Top Ten Tuesday:

This is the first top ten Tuesday I have posted on Tuesday in a while. I think I am finally catching up.

Today is my 8th anniversary of being married to my wife so I thought I would write 10 reasons I love my wife. These are no order.

1. She challenges me. I spend a lot of time challenging the way people think about things. I spend a lot of time asking the question why. My wife is the one who challenges me. She does not let me become satisfied.

2. She has never ever ever lied to me. EVER

3. She took the time to get to know me. Not just the BS front I put on sometimes but the real me. 

4. After getting to know me she stayed with me and that is even scarier.

5. Because she is the best mom to our kids. I know she doesn't feel like she is but there is no one better to raise my offspring.

6. Because she loves God. 

7. Because she forgives me even though I can be a truly stupid man sometimes

8. Because she has made me a better human being.

9. Because she puts up with my hobbies.

10. Because she is on my side no matter what.

There so many other things I love about my wife. I failed to mention that she is beautiful and smart, and so many other things. I got the better end of the deal for sure. I am looking forward to our future no matter where it takes us.

Top 10 Tuesday: Greasemonkey Scripts

Every Tuesday I list 10 of my favorite things in hopes that you might find something you can use too. This week I am listing my top 10 greasemonkey scripts. What are greasemonkey scripts? Here is the best definition I could find: Wikipedia- Greasemonkey is a Mozilla Firefox add-on that allows users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to most HTML-based web pages (also known as augmented browsing). As Greasemonkey scripts are persistent, the changes made to the web pages are executed every time the page is opened, making them effectively permanent for the user running the script. Greasemonkey can be used for adding new functions to web pages (for example, embedding price comparison in Amazon.com web pages), fixing rendering bugs, combining data from multiple webpages, and numerous other purposes. In short they make the browsing experience better. On Thursday in my Tip of the week I will show you how easy it is to install these scripts.
10. Google Thumb Nails

9. Troys Twitter Script- Makes all sorts of changes (for the better) to Twitter

8. Twitter Search Results - Puts twitter search results at the top of you google searches

7. Gmail Macros

6. Gmail message count favicon- Puts a small number of

5. Better Remeber the milk - The name says it all

4. Twitter URL expander - Makes Tiny URL full size URLs so you can

3. Auto complete always on - Some websites turn of the Username and password Auto complete function this script will leave it on all the time.

2. Google image re-linker - Sends you directly to the image not the image page

1. Gmail conversation preview- Lets you see a preview of a message in gmail

Top Ten Tuesday

My Top 10 Movies of All time! These are my movies that I could watch over and over again and not get tired of them. Kind of like my wife and Twilight.

10. Office Space: Funniest Movie Ever

9. Pulp Fiction: Coolest Movie ever

8. Silence of the Lambs: Scariest Movie Ever

7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6. The Dark Knight

5. Star Wars: Classic

4. Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. Shawshank Redemption: Who doesn't like this movie?

2. Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi

1. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King: My personal favorite

Did I leave anything out?

Top 10 Tuesday ( A day Late)

Evey Tuesday I list 10 of my favorite things in a category so can get know me a little better and maybe learn something.
Today's List is My Top 10 favorite Bands/Musicians all time. I know not everyone will agree with these.

1. Matchbox 20
2. Linkin Park
3. Counting Crows
4. Garth Brooks
5. Sister Hazel
6. Creed
7. Jimmy Buffet
8. 3 Doors Down
9. Pearl Jam
10. Our Lady Peace (Not there new stuff, just the old)

There you have it. Who do you agree or disagree with.

Top 10 Tuesday

Evey Tuesday I list 10 of my favorite things in a category so can get know me a little better and maybe learn something.
Today's list is my top ten favorite online services. These are services that are provided online and for the most part are free.

1. Google Reader- All of your feeds one place. The best feed reader out there if you ask me which nobody did.
2. Evernote- There Slogan is remember everything and they really do help you remember stuff
3. Remember the Milk- Speaking of Remembering. This task list will email and text you as many reminders as you like. Great Iphone app too
4. Gmail- Now we have come to the Google portion of this list. Gmail is my mail service and I would not have it any other way.
5. Google Docs- Microsoft Office Online wherever you are! Kind of.
6. GCal- My online Calendar and Planner
7. Ebay- Sell your stuff and get cash. Now if they could just lower those fees.
8. Paypal- More than just Ebay payments trust me.
9. Blogger- I know there are other blogging sites this is just my favorite.
10. You send it- Large Email attachments? You send it will send them all.

Top 10 Tuesday

I missed top 10 Tuesday so here is my make up list. I am going to go simple here are my my top 10 favorite TV shows.

1. Lost
2. Heroes
3. Fringe
4. Smallville
5. Sports Center
6.Top Chef
7. CSI Miami
8. Big Brother
9. Mentalist
10. CSI

Please note these are only a current list of shows that are currently on the air. I will post a list of my top 10 all time favorite TV shows later. What do you think did I leave one of your favorites off? How does the TV show you watch effect the things you do in your ministry? Please I did not forget about American Idol I just don't like it that much.

Top 10 Tuesday

Okay so I have decided to simplify my life. Well just a little I cut down my Google reader feed list down from 330 feeds to 176 feeds. That may not sound like a lot but it has made a huge difference in my day. I only have to scroll though 400 post a day as opposed to 2000. They add up!
Well that said I am also going to try to schedule out this blog. Please note the word try. Every Tuesday I plan to write a top ten list of my favorite things. So today will be my top ten blogs. These aren't feeds I will cover that next week but these are actual blogs that I read.

1. Leading Smart - Tim Stevens
This guy has a great blog and if you have never read his book "Pop Goes the Church" you need to.

2. Visual Worshiper - Cameron Ware
I only wished this guy posted more but when he does post it is thought provoking. His visual work is amazing.

3. Already been chewed- Barton Damer
The intent is to help you serve up something fresh on Sundays because nobody likes to be fed something that has Already Been Chewed. That says it all

4. Life Hacker
The best general tutorial site on the web period.

5. Talking Chop
My personal favorite Atlanta Braves Blog.

6. Engadget
Of the 4 big tech news websites this is the best.

7. Stuff Christians like- prodicaljohn aka David Caruso
This guy puts a funny yet real spin on things. He's a great read

8.Raggamuffin Soul- Carlos Whittaker
Creative Arts Pastor Coordinator/ Cool guy or whatever his real title is for Buckhead church here in Atlanta. One of my favorite reads.

Worship leader Ledges- David Collinsworth
This is my Worship Arts Pastor. I like to get into the head of musicians. I like to know what they think. That's until I actually know how they think and then I really don't want to know. His thoughts interesting and when he actually makes a post it's fun to read.

10. Church Marketing Sucks
The name says it all!

What I am most excited about part 2

This is the second part of my list of things I am most excited about with the new building. click here to read the first installment.


5. Better Video, Audio and recordings
One thing I have dedicated myself to in 2009 is giving Discover Point a better Internet presence. I want to spend some time making our youtube, vimeo and podcast the best it can be. Yes we will have better recording equipment and that will help with the audio but the video is what I am most excited about. We will have more lights and better control of our lights. So we can shoot better video e page and more consistent video. This will make our Youtube page so much better.

4. Talented People
This one is just a guess on my part but I think we will see an influx of talented people join our church. People with talents in drama, media, music, technology and talents we don't even know we need yet. I love the current volunteers but they can not do it all and I refuse to let volunteers burn out. I am excited to see what talent God is going to bring to us over the next year.

3. Better Children's Program
This could be number one for me easily. We need a facility where are kids are allowed to be free and creative. Where they can have fun and learn at the same time. Out new building gives them that. It will be set up like a city square. There will be a kids theater, a huge crafts area, an awesome nursery and plenty of class room space. This will be one of the coolest kids areas in East Atlanta. We will see so many kids come to know Christ here and I guess that is the most exciting part of all!

2. We can serve the community better
We will not be using the building very much during the week so the plan will be to allow the community use it. Whether it is a place where businesses can do lunches or a place where teens can come and play games I love the idea of opening our doors to help the community. Also our Projects series will take full effect this year. Getting out in the community and just helping people have a better day. It is truly an awesome thought.

1. We will reach more people for Christ.
I think this says it all

Top 10 things I am excited about in the new building

This post will include points 10-6 the next will include the rest

10. No more set up and take down
Now I will admit this is a little selfish. I have been setting up and tearing down for 3 years and I am tired of it. Has God used the set up and take down to teach me things? Of course he has and they have been valuable lessons but that does not make me any less excited about not having to do it. Will there still be some set up? Sure, but it will be done during the week and we will be able to plan and test things before 10:30 on Sunday morning. Which leads me into my next point

9. We will have the ability to plan and test better
I like for things to be planned and tested when it comes to the services. Right now because we really can't set up during the week all of our testing is done on Sunday morning after we spend an hour or so setting up and another 30 minutes with the band and then the rest of the time I am fixing all of the minor issues that come along with being a portable church. I want to be able to walk into our building after work on a Tuesday and begin testing and tweaking videos light ect.

8. The switch to Mac and ProPresenter
I know that this has not been finalized in the budget but it will happen soon. The computer we are currently using is on its last leg (although it has been a wonderful computer and we will find a way to use it until it dies) I am tweaking and tuning once every 3 days or so. I am a HUGE Mac fan. They are just better computers (I am not going to get technical on you guys). The other change is the one I am more excited about is the switch from Media Shout to Pro Presenter. The other week me and Philip were going over what was the bear minimum we need to get into the new building. One of the guys who was there ask me if Media shout could give me 85% of what Pro Presenter could? Sure but it also gives 100% more head ache. I have had the opportunity to play with Pro Presenter over the last few weeks and I love it. Again I am not going to get technical but the programing is so clean so well written and so user friendly. I have also been looking forward to the ability the Play .mov files cleanly without going through the headaches you have to deal with with playing them in Media Shout.

7. Live Drama
I know this sounds kind of corny but I love well done live drama and I would love to see more of it in a church like Discover Point. Now I am not talking about the corny half done not practiced stuff. I am talking about well written, well rehearsed, done by talented people who love it too kind of drama that can be sooooo powerful. I am praying that the right person will step up soon and lead this ministry.

6. Better Acoustics
When you have been in the acoustical (if that is a word) nightmare that we have been in for the past 2 years (The place has been a blessing but the acoustics are dreadful) you get really excited to be in an environment where you have tons of control over your sound. We've got a tom of ultra dense Styrofoam padding for our walls and we will have a drum shield which we have sorely lacked over the last few years. It will sound incredible.


I will list the next 5 tomorrow please let me know what things you are most excited about moving into the new building.