Be thankful I posted something new.

Sorry, once again, to all my faithful readers and loyal friends. I have fallen into the world of busyness and have allowed it to suck all of my time away. My priorities have shifted and blogging has taken a back seat. I have to admit, that's not all a bad thing. There were times when I was spending way too much effort doing this.

Since this is Thanksgiving time, I want to thank God for all of you and the incredible joy I receive from being connected with you. In many ways blogging is like an extended small group for me. I benefit from your encouragements and amazing insights and somehow, through it all, I feel like we've had fellowship with one another, like we were actually together. That's how I feel.

What are you thankful for? I know it's a typical question to ask during this holiday, but it is still relevant and important.

Got to go, I'm starting to doze off. But, I really want to hear about the wonderful things that God has done.

Make me like a soldier.

"In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius, who was captain of the Italian Regiment. He was a devout man who feared the God of Israel, as did his entire household. He gave generously to charity and was a man who regularly prayed to God." - Acts 10:1, 2

It has been on my heart lately to pray even more for our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. It seems that a week doesn't go by without hearing about more soldiers getting shot and killed. The war has been difficult and complicated, especially for those families who have lost someone. I can imagine that for some all the voices that oppose the war have only made it more difficult to come to grips with the "why's" and the "anger."

Many of our soldiers are like Cornelius - devout, God-fearing men. In the picture above they are obviously praying for a wounded or sick friend. Perhaps some of them began a relationship with God after they joined the military. Facing the kinds of situations they face, having God in your life is a lifesaver.

Anyway, we're sitting at home and gearing up for Thanksgiving and Christmas, enjoying our civilian lives. They are very brave to go and fight. Let's pray for their safety and sanity. God be with them. Help them to pray and rely on God. Help them to be givers, beyond the fight.

And help us too - to understand sacrifice in our lives. Let us be like that Roman army officer, finding strength in regular prayer and giving to charity.

An Amazing Day

Tuesday was an amazing day. I would have blogged about it, but I was exhausted.

Have you ever had one of those days?

I started the day off meeting a couple of youth pastor friends of mine to shoot a Pre-Show video for a 3,000 student Youth Convention coming up next weekend. This was no ordinary shoot. I arranged for us to do it at Quantum Helicopters, owned by our High School Sunday School teacher and youth group security team member.

We told him our script... We needed to get to Youth Convention fast for the Pre-Show. I would arrive in the helicopter, pick up my sidekick, and fly across the valley to Phoenix First Assembly of God, where the convention was being held. During the trip we would fly over landmarks that the kids would recognize such as Castles and Coasters, the Metro Center Mall, and of course Sky Harbor airport and the downtown. When we arrived we would jump out, I would fall, and then my friend would help me walk until I regained my composure. Then, we would sprint for the doors. (When we show the video live we are going to run out onto the stage as if we are actually arriving).

So, he took us up in an R44 Raven II and we got the shots we needed and more. He was so gracious and accommodating that he even removed the doors on one side of the chopper - my side! It was so much fun. The only times I was truly scared was when I forgot that we were going 120 mph and I stuck my hand out to point to something interesting. The wind nearly took it off. After the 4th time making that mistake I finally learned my lesson. And then there was that shot he set up of Phoenix First Assembly. He tilted the aircraft and we flew sideways straight toward the building. I was holding the camera and I felt that if we tilted any further I would fall right out.

We finished after about 2 hours and then thanked him emphatically. He did all that for FREE!

After that I spent my day setting up and preparing for our annual "Light In The Night" celebration at our church. The event went from 6-8pm and ended with a great Trunk-or-Treat time. That's where all the kids go through the parking lot and people hand them candy out of their trunks. Gosh, they got a ton of candy!

We had 4 huge inflatables including a Finding Nemo bounce house, a 4 person Jousting arena, a 15 foot Rainbow Slide, and a long Obstacle Course. We also had many other games and activities for kids to do with prizes and candy at every station. There was a Cake Walk, a Costume Contest, a free photo shoot, and free food!!! That's right, we gave away hot dogs, popcorn, and bottled water. It went very smooth and everyone had a great time. I would say there was at least 300-400 people there. That's pretty good for us I have to say.

I was so tired by the end of clean up that my feet were aching and my leg muscles tightening. Thank God for all the wonderful people who stayed to serve and help. I won't soon forget what they did and how they went above and beyond. The whole day will be etched into my memory as one of the greatest work days on planet earth.

What day has been etched into your memory forever?

Boring Announcements

Hey everyone. Haven't much to say tonight. It's been a week since I've posted. Been busy again with life. Lot's of things have happened that I'd just bore you with, so I'll spare you...

Naaa... I'll bore you with an idea I implemented in youth group. I went to a Youth Leader's Conference last weekend and we were discussing how to creatively and effectively do announcements. Everyone seems to have the same issues as the next guy with students not really paying attention and flyers being left on the floor to be trashed. So, this guy throws out this thing he's done with video and shows us an example.

You take a clip from a movie that has lots of dialogue and interesting characters. You rip it and then bring it into a program that can edit video and sound. Then, you cut out voices and replace them with your own recorded one's telling about your events and activities in a funny or creative way. The results are hilarious and kids definitely pay attention while your announcement is being embedded into their brain.

I decided to put it to the test myself and so I used AoA DVD Ripper to get a clip from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. It's the scene when the White Witch shows up in her sled with the dwarf and meets Edmund. I imported it into Adobe Premier and separated the video from the sound so that I could export the sound clip into a program called Goldwave. In Goldwave I took the sound clip and pressed a button that reduced all vocals. It worked like a charm. The program only left one actual word but cut out the rest leaving me with the original sound effects and music score. I saved it as an mp3 and continued.

Then, I watched the clip over and over again, scripting every word so that I could come up with a new script that was similar in word formation and length, but talked about my announcement, which was about Youth Convention.

After I finalized the script, I recorded each line on my C01U - USB Studio Condenser Microphone in Goldwave separately and saved them as mp3's. Then, I imported them into Adobe Premier and matched the recordings with the visual dialogue of the characters. When I finished editing, I applied some fades and additional slides before and after the clip along with music.

I showed the announcement in Youth Group and the students laughed and were paying attention. It must have gotten through because I collected almost every single registration yesterday... on the due date. Amazing.

Have you done anything creative lately?