• They can’t find a pitch even in the middle of a baseball game. *
• They think singing louder compensates for their lack of musical ability.
• They have terrible parents, because good parents would tell their tone-deaf children that they can’t sing. We have American Idol to thank for a generation of hopeful yet hopelessly tone-deaf teens who think they’re the next big thing when their whale sounds shouldn’t even be dignified with the term “music.” (HT: Matt Chandler)

According to the venerable Wikipedia, tone-deafness, also known as “amusia,” is a “hearing impairment [that] appears to be genetically influenced, though it can also result from brain damage.” So, those that suffer (though the argument could be made that we all suffer) from tone-deafness are either hosed by genetics or hosed by circumstance. Then again, aren’t we all hosed by the same two things?

Listed among the notable tone-deaf on Wikipedia are such luminaries as:

• Charles Darwin
• Ulysses S. Grant
• Che Guevara
• William Butler Yeats
• Theodore Roosevelt

I’ve never heard any of them sing, and it’s difficult to imagine any of these men doing so anyways.

CC Image • 2-Dog-Farm

But, God bless ‘em, the tone-deaf sing. At least the ones at my church do. Maybe they know they’re terrible. Maybe they don’t have a clue. But they sing. They sing their bleating hearts out. Why?

Because they don’t care. They don’t care about the sound of their voice as it physically assaults the eardrums of every bystander. They don’t care that they don’t sound like everyone else. They don’t care that they may or may not be committing the eighth deadly sin—screechery.

They sing because the One who’s listening hears hearts more than tones, beliefs more than words, and sincerity more than posturing.

May we all remember this when offering our worship to a gracious God, whatever form that worship takes.

But.

The next time that tone-deaf guy sits behind you at church, make pained faces in his direction to see if he reacts negatively or stops singing completely. You’ll have won a small and meaningless victory while saving the rest of us from yet another bad American Idol audition.

On second thought, don’t do that. My favorite episodes of Idol all happen in the first three weeks.

Timing.

On Wednesday, June 22, I replied to a month-old message sent from a friend through LinkedIn. Once on the site, LinkedIn showed me a job posting they thought I might be interested in. I was. I was so interested that I stayed up well past my bedtime re-working my resume, which had not seen an overhaul in at least a year. I composed a cover letter espousing my excitement over the position, confidently proclaiming that the job description was written as if it were a biographical sketch of my past. With nothing to lose, I applied for the job the next morning.

On June 23rd, I had an impromptu lunch meeting / job interview with Brad Russell, the Senior Editor/COO of FaithVillage.com. On June 29, I met the publisher of the Baptist Standard, Marv Knox. On July 6, I was offered the position of Church Leadership Editor for FaithVillage.com.

I accepted. Gladly. Gratefully. Humbly.

Recent tumultuous years precipitated my move to Dallas, a place, honestly, that I never thought I’d be. When I was going through the worst of times, I asked God “Why?” a thousand times or more. I told my friends that I couldn’t wait to get to the other side of the mess I was in so I could start to get an inkling of the answer as to “Why?” 

I hesitate to say that this new job is one of the answers to that question, fearful that my future hopes might be dashed in some way, like the fleeting seeds of a dandelion on a windy summer day. But there’s an irrepressible hope within me that this is what that was for. By trusting in God’s goodness (which has been a lifelong struggle for me), I believe He’s placed me in a job that meets where my passions and modest talents collide. I’m looking forward to this new endeavor, and can’t wait to start.

Since I want you to visit this site and make it a daily stop in your travels across the internet, I’ll direct you to FaithVillage.com to learn more about us.

Oh, and the last thing. God is a good comedian, and not just because His timing is impeccable (despite our protestations). One year ago I was the runner-up for a position in Plano, the first job I was seriously (three times) interviewed for after arriving in Dallas. I was sure I was going to get it. When it didn’t happen, it took me a month to get over it. In a few months from now, FaithVillage will be moving to new offices… just around the corner from the same company that passed on me.

In the meantime, I’m still processing what I heard and learned at the most motivational, moving, and practical conference I’ve ever attended. Not that I’ve attended many, but this conference, from the things God told me or reawakened in me, has profoundly affected me. I haven’t felt this physically good, this emotionally well, or this spiritually awake in a long time. It’s near sublime, and I keep subconciously waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it hasn’t. And I’m trusting God that it won’t. If I keep my eyes on the prize, the race is mine to be won with Christ as the goal.

Until then, I can at least say that Steven Furtick’s talk kicked my proverbial butt. Learn more about him at his blog, the Elevation Church site, and this article in their local paper.

OK. I didn’t actually tell myself to get some rest. I sort of just fell to the floor in a heaping pile of tiredness. I’m physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually drained, but my mind has been racing ever since the conference finished. I’m hoping it’s not just a “conference high,” and I don’t think it is. God’s up to something big in my life as a result of what I heard and felt this last week. It’s been an astounding rollercoaster, and I hate rollercoasters.

For the three of you that will notice, I skipped posting about a day of the conference, the day that God used to break me down and tell me what I’ve been missing and what I’m supposed to be doing about it.

Those posts will be forthcoming. I just need to regroup and rest before I tackle and write more about what I heard and experienced that day.

OK, she didn’t actually use those words, but that’s what she said. That’s what she always says. Her blog’s mantra is Less Clutter. Less Noise. so even though it may seem she’s contradicting the Stop Talking. Start Doing. motif of the conference, she’s actually reinforcing it.

People today are overwhelmed by choice, bombarded by advertising, and struggling to redeem their time. It’s up to us in the communications business to convey necessary messages without adding to the mess. Kem listed five myths, but here are my distillations in active form:

Reduce the gap between intent and perception.
See these unfortunate domains as an example. Be warned! Most are risque. But really funny.

Focus your audience’s vision.
Watch this awareness video for an example.

Every communication piece can afford liposuction.
Have you heard about the new stop sign?

Hit the heart within nine seconds.
Nine seconds is both the average attention span for a normal web user and for a goldfish. Trigger an emotional response to engage your audience.

Spend money on the experience, then on promotions.
A bad, personal experience is worse than a typo. A cool flyer that leads to an inauthentic experience is just more dead trees.

The distillation of the distillation? Effective and engaging communications wisely communicate concisely