The Whiteboard – Behind the Scenes

You may have seen the whiteboard presentation of The Listen Pray Care Project.

We have it on our home page, our YouTube Channel, and our DVD/video series. We included a link (below) for you to view the whiteboard if you have not yet seen it - check it out! 

The whiteboard method of presenting is one of my favorites. I love illustration while speaking. It does something special to have a visual to follow as you listen and learn. 

One of my favorite Bible learning tools is the work of the BibleProject. They have illustrations with narration locked down. My eyes popped when I first saw their work. My own handwriting and stick figures are less colorful (humbly said) but still effective, I think. Which is the plus of a personally drawn whiteboard (versus computer). And, it’s a little easier to replicate when helping explain Listen Pray Care to a curious friend while having a coffee at the local cafe. Then, again, I could just show the video on a link on my smartphone…

Back to it.

I got the idea of a whiteboard from a good friend of mine, Rob, who was around when the Listen Pray Care Project was first developing. He is so “back there” in the history of the first ideas that he remembers quite different wording and illustrations before the current version of the whiteboard came to be.

Rob was there with a few others when everything started. Like a crystal’s light catching the eye, we were captured by God’s heart of love for us and his call for us to show his love to others. It leaped over the barriers and boundaries standing in the way of all human relationships and presented a new way of looking at our lives from beginning to end.

In love, there is a hope that moves in the heart of Christian leaders everywhere. They look at the troubles facing the church, and dream of new and better ways to serve the beloved of God. Listen Pray Care was born of a vision for a better way. Based on concepts grounded in God’s Word, it is built on solid ground.

So, what about the stick figures? 

What?! Ok. I realize my art form is rather remedial. To say the least. But maybe that is all we are in the great scheme of things. A marvel of the world, but simple as a stick compared to God who made all things. A simple stick with a heart. Loved by God. Designed to love others as his love flows in and through us, making the world a place of love.

I practiced the whiteboard with friends and fellow pastors in my community. It helped me to see the responses and questions that came from it.

This particular version was the result of several retakes. I admit it was very difficult to make it through the drawing phase in one take. With some pain, I remember I had a pile of partial drawings in a large stack on my desk after I was done. 

The recording took place in the wee hours of the morning at my home studio. I think I started filming around midnight. Earlier that evening, we had motorboats on the lake, traffic on the highway, and a few private aircraft flying low nearby. Not ideal conditions for recording. I had to wait…

There are actually two takes of the video. I recorded the audio first and then practiced (what felt like a million times) drawing to the timing of the audio. After finishing both, we synced them together and have what you see today. Then I breathed a prayer of praise and thanks to God for getting us through the tough moments (including a pen running out of ink during a perfect take).

Do you find yourself breathing prayers of praise and thanks? That’s what happens with a God who loves and cares for us. 

I hope you find the whiteboard helps you in your journey of exploring Listen Pray Care in your life and ministry. If you have any questions, you can contact me here. 

To close, I want to share some of my favorite words in this video:

We are calling Christians everywhere to engage in small acts of love for one another in every gathering through Listen Pray Care. This will help plant seeds for deep and flowing love between God’s people just as Jesus commanded.

God bless you as you share God’s love in Christ with your loved ones and with the world.