There’s a lot of political news out there, and while ChurchMag strives to stay about politics, sometimes we have to address it. Even so, I will endeavor to do so without partisan passions. For now, let’s forget our political persuasions and talk about Elizabeth Warren, US Senator and Democratic candidate for the presidency, and her relationship with Facebook.
‘Newspaper Blackout’ by Austin Kleon [Saturday Morning Review]
I used to write a lot of poetry. In the past few years, though, I have primarily written prose. Prose requires a certain amount of creativity, but poetry—to me anyway—always seemed to something that shouldn’t be attempted without a ton of creative fuel in the tank. That’s why I was really eager to read Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon.
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‘Keep Going’ Book by Austin Kleon [Saturday Morning Review]
“I don’t know who needs to hear this, but keep going.” That isn’t but could have been the opening lines to Austin Kleon’s latest work on creativity and art, Keep Going book. It offers ten steps to getting through slumps in creativity and keep going in developing one’s art, writing, voice, etc. Keep Going is the third in Kleon’s series of books on creativity—both Steal Like an Artist and Show Your Work are great reads!—and it might be his finest.
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‘Victorious’ by Skillet [Saturday Morning Review]
I grew up in a house with very little music. It’s not that my parents didn’t like it. We just didn’t have a home stereo, and we kids preferred TV anyway. So the only time I ever heard rock music was in the car with my parents, and that meant that we were listening to oldies, like the Beach Boys or Motown. Not that I didn’t like that music. It was all I knew, aside from the random Carmen or Ray Boltz cassette tape.
So when I actually got a taste of current rock music in junior high, my tiny mind was blown. I can remember getting a sampler CD back then, and one of the tracks on it was “Saturn” by Skillet. It’s a much different sound than what many fans of Skillet are used to hearing today, but the spirit of inspiration, of looking out from where you are to that which is greater, is still the same.
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Church Tech Job Descriptions: #5 – The Lighting Person
*You are reading a post in a series about forming a Sunday tech team. Feel free to read on, but you might like to start with earlier posts:
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #1 – The Pastor
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #2 – The Leader
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #3 – The Sound Person
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #4 – The Screens Person
Few aspects of modern worship are as often mocked as lighting. Frequent comments range from “What is this? A rock ‘n’ roll concert?” to “You all are going to hell!”*
But I would contend that the lighting is very important, as it helps to create an atmosphere in which (most) people are able to focus on God, not themselves and not those around them. To the people people who argue that a fully lit sanctuary is more holy or at the very least more appropriate for the solemnity of a church service, answer me this: how lit do you think church services were in the first through to nineteenth centuries?
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Church Tech Job Descriptions: #4 – The Screens Person
- You are reading a post in a series about forming a Sunday tech / production team. In case you haven’t already, check out these other posts:
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #1 – The Pastor
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #2 – The Leader
- Church Tech Job Descriptions: #3 – The Sound Person
Now, onto the next job descrption. At the time of writing this, I’m thirty-five years old. When I was a kid, we sang from hymnals in church. When I was a teenager, we got an overhead projector and printed “newer” choruses on transparencies. Of course, we still used hymnals, as well. Baby steps.
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