A Lutheran, A Methodist, and A Presbyterian Went to a Picnic…, Or The True Nature of Beauty

For as long as I have been a church-going Christian (basically, most of my life), pastors have begun sermons with a joke, an interesting story, or ancedote. If the story isn’t amusing, entertaining, or well-told, something crucial is lost, we start checking our watches. Even if the story may be technically accurate, it will fall flat, and probably not permeate the carefully constructed barrier surrounding the average person’s soul. But truly amusing or captivating stories contain, at the very least, some kernel of truth. The funniest jokes are those where you end up saying “That is so true!” It is the secret to the success of comedian Jerry Seinfeld whose clever observations of our mundane lives have us ROTFLMHO ( That’s the Christian version - Rolling On The Floor Laughing My A** Hinnie Off). Nowdays, we have the Church Video to add to this arsenal to help wake up the pew-sitters. A new tool with which we can use the time-honored phrase “If that doesn’t light your fire, maybe your wood’s wet!” A personal (guilty church pleasure) favorite of mine.

The recent flurry of activity surrounding to Gary’s piece on Collide about Church Video Standards, prompted me to add my voice to the discussion. There are many beliefs that I hold dear to my heart that seem to go hand in hand with this topic. Primarily, the true nature of beauty. His statement that … “Content in not King. Beauty is” has rattled many in the church media community, perhaps as it should, due to our long standing belief that Content is King and that form is secondary to function. Bad news Content, you’ve just been de-throned! Ok, well, maybe its not as simple as all that. Let’s take a look at beauty, and get to the heart of what I believe Gary is really on to here.

For me, I believe that beauty is inextricable from truth. I don’t believe that you can have one without the other. There are those that would argue that there may be many cases where you view art that is well-crafted, and visually pleasing, but tells a story that goes against fundamental principals that we hold to be true. To this I would say “You are correct Sir (or madam)!”

But “every good an perfect gift comes from God.”-James 1:7 Without God there would be no such thing as beautiful lighting, creative camera angles, the golden ratio, faithful rendition through clever codecs, etc. It is only by the true creator that we have these means to tell whatever story is being told. Whether or not we agree with the message, if the medium is done artfully, it contains truth. The reality is that none of our messages, be they conveyed with words printed or spoken, sung, played, filmed or otherwise, will be a completely accurate portrait of the Truth. And this I believe is due to the fact that we are doing our best to know and understand an infinite God with finite minds. Everything we do to try and understand Him, is but a small reflection of some facet of His nature. A great question is, to what purpose are we using these “reflections of truth.” They can some times be muddied and manipulated to serve our own agendas, but in doing so, the human condition is exposed, and we are left with an opportunity to see our true relationship to the Creator.

I believe that God leaves clues to the nature of this relationship in His creation. Consider the way in which our eyes work. We must have light to see. Everything we take in through our visual senses, is a reflection of light. Everything looks the way it does, based on the way that it reflects light. It is dependant on light to be seen. Apart from light, there can be no color. Apart from God, apart from Truth, there can be no beauty.

It is a wonder to me that God in his infinite creativity, wisdom and knowledge made trees. Trees with which we would harvest wood to not only build shelter, but craft into instruments like violins, guitars, etc. Take a moment to listen to a cello played by someone like Yo Yo Ma, and tell me if you can’t hear the voice of God on some level. Even when these instruments are coupled with lyrics or ideas that run contrary to our deep beliefs, the almost mystical beauty that comes from the reverberating wooden hollows belongs to God and would fail to exist apart from him. Its amazing that he entrusts us with such beauty.

Now beauty is a very large thing. It encompases such a vast expanse of the human experience and imagination, that it allows us to develop things such as taste. As we know, what may beautiful to one, is not beautiful to all. This subjectivity is part of God’s plan. It is part of His infinite nature. It tells us more of our particular nature, our particular conditioning based on our experiences, than it does our ability to judge objectively what is beautiful or ugly. Our personal experiences determine our proclivity for one thing to resonate as more beautiful or true than another. It is a combination of our rational mind, paired with our emotional heart, that we determine whether something is really of value, and worthy of living, or changing our lives for. If it looks, sounds, and feels good, but we can not intellectually get behind it, we are not fully committed to it. The converse is also true. It must contain both elements to be truly soul-satisfying.

When it comes to having a Standard for Church Videos, I believe the best way for this to occur is to develop within both the producers and the consumers, an understanding of what will best illuminate the truths that have been given us through the bible and the lives we live in relationship with God. Being a subjective thing, it would be impossible to put to fine a point on what is “correct” video/filmmaking practice. For most every rule, you can probably find a good example of someone who has broken it, and been the better for doing so. The question should be, does this piece resonate with truth? Can it cut through our defenses, and permeate both our hearts and minds? As, Christians, we should strive not to simply mimic the quality and styles of those who believe differently than we do. It should be to find truth and honor it in a way that is useful, and pleasing to God, the greatest artist of all.

No Resolutions. One Goal.

I hate resolutions.  The guys I work with hate them too.  You’ll see this disdain in our videos (Whatever, Starting Now, and Resolutions).  And if you spent time with the three of us, you’d feel it too.

There are two reasons for this disdain.  First, nobody keeps resolutions.  Second (and more important), nobody CAN keep resolutions.  Resolutions are a test of our ability to exert enough self-effort to control a habit, a situation, or a person.  And this pursuit inevitably champions the “pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps” theology that runs rampant in North American Christianity, and is entirely contrary to real Life in the Kingdom of God.

Now you know about me, and resolutions.

But…

There is one goal I have for the coming year.  It’s not fleshed out or anything yet, but it’s there, and is slowly growing in strength and potential (that’s a really complex way of saying I think about this when I mow the lawn, or stand in the shower).

Simply put:  During the next season of my life I want to spend more hours reading than watching television and movies.

I suppose I’ve slowly become someone who uses television as a way of decompressing from the stresses of my life.  I do NOT believe this to be a bad or evil thing.  Yet.  We all need patterns of allowing our minds to stop racing - things that give our minds a break.  For some, television does the trick.  My problem is that I don’t need to decompress AS MUCH as I think I do.  So I’d like to read more, not as another substitute way of decompressing, but as a pathway to further spiritual and professional growth.

I think I’ll stay away from any “How To” books, because I’ve tried the formulas and, for me, they don’t work.  I think I’ll read some previously unread authors (Lencioni, Rohr, Steele), as well as some old favorites (Eldredge, Bell, Miller).   And I think I’ll work my way through some obscure Old Testament book (like Zephaniah, or Habakkuk, or some other book that I only pretend I know something about).

So, if you can picture Dana Carvey impersonating George Bush Sr. on SNL, just say this out loud:

“Resolutions.  Bad.”

“Goals.  Good.”

That’s where I’m at.  And I feel like it’s a God-thing in my life.

How about you?

Bono - Christmas Genius

This morning, Jason forwarded the Floodgate Team a link to Pastor Mark Driscoll’s blog. The article is by Jonathan Dodson, and he’s commenting on the a quote from Bono. We think it’s worth passing along to you…

This reflection on Christmas occurred after Bono had just returned home, to Dublin, from a long tour with U2. On Christmas Eve Bono went to the famous St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where Jonathan Swift was once dean. Apparently he was given a really poor seat, one obstructed by a pillar, making it even more difficult for him to keep his eyes open…but it was there that the Christmas story struck him like never before.

He writes:

“The idea that God, if there is a force of Logic and Love in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in shit and straw . . . a child . . . I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry . . . Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came streaming down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this.”

Christmas Gifts for Pastors

For pastors, there is no better season each year than Christmas. The season seems to carry with it an inherent goodness, not to mention a heart’s openness to the Gospel message. It’s like there’s a non-verbal, clearly spoken message sent into the hearts of our people which says, “Everything can be re-born, and made new.”

But at no time during the rest of the year do pastors work as hard as they do than during the Christmas season. Christmas is not simply a day in the life of a church. It’s a season. And that season consists of planning five or six special worship services. For many Creative Arts pastors, it involves a larger-than-life Christmas production. For Youth Pastors, it involves the kids being out of school, which means a complete shift in time spent with them. And for Lead Pastors, it involves shepherding a who lot of people through lonely, even depressing times.

There is a dual reality of being a pastor during the month of December - it’s incredibly rewarding, and emotionally exhausting, all at the same time.

So this year, why not get your pastoral staff something special? I’ve come up with a few ideas for you to ponder…

* If your church shows videos during its worship services, buy your pastor a copy of “The Quench Project”. This is a compilation DVD of the best videos shown in churches around the world. And 100% of the proceeds go to build clean water wells in Africa. Visit the website for more info: www.thequenchproject.org.

* If your pastor has small children, give him a date night (presumably with his wife), complete with a gift card to his favorite restaurant. Also, financially cover the childcare issue with someone his wife trusts. You just pay the bill. And this is extremely important: You are not invited to go with him.

* Buy your pastor an ITunes Gift Card. Most pastors I know love getting these little beauties.

* Many of you have cabins or second homes. Offer these to your pastors’ families free of charge for a weekend, or even a week.

* Give your Worship Pastor the week after Christmas off. Find someone to fill in the Sunday after Christmas, and let him/her have a weekend that doesn’t revolve around singing more Christmas songs.

* Buy your pastor a Gift card from ChristianBook.com. Most pastors love reading, but can’t afford to purchase the books they enjoy. This will help solve that problem.

These are only suggestions. You know your pastors better than I do. But whatever you do this year, please do something. Do anything. Don’t let the season go by without thanking your pastor, and your entire pastoral staff, for the spiritual growth and maturity they work tirelessly to foster in you. They literally live and die every day with every step of your spiritual advancement. So do something nice for them this Christmas.

Pastors… add your own items for your wishlist below…

The Greater Potential of Thanksgiving

When my daughters were young, we’d take them trick or treating on Halloween. It was usually just a trip around the block - my daughters dressed as angels, or princesses, or babies. The most important thing my wife and I told them, every Halloween without exception, was this: “Remember to say thank you.”

The words “thank you” are possibly the most important words in any language, for any time. It’s not simply about being nice or cordial. Those magic words hit any inclination toward self-reliant pride square between the eyes, and shatter the myth of deservedness. The opposite of gratefulness is entitlement. People who don’t say “thank you” are some of the most arrogant people I’ve ever met, because they often feel like they deserve everything they’ve become.

In our churches, we know the people who are genuinely grateful. They are the worshippers. They are the broken ones. They are the most giving. They are humble at the core. They are grateful because they remember God’s mercy in their lives.

And we know the ones who are not thankful. They are the most negative, the most critical, or the most apathetic. They are the quickest to judge a person who disagrees with them. They feel like hurting people have brought it all on themselves. They withhold compassion. They feel entitled because they have forgotten God’s mercy in their lives.

Thanksgiving is coming. And there is much at stake here. Every year, we set aside one day to express our thankfulness, our gratitude. And every year, we can become tempted to focus more on a large bird, than we do a great God.

There is much at stake here.

At Floodgate, we’ve worked hard over the past three years to help resource your church to experience the true potential of Thanksgiving. We honestly believe that hardened hearts can be transformed into grateful ones. With that in mind, we’ve created a number of media resources for you to implement into your Thanksgiving services. Check them out here.

Whether or not you use any of our resources, it’s vital that churches express gratitude on this wonderful day. And that’s our prayer for you, your leadership team, and your church body. May we be leaders who point people toward a gratefulness that is God-centered, and a thankfulness that comes from their deepest heart.

Because there is so much at stake here.

Veteran’s Day - A Chance to Say “Thanks”

My father was 18 years old when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The next day, he and his friends stood in a line that wrapped around the Navy recruitment office. They were volunteering to defend our freedom. My father would tell you that young men were lying about their ages, just so they could fight against a very real enemy.

I was born in 1964. I do not understand any of the feelings my father’s generation possessed with regard to defending the freedoms they held so dear. It’s not that I don’t want to understand. It’s that I can’t understand.

Until September 11.

On that day, my generation woke up to the reality of a very real enemy, and the inclination deep in our hearts to protect those we love. We were angry, and frustrated, and ready to volunteer. We were scared and confused.

And for the first time in my life, I got it. There was intellectual understanding, with a depth of feeling I had never before experienced.

Veterans are people unlike me. They not only feel deeply about defending America, but they act on those feelings. They put their lives on the line for us. Think about that statement: They put their lives on the line for us.

With a deeply grateful heart, the creative team at Floodgate Productions has created our latest mini-movie. It’s called “A Veteran’s Voice“. If you do nothing else this Veteran’s Day weekend, please pick up this video, and just play it in your worship services. People from my father’s generation, from my generation, and from the upcoming generation need to know that WE APPRECIATE the heart they’ve given us.

If you don’t like the video we’ve created, then please make the time to find another video honoring Veterans. Check here.

Again… let us not forget….

They put their lives on the line.

For you. For me.

I pray the church communicates how grateful we are to these brave and courageous people.

Should There Be a Church Video Standard?

Last Tuesday afternoon, I received an email from my pastor. Jason, Dave, and I were in the middle of a lunch meeting with the largest church video distributor in the world. Ironically, my pastor’s email message had to do with church video distributing. Here’s my rough paraphrase of his question:

“Gary. I’m looking for a video for this Sunday. It needs to be about the freedom we have from sin, in Christ alone. I’ve looked for the past hour on a church video website, and the videos are awful. I would never show them in our church. Do you guys have anything on that topic, or can you recommend something that’s good?”

I emailed him back, and basically said, “No. Sorry.”

His response was even stronger in his next email: “Then will you please tell your friends who make videos to make them with a certain quality standard? And please tell them to be less preachy….” Because he had already spent an hour of his time looking for a video and found nothing. he concluded, “I want my hour back!”

What are your thoughts?

This is an industry that’s growing larger by the hour, so it’s important that pastors and church leaders consider questions like this. Should a video that a high schooler made on his camcorder for his youth group be allowed to sell on a website, especially if the quality is lacking? Or is there a quality standard that churches and video distributors should adhere to?

Keep Taking Risks

In a bit of a follow-up post, I wanted to continue to discuss our response to Wall Street. Last week, the team at Floodgate created a video response, in hopes that it would serve Christ’s church around the country. It is very relevant and timely video, and we invite you to check it out here. As I write this, the video has been downloaded over 2500 times. Obviously, that message was important to you.

Over the past couple of days, I’ve been chewing on a separate, but related message that I think God is speaking to my heart. The message is a simple one…

During times of great economic distress and anxiety, don’t stop dreaming.

If you’re already bent toward having all your ducks in a row before you make a decision, then my simple post won’t change that in you. But if you’re like me - a dreamer and a wanna-be risk taker who is scared - then let’s agree together right now that we need to keep dreaming, keep pushing the cause of Christ, and keep creating outside-of-the-box ministries and ideas. Let’s keep giving money and resources away to people in need. Let’s keep risking. Let’s keep reaching out. Spend less, to be sure. But dream bigger than ever before.

And above all… let’s agree to keep elevating the glory of God beyond this financial mess. He may be behind the meltdown. He may have nothing to do with the meltdown. But this one thing I know…

God is above the meltdown.

He supersedes it. He’s bigger than Wall Street. He’s far greater than any economic plan any politicians commit to implementing.

So please, please, please… keep risking and dreaming. Keep walking by faith. Keep placing yourself in the direct path of unbelievers, and allow yourself to display Christ’s grace and truth to them. Keep laughing with your friends, your spouse, and your children. And as prepare for this weekend’s worship services, plan to worship God like never before. Elevate His glory, and all these things will be added unto you.

I promise.

Wall Street Response Video

Preview/download the video now.

On Tuesday morning, September 30, I woke up early with a message on my heart. I’ve become really good at dismissing these messages as stupid ideas that will never work. I tried to do this, but God kept pushing me with ideas, scripting, and even camera shot movement. I knew that we’d need to write, shoot, edit, and upload the video all in one day. Good luck with that. We couldn’t get an actor at such short notice, so I decided to do it.

I showed this video to a friend (Scott McClellan), who’s the Editor of Collide Magazine. His quote is perfect: “…it seems as though a lot of Christians put their trust in their 401k’s and mutual funds to take care of them while they live, and put their trust in Jesus to take care of them when they die.” How true is that?

The result is a video we’re proud to offer you. Check it out here. Download it and show it in your church this week. Then please come back to this post and comment on how you used it in your unique church. What were the elements surrounding the video? Did you have anyone respond as a result of the worship service?

When it all comes down, it’s all about God’s love for us, and our trust in that love. It really doesn’t get any deeper than that. May we trust in God, when the (blue) chips are up, and when they’re down. The events of Wall Street over the past two weeks have not caught God by surprise. It’s not like God thought, “Crap. Never saw that one coming.” May we learn to trust His love for us, and respond in worship more than ever, during this crazy period.

One final important note:  For the initial two weeks following the creation of this video, we offered it for free.  As of Monday morning October 13, the video is available for $10 - still half the price we normally charge for our mini-movies.

The Great Heresy of American Christianity

The term “heresy” is a harsh one, and reserved only for belief systems that directly contradict the clear teachings of Scripture. I’ve been encountering a modern-day heresy lately, and had to post. The heresy is a subtle, and can best be described by looking at the life of Bill.

Bill is a Christian. He attends church regularly, serves in the Children’s Ministry every other month, loves his family, and prays every night. He is kind, and likable. He is normal. Bill works hard at his job, complains every now and then, but is never disrespectful to his authority figures. Bill is a good guy. And he will definitely be in heaven one day.

But Bill’s core belief about life is where the heresy lies. Simply put, Bill “gets through” every day, and asks God to help him do that. Bill’s life is in the driver’s seat, and God is his Assistant. With “God’s help”, Bill makes it through every day.

It is subtle. It is popular. And it is heresy.

And our churches are filled with people who function and believe just like Bill does.

The Bible paints a completely different picture of our lives. The Bible paints a picture of a Sovereign and Loving God who is not only in the driver’s seat, but One who also created the road He’s driving on. He is the Driver. He is the fuel. He is the destination. He is the starting point. He is the journey. The truth is that we are assistants. We are speaking His words, and we are explaining and displaying His character to the world, because It ALL points to Him.

God’s goal is not to help us get through our days (although He does this every day). God’s goal is to get us to see the world the way He does, and then to respond with the mind of Christ in appropriate, and sometimes irresponsible ways.

Galatians 2:20 explains it best: “For I have been crucified with Christ, and it is NO LONGER I WHO LIVES, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live, I live BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD, who loved me, and gave himself up for me.”

Christianity does not offer anyone a God who becomes our Assistant. Christianity offers an EXCHANGED life - His life for ours. And it does so with an entirely new purpose - to make known the majestic name of the Most High God. Before Christ, it was all about us. The Great Heresy of North American Christianity has figured out a way to continue to make it all about us, but with God’s help.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

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