The Creator Podcast

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

Listening to

Reading

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

Listening to?

DB Hippo Campus, The Weeknd Dawn FM, Encanto

Reading?

DB New Morning Mercies by Paul David Tripp, The Radical Worship Solution by Austin Ryan

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.

Creating?

DB A theme song for the revision of the National Junior Soldiers (youth discipleship) Campaign

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