It’s a growing trend for churches and other ministry facilities to be using LCD TVs with a PC behind them to replace the old bulletin board and whiteboard welcome signs. But so many of them are powering this technology with high priced signage software packages or even worse, PowerPoint (yuck) like we used to.
That was before Dustin (@ddrewery) put me on to Xibo (www.xibo.org.uk @xibosignage). This sweet little package runs on an Apache & SQL backend that you can setup in house or out on the net and a small desktop app that runs on windows (linux and osX in the works). It gives you a lot of the power and functionality of those expensive signage solutions at a price that any ministry can afford, FREE (please donate to support the developers if you can).
So dig out one of those old PC that you mothballed and grab a copy of Xibo. You can even use a regular LCD monitor (19″ on sale at walmart for $100) if your ministry cant afford a shiny new 42″ TV. Just what ever you do, hide the PowerPoint CDs.
Sign Sign Everywhere a Sign…
Is there power in Prayer? YES!
I was out tonight with a couple of friends for some billiards and beer. It was a great night to begin with because it was the first time out with Mikey since his diagnosis of terminal cancer. Terminal because after a rush surgery for a colostomy the doctors felt there was no point in proceeding with any form of treatment for the remaining cancer tumors and gave him just a few months to live. That was back in early January.
Now we approach the end of March and not only is Mikey not dead, his cancer is receding.
Back in January Mikey told the doctors that he wasn’t going down without a fight. That he knew God had bigger plans for his life than to get married in his mid 20s and father a new baby boy who was just barely 2 months old. No, for Mikey this is just the start of something bigger then him, something bigger then all of them. His family and friends gathered around him and prayed for him and his family daily, asking for a miracle.
He began chemo treatment and it has had it’s toll on him. Nashua, fatigue, and all the worst that can come from chemo. Add in a transfusion and other medication to help the rest of his body not give in to the chemo and other side effects.
This passed Monday Mikey was in for a progress report and a CT scan. The news was not just good, it was freaking amazing! There were 3 tumors being targeted, the largest on his liver, another on his kidney, and another that I can’t remember where he said it was because I was so fixated on the one on his liver that had been REDUCED in size by almost 50%.
I was dumb founded. Here I was out shooting pool with a guy that, according to doctors prognosis, should be dead now. But not only is he not dead, he’s getting better!
But the story gets even better. His sister-in-law in Denmark is getting married next weekend. A wedding that Mikey didn’t think he would ever get to see after his diagnosis. Not only are the doctors saying things are getting better, they’re saying he’s good enough to fly!
I know he’s not out of the woods yet, and there’s more chemo, surgery, and radiation is store for Mikey, but I am confident that through the power of prayer, we are going to help him get through this journey.
What’s the big plan for Mikey when he’s done? No one is sure yet. Mikey has a few ideas but he prays daily for God to reveal his plan to him. One of my favorite quotes that helped me through tough transitions in life is by Soren Kiekegaard “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” Mikey is living his life looking forwards, one day at a time, and some time down the road I hope to be standing around a pool table having a beer with him and be able to look back and understand what it all meant.
Please pray for him.
Are you ready for a challenge?
I was scrolling through twitter and a status update caught my attention. Nothing prophetic, but certainly profound. ”
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
And I was thinking about this for a long time this afternoon. No matter what you think of as “change”, it’s hard to grasp the opening of that statement; YOU must be the change. The weight of an entire movement rests on your shoulders.
When I think of the things I’d like to change, I get over whelmed with the idea that I have to start it. You see, I’m not an A-Type. I’m not a take the bull by the horns, go get ‘em leader. I never even had the lead role in the high school drama production. But something has been weighing on my heart for some time now; a seed planted by a member of my tech team. To share the knowledge, technical manpower and resources of our larger then average church with any other Christian church in the city. Regrettably my first response to this idea was shock and horror, “we can hardly pull off our own Sunday services some weeks” ran through my head. Fortunately it was only the in my head voice. For several weeks I let this idea float around in my brain. The more I thought about it the more I liked it. I even pitched the idea to a friend of mine who’s a leader at a smaller church downtown. He loved the idea.
So now this idea is slowly turning into a real ministry. Just a few weeks ago I got the chance to try it out. Another small church downtown called to ask about our website and some other computer issues. As she shared the dilemma she was in I felt God nudging. Well actually it was more like a shove, to offer my time and experience to help guide this church through the next hurdles of their computer needs. I’ve had a phone meeting and a face to face meeting with the office admin person and next is a meeting with the leadership team. Not to derail their plans to spend thousands on a new server, but to help them make informed decisions about the options that are available to them. Especially considering the current economy and the needs within their own church.
So I challenge you, like Gandhi, to be the change. Break down the barriers of Baptist, Pentecostal, Reformed etc and serve the kingdom of God. Wether it be a team of volunteers that go help a church install a new PA system, or just sitting down for coffee with the sound guy at another church and talk choir mics. We server an awesome God that has given each of us gifts to use in the service of his kingdom (1 Peter 4:10), don’t trap them inside the four walls of your church.
A Case of Technical Excellence
So how do you get four worship teams in four different venues at three different campus locations to sing “The 12 days of Christmas” together without missing a beat? A whole lot of tech and don’t blow a single cue.
Now let me explain, because some of you are like me and believe there is a point where “tech for the sake of tech” is the point where you have lost the purpose of worship. But then I have an inner child that just loves tech stuff and this makes me giddy inside. This past Christmas Northpoint pulled off the tech coup de grâce. Check this out. NorthPoint Christmas 2009
This in my mind is not tech for the sake of tech, but how you would utilize technology to build a sense of community across 3 different campuses. That in my mind makes it all worth it.
It’s All About Relationships
