The Creator Podcast: Recent Episodes
Drew Forster
The intersection between The Creator and creatives across the spectrum. Co-hosts Drew Forster and Captain Darell Houseton. One of us is bald.
Every year, Katie Luse writes a fresh script to introduce children to Jesus at summer camps all over the northeastern U.S. This year, the show is themed around God as the Author. Hear what inspired Katie to follow this structure to tell the Gospel story this summer. Darell and Drew start things off talking about how different the "Bedsheet Jesus" productions they witnessed at camp were from today's polished theatrical presentation. Jesus Theater draws on popular music to connect children to the story of Christ and requires only simple costumes, props and set design.
Our platform glitched on Darell’s recording for the first 25 minutes with no backup. You miss out on his story about Bill teaching him to play a brass instrument, while he was Bill’s pastor at the Boston Kroc Center, and a hilarious recent story about a 12-year-old girl's opinion of Darell's skill playing a horn.
2:00 When did someone first put an instrument in your hands?
9 years old started on baritone, brother (8) started on cornet. They were both taught by Brigadier DaCosta.
6:00 Bill was introduced to Christ and music at the same time.
11:00 Bill received discipleship as well as musical training through The Salvation Army. He talks about key mentors that he had in his life, namely Lt. Colonel William Harvey, Colonel H. Douglas Lowman, Captain (now Commissioner) Jim Knaggs, Corps Sergeant Major Edward Gooding, who some call the Black William Booth
16:00 “My father has never been a part of my life.” -Bill
18:00 Drew and Bill share a heritage of alcoholism and addiction in their families.
22:00 Darell joins the podcast to talk about seeing Darell mentor others and the male mentors he encountered in his journey.
25:00 Bill & Valencia’s move to Boston
30:30 Bill’s second career in music therapy.
32:00 Bill felt he needed more professional education to augment the spiritual authority and wisdom he had.
34:00 How Bill personally felt ministered to, by music, in powerful Spirit-led music.
41:00 Darell asks Bill about his passions outside of music
43:00 “This is what God meant for me. Performing has never been a high passion, it’s always been teaching.”
44:45 Bill talks about who had a passion for music in his family.
46:00 The Pulse
What are you watching?
Stranger Things
Bill’s second cousin, Spike Jordan, had a film debut at this year's Tribeca Film Festival,.
Game Change Game is about the NBA season in the bubble, dealing with COVID and then the racial unrest following the killing of George Floyd.
Listening to
Bill Jessica Williams - Jazz pianist
Drew Reclaimed podcast – ABC News about Emmitt Till and Mamie Till-Mobley
Darell Batman Unburied
Reading
Bill Act Like Men by James McDonald
Battle Cry: Waging and Winning the War Within by Jason Wilson
Drew Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker – 12 children, six of them had schizophrenia
Darell Incident reports – Looking for a book on evangelism for an upcoming evangelism
Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations by Jimmy Scroggins, Steve Wright, Bennett Leslee
God saying
Bill Trust my wisdom and my permissive will for some of the challenges you have to go through.
Drew Strategic investments
Darell Justice and mercy
Creating
Darell Night lights and a war hammer
Bill Editing and organizing an elder client’s music for publishing
Drew Sydney’s graduation slideshow
On what turned out to be an 11-hour road trip from Boston to DC, Riley and Drew cover a wide range of topics—mechanical engineering, musical theater and her hopes of a career in themed entertainment. Drew tries out his Mr. T impersonation.
Reading
R Eye of the World – Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
D The Highway Quartet by CJ Box
Listening
R Abba
D Godfellas pod
Watching
Stranger Things [We didn’t watch it in the car on the way to DC]
Brittany Parks discovered her love for the outdoors in Flemington, NJ. Then John Copeland inspired her to pick up a guitar. Today, she is a singer/songwriter/worship leader who loves to inspire others to get outside and increase representation of women of color within guitar worship leading circles. We talked wedge monitors vs. in-ears. This is can't miss stuff. She leads with Unbound, with her ride or die friends, Alexa and Emily, and on her own. You'll have to listen to the episode to find out which situation she likes most.
In this special crossover episode, Drew is the guest on the Godfellas Podcast with Zach and Hannah Smith and Mitch Duperree. Godfellas breaks down Christian media from McGee & Me to Veggie Tales to the Last Temptation of Christ. In this episode, we deep dive on the 1973 film version of Jesus Christ Superstar. We had a blast and think you will too!
If you like what you hear, check out Godfellas wherever you get your podcasts or https://reelboyspodcasts.com/godfellas
Drew's college buddy and fellow member of Out of the Blue talks about his journey as a Cantor and future Rabbi. Hazzan Steven Walvick talks about his role with his congregation at the East Northport Jewish Center.
This episode, The Pulse gets pretty wild. Enjoy the ride!
Captain Nate Hinzman: well-coiffed, kindhearted, self-deprecating. You'll want to hear how this thoughtful preacher prepares for Sunday worship.
Darell and Nate talk shop about their respective large-scale youth retreats, known in The Salvation Army as Youth Councils
At the beginning of this podcast, i may have shot us forward in time by a decade. It was a long Monday and I was tired.
THE PULSE
Watching
Nate: NBA Playoff basketball
Drew: Too many to list
Darell: The Last Kingdom
Listening to
Nate: Crime Junkie and Elevation Worship Lion
Drew: Attention: Miley Live
Darell: Kendrick Lamar's new single, Casual Criminalist, Undertow—a Dark Tome Story
Reading
Nate: Daily Text by Seedbed (Asbury Theological Seminary); Prodigal God and Generous Justice by Timothy Keller
Drew: Commonwealth by Ann Padgett
Darell is illiterate
Drew didn't walk all that closely with the Lord during his college days. The theme at this Moth StorySlam was Awards. Did Drew win an award for streaking? Not exactly.
In this episode, camp director, worship leader, and master storyteller John Copeland uses a truly ridiculous story from his life at camp to illustrate how distracted we can be as we enter into worship. Recorded at the Worship Arts Convocation, March 4-6, 2022 at the Ladore Complex in lovely, downtown Waymart, PA.
The Pulse
Watching
Darell – The Last Kingdom on Netflix
Drew – Winning Time on HBO Max
Listening to
DH – Blackout from QCode podcasts
DF – You Made it Weird with Pete Holmes
Reading
DH – Old sermons
DF – How the Word is Passed by Clint Smith
Growing up, Carol Dilly wasn't the star of her high school musicals. She was "way in the back, in the chorus." An opportunity opened up in her college years that would change everything. Though she wasn't a devout Christian at the time, Carol says looking back, she saw that God was opening a series of doors. When one show or tour was winding down, a door opened, eventually onto the biggest stage on earth. When the time came, God opened a door to theater and arts ministries within The Salvation Army that Carol had never imagined, let alone seen. As she nears another transition, she is looking back on over tow decades of ministry and a lifetime of God's faithfulness to her and her family.
“When God led me through that door 22 years ago, I had never seen theater in church, never seen dance at church. All I knew was that He wanted me to walk through the door.”
In the interview portion, Jason talks about whether he sees himself more as a pastor/teacher first or as a musician/worship leader. Then he talks about what the difference is between leading worship in front of a band for a large audience versus a solo time of leading worship with a more intimate congregation.
“It’s impossible to be a follower of Jesus without being some form of an artist, because it requires too much faithful imagination.” Eugene Peterson
Not many guests can quote Wendell Berry on agriculture and Thomas Merton on mercy gifts being unpredictable in the same breath.
“Our need for certainty is poisoning us. A real farmer cares more about the soil than the product.” —Berry
“When I thought about the church, I thought ‘wow if there’s anything organic, it’s being followers of Jesus.’ We’ve become so organizational [rather than organic].”
“Jesus walks into deserted places, but the crowds follow him there. And in this deserted place, where the disciples say, ‘There’s no food here. Let’s send them back to the place where all the bread is.’ Jesus says, ‘No I’ve come to move you away from this anxiety-of-scarcity people into a God-of-abundance people. So let’s wait on the what the gift is that God’s going to give. We have this little gift over here, it’s this little boy. He’s got five loaves and two fishes…and even the disciples then are like ‘but Jesus, that’s not enough.’ What does Jesus say? ‘Alright, bring me what you say is not enough.’ That’s the thing about us artists, we always think what God has given to us isn’t enough. So we’re always looking for the more. Because we think that’s what’s going to satisfy. Jesus lifts what’s been given to the Father and says thank you. Because if this is what You’ve given, I already know it’s going to be enough.”
We also shared a message about one of our favorite NGO's with a transformative mission. For more information, visit araincollective.org
Nicole Costa is Vice President of Operations for Ark Behavioral Health.
We learned a lot this episode: Chiefly, never record a podcast on Zoom with bad internet.
No disrespect to Pookie, Nicole has a professional name, a friend name and a family name.
Tragically, Cole has lost her beautiful singing voice. But what she has done instead of American Idol stardom is far more lasting. After earning her MSW, LICSW, she started her career as an addiction counselor in prisons before moving out of the walls and into recovery settings. She emphasizes the importance of being able to relate to other people with whom you are in recovery. This powerhouse mother of three rambunctious boys has opened three new centers for Ark Behavioral Health in the last five years. She talks about their First Responders program and the fact that opiates are in the news so much because they are more deadly, but that alcohol is still the primary substance for which people seek treatment.
The Pulse
Watching
Nicole: Trashy reality TV and Drew: Basketball
Listening to
Nicole: Christian Music only, Corey Asbury and Drew: Godfellas
Reading
Nicole: Not a lot, Drew The Atlantic
We have something entirely different for you in this episode! Recorded live on Saturday, March 5 at the Worship Arts Convocation, Drew and Darell's wife, Willow, sat down with Commissioner William Bamford, USA Eastern Territorial Commander for The Salvation Army. This was the first convocation in five years, due to the pandemic. Normally on a three-year rotation, this unique conference brings together worship leaders, dancers, actors and technicians for a time of retreat, skill building and deepening spiritual formation.
This far-reaching interview covers topics as diverse as the Commissioner's morning routine in solitude, to The Salvation Army's response to the conflict in Ukraine to Tower of Power and the Doobie Brothers.
Jason Pope is the founder of Rain Collective, a global collaboration to release and restore women, men and children who have been trafficked.2:00 What is the Rain Collective?
7:30 Rain Collective’s work in Oman with women from Sierra Leone
12:10 What is The Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) and what does it do?
16:45 How does Jason define impact?
25:00 Practically speaking how does Rain Collective effect change from halfway around the world?
30:30 Jason talks about being an outlier as a male involved in anti-trafficking work and why more men are needed.
33:15 Jason, Darell and Drew are fathers of daughters. Jason addresses how that role inspires and affects him in the work that he does.
38:15 Jason loves writing manuals and reports. He talks about the two sides of creation that his work requires.
40:45 Women are the tip of the spear fighting human trafficking.
42:10 Jason talks about the upcoming Rain Collective trip to Uganda.
47:00 Jason provides a menu of ways people can get involved.
www.worldhope.org
www.willowinternational.org/everfree/
www.araincollective.org
The Pulse
Jason – Inside Out Coaching
Drew - "January 6 Was Practice" The Atlantic
Darell – LEGO instructions
Darell's better half, Willow come on to talk Cricut and hand crochet, Octopus Olympics and reveals which of their offspring is her favorite.
Drew kicked off the podcast asking Willow what single thing she and Darell have created together that she loves most. You will not believe which of their daughters she chose!
8:00 Willow talks about her favorite tool to create: The Cricut
19:00 Cricut isn’t the only way Willow creates. She also hand crochets. Willow tries to create beef in these crochet streets.
28:40 Octopus Olympics and Salvation Army officer candidates
42:00 “Allowing children to be moved by the Holy Spirit is important. I want children, even at the youngest age, to know that Jesus wants a relationship with them”
The Pulse
Darell doesn’t know who any white actors are and claims all Arnetts and all Ryans are the same guy.
Reading:
Darell
The Christian Imagination: Theology and the Origins of Race by Willie James Jennings
What is God saying?
Drew erroneously calls the OT Tabernacle, the Temple. It was the Tabernacle. Mea Culpa.
Two decades ago, Terrence Green sent Amber Wheeler on a Scavenger Hunt of Love that took her from Eastern Nazarene College to Boston's Quincy Market and is still going strong. This Valentine's Day Special is dedicated to love.
Episode sponsors: Friendly's (not really, but both of these love bugs mentioned this Massachusetts purveyor of ice cream and mediocre food)
BoxerBeardCo on TeePublic or RedBubble
We've heard of looking for love in all the wrong places. Love Injection by Bang Tango is looking for love in the wrong song. Thrashy metal guitars, nonsense lyrics and and angry vocals combine to create the worst love song ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEcqDAYASro
If you're in the Valentine's mood, check out this new LOVEly design from our friends at the Boxer and the Beard: https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/99850270
And you don't have to be alone on Valentine's Day! Join us for a very sweet conversation we are calling The Love Episode.
We begin this conversation with Doug Berry, Director of Contemporary Music, for The Salvation Army in the Northeastern US with his early music career and his post-college mini-rebellion, Doug's first non-brass band, known as the Handsome Andy Band.
6:15 Unbound (Daniel 3) - more guitars than God Himself
13:00 On COVID creating: “Out of my comfort zone is pretty much everything I do now. The Holy Spirit has shifted things in my life completely to things that are not in my comfort zone.”
18:30 Pardon Drew’s Darth Vader-style breathing over Darell’s question. He had to take a break and literally run his recycle bins out to the street. When his 48-year old out-of-breath body got back in front of the mic, he was too unprofessional to mute himself. A bad omen for later mistakes in this episode.
21:00 How Doug resources and equips local worship leaders through his ministry.
26:30 Technology is no longer merely an add-on, but a necessity for the modern worship experience.
29:15 The value a Worship Committee can add to a congregation
The Pulse – What are you
Watching?
DB Peaky Blinders and The Office
DH Sports and Alter on YouTube
DF Yellowstone – The Sopranos meets Succession in Montana
Listening to?
DB Hippo Campus, The Weeknd Dawn FM, Encanto
DH Encanto, Last Known Position
DF INXS, Kick
Reading?
DB New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp, The Radical Worship Solution by Austin Ryan
DH Budgets and documents to tell the story of Camp Swoneky
DF Bunker Hill by Nathaniel Philbrick
What is God saying to you?
DB Find the hunger for scripture that he had in his early 30s. And Doug is asking the Lord for guidance on how to bring his daughters up to know Him on a deeper level than Doug can even imagine.
DH Hold and secure the footing of those to whom they are ministering.
DF Psalm 51:10-13
Creating?
DB A theme song for the revision of the National Junior Soldiers (youth discipleship) Campaign
DH Building things my daughter is drawing
DF Crossover merch between Encanto and politics and Encanto and a favorite family card game on BoxerBeardCo
Steve Warren talks woodworking, parenting and the sound of silence.
2:00 Steve specializes in one-of-a-kind woodworking projects
3:00 Steve’s first instructor and inspiration in the medium
14:20 “Anyone can make things more confusing, but if you can make things more simplistic, then just beauty resonates from that simplicity. That’s where I want to live and breathe.”
19:20 The intersection of woodworking and obsessive compulsiveness
23:00 Darell “The design phase can take longer than the build phase.”
34:00 The challenge of passing along woodworking skills to your Roblox-addicted offspring.
38:00 Darell asks the longest question in podcast history. It might still be going on.
43:00 What is behind’s Steve’s penchant for building one thing once?
45:55 “Curiosity will apparently kill cats and make you an A/V individual.”
55:00 Drew must admit he messed up in The Pulse. William Barclay is the commentary author who discounted Jesus’s miracles as either made up or non-miraculous happenings that could be explained away by earthly phenomena. Matthew Henry is a good dude.
This episode @Malcolm4KY joins @dhouseton and @drewforster to discuss the Cleverness Contest that is Twitter.
3:35 Drew is a Twitter Tryhard. 6:00 Malcolm: "What I tweet is me personally" 9:00 How many tweets is too many per day? 10:30 The second worst decision of Malcolm’s life 12:30 Live tweeting TV shows 18:00 Favorite creative tweeters: Malcolm @RexChapman basketball-reference.com/players/c/chapmre01.html; Darell @QCODEmedia Last Known Position; Drew @MommaJessieC 21:00 Twitter depression 23:45 Twitter integrity
Shifting the discussion from 280 characters to 3 points 28:20 Does Malcolm miss the creative outlet of preaching since he changed careers? 34:45 Darell’s frequency in the pulpit
The Pulse Evangeline Lilly's Library of the Soul with Andrew Sumner on Hard Agree
Drew's 2021 Top & Terrible Books
Top 10 (in no particular order
· Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
· The Bomber Mafia by Malcolm Gladwell
· The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
· Trejo by Danny Trejo
· Klara and the Sun by Kazuro Ishiguro
· Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
· Agent Sonya by Ben MacIntyre
· Sooley by John Grisham
· Astoria by Peter Stark
· The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant
Terrible (in no order, they're all equally terrible)
· The Noble Hustle by Collin Whitehead
· Lieutenant Dangerous by Jeff Danziger
· Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
· Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Season 3 kicks off with a short nibble of an episode – another story told live without notes at WBUR CitySpace in Brookline, MA. The theme of the night was Fortune, so Drew recounted how a coin toss nearly decided the selection of his first apartment.
Join us next week for The Twitter Episode.
The theme of the night was Legends, so Drew shared the tale of Giles Kavanagh, live at The Moth StorySlam at WBUR CitySpace in Brookline, MA. Recorded October 2021
Where did the Laegers nearly move to, before an eleventh-hour decision to chase their Nashville dreams? You’ll have to listen to find out (1:50). Sarah talks about what it was like to go Into the Unkown and make her side hustle THE hustle (3:00). (4:30) Sarah underplays what a bold move she and Phil have made and then reveals that they moved into a house sight unseen in Tennessee. Sarah talks about her hopes for the future of FourFortyFive Designs (7:00)
10:50 The Pulse
What is Sarah watching?
https://www.youtube.com/c/FlipItFurniture
“Mate, you’ve got to do it. Do it now. Don’t put it off.” - Rachelle from Monnow Lane Furniture
https://www.youtube.com/c/MonnowLaneFurniture
https://www.youtube.com/c/BusinessFilmBoothOnline
What is Sarah listening to?
Her singer/songwriter husband, Phil’s new album: Calmed and Quieted. https://www.laeger.net/music/calmed-quieted
Drew: Maverick City Music aka the Baby Shark of worship bands https://www.maverickcitymusic.com/
Darell: The Casual Criminalist (cold reading of true crime stories) https://open.spotify.com/show/47GOTAdcNOCEmtH2CuiJqD?si=L5Eh-FTtR1SfLXFWM5gHEQ
Reading?
Darell: All the Missing Girls https://meganmiranda.com/books/adult-novels/all-the-missing-girls/
Drew: The Scarlet Letter
Sarah: Her daughter’s 6th grade essay. That’s right, 20 minutes into Part III of our conversation with Sarah, we finally get into the fact that she has made all of these courageous midlife choices, while home schooling her three children.
What is God saying to you in this season?
Sarah: Psalm 37
Darell: Be an intercessor to unlock his team’s full ministry potential
Drew: Reminding me that my storytelling gifts are most effectively used when telling the Gospel story.
What are you creating?
Sarah: A craft station for their daughter
Darell: Introducing metal and stone to his woodworking; a loft bed for their daughters
Drew: Asking himself if he should re-invest in blogging.
In this new feature, Drew or Darell present a Truly Terrible piece of pop culture and they discuss his (lack of) merits. In our first foray, AB$ounds song, Epstein Trials, is dissected and discussed. If you have an idea for a future Truly Terrible segment, email forster.drew@gmail.com.
Brought to you by The Boxer and the Beard redbubble.com/people/BoxerBeardCo or teepublic.com/user/boxerbeardco
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Sarah is hoping to grow her following “Numbers can’t be the goal. It’s got to be the people, connecting with people.” YouTube tutorials say “Don’t look at your subscriber count, but look at who your core people are, and connect with them and what they’re saying.”
(4:45) “My dad is my hero” Sarah describes his truly heartbreaking childhood as “a hard knock story.” (8:30) “He was a ratbag as well.” (9:45) Darell and Sarah geek out on woodworking & favorite tools: Sarah chose her nailgun and then waxes poetic about her miter saw. (11:00) The cardinal sin of painting hard wood and Sarah's favorite paint colors (13:45) “Any time I can show a wood grain, I’m borderline obsessed.”
(14:30) Sarah talks about the live edge desk she made for Phil. (17:00) Sarah’s HGTV dream and the woman who inspired her at a young age: Kristie Allsop https://www.preloved.co.uk/blog/inspiration/kirstie-allsopp-fill-house-free/
(21:30) Lastly, lovin’ a music man ain’t always what It’s supposed to be. The challenges of marriage and family life with an itinerant worship leader. (24:45) Drew asks “Where do you find the courage to leave your full-time job and pursue your dream?” And the episode ends on a classic CreatorPod cliffhanger.
Sarah's channel: www.youtube.com/fourfortyfivedesigns
Outro Music: Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy Remix Justin Lucas www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNv-6xmKTVc
Sarah Laeger from 445 Designs joins Darell and Drew to talk furniture flipping and YouTube fame.
www.youtube.com/fourfortyfivedesigns
A huge fan of HGTV and YouTube furniture flippers, Sarah started flipping on her own channel in the beginning of 2021.
(7:15) What inspired the name, 445 Designs? (9:15) How many pieces did you finish before your first video? (10:55) On getting started, Sarah says, “I don’t think I was brave enough maybe. I always felt like people wouldn’t want what I can do.” (11:15) Would 445 Designs exist today if COVID hadn’t happened? (12:25) “The Aussie way, we’ll just give it a go and see what happens.” (15:00) 445 Designs is a one-woman operation. Sarah sources the pieces, refinishes them and shoots and edits the entire process herself. (18:00) How Sarah differs from her YouTube flipping friends “They are very clean cut and well put together and shoot things at nice angles. I’m not knocking them at all, but it could not be further from who I am. I’m human and I think I’ve connected with a lot of people on that level." (21:00) The problem piece and how it nearly turned Sarah into an arsonist. (23:00) Darell asks, “How does it feel to be the only YouTuber with no thumbs down on your videos?” (25:30) What really makes Sarah's channel go? “I’m genuinely interested in people and how they connect with me on a piece and I try to answer every single comment because they’ve taken time.”
Brought to you by The Boxer and the Beard redbubble.com/people/BoxerBeardCo or teepublic.com/user/boxerbeardco
Outro Music: Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy Remix Justin Lucaswww.youtube.com/watch?v=uNv-6xmKTVc
What is a summer camp with no children? Amy and Jerome talk about camp in the time of COVID before taking The Pulse. (3:30) What is camp under normal circumstances? campswoneky.com (7:00) How has camp changed without having campers? A very sad forest (8:30) “Everyone feels a huge loss, that camp into happening. Collective sadness allows you to reach out.” (11:00) How the Wrays listened to Corps Officers (local pastors) to help define what Expeditionary Mission Teams could look like. (12:00) They discuss the extra layer of leadership development that is possible with a small team.
(17:45) The Pulse
What are you reading? Jerome: Street Smarts from Proverbs; Amy A Praying Life by Paul Miller
Listening to? Amy: That Sounds Fun by Amy F. Downs; Jerome: Maverick City & Real Men Connect podcast
Watching? Jerome: Bluey, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Everything Spiderman, The Chosen; Amy: Space Jam, Mr. Iglesias; Darell: Manifest
What is God saying to you? Amy “Settle down & listen. Obedience reflects the holiness of God.” Jerome “You are where I want you to be. Listen, God speaks very specifically.”
What are you Creating? Amy: an artist (painter) within myself; Jerome memories with our boys & the team, family portraits for people who can’t afford them
Instagram: @awray25, @jeromewray, @campswoneky
Darell sits down with Southwest Ohio Northeast Kentucky (SWONEKY) Salvation Army power couple Jerome and Amy Wray. Recorded in late July, they were on the verge of finishing a completely different kind of summer at Camp Swoneky and elsewhere in the region.
12:00 How has COVID pushed you out of your ministry comfort zone? Amy hates social media and self-identifies as the youngest boomer. COVID forced her out of her social media shell.
14:00 Jerome had to learn to be a content creator, and also discusses how hard live-streamed events are, especially when learning on the fly.
18:30 What is one thing that you've started that you'll continue to do?
21:00 Marital pause.
As always, brought to you by: https://www.redbubble.com/people/BoxerBeardCo/shop
Your favorite podcast hosts reconnect after a months-long hiatus. Season 2 rolls on!
THE PULSE:
What's Darell reading? He can't remember! It's the Manager: Moving From Boss to Coachby Jim Clifton with Jim Harter
What's Drew reading? Sooley by John Grisham
Matt Luhn gives some surprising answers taking us inside becoming a parent during a global pandemic. Then we take The Pulse.
8:15 No guest in the history of podcasts has turned more red with embarrassment than Matt after answering what he’s watching.
12:00 What is God saying? I am enough.
We are taking the July 4th weekend off, but plan to be back the week of July 12 with episode 11.
Salvation Army Massachusetts Music Director Matt Luhn took blurry pictures at a youth retreat and made an epic movie to save his failing high school Chemistry grade. When COVID hit, he and his partner in crime, Steve Warren began making worship videos weekly throughout the pandemic.
Matt has also played Star Wars with the Boston Pops under legendary composer John Williams. Three years ago, he lost his embouchure and could no longer play trombone professionally. He delves into the brokenness of not being able to play and why finding a new creative outlet is so important. (35:30)
See Matt's work at https://www.youtube.com/samassmusic
Your favorite co-hosts interview Drew's sister, Heather Huang, about how making handmade cards helps her decompress from her stressful social work job. Then Heather explains how COVID helped her discover an online crafting community she never knew she needed. In THE PULSE, she shocks the world by revealing her interest in NASCAR.
Highlights:
15:00 “I felt like my world was opening, while the world in general, was closing.”
17:00 Craft Roulette -craft gameshow, Call Me Crafty Al
20:45 What YouTube crafters would you recommend to a someone who hasn’t yet discovered crafter YouTube?
MayMay Made It – MayMay Helms; and Bitty Penny
29:30 How Salvation Army haircuts tipped Heather off about a YouTube crafter
THE PULSE
What are you reading?
Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
Between Two Kingdoms by Suleika Jaouad
Listening to?
Drew's college playlists https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5MDeYieph3k9R4ZTvwBjOA?si=85cbafb01d454605
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62dqq2T9Id1l5gjQVAKUJq?si=99ee6ad2eed544cb
Heather: NASCAR Podcasts
Darell: Here’s the Thing with Kev on Stage and Angel the Actress
We welcome back our first ever return guests! Outside Worship released their album Here to Rememberin the midst of the pandemic. Hear how the album came together, even when Anna, Phil and Marty couldn't. Between clips of their music and a lot of laughter, Outside Worship shares the struggle of not being able to make a living with all of their ministry engagements cancelled. Learn how you can support them and other independent artists in this honest conversation.
13:00 Three members of Outside Worship, three slightly different memories of how they came up with the album title Here to Remember.
25:00 How should young/new worship leaders work on their craft? https://www.danwilt.com/the-twin-masteries-of-the-worship-leader/
32:30 Drew asks Phil why he hates good lyrics.
38:00 “Nobody is alone in feeling alone.” Phil Laeger
42:00 How the Streets, Laegers and Mikles are getting by when all their ministry engagements where they lead worship were cancelled.
48:00 How people can support artists and worship leaders.
51:45 Some of Phil's favorite independent artists: Dave Mantel, Naal Music; Sam Arias; Brad Ellis, The Hunter Express
Baked into the DNA of The Salvation Army is a practice of moving its officers (pastors and executive directors) to different appointments every 3-4 years. Darell is moving for the fifth time in his nine years as an officer. He talks about how changing ministries inspires creativity that other models might not and about the challenges that result from staying in an appointment for a shorter stay.
Darell asks about how you bring Morning Discovery energy to your local corps or church context? And Leslie. Goes. Off.
On the importance of establishing a Worship Committee: “When we can find out what the people around us are good at, what they’re interested in, I think then we can start to dream about what worship can look like.” (3:48) "Expecting the Holy Spirit to show up is not boring." (8:20) Jay Knaggs: "When Sunday morning becomes too much of a presentation, it can be lacking celebration.” Morning Discovery had an unprecedented reach in the summer of 2020, across the United States and Canada and the Knaggs and their team are preparing for seven new episodes this summer in English and in Spanish.
The Pulse links
What are you reading? Leslie Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate | Jay The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization by Jon R. Katzenbach and Douglas K. Smith
What are you listening to? Leslie Spotify Playlist: 80’s Jam Session | Jay Foo Fighters Medicine at Midnight
Captains Jay and Leslie Knaggs, Territorial Youth Secretaries for The Salvation Army Eastern Territory turned morning devotions at camp into a high energy experience described as Nickelodeon meets Vacation Bible School. When Salvation Army camps closed due to COVID in the summer of 2020, the Knaggs decided to take Morning Discovery online. In this episode, they talk about what it took to make that happen and all of the people that pitched in along the way.
(7:20) How did Morning Discovery in real life come to be? Jay said that music that makes kids dance is irresistible at camp and they tried to incorporate that idea into worship and Leslie talks about creating an experience that anyone on camp would be sad if they missed it. (18:00) Jay is the creative pusher (dreamer) and Leslie is the realist (pragmatist). “Jay pulls me along and I tell him all the ways it’s not possible and usually he does prove me wrong and thankfully, he really did, in this instance.” All the additional work that moving Morning Disco from the camp stage to the screen. (24:00) Leslie: Morning Disco is a roller coaster ride, where you really don’t know what’s going to happen next. Freedom in worship. When we are creative in worship, God is really honored. (27:00) The seeds of Morning Disco as a show on the web began in the summer of 2018 at Camp Ladore (30:00) The collaborations that were possible because everything was shut down. (33:00) Leslie on the need to "Let people in to make something more" and the many hearts, minds and hands that made Morning Discovery possible in person and online.
In Part II of our interview with Felipe and Annabel, the stars of Late Night with Los Concha are surprised by their Super Fan, John Copeland. Then at 10:25, Annabel describes their Facebook Live show this way. “It’s kind of a time to hang out in a group without being in a group.” At 14:45, the dynamic duo answers the question: Will the show continue after life returns to normal? Finally, Drew and Darell take the pulse with this week’s guests at 24:30.
Darell and Drew talk to Felipe and Annabel Concha about what inspired them to start a late night talk show from their living room and aired on Facebook Live at 10ish on Friday nights. The first half of this episode focuses a lot the version of Annabel that has emerged during this COVID creation. Felipe says, "Annabel is an introvert. During COVID, we have been pushed to have to do things that are completely out of our comfort zone. I’m like the plow trucks. I’m like the blade in front. I do the pushing, but you are the engine behind all of it. Without you, I’m nothing." At 15:00, the conversation turns to how the need to provide live worship online for their congregation in Red Bank, NJ, led to Late Night with Los Concha. They discuss both the challenges and opportunities presented by shifting from in-person worship to online worship e.g. prayer requests in the comment section! Annabel explains that one thing they've learned about their local church expression is: "We don’t need to be more attractive, we just need to be more welcoming." In Part II next week, a Late Night Super Fan joins the conversation and the hosts take The Pulse with Felipe and Annabel!
Drew and Darell catch up after a yearlong hiatus. In our second season, we will focus on COVID creators, people who for various reasons, found new ways to express their creativity during the global pandemic.
In this special episode, Drew tells the story of finding out about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing while his wife, Jen, was still on the course. The theme for this Moth Story Slam in Cambridge, MA was Beg, Borrow, Steal.
Drew takes The Pulse in part two of our conversation with Nakia Reyes. If you missed part one, check out Episode 10 in which Nakia describes her dream to found Neighborhood Montessori in Dorchester, MA.
Nakia's reading list:
Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
The Montessori Method by Maria Montessori
Healing Racial Trauma by Sheila Wise Rowe
LISTening
The Upper Room Project
Watchlist
Terminator Dark Fate
In Part I of our conversation with Nakia Reyes, we hear about her dream to bring Montessori education to her neighbors in Dorchester, MA. Nakia (pronounced knock-ee-uh) doesn't take vacations. Hear how Nakia was introduced to the Montessori approach (3:00) and how that introduction blossomed into the dream of Neighborhood Montessori. Nakia explains what sets this approach apart (8:15)from other educational approaches and (50-cent word) pedagogies. Then she waxes philosophical (18:00) about what it would have meant to a young Nakia to have had access to this style of learning and how it might have kept her out of the principal's office.
Every creator encounters obstacles to their dreams (25:00) and Nakia is no exception as her pre-school remains a dream deferred. Finally (31:00), listen to her atypical love story of encountering her Silver Fox. We will be back next week for Part II when Nakia takes The Pulse.
In the second half of our interview with Salvation Army Captain Andy Miller III of Tampa Bay, FL, we talk about the concept behind the book When Helping Hurts. Should The Salvation Army and other charities that want to make a real difference in people's lives continue to feed people daily and give out toys at Christmas time? Specifically, Drew and Andy discuss poverty tourism (7:40) versus perhaps a better way through a creative solution to poverty and hopelessness at The Salvation Army Kroc Center in Boston (11:00). Will The Salvation Army be counted as sheep or the goats (16:30)? We get into what Andy's podcast is all about (21:00), subscribe to the Captain's Corner today. We finish up by taking The Pulse with Andy (24:30), our first guest to tell us what he's listening to, watching, reading and what God is saying to him.
Darell and Drew are back with another two-part interview, this time with Salvation Army Captain Andy Miller III of Tampa Bay, FL. Andy is a composer, author (Holistic Hospitality) and a gifted preacher who comes from a heritage of Salvation Army leadership. A graduate of Asbury University, Drew caught up with him when his family took an epic summer road trip up the east coast to Boston. The episode kicks off with The Pulse (1:45) in which Darell shares a controversial take on Frozen II. The interview begins (20:00) with Andy's defense of Salvation Army brass banding as a worship form and discusses the pitfalls (23:30) of the band creating a high church environment that can stifle community, which gained a name – Preludegate – in his congregation. The origin story (26:30) of Salvation Army brass bands precedes a discussion of the intersections between composing music and writing a good sermon (30:30) in which Andy uses the 50-cent phrase “the motific development of an idea.” Eugene Lowry's The Homiletical Plot and the approach to preaching in which “you upset the equilibrium, you analyze the problem and then you…” have to listen to find out (32:30). Part I ends with a comparison between preaching in music and Andy's admonishment: “Don’t give it away too soon”
Coming next week in Part II, Miller really gets animated discussing the ideas behind When Healing Hurts and Drew coins the phrase "poverty tourism."
The second half of our interview with Outside Worship picks up with the tail end of the discussion on how parenting has changed Anna's approach to worship leading and then leads into a discussion of excellent musicianship in worship leading (8:15). Hear how Marty feels doing what he was created to do (11:30) and the crossroads each member faced in pursuing music as a performer vs. being a worship leader (15:30). Learn the two things every worship leader must do to be used by God (18:40). The article Phil referenced here; https://www.danwilt.com/the-twin-masteries-of-the-worship-leader/. Finally, do Outside Worship songs sound like Phil Laeger songs? like Marty Mikles songs? (27:45). Find them at OutsideWorship.com and @OutsideWorship on social channels.
In the first of a two-part interview with @OutsideWorship - Phil Laeger, Marty Mikles and Anna Street - discuss spirit and truth worship, musical excellence and how parenting has changed how they lead worship. Listen to find out how long it takes Phil to mention Keith Green.
Making a podcast is hard! Doing so requires discipline and internal deadline setting. Darrell and Drew catch up after a long absence and discuss how they feel about deadlines.
In The Pulse (00:30) find out what Darell thinks of Chance’s new album, hear how Drew forced himself to watch all of When They See Us and be blown away by what Darell is creating. Drew’s blog is drewforster.wordpress.com.
Then Katie Luse, of ConnectUp prayer ministry talks about creating Jesus Theater for Salvation Army Camps and how that process helped her heal at a dark moment in the life of her family (24:00). This veteran drama producer has a clear word about what to do when the Holy Spirit shows up in the midst of a show (28:00) and how we can be a “red carpet that He walks in on.” (30:00). The interview finishes with a discussion about excellence in artistic endeavors and what that means when we are communicating the Gospel in creative ways.
In Episode 1, @drewforster explored @darellhouseton's creative process. Now in Episode 3, direct from Darell's wood shop, he turns the tables and interviews drew about creativity in his professional life as a Director of Communications, his ministry and his home life. Hear what Drew describes as the through line between all three and the differentiators. Also, the WINNER of our CLOCK CONTEST is revealed within this episode. Thank to all of our listeners that participated.
DanielleStrickland.com | @djstrickland sits down with @DrewForster and John Copeland (@phondjo) to discuss the creative continuum and the question of whether all people are creative. Hear how a neighborhood prayer walk led to Danielle taking a hardcore addict into her home. Also, the creative process behind her book, The Zombie Gospel. The Zombie Gospel: The Walking Dead and What it Means to Be Human https://www.amazon.com/dp/0830843892/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gnW.CbYEWYBKB
The Creator Podcast features conversations with creatives across the spectrum. Interviews are shaped by the type, product and phase of the guest.
The first guest is the co-host of Creator, Darell Houseton, Captain and Corps Commanding Officer at the The Salvation Army Chapel at Worthington Woods in Columbus, OH. This episode features a far-ranging conversation about how Darell fits in creative time in his wood shop given his family of five and his considerable ministry responsibilities. Darell's name is pronounced correctly several times in the episode. It sounds like duh-rell (unless your name is Jim Cocker. Like he should be making fun of anyone's name.)
The episode ends with a SPEED ROUND of the following questions:
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What are you reading?
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What are you listening to?
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What are you watching?
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What are you making?
Captain Darell's ministry: @TSA Chapel on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Black Planet
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