There’s this guy you need to know about named Joel.

Joel Smith is the creative genius behind Thr-ve, a production company providing motion backgrounds, TripleWide loops, and mini-movies for worship. He has made some really quality stuff, like this, that, and this other thing . If you haven’t already checked him out, you really should do so now!

But one day, Joel got bored. And he saw a need…both for his creative expressions & for great art in the Church. So he went and started something new, and it’s called “SimpleBacks”.

SimpleBacks are collections of very simple, artistic & tasteful still images. And what does he use to take them? His iPhone! Yep. Everything you see on his site (www.simplebacks.com) was shot on his iPhone. Kind of makes you consider why you spent $1800 last month on that 7D, doesn’t it? ;)

He says he blames AT&T, but personally, I blame Apple. By golly, who wouldn’t? Apple made a little device terrible at making calls (thanks to AT&T), but wonderful at doing everything else, like taking photos!

I was pretty impressed when I saw them for the first time. The quality is pretty stunning! Now that the iPhone 4 is out, there’s no telling what kind of pictures we’ll be able to take on-the-fly. I can’t wait to see what Joel comes up with!

Speaking of the new iPhone 4, have you seen this new short film shot and edited entirely on the new gadget?

On the site, Joel talks about how he started SimpleBacks. The kicker? He “took pictures.” It’s such a simple idea. He just went out and did it. SimpleBacks is the result of that innovative effort. It’s awesome to see the pictures of buildings and cars and stuff that you have no idea what it is because its from a fresh perspective. His art really shows that it’s not the camera, the equipment, or machine, but rather it’s the person behind the camera/computer/brush/instrument that makes the art what it is. SimpleBacks proves that you can make great art with simple equipment. So what are you doing with yours? Quit making excuses that “I can’t do this, that, or the other” and START DOING. The best thing you can do is just DO.

So go do!

Oh, and one more little detail about SimpleBacks:

THEY’RE ALL FREE!

Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Inconvenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five. Go ahead and follow him: @nathanielks.

Zach Fonville is one of the few media producers that “gets it”. He creates stunning, creative visuals to use in the church that aren’t distracting. I was SO happy when I heard Brad Zimmerman at CMDtv talk about Zach because it changed my church’s Sunday morning. Before RedFerrisWheel, we were using some cool loops, but it just wasn’t “there”. But after hearing about RFW (and USING them), it just wasn’t the same.

Why do I say he “gets it”? I think that Zach understands that it isn’t the visual that matters, but rather the emotion and message in the song and in the worship that matters. His visuals just reinforce that emotion and message. His use of color and visual simplicity is fantastic. He forsakes a focused image for blur and abstraction. I love that because even though the worshiper is watching a video, there’s nothing to attract your eye to the video, but rather focus on the words and the worship, while also being able to take in the color and the visual. I LOVE that.

One of the defining characteristics of Zach’s pieces are their use of color. They are usually pretty simple, kept to 1 or 2 colors, but some offer more a variety in hue. One of the greatest things that you can do with ProPresenter 4 or ProVideoPlayer is change the hue of the video. So even though his original piece was blue, you can change the hue to green or yellow to match the environment you’re setting as one of the worship leaders! (If you haven’t heard of “color theory”, I highly recommend reading the first part of Smashing Magazine’s mini-series HERE.)

If you lead worship, you need to understand how color and visuals both aid and detract from worship. As Stephen pointed out in his “3D Worship” post, worship is for GOD and not for us. Yes, God gives us an awesome gift in being able to enjoy worship, but we need to remember it’s for his glory and not our own. Our worship needs to reflect this in every aspect, even down to the visuals we use. Are the videos you use during your services aiding worship or detracting from worship? I challenge you to ask yourself this question:

Why are you using it?

Do you have an answer? If not, you need to be careful. The point of using visuals in worship is not just to do it. God doesn’t JUST put trees in the ground to look pretty. He also put trees in the ground so that they can grow, get big and develop leaves that produce oxygen for us to breathe. God has a reason and purpose for EVERYTHING he does. Do you?

Like I said before, I love Fonville’s work because of its simplicity. In many cases, his work aids my congregation in worship. I highly recommend checking him out and taking his stuff for a spin. =]

Zach’s website is RedFerrisWheel.com – he offers all of his visual creations on his site for FREE…there’s a lot of motions on there, as well as bundles of stills. So knock yourself out, and spread the word! You can also follow Zach on Twitter: @redferriswheel

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Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Inconvenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five.

I want to introduce you to Nathaniel Schweinberg, a good friend of mine and my new intern this summer!

I met Nathaniel at Gurus last year. And throughout the year, as I was following him on Twitter, he just seemed to stick out. Overall, he just impressed me. Later on in the year, he asked if I had any internship positions open. I normally don’t, but I wanted to make the exception for him. So this summer, Nathaniel is working with me and helping GI/worshipVJ out in a lot of areas. I’ve also asked Nathaniel to contribute a few guest posts to this blog, so be sure to look for those throughout the coming months!

Here’s s a little more about @nathanielks:

Nathaniel is a young creative who recently graduated from The Florida State University. He has a degree in Media and Communication Studies, which means that he knows how to talk to you, be it one on one, in a small group, or in a large group/mass venue. It doesn’t matter how or where, he can communicate a message! And that’s what he loves doing: communicating. His main venue? His designs.

Nathaniel is primarily a graphic designer, but also loves delving into motion design as well. A designer of 4 years, he is still green in comparison to some more established designers. But don’t let his relatively small portfolio fool you: he is growing quickly and is very excited about where God is taking him with his art. Not only is he passionate about art and technology, he is also fascinated with the philosophy and theology of design & technology. “Why?” is a question often running through his brain, and if there is no answer, it doesn’t make the cut. His desire is to share his passion with the rest of the world. If it will listen to him, of course.

God has placed a burden on Nathaniel’s heart for the Church. He has shown Nathaniel that the modern church is not what He desires it to be, and is seeking change. He knows that God desires the church to be one, just as He and his Son are one (John 17:20-21), but Nathaniel isn’t quite sure how God will use him in this endeavor. He does know, however, that God is faithful and will show Nathaniel in the proper time. The exciting thing is that life is an adventure and God wants us to explore and figure out exactly what it is he wants us to do (Romans 12:2).

Nathaniel is Proctor’s awesome summer intern at Grateful Incovenience. He does it all: somersaults, push-ups, and spit balls. Be careful: if you see him in the wild, he may walk up to you and give you a high five. Go ahead and follow him at http://www.nathanielks.com and @nathanielks!

Check out one of his latest creations: “Visual Liturgy” – it’s a finalist in the ChurchMediaDesign.tv Film Festival (Mini-Movies: Small Church)…currently it’s ahead…be sure and vote for it when you get the chance!

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Josh submitted 670 photos of Helvetica out in the wild! You can check out his photos on his Facebook profile (apparently Facebook maxes out at 200 per album, so there’s 4 albums total). Josh has a blog “God at Play” where he is diving into conversations about art, worship, VJ-ing & interactive technology like Nintendo WiiMotes controlling Quartz Compositions in a live setting. Be sure and read “Interactive Visual Worship”. Josh tweets as @godatplay; I would definitely suggest following him & keeping a close eye on this guy’s journey.

BUT…

…every good story has a twist! And Josh is NOT winning the free pass to Echo Conference! (cue record scratch) WHA?!?!?!

Before I started the #HelveticaChallenge, Camron Ware & I were discussing who we should give our free passes to. (Echo is cool enough to let each of us give one pass away to whomever we choose.) We have both been very impressed with Josh & all that he has been exploring. You should see the emails he’s sent me…wow! We’ve been trying to figure out how to meet up but it just hasn’t worked out yet. Anyway, Camron decided to go ahead & give his pass to Josh. So I thought it was only fair that if Josh wins the challenge, the free pass should go to the 2nd place winner. And Josh was totally cool with this.

So, the free ticket to ECHO is going to…

CODY THOMAS!!!

Congrats bro!

Cody came in with 237 photos. Check out his Flickr set here. Cody has a very cool website & blog completely designed like a large iPhone…very clever! Follow Cody on Twitter: @codylthomas

This year at ECHO is going to be better than any year. Sure, there are a lot of great speakers, artists, gurus, etc…but what makes ECHO an over-the-top experience is the community there. You will truly walk away having built amazing relationships with people who will not only inspire you but will become your lifelong friends. It will be fun to see Josh, Cody, Camron, Katie, Nathaniel, Nick, Scott, Nancy, Matt, Monty, Brian, Promise, Stan & a bunch of other friends hanging out in the same place, diving into creative dialogue & going out for late night Mexican food. I can’t wait!

I’ll leave you with a few of my favorite photos from the Helvetica Challenge.

This is hilarious & disturbing at the same time. I wonder what was going through the designer’s mind when he/she created this. (submitted by Katie Strandlund)

First, this looks like the most boring read in the world. wow. Second, this goes to show you that Helvetica has been”in” for some time now. Crazy. (submitted by Josh Larson)

This is “Mr. Miller”, Nancy Thompson’s cat. This has nothing to do with the font helvetica. But as she captioned, “Mr. Miller helping out with the #HelveticaChallenge. … OK, I know it doesn’t count, but I need to give him some recognition.” And that resulted in a very loud laugh! Very funny, Nancy!

…and in honor of the Season 6 Finale tonight: (submitted by Cody Thomas)

The first time I met Anthony Lee was in May/June of 2009 on my first trip ever to Hong Kong. I was VJ-ing the opening of a missions conference called “Call2All” as well as presenting a workshop on visual worship. Through the magical power of social media, Anthony reached out to me via Twitter and the rest was history.

At first, I thought, “Cool, a Chinese guy who’s into PowerPoint and things of that nature!” Little did I know, my world was about to be rocked. His entire community and network of VJs assembled; I was overwhelmed. Not only were they talking about technology, but they were concerned with the heart of visual worship….focusing on the “why” and the philosophies of using visual media and imagery during worship. They were saying verbatim the same words that only a few of us had uttered in conversations back home!

As I travel the globe, it becomes very evident to me that God is speaking to the whole Body…not just a select few. Very rarely am I “informing” anybody of anything; I am just sitting back and watching it all play out. Such is the case in Hong Kong. To me, this is evidence that “visual worship” is a work of the Holy Spirit and not a few guys who know how to run a laptop & projector.

Here’s an excerpt from an interview I had with Anthony while I was there last Summer. To see the full unedited (30 minute) version, click here. His English is great but his accent is thick. But I love the way he & his friends word things; it’s very refreshing to hear.

When I returned to Hong Kong in February (bringing Camron Ware with me this time), we made it a priority to meet up with Anthony and his friends. Anthony had organized a “VWRT” Roundtable-style dinner and hang time with a dozen other visual worship leaders all from different Chinese-speaking churches. We worshiped together, shared all of our stories, and ate some amazing food. The owner of the restaurant is also a pastor, and he makes his restaurant available as a place of worship each night after the kitchen closes.

Anthony began the evening by sharing his heart for visual worship. He said, “We can worship & glorify God with our eyes. If we were not able to do that, He would not have created us with eyes in the first place.” This has been one of the best descriptions I have heard in my entire life.

It was really cool seeing how they all responded to different things. They invited us to “show and tell” what we’ve been doing back in the States, and so we whipped out our VJ techniques and pictures of Environmental Projection. They were mostly wide-eyed and mystified, but they quickly guided the topic of conversation straight to the relationship aspect and the heart behind all of this…not the tools themselves. That goes to show you what is foremost on their hearts!

Anthony also cast vision for seeing visual artists rise up in the Chinese church…to start developing and creating their own visual content. He said that the American websites are great and all, and that he was very thankful for them, but that for China, they must find their own way of expressing visual worship. My heart just about beat out of my chest!

He also cast vision for going into Mainland China and helping the churches there by training them on the proper use of technology and imagery for worship. He created a flier to pass out at various events, and he gave it to me to give to you. Download here!

So keep a close watch on Anthony and his community. They may not be speaking at any of the cool conferences or showing up on any of the popular blogs in America, but I have a strong sense that God has chosen these guys as a royal priesthood to lead the Chinese church in worship in the days to come. And I want to do all that I can to get behind them and support them.

Anthony’s blog is called “Media4Christ”, and ironically, his domain is worshipVJ.hk!

There is something powerful when people come together to create. You see, when it comes to playing videos, I’m pretty much by myself, choosing the videos I want and doing it my way. Sure, there’s community with the band, leader and production guys, and a hope for some sense of “community” with the people in the pews…but let’s face it, when I sit down at my laptop, it’s pretty much whatever I decide. And very quickly, it can become all about me and my own artistic preferences.

In Thailand, I ran smack dab into a wall of frustration, tension and confusion over what needed to happen visually. Nate & I experience this tension frequently in our projects, and we’ve learned over the years to embrace and wield this tension to our benefit. Add the fact that Camron and I teach together a lot but rarely VJ together. Now put all three of us in a room together; it was the making of something very interesting.

Both of those guys rank at the top of my list of creative people I know. But working together in a close environment brought out some crazy things. I realized very quickly that we have different creative/artistic preferences. We each gravitate to different types of images & styles of VJ-ing; there were even moments when I thought, “I would never use that picture!” But as we focused on communication and our friendship, we all learned to die to our preferences and serve a greater cause.

You see, it’s all about relationships! This applies to all of us. I don’t care how big or little your budget is, how cool that video effect is, how many projectors and screens you have, or what version of ProPresenter you’re running…if you don’t have love, game over. It’s probably the single most important & foundational element for an effective ministry. I cannot stress this enough!

What happened in Thailand was probably one of the most creative worship experiences I have ever had. It involved all of us working together…as a team…loving each other and encouraging each other along the way. I failed many times at this during the process, but God trumped all that in the end and decided to accept our offering and do something great with it.

The conference went from a Wednesday thru Tuesday. For ELIC, Sabbath rest was ushered in Saturday night and ended Tuesday night with a sending out. They wanted each of these nights to be set apart…very unique and special. So Saturday & Tuesday nights were our two main opportunities to bring all we had. We still VJ’d the rest of the time, but it was much more simplified & stripped down.

Both nights incorporated Nate painting live during a segment of the worship while Camron and I took turns VJ-ing & running lyrics. As we dreamed together, we stumbled onto a few simple and innovative things that none of us had tried before. But what sent this experience over the edge was the participation of everyone else in the room…all contributing and leading the rest of us through their own acts of visual worship. It was “co-creation” like I had never seen before.

To be continued…

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:35 (NIV)

Later, Biscuet told me that he was leaving his “dream job” of producing events and VJ-ing for worship to go live in China and teach English. WHAT?!

You see, for Biscuet, worship is so much more than what our little subculture cracks it up to be. He isn’t easily impressed by all the latest, greatest hype on the who’s who of the current creative church culture. He has an opinion or two on what real worship looks like, but he won’t tell you about it unless you ask him over and over again. He will also tell you that no city in America has anything on Beijing…and I’d probably have to agree with him. To follow his story, go to biscuet.com – he’d be more than happy to be your friend and tell you what’s up.

Biscuet doesn’t claim to have any answers, except that life is all about relationships. And his love for the Chinese people overtakes him whenever he gets to share with others about the amazing things happening in China. For me, I had to go to Asia to see for myself what all this craziness was about. And man, was I blown away!

Imagine 500 Biscuets filling a room for a week…getting to worship together, pray for each other’s cities, and share the indescribable things that are taking place throughout Asia. Our main purpose for going to Thailand was to serve these 500 by doing what we love…projecting on walls, VJ-ing media, painting, and encouraging those we meet along the way. And I cannot even begin to tell you the stories we heard.

These 500 new heroes of mine make up an organization called ELIC (English Language Institute/China). Their purpose is to place passionate people in contact with students across Asia through teaching English. Their story is continuing to be written, and as some of it unfolded before our eyes during their conference in Thailand, our hearts were overrun with wonder and awe at what is happening in Asia.

So what? How does this apply to us? Well, I’m glad you asked. There are three things we all can do:

• GO – ELIC offers long-term and short-term opportunities to engage Asia. If you don’t have any plans this summer, you might want to think about going.

• GIVE – some of you are not in a position to drop everything and go (at least not yet), but you can actively play a role in their story NOW by supporting them financially. You can give to either individuals like Biscuet, or you can give to their overall budget which will help them build a new website, new graphics/marketing, and promo videos they hope to produce soon (which will help them to be more effective in telling their story).
• LEARN MORE – a little overwhelmed and needing to get back to work? Hey, it’s cool…we’re all there with you. But if you think about this post and your role in Asia’s story later down the road and want to learn more about what ELIC is all about, then come back and click here.

I can tell you this: I meet a lot of people and organizations in my profession. I’ve just about seen it all, and sadly, very few impress me. But what ELIC is all about…wow…this blog post barely scratches the surface. I’m not trying to hype up something that’s not…I’ve seen it with my own eyes, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. This isn’t about praising man or anything some organization has done…they are human and flawed just like all of us. And I’m not implying that anyone is less of a worshiper if you don’t go to Asia. But I highly recommend going and seeing for yourself sometime…trust me, it will blow your mind and remind you of what’s truly important. It will lead you to worship in ways you’ve never imagined!

Thanks for letting me share a little about Biscuet and his organization.
I count it a huge privilege to be able to go to Thailand for a week to serve these people. For most of them, this is the one time a year they can come together as a true community of faith with more than five peers in the room. For Nate, Camron & I, it was about humbling ourselves, not making their event about us, and serving them by creating a sacred space for them to gather and guiding them through a visual worship experience.

It’s only by God’s grace and mercy that He has allowed any of us to live these stories thus far.

Today is also Nate & Shelly Griffin’s 1st Wedding Anniversary! This time last year, we were in one of the most beautiful chapels ever on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia, experiencing one of the most sacred days of my best friend & business partner’s life. Shelly is truly one of a kind…and she knows more Bible than Nate & I combined times a hundred.

And four years ago to the day, I walked up to the Tennessee Secretary of State’s office and filed that fateful S-Corp form. Grateful Inconvenience, Inc. (gi, inc., as we called it) officially became a company!

Through the years, February 14th has been an epic day in the life of “GI”. In 2007, just a year after starting the new company, I stepped off a plane after having spent five weeks in Papua New Guinea…a trip that would be the start of many journeys into strange new lands. Nate had lived there for two years before moving to Nashville. And that following summer, we both returned to produce our first short film “Changed”.

In 2008, February 14th lasted two days for Nate & me…for we were flying back across the Int’l Date Line after having gone on our first trip to Thailand. Pretty cool to have just gotten off a plane from the same place just two years later.

And I feel like there’s something else going on today….. hmmmm…. I don’t know. Maybe it’s just my imagination.

I wish I could fast forward 2010 and see how it all turns out…I’m sure if I knew the outcomes of certain things, I might choose to live my story differently…maybe some things I wouldn’t place so much importance on, and some things & people I might pay attention to a little more. Who knows… but I DO know this: I want to live a good story this year.

Donald Miller wrote an amazing post about resolutions vs living good stories. His main points boil down to 1) wanting something, 2) envisioning a climatic scene, & 3) creating an inciting incident. I recommend reading it for yourself.

Originally, this blog post was going to be about what I plan to accomplish, the places I’m going to, the people I can’t wait to meet or reconnect with, goals I have, yada yada… instead, I want to write about a few stories I hope to live well this year:

STORY ONE: To See Visual Worship Have a More Missional/Global Perspective

I desire to produce, create & VJ more missional media that brings God’s global story into focus during times of corporate and personal worship. I hope I’m not the only one; I want to be a part of a revolution that changes the face of visual media as we know it today. And I hope this cause isn’t self-serving (or perceived as) but overflows with the spirit of giving back and serving those who suffer.

I’m sitting on a plethora of beautiful HD footage that we’ve shot around the world and it’s just waiting to be edited and mastered into a format suitable for VJ-ing and storytelling. I’m praying for the right individuals to come alongside us and help us in the production and release of that content. Like I said, I hope we’re not the only ones doing this. I want to spend 2010 encouraging other creatives to do the same. Worship is a response to the revelation of Who God is and what He’s done/doing; we’ve done a good job at projecting Who He is…but I feel that much of the available media out there lacks in the areas of Who He is & what He’s doing outside the four walls of the church building (which to me is the majority of His Kingdom…I dunno…just sayin’.) I want to see this change.

The Church as a whole (at least at the forefront) is definitely shifting its focus to more missional ways of worshiping. It’s happening everywhere, and it’s exciting. And our culture (including our churches) are becoming more globally aware and connected, which has never happened before (at least on this scale). I’m having more and more conversations about visual worship outside of America than inside. How is our visual storytelling & VJ-ing supporting/responding/leading these shifts?

STORY TWO: To Tell the Story of Visual Worship in New Ways

I have many dreams, ideas & goals for this year. Some, I believe will be carried out by others…and some, I believe, have been placed in my heart by God…entrusted to me to see it through. Some people would shy away from announcing things without having it “all together” and ready for “release”. To that, I say, “whatever!”. So I’m saying it now…publicly…and I’m involving other people with it. This very act forces me to move. As Donald Miller points out, saying things publicly and not following through creates a “social consequence”. I will let those I’ve involved down, and I’ll look stupid in front of everyone i’ve told (aka YOU). (maybe that’s the whole point for some of these things…but again, i can’t fast forward and find out.)

God has clearly spoken to me about a few specific things. One is software development. Another is for inspirational/educational media about visual worship. And the last is about writing a few books. I have a pretty good idea of what all these could look like, and have been carrying these ideas for some time now. But 2010, i’m hoping, is the year that I get to flesh some of these out. All, I hope, end up being for the edification of His Church.

I want so badly for everyone to experience the glory, splendor, awe, wonder, majesty, creativity & mystery of God in the midst of worship (whether corporate or personal). I believe the visual arts (media, environment, story, etc) have a huge role to play in this. And I don’t believe we are in a place where we are experiencing this as God has intended here on the earth. And I believe with all my heart that there needs to be a return to simplicity and authenticity in our worship (especially in the production of our worship experiences)…this to, we are lacking on a major scale. This is why you here me talk about “visual silence” so much…i really think there is something there, for all of us, on a corporate and personal level, from God.

I’m hoping through the small postage-stamp-sized platform that God has given me I will tell His story to the best of my abilities. Maybe through some new refreshing media, films, books, events, blog posts, conversations, worship gatherings, etc, I will be able to echo this well.

STORY THREE: Facilitating Relationships & Ways to Give Back

I desire to be a part of a nameless, faceless movement of the Church that gives back to those who are in need. More specifically, I want to be a part of a movement within the realm of “church creatives” that give back to other “creatives” who are in need. I don’t know exactly what this looks like yet, but I’m wondering if there are ways to facilitate some opportunities that we all get to play a part in.

Not all churches in the world can benefit from visual media in their services or in the daily life of their Church. Believe me, there are some indigenous churches that are doing JUST FINE without technology. In fact, it would cause more harm than good; it’s just not their culture. However, there are MANY churches around the world that could benefit from technology and visual media. But, for whatever reason, they can’t afford it or easily obtain it. What if those of us with resources stepped in and helped them?

What if the media/worship ministry of your church sponsored a church in Indonesia…giving them new computers, software, media, cameras, projectors, editing software, website, or ________??? But what’s more exciting is that this sponsorship would facilitate relationships! Imagine getting your head unburied from the laptop and going on a trip to this 3rd world church and engaging for a week or two in their creative leaders’ lives? Teaching and training them, yes…but what about praying for them and simply hearing their story? Priorities will resurface, and perspectives will change. And the way you lead worship (musically/technically/visually) will change… TRUST ME.

This is one reason I’m going back to Asia (and to other countries soon)… I want to figure this out and see what God has for us. His global story is epic… like, Lord of the Rings epic…and even more so, I’m sure. There is a place for all of us… and “visual worship” is just a small part of the bigger story taking place. How will we engage & fit our lives into His story?

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So, to heck with “resolutions” and goals. Yes, I have many of them…but when I look at them through the lens of a narrative, I’m much more motivated to go after them. And I may fail miserably at all of this. Or maybe it’s not until 2020 when some of these things I’ve mentioned finally come to fruition. And I pray that none of these are self-serving or build up any earthly empire that I might call my own. I guess we’ll both have to wait and find out.

Yes, I wish I could fast forward this year and see how everything turns out. But I can’t…for this is the essence of faith. Moving forward and believing in something I can’t see. Faith, by nature, is “visually-silent”.

So here’s to 2010. I’ve never been more excited about a new year before. Let’s journey well together.

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“I know, O LORD, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.” ~ Jeremiah 10:23

“A man’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?” ~ Proverbs 20:24

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prospers you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” ~ Jeremiah 29:11

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” ~ Matthew 6:34

what a year it’s been! wow. so much has happened…for all of us, i’m sure. i am in awe of all the LORD has done in me & all that He’s allowed me to see and experience.  if i could sit down and hit the rewind button on 2009, here are some moments i’d probably stop on, hit the play button, and watch for a bit:

- hanging with my whole family & watching my dad get sworn in as Circuit Court Judge.

- Travis Cottrell’s live CD/DVD recording…and my 2nd time to ever attempt Environmental Projection.

- meeting Jeremy Stanley, Jacob Blaze & Matt Olson for the first time…at the same time…very funny story… #allroadsleadtonorthdakota – and now they are some of my best friends in Nashville!

- Nate & Shelly’s wedding … and on Feb 14th of all days! (fun fact: this is also the anniversary for Grateful Inconvenience. #awwww)

- Moving into our new studio at Marathon Village & our friends at Global Support Mission sharing the space with us.

- being introduced to Crema.

- the Good Friday experience at Journey Church

- VJ-ing the Dove Awards

- Ryan Kerr, Nick Rivero & Camron Ware all visiting Nashville the same week… outdoor projection, deep theological & technological discussions over a fire-pit, Star Trek at the IMAX, Pancake Pantry, & Baja Burrito!

- visiting Portland & getting to see my bros Dave Lubben & Allan White. (first thing i thought when i saw Multnomah Falls was, “i’ve seen this in a motion background before!”)

- LOST Season 5

- my first of hopefully many visits to Hong Kong & China

- getting to meet Mrs. Earl (Jo) Waldrup

- meeting new friends (you know who you are) @ various media/worship conferences: #ENTER09, #gurusoftech, #echo09 & #Dirt09 - Twitter & blogging is cool, but getting to build relationships & engaging in meaningful conversations helps me to gain a clearer understanding of the Church, worship & why visual art is effective! This has led to some blog posts i thought i’d never write.

- finally releasing our own media content on WorshipHouse

- releasing “AWAYO”, the story of a friend of ours in Indonesia…the release delayed for many reasons, but God had His perfect timing with it, b/c the same week it released was the same week the missionaries from the Moi Tribe just happen to visit New Tribes HQ in Florida…and it just so happens that we were in the same city! so we all got to watch it for the first time, in HD & final audio mix, together!

- my 10 year High School reunion. Go Jackets Go!

- vacation in San Diego (and not telling anyone where i was!): staying with Roy Cochran & his family (my SoCal family), hanging with Vicky Beeching & Alex Roller, learning to surf, and being 100% disconnected from social media & my iPhone for the whole week! (OK! so 99.9%)

- after 256 small-world connections, many emails, text messages & Twitter @replies/DMs, Daley Hake & i meet face-to-face. the beginning of the end.

- Living Proof Live: there were so many moments that it would take a whole blog post to mention them all. Nate & I are so honored to serve alongside Beth Moore, Travis Cottrell & the amazing LifeWay/LPL team. If I had a road family, these people are it! it still blows my mind that we get to play a part of these unforgettable & powerful Jesus-centered events.

- going to Disney World for a day (for FREE!) with Travis, Beth, Nate & Shelly, & the LPL praise team

- going with Mocha Club to Gulu, Uganda… a place that’s been heavy on my heart for years. I love to “talk worship” a lot, but going to places like Uganda shows me what true worship is really all about.

(And going on my first safari wasn’t too bad, either.)

- Integrity Live’s seminars4worship: these events helped me grow as a visual worship leader…from the teachings i received, to the teaching sessions i had to lead, to the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants environment that would keep any VJ on his/her toes… “DEEPER” was a very fitting name for this year’s tour.

- Travis Gravette (one of my best friends & founder of Global Support) marries Maggie Foster…what an epic day!

- getting to reconnect with my worship mentors Mark Pierson & Sally Morgenthaler. I’m still processing our conversations, and hoping to flesh some of them out in 2010.

- Phil Moody joined us as our Fall Intern and brought some creative awesomeness to our projects & websites. we call him “Philawesome” for a reason.

- both Grateful Inconvenience & worshipVJ get rebranded and new websites!

- making it snow inside on some really fun Christmas tours was pretty cool…not gonna lie. But something else trumped it all…i’ll give you one guess.

- finding new music (my 2009 soundtrack): Invisible Children, Paper Route, Star Trek, Christy Nockels, M.I.A., Vitamin String Quartet, MuteMath, Matt Redman, Joy Williams, Adiemus, David Crowder*Band, Chris Tomlin’s Christmas, Tiesto, Eric Whitacre, Nicos, Kings of Convenience, Travis Cottrell, Ratatat, Joshua Radin, Switchfoot, Andrew Bird, & saving the best for last, Owl City. Also, compiling the worshipVJ iMix/playlist was fun.

- most memorable visual worship moment: at #Dirt09, the morning session, where “everything” was turned off. a powerful time of “visual silence”. — don’t get me wrong…i had an abundance of amazing worship experiences where art & visual media were used…and i also got to lead some moments of “visual silence” myself… but this was one time where i was being led, and i had no idea what was coming next. Neil Greathouse & the New Life team led me in worship in a very refreshing way that day.

- and finally & most recently, Christmas vacation…this year, i got more sleep, watched more movies, re-watched more episodes of LOST, spent more time with family, lived life offline longer & ate more unhealthy food than any previous year! Thank You, LORD!

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If you could rewind 2009, what moments would you stop and watch again? I’d especially like to hear what your favorite visual worship moments were!

Thanks for hanging with me this year! See you in 2010!

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“But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.”   ~ 1 Samuel 12:24

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!”                      ~ Psalm 126:3

Andrew Gadd’s amazing oil painting is such a great reminder. There so much I could say about this painting, but I won’t…I’ll let you ponder it and let God reveal to you what He wants you to see. Be sure and check out the story!

Merry Christmas!

(thanks to Shaun Groves for showing me this.)

“Then something happened, and the visual layer of worship was stripped out of the Church.” (excerpt from the “Story” page.)

Understanding the history of visual worship is a vital piece in forming one’s philosophy. Honestly, this is an area of discussion that intimidates me, but when i dive in, i find it fascinating! The other day, i stumbled upon an interesting article on the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. Ironic since it was Calvin who played a major role taking the arts out of the Church. It’s long (for an online article) but it’s worth the read.

here’s an intriguing section from the article:

“Opening yourself to new experiences of art in worship starts with questioning two assumptions.

First, many Christians value the verbal over the visual. We understand how the Holy Spirit uses the Bible, inspired preaching, and music to connect us with God. But linking art with worship stirs worries about idolatry, distraction, and poor stewardship.

Second, many of us think of art as something to look at in museums and galleries—something different than craft, which is beautiful and useful.

God’s people have not always looked on art as an inferior (or impossible) way for the Holy Spirit to mediate God’s love to us. Nor have God’s people always seen art as disconnected from real life, which includes true worship.”

I think it’s really important to know where we’ve come from and to study the decisions of the visual worshipers of old… to know WHY they made certain decisions and to see how, generations later, it has made an impact on how we worship. And if we don’t know our history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

i’m not very far on the journey of discovering our past. i hope you’ll join me. b/c i have a lot to learn.

If you’re wanting to explore further, i recommend reading these books. If you know of any other resources, please share them in the comment section.

She was always documenting events, whether family, church or out in the community. She loved to go around to the different ministries at her home church to film all that they were doing. Then she would go home and spend countless hours pouring over film reels, splicing them together and editing stories that she felt fit to be shared.

Then she would return to each of the church ministries, break out her projector, and unfold their visual stories right before their eyes. After years of doing this, she began to earn the nickname “The Video Lady”.

Her name was Mildred Nix, and today, she would have been 94 years old. And she was my grandmother.

After she went Home to be with the Lord, we were going through her house, and i found all of her old film equipment. So now I have it on display in my studio.

The last years of her life were the years that i just started to get into video & film. You can imagine her old mind trying to understand the concepts of VJ-ing, or even how computers and digital images worked in the midst of worship. But she definitely connected to the films we shot overseas, and she loved when i would come home, lay on her bed, get out my laptop, and show her a film i shot in a foreign, distant area of the world… places she had only heard stories of from Pappaw’s time in WWII.

It wasn’t until after she passed away that i heard the story of “The Video Lady”…so you can imagine that was a fairly epic moment for me, realizing that this passion for the visual goes back many generations. Even my mom serves on the media ministry at my hometown church, Wynne Baptist, the same church where Grandma earned her nickname.

But today, she isn’t really remembered as someone who always had a camera with her. People around town remember “Mrs. Nix” as someone who would share her faith to anyone who would listen. It was known that if you worked out on the farm and didn’t know the Lord, it would only be a matter of time. My Pappaw was the same way…so you can imagine that they made one incredible team!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!