March Madness

No, not talking about basketball, although most people think that's the point of March.  March is a crazy month every year now.  Somehow, I end up with a lot of projects happening around this point of time.  Faith Heritage is doing Singing in the Rain and the next two weeks is when I am showing up to the school to get the lighting and sound setup for the big shows.

Until this year, I am usually doing two plays.  Faith Heritage and Clary Middle School.  Mike Hook, however, is now no longer working at Clary as he is full time Missionary.  To help me not feel as if I have an easy year, I am also working on their missions DVD.  Trust me when I say this is not a hardship.  I am honored to be given this task.  My last post was about going with them to one of their services.  This is about a process that a lot of people don't understand about production.  That it takes a lot of time and energy.

Recording their audio for the video was fun, long and very tiring, especially for them.  To give you an idea of the process, I'm going to try and give a basic rundown.  The first day was getting them used to doing this.  We had a script that none of us were thrilled with but thankfully, rewrites can happen.  I had each of them take turns reading chunks of the script, then we would listen to it to see which sounded best for the dialog.  We didn't finish it, mostly because the ending wasn't right.  So, after packing up I went home and cut up all that we had into one file.  We had about 2:40 of material from 3 hours of recording work.

Day two, we go through and record the ending.  A little quicker but we were tired.  They were tired and the energy wasn't there.  Mike sounded depressed and I knew we had to do it again.  However, after this session I realized that there was a problem with the audio from the first round.  Guess what, we had to do the whole thing over. 

The third session, we started out with breakfast.  I also realized I needed them to stand up in order to read.  Why, because this helps keep energy up and you don't get lazy.  Plus, you actually sound better when you read standing up than when sitting.  We also knew who was saying which line, so they only had to do those lines.  We worked on this for another 2 - 3 hours, but voice over is done.  Now, I just need to finish getting the videos and DVD done and ready.  Of course, this is while I'm getting Faith Heritage stuff done as well.

As I said, it's March Madness.

My Day off in Canandaigua, NY

I am working on a DVD for Mike & Tina Hook, yesterday while we were recording the narration for the video (3 hours = 2 minutes and 10 seconds of usable audio) they asked if I would like to go with them so I could get video footage.  Having already set up someone else to run sound at church I jumped at the opportunity and went.

So early this morning I showed up to their house in order to go for a missionary ride-along.  There I got to witness my friends do their thing.  It was fun, interesting and very tiring.  We drove for just over an hour to arrive in Canandaigua.  Calvary Assembly of God is a pretty church in this very small town.  Including me, around 14 people got to listen to these two give their vision for what God has called them to do. 

It seems that almost every church they have hit so far are small churches like this.  Churches that want to participate in reaching the world for Christ.  Unfortunately these churches are not able to pledge monthly, but they are generous to them when they come and visit.

If anything it was a bit of an eye-opener for me.  I have known these people for years, and even have the privilege of knowing of this call and seeing how God has worked through them to bring them to this point.  However, I've never watched as they shared their hearts with people they have never met.  Revealing God's vision in their hearts to people, asking only that people would give toward missions and pray.  Sharing how by sharing in prayer and giving, the ones that stay get the missionaries reward as well.  Yet, not once did they ask for money for themselves.  They know God has provided and they are now beating the pavement in faith that His promise is true.

I went to help them out for this video, getting footage I maybe able to use.  I ended up being blessed by them once again.  Seeing the hard work they put in, trying to connect with a group of strangers and bringing them into their vision. 

My prayer is that everyone gets the opportunity to be friends with people who are called into missions.  You will learn how hard it is for them to raise funds to support God's vision on their lives.  You will get to learn a little bit about the disappointments when churches refuse to let them come, not alone support them.  You will also get to hear the excitement when God moves in their lives and ministry.  If you, like me, are not meant to become a long-term missionary (not everyone can go, people need to stay and support), become close friends with a missionary so that you can get an idea of what it is like for them.  You may find yourself opening your wallet a bit more for missionaries.

Today was a very fun day, and I am blessed beyond belief that I got to be a small part of their journey.

New Year

I know, technically this is in the 9th day of the new year, but here I am not writing until now.  Why, do you ask?  Ok, you probably aren't, but in case you do, here it goes.  I don't do well over the holidays for the most part.  I love Christmas, New Years has connotations that have held over from the days when I cared about such things.  So, usually by the end of the Christmas gatherings, I'm pretty sick of people and pretty much don't want to be around them.  Thus, I hide in my room.  There are about 3 or 4 times a year that certain people actually let me get away with that, this was one of them.

This is year I am trusting God with some stuff.  I have certain goals that I would like to see happen this year, if they don't, it's ok, but I really want to see them happen.  The goals are reasonable, but frightening to me.  So if you read this blog, then please pray for me.  The goals, by the way, are ones that I am praying about.  So, I know that it's up to God if these are within His plan for me this year.

One thing I have come to a conclusion about is this.  I am extremely rich, not by what my checkbook or 401K says, I actually have one! I am rich because my God is my provider, He is my resource and I am a steward of all that He has given me.  Therefore, this year I am trying to be obedient to God's plan for my life and be a good steward.

So, happy New Year.  No resolutions, but just a goal to walk faithfully with God and serve Him.

Christmas is here

I love Christmas, even though I tend to be slightly depressed this time of year.  That has to do with the fact that I wish I could buy gifts for pretty much everyone, including people I don't know.  However, the best gift anyone can get at Christmas isn't found in a store.  Unfortunately, in our world the idea of Christ as our perfect gift almost sounds cliche at this point of time.  So, how can we look at this and see how amazing this gift really is and what it is we are celebrating during this season.
The truth is that we are celebrating the birth of our Lord and King, Jesus.  He is no longer an infant, He is King, Savior and Lord.  During this time we celebrate how He came to this world in the most vulnerable of ways, a human child that is totally dependent on the parents to feed and clothe him.  However, it was not this child that saved us from ourselves, defeating death and paying the price of sin on a cross, it was the man that He grew into being.
God had prepared the world for Christ.  If you look at how history played out, the dispersion of Israel had spread God's people around the known earth.  A young man of God would rise to a place of importance with the Babylonians and later the Persians due to his faith in God.  Daniel's visions would have continued to be taught and studied, leading to the magi who recognized the signs in the night sky that announced the birth of the Messiah.
Alexander the Great would conquer the Persians and spread the Greek language throughout the known world so that people would have a common tongue.  The Romans would conquer Greece then keep the common tongue, but would build roads so travel was easier and news could be spread easier.  It would be at this point when Christ came. 
Christ's birth, life and death were planned from before the creation of the world.  He has always been a part of God's perfect plan.  God prepared and moved throughout history to give us the greatest gift we could ever have or receive, Jesus.  God did this for us, Christ died for everyone, not just a chosen few.  His shed blood covered for all who came before Him who faithfully believed in God's promises and for us who live in His new covenant.
Let us remember that Christ is our perfect gift, and He is anything but a cliche.  So, if you, like me, have difficulties during this time of year, focus your heart on the one who came as a child.  Grew into a man, then gave His life freely so that we may spend eternity with Him.
Merry Christmas Everyone. 

Another beginning...

Here I go again, my friends have started a blog to help get the word out that they are going to be moving to Scotland as AG Missionaries.  This has prompted me to pay attention to my own blog and maybe see if I can get this going again.  Hey, maybe in doing this I will reach out to someone and start to move forward with God's call on my life.

By the way, if you read this, check out their blog.  I follow them so you can just click the link.  Mike & Tina Hook have been my friends for a very long time and they are headed on an adventure that will be an incredible blessing to the children of Scotland.  So, if by doing this I manage to get more people to pray for them and maybe help support them as missionaries, then I'm good with that.