Brian Bailey — Afterword Series

Brian Bailey is the author of The Blogging Church and he recently posted a series on his blog, Leave It Behind, that I believe are the essentials of blogging. These posts are a wealth of wisdom and experience about blogging. Check out these posts:

Afterword: Introduction

Afterword: Open Our Eyes

Afterword: Look Up

Afterword: Smile

From the Mouths of Babes

Every once in a while you have those moments with your children that are unforgettable. My 4 year old son is a source of many of those moments. For example a few weeks ago we were in the C.O.A.C. (see this post) at our church and it was time to go that Sunday afternoon and the building superintendent turned out the lights. At that point my 4 year old son proceeded to run around the “gym” yelling, “We’re in Hell, We’re in Hell!” Obviously someone has taught him that Hell is a place of darkness so there you go.

I have been struggling with letting go and letting God here recently which comes down to a matter of trust. God, though has been faithful and has lead me to His Word (Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28-30) this week which has been awesome. So this morning out of nowhere my son says, “I only trust God. I never trust…(pointing down at the floor). I will always trust God.”

Childlike faith! Our God is an awesome God and can teach us through even the mouths of babes.

Sometimes It Is Better Than You Think

I was reading Dave’s post Everybody’s A Critic of Going to 11 based on Perry Noble’s post Dealing With Critics… and it got me to thinking of how blessed I have been over the past couple of years to not hear of something being too loud or just plain not sounding good in one of our venues. As a church we call it the Christian Outreach & Activity Center which is basically a gym with a stage on one side. A big block building with horrible acoustics is what it is to me. As we outgrow our Sanctuary this room is being used more and more. I have had to do some serious reconfiguring of the sound system. I have not had the luxury of replacing equipment so a re-installation was my only option. However I have purchased in addition two portable speakers for a couple of pole mounts for better coverage and a whole package of Shure microphones and cables. Other than that is was a total rewire and optimization. One immediate move was to take the amplifiers off the same electrical phase with the horribly installed lighting system. I have heard noise from dimmer packs but this was unbearable and they had used it like that for years!

So over the past couple of years I have been accomplishing a rework of this sound system. A couple of weeks ago it was finally at a position whereas I thought it may sound decent. I was not happy with the sound and I’m still not (I’m a perfectionist) but after a recent choir cantata (yes, we still do those) a gentleman that operated sound for 15 years in that church come running back to FOH with a big smile on his face and shook my hand and told me that it was amazing how it sounded in that room now. I was really pushing that system on the finale and God made it stick. Folks I didn’t do much and I did it with nothing but I believe that if we are putting forth the effort to make better with what God has given us that He will bless that. And even though it is not a new state of the art installation that you read about in all of these magazines it is probably a whole lot better than you think.

Perry Noble-Playing For An Audience Of One

WOW! What a great post by Perry today. It is so true that often we get wrapped up in what other people think or we get wrapped up in “serving” God that we are not “seeking” God. Our entire life should be playing for an audience of One. That is worship!

Check out Perry’s post Playing for an Audience of One

Blogging & Hosting, Hosting & Blogging

Although I don’t have as much time to blog as I once did I still feel that something is lacking in the current blog other than posts. I registered a domain and signed up for hosting with the same company last summer but I soon found out that this company is not truly blogger friendly or user friendly for that matter. I never had the time to really build a great site and was not happy with the templates and tools provided. Plus all the user interfaces were very confusing. I’m also not comfortable supporting this company with their questionable advertising and antics of their CEO.

I’m looking to a host that knows blogging. My ideal set up is a blog that is primary and a web site that is secondary and not the other way around like most hosting. Although I’m good enough and smart enough and people like me I just don’t have time to build a website from the ground up so I need great looking templates and easy to use web tools. I’m also wanting to know the ramifications of domain transfer, if any.

My current hosting agreement expires in August so I have a few months to play with here. So, let me know what is the way to go? Now the last time I asked about something you guys left me hanging so help a brother out on this one. Let me add that I’m leaning toward WordPress for a blogging tool and have looked at Blue Host, AN Hosting & Dreamhost to name a few.

I’m hoping and praying to increase my efforts in this part of ministry and would love to offer something that is of better use and value to you my subscribers and to the many that visit this site everyday.

Huh?

I’m chasing a rabbit through Technorati when I click on a link and I get this…

Huh?
There are blogs, and then there’s whatever you just typed in. If it’s a blog, we don’t know about it. Maybe you made a typo. Or maybe it’s a blog that doesn’t exist. Maybe you don’t exist. (In which case, please ignore this.)

If Technorati is going to cause me to question my existence then maybe I should reconsider using them. Just kidding! I had never seen this and I found it amusing so I thought I would share.

Have a great day!

Shure Donates $50,000 to Support Hearing Conservation

Shure Incorporated announced that it will again donate $50,000 this year to four organizations as part of the Shure Listen Safe program: Columbia College (Chicago), Hearing Education and Awareness for Rockers (H.E.A.R.), The House Ear Institute (HEI) and the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) Scholarship Foundation.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Audio Tips From Going to 11

Dave has a couple great posts on audio tips that he has dicovered recently. Check it out at Going to 11.

Unleash Conference

WOW! I believe that is how Perry started out his post last night about the Unleash Conference and I would most certainly agree. I would have loved to post last night but I had some things that needed to get done before this morning. I’m also sure there are many reviews of the Conference already this morning seeing that Todd Rhoades, Gary Lamb, Chris Surratt, Pete Bishop, Steven Furtick and of course Tony Morgan and Perry Noble were all there. Also an anchor, Tonia Bendickson, from the channel I prefer to get my local news from was there with the Elevation crowd. All of the aforementioned guys have blogs that I read on a regular basis and the only one I had to chance to talk to was Tony Morgan and that was brief. I would have loved to seen a blogger meet and greet since so many of us were there but I believe that it would have needed to be the night before or something like that. Oh, yeah, this is about the conference.

I decided a few weeks ago that going to this conference would also be an excellent time to take a night and spend with my wife away from the house and kids so that is what we did. We arrived Wednesday evening after approximately a 100 mile drive. We had dinner and decided to go over and take advantage of the early check-in and find our way before the big day. The volunteers were nice and told us to take a look around and so we did. It was then that we met Sydney. She engaged us in conversation and was great to talk to and drew out a shortcut for us to take between our hotel and the church. That was a great help.

The next morning we arrived and after being directed to our parking place we departed our vehicle and were greeted by no less than 5 volunteers in the parking lot. I would say probably another 15 greeted us before we made it to the area of breakfast foods and drinks. I thought that was awesome but maybe a little too much for someone like me who had not yet had their first cup of coffee. Throughout the day the people of Newspring Church were outstanding. I have never seen a group of volunteers that excited about serving. One that keeps standing out is Sydney whose path we kept crossing. She was as helpful each time as the first time.

The first main session was titled “Go For It”. After an awesome time of worship through song, Perry jumped right in with both feet. If you have never heard Perry speak you can almost imagine what it is like if you read his blog. He writes just like he speaks. His four points were to establish creative environments, look beyond ourselves, pay attention and focus on what matters. Let me tell you that these four things apply to what ever area of ministry you are leading and not just senior pastors. I strive to create an environment that people want to serve. I preach looking beyond ourselves because what we do in media ministry is an offering to God. I don’t know how many times I have told my team to PAY ATTENTION. It is crucial in technical arts ministry to know what is going on. Of course that is made much easier with planning, preparation and practice. The last point was focus on what matters. In media ministry as in all ministries that is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason we are serving at all. I have said it before and I will say it again, if you are serving in a technical role just because you have an aptitude and feel obligated then you there for the wrong reason. Focus on Jesus!

The break out sessions were in a question and answer format. Not my favorite but I could deal. I attended the Newspring Experience and then Blogging in Communications. Our worship leader attended Leading Authentic Worship and told me that Joel Yates (audio engineer) was answering questions. If I had only known I would have been in there. As a group we tried to cover all of the sessions provided so it worked out.

Perry Noble from time to time states that a lot of times he feels like he has no idea what he is doing. I got that same sense from his staff in these break out sessions. And you know what? That is OK! These guys are not supposed to have all the answers for your church. They were good on telling what their experiences have been, where they have struggled in the past and where they are struggling now. It is up to us to glean from that and incorporate into our own ministry. I gained some tidbits that I can use and I appreciate that. I thought they did an excellent job!

The second and last main session was amazing. You know it has been a while since I had a chance to not have to concern myself with production or operate sound, video or lighting and just enjoy what was going on. Let me just say that I let all of the encumbrances of my hectic life just melt away and I praised my Lord. I want to thank Lee McDerment (worship leader) and the band and all of the singers and all of the people making it happen behind the scenes to allow me to have that precious time. THANK YOU!!!

Perry’s second session was titled “The Leadership Challenge” and he let it rip. I can’t remember the last time or if ever I heard someone tear into the institutions established by the church like I did yesterday. And he was right.

Perry’s four points on this session were Moses simply listened and obeyed, Moses didn’t compromise the vision, Moses didn’t try to do it all and Moses was willing to attempt anything. If you couldn’t tell he was using Moses as an example of leadership.
A quote that really stuck to me was when Perry said, “Leadership is as easy as listening to God.” I know that I have been struggling on what to do in some areas and I now realize that I have not been listening close enough. After some time with a friend this morning I realize that I’m in the will of God. I have just wanted to see too far ahead. My friend reminded that God will be a light to my feet and a lamp to my path but He is not going to illuminate the whole way for me to see. It all comes down to me trusting God. That is where I’m at right now. I need to trust God completely.

On the next point Perry points out that powerful people will try to altar your vision and that is so true. Don’t compromise what God has given you!

Thirdly, don’t try to do it all. Perry was all over my toes on this one. I want to be needed but I’m not. I need to let go and allow members of my team to grow. I use to be more diligent on asking my pastors what I could do for them and how I could help them better prepare for services but that has faltered. I’m going to get back to doing that and allow my team to do that as well.

The next and last point is a sticking point. Be willing to attempt anything. In other words, THINK BIG!!! I know that I have no idea what God is capable of doing through our church and ministries but I’m willing to let Him lead me. So many have God stuffed in a box and He is in there broke too. We as a church need to stop stifling the vision that God has given to the men and women He has chosen to do His work. You have all heard the old adage “Lead, follow or get out of the way!” That is the way that I feel about church and ministry right now. If God has given you a vision then you need to lead. If you can understand the vision that God has given someone then you need to follow. If you don’t fall into one of those then you need to get out of the way and start searching for where God wants you to be. I know that I’m going to be in a struggle because I serve in a committee led impaired church. Where do I plug in the vision that God has given me for using media and technology for His glory and purpose? I don’t know yet but I’m going to let God light my steps as I continue to follow the charge He has given me in 2 Timothy 4:5

2 Timothy 4:5(NLT) 5But you should keep a clear mind in every situation. Don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Work at bringing others to Christ. Complete the ministry God has given you.

I believe that Unleash is going to become one of the premiere conferences and I look forward to attending again next year. Thank you so very much to all of those involved in this conference for the experience.

When Things Go Wrong

Pete Bishop has an excellent post about how to prevent catastrophe or just looking like an idiot when things go wrong on stage. Check out his post.