style...

I used to think I'd like 'church' to look like this...

And, having seen the above space--in the flesh--earlier this week, I can tell you it's really beautiful, calming, almost awe-inspiring...

And no longer for me.

See, the older I get, the more I find myself getting less and less religiously-oriented which means I'm starting to think that (more and more) I'd like 'church' to look like this...
I used to worry about 'de-tuning' the christian experience by confusing it with too much 'vibe' or too many lights or an overstated production design.

These days, due in large part to the increasingly plain-blunt-pull-no-punches approach I'm taking to preaching (straight from the text, all about Jesus, period) I'm thinking maybe I could use a little more 'snazz' in my production design.

See, the message is so plain, blunt, and clear that I think anything we can do to 'set' our space in such a way that it 'feels' with-it, non-religious, and comfortable (in the "I'm used to this..." sense) the better off we'll be.

I think.

Another 'clarifying moment' as a result of my trip to Texas.

Maybe it's time to unashamedly/unabashedly mix some of my production know-how and experience into my ethic at 'church'.

Hit us up at THE WELL in the coming weeks/months to see if I can find the personal and corporate horsepower (read: work ethic, leadership ability and 'cash money') to do something with all this.

T

A stranger in a strange land...

And I do mean 'strange'.

I've been at a church planting conference in Texas the last couple days.  A conference full of 'strange' people.

Now before you go getting all offended, lemme' quickly (very quickly) say that every church-related conference I've even been to is full of 'strange' people.

Also...

Every show-business related conference I've ever been to is full of 'STRANGE' people.

(really strange people)

It's not that some people are strange and other people are normal, it's that all people are strange, just in different ways and the key is to figure out which group of strange is your kind of strange.

Feel me?

It's amazing actually, even as I'm writing this I'm starting to decompress a bit.

See, yesterday I wrote a blog from the conference and I was still so upset that I went back and deleted the blog lest I spread my infectious negativity to my 2,000 or so monthly readers and--potentially through them--to their various spheres of influence.  A remarkable step for me, deleting a blog, as I've never--in 300+ posts--felt moved to do such a thing.

I wanted to write.  I was tracking your visits to this site, knowing that you were probably looking for something new this week, but I didn't have anything good to say and while it's one thing to 'feel' a certain way about a thing it's another thing all together to just let your feelings rip in a public forum.

So, I yanked it.

But today, I figured I'd have some distance and some clarity.

And I do.

Here's what hit me.  I realized--for the first time--that the reason I get upset at church planting conferences is because I'm just not that excited about church planting on a large scale.  Yes, I'm a church planter (having planted two churches from scratch by now) but that's not where my passion lies.  And because 'church planting' is such an 'in' thing in christian circles right now there's a lot of 'institutional pressure' to think of church planting as 'the thing' that anybody who's even remotely connected to 'church work' should be doing.

But I'm really just a preacher and a producer.

I was listening to a friend preach and he referenced his 'moment of calling' again; that moment where God made it clear to him what he was supposed to do with his life.  He went on to say how he'd tried to always just do those things, avoiding the other opportunities that have come along the way so that he could focus on what he was supposed to (or called to) do.

He said you must pursue your 'calling' not your 'potential'.

Aha!

I realized in that moment that I 'can' do many things but 'should' only do what I've been 'called' to do.

I have another friend who needs to hear this.

(you're probably reading this aren't you?)

See, he's one of the most multi-talented guys I know.  He can do (and has done) many things at a very high level.  Because he's so talented at so many things he's had a hard time (by times) in his life focusing on just one (or two) thing(s).

To a significantly lesser degree I've dealt with that in some small way (I know I'm repeating my qualifiers but I'll take whatever 'excessive humility' I can get) myself, feeling like I could do many things and, often, trying my hand at them.

Like church planting, for example.

I have church planted (twice). I like church planters.  I admire church planters.

But it's not the thing God 'called' me to do when He saved me at 11.

What God told me to do was to grow up to do a mixture of what Stephen Spielberg and Billy Graham 'do'.  Story-tell, or communicate, or 'preach' from the pulpit and for the screen.

That's it.

That's it.

That's it.

So, that's what I need to do.  Nothing more, nothing less.

See, I get very excited about preaching.  I'm thrilled to be able to do it week in and week out at THE WELL.  One of the reasons I got into church planting in the first place was because no-one would hire me to preach.  

(believe me, I've tried, and tried, and tried, and tried again to get hired and it NEVER works)

See, Herman Melville said it right in the preface to 'Moby Dick' when he said that 'the pulpit leads the world'.

How much more so does the pulpit lead a church?

Totally.

Whoever takes the pulpit in a church leads that church.  Everything in a church flows from it's pulpit and it's main preacher.  The entire culture of the church is set in and from the pulpit.

So, no wonder, they'd never hire me.  Why on earth would any pastor in their right mind hire someone else to lead (through preaching) their church?

Not gonna' happen.

So, along the way I got confused.  Because I needed to plant a church in order to create a forum (or environment) in which I could obey God's calling, I got sucked into 'church planting culture' and, though I've said I love church planters and get jazzed by the prospect of helping them in any way I can, my PRIMARY calling is simply as a preacher and a producer.

Not a church planter.

It's like I HAD to plant a church in order to be obedient to God's call to preach.

Same way as I HAD to start my own production company in order to be able to produce without punching a clock at some network or studio which would (in turn) have not allowed me to be faithfully preaching anywhere.

("Sorry, our VP of development can't be here for our emergency weekend meeting, he's busy PREACHING at his church...")

Not gonna' fly.

So, I had to start one myself.  Not 'cause I'm primarily an 'entrepreneur' or a businessman (though I 'could' do both somewhat well if I put my mind to it...) but because I needed to create a context in which I could be obedient to God's call.

A simple truth and yet one that's seemed to have evaded me for some time now.

So, I hereby repent of my desire to do 'too many' things.

(if I've wronged you somehow in my attempts at finding my way and finding my place, I ask for your forgiveness...)

I hereby commit to doing only what I've been called to do.

Preach and Produce.

That's it.  That's all.

That's me.

T

waiting...

I'm sure I've mentioned this before.

Waiting is difficult.

That puts me squarely in the middle of a difficult season. I'm currently waiting for a bunch of projects to 'firm up' or get finally rejected.

The key ones include:

-a feature film distribution deal

-several syndication deals for a TV series

-renewal on a TV series

-development progress on a TV series

-funding for a graphic novel initiative

While waiting for those to 'do their thing' I'm working as fast as possible to 'develop' as many ideas as possible.

Those include:

-4 new 'adventure-style' TV series

-A new sit-com

-A new micro-budget feature-film script

-3 feature-scripts for packaging consideration

And--if you were to be really ruthless in your assessment you'd say that NONE of 'em are happening (right now), which could make you one sleepless dude.

Unless you trust.

That's my challenge these days (and perhaps always in my line of work). Learning to trust and allowing that trust to filter into my angst and give me peace.

It does feel like we're slowly starting to 'solidify' as 'real' adults.  Starting to get some actual 'momentum' under us.

Slowly.

My hope is that my friend (the 46 year-old mogul) was right when he looked at me and said (a couple months back...) "You're how old, again?" (I answered) "Oh, yeah, you're just getting started. Watch, these next ten years will be where you really start to pick up steam..."

Plus we found out it's 'my year' (Tiger) this year, so that's supposed to be a good thing (!)

If you're Chinese...

T (aka: "Ting")

dovetailing...

So here's the definition of "dovetail":

"...a flaring tenon and a mortise into which it fits tightly making an interlocking joint between two pieces..." (Merriam Webster)

An interlocking join between two pieces.

That's the part I like.

That's the trick for the life I'm trying to live. A life where you find a way to get your hopes and dreams to interlock with your day to day work.  

My wife and I took some time this morning over our second cup of coffee to talk about some of our long-term 'life goals'. The thing we're struggling with is how to fit those goals in before our kids are too big while still doing the work we've been called (and given) to do in the meantime.

The upshot is I'll write a new treatment for a TV show today (then have a meeting on it this afternoon) to see if we can't take a big step in the right direction.

Dovetailing.

(what two bits of your life should you be working to interlock?)

T

 

In Olympia...

Got stuck in this weird crowd today...

Ohhh, THAT'S why...

Yaletown (my favorite spot in VanCity) overrun by the Olympic Spirit.

All through the opening ceremonies we had the window to our condo open and could hear the actual crowd screams a couple seconds before we heard 'em through the TV.

Pretty cool.

But you know what's even better?

Going home to my wife and babies tomorrow.

Now, that, I could get excited about.

T

Up to my old (new) tricks...

I'm in Van-city again.

Great town.  I miss it a bit.

I posted a lot of shots like the one above during my crazy 2008, a year where this town was my 'home away from home' in the truest sense.

But in those 'working shots' I was always working on something TV or film-related.

Today's shot (though you wouldn't know it) has me working on this Sunday's sermon for THE WELL.

(how very strange)

See, I have no 'church roots' in this town. The time I spent here was hiatus time, self-discovery time, getting my a$$ kicked by the Almighty time.

So to be back (on the eve of the Olympics with the whole WORLD walking the streets) and to be spending my one free day here cooped up in a 19th floor condo working on my sermon for this Sunday is a sweet kind of counterpoint.

Sweet.

Simple.

And hard work.

Lemme' just say I'm thankful for the journey--it's been quite the strange and amazing ride. T'will be very interesting to see what happens next.

(hopefully it involves a 'good' sermon--with some 'West Coast' flair to it)

T

pivot and drive...

(iPhones--as awesome as they are--really do take crappy 'low light' shots)

But, we had a great time bowling with some friends last Friday night.

I also totally stunk the join out. Came dead last first game, second last second game. 

Shameful.

Reason I mention it is 'cause I said something to someone today in a meeting that reminded me of something.

(how's that for 'direct')

Here's what I said:

"I figure, what you gotta' do now is pivot, and drive..."

Like in basketball.

You're running one way, dribbling the ball, trying to evade the defense, trying to find a way to score, and you run out of court or run into someone too big to run through or see an opening you never saw before until you got to that spot on the court.

What do you do?

You pivot (plant your foot, shifting your weight to the ball of it) and drive (running off in a new direction as fast as you can).

I won't go into how that advice was applicable to the someone I met with today but I will tell you how it was applicable for me.

I remembered that I suck at bowling.  That reminded me that there are other things I suck at that can fast become (if I let 'em) things that I get focused on (in my work) instead of staying focused on the things that I'm actually good at.

So, I faced my failure(s) today, decided to stop doing those things I'm not good at and, instead, recommitted to doing the things I'm 'made' to do, with all my might.

Pivot and drive.

Maybe that's what you gotta' do...

T