And of course dramatic
entrances. Whether it’s riding in on a motorcycle or pushing a cart like a homeless
person or walking in on crutches or whatever. So it always has to be different
because I think that’s the key with creativity. One of the most important things
I think in a creative church is that on any given Sunday you can’t say, “Oh
yeah, it’s always like this.” It’s always something a little different. And
that’s what we want to do. We want to pique people’s curiosity so when they
come in there is this sort of subliminal “I wonder what’s going to happen today?”
There’s always something different. And it doesn’t always have to be sensational
and certainly not superficial but always something a little bit different out
of the shoot that gets their attention.
Preaching:
What are some of the more interesting or effective beginnings that you’ve used
in messages?
Nelson:
One of my favorites I talk about in the book. We were doing a two-week series
on John the Baptist. John the Baptist was one of these guys who a lot of our
people could relate to, because we try to target the hardnosed 38-year-old business
guy. We figure if we can get him we can get anybody. We have a lot of CEO, entrepreneur-types
and a lot of people who kind of relate to the out-of-the-box thinking of a John
the Baptist. So we did a two-part series on his life — called “Born to Be Wild”
— and kind of related to the people who didn’t buy into Christianity because
they thought it was for pacifists or whatever.
So the first week
we did a clip from Born to Be Wild, the old movie, and showed the guys
on the Harleys. Had the music blaring loud. So the next week we sort of did
it on steroids. We had some Harleys parked in the lobby as people walked in
and we interviewed a guy from our church who’d just come back from Sturgis —
the big biker rally. Then we showed the same clip and the same music as before
but then the doors opened on the side of our auditorium and I rode in on a Harley-Davidson.
I had leathers and everything. It was just one of those things you wished you
could do every Sunday just because of the thunderous applause and laughter —
like an “Oh my goodness, I can’t believe he’s doing this” sort of thing. I had
to practice because I didn’t want to lay it over on Sunday morning and embarrass
myself!
So that’s certainly
one of the most memorable but we’ve done all sorts of different things. I was
talking about “Live Life in the Spirit,” so I came in in a Superman costume
and the “S” stood for Spirit. I saw the video of that afterwards and realized
that I was far too pudgy to be in that outfit! So you kind of have to think
about what you’re going to do.