I LOVE MEDIA (Part 1)

So I have noticed a trend with my Blog.
I don't seem to like to write out much but I love to share stuff that I have found. Most of the items I share are videos and other bloggers stuff. I think it may be that I have always loved media. When I say media I mean any way of sharing a story or a topic through TV, Videos, Internet, Social media, music etc. I don't know if it is b/c I grew up in the time where computers and internet had just come on the scene and how it was just fascinating to me. Or maybe it was b/c me and my dad watch to many episodes of Star Trek. So whenever a new technology would come out we would always think that they stole it from Star Trek.

Well either way media play such a large part or most our lives. If that’s good or bad I leave it up to determine. Because in I know that here have been many time in my life where I have had to Fast media, because it played too big of a role in my life. But so has Food, and there has to be some balance when it comes to both.

But I just love how media can stir up people, how it can touch the heart. How it can encourage, empower, engage, and excite people.

For example if I watch a Movie that has some form a action in it, like a Jackie Chan movie, or Military flicks like Saving Private Ryan. It stirs up something inside. It makes me want to fight. It makes me want to right all the wrongs, go into battle, fight the good fight. It makes me want to get up and do something!

Or when I watch some other movies like Pixar’s UP or Toy Story 3 that make me emotional or even to the point of crying (don't even laugh, I love Cartoons…Ask my Wife). They tug at my emotions and make me feel compassion for an old man I’ve never meet (and doesn’t even exits) or feel sad when Woody finds a new home!

I just love the way these Film and other forms of media can tug at our heart strings. But that doesn’t always mean that I it is a good thing. We can use emotion to stir us, to push us, to encourage us but if that is all that we use we will be like a leaf in the wind going wherever our emotions take us…but I don’t want to talk about that yet (that will be in part 2) So there again has to be a balance.

All of this to say “I love media” and when I say love it more love when I say “I love Blue Bell Ice-cream”. It is not the same kind of love as when I say “I love my Wife, or when I say “I love my beautiful little girl, Ansley”. That kind of Love is on a whole over playing field.

Now to keep thing in perspective I do not believe that all media is good, but not all media is bad. But as Christian we must learn how to leverage this tool effectively. Not to trick someone’s with their emotions. But like it says in Heb 10:24-25...

24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Heb 10:24-25

“…stir up one another to love and good works…” and I believe through media we can do it in an amazingly effective way.

….To BE CONNTINUED

But one more thing before you leave….So of course I want to end with a piece of "Media" that I really like. Hope it relates to what I am saying....Enjoy!

Cookie Monster Audition for SNL!

I think that people at Sesame Street are some of the funniest people ever. I think they have to much fun at what they Do. Example, this video with cookie monster auditioning for SNL!

25 Things I hate about Facebook Vid

This is so funny but so True!!!!

Owl City: In Christ alone

So if you don't know it already, I really like Owl City. There music just gets inside of my head and I just can’t get it out. So, recently I was listening to the radio and herd one of the most popular songs (Fireflies) and the radio host mentioned that they were Crazy Awesome Christians. So this just took my love for them to another level.
So I ran into a blog by them today that just blew me away. The lead singer decided to record his version of "In Christ alone" here is the link to the blog. Enjoy!

Owl City: In Christ Alone

Social Media we must remember to disconnect-to-connect!!!

Sometime we get some caught up in life that we just forget about how to live it! We make people that are the most important to us fell invisible. Social Media is great and I will be the first person to defend the benefits of it. But we have to make sure that we live our lives, by loving others "Face to Face" not "Blackberry to iPhone".
(This is a message for me!!!)

***this blog post was inspired by Johnathan Cliff @ http://www.jonathancliff.com/2010/10/disconnect-to-connect/

Invest and Invite someone....

I just got this blog update from David Wakerly (Children's Pastor @ Hillsong) and instantly thought that I should share this with everyone. This is what its all about!!!!!!

Family Man

As you may know I am a Children's Pastor at New Hope Worship Center and I love my Job. The Lord has bless me more than I can ever express. and if you spend any time with me you will know that that is just a title that is not who I am. I am first a Follower of Christ, without him I am nothing. Next I am a father and a Husband, this is the primary "ministry" in my life. And lastly I am a Minister to Children.

My family will always come first before any ministry that I am a part of. This realization has take may years and many mistakes to understand it clearly.

One thing that comes to mind when I think about my family and how I plan out time with them was a question given by a children's ministry at http://www.thechurchlv.com/napkin-conference. He asked "Do you spend as much time planing time with you family as you do planning out special event for you ministry? This hit me hard b/c I would have to say no.

We sometime get more involved in planing out what color scheme we are going to use for VBS this year then "Getting Involved" in what I am going to do with my family this weekend.

So I would like to just encourage you to "Get Involved" with you family. Spend time planing out you next trip to Disney World (I will be doing that ASAP). And remember the example that we should ultimately follow, on how the church(our ministry) should work, is based on the best model that has ever been created Our Family!

Here is a video that expresses a little about how I feel about my family( found this on
http://www.jonathancliff.com/ )

Double Rainbow

I maybe late in the blogging world when it comes to this video, I just thought you guys would enjoy this video.
It is probably one of the funnest things Ive ever seen. Maybe this is how Noah reacted when he saw the first rainbow.
Enjoy.....

Children's Pastor Score Card

This is a blog post written by Sam Luce a childrens pastor in the NY area. A must read so Funny!!

 My friend and fellow blogger Kenny has been doing a great series about the getting a job in children’s ministry and sharing a bit of his journey. I interned as a youth pastor and thought I was hired to be a youth pastor but due to semantics and devine providence I became a children’s pastor through a less than traditional path. I thought what might have helped me and may help you is a score card to know if your are called to kids ministry. It is pretty simple really the higher you score the more likely you are ment to work with kids. There are a few ministry score cards out there. The most famous being the Metrosexual Worship leader. I thought that children’s ministry deserved one.
The Children’s Pastor Scorecard.

You have bought your body weight in candy at wal-mart = +2 points

You can name more than two makers of glue sticks = +3 points

You find puppets disturbing = -2 points

Part of the interview process you ask if the church has a choir = +1 point

You can juggle = +1 point

You can juggle on a unicycle = +3 points

You wear a scarf with a tee-shirt = -3 points

You know what american apparel is = -1 point

You can recuit volunteers and do prison ministry at the same time = +2 points

You watch cartoons for fun = +1 point

You have a gotee = -2 points

You call church “big church” = +2 points

Two weeks before VBS people avoid you (no seriously they see you and walk on the other side of road) = +3 points

You know any lyrics from any Fergie song = -4 points

You know all the lyrics from the pirates who don’t do anything = + 4 points

You have ever wore a Bob the Tomato tee-shirt in public = +2 points

You use product = -3 points

You have no idea what “product” is = +3 points

You can turn any object around you into a lesson with a biblical basis = +5 points

You have ever seen an episode of the “The Hills” = -3 points

You have ever used a video clip from “The Hills” to set up your bible story = -6 points

You have ever said “Lets say the verse so loud they hear you in Big church” = +1 point

You print money with Jesus’ face on it and don’t think twice about it = +2 points
You want to put your fist through someones face when they say “They are just kids” = +4 points
You blame the youth group for anything that goes wrong at church = +2 points
You own a pair of designer jeans = -2 points
You own a pair of girl’s designer jeans = -10 points

You have more kids music than adult music on your iPod = +1 point
You have stayed at the church cleaning up after a Halloween alternative till 3:30am = +2 points
You think finnis and ferb are Greek gods = -2 points

When you hear the orange you think of fruit = -3 points
You can keep 140 kids entertained for and hour with a piece of felt, a picture of Jesus and a rock = +4 points
When talking to adults in “big church” you refer to them as boys and girls = +3 points
You have ever received a pie in the face = +1 point
You can turn any piece of cloth into an impromptu puppet = +2 points

You work full time at a secular job so that you can do what you are passionate about, teach the next generation that God loves them and has a plan for them = +50 points
You are just being the kids pastor to get experience so you can one day be a youth pastor = -50 points
You can name all the characters on Yo Gabba Gabba = +3 points
You just said Yo whaty what? = -3 points
You have seen Phil Vischer at a conference and tell him who your favorite talking vegetable is and why = +4 points
You had no idea vegetables could talk = -4 points
You have built something using PVC pipes = +1 point
You dry heave at the sight or mention of “goldfish crackers” = +2 points

You have been known to wear fanny packs on mission trips. = +2 points

You have visited Disney world more than 5 times = +2 points
You tweet the hashtag #kidmin more than Perry Noble tweets about food = +3 points

You eat coco crispies for breakfast = +1 point
You eat cold pizza for breakfast = -1 point
You have ever worn a pair of sunglasses indoors ever = -4 points

You think ultimate frisbee is awesome = -2 points
You think can remember the last 5 years worth of VBS themes from group but don’t know who won the superbowl = +10 points
You think let people volunteer based on their vibe and think background checks are over the top = -20 points
You have ever had to coax a kid out of the churches indoor playground using food = +3 points
You get an instant migrane when your phone rings before church = +1 point
You own a marshmallow gun, tee-shirt canon or fog machine = +3 points each
You can do at least three different voices on command = +3 points
Have ever dreamed of switching places with the speaker in “big church” and going 20 minutes longer because you had one last good story = +5 points
Can turn a snack into a craft and explain the resurrection of christ to a 2 year old all in 10 minutes. = +3 points
When the guest speaker asks when he is suppose to finish and you yell something other than “right now” = -5 points
You have used the letter Z instead of the letter S in the past 2 years = +4 points

You thing it’s weird that youth pastors are so fixated on the letter X. = +4 points
If you have ever felt the pressure that your kids have to be perfect because you are a “kid professional” = +5 points

If you remember Kidology’s logo before it was a lightbulb = +1 point
If you don’t know what Kidology is because you think you might have skipped that class in school = -3 points
If you have ever told a bible story to a group of kids with a Starbucks in your hand = -2 points
If stuck on an deserted island even though you lack the skills to survive more than 3 days within 1 hour you have 2 crafts, 3 object lessons and 4 bible stories using just 1 coconut. = +5 points
If you have ever taken a job because the pastor hired you to work with “youth” and you thought he ment teens so you move 3,ooo miles to find out when he means teens he says “young people” = +100 points
Add up your score.
0-25 You are not a kids pastor you are a youth pastor who received this link from your kids pastor.
25-50 You are a summer intern who is working with kids because you think it will help you score points with the ladies. Well your cover is blown. You have two choices grow a gotee and work with “young people” or buy a pair of women’s designer jeans and a scarf and start leading worship.

50-100 You are starting to learn the ropes you still tell people that you are a youth pastor. You haven’t fully embarrassed the christian sub-sub culture that is children’s ministry. You have one foot in kids ministry and one in youth ministry. You could go either way.
100+ – You are a die hard veteran, you live and breath all things kidmin. When you cut you bleed marshmallow. You can name every character on ever veggie tales movie. You are crazy enough to think that the future of the church is located in the basement of the church. That the future of the church depends on the church learning to equip, train, lead and inspire a generation of kids.

Bobbie McFerrin FUN!!!

I saw this video on David Wakerley's blog the other day and I would also love to try this out with the kids to see if it would work!!!!

Crazy Love

I would  like to say first off that I really love the passion and the lover for the lost that the lord has placed in our Pastors heart. He is such a man of integrity and compassion he is someone I just love being around.
We even just had our Pastors appreciation day this past Sunday and I was so glad that we got the opportunity to share with pastor how much we love and appreciate him.
I appreciate that the lord has places such an amazing man of God in my life. I am so amazed by his humbleness even it a time where he is receiving praise!

Today he truly gave an example of this humbleness in even in time of praise.


He has been sharing with us for a book call "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan. My wife has actually read this book already and she highly recommends it to anyone and everyone. (I will be reading is as soon as I finish the 4 other books I'm reading)

Well Pastor spoke a little about how thankful he was for the acts of kindness and gratitude that he received on Sunday. But he moved into the fact that even though all these things are nice and good to have in our lives. We must keep in mind who the praise truly belongs to.

He spoke about how blessed we are in the nation. We are a people that can be such a blessing to others and how we need to remember what others have to face in nations where they are persecuted b/c of there Christianity.

He explained this to us by reading a passage from "Crazy Love", where Frances Chan speaks about how 3 missionary's in turkey where martyred for the belief in Jesus Christ. But he explain that the passion they had for Jesus was not based on the things they would receive from knowing Jesus. But there passion and sacrifice for Jesus was reliant on the overwhelming love they had for Jesus and him alone. One of the quotes that Frances Chan mentions in a online video, that goes along with the book, goes something along the lines of,

"If you where able to go to heaven and have all the riches and blessing that went along with it, But Jesus was not there, would you still want to go!!!!!!"

......O man .... .I just had to stop and think about that for awhile.

I had to stop in my ,tracks and look at myself and ask my self this question. 

I hope that we all will ask ourselves this question and evaluate our hearts.
B/C we know that those missionary could have been asked that question and they would have had the right answer. The reason why we know that is b/c our pastor looked a little deeper into the story of these missionary and found out that even after they had be brutally slaughtered by the Muslims that hated everything about these Christians, one of the martyred men's wife said to the press that she has forgiven then men that killed her husband and still wanted to stay in turkey and minister to the people there.

Now that is a Crazy Love!!!! A love that does not care about its own well being. A Love that loves those that don't love you. A love that is quick to forgive. A love that will risk there lives so that they could tell others about the one that is TRUE LOVE.

Is your love this big... is it this crazy....is it Jesus....is it him alone..

I just pray that I dwell on this everyday and put this in the forefront of my mind. Keeping in mind that know matter what happens in my life whether it be good or bad, that the one that I love is Worthy of ALLLLL the Praise. Give it all to the one who deserves it..

Back to the Blogg

Well I said I was going to blog but I did not live up to my intentions. O well it just seems if you dont take the time to make it a priority it just doesnt happen. So in order to make it important I have decided to put a date on it. I have leard over the years if you dont put a date on it there is a 10percent chance of it actually happening so I will be entering the blog world at least once every week and more if I really fell the need to share some amazing thing with everyone!

Performance Skills 102 - Specific training to increase your on-stage professionalism

This is a great post that FUNNYMANDAN(the resident comedian at Hillsong Kids) sent me check it out, especially if you are involed in any form of stage performance:

Performance Skills 102 - Specific training to increase your on-stage professionalism.
 Catchy Title huh?


For some it could be intriguing and they are instantly hooked in, but for the most part I would predict that the title is confusing as the topic of on-stage professionalism is not usually talked about in the world of Children’s Ministry. In our preaching we focus a lot on content, our MC-ing being energetic and making our kids scream, and our performances either being funny or very heavy with the topic we want to teach on. It is not often you will get someone stand up and say "let’s get more professional".
 Now we are not talking about sub-contracting writers, hiring actors and a catering truck. Instead we are talking about working with what you have and taking what you do in your ministry, and sharpening your skills to make it more professional.
 Today we are going to talk about something that affects the communicator - the preacher, the MC and the performer (especially on film). There is a phenomenon out there that can plague these people's performances and most of the time they have no idea it is there. This is not something that makes the difference between a good or bad performance but it is the difference between a great and professional one. This phenomenon I have taken the liberty to call "The Glorified Um".


When we were children and trying to communicate, a lot of the time we didn't know what to say. So as we were talking there would be a lot of pauses and because we didn't want to lose the attention of our audience we filled that pause with an “Um”.


"Mum... um.... can I ..... um...... can I..... um...... because i’m hungry........ um............... can I ...... um............have... um...a um...cookie....... um?"


As a child we believe that pauses are not good so we foolishly fill the spaces with that wonderful word "Um". The word "Um" communicates that we are unsure of what to say next and/or we are not confident in what we just said. This habit is tolerated as a young child but as we grow it is often corrected by parents and teachers because they know that you will disadvantaged in areas of life, especially when it come to job interviews.


"Um.....I ....think.....um that ...I....um..... I.....would ....um....be very good as um..........ummmmm.....a...um.....car salesman...um".


Fast-forward to now and you are in Children’s Ministry and you are happy to report that your days of umming are now behind you. Or are they? Over my years of performing and being in ministry I have realised that the 'um' is not behind us but in fact it has evolved and it plagues our preaching, performing and MC-ing. The Glorified Um is in full force.


So what is the Glorified um?


The Glorified Um is a word or a phrase that you the presenter (the word presenter covers all aspects of preaching, performing and MC-ing) will use over and over again whilst presenting. This usually will not be in your script or notes but will come out when you are adlibbing or slightly deviating from what was rehearsed. This phrase or word will not just be in the presentation but stem out from the performers life and be heard in their everyday conversations. For example I once worked for a youth pastor who used to say at the end of many sentences "do you know what I mean?"


This is a classic example of The Glorified Um. Like an um it communicates that he does not know quite what to say next, he is not confident in what he just said and he is cheapening what he is saying by filling his presentation with a habitual saying. I can guarantee on his notes he did not write that phrase once, yet he said it over 10 times.


Now that must not be confused with The Confirming Phrase that is a specific phrase designed to give the audience a chance to confirm what they just heard. An extremely experienced preacher I know always says "Are you getting this?" The difference is that the second presenter deliberately chose to say this, whereas with the first it just came out without thinking. You can also tell because the first also slightly slurred the phrase and didn't deliberately pronounce each word.


The Glorified Um is not just phrases at the end, it can be words at the start. Phrases such as: 'It's like' or the word "but" are common examples of this. This can also be found in duel presenters when they start their sentence by acknowledging the other person with the same "it’s true" or "that’s right". Finally it can even make our way into our writing and you can have a whole play or video with the whole cast using the same Glorified Ums as you do and you won’t even notice.


So what do we do to fix it? The cure is very simple but involves a lot of work and some help.


1. Recognise that a Glorified Um is a problem that is not a part of a professional presentation. I said before you can still be a great presenter with one but you will not reach that level of professionalism with it.


2. Find out if you have a Glorified Um. Look out for it, listen and watch old presentations you have done and look at the people you are leading because if you have it most likely they will have the same one. The best way is to ask a close and truthful friend to find out.


3. Fix your general conversation. A glorified Um is your normal speech creeping into your presentation. Get those close friends to pull you up on it constantly until you realise how often you are using it. This is where it gets frustrating but the effort is worth it.


If you have a platform to present to children on behalf of God then you have a privileged opportunity and I believe you are expected to work on your talents to increase them. If you do the hard yards you will put yourself a cut above and I look forward to seeing where it takes you.


Have Fun


FMD

Don't Know??

Ok well here I am Blogging. I don't know if this is something I will be doing consistently but I know that is seems to be something that I want to do. If that makes any sense?  O well I hope to do this often b/c over the years I have always wrote many things down, smart thing, dumb things, funny things, and sometime just sometimes Amazing things!!!!! but as you all know if you are not an organized person you tend to have a minimum of around 5 different location that you place your thoughts in. Me I have my MacBook, which is awesome but tends to be a little bulky at times, my small little journal, with a nice little strap that holds it close...which I dont understand...but like none the less....also I have my medium sized journal that for some reason or another keeps on disappearing at random different times in my life and last but not least my trusty "Standard Series Ruled NotePad".. well it is my trusty 6..7..or..8 notepads b/c my ideas just tend to end up on whatever helpless notepad that is at my current disposal. Anyways..I hope to be able to use this outlet in order to write some of these thing or ideas in a place where I can look back at and see how much more AMAZING Future Me is comparatively to Past Me. Even though for some reason I just cant see how that would be possible!

... And o yah if along the way some of the words that you read from this blog inspire or encourage you that will be AMAZING!!!!!