About the picture:
This picture represent a lot of things for me…this is the conference room at Crossover Church in Tampa where I work at. Since I been here I been stretched creatively in so many different ways I can’t begin to explain. Its also a place where I find that many other people, ministries, artist are inspired by that work God is doing here at the church and it gets them excited and pumped when they go back to their place of work or wherever. But in this room is where a lot of the unique and innovative ideas and planning goes down that effect and change the lives of thousands and thousands of people. This room really have something special to it because before it was a conference room it was a prayer room.“Uniqueness is birthed out of ignored criticism” - Brandon ‘dash’ Brinkley
We all have them. And call them what you want….critics, haters, snakes, etc…what ever they are we all know ‘em as the dream killers (sounds like a crew of evil villains).
And lets face it….we all want to please people..right? Ohhh….I get it, your one of the people that say, “I don’t care what people think about me!” Yea right…..I’m sure there is a piece of us that can admit that we do, in some way, try to please people. It can be by the work that we do, the car that we drive, the clothes that we wear….come to think of it, its not even a mater of trying to please people at this point, its just being presentable. No one goes to work looking a hot mess and use the excuse “I don’t care what people think of me.” So if your thinking that you can kill that noise!
But really, you gotta think about it…who decided to make a portable computer, start up a social network, flat screen monitors, projectors….(and yes I am looking around my house for things at this point..early morning I can’t think right lol). Do decided to put their albums on itunes, use spray paint to make beautiful murals, power windows and locks in cars, toilet paper rolls…..skinny jeans and other 80’s apparel..but the real question is, who decided to bring it back…I mean really. The different types of films that are out, photos, paintings, music……Random thoughts I kinda though out there, but I’m sure you get the picture.
To most of these we can say that it was a very creative and innovative. But what about the guy that came up with the idea? What did he have to go through to get to the point of expectance by others? Or how did he ever overcome the thoughts of “what if” and those who said he couldn’t do it or it would never work?
Back in the summer of 2007, I shot a short independent film for an art show that was held at a National Event in St. Louis, Missouri. I met a ton of artist that range in a number of various styles…I was pretty much in awe of the creative minds I was surrounded by. I had the opportunity to interview all 20+ artist and really get into there minds and they shared with me the type of work they do. I can tell that they were very excited to share their stories and emotions that went into their pieces. It was a 3 day event and I left that event shooting the documentary inspired.
What I really got from that experience was how they created something out of their emotions…what they felt. They weren’t really interested in what others thought. Wow…what was going through there minds…because I look at the work of others (film, photographs, etc) and I’m in awe cause I had never seen anything like that done in my life before! We call things like that “unique”. Unique meaning….different, weird, pretty creative? Whatever the thought is, some of the same “unique people” think or say “I wish I would’ve thought of that myself” when they see other things.
So where do individuals get this drive from? Well, its simple really….God places these emotions inside of us to create something great and extraordinary. The same God that created both heaven and earth created you and I…now how creative is that! So in appreciation to that, we are told to offer our gifts, talents, and bodies by means of giving God glory and honor.
Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
But we all have a problem….we also have this drive that longs for acceptance and we try to find that in this world that we are in. And if we are in Christ we all know not to follow the trends or the cues of this world.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
So with that in mind, what do we do or say when our beloved “critics” stop us from doing what God had called us to do? And these critics, or dream killers, are all around us. They can be certain members of your family, friends, and even strangers. But if we aren’t careful the very critic that can hurt us the most can be yourself. We can be our greatest weapon when it comes to doing God’s will, the passion and desires what He has place in our hearts. Our minds and our very thoughts and keep us from these things. We can get the thinking and lead ourselves to the wrong way of thinking….we believe what others say about us or we start comparing ourselves to others and then we shut down and end up burring our passions.
It’s a dangerous road to go down, but what happens when we have a continued thought pattern that become a part of us?
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