Unconventional Dinner Theater

This November the Creative Arts Department at Grace Church is putting on a dinner theater. But here is the catch - the dinner is not for you. You will be fed but it will be more of a coffee house setting in order to put all our efforts into providing dinner for 200 families in out community. So here is how it is going to work. When you purchase a ticket for $5 you will be given a reusable shopping bag and a shopping list of non-perishable items. The night of the performance you bring your ticket and your bag of groceries to gain admission to the event. The whole of the $5 will go to providing the meat of the dinner for these families. There will also be a wonderful visual of hundreds of reusable shopping bags filled with food to feed needy families. We have had generous donations from Publix, Wal-Mart, JJ's Barbecue and more to come to help make this evening and goal possible. Let's face it there are needy and hungry people that need to be shown the love of God. I mean a lot of us are blessed and have more than we really need. It seems that during this time of family and thanksgiving we should use our resources to share with those in need (personally I believe it needs to be more than just at a certain time of year or when the end of the taxable season is ending and we need those write-offs - we are called to feed the hungry and give drink to those who thirst - lets pull together and help). Of Course there are many other ways to help if you can't make the either of the performances - donate money, food from the shopping list, desserts for the events, and many other ways; have your small group also gather a bag or two and donate it or bake desserts to share. We had no idea when we first planned this event that it would end up looking anything like this but we are so excited to see how God can move through a little event like a dinner theater. The biggest thing you can do is to pray for the evening and everything leading up to it - we still are unsure of how some details will work out but God does.

Tickets go on sale November 1 - 15 and are $5 in advance, $15 at the door

Performances are Friday November 20 @ 7:00PM and Saturday November 21 @ 7:00PM

My Story | Hunter

This film was born out of a conversation between Derek Hunter (the main character in the film) and myself. We wanted to start to film personal testimonies of the members of our church in order to archive them for our church’s history and to share them with our congregation and others. What we came up with was a stylized film aimed to convey the story not only through the person telling it but through the filming, framing, and music as well. As a trial we started with his testimony. I had him write it down to help him develop it and to help choose the best way to film it. After reading through it we decided that given the content we would film it in an isolated minimalistic approach. Only being able to see the main character with no background would help isolate the audience’s attention the way the main character was describing his own personal feelings. The harsh lighting was intended to give that same feeling.

As the music was being composed, we felt the same need to space it out and keep it minimal. We went through about 4 different drumbeats till we stuck with the ones we have, minimalistic yet driving toward some point. The keys and guitar were meant to do the same thing. We settled on a key and chord progression that felt melancholic yet hopeful which is what we felt when we watched the testimony. From the first take till the last edit there was this sense that every part of this film should reflect the story as best as it could.

What You See and What You Get

Have you ever ordered something off of one of those home shopping channels only to find that the product didn't live up to the hype? As a kid I remember saving box tops to send in for "great" and "wonderful" items that always showed up and deflated my excitement like a day old birthday balloon. Since the advent of advertising people have become accustom to the letdown that comes from the product that had so much promise before purchase.

Take a look at the Big Macs above. On the left is the advertised product while beside it is what you actually get. There are special food paints and products manufactured specifically to dress up the advertised product while very little time, care, and effort are put into the product that millions of people actually receive. My guess is that food ads are as doctored as the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Think about that. The Big Mac is treated like a rock star at photo shoots with special lights, make-up, dressers, and more. Plus there are people dedicating time to "enhance" the photos (I can just imagine someone making sure the burger didn't look too thick or thin, enhanced the sesame seeds to sparkle and draw the eyes in). But no where close to half that much effort is put into the substance of what actually matters.

I can't help but draw a comparison to the church today. We spend so much time doctoring up what we are trying to feed people with that we forget about the actual substance behind it. Now don't get me wrong, I really enjoy thoughtfully planned and executed production. I enjoy the lights, the slick designs, the professional music. And lets face it there is nothing we can do to doctor up the message that would outdo the actual message. Please don't confuse the analogy above, i am not stating that the saving grace of God is in any way inferior to anything. It is just that we put so much time and effort into preparing it in ways to be "seeker sensitive" to not offend people new in our churches that we forget how powerful the Holy Spirit actually is. The problem is we think people expect slick and professional and grand. And why wouldn't we think at that look at our culture. Look at the two Big Macs above. But didn't the Jewish people of the Old Testament expect the same thing. They were looking for this grand King to come in and lead with grandeur, gold, glitz, and authority. But what they really got was something way better than they could have ever imagined in a lowly servant.

We can dress church up all we want to make it as appealing as possible to as many people as possible but we need to remember the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. God works in spite of humanity's attempt to make God work. Amidst the lights and sound systems we need to remember to step aside and think about what we are really sharing not what we are doing to try and make it more appealing.