Hello Everyone!

I’m bringing back “FreePlay Friday” – I’m still going strong on the “Fitness” area, but miss the casual Friday where we talk about anything.  Lots is happening, so check it out:

1. Start getting ready for the big ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the “Sunday Setlists” blog carnival on Sunday, Aug 2.  We will have prizes.  Oh yeah.
2. I’m headed out to the National Worship Leader Conference in Kansas City next week.  Will be live blogging and tweeting for the conference and teaching the “Worship + Web 2.0″ class, as well as being on a discussion panel for the “New Media Maze:  Worship and the Mobile Church” sessions.
3. Please keep praying for Kate McRae.

Lastly, I posted this to my Twitter and FaceBook friends:

"B'fast with family at Sweet Mamas, and heard John Denver's "Country Roads" on the way home. It's gonna be a gr8 day!"

It made me think of all the fun songs I heard growing up.  I grew up in a musical family and was exposed to some great music.  Not many people my age would consider these songs and artists to be great.  I’m definitely in the minority.  But that’s because I grew up with these songs.  I sung these songs as an 8-year old.  They mean something to me.

Songs like:
“Thank God I’m a Country Boy” (John Denver)
“The Ring of Fire” (Johnny Cash)
“Sweet Caroline” (Neil Diamond)
“Country Roads” (John Denver)
“Song Sung Blue” (Neil Diamond)
“Eating Goober Peas” (Kingston Trio)
“Gentle on My Mind” (Merle Haggard)
“Jail House Rock” (Elvis)

etc etc.

So for our weekend discussion – tell me about special songs, events, memories, those things that are down inside you deep – the reservoir … recall some of those memories … and share them this weekend!

Hey Everyone,

So – I’ll still give you a “Fitness Friday” update (part of Bryan Patrick’s Fitness Fridays blog carnival) …. but I’m bringing back FreePlay Friday today as well!

Fitness Friday:
I renewed my commitment to our “Island Regimen” program here with Eric Taylor.  We just completed Week 1 of a new, 12-week session.  It’s harder because it’s nearly 85-90 degrees and 100% humidity, even though it’s only 6:00 AM.  I find it harder to breathe when it’s that hot and muggy.

Several folks have been asking on Facebook about this exercise I keep referring to called a “burpee”.  Eric got me a great video – so enjoy.  (I have no clue who this actually IS in the video, it’s not us)

Here’s a copy/paste of our routine from yesterday:

_______________________________________

Now onto FreePlay Friday -

I just wanted to celebrate – I’m hooking up with the rest of my family, and we’ll be celebrating several birthdays – my brothers, my nephews, and my Dad’s.  Also, yesterday was my parents 48th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY.  What a blessing to be able to have a Godly heritage with a functional family that has given us love and modeled a Christ-like example.

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!

(this FreePlay Friday logo designed by Russ Hutto)

Hey everybody,

IT’s FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!

During my time of mentoring this week with Randy Elrod, this simple question kept coming up … and I realized, it’s not necessarily the easiest question to answer.

So I ask you,

“what gets you up in the morning”?

(and no, I don’t mean your alarm clock).

Passion – Drive – Purpose?

(RSS Subscribers, click through to view)
Remember the infamous cell phone salesman, Paul Potts who was discovered on Britain’s Got Talent?  Checkout Susan Boyle.
(embedding disabled, click to visit YouTube, then come back and leave your comments here!)

Friday – April 10 …

Beautiful, gorgeous day outside.

I’m spending it doing … finances.

Finished app for refinance on our home.  4.625% fixed.  Yes.
Entering bills/receipts for HPP.  Yuck.
Working on taxes.  Almost done.
Figuring out Joy’s retirement accounts that spread out from here to Virginia.  Yuck.
Fruity Pebbles for breakfast.  Yum.
McDonalds for lunch.  Yuck
McDonalds for lunch because my wife and kids were there.  WORTH IT.

What about your weekend?

FreePlay Friday Logo for FredMcKinnon.Com by RussHutto.Com

Hey Gang – it’s FRIDAY!  Let me hear it now, let me hear it now, it’s FRIDAY!
This is “Freeplay Friday” – I typically use this day to bypass the normal conversations on worship, church, leadership, etc., and just talk about family, life, or whatever comes to mind.

We’re taking some time together as a family for Spring Break.  I’m taking the two older boys (Jon Michael and Will) to see the Atlanta Braves play the Detroit Tigers tonight … I can’t wait.  We’ve got some incredible seats over the Braves’ dugout on the 1st baseline.  (Thank you God, for American Express Membership Rewards points).

For today’s FreePlay Friday I thought I’d share a video that was forwarded to me from my pastor (who now joined twitter @dysscc!) … so enjoy!

Playing For Change | Song Around The World “Stand By Me” from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

So what’s your WEEKEND look like?  How many of you are starting Spring Break?

Hey Everyone -

Can you say “It’s Friday”!?????   Woo-Hoo!  FreePlay Friday is a fun day for me and you – we talk about whatever we want here on Friday, and break the routine of discussions on faith, church, worship, worship leadership, music, etc.

The last few days of this week have been me sneezing, itching, coughing, dripping, blowing (ok, I’ll stop).  Spring time and pollen counts seem higher than ever before.  The normal cocktail of allergy meds for me aren’t doing it this week.  NyQuil was my friend last night.

Here Goes the Randomness

• I can hardly type, I’m bobbing my head so hard … side-to-side … rock … back and forth … that’s because I’m listening to the brand new Israel Houghton CD, “The Power of One“.  Holy smokes.  Groove galore.
• Rebekah’s birthday is this weekend.  Family coming to town, “Marriage Live Beach Bash” tonight at church, soccer games in the AM on Jekyll Island, and then Bekah’s birthday party.  Hope it doesn’t rain.
• Twitter … it’s definitely here to stay for a while folks.  I’m taking over social media and networking “officially” for our church . We already have a twitter account for the church @sscc … but just got a new one going for our missions team in Kenya @sscckenya.  Way cool, they are sending live twitter updates “from the field” in Kenya.
• FREE GIVEAWAY:
  March is almost over, which means it’s time to have the monthly FREE GIVEAWAY drawing over at HighestPraise.Com.  This month’s freebie is Lincoln Brewster’s “Today is the Day” CD and WorshipToolBox resource (DVD with instructional videos, chord charts, lyrics, sheet music, etc).  All you have to do is signup for the E-News from HighestPraise.Com.  You can expect maybe 3-5 emails per month, usually announcements about worship-related resources and new songs from HPP and some of our friends.

Wassup for your weekend?  Back to the Twitter thing … do you use it?  Does your church?  How is your church, ministry, or business using Twitter or other social media?

BRING IT ON.

Hey Gang,

It’s “FreePlay Friday”.  This is the day when I break away from worship leadership, church ministry, etc., and make it “free” – I can talk about life, family, politics, fishing, playing, or whatever … and so can you.

So today … I have nothing really to share!

(how pathetic is that!)

Seriously, I’m not much in the mood to “blog” about anything today.  So, feel free to share your thoughts.  I’ll be back Sunday for “Sunday Setlists” … probably.

Hey Everyone,

What a great start to “FreePlay Friday”.  Joy has been after me to be more proactive in creating family traditions.  Not a bad idea, right?  Any other wives reading this who keep wishing that?  Joy’s been a great encourager, and she really has been the one to lead here, for which I’m both ashamed, and grateful.

Family Time

So, we kicked off our first (of hopefully, many) “Friday Breakfast” dates.  We all packed in the car and drove to our favorite breakfast spot, “Sweet Mamas” on St. Simons Island.  I didn’t wake up as early as we’d planned, so we were a bit rushed and really didn’t get to make “quality time” out of it, but I think if we are consistent on this, it will mean a lot to the kids.  I had the chocolate cheese danish and pork pops with coffee.  Joy had some yucky looking egg pie stuff.  JM and Will both had the chocolate cheese danish, and Rebekah and Andrew each had a chocolate donut.  Healthy, huh?

We dropped JM and Will off at school, and Joy’s off to get a haircut … Bekah and Andrew are at the brother/sister-in-law’s house.  I didn’t rush to get upstairs to my home office this morning – I spent the last thirty minutes finishing up “Quiet Strength” - “The Principles, Practices, and Priorities of a Winning Life“, by Super Bowl winning coach (now retired), Tony Dungy.

Can I just say this was one of the most enjoyable reads I’ve had in a long time.  If you are a football fan, you’d love this book.  Read about trades, drafts, the pains of winning and losing  – both in football, and in the loss of their son, Jamie.  This book will provide enjoyable reading and will quietly challenge your leadership as a father, role model, and Christian at the same time.

Kudos and thanks to my friends Deane and Dana for giving this to me on my birthday last November.  Yeah, it takes that long for me to read through most books.  It was worth it.

Now I’m in the process of planning something special for Spring Break.  Last year we hung around St. Simons and we found ourselves just doing the “same ole”.  I’m learning more and more that these times with kids, though demanding and crazy most of the times, are precious and won’t be here forever.  I’m determined to make more of that time, so we’re checking out some “get away” cabins up in the North Georgia Mountains.  For those of you who read my blog that have kids – please … BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT MAKING MEMORIES.

Prayer

Please continue to pray for my friend Will Pufall who is fighting for his life in the hospital in Pensacola, FL.  (see yesterday’s emergency prayer post) They don’t know what is wrong with him, and have called in an “infectious disease” specialist.  Pastor Bobby Lepinay (Will’s pastor, boss, and my friend) is updating his blog several times a day.

Highest Praise

I’ll devote a full blog with more information to this shortly, but those who follow me on Twitter have seen a few posts about my relaunching HighestPraise.Com, my original site for my company.  It’s been neglected for some time, but I’m re-working it from a fully static .html site to a dynamic site driven by WordPress.  The main focus of HighestPraise.Com is to provide resources, specifically – original praise and worship songs from HPP-Published writers to the Body of Christ.  There is still a lot of work to be done, but I’d be grateful for your visit, RSS-subscribe, email-subscribe (Free Giveaway every month!), and support over there.

Comment and Check-In

OK – As always, it’s “check-in” time … for those who are reading, please leave a comment, check-in, let me know about your weekend plans, who you are, and where you’re hiding!  (oh yeah, I’m trying out the Disqus comment system now!)

(thanks to Russ Hutto for creating this cool FreePlay Friday logo!)

Let me hear you say it now … IT’S FRIDAY!

FreePlay Friday is the “anything goes” day where we talk about random things, family, life, and you.  I’d like for you to comment and chime in with your own random thoughts and comments.

Here we go:

1. The Flu has hopefully left our home.  Jon Michael went back to school today.  It started with Rebekah, then to Andrew, then to Jon Michael.  Will’s had a little touch of something, but nothing serious.  Joy has also had a nasty cough but no fever.  So far, I’ve been great.  Woo-hoo!
2. Andrew (our 2-year old, soon to be 3 in April) is starting potty training today.  Yep, he’s sporting some “big-boy” pullups with Diego.  I had a long talk about him not peeing or poo-poo’ing on Diego.  He laughed.  He nailed the potty this AM.  Joy gave him a big ole’ chocolate.  Rock on.  Once this mission is completed, we’ll be DONE with diapers.
3. Tomorrow is the Super Dolphin Race, a fundraiser for our elementary schools here on the island.  Joy will run the 10K.  Immediately afterwards, she’ll join Jon Michael and Will in the 1-mile “fun-run”.  WHO THE HECK EVER CALLED A RUN “FUN”?  I’ll be cheering from the sideline.
4. As most of you know, I’ve been using IntenseDebate for my commenting system here on the blog.  I’m sure it works great for some, but for me – it is broken.  I’ve been trying to stop using it, but I’m trapped – their servers host my comments, and if I try to break off the relationship, they keep my comments, and I’m stuck.  It’s not supposed to work that way.  For some reason, their system that “syncs” the comments back over here to my blog doesn’t work on my site.  So, when I de-activate their plugin, about 99% of your comments are lost.  I am giving them one last change today to help me export the comments back to my blog.  If they don’t help, I’ll just have to chalk it up to a big mistake, de-activate, and lose all your comments and start over.  I won’t be hostage.  I can’t say it’s their fault, it could be a screwy server setting on my site.  All I can say is that I’ve been asking for help for a month and it still isn’t resolved.  My last email of 3 days ago still hasn’t been answered.

And now – some link love … these are items that I “starred” in my Google Reader this week that are worth to share:

1. Jan Owen discusses “The Dangerous Act of Worship”, a book I’ve heard a lot about, and I’m tempted to read.
2. Chris blew me away with this video of an incredible sounding “fake grand piano”.
3. Ben Arment posted this quote that is so true, and needs to be read.  READ THIS!

And I saved the best from last … if you’re on FaceBook, you’ve probably gotten a kazillion of those dang “25 Things About Me” tags.  I delete every single of them.  (yeah, I know half of them came from all of you reading this).  Well, thanks to Ben for this hilarious video:

OK – so gimme come comment love – what’s happened in your week – what’s your funnies – share your stories!

Hey Everybody,

Today is “freeplay friday” – anything goes … let’s hear what’s on your mind today.

Rebekah (my 5-yr old) has suffered from the flu all week.  We’ve been washing hands and “Germ-X” rubbing like crazy, trying to protect the rest of the clan.  Andrew (the 2-yr old) came down with it last night.  He’s running fever, but outside in the backyard playing – so he doesn’t know he’s sick!

Joy and I have a babysitter set for Valentines Today (tomorrow night) … if we still have fever and sickness going around I doubt we’ll have her over, though.  Thought we’d try “Sal’s Pizzeria”, a new place here on SSI.

What are your plans for the big ole’ Valentines Day?

Hey Everybody,

Welcome to “FreePlay Friday”  – where I catchup on life and anything else I want to discuss here on the blog.

1.  RSS Readers:

To the hundreds of you who are subscribed via RSS – thanks for your loyal readership.  I hope you’ll click over and see the new design here on the blog and leave a comment – I’d like to hear from you today!

2.  AllAboutWorship Podcast Honors:

I had the privilege of being interviewed by Ben and Wisdom a few weeks ago on the “All About Worship” podcast, which has a whopping 4,000+ subscribers.  The interview went live last night – I’d like to invite you to check out the interview on AllAboutWorship.Com or on iTunes.  Regardless of where you listen, please leave them a comment and thank them for the great job they are doing with this incredible resource.

3.  re:create 2009 Friends

My first trip to re:create was amazing.  I get it now – and understand why so many of my friends tell me “once you go to re:create, you’ll never want to go to another conference”.  One of the most satisfying aspects of this trip was meeting all of these “friends” in blogworld.  A friend of mine back home often asks about blog relationships … “are they real friends”.  Well, I can tell you that I immediately felt at home, and felt as if I’d known these people all my life.  There was NOTHING superficial.  It was like family.  I can’t say how overwhelmed I was.  I’ll be unpacking a lot of the things I absorbed during re:create, but I’ll leave you with this photo of a bunch of us hanging out … see if you recognize any of these awesome people:

(back row standing, left to right:  Chris, Mark, Jim, Rich, Mark)
(seated, left around to right: Tam, Brent, Randy, Richard, Joel, Alastair, and some guy named Fred)

Somehow this picture missed Kim and Neil Bontrager, who must’ve arrived just AFTER this pic was taken.
If I don’t have your blog link, I need it … my re:create book is in my suitcase – so comment and let me know the URL!

4.  Ministry Continues Tonight and Tomorrow

They are calling for boarding of my flight – I land at 4:15 and have soundcheck at 5:00 PM for the Golden Isles Women’s Connection conference this weekend at First Baptist in Brunswick, GA … so no rest for the weary.  Say a prayer for me, pretty please!

Hey Everybody!
(RSS Readers – click over to view this entry on the web … you’ve got to see this ….

Well, you’ve GOT to see what? Well, the new FredMcKinnon.Com!

I wanted to kickoff the new year with a new theme, and I finally got around to figuring out what I want … I’ve had the privilege of working with Gabe Taviano as the designer, and highly recommend working with this guy! (Gabe runs GodsMac.Com and the GodsMac podcast, in addition to his design work).

What’s new?

For one – I hope it’s a WHOLE LOT easier to navigate. My subscribe and contact icons are big ole’ things you can’t miss in the right sidebar, along with an expanded music player – I hope to continually upload new songs and new music for you to enjoy.

There’s a new 300px ad space underneath it … these ads are part of the Highest Praise Network of ads running on my blog, HighestPraise.Com (next in line for a major overhaul) and TheWorshipCommunity.Com. They are great sponsors, so check out their stuff.

We’re still making some tweaks, but I hope you like it!

Let me know, and let’s hear what’s going on with your weekend!

“An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.” (Proverbs 31: 10)

Today is my wife’s birthday.  Joy is 39, and she is beyond amazing.  She’s an incredible woman, a wonderful mom of 4, she loves Jesus, she is a passionate worshiper (and oh, I love that), and I think she’s the most gorgeous chick in the universe.

This morning, she’s out with a few girlfriends eating her favorite pancakes at Sandcastle.  (yes, she’s breaking that 21-day fast early for her birthday, and I don’t blame her!)  Our church is having a prayer conference this weekend, so we’ll be @ SSCC tonight (Friday) and Saturday (AM).  She says she wants to go shopping Saturday afternoon, and then Sunday night we’ll all be done with our 21-day fast and we’re planning on feasting with some friends.

Joy doesn’t blog … she doesn’t FaceBook … she doesn’t Twitter … so, if you’d like to leave her a birthday wish, just leave it right here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BABY!

Hey Everybody -

Welcome to “FreePlay Friday” – the spot where I try to break out of the normal postings on Worship, Faith, Church, etc … and just post crazy, random, real things about real life.  RSS Readers – come on over and leave a comment today, alrighty?

* I Ain’t No Metrosexual:
(from Wikipedia)
Metrosexual is a neologism of the 2000s generally applied to heterosexual men with a strong concern for their appearance, and/or whose lifestyles display attributes stereotypically attributed to gay men.

So, a friend of mine from SSCC used Twitter to alert another one of my friends about this blog “Understanding How Metrosexual Your Worship Leader Is” .  It’s a hilarious little quiz you can take.  I took it for myself, and scored a “2″.  Would be interested in knowing how others scored me.  My friend Jay scores much higher.  His wife Brooke thinks that I’m slamming him for that – heck, I’ve asked him to be my roomie on concert gigs, so clearly, I’m OK with it, right?

However, I do get some highlights in my hair from time to time – I think they look cool.  I did start getting a haircut somewhere besides the $10 barbershop.  Yikes.

* Twitter, FaceBook, and Life:

I’m always talking to people about Twitter and the internet.  (not on Twitter yet, check it out and follow me!)  Sure, it can be a colossal waste of time.  Even my buddy and co-worker Travis caved in and became a Twitter-ite.  Last night, at 11:00 PM EST – every single smoke detector in my house started going off.  I’m talking LOUD.  Not the random, single “beep” that happens every year or so from only one, single unit when the backup battery is dead.  I mean the whole system.  Nothing we could do would make them stop.

I hit Twitter and typed “11:00 PM EST – every smoke detector in our house going off, but no smoke or fire – HELP“.

Within 5 minutes, I’m getting tons of @replies on Twitter, and since my Twitter status updates my “Facebook Status” – I started getting responses there too.  The solution?  Start pulling those babies out of the wall – and pulling the wires out.  They are hardwired – the batteries are only in them to keep them useful in case the power goes out.  I even switched off the breaker.  I started yanking those babies off the wall one by one.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to rip the wires out of the wirenuts – the wires go into a plug which can easily pull out of the back of the detector.  After I got 3 or 4 removed, I got upstairs  and removed the one out of Rebekah’s room.  (Note – all 4 kids are sound asleep – this is ear-piercing noise, and they don’t even stir … but if I were to have turned on “Max and Ruby” on the TV, they would’ve been up in 3 seconds).  After pulling off the one in Bekah’s room, they all stopped.  So, I’m thinking that detector must’ve gone bad or something and set off a chain reaction.  We’ll see.

Speaking of Twitter, Facebook, Life … I was blessed by Joel’s post today.  He’s being real, authentic, and raw.  He asks for our prayers, and we should rally up and give them to him.  Drop him a comment of encouragement today.

That’s a wrap for FreePlay Friday.  Joy’s parents are coming down from G’ville today so we’ll have a great time of family gathering this weekend on the island.

I’d love to get your comments – let me know what’s happening with you!

Hey Everybody,

It’s “FreePlay Friday” … on Saturday.

Here’s the deal.  Yesterday was overall, pretty lousy.  It was just “one of those days”.  I can’t exactly tell you why.  I can’t pinpoint a single reason.  From the time I woke up I was in a bad mood.  Every little thing was getting under my skin.

As for the “motivation” that we all hope to jump into the New Year with, I just haven’t had it.  I have seen the first full week of January come and go, and it’s just too much like all the other weeks – and there’s too much I’d like to change, and didn’t see any hint of it last week, so maybe I was just depressed … or o-ppressed.

I didn’t want to work.
I didn’t want to blog.
I didn’t care about FreePlay Friday.
I just wanted to sleep, be quiet, watch TV, and I didn’t want ANYBODY to bother me.

So, that’s the honest truth.  Today (Saturday), I feel better.  More like myself.  Maybe I just needed a day  … though that’s not fair to anyone who had to deal with me.

My buddy Kit Palmer was asking “where’s FreePlay Friday” … well, now you know.

I don’t want to end all gloomy, so let me share some WONDERFUL things that did happen over the last few days:

* I heard a new song at our youth group’s worship night.  It’s called “Come Away” and it’s by these guys. This is a simple song, it has a bit of a whimsical feel to it, and I just love it.  It’s raw, authentic, and just … well, I hate saying this because I can’t really explain it .. but that song has a strong anointing on it.

*  As much as I hated pulling for the Florida Gators, they did win, showing the world (IMHO) that SEC football is one of the toughest, most skilled group of teams in the nation.

*  Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing this for a few minutes – and honestly, it was a brief moment of relief, thinking “ahh, there’s nothing much better than your kids falling asleep on top of you with their head on your shoulder” …

How ’bout you?  Do you have days like that?
How do you get out of that funk?  What causes it?

HAPPY NEW YEAR everybody!

Friday – Jan 2.  I’m not ‘officially’ back at work – though I’m taking today to sort of get back to work in my home office and get some things taken care of.  There are currently 305 messages in my inbox – yikes.  I haven’t done my business finances in a couple of weeks – yikes.  I have a bunch of new cases for the new “Aluminum Unibody Enclosure” Macs to add to my e-biz stores – yikes.

That being said – I’ll keep this FreePlay Friday quick with some “bullets”:

• First – prayers for my good friend, one of SSCC’s main drummers, and a faithful “FreePlay Friday” reader and commenter, R.V. Cate.  His mother passed away unexpectedly Sunday, Dec 21.  R.V. still came and played the drums for our Christmas Eve service.  R.V. – we love you, pray for continued peace and comfort, and look forward to drumming with you at practice in the morning.  You and your family are loved and have a special place in our hearts.
• Second – prayers for my good friend, Patrick Eades.  Patrick is the Director of our local CareNet, which is a massive ministry that extends into multiple counties and has a huge impact in our region.  God has blessed Patrick and promoted him into a great position of influence in the pro-life community.  He sent this prayer request today in his “e-care” newsletter:“… While I have you, I want to ask for your prayer as I am preparing for a six day training and consultation for Pregnancy Service Center in Salina, Kansas. I thought I asked weeks ago, but after reviewing previous e-cares I see that I neglected to ask for prayer on this crucial training. I leave very early Monday morning and will return the following Sunday.  This is a strategic location in that it is very close to Wichita where Doctor George Tiller performs hundreds of late term abortions each year and proclaims having provided over sixty thousand abortions since 1973 (http://www.drtiller.com/). Tiller is also infamous in that he has installed a crematorium in his abortion clinic to dispose of the dead babies (http://www.dr-tiller.com/). As a result I consider this a key area in our nation and thus a key need for our prayer. This center’s leadership asked for me specifically as a Care Net Consultant, so I am honored, but humbly seek your prayer. I am grateful for your prayer as fly into Wichita on Monday to prepare for training in Salina for the week.”
  
  (speaking of CareNet, I realized that I never mailed CD/DVD to those who donated to CareNet a while back when I did a promotion – if that was you, PLEASE let me know – I spoke with Patrick and he’s going to attempt to get the names to me)
• Free Music – Michael Cowan, a good friend from college (fellow Theory/Comp Major!) has a great band in Athens, GA called “Scarlet Snow”.  They kicked off the New Year by allowing their new album, “The Needle EP”, to be downloaded for FREE.  Don’t waste a moment – go to “downloadtheneedle.com” and get your FREE ALBUM – no strings attached.  While you are there, if you are into smooth jazz, also pickup Drew Davidsen’s “Mission Drew” track with code “smoothjazz”. Drew is a fellow “IndieHeaven.Com” artist – we met a few years ago, and he’s an incredible jazz musician.
• Free Graphics – Russ Hutto is offering a free “wallpaper” graphic each month – this month is a way-cool one of Psalm 57:10 that you can use as your desktop background on your computer.  Check it out here.
• Locals?  This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, and that means “Fam  Jam” at SSCC – if you have kids in the 1st-5th grade range and you live nearby – come checkout this awesome service where “kids bring their parents to church” this Sunday at 10:00 AM in the Kid’s Clubhouse Theater.

In closing … I’d like to show you how I disposed of my Christmas Tree:

And that’s with NO gasoline … man, those things go up quick.  I said “I wonder if this thing will burn since it’s still so green” … well, I almost paniced … that fire had to be at least 25 feet high and started hitting the trees above it.  Too bad it only lasted about 2 minutes.  I was always a pryo-maniac.

How did you dispose of YOUR Christmas Tree?  Post your response, and any other random “FreePlay Friday” information below!

(thanks to Russ for the cool FreePlay Friday banner – anybody else wanna submit a cool banner for FreePlay Friday or Sunday Setlists?  Please email it to me, and include a link to your blog of course!)

Hey Everybody -

Welcome to “FreePlay Friday” … where we can just come together and talk about ANYTHING we want.  This is the first post after upgrading to the new WordPress 2.7.  Hooray, I know that means SO MUCH to you all!

This has been a light week in blog world for me – I’m preparing for our final worship services this year @SSCC.  I won’t be leading this Sunday, I’ll be playing the role of Schroeder in our Jingle Jam production of “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

To complicate matters, I went to see a retina specialist on Wednesday because of some issues I’ve been having with my right eye.  The examination revealed I had some tears in my retina which is pretty serious because it could come detached.  Since that can cause permanent blindness, I took the DR’s advice and had it treated immediately.  So they did “cryotherapy” on my retina which is where they go in with this probe and freeze the tears of my retina to prevent them from tearing more and detaching.  Best I can tell (weak stomachs, you may want to stop here and go to the next paragraph), they dilate my pupils really big, look through there with a magnifying glass, and stick this probe THROUGH the side of my eye (I guess you just poke right through that white stuff?) and zzzzz, zzzz, freeze away.  I’m the idiot-type of patient who sits there and asks those questions while they’re doing it to me.  I wish I cold’ve watched it on TV.  Maybe.

Today, I have a sore, red, swollen right eye and it looks like Schroeder will have to wear eyeglasses instead of contacts.  I’m so ready for it to be healed up.

Next week I plan on recapping my annual tradition of sharing the “O Holy Night” saga with you here.  Some of you are new readers, and this will be fun, trust me.

For now, allow me to leave you with 2:15  of some of the most incredible, heartfelt Christmas thoughts that are near and dear to me:

What are YOUR PLANS?

Hey Everybody -

So we start out another FreePlay Friday with a new, whimsical banner created by my friend, Russ Hutto.  Thanks, Russ – be sure and subscribe to his blog, you folk!

My brother, Robert … IM’s me around noon saying “where’s my FreePlay Friday”?  Sorry I’m running a litte late today.

For those of you who may be “new” around here … I like to make Friday’s the day to talk about whatever we want – life, family, and your stuff, too … so jump in the comments, and make your own random “freeplay” of what’s going on with you.

This week:

1 – we got our house all decorated for Christmas, and got our tree.  I think it’s the most beautiful one yet!
2 – Speaking of Russ (above) … he’s now working a great social community as our “Twitter Ambassador” for TheWorshipCommunity.Com … so, if you use Twitter, consider following our feed.
3 – Darrell Evans has a new CD out … and I’m loving it.  You can get it here.
4 – This Sunday will be my last Sunday leading worship @SSCC this year. (that sounds drastic).  I’ll be off on 12/21 because I’m rehearsing for Jingle Jam.  I’ll co-lead on Christmas Eve, but hey – that’s not a Sunday.  Then, we always take the last Sunday of the year off to do “Church in the Home”.
5 – Speaking of Church in the Home … both Will and Jon Michael (6 and have officially prayed and confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and they wanna get baptized.  PRAISE GOD!
6 – Joy bought a few boxes of Cookie Crisp cereal for the kids to have on special days.  Who is she kidding, I’ve already finished off one box.  I let Andrew and Rebekah have some the other morning, and Joy said to me “Fred, don’t be a bad influence” and Rebekah in her precious, princess voice turned to Joy and said “Mom, don’t you call my Prince Charmer an influence”.

That’s all for now … what’s up for your weekend?

Hey Everybody -

If you’re a Worship Leader (or not) … don’t you go crazy when everyone at church feels the liberty to suggest which songs they think you should be singing on a Sunday?

This is what I was hit with first thing this morning during Breakfast:

Worship Leader Requests from Fred McKinnon on Vimeo.

Have a great weekend!
Fred

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Hey Everybody!!

Hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving.  I’d love to hear about it.

Today is “Black Friday”.  Joy got up and went to Wal-Mart in Brunswick, GA.  She got there around 6:00 AM, an hour after the doors opened.  It was a mad house.  She said the entire parking lot was overflowing out into the grassy areas.  When she got in, the lines at the cash registers were backed up all the way across the store, down the front aisle, past the pharmacy section.

They had some 7″ Portable DVD Players for $49, I think.  They were locked up in those glass cases, so you had to wait in line there, too … which stretched way across the area.

Joy didn’t buy anything … no way she was waiting that long. But she said it was WORTH IT, just to see the craziness.

How ’bout you?  I saw that Los was already done w/ all his shopping by early Friday AM, and saved more $ than he spent!

Also … for those who are somewhat local?

I’ll be doing a concert with a 5-piece band tomorrow night (Saturday Night) on Jekyll Island, kicking off their “Holiday Island – Lighting of the Christmas Tree” event.  We’ll do about 40 minutes of praise and worship music, followed by another 30-40 minutes of Christmas  carols.  The only thing topping that is Santa coming in to light that big ole’ tree, followed by what I think is one of the best FIREWORKS DISPLAYS all year.

Come throw some of the “snowballs” (but not at us on stage, right Shannon?) and join the party – 4:30 – until.

Share your “Black Friday” stories and Holiday Plans!

Hey Everybody -

I can’t believe it’s Friday.  This has been one crazy week.  Here’s a brief recap:

1.  Monday:  I return from lunch to see that my screen is locked up on my MacBook Pro that I use for SSCC.  No problem, I’ll just hold the power button down and force Lappie to shut down.  Reboot – nothing, white screen, flashing question mark, and a horendous clicking noise from the hard drive.  After an hour or so of trying to reboot, trying to repair, I talk to Apple who hears the clicking over the phone and confirms … that hard drive is DEAD.  So, Travis (our Tech Director) jumps in and order a replacement hard drive for me.  In the meantime, I’m out of comission on my Lappie.  On top of that, I miss a meeting that I needed to be a part of, and I didn’t even know the meeting had been scheduled.

2.  Tuesday:  4+ hours of AM and early-afternoon meetings.  There is lots of drama this week.  One of those weeks where “pastor” is more the role than “worship leader”. Hard drives arrives and we finally get installed late afternoon.  I began the attempt to install OS, which fails over and over until I find the correct disc.

3.  Wednesday:
Continue to try and load software on Lappie so that it’s usable.  Gotta work on music and finish it up for the “I’m A Man, I’m A Woman” video we’ve got planned for Sunday.  That will be a treat.  All the normal Monday and Tuesday tasks that I normally would have done by now (finishing setlist, podcast, arrangements, etc.) are still not complete, and I’m running out of time.

4.  Thursday:
Start out with a productive communications meeting with some of the folks on our team at SSCC.  I’ve had tough conversations this week, and though they were necessary, I’m sure I didn’t handle them as well as I should’ve.  Hindsight is 20/20.  Rehearsal Thursday PM – it goes smoothly, without a hitch.  Thank God!

5.  Friday:
I realize that I’ve not blogged all week.  I’ve not commented or read your blogs all week.  I’m supposed to be leaving after lunch @ school today with the kids for a camping trip to McRae, but since it will be in the 20′s tomorrow morning there, we opted to cancel the trip and try again another time.  The kids are disappointed, I feel somewhat pressured to “come up with something” to replace what I’d already planned for the weekend.

On top of that – business is picking up online.  Not like it should, but at least it’s picking up.  I have a new “Sports and Outdoors” supplier that has been very popular.  I’m working with a 3rd party integration company to give them a shot at managing my inventory control and pricing.  But they are slow and apparently only the one guy runs the thing, so I’m waiting in line.  Slipping, slipping, slipping …

So hopefully I can take today and catchup on some things that are way behind from this week.  Honestly, I’m kinda heavy and numb, and eager to resolve some conflicts that are out there.  Joy and I had a good time of prayer this morning.  It’s not long … maybe 20-30 minutes, but when we can do that together, it really makes a difference.  We try to do it M-F at 6:30 AM.  I’d say we’re about 65% on with that.  There are those mornings when one of us just refuses to wake up.  I’m glad we both have that liberty.

She’s an amazing woman actually.  I know she’s got me covered.  I think about this family, these kids, and the opportunities God has given me, and I’m amazed at how blessed I really am.

Oh yeah – and the whole “And We’re Off” subtitle – well, that just means – yikes, the holidays are here.  They are here, it’s that time.  It’s almost Thanksgiving.  It only gets wilder from here on out.  And we’re off.  Buckle up, and find a way to enjoy the season in all it’s rush.  Slow down when you can.  Take it in.

Want to comment?

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Hey Everybody -

It’s “FreePlay Friday” … time to break off and talk about whatever we want.  For all you “RSS’ers” out there, if you’re reading this in your RSS Reader, please click here to view today’s content and comment.

Today – I thought I’d share a short clip of one of my favorite holiday clips.  Yep – it’s a Christmas clip, and yep, I’m going there already.

On Sunday, Dec 21 I’ll be playing the role of “Shroeder” in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for our FamJam “Jingle Jam” that evening.  I can’t wait.  “Charlie Brown Christmas” has to be one of my favorite Christmas shows of all time.

Over the last few years they’ve started rolling a new 30-minute show of “shorts” after it … and some of them are quite hilarious.

I present to you one of our favorites (our, being my whole family – the kids laugh so hard they hurt all over) … where “ReRun” has a bone to pick with ole Santa Fancy Claus.

So what are some of YOUR favorite holiday shows? (we just missed the Great Pumpkin, BTW)

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FRIENDS, RSS’ers, FAMILY – Guest Blog Today – so click over and comment, engage in discussion!

Hey Everybody – welcome to “FreePlay Friday”!  Today I’d like to welcome a good friend, Deane Duggan as my guest blogger.  Deane and his wife lived in Atlanta and visited St. Simons Island often.  They visited my former church a few times and we just seemed to hit it off and become friends.  Now they’ve moved their family down here to paradise and we have the privilege of seeing them often.

In addition to kicking my butt on the raquetball court, Deane has an incredible grasp on politics … of the conservative nature, that is … and has some great insights into our Constitution and how our government was meant to operate.  Who knows, maybe we’ll see Mr. Duggan on a ballot some day?

Deane’s passion is driven not by politics or government, but by his relationship with Christ, and his desire to see God’s Kingdom here on earth, “as it is in heaven”.  So without my need to blab any longer, I’m sitting back today and allowing Deane to take “FreePlay Friday” with this post, “Football”.

“Football” – Thoughts from Deane Duggan

I am a college football fan, but a few weeks ago a question returned to my mind as I was watching a Saturday night game – “How do we motivate Christians to be as passionate about God as many people, including some Christians, are about college football?”  Personally, I am less fanatical about college football than I used to be.  My relationship with God, my marriage, and my children have changed my priorities.  However, I can still identify with the highs and lows that are evident on fans’ faces as their emotions reflect the success or failure of their team.  In addition to the emotional investment, people spend lots of time and money on tickets, travel, and tailgating. How do we encourage Christians to invest similar emotion, time, and money for God’s Kingdom?  How do we get people to care as much about “Kingdom battles” as they care about football games?  The result of a football game matters at most for a season, and in light of eternity, it really does not matter at all.  I am not suggesting that Christians should not watch college football.  I am simply suggesting that we view it with proper perspective.  Is it possible to transition the passion for football or any other sport/activity that someone is passionate about to a passion for God and God’s priorities?

How many football games do you watch during the week?  How many hours do you spend watching those games?  How much time do you spend reading articles leading up to the game?  How much time do you spend reading articles about the games you watched?

When I was on a plane, I was thinking about how people could offer to God everything they do and allow him to either keep it and use it or, if necessary eliminate it.  As it relates to college football, a disciple may need to change some habits – spend less time and less money going to, watching, reading about, etc.  To put a more positive spin on it, a disciple may need to spend more time in the word and in prayer, and may need to invest more time and money for God’s Kingdom.  A disciple may need to look for ways to involve God in the activity – display a Christ like example at the game, organize a food or toy drive, donate tickets to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, etc.

Here are a couple of verses that came to mind as I was contemplating this:
Matthew 6:21 – For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Romans 12:2 – And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

What are your thoughts?  Enter your comment below.
(consider checking the “subscribe to comments by email” box so you can be notified about other comments and return for more conversation … you can cancel this at any time)

It’s FRIDAY!!!!!!  Time for “FreePlay Friday” – the day I just catchup and talk about whatever I feel like.  I invite your comments as well.  I’m listing 10 random things today – how about jumping in and giving me at least 3 in the comments … I enjoy reading about your life, as do others!

1.  It’s HALLOWEEN!  What does that mean to you?  I grew up trick-or-treating.  I went through a phase in church life where I considered the origins of the holiday, and opted out of doing anything that celebrated it.  Now, with 4 kids, we’ve done both the church carnivals, but we kinda started trick-or-treating again, too.  We typically let our kids dress up as heroes or “good characters”.  This morning I quoted the Scripture about how we aren’t supposed to imitate evil.

Have we backslidden?

2.  I’m off this morning to Glynn County Tax Commissioner in hopes to appeal my ridiculous tax bill for a lot my brother and I own.  (Anyone want to buy a nice little lot in Sea Palms North Cottages?).  Wish me luck.

3.  My buddy Joel Klamert has a humongous giveaway contest on his site right now.  You want a chance at some cool stuff, check it out!

4.  I’m still enjoying the use of Twitter.  If you aren’t on Twitter, check it out and “follow me”.  My favorite “tweet” that I sent yesterday to the Twitter world simply said:

“Dear God, I’m still praying for two tickets to GA-FL for my son and me.  You’re running out of time.  Love, Fred”.

I got several replies, but none from God, that I’m aware of.  Today, it would say “you are REALLY running out of time”.  Seriously, don’t think I’m being sacreligious.  I am really praying that somehow, God could provide those two tickets.

5.  Speaking of Twitter – I’ve switched to “TweetDeck” over the last couple of days and I’m really starting to like it.

5.  Soccer season is almost over.   Our first game on Jekyll Island tomorrow is at … hold your breath … 8:00 AM.  That’s sinful.  That means we have to get up at 6:30 AM on Saturday.  I’m not happy about that.  If we win at 8:00, we have to play at 11:00.  If we win then, we have to play next week.  Otherwise, we’re done.

6.  For the record – I don’t like this early voting nonsense.  What if things change over the last few weeks, and you change your mind?  Too late for you.  For me, I’m waiting until Nov 2.

7.  Want to read an incredible story?  Checkout the 3-part life story of Brent’s wife, Tam.  Brent and Tam have become friends here in “blog world” and I’m happy that I’ll get to meet them and spend the week together in Nashville in February.  This is an amazing story – read it here.

8.  I blogged a “True/False” blog a couple of days ago that has really blown up.  I’ve you haven’t taken part, jump in on the question here.

9.  Robert Pooley is a pastor friend of mine that lives in Gulf Breeze, FL.  He pastors Coast Community Church.  I led worship there once, it was awesome.  We pray and fast together each year in January, except last year.  He was one of the dudes that got me started on blogging.  But … he grossed me out last night with this Twitter exchange:

from myself to @lesliebrooke: yeah I noticed! I’m on stage with ur hubbie @jaysellers
(context – Brooke replied to a tweet I’d sent trying to “track” myself, which is disabled on Twitter.  I was sending the message from the stage at SSCC, while waiting on rehearsal to get started.  Brooke (lesliebrooke) was at work, and was missing her husband, Jay (jaysellers).  Jay was playing electric guitar and was on stage with me.)

from Brooke to me:  @fmckinnon aww, I miss him! Blow him a kiss from me
(context:  Brooke, what are you thinking, I’m NOT going to blow a kiss to your husband for you)

from Robert Pooley to myself, Jay, and all followers:  If @fmckinnon blows a kiss to @jaysellers … someone send me a copy… I will get good use out of that for years.

Nice way to catch me off-guard, on-stage, during rehearsal Senor Pooley.  Game on.  (grin)!

10.  TheWorshipCommunity.Com – I have to plug this all the time.  If you’re not subscribed via email, RSS, and/or Twitter, you are missing out on some incredible content.  We did our first ever “ReVue” this week, a review of the new Hillsong London’s worship album, “Hail to the King”, written by four different worship leaders.  Have you ever checked out a single album review, written by FOUR different people from FOUR different areas?  It’s a cool concept, and it’s been getting hit like crazy.  Check it out.