If you have not tuned in to what is happening at Elevation Church, allow me to introduce you to some of the freshest dudes I know. Chris, Wade, and Mack are dope. Great dude, amazing men, and solid artists. They have just finished their first ever LIVE album, FOR THE HONOR, and it is great. (For the Honor – Elevation Worship“>get it here)

Check out this promo.

Want to know how dope these dudes are? They are giving a way a huge portion of the profits from the first weeks sales to help Compassion and an amazing work in Kamwokya. Here are the details on how it works.

If you are not already sold…check out this free song FOR THE HONOR.

For the Honor – Elevation Worship“>Then you will be hooked and can go buy it.

“Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work.” -Rita Mae Brown

So often we discount our ability because of our insecurity. We find excuses and reasons we should not be our best and hide behind them leaving our potential to spiral out of control.

If we believe we have been created in the image of the Creator, then we must also believe we have the ability to be creative. That may not mean we are all artists, but we all have access to creativity.

Creativity is a muscle; it takes use and exercise to develop. As we develop this muscle, we discover that there is instinct behind it – an intuition, if you will. The better we get at creating, the stronger and more precise this intuition becomes. But beware: with creativity comes the temptation to get lazy. When we hope more than we work, we’re not doing the necessary tasks to build our creative muscle and develop our instincts.

The equation is simple.

Show up.
Refuse to be intimidated by the work.
Stop listening to the voices.
Be diligent in doing our best creative work.
When the work gets hard, work harder.
Refuel.
Keep going.
Step away.
Give it space.
Come back.
Refine it.
Deliver it.
Start again.

Are you ready to overcome your fear and insecurity? Are you ready to deliver your best creative work? Hustle so that your creative muscle can get stronger, your instincts more intentional, and your ability to change your world to develop.

We need you.

I have found that there are two types of artists: artists who are frustrated athletes and artists who have no athletic inkling in their DNA. It’s like the Hattfields and the McCoys – very little gray area. Regardless of which camp you call home,  the accomplishments of Coach Mike Krzyzewski are respectable. Last night “Coach K” set the record for most wins by a college basketball coach at 903 and counting. But what can we, as artists, learn from Coach K’s accomplishments?

1. Sustainability – Coach K has been at Duke since 1980. Over the past 31 seasons, Coach K has experienced the highs and lows of building a team. As artists, we often have a hard time sticking to our goal. We feel defeated or misunderstood and often give up before we’ve had the opportunity to instill change and accomplish the dreams and goals we had when we started a job, project or organization. When we learn to sustain, we’re able to weather the storms of insecurity, boredom, being misunderstood, and feeling undervalued. Sustaining allows us to not only make a mark, but leave a legacy. Artists and sustainability are not often friends, but understanding the power of longevity and staying focused on an end goal will help us accomplish more than we could ever dream.

2. Accept The Challenge – In 1980, Duke basketball was not the brand that it is today. Another legendary coach, Dean Smith, had a brand literally down the street at UNC. Krzyewski came in committed to building a brand. He watched what Smith and his staff were doing and built Duke to become not only a rival, but a powerhouse in the exact same community. How many of us feel intimidated by another church or creative team that is right down the street? Or worse, how many of us are intimidated by a another church or artist who is on twitter! Build your brand based on the vision God has given you. Understand your unique mission, the DNA that makes you who you are and reject the temptation to imitate. As an artist, you are called to create – not to copy and paste. You will never be fully alive until you have created based on your gifts and not your google skills. Your “Duke” is going to fit more naturally to you than trying to be someone else’s “UNC.” Accept the challenge as an artist to not compete with your peers but to become the best you possible. Doing that will start the journey to a brand that can become influential in the lives of those in your community.

3. Adapt to Change – The fundamentals of basketball are the same today as they were 30 years ago. However, the game is totally different. Athletes are bigger, faster, and can jump higher. Training has changed drastically. The organism of basketball is growing and morphing. Likewise, the fundamentals for the “creative game” are somewhat the same today as they were in the past, but things are still changing daily. Technology has made creativity and production accessible to the masses. We must adapt and move with the world around us. We have to be willing to adjust our programs, processes, and methods before they stop working so we can stay innovative. If we do not adjust daily, the world around us will adjust us…and that is never good. Being nimble and willing to adapt is not always easy for artists, but it’s necessary if we want to have longevity and true impact in our communities and organizations.

4. Learn to Transcend – Artists often become comfortable in a space and forfeit the ability to transcend groups. The fear of selling out often robs artists from the fullness of their potential and influence. Coach K is a college coach, but led a team of professionals to the Gold Medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Traditionally, college coaches never get the respect of professional players. Coach K was able to transcend titles and gain the respect of his players. As artists, we often have to find ways to transcend stereotypes, insecurities, and obstacles to gain the respect of our organization or to transcend into new opportunities. When we learn to transcend, we position ourselves to steward the influence that God is giving us.

Are you an artist athlete or an artist who tolerates athletes?

Christmas. It’s the same every year. That’s its nature, and with reason – the content has been the same for…well, forever. So then, how do we make it more creative? This is why we have to work…to make it creative.

Each year, we know that we will do some very expected and traditional things during our Christmas series. We have our first meeting in June/July. This is a chance to be out of our normal space and create. Then, we follow up in early October with a bigger meeting. During that meeting, we attempt to brainstorm some specific things:

• Ways to do what we have done – but different or better.
• New options to tell the same story.
• Memories or history that can help tell the story.
• Unique ideas around Christmas.

From there, Pete and our team will work on identifying a series title and how we are going to work the content. For example: this year, our series is “Shine On”. It’s going to be a fun series telling the story of how it’s our responsibility as Christians to reflect Jesus, the greatest gift ever given. One of the ways we’re going to do this is through a plan to participate in 12 Days of Serving, creating local missions opportunities for 12 days in a row.

Our graphic should be done today. If it is, I will share it..but not yet. We have to get it dialed in first. In the meantime, I thought we would share some of the graphics we used to inspire direction for this year’s Christmas series. What have you found that inspired your Christmas graphic programming?

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What are your favorite ways to get your team ready for Christmas.

We are really bad judges of our own creations.

As creative people, we are often very insecure about our creations. We walk through life and see all the great art being created arounds us and wonder: “how did they think of that? Where did that idea come from? I could never think of that! I would never be able to create that.” We see awesome people doing awesome things and just know that they are geniuses and we’re hacks.

But that lie is just not true. What is obvious to us may actually be magical to everyone else. The thing is, magic happens when we are busy doing our work.

When our focus becomes on being magical, the magic will never happen. But when we are occupied with doing our jobs, we are able to do what we do best. As we do our work, we start to create things and the by-product of our constant creation is to develop WOW moments for other people.

At some point, even the most amazing ideas have seemed obvious to their creator. That never stopped them from continuing to create. Maybe what is obvious to us can actually be amazing to everyone else.

Derek Siver, founder of CD Baby, has recently released a book entitled: Anything You Want where he talks about this concept and also drives home the point that often times we are bad judges of our own creations. We judge our ideas, our art, and our work through a different lens than our peers.

So, stop doubting. Stop believing the lie that you are not able to create WOW art. What is obvious to you may change the life of someone else. Go create and let the world decide while you are working, focused, and doing your thing.

Have you ever had an idea that felt obvious to you but blew someone else away?