Even if you have never had the fortune of meeting my friend Christina, I’d ask that you consider helping an amazing cause. It’s nearly impossible to explain how even the smallest gift can make a huge difference, not just in someone’s life now, but for eternity.

And to Christina – Happy Birthday! I’m am exceedingly glad that you were born and that we got to share life over the past (nearly) six years. You’ve meant a great deal to me, and I will always look at the world differently because I have known you. Thank you.

Also, so you don’t think I’ve changed too much – Congratulations on not dying for yet another year, keep your wits about you and you’ll hopefully survive for another 12 months. =)

And in case you missed the link up above: http://web.mac.com/simplychristina/SimplyChristina/simplychristina.com.html

Well, it’s with an odd mix of joyful excitement and near-nostalgic sadness that I post this today. Life has been a whirlwind lately – and it shows no evidence of letting up any time soon. But to get to today, I need to look back at where I’ve come from.

Over five and a half years ago I accepted my first position in ministry. A man who has grown into a good friend – Wes Hartley took a chance on a young, cocky guy who had been muddling through a haphazard career in production. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to do it in the church. God has used Lake Pointe Church to change all that. I have found a true calling and passion to connect people who are far from God with a God who loves them through the art of visual storytelling. Through God’s direction and the experiences I was exposed to at Lake Pointe I learned how to be a minister and a leader as well as growing my craft by leaps and bounds.Because of all this, I began to develop relationships with other ministries and began to see opportunities open up at churches and ministries all across the country.

Today I can let all of you know that I have decided to pursue one of those opportunities. Starting Monday October 31st I will begin the next adventure in my calling as I become the Media Director at Pantego Bible Church, pastored by David Daniels in Ft. Worth Texas. I am resigning at Lake Pointe effective October 27th. I will always cherish the time I spent at Lake Pointe and all that I was able to experience and learn there. However, I look forward to building a budding media ministry into a powerful and effective tool that Pantego can use to reach people in the Ft. Worth area. I know I don’t know everything I’ll need to know and I know I don’t have all the experiences I’ll need to draw from – but I am stepping out on faith that the God who is calling me to this work will provide all of my needs in this next step.

I have met so many amazing people through my time at Lake Pointe – from the lead Pastor Steve Stroope – who has made an indelibly marked and changed my life – to our worship pastor Danny Davis and the other senior staff, to the amazing volunteers of the Go Unseen team. To the staff and people of Lake Pointe – both past and present – I thank you for your investment in my life. It will not be in vain as I continue my Kingdom work now in a different local body. I will miss the media team members who I have worked with daily for the past (nearly) six years – I will miss “No Filter Thursdays” (which quickly spread to all other days of the week), the fun atmosphere we kept no matter how hard the work got, and the rush of seeing it all come together as people’s lives were changed as they encountered a God that loves them.

So – some details. We will eventually move over closer to the church – once we get the house ready we’ll put it on the market and once it’s sold we’ll move over in that direction. Ann will continue to work at Lake Pointe as their Missions Travel Coordinator (at least as long as they’ll let her – and they’d be crazy to do otherwise, she’s passionate about missions and exceptional at what she does there). Since she’s working from home for the most part, she should be able to continue that even after the move. Pantego (at least for the time being) doesn’t have a Saturday night service, so we’re looking forward to two days off a week (probably Friday and Saturday), so there should be more time together as a family – not to mention more time to pursue some creative interests outside of work, so hopefully some shorts will start to be produced by Eddie Pineda (who has been an awesome addition not just to Lake Pointe as my content creator, but to me personally as a friend) and I – but we’ll see how that all shakes out.

Please pray for my family and the ministry we are seeking to be a part of at Pantego Bible Church and also for Lake Pointe as they go through this transition.

Today I answered an email from a Worship Pastor at another church who is considering this. I figured I’d share what I sent to him and maybe add some additional insights as they come to me – please feel free to chime in with your thoughts and experiences doing something similar…

• What software are you running on the iPad? Also, does it allow the capability for the pastor to circle /underline something as he teaches, using his finger?

We’ve used a few different ones. We’ve used Keynote for just a straight presentation (with no drawing or writing live). We’ve used Adobe Ideas which is strictly a drawing app – it allows multiple layers (including one photo layer), but does not have the ability to input text. This past week we used Note Taker HD, which allows you to have multiple pages, input text, and draw. It also has the ability to annotate PDFs, which can be used to bring in background art or pre-produced pieces. Note Taker (and some of the other VGA capable softwares) are a little laggy on the VGA output when drawing or changing things on the fly with the original iPad. We’ve used a personally owned iPad 2 for testing (and then we used it with Note Taker this past week) and it is noticeably faster. For this application, if you do not have an iPad yet, I would highly recommend getting the newer model.

As for the drawing aspect, this is software dependent. We have tested the following software that allows for this ability. Some worked, some didn’t – none of them were exactly what we needed, but we made a couple work. These were all tested pre-iOS 4.3 (before VGA mirroring), so having the VGA output capability pretty much limited us to this list:

• Penultimate: The best at writing and drawing, but no capability to bring in pre-done artwork. It also has great organization in multiple notebooks. The VGA output has white pillar-boxing.
• Whiteboard: No capability of multiple slides, importing artwork is clunky
• AirSketch: No VGA output, but outputs via WiFI – interesting concept, but our WiFi wasn’t reliable enough. Can input graphics, but does not have multiple slide/page capability.
• Note Taker HD: A little clunky in the multiple pages implementation, but the ability to bring in a PDF (and therefore any pre-done artwork) and draw on it is a big plus.
• Sketchbook Pro: Amazing drawing program – a little too complicated for stage presentations, but really well done.
• Adobe Ideas: Great set of tools and smoothing. You cannot move between separate pages without seeing an Adobe Ideas splash page. If you can make it all fit within 7 layers (and only 1 is a photo/import layer) then it’s great.
• Neu.Notes: Document size is unlimited, which can get confusing if you accidentally move too far from your artwork (you can get lost and there’s no easy way to reset). Also the VGA output was letterboxed.

In addition to this, Steve actually uses a stylus when he’s drawing, so it’s more of a pen/pencil feel. There are many options for these and they basically come down to personal preference. The ones we tested are:

• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003ULE6GU
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BUI76S
• http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004BN62TU

Each writes very different from the others (even the two that look identical).

• Does someone else prepare his graphic slides, or does he do his own? (I assume someone does it, but I want to make sure)

Pastor Steve gives us as much lead time as possible – usually getting the content for the iPad to us by Wednesday @ noon – and then we will build the presentation using the points/scriptures/quotes he’s given us.

• How do you feed the video signal to your flat screen… Wired, or wireless… ?

We currently use the VGA output on the iPad. It is the most stable we have seen so far and since we are connecting to a TV on stage, this allows us to connect directly to it. We also use a Twister-type unit (Video/VGA over ethernet) to get the signal in to our video system – so we can take what is on the flat panel and also put it on our main screens.

As noted on the software AirSketch above, there is some ability to go wireless. Basically you’d have an ad-hoc WiFi network setup and the other computer on it would browse (in an internet browser) to the address given by the iPad. If it were then run in full-screen mode (the internet browser that is) and the VGA/DVI/DISPLAY PORT output set to mirrored and run to a scan converter (if needed) you could simply have the iPad on the stage by itself.

There is one small issue with the VGA output (at least up to v 4.2.1, this may have changed with the latest firmware, but I have not yet updated. The issues is that if the iPad locks (falls asleep or manually locked) it cuts off the VGA output after a few seconds. Some programs prevent the iPad from locking (like Keynote) but others (most of the drawing apps) do not. Some programs also only output black if the iPad falls asleep and then comes back on, forcing you to exit the program and re-enter (which kills the signal again). The solution we came up with was to not let it fall asleep – this means that the iPad has to be on (and draining the battery) from before service starts, until it’s done. For an hour service this will use about 15% of the battery. Since it takes 3+ hours to charge the iPad with the supplied charger (and way, way, way longer via USB or an iPhone charger – closer to 9 hours) it is imperative that it is fully charged when you start and charged as often as possible between services/days.

We have the new HDMI connector on order and plan to test that when it arrives – it has the added benefit of being able to power the unit while using the HDMI out, which the VGA adapter does not allow.

• Where did you get the iPad stand?

We’re not 100% happy with our current setup, but it is actually an adapter for the top of a mic stand (we’re haven’t found a mic stand that is as stable as we’d like yet). The adapter can be found here:

http://www.thegigeasy.com/products/products.html

The adapter works great – it is plastic, so I’m not sure about it’s durability (I’d prefer aluminum), but I have no problems with it’s functionality, just the stability of a mic stand when you’re trying to write on it. Another options we have considered are a light stand (with adapter), but we haven’t tested it yet.

There is a company making some beautiful iPad stands, but they’re running $800+ depending on options…

http://www.littlemountainproductions.com/ipodium/home.html

• I assume you are using the original iPad… Is this correct?

We are currently using an iPad 1, but when the personally owned iPad 2 is available we will use that due to the processor differences. The speed increases really do make a huge difference when you are writing/drawing live.

That’s really about all I can think of right now – anyone else out there doing something similar? What “gotchas” have you found? What has worked really well for you?

In addition to all that, I told the story of how I came to faith. I talked about being raised in a good, strong Christian home, but never really believed until I’d taken the time to make a mess of my life and then showed how God has redeemed all of that and how wonderfully he’s blessed me. I told 20,000 people I was an alcoholic and recreational drug user before meeting God on a cold, rainy afternoon and then I told them how amazing God was that he could meet a young [punk] kid like that and turn him into a responsible man who’s now a husband, father, and minister. So here is that piece:

See it here in HD.

Beavertail reduction (stupid thing poked me in the love handles)
Stippling of backstrap, frontstrap, mag release, and index marks
Apex Sear installation
MA compliant trigger return spring
Warren 2 dot night sights

1. Christmas Faith Story. Scott Milder shares with us the journey he took to faith.

2. The Christmas Story. Each year we try to do a humorous bit, this year we used it to get us into the Christmas Story:

3. The Solos. Here are the 4 solos sang during our services

A. Glory in the Highest, Jason Castro

B. O Holy Night, Suzanne Davis

C. Winter Snow, Emmy Davis

D. Heavenly Child, Danny Davis (Danny wrote this song and sings it pretty much every Christmas)

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did helping make it happen!

1. Breathe
2. Get On Your Boots
3. Magnificent
4. Mysterious Ways / My Sweet Lord (snippet)
5. Beautiful Day / Blackbird (snippet)
6. I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For / Stand By Me (snippet)
7. Stuck In A Moment
8. No Line On The Horizon
9. Elevation
10. Until The End Of The World
11. The Unforgettable Fire
12. City Of Blinding Lights
13. Vertigo
14. Crazy Tonight / Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin) (snippet) / Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough (snippet)
15. Sunday Bloody Sunday / Get Up Stand Up (snippet)
16. MLK
17. Walk On / You’ll Never Walk Alone (snippet)

Encore:

18. One / Amazing Grace (snippet)
19. Where The Streets Have No Name / All You Need Is Love (snippet)
20. Ultra Violet (Light My Way)
21. With Or Without You
22. Moment of Surrender

It was a solid 2 hours of U2 and it was amazing…

So, at 5p I quit After Effects and unpacked a bag of make-up and costume pieces and started zombify-ing myself in my office. Jeff and Amanda took some pictures and video of the process, so maybe I’ll have that to add later. There weren’t pictures of the rest of the evening for two reasons – 1. My zombie character wouldn’t have had a camera and 2. My zombie companion did not follow Tallahassee’s (Woody Harrelson’s character in Zombieland) advice. When it came time to Nut Up or Shut Up… I think he shut up… Oh well, I had a great time and plenty of people asked to have their picture taken with me, so that was cool.

I had what was probably one of the least gory costumes – I mean there was no blood on my hospital gown until my IV full of blood leaked all over my hands and I wiped them on my robe. The best costume of the night had to be the Hunter S. Thompson zombie.

The movie was great. It was funny and just gory enough. They had amazing titles – the main character, Columbus (played by Jesse Eisenberg) narrates the film by giving his rules to surviving Zombieland. These rules were always shown on screen as they were either followed or broken in 3D text that lived within the frame and reacted to the action on screen. There was an incredible title sequence of super slo-mo zombie attacks set to “For Whom the Bell Tolls” by Metallica. The credits were done in the same way as the rules, only now people were crashing into and scattering the letters all over the frame. It was very cool.

The crowd was pretty fun – but most crowds of geeks who dress up for events are – I mean, who are they to make fun of someone else?

Lessons I learned:

1. White makeup just doesn’t look dead enough on it’s own. If you want your skin to shake off the rosy hue of life, mix in a little green and just a touch of black into your white… it gives you a gray rotting look that white alone can’t create…

2. For most people – zombie makeup consists of copious amounts of fake blood randomly scattered across your skin and clothing. There doesn’t really even need to be any kind of reason for it.

3. People who run haunted houses are annoying. I literally had nearly a ream’s worth of paper from all the flyers and handouts they kept throwing at us…

4. People dressed as zombies re-creating the dance from Thriller is still funny…

5. A free movie and all you can eat pizza for under $10 is well worth the time and effort to dress up as a zombie.

6. Paper costumes (like a disposable hospital gown) can be a bad idea – especially when the hardest rainstorm of the season breaks out while you are driving to a Zombie Walk… So, have a back up plan (I did, but didn’t need it – see #7).

7. God must love Zombie Walks. The clouds parted and the rain stopped at the exact moment I parked my truck.

Here’s some photos from the event posted to Flickr

Anyway, here’s the set list and some notes on what they played.  As always the music was awesome and the lights/stage show were… basic.  Their pyro was cool (like it always is), but their lighting and stage setup is never real revolutionary or anything.

That Was Just Your Life
The End of the Line
The Four Horsemen
Holier Than Thou
One
Broken, Beat & Scarred
Cyanide
Sad But True
The Unforgiven
All Nightmare Long
Kirk Solo #1
The Day That Never Comes
Master Of Puppets
Dyers Eve
Kirk Solo #2
Nothing Else Matters
Enter Sandman
Encore Jam
Breadfan
Whiplash
Seek and Destroy

Total Running Time: 2:07:38

*Metallica first played Dallas on February 27, 1985 at Arcadia.

*They last played here on August 9, 2008 as part of a one-off Ozzfest.  It was at this show that Cyanide was debuted.

*This was the first time that Dyers Eve was played in Dallas and also the first time that Dyers Eve was played in the US since November 6, 2004 in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

*This was the tenth time that Breadfan was played on the World Magnetic tour and the first time in 11 years that it was played in Dallas.

*This was the first time that Holier Than Thou was played in Dallas.