Tag Archive - creativity

Jon Acuff On Writing, Storytelling, Cultivate09 and His New Book, “Stuff Christians Like”

September 30, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

jon
The only time you might possibly see me up before 5am is if my baby daughter is sick and can’t sleep, or if I’m interviewing Jon Acuff, the writer of the uber popular blog, Stuff Christians Like. As luck would have it, I was up at 3:30am with my daughter this morning and on the phone with Jon at 5am interviewing him about the upcoming Cultivate Conference, and picking his brain on writing and the creative process behind his new book Stuff Christians Like, which is set for release on April 1, 2010 (Jon, is there an April Fool’s joke coming with your book?). I first met Jon at the Los Angeles airport on September 10 as we waited to share a car ride together to the Christian Web Conference, and it was one of the most encouraging, insightful and funny car rides I have had. I was super impressed with Jon’s combination of witty, intelligent humor, and his humbleness.

So this morning as we talked on the phone there are a few things I wanted to pick his brain about:

Rhett: “Jon, tell me a little bit about your session that you are facilitating at the Cultivate Conference?”

Jon: “I’m doing a 10 minute segment about storytelling where I hope to plant an idea that will hinge both Cultivate and Story since most people are going to both conferences. What I want to talk about is one of the biggest challenges of storytelling.”

Rhett: “In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge of storytelling?”

Jon: “Being dishonest. Writing what you think you should write versus what’s in your heart.”

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Some Midweek Technology: Controversy, Convergence, Creativity and Fun

March 25, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 2 Comments

A couple of things in the area of technology and some of the social media tools we use–caught my eye this week. And I wanted to share them with you because I think they are of great importance for us as we think through and wrestle with the implications of our technology and our theology.

twittervoice3dscreenshot3-thumbFirst, as I have mentioned before, one of my favorite blogs is John Dyer’s, Don’t Eat The Fruit. I love his tagline, “technology is fast, but redemption is slow.”

Well, John in his free time decided to create a Twitter application for fun, but that also reflected in his creation what words could not. And his design has a very insightful theological approach. In the post TwitterVoice3D: Creativity, Chaos, and Order in the Online World, John says this:

Twitter is an amazing showcase of human creativity. Yet, as with all human creations, it needs to be ordered. If one were to fully join the conversation of Twitter, one would have to be on it all day, all the time, every minute. But to be creative as God intended us, we must order it, rather than let it order us. In a sense, we have to go against it’s nature as chaotic and discarnate and choose to make it orderly and use it for incarnate ends.

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Matt Knisely: What Are You Passionate About?

March 6, 2009 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 16 Comments

225px-kniselyWho Is Matt Knisely?
I first met Matt at ChurchTechCamp:.Dallas after we had spent some time chatting back and forth via Twitter, later getting the chance to connect again at TrainFriday, and then just a few weeks ago we had the opportunity to reconnect in Dallas and go out to dinner together with our families.

Over the last couple of months I have really come to appreciate his friendship, as well as the wisdom and insight that he has to share. I have also found his passion for storytelling, especially through film and photography to be inspiring, also giving me hope that there are those thinking differently and creatively about how to tell more effective and powerful stories through that medium in the church.

Matt is currently the Director of Communications and Media for Lawton First Assembly in Oklahoma.

Check out Matt’s blog (which is currently undergoing some awesomeness), his Twitter, and his wikipedia page. And by the way, I don’t know anyone with more Emmy awards.

In Their Own Words
What are you really passionate about?

I’m passionate about community and global awareness. I believe everyone was created to DO something genuine and to help their community and world. I have been charged with using my talents and passion of “visual storytelling” for non-profits. In this day and age with over-saturated non-profits, new media, and communication mediums a non-profits message and brand must stick out; the power of a story can make a huge difference. Visual storytelling is the key, whether video or still images bear witness to compassion, to the undying hope which persists in the face of suffering, and to the universal beauty of humanity, created in the image of a loving god.

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Tim Keller’s Preaching Notes: How Do You Prepare Your Notes?

October 6, 2008 in Ministry-Theology, Technology-Social Media with 3 Comments

I found this link to Tim Keller’s preaching notes here, thanks to a link from DJ Chuang’s site who compared them to something belonging to Jason Bourne.

It’s just fascinating to me to see the many different ways preachers, speakers, teachers, etc. prepare speaking notes. Everyone has their own method that works for them. More recently I have been getting into arranging my talks and teaching ideas around a mind map. I have been using tools like Mind Meister to help me with the process. Thanks to Tony Steward for helping me with this stuff. He is great at mind maps.

It’s amazing for me the connection between therapy, ministry and social media when using mind mapping. Therapy often involves genograms and family systems thinking that is helped by maps and symbols; social media and technology often flows out of ideas that are represented in charts, symbols, graphs….think white boards everywhere. Only makes sense to me that I should carry this creativity over into ministry and move away a bit from the number, bullet point, bullet point, number, bullet point, bullet point method. Know what I mean?

What types of notes do you prepare for preaching, speaking, teaching, etc.? Does it work well for you? Any suggestions for us?