Rethinking ___________

What does it mean to re-think something? To take a thorough inventory of something, a good, hard, take off the rose colored glasses look, and think through what changes need to be made. At least that's the Jan's unabridged dictionary version. So why would one come to a place that they needed to rethink something? Maybe they, themselves have noticed it is not working or maybe someone else brought it to their attention. Maybe they have experienced a failure and are analyzing why it happened. Maybe they just look at some areas and know they could be better.

In the fall, we are starting a new sermon series called Re-thinking the Truth. We will take 10 truths of the Gospel found in Romans 1-5 and get people to take a good, hard, look at what they may have come to think they know very well. My bet is that most people will find that they don't "know" these truths as well as they think they did. They may not be living them, may not have them ingrained down deep in their soul, so that the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ has so permeated their being, that it can be seen in and through everything that they do, say or think. They may be surprised!

Actually, I hope I am surprised too! I hope that even through this service designing process, I am challenged to rethink any area where I have gotten lax, or stale. I hope that my view of what Christ did for me and the truth of that sinks in so deep that it oozes out of every pore. I hope that I wreak of the truth of God in my life! All day, every day in every area.

Even using the word "rethink" is causing me to want to examine some areas in my world. Which ones are where they need to be, which ones need some tweaking, which ones need a giant overhaul. So, off I go on my new challenge, listening to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and praying that I would be open to rethinking any and all areas of my life - and then strong enough to change.

What about you? What areas, things, ways of thinking do you need to re-think today? May God give you the ears to hear His voice, the eyes to see what He pointing out, and the heart to be obedient to the change. Let His truth go deep in you today and every day!

Oh - and to all you creative peeps out there, if you have any ideas that might fit into the series (dramas, songs, videos, metaphors, etc.) don't be afraid to send them my way!

7 Word Bio

For those of you that have been anxiously awaiting the revelation of my 7 word bio (& words that sum up who I am and what I do), wait no more! Here it is. Drum roll please (make the sound effects in your head now! ok...)

Service Designer catalyzing a passionate worship revolution.

I am pretty happy with it! Thanks to those who shot me words that I borrowed to create the whole. :o) There you go - me in a nut shell. It was actually pretty hard to come up with one that is EXACTLY 7 words. Why don't you give it a try~

No more dry bones!

Well, after great anticipation, I had my first Soul Creative video conference today. Whoop! I feel truly blessed (and out of my league) to be in with a group like this. I am the only girl :o) and the only "non-media" creative in the bunch. So, it should prove to be very interesting. Already I can tell this is a group of people that I could easliy have lasting relationship with and learn much from.

Today we talked about God as the Creator. Not a concept I have difficultly wrapping my mind around, but I know some really struggle with remembering that part of Him. We tend to focus on Jesus as Savior and not marvel at His creation or creativity. And, being made in His image - our own creativity. If God created me in His image and he can make all the I can see (and not see) so beautifully and intricately, what can I do with what He has put in me? A bit of a daunting thought. Further more, what if I am not using what He gave me to it's fullest potential?

I feel compelled to ask the question, "God, what more do you have for me? What more do can I do with what I have been given?" Am I asking often enough? Am I stopping to listen for the answer? Probably not, but that is something I intend to change.

If there is one thing that comes form this group, I hope it is that I am confronted more often by them, and you, about pressing in and going for what God has called me to. I don't want anyone to ever be able to say about me that I could have done more or should have done more.

Here I am God! Use me! Make me in to the creative catalyst you have designed me to be. Keep me strong and bold for YOUR glory and fame!

Now, what are you going to do with what He has given you? Feel free to post your thoughts or comments. ;o)

Update on "The Big Day"

Well, after all the anticipation and preparation, the "big day" didn't happen due to Mr. Computer meeting Mr. Floor. (Not mine - Carlos') The bad news is, it was postponed till next Thursday. The good news is, I got my 7 word bio done. However, I shall not reveal it until next week. I love the mystery! (and I might tweek it again. lol)

I did have an interesting thing happen to me yesterday though. I was reading our scripture assignment yesterday morning, Ezekiel 37:1-14. I have pasted it below to make it easy for you to read. I'll give you a minute... (insert Jeopardy theme song in brain now)

The Valley of Dry Bones

37:1 The hand ¹ of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and placed ² me in the midst of the valley, and it was full of bones. 37:2 He made me walk all around among them. ³ I realized ⁴ there were a great many bones in the valley and they were very dry. 37:3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said to him, “Sovereign Lord, you know.” 37:4 Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and tell them: ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. 37:5 This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones: Look, I am about to infuse breath ⁵ into you and you will live. 37:6 I will put tendons ⁶ on you and muscles over you and will cover you with skin; I will put breath ⁷ in you and you will live. Then you will know that I am the Lord.’”

37:7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. There was a sound when I prophesied – I heard ⁸ a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 37:8 As I watched, I saw ⁹ tendons on them, then muscles appeared, ¹⁰ and skin covered over them from above, but there was no breath ¹¹ in them.

37:9 He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, ¹² – prophesy, son of man – and say to the breath: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these corpses so that they may live.’” 37:10 So I prophesied as I was commanded, and the breath came into them; they lived and stood on their feet, an extremely great army.

37:11 Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are all the house of Israel. Look, they are saying, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope has perished; we are cut off.’ 37:12 Therefore prophesy, and tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to open your graves and will raise you from your graves, my people. I will bring you to the land of Israel. 37:13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and raise you from your graves, my people. 37:14 I will place my breath ¹³ in you and you will live; I will give you rest in your own land. Then you will know that I am the Lord – I have spoken and I will act, declares the Lord.’”

Pretty cool passage. right? It gets better. I was on my way into the office and I heard this song by Evanescense. Lyrics posted below for your reading pleasure. (insert Jeopardy theme song in brain again now)...

Bring Me to Life

How can you see into my eyes
Like open doors?
Lading you down into my core,
Where I've become so numb.

Without a soul,
My spirit's sleeping somewhere cold,
Until you find it there and lead it back
Home.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Now that I know what I'm without,
You can't just leave me.
Breathe into me and make me real.
Bring me to life.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Bring me to life.
(I've been living a lie.
There's nothing inside)
Bring me to life.

Frozen inside without your touch,
Without your love, darling.
Only you are the life among the dead.

(All of this sight,
I can't believe I couldn't see
Kept in the dark
but you were there in front of me)
I've been sleeping a 1000 years it seems.
I've got to open my eyes to everything.
(Without a thought
Without a voice
Without a soul
Don't let me die here.
There must be something more).
Bring me to life.

(Wake me up)
Wake me up inside.
(I can’t wake up)
Wake me up inside.
(Save me)
Call my name and save me from the dark.
(Wake me up)
Bid my blood to run.
(I can’t wake up)
Before I come undone.
(Save me)
Save me from the nothing I've become.

Bring me to life.
(I've been living a lie. There's nothing inside)
Bring me to life

I began to detect a theme for the day. So I had to ask myself, am I dead inside? Creatively dead? A creator made of nothing more than dry bones at this point? If I am honest - I guess I would have to say yes. But the beautiful thing to me is that God knew that even before I did. He sent me this opportunity with the Creative Coaching group, He sent me this Ezekiel passage, He sent me the song. I guess He wanted to make sure I didn't miss the fact that He truly does see me and have a plan for me that quite evidently includes bring brought back to "life". That my friends is truly exciting to me. You have no idea!! I can't wait to see what the future holds. Watch out - the headlines might read:

Creative skeleton brought back to life by breath of God and is loose in a church near you!

Stay tuned next week for other ways Satan is trying to stop this group for being loosed in churches all around the world.

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

Well... The mentor, hereafter know as Carlos, is back from the Saddleback Worship conference and has hit the ground running at full steam. At 9:24 pm last night I got an email with the details of our first call.

Tomorrow at 11:00 am, I will be embarking on adventure that I hope will prove challenging, rewarding and life changing (no pressure Carlos). I will meet my 4 new buddies face to face (via chat room) and off we go. I did notice in the email that Carlos' job title is "Experience Architect". We really gotta work on mine!! It just sucks compared to his & Blain's. Maybe that is a sign of a progressive church their job titles don't bore you to tears. LOL

Any way, I get to come up with a 7 word bio of myself, no more-no less, yea! And read Ezekiel 37:1-14. We are using a website called tokbox and it is a free video chat dealio. Seemed pretty cool when I was looking around it. Check it out.

Thanks all the update I got for today. More tomorrow after my call. Whoop! Hey, when you read this post a comment so I know I am not writing to myself :0) Thanks!