Aaron Loy's Ragamuffin Blog

Mosaic Thoughts on Communication

One of the things we do pretty regularly as part of the protege program is prepare and deliver 5 minute talks. (These are uniquely challenging because of how focused having just five minutes forces you to be!) The talks also give us a chance to put into practice some of the things we've been learning and give each other feedback on what we're doing well and where we need to grow in our communication (a big part of the program). This morning Hank Fortener, Mosaic campus pastor of the Mayan downtown joined us. His input and feedback is always so good and this morning was no exception. He are some of the things he shared that really stood out to me. I hope they prove as helpful to you as they were for me: 

Never share a story for the first time from the stage. Tell it to friends, family, and whomever else first. Find out when and if people laugh or cry, or if they don’t connect with it at all.

Constantly refine your ideas for your message with friends. Have people in your life that you can continually go to and ask, “Does this make sense?” “Does this resonate?” “Can people relate with this or is it just me?”

Anything more than 10 days is too long to be preparing for a message. You need to be speaking from a place of authenticity and personal journeying with whatever you are speaking about.

Never assume that people want to hear what you have to say. Every time I stand up at the Mayan I assume that everyone there is busy, skeptical and that they have somewhere else to be.” When I am starting my message, I want everyone to lean in and think, “I’ve been there. I know what he is talking about. I can relate with that.” Then I can begin to take them on a journey.

Don’t be predictable or presumptuous. The last thing you want is to try to create an “aha” moment or represent yourself as an expert and be so predictable that everyone knows where you are going and gets there before you do. It’s like watching a movie and quoting the main character’s line before he says it, and you think, “This is cheesy.” You do that and every skeptic in the room is going to think, “What a dork. I am smarter than this guy.”

Ask yourself, “Why does this matter?” For example, I recently had to speak on the topic of going to church and so asked myself “Why go to church?” Well the often pat Christian answers don’t work for someone like the gal I went to lunch with yesterday, who is an activist and has more friends and meaningful relationships than she knows what to do with. She has community, she has a purpose, she is serving humanity…Why should she go to church? I approach my subject from the eyes of the most skeptical persons I can imagine. I tear apart my belief piece by piece, strip myself of easy answers and really wrestle with it. And if at the end I no longer have an answer, then either I don’t have a message or I need to be honest about it at the beginning of my message.    

Theology in Film

“In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends." - Ratatouille

I know, it's tempting. I've done it. You've done. We've all done it at one time or another. But resist that natural urge to criticize the things you don't subscribe to. It's a waste of your time and energy. Instead, go create something beautiful with your life that serves humanity. Life's too short to be a critic.

Theology in Film

"I put no stock in religion. By the word religion I have seen the lunacy of fanatics of every denomination be called the will of god. I have seen too much religion in the eyes of too many murderers. Holiness is in right action, and courage on behalf of those who cannot defend themselves, and goodness. What god desires is here [points to head] and here [points to heart] and what you decide to do every day..." - Kingdom of Heaven

Theology in Film

BENJAMIN BUTTON: For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.

Chase the Lion

I came across this quote today by Mark Batterson that I absolutely love! He calls it the "Lion Chasers Manifesto." I am guessing it is found somewhere in his book that I am reading right now. It goes like this:

"Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Grab life by the mane. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze new trails. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion."

Ahhh, that might as well be my life's mission statement! Hey, my apologies for the sound of silence here lately. Ironically, I have been writing a ton of stuff for school and other projects. Today it dawned on me that much of what I have been working on has to do with life, ministry and leadership. So why not post some of it that might prove helpful? So all that to say that I've got a bunch of stuff I will begin rolling out over the next few weeks. Also, this last week a good friend of mine lovingly made me aware that, to his disappointment, I don't speak nearly enough about Mosaic on here (love you Drew). So I am going to try to be intentional about posting more Mosaic material and thoughts on here that I think might be helpful.

And speaking of Mosaic, me and a good friend of mine are spearheading an effort to get as many of Mosaic's videos available online as possible. So much great stuff has been created here that I think could really help pastors out and minister to faith communities around the world. The only caveat is that due to fuzzy copyrights, we are going to have to offer them for free. So I hope that is cool with you all. Stay tuned...

Mysticism

"Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic...He has always cared more for truth than for consistency."

--G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

"Mysticism keeps men sane. As long as you have mystery you have health; when you destroy mystery you create morbidity. The ordinary man has always been sane because the ordinary man has always been a mystic...He has always cared more for truth than for consistency."

--G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy

Theology in Film

Sorry about the sound of crickets on here lately everyone. The last couple weeks of my quarter were pretty brutal. Now that I am finally finished, however, I am excited to jump back in to writing saddle. For the moment, however, I give you another one of my favorite film moments.

FRODO: I cannot do this alone.

GALADRIEL: You are a Ring Bearer, Frodo. To bear a ring of power is to be alone. This task was appointed to you, and if you do not find a way, no one will.

FRODO: Then I know what I must do. It's just - I'm afraid to do it.

GALADRIEL: Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

Erwin Quotes

 One of the best things about being a part of Mosaic is having the opportunity to serve under Erwin McManus' leadership and to get to hear him teach on a regular basis. If you've ever had the opportunity to hear him teach other leaders, you know that trying to take it all in is like trying to drink from a fire hose. Here are a few of my favorite Erwin quotes from the past few months:

In speaking to the proteges shortly after we arrived in L.A...

"My goal is not to make you all great leaders, because some of you don't have the character to sustain that kind of influence. Your character would be crushed under that mantle of power."

In speaking about his approach to preaching...

"I don't want to feed people, I want to make them hungry."

Speaking to Mosaic's leaders at Leadership Advance...

"The day you lose your curiosity is the day you stop living. You must find a way to rediscover the curiosity of your youth. The problem is that often times religion is described as static. God is symbolized as a rock, but he is expressed in the wind."

Spoken Sunday night at the Mayan after telling a classic self-deprecating story...

"Don't follow me. Follow Jesus."

Theology in Film

SAM: It's me. It's your Sam. Don't you know your Sam?

 [Frodo puts the knife away and falls back.]

FRODO: I can't do this, Sam.

SAM: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.

FRODO: What are we holding onto, Sam?

 [Same takes Frodo, helps him to his feet, looks into his eyes and speaks with quiet conviction.]

SAM: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo, and it's worth fighting for.

Be Like Jesus

[This is a great post written by my buddy John. You can check out his blog here. But don't dog him about the picture - that was my addition. I know, I know, the beer should be darker.]

1. Get baptized by the craziest guy in town.

2. Say and do things that are guaranteed to make religious people want to kill you. Repeat again, and again, and again, and again, and again and don't stop unless forced.

3. Do amazing things for people and ask them to not tell anyone.

4. Hang out with the most despised, marginalized, looked down upon, and shunned people you can find.

5. When possible, forgive and restore people, even if they betrayed you.

6. Live in a way that provokes gossip.

7. Win the most grace competition.

8. Keep the party going. 

9. Serve people (note: nose plugs may be required).

10. If you're sad cry.

11. Empower people to do the extraordinary.

12. Act like a rock star in a hotel temple.

13. Radically simplify theology.

14.Break human-made religious laws. Repeat consistently.

15.Prioritize the most important over the important.

16. Let women with questionable backgrounds pay your bills.