Batman

With all the talk of the new Batman movie I would just like to say one thing...Michael Keaton is my all time favorite Batman in the "Batman" and "Batman Returns" movie. I can't believe it was 1989 when the first Batman movie came out...time flies!

Spotlight

I know today, a tiny little bit, how Eric feels every service. It is really scary to stand up center stage in front of the church. I didn't realize how big the place really looks until you are looking out. Lots and lots of eyeballs looking back. :)

As part of the "Healer" song today, three of us came up during the bridge and gave our testimony of healing. For those who don't know, God healed me 2 years ago from degenerative disk disease in my back. It had gotten so bad that there were times when I had to physically crawl from room to room and I even lost mobility in my leg (had to drag it around when I walked). At 29, I the x-rays showed a spine of someone who was over twice my age. The doctors told me that my only real option would be surgery before I was 40 to fuse part of my lower spine. I knew that my only REAL option was to get on my face before God. I fasted and prayed...and God touched my back with complete healing. I was even told that I would never be able to have any more children due to the fact that the weight would be too great for my spine to handle. After my healing, God blessed me with a beautiful little girl...I didn't have a single back pain while I was pregnant. Praise God.

Pre-Service Slides

Part of my job (a very small part) is to make pre-service slides for Sunday. The problem is that they are way down on my list of priorities for the week and normally don't get done in time. One of the things that I have restructured in my weekly plan is to make sure and keep the announcements up to date. Due to the short work week for me, I had to make 12 slides today. Now, if you are creative at all you will know that designing 12 of anything is hard to do in a week, much less one day. I was burning up Photoshop today! :)

Here are a couple that I was asked to make today...

1. "Please visit restrooms before service begins." Now, you know who you are...getting up several times during service to go to the potty. If I had my way, I would have the doors lock on your way out so you don't disrupt service on your way back in. You have to feel 500+ eyes burning a hole through you on your way back in. I am in the media room directing the television broadcast and see you creep back into my camera shot...I normally yell "sit down!" :)

2. "Please silence cell phones before service." Pastor Mike called someone out last week for a cell phone ringing and it was awesome. He said "tell them I am a little busy right now and will have to call them back."

3. "Nursery Available." Now this is the most sensitive issue at church. We, at The Torch, have the best and most loving nursery staff ever! They truly care about our kids (my baby has been in the pod since she was an infant...for both services). As a parent, just upfront, I love kids....BUT NOTHING is more distracting to those in the sanctuary than a baby crying or a toddler screaming for his/her crayons. I would hate to know that it was my Breelyn who kept the people around me from hearing a word from God.

Go Speed Pastor!

This is the funniest thing that I have seen in a long time and when I saw Pastor put on these glasses, Speed Racer was my first thought. "Go Speed Pastor!" If I get in trouble for posting this...it was worth it. :)

Sleepy!

Last night, I got home from a two day staff retreat at the lake. I took a ton of pics but have been threatened with an inch of my life if I post them (sorry everyone). We had full days of meetings (boooo) and then we had the rest of the evening to spend "fun in the sun" with each other and our families. The main topic of discussion centered around the church vision. Where are we headed? What can we do to reach more unchurched people? What else do we need to be doing to fulfill our vision of "Connecting People with God and Others". We came up with a lot of great ideas on how to restructure things we are currently doing and evaluated areas that we need to expand our outreach. Personally, I am excited about the changes that are getting ready to take place in the media ministry!!!!
Monday night was awesome! We all stayed up LATE and played one of Eric's favorite card games called Mafia. Everyone got a card and were either a towns person, a cop or a mafia member. Mary Beth Thomas and I always seemed to be partners either taking out towns people or saving them as cops. It was a great time for us, as a staff, to get together and spend time getting to know each other outside of the office. It was a lot of fun!

MONSTER!!!

My son is obsessed with bugs...any size and any kind. Well yesterday after we got home from church, he brought in the biggest bug I think I have ever seen in person. You know those large strange caterpillars that you see on National Geographic. Yeah, it was one of those monsters. It was as long as his hand and as big around as a hotdog. MONSTER! Of course, I am not one to love bugs so it really freaks me out that he is holding it right now on my sofa!!!!! Pic to post later....I gotta get to work!

Today at The Torch

On a rare occasion from time to time, I get to sit with my husband Mike in the sanctuary during service. Today started out that way. About 30 minutes into service I got a wave from Daniel (who was running camera at the time) to get upstairs quickly. I had noticed during service that there was a strange "blip" on just the side screens for about 1.5 seconds. It was only once so I assumed that someone had accidentally touched a cable that might have been loose or the hateful scan converter. As I sprinted up the stairs (in shoes that were not conducive to running), apparently the screens "blipped" again.
With the fear of messing with anything during service, I decided to check on it later. Come to find out, one of the master cables has a bad end on it and will have to be replaced (I'm glad that's all it was). I apologize to those in the sanctuary who were distracted from the message by the strange "green glowing blip" on the screen during 2nd service. That's technology for ya!
Also, the Worship video seemed to have gone over very well in the services this morning. I will post it on youtube closer to the end of the week so that those who missed it can enjoy it.

What is Worship?

This Sunday we will be showing a video before service that I edited (and Daniel Usher videotaped) entitled "What is Worship?". It is a really powerful look into what some of our praise team members consider worship. Here is a sneak peak screen shot:

New editions!

New addition to our family.

Jackson and Ryder Cantrell

Born July 3, 2008

Parents: Corey (my first cousin) & Haley Cantrell

They are sleeping together in a "Moses Basket".

Happy Birthday to Me!

I'm not going to say how old I really am but it looks like my birthday cake only has 5 candles on it. :)

The Death of Torch Blog

The staff of the Torch, I won't mention any names (Eric, Bob & Scott) aren't blogging on their personal sites anymore. What is strange is that people are still checking their sites everyday to see if they are posting anything new...they are not! If you see them in the hall at church (even if you don't read their blog) please tell them that you love their blog site and miss reading their posts....don't tell them I told you to say that though! ;)

In Tough Times

Pastor Mike shared tonight on how to deal with the tough times in our lives (he called it "barren" times - Isaiah 54)
1. Praise (Praise God anyway, regardless of hard times. Praise in faith that He will see us through)
2. Prepare in Faith (Even in barren times, God is still working out His plan in our lives. TRUST God's Plan)
3. Don't Fear (stand without fear...have faith)
4. Forget the Past (We tend to say "what if" and second guess life decisions we have made)
5. Remember the covenant (the promise) that God made with you.

Real Life ER

Yesterday was such a dramatic day. The daycare that my children attend couldn't get me on my cell phone so one of the teachers got in her car and came to find me! Needless to say when I saw her coming down the hallway of the church, my heart fell to my feet. She said that my son "had an accident at school".

I rushed out to get him and take him to the ER. After a catscan on his head and neck, the doctor came to the diagnosis that Colton had pulled a muscle in his neck. Praise God that is all it was! I took this photo of Colton asleep in the ER while we were waiting for the results of the catscan. His neck only hurts when he lays flat or looks up...this position seemed not to hurt. The elephant was a very sweet gift from the "catscan lady".

These kids make me laugh!

Parents Hang UP!

I was leaving our church 4th of July family celebration on Friday night when I noticed something very disturbing on the playground. There were four children on the playground (little kids all under 5 or 6 years old) swinging and on the slides...alone. Yes, their parents were out there...but not really. Mom and Dad were too busy talking on their cell phones to play with their children. A family event with no connection of family. Very sad!

My son, who is 5, gave me a reality check several weeks back after I got finished with a very lengthy cell phone conversation with my mom in the car. After I hung up he said, "mom, why are you always on the phone and don't talk to me?". I was so ashamed and felt horrible. Now we sing and talk about what we have planned for the week or what he did at school. I want him to feel like he is my center of attention and the most important person in the world...because he is!

Jesus wears crocs!

I am reading this incredible book that came highly recommended (thanks Ken) called "Pop Goes the Church" by Tim Stevens. In the Introduction it talks about how Jesus came to the world in first century Palestine and met the people where they were. He didn't wear "God-clothes, speak God-words, and expect the culture to connect."
I am one of those that believe that if Jesus physically entered America today, he would "be where the people are". He would hang out with normal people, go to the movies, own an ipod, wear crocs, and surf the internet so that he could better understand our culture. Don't you think that he would do anything (short of sin) to reach and connect with the non-believers! (That's why a mega church like Newspring have sets of music that aren't just written by Hillsong or Chris Tomlin)
What we have to do as a church is help the believers grow AND be attractive to the non-believers. And that is the challenge, how do we attract the non-believers? Make it appealing and relevant today...Churches are going to have to bring elements of pop culture into their services.

Colton and Spencer Thomas at staff family outing to Braves game last night. For more pics of candid moments, click HERE.

Book Preview

Today I picked up an interesting looking book at the bookstore. The title itself "I Became a Christian and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt" made me open the cover and read the first two chapters while standing in the aisle. I couldn't put it down and even laughed out loud several times at the authors (Vince Antonucci) stories on how he was introduced to Christianity. I am not an avid reader so I put the book down and left the store. I have thought about the book the rest of the day and just ordered it off Amazon.com. I found a link to the book online for those interested.... http://www.lousytshirtbook.com/book.htm

Atlanta Fest

Last night at Atlanta Fest was the best! I have been wanting to see Casting Crowns LIVE for awhile!

NewSpring Church

Due to the fact that we didn't have church the evening of Father's Day, Mike and I visited NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.
A little disappointed that Pastor Perry was on vacation, we still heard an incredible "One Prayer" message from Pastor Ed Young. After service, Director Ken Wilson gave us a backstage tour of the campus and spent over an hour letting us ask him a million questions about NewSpring vision, services and media production. When people say, "I listen to Pastor Mike every week online", I always find that strange...however, I said the exact same thing to Ken about NewSpring's podcasts.
If you have never heard Pastor Noble's "in your face" preaching...check them out online at www.newspring.cc

Today at The Torch

As I entered the back of the church this am, I was met with "you missed all the excitement this morning". What? It was only 8:00am! Apparently while moving in some of our set design into the building, our Worship & Arts Pastor, Eric, cut his hand WIDE OPEN! So after a trip to the ER and 7 stitches, he comes back 3 songs into worship. I have never been to the ER and even left the waiting room in less than 30 minutes. (Eric, if you are reading this...they must have recognize you from tv.) Paul did a wonderful job this morning stepping up and leading worship! For the tv broadcast this week, I am going to superimpose glitter on Eric's bandages and it look like a Michael Jackson glove. :)

Great movies

My gripe with motion picture companies is that too much money is being thrown into special effects and not enough money is put toward paying quality writers for original compelling content. Now, to be fair, I haven't seen Transformers but if the movie trailer is representative to what the movie is all about...I'm not interested.

My son's new favorite movie is ET. Now that is a classic! He thinks its a new release at the movies and wants to know when we can go and see it. He does a killer ET impression, I'm going to record it and post it soon.

"Chick flicks" like Steel Magnolias, Beaches, Sleepless in Seattle, and While You Were Sleeping...now those are great movies! Ok, maybe these aren't packed full of compelling content...but they make me cry! :)

Hospital Visit

Today Breelyn had surgery Tympanostomy Tubes (tubes in ears) and Adenoids removed. She freaked out for a good 40 minutes after surgery but, once she fell asleep, she was down most of the day. She is doing great. Thanks to those who prayed for her.

Media Nightmare

Yesterday wasn't a very good day in the area of Media here at The Torch. We had some sort of strange power failure or surge in the middle of worship that killed everything media including all our stuff in the control room, as well as, lighting and audio in the sanctuary. Something happened between services and our master control computer decided it didn't want to do church at all Sunday PM. I did everything that I thought I knew what to do to get it up and going but the default settings made everyone look strange psychedelic colors (which I'm sure Eric would have liked cause it was keeping it new and different).
God hit me with a thought in the car this morning and I headed straight to the church to work on the computer. I spent about an hour with the computer and finally "life"! I was able to get it up and running and even learned a new trick while I was at it!
If it had been a MAC this wouldn't have happened! :)

Mommy, what is that?

Growing up in the 80s & 90s, I never thought that some of the things that we used everyday would create a "mommy what is that?" response from my 5 year old. I purchased an antique typewriter at a yard sale with the thought that "wow, my kids will never have seen one of these". It's strange that time flies so fast that the things that we grew up will be "antique" in our children's eyes. Bag cell phones, cassette tapes, vhs tapes, rotary phones, walkmans, Space Invaders, Member's Only Jackets and (my favorite) Cabbage Patch Kids are all things that are only a memory.

iFast

In January of every year, our church participates in intense fasting and prayer. We tried to think of how this year could be different than just the Daniel Fast we have done for years. We came up with the "iFast". An iFast is a week long fast of everything related to electronic media including ipods, cell phones, internet, television, movies, radio and video games. It was the hardest fast that I have ever done. Driving 25 minutes to work without radio and not being able to check email was the hardest!

Trying to figure out a way to market the fast to our congregation and let them know that this may not be a sacrifice for everyone, I came up with this iFast video idea using my mom (TiVo) and her friends.

torchmedia

This is the new Torch Media Ministry logo that I finished yesterday! I have been working on a design for over a year but finally came up with something I really love! About time, huh?

To my volunteers....shirts are coming soon!

Obey

The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. - 1 John 2:4

WOW, that passage in scripture just jumps up and slaps you in the face! You are required to obey Him and if you love Him, do as he commands or you are liar. Gives new meaning to "liar liar pants on fire!"

Important Media Ministry Tips.

1. I keep several notebooks. One that is full of sermon ideas, create sermon titles, sketches for marketing designs (including t-shirt ideas and sketches for set designs) and one that is full of conference notes.
I carry a small notebook in my pocketbook because God sends me ideas at the strangest times (I saw a funny bumper sticker that will be a developed sermon idea one day).

2. There is no such thing as too smart! I thrive on seeing a commercial on television and trying to figure out how it was edited and how many layers it would take to create it. I subscribe to a lot of trade publications and, as strange as it sounds, I am a manual reader (even if it has 500 pages).

3. My biggest pet peeve, when it comes to media, is the concept of "use it, if you have it". The best way to kill the mood of a worship service is to swirl lights like a disco and have all 30 lights flashing at the same time...just because we have them...using hearts, stars or sheep falling from the sky editing transitions..just because we have them. Yes, I found out we had the sheep falling transition when I accidentally hit it in our main 11am service (plus it has a baaa sound effect).

More to come...

Memorial Day 08

I've always said that the people in the sanctuary have no clue when things go crazy behind the scenes. Today was a perfect example of mass chaos. 1st service was a media director's nightmare. Timing was off, cues were missed, mics were too low, lighting hot spots on the platform, out of focus shots and way too many chiefs running the production elements. Today was my "sit with my husband day" in the main sanctuary; however, I caught myself getting up and on the headset every 3-5 minutes.
2nd service ran a little smoother (I think we worked most of the kinks out 1st service) but still not great! We revealed a great new stage design this morning (thanks Eric) creating a dramatic and different look to the platform. I look forward to the holiday off work tomorrow to spend with my family.

What a LONG day!

Yesterday had to be the longest work day ever. The Torch hosted one of our local school's honors day. It's not like a typical honors day that I had growing up...seems now that everyone has to be included. The awards are crazy. When I was in school, perfect attendance was given to the student who had NEVER missed a day of school. Now they give 1 year, 2 years, 3 years...and on and on and on. They even had a speaker stand up and give out an award for being "a good helper". WHAT? Strange.

After two honor's day programs in the morning...we had to host a band concert that evening. I think that would be the hardest job on the planet to have to teach a beginning band class... I leave here sometimes with a splitting headache. Let us pray for all band directors!

Did anyone see the video announcements Sunday and notice what was written on the board behind everyone. Too funny! Here is a pic...

My belly hurts from laughing!

This has to be my favorite YouTube video of all time! It makes me laugh everytime I watch it...the little one is too cute!

How fast time is going by!

She Stands! Of course my 5 year old was the first one to see her stand on her own yesterday and mommy missed it...but I got the second stand captured on film.

Don't comment on this pic, I know her pants are way too long. :)

Georgia girl...

As a Georgia girl, born and raised, grits are a staple food at my house. Don't judge until you try them...they are best with a piece of cheese and lots of butter! I had shrimp and grits for the first time this weekend and they were AWESOME!
No, my blog will not totally be centered around food but will have the 3 main staple things in my life "God, Family and Grits".