I get a good bridge idea, a good chorus idea. I struggle with verses yet like a child forced to eat broccoli I press on and write one.

I am wondering if I am wired to require collaboration to finish the creative process once it gets started, or if I am just a “musical co-dependent” and it’s a character flaw.

Do any of you struggle with this? What are your keys to overcome limitations? What are the processes you find helpful to push you toward completing a song or blogging, etc.?

Excellence vs. Perfection

originally posted Mar 12, 2010 10:56 AM by Bill Kunkel   [ updated Mar 12, 2010 10:58 AM ]

Below is an excerpt from some training I attended that addressed the difference between perfection and excellence.

Striving for excellence is a different goal than striving for perfection. While perfectionists never seem to be happy with their work, people striving for excellence know when they have provided excellent performance.

Perfectionists:

• Often miss deadlines because “it’s just not good enough” – and it never will be
• Want everyone to believe they are perfect and that their work is perfect
• Constantly question their ability
• Don’t delegate because no one can do the work as well as they can
• Are often stressed and can easily become burned out

Excellence:

• Always doing your best
• Providing exceptional performance
• Meeting realistic deadlines
• Delegating when appropriate

Rather than setting unrealistic goals and expectations of perfection, you need to expect and accept excellence from yourself and others.

I believe we should always be striving for excellence in what we do, not perfection [which is unattainable until we get to heaven ]. I think that this can definitely apply to musicians, sound production, video, etc..

@chrisfromcanada No other way in reply to chrisfromcanada #

@chrisfromcanada Excellent observation. Tomlin does not sing in “The Key of the People” for sure in reply to chrisfromcanada #

@dwpoyner That’s the essence of it. in reply to dwpoyner #

@fmckinnon Now that is just #creepy in reply to fmckinnon #

@SaintLewis @planningcenter I’m a little slow sometimes in reply to SaintLewis #

@paulbaloche good because there is no ‘inventory’ being liquidated. in reply to paulbaloche #

@htkunkel Well go do some of the Father’s will #JesusJuke HAHA in reply to htkunkel #

@mikeymo1741 HA! Exactly in reply to mikeymo1741 #

@mikekimmusic Many thanks. Best to you as well. 2011 holds amazing things for those called according to His purpose! (that means you too in reply to mikekimmusic #

@newlutheran @paulbaloche That came out wrong. Inspires people to buy when they weren’t planning on buying ANYTHING at all in reply to newlutheran #

@SaintLewis Great. Mine traditionally grows in “patches” on my face. in reply to SaintLewis #

@SaintLewis The Great in my previous tweet was related to this! Can’t wait to hear it. I have 4 beat testers at home if you need some in reply to SaintLewis #

@fmckinnon Maybe they need a glass enclosed room to separate callers from patrons. in reply to fmckinnon #

@dg4G That’s OK hope @machroi is feeling better by now in reply to dg4G #

@iamanoffering This goes against everything that has been modeled by my current employer. Oh yeah, that’s why I’m leaving. in reply to iamanoffering #

@ATTSusan You have to follow me so I can do that. #

@jwmoss Yeah, that is pretty BLAH! in reply to jwmoss #

@sarahmarkley Change your password in reply to sarahmarkley #

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Merry Christmas and may God bless us all, everyone! #fb #

@robdoner Let me know if there are any inspired, well-timed, vibrato-filled vocal runs in there. in reply to robdoner #

@joelklampert very nice! in reply to joelklampert #

@Ez37 It is also not a very good one. in reply to Ez37 #

@mikekimmusic no service today. We had our ‘Christmas’ service last week. But next year I am going to lobby for a true Xmas service in reply to mikekimmusic #

Watching my girls play Lego Batman. It’s quite interesting to watch their take on teamwork… #somuchscreeching #

@cmarkley yes there has been a little of both here today #klague2010 in reply to cmarkley #

. @dianabir …repeated many, many times in reply to dianabir #

@bltitus priorities revealed in reply to bltitus #

@m_vince @iamanoffering I had one of those prior (works well) and sold it to buy the AT2020 in reply to m_vince #

@iamanoffering @m_vince Yeah, I’m hooked and listening now too in reply to iamanoffering #

@ShiftC Very cool. Looking forward to exchanging quips on the timeline in reply to ShiftC #

@ShiftC @itsmyron well I’ll be praying for you either way in reply to ShiftC #

Not that I am holistic by ANY means #

@cmarkley That’s back when there were departments! in reply to cmarkley #

@djbyron @inworship @mrdrewjames Perhaps that is why we haven’t looked into that one… in reply to djbyron #

@anthonybir How was your Christmas? Was Santa good to you? in reply to anthonybir #

@djbyron Let me know how the pocket one works out. Anything large keeps getting left behind by me. in reply to djbyron #

@jonacuff I would say for the better in reply to jonacuff #

Co-Worker bought me lunch today. #FedByRavens #

@machroi (@jclayville @dg4G) These kind of tweets will be read by your kids later on life via the USLoC and induce PTSD. in reply to machroi #

@jclayville Mine too… in reply to jclayville #

@auggment @djbyron Its not much different than real life…well, depending on who is in the car… in reply to auggment #

@dg4G Happy New year to you guys! Blessings to you and your kin in reply to dg4G #

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I remember doing that. Listening to messages on my Walkman, or on my 48-mile-one-way commute to work.

That lead me to start ask some questions like:

• Do people in your churches still ask for copies of the messages?
• What format(s) are people asking for them in now?
• Do you still make them available free or for a nominal fee?
• Do you post them in a podcast? Make them available for download?
• Do you re-listen to the messages being brought forth in your congregation?

I can say that it has been a while longer than I feel safe admitting since I intentionally listened to preaching outside of a Sunday service.

What was the last message you intentionally ‘asked’ to re-review?

Psalm 146:2 “I want to praise the LORD throughout my life. I want to make music to praise my God as long as I live.”

This has now become my summarized life-mission statement.

What is your life-mission statement? What has God called you to be?

- Amen.

This past two years has been full of both. I just had lunch with a great friend the other day discussing the scenario below.

I find myself in that awkward [and, for most, probably too familiar state] of feeling like I am doing what I “have” to do to live, not to living to do what I love. This causes a grievous dissonance in my soul. Maybe I’m in a mid-life funk (at 35?).

For those of you who are currently living and doing what you love, feel called to do, etc I have some questions.

• How could you tell if it was a calling vs. a fantasy?
• How did you go from the not doing what you love, to the doing side?
• Were there noticeable indicators?
• Did you just cut, run and “trust God to provide”?
• Did you go on a 40 day fast?
• Obviously prayer is part of it, but HOW did you pray?
• Where there passages of scripture that spoke to you?
• Were you married with offspring at the time or single?

Would love to get your feedback. I know there are people [especially those called to be creative in the church] that are struggling with this same mental battle.

I started to make the concept of “strength rising” part of my prayers. It lead me to praying part of Psalms 51:12 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation”

Nehimiah 8:10 “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our LORD: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Joy is defined as “the emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something exceptionally good or satisfying; keen pleasure;elation”.

Strength is defined as “[mental power, force, or vigor]”

Even though I was asking for both things, I seemed to be lacking both. That is because I did not link my strength with the Joy of my salvation. I quickly repented of my wrong thinking and asked the Lord to help me regain the proper perspective on life.

Have you found yourself in a similar state of being? As a believer, (James 2:20) you are responsible for making a concerted effort to change.

• Want out of debt, pay your bills. Watch God provide as you do the right thing.
• Want a better relationship with your spouse, treat them better than you want to be treated. Watch them reciprocate.
• Want church life to be more spiritual: repent of your own sins first. Watch other peoples reactions to the transformation in your life. Hey, maybe you were wrong all along…
• Want to have joy? Trade your sorry state for the one your Father in heaven intends for you to have.

First step, admit you aren’t OK. You need help. Not from earthly wisdom and power; our help is from the Lord.

Psalms 121:1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.”

Then take the steps to draw [to bring, take, or pull out, as from a receptacle or source] joy to have joy.

Is 12:3 Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

We draw joy, by asking for it

Psalm 51:12 “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”

When the Lord hears us, we need to be willing to trade our current sorrows for joy. You can’t want to stay in mourning and be glad at the same time. The Lord wants to be glorified in your transformation:

Is 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting,  of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Much like the show “How do I look?”, we need to allow God to give our countenance a makeover. We can’t be willing to nurse the negative emotions that we’ve held onto and embraced as our identity [who we are: the victim, the abused, the cheated, etc.] all these years.

Is 61:10 ^“I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.”

When we allow God to clothe us in joy and praise, we become strong

Psalm 28:7 “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Our joy should lead us to have the high praises of God on our lips. Giving thanks by word and/or song to His name, for His works, for His ability to provide.

Psalm 81:1 “Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!”

Hebrews 13:15 “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”

Psalm 40:3 “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.”

1 Peter 1:8 “Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy.”

I encourage you today to pray and ask the Lord for strength (joy) to rise in your own life. You will be amazed at the transformation in your perspective as you take steps to have a closer walk with Jesus.

If you aren’t familiar with “Everlasting God” by Brenton Brown, I have linked in a video from YouTube.com below

While praying about a situation and then later talking with a fellow team member I had a spark of inspiration.

I Googled up an image, and set my two daughters who were at home loose with a glue stick, scissors, a cereal box and a Mason jar.

Then end result was the White Rabbit Jar below.

The way the White Rabbit Jar works is very simple.

• If you are late to practice, you put a dollar per minute you are late in the jar. Steep I know, but an effective deterrent from a lackluster view on being ‘late’.

This isn’t for those who have an excusable absence. It’s to combat the mentality of I”’m going to be late and you’re going to have to deal with it”. The White Rabbit is the method in which I am dealing with the tardiness.

• If you are early or on time, enter your name in the jar.

At the end of the month we will draw a name from the jar and that person will be able to do whatsoever they please with the kiddy.

I’m hoping by the end of the month that the jackpot will be VERY low.

Fellow team leaders, do you have issues with members being late? What methods have you employed that have been effective?

Observer – The observers are the ones who watch it all happen, and are grateful that it does. They even pay a nominal price to support the cause.

Servant – The servants are those who make things happen in the Kingdom of God. A servant is a person who counts it an honor to be in the service [an act of helpful activity; help; aid] of another.

These servants are the Jonathans, Elishas, Gehazis. They are the unnamed people that helped carry the baskets filled with miraculous levels of loaves and fishes to the masses during the sermon on the mount. The servants do the hard work of giving legs to the calling of God.

What of the unnamed musician who was called by the King:

2 Kings 3:15 15 “But now bring me a harpist. While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha"

I love that it wasn’t a named harpist. It was a harpist who was faithful, patient and waiting for his time to be called by the King to serve. Oh, that we musicians could embrace this heart to be a desired vessel called by the King to be there and serve as the Word of God goes forth!

Prima Donna – a temperamental person; a person who takes adulation and privileged treatment as a right and reacts with petulance [irritable, impatient, or sullen {persistently and silently ill-humored; morose} in a peevish or capricious way] to criticism or inconvenience.

They are those who feel they have a right from the birth canal and to be part of everything visible that is happening simply because they exist. These people are the “Prima Donna”, and boys and girls, they are alive and well in the 21st century.

Of course taking the Prima Donna route is the easiest route because it requires the least amount of self-sacrifice. It is an “I think therefore I am mentality”. 

• I think I am a great keyboard player, therefore I am; no lessons or mentoring required.
• I think I am a great preacher therefore I am; I have no need to be bothered and waste time hiding the Word of God in my heart.
• I think I am a faithful steward of God’s resources therefore I am; No need to do the hard work of keeping things in decent, working order.
• I think I am a good Christian, therefore I am; No need to live the Word of Christ which has been spoken into my life.

The deception of the Prima Donna is that they feel they are the privileged class, when in reality their “perceived privilege” is only temporal. They may muscle their way to things now; but they will not muscle their way into the Gates of Heaven later.

It is those who are the servants Jesus Christ who are truly the privileged class, for they sow in tears now in this temporary life, but they have a privilege to live in joyous fellowship with fellow believers at the Throne of Jesus forever!

Matthew 25:²¹"His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Of the three above, which type of person belongs in a ministry who’s sole calling [to be summoned by or as if by Divine command] it is to bring Glory to God who is a Spirit [John 4:24] that we can’t even see with our naked eye?

As Paul Baloche said on Saturday: "There’s no 3 secrets, no 7 steps, it starts with ministering to the Lord. That’s your chief occupation."

I want to be part of that “Privileged Class” too.