media and mother’s day

As Mother’s Day approaches, I see men and women, but mostly men, scrambling for ideas for a last minute gift. For some reason, men were not born with the gene that allows a normally sentient being to pick out a gift for someone they care about.

So here’s my gift to those people….

Media. Create a small but personally piece of media to give your Mom.

Mom’s love memories. That’s what they live on, what drives them. So why not take a couple of dozen photos of family events and put them into a simple, yet effective, presentation?

With programs that already come on your computer, such as Windows Movie Maker on PC’s, or iMovie on Macs, you can take those photos (you’ll need to scan them if they aren’t already digital), an appropriate piece of music, create a short masterpiece, put it on a DVD,and give your Mom a gift that will have her believing she raised the most incredible, sensitive and amazing child on Planet Earth! And you did it for FREE!

Or, buy a digital photo frame, load those pictures on it, and your Mom will swoon as she see’s a picture-show of her life dissolving in and out on the frame before her. This option may cost you $50-$80.

Option #3: Go old-school! Buy a scrapbook at Walmart, and place those photos in it, along with other tidbits from the past, and you’ve got another winner.

Memories. Create a gift based on memories, and you will make your Mom’s Day.

why do christian movies stink?

O.K., the title to this post may not be fair. But, if you love the movie industry, you must agree that a vast majority (95%-99%) of Christian films stink.

Now, I’m not talking about the big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, such as The Ten Commandments or Passion of the Christ. I’m talking about the movies made in the past two decades produced specifically for the “church going” market. Duds like “Time Changers” and “Facing the Giants.”

Those are all well-intended flicks, but they’re awful because they are not relevant and in order to appeal to what they feel is their target market, they use dialogue that only Ned Flanders could appreciate!

Laugh, cry…the whole gambit

Gotta be honest with you…I’m an emotion pimp.

It’s true. I want to see people cry or laugh or whatever when they watch my videos or read what I write.

So, when I create a video for the Sunday message, or choose a moving graphic for the background of a song, I always ask myself “Will this bring a tear to their eyes?”

I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I’ve always felt my job was to add support to whatever is being said or sang on stage, and if that message or song is meant to be poignant and meaningful to someones life, how can I help to invoke that feeling?

Every now and then, I like to take a peak back thru the audience. I like to see if there’s laughter or crying because of what I helped do.

Don’t get me wrong…I never want what I throw up on the screen to be the focal point, or to take away from what the Pastor or Worship Leader is doing. I just want to make sure that what is up there can help give that extra nudge over the emotional ledge.

I am an emotion pimp.