Have you seen Toy Story?

Did you know that they have authentic replicas of the movie characters that are built to scale…looking exactly like that you saw on the movie, even down the smallest detail?  They’re a replica of the exact size of the characters you saw on the movie!

But with no imagination, they’re just a plain, lifeless doll.

With the imagination of a child, they become Woody…or Buzz Lightyear…or Jessie.

Good ideas

And the same is true with good ideas.  We go to conferences, read books, interact with broad audiences, dialog on social media, and get tons of ideas.  But until we put life to them, until we contextualize them, until we bring them into our systems, they’re lifeless.

A great idea looks cool…especially marketed in a slick package.  But it’s a different game altogether once you get it out of that package.  Because it takes your creativity, your insight, and your wisdom to put that idea into action.

That’s why copying another ministry doesn’t work.  Because it takes your effort to change, tweak, and contextualize the idea to make it function in your ministry.  If you try copying someone else, even though it may have sounded awesome when you heard it the first time, all you’ve really got is a dead, lifeless child’s toy that’ll sit on your desk.

But with your brilliance, the idea can come to life.

Where do you get your good ideas?  Books?  Conferences?  Conversations?


When was the last time you put one of those ideas to life?