Playing Catch-UP

It feels like life has been running at 100mph the last four months.  I'm finally at a point where I can pause and reflect on the past few months.  God has been really good to me and my family. 

This fall we purchased our first home.  This was something that we weren't really planning to look into until next year.  It was all a blur, somehow God opened the right doors and now Lu and I our homeowners. The house was very affordable and right off the bat we knew that it would be a fixer upper.  We've already managed to remodel a restroom and now are in the middle of fixing up the guest room. I love the remodeling process, I think I've found a new hobby. 

On October 26th we were blessed to receive our first baby girl.  Abigail was born weighing in at a healthy 8lbs 1oz.  As soon as I saw her and heard her first cries I knew that my life would never be the same.  She has been a huge blessing in our lives. She's already taught me some huge lessons on patience and has helped me put things into perspective.  

The plan was for Lu to go back to work after maternity leave, however that quickly changed after the first couple of days being with Abby.  We both agreed it would be best for her to become a full-time mom.  This has been one of the biggest decisions we have made as a couple.  It may mean we live on a tighter budget then what we planned but we both know it's best for our baby girl and that God will supply like always.  

Life at PVC has been just as crazy.  On December 5th we moved into our new Auditorium.  With the new Auditorium came new technology with steeper learning curves.  One of the biggest differences was going from a dual screen setup to one triple-wide blended screen.  If you want to learn a little more about that be sure to check out this post here.  

On top of the new building we found ourselves going into the Christmas season which is production heavy. There wasn't a actual Christmas series this year, so the graphic content changed from week to week. These are a couple of the looks from the weekend services.    

One thing that I find unique about our church is that most of the production team who is making content for the weekend is also musicians or somehow involved on stage any given Sunday.  I along with my brother Oz were asked to help with the opener for our Christmas service.   Here's our version of Family Force Five's "Carol of the bells". 

2011 has already off to a busy start.  I'm looking forward to what God has this year.  Now that I'm getting into a regular rhythm I hope for more post to come.    

For The Sake of Creating

For the most part everything I create has a specific purpose wether it's to announce a event, communicate a series or setting up a photo-shoot for graphics.

After listening to Chase Jarvis talk on Consequences of Creativitylast week, it made me question myself. When was the last time I created something without expecting anything in return, just for the sake of creating? Sadly it has been a while.

I was also challenged by Barton Damer during his session at the Gurus Conference. He talked about having creative outlets apart from the daily work grind. One such project he is involved in is Art for Hurama, in which he is colabbing with designer Promise (Tangeman) Wurzell. Barton explained having projects like this helps him get through those times his designs are changed by the stakeholder involved.

Just this last week I worked on a piece that didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. As a designer I have to except that more ofthen then not artwork will be tweaked into something that I may not love. So for my creative outlet I've decided to start the iPhone Pic Project. I'll be posting pics of the day for 365 days. I don't expect these to ever get printed or publish, but I just want to make art. Not for anyone to critque or add a tagline to, but just to create. I'll be posting them on twitter and flickr, you can subscribe to the rss feed here.

So that's what I'm doing, now I would like to know what you are doing for the sake of creating?

Walking Billboards! Part - 1

Like probably most churches around the nation our attendance took a dip this past Sunday, due to the daylight savings time. That wasn’t the surprising part though, what really shook my world was to hear that attendance was up 30% over last year. YAY GOD!

I began to wonder how this growth has happened. Certainly this has been the hand of God, but aside from the mystical how do people find out about PVC? I haven’t heard of many that have decided to come because a burning bush told them. We are not advertising, we don’t send mailers to the community, we are not on TV, we don’t give away ipods.

Last week during lunch with some friends, I overheard a lady at the table next to us talking about PVC and the changes in her life. Her excitement to share the good news with her friends was energizing.

This might go against most marketing strategies. I believe that people bring people. And if we look back at the way Jesus did ministry it was about people sharing the good news to those that haven’t heard it.

Stay tuned, in this “Walking Billboards” series I want to discus some practical principles that have worked for us.

Peanut Butter & Jelly

I'm nut much of a peanut butter guy but every once and a while I get the urge to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tall glass of milk.  The craving usually comes  in the middle of a football game or for a midnight snack.  It would never fail; I would have my bread and peanut butter ready to go but the jelly was never to be found.  I don't know about you, but a peanut butter sandwich is not the same with no jelly.  

Just like peanut butter needs jelly,  big ideas need execution.  In my line of work I'm always looking for the next big thing.  I read countless blogs, books and even comb the internet for who's doing what and how they are doing it. Sometime these ideas are inspired by other ideas, sometimes they come in the middle of the night or they come from some overly priced conference you just came back from. Wherever they are birthed from, one thing is certain, a Idea without execution is just plain peanut butter.  

We made the switch too HD!

  HD clear tape that is!  After using this HD clear tape I don't think I could go back to regular clear tape.  The difference is CLEAR. 

It just makes me laugh to see how businesses assume people will buy something over another product by putting a "cool" adjective in front if their name.  Sadly I've seen this principle applied in churches today.  Many rely on adjectives to define ministries.   Sometimes we focus so much on the adjective that we forget about noun.  Lets call it what it is tape is tape. If we pour our resources and passion into our name the adjectives will come.   I challenge you this week to focus on the nouns in your life rather then the adjectives.  

One Jammed Pack Sunday!

So sitting here watching the Eagles vs Cowboys shootout and I'm still feeling the aftermath of yesterday!  The day started out with a phone call from Mitch at 5:30 am,  we had to take down a 13ft x 20ft banner we had hanging in the sanctuary.  Here it is setup for the volunteer banquet.

I got to experience service from from the back of sound board.  This brought my respect and love for sound man to a new level.   It's really easy as a musician to think that the sound job is a breeze.   I have never been so nervous.  I soon realize that It takes more then knowing what gain knobs or phantom power are.  It takes nerves of steal and some patience. Thank God I made it through all three services with no big hick-ups, just a couple of stares.   To every church sound person out, I LOVE YOU.  Keep doing what you do and crank up that ELECTRIC guitar!

Rick finished the series off by talking about Religion as a Roadblock.  I think this illustration sums it up well.  How there use to be the gap of sin separating us from God.  But know we are living in a post-christian society where the Christian Sub-Culture needs to be crossed first.  Probably one of the most thought provoking sermons I've listen too, please take some time and check it out here. 

After service staff and volunteers stayed to setup for the volunteer banquet that took place two building down.  A great time to thank the volunteers for their commitment.  Last year Rick challenged us to wrench it up and it showed.  Around 300 volunteers came out.  We look back at some images from last year and some of the stories of life change.  Before the night was over Rick challenged us to wrench it up some more by launching the "Church I See Campaign".  More to come on this as the weeks go by.  Needless to say we will be busy this week working on a new stage set, I'm anxious to see what is to come in the next few months.  

This post is part of Creative Chaos on Ragamuffinsoul.com

Much Love For Port-A-Churches

Though I've only been working in the church world for about 15 months I have seen all kinds of churches. Short ones, fat ones pretty ones and from every color in the universe.   This week my respect and love grew for all of you who are involved in port-a-church ministries.   

We are pretty cramp for space here so when we started a separate men's and women's class during our mid week service we had to go elsewhere. We are renting a banquet two buildings down for our men's class.  We had to bring everything over from lights, sound, staging, banners... and a whole list of stuff that we forgot. Nothing like moving sound equipment on a Hot south Texas day.  I can rest in the fact that this will be over in six weeks, but I can't help to think about all those that do this week in and out.  Please fogive me that I complain when our office gets pass 74 degrees or  that I forgot my keys in the office when I'm tryiing to get in the media room behind our stage.  

If there are any tips or tricks on quick set-ups and teardown please share.  We could use all the help we can get.  You guys are my heroes keep doing what you do.  

Put the camera down!

Today was one of the those day's that God paused my life just long enough to remind of the importance of the work I am in.  My brother OZ and I spent this morning working getting photos and footage of our weekend services.  Jorge and the team did a great job during worship.  Mitch brought a meaty word that was very thought provoking.  I could probably write about this but I'll just let you check it out.  Go here to listen to this weekends sermon.  I managed to work my way into third service to catch some action shots of Jorge jumping on stage.  After the second song they started the baptism part of the service.  Now I had been in our service planning meetings and new about the baptisms.  I also heard most of them as their video testimonies were being edited.  But they didn't grab my attention till that moment.  As story after story of deep conviction and life change came across the screens, I had to set the  camera down as tears began to gather in the corner of my eyes.  The last video was a man who spoke of how when he came to PVC he realized that the Word of God was relevant to his life.  That it could actually be used today. 

This shows that importance of being relevant to the audience.  Still bring the same power from the Word, but being delivered in a way that is understood and applicable to everyday life.  

So are the long meetings, short deadlines, sweat and frustrations worth it?  Absolutely without a doubt YES!  This was a lesson for me to pause and see why we do what we do.  

If you are in any ministry take the time this week to pause put down the ____________ (insert ministry tool here) and listen.  Look into the lives that are being change and ask yourself is it worth it?  

Misteaks They Happen!

As designers sometimes we can get to a point of cockiness.  I mean you have to have a little edge and a bit of self confidence to be in this kind of work.  But nothing is more humbling then making a mistake.  Usually it's something so easy but just didn't catch.  Well today was a humbling experience for me.  Nothing big, just over looked a link I placed online. For a few seconds it seemed like the end of the world.  Now I have had my share of mistakes and typos in the past but each one hurts more.  The good thing is mistakes usually happen before things get better.  One little mistake caused me to step back and look at the overall process, to establish some check points and to even gets some help.  Yeah, I can't do it alone.  

A friend taught me today, even at the end of day I'm held accountable to my duties.  But as a leader I must learn my weaknesses and be able to delegate more in those areas. 

So you might think like me though.  What if I delegate something and it just doesn't work out or they mess it all up.  Well then now two people are learning from that one mistake.  

The moral of the story is mistakes happen sometimes with or without our control, however we can control how we handle those situations.  Learn your weaknesses and find those that can help you in that area.  

God, Help me to learn from my mistakes and to know what to delegate out. 

Five things I learned at John Mayer's Concert!

Let me just start off by saying how crazy these last 24 hours have been. Lulu got off work at 7:30PM on Friday and we took off on a 5 1/2 hour drive north to the great city of Houston. I got to experience a John Mayer concert for the first time on Saturday afternoon at the Woodlands Mitchell Pavilion. We staked our lawn seats at around 5:30 and waited for 2 hours for the concert to start under the hot Texas sun. My sister in-law even suffered a mild case of heat exhaustion (she's drama). After the concert we drove back the 6 hours to be in Sundays service. We got here with enough time to take a 15 minute nap and shower the concert sweat and smell off!

So was it worth it? Most definitely!!!!!!!!!

Not only was John Mayer's performance out of this galaxy, I have to also give mad props to Colbie Cailat and her band. She sounded so much better live.

Well In my 6 hour drive back home I had a bunch to soak in. I started to recap on what I had experienced that night and how in some ways those things could be applied to my life and ministry work.

So in nor particular order five things I learned from John Mayer's Concert.

1. Life without passion is like peanut butter with no Jelly!

If you ever had the privilege of experiencing a Mayer Show you'll know what I mean! There were no killer piros, t-shirt guns or fancy intro video loops just good music played with so much dedication. I've never see so much passion in a musician as I saw that night. He expends more energy in a 2 hour show then 5 atomic bombs. By the time he got off stage you could see it on his face that he left everything on the stage. To think he'll get up and do it again on another stage. I never felt such a conviction. How many times have I just stepped on stage or worked on a project and just gone through the motions. I pray that I never loose sight of the privilege to be a part of the Lords work. Whatever stage in life we may find ourselves may we we leave it all there and be spent till there is nothing more to give.

2. One Body Many Parts.

Just in case you thought it. This does not have anything to do with "Your body is a wonderland". As I sat waiting for the concert to begin I couldn't help but notice all the types of people that were at this concert. To my left sat some sisters with their mom. They appeared to be in there teens and sang along to every Colbie Caillat song. Then there was another lady walking around with a phanny pack. She had to have been in here late 60's. To my right was a group of college students who slept as soon Colbie took the stage. The covered seating area was full of baby boomers with mid-life crisis haircuts. And then there were a couple of fellow peeps wearing the typical christian t-shirts "Pick Jesus" , "Live a SPIRIT (sprite) filled life"along with "Is it in you?". I could go on but all this to say there were a variety of people from different walks of life.

But as soon as John Mayer got to the bridge on the song "Why Georgia" it was apparent why everyone one was there. The place rattled as the audience sang the bridge line in unison "So what, so I've got a smile on me but it's hiding the quiet superstitions in my head."

Isn't that a great example of the church? A place where different kind of people come from different paths but all voids and needs. Those voids might be filled differently depending on their culture or social status but we all hurt and there is only one healer. Through out the concert there were points where some people took their seats. Maybe they didn't understand the musicianship of a slow blues or they were just tired of standing. Through out the night people joined in song, laughter, cheers and dance. So there is no wonder why there are differences within the church body. I believe God enjoys the beautiful music that is made when we all work together in unison.

3. Transparency

Ok, I'm not talking about the fact that he did the whole set with his shirt off, but for being a big name artist he was pretty transparent. Now, he didn't list out every dirty laundry in his life but he brought the audience in just enough. As he started the intro to the song "Wheel" he paused, turned around, stood for a couple seconds and came back to the mic with a memory in mind. As he cradle his guitar in his hands he began to tell a story of how he worked at a gas station during high school, saved his money and bought that guitar. How he stared at it from across the room and said to himself, "One day I'm going to play you at a sold out concert". The fact that he is doing it now created an inspirational moment.

Now many of us can't relate to the life of a ROCK STAR but we can relate to hopes and dreams and working blue color jobs to get started. The crazy thing to me is that was one of the most powerful moments of the night. This transparent moment helped bring the audience closer to the performer. We could relate to him. Similar moments like this are beneficial in church service sometimes for people that come through our doors and have no connection with the communicator on stage. Most of the time it's easy for church goers to assume that those on stage are special or even impossible of doing wrong. Creating moments of transparency helps bring in the audience on a personal level. This in turn brings down the gap from those leading on stage and those who receive in the congregation.

4. Knowing when not to play

While I was at South Plains College I had the chance to take a few rock ensemble classes and guitar lessons. I quickly learned that I was not at the caliber of many of the musicians there. I soon realize that there are limits to my playing ability. As I continued on and started playing in a few bands I found that the most important skill when playing with a group is knowing when not to play. When John started playing the slow blues I just closed my eyes and listened to the gaps in between the notes. The notes not heard are just as important. This guy can shred all day long but he chose beautiful phrasing that gave notes air to breath.

In ministry, sometimes we feel that everything must be done with the gas pedal to the floor. But let us not forget that God can move even in the most quite moments. Take some time to stop playing and listen between the notes.

5. God is everywhere!

GOD IS EVERYWHERE AND IN EVERYTHING. For some it may sound absurd to experience God moments at a John Mayer concert. But let us not forget He is GOD. We serve a omnipotent father. We serve a creative God who spent a great amount of detail in designing the earth and galaxy we live in. I realize this weekend that God can speak through anything or anyone.

Who am I to say that God could only speak on Sunday mornings at 10:00 a.m. How many times have I look passed everday tasks or counted things as mear entertainment. In the the words of our Pastor, "We serve a God that wants to be wanted and needs to be needed." He is out there and wants to speak to use if we just stop and listen.

All in all it was a great experience! Maybe I took it too deep or maybe not deep enough. Enough said! Viva Juan Mayer and 20 minute guitar solos!