Production Musings

Spiritual Secret

// December 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Thoughts

When we look at ourselves, at the littleness of our
love, the barrenness of our service and the small progress we
make toward perfection, how soul-refreshing it is to turn
away to Him; to plunge afresh in "the fountain opened for sin
and for uncleanness"; to remember that we are "accepted in
the beloved" ... "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." Oh! the
fullness of Christ, the fullness of Christ.

- Quoted from Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret

Echo2010 and Gratitude

// July 28th, 2010 // No Comments » // Thoughts

Life has been busy for some time. Moving into a new townhouse, saying goodbye to long-time roommates, being in a wedding, tech for a wedding, preparing for my own wedding, and currently I’m in TX at the Echo Conference. Blogging sometimes takes a backseat to living but I read something on the flight down I need to share. It’s convicting:

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today.

-Deuteronomy 8

When is the last time we stopped to give a deep heartfelt thanks to God for…

• A moment of creativity
• That idea we had regarding so and so that ended up helping people move closer to God. What about the idea we never had?
• That special skill we have. Ears to mix sound. Eyes to see color. The senses we’ve been given, the skills we lack.
• Knowledge to know what “that knob does.”
• The time we are given, the time we weren’t given
• The money we earn, or didn’t earn.
• Authentic Mexican food in the unlikeliest of places

“And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

-Ephesians 5:20

Lets check our hearts. Lest we wake up one day and find that we’ve gradually moved to a place where we say, with Gollum-esque voice, “It’s mine, my own…my precious ____” skill/knowledge/idea/talent/money/ability/you fill in the blank.

I’m thankful for the Echo Conference. I pray it’s going to be a place for God to breathe into Colin, Tim, Chad and me. Breathe life, creativity, skill, aptitude, attitude, reality, humility and for all of these things may we be thankful and full of gratitude.

Sloppy Work?

// January 16th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Thoughts

Each of us has a certain work set before us. I can be one of the best at procrastinating, being lazy or distracted. I’ve also felt the drudgery of certain tasks that needed to be done.

Stage lighting used to really be one of those things for me. I was a spring chicken in the audio world and knew nothing of dmx protocol, cue lists, hang/follow times, the need to terminate dmx, and I wasn’t real clear on the difference between a par and an ellipsoidal. Over the past 5.5 years a love for stage designs and stage lighting has really begun to mature in me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not totally in love with it yet…but I’m light years from where I was.

No matter, here is an excellent writing I found regarding whatever work we find before ourselves. It pretty well sums up what my experience has been when I’ve found myself standing in front of a task that I didn’t feel that strongly about to begin with:

…maybe you are just bored. Your boredom may arise from unbelief or something akin to unbelief–lack of vision. You do not have a clearly defined goal ahead of you. You are drifting. Pray about your work. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a definite goal for the next three months. Then drive to that goal.
Or perhaps you do not like the work you are called to do. You feel unfit for it. You could slave at something else, but your own work is too unattractive. Remember the verse, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” (Eccles. 9:10). You will be surprised how enjoyable a task becomes when you master it. Make it your aim to do your daily job superbly, and you will turn drudgery into a craft and a craft into an art. Nothing is so boring as sloppy work. – John White

Proper Image Management

// January 9th, 2010 // No Comments » // Thoughts

We’ve been working on a new stage design this week for our first series of 2010 called T3.  I’ve been thinking of what we, as human beings, care about and why and how those things drive our behavior and speech. The following quote has been stirring my heart as I’ve been working this week:

A zealous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough going, wholehearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cares for one thing, he lives for one thing, he is swallowed up in one thing; and that one thing is to please God.

Whether he lives, or whether he dies whether he has health, or whether he has sickness
whether he is rich, or whether he is poor whether he pleases man, or whether he gives
offense whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise whether he get honour, or whether he gets shame for all this the zealous man cares nothing at all.

-J.C. Ryle

whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. yes, whatever.