This fall has been so much fun. I’m excited to continue speaking in the spring.
If your church is interested, contact me!
This message isn’t just for the youth!
Ira Glass and the Basics of Good Storytelling
This short clip of Ira Glass is such an important key to good storytelling.
A story is just a series of events. “This happened, which led to this, which led to this…”
That’s the only crucial element you can NEVER sacrifice. Everything else is extra. If you’re going to add emotions, humor, themes, lessons, rich descriptions, you have to make sure it doesn’t completely derail what makes the story a story.
It’s like a Christmas tree. The series of events is the actual tree. Everything you’re going to add to spice it up is decoration. You have to be careful with your placement because you don’t want to completely hide the tree. You also don’t want to put so much on that the tree falls over.
This happened, and then this, and then this, and then this. Keep the action moving. Take short pitstops to add some fun to the trip but never forget that the most important part is that you’re actually going somewhere.
Not Impressed
Someone’s not impressed.
I might not be the most conventional school assembly speaker, but I’m sure even this teacher would agree I’m better than this:
And please give Kenan Thompson a million awards for being so consistently funny in every SNL sketch.
That's Not Evangelism
Oh, if I just get my friend to visit my church, they’ll want to follow Christ. If you ever catch yourself having this thought, it’s important to pause and examine it. Why do you think that is?
Is it because you think your pastor is an incredible communicator who can share share the gospel so much better than you? In 1 Corinthians 2, the apostle Paul writes about how he purposefully preached a simple, non-flashy sermon.
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
All he did was preach Christ crucified, shared from his weakness, didn’t have all these pre-worked out arguments for debate, and showed the power of God. And he says that that’s actually better for them because their faith was placed on Jesus and not this incredible speaker. Sounds like you don’t need to drag someone to a fancy preacher for them to meet Jesus.
Do you want to take them to church because you think If they just met this wonderful community, felt accepted by these loving and grace-filled people, they would want to join. You’re part of that church. They’ve met you. They can experience those things by knowing you.
Discipleship and evangelism aren’t the responsibilities of only pastors. We ALL are called to share and to help others grow. Inviting someone to church doesn’t count.
Christmas Unicorn Live
I’m not exactly one of those “November 1st is when Christmas begins” but I at least understand it because I hate Thanksgiving.
Even though I’m not ready to dive right into decking all the halls, I did look up this live performance of Christmas Unicorn by Sufjan Stevens. It’s one of my favorite songs to hear every winter. It’s weird and loud and fun and long.
I had never seen this video before, but boy am I jealous of everyone who got to experience that live. I’m all about creating unique (bizarre) live experiences that are once in a lifetime magic. This is just that.
Look at that set! Look at the costumes! Watch as the celebration grows bigger and bigger. And then, please enjoy the moment around 8:40 in where the cameraman shows the audience. All those hipsters don’t know what to do. Everyone is standing still. No one dances. Everyone should be dancing. Do you not hear this song?!
This is what a live show should feel like.
The Key to Being Productive: Time Travel
When I am at my worst, my main go-to for dealing with stress has always been “ignore it until it’s worse.”
Take a nap. Spend money on something that can distract you. Sure, it won’t cure the problem, but it’ll go away for a little while.
It’s like in science fiction stories when someone is diagnosed with an incurable disease so they’re cryogenically frozen, hoping that one day in the future a cure will be found and the person can be unfrozen and saved. That’s what I do. I put the stress away hoping Future Taylor is able to handle the stress better than me.
It’s a wonderfully flawed system. Why would Future Taylor be more equipped? He’s still me. And if I won’t deal with the stress now, it’s not like he’ll have any more experience and expertise. If I want him to be better at dealing with stress I have to set him up for success by dealing with it now.
I want to live my life where I’m constantly saying “Wow, thanks Past Taylor. You really made today easy.”
I’m running a marathon in January and I really hope I’ll be able to thank Past Taylor for training.
I’ll be sitting down to do my taxes (probably the day before they’re due) and I hope Past Taylor will have made things easy.
But Future Taylor’s Past Taylor is Present Taylor (what?). I, me right now, am here to make Future Taylor’s life better. So I can’t put stuff off, even when I know it’s going to suck. I’ll thank me later.
At the same time, I ALSO need to remember that productivity isn’t everything. In some cases (a lot fo cases) productivity can be an idol.
Can Someone Talk to You About Suicide?
Why does it feel like we only talk about suicide when there’s one in the news? And why does it feel like the only thing we ever say about it is “if you’re struggling, please reach out.” Then we throw out the phone number for the suicide hotline, call it a day, and move on. But there’s so much more to say on the subject. With how quickly the news cycle moves on to the next big tragedy or controversy, we’re never given enough time to get into it. It’s almost as if the window left open for a public conversation is only wide enough for all of us to throw out one quick tweet on the topic. The world moves on too quickly. Get something, anything out, before the attention goes somewhere else.
As of the writing of this post, there has not been a high profile suicide in the news, so I wanted to take a moment and say something about the way we talk about suicide.
The public conversation is always aimed at the ones who are silently suffering. “Reach out,” we say. “Don’t keep it to yourself.” “Talk to someone.” Obviously this an important message for anyone trapped in shame but because we don’t give ourselves very long to speak openly about suicide, it’s all we ever say. There’s a whole other group of people who never get addressed before the subject is closed and we move on.
Why do we never say anything to those NOT struggling with suicidal thoughts? I realize how stupid that sounds. That could easily come across like a real “All Live Matter” hot take but stay with me.
If you’re going to tell people to reach out, you need to take a moment to evaluate if you're the type of person someone would feel comfortable reaching out to. Are there people in your life right now who would consider you trustworthy enough to open up to about their worst and darkest thoughts and feelings? Have they seen love, compassion, patience, and kindness in the way you respond to this fallen world?
Are you having conversations that leave room for heavier topics?
Do you have relationships where you could ask deeply personal questions of the other person? I remember when I was in darker moments I’d be sitting quietly with friends just hoping someone would ask me if I was ok. Just ask. Someone just ask me point blank and I will let it all out. I was too scared to take the leap on my own. I needed to know that people actually cared and noticed there was something wrong before I felt comfortable vomiting it all out.
People aren’t just struggling with suicidal thoughts when it’s in the news. It’s happening all the time. It’s happening right now. We need to talk about it. And we need to say more than just “reach out."
It’s like we’re standing in a lighthouse looking over the ocean with a megaphone saying, “If you’re out there stranded in the water and you feel like you’re close to drowning, scream for help.” Maybe it would be helpful to turn around with our megaphone and shout to the people on dry land, “Get in your boats and go out there. There are people who need you. Find them!"
I’m running the Disney Marathon in January to raise money for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. If you want to donate, you can go here.
If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in my book. In the Altogether: Trusting God with All We Hide From the World is about the importance of vulnerability in the life of the church. Why we need it, why we’re afraid of it, and why we don’t have to be.
Taylor Johnson on That's a Good Word Podcast
I was on another podcast! I got to be the first guest on That’s a Good Word with Michelle Paul (who I went to Jr High with).
I talk about vulnerability (duh) and the gospel. Hooray!
Listen on…
Ear Candle Gone Wrong
Tonight I did an Instagram Live of me using an ear candle. It did not go as planned.
Productivity as an Idol
We live in a culture obsessed with productivity. If you’re not rising and grinding, getting stuff done, always achieving, making, doing, creating, cranking out work, busy busy busy, then what worth do you have? It’s rarely explicitly stated like that but the message still sneaks into our minds.
"Productivity is for machines, not for people. There’s nothing meaningful about packing some number of work units into some amount of time, or squeezing more into less. Think about how effective you’re being, not how productive you’re being.”
For Christians this should be obvious for us. When we come to Christ we are given a new identity, a new way of understanding our place in the cosmos. It has nothing to do with our productivity.
"Usefulness is the sole criterion for the World, the Flesh, or the Devil. But you have no use value to God. You can’t. There is nothing He needs. You can’t cease being useful to God because you were never useful to begin with. That’s simply not why He created you and why He continues to sustain your being in the world. It was gratuitous, prodigal. He made us just because He loves us and for His own good pleasure. Every other reason to live demands that you remain useful, and one day your use will run out. But not so with God. To God, your existence in His universe is an act of creation, and it remains good as creation even in its fallen state.”
This is why the Sabbath is so important. This is why we must rest. Stop working. Unplug. Get away. Sit and breathe. Spend some time doing something absolutely useless. Find a hobby that you will never turn into a side hustle.
Your ultimate value has nothing to do with how hard you work. You’re not a machine. You are a son or daughter of a king.
So chill out once in a while.