So a number of people have been commenting about the wall we are building for our Christmas set. 
The first thing I have to say is this is not an original design. I got the design idea from Andrew Hunt over at Production Musings.
I fell in love with the design as soon as I saw it and knew we had to build it for Christmas.
Last week I posted about my public WiFi upgrades and mentioned the fact that I had put in a smart switch
to share and prioritize our internet connection. I’m here to admit that smart wasn’t that smart of an idea; or at least that I screwed up when putting it in. Continue Reading…
Okay maybe it’s not exactly from the Bible, but I think if things were a little different back then Isaiah would have been sitting under a tree with his Netbook desperately trying to find an open WiFi connection so he could update his Facebook status with “back soon. gotta run some errands for the Lord” Continue Reading…
At Lakeside we have been working on a new video project for the past few weeks and one of the hurdles we had to overcome was “How do we use a camera on Sunday morning when we’re using them in the main auditorium?” Continue Reading…
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.
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.
