Baskin Robins

What do really long lines, fire trucks, and bag-pipes have in common...31 cent ice cream scoop that's what.

SHINE video

I stole this from Erica, who found it from someone else's blog from Buckhead Church. Enjoy.

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Technorati tags: shine, rap, video, buckhead, church, david, bible, character

Goals vs. Feelings (Thoughts from my Wife)

This is my wife. I am proud of her.
Goals vs. Feelings

Technorati tags: goals, feelings, wife, blog, post

Office

I'm so glad that I moved office space and now have an official desk...with enough room for a picture. Even if the picture is almost 3 years old!

Pastor Mitch Ribera

Our Lead Pastor did an excellent job at our video shoot the other day. This is some extra video taken from my FlipUltra camera. Just a couple of minutes of Pastor Mitch getting ready to give a very inspirational message via video to our Family Life volunteers. Thank you for being such a great sport about dressing in an old racing uniform and standing in the sun!


Technorati tags: pastor, mitch, ribera, new, harvest, church, boomers, video, shoot, extra, footage, flip, ultra, message

Father-In-Law @ the Game

Number 13.

Turnpike (Jr. High) Student Ministry

Here's a little taste of what a typical Sunday morning looks like in Turnpike. What you see here is a tiny bit of our "hosting" time. This is when a volunteer gets everyone's attention by engaging some or all of the students in a silly quiz or game. Thanks to Laura Dinsdale for her first time hosting! Then you'll see students leading some worship songs. When you won't see in this video is our Communicator or our Small Group Time. Enjoy the vid.

Technorati tags: turnpike, student, ministries, new, harvest, church, jr, high, sunday, morning, video, youtube, worship

Family Life Team - Racing

The Family Life Team from New Harvest Church shot a video out at Boomer's yesterday. Jim Weaver directed our video. You can see what he had to say about our adventure here. Not only was it work, but it was a blast. This is one of the many reasons I love my job. What other job in the world allows you to play, build a sense of team and work all at the same time...well, maybe a pro-sport player, or someone who works at Google. Besides those two examples I can't think of any others. Enjoy some extra footage from my Flip Ultra camera. It's shaky...but I'm trying to drive at the same time!

Technorati tags: new, harvest, church, clovis, ca, boomers, racing, grits, music, jim, weaver, family, life, ministry, team

Fresno State Faith Debate Round II

Lateupdate.com decided to find bloggers who had reacted to the debate and post about it. They used my video and tried to represent a fair balance of news. However, the article leans heavier on the side of the Central Valley Alliance of Atheists and Skeptics. Why? Simply because Christians need to step up their blogging game. If they could find more out there...they would have used it, but this is all they got. Check out any part of the debate on their website by clicking here. (Hopefully they will change their reference to me from "she" to "he")

Creative Chaos // 8

This is part of the Creative Chaos blog carnival.

We're doing a mission trip to Mexico this summer. Announcing it hasn't really gotten much buzz. This week we're going to throw up the trip logo. Hopefully we can start our own "10 Before" soon. In the mean time check out the trip logo.

or

Technorati tags: creative, chaos, ragamuffinsoul.com, mission, mexico, 08, new, harvest, church, turnpike, catalyst, student, ministry

Shooting a Video for DRIVE

I gotta admit I like to see what's going on...and when it's in real-time...it's even cooler.

Watercooler Wednesdays: The Winner's Circle

*This is part of the Watercooler Wednesday Blog Carnival*

On May 2nd New Harvest Church is holding someting called The Winner's Circle. Basically we want to reward, entertain and recognize our awesome Family Life ministry volunteers. That means small group leaders, story-tellers, communicators, musicians, production teams, hosts, greeters, coaches, and many more (about 200 in all). We are doing a racing theme, since our ministry environments are mostly centered around streets or racing (Turnpike, Starting Line, etc.).

We are going to have some pretty awesome stuff. Basically we looked at what NP does for the DRIVE conference and said...how can we do something like that for our volunteers with a much smaller budget? Hopefully you'll see some video highlights after the event happens!

Technorati tags: watercooler, wednesdays, new, harvest, church, the, winner's, circle, DRIVE, conference, blog, carnival

Exponential 2 :: Andy Stanley

I just stole this post from this guy. But I really wanted to share what he said.

Andy Stanley spoke on Making Vision Stick in session 2 @ Exponential.  A few quoteables...

"'You're the Christ, the Son of the Living God...' - that is the glue that holds us all together.  We may not agree on anything else, but we can agree on that."

Vision always begins as a burden.
The challenge for those of us in leadership is making what's clear 'in here' has to become clear 'out there' or people can't follow us.
Making vision stick is central to leading people.

5 Keys to Making Vision Stick:
1. State it simply

• Memorable is portable
• The Curse of Knowledge - you know so much about everything you're doing, but the people you're leading don't know. It's your responsibility to make it clear.
  
• What do people show up at work everyday to do?
• If you can't communicate it simply, it won't stick.
  
• Is it any advantage to have an incredibly well though out plan that no one knows about or understands.

2. Cast it convincingly

• Define the problem
  • what must be done in our environment?
  • what could go undone if we ceased to exist?
• Offer a solution
• Explain the why and why now
  • this is where the passion comes - this is what motivates people to act

3.  Repeat it regularly

• Discover your rhythms and cast vision accordingly
• Vision doesn't naturally stick..it leaks.  You have to repeat it.

4. Celebrate systematically

• There are no photographs to show people if you're taking them to a place they have never been
• When you catch someone living out the vision, make them a public example
• Stories do more to clarify the vision than anything else
• People need living illustrations

5. Embrace it personally and publically

• When you do, it's obvious that you really do believe it
• When you share your own stories, you're not bragging, you're letting people see your commitment

Andy Stanley talking about vision is like throwing him a slow softball pitch - it's a home run every time.  The greatest part of this talk was how frank, open and honest Andy was at the beginning about his personal story and how North Point began.  For more, check out his book by the same title.

Technorati tags: andy, stanley, jay, hardwick, exponential, conference, keys, to, making, vision, stick

A Post from Erica's Cell Phone

Take a trip over to Erica's blog for more info on what's going on in this picture.

Technorati tags: turnpike, student, ministry, worship, erica, foster, blog, new, harvest, church

Buckhead Church Opener Video

It starts off slow, but just give a few seconds. It's awe-inspiring.

Fresno State Faith Debate 2008

Fresno State and New Covenant Community Church helped put on a debate this past Friday night. Here's a little video describing the experience of our students.

You're Welcome.

Family Life Volunteers - You're Invited to the Winner's Circle

Donald Miller in Fresno, CA

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to hear Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz, speak at Fresno Pacific University. New Harvest Church bought a table at the 2008 Central Valley Ministry Forum and I decided to put together a video of our "take-aways." I hope you enjoy it.

Technorati tags: donald, miller, blue, like, jazz, fresno, pacific, university, central, valley, ministry, forum, youtube, video, take-aways

Creative Chaos // 7

Los challenged us today to think of something creative we've done recently. This past Sunday night in Catalyst, our high school student ministry environment, I decided to run the light board. We pulled away all of our seating accept for six couches and some floor space. Basically, we forced them to sit together, very  intimately. The result...they felt each other's presence. They sang. They were louder than ever. They were more comfortable than ever. They were real. Here's a video of our band practicing. (Warning: Not good quality sound, but hey it's just a flip camera.)

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Technorati tags: carlos, creative, chaos, ragamuffinsoul.com, catalyst, student, ministry, new, harvest, church, fip, camera, worship, practice, intimacy

Look what was in my box @ work today!

There's something fishy about this.

Guitar Hero III Dancers

And they didn't even know.

Guitar Hero III

Video to come...

Recent Worship Sets

Here's a sampling of the recent worship sets we've done in our student ministry environments.

Turnpike (Jr. High)
April 13th
You Are - Todd Fields
Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
Jesus Paid It All - Kristian Stanfill Version

This Upcoming Week
April 20th
Take It All - Hillsong United
Counting on God - Desperation Band
Beautiful the Blood - Steve Fee (Fee Band)


Catalyst (High School)
April 13th
Counting on God - Desperation Band
All Because of Jesus - Steve Fee (Fee Band)
From the Inside Out - Krisitan Stanfill Version

This Upcoming Week
April 20th
Salvation is Here -Hillsong United
Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill
How He Loves - Eddie Kirkland Version

What's the latest songs you've been introducing into your ministry?

Technorati tags: worship, song, set, list, catalyst, turnpike, student, ministry, new, harvest, church, todd, fields, charlie, hall, kristian, stanfill, desperation, band, hillsong, united, steve, fee, eddie, kirkland

My Good Friend: Paul Haugen

This past Sunday I got a tweet from Paul Haugen. He works at another church here in town and his tweet reads "Just started a song with the capo in the wrong spot. We had to stop. 1000 people just laughed at me 11:15 AM April 13, 2008 from txt " Watch the video I stole from his blog.

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Technorati tags: sing, to, the, king, in, two, keys, you, tube, video, paul, haugen, clovis, hills, church

A Sad Day @ Catalyst Church in Greenville, SC

This is crazy. Catalyst Church, a Strategic Partner of North Point Ministries, is closing their doors. I've seen some pretty cool things happening over the blogosphere with these guys the past few months. They launched a campaign to raise support called "It's Up To Us." They've got incredible worship leaders and this video will help you to see what a special place it has been. Pray for them as they finish out the next few Sundays and as people start the shuffle of "what's next?"

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Technorati tags: catalyst, church, strategic, partner, north, point, ministries, greenville, south, carolina, eddie, kirkland, lift, high, song, video, you, tube

@ the Fresno Grizzlies Baseball Game

"cha-cha now"

Creative Chaos // 6

Creative Chaos // 6
Today's Creative Chaos challenge at Los' Blog is this "post on where it is that we go to find our personal creativity. And it HAS to be outside the office. And Tell Us Why..."

For me, it's nature. I am inspired by parks, trees, and the simple-complexity of it all. But my absolute favorite place to unlocks both creativity and peace is sitting at the bottom of Lower Yosemite Falls. Check it out...

Technorati tags: yosemite, falls, creative, chaos, ragamuffinsoul.com, carnivalblog, creativity, spark, nature

How to get into a church band

Saw this video on the Fee Band blog a few days ago. Just thought I'd pass it along. Imagine if we let just anybody come up on stage and play whatever instrument they wanted.

Technorati tags: fee, band, steve, blog, how, to, get, into, a, church, band, worship, instrument

Leadership Training Institute

Today I met with our newest LTI intern. His name is Ryan Smith. He has two kids, one of them is in our high school ministry (Catalyst) and you can see a post about him if you click here. Ryan owns a tile shop in Fresno, Ca. It's called Creative Tile. He and his wife almost divorced a couple of years ago. Ryan came to Christ in August of 2006. His life has been transformed by Christ! I mean transformed. He is now a volunteer in Catalyst and he has just started the LTI program here at New Harvest Church. His story pumps me up. Isn't it amazing that one person's story can fuel you to love Jesus more and more? I'm excited to see what happens in the 24 months of his internship.

Technorati tags: creative, tile, fresno, california, kaleb, smith, ryan, smith, tara, smith, catalyst, student, ministry, new, harvest, church, leadership, training, institute, LTI

Twitter Explained in Plain English

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Thanks to Big T-Licious I came across this video which will explain to you why I use Twitter.com and why it's so great.

Technorati tags: twitter, big, t-licious, northpoint, youtube, video, explained, in, plain, english

Kaleb Smith | Catalyst Student Ministry Drummer

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Not bad for a 16-year-old with some raw talent.

Technorati tags: catalyst, student, ministry, kaleb, smith, youtube, drummer, video, worship, team

I never get tired of this video...

Thanks to twitter.com/iamkida for sharing it again on his blog.

Holographic Video Feed - What does this mean for a multi-site Church?

Digital Illusions LLC

Basically...a company is has developed the technology to "beam up" speakers on a stage...possibly even worship teams or communicators...wow, they even say this will be in a home someday. Crazy!

Technorati tags: digital, illusions, beam, me, up, holographic, experience, on, stage

Andy Stanley Fire Alarm Sunday

Woops! But isn't that incredible timing? Crazy!

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The real story behind the fire alarm is that there was a hip-hop/rapper doing a concert for the the Jr. High ministry of the church. The hazers set the fire alarm off. Hope nobody gets fired over this...hahaha.

Technorati tags: andy, stanley, north, point, community, church, fire, alarm, video

DRIVE Conference '08

DRIVE '08 is coming up and it's coming up fast. DRIVE '06 rocked my world and totally transformed the way I approach, look at and execute ministry. My wife and I want to go to DRIVE, but we just can't make it on our own. If you want to help us get there...email me. In the meantime check it out for yourself. DRIVE

Technorati tags: drive, conference, 08, atlanta, north, point, community, church, andy, stanley, buckhead, browns, bridge, ministry, Jesus

Our Easter Video Follow Up

Go back, watch the first video, then see what happened last night. This is amazing.

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