How creative are you?

Have you ever gone to a concert, art exhibit, play, or museum and left with a huge sense of inspiration? It's almost as if the inspiration that the artist had when writing or creating their work is transferred to you. There have been countless times that I have left a concert with such inspiration that I had to go home and try to write something myself. Creativity generates creativity. And of course, the opposite is probably true as well: blandness generates blandness.

I say all this because I have finally been delving into the Mac world after a long resistance. There were a number of reasons for the resistance and the biggest reason for the exposure was work. I seized an opportunity to get a Mac at an incredible price and use it at work. For years I had been hearing about all of the ways that Macs were superior to PCs, but I had never experienced it firsthand. Most people that I spoke with who were involved with any kind of graphics business or music business would rave about their Mac experiences.

I am still a PC user, but I am using a Mac as well now. Yesterday, I decided to use iMovie for the first time. I have had a DV camera since my first son was born and have always wanted to experiment with it but the software that is available for PCs, mostly by Adobe, is pricey. As we are looking at some exciting opportunities in the future at our church, we thought it best to visually promote them. So, we came up with an idea and I ran with it. It was a fairly simple premise, so I shot the video and began work.

By the end of the day, I had a close to finished product (save for some additional editing) that I was able to show people. The most amazing part about it was that the software that I had used was not complicated. I didn't have to spend hours reading through a manual of instructions. I watched a few tutorial videos here and there, and then I just ran with it. The greatest part about it was the creativity that came from this has caused more creativity. I talk to the other pastors and they are excited and are coming up with ideas.

I believe that when God formed us, He made us creative beings. Just a simple look at the makeup of the human body is enough to know that God's creation is complex and wonderful. I have always been so frustrated with the Christian sub-culture that takes something in pop culture and "Christianizes" it. To me, that's not taking the creativity that we have been given. It is not taking our responsibility to worship God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength as seriously as we should.

So, go out and be creative! When you are, you'll inspire someone else to do the same!