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.

Short or no shorts

A friend brought up an interesting question the other day. Does it look bad for your worship leader to wear shorts on stage? Does it look unprofessional? At a church like Discover Point does it matter? We encourage our members to dress casually because it is more important to us that they are there than what what they wear. During the summer its not uncommon to see 10 people in T-shirts and shorts. Now for the record my friend is not suggesting that we wear 3 piece suits. All he is suggesting is that worship leaders (even at a church like Discover Point) should always wear pants (jeans). Nice T-Shirts are okay but no shorts. Everyone who attends could still wear shorts or whatever just not the people on stage. I guess my question is if we are trying to look professional who are we trying to look professional for? Part purpose of Discover Point is to reach by relating (that's paraphrased). Who are we relating to by not wearing shorts? 30 year old professionals? That is a large demographic. Would we alienating or turning off people if we decided to adopt this standard? I know that people feel comfortable with the people on stage if they relate with them but in that case we are some how changing someones view with either choice. I know it seems like I am making a big deal out of this but I am just trying to give you guys all of my thoughts. Is it a big deal if the people on stage wear shorts? No? But I would like to know what the 3 people who read this blog think.

This needs to happen more often

Another reason to own a MAC

It's about reaching people...

You know I am so excited about the new building God has provided for us. We will have new displays, new media software, new lights and a stage (wow what a concept). We will have time to test and tweak new videos. We will have a practice facility for our band. The kids will have their own theater! There will be so many cool things in this new building that will be so incredible. God has truly blessed us with an awesome facility. With all of this new stuff we have to remember that the whole purpose of this building is to help us reach people for Christ. All of the stuff we do is cool but it is meaningless if we are not reaching people and helping them grow in their relationship with Christ. My dedication over the next year is to focus my work on just that reaching people. Now I still want it to look good but sometimes I find that looking good becomes my focus. I love crazy illustrations in services and I love being different but being crazy cannot be my focus or the churches focus unless we are doing it to reach people or help them grow. I guess what I am trying to say is I am excited but I cannot let my excitement blind my focus.

Call me butter because it's on my couch

I will try to make this quick! This is another post in the my worst enemy series if you have not read the others click here and here to read them. Now Connor is not my worst enemy just has dual personalities like Christian Slater on my "Own Worst Enemy". Connor and Brady are my 3 year old twins who I love very much but Connor is a little McGyver. Well again I woke up int he middle of the night and the twins were up watching sports center on TV (because that is the channel I had it on when I turned it off to go to bed). I walked in to the kitchen and it was relatively clean in comparison to other nights of late night snacking by the twins. The fridge was open and there were a few bags gum rappers on the floor but nothing major. I really thought I had escaped with only minor damage. That was until I walked into the living room where the twins sat on our new couch watching TV covered in butter. Not only that but there were spoon fulls of butter smeared all over the couch with pieces of bread smashed into it. Bread crumbs covered the floor and the twins had managed to eat like 12 cups of yogurt with only minimal damage (they don't want to waste the yogurt apparently). So of course I clean it up by the time I am through it is almost 6:30 and Garrett and Ryan are waking up so I jump in the shower and get ready for the day. I know there are people who this who think just put the stuff where he can't get it well we do again he can get into things very well. I don't but if it makes you guys laugh then maybe its worth it well until he gets in to something worse then butter. 

Tonight is the night

So Tonight we find our whether or not we can use the building we have found as our new church home. Today is a big cluster of nervous anticipation and work which don't mix well together for me. For those you who know me you know that I don't get nervous about much. I'd like to say it is because I know God is in control and that he has given me a peace about things and to some extent it is. Truly though I just have that personality where things just don't get to me and make me nervous (angry is another story all together. This meeting tonight for some reason or another has me worked up. I keep telling my that whatever happens is God's will and that I should just chill out and get my work done today. On the other hand I am excited at all the possibilities this building brings. God has provided us with a group of talented people over the last several months and I am soo excited about the number of people we can reach for Christ and the number of people we can help in our community with this building. On the other hand I am reminded that we can reach people and help our community right where we are at. If tonight the city decides that we can not use the space for our new building then so be it. It just means God has something better for us. Wow it is amazing how therapeutic blogging is. I need to do this more often.