I am an optimist by nature. I love dreaming big dreams. But I’ve learned to be pragmatic and face the realities that must be dealt with if those big dreams are to come to life. “Winging it” usually does not get you where you want to go. A website rebuild, a discipleship strategy, Christmas Eve services – all of these things take significant planning and hard work. Start by writing out your goals. Then write down your “givens” [ie realities] and any potential roadblocks. By sitting down and listing potential challenges and costs, you’ll be in a much better position to decide if a project should move forward – and will be ready to overcome issues when they occur.
My friend Rory Noland nailed it in his book Thriving As An Artist: “If you see only opportunities, you won’t plan for obstacles that can blind-side you. You won’t be prepared to solve the problems that arise. It’s like starting a project without considering the cost (Luke 14:28). The opportunity may be from God, but if you’re oblivious to potential pitfalls, you are more likely to fail.”
Hmmm - well, let's see...
I'm a Christian, a husband, a dad, a son, a pastor, a consultant, a musician, a writer, and bits and pieces of a bunch of other things. My work life has followed three main phases - business to teaching to church. I was the Weekend Services Pastor for nine years at Northview Church, an awesome church in the Indianapolis suburbs. I used to work for Willow Creek, another awesome church in the Chicago area. Plus I've written for various magazines and websites, and other freelancy sorts of things... My life mission is to help the church be as excellent as it can be.
Oh yeah - the name's Greg. Greg Wallace. But not the race car driver or the major league pitcher or the British celebrity chef. Just the creative worship guy. Hi.
It's my hope that these ideas, musings, rants, raves, etc... will inspire you. They're just my opinions - but again, I hope that they'll help to inspire you. Because the church really, really needs inspired creative types. If you're a creative type (and most people are, deep-down), ask God for help. Then take any ideas that are useful to you - borrow them, nab them, use them, adapt them - and make them into something greater...
You can head over to my Instagram site for an abundance of shorter posts: creativeworshipideas. If you're looking for consulting - especially on weekend services, team leadership or multi-site strategies - I'd love to help. Just message me here, and I'll be in touch - Greg
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