A fine farewell

This will be my last entry at pastorjoey.blogspot.com.

I have a new blog up and running. I am also working on another site that I will reveal once it gets going.

Here's the address:

pastorjoey.gaccblogs.com

Hope to see you there!

Where have you gone, Bill Bailey?

I know. I haven't posted for a while. I'm sorry. It would be longer still if it weren't that I'm tired of answering the question "Why haven't you posted?"

Peer pressure. That always works.

The posting will begin again soon. It's just that ...
I'm working on a new site. I'll tell you about it soon. But it's almost done. I've been spending my "off-hours" time on it. And since that's the same time I use on this blog, well, you know. There just aren't enough of those "off-hours" to make it all happen.

So I have this pet peeve. I hate it when I go to a web page and it says "Site under construction". And then you go a month later and it's still under construction. Why do that? Why not just go with what you have? Why tell us you're going to have something up and running one day?
But I feel like I owe you an explanation. If you've stuck with me thus far, through Gangsta Gummies and Animal Cracker Escape Artists, then I owe you a little explanation.

It's not an excuse, mind you.

So what's the picture got to do with the post?

Nothing. It just reminds me of home. Thank you for your patience.

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

The Willow Creek Leadership Summit is coming in just a few weeks. I am extending an open invitation for any of our arts ministry members to join us this year.

This is an outstanding conference fr building your leadership skills and your business skills. The speakers are of an international scale quality. And many employers will not only give their employers the time off, but will pay for the registration.

Registration for this conference is $165, but the church is subsidizing the cost by $65. That leaves a cost to you of $100. And remember, many employers will reimburse you this cost. But even if yours does not, I have never heard anyone who went who thought it was not worth every penny. Trust me - you will not be dissapointed.

Here are some of the speakers: Bill Hybels, Colin Powell, Michael Porter, John Ortberg, Floyd Flake, Carly Fiona, Warren Bennis, Richard Curtis, and Jimmy Carter.

If you think you may be able to go, please let me know by July 20th.

You can check out the web site for the conference yourself here:

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

A dark night at the office

This morning when I came into the office and by force of habit went straight to the coffee pot. I mixed my starbucks blend, filtered the water, and measured just the right amount of half-and-half. But just as I was reaching for the cream, I noticed something awry.

It appears that the animal crackers had been busy during the night. Somehow they had broken through the bag and were making their escape. When I turned on the light they all froze. One of them was in mid-break from the bag.

I put them all back in the bag.

They exist for a purpose. They would live out that purpose.

Well, except for one. The camel. Apparently he had been going for water, and he didn't make it.

No wonder they're endangered.

Creativite Videos That Don't Bleed to Budget

I once asked a video producer, "Can't we do a video without spending so much money?"

"Not this one."

Somehow it feels like sometimes everything costs too much money.

Is it possible to put together a video that doesn't cost a lot of money but that is still effective, entertainming, and excellent?

Below I've linked a short blog post that I came across this morning. It includes two low-budget videos that you'll never notice are low budget because they are so engaging.

Maybe they'll spark some creative ideas.

Fun Little Movies: Content That Works :: Mobi-lize :: Programming

Elwood - The New World's Ugliest Dog

This is fresh news, folks. The video starts out a little slow, but suffer through the first 20 seconds or so. And especially check out Elwood's tongue and his - um - sound effects at the end. Classic!

And for those who are interested, here are a couple of the winners from previous years.

Willow Arts Conference - Day 1 Session 1

Session 1 of the conference began with Dewitt Jones, a photographer from National Geographic. This wasn't the kind of presentation that you walked away from with a ton of new head knowledge. It was inspiring.

His topic was "What's Right With the World". He opened with a discussion about how National Geographic takes a different approach than many of the magazines that are on the shelves. Their desire is to photograph what's right in the world. They have certainly succeeded over the years. And he attributes that to the fact that no one ever throws away a National Geographic magazine.

"In some houses, the walls would just collapse if you took away the stacks of those yellow magazines. Over the years they've become support columns for the building."

Then he went on to go through a presentation of photos that was absolutely breathtaking. The audience gasped at one picture after another.

For me, it brought to mind the limits of creativity. You wouldn't think that a photographer would have the most creative job in the world. What can he create, apart from building a set? He just captures what's in front of him. But isn't that what art is? It captures the world around us? It presents the things the we as artists observe?

I believe that artists in general see things that others do not. And then they have the ability to communicate that vision. That's what makes them artists. With picture after picture, he showed us beauty that many of us would have missed. I wish I could share all or even some of them on my blog. There are a few that you can see at his web page:

http://www.dewitt_jones.com/

Then he said one thing I found simple but profound. He showed us a picture of a bird, singing its lungs out. The picture to the right is not his, and it really doesn't do the point justice. In his photo series, he did an outstanding job of capturing the energy and passion of this tiny bird, putting his entire body into a song. When the crowd finally quieted their approval, he went on to say "When I saw this bird, I had to take the picture. He was giving the song everything he had. He didn't sing because he had the answers to the world's problems. He was singing because he had a song."

I'm sure I won't be able to convey the effect of that statement in a short blog post. But it spoke to me. Much of modern art is trying to make a political statement. It has its own agenda. Even in churches, artists too often are trying to make a sale. And in so doing, they lose their authenticity.

We have song writers in our church who are waiting to have a poignant message to deliver before they write their song. But they don't need it. The best songs don't need to provide an answer.

Listen to the song of David in Psalm 119:81-88 (paraphrased in THE MESSAGE)

I'm homesick - longing for your salvation

I'm waiting for your word of hope.

My eyes grow heavy watching for some sign of your promise;

how long must I wait for your comfort?

There's smoke in my eyes - they burn and water,

but I keep a steady gaze on the instructions you post.

How long till you haul my tormentors into court?

The same concept goes for any kind of artwork. The paintings that go down in history are not political statements. They are expressions of the world around them. The film that sticks in your head is not the one that wraps up in tidy fashion. It's the one that speaks truth into your consciousness and won't let your mind go.

Truth communicated has power. It can't be escaped. It can't be set aside as can a message with an agenda. Truth brings about change. It sets free. (John 8:32)

So to the artist within me, my take away is this: stop trying to solve every problem in the world. That's God's job. Mine is to draw the attention of the audience of the world to the One who can do something about it.