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Daddy/Daughter Day: REI Grand-Opening in Kennesaw and a Band-Aid

May 3, 2008 in family with Comments Off

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So I had to buy a pair of Chacos for my buddy Jon’s wedding this weekend. (We groomsmen are wearing snappy brown suits and Chacos.) Luck would have it that the new REI in Kennesaw was opening today…and REI members got 25% off a purchase…and I had $13 in member dividends…and they were giving away good stuff to the first few hundred people through the doors. Sooooo, to give Annette a little bit of a pressure relief for the morning, I took Kenni along for the ride.

Woke her up early, and stuck her in the truck. She was very excited to go to Chick-fil-A for some chicken minis, and then to “the tent store.”

I expected a couple of hundred folks to be waiting. But holy smoke… It was as crazy as an Apple Store opening. There were many hundreds in line… All the way past Ulta, Shoe Carnival, Old Navy, and the entire width of Target. Continue Reading…

Creative Chaos: Journey Groups “Textimonial”

May 1, 2008 in creativity with Comments Off

Carlos over at ragamuffinsoul.com has asked his readers to chime in each Thursday with random examples of creativity in action. We call it “Creative Chaos.”

This is a video we put together to highlight Journey Groups (small groups) here at West Ridge Church in good ole Dallas, Georgia (not Texas).

The idea is pretty simple, but creates a deep impact. We didn’t even need a video camera.

How we did it:
We invited several folks from the same Journey Group into our studio and recorded them reading a short written ‘testimony’ (about 2 minutes each). Using Logic Pro, we then took a good listen to each of the recordings and edited down to key thoughts. Taking those thoughts, we arranged them in an order that would help us form one ‘complete thought.’ (You’ll see what I mean when you watch). With simple white text on a bg, we slowly displayed those thoughts as they were spoken.

The Result:
As the text builds, a paragraph is formed on screen that describes the essence of community in a small group.

PS: The intro is a little long because of where we placed it in the service, so be patient.

American Idol Results Roundup…

May 1, 2008 in thought of the day with 1 Comment

Here’s my bulleted list of thoughts after tonight’s Idol results show…

  • Does David Archuleta stand in front of the mirror practicing how to look surprised when he’s told he’s ‘safe’ for the week? Come on. I don’t think he’s going to win… But he’s got 3 weeks left.
  • Natasha Bedingfield is a great singer and songwriter.
  • I think Natasha was kinda serious when she said she’d go to Archuleta’s prom. THAT would be some seriously good promo.
  • Neil Diamond has big ears…what lobes. Well, actually, it’s just his right ear. Very big lobe. You’re rich, Neil. You could fix that.
  • I never knew I was such a fan of Neil’s songs… Did you know he’s written over 32-million songs?
  • What’s with the performing legends coming on and completely ruining our opinions of them by singing poorly… (Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond)
  • Which leads me to this: What’s with the performing legends coming on and singing terribly lame religious songs. I mean, doesn’t God deserve really good songs that weren’t written and performed just ‘to appeal to the Christian masses?’ “Jesus and Gravity“?!?! Girl, gravity ain’t the only thing holding you down.
  • Which leads me to this: The “Shout to the Lord” thing from Idol Gives Back. It creeped me out. Yes, I know it’s great that millions of people heard a great song about Christ. But it was just weird to me to hear people who may not know Him singing that particular song as if they really believe it. I dunno. Jury’s still out for me.
  • I got this and next week backwards, but I still think I’ll stick with my prediction for the final 3 weeks.
  • Brooke White is the kind of person you know would never win, but you kinda wish she could. She’s the most authentic and likable person to ever compete for the title.
  • Local news is hilarious… Atlanta viewers got to see a transition immediately after the show teasing a special report on “Animals…Left Behind.” Annette and I laughed outloud.

G’night!

Leftovers [John 12:1-8]

April 30, 2008 in theology with Comments Off

So this has been rolling around in my head the last few days… Remember the story from John in chapter 12 where Jesus is chilling with his close friends the week before his final Passover? By the calendar, it would have happened a couple of weeks ago (Passover began last weekend). He’s with Martha, Mary, Lazarus (in my best Carman voice: “Come forth!”), and some other family members, I’m sure. And there’s at least one of his disciples there (Judas is the only one mentioned by name). Read the passage, and then I’ll share my thought.

{SIDENOTE: I dig reading from The Complete Jewish Bible. But just wanted to warn you that it throws in a little Hebraic here and there, so I just stuck the English translations in parentheses.}

John 12:1-8 . . .
1. Six days before Pesach (Passover), Yeshua (Jesus) came to Beit-Anyah (Bethany), where El`azar (Lazarus) lived, the man Yeshua had raised from the dead;
2. so they gave a dinner there in his honor. Marta (Martha) served the meal, and El`azar was among those at the table with him. Continue Reading…

American Idol…I’m calling it.

April 30, 2008 in thought of the day with 1 Comment

Winner: David Cook
Runner-up: David Archuleta
3rd: Brook
4th: Jason
5th (out this week): Syesha (not because she’s bad, but because she doesn’t reveal too much of her personality. She’ll be just fine starring in a Broadway show with a year.)

I’m not super confident about my picks for 3rd through 5th. But the top two are a no-brainer (unless one of them completely bombs confesses to a history of pedophilia).

Missing Africa [photos]

April 28, 2008 in beautiful with 2 Comments

I’ve been feeling a little homesick the last couple of days. And then it hit me today that seven months ago this week, I was there. If the measure of love for a place is how longingly you dream to return after you’ve left, then I love Burkina Faso, Africa.

I miss the colors…
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I miss the sounds…
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I miss their faces…
Missing Africa-17.jpg Continue Reading…

Creative Chaos @ West Ridge: Deadly Viper, Part 2!

April 25, 2008 in creativity with 1 Comment

Carlos over at ragamuffinsoul.com has asked his readers to chime in each Thursday with random examples of creativity in action. We call it “Creative Chaos.”

NOTE! This is an addendum to my Creative Chaos post from earlier today… I meant to add a quick video we did that went over like gangbusters. Huge laughs in all three services.

This was also for our Deadly Viper series [by the way...thanks for the mention, guys!]… We took a clip from Kung Pow! Enter the Fist and overdubbed our greeting and the week’s announcements using iMovie and a M-Audio USB mic interface. [This is the premaster edit, so the audio may be tough at places...sorry.]

Continue Reading…

Naming Wonder

April 24, 2008 in creativity with Comments Off

So God has wrapped up phase 1 of the creation gig, and…

Genesis 2:18 ADONAI, God, said, “It isn’t good that the person should be alone. I will make for him a companion suitable for helping him.” 19 So from the ground ADONAI, God, formed every wild animal and every bird that flies in the air, and he brought them to the person to see what he would call them. Whatever the person would call each living creature, that was to be its name. 20 So the person gave names to all the livestock, to the birds in the air and to every wild animal. [CJB]

My daughter McKenna is absolutely in love with any kind of animal. Even the ones that freak her out (>5 legs) seem to share a certain bond with her just like any human. At 3 years old, she has an understanding of how she fits in God’s creation, and how we all have something in common in being made by the same One.

So any time she meets a new critter (even in inanimate form), she can come up with a new name in a split second that just seems to be ‘the right name.’

Continue Reading…

Creative Chaos @ West Ridge: Deadly Viper

April 24, 2008 in creativity with 2 Comments

Carlos over at ragamuffinsoul.com has asked his readers to chime in each Thursday with random examples of creativity in action. We call it “Creative Chaos.”

[be sure to check out part 2 after reading this post]

As we were brainstorming our set design for our “Deadly Viper: Character Assassins” series, we wanted to do something that would be striking, but would also come in at a price tag of under $1000. We decided to go with classic Japanese colors and materials, and repetition.

Creative Chaos Deadly Viper4.jpg

The Stuff:

Continue Reading…

Maxin’ and relaxin’

April 21, 2008 in beautiful with Comments Off

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Spring has finally truly sprung. No more freezing temps (we think). Working on getting the backyard suitable for family fun… Got the pond/waterfall cleaned up tonight and making that nice trickling sound in the background. And am burning up the leftover firewood in the fire cauldron. Annette and I are sipping our favorite hot beverages (hers…coffee with lots of fru fru creamer, and mine a soy chai with a splash of hazelnut).

Can’t beat it.

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