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FreePlay Friday - And We’re Off

Posted on November 21st, 2008 in Free Play Fridays, Life and Family by Fred

Hey Everybody -

I can’t believe it’s Friday.  This has been one crazy week.  Here’s a brief recap:

1.  Monday:  I return from lunch to see that my screen is locked up on my MacBook Pro that I use for SSCC.  No problem, I’ll just hold the power button down and force Lappie to shut down.  Reboot - nothing, white screen, flashing question mark, and a horendous clicking noise from the hard drive.  After an hour or so of trying to reboot, trying to repair, I talk to Apple who hears the clicking over the phone and confirms … that hard drive is DEAD.  So, Travis (our Tech Director) jumps in and order a replacement hard drive for me.  In the meantime, I’m out of comission on my Lappie.  On top of that, I miss a meeting that I needed to be a part of, and I didn’t even know the meeting had been scheduled.

2.  Tuesday:  4+ hours of AM and early-afternoon meetings.  There is lots of drama this week.  One of those weeks where “pastor” is more the role than “worship leader”. Hard drives arrives and we finally get installed late afternoon.  I began the attempt to install OS, which fails over and over until I find the correct disc.

3.  Wednesday:
Continue to try and load software on Lappie so that it’s usable.  Gotta work on music and finish it up for the “I’m A Man, I’m A Woman” video we’ve got planned for Sunday.  That will be a treat.  All the normal Monday and Tuesday tasks that I normally would have done by now (finishing setlist, podcast, arrangements, etc.) are still not complete, and I’m running out of time.

4.  Thursday:
Start out with a productive communications meeting with some of the folks on our team at SSCC.  I’ve had tough conversations this week, and though they were necessary, I’m sure I didn’t handle them as well as I should’ve.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Rehearsal Thursday PM - it goes smoothly, without a hitch.  Thank God!

5.  Friday:
I realize that I’ve not blogged all week.  I’ve not commented or read your blogs all week.  I’m supposed to be leaving after lunch @ school today with the kids for a camping trip to McRae, but since it will be in the 20’s tomorrow morning there, we opted to cancel the trip and try again another time.  The kids are disappointed, I feel somewhat pressured to “come up with something” to replace what I’d already planned for the weekend.

On top of that - business is picking up online.  Not like it should, but at least it’s picking up.  I have a new “Sports and Outdoors” supplier that has been very popular.  I’m working with a 3rd party integration company to give them a shot at managing my inventory control and pricing.  But they are slow and apparently only the one guy runs the thing, so I’m waiting in line.  Slipping, slipping, slipping …

So hopefully I can take today and catchup on some things that are way behind from this week.  Honestly, I’m kinda heavy and numb, and eager to resolve some conflicts that are out there.  Joy and I had a good time of prayer this morning.  It’s not long … maybe 20-30 minutes, but when we can do that together, it really makes a difference.  We try to do it M-F at 6:30 AM.  I’d say we’re about 65% on with that.  There are those mornings when one of us just refuses to wake up.  I’m glad we both have that liberty.

She’s an amazing woman actually.  I know she’s got me covered.  I think about this family, these kids, and the opportunities God has given me, and I’m amazed at how blessed I really am.

Oh yeah - and the whole “And We’re Off” subtitle - well, that just means - yikes, the holidays are here.  They are here, it’s that time.  It’s almost Thanksgiving.  It only gets wilder from here on out.  And we’re off.  Buckle up, and find a way to enjoy the season in all it’s rush.  Slow down when you can.  Take it in.

Want to comment?

Sunday Setlist #17 - Worship Service Recaps

Posted on November 16th, 2008 in Church Life, Sunday Setlists, Worship Confessionals by Fred

Here we go, folks - the 17th installment of “Sunday Setlists”.  Please consider spreading the word via Facebook, Twitter, Email, and Blogging.  ANYONE can participate - even if you aren’t the Pastor or Worship Leader … we’d just love to hear a recap of your worship services!

What’s “Sunday Setlist”?

I share a recap of our worship service, and encourage you to do the same.  You link here as the central “Sunday Setlist” hub, and post your outgoing link to your recap below!

1.  Blog about your worship service - you can post a written review or a video worship confessional.  Consider sharing the songs you used, sermon topics, etc.

2.  In your entry, please link back to THIS SPECIFIC POST.  You may wish to say something like “I’m posting our worship service recap in collaboration with others at “Sunday Setlists” at FredMcKinnon.Com and link to:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2008/11/16/sunday-setlist-17/

3.  FIll out the Mr. Linky form below.  Make sure that the URL you enter goes directly to your Sunday Setlist post, and NOT to your blog’s homepage.  Homepage links will be deleted.

4.  Leave a comment below, and let us know your’e on board!

5.  Don’t forget to visit some of the other sites in the “Mr. Linky” below, and spread the word about “Sunday Setlist” to your church staff, worship leaders, use Twitter, FaceBook, MySpace, and whatever means you have.

****  Sunday Setlist for St. Simons Community Church, Nov 16, 2008 ***

Today I co-led with Harriet Jones, another one of our worship leaders.  We sat down together earlier last week and considered the service, elements, and picked some songs that would flow together and compliment our various styles.  Here’s what we came up with:

Walk-In:
“Thank You, Lord” (Don Moen/Paul Baloche)
Comments:  I wanted to introduce this as a “walk-in” song, and will use this song again next week as a fun, celebration song for Thanksgiving.

Open Set: (led by Harriet)
My Redeemer Lives (Hillsong)
Revive Us Lord (Alvin Slaughter)
Comments:  Harriet led this set, and I played B3.  The “Revive Us Lord” was just the Chorus, we sang it through 3x, getting faster each time.

Announcements:  Larry Wade was back, making everyone laugh as usual.

Second Set:
Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing) Brian Doersen
Comment:  new arrangement on his CD, starts slow, then has a seriously cool groove on it.  It’s still not quite there yet in our rhythm section, but we fared OK.  Tim, our acoustic guitarist was so into it during the 11:00 he forgot the song was ending, and just kept playing and playing - it was pretty funny.  It started getting awkward when after a couple of times through the last bars of the ending, we’re all stopped and he’s still jamming back there.  He finally figured it out, and rather than move on in awkwardness, I kinda joked about it and said “Yes, Lord - Your love makes us sing … and it REALLY makes us PLAY…” to which the congregation really chuckled, so it lighted up the weirdness.

Agnus Dei:  Great flow here.  Though we didn’t rehearse it this way, when we finished the song, I brought back the Chorus, just vocals and pads - it was sweet.

Sermon:  today was a rare day, in that we basically took the entire sermon time to discuss our history, where we are, and where we’re doing, and specifically tied this into our building fund and capital campaign.  It went really long (20+ minutes longer than normal), but our people seemed to hang in there.  I hope and pray that hundreds of people will take their pledge cards home and seriously consider giving above and beyond what they are doing now.  (myself included).

Communion:
How Beautiful (Twila Parise
O The Wonderful Cross (Tomlin/Redman version)

It was a great day - a LONG day, but great.  There was good energy on the stage, and though we had a really long rehearsal this week, it paid off and we came together quite well.

That’s a wrap for us - your time to share!

I Need Your Input …

Posted on November 15th, 2008 in The Entrepreneur in Me by Fred

Hey Gang,

Happy Saturday (or whenever you get this).  I need your input …

I’m making some changes to one of my e-stores over at GetSkinsNow.Com.  My buddy Joel is re-designing it, so don’t worry - it will look cool design-wise, as opposed to how it looks now), and then Chris will take Joel’s graphic design and implement it as code.

It’s the shopping category structure where I need your help.

I want to revise the category structure to make it easier to browse and find exactly what you need.  My idea is that instead of having very “general” catgories like I have now (ie. iPod, Sansa, Zune, and other MP3), I would have something more specific, such as “Choose By Device”.

If I go that direction, I need to know what you, as a customer, would rather see.

General Device Description, with Sub-Categories for Specific Devices:

Example:

Choose Your Device:
- Apple Ipods
— 4th Gen iPod Nano
— 3rd Gen iPod Nano

- Apple Laptops
— 15″ Inch
——- 15″ Aluminum Unibody
——- 15″ Core Duo/Core 2 Duo

etc.

Or …. would you prefer to NOT have all those subcategories, and have all devices just listed under “Choose Your Device”

Example:

Choose Your Device:
- Apple iPod Nano 4th Gen
- Apple iPod Nano 3rd Gen

etc.

My initial thoughts are that without the various sub-categories, the “choose your device” list could get VERY LONG.

So, what’s your thoughts - as a consumer.  Or, is there a better idea?

This mapping process is critical, and it’s a real pain to re-do it, so I really need some good feedback before committing to a plan.

Thanks!
Fred

FreePlay Friday - Fave Holiday Clip, Mr. Fancy Claus

Posted on November 14th, 2008 in Free Play Fridays, Funnies by Fred
FreePlay Friday Logo by Russ Hutto - www.russhutto.com

FreePlay Friday Logo by Russ Hutto - www.russhutto.com

Hey Everybody -

It’s “FreePlay Friday” … time to break off and talk about whatever we want.  For all you “RSS’ers” out there, if you’re reading this in your RSS Reader, please click here to view today’s content and comment.

Today - I thought I’d share a short clip of one of my favorite holiday clips.  Yep - it’s a Christmas clip, and yep, I’m going there already.

On Sunday, Dec 21 I’ll be playing the role of “Shroeder” in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for our FamJam “Jingle Jam” that evening.  I can’t wait.  “Charlie Brown Christmas” has to be one of my favorite Christmas shows of all time.

Over the last few years they’ve started rolling a new 30-minute show of “shorts” after it … and some of them are quite hilarious.

I present to you one of our favorites (our, being my whole family - the kids laugh so hard they hurt all over) … where “ReRun” has a bone to pick with ole Santa Fancy Claus.

So what are some of YOUR favorite holiday shows? (we just missed the Great Pumpkin, BTW)

Pre-Service Music

Posted on November 13th, 2008 in Church Life, Worship Leadership by Fred

Hey Everybody -

So yesterday I blogged about what music was in my playlist on iTunes … and many of you responded.  If you haven’t done so, play the iTunes Shuffle and comment on that post(iTunes Shuffle - Whatcha Got?)

TODAY:

I woke up this AM with what they call an “@reply” on Twitter (you know what that is now, Kimbo) from my good friend, Robert Pooley.  He asked for some feedback on “Pre-Service Music” on his blog and so my goal is to overload his blog and server with comments about Pre-Service Music.

http://robertpooley.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/pre-service-music.html

Robert’s an awesome guy.  He’s the one who introduced me to blogging.  So while you’re there, be sure and subscribe to his blog.  (see you in January, I hope, Robert!)

Wanna go a step further?  Post on your blog and your twitter, and encourage folks to go to Robert’s blog and comment re: their Pre-Service Music Playlist.

Got a comment?  They are closed on this post - post’em over @ Robert’s blog!

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