mac vs. pc

the war finally came to my front.

Mac vs. PC.

We had been experiencing trouble with the projector in our new building. After months of analyzing, we realized it was the way the computer/media shout/projector were reacting to each other. Combine that with the occasional Media Shout crash, and a decision had to be made.

The pressure to go Mac had been great. I had always been on team PC, and shunned those who said Mac was the only way to go. All the other church media guys laughed at me, told me I was too old-school, that the only way to take our service to the next level was to go Mac…

…and we did.

Got the best Macbook Pro we could afford, the 13″/250, and paired it with ProPresenter 4. And guess what? No issues. Better graphics. Smoother transitions. Multiple uses of video without crashing.

They were right. It is better. For church.

I will say this. If I were looking for a computer for personal use, I would still look at the cheaper, and still powerful, PC options.

But for now, thank you Mac, for making life a little easier…

why?

Why does it take 4 hours to see a doctor at an emergency room on a Thursday night when there’s only 12 people in the waiting room?

Why does the nurse, the doctor, the sign in person, and three or four other hospital workers have to ask you the same 37 questions about latex allergies and how the pain feels on a scale of one to ten?

Why does every size hospital gown leave a smidge of butt showing in the back?

Well, these questions are funny and aggrevating, but guess what? None of them matter when someone you love is in the hospital.

One moment you’re joking about the wildest circumstances, and the next you’re being told by the doctor that it’s more serious than they first thought.

Nothing else really matters at that point. Nothing at all.

Christ told us not to worry about things that aren’t important.

Boy, was he all over that one, or what?

 

what is connection?

We have got some great volunteers at LifePointe church. And, we’ve got a bunch of them! Half of our church are active volunteers, and that’s nothing to sneeze at when it comes to church statistics.

But, I often worry about connection. And by connection, I mean a deep-rooted attachment to one’s surroundings and a committment level to service that exceeds the average.

That’s what I mean by connection.

I always wonder if the people that volunteer under me are experiencing a level of connection that they deserve. You know…the one that God has in store for them.

How can i know? What are the signs? If there is no connection, will interest level stay at a high?

It’s kind of like being married, i guess. There has to be some communication. Asking, listening, lunches…whatever it takes. We only have one shot at helping someone connect with the community, with God, and we can’t screw it up. Eyes wide open should be the motto.

Do me a favor…if you think you’re not connected, or are connected and want to take it to a higher level, tell me! Just like my wife tells me when I’m not taking our relationship to the next level.

Only…I promise I won’t tell you to wait until the commercial comes on.

Is there a God?

Ahhhh…that is the question. The one question that secular humanists have been asking themselves for centuries.

You know, I think to help answer this question, i’m going to put on my “atheist hat.”

If God doesn’t exist, and man is truly all by himself on this big, blue marble, and everything we’ve accomplished up til now can only be attributed to man’s greatness, then what do we have?

Well, according to the latest count, there are 2.1 billion Christians in this world. If there were no God, then there are 2.1 billion (yes…I know that not all Christians act in a Christian way) people that are trying to be the nicest, the best humans they can be. 

2.1 billion people giving portions of their paychecks to help others, buying groceries for the needy, smiling at someone having a bad day, hugging someone that just experienced a tragedy.  

2.1 billion people building houses for the poor, risking their lives to get medicine to the sick in third world dictatorships, trying to spread hope in the most hopeless parts of the world.

2.1 billion people just trying to help.

Now, if there were no God, and these Christians were following a false hope…well, is there a better false hope to follow?

And, by the way, I think that 2.1 billion people promoting that same hope proves that there is a God.

 

Mother’s Day, Speed Racer, and the such…

As we prepare for our annual Mother’s Day service at LifePointe Church, I am becoming very nostalgic. Not prohibition-do-the-lindy-buy-bonds nostalgic…just recalling-the-great-things-about-my-mom nostalgic.

I have to ask myself “would I do the things for her she did for me?”

The answer: It’s hard to say.

Would I give up the last slice of pie? Probably not…but in hindsight, I should have!

Would I work for the government for 35 years so that I could have a spoiled kid squander the paychecks I brought home? Probably not.

Would I go to stupid plays, baseball, football, soccer and basketball games, boring PTA conferences, and the likes, without complaining…once?  Absolutely not.

You know, this list could go on forever, but I just want it on the record that I’m not half the person my Mom is.

Oh, yeah…and I saw Speed Racer this weekend and it kicked butt!

Thanks, Mom, and I hope you have a great Mother’s Day!

 

A Fresh Start

I am giving this blog a fresh start. Please view it at it’s new addres: https://lifepointemediaguy.wordpress.com/

Thanks!

Thunder Over Louisville Confession

Over the past week, I have been asked one question, over and over and over again.

“Did you like Thunder?”

For those who don’t live in our beautiful city, Thunder Over Louisville is a massive fireworks display that takes place annually. It is allegedly the largest firworks display in the nation. Billions of people wedge themselves downtown and along the riverbank to view this amazing show. It is not only a point of pride for the city, but it almost borders on religious ritual for most who live here. Last Saturday was that day.

There is only one problem: I don’t care about it.

Please don’t misunderstand. I love that it’s a huge event and gets great coverage (in fact, one of the local tv stations not only broadcast it, they also ran pre-firework and post-firework shows, as well as re-playing the entire event for those who attended, but would love to catch it again…and again.).

I love that my friends love it. I love that it brings visitors to the area.

I just don’t love the fireworks. And I’m sorry.

The worst part? The looks of shock, disbelief and disappointment when people find out I didn’t see the display. It is as if a scarlett letter was placed on my shirt.

So…I apologize for missing the big event….but, I did enjoy bowling on my new Wii.

Doesn’t that count for something?

What? Another Contest?

I’m in another one of my writing competitions right now, and I need people to read and rate the stories below. They’re both really short, and I think really good!Help out a brother and give these a read! Thanks!

Goonies Schmoonies!

My last post was about my prowess as a movie watcher.

I have recently been reminded, however, that my movie watching record cannot be recorded until I have viewed what some are calling the “must see” movie of the eighties.

The Goonies.

That’s right…I have never seen the Goonies. Me and a monk on some Tibetian mountain top are the only two who have not witnessed the miracle of movie making that apparently is the Goonies.

When I announced the absence of this flick on my viewing history list, the gasps that erupted from the table were not only audible, but sharp. I was told, not in so many words, that until I viewed this “masterpiece,” I could not comment on any movie.

So, not to fall in with the peer pressure crowd, I Tivo’d The Goonies last night. I plan to set aside 135 minutes in the next few days to watch this piece of fine movie making (135 minutes!?!?).

I usually only spend my time watching critically acclaimed movies and the finest television programs, so this will be a stretch for me.

Now, excuse me, there’s a Star Trek marathon on the Sci-Fi Channel…

Who’s Your Movie Watchin’ Daddy?

The year was 1981. The hostages in Iran were freed as Ronald reagan took the oath. Pope John Paul II was wounded by a gunman. A little network called MTV graced our sets for the first time, and Pacman mania was at full speed. A horse named Pleasant Colony won a little race called the Kentucky Derby. And, the greatest movie that would ever grace the silver screen premiered, changing my movie viewing life forever.

Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Indian Jones did it all…got the babes, whacked the bad guys, found the treasure, swung across ravines with his whip, whacked more bad guys, taught a little school, took on the Nazis, traveled across the sea on the outside of a submarine, faced a gazillion snakes, and whacked even more bad guys…all in 115 minutes.

I first saw it at a drive in movie with my parents. The first feature was an all-time classic: Popeye, starring Robin Williams, and Shelley Duvall as the beautiful Olive Oyle. I believe it was overlooked at the Academy Awards for political reasons. (I jest. I hate that movie.)

After filling my belly with snuck in snacks (“frugal” parents…instead of movie popcorn, I got generic pretzels…) , the screen lit up with the opening moments of this classic. A non-descript man in a fedora walking thru the forest with some shirpas. What had I gotten myself into?

Oh, the impatience of a 16 year old. Had I waited another 5 minutes to pass judgement, I would have given it three thumbs up!

After that night, I saw the movie two more times at the Dayton Mall theater. Indoor theaters are always better than drive-ins (my Dad says it’s because you can pick your own seat…then he laughs hysterically. Welcome to my childhood.). Then, after a several month run, it went away.

But then, a wonderful thing happened. The Dabel Theater, a couple blocks from my house, began running something new…second run features. For $1. And guess what the first movie shown was. RAIDERS! Oh…My…Gosh!

I saw that film 26 times while it ran there. 26 times. I even took my grandpa once to see it. He said it was too loud. I never took grandpa to another movie.

Why do I tell this story? No real reason, really. Just want to give you a glimpse of my childhood. None of that pesky excercise or playing outdoors for me…just alot of butt-n-the-seat movie goin’.

Oh yeah…the new Raiders movie comes out on May 22. The trailer is to the right. I got goose bumps just writing that.