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Author Archives: Jonathan

Making-Art-Bite-Sized

Bite-Sized Art

·April 2, 2012 ·Creativity Tips

Twitter’s taught us the value of bite-sized communication. Many people read more words via tweet than via books.

That’s one of the reasons I keep these blogs so bite-sized. People, especially creatives, are busy and overworked. It’s risky business to sit down and read a lengthy blog – not knowing if you’re wasting your time or if it’s something valuable.

So I go bite-sized. And since creatives tend to be a rather verbose bunch, I thought I’d share some of my tips for making your art, writings, music, etc bite-sized. How can you capture the essence of your art in bite-sized bits? Read more…

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Detail-Oriented-People-Miss-Big-Details

Detail Oriented People Miss Big Details

·March 30, 2012 ·Creativity Tips

I used to work for a newspaper. I designed their ads. It was pretty well-run – with the appropriate writers’, designers’ and editors’ spots well staffed. But it never failed that, when the issue dropped, there were glaring typos. They weren’t just typos, they were typos in headlines and other major places.

I worked with detail oriented people. It’s not like they were sloppy. But detail-oriented people often micro-focus on the small details and miss the big picture. They were so focused on the articles and getting the facts perfectly correct, that they missed the major things. Read more…

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Letting-People-Wrestle

Letting People Wrestle

·March 29, 2012 ·Church Work

I’m not a fan of Christian movies. And I think I finally realized why. Christian movies have the tendency to wrap up the story with a perfect little bow. They turn a horrible situation into a perfect situation. Man deals with depression over losing his wife. Man finds God and never deals with a single problem ever again.

A pretty little bow.

But that’s not what life is like. Life is about wrestling. Man deals with depression over losing his wife. Man finds hope in God. Man fights a winning battle with depression. Read more…

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Creativity-is-Salt

Creativity is Salt

·March 28, 2012 ·Church Work

Creativity is a balancing act. Especially at a church. If a church focuses too much on creativity, they build an unhealthy culture. The church is maintained by creativity instead of enhanced by it. If the creative level drops one Sunday, people get dissatisfied.

But a church that ignores creativity loses their edge. They sink into lifeless traditions. The message is bland and lifeless. It’s unpalatable. Read more…

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You-Have-No-Power

You Have No Power

·March 27, 2012 ·Creativity Tips

As soon as you have a good thing going, people want to start adding to it. Well-meaning people who want you to succeed will start giving you great ideas to add to your idea. “You should really do this!” Its a great idea.

But you can seriously screw yourself up with great ideas.  Read more…

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The-Wrong-Idea-is-the-Right-Idea

The Wrong Idea is the Right Idea

·March 26, 2012 ·Church Work

There are two types of churches that don’t have websites:
1. Those that are too traditional to have one…
2. Those that are too modern to have one…

Isn’t that hilarious? Some churches still haven’t joined the website revolution. Some churches have already outgrown the website revolution. This is how fast culture changes…and how slowly some churches move.

But this shows me something interesting: you can do something “right” that becomes the wrong thing if you’re not intentional. Read more…

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Will the World Stop Spinning If I Stop Running

Does the World Stop Spinning When I Stop Running?

·March 23, 2012 ·Church Work

Does it? Sometimes I feel like the world is a treadmill. My running keeps it spinning. If I stopped running things would fall apart. At least that’s how I feel.

But I just got back from Argentina for 20 days. During those 20 days I stopped running. I’m not sure what I was anticipating when I got back home. I think I was expecting an apocalyptic scene with carnage strewn about…waiting for me to clean it up. Read more…

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Youre-Beautiful-Idiot

“You’re Beautiful, Idiot”

·March 20, 2012 ·Blog

My wife warned me before we got to Argentina. “Guys are shameless when they see a pretty girl on the street.” Carolina told me some stories of their bravery – of whistling and pick-up lines she heard on the street. I didn’t quite believe her until we got here.

But as we walked down the street, guys would stare at her. They didn’t just glance, they did the full, up and down, stare that a pervert does when he thinks no one is watching. But there was no shame.

There were even times when I wasn’t holding her hand that guys would walk by and whisper things in her ear. I had the “pleasure” of overhearing this once. This time I heard it:

Estas re linda, boluda (an offensive word). Read more…

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Building-a-House

Building Your Dream House

·March 16, 2012 ·Blog

The other night we were invited to eat at someone’s house. We didn’t know the fellow but figured…free food…why not! We showed up…delicious by the way. I was so impressed by this guy’s house. It was enormous and gorgeous.

But he didn’t always live in such a plush house.

Behind the pool was a tiny pool house. It was a pretty modest pool house…but not a great house. His family of four used to live there. Read more…

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