I don’t understand the hype.  How is it that Obama is going to single-handedly bring an end to the world?  I guess a better question would be, “why are people so preoccupied with the end?”  Yes, I am a Christian who believes that there will be a time when Christ will return and right our wrongs (notice I didn’t say anything about a rapture here).  However, this hope of Christ’s return does not instill in me a disposition of fear, but of hope – it makes me want to live my life better NOW and to its FULLEST (I seem to remember Jesus saying something about this).

Here’s my challenge to the world – let’s think about the life that we are leaving behind, that we are choosing not to live, each time we consume ourselves with this apocalyptic, “Obama’s the anti-Christ and is going to usher in Armageddon” and “oh by the way, we’re all communists” talk.  I think, for some of us at least, the fear of a grand battle of Armageddon is less scary than living life with abandonment in the present.

Shalom,
Chris

Actually I have several friends who are currently reading a Book entitled, “Jesus for President” by Shane Claiborne (check out the video promo below).  I think that a lot of people are starting to wake up and see that the Jesus of the scriptures looks nothing like our “american” (a term which in itself shows a lack of awareness) christianity.  This past week in my Old Testament class, I introduced the students to a major theme of the OT: the empire.

It dawned on me this week that the Bible was never written from above the empire, but always from below, looking up.  The only exception that we can note of this fact is when Israel, under the rule of Solomon, came to prominance as a superpower.  The one problem is that the “superpower” built by Solomon did not and could not have lasted because it was built upon certain tradeoffs.  Walter Brueggemann lays out a great case for these trade offs in his book, “The Prophetic Imagination.”  The tradeoffs are as follows: economics of equality give way to economics of affluence, the politics of justice are replaced with the politics of oppression, and the religion of God’s freedom gives way to the religion of God’s accessability.  The Israelites have to be constantly reminded that God is the God who brought them “out of Egypt.”  God’s deliverance is complete but yet the Israelites find themselves, under Solomon, back under an oppressive regime; all for the sake of progress for the empire.  The more I read about both the glory and downfall of Solomon the more fearful I am of our present condition in this “christian nation.” How are we as a nation building our empire?  Whose backs are being broken for our progress?  What kid worked in a sweatshop so that I could have affordable clothes?  I only pray that this present empire is allowed a chance to address such issues before we find ourselves learning to live in exile.

Shalom.

I’ve debated about posting this list because I firmly believe that the church should lead the way in creativity, not recycling it.  However, I also know that not every church can afford to have someone in the congregation constantly working on graphics and video.  So, I reluctantly post this list for your amusement.  Please, let these sites only be a starting point for your own creativity in relaying the message of Christ.

Uber good resources (has video and graphic resources)
vine resources from southeast christian church // Great content from the southeast christian church
lifechurch.tv resources // resources include video, graphic, ppt, etc.
open resources // graphic, video, audio, and countdowns. Great content and really good web design to boot!
resources from newspring church
Floodgate Productions
muddy river resources // This is a collection of various resources from various producers. The resources also include small group resources, mini-movies, etc.
church tech talk // they also have free graphic resources

Free still graphic resources
creativemyk.com
church tech talk// they also have free video resources
vine resources from southeast christian church// they also have free video
northside church graphics
Worship Graphics

Free motion graphic resources
free countdowns
lifechurch.tv resources// resources include video, graphic, ppt, etc)
Organic Videos// Free and paid resources available. Paid resources are very reasonable.

Free Audio
Sacred Loop audio resources

Movie Clip Illustrations
wingclips

Inspiration sites
motionographer// a site featuring the best in motion graphics
smashing magazine// great design tips and articles (also some freebies)
The “favourite website awards”// Unfortunately their favourite website are all very flash intensive. Despite this major flaw, there’s still some good inspiration here!
the “favourite website awards” // site devoted to motion graphics – I am not responsible for the content of this site! Proceed at your own risk!
Design Dump
the web design wall
outlaw design blog// good content and even some freebies.

• What a great session!  It was not at all what I was expecting.  He has written a book called “Jesus Needs New PR” that was rejected by most publishers because it was too controversial.  He spent a great amount of time reading from this book.  I personally feel that we are being denied a great work of art by not being able to read this book for ourselves.  I loved it!  The book primarily centers around Turner’s time in the independent fundamentalist baptist church, or as he descibes it, crazy beyond comprehension.  If you want to know about the theological considerations of eating Jesus cookies or the moral shortcomings of Ben Hur, then attend a session with Matthew Paul Turner.

Keynote Session 4
Donald Miller

• Out of all of the sessions and speakers, I was most looking forward to Donald Miller.  He did not disappoint.  Miller spoke for almost an hour and made it feel like 15 minutes.  There were a couple of things that really stuck with me.  Let’s unpack this session together.
• The first thing that really hit me was Miller’s comment about a friend that felt like life has no purpose or meaning.  Miller’s response to the friend, “no.  YOUR LIFE has no purpose and meaning.  There is nothing wrong with life itself.  It is your life that sucks.”  I can’t tell you what that meant to me.  As a youth minister, I have dealt with kids who feel that there is no purpose in life.  Answering this question of meaning and purpose is one of the hardest things to do.  How do you explain to someone that life actually has meaning?  You can’t rationally explain it.  All you can do is show how your life has purpose and then invite others to find the same.
• The second thing that stuck with me was the idea of finding a story (which we could say is synonymous with finding purpose).  Miller went through the parts of a story, characters, setting, having something worth fighting for, conflict, resolution.  Do our stories have something worth fighting for?  Our stories are boring because we are not fighting for something worthwhile.  Consequently, when we actually achieve our goals, no one cares, because what we are trying to do isn’t worth it.  Writing a good story with our lives means fighting for something bigger than ourselves and placing ourselves in a position where we could loose everything, where people are actually depending on us succeeding in our mission.

• Much time was spent encouraging those of us who work in media in the Church to continue what we are doing.
• Some examples of media used at Watermark were given.  There was an extremely disturbing, yet hilarious video based on Leave it to Beaver.

Breakout Session 1
Tim Stevens “Pop Goes the Church”

• I left this session with mixed feelings.  I loved watching what Stevens is doing at Granger.  There is an amazingly creative team at work there.  However, the creativity is within confines.  The session centered around the idea of placing the message of scripture within a pop cultural package.  I understand the reason for this philosophy: pop culture is the language that people in our congregations speak on a daily basis.  Why not put the gospel in the language of the people?  After all, this was the message of the reformation.  The problem that I see arising is this: why do we have to put the message of the gospel within the context of a popular song or movie?  Why do we have to take something that someone else has done and use it as the context for our message?  Why can we not come up with new ways of telling a story as part of the creative mission of the Church?
• Stevens gave some examples of how all of this plays out in their church.  You can see examples by clicking here.

Breakout Session 2
Travis Gates “Church Website Makeover”

• A great session, though not what I was expecting.  Gates went through the process of redesign from features, hosting, shopping carts, media players, etc. giving examples of each.
• The most valuable part of the session for me may have been the discussion on project management.  He recommended base camp and activecolab.
• Just say no to flash.

Design Lab

• The key word for this lab was layer modes.  The speaker, Barton Damer went through, step by step, the process of creating the echo logo.  There were three programs used in the creation of the software: Photoshop, Illustrator, and Cinema 4D.
• One great tip for photoshop was to combine your layers aesthetically by creating a solid color layer and then blending it over the image to create a congruent feel across the image.  (simple I know.  so why have I not thought of this?)
• In illustrator click opt+shift to scale an object from the center

Compositing Lab

• This lab was not quite as helpful for me because it was all about After Effects.  The instructor, Trent Armstrong, was very knowledgeable about After Effects and Final Cut.  The problem: I use Motion.
• Trent went through the creation of the videos found on the echo blog.  Good stuff but still, I don’t have After Effects.

Editing

• My favorite of all the labs.
• Also taught by Trent and dealt with advanced editing techniques and green screening in After Effects and Final Cut.  The main point about green screening was to evenly light your green screen.  Also watch for highlights on the screen (Check the zebra stripes.)
• He went through all of the sound effects used in the creation of the promo videos.  The moral of the story: you already have all the effects you could need in garage band and soundtrack.

Over all impressions thus far:

• Watermark is a great church aesthetically.  They are building a new addition which should be really nice when finished.
• Cool people have Macs.
• Echo is cool.
• The question most heard at the conference, “so, how big is your church?”  Really!?  Come on people.  That’s a little too personal.  After all, we just met.

I’m off to the echo media conference in Dallas.  I will try to blog through the conference for anyone who is interested in media and the church.  I am really excited about the focus upon web and video that I see in the lab and breakout descriptions.  I am also really excited about seeing Donald Miller and Kenall Payne.  This is going to be a great conference and I’ll try to let everyone know how its going