One Way to Have Good Understandable Notes

Through this discussion I am using the example of preaching. What I have learned though, applies to all kinds of projects, notes, speeches, preaching, or just getting ideas down on paper. So enjoy my process. I didn't, until the end.

I have tried preaching for a number of years. I do not get a lot of opportunities to preach probably because I'm not good at it.
I love studying the Bible and what was going on in history around the events of the Bible.
I love learning how things were done in the times of the Bible accounts of History as opposed to what we think in our western mind.
I love figuring out what God would have me do with what I learn, or apply it to my life. (Which in reality isn't that difficult, God is pretty clear on most things.)
I love figuring out what is cultural, what is a suggestion and what is a "mandate" from God. (This is mostly so I can play Devil's advocate with people who are hard nosed on non-salvation issues.)

I love compiling these things in my mind and thinking over them, meditating for you churchie peoples.

I do not love writing a sermon.

I feel like it is writing a paper for school or work. I feel life it's pre-programming me to stand up in front of people to be different that I really am. I am purposefully acting outside my character and personality.

I went to Bible college and had excellent men teach me the art and science of preaching. I still use those study notes and format to get myself thinking and processing and compiling in an orderly manner. Thank you Dr. Enyart for your homiletical handbook. The writing of the sermon, that is where I fail myself,and I think God.

What have I taken to the pulpit with me, you may ask. I have tried a full manuscript sermon. Everything is written out word for word. I ended up reading it with my head down, even though I knew it inside and out. I have tried an extremely simple outline, but I would get distracted and not know what I was doing and have to take a second to figure it out. That is embarrassing and does not bring glory to God. I have tried a "heavy" outline, that is somewhere between the two. I have done fairly well, but still get confused or lost, and have a hard time doing it.

I used to drive my wife nuts. When I take notes in a class or church, I draw a lot of my notes. I try not to let people see it, so they don't think I'm just doodling. They are not specific notes. I don't put much detail. I use an ink pen and what I have is what I have. The process does not allow for detail. Key words, images, quotes, and scripture are included in the drawing in one form or another. I spend less time thinking about what the preacher said, thus missing what is said next. I do seem to retain more of the picture, important things.

Along came Paul.

Paul is the Associate Minister at Cornerstone. We were both writing sermons one week and discussing our process. We both hated our outlines and preaching notes. He made mention of a guy that draws his sermon notes. I didn't think too much about it at the time, but the idea stuck, and swirled around until I could see the pictures on the page. After all we think in images. It's completely natural. This sent me to the greatest authority I have at my disposal, Google.

I found a whole world of Sketch-takers.(See how I replaced "notes" with "sketch", oh yeah.)

There is a group called the SketchnoteArmy.com/blog .  Their benevolent holy man and prophet is Mike Rodhe (http://rohdesign.com/) who wrote books called the Sketchnote handbook and Sketchnote workbook. These seem fun and you may have seen Mike Rodhe's commercials on TV, though I forget what they are at the moment. Check them out. (You can get me one of those books for Christmas.)

This got me to thinking. If I like to take notes by drawing. If I think in pictures. If I like drawing. If these other people are doing this, then maybe I can too. So I took my sermon notes and started thinking of them as a Big Picture Diagram.

What I came up with is more like a story board. I printed a comic book page layout I thought would work for me. I put really important notes in red. I wrote scripture stuff in green. I think I used orange and a couple other colors for fun.  I really had to think about what was in the Bible, in order to draw it, and then to describe or make it usable. Again, I kept them simple. I'm not that good of an illustrator, so simple is good.

  

    

So here is what I came up with . This is a sermon on the Apostle Andrew. I was terrified to preach with this method. But the words of the great Yoda returned to me, "Do or Do Not. There is NO TRY." So I went with it.

I was surprised. I didn't get lost in my sermon and scratch the top of my head while I figured it out. I made better eye contact. I told the stories better. I didn't have to think about putting words together, because I just had a BIG word or picture to bounce from. I also believe it made me think of the sermon as something alive. Something that has motion and activity and feelings. It made events take place in time and space, because I had to think about where, when, who, how things were happening in order to draw them. I got all of that from a stick figure with his hands raised standing in the water. I don't know if my sermon was any better, but I seemed to present it better.

Why is this important. I have waited 36 years for someone to tell this is ok. So, if you think this way, IT IS OK. Let yourself draw your notes. I'm not talking about doodling and zoning out. I'm talking about staying engaged and interacting when your brain wants to repel off a cliff, so you can bike down the mountain. If this works for your kid, get them a good mole skin blank paged journal and colored Sharpie pens. If you have to preach or present, try it. Nobody is going to know unless you show them. It may just help you get more out of your topic.

Set your active brain into motion on a direction with a Good Understandable Notes.

9 Things that help the brain work, kinda.

I was at a park recently and watched a squirrel hide it's nuts. Squirrels are one of my favorite animals. They are cute, they work hard, they twitch their tail all spastic if they are nervous or showing off. They are fast, skillful and walk around on trees upside down, sideways and up ways and any other way with no regard at all for the laws of gravity and physics. Who can't appreciate something that ignores those types of rules. They squeak at each other and are the source of a plethora of hilarious memes. Not to mention all of the Oak trees they plant each fall by hiding their collection of nuts.

My first love for squirrels came in high school, on a trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, where I fed a squirrel. I shared my waffle cone with the little guy, and he just sat on a barrel eating out of my open hand. Later my wife and I fed squirrels black cherries at the lake by hand. Of course any half-way decent fan of Bob Ross knows there are happy little squirrels living in all kinds of trees and woods near the water.

Squirrels have had a bad rap about remembering where they plant all those acorns for the winter. My thought has always been, if that was the case, why are there not more Oak trees and more starved to death squirrels. I came across this little study about squirrels and found out they have excellent memories about where they hide their acorns and will often leave other squirrel's caches alone.

So what's the point of all of this? I don't know I like squirrels and even spastic little rodents have ways of keeping track of things and systems in place to help them get the job done. Well, it goes that way for folks who have a hard time paying attention. There are things we can do, that probably distract and annoy the crap out of everyone else, that helps us. So here are some activities that help.

1. Brain Gym 

I love Brain Gym. I learned about it in college when I took a training course on Appreciative Inquiry and Youth. It was like hooking booster cable up to my head and turning the key. It's simple movements and pressure points and small activities to stimulate the brain. Little things that most people won't notice or think too much about. Of course some activities are standing and involve the full body, but when stealth is needed, these can carry you another 10-15 minutes in a lecture.  Here is link to a quick chart and the official braingym website.
http://sspw.dpi.wi.gov/files/sspw/pdf/sascevanshandouts.pdf
www.braingym.org

2. Doodle

If you sit next to me in church or a training seminar, you will see me draw almost the entire time. My notes on sermons and teachings are almost as much drawings of what they are talking about as their are words on a page. They aren't good drawing, but quick and simple so as not to get distracted. I use ink because I can't erase and get detailed, so what is there is there. Notes don't have to be in a formal collegiate MLA style.That's ridiculous and to high an expectation.  My notes often run sideways or in a box to stand out. 

In a lecture or training I like the ZENtangles. They don't matter, it is repetitive and simple enough to just do and still gather information or details without slowly sketching into another world. There is also no erasing so again, it is as it is. http://tanglepatterns.com/

3. Knot tying

I like tying notes because I can keep string in my pocket and gives my fingers something to fiddle with and forces me to focus small. Rope is cheap and easy to come by. I can stand and pace or sit and cross my legs. It goes back to the brain gym activities of giving my hands and both sides of my brain something to do. The simplest and best for this are repetitive bars and signets, like the paracord bracelets. It is also a relaxing things to do a conversation starter. Most of us with ADD have a hard time carrying on conversations, and believe or don't, this helps. 

4. Clocks set to the right time

Setting the clock 10 minutes fast does not help us. We know it's 10 minutes fast therefore we think we have more time and that means more distraction. For me, the clock has to be right and all the clocks have to be the same. Otherwise there is confusion and chaos and that means more time to be late. Maybe that isn't logical to you, but its how it goes.

5. Encouragement

This is not a feed my ego kind of thing. But if you berate a person with ADD/ ADHD over punctuality, not paying attention, always forgetting, or being sub-standard, then it only makes things worse. Most people with ADD are very hard on themselves and feel very down on themselves already. We realize we don't meet expectations. We genuinely try, but always come up short. Your continual confirmation of these types of feelings only gives us less hope and more punches of the feelings we are already beating ourselves up with. 

6. Curiously Strong Mints - Altoids

I know it may sound stupid but those Originally Celebrated Curiously Strong Mint candies do a lot to open the brain. It is proven strong smells activate the brain and stimulate memory. I keep a tin of them in the truck, in my desk drawer and in my messenger bag (no that is not a murse or UR-a-peeing man-bag). Not to mention, this is the one thing that everyone else appreciates because who doesn't like a minty fresh mouth. Gum has the same effect and excellent way to keep the brain going.

7. Simplicity

I try to keep very little on my desk now. If I can keep it in a drawer or out of sight I try to keep it there. I try to have the simplest objects and tools I need for the job. I try to throw things away and shred every little piece of paper possible. (ok, I just like cutting things up, I know that) My desk top wall paper is gray tones or solid gray with no unnecessary icons. My work computer has 7icons on the desktop. This is not OCD by any means, this takes effort and purpose.

8. Routine

Same thing with where I put stuff. I have to make myself  put things in the same place every time, so I can find it later My keys hang right beside the door. My wallet and pocket stuff goes on my dresser in my knife case drawer. If not, more distractions and searching for something only uncovers even more distractions, if I can keep up with what I'm searching for. In this regard I am not like a squirrel. I find a book, did I finish this, open to the book mark, read a few paragraphs, realize I was looking for something. Try to remember what I'm looking for. It's a horrible cycle.

9. A Patient Woman

Maybe i could put supportive family, but this is my list, so, get your own Katie. I realize nobody else is blessed to be married to Katie, for she is very patient with me. She repeats things to me, sends reminder emails, gently redirects if I get distracted, without ever putting me down. God has giving me the "helper suitable" I need. I can't thank him enough for her. Now, don't get me wrong. There are times when she would like to take a frying pan to my head or bury me in the back yard with the rest of the nuts, but she loves me and helps me. Family who can help and a wife that doesn't nag is a BIG deal.  

So if you have folks in your family that may need a little redirection or ideas to stay on task, hopefully this will help. Until later, KEEP CALM and WATCH SQUIRRELS.

SOMETIMES IT'S HARD

Let me introduce you to two of the coolest kids in the world. This is Lucas, in yellow, and Caleb, in red for those of you who need it. I cannot remember how this particular story started out. Caleb just crawled up in my lap, saw the pictures and said, "We were fighting over jelly beans and had to hold hands. I cried." At least he remembers. I do remember they were fighting. They had been fighting a lot lately and we had enough of it. We had tried separating them. We tried making them work in different places. We tried "time out". We probably swatted their fanny a couple times (which is a great way to teach a kid not to hit;-)  note my sarcasm.)

I thought about it for a while. What could I do that could possible scar them for life? What would release the sweet sounds of wailing and gnashing of teeth? What could I do that is so heinous and deplorable, I could get my children taken away from me? What would be etched in their little developing brains for all of eternity? Then it hit me. I made them sit together.  . . . nothing happened. I made them give each other a hug. . . no tears. I made them hold hands. . . this is a picture of those beautiful result. They cried and wailed and tears flowed down their faces. It was a beautiful sight. It was then that I realized, as their little cheeks were streaked with sorrow, I was a good parent.

Lucas and Caleb in trouble for fighting.

My wife, Katie, and I have 5 kids. Lucas and Caleb are the youngest two. One of the most important things we desire as parents is the unity of our family. Having just moved back close to family I feel this more and more. Our families are the most important group of people God has designed and given us. It is were we learn love, or hate. It is were we feel absolute safety or fear. Brothers and sisters are more important than anyone. After my wife and I are gone on to Paradise they will be all they have left. Their unity and love will affect generations of Esteps. 

I feel a similar urgency for my kids as Jesus had for the apostles and the church. I pray this for myself and then for our kids. Here is a part of Jesus' prayer for the church. You can read his whole prayer in John chapter 17. 

“My prayer is not for them alone [Apostles]. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message [everyone after the Apostles], 21that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

We live in a culture and society where the church is at odds with each other. Denominations and churches not liking, making fun of, and even condemning other churches over non-salvation issues to Hell. Mahatma Ghandi said once that Christians were the reason he was not a Christ follower. (This in not a good excuse, but I can understand where he is coming from.)

I know of a church that has 20 people in it and they think they are the only ones going to heaven. I know of churches that think using instruments during worship is a horrible atrocity. I know of churches that tell their congregations what kind of underwear to use and clothing to sleep in, everyone else is going to hell. I've heard of churches that have divided over whether or not to place a hook at the back of the church for the pastor to hang his hat and coat on. (On a personal note, I think this is a story they tell at Bible colleges just to illustrate how silly a lot of our disagreements are in the church.) 

I have to admit, I am like this as well. I have a  prejudice against prejudice people. I don't want to be around them. I don't like being told I'm not saved because I don't speak in "tongues". I don't like arguing with people. I don't think things like underwear, types of pants, which version of the Bible, or using notes to preach with are really worth the aggravation of being around some people. 

The division of the church is the saddest blight affecting Christians throughout history. It has all but destroyed our witness to the world. We must pray, as Jesus did, for the unity of believers. A wise pastor has said we are to have UNITY not UNIFORMITY, LOVE not LEGALISM, GRACE not GUILT, and RELATIONSHIP (with God) not RELIGION.  

If we were to rewrite Jesus’ prayer so we could pray it, it might go like this. “I pray that all of us who believe in Jesus through the Apostles Teaching and the Bible may be one, just as you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. May we be in you so that the world may believe that you have sent him. You have given us the glory that you gave him so we can be one with each other: your son in us, and we in him. May we be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent Jesus and have loved us even as you loved him.”

Let's think of the believers we work with and know. Are there any we need to forgive? Are there any we need to love? Are there any who need grace? Pray for THEIR unity with the Father and the body as we pray for OUR unity with the Father and body. We, followers of Christ, need to repent of the hatred we have for each other. We need to forgive each other, so Christ can forgive us. We need to confess our unity to the Father and the Family. The unity process may look and feel like the one my sons went through. I think the unity of God's kids would be just as beautiful to him as it is to me.

Ponder a while

In Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus he describes the angels going to the shepherds and then the shepherds going to see Jesus. “So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. It seems everyone else was amazed and surprised at what the shepherds said, except Mary. You see Mary had been visited by an angel. Joseph had been visited by an angel. Mary’s cousin’s husband had been visited by an angel. Maybe this was starting to become a normal thing for the young couple. 

The greek word used for “ponder” means “to put one thing with another to consider circumstances”. So Mary took all of these events that happened over the last months to form her conclusion as to what was happening. So she added this event with the shepherds account. In eight days, when they go to the temple, she will add more. When the magi come to the house with the gifts she will add more events to her treasure of circumstances. That would have helped since they had to pack and flee for their lives in the middle of that same night. Then when Jesus stays behind in the Temple, and scares his parents to death, Mary treasures these things as well. 

John, immersing people in the Jordan, would call him “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

Later on when Jesus was older and being crucified between common thieves she would have had to pull these memories together to consider what was happening right then in light of everything that happened up till this  point in their lives. 

She would remember the Angel telling Joseph, “You will name him Jesus, because he will save people from their sins.” and she would remember the shepherds coming bowing before the infant king, just as the centurion dropped to his knees and proclaimed, “Surely this was the Son of God.” Which would have brought back the angels words to her, “He will be called the Son of the Most High”.

As they poured the myrrh on his body to bury it, she remembered the Wise men that came and brought the gifts of Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. 

Jesus returned to life three day later and when she saw her boy on the path, the words from the angel continued, “The Lord God will give Him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his Kingdom will never end.”

Nothing that happened with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus was an accident. Everything that happens in our lives is seen and known about by God. 

It isn’t an accident that you are reading this. It isn’t an accident that the weather was like it was this week. It is all a part of God drawing us to Him. What we have to do is what Mary did. Look at all of the events that happen in our lives and ponder, put them all together, to see how God is working. 

Jeremiah wrote 31:3 “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness’.”