11. February 2010 by admin.

Well it has been just over a year since my time at Liberty began and it has been pretty much a whirlwind.

Large projects have been on our radar screen almost continuously since I arrived. Additionally we have had dozens of smaller upgrades that have better positioned our teams for a growing level of excellence in ministry. Our ministry now consists of about 35 men and women that are working in unison with each other and are committed to helping the church strive for its vision.

It has been an honor this past year to get to know the many people in our tech ministry. There are a range of personalities, gifts and talents within our ranks. It is awesome to see how God has assembled us into a team that is growing more cohesive. We have learned to pray for one another through times of joy and sorrow, such as job losses, family struggles, surgeries, baby births, school achievements, and so on. We have become a church “small-group”.

So, I am continually reminded that it is a real privilege to work in the trenches with these folks. God has many neat things in store for Liberty Bible Church and He has entrusted our little troupe with laying the technical path for the many things our church has planned.

The two goals now on our plate are to complete the technical modernization project in Sacred Ground, which is our on-campus video venue and lay the ground work as Liberty launches an off-site video venue in a nearby city to our East.

A video venue is an alternative worship location that has live worship music and a live or delayed sermon video. In addition to our main worship center we currently have a more contemporary video venue on our campus called Sacred Ground. The muli-site venue is scheduled to launch in the early fall.

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4. October 2009 by admin.

Julie and I just recently returned home from a week long missions to Sarajevo, Bosnia. We were part of a team of eight sent from Liberty Bible Church to prayer-walk around the city of Sarajevo. The following is a journal entry that I made while I was there. I trust that it will be an encouragement. Sarajevo is 95% Muslim so Christians there have an uphill climb when it comes to impacting the city. We went to encourage the Christians. Our church payed a large part in the launch of many of the churches in Sarajevo and continues to play a role there.

This has been a full week that has brought on a wide variety of different emotions within each of the people on the team. We have sensed a deep compassion for these people because of what their lives bring them each day, we have all felt pure joy to be with the Christians as they struggle to thrive in a land of aggressive religions, we have felt sadness to hear many stories of how this war impacted the people of the city, we have felt exhaustion from walking the streets of a city that wind up and down hills, we have felt great satisfaction in knowing that our team has a united approach to praying for these people and we have felt significant inadequacies in our faith as ambassadors of God to these people.

Several words come to my mind as I have observed and participated in the life of this place. I think of chaos, hopeless, meaningless, division, survival, beauty, waste, amazement, etc.

Life here is chaotic because so many people are zipping around town in little cars or walking the streets on narrow sidewalks. It is almost like there is a competition for space on the roads and sidewalks. I think of survival because these people as a whole work to survive the next day. Food is minimal, homes are small and jobs are hard to find. I think of the word meaningless because much of what these people do have little or nothing to do with eternal life. I sense division because of the many people groups and religions that exist here. If you recall, it was not too long ago that a devastating war took place because of those groups. While the war has ended, the division that started the fighting is still rooted in the culture. War is now again rumored because division is still present. I see beauty because we are in a city that is nestled in a valley between imposing mountains. The steep hills once held a glorious winter Olympics with pageantry. Down in the city the buildings show off the architecture of typical European buildings of various eras. I think of waste because all that beauty is mostly marred or even destroyed because of years of senseless shelling during the war of the mid 1990’s. Almost every building that was standing during the 90’s shows evidence of damage from that time.

But, I am amazed because, despite the waste and the division and the chaos and the hopelessness, I see a handful of Christians that are solid in their faith and ready to reclaim this land. I see young people that are full of energy and zeal for their people and a heart for reaching them for Christ. It is impossible to be with these people and not be challenged in your own faith. So, it is for these people that we are here. It is for these people that we feel the need to walk this city in prayer so that the people of Sarajevo would be have open hearts for what these few Christians have to share. We want to see this mission field cultivated, planted and ultimately harvested. We realize that this prayer walking initiative is not the end of the process but rather the beginning. In our discussions with our translators, we have conveyed that they need to continue to bathe this city in prayer. So, in a sense, we are running a very short leg of a marathon and we will be passing the baton to the Bosnian Christians so that they might continue the prayer walking process.

In summary, it is with great contentment that we can return home because we have simply been obedient to our calling here. Our team will forever remember what we have seen here and will all, in some way, return home different people. God will speak to each of us differently but we will all be impacted just the same. I look forward to what the future holds for Liberty’s involvement with the Bosnian church growth process.

I suppose it will take time for those of us on the team to process what we have witnessed during this experience. I look forward to what God does next.

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2. September 2009 by admin.

Man oh man! I look back and see how much has happened over the past 10 months at Liberty Bible Church. It has been amazing to see what God has allowed us to do. First and foremost it has been a privilege to serve the Lord by serving His church. It has been great to get to know my team members and learn their hearts. There are about 30 men and women that have growing passions for this ministry.

Since technology in the church is a “Helps Ministry” it has been imperative to understand and buy-in to the vision of the church. Liberty’s vision is to increase its local mission field by adding services both on campus and on a satellite campus. This is to be done via video venues, which is technologically dependant.

As a result, our teams have worked to go ahead of the church and lay the groundwork by researching, purchasing and installing new video capture equipment, and streaming capability. More importantly we wanted to build our teams and prepare them for this growth.

Liberty is on the cusp of adding a fifth on-campus service by incorporating a 9:30 service in our video venue. Also, Lord willing, within the next year we would like to launch a video venue in a nearby community. Technically we are just about ready to provide the support for those services. Final training and recruiting is underway at the typing of this blog post.

The coolest thing is that the tech teams at Liberty are excited about what God is doing in and through our church. Please be in prayer for us as we continue this journey. May we be united in our process and excellent in our efforts.

More to come.

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23. February 2009 by admin.

In my last post I was just completing my first week at LBC.  Well, now I am into my 3rd month and so much has happened. I have had a great time of getting to know the people that makes up the technical ministry, learning procedures, getting acquainted with equipment and growing closer to the rest of the church staff. What a time that has been.

 The first month, December, was a whirlwind as Point of Grace came to Liberty. Also, there were many Christmas events to pull off. All went well.

January was a time of vision clarification and casting. This process is the foundation to all that is going to occur within our ministry. I firmly believe that if our vision, our purpose and our goals are clear and well communicated, our ministry will be solid.

So February has brought about the beginnings of change in our procedures and team structures. The goal here is to position our people to find greater success in their ministry.  Additionally, we will plant people in the area of their gifting and passion.

So there is a lot on the horizon as we develop the technical ministry into one that can serve as a model and resource to other churches. We want to exemplify Christ in all we do as a team and as a ministry.

I covet your prayers as we continue this ongoing process. God is good.

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15. November 2008 by admin.

Well, the move has begun. This was my first full week working at Liberty Bible Church, and it was a real joy. In addition to getting my temporary office situated, I got to meet and mingle with the rest of the staff. Tuesday was a day that was full of meetings with various staff groups, including the rest of the ministry leaders. What a godly group of people. I look forward to rubbing shoulders with them on a daily basis.

I still have one more Sunday at Family Bible Church before I begin my full schedule of responsibilities at Liberty. Julie and I anticipate that this Sunday will be very difficult because we have come to love the people of FBC dearly. I think that the hardest part will be saying goodbye to the tech and worship teams. I know that I will have opportunity to see them again after Sunday but I will really miss working in the trenches with them each week.

However, I am looking forward to getting to know my new teams at Liberty. I am jazzed about learning new procedures and working with some equipment of which I only have book knowledge.

You all can be praying that I will be patient with my own learning curve, and wise about how I interact with new team members. I need the Lord’s guidance as I take the mantel of leadership to a new level.

Thanks all for your interest in this process. I will continue to update you on what the Lord is doing. In the meantime, I welcome your comments.

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4. November 2008 by admin.

It has been a long time since I posted on my blog and I have a lot to tell you. My goal here is to explain what God has been doing in my family these past few months. Those that know me understand my passion for technology within the church. I have been honored to be the technical director at Family Bible Church the past three years as I have volunteered alongside the rest of my tech team. My previous posts on this blog explain a little about my team and my ministry.

God has opened doors for me the past few months for me to accept a full time technical director position at another church in our area, Liberty Bible Church. This church is the one that is responsible for planting Family Bible Church in 1997. This church has approximately 1,800 people attending 4 services each week.

We really sought God’s direction in this while seeking wisdom and counsel from our Elders and Pastors. We asked for clarity of God’s will for us and we received it. We are in awe of how God has worked in our lives during this hiring process.

So, beginning in mid November, we will be leaving Family Bible with their full support and moving to Liberty Bible where I will begin full time employment. It will be difficult to leave our church family there as we have grown to love them. However, we realize that obedience often requires sacrifice.

This is a job that I have had a desire to do for many years and I am excited about the opportunity to serve as a full time ministry leader in a church. I have a clear mandate from the leadership at Liberty and I look forward to partnering with my new tech teams.

My first task, besides getting to know my team members, will be to interface with the promoters for the music group Point of Grace in regards to technical demands as they prepare to perform at Liberty at Christmas time.

It is our desire to continue working with other local church tech ministries even as I move on to work at Liberty. In fact, the pastors there support my desire to be a resource to other local churches in the area. That is awesome!

So, please be praying for us as we make this transition. I will continue to post on thie blog about what God is doing.

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16. July 2008 by admin.

My church sets a high priority on “…being involved with people” This means that we consider it a joy to participate in community activities. Just about every aspect of our church operates with this thrust in mind. Whether it is a 4th of July parade float or an active Small Group outreach, it is important to keep this goal in mind.

As a member of a technical team in a portable church, I initially struggled with how to make this a tangible part of our ministry. Actually, by no effort of mine, the opportunity came to us.

Since we meet in a high school auditorium it is utilized by other people, such as a local theater group that does annual summer plays and talent shows, we have the opportunity to share the facility. At first I saw this as an interruption in the well oiled machine that is our tech team. But then I realized that there was a chance to come along side this group and serve them.

It started out as just the loan of a lighting console then the list grew. We began to coordinate with them about smooth transitions between their event and ours. Soon we were providing entire systems and tech support for events.

Last night I was able to spend about four hours helping them “tech-out” the auditorium for their 2008 play Footloose. In addition to the consultation, they are using five of our wireless mics with E-6’s, compression, a CD player, a snake, two amplifiers and an entire processing rack. By the end of the evening I was able to leave them in good hands. Additionally, I was able to address the entire cast in a short class on headset mic etiquette.

What an opportunity to meet the physical needs of people that need the Lord. It is just a technician’s way of answering the Great Commission mentioned in Matthew chapter 28.

In summary, it is an honor to use the tools of our craft, as cool as they are, to advance the Kingdom. So, don’t be too caught up in the dollars behind the gadgets that you loose sight of the larger picture.

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13. July 2008 by admin.

I am the technical director for my own church, Family Bible Church in Portage, IN. We are a portable church meaning that we hold our services at the local high school auditorium. As a result we have to set-up and tear down all our systems each week, which is no small task. Our technical team consists of over a dozen people that are committed to serving the Lord with excellence in an environment that can be stressful. We arrive about 2 1/2 hours before the service and set our sound and video systems from scratch and patch into the facilities existing theatrical lighting system. Then after the service we take it all down.

Our goal has been to continually raise the bar of excellence even in this unique setting. We believe in the investment in our people with constant training and skill-set development. But, more importantly, we believe that operating as a unified team with a united goal is critical for having a successful ministry. Furthermore, we want to be united with the worship team members, submissive to the leadership and consistent with the  purpose of the church.  After all, technical success is secondary to and dependent upon successful spiritual growth.

I look forward to delving into this topic more in depth in upcoming posts.

 Stay Tuned

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12. July 2008 by admin.

Welcome to my blog. One of the things that I think is cool about working with various churches in the area is seeing the similarities between them. First of all, the Church is people. People of all backgrounds, colors, nations and personalities. People coming together with a common bond, Christ.

I mention this because I think that it is an appropriate place to start when discussing church technology because technical ministries are made up of people. It has been fascinating to me to meet the people that serve behind the scenes week after week with a humble heart and transparent mindset.

My hope is that this blog will be an opportunity for me to express to you what I see and learn through my experience with this area of ministry. Hopefully we will have some fun with it.

 I trust that you will check back often to see what is new.

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