Story

I recently listened to, relistened to, and then listened to again, a message entitled "Story" by Donald Miller. I really, really liked what he said. In the message, he identifies the techniques that are used to write/tell a story that make a story meaningful. He compares stories in movies and stories in the Bible to the 'story' that we are writing with our lives. Anyway... here is a brief overview of the 8 pages of notes I took...

In order for a story to be meaningful it must have

I. Lead character(s) (protagonist)-

• at the end of the story, if you don't believe they are a 'good guy'... then you don't care if they win
• hero: can't think of himself as better than others
• Phillipians 2:3-8 - imitating Christ's Humility

II. Lead character must have an Ambition (what they want)-

• God wants us to want much... it is just what we want that really matters
• What is the Movie Poster tag line: This year... Bob is going to... get a Volvo
  - will that have you weeping in the end?
• If the protagonist dies... what will happen with the ambition? what will not go on? what doesn't resolve at the end?
• An ambition must be risky. It must be something that could cost something.

III. Conflict (hard times)-

• as soon as there is ambition, there will be conflicts and fear
• Best way to get rid of conflicts and fear = not want anything (no ambition)

IV. Resolution (comedy or tragedy)- how will it end?

• Doesn't always happen as you expect
• Is the end going to be that the protagonist gets the Volvo?

Our Stories

• Our lives are stories... God is the inventor of stories
• The decisions we make our telling the stories of our lives
• God has written our climatic scene... we will stand in front of Him and he will say, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant'
• Life isn't meaningless, the story we're writing is
• Most of us will not lead a great story, we may live an ok story, but not a great story
• Characters are defined by what they DO, not what they think or feel

May our life stories be page turners. May we make decisions in our lives that make us a character to root for. May we discover and develop the ambition of our lives. And may we each give God the pen and paper of our lives and trust Him to write a GREAT story.