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Courtesy a blog post by Tony Morgan, I found an article in Inc.com spelling out tips from the country’s top innovation consultants on how to stay creative. Being one whose job it is to be creative, I read through it and gained lots of valuable insight into staying creative.

For those of us with short attention spans… here’s Tony Morgan’s summary. If you’re interested in the full version, read Inc.com.

1. Get multicultural. - You need to get around people that are different than you.
2. Provide lots of free time to think. - Give staff freedom with their schedules, and encourage them to be “off” and dream big.
3. Encourage risky behavior. - Maybe my wife will let me ride a scooter.
4. Write it down. - Encourage your team to write and share their lives with others. (More blogging!)
5. Hire smart. - Hire risk-takers. You need people that are willing to embrace change.
6. Bring in outsiders. - Bring in outside perspective to expand your thinking.
7. Be flexible. Very flexible. - The same strategy doesn’t work for every situation.
8. Do it for free. - Give your team the ability to give their work away and serve others.
9. Mix up your people. - Let people step into new team environments for a season.

To the readers my coworkers - Fred, Travis, Justin, David - after reading this, how can we get more creative and encourage an environment of creativity?

Your thoughts?

Link to: Tony Morgan’s post
Link to: The Inc.com article

Here is one of the most practical and view-altering videos I’ve seen on church growth. Rick Warren is being interviewed regarding church discipleship and growth and his response to the Reveal Study by Willow Creek. It’s about 30 minutes long and well worth it.

During my first year of college I started attending First Baptist Brunswick, GA. There I met several ministers who so graciously sowed into my life and really affected the direction of my life. Over those five years I took away so many good tips, experiences, and ideas for ministry that I know I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them. One tip in particular has application throughout all areas of ministry and secular events.

“Kill it before it dies”, Waller Boyer said to me one night while he and I were leading a Disciple Now down in Jacksonville, FL. “Leave them wanting more.”

That statement rocked me.

So I started the implications of doing just that with different areas of ministry. How many sermons, music sets, dramas, videos, _____insert ministry here_____ have started out strong but the end perception was boredom or disinterest? Ministers, have we “lost” our audience and wondered why? This could be the answer.

When writing sermons, blog articles, and tutorials I try to use the “kill it before it dies” method. I get rid of all the extra stuff and try not to repeat myself unnecessarily. When possible I provide pictures to illustrate my point so I don’t have to beat the point to death. I try to write a 30 minute sermon, condense it to 15 minutes, and then when I go over (like usual) the message ends up being 25 minutes - the perfect length. I believe that I should be able to illustrate my point within the alloted time. If not, there’s probably too much “extra” stuff that could be removed, condensed, or otherwise better said. I also believe that a sermon should rarely be finished at church. There should always be some takeaway for the audience to have to work through and thus finish the sermon in their hearts. Leave room for that. Leave room for God to work.

Application to worship music? We need to keep a bead on the crowd and not let the songs go on too long. Luckily I am in a situation where that doesn’t happen much. If anything I want more. I could stand another 10 minutes of music easily, but maybe that’s the point. Leave me wanting more. Force me to seek out that satisfaction.

In my line of work it has applications on the non-sermon side of things as well. When being approached by someone to build a website I pass on a tip to them regarding their site content. I tell them, “Write what you want to say to the reader. Come back the next day and get rid of half the words. Then come back the next day and get rid of half of what’s left. You are then left with all the information you wanted to communicate in a smaller and easier to digest package.” It is more likely to be read and remembered if there is less to read and remember.

So that’s my little takeaway. Apply this to whatever you do in ministry and I believe the perception thereof will be more pleasant and engaging.

Please comment and let me know your experiences with this. Good or bad. Did this click with you? Do you disagree? Let’s talk.

It’s amazing what two weeks will do. You see staff meeting used to kill me. I work at a church which should be so interesting and fun but I can’t pay attention for two hours to stuff that doesn’t concern me. Not that I don’t care about children’s ministry volunteers and the like - it just doesn’t interest me for that long. Then something happened, staff meetings became staff worship times. I was glad. But it was hard to focus because I couldn’t help but remember all the things that I could be doing to get ready for Sunday. I was torn. Eventually I lightened up and became free to worship after a few weeks. Then prayer became a bigger part of staff meetings. We were singing, praying, and discussing the overall direction of the church. We moved the individual ministries’ discussions to other times so we could focus. Oddly, I actually liked staff meetings. I eventually quit calling staff meetings “staff infection”. I looked forward to every other Tuesday.

Fast forward to two weeks ago when our pastor, after a week in prayer up at IHOP in KC, comes back broken and changed. He confessed that he as a leader hadn’t led us as a staff to seek God first, then do ministry second. When your church is getting so big and then moving into a brand new facility while still trying to keep up with making sure Sunday happens, it’s easy to forget the relationship for the sake of the ministry. We all had done it in some way. Many of us, as a staff, unknowingly believed the lie that serving God can replace knowing Him.

During that staff meeting we read the Bible. We talked about seeking God FIRST. We talked about the One Thing… God. It was the best staff meeting yet. We spent an hour and a half talking and praying and reading Scripture. Then David dropped the bomb.

For two weeks, our first hour at work was to be spent seeking God. No discussion. We were to shut our door and pray, read, sing, whatever. He realized that we as a staff could not serve God unless our relationship with Him was in order. He wanted us to give God the first fruits of our time. It’s been amazing.

In those two weeks I prayed more than I had in years. I read more of the Bible than I had in years. I got to be in God’s presence each morning for a solid hour. It has changed my life.

When we met again for staff meeting after those two weeks we were all thinking the same thing but someone piped up and asked it, “Can we keep doing it?” So we are.

Our stress level is down. I seem to be getting more done in less time. I feel at peace. I’m just randomly talking to God. Scriptures are coming to mind more frequently in situations where I need them. Praise Jesus.

My pastor told us to work less so we can seek God more. Where else can you find that? We’re blessed, lucky, whatever. Praise God for the leadership He’s put in place.

So I encourage you, if this testimony get to your heart at all, spend an hour with God each day. It will change you. Of you want those Scriptures David gave to us they are:

• Psalm 27:4
• Luke 10:41-42
• Philippians 3:13-14
• Isaiah 64:4-5
• Matthew 6:6
• Matthew 6:33
• Hebrews 11:6

In my time of prayer I chose to put on some background music and it tended to help me tune out distractions outside my door. The two albums I listened to were The Mix Up by The Beastie Boys (iTunes / Amazon) and everything by Explosions in the Sky (iTunes / Amazon).

Friends, go after the One Thing.

I heard this prayer earlier today by Sir Francis Drake called ‘Disturb Us, O Lord”. It’s a good one.

I urge you to read this, reflect on it, and pray it when you’re ready for God to disturb you.

Disturb Us, O Lord
when we are too well pleased with ourselves
when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little
when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore

Disturb Us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess
we have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity.
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.

Disturb Us, O Lord - to dare more boldly
to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.
We ask you push back the horizon of our hopes,
and to push us into the future with strength, courage, hope and love.”