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Purposeful Stories that Honor the Lord

Writer's picture: Marlene DickinsonMarlene Dickinson



God is the author of Story! Let us never forget that “Once upon a time….” is God’s invention. Our appetite to hear and tell stories is a God-given instinct because, “In the beginning, God created…”  and we are created in His image. We do not have to teach our children to say, “Read me a story.”  


As a music or theatre director, you are a Creative, and Creatives are the ultimate Storytellers of our era. Furthermore, you are a Christian Creative – a high calling indeed. 


As a Christian Creative, you want to choose your stories wisely. Is it a story with purpose? Does it bring glory to God? Does it bring hope? Is it a story you can serve and tell well? You should also be able to answer a few simple questions when processing whether or not you can serve a story: 


  1. What is the story about? (Theme)

  2. What is happening? (Action)

  3. What is the path of the central character? (Arc)


These are simple questions, but you would be surprised at how often people gloss over this crucial step as they hurry to select material for their production season.


 If you can’t answer the questions detailed above, your students certainly won’t be able to. And your audience won’t have a chance. They’ve only got one shot at seeing and understanding your story. Choose purposefully and wisely.



 

Video Transcript: Purposeful Stories that Honor the Lord


0:00

[Music]

0:02

Today we're going to talk about the value of purposeful stories that honor the Lord.

0:08

God is the author of story. Let's all remember that.

0:13

Who but God could think of such a thing?

0:15

If I tell you (uh) an Indian girl, who knew she was adopted at birth and lives in the states, decided, when she turned 18, she wanted to look up her birth family.

0:25

She found the orphanage, she found out it was still there, the directors were still in place, she makes an appointment, she books a flight, she takes a taxi to the orphanage, she walks in and...

0:40

You are hardwired to say, "What? What happened next?"

0:43

We are hardwired to respond to story.

0:47

So we want to harness this gift of God, and use it for our students – for our audiences – that we serve.

0:54

So a takeaway for today, as you review repertoire:

0:58

Ask yourself, "Is this a story we can serve?"

1:03

Our job is to serve the story and bring all actors, all music, all words, all movement – everything – in service of the story.

1:12

So, you want to be able to answer a couple real simple questions:

1:15

What is the story about? What is the theme?

1:19

And you should be able to answer this in one or two words – it's about forgiveness and belonging or it's about (uh) having difficult conversations.

1:28

And what happen happens in this story? You should be able to answer that simply.

1:33

If you can't answer it, your students definitely can't and your audience does not have a chance.

1:39

They only get one shot at seeing your story.

1:42

So we encourage you as you review work – any work, not just ours.

1:45

Ask yourself, "Is this a story we can serve well?

1:50

[Music]


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