Constant State of Flux

Since my life seems to be in a constant state of flux here the last couple of months then why shouldn't my blog be as well? The blog at this site will cease to exist soon as will the temporary Wordpress blog that I created. You can now visit www.mediaministry.org/blog It may not be pretty at first or have all the functionality that I want but it is coming. I'm working on it when I get some free time and that has not been much lately. This will more than likely be my last post at this blog location. See you over there.

Check Out New Blog Posts

Check out these new posts:

Fusion 2007 - Day 1

Fusion 2007 - Day 2

TWO YEARS!!!

Feedback, Fusion 2007 & Homonymns

Just a few things that are going on:

• I'm starting to post at what will soon be my permanent blogging interface. Check out http://mediaministry.wordpress.com/
• I still looking for feedback on a couple of recent post. Check out this post and this post. On the latter post let me add that my domain name expires in August and I would prefer to transfer it to my next host. Any wisdom in this area?
• I'm going to be at Fusion 2007 in Raleigh, NC for the rest of the week. If you are attending this conference or you are in the Raleigh area then drop me an email at techDOTministryATgmailDOTcom. We can get together for lunch or dinner.
• Has anyone else noticed a serious problem with homonyms lately? You know, words that are spelled differently and have different meanings but sound exactly the same. Some examples that I have seen lately are: new for knew, hole for whole, no for know, won for one, piece for peace, there for their, to for too and scene for seen. It's almost an epidemic.

Web Site Analysis

Over a year ago I was talking to some of you about a complete new web site for our church. Due to my plate being full to overflowing I turned over the design and implementation of our new church web site to others. It still falls under the umbrella of media & technology for which I'm responsible. So, what I would like to hear from you is a brutally honest assessment of this new web site. Check it out at http://www.firstbaptistclover.org/

That's Quotable -- Tony Morgan

You know how Tony Morgan periodically does a post on his blog called "That's Quotable"? Well, I'm going to rip that off but only because it is Tony Morgan that is quotable. Here is what he had to say about the Dynamic Church Conference and technology in the church.

Bottom line? It's good to be in an environment with a bunch of folks that recognize that technology is critical for the Church at this moment in time. We can't reach today's culture without maximizing the use of technology. It intersects everyone's lives. The Church is impotent without it. There was a day when the Church embraced the printing press to reach people for Jesus. That's what technology including the Internet is for the Church today. We have to embrace it. We have to leverage it. And, because of that, I can't wait to see what results from this gathering in the days to come.

Are You Ready?

A dear friend was buried yesterday. I’m glad the funeral was not until I got back from Texas. The funeral contained a long section of testimony about my friend Mack. At one point Mack’s wife stood up and talked about her husband. She talked about how she never doubted his love or faithfulness. She said that people always say that you don’t know what you got until its gone but for her she knew what she had. She knew that Mack was a good man.

Mack’s father talked about how he knew his son from birth until 3 years old and then left. The man talked about recently being ordained a deacon and his son not knowing. He talked of regret of how he did not know this good man everyone was talking about.

Many, many testimonies on how Mack helped them or how Mack was always available to talk. Many talked of Mack’s encouragement and being a friend. All said how good a man Mack was. All said how much Mack loved his family.

Although all said what a good man Mack was, do you know what I did not hear? I did not hear that Mack was a godly man. Although all said that Mack loved his family, do you know what I did not hear? I did not hear that Mack loved Jesus.

Without Jesus Christ all that we do is for naught. We can’t earn our way into heaven. There is nothing that we can possibly do in and of ourselves to merit the favor of God. Only through the blameless, perfect sacrifice of Jesus for our sins can we gain righteousness.

Mack died sitting in his easy chair doing one of the things he loved best and that was watching the NBA playoffs. Mack is evidence that we don’t know if we have the next 20 years or the next 20 minutes. The pastor who gave the message was a former SpecOp soldier and gave the analogy of, "soldier, you need to get squared away". If you ever served in the military then you know what that means. We were always on 24-hour standby meaning that we had 24 hours to get to wherever the mission called. Squared away meant you were ready to deploy at any moment. Our mission is reconciliation with a God that loves us and made a way for us to be with him for eternity. You may not have 24 hours prior notice. Are you ready to deploy?

New Creative Synergy Podcast

I had the opportunity to finally listen to the Creative Synergy Podcast Episode 5 on Church Copyright on my flight from Charlotte to Dallas today.

This podcast was full of great information. I realize now that I need to make some changes in the way I handle video clips.

What I found to be disturbing is that apparently that there are many pastors out there that have no problem breaking the law or having their media minsters break the law for an illustration. I'm thankful that when I know something is not covered under our license then my pastor finds another legal way to get his point across or uses another illustration.

Anthony Coppedge and Greg Atkinson are doing an excellent job with this production. I highly recommend downloading this podcast or if you detest iTunes like I do then they have an alternate download feed here.

The Roller Coaster Ride

Do you ever feel like your life is a roller coaster? Up one day and down the next? It has been like that for me lately. After riding this roller coaster for a while I just feel sick. There has been no relief since this ride goes through church, family and work.

With church it is the age old battle of those that want to serve and further the kingdom of God and those that want to just sit back and do nothing. There are those that want to change to reach the community and those that resist change no matter what.

With family it has been the threat of cancer and then the relief that it was not.

With work it has been the struggles of a very demanding field engulfed in politics and the reward that you are doing something of significance.

But in my work world all things were put into a new perspective today when a dear friend and fellow supervisor did not show up for work and the worst was true when the director told me that he had died in his sleep.

I often regret that I do not have the gift of evangelism especially when an acquaintance, co-worker, family member or friend dies. Did I share Christ enough? Did exhibit the character of Jesus enough? With this particular friend I had shared the gospel a few times in the most straightforward manner I could muster. All his questions were answered by the Holy Spirit through me. I was amazed at how the words flowed out of my mouth because I'm not well with speech. The Lord blesses me often with the ability to write but speech is not always given. Now I can only hope that those words fell on fertile ground.

Unfortunately I was told that I still must make a trip that has been planned so in the morning I will be flying to Austin, TX. If I have any readers in that area I would love to have a meal or even a cup of coffee with you. Drop me a comment or send me an e-mail from my profile.

I'm seeing this trip as a stop to the roller coaster so I can have a couple of nights away from the amusement park.