December 21, 2023 • 66 mins
Embark on a festive odyssey where the rich tapestry of Christmas and the stirring narrative of God's incarnation are interwoven in a celebration of creativity and faith. This episode is an open invitation to rediscover the holiday's deep roots through artistic expression and intentional practices. As our homes transform with decorations and our hearts warm with family traditions, we delve into meaningful customs that draw us nearer to the story of Jesus. We'll reminisce over personal Christmas memories that have shaped our spiritual journeys and discuss how these experiences fuel our present-day expressions of worship.
Steering away from the clamor of commercialism, we approach Christmas with a fresh mindfulness, fostering traditions that cultivate a closer relationship with Christ. The simple act of lighting an Advent candle can become a profound ritual, and family devotionals can turn into cherished conversations. By transforming occasional acts of charity into ongoing acts of compassion, we follow in the footsteps of Jesus more closely. This episode also encourages embracing an inclusive spirit during our celebrations, ensuring that our joy reaches those who may be spending the holidays in solitude.
Creativity shines brightest when it serves a purpose greater than itself, and what better purpose than sharing the story of Jesus's birth? I share how personal traditions like gifting devotional books can become legacies of faith, and we explore how the power of social media can be harnessed to spread hope. Whether you're a photographer capturing daily Advent themes or a filmmaker seeking to tell the Christmas story through a fresh lens, this episode is a testament to the inventive ways we can keep the true essence of Christmas alive. So, don your headphones for a dramatized reading that reimagines the nativity with the vividness of a golden age radio drama and may the Holy Spirit inspire you with the words of scripture.
Merry Christmas!
How Christ Inspires a Creative Christmas Celebration
https://in.thegospelcoalition.org/article/how-christ-inspires-a-creative-christmas-celebration/
Christmas Devotion Countdown
https://www.creativebiblestudy.com/Christmas-devotion-countdown.html
Luke 2:1-40 (NIV)
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-40&version=NIV
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Tim Ristow (00:12):
Today on Creative Christians.
It's a celebration of thecoming of our Savior.
In this specialChristmas-themed episode, we're
going to take a peek into howcreativity and Christmas go so
well together, while examiningthe most creative moment ever in
history the birth of JesusChrist in a manger in Bethlehem
(00:34):
over 2,000 years ago.
Creativity and Christmas todayon Creative Christians
Creativity, faith, inspiration.
(00:55):
As Christian creatives, how isour creativity different?
Because of our faith?
You've got to believe in whatyou're doing, listen and let the
Holy Spirit lead you To be inChrist and have an identity in
Him above anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think it's extraordinary.
If you believe, God's calledyou, you can't walk away from
that.
Tim Ristow (01:16):
These are stories of creative Christians.
Welcome to another episode ofCreative Christians, the podcast
(01:48):
series that explores Christiancreatives, their talents, their
faith and what they're doing atthe intersection of both.
I'm your host, tim Risto.
Merry Christmas to you and yourfamily during this wonderful
Advent and Christmas season.
In this episode, we'reexploring creativity and
(02:08):
Christmas.
My hope is that this is thefirst of what will become an
annual tradition for thispodcast in celebrating Christmas
.
Have you ever thought much aboutthe creativity of Christmas?
(02:29):
In many ways, christmas is oneof the most creative times of
the year.
Of course, there's the wholecreativity of how people
decorate their homes with thedisplay of a Christmas tree and
how they decorate it inside.
Many people focus on creatingthese advanced light displays on
the outside of their homes.
(02:50):
Some people have very creativerecipes for various meals and
treats for the holiday.
Many of you have your owntraditions that are often very
creative, as families gather andtake part in annual activities
that only happen together atthis one time of the year.
There's the creativity thatgoes into different crafts for
(03:11):
Christmas, whether it'sdecorations, creating your own
family Christmas cards or evenscrapbooking your Christmas
memories each year.
Christmas worship services areoften the most creative and
interesting services of thechurch.
Here they're inviting animalsinto live nativity displays and
(03:32):
using acting or drama to helptell the story, the creative use
of music, things like that, andthere's many, many, many more
ways in which this time of yearis incredibly creative.
But there's also the ways inwhich we, as Christian creatives
, are inspired this time of yearto use our talents and gifts
(03:54):
from God to create things orworks that enhance the meaning
of the season.
Beyond all the trappings of theholiday season, the story of
Christmas itself, the birth ofthe Christ child, the reason for
the season, as we often say, ismore creative than any of the
(04:16):
holiday decorations, meals ortraditions we choose to
participate in this time of year.
I mean this is the story of Godcoming to earth in the form of
the perfect baby Jesus, true Godand true man, as John 1.14 says
.
And the word became flesh anddwelt among us, and we have seen
(04:41):
his glory as of the only sonfrom the Father, full of grace
and truth.
Part of this episode willinclude a reading of the
Christmas story a little bitlater.
That story is Christmas, jesusis the story, and it's a
(05:01):
wonderful story of life and hope, of death and resurrection of
love and new life.
Nothing else matters but thechild at the center of the story
.
Nothing else matters atChristmas but Jesus.
In fact, nothing else mattersyear round but Jesus.
(05:25):
Why have I described Jesus'birth earlier as one of, if not,
the most creative event inhistory?
Simple, because God came toearth in the form of a child,
born of a virgin through theHoly Spirit, and for
thirty-three years he physicallyand spiritually lived among his
(05:48):
people and died in humiliationand despicably on a rugged cross
, only to be resurrected threedays later in another amazing
and creative event.
But all that couldn't havehappened if not for the humble
birth of our Savior in a manger.
Who of us could have createdsuch a rich, compelling,
(06:11):
creative story of love and hope,a story that's still going on
today, a history that is stillunfolding today as we live out
our days looking forward to thereturn of Christ in glory.
Before we go on, let's take amoment to look back.
(06:31):
One of my favorite books isCharles Dickens' A Christmas
Carol, and one of my favoriteparts of that story is when the
spirit of Christmas past takesscrooge on a tour of his past
life and how that made him whohe was.
Sometimes it's good to lookback just long enough to reflect
(06:52):
on some cherished memories thathelp make us who we are
creatively and spiritually.
Join me now beside my virtualfireplace here in Texas and let
(07:20):
me share with you some personalfond memories of Christmas past.
Growing up, I remember Christmasaround our home as a simple
time centered around church andworship and family.
We lived in a small rural townin southern Minnesota, largely a
(07:42):
farming community and smallbusinesses, lots of mom-and-pop
shops small town Americana atits finest.
In the 1970s I spent the firstdecade of my life there.
My father was the pastor at theLCMS Lutheran Church in town.
We lived in the Parsonage rightnext door to the church.
On Christmas Eve my fatherwould head over early, of course
(08:05):
, to prep for Christmas worship.
The rest of the family wouldget all dressed up in our best
clothes.
Being the 70s, I remember oneyear sporting one of those green
velour turtleneck shirts anddress pants for Christmas We'd
gather together in the fronthallway of our house heavy coats
, mittens, scarves and caps on,and then head out and brave the
(08:28):
cold for our brief 20-secondwalk over to the church.
And even though it was brief, Istill remember the bitter cold
of those walks in those DecemberMinnesota nights.
Once we entered the church,however, the chill disappeared
(09:10):
and I entered a world filledwith Christmas wonder.
People arriving gathered in thenarthex, greeting one another
with warm wishes of MerryChristmas.
There was an excited spiritamong everyone.
A miniature nativity was ondisplay on a table near the
sanctuary entrance.
Peering in through the opensanctuary doors, I saw huge
(09:31):
Christmas tree inside at thefront, fully decorated with
Christmas, made out of styrofoamand covered in glitter or
sequins.
I was always fascinated bythose symbols.
I recall the shapes like a star, a crown, shell, different
crosses, a fish, an A for alphaand O for omega and, of course,
(09:54):
the Cairo, the P symbol with anX superimposed over it.
I remember learning that the Xwas the first letter in the name
of Christ, in Greek Cai, andthe P was the second letter, ro,
cairo.
That's actually how theshortened word exmus came about.
The front of the church wascovered in red poinsettia
(10:18):
flowers.
Everyone would gather in thesanctuary as the organ started
playing the opening hymn,usually a classic rendition of O
come all, ye faithful, orsomething similar.
The choir would sing, someonewould read the Gospel story of
Jesus', birth from Matthew orLuke.
My father would preach arousing and often emotional
(10:40):
sermon on the birth of Christand the congregation would sing
favorite Christmas hymns.
But at the end of the servicewas always my favorite, the
candlelight service.
Everyone would get a thin whitecandle encircled by a cardboard
disc drip tray to catch thedripping wax.
Usher's would move to the frontand light their candles off of
(11:03):
my dad's candle, which he litfrom the Christ candle at the
front, and then they would moveto each aisle lighting the
candles of everyone in thecongregation.
On the ends of the aisles theywould pass their light down the
row.
Until everyone had theircandles lit, we would begin
singing different Christmashymns.
(11:36):
The lights in the sanctuary wereslowly extinguished, the organ
and instruments faded away andmy favorite moment came at the
end when we all sang SilentNight acapella.
A glow in the darkness by thelights of those candles.
Silent Night, holy Night, sonof God, loves pure light,
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radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming
grace.
Jesus, lord at Thy birth.
Jesus, lord at Thy birth.
This moment was the pinnacle ofthe service for me, even as a
young boy.
After worship everyone wouldrecess out, buzzing about the
(12:41):
service and sharing about theirplans for the Eve when they got
home.
Once again, wishes of MerryChristmas filled the air, and I
always looked forward to usyoung children being given the
brown bag filled with apples,oranges, peanuts in the shells,
piece of candy and otherassorted goodies that the church
handed out.
(13:01):
It was a treat.
Then we would head back home,me sprinting across the lawn
back to the house, excited bythe warmth of what I'd
experienced in worship, butprobably a little more excited
for the opening of gifts thatwas to come as soon as my dad
finished up at church.
But that's the story for nextyear.
(13:24):
Do you have fond memories of aChristmas worship, maybe one
that was especially creative?
What traditions stand out foryou from your church Christmas,
and how was Christ a centralpart of that worship?
How can we, as Christiancreatives, help to tell the
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Christmas story Through ourgifts, and how can we just be
more creative at Christmas time?
I'm going to start a littlebroadly here and looking at how
we can create opportunities tobe inspired at Christmas that
leads us to be more open toGod's leading in our lives and
(14:58):
in the things that we do, andthen I'll dig a little deeper
into how we, as creatives canspecifically use our gifts and
talents in creative ways.
I'd like to start with thisarticle titled how Christ
Inspires a Creative ChristmasCelebration.
It's by Susan Narjala, fromDecember 2022.
(15:21):
So this isn't just about beinga Christian creative per se, but
this is a really neat lead in,I think, to that, because this
talks all about how to live outour lives in a creative way at
Christmas time.
All right, here we go.
When you ponder on Jesus'entrance into the world, that
(15:43):
first Christmas does a sense ofwonder envelop you.
What an unlikely cast ofcharacters to play the lead
roles.
What an obscure location forthe world's most life-changing
event to unfold.
What an odd menagerie tosurround the newborn king.
What a bedraggled group offirst visitors to kneel before
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the manger.
And yet that was how God senthis one and only son to make his
dwelling among us.
God's script for the entry ofhis son and our savior was full
of purpose and low on pomp.
It was high on meaning andunbothered about glamour.
Salvation came withoutflashlights and carpets.
(16:26):
God wrote a far more creativeand endearing story than any of
us could conjure up.
It was warm and ingenious, anarrative that invited the lowly
and excluded the proud.
But our culture has tradedmeaning for noise purpose for
(16:46):
glamour, and worship forshopping.
It has transformed Christmasinto a commercial holiday.
The focus is more on presenceunder the tree than the presence
of God, who made his dwellingamong us.
But what would it look like ifwe choose to celebrate every
Christmas like the very firstone?
What if God's simple andcreative script for the first
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Christmas shapes oursensibilities and our
festivities more than unabashedcommerce?
Here are three things we coulddo to enjoy the true spirit of
Christmas.
This season, whether we aresingle, married or have kids,
can we resolve to clear theclutter in order to cultivate
intimacy with Christ?
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It may mean taking a long, hardlook at our schedules and
simply letting some things slidein order to make room for the
important.
Ask a creative God for ideasthat you can weave into the
rhythm of your daily life, buthere are some thoughts to get
you started and she lists somegood ones here, like light and
advent candle and read from aChristmas devotional.
(17:52):
Play Christmas music duringdinner.
Read through the nativity storyas a family.
Memorize a verse or two thatspeaks of the Messiah.
Instead of letters to Santa,encourage your kids to write a
letter to Jesus, write down anattribute of God for every day
of Advent and thank Him for whohe is.
I really like that one.
(18:12):
Without Jesus at the center, nomatter how busy the season,
christmas will be empty andjoyless this year.
Be intentional about creatingquiet.
Be still moments to reflect onthe beauty and wonder of that
first Christmas.
Okay, she goes on.
When we look back at thenativity story, we see that God
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chose obscurity over attention.
He chose poverty over pomp.
He chose to announce the birthof His Son to a group of
disheveled and startledshepherds rather than kings and
princes.
Throughout His life, jesusvalued those on the margins.
He commands us to do the same,and we do as churches.
(19:00):
At Christmas time, we visitorphanages and shelter homes,
donate blankets and biryanilunches.
We give gifts to those whoserve us in our apartment
buildings and offices.
Those are undoubtedly goodthings, but when we reflect on
Christ's commitment to us,perhaps as image bearers, we
ought to commit to servingothers more consistently than
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one event once a year.
Perhaps our quote unquotecreative Christmas could include
how to make our outreach asustainable effort.
Is there some way to give ofour time and resources every
week or every month, while howwe reach out differs widely
based on specific situations.
(19:43):
Here are some practical ideasthat you can implement
consistently.
Just a few here, like could youget a group of young people to
play a football game with thekids at an orphanage every month
?
Could you spend an hour a weektutoring a child or teaching art
or music for a year, or even aquarter?
Could you commit as a smallgroup to providing a meal a
(20:03):
month for the charity that youwant to support?
Could you write thecommunications material, take
photographs or help with socialmedia for an organization that
might not have resources to doso?
At Christmas, we celebrate theforever covenant that Christ
made possible because he reachedout to us when we had nothing
to offer him.
May our commitment to othershave a lasting impact where we
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begin to see people as peopleand not merely as Christmas
projects.
But what are your tried andtrue traditions?
Is there room for doing thethings you love, absolutely, as
long as those traditions driveus toward God and not away from
him?
In sticking to our Christmastraditions, can we also
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creatively welcome others intothem?
Can we widen our arms enough tounfold those on the margins
with the love of Christ?
Perhaps it is as simple asthinking outside the box about
who our guest list might includethis year.
Here are some scenarios for youto consider Invite your
neighbors to help you trim theChristmas tree.
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Include a young person who isfar from family for Christmas
lunch.
Gather the children in yourapartment building for carol
singing practice and pizza.
Host an open house event whereneighbors and colleagues can
drop in for cookies and coffee.
Remember those who might havelost loved ones this year.
Invite them to bake with you orhelp you make Christmas goodie
(21:28):
bags.
While we reach out with the loveof Christ, may we be prepared
to share the reason for our hope.
She references 1 Peter 15.
May we be grounded in the truthof what Jesus has done for us
and yet always stand amazed atthe spectacular scene of that
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very first Noel.
May we share that good newswith great joy and creativity
this Christmas, thanks to SusanNarjala, freelance writer
writing for the GospelCoalitionorg, this wonderful
article that helps us to refocusback to that first Christmas.
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So let's take this renewedperspective of recapturing the
(23:17):
scene of that first Noel andtalk about how we, as creatives,
can use our God-given talentsto help convey that through our
creative works and in turn,enhance the meaning of Christmas
for others.
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I'm going to go ahead and listsome specific things you can
create that I find kind ofinteresting as they apply to
some different creative fields,maybe writing, podcasting,
visual media, whatever the casemay be, and these are just a few
suggestions and ideas.
I can't represent everycreative field, of course, in
(24:00):
this single podcast, sohopefully in the few that I list
here today, there will besomething in here that sparks
interest for you, maybe at theleast inspires you, even if they
don't directly apply to yourspecific creative talent or
field of interest.
And I plan to do this everyChristmas in the podcast episode
(24:21):
.
So if I don't find you in thisyear's list, hey, there's always
next year.
Let's start with one I'veshared with you before, although
perhaps not in this detail.
(24:44):
Every Christmas I gift my twosons and I a new devotional book
for men that we use togetherall year long.
Once a month, throughout the 12months of the year, we each
share via a text chat whichdevotion touched us the most and
why.
Then, at the end of the year, Icreate a printed book of that
chat, including related photosthat we may have shared in the
(25:06):
chat or related church andfamily events from throughout
the year or even past years, andI gift one to each of us as a
physical, tangible memento ofour year long chat and spiritual
conversations and growth.
I'm at work finishing up thethird printed book now and we're
(25:27):
getting ready to start thefourth year of our devotions
together, starting in the newyear.
I love doing this every yearand my boys seem to respond very
positively to this as well.
The chat has been a great wayto foster a devotional life for
each of us, helping train us allinto the habit of doing them
more routinely, as well ashelping to generate discussions
(25:51):
of a spiritual nature and onesthat are not so direct and
intimidating as a face-to-facesharing can often be, especially
for teenagers.
This allows for a sharing ofspiritual thoughts of a more
personal nature without havingsomeone staring back at you
while doing so.
It's also a lot of fun tocreate the book itself using
(26:15):
software and online design tools.
I've been using Mimeo, viaApple Photos, to create ours.
It's not necessarily the besttool out there and it can be
frustrating at times to use, butit does allow me direct access
to our entire photo library inApple Photos without me having
to pre-select all the photos andthen upload them first to some
(26:37):
online tool before I can begindesigning it, so I do like that
aspect.
Now, doing the layout, copyingthe text from the chat,
selecting photos and graphicscan be a lot of work to pull
together, but it does create agreat final product that is
personal and comes from theheart.
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To be fair, this may not be agift that we look at as much
right after receiving it, youknow, after having completed the
year of devotional share, butI'm hoping, as the years go by,
we'll look back at each of theseas a collection of books that
help chart the progress of atleast some of our spiritual
journey each year and that willbe a helpful and hopefully
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treasured memento of ourspiritual life in years to come,
perhaps especially most for myboys.
This gift has helped toreinforce the meaning of
Christmas gifting something thatcombines all of our devotional
text, writing, spiritualthoughts, reflections, even
prayers over the year, and a onebook reminds us each the
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importance of reading God's wordall year, trains us to build a
dependence upon His word as wellas keeps the Christ in
Christmas by focusing on Him asbeing at the center of our lives
at Christmas and all year long.
So even if you're not doing adevotional share like my boys
(28:09):
and I, consider producingprinted books, either through a
Mimeo-like photo service or ashort order printing through
Amazon or some other bookprinting service, as a way to
produce your own creativecontent that you can share with
family or friends as a gift atChristmas, perhaps even share
(28:31):
with your clients.
For writers or bloggers orpoets, use this as an
opportunity to share yourwriting with others in a more
packaged, professional format.
As you reflect on the Christmasseason, perhaps you share
memories of family Christmas'spast.
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As a photographer or artist,you can gift a book of some of
your favorite photos or artworkthat help tell the Christmas
story in unique ways and,indirectly, perhaps even boost
your visibility as aphotographer or artist in your
work.
Many of you may have alreadybeen doing this or have done it
(29:13):
in the past, but if you haven't,or if you've gotten away from
doing it, reconsider it again.
It's a great way to producesomething tangible, looks nice
and is a good way to kind ofrepresent your creative work,
either as a writer, photographeror artist Producing these books
, most of them printed.
Most of these printing placesdo a really good job, and it's
(29:38):
neat to have that final productin your hand.
All right, let's talk socialmedia.
Social media is often agraveyard of self-indulgent
posts and anxiety-ridden,fear-filled predictions of the
future by influencers lookingfor likes and clicks.
So, as a Christian creative, atChristmas, consider how you can
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contribute in positive ways toshaping the social media
landscape by sharing hopefulposts that emphasize Jesus as
the reason for the season.
From the simplest things, suchas making it a point to wish
people a merry Christmas in yourposts instead of happy holidays
, to the more complex ofintegrating the story of Jesus
(30:25):
birth into your graphics or yourvideos.
These are all ways to helpemphasize Christ as the reason
for the season.
Here's a wonderful idea fromcreativebiblestudycom for
creating a Christmas countdownTo help celebrate the 25-day
journey to Christmas.
(30:45):
According to the website, hereare 25 Christmas countdown on
the go Active object lessondevotions with Bible verses to
help us keep our focus on thetrue reason for the season.
Each day, snap a photo of eachitem for a visual and use as a
photo challenge on social mediaor with your family, small group
(31:08):
friends or just for yourself.
It's a fun way to enjoy thepresence of Christ each and
every day as we look towardscelebrating his birthday.
I think this is just a wonderfulidea and has a lot of potential
.
I'll include a link to thedaily outline and devotions that
they provide atcreativebiblestudycom In the
(31:29):
description of this podcastepisode.
But just briefly.
It has things like for December1st, a road and uses John 14-6.
Jesus said to him I am the wayand the truth and the life.
No one comes to the father butthrough me, and that's the theme
verse for the day.
They also include a link to adevotion for that day that you
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can read and go through.
But just imagine the creativephotos of different roads you
will get from people sharing onsocial media for this challenge.
I can see everything frompeople stuck in traffic on the
highway to country roads, toVacation photos of roads to you
know unique roads peopleencountered In other countries
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on a trip to, perhaps even roadsthat represent something very
personal to someone.
But using such a social mediachallenge as an opportunity to
draw our daily travels Back todiscovering a sense of direction
for our lives in Christ is Sucha wonderful way to take that
journey Toward Christmas andmake it something memorable for
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you and others.
So this the social mediachallenge.
It invites engagement with youraudience and Provides potential
opportunities for others tohighlight their creativity in
these posts as well.
How cool is that?
I would add you could use thisin your creative business social
media as a way to highlightthat you value the importance of
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Christ in Christmas.
Another day in this challengeuses the word light, or lights,
and references John 812, whereJesus describes himself as the
light of the world.
Imagine all the images ofdifferent forms of light that
people might share and theOpportunities that could open up
for sharing Jesus as the lightof the world at Christmas.
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If you're a writer, you couldeven write your own daily
devotions to go with each of the25 days.
If you're a photographer,artist or graphic designer, you
could approach this via anInstagram challenge, a strictly
visual social media challenge,or I could ask people to share
photos or even their ownartistic works that center
around that word or that evenreflect something symbolic of
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Christ active in their spirituallife.
You may get some veryinteresting responses and posts,
while I haven't done a socialmedia challenge at Christmas yet
.
I'm already planning thisspecific one for next year.
Many of you may have seen thesocial media post I did centered
around the inspiration episodeof this podcast.
(34:09):
On social media, I held aninspiration week where, multiple
times a day that week, I sharedposts about Inspiration.
I aimed to highlight each ofthe five takeaways that I
presented in that episode with avisual post and Also
highlighted Bible versescentered around inspiration,
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included some inspirationalquotes from some Christian
creatives and Visuals thathighlighted the creativity of
God.
I wanted to promote the episode, of course, so people knew it
existed and what it was about,and Encourage inspiration in
their lives.
But my real goal was to offerHope-filled posts and inspire my
(34:51):
audience while highlighting theinspiring nature of God himself
.
Bottom line, find ways to addhope to your social media posts
by keeping people focused on whyChristmas exists To celebrate
the birth of the Savior of theworld.
Of course, there's all sorts ofvisual media that can be
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produced to help tell theChristmas story right, and
worship services aroundChristmas are a time filled with
opportunities for producingvisual media, in particular,
filmmaking.
I think that can help enhancethe meaning of the season.
As a Christian creativefilmmaker, what can you do to
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help add to the meaning ofChristmas or the telling of the
Christmas story.
I mean, the Christmas story hasbeen told in many different
ways over the ages.
It's hard to find new ways totell it and yet we still seem to
keep finding ways To expressthe meaning of that story
differently.
(35:57):
And perhaps one way to standout in Offering something
different, even if it's nottotally original, but from a
filmmaking perspective or orfrom other ways as well, but I'm
going to talk particularly froma filmmaking perspective is to
consider telling the nativitystory from a Different point of
view, a different perspective.
(36:19):
Both the Gospels of Matthew andLuke tell the birth of Christ
Generally from the point of viewof one person.
So Matthew is kind of fromJoseph's point of view and Luke
I from Mary's.
So what if you told the storyin your film or short story or
short film from a differentpoint of view?
(36:39):
Perhaps tell the story from theperspective of, say, the
innkeeper or the shepherds orthe wise men or even the animals
in the stable.
I'm going to do an animatedfilm.
I know many of these have beendone before, but as you consider
it in your own creativestorytelling, you could still
(37:00):
offer a different angle on this.
It's not the traditional way oftelling the story or tell the
story from the point of view ofa new character.
I'm watching through severalChristian films in preparation
for the next topic episode ofthe podcast, and one of the more
noteworthy films in recentyears is the movie Risen, which
(37:22):
looks at the death, resurrectionand ascension of Christ from
the point of view of a Romansoldier.
So, it was a littlecontroversial, but it's a very
well done film and I realize ifyou start telling the birth of
Jesus in this way, you know youleave the biblical narrative.
It is not strictly scripturalanymore but if done properly and
(37:43):
carefully, with respect for thesource and the biblical
narrative in God's word, thiscan be a great way to help
inspire and encourage otherstoday who may not have read the
Bible to want to dig deeper andread about the birth of Jesus as
written and dig into God's word.
(38:03):
And it may also provide youwith a renewed perspective
yourself of Jesus' birth as youwork through and consider how
those who experienced itfirsthand must have felt.
No matter what, in telling thestory from a new point of view,
be sure to go through thebiblical narrative and imagine
(38:24):
how it feels from yourparticular perspective.
Finally, to close out, mysuggestions.
I know I don't have a lot herein this episode.
We'll offer more next year, butconsider the ways in which
sound music, voice sound effectsand the like, how audio
productions can be utilized toadd meaning to the telling of
(38:47):
the Christmas story.
Rather than list a bunch ofways here, I'm offering up this
entire episode of the podcast asan example and to that end, as
previously mentioned, I'mincluding my own dramatized
reading of the Christmas storyof Jesus' birth as a way to
conclude this episode coming upin just a bit.
(39:41):
Storytelling, in particular oralstorytelling, is a tradition
that goes back a very long time,early in history.
This was an important way topreserve the past, along with
writing, of course, and oralstorytelling is a very creative
art form and actually a reallyflexible process.
(40:02):
When you start thinking aboutit, it has the potential to
create a personal bond betweenthe storyteller and the audience
, because typically thestoryteller and audience are
physically close to one anotheras the story is being told, and
that helps to build thisconnection of intimacy between
(40:22):
the two.
The audience also experiencesthe creative process unfolding
right there before them, in realtime.
They feel a part of thatcreative process.
So today, in this episode, I'llbe reading the birth of Christ
as recorded in the Gospel ofLuke, luke 2.1-35.
(40:43):
And even though this is arecording, this is kind of my
own version of following theoral tradition of storytelling
and, in particular, you know, areading of the birth of Christ.
Now, I'm sure you've heard manysuch readings over the years,
performed in many different waysand you probably have your own
(41:06):
favorite version Now.
I didn't want to do a dramaticperformance version with voice
actors.
Maybe I'll do that in nextyear's episode, who knows but I
did want to enhance my reading abit, without taking away from
the power of the words ofScripture.
One of the reasons I wanted todo this was because this is
(41:28):
simply one way in which I canillustrate how we can share the
Christmas story in creative ways, in this case in an audio
podcast.
A couple of quick stories ofsome personal influences on me
and some reasons as to why Iwanted to do this dramatized
Christmas reading the way that Iam.
They're not Christmas related,but they lead up to my reading
(41:50):
of the Christmas story.
First, my dad grew up listeningto a lot of old-time radio
programs in the 30s and 40sbecause that's what they had for
entertainment.
They didn't have TV, theydidn't have internet, they had
the radio, and the familytypically gathered around that
radio at night or in theevenings and listened to
(42:11):
different programming.
And so he passed on to me apassion for listening to some of
those old-time radio programsand stories.
I still remember borrowing hiscassette tapes of many of the
old-time radio programs that hepurchased later in life, and I
would go in my room, turn thelights out and listen to some of
(42:35):
the classic horror programs inparticular, like Lights Out,
suspense and Hermit's Cave.
I'll never forget first hearingthe story Sorry, wrong Number
and playing it over and overagain in the dark.
It was such a suspenseful,well-done tale and it's one of
the popular ones from old-timeradio programs a very famous one
(42:57):
.
If you're unfamiliar with it,do an online search.
It is a classic episode and agreat use of this format.
These days you can find most ofthose programs on the internet.
There are also many podcastsdedicated to old-time radio
programs and its history, andthere's also a lot of new
(43:17):
podcasts that use that samestorytelling format in a much
more modern way and tellingmodern-day stories through that
dramatized audio storytellingformat.
Some great stuff out there.
So that was an influence on mein my younger years.
Then we move ahead to myteenage years and one day I
(43:38):
discovered my oldest sister'svinyl LP copy of Jeff Wayne's
War of the Worlds.
For those of you unfamiliarwith this, it's a dramatized and
musical version of HG Wells'classic novel War of the Worlds.
Richard Burton was the narratorand they had various actors and
actresses voicing and singingother character parts throughout
(44:00):
.
There were sound effectsenhancing the story and it was
all based around these longstretches of usually progressive
rock music that painted thisaural as in a-u-r-a-l.
Aural audio picture of theunfolding story, and I love that
(44:21):
album.
I still own a vinyl copy today.
I played a bit of it for myyoungest son years ago.
He ended up listening to theentire album digitally on his
iPhone, of course, and he lovesit now too.
That's another example of theinfluence of that kind of
storytelling format, which thatone, I think I was more open to
because I had listened to mydad's all-time radio programs
(44:43):
years before, and then this one,of course, was in a more rock
vein, so it was more modern forthe time.
This was probably the 80s thatI discovered it, not sure
exactly what year that wasproduced in, but it's a great
album.
Zoom ahead now to my collegeyears, freshman year at college
and my first roommate atConcordia Lutheran College his
(45:03):
name was Brian was a big fan ofPink Floyd, the rock band that
recorded in the 60s, 70s, 80s,90s.
Even he ended up influencing meand I started listening to Pink
Floyd and became a big fan.
Now I'm sure most of mylisteners are aware of Pink
Floyd as not a Christian band,but of course, as Christians we
(45:27):
can be influenced by lots ofnon-Christian sources and
talents, right, but we end uppulling from those influences
things that build our creativityand our interests in different
ways.
Now, what I loved about theirmusic was that they would take
as much time as they needed fora song or track of music.
(45:48):
They rarely adhered to a threeto four minute radio length
track.
In some cases they createdsingle songs and tracks of music
that took up an entire side ofa vinyl record or that went on
at length as long as they feltthe music needed or demanded.
Their creativity wasn'tdictated by people's attention
(46:09):
span, so much like so manythings are today.
As a result, their music andeven their lyrics allowed for
listeners to envision imageryand stories in the listener's
own imagination.
Now I mention all this becauseI want to pay homage, as they
say, to that style ofstorytelling a bit and how I
(46:30):
approached this dramatic readingof the birth of Christ.
I didn't want to do performancelike old time radio programs
and War of the Worlds did novoice actors or overly dramatic
sound effects, nothing over thetop, but something where my
reading of the scripture isenhanced a bit by voice and
(46:51):
music and sound effects thatcombine to allow your own
imagination to help carry theimagery of the story, like the
old time radio programs did forme, or like War of the Worlds
did for me and my youngest son.
To get the most out of this,I'd encourage you to listen to
this on a good pair ofheadphones, not just the little
in ear ones, but a good pair ofideally closed cup headphones,
(47:15):
or at least listen to this on agood set of speakers.
It will make the listeningexperience that much richer.
So as you listen to this,please be patient with the
dramatized reading.
Allow the words of scriptureand the longer passages of music
to settle into your mind andimagine what it must have been
(47:36):
like to be there and experiencethe word made flesh, god coming
to earth and physically dwellingamong his people the reading of
(48:30):
the Christmas story the birthof Jesus Christ, as recorded in
the book of Luke.
(49:04):
In those days, caesar Augustusissued a decree that a census
should be taken of the entireRoman world.
This was the first census thattook place while Querenius was
governor of Syria, and everyonewent to their own town to
register.
So Joseph also went up from thetown of Nazareth in Galilee to
(49:25):
Judea, to Bethlehem, the town ofDavid, because he belonged to
the house and line of David.
He went there to register withMary, who was pledged to be
married to him and was expectinga child.
While they were there, the timecame for the baby to be born
and she gave birth to herfirstborn, a son.
(49:45):
She wrapped him in cloths,placed him in a manger, because
there was no guest roomavailable for them and there
(50:17):
were shepherds living out in thefields nearby keeping watch
over their flocks.
At night, an angel of the Lordappeared to them and the glory
(50:37):
of the Lord shone around themand they were terrified.
But the angel said to them Donot be afraid, I bring you good
(51:04):
news that will cause great joyfor all the people.
Today, in the town of David, aSavior has been born to you.
(51:34):
He is the Messiah the Lord.
This will be a sign to you.
You will find a baby wrapped incloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly, a great company of theheavenly host appeared, with
the angel praising God andsaying Glory to God in the
(51:58):
highest heaven and on earth,peace to those on whom his favor
.
(52:38):
When the angels had left themand gone into heaven, the
shepherd said to one anotherlet's go to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened,which the Lord has told us about
.
(53:10):
So they hurried off and foundMary and Joseph and the baby who
was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, theyspread the word concerning what
had been told them about thischild, and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherdsaid to them.
But Mary treasured up all thesethings and pondered them in her
(53:31):
heart and the Lord said let'sgo to Bethlehem and see this
(54:12):
thing that has happened.
The shepherds returnedglorifying and praising God for
(54:35):
all the things they had heard.
And On the eighth day, when itwas time to circumcise the child
(56:18):
, he was named Jesus, the namethe angel had given him before
he was conceived.
When the time came for thepurification rites required by
the law of Moses, joseph andMary took him to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord.
(56:38):
As it is written in the law ofthe Lord, every firstborn male
is to be consecrated to the Lord.
They offer a sacrifice, inkeeping with what is said in the
law of the Lord, a pair ofdoves or two young pigeons.
(57:01):
Now there was a man in Jerusalemcalled Simeon, who was
righteous and devout.
He was waiting for theconsolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was on him.
It had been revealed to him bythe Holy Spirit that he would
not die before he had seen theLord's Messiah.
Reached by the Spirit, he wentinto the temple courts.
(57:21):
When the parents brought in thechild Jesus to do for him what
(57:58):
the custom of the law required,simeon took him in his arms and
praised God, saying SovereignLord, as you have promised, you
may now dismiss your servant inpeace, for my eyes have seen
your salvation, which you haveprepared in the sight of all
nations, a light for revelationto the Gentiles and the glory of
(58:23):
your people, israel.
The child's father and mothermarveled at what was said about
him.
Then Simeon blessed them andsaid to Mary, his mother this
child is destined to cause thefalling and rising of many in
(58:44):
Israel and to be a sign thatwill be spoken against, so that
the thoughts of many hearts willbe revealed.
The sword will pierce your ownsoul too.
(59:20):
There was also a prophet, anna,the daughter of Penuel of the
tribe of Asher.
She was very old.
She had lived with her husbandseven years after her marriage
and then was a widow until shewas 84.
She never left the temple butworshipped night and day,
fasting and praying, coming upto them.
At that very moment, she gavethanks to God and spoke about
(59:43):
the child to all who werelooking forward to the
redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had doneeverything required by the law
(01:00:22):
of the Lord, they returned toGalilee, to their own town of
Nazareth, and the child grew andbecame strong, he was filled
(01:01:20):
with wisdom and the grace of Godwas on him.
Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was
on him, and the child grew andbecame strong.
Tim Ristow (01:04:01):
The child was filled with wisdom and the grace of
God was on him, and the childgrew and became strong.
(01:04:46):
Thanks for joining us.
Go to Apple Podcasts orwhatever your favorite podcast
distributor is and be sure tosubscribe to catch each and
every new episode.
I'd really appreciate it if,after listening, you'd take a
moment to rate the show.
Helps me to gauge feedback andrankings for the show and, if
(01:05:07):
you're really feeling generous,I'd love it if you left a brief
review as well.
Let me and others know what youlike about Creative Christians.
You can also email me directlywith your feedback, comments or
questions at tim at timristocom.
I'd love to hear from you.
I'm Tim Risto.
Until next time, stay creativeand stay in God's Word Blessings
(01:05:29):
.
Creative Christians is producedby yours truly, tim Risto.
(01:05:52):
As always, a shout out to mylovely and supportive wife,
tracy Risto.
Creative Christians is an audioproduction of Tim Risto
Productions.
Visit timristocom to learn more.
It's timristocom.
Today on Creative Christians.
It's a celebration of thecoming of our Savior.
In this specialChristmas-themed episode, we're
going to take a peek into howcreativity and Christmas go so
well together, while examiningthe most creative moment ever in
history the birth of JesusChrist in a manger in Bethlehem
(00:34):
over 2,000 years ago.
Creativity and Christmas todayon Creative Christians
Creativity, faith, inspiration.
(00:55):
As Christian creatives, how isour creativity different?
Because of our faith?
You've got to believe in whatyou're doing, listen and let the
Holy Spirit lead you To be inChrist and have an identity in
Him above anything else.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
I think it's extraordinary.
If you believe, God's calledyou, you can't walk away from
that.
Tim Ristow (01:16):
These are stories of creative Christians.
Welcome to another episode ofCreative Christians, the podcast
(01:48):
series that explores Christiancreatives, their talents, their
faith and what they're doing atthe intersection of both.
I'm your host, tim Risto.
Merry Christmas to you and yourfamily during this wonderful
Advent and Christmas season.
In this episode, we'reexploring creativity and
(02:08):
Christmas.
My hope is that this is thefirst of what will become an
annual tradition for thispodcast in celebrating Christmas
.
Have you ever thought much aboutthe creativity of Christmas?
(02:29):
In many ways, christmas is oneof the most creative times of
the year.
Of course, there's the wholecreativity of how people
decorate their homes with thedisplay of a Christmas tree and
how they decorate it inside.
Many people focus on creatingthese advanced light displays on
the outside of their homes.
(02:50):
Some people have very creativerecipes for various meals and
treats for the holiday.
Many of you have your owntraditions that are often very
creative, as families gather andtake part in annual activities
that only happen together atthis one time of the year.
There's the creativity thatgoes into different crafts for
(03:11):
Christmas, whether it'sdecorations, creating your own
family Christmas cards or evenscrapbooking your Christmas
memories each year.
Christmas worship services areoften the most creative and
interesting services of thechurch.
Here they're inviting animalsinto live nativity displays and
(03:32):
using acting or drama to helptell the story, the creative use
of music, things like that, andthere's many, many, many more
ways in which this time of yearis incredibly creative.
But there's also the ways inwhich we, as Christian creatives
, are inspired this time of yearto use our talents and gifts
(03:54):
from God to create things orworks that enhance the meaning
of the season.
Beyond all the trappings of theholiday season, the story of
Christmas itself, the birth ofthe Christ child, the reason for
the season, as we often say, ismore creative than any of the
(04:16):
holiday decorations, meals ortraditions we choose to
participate in this time of year.
I mean this is the story of Godcoming to earth in the form of
the perfect baby Jesus, true Godand true man, as John 1.14 says
.
And the word became flesh anddwelt among us, and we have seen
(04:41):
his glory as of the only sonfrom the Father, full of grace
and truth.
Part of this episode willinclude a reading of the
Christmas story a little bitlater.
That story is Christmas, jesusis the story, and it's a
(05:01):
wonderful story of life and hope, of death and resurrection of
love and new life.
Nothing else matters but thechild at the center of the story
.
Nothing else matters atChristmas but Jesus.
In fact, nothing else mattersyear round but Jesus.
(05:25):
Why have I described Jesus'birth earlier as one of, if not,
the most creative event inhistory?
Simple, because God came toearth in the form of a child,
born of a virgin through theHoly Spirit, and for
thirty-three years he physicallyand spiritually lived among his
(05:48):
people and died in humiliationand despicably on a rugged cross
, only to be resurrected threedays later in another amazing
and creative event.
But all that couldn't havehappened if not for the humble
birth of our Savior in a manger.
Who of us could have createdsuch a rich, compelling,
(06:11):
creative story of love and hope,a story that's still going on
today, a history that is stillunfolding today as we live out
our days looking forward to thereturn of Christ in glory.
Before we go on, let's take amoment to look back.
(06:31):
One of my favorite books isCharles Dickens' A Christmas
Carol, and one of my favoriteparts of that story is when the
spirit of Christmas past takesscrooge on a tour of his past
life and how that made him whohe was.
Sometimes it's good to lookback just long enough to reflect
(06:52):
on some cherished memories thathelp make us who we are
creatively and spiritually.
Join me now beside my virtualfireplace here in Texas and let
(07:20):
me share with you some personalfond memories of Christmas past.
Growing up, I remember Christmasaround our home as a simple
time centered around church andworship and family.
We lived in a small rural townin southern Minnesota, largely a
(07:42):
farming community and smallbusinesses, lots of mom-and-pop
shops small town Americana atits finest.
In the 1970s I spent the firstdecade of my life there.
My father was the pastor at theLCMS Lutheran Church in town.
We lived in the Parsonage rightnext door to the church.
On Christmas Eve my fatherwould head over early, of course
(08:05):
, to prep for Christmas worship.
The rest of the family wouldget all dressed up in our best
clothes.
Being the 70s, I remember oneyear sporting one of those green
velour turtleneck shirts anddress pants for Christmas We'd
gather together in the fronthallway of our house heavy coats
, mittens, scarves and caps on,and then head out and brave the
(08:28):
cold for our brief 20-secondwalk over to the church.
And even though it was brief, Istill remember the bitter cold
of those walks in those DecemberMinnesota nights.
Once we entered the church,however, the chill disappeared
(09:10):
and I entered a world filledwith Christmas wonder.
People arriving gathered in thenarthex, greeting one another
with warm wishes of MerryChristmas.
There was an excited spiritamong everyone.
A miniature nativity was ondisplay on a table near the
sanctuary entrance.
Peering in through the opensanctuary doors, I saw huge
(09:31):
Christmas tree inside at thefront, fully decorated with
Christmas, made out of styrofoamand covered in glitter or
sequins.
I was always fascinated bythose symbols.
I recall the shapes like a star, a crown, shell, different
crosses, a fish, an A for alphaand O for omega and, of course,
(09:54):
the Cairo, the P symbol with anX superimposed over it.
I remember learning that the Xwas the first letter in the name
of Christ, in Greek Cai, andthe P was the second letter, ro,
cairo.
That's actually how theshortened word exmus came about.
The front of the church wascovered in red poinsettia
(10:18):
flowers.
Everyone would gather in thesanctuary as the organ started
playing the opening hymn,usually a classic rendition of O
come all, ye faithful, orsomething similar.
The choir would sing, someonewould read the Gospel story of
Jesus', birth from Matthew orLuke.
My father would preach arousing and often emotional
(10:40):
sermon on the birth of Christand the congregation would sing
favorite Christmas hymns.
But at the end of the servicewas always my favorite, the
candlelight service.
Everyone would get a thin whitecandle encircled by a cardboard
disc drip tray to catch thedripping wax.
Usher's would move to the frontand light their candles off of
(11:03):
my dad's candle, which he litfrom the Christ candle at the
front, and then they would moveto each aisle lighting the
candles of everyone in thecongregation.
On the ends of the aisles theywould pass their light down the
row.
Until everyone had theircandles lit, we would begin
singing different Christmashymns.
(11:36):
The lights in the sanctuary wereslowly extinguished, the organ
and instruments faded away andmy favorite moment came at the
end when we all sang SilentNight acapella.
A glow in the darkness by thelights of those candles.
Silent Night, holy Night, sonof God, loves pure light,
(12:01):
radiant beams from Thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming
grace.
Jesus, lord at Thy birth.
Jesus, lord at Thy birth.
This moment was the pinnacle ofthe service for me, even as a
young boy.
After worship everyone wouldrecess out, buzzing about the
(12:41):
service and sharing about theirplans for the Eve when they got
home.
Once again, wishes of MerryChristmas filled the air, and I
always looked forward to usyoung children being given the
brown bag filled with apples,oranges, peanuts in the shells,
piece of candy and otherassorted goodies that the church
handed out.
(13:01):
It was a treat.
Then we would head back home,me sprinting across the lawn
back to the house, excited bythe warmth of what I'd
experienced in worship, butprobably a little more excited
for the opening of gifts thatwas to come as soon as my dad
finished up at church.
But that's the story for nextyear.
(13:24):
Do you have fond memories of aChristmas worship, maybe one
that was especially creative?
What traditions stand out foryou from your church Christmas,
and how was Christ a centralpart of that worship?
How can we, as Christiancreatives, help to tell the
(14:37):
Christmas story Through ourgifts, and how can we just be
more creative at Christmas time?
I'm going to start a littlebroadly here and looking at how
we can create opportunities tobe inspired at Christmas that
leads us to be more open toGod's leading in our lives and
(14:58):
in the things that we do, andthen I'll dig a little deeper
into how we, as creatives canspecifically use our gifts and
talents in creative ways.
I'd like to start with thisarticle titled how Christ
Inspires a Creative ChristmasCelebration.
It's by Susan Narjala, fromDecember 2022.
(15:21):
So this isn't just about beinga Christian creative per se, but
this is a really neat lead in,I think, to that, because this
talks all about how to live outour lives in a creative way at
Christmas time.
All right, here we go.
When you ponder on Jesus'entrance into the world, that
(15:43):
first Christmas does a sense ofwonder envelop you.
What an unlikely cast ofcharacters to play the lead
roles.
What an obscure location forthe world's most life-changing
event to unfold.
What an odd menagerie tosurround the newborn king.
What a bedraggled group offirst visitors to kneel before
(16:05):
the manger.
And yet that was how God senthis one and only son to make his
dwelling among us.
God's script for the entry ofhis son and our savior was full
of purpose and low on pomp.
It was high on meaning andunbothered about glamour.
Salvation came withoutflashlights and carpets.
(16:26):
God wrote a far more creativeand endearing story than any of
us could conjure up.
It was warm and ingenious, anarrative that invited the lowly
and excluded the proud.
But our culture has tradedmeaning for noise purpose for
(16:46):
glamour, and worship forshopping.
It has transformed Christmasinto a commercial holiday.
The focus is more on presenceunder the tree than the presence
of God, who made his dwellingamong us.
But what would it look like ifwe choose to celebrate every
Christmas like the very firstone?
What if God's simple andcreative script for the first
(17:09):
Christmas shapes oursensibilities and our
festivities more than unabashedcommerce?
Here are three things we coulddo to enjoy the true spirit of
Christmas.
This season, whether we aresingle, married or have kids,
can we resolve to clear theclutter in order to cultivate
intimacy with Christ?
(17:30):
It may mean taking a long, hardlook at our schedules and
simply letting some things slidein order to make room for the
important.
Ask a creative God for ideasthat you can weave into the
rhythm of your daily life, buthere are some thoughts to get
you started and she lists somegood ones here, like light and
advent candle and read from aChristmas devotional.
(17:52):
Play Christmas music duringdinner.
Read through the nativity storyas a family.
Memorize a verse or two thatspeaks of the Messiah.
Instead of letters to Santa,encourage your kids to write a
letter to Jesus, write down anattribute of God for every day
of Advent and thank Him for whohe is.
I really like that one.
(18:12):
Without Jesus at the center, nomatter how busy the season,
christmas will be empty andjoyless this year.
Be intentional about creatingquiet.
Be still moments to reflect onthe beauty and wonder of that
first Christmas.
Okay, she goes on.
When we look back at thenativity story, we see that God
(18:35):
chose obscurity over attention.
He chose poverty over pomp.
He chose to announce the birthof His Son to a group of
disheveled and startledshepherds rather than kings and
princes.
Throughout His life, jesusvalued those on the margins.
He commands us to do the same,and we do as churches.
(19:00):
At Christmas time, we visitorphanages and shelter homes,
donate blankets and biryanilunches.
We give gifts to those whoserve us in our apartment
buildings and offices.
Those are undoubtedly goodthings, but when we reflect on
Christ's commitment to us,perhaps as image bearers, we
ought to commit to servingothers more consistently than
(19:22):
one event once a year.
Perhaps our quote unquotecreative Christmas could include
how to make our outreach asustainable effort.
Is there some way to give ofour time and resources every
week or every month, while howwe reach out differs widely
based on specific situations.
(19:43):
Here are some practical ideasthat you can implement
consistently.
Just a few here, like could youget a group of young people to
play a football game with thekids at an orphanage every month
?
Could you spend an hour a weektutoring a child or teaching art
or music for a year, or even aquarter?
Could you commit as a smallgroup to providing a meal a
(20:03):
month for the charity that youwant to support?
Could you write thecommunications material, take
photographs or help with socialmedia for an organization that
might not have resources to doso?
At Christmas, we celebrate theforever covenant that Christ
made possible because he reachedout to us when we had nothing
to offer him.
May our commitment to othershave a lasting impact where we
(20:27):
begin to see people as peopleand not merely as Christmas
projects.
But what are your tried andtrue traditions?
Is there room for doing thethings you love, absolutely, as
long as those traditions driveus toward God and not away from
him?
In sticking to our Christmastraditions, can we also
(20:47):
creatively welcome others intothem?
Can we widen our arms enough tounfold those on the margins
with the love of Christ?
Perhaps it is as simple asthinking outside the box about
who our guest list might includethis year.
Here are some scenarios for youto consider Invite your
neighbors to help you trim theChristmas tree.
(21:07):
Include a young person who isfar from family for Christmas
lunch.
Gather the children in yourapartment building for carol
singing practice and pizza.
Host an open house event whereneighbors and colleagues can
drop in for cookies and coffee.
Remember those who might havelost loved ones this year.
Invite them to bake with you orhelp you make Christmas goodie
(21:28):
bags.
While we reach out with the loveof Christ, may we be prepared
to share the reason for our hope.
She references 1 Peter 15.
May we be grounded in the truthof what Jesus has done for us
and yet always stand amazed atthe spectacular scene of that
(21:50):
very first Noel.
May we share that good newswith great joy and creativity
this Christmas, thanks to SusanNarjala, freelance writer
writing for the GospelCoalitionorg, this wonderful
article that helps us to refocusback to that first Christmas.
(22:11):
So let's take this renewedperspective of recapturing the
(23:17):
scene of that first Noel andtalk about how we, as creatives,
can use our God-given talentsto help convey that through our
creative works and in turn,enhance the meaning of Christmas
for others.
(23:39):
I'm going to go ahead and listsome specific things you can
create that I find kind ofinteresting as they apply to
some different creative fields,maybe writing, podcasting,
visual media, whatever the casemay be, and these are just a few
suggestions and ideas.
I can't represent everycreative field, of course, in
(24:00):
this single podcast, sohopefully in the few that I list
here today, there will besomething in here that sparks
interest for you, maybe at theleast inspires you, even if they
don't directly apply to yourspecific creative talent or
field of interest.
And I plan to do this everyChristmas in the podcast episode
(24:21):
.
So if I don't find you in thisyear's list, hey, there's always
next year.
Let's start with one I'veshared with you before, although
perhaps not in this detail.
(24:44):
Every Christmas I gift my twosons and I a new devotional book
for men that we use togetherall year long.
Once a month, throughout the 12months of the year, we each
share via a text chat whichdevotion touched us the most and
why.
Then, at the end of the year, Icreate a printed book of that
chat, including related photosthat we may have shared in the
(25:06):
chat or related church andfamily events from throughout
the year or even past years, andI gift one to each of us as a
physical, tangible memento ofour year long chat and spiritual
conversations and growth.
I'm at work finishing up thethird printed book now and we're
(25:27):
getting ready to start thefourth year of our devotions
together, starting in the newyear.
I love doing this every yearand my boys seem to respond very
positively to this as well.
The chat has been a great wayto foster a devotional life for
each of us, helping train us allinto the habit of doing them
more routinely, as well ashelping to generate discussions
(25:51):
of a spiritual nature and onesthat are not so direct and
intimidating as a face-to-facesharing can often be, especially
for teenagers.
This allows for a sharing ofspiritual thoughts of a more
personal nature without havingsomeone staring back at you
while doing so.
It's also a lot of fun tocreate the book itself using
(26:15):
software and online design tools.
I've been using Mimeo, viaApple Photos, to create ours.
It's not necessarily the besttool out there and it can be
frustrating at times to use, butit does allow me direct access
to our entire photo library inApple Photos without me having
to pre-select all the photos andthen upload them first to some
(26:37):
online tool before I can begindesigning it, so I do like that
aspect.
Now, doing the layout, copyingthe text from the chat,
selecting photos and graphicscan be a lot of work to pull
together, but it does create agreat final product that is
personal and comes from theheart.
(26:59):
To be fair, this may not be agift that we look at as much
right after receiving it, youknow, after having completed the
year of devotional share, butI'm hoping, as the years go by,
we'll look back at each of theseas a collection of books that
help chart the progress of atleast some of our spiritual
journey each year and that willbe a helpful and hopefully
(27:22):
treasured memento of ourspiritual life in years to come,
perhaps especially most for myboys.
This gift has helped toreinforce the meaning of
Christmas gifting something thatcombines all of our devotional
text, writing, spiritualthoughts, reflections, even
prayers over the year, and a onebook reminds us each the
(27:47):
importance of reading God's wordall year, trains us to build a
dependence upon His word as wellas keeps the Christ in
Christmas by focusing on Him asbeing at the center of our lives
at Christmas and all year long.
So even if you're not doing adevotional share like my boys
(28:09):
and I, consider producingprinted books, either through a
Mimeo-like photo service or ashort order printing through
Amazon or some other bookprinting service, as a way to
produce your own creativecontent that you can share with
family or friends as a gift atChristmas, perhaps even share
(28:31):
with your clients.
For writers or bloggers orpoets, use this as an
opportunity to share yourwriting with others in a more
packaged, professional format.
As you reflect on the Christmasseason, perhaps you share
memories of family Christmas'spast.
(28:51):
As a photographer or artist,you can gift a book of some of
your favorite photos or artworkthat help tell the Christmas
story in unique ways and,indirectly, perhaps even boost
your visibility as aphotographer or artist in your
work.
Many of you may have alreadybeen doing this or have done it
(29:13):
in the past, but if you haven't,or if you've gotten away from
doing it, reconsider it again.
It's a great way to producesomething tangible, looks nice
and is a good way to kind ofrepresent your creative work,
either as a writer, photographeror artist Producing these books
, most of them printed.
Most of these printing placesdo a really good job, and it's
(29:38):
neat to have that final productin your hand.
All right, let's talk socialmedia.
Social media is often agraveyard of self-indulgent
posts and anxiety-ridden,fear-filled predictions of the
future by influencers lookingfor likes and clicks.
So, as a Christian creative, atChristmas, consider how you can
(30:02):
contribute in positive ways toshaping the social media
landscape by sharing hopefulposts that emphasize Jesus as
the reason for the season.
From the simplest things, suchas making it a point to wish
people a merry Christmas in yourposts instead of happy holidays
, to the more complex ofintegrating the story of Jesus
(30:25):
birth into your graphics or yourvideos.
These are all ways to helpemphasize Christ as the reason
for the season.
Here's a wonderful idea fromcreativebiblestudycom for
creating a Christmas countdownTo help celebrate the 25-day
journey to Christmas.
(30:45):
According to the website, hereare 25 Christmas countdown on
the go Active object lessondevotions with Bible verses to
help us keep our focus on thetrue reason for the season.
Each day, snap a photo of eachitem for a visual and use as a
photo challenge on social mediaor with your family, small group
(31:08):
friends or just for yourself.
It's a fun way to enjoy thepresence of Christ each and
every day as we look towardscelebrating his birthday.
I think this is just a wonderfulidea and has a lot of potential
.
I'll include a link to thedaily outline and devotions that
they provide atcreativebiblestudycom In the
(31:29):
description of this podcastepisode.
But just briefly.
It has things like for December1st, a road and uses John 14-6.
Jesus said to him I am the wayand the truth and the life.
No one comes to the father butthrough me, and that's the theme
verse for the day.
They also include a link to adevotion for that day that you
(31:51):
can read and go through.
But just imagine the creativephotos of different roads you
will get from people sharing onsocial media for this challenge.
I can see everything frompeople stuck in traffic on the
highway to country roads, toVacation photos of roads to you
know unique roads peopleencountered In other countries
(32:16):
on a trip to, perhaps even roadsthat represent something very
personal to someone.
But using such a social mediachallenge as an opportunity to
draw our daily travels Back todiscovering a sense of direction
for our lives in Christ is Sucha wonderful way to take that
journey Toward Christmas andmake it something memorable for
(32:40):
you and others.
So this the social mediachallenge.
It invites engagement with youraudience and Provides potential
opportunities for others tohighlight their creativity in
these posts as well.
How cool is that?
I would add you could use thisin your creative business social
media as a way to highlightthat you value the importance of
(33:02):
Christ in Christmas.
Another day in this challengeuses the word light, or lights,
and references John 812, whereJesus describes himself as the
light of the world.
Imagine all the images ofdifferent forms of light that
people might share and theOpportunities that could open up
for sharing Jesus as the lightof the world at Christmas.
(33:24):
If you're a writer, you couldeven write your own daily
devotions to go with each of the25 days.
If you're a photographer,artist or graphic designer, you
could approach this via anInstagram challenge, a strictly
visual social media challenge,or I could ask people to share
photos or even their ownartistic works that center
around that word or that evenreflect something symbolic of
(33:48):
Christ active in their spirituallife.
You may get some veryinteresting responses and posts,
while I haven't done a socialmedia challenge at Christmas yet
.
I'm already planning thisspecific one for next year.
Many of you may have seen thesocial media post I did centered
around the inspiration episodeof this podcast.
(34:09):
On social media, I held aninspiration week where, multiple
times a day that week, I sharedposts about Inspiration.
I aimed to highlight each ofthe five takeaways that I
presented in that episode with avisual post and Also
highlighted Bible versescentered around inspiration,
(34:29):
included some inspirationalquotes from some Christian
creatives and Visuals thathighlighted the creativity of
God.
I wanted to promote the episode, of course, so people knew it
existed and what it was about,and Encourage inspiration in
their lives.
But my real goal was to offerHope-filled posts and inspire my
(34:51):
audience while highlighting theinspiring nature of God himself
.
Bottom line, find ways to addhope to your social media posts
by keeping people focused on whyChristmas exists To celebrate
the birth of the Savior of theworld.
Of course, there's all sorts ofvisual media that can be
(35:16):
produced to help tell theChristmas story right, and
worship services aroundChristmas are a time filled with
opportunities for producingvisual media, in particular,
filmmaking.
I think that can help enhancethe meaning of the season.
As a Christian creativefilmmaker, what can you do to
(35:37):
help add to the meaning ofChristmas or the telling of the
Christmas story.
I mean, the Christmas story hasbeen told in many different
ways over the ages.
It's hard to find new ways totell it and yet we still seem to
keep finding ways To expressthe meaning of that story
differently.
(35:57):
And perhaps one way to standout in Offering something
different, even if it's nottotally original, but from a
filmmaking perspective or orfrom other ways as well, but I'm
going to talk particularly froma filmmaking perspective is to
consider telling the nativitystory from a Different point of
view, a different perspective.
(36:19):
Both the Gospels of Matthew andLuke tell the birth of Christ
Generally from the point of viewof one person.
So Matthew is kind of fromJoseph's point of view and Luke
I from Mary's.
So what if you told the storyin your film or short story or
short film from a differentpoint of view?
(36:39):
Perhaps tell the story from theperspective of, say, the
innkeeper or the shepherds orthe wise men or even the animals
in the stable.
I'm going to do an animatedfilm.
I know many of these have beendone before, but as you consider
it in your own creativestorytelling, you could still
(37:00):
offer a different angle on this.
It's not the traditional way oftelling the story or tell the
story from the point of view ofa new character.
I'm watching through severalChristian films in preparation
for the next topic episode ofthe podcast, and one of the more
noteworthy films in recentyears is the movie Risen, which
(37:22):
looks at the death, resurrectionand ascension of Christ from
the point of view of a Romansoldier.
So, it was a littlecontroversial, but it's a very
well done film and I realize ifyou start telling the birth of
Jesus in this way, you know youleave the biblical narrative.
It is not strictly scripturalanymore but if done properly and
(37:43):
carefully, with respect for thesource and the biblical
narrative in God's word, thiscan be a great way to help
inspire and encourage otherstoday who may not have read the
Bible to want to dig deeper andread about the birth of Jesus as
written and dig into God's word.
(38:03):
And it may also provide youwith a renewed perspective
yourself of Jesus' birth as youwork through and consider how
those who experienced itfirsthand must have felt.
No matter what, in telling thestory from a new point of view,
be sure to go through thebiblical narrative and imagine
(38:24):
how it feels from yourparticular perspective.
Finally, to close out, mysuggestions.
I know I don't have a lot herein this episode.
We'll offer more next year, butconsider the ways in which
sound music, voice sound effectsand the like, how audio
productions can be utilized toadd meaning to the telling of
(38:47):
the Christmas story.
Rather than list a bunch ofways here, I'm offering up this
entire episode of the podcast asan example and to that end, as
previously mentioned, I'mincluding my own dramatized
reading of the Christmas storyof Jesus' birth as a way to
conclude this episode coming upin just a bit.
(39:41):
Storytelling, in particular oralstorytelling, is a tradition
that goes back a very long time,early in history.
This was an important way topreserve the past, along with
writing, of course, and oralstorytelling is a very creative
art form and actually a reallyflexible process.
(40:02):
When you start thinking aboutit, it has the potential to
create a personal bond betweenthe storyteller and the audience
, because typically thestoryteller and audience are
physically close to one anotheras the story is being told, and
that helps to build thisconnection of intimacy between
(40:22):
the two.
The audience also experiencesthe creative process unfolding
right there before them, in realtime.
They feel a part of thatcreative process.
So today, in this episode, I'llbe reading the birth of Christ
as recorded in the Gospel ofLuke, luke 2.1-35.
(40:43):
And even though this is arecording, this is kind of my
own version of following theoral tradition of storytelling
and, in particular, you know, areading of the birth of Christ.
Now, I'm sure you've heard manysuch readings over the years,
performed in many different waysand you probably have your own
(41:06):
favorite version Now.
I didn't want to do a dramaticperformance version with voice
actors.
Maybe I'll do that in nextyear's episode, who knows but I
did want to enhance my reading abit, without taking away from
the power of the words ofScripture.
One of the reasons I wanted todo this was because this is
(41:28):
simply one way in which I canillustrate how we can share the
Christmas story in creative ways, in this case in an audio
podcast.
A couple of quick stories ofsome personal influences on me
and some reasons as to why Iwanted to do this dramatized
Christmas reading the way that Iam.
They're not Christmas related,but they lead up to my reading
(41:50):
of the Christmas story.
First, my dad grew up listeningto a lot of old-time radio
programs in the 30s and 40sbecause that's what they had for
entertainment.
They didn't have TV, theydidn't have internet, they had
the radio, and the familytypically gathered around that
radio at night or in theevenings and listened to
(42:11):
different programming.
And so he passed on to me apassion for listening to some of
those old-time radio programsand stories.
I still remember borrowing hiscassette tapes of many of the
old-time radio programs that hepurchased later in life, and I
would go in my room, turn thelights out and listen to some of
(42:35):
the classic horror programs inparticular, like Lights Out,
suspense and Hermit's Cave.
I'll never forget first hearingthe story Sorry, wrong Number
and playing it over and overagain in the dark.
It was such a suspenseful,well-done tale and it's one of
the popular ones from old-timeradio programs a very famous one
(42:57):
.
If you're unfamiliar with it,do an online search.
It is a classic episode and agreat use of this format.
These days you can find most ofthose programs on the internet.
There are also many podcastsdedicated to old-time radio
programs and its history, andthere's also a lot of new
(43:17):
podcasts that use that samestorytelling format in a much
more modern way and tellingmodern-day stories through that
dramatized audio storytellingformat.
Some great stuff out there.
So that was an influence on mein my younger years.
Then we move ahead to myteenage years and one day I
(43:38):
discovered my oldest sister'svinyl LP copy of Jeff Wayne's
War of the Worlds.
For those of you unfamiliarwith this, it's a dramatized and
musical version of HG Wells'classic novel War of the Worlds.
Richard Burton was the narratorand they had various actors and
actresses voicing and singingother character parts throughout
(44:00):
.
There were sound effectsenhancing the story and it was
all based around these longstretches of usually progressive
rock music that painted thisaural as in a-u-r-a-l.
Aural audio picture of theunfolding story, and I love that
(44:21):
album.
I still own a vinyl copy today.
I played a bit of it for myyoungest son years ago.
He ended up listening to theentire album digitally on his
iPhone, of course, and he lovesit now too.
That's another example of theinfluence of that kind of
storytelling format, which thatone, I think I was more open to
because I had listened to mydad's all-time radio programs
(44:43):
years before, and then this one,of course, was in a more rock
vein, so it was more modern forthe time.
This was probably the 80s thatI discovered it, not sure
exactly what year that wasproduced in, but it's a great
album.
Zoom ahead now to my collegeyears, freshman year at college
and my first roommate atConcordia Lutheran College his
(45:03):
name was Brian was a big fan ofPink Floyd, the rock band that
recorded in the 60s, 70s, 80s,90s.
Even he ended up influencing meand I started listening to Pink
Floyd and became a big fan.
Now I'm sure most of mylisteners are aware of Pink
Floyd as not a Christian band,but of course, as Christians we
(45:27):
can be influenced by lots ofnon-Christian sources and
talents, right, but we end uppulling from those influences
things that build our creativityand our interests in different
ways.
Now, what I loved about theirmusic was that they would take
as much time as they needed fora song or track of music.
(45:48):
They rarely adhered to a threeto four minute radio length
track.
In some cases they createdsingle songs and tracks of music
that took up an entire side ofa vinyl record or that went on
at length as long as they feltthe music needed or demanded.
Their creativity wasn'tdictated by people's attention
(46:09):
span, so much like so manythings are today.
As a result, their music andeven their lyrics allowed for
listeners to envision imageryand stories in the listener's
own imagination.
Now I mention all this becauseI want to pay homage, as they
say, to that style ofstorytelling a bit and how I
(46:30):
approached this dramatic readingof the birth of Christ.
I didn't want to do performancelike old time radio programs
and War of the Worlds did novoice actors or overly dramatic
sound effects, nothing over thetop, but something where my
reading of the scripture isenhanced a bit by voice and
(46:51):
music and sound effects thatcombine to allow your own
imagination to help carry theimagery of the story, like the
old time radio programs did forme, or like War of the Worlds
did for me and my youngest son.
To get the most out of this,I'd encourage you to listen to
this on a good pair ofheadphones, not just the little
in ear ones, but a good pair ofideally closed cup headphones,
(47:15):
or at least listen to this on agood set of speakers.
It will make the listeningexperience that much richer.
So as you listen to this,please be patient with the
dramatized reading.
Allow the words of scriptureand the longer passages of music
to settle into your mind andimagine what it must have been
(47:36):
like to be there and experiencethe word made flesh, god coming
to earth and physically dwellingamong his people the reading of
(48:30):
the Christmas story the birthof Jesus Christ, as recorded in
the book of Luke.
(49:04):
In those days, caesar Augustusissued a decree that a census
should be taken of the entireRoman world.
This was the first census thattook place while Querenius was
governor of Syria, and everyonewent to their own town to
register.
So Joseph also went up from thetown of Nazareth in Galilee to
(49:25):
Judea, to Bethlehem, the town ofDavid, because he belonged to
the house and line of David.
He went there to register withMary, who was pledged to be
married to him and was expectinga child.
While they were there, the timecame for the baby to be born
and she gave birth to herfirstborn, a son.
(49:45):
She wrapped him in cloths,placed him in a manger, because
there was no guest roomavailable for them and there
(50:17):
were shepherds living out in thefields nearby keeping watch
over their flocks.
At night, an angel of the Lordappeared to them and the glory
(50:37):
of the Lord shone around themand they were terrified.
But the angel said to them Donot be afraid, I bring you good
(51:04):
news that will cause great joyfor all the people.
Today, in the town of David, aSavior has been born to you.
(51:34):
He is the Messiah the Lord.
This will be a sign to you.
You will find a baby wrapped incloths and lying in a manger.
Suddenly, a great company of theheavenly host appeared, with
the angel praising God andsaying Glory to God in the
(51:58):
highest heaven and on earth,peace to those on whom his favor
.
(52:38):
When the angels had left themand gone into heaven, the
shepherd said to one anotherlet's go to Bethlehem and see
this thing that has happened,which the Lord has told us about
.
(53:10):
So they hurried off and foundMary and Joseph and the baby who
was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, theyspread the word concerning what
had been told them about thischild, and all who heard it were
amazed at what the shepherdsaid to them.
But Mary treasured up all thesethings and pondered them in her
(53:31):
heart and the Lord said let'sgo to Bethlehem and see this
(54:12):
thing that has happened.
The shepherds returnedglorifying and praising God for
(54:35):
all the things they had heard.
And On the eighth day, when itwas time to circumcise the child
(56:18):
, he was named Jesus, the namethe angel had given him before
he was conceived.
When the time came for thepurification rites required by
the law of Moses, joseph andMary took him to Jerusalem to
present him to the Lord.
(56:38):
As it is written in the law ofthe Lord, every firstborn male
is to be consecrated to the Lord.
They offer a sacrifice, inkeeping with what is said in the
law of the Lord, a pair ofdoves or two young pigeons.
(57:01):
Now there was a man in Jerusalemcalled Simeon, who was
righteous and devout.
He was waiting for theconsolation of Israel, and the
Holy Spirit was on him.
It had been revealed to him bythe Holy Spirit that he would
not die before he had seen theLord's Messiah.
Reached by the Spirit, he wentinto the temple courts.
(57:21):
When the parents brought in thechild Jesus to do for him what
(57:58):
the custom of the law required,simeon took him in his arms and
praised God, saying SovereignLord, as you have promised, you
may now dismiss your servant inpeace, for my eyes have seen
your salvation, which you haveprepared in the sight of all
nations, a light for revelationto the Gentiles and the glory of
(58:23):
your people, israel.
The child's father and mothermarveled at what was said about
him.
Then Simeon blessed them andsaid to Mary, his mother this
child is destined to cause thefalling and rising of many in
(58:44):
Israel and to be a sign thatwill be spoken against, so that
the thoughts of many hearts willbe revealed.
The sword will pierce your ownsoul too.
(59:20):
There was also a prophet, anna,the daughter of Penuel of the
tribe of Asher.
She was very old.
She had lived with her husbandseven years after her marriage
and then was a widow until shewas 84.
She never left the temple butworshipped night and day,
fasting and praying, coming upto them.
At that very moment, she gavethanks to God and spoke about
(59:43):
the child to all who werelooking forward to the
redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had doneeverything required by the law
(01:00:22):
of the Lord, they returned toGalilee, to their own town of
Nazareth, and the child grew andbecame strong, he was filled
(01:01:20):
with wisdom and the grace of Godwas on him.
Speaker 2 (01:01:58):
He was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was
on him, and the child grew andbecame strong.
Tim Ristow (01:04:01):
The child was filled with wisdom and the grace of
God was on him, and the childgrew and became strong.
(01:04:46):
Thanks for joining us.
Go to Apple Podcasts orwhatever your favorite podcast
distributor is and be sure tosubscribe to catch each and
every new episode.
I'd really appreciate it if,after listening, you'd take a
moment to rate the show.
Helps me to gauge feedback andrankings for the show and, if
(01:05:07):
you're really feeling generous,I'd love it if you left a brief
review as well.
Let me and others know what youlike about Creative Christians.
You can also email me directlywith your feedback, comments or
questions at tim at timristocom.
I'd love to hear from you.
I'm Tim Risto.
Until next time, stay creativeand stay in God's Word Blessings
(01:05:29):
.
Creative Christians is producedby yours truly, tim Risto.
(01:05:52):
As always, a shout out to mylovely and supportive wife,
tracy Risto.
Creative Christians is an audioproduction of Tim Risto
Productions.
Visit timristocom to learn more.
It's timristocom.
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Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.