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Are you a MOST or a SOME?

Most read books.  Some write them.

Most attend conferences.  Some create them.

Most fake intimacy.  Some live intimately.

Most love great design.  Some design.

Most listen to great music.  Some write great music.

Most point out problems.  Some solve them.

Most admire beautiful art.  Some create it.

Most receive generously.  Some give generously.

Most imagine what should've been.  Some imagine what can be.

Most criticize.  Some create.

Are you a "MOST" or a "SOME"?

Let's stop being afraid of those blank canvases that stare us down and scare the hell out of us.......and let's create.

Nurturing Creativity

Just watched this talk that Elizabeth Gilbert gave at TED last year.  It's beautiful and extremely freeing to any of us called to contribute on the canvas of creativity.

The most beautiful thing...

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.  It is the source of all true art and science.  He to whom this "emotion" is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder, or stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead.  His eyes are closed.

Albert Einstein

From a Garden to The City

 
 

This past weekend we concluded a four-week series at The Orchard entitled, “The Gospel: From a Garden to The City”.  This turned out to be a tremendous series that I think God used to impact our community in significant ways. 

Rather than being a series focused strictly on the doctrinal aspects of the gospel, our goal was to give sort of a 30,000 ft view of the overarching narrative of the gospel: Creation, Fall, Redemption, Restoration.  I appreciate Tim Keller's thoughts on the fact that while there is only one gospel, there are clearly different forms in which the gospel can be expressed. This series was just one of those expressions.

My hope and prayer going in to the series was that it would help accomplish three things in our community: expand our view of the gospel, find and embrace our place in the story, and of course...be led into a greater discovery of the beautiful hope we have in the Cross and Resurrection.  

The above logos are all original paintings that were beautifully created by our friend, Sherri Ohler.  Each weekend was represented by one of these paintings that each followed the narrative.

Here are a few photos from throughout the series.  (Also, special thanks to artists: Maureen Gasek, Julie Vogt, and Lisa Price.)

(Click for larger images)

Worship Leader Essentials

Two "essentials" that I think are hugely important in the lives of those who lead worship at The Orchard:

AUTHENTICITY & DEPTH.

Authenticity.  Being real and willing to lead out of their own, personal journey.  Not afraid to be honest and transparent about their struggles, pain, and brokenness.  The same on stage as they are in every day life and conversation (have you ever heard a worship leader who stands up and talks to an audience in a totally different voice than they normally talk in?)  Someone who others can look to and say to themselves, "I get that person...they're not all that different from me." 

Depth.  If the worship leader has an empty soul.....then the only thing they'll really have to offer is authenticity and talent....and neither of those are enough as far as I'm concerned.  I want worship leaders who have taken the time to LISTEN...and get quiet.  Who make it a priority to wrestle through the scriptures and songs they'll be leading people through.  Leaders whose hearts are freshly inspired by the beauty and goodness of God....and who understand that a huge part of what they do in leading worship is sharing that beauty and goodness with others.

I suppose those are pretty important essentials for all of us as followers of Jesus.  But they're especially important to me when it comes to those who are standing on stage leading our community into worship each weekend.

Worship Leaders & Pastors - I'd love to hear from you.  What "essentials" are at the top of your list?

Magic of The Swell Season

Had the wonderful privilege of seeing The Swell Season in concert with Amanda a few days ago at the  Auditorium Theatre in Chicago.  In case you’re not familiar with TSS, they are made up of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova (Film, Once) along with Hansard’s longtime band, The Frames. 

I could go on and on about the show, but let me just sum it up by saying that it was one of the best live  performances I have ever been to.  Seriously.  It was amazing.  In a way....almost magical.

Why?  Well here's a few things I was reminded of during the performance that may answer that.

People don’t want to simply hear the music; they want to feel it too.

I don’t even know why, but there was something really amazing about experiencing Glen Hansard standing at the edge of the stage, off-mic, singing....screaming....almost crying....from the depths of his soul. It was.....just wow.  You felt his journey.  His pain.  His joy.  His struggle.  And....his redemption.  It was beautiful. 

People love the unexpected.

Loved how Glen (in his “Where’s Waldo?” hat) and Marketa opened the show by sitting on the floor with an acoustic guitar and a cheap Casio keyboard performing the song, “Fallen From The Sky.”  Totally unexpected.  And everyone loved it.

Everybody loves a good story.

Glen is a great story teller.  He includes details that seem unnecessary until you realize that you've fallen in love with the character because of those details.  I’m 100% convinced that people love a good story.  Partly because we see ourselves in most of them. 

People want to participate. 

But you have to ask them to.  Bottom line is that people need to be led.  I think every church worship leader needs to see Glen Hansard perform.  He leads people well by performing with a ton of authenticity and by bringing depth to his audience. 

 Ireland has brought some pretty good stuff to our world.

Guinness, The Swell Season, The Commitments, The Cranberries, The Frames, Snow Patrol, Damien Rice, and of course....U2.

Go listen to The Swell Season.  See them in concert if you can.  I know I will.  Again.  And again.

The Orchard's Art Initiative!

“Art...can be a doxology in itself.” Francis Schaeffer

This coming weekend is the grand opening of The Orchard’s Community Art Initiative! 

Here’s the deal...  From now through January 2010, we are featuring over 60 paintings, original prints, and mixed media works by five local international and nationally acclaimed artists.  (Their work is already on display throughout The Orchard’s campus and let me tell you....it looks AMAZING! Will post photos after this weekend...)

This is a dream come true for us on so many levels.

For one, we believe that we must be people who recognize, create, and release beauty in our city and world.  And since we value the artful expression of people from all different backgrounds and who are at all different places in their spiritual journey, we believe that partnering with local artists is essential in seeing this happen.

We’re also joining together with these artists to create tangible expressions of love through existing partnerships both locally in Aurora and globally in Uganda, El Salvador, and Thailand. 

(And here’s the really cool part...  Not only are these works available for purchase, but all of the artists have agreed to donate a percentage of their proceeds back into one of our Glocal Partnerships.  How amazing is that?!)

Best of all, this is just the beginning.  We want to keep finding new and creative ways to be a supportive and empowering voice to our local artists as they continue to bring beauty to our world through their unique expressions of truth.

Can’t wait to see where this journey leads us in the weeks and months ahead!

Here are the details for this weekend:

Opening Reception & Food Drive
Sunday, November 15th, 2009 from 12:30pm - 2:00pm
The Orchard Community | 101 S. Barnes Rd., Aurora, IL 60506 | 630.897.8888

We're also encouraging everyone to bring non-perishable food items to benefit the Aurora Area Interfaith Food Pantry.

Here’s a link to a few of the artists:

Dorothea Bilder
Tim Burns
Maureen Gasek
Cheryl Holz

P.S. Attention Artists! Continuing Art Exhibitions are scheduled for 2010 and 2011. We are currently looking for artists to submit their work starting fall 2010 and continuing through 2011.  For more information on future exhibits or for information on how artists can submit work, please contact: Maureen Gasek, [email protected] or 630-898-3859.

Sand Animation by Kseniya Simonova

This is just simply beautiful.  It's a sand animation by Kseniya Simonova from the Ukraine.  This is a clip of her portraying life during USSR's Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich in World War II. Worth watching the entire thing.

love.serve.give.

We've got some great opportunities to love.serve.give between now and Christmas at The Orchard.  Check them out:

More details here.

This is the kind of church...

"This is the kind of church and kingdom I want to be a part of - a band of people who are messy, have addictions and shortcomings, make mistakes, get rejected, and are screwed up, but are so fully aware of the Master's grace and love for them in spite of who they are or will be someday; people who embrace discomfort knowing there is so much to be gained for all of us and for all of our churches."

Dave Gibbons, The Monkey and the Fish