..." that was distracting me from writing my Blog? I used it as the subject of the post you just read.


Question: How do you handle distractions when trying to be creative? Please respond below...

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Simple Things, Big Ideas

Sometimes the best ideas come from simple things: reading a story to a child, a walk in the park, a conversation with a friend. We just need to look for ideas in everything.

Here are some simple things that yielded big ideas for me:

• While driving through Chennai, India and watching the "organized chaos" that existed on the crowded streets, I thought of a plan to relate to the multiple leadership styles and personality types that made up the pastoral team I am a part of.

• While enjoying a college production of Guys and Dolls a few years ago, I got the idea for a Christmas musical and ended up writing one with a good friend, Rick Libert.

• Sitting on the porch outside of Starbucks one day, enjoying a Java Chip Frappachino, I got the idea to ask the barista to add two pumps of raspberry. Now it's my favorite summer drink! (Hey, it's an idea!)

This morning as I was running, I caught the sunrise through a break in the trees. It was spectacular! It was while observing a similar sunrise not too long ago that I penned these words that became a song:

Radiant splendor dancing through the skies
Morning sun that pushes back the night
How great are you Lord
How great are you Lord
How great are you Lord to me
Creation proclaims
I join in the the praise
How great are you Lord to me

Question: Where have you found creativity or ideas in the simple things? Share your responses below.

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