FredMcKinnon.Com

TRUE STORY

Ok, so my headline is a bit dramatic, I admit.  But seriously, yesterday was one of those days when you are so glad you discovered technology like twitter, facebook, and the internet.

SETUP:

Thanks to Randy Elrod’s  giveaway on the re:create conference website,  I got my pre-release of Matt Maher’s new “Alive Again” CD.  I was super-excited to once again here “Christ Is Risen” … a song Matt had performed LIVE at the National Worship Leader Conference back in July.  After hearing this song again I decided that I’d surprise our church by introducing it as a “grand finale” at the end of this Sunday evening’s “Night of Worship”.

PROBLEM:

I had trouble discerning a couple of lyrics.  Especially the first line of the first verse.  Now that I know the actual lyrics, I’ve no idea WHY I had trouble hearing it … it’s perfectly clear.  But regardless, I thought I was hearing something else.  It’s brand new and the lyrics are nowhere to be found on the internet – not even at CCLI.

ENTER … GOOGLE, TWITTER, FACEBOOK

Google the lyrics – found a Facebook page from a Catholic Church somewhere.  Clicked on their address in Facebook which brought up a Google Map, proudly displaying their location and phone number.  Quick phone call to the church (yeah, the old-fashioned way, a telephone) gets me on the line with “Brittany” who loves the song and is going to try and figure out the lyric.

Meanwhile:

I use both my @fmckinnon personal twitter account and the @theworshipcomm twitter account (for TheWorshipCommunity.Com) and ask if anyone knows the lyrics.

Who replies?  None other than Matt Maher, the co-author and artist himself:

Meanwhile, I’m remembering the guy who works for Media Shout, Nate … Nate and I worked together at the National Worship Leader conference and met while we were figuring out the best way to display the “live blog/twitter” feed on the screens.

I send Nate a “DM” (direct message) via Twitter.  The conversation goes something like this:
@fmckinnon:  “Nate, hey Fred from the NWLC … do u still have Matt Maher’s setlist in your MediaShout library”

@MediaShoutNate:  yeah, I think so, what do you need?
@fmckinnon:  1st verse of “Christ Is Risen” from Matt Maher’s set.  Let no un-cod …??? sin remain???
@MediaShoutNate:  “Let no one caught in sin remain inside the lie of inward shame …”

CELEBRATION:

In less than 30 minutes, I had everything I needed to finish preparing that song for our band.  Oh yeah, Brittany CALLED ME BACK, too – a couple of perfect strangers on the phone … she figured out the verse, and we walked through the lyrics to the rest of the song to make sure we had it right.

Some days the internet can be a total distraction … but some days … I LOVE THE INTERNET.