As leaders I believe we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the skills and talents that God has put in our wheel house. I believe that part of good stewardship of our skills means that we should constantly be growing and stretching ourselves within those skills and talents and outside of those skills and talents. 

One of the resources I’ve found extremely useful in helping stretch myself has been the blog of fellow worship leader and creative, Carlos Whittaker.

One of the ways that Carlos helps other leaders to grow and stretch is through offering a #CreativeCoaching workshop. You can learn more about it here.

The long and short of it is that I am currently locked in creative collaborative craziness with some awesome peeps! Check us out! (I tried to find a flattering screenshot). 

One of our first exercises was to give a seven word bio of ourselves. One sentence describing a bit of who we are and what our passions are.

#MY7WordBIO: Teacher of worship in and beyond church.  

It was awesome to hear some of the stories that surround those guys and dig into our passions about God as our Creator and that it’s only when we are in Him we are the most creative. 

One of the ways that I grow closer to God as my “creator” is when I immerse myself in His creation. One of my favorite things ever is to go to an aquarium or a zoo. I love the detail and beauty and care that God takes in creating each and every animal. It drives me to a sense of wonder about who He is. 

Oddly enough Carlos shared a story of how once his son, Losiah, called him outside so they could both examine a Rolly Poly bug together. We’ve all seen Rolly Poly’s. We know as adults that they roll into a perfect little ball when you poke them, yet through the eyes of his 2 year old son, God revealed something new of His creation to Carlos. 

We looked at Ezekiel 37:1-14 where God brings “death to life” in the account of dry bones. 

One of my big take aways was how: 
My creativity flows from an expression of my life and my life is an expression of God’s creativity. 

We are impacted by stories, expressions of God’s creativity, and so when we share our stories and expressions of our stories we are sharing expressions of God’s creativity. 

In living our lives with the understanding that every breath is a creative expression of God we can point others toward LIFE. After all, He’s the only one who can point us to true LIFE anyway. 

I’m excited about what God is going to teach me and how He’s going to stretch me through these sessions. I hope I can help you get a better picture of God through my own story and my relationship with Him as I grow through these sessions. 

Also, we prayed at the end and I snuck a screen shot again… I may have lost a crown in heaven because of it. : ) 

If you haven’t already been overrun by my non-stop twitter flow of #seedsconf material from breakout sessions and speakers I thought I’d give an overview on some of what I learned from SEEDS CONFERENCE 2012. 

The conference for me began in a rental van from enterprise with many from our creative and production teams at NewPointe Community Church. We strapped in for a 15 hour drive, hooked an XBOX up in the van for some dual wielding action and set the iPod to 90’s girl rock and ska shuffle; then off we went. 



Getting to know some of our staff on this trip was a true joy for me. One of the downsides to a multisite church is that I don’t get to spend a lot of time with our other campus pastors and leaders. There is a trust that has developed and is still developing among our staff that I believe to be a beautiful and necessary thing when it comes to serving on a staff with people and hour away from your campus. Regardless, the time spent together was awesome. We drove through the night, stopped at Chipotle for dinner and made it safely with the help of our #AustrallianDashboardJesus (GPS) to Tulsa, Oklahoma early the next morning. 

Waking up around noon, we grabbed some PeiWei for lunch and made our way to Guitar Center to fiddle with some gear before heading to our first session at Church On The Move (#COTM). 



Upon arriving at #COTM I drove up in our van to a guy I thought was a greeter. I rolled my window down and he approached the van. He made eye-contact with me said, “Hey.” and started walking away. To which I responded “Hey.” and drove off. As I drove away he shouted “Welcome To Church On The Move!” 

Lessons From #SEEDSConf Numero Uno: If you’re not a greeter don’t pretend to be one.

We parked the van and were greeted by some amazing electronic/dance music playing through the outdoor sound system at the church. Friendly faces greeted us with maroon wrist bands, free copies of RELEVANT Magazine, and directions to the free coffee spot (of which I frequented often). 

Lessons From #SEEDSConf Numero Dos: Good music and good people make everything more pleasant. Have lots of both at your first connection point to those attending your church. Don’t wait for them to come in the door. Be awesome from the moment they drive in the parking lot. Also, free stuff is wicked fun (especially if it’s coffee). 

We checked out their facilities and store. It was an awesome place. Everything was really open and clean. Very simple to find your way around with more smiling faces strategically placed to answer questions and help you along your way. They were sort of like our #AustralliaDashboardJesus but really they were #TulsaHallwayNotJesusButCoolPeople. There were also some really cool chalkboard paint sections where every day had a new bit of chalk art talking about the schedule for the day or welcoming us to SEEDS. The main artist was a guy they just saw doodling on the chalkboard one night. He was so good they asked him to do it more often. He loves it. They love it. Win, win. 

Lessons From #SEEDSConf Numero Tres: There are people all around us wanting to be involved. God has given everyone an amazing gift and most people are looking for ways to express that gift and use it for him. Where are there people drawing on our chalkboards that we’re “erasing” by not noticing their talents? 

After sitting down and resting up (trying to catch up from the van lag) we made our way into our first session. There were loads of tech notes here. Their sessions was so professionally done, that when they faked a mistake at the beginning I thought: “Ha, that’s clever they are faking a mistake… Oh, dang this is really a mess up… Wow, they acted out that mistake perfectly.” 

The “quality bar” is set high for #COTM. The creative director Whitney George, raises that standard for the entire time and has a say-so in everything that happens in their main event environment. He speaks into everything from when lights cue to the guitar tones and what gear the instrumentalists use. 

The time in worship through song was phenomenal and it pointed our hearts to our Savior as we opened with “Go”. As we sang that chorus (We’re giving it all away, away. We’re giving it all to go Your way. We are sold out for Your calling… everything that we are for Your glory.) I felt a holy discontent stir in my soul. I thought, that’s exactly what I’m called to. That’s exactly what my role at NewPointe it is. My role is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus and that can only happen if I’m 100% sold out to His calling on my heart and I’m giving it all for Him.

Lessons From #SEEDSConf Numero Quatro: I’ve I’m not giving everything for His glory then I am cheating not only myself, but my family, my team, and everyone I have the privilege to lead on a Sunday morning of truly experiencing freedom in Christ. I can only lead people to a place in worship where I have been. If I cannot lead in freedom from giving everything then others won’t be able to worship by giving everything. 

Steven Furtick was the opening night’s speaker. He brought an amazing message on putting in the hard work or “digging ditches” in anticipation for God to move. Some times God tells us to “go”, but never to where or how far. He’s waiting for us to take the first steps in faith toward Him and put in the pre-work, anticipating His move. Check out my session notes here. It was inspiring and challenging. There were many inspiring talks throughout the conference (duh). I’ve posted links to my notes from each session and breakout below. 

Check out the rest of my session notes: 
Willie George
Lee Cockerell
Ed Young
Judah Smith

Check out my breakout notes: 
Make Art Not Gimmicks
Creating A Worship Experience That Matters
Building A Worship Culture

Beyond the sessions, we got to meet some really cool people. We had dinner with many from other churches and organizations who were on similar missions. It was remarkable to stand in a room and sit across the table to be reminded, we’re not alone in this.

On a practical level, there was much I learned about excellence. There are some little things that myself and our Canton team are working on to up our game in the areas of organization, production, energy, and overall service flow. 

I love working at a church that’s willing to change if it will help lead people closer to Jesus. I’m thankful for opportunities to go to events like SEEDS and learn how to do what we do better some we can lift the name of Jesus higher. 

Oh… did I mention there was an afterparty? 

And there was (baptists cover your ears) dancing…. 

2 Kings 3:15
Acts 3

Only God can make it rain. 
God will use natural means to kick start a supernatural movement in your life. 

If you don’t learn how to do it when you feel it you’re never gonna do it. 

You can do it. You can make it. Don’t give up God is with you. 
The power of the harpist. 

“This valley will be full of ditches” - work. 

Only God can make it rain, but He expects you to dig a ditch. 

Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evince of things we cannot see. Dig the ditch before the clouds come and we feel the first drops. 

Inspiration can birth a vision in a moment, but It’s the day to day implementation of that vision that turns it from a vision into a reality. 

The reason you are under the pressure you are under may be for God to come in and lift it off of you.

Genesis 1:1-2 (ESV)
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The earth was without form and void,
and darkness was over the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.  

There are many theories about the creation of the world. Some hold to the idea that a cosmic connection and explosion of particles at just the right moment began the formation of this dirt clod we live on and that slowly from ooze we evolved into man. I think that’s bull crap. I’m just saying. I believe in the Creator God spoken of in the verse above. In the opening sentences to the Holy Text I believe we see the Great Artist and His canvas ready to begin His work of art, you and me. 

Maybe I’m taking the easy road out. I think it takes more faith to believe that I evolved from a lesser state of being, ooze (think Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, cowabunga shredhead), than it does for me to believe that there is a Creator behind all that we see. But, this post really isn’t about creation and evolution. This post isn’t about my beliefs on how the universe was spoken into existence by a loving God.

This post is about Him. 
The Creator.
The God of Love.
The Great Artist.
The One Who Breathes Out Stars.
The One Who Spoke.

This is about how our God is the Creator. He created us in His image. He made us to be little creators, to be creative because He is Creator. Before anything existed He was. When there was simply darkness. God was there ready to Create. And God spoke forth light. Light to pierce the darkness. Light to show us the way. Light to point us to Him. Light so we could be exposed and made new. Light so we would not have to walk in darkness.

When we created do we create in such a way that we bring light into darkness? 
Do we pierce through darkness? Do we show others the way to God? Do we point to Him? Do we expose darkness so others can be made new? Do we make it so those around us do not have to walk in darkness any more? Do we wait with anticipation to show others the light, as God with excitement and joy spoke us into creation? 

Or do we even give it a second thought? 
Do we forget the fact that we are created, by a Creator?
Do we forget that the Creator sculpted Himself into human flesh and blood and bone to walk among us only to be broken for us, broken over our darkness?
Do we forget that He conquered the death and darkness so that we could see the Light?

Why are we so silent? 

In the beginning, God created…
When God didn’t need to create…
God doesn’t need you…
God doesn’t need me…
But God created…
God breathed into the dust of the ground to form man and pulled from man’s bone to create woman…
God chose to invite us into the story of God, not our story but His story…

Yet we are comfortable to remain silent.
We are comfortable to only look to God when we need Him.
What we fail to realize is that we always need Him. 
Every breath we draw is another that we don’t deserve.
Our hearts beat in rhythm by His grace alone.

In the beginning, God created…
Out of love.
Out of a desire to know us and be with us.
The Creator God.
The Creator of all… loves us. 
Even when we could care less about Him.

Who the heck do we think we are…..  

What a beautiful mess.