FredMcKinnon.Com

Hello Everyone – welcome to “FreePlay Friday”.

Today, I want to talk about technology, specifically, Twitter, and more specifically, a third part service called TweetLater.Com. I have three primary twitter accounts at the moment that I manage:

@fmckinnon:  personal tweets about me, life, family, church, music, leadership, worship, and a lot of @reply to friends and dialog

@theworshipcomm:  co-managed by Russ Hutto, this is the twitter account for TheWorshipCommunity.Com.  It’s mostly automated with announcements on new threads, replies, discussions, and articles at TheWorshipCommunity.Com, but we also post quick news, updates, etc.  Russ has made it more fun by engaging directly with our followers with daily Q&A, polls, etc.

@ebusinessonline:  a brand new account that will be the hub for a new forums-based/articles site I’m creating on e-business and e-commerce.  I’m looking for a bunch of people who are interested in e-business and e-commerce to help launch these forums with relevant discussion.  (I also need someone who can make a great design of the vbulletin skin, and who is gratis or VERY CHEAP).  See http://www.e-businessonline.com

As I said, I’ve been using a service called TweetLater.Com.  It’s been very effective for me in how it allows me to:
1.  manage multiple accounts in one screen (with their premium service)
2.  schedule tweets to post while I’m away (during the night, etc)
3.  automate followeres (auto-follow, auto-unfollow, etc)
4.  manage scheduled or automated DM’s (direct messages – I don’t recommend that one!)
5.  Keyword Tracking

Keyboard Tracking is perhaps the biggest deal for me.  I have TweetLater.Com setup to send me an email digest several times of day with any tweets using words like “worship pastor, worship leader, worship team, worship confessional”, etc.  It’s helped me to find and network with followers who share my passion.

TweetLater.Com has both a free service and a professional service.  For a limited time, the professional service is $19.97/month (no contract).  I hope you’ll check out this service.

In the interest of integrity and transparency, I want to let you know that these links are affiliate links, and should you signup, I get paid.  Yeah!  Hey, that’s the entrepreneur in me.  However, it’s just as important for me to say that I’m not just posting a spam affiliate post .. I believe in the product, and use it!

So go check it out – try the freebie version first, and if the professional version is right for you, then go for it!

In our pastor’s meeting this week, David (our Senior Pastor) shared something that he’d heard somewhere … he said, “one of the ways to measure a man is to see what it takes to make him discouraged”.  Ouch.  We both measured ourselves and agreed that we weren’t measuring up too well.

We were coming off the heels of perhaps one of the greatest worship services we’ve had at SSCC.  We’d just concluded the “It’s Personal” series and countless people had accepted Christ as their Savior.  Many more made a decision to “nail it down” by confessing and recommitting themselves to Christ.  I was celebrating the fact that our congregation was exhibiting genuine praise and their response to God was amazing.

Then the “arrows” started coming.  Everyone had their story of how they’d been attacked in some way in the previous 24-48 hours after Sunday’s service.  Mine was pretty personal – it had to do with my performance as a worship leader; more specifically, with my singing ability (or as some would say, my “disability”).  Since this is something I’ve always been insecure about, it really knocked the wind out of my sails.  For nearly 72 hours I could not shake it.

My insecurities were ignited and discouragement came rolling in like a thick fog. It affected my countenance, my ability to plan, and worse of all, my confidence.  When a man loses his confidence, it’s a serious issue.

This word about “measure a man by what it takes to get him discouraged” rang so true in my heart.  I received this challenge at once and was determined to pull out of this pit.  Not long afterwards, I was listening to a worship CD from a famous, multi-platinum  worship artist who has led worship all over the world.  To tell you the truth, I don’t think this worship leader has the greatest voice – definitely not a “solo voice”.  (and obviously, I’m definitely NOT presuming that I *do* have a great voice, by any means – on the contrary, actually!) Yet, there is an anointing, a power, a heart of worship, a sincerity, and most importantly … a confidence … to just “be who God called him to be”.

Immediately, I felt that breakthrough come.  I realized once again that my job is not to perform or impress people. My job is to lead people into worship.  I’m not interested in someone walking away saying how wow’d they were – not by my singing, not by my playing, not by my arranging, not by my planning or production … I want them to walk away seeing Jesus Christ.  I want them to walk away in awe of the God we serve.

What discourages you?  What insecurities make you vulnerable?  What does it take to get you discouraged?  Measure youself, and let’s lift one another up with encouraging words.  The comment section is open – let’s be real, authentic, and honest.  Let’s bless one another.  Let’s bring edification.

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Hey Ya’ll,

Today I’m battling what many worship leaders battle – the reality that I need to choose some songs for this Sunday – and all the ones that “work” are songs that … well, I’m just kinda tired of.

We’ve all read the stories – we’ve all been told … “when the WL gets tired of a song, that’s just when the congregation is starting to really get it”.

I know this is true – which is why I go back to these songs again and again … they’ve been working, and continue to inspire our congregation in praise and worship.  But that doesn’t mean I’m not ready for something new.  (and we’ve got room to learn a few new songs, I think!)

Here are some of the upbeat ones that I fall back on weekly, yet … just don’t want to keep using. (though I probably will for a while)

Everlasting God
Your Grace is Enough
Meet with Me
You, You Are God
No Other Name

in the medium/moderate tempo, as much as I love what it does in our congregation, I’m getting weary of “Mighty to Save”.
(just noticed it was now the #1 song on CCLI).

This doesn’t mean these are “bygone” songs … it just means that I’m struggling to keep them fresh.

How about you?

Hey Gang,

I’m veering off-course here, and departing for a moment on the normal “worship, leadership” content.  Yeah, I typically save this stuff for “FreePlay Friday” posts, but when I believe in something, I like to shout it loud and clear.  When I don’t believe in something, I am known to share that, too.  (biting my tongue regarding comment plugins)

A while back I was turned onto this nifty Mac program called “Text Expander” from the great folks at SmileOnMyMac.Com.  You can download and use it for FREE … and it reminds you every now and then that you should consider buying the license.

Text Expander allows you to save text “snippets” and recall them with a simple keystroke or a combination of keys to activate the expander.  It saves you time in typing … lots of time.  I’ve been using it a couple of months now, and tonight when I reminded me that I’d saved over 10 solid hours of typing (nearly 300,000 characters), I decided to be a good guy and pay the $29.95 license fee.  I actually bought the double-license pack – one for my Mac Pro, and one for my Lappie.

So, this is how I cheat.  Now my blog comment signatures probably don’t seem so sincere (haha).

Example:
When I type “url” (without the quotes) and hit the spacebar I get:  http://www.fredmckinnon.com

When I type “fred@” (without the quotes) and  hit the spacebar, I get:  (my email address, I don’t want to type it here for spam mining)

When I type “sig” (without the quotes) and hit spacebar, I get:
For the Kingdom,
Fred McKinnon
www.fredmckinnon.com
www.theworshipcommunity.com

(recognize that sig, haha?)

I use it in my e-biz, too – when I need to forward an order, the distributors typically want certain information, so for example when I send to this distributor, I type:  “es*” and it becomes:

Customer #9012xxxxxx
PO#
PO Date:

Ship Complete:  Yes
Signature Required:  No

Shipping Method:  F02 (Ground)

Ship to:

SKU:
Qty:
Description:

Thanks, Team!
HPP Enterprises, Customer #9012xxxxx

How ’bout this one – sometimes when a product sells out on Amazon before I have a chance to remove it, and it goes on backorder.  I create a new message to customer, and simply type “oos” and it expands to:

Thanks for your purchase from HPP Enterprises.  Unfortunately this item sold out just prior to your purchase.  We have a network of several distributors and have searched to see if this is available elsewhere with no success.  We’ve entered your order on backorder with our distributor so that as soon as these arrive your order will be dropshipped directly to you.  Because of this, your order may not ship before the expected ship date given by Amazon.  Most backorders ship between a few days to 1-2 weeks.We do not charge until we confirm shipment, so you are welcome to keep this on backorder while you attempt to find the item in stock elsewhere.  Should you desire to cancel, simply reply and let us know.We do want to explain that we update our inventory throughout the day, but even with hourly updates, the inventory QTY  can quickly during this buying season.  Once we remove an item, it can still take several hours for that update to be processed by Amazon.We appreciate your gracious understanding.  Feel free to followup with us at any time for ETA, cancelation, or other questions.  Just reply to this email, or contact support and be sure to include your Amazon Order ID.Sincerely,HPP Enterprises

Pretty cool, huh!?
Every Mac user should try it!

Sunday Setlists – Week #31

1.  First, thanks for the cool red banner.  Problem is, I can’t remember whose site I snagged this from.  If it was yours, comment and let me know so I can give credit where credit is due!  (woo hoo, credit claimed – the banner was created by fellow blogger/Sunday Setlist participant, Dean Lusk!)

2 – Next, for the explanation (and rules) of how to participate in “Sunday Setlists” please see this page:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/sunday-setlists/

3 – Lots of you tell me “I forget some weeks” … so I’ve got a special, opt-in email list reminder especially for Sunday Setlists.  Join here.

4 – Please “tweet” this post using the link at the bottom after you’re done!
Also, be sure to use the #sundaysetlists hash tag when tweeting about YOUR worship confessionals!  (view all #sundaysetlists discussion on twitter by clicking here)

5 – When linking back to “Sunday Setlists” here, use today’s URL:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/02/22/sunday-setlists-31/
————————————————————————————————-

Sunday Setlists
St. Simons Community Church, 2/22/09

Great day of worship at SSCC.  I posted a question on Twitter earlier that said, “is it coincidence that on a Sunday we get more than normal complaints about the volume, the crowd was more engaged the ever”?.  Thanks to those of you who replied – I’d love your thoughts in the comments section below.  Basically, I had a discussion with one of our leaders who ushers and he said that the music was great, but that many more people complained about the volume than normal.  Ironically, today was perhaps the most active I’ve ever seen our congregation in worship.  They were shouting, singing, clapping, and really expressing themselves in worship,  I wasn’t “cheering” them on either – it was all spontaneous.

I would say that turning up the volume helped (and I’ve been saying that over and over, so I’d love to be able to say “see, I’m right”), but Travis mixed today and said overall, the decibel level of the music was LOWER than usual.

Our service was structured a bit differently today as we were celebrating Communion and wanted to have time to worship during and after this sacrament.  I’ve often commented that I’d rather have more music AFTER the sermon than BEFORE it, though it usually doesn’t work that way.  I’m so tempted to try it more often, but honestly – in most cases (and I mean in my 15+ years of leading worship, not just at SSCC) the Pastor usually goes longer since they “appear” to have more time, and we just have a longer sermon with less worship.  Exended worship that happens AFTER the teaching of God’s Word always seems to be more passionate and sincere, though.

That’s what we did today.  Here’s a run down – song titles are linked to iTunes where available.
Link to our PlanningCenterOnline.Com Service Plan:
http://www.planningcenteronline.com/plans/443644/public

Walk in:
Bluegrass/Country instrumental version of “Are You Washed in the Blood” (we only got to do this prior to the 11:00)
We Shall See the King (old gospel song, from Lindell Cooley’s “Revival in Brownsville” CD, years ago)

Opening Song:
Glorious (Martha Munizzi)

We used a new Ableton Live loop I created for this song.  The loop only includes congas and horns, but fills in the song nicely.  Having this on a click really forced us to keep the song laid back on the tempo.  I tracked this around 98 bpm and could feel myself wanting to rush it all day.  Our drummer and bassist teased me saying how great it was to FINALLY sing that song at not only the CORRECT tempo, but CONSISTENTLY at the same tempo!  Point taken.

Loop Links:  (OK, I clearly made some goofs, especially on the keyboard part, but ran out of time – there are no effects either.  I played the keyboard part live, so that channel was muted in Ableton for us today).

Audio Loop: (download)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

* Download .Zip package  for Ableton Live *

“Jesus Messiah”
This was not a natural segue and was the result of a different song being removed due to time issues.  I started with pads, and said a few words to start this song, which helped w/ the awkward transition.  This song went over HUGE and people really sang.

“Sermon”
It’s Personal – 4th and final week of this evangelistic series.  Again, many people professed Christ today in our services.  Praise God.

Communion and Worship
“This is the Gift of God” (Carl Cartee)
(currently featured at WorshipSource.Com)

“Jesus Paid it All” (Northpoint Live)

After communion, we did a corporate declaration of salvation.  We never do readings like this, but it was powerful.  The band was in the Key of E, and we held a low, 1-chord … and slowly built with the drums, walking up the scale.  (download the declaration)
I – ii – iii – IV – V – vi – vii – I

The music grew and grew as we progressed up the scale reading this declaration together as a body.  I could hear the crowd getting more and more excited as they declared the reading, and as it finally ended, we went immediately into the big drum intro of “Sing to the King” which closed out our service.  To say it was “powerful” is an understatement.  People were shouting, jumping, singing, clapping, and celebrating like I’ve never seen before in my life at SSCC.

Finally, as we closed the service we jumped into the full vocal version of the Bluegrass/Country style arrangement of “Are You Washed in the Blood”.

In closing – I want to say this.  I was pretty insecure about my song selection today – I head some joking and comments from within the band and staff about the selections being “old, hoky, throwback” … pick your cheesy term … and yeah … I was like “OK, God, I hope this works”.  I really felt that I’d prayerfully put together a setlist that would build into the Word, Communion, and Celebration.

Here’s a response I just got via email from one of our worshipers who will remain “nameless”:

” … The very first song seemed like everyone wanted to dance, including me!  Then the “Jesus Messiah’ song was great.  I also loved how we worshiped during & after communion with the slower song that segued into the chorus (that right now I can’t think of the words) that just flowed from what we were celebrating & what David had been preaching on.  Today the Holy Spirit was definitely working.
The worship team seemed especially effective today without drawing attention to themselves, if that makes sense.  Their voices were strong but they seemed to be in the background worshipping along with us.  I do not have a voice for singing but like you said , if the music is loud enough , we feel more like singing along & I felt that was happening today.  In fact , I would say that I sang louder & with more feeling today than I ever have in my life!!  Of course, there was no one in front of me so I felt freer.  People do feel freer to sing if they think no one will hear them, unless they have great voices.
Today was absolutely awesome from all angles, I heard nothing but good, people were touched, lives were changed & we are were encouraged… “

PRAISE GOD for this!

OK, it’s your turn.  Blog about your worship experience, link back here, and then fill out the Mister Linky box below.
IMPORTANT:  in the URL field, be sure to put the full URL to YOUR blog entry, and NOT to your blog’s homepage.  Homepage links will be deleted.