FredMcKinnon.Com

Hello World …

My, my, my … there is so much to say. I’ve been going through a very busy season and LOTS has been happening in our lives - I’ve thought at least 20 times …. “I need to sit down and blog – just take some time to write” … but I’ve never stopped long enough to do it.

I always say that I enjoy blogging … or “journaling” … regardless if anyone reads it or not … it’s quite therapeutic. So, here we go – I just got back from Jon Michael’s school (my 6-yr old) where they did some Christmas Carols. Have a breather before lunch, so I figured now was the good time.

Lucky for those who DO read my blog, the good news is that instead of dozens of long, motor-mouth-Fred posts, I will now just do a punch list update … maybe from most recent to over the last month.

Most Recent – Huge Change and Step of Faith

Perhaps my biggest news of the year, I announced my resignation as Worship Pastor to my church of 11 years, Christian Renewal Church of St. Simons Island. It was, and continues to be, bitter-sweet … more bitter than sweet right now. Over the last year especially, Joy and I have both felt that it may be time for us to move on … thankfully, there was no relational issues or “inner church conflicts” – we were just feeling released – ready for something new. I’m sure God has a plan we don’t know about yet. CRCSSI is filled with some of the most loving folks on the Earth, so it’s tough to say “Good Bye”. We came to a place where staying any longer was “frustrating God’s grace” in our lives, if that makes sense. It’s a huge step of faith, as we don’t know exactly what God has planned, and it’s a serious financial blow as I’m giving up a very generous “part-time” salary. Sheez – don’t you wish God would show you the end result BEFORE you had to step out? We’re looking forward to plugging in to a vibrant church that is alive, growing, and full of life. I am looking forward to what that environment will do in my own Spirit!

Ministry and Music

Several things happening in the Music and Ministry area:

1. I’ve been nominated in multiple categories for IndieHeaven.Com’s “Momentum Awards”. These are sort of like the “Dove Award” or “Grammy Award” of Independent Christian Music. I was nominated for Worship Artist of the Year and Instrumental Artist of the Year. Voting is taking place now at IndieHeaven.Com. If I receive enough votes from fans, friends, and family (hint, hint) I would make it to the “Finalist” stage, which wll be announced in January. If I make into January, the voting starts again, and the Winner will be featured at the IH Conference in Franklin, TN in March. Historically, the Momentum Award winners grab quite a bit of exposure and “momentum” from this award, so who knows – maybe God could use this as a means to propel the music and ministry He’s given me. If you feel so inspired I’d love your support and vote – it’s pretty easy – just go to the vote page and scroll down to find my name.

2. After struggling for quite a while on my “worship podcasts”, I’ve finally made a final decision – the “Highest Praise Worship Podcast” will now exclusively be the “radio show” type format where I’ll be sharing some great worship songs that I’ve discovered or would like to see exposed. It’s a great ministry because I know that many of these songs and/or writers/worship leaders have some incredible material for the Body of Christ, and by featuring their music on the podcast, it could really help get their gift out to the world.

On a different note – I’ve purchased a new domain and will be launching a separate podcast devoted exclusively to my “spontaneous worship, prayer, mediation”, etc. I would often do this on the other podcast and the feedback was always a blessing – people would listen and worship with me from all over the globe. This new site is called “Worship Interludes” - an appropriate name, in that the idea is that I can minister and lead others in “interludes” or “breaks in their day” of worship, prayer, and reflection. This is definitely an area where I feel God’s Holy Spirit at work in my life, and pray that as it grows, the ministry will touch Believers and Non-Believers throughout the world.
3. Worship on Jekyll Island for New Year’s Eve:

I’ve been asked to bring back the “Worship Under the Stars” band and coordinate a team of 5 total bands for a big night of Christian music and praise on Jekyll Island for New Years’ Eve. It’s gonna be awesome and LOTS of FUN! If you are in the area, Jekyll Island is the place to be on New Years’ Eve!

4. O Holy Night – this could be it’s own separate entry, and probably should be. Some of you may have heard the hilariously bad recording of “O Holy Night” that I posted on this blog two years ago. I never knew who it was singing – or whether or not they were serious or just “bad”. A buddy of mine (thanks, Curtis Geary @ First Baptist Brunswick) emailed it to me 2 years ago, and I thought it was so funny … I posted it here, and folks have enjoyed it for years. Well, over the last month, this song was featured on San Francisco’s “106.9 Free FM” radio as “the worse christmas song ever”. It was the hands-down WINNER of the competition – but the scary thing is … all along, they have been attributing the song TO ME! That’s right – they tell all of their listeners that it’s “Fred McKinnon, a Worship leader on St. Simons Island”. Funny, yet scary at the same time. I’ve since been on the radio with them “live” on two separate occasions, pleading my case – but sort of “playing it up” at the same time … it’s so funny, and I’ve made lots of new friends out there in California. Most of them would never normally listen to the “religious” music that I have on my site – so it’s funny how they got exposed to that. God works in mysterious ways, for sure. For lots of laughs, read Erika’s blog on the 106.9 site – she is the call screener and the original person who found the song. WARNING – the site would be considered “Rated R” for many of the readers here on THIS BLOG.

My Online Businesses and Work

For those who have followed my ramblings for a while, you’ll know that I have this online entrepreneur “itch” – I’ve started and operated a lot of websites. This year, my newest addition was “GetSkinsNow.Com” – a site for selling iPod cases, skins, MacBook cases, cell phone cases, etc. It’s been a lot of fun – I opened the site, purchased some “pay-per-click” advertising on Google, Shopzilla, and Shopping.Com and boom – the orders have been pouring in like crazy. Of course, my “studio” is now more like a “enterprising warehouse” – filled with boxes, packing tape, etc. I’ve also kept selling goodies on Amazon.Com, Ebay, and my older, e-tail sites, “DiscountKidsgames.Com” and “TheKidMall.Com”.

Remember last year – my Ebay Saga – where they cancelled my account, but wouldn’t tell me why? It took months before I was ever able to get it resolved. Well, HUNDREDS OF KUDOS to the Alliance Dept at Amazon.Com. The same thing happened to me last week with Amazon.Com – because of an inventory feed glitch, I got dozens of orders for products that were “sold out”; yet were still showing as “in stock” on Amazon. My InventorySource provider automates the inventory, but the inventory updates failed on several instances – coupled with the reality that even updating it every 24 hours, items were selling so fast – we couldn’t keep up. This led to my being forced to refund lots of orders – send an apologetic email – you know … you’ve probably gotten them before “we’re sorry – this item is sold out”, or “we’re sorry, this item is back-ordered”. Well, most people were gracious and understood and appreciated the prompt refund and notification – but some folks had nothing better to do than leave negative feedback on my seller profile and complain to Amazon. That with an abnormally high “refund-to-order” ratio prompted the dreaded “your seller account has been terminated – this is permanent” letter from Amazon.Com. All my funds were frozen for 90 days. I immediately replied to Amazon Alliance, explaining what had happened with the inventory situation. Unlike Ebay, Amazon responded within 24 hours with a thorough, coridal plan of action and within 48 hours, my Seller Account was reinstated and all my listings (over 10,000 items) were back online. I’m still working on getting the funds “released”, but I’m totally pleased with the customer service at Amazon.Com. Kudos x 10.

Speaking of Online Businesses – I’m proud to say that the “legal matters” I mentioned a few months ago are now resolved. Thanks be to God, I (Highest Praise Productions, Inc) have been formally dismissed from a $1 million dollar lawsuit. Yep – Glynn County’s finest arrived at my door a few months ago with the dreaded papers – the ones you never want to see – where your name – your company – is listed as “Defendent”. Long story … had to do with some audio that was broadcast on one of my web servers w/ my hosting company – wasn’t “my audio” – it was a recording of somebody else – but because the audio was “served” or “broadcast” off my company’s server, we found ourselves liable. Thankfully, the Plaintiffs in the case were willing to hear my side of the story and graciously dropped HPP from the case. Sigh of relief – Merry Christmas to me. Thank you God, and thanks to Joe Odachowsi, a great laywer and Christian friend here on St. Simons Island.

Family

All is well with family. Bekah and Andrew have been battling fever and some sort of infection. They are coming out of it, though. Jon Michael had his first last week – his first “tooth” fell out. Amazing. Will is constantly making us laugh. We’re looking forward to the Christmas holidays where we’ll be traveling around visiting family and friends.

Speaking of Family … it’s Jon Michael’s last day of school for the year, so Joy’s gone to pick’em up, and we’re all headed to Pizza Inn on the island for some lunch fun.

Merry Christmas!
Fred