Shift Worship

Get Creative: Keep Going

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:51:29 -0600

Filmmaker David Shiyang Liu turned Ira Glass’s excellent advice to creatives into one of those word graphic things. Worth hearing and then hearing again.

(more at BrainPickings.org)

Ira Glass on Storytelling from David Shiyang Liu on Vimeo.

New Content: A Blue So Blue

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:48:30 -0600

New this week: Blue! These stills/motions somehow calm and soothe while invigorating. No, we are not selling shampoo. See them in action for yourself.

Get Creative: With the Right Soundtrack

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:30:48 -0600

Say, have you ever tuned into The 99 Percent’s music mixes? Once in a while, the folks at this creativity/productivity blog build a playlist of songs meant to keep you in the work zone - not too distracting, not too sleepy. They can be a mixed bag (so to speak) - and I can’t speak much to the artists/lyrics - but that kind of background rhythm is often what we need to push through to the end of a project or work day (like this one).

Here is their latest, but you can check out their older mixes for some variety.

New Content: Communion

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:35:42 -0600

We continue our march to respond to the requests that poured in when we asked what kinds of media you’d like to see in 2012. Several mentioned new media for communion.

Our first batch comes in the form of the Communion Cloud Collection (with more to follow in the coming months.) The set of stills are accented by an appropriately blood red color with several helpful splash screens, including an exit screen that encourages people to “Go In Peace.”

Get Creative: Play with Your Lighting

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 15:11:24 -0600

This is amazing. It’s what I imagine snow boarding feels like for people who are more coordinated than I am.

Fashion photographer/filmaker Jacob Sutton created this short film by outfitting pro snow boarder William Hughes with an L.E.D. bedecked suit and capturing him riding the snow after dark.

“I was really drawn to the idea of a lone character made of light surfing through darkness,” says Sutton of his costume choice. “I’ve always been excited by unusual ways of lighting things, so it seemed like an exciting idea to make the subject of the film the only light source.”

What can you do with your lighting? Start by turning in down right now and turning your volume up before you play this.

New Content: Confession Mini Movie

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:02:12 -0600

Yesterday, we linked to our new Confession Collection, built with the Lenten season in mind. The collection includes this new mini movie starter, also called Confession, that works for Lent but will also work for any discussion/focus on confession and the grace of God.

New Content: The Confession Collection

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 09:53:55 -0600

Those who observe Ash Wednesday know it’s coming up one week from today, beginning the season of Lent. Largely in response to requests from many of you, we have released the Confession Collection for this season. It includes the Confession mini movie, along with lots of grey backgrounds, splash screens and a countdown.

Here’s a sample, but see it all here.

Get Creative: Surprise Your Valentine with an App!

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 15:04:47 -0600

Today over on the Lifehacker, they’ve got everything (literally) you will need to make your Valentine a quick and cheesy little app that he/she is guaranteed to love. This is assuming you’ve got a little HTML know-how, a litte time to invest and a little creativity to spare.

We know for a fact some of you geeks will dig this because we’ve been having so much fun with it ourselves.

Bonus: We can think of lots of creative applications for this that go beyond Valentine’s Day. Check it out.

Get Creative: Go on a Creative Missions Trip

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:45:33 -0600

We really like the idea behind ChurchMarketingSucks’s Creative Missions trips. They pull together resources and talent and go somewhere to serve needy churches by helping them communicate better, to find better and lasting ways to tell the story of Jesus in their communities.

You can find out more here.

Would you church be open to planning missions outreach events with the purpose of helping spread the gospel by equipping other churches with communication tools and training?

Creativity: Wanna Get Paid?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:35:06 -0600

How many of us have dreamt of getting a job doing the one thing in life we love most? It’s a conversation that often comes up among people who spend lots of time volunteering to serve in church doing something they really enjoy: “Maybe I should quit my job and go to work for a church doing this full time?”

But sometimes getting paid to do what we love kills our love for that very thing - or at least dampens it.

Here’s an example from a not-so-recent Lifehacker story:

According to David McRaney, in his great blog on self-delusion You Are Not So Smart, people who are paid for something they love can kill their passion because they begin to wonder what’s motivating them to do the work. He points to a study about children who love to draw that are split up into three groups. One group is told they’ll be awarded with a certificate for their drawing, another group is surprised by that certificate when their drawings are completed, and a third group doesn’t get anything at all. While you might think the third group feels slighted, the study found that those children simply felt happy to have completed a task they enjoyed. The children who knew a reward was coming, however, were not quite so happy because they’d questioned their motivation.

What’s most interesting, however, is that the children who received a reward as a surprise were happiest of all. They felt rewarded for their competence, not simply for completing a task. It’s these sorts of rewards that actually make us feel good about what we do rather than die a little inside every time we get a bonus based on our performance.

The implications for those of us who work - for love, money or both - in the church are huge. What rewards do you expect for you work? How can you reward other volunteers in a way that will be motivating? Should we even be having this conversation about work done for free “for the Lord”?

New Black-and-White Themed Service Planner

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:52:31 -0600

We just uploaded a brand new Service Planner using all black-and-white media. If you need to plug-n-play media for a service in a hurry, these Service Planners can be a lifesaver.

Get Creative: Wrap Your Message in the Unexpected

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:43:00 -0600

However you might feel about the World Wildlife Fund - Canada’s efforts to get people to turn down their thermostats at home to help the cause of global warming, I hope you can admire the creativity of their approach in using humor and defying expectations to make their message stickier and more attractive.

They’re calling tomorrow (February 9) National Sweater Day, and they’re offering to have a sweater-making grandma call to nag you about wearing one (and, by the way, turning down your thermostat).

Are you looking for ways to get a generally complacent group of people to join you in self-sacrificing efforts for a greater good? (Of course you are!) How could you violate their expectations and/or use humor to make that call more likely to hit home?

(via LaughingSquid.com)

Get Creative: Make an Infographic

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:37:38 -0600

Do you make infographics for your church? Making information visually digestible is such a powerful communication tool. Making a good one requires a combination of skills. It’s way too easy to end up with something that just looks pretty but muddies the meaning you were hoping to clarify - or says a lot but feels like a homemade PowerPoint slide. (Been there.)

We’re digging this one on the books of the Bible posted by Tim Challies at Challies.com yesterday. It’s part of a new series. Get a free download of a high-res PDF over at his site.

So how about you? Any cool infographics you’ve built for your church (or anything else) you’d like to show off? Any bad ones?

The Paper Heart Collection

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:28:05 -0600

What’s more Valentinesy than paper hearts. If you’re looking to capture the spirit of the weekend leading up to Valentine’s day, our newish Paper Heart Collection might help.

What would the world be like without love?

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:44:11 -0600

Our mini movie Without Love is one way to use Valentine’s Day week to make a serious point about real, biblical love. We’ve received some really encouraging feedback about responses to this thought piece that attempts to increase our appetite for true love by provoking us to imagine life without it.

Here is the text:

Without love, every word is wasted.
Without love, the future doesn’t matter.
Without love, faith is academic.
Without love, feeding the poor doesn’t pay.
Without love, great sacrifice is great foolishness.
Without love, marriage is negotiation.
Without love, parenting is child care.
Without love, work is merely work.
Without love, time is only money.
Without love, fear remains.
Without love, God is not.
Without love, I will serve myself with all my heart, soul and mind.

What is love again?

Say Again: Why Hesitate?

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:30:12 -0600

Okay, yes, so this blog lately seems to be sponsored by Valentine’s Day. Mostly, that’s because we’ve been going through all of our Valentines-related content for the last week or two. That will soon pass.

But before it does, here’s a paragraph from a 6-year-old blog post by Tim Challies about Christian men and Valentine’s Day. The whole piece is worth the quick read - whether you love or hate the whole fabricated season.

What continues to surprise me about reactions towards Valentine’s Day, and the reactions of men in particular, is their hesitation to celebrate their wives. Valentine’s Day may be a fabricated holiday. There is nothing special about February 14 that dictates that we must lavish gifts and attention upon our wives. But when the opportunity presents itself, why would we hesitate?

-Tim Challies from A Valentine’s Day Reflection on Challies.com

Use Paper Hearts to Talk to Real Ones

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 10:49:25 -0600

We didn’t have this mini movie, Paper Heart, ready for last Valentine’s Day - and it’s not specifically a Valentine’s Day film. But if you’re looking for a way to use Valentine’s Day to talk about the gospel and/or evangelism and/or missions, we think this works as a worship starter or sermon illustration.

Let us know if it works for you.

New Content: Valentine's Day

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:51:11 -0600

Valentine’s Day hits two weeks from right now. If you are planning to acknowledge that in your service, you might find some of our new content helpful this week. The aptly named Pink Rose Valentine Collection includes 21(!) pieces of media so you can mix and match to your whim — or just find the one still, motion, countdown or splash screen you need.

Get Creative: Tell a Valentine's Story

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:06:51 -0600

We’ve started a Valentine’s week tradition at our church in recent years of interviewing a couple who have been married for a while about their story - how they met, why they married, their ups and downs. When done well, it can be a startlingly powerful and encouraging to everyone present. It’s often funny, poignant and personally motivating.

Why does it work? Because it’s a story and because it’s specific. We can hear dozens of great sermons about how to do (and not do) marriage, but few of them will stick like a good story well told about the attractions, failures, forgiveness and affection of a single couple - especially when that couple is willing to be vulnerable and honest about those things and God’s grace for them in Christ.

All that is required is a storyteller willing to listen, ask good questions and show the result. The video below is one way to do that. It’s part of NPR’s StoryCorps series of animated videos set to the audio of their radio interviews. (Warning: You might cry.)

But there are lots of other ways to tell stories about the people in your church. How could you do it?

Worship: The Worship of Serving the Worshipers

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:26:00 -0600

I like this Billy Graham quote:

The highest form of worship is the worship of unselfish Christian service. The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.

Romans 12 is pretty clear that using our spiritual gifts to serve each other is square one in a life of worship.

If you are spending time, energy and creativity to lead and/or support others in worship this weekend, that in itself is an act of worship, right? That act of service may culminate in songs of praise, but your sacrifice of service before, during and after is an even more personal worship to God.

Enjoy the work. Accept the gift of purpose that comes with serving others for God’s glory. We are created for this.