Why Don't You Ever Write?

I apologize...I have not kept up with the blog here lately. It seems that life can get really crazy...really fast!
Busyness isn't always bad...busyness can mean productivity...it can mean getting things done. But here are some sure signs busyness is becoming unhealthy.

-You can't sleep
-You don't HAVE time to pray and study the Bible
-You don't HAVE time to have fun with your family
-You either eat too much or not enough
-You are Oscar the Grouch

These are all things that I have been guilty of at one time or another...but God has been doing some amazing things in my life to show me that busyness and peace can exist. There can be times to be still and quiet, and times to be busy and productive.  A godly life is a life of both busyness and quiet.  Here are a few things I have done to introduce the discipline of peaceful striving.

-Making time with God...it doesn't just happen...it takes discipline. This time also changes my busy times from times of stress to times of energy and determination. It allows my work to become a sort of prayer.
-Saying no to good things to do great things...Sometimes you have to pass up good opportunities to do what's right and what's best.
-Priorities...God isn't a priority for me...he is life, he is beyond a priority...I want him to be in all that I say and do. But time with God is a priority for me. Time with my family is a priority for me (and I mean real time...engaged and focused on them and being with them...not just an excuse to be lazy and crash on the couch...although that is what we do sometimes). Rest is a priority for me...if I don't sleep...I don't play nice. Exercise and eating right is a priority...fellowship and prayer with friends are a priority. And I am sure I have many more but you get the point.
-Always look for God in what's going on around you. When you can see God working around you and through you, it becomes easier to understand the pressure you may be under.

These lists aren't all inclusive or exclusive...but these are things that God has taken me through with busyness and finding peace in him amidst busyness. I hope they help!
Peace
Chris

What's Happening

Just wanted to give you a behind the scenes look at what is going on in LCC MEDIA.

-October we will begin to release some of the Scripture Series videos. These will be a chance to get to know some of your fellow LCC people and their favorite scripture and why. The video team does an amazing job and I  can't wait to see them!

-We will begin to look at some creative new ways to keep the weekend message fresh in our minds and hearts throughout the entire week. One idea, that is still in the thinking stages, is a midweek podcast that lets the congregation email in questions about the message then pastors and directors will discuss and answer the questions.  We are looking for more ideas on how to help people stay engaged all week long...if you have any ideas...let me (Chris Reed) know.


Well, I think that's it for now...thank you all again for all you do! This department is only successful because of the grace of God and you guys! Keep up the good work.
Peace
Chris

Looking for Creativity

We are always looking for good ideas here at LCC MEDIA.  There is always newer, cheaper, more creative ways to tackle the problems that confront us.  Some of the things we are trying to tackle here are at LCC MEDIA are...

-communicating the needs of the church and what the church is doing to meet the needs of the community 

-keeping people engaged in the messages and service throughout the week 

-providing opportunity for people to contribute their gifts to God's service

I would challenge you, as part of the MEDIA team, to always be thinking of better ways to do what we do.  

Another Book To Check Out

Just finished a killer book (wow...I have been using killer to describe things a lot...oh well). Hipster Christianity by Brett McCracken is an intelligent look at the church and the culture of cool.  While this book spends a lot of time looking at the history of "cool" and "hipsterdom", the questions that are posed and the opinion that is presented left me nodding in approval and excited to be a part of the ever timeless, ever constant, Gospel of Jesus Christ and His church. I won't tell you his conclusions...that would make it pointless for you to read...but if you lay awake at night thinking about church and culture (like I do sometimes...yeah I know I am weird), this book is for you.

Killer Video Team

Not sure if you know it or not but we have a killer video team here. Here are the two latest videos they did. Mad props to Bryan Wysong and Shawn Gallagan Jr. for editing these and Abi Richards for shooting them.

Small Group Promo Week 2 from Chris Reed on Vimeo.

Small Groups Promo Week 1 from Chris Reed on Vimeo.

August Teaching Series Teaser

Here is August's Series Teaser video...Shot by the ever talented Bryan Wyson and Edited by the smooth cutting skills of Shawn Gallagan.


Faith Series Teaser from Chris Reed on Vimeo.

Wow!

I just wanted to say that I am sorry for slowing down on the twitter and Booth updates...We have some exciting and busy times right now at LCC...keep checking back as I will post pictures from time to time but there will be a little break in the action as we race to finish before the August 1st deadline.

I also wanted to say thank you to all the volunteers that are helping out. You all continue to teach me the true meaning of community and family. And I am proud to be part of the LCC family with all of you!
Peace,
Chris

Books I Would Read If I Were You

Here a few books I just read that I recommend. They are good and will make you think.

Flickering Pixels By Shane Hipps
This book offers some deep thought on technology, media, and how it affects the human brain. Sound boring? Well, it's not! This book presents information to the exact questions we need to be asking when we use media and technology to reach people with the Gospel. Shane is the teaching pastor at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tribes By Seth Godin
Ever thought of becoming a heretic? (Read the book and then you will stop wanting to get me fired for being a heretic) Yeah, me neither until I read Seth Godin's book about leadership. If you are a leader of anything or looking to become one, this book will get you thinking.  Seth is a writer and blogger with great insights into leadership in today's culture.

The Biggest Help

We have so many awesome people willing to help out here at LCC.  I recently added some new people to the mix in LCC MEDIA. I am excited to get them started.  One of the questions that seems to proceed any sort of volunteer position in LCC Media is, "How can I help?" Well...that is a great question, a question I want to answer very frankly with a list. I think this list applies to you as a volunteer, whether you sweep the floors or build beautiful video productions.

1. Love It: Put your heart into what you sign up for...if you don't, it will make all these other things in the list seem tedious, and serving will drain not only your time but your energy as well.  If you don't like what you signed up for, simply change and find something that you do love.

2. Learn It: Be quick to learn and become a self learner for what you sign up for, if your job requires technical training...I guarantee there is some sort of training or tutorial that you can find on the web. Even if the team training hasn't started yet...get a head start. This will make you a valuable tool to the team.

3. Own It: Take it and run with it. Think about it, come up with new ideas for it, find the best way to do what you do.  When what you do becomes less you "helping out" and more you creating, investing, and growing the ministry then you know you're truly "helping out".  Honestly, this shapes your volunteer experience too. The more you own your ministry, the more you're invested, the more you put your heart and soul into it , the more you bless others and the more you get blessing out of it.

4. Share It: Once you get to the place where you completely love what you do, you have learned what you do, you finally own what you do, it's time to share what you do. Passing your gifts and talents on to new members of the team is vital to creating healthy and continuous ministries.

I think a big myth takes place in church. The myth that because I am on staff, you are all here to help me out. I hope you don't see it that way. Because the truth is I am here to help you out.  And I love my ministry. I love giving you opportunities to do what you love to do...to see you flourish in it...to see you serve in a way that makes your heart come alive.
So...I hope you find your place in LCC MEDIA and once you do, I hope you love it, learn it, own it, and share it.  And by the way...How can I help you out?

Peace,
Chris

Let Me Brag

Ok...I want to brag a little bit here.  I have a sound team that is stellar! Each and everyone of them gave of themselves to spend almost three days in a row here at the church to bring you the Gateway event and then set back up for worship on Sunday. They all came...and we all had a good time! I even had people like Jacob Grimmett, Josh Grimmett, and Preston Johnson, who aren't on the Sound team, come and chip in.  So thank you! You guys did a great job! And enjoy the new sound with the live drum kit!

Propresenter 4 Training

If you are interested in learning more about Propresenter we will have a training on July 8th in the Media Room. Whether, you are part of the projection team, use Propresenter in your ministry, or merely want to learn more about Propresenter 4 be sure to join us.

July 8th @ 7pm...Let me know if you plan to be there.

contact:
email me or just leave a comment below

Why Tweet?

Today we start the daily update of LCC's Twitter account. I hope you have all set it up so that you can receive the tweets via your phone. It's a simple way to stay connected to your church body. 

Some of you are social media diehards and are psyched up to be able to hear from the likes of Ron, Matt, and the other staff with thoughts on the message, life, God, and so forth. You're pumped, because no longer will that event that you heard about a month ago, slip your mind or go forgotten. 

Some of you are saying, "What the heck is Twitter!" Well, Twitter is a site that lets you, in 140 characters, send updates to those who have decided to follow your tweets. The great thing about Twitter is that it has the ability to send you a text of the tweets coming from LCC.  So whatever we update, that information will come straight to your phone.  It's a really neat tool to keep you connected with information and short thoughts. (Just so you know, we realize not everyone has unlimited texting, We will not abuse this tool for that reason and plan on sending no more than 3 tweets a day, you can also choose not to link twitter to your phone, it's up to you)

Some of you are saying, "I know what Twitter is, but why do we need to do that, it's impersonal, it's just another thing to take us away from real relationship." Well, I suppose it could become that. But here is my philosophy on social media. Social Media is not a stand alone way to build relationship or a replacement for face time. Social Media is a tool, just like the telephone, that we can use to stay connected and pass information along that would have either been inefficient or impossible any other way.  It is predominately more time efficient for reaching mass amounts of people with information than calling and most people either do not have email handy or do not check it. Everyone (ok...most everyone) carries a cell phone on their person.  Relationships are extremely important at LCC and how we interact and grow as people and a church is important.  I know social media affects how we interact and grow. I know that it could be misconstrued as the only tool needed to have relationship. But with prayer and an understanding that Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other online social sites are just one of many powerful tools to add to our relational arsenal, we can effectively use these tools to further Christ's kingdom and provide you with up-to-date information that keeps you connected to LCC.  

I pray that you will begin to learn these tools, use these tools, and engage in prayer and discussion on how to best use them in light of growing healthy relationships and healthy discipleship. 

Peace,

Chris

   

For All You Pro-Presenters Out There

Projection team...and any one else interested in learning the Propresenter 4 software, here are some tutorials to get you kicked started on learning. (By the way if you didn't know...Propresenter 4 is what we use to present the words and videos on Sunday morning).

Propresenter 4 Tutorials

P.S. And By The Way

The drawings of the booth were done by the very talented Ben Crawford.

And...I apologize if you received yesterday's email more than once...I had to send by the groups in CCB and some of you are involved with more than one team...so that is why you got it more than once...Sorry for the inconvenience.

Making A Big Impact

Someone once told me, everyone wants to make a big impact, but it's taking care of the small things that get it done. I cherish this wisdom. It reminds me that if I ever want to be effective in ministry it starts with the little things. Media is surrounded by the cool and the big. Media is flashy and it gets people's attention. This makes media a great tool to reach a culture that is saturated in it. But we can quickly forget that there are important foundational elements to our ministry (yes, you are all ministers...you minister through media).  Here is a list of things that I feel is important in creating solid foundation for ministry. And though these things may seem "little" they support the rest of our ministry.

• Time alone with God: This is the most basic and fundamentally important part to doing ministry.  Without this, you will find nothing but burnout and frustration. This keeps you focused on why you sacrifice your time and talent to do what you do for the church. This keeps you focused on what your true love needs to be...God!
• Character: Excellence comes from focus on the small details. An excellent character comes from doing the right thing no matter how inconvenient and unimportant. Character is vital to our ministry. Are we perfect? No...but we repent and get back to doing the right thing.
• Take Care of Yourself: No this isn't self help...self indulgent...self focused, taking care of yourself. Ministry takes sacrifice and dying to yourself. But this is how you become most effective for your ministry...if you're tired your work slacks...if you're out of shape you wear out quicker...if you aren't taking measures to grow your faith (such as making sure you are taking part in the corporate gathering..i.e. sitting in church, not just serving) your ministry will be less or ineffective and you will just become a casualty of burn out. 
• Stay Connected: This almost falls under the "take care of yourself" but it's more about realizing that you aren't doing this alone.  Stay connected to your small group...stay connected to your team...stay connected to the church.  Isolation will wipe you out.

What we do here is extremely important and it's way bigger than any one of us. We have to stay focused on the little things! The little things matter.

Peace,
Chris

SHHH! Don't Tell Anyone!

As most of you know there will be some renovations coming soon to the sanctuary. Here at THE BOOTH I wanted to give you a sneak peak at the plans for the new media booth.

No More Squeaky Guy!

Who's that awesome voice doing the voice overs for the video announcements? No, we didn't pay for professional voice talent to come in...she volunteers! Lara Price is a new addition to the LCC MEDIA team and she comes with 16 years of broadcasting experience. A fact that can be quickly known just by listening to her recordings.  Keep up the good work Lara!

What's Coming Up For Sound!

Remember, July 2 at 7pm is the Gateway Worship event in the sanctuary.  The sound guys are getting ready by putting together LCC's new drum booth (and an acoustic kit will be played at LCC after Gateway leaves...YEAH DRUMMERS!!), and clearing the stage. If your interested in taking part of the tear down we are meeting Thursday night (July 1) at 6pm. Also, if your interested in helping put it back together, we will be working Saturday morning (July 3) at 8AM.

Thanks to the two teams coming in to help with the Gateway event!!!!!!

Welcome

Media people tend to spend a lot of time in things called "booths." The sound booth, the media booth, the recording booth...you get the picture. THE BOOTH is important! THE BOOTH is where it all goes down. THE BOOTH is where you will come to find the answer to all of life's questions. Well not really. But what you can do here at THE BOOTH is stay connected and inspired.

You will find interesting articles, opportunities, small notes from me, reminders, tutorial posts, team highlights, "wins" celebrated, product reviews, chances to discuss, some behind the scene sneak peaks and many more things here at THE BOOTH.

Peace,
Chris (Reed)
Director of Media