thirtyonethree

Originally posted on Godly Creative People Forum on August 22. It gives a little more background on the heart behind my new theme of “thirtyonethree.”

This summer I took a theology class with Dr. Bruce Ware of Southern Seminary. One of the lectures focused on the Holy Spirit. Dr. Ware pointed out that the Holy Spirit was given temporarily in the Old Testament and that there was some functional reason to empower them, a task to accomplish.

There were only four groups that Scripture records as the Holy Spirit empowering in the Old Testament:

1. Civil leaders - Moses, leaders that Moses shared the load with (Numbers 11:10-17, 24-29) Saul and David are examples
2. Judges
3. Prophets
4. A craftsmen - Exodus 31:3 explains that the Holy Spirit empowered Bezalel to do works of art and craftsmanship for the tabernacle

I found it really interesting that one the four categories was for creative endeavors. One of the greatest challenges I find is involving God through the entire creative process, through prayer and constant conversation. I want to involve God through the entire process. I don’t want my skills and competencies to ever cause me to forget Who endowed me with them and it is His grace that empowers me.

I love the moments where the creative flow is going and I think of a quote from Eric Liddell. He said that when he ran, he felt God’s pleasure. He was doing what God gifted him to do. I have moments when I feel the pleasure of God when I create. And there are moments when it is so obvious that it is the Holy Spirit working in me to solve a creative problem or have an idea.

I was reminded of something that I read several years ago that continues to ring in my head and guide my heart.

For many people, simplifying means nothing more than “doing less.” But simplifying is not so much about doing fewer things as it is about doing the right things.

…For even the “ideal” simple spiritual life (whatever that is) will still be a busy one. Like Jesus and the apostle Paul, anyone devoted to loving God and people will lead a full and active life. But such a life will also be more focused, fruitful, and satisfying because it emphasizes the right priorities.

– Donald Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life, NavPress, p. 13

I shared this idea with a friend last week and I am brought back to it tonight as I think about my life. I have experienced a lot of frustration and emptiness recently. Life has been full.

• My family welcomed our third child two months ago. Adjusting to being parents of 3 has been a full experience.
• My office is completely different both physically and philosophically. And all of that is still being shaped. And I was away for the first month on baby leave so when I reentered the work environment at the beginning of this month, I felt like I was coming in mid-stream and have gotten swept up in the current.

Over and over again, this concept of simplicity has been ringing in my head as my life has felt full and my spirit has felt empty. I need to be doing the right things. It means that I need to come back and practice priorities.
One reason I like Donald Whitney’s perspective is that when life gets full, I am tempted to want to do less. But that is not how God would have me to respond. He wants me to do the right things. And not in my power but in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I am excited to finally launch a new theme/look to this website. I was inspired this summer by Exodus 31:3. Bezalel was a craftman who was filled with the Holy Spirit to make “artistic designs” in the building of the Tabernacle. Craftman is the word I would use to describe myself. And I hope that as I do my job, I am trusting in God and living out the Spirit-filled life as I work on designs or work out Web solutions for the many sites that I maintain and evolve.

The color scheme comes Natalie Jost’s PantoneFall06 scheme from ColorSchemer. It was inspired from Pantone’s Fall Color report. I have not used much neutral colors in my designs so I thought I would branch out a bit.

The photo is of Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It is one of my favorite pieces of architecture. It is a thing of beauty and a awesome sacred space. I love the cathredrals of Europe and Thorncrown captures the feel in a smaller scale.

I have been working on this design off and on since July. I finally worked out some of the bugs with CSS and launched it this morning. I still have some ideas I want to explore but now I have a working starting point. A big reason I have this website/blog is to explore and play around.

I made the switch on Monday. I am no longer working on a Dell computer but a 17″ MacBook Pro. I have been thinking about making the switch for several months.

The option only opened up recently. I finally emailed one of my team leaders a couple of weeks ago and told him I wanted to explore the possibility of moving to a Mac. By the end of the day, he approved me getting a new machine. We went to the Apple store and purchased this lovely machine on Monday.

I spent Monday and Tuesday loading software and copying files from my Dell on DVD. On Wednesday, I bought Parallels and set up the Windows environment so I could continue to use Outlook and test websites on IE6. Parallels is great because you run the Windows environment inside a window so you can move between Mac apps and the Windows environment.

Thursday was the first day I was able to have a more normal workday and really get the use the new computer. I have really liked it so far. My wife had a Mac Classic when we got married and I bought a G4 when they first came out. I had to switch to a PC for work when we moved to Orlando. I am so excited to be able to come back to a MacIntosh. I really like the OS so much better.