FredMcKinnon.Com

Hey Everybody,

I’m in Houston right now and have met several members of the team that’s going to Peru with Compassion International.  Our flight leaves in less than one hour – about a 7 hour haul over to Lima, Peru.

I’ve been told that we should have internet at our hotel … that will be great.  Not only can I blog and “tweet”, I can call my family and talk to them via Skype.  Of course, you never really know until you get there.

I hope you’ll follow along during the trip.  I hope to upload pictures, videos, and updates throughout the trip.  I’ll post here on the blog (which will update on Facebook as well), but will post more frequently via my Twitter account.

Would love your prayers!

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Hello Friends,

I’ll be leaving in a few days and joining a group of church pastors and missions pastors for a week long mission to Lima, Peru with Compassion International.

I’ve never met a single person on this trip – but I’m looking forward to doing so.  I’m looking forward to the time away, the opportunity to give of myself, to love others, to share a smile, a hug, and hopefully, bring back a greater understanding of Compassion’s ministry.

Time and internet-availability permitting, I will be blogging, uploading photos, videos, and sending out “tweets” via my @fmckinnon twitter account.  (still not following my updates on Twitter – click here to do so).  Many of my “tweets” will update my Facebook Status as well.  Of course, this assumes I will have access to the internet, or that my phone will work and have coverage in Peru.

So all next week will be blog bursts, tweets, and updates from the mission field.

If you’ve never sponsored a child, I’d encourage you to consider it.  Just click the Compassion banner above (or this link) for more details.

Pray for us, and please pray for my family as well.  They are in GREAT hands.

For the Kingdom,
Fred

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!

*** Follow the “Live Blogging and Twittering” from the Annual re:create conference!
Click Here! (that is, AFTER you read and comment on this post, haha! ***

Good morning everyone,

I’ve been asked this on Twitter (and as a result of Twitter updating my “status”, on  FaceBook as well) a bunch of times this week … “what is #recreate”.

This morning I had a dm (direct message on twitter) from one of my favorite solo piano artists on the planet, David Nevue:
(David’s Site | David’s Twitter)

@fmckinnon OK, it’s driving me crazy. What exactly, is “#recreate”?

Since I’ve been asked that several times in Twitter world this week … I actually had time to spare this AM and wrote a response … here ya go:

David,
Hey man, I don’t think I can answer in “140 characters or less” …

re:create is a conference (shall I call it an event, not a conference … better yet, an “experience”)  I’m attending in Nashville – “an annual thinktank for arts and worship leaders” … it’s an amazing time … unlike any “conference” I’ve ever attended.

Anyway, on twitter, you can use the hash mark (pound – #) to identify a certain “group” or “event” … such as #recreate

This allows you to find all “tweets” related to that event by simply searching #recreate.

Or, for example, you can go to http://www.tweetchat.com and login w/ your twitterID/password, and then enter room #recreate …. and all tweets show up in that room, etc.

I’m blogging live on my site using the ScribbleLive.Com platform – and they have a feature while you’re blogging that allows you to enter something for all tweets to go into the liveblog, etc … so everyone here is identifying their event-specific tweets with the hash … #recreate

Hope that makes sense!
Fred

So, there’s your lesson, my friends on the use of the Hash mark in #twitter!  How have you folks out there been this week?

Hey Everybody,

Dawg, I’m tired.  Very tired.  My mind is numb – mush, from all the information, sensory overload.  It’s a good tired, though.  I’m sharing a hotel room with Joel Klampert (who is blogging much more than I this week) and both of us were so beat we ditched out of the last session tonight pretty much as soon as it was over.

Today was incredible – our first session this morning was with Founder of the re:create event, Randy Elrod.  Honestly, Randy’s been a bit of a mystery to me – haven’t really known who this guy was, what he really believed, or what re:create was all about.  I came here on the overwhelming recommendation of other blogger friends who have experienced it before … like Jim, Los, Chris, and Rich.    This guy (Randy) is amazing.  He’s one of those guys who you feel knit to the moment you meet him.  I would have no trouble spilling the most intimate secrets of my life to this guy within 10 minutes of being around him.  Hearing his story was incredible today and he challenged me in many, many ways … from habits, to family, to ministry, and more.

Ian Morgan Cron was fascinating today, and we had a memorable time in “communion”, or “the eucharist”.  The litury was amazing and left me hungry for more times like this.  I want to challenge you – GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE … and go experience worship in different ways.  It is refreshing.

Ken Davis made us laugh so hard we all hurt.  He knows how to bring it – he makes you laugh until you cry, then you cry because you realize the impact of what he’s saying to you.

Finally, we capped off the evening at yet another swanky, upscale restaurant with amazing food (I had prime rib) and incredible, up-close-and-personal performances from worship artists like Carl Cartee, Travis Cottrell, and American Idol singer/writer Chris Sligh.  I made the mistake of texting my brother that I was sitting at the table next to Chris, and for him to tell my two nephews – so, my phone started lighting up with texts for pictures!  Oh, how I wish I had an iPhone.  My crummy Treo just doesn’t do the job in low light at all … this was the best I could do:

This guy can sing – wow.  Just co-wrote the big single that Rascal Flatts has on the radio now.  Congrats, Chris.  You chose to chase after God … and He’s rewarding you.  I was gonna stay behind and be the starstruck freak and get a picture (it’s for my nephews, you know, haha) but we were all tired so we split.

Was going to come back to the hotel and just crash – but both Joel and I are downloading some of this info out of our brains onto these blogs.

I’ve met so many folks this week – and most of them I’ve followed on Twitter and blogs … and you know what … you wonder “are these people really my friends” …. I can tell you … it’s been amazing … it’s as if we’ve known each other for our entire lives.

Hope you’re able to follow our “live blogging feed” that I’ve got going on here:
http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2009/02/02/recreate-2009-nashville-tn-2/

It’s a bit random and sporadic … but most of the “a-ha” moments, great quotes, 1-liners, and soundbytes are being “twittered” and “posted” there by lots of us here at the event.

My heart is stirred in so many directions – developing the culture of worship further at SSCC is burning in me.  So many ideas.  So many questions.

See you tomorrow (Thursday).  I’m missing my family, and yeah – I’m loving it here, but I’m ready to be in the arms of my wife and kids, too!