I know I'm a Christian and not supposed to hate. But I'm getting very close. So let me just say that I hat Microsoft. Hat is not quite like hate. Almost but not quite. 75% of the way to hate. Just hat.
It seems every time I turn around I am running into problems with something Microshaft related. I have a new Dell (six months old). It's already giving me the blue screen of death every other time I use it. Ashley has a new-to-her computer. It's not that old. Pretty respectable specs. I even installed a new version of XP on it less than 2 weeks ago. It's already acting up.
Austin's computer is my old one from Paris. It was a humdinger then. It's a lower midline now. Windows was giving me such fits, I installed a new hard drive and put Linux on it. So now we get a choice on boot up. I had to do that because I definitely hat Microshaft.
I have made the switch at work. My new computer is the top of the line MacPro with all the bells and whistles. You know what gives me the most troubles on it? Microshaft Office for Mac. And now the Russians have reported a major hole in Vista. Big surprise there. Oh, let me install that on something. It's bound to be better.
Hat. Definitely hat.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Kevin Schaffer
It's Christmas day and I haven't put anything into this blog in almost a week. I figure I better do something before I get out of the habit.
At this point in time, I am cooking giblet gravy for leftovers. We had a fine meal this morning, but didn't get around to the gravy thing until it was too late. So I am making the gravy for leftovers. Nummy....
Kevin and Michelle Schaffer came over yesterday after church. They are visiting the area (his parents live in Crane) and we had lunch and a good time rehashing old memories. I can't believe how big his kids are, but then he said the same about ours. Kevin lives in Clovis, NM and teaches in one of the local school systems. He's an elementary music teacher and is very good at what he does.
Music is still his passion. He is the volunteer worship leader at their church (which has doubled in size in the past year) and he is just beginning to write and record a new album of math fact jingles. There is a school curriculum company that has hired him to record an album based on their book... sort of a learn-by-singing kind of thing. I have no doubt it will be fun to listen to, math or not.
Kevin hasn't changed much at all. Same old Kev. His son, Ethan (2 yr-old), is a chip off the old block. He gets that same twinkle is his eye just before he does something mischievous. His daughter, Elise (5 yr-old), is a beautiful young lady and sharp as a tack. Her mind is way ahead of her age. And Michelle looks as pretty as ever and is doing well. Kevin married above his pay grade. :)
I hope to see them more now that we're closer to them. They brought back a lot of great memories. Time to add some stuff to the gravy, and Dallas starts playing in about 15 minutes. Merry Christmas everyone!
At this point in time, I am cooking giblet gravy for leftovers. We had a fine meal this morning, but didn't get around to the gravy thing until it was too late. So I am making the gravy for leftovers. Nummy....
Kevin and Michelle Schaffer came over yesterday after church. They are visiting the area (his parents live in Crane) and we had lunch and a good time rehashing old memories. I can't believe how big his kids are, but then he said the same about ours. Kevin lives in Clovis, NM and teaches in one of the local school systems. He's an elementary music teacher and is very good at what he does.
Music is still his passion. He is the volunteer worship leader at their church (which has doubled in size in the past year) and he is just beginning to write and record a new album of math fact jingles. There is a school curriculum company that has hired him to record an album based on their book... sort of a learn-by-singing kind of thing. I have no doubt it will be fun to listen to, math or not.
Kevin hasn't changed much at all. Same old Kev. His son, Ethan (2 yr-old), is a chip off the old block. He gets that same twinkle is his eye just before he does something mischievous. His daughter, Elise (5 yr-old), is a beautiful young lady and sharp as a tack. Her mind is way ahead of her age. And Michelle looks as pretty as ever and is doing well. Kevin married above his pay grade. :)
I hope to see them more now that we're closer to them. They brought back a lot of great memories. Time to add some stuff to the gravy, and Dallas starts playing in about 15 minutes. Merry Christmas everyone!
Monday, December 18, 2006
Anonymous Christmas
I have no idea who reads this blog (other than a select few). So this is my attempt to thank an anonymous Christmas benefactor who left a very nice gift for me at the office. Your generosity goes beyond words. My family thanks you very much. Merry Christmas and God bless...
~Gary
~Gary
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Swaddling Clothes
I learned something new today from Ronnie White. The story of Christ's birth as reflected in Luke holds deeper meaning than I realized. I'm sure you've heard the reference from the King James version in Luke 2, "And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." New versions have just called in cloth.
But the question arises, why would a baby in cloth be a "sign" to the shepherds that this was the Christ-child? The angel didn't mention the manger first, he mentioned the swaddling clothes. What is it about swaddling clothes that would be a sign?
The term swaddling clothes is still used today by nurses who wrap the baby after birth. Unfortunately, that term is a 2000 year old misnomer. The origin comes as a result of the harsh countryside in the Middle East. As people took off on trips that often lasted days into months, it was not uncommon for sickness or accident to take place. There we deaths in these journeys.
They Middle Eastern culture developed a way to deal with in-journey deaths. Each person would take a long, thin, gauze-like cloth and wrap it around their waist many times. This would be one of the bottom layers of clothing. This cloth would be reserved for death. If someone died during the journey, their friends or family would remove the "swaddling cloth" and wrap them from head to toe so they could compete the journey.
The baby Jesus was wrapped in Joseph's death cloth. The sign for the shepherds wasn't that they'd find a baby wrapped in a blanket in a manger. The sign was that they'd find a baby prepared for death. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. That was his purpose. This was shown even from the instance of his birth.
What a God.
By the way... this makes the wise man's gift of myrrh even more appropriate. Myrrh was the spice used for death. It was basically deodorant for the dead. Even though the wise men didn't actually show up until he was toddler, the theme continues.
Merry Christmas....
But the question arises, why would a baby in cloth be a "sign" to the shepherds that this was the Christ-child? The angel didn't mention the manger first, he mentioned the swaddling clothes. What is it about swaddling clothes that would be a sign?
The term swaddling clothes is still used today by nurses who wrap the baby after birth. Unfortunately, that term is a 2000 year old misnomer. The origin comes as a result of the harsh countryside in the Middle East. As people took off on trips that often lasted days into months, it was not uncommon for sickness or accident to take place. There we deaths in these journeys.
They Middle Eastern culture developed a way to deal with in-journey deaths. Each person would take a long, thin, gauze-like cloth and wrap it around their waist many times. This would be one of the bottom layers of clothing. This cloth would be reserved for death. If someone died during the journey, their friends or family would remove the "swaddling cloth" and wrap them from head to toe so they could compete the journey.
The baby Jesus was wrapped in Joseph's death cloth. The sign for the shepherds wasn't that they'd find a baby wrapped in a blanket in a manger. The sign was that they'd find a baby prepared for death. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. That was his purpose. This was shown even from the instance of his birth.
What a God.
By the way... this makes the wise man's gift of myrrh even more appropriate. Myrrh was the spice used for death. It was basically deodorant for the dead. Even though the wise men didn't actually show up until he was toddler, the theme continues.
Merry Christmas....
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Copyright or Copywrong?
I understand the need for a copyright law, but it's one of those things that is imperfect at best. I spent several years trying to figure it out working with the Acappella Company. Now I find myself back into it again.
As you probably read in an earlier post, I would like to be able to post a capella recordings of new songs (new to our church, not newly written... yet) on our website. Our first song was Everlasting God by Brenton Brown. We introduced it to the church last night and it went well.
Anyway, I went through the whole process of requesting a license so that we could get it online. Long story short (and it is very long), I was denied a license. I can record it for release on an album, but it cannot be placed on the Internet. This is not so much a function of copyright law as it is EMI/Word policy.
On the company FAQ they say, "songs or master recordings that are owned or administered by EMI Christian Music Group and Word Music, LLC cannot be used on the Internet in any form. Vineyard Music Group recordings are licensed by EMI Christian Music Group; therefore, they cannot be used on the Internet, " and "The right to display a copyrighted work is an exclusive right of the copyright holder. Also, the right to offer printed copies of someones copyrighted work requires a print license. Subsequently, to be able to display or to offer printed versions (chord charts, lead sheets etc-all of which will need to be secured and or password protected via e-commerce) of our songs via your website, will necessitate a print license from us. As previously stated, EMI and Word do not allow any of their songs on the internet in any form, so we will not be able to license any of the EMI and Word songs for use on the Internet."
So I wrote them back, just to be sure. I wanted to make sure that they understood we were making a new recording, not asking to use the original recording, and that we were wanting to pay royalties. And if this was still not allowed, how did iTunes and other such services fit into that policy?
They replied that large corporate music services were given special allowances (read: we make more money) and at this time EMI is not currently allowing downloads from individual (custom) sites.
However, if we wished to make our recording available on iTunes I should let them know and we can proceed from there. And that, of course, would kill the entire reason for doing this in the first place. How do you teach your church a new song if they have to go to iTunes to buy it first?
So, as far as songs owned and administered by EMI are concerned (which is a lot), we are reduced to physical CD releases. That's not so bad, just time consuming and costly. We'll see what happens.
So my next question... how does MySpace get away with allowing all those songs streamed from their thousands of pages? Surely some of those belong to EMI. And I'm sure that if EMI has that policy, you can bet other labels do as well.
Maybe Word would make an exception for one of their former distributed artists? Nah... I'm not holding my breath.
As you probably read in an earlier post, I would like to be able to post a capella recordings of new songs (new to our church, not newly written... yet) on our website. Our first song was Everlasting God by Brenton Brown. We introduced it to the church last night and it went well.
Anyway, I went through the whole process of requesting a license so that we could get it online. Long story short (and it is very long), I was denied a license. I can record it for release on an album, but it cannot be placed on the Internet. This is not so much a function of copyright law as it is EMI/Word policy.
On the company FAQ they say, "songs or master recordings that are owned or administered by EMI Christian Music Group and Word Music, LLC cannot be used on the Internet in any form. Vineyard Music Group recordings are licensed by EMI Christian Music Group; therefore, they cannot be used on the Internet, " and "The right to display a copyrighted work is an exclusive right of the copyright holder. Also, the right to offer printed copies of someones copyrighted work requires a print license. Subsequently, to be able to display or to offer printed versions (chord charts, lead sheets etc-all of which will need to be secured and or password protected via e-commerce) of our songs via your website, will necessitate a print license from us. As previously stated, EMI and Word do not allow any of their songs on the internet in any form, so we will not be able to license any of the EMI and Word songs for use on the Internet."
So I wrote them back, just to be sure. I wanted to make sure that they understood we were making a new recording, not asking to use the original recording, and that we were wanting to pay royalties. And if this was still not allowed, how did iTunes and other such services fit into that policy?
They replied that large corporate music services were given special allowances (read: we make more money) and at this time EMI is not currently allowing downloads from individual (custom) sites.
However, if we wished to make our recording available on iTunes I should let them know and we can proceed from there. And that, of course, would kill the entire reason for doing this in the first place. How do you teach your church a new song if they have to go to iTunes to buy it first?
So, as far as songs owned and administered by EMI are concerned (which is a lot), we are reduced to physical CD releases. That's not so bad, just time consuming and costly. We'll see what happens.
So my next question... how does MySpace get away with allowing all those songs streamed from their thousands of pages? Surely some of those belong to EMI. And I'm sure that if EMI has that policy, you can bet other labels do as well.
Maybe Word would make an exception for one of their former distributed artists? Nah... I'm not holding my breath.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Fresh Praise
This is the article I wrote for the front page of this Sunday's bulletin. I thought it might go well here, too. See what you think...
"I like routine. There’s something about predictability that brings a little bit of peace. It’s like putting on an old worn shoe that’s been broken in just right. It’s rather comforting.
"There are times when routine is not that good, especially in our spiritual walk. Since my children were born, I have either prayed over them or with them every night before bed. That’s a routine I want to continue until they are gone to college. The routine of praying will continue, but I do not want my prayers to be “routine.” It is very easy for me to slip into the same prayer from night to night. I want my children to grow up knowing not only the importance of prayer, but also understanding that prayer is an open conversation with God - not a repetition of a daily mantra.
"Worship is much the same. While there is comfort in routine, we cannot allow our worship to become “rote.” Songs and prayers that once stirred the soul can become overly familiar and loose some of the meaning that moved us in the beginning. The Word of God encourages us to express ourselves in a fresh way. Six different Psalms specifically tell us to “sing a new song.” Isaiah tells us to, “sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth.” In the closing chapters of the Bible, twice John hears the masses of heaven singing a “new song” before the throne. The Bible is replete with encouragement for us to seek fresh praise.
"There are many ways to achieve this and we wish to offer one more. About once a month, we will introduce a new song during PowerPoint on Wednesday evenings. These songs will find their way into the Sunday worship, as did Everlasting God this morning. Hopefully, they will offer a new insight into the ageless promises of a sovereign God.
"To keep them fresh in your mind, we will offer these songs as a free download on our website in the “New Song of the Month” section. They will be shorter versions of the song, recorded a capella by members of our own praise team. It is my prayer that we may all find deeper meaning in the songs we know, and a new expression of praise in the songs we learn."
"I like routine. There’s something about predictability that brings a little bit of peace. It’s like putting on an old worn shoe that’s been broken in just right. It’s rather comforting.
"There are times when routine is not that good, especially in our spiritual walk. Since my children were born, I have either prayed over them or with them every night before bed. That’s a routine I want to continue until they are gone to college. The routine of praying will continue, but I do not want my prayers to be “routine.” It is very easy for me to slip into the same prayer from night to night. I want my children to grow up knowing not only the importance of prayer, but also understanding that prayer is an open conversation with God - not a repetition of a daily mantra.
"Worship is much the same. While there is comfort in routine, we cannot allow our worship to become “rote.” Songs and prayers that once stirred the soul can become overly familiar and loose some of the meaning that moved us in the beginning. The Word of God encourages us to express ourselves in a fresh way. Six different Psalms specifically tell us to “sing a new song.” Isaiah tells us to, “sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth.” In the closing chapters of the Bible, twice John hears the masses of heaven singing a “new song” before the throne. The Bible is replete with encouragement for us to seek fresh praise.
"There are many ways to achieve this and we wish to offer one more. About once a month, we will introduce a new song during PowerPoint on Wednesday evenings. These songs will find their way into the Sunday worship, as did Everlasting God this morning. Hopefully, they will offer a new insight into the ageless promises of a sovereign God.
"To keep them fresh in your mind, we will offer these songs as a free download on our website in the “New Song of the Month” section. They will be shorter versions of the song, recorded a capella by members of our own praise team. It is my prayer that we may all find deeper meaning in the songs we know, and a new expression of praise in the songs we learn."
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Song of the Month
I've been wrestling with how to introduce new songs to our church. I saw a thread on Keith's blog a while back about just this thing. Unfortunately, most of the solutions presented on there didn't quite work for us.
I'd prefer not to introduce a new song in the Sunday morning service (except for the times when I do it not knowing it's new to everyone... oops). So we are going to do the "New Song of the Month" approach. We meet on Wednesday nights for our PowerPoint service (it has nothing to do with the software). Once a month I will introduce a new song to the church. In order to keep it in their memory, it will be made available on our website immediately afterward. We plan to offer the written arrangement as well as a short recorded version of the arrangement.
I have no idea how many will take advantage of this. We're going to give it the old college try anyway. At the very least, it will drive a few more folks to our website. I'm sure it will be an educational process to get people to realize that they can download songs from our site for free.
I've considered this approach before, but it was always along the mindset of doing an entire album and making it available to church. This way, we are building the plane as we fly it. And if we want to do an album, we can go back and revisit the songs pretty easily and flesh it out so that it fits the "album sound."
We'll see. Look for the "New Song of the Month" section on the GCR website here in the next few days.
I'd prefer not to introduce a new song in the Sunday morning service (except for the times when I do it not knowing it's new to everyone... oops). So we are going to do the "New Song of the Month" approach. We meet on Wednesday nights for our PowerPoint service (it has nothing to do with the software). Once a month I will introduce a new song to the church. In order to keep it in their memory, it will be made available on our website immediately afterward. We plan to offer the written arrangement as well as a short recorded version of the arrangement.
I have no idea how many will take advantage of this. We're going to give it the old college try anyway. At the very least, it will drive a few more folks to our website. I'm sure it will be an educational process to get people to realize that they can download songs from our site for free.
I've considered this approach before, but it was always along the mindset of doing an entire album and making it available to church. This way, we are building the plane as we fly it. And if we want to do an album, we can go back and revisit the songs pretty easily and flesh it out so that it fits the "album sound."
We'll see. Look for the "New Song of the Month" section on the GCR website here in the next few days.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
He's Baaaack......
It's hard to believe that it's only been a little more than a week since I've officially started work here at GCR. With the moving, new job, new school, new everything... it feels more like a couple of months. I've been so busy I've not even been able to wash my car. It still has bird poop from Corpus on the roof. I may leave it there for memories sake.
My first official Sunday went well, I thought. The most important thing is that God was honored. The program flowed well and the theme was carried throughout the morning. The central idea was expressed in several different formats; song, message, scripture, and video. It culminated in the special offering for single parents, which ended up way beyond anyone's expectations. All in all, it was a great morning. For those interested, I'll post the order here in a moment.
The kids are doing very well. Ashley is loving her new dance studio. Austin is adapting, although we really need to get him spending some time with new friends. Sherri is having some medical difficulties, so please say a pray for her, wherever you are.
I need to run and do some fun stuff. It's time to run by the Cingular store and pick my new phone. I'm thinking Samsung Blackjack. hehehehe
Order of Worship
Golf Course rd Church of Christ
Dec. 3, 2006
We Have Come to Worship Him
Welcome
We Have Come to Worship Him – cho only
I Stand Amazed
Above All
I Stand in Awe
Prayer time
Jesus Draw Me Close
Lord Have Mercy
Scripture reading – ooh softly as Ps. 103:1-12 is read
Lord Have Mercy – cho x 2
Communion
Offering (Christmas version by Paul Baloche)
Contribution
Video: What If?
Lord I Give You My Heart
Message: Road Trip – The Magi
Here I am to Worship
I Need You More
Special Offering
God Will Make a Way
Closing Comments
I Stand Amazed – cho
My first official Sunday went well, I thought. The most important thing is that God was honored. The program flowed well and the theme was carried throughout the morning. The central idea was expressed in several different formats; song, message, scripture, and video. It culminated in the special offering for single parents, which ended up way beyond anyone's expectations. All in all, it was a great morning. For those interested, I'll post the order here in a moment.
The kids are doing very well. Ashley is loving her new dance studio. Austin is adapting, although we really need to get him spending some time with new friends. Sherri is having some medical difficulties, so please say a pray for her, wherever you are.
I need to run and do some fun stuff. It's time to run by the Cingular store and pick my new phone. I'm thinking Samsung Blackjack. hehehehe
Order of Worship
Golf Course rd Church of Christ
Dec. 3, 2006
We Have Come to Worship Him
Welcome
We Have Come to Worship Him – cho only
I Stand Amazed
Above All
I Stand in Awe
Prayer time
Jesus Draw Me Close
Lord Have Mercy
Scripture reading – ooh softly as Ps. 103:1-12 is read
Lord Have Mercy – cho x 2
Communion
Offering (Christmas version by Paul Baloche)
Contribution
Video: What If?
Lord I Give You My Heart
Message: Road Trip – The Magi
Here I am to Worship
I Need You More
Special Offering
God Will Make a Way
Closing Comments
I Stand Amazed – cho
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