Like Father, Like Son

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Today was the performance for BOARDER SKIRMISHES which was the finale of Kid's Drama camp at The Ritz theater. Daniel, our son, was the lead male in the play (playing Jacob Grimm). Mattie, our daughter, was assistant director for the play.

A great performance by the group was enjoyed by all. They all are growing so fast! Daniel's beard isn't real--but it soon will be.

Creativity Remix-SUMMER CAMP

We just finished our first week of SUMMER CAMP (VBS). This is our fourth year to do it off site at the Boys/Girls Club just down the street from the church. This is also our first year to split the camps into two weeks (younger and older). I think that went well!

Let me just remind you that all of our prep has to be off site (food, media,etc) and we can't get in the facility until 30 minutes before--so it's hectic each day moving in and moving out, setting up and taking down and all of it in the heat of the day when it's about 1000 degrees in the building. But the kids love it.

The set this year is simple--we reused some of our backdrops (www.backdrops.us) tha we've used in the past and painted graffiti on them with the summer camp logo. We're also using a SHOE theme since we collected shoes in April and May to give away at the end of the week.

Traci (children's minister) did a great job of simply explaining the gospel with 2 rolls of carpet (one with SIN on it and the other with TRUSTING JESUS). She used different pairs of shoes to ask the kids to guess where these shoes were going (tennis shoes=sports; dress shoes=church; house shoes=sleep,etc). Each night she built upon the story with a Stop sign and a Yield sign. It was all so creative and simple. The kids really got the message.

It just reminded me that whatever we do to teach the gospel that it should add to the understanding of the message of Christ. All of these visuals really communicated to these K-3rd graders the simple message of christ's love. Many of them had never heard it before---isn't that what VBS is suppose to be about?

What creative things have you used to teach the gospel?

Worship Confessional, June 21, 2008

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's blog.

Set List:
Scripture Reading: Psalm 150 (NIV) and The Message

Let Everything That Has Breath (Redman)

Welcome/Announcements (We updated everyone on our Summer Camp last week--we start week 2 tomorrow-older kids)

You Never Let Go (Redman) Great trax David--we were scheduled to do this one in May and it didn't work out. Now I know why!

Scripture--Psalm 139-The Message

Grace, Greater Than Our Sin (Hymn)

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)-(Tomlin)

Video (We used the NEMO video where Dori talks WHALE)--then Russell came up and said "(Speaking Whale) Take your bible and turn to Jonah chapter 1)--Everyone laughed.



Message: Jonah (Chapt 1:17) What's Your Whale? Russell did a great job with this passage today. So much of the story of Jonah fixes on the Whale--but the greater story is of God's grace (his saving and sometime uncomfortable grace that preserves us and saves us for His glory)--Powerful!

Big Enough God (Riddle) Third week for this one and the people are really beginning to sing out on this one.

Still (Morgan)--Reprise from last week. I had so many calls about this song last week that we did it again. This is the Moen arrangement that has BE STILL AND KNOW in the last part of it.

Dismiss

How was your week?

Worship Confessional, June 14, 2009

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's blog.

Well, no sound surprises like last week. We were still without our Sub (blown amp that we'll have to unrack and send back this week--we borrowed the Youth Sub for today and for the coming weeks)
Set List:

You, You Are God (Gateway) Always a good one--it's exciting especially with the track that David made for us.
Welcome/Announcements/Offering

Big Enough God (Riddle) Second week for this song. Sarah Carpenter joined us on team today and did a great job leading on this one.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Hymn--but Lincoln Brewster arr.)

A good familiar choice

Scripture Reading (Matthew 8 and Psalm 69)

Saved Me (Gateway--Kari Jobe song). My daughter Taylor sang this

for Maundy Thursday. I asked her to sing it again today since it went along with the sermon about Jonah.

Morning Message: Jonah (Throw Your Cargo Overboard)--from Jonah 1: 4-16 and also Acts 27. Russell did a great job in comparing Paul's shipwreck with Jonah's plight and the response of both to the storms of life. He ended with the illustration from UP!(The Disney movie) where the old man realizes all of the stuff in life he was holding on to--and he lets it go. We put a card in each folder and asked people to write down their cargo today. A few did so and brought it to the front to put in the boxes. We've seen more response the last two Sundays to an extended time of worship at the end. Lot's of movement. (Simple staging illustrations with boxes for cargo--do you know how hard it is to find wooden shipping crates in Snyder?)

Savior Like A Shepherd Lead Us (Hymn Charts arr.)--Different arr..but good (Key of C) and then went into STILL (Hillsong-Morgan). Great closer.

Tomorrow starts 2 weeks of VBS--we do it at the Boys/Girls club near the church. So 10 nights of set up and take down of sound and set. Should be a good workout!

How was your day!

Tuck Your Shirt In!

There's a big storm brewing here over the insistence that kids wear their shirts tucked in and wear a belt. My son (going into 6th grade) is in arms that they can't wear certain kinds of shorts and have to wear belts. I showed him this video and his jaw fell open. Look what they can bring to school in those baggy pants.

I'm in favor of it---make them wear a belt and tuck those shirts in!!!

It's VBS Season

It's VBS season--for those of you who don't know the acronymn it's a top secret Christian term for VACATION BIBLE SCHOOl, begun sometime in the early 20th century to teach the kids while they were out of school.

I laughed this morning when I read a local newspaper and they described their VBS this way:

Something incredible is happening at XXXX Baptist Church (corner of XXX and XXXStreets). It’s Crocodile Dock Vacation Bible School, where fearless kids shine God’s light. For children ages 5-12, the action starts Monday, June 15. Daily sessions last from 6-8:45 p.m. nightly through Thursday, June 18. Bayou Crews experience daily swamp excursions with their Crew Leaders. The Swamp Stomp begins the daily activities with singing and playing. Immediately following The Stomp, children will experience The Dockside Drive-in (daily video Bible point), Bible Bayou (daily Bible story with group discussion), Crawfish Crafts and Missions (crafts to remind them of the daily Bible story), Gator Games (where children play games connected to the daily Bible story), the Snack Shack (what else? Snacks!) and the Firefly Finale, which includes the Swamp Stomp songs and drama presentations to reinforce the day’s Bible story. You don’t want to miss out on the action! You’ll meet characters like Flash, Jacques le Croc, Belle, Blossom and Tucker. This Dock rocks! You can pre-register your child(ren) by calling XXXXXX Or, for more information, call XXXXXBaptist Church’s office at XXX-XXXX All that to say--we're having SONGS, RECREATION, CRAFTS and SNACKS!

Each year it becomes a competition between churches who can out do their neighbor church with VBS. Who will bring in the live camels? Who will hire the fire eating juggler to entertain during the opening assembly.

I laugh because it's become BIG BUSINESS to the Christian Publishers what the VBS material will be. LIFEWAY secretly guards next years theme until it is unveiled under lock and key at a Glorieta or Ridgecrest conference. (there was some espionage' a couple of years ago with one publisher trying to break the code and find out what another one was doing). Silly!

VBS should be about the kids. Most of them don't care about a theme, or the EXTRA EXTRAS that go into it. Give them some good music, some fun rec, some good refreshments and some good information and they are good to go.

So this week, let me see, I could send Daniel to Rome or to THE CIRCUS--nah, I'll just send him to our SUMMER CAMP where we're trying to reach community kids with the gospel and give out some new shoes to them. I think that's more valuable.

Worship Confessional, June 7, 2009--JONAH

We started our new series JONAH this morning, and something in my spirit told me that this was going to be a trying day. We had an opening video, a drama, sound effects--all a receipe for disaster. Was I ever right.

We went into rehearsal and we knew that our subs were iffy--just didn't know what it was. Then our amps went on our mains and we were toast. We had to quickly adjust by brining powered speakers and sub from the Family Life Center over for worship--all of this while we're trying to do a full run of the songs. Oh brother!

ButI knew that we serve a BIG ENOUGH GOD that he could get us through. He did and I would say that the Spirit of the Lord was there.

Here's the set--it's part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's Blog

Opening Video (from Christ Community Church in Omaha)

You Are Worthy of My Praise (Ruis)
Joyful, Joyful (Hymn Charts)--If I had it to do again I would have flipped these two songs--both in E---Joyful had more energy and faster tempo. Oh well--you live and learn.

Welcome/Announcements/Offering

Enough (Tomlin)

Big Enough God (Jennie Riddle)-- a new song from the writer of REVELATION SONG. We're using it for a theme song for JONAH. I got a nice email from Jennie this week and told her that we were singing it this week. Take a listen--I think you'll like it.

Drama--we wrote a sermon intro that basically made fun of THE JONAS brother--two teens talking about how cool our pastor was preaching about the JONAS brother. Needless to say they were disappointed when Russell corrected them about the series.

Message-JONAH--We All Have A Nineveh--a great introduction to this book. Only 4 chapters but we're carrying through the summer as our series. A great word.

Softly and Tenderly(Hymn Charts)--and if it wasn't enough with the speakers going out, I get up to sing this response song and theres a honking big red light on my mic that says "YOUR OUT OF BATTERY!" Great--I'm signaling to the team to carry on... the Minister of Youth has to bring another mic up on stage. This is a great arrangement and would work well with YOU ALONE too.

Mighty to Save/The Stand---by the time we got to these songs I was done... and then I heard the congregation singing "SO I'LL STAND WITH ARMS HIGH.." They were loud... I mean loud. We closed out by singing the chorus accapella!

Out Music---Belly of the Whale (Newsboys)--we played the mp3 of the song used in the Veggie Tales JONAH video.

Here are pictures of our stage. We got the banners from Backdrops.us. The side banners we made ourselves using TYVEK banner material on our HP DesignJet large scale printer.

How was your day?

Worship Confessional, May 31, 2009

Today was the conclusion of our Ephesians series.  It's hard to think back all the way to February (we started this series when I went to RECREATE this year).  It's been an in-depth study of the book and I think most people have really enjoyed it. Our small groups studies were centered around the book too.

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's blog.

Set List:

Grace and Peace (Fernando Ortega)--another Fernando piece this week.  This is a quote from the beginning of the book (1:3) and we had all of the "Grace and Peace " scriptures scrolling through this part (A trio sang this to open)

Prayer

Great Things (Maher)  we used this song during the series--so we reprised it.  Great song--great track--GREAT THINGS!

Welcome/End of our Shoe Campaign-we collected 600 pair of shoes for BUCKNER INTERNATIONAL.

Offertory

This Is The Gift of God (Cartee)  Another song that I heard at RECREATE this year was perfect for the series--so we reprised it too.  See a trend?

Awesome In This Place (?) Oldie but a goodie----haven't sung this one in a while

Message

Undying Love (Altrogge)  This song stuck with me the first time I heard it almost 6 years ago.  Because Paul closes the book with "Grace to all with an undying love"--we sang this one.

I Worship You Almighty God (Altrogge)--another oldie but goodie---great combination on these two.

How was your Sunday?   Next Sunday we head into the book of Jonah.  Any suggestions?  No fishy songs, ok?

Give Me A Gun--I'm Andrew Carnes in OKLAHOMA

I received word this afternoon that I have been cast as "ANDREW CARNES" in OKLAHOMA at The Ritz this summer.  He's Ado Annie's father and I get to have a gun and get after Allie Hakim--yee haw!

This will be a family affair.  All of the kids (Taylor, Mattie, Daniel) landed a part too.  Guess Diane will have some quiet time at home in the evenings!

When Dreams Become Reality

Almost 4 years ago I walked into The Ritz Community Theater here in Snyder just to see what was there.  Along the walls of the theater were pictures of past productions that spanned some 11 years.  I thought to myself "I'd love to direct a play here someday". That dream came true this weekend with UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE.

I've been part of three productions here (as an actor) and expressed my interest to direct last fall.  It all came to be with this production and now that I am on the other side of it I can speak of the lessons I've learned.  This was in ways a whole lot like a church production and very different at the same time.

1.  Resources are always at a premium.  Even though this was a secular venue--I had to make the most of the least.  Every old flat was used; every can of old paint was inspected; every prop was borrowed or loaned.  I've seem to become an expert in this field with many years of church productions.

2.  People are your most important asset in any project.  Knowing a bunch of people from different venues here in the city (church, school, social, business) helped in pulling together talent across the spectrum to make it happen.  Never discount that little piece of information you learn about someone--you might just need it some day.

3. Organization and lists are a must in any big project.  If you aren't detailed--then surround yourself with people that are.  I'm a BIG PICTURE kind of person--I was so fortunate to have so many detailed people around me on this project.

4.  Celebrate the wins--minimize the losses and keep moving.  You have to remember in any project there will be setbacks, but ultimately with the goal in mind you move forward. This is true in any organization or project.

5.  Dream it-then make it happen. This project came together in less than a month.  Not ideal but it can be done in a short amount of time if you put your mind to it.

6.  Don't stop there--keep dreaming.  I've already begun planning another show.. I know--I'm stupid but I loved it.

What projects are you working on?

I've Joined Flutter--The New Twitter!

Have you?

Worship Confessional, May 24, 2009

Sorry for the late post on this. We finished our production of UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE at The Ritz yesterday afternoon--then an evening of Small Groups and I was done for the day.

Set List for 5-24

Open The Eyes of My Heart 

Welcome

I Will Sing of My Redeemer (Fernando Ortega version)  Heard this 2 years ago at National Worship Leaders Conference.. it's one of my faves.  Would have been good if we could have done this set in G (but it's only written in F)

How Can I Keep From Singing (Tomlin)... Love the Key of G--but my mistake it was pulled in Bb --Again I say Tomlin is a great girls range--and not congregationally friendly in those areas.

He Is Exalted (Shane and Shane version)  Finally to the Key of G and it felt friendly

The Armor of God--video from the North American Mission Board (circa 2001). I still have this cd with this video on it. WE pulled it and used it today.

Message--Ephesians 6:10 (The Armor of God)  Finishing up the series in Ephesians

Be Strong (Jeff Berry)  Would have a been a great song to wrap with--but I cut it because of time

Above All / Breathe---good closers

How was your Sunday?

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's blog.

Opening Night--Under The Sycamore Tree

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Tonight was opening night for our play UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE. We had a great audience and it always helps when they laugh in the right places.

I'm so proud of this cast. This production was put together in 3 1/2 weeks.. amazing and also very harrowing! Tonight I had the chance to sit back and release it to the artists who volunteer so willingly to be in these plays.

Way to go cast.

Thomas Boyd took these amazing photos. You can find him at his blog site.

UNDER THE SYCAMORE--SET COMPLETE

The set for UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE is done. The crew did a fantastic job on the set. It was a collaborative effort. Thanks Nathalie, Selena, Lance and Trisha!

UNDER THE SYCAMORE--PRODUCTION WEEK

It's production week for UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE. The box office is open and taking reservations; the set is almost complete and it's looking awesome; the technical stuff has been eating my lunch; the cast and crew have spent copious amounts of time together and bonding and all we need is a show.
We go up on Friday evening. If you haven't secured your tickets--do that today.
Don't look how the director is dressed... it's casual on the set--really casual.

These pics don't do justice to the set and the awesome floor. I'll post more of those on Friday after we have our official photo shoot Thursday.

Any last minute suggestions?

Worship Confessional, May 17, 2009

This confessional is part of SUNDAY SET LISTS over on Fred Mc Kinnon's blog.

It's been a busy and hectic week with all of the preparation for our play at the Ritz.  I'll try to make this short and sweet.

Set List

Sweeter (Israel Houghton/Cindy Cruise) Travis Cottrell arr. I love this song and we carried an "EVERYDAY" theme in the first section.   We haven't done this one in a long time.. and well maybe I remembered it better than the congregation.  Was a little hard to engage them on this one.

Every Day With Jesus (old chorus)--to bridge the time between our first and second songs I had them sing this old chorus... and it worked,got them engaged a bit. Wouldn't do this all the time--but it works from time to time.

Everyday (Houston/Hillsong)- Again, a song we've sung--but not in a long time. I think they remembered it.. I think.

Welcome/Announcements/ Graduate Recognition

The Stand (Hillsong)  We did the chorus several times in February. Today was the first time we tied the verses to it.   I sang them and the congregation joined in on the chorus.  David our drummer did a killer track for it. Oh my...

Message- Dave Bilderback one of our Elders brought the message today.  From Ephesians 6 about Slaves/Workers-tied it into being Employee/Employers who represent Christ.

Take My Life (Tomlin)---Great closer to this message.

How was your day?

There's No Business.. Like Show Business...

I've been spending the last 4 Friday's at The Ritz Theater getting ready for our production next weekend of UNDER THE SYCAMORE TREE. Since I've done everything that I can do visually (base coating the flats) I've been sworn off the finishing details on the backdrop, I'll spend today getting the music and lighting cue sheets ready while also recording some final voice overs. It's getting close!
These pictures were taken Wednesday night as Nathalie Kelley began her work on the background. She's amazing and it was such fun to watch her work.

The cast is hanging out at the Theater running lines and really enjoying each other's company. I forget how much community is built in the theater when you work on a production.

Ok--off to work on the sound cues!

Screen Your Sunday Soloists!

If you've never auditioned your Sunday morning soloists, here is a good reason and reminders why you should probably meet with them early on to see what it's going to be like.

WARNING: Turn down your speakers!

Worship Confessional, May 10, 2009

This post is part of Sunday Set Lists over on Fred McKinnon's blog

Set List

A Life of Worship (Shift Worship) Opening video

Your Grace Is Enough (Maher) (Should have been the Key of G--we did it in A because that's what the track was keyed in... lower Key Jim, lower Key!

A New Hallelujah! (Smith) Second week for this song! We'll let it lay low for a couple of weeks and then bring it back.

Welcome/Mother's Day/ Baby Dedication (10 babies!)

Be Thou My Vision (Praise Charts)-- always a fave

Offertory Prayer

We Fall Down (Tomlin)

Message-- Children Obey --but watch out Mom/Dad---an encouragement for Mom's and Dad's to be intentional in the lives of their children.

Trust and Obey (Hymn)--this was a change at the last moment. We had scheduled "YOU NEVER LET GO" but when I sat down I just felt it wasn't right. Ever have those moments?

How was your Sunday?

PS. An accident last night with my Powerbook had it looking like this

This isn't my computer... but the screen to the right looks an awful lot like it.

An Unusual Funeral

I got a call about a week ago from a friend. His request was a little different. He asked if I would officiate at a mock funeral for Shattered Dreams (the program which recreates a scenario where kids are killed in a car accident because of alcohol abuse)

We met last Saturday and conducted the services. Their families were there and believe me it was just as difficult for them even though they knew that this was only pretend. I had to deliver a sermon (thank goodness for those preaching resources I have). I brought a message about the life of Job ("the Lord giveth, the Lord taketh away--blessed be the name of the Lord)

I couldn't say anything about it until this was over (they presented it to the student body on Wednesday of this week)

You can see more of the photos here.