Happy Leap Day

Once every four years this day comes along.

Hope you did something special today. Hope you made a memory today that you will reflect on for years to come.

I had the opportunity to go out with my wife and a couple from our church. Had a great evening!

How was your day?
Peace.

The Week in Review

Finished up our message series, Deal or No Deal last weekend and we're gearing up for the start of another 3-part series this weekend called The Other Side.

If you attend The Orchard or are in the area, this will be a series you will want to check out and invite your friends to. If you just can't be here, I'm glad to tell you that we do have a weekly podcast you can check out.


What else happened this week...

• Started a new workout routine with my wife. I just plain need to get in better shape and I also have as a goal to lose 18 pounds.

• Our staff went to Chicago for our annual staff outing. We had brunch/lunch at Fogo De Chao, which is a really good Brazilian steak house (for those who aren't familiar, you are continually served various cuts of beef/chicken/pork/lamb until you tell them to stop brining it). I might have picked the wrong week to start working out (or the right one, depending on how you look at it). We also went to Wicked, the off-Broadway play. I won't say more about that yet :)
  

• Had our normal weekend rehearsals, lighting setup and pre-production review. We always prepare and make every weekend count, because every weekend is someone's first time at The Orchard. Every weekend has eternal significance, and we take time to make sure everything is lined up and ready to go for our services. Yes, we still mess up but we review after every service to see if there are things we can improve going into the next service. We value excellence and believe that everything we do at The Orchard should be done well.

All that and it's only Thursday :)

Tomorrow is my day to recharge before the weekend and my date night with my wife.

Peace.

Sasquatch Part 2

See the previous post to catch up on this, but dang! I just saw some of the funniest videos I've seen in a while from Brent Hodge (no relation to Scott that I know of) over at Table Rock Fellowship in Oregon.

Looks like they recently did a message series called Urban Legends and put together four videos using the Legend of Sasquatch as the backdrop... HILARIOUS!

Check all four of them out here. I love the A-team feel!

They actually have it filmed over at the Sasquatch trap near their town.
I wonder if they've ever caught one in the trap?

Anyway, thanks for the laughs Brent!
Peace.

Sasquatch

My wife just watched some sasquatch Discovery Channel show and is totally freaked out.

She can't figure out why no one has tranquilized and studied one of these things.

While I love her tremendously, this is the same woman who thinks us landing on the moon is a conspiracy. Let's see... landing on the moon... no. Sasquatch real... yes.

The videos are kind of interesting, AND whether real or not - are they that scary? My wife says yes.

Peace.

To Crowder or Not To Crowder

That's the question.

The question I pose to all of you out there. I need you all - all of you who check out this blog to chime in here.

I've discussed it with my family and now I'm putting it out for you to decide:

Crowder or no crowder?

I'm totally serious. I've had a crowder for the last 4 years. I'm kind of attached to it, yet I could go for something new.

What do YOU think?

You have one week.
Go. Quick!
Comment now.

Peace.

Tired

Sunday evening and I can barely keep my eyes open. The last several weeks I've felt completely wiped out as soon as I've had a chance to just chill.

Don't feel like I'm doing any more than normal on Sunday's but I think I'm having a hard time trying to recoup on the weekends. I don't take naps because I don't wake up well from them.

How do you recover after a full weekend of ministry?
Peace.

My Wife, The Photographer

My wife used to be really into photography when we first started dating 15 years ago. She has kind of given it up since except for pictures of the kids and projects every now and then.

Lately we've been having conversations about her and her photography and I think if she had the right equipment it would help.

So, I'm on a mission to find a good camera for her.

The more we talk about it the more I think she enjoyed the actual developing of the film back then more than she enjoyed taking the pictures, but I think she has a pretty good eye for texture, color and space.

Here are a few pictures she took of me this last week in about 5 minutes outside the mall with our cheesy camera (her idea).

Which do you like the best?
Peace.

Makes You Go Hmmmm...

OK.

This picture reminds me of someone and I can't think of who it could be.

Really makes you wonder.

Some things just make you go hmmmmm.

Thoughts?
Peace.

Support Creativity - Set Anatomy

One of my favorite blogs right now is Support. Creativity. with Benjamin James (BJ) Hunt. BJ is the Lighting and Scenic Director at Browns Bridge Community Church in North Atlanta (one of the North Point Community Church satellite campuses).

I would consider BJ and the team at BBCC to be very innovative when it comes to set design and lighting. I have several of their set pics from a few other blogs on my office wall and on my mac, which I review on occasion. Their sets, colors, textures, and layouts are inspiring.

Some don't realize, and maybe take for granted, how big an impact an artistic set can have on the mood and atmosphere of an environment. A set that complements the message you want to convey helps people engage in a way that increases what is retained.... people will remember more, longer.

Nearly every person has learned something visually but 60-65% of people learn best through visual learning - pictures, media, video, art, illustrations, etc. Interesting to think about how much you could impact someone with your message through visual cues and media.

Anyway, BJ has a great blog post on his site called the The Anatomy of a Set. He's got some great insight into the artistic realm of set design including color, light and texture.

Peace.

Link Love Roundup

Haven't done a link check in a while.

So here's the DL...

If you link me and I haven't shared the love, let me know and I'll be glad to add you to the link love list. Just a reminder if you all would please use http://mikejonesblog.com so that you'll link to me no matter where this blog is hosted.

Here are the latest:
Matt Olds - formerly of CA, now in ID.
Cliff Ames Jr. - Tales From The Yellow Brick Road.

Give them so love and check out their sites. Thanks for the links guys!
Peace.

Meet the Banker

Meet the banker... identity yet unknown.

One last week in our Deal or No Deal series. This weekend is going to be the most challenging weekend yet!

If you are a part of the Orchard church community, you won't want to miss it.

Not only are we finishing the series with one more round of our Deal or No Deal game - with double the chances to win an iPod - but we're also going to be taking a trial run with God.

Find out more this weekend. See you there.
Peace.

Orchard Rewind 22

Special edition of the Orchard Rewind this week.

I know I've missed a couple of weeks on the rewind but gave you a little more this time :)

Second week in our series Deal or No Deal where we're talking about generosity and management of our resources. We used M&M's to illustrate the amount of money and material possessions we have. The reality is that they aren't ours to begin with. The M&M's belong to God and come from God - I'm just a manager of those resources.

Life changing thought if you really let that sink in and permeate how you handle your money and material possessions.

Lastly - Our rendition of Pink Floyd's, Money just plain rocked. It's not an easy song either considering the changing time signatures and how drummers/bassists love 7/8 time. I'm kidding of course. Guys you rocked my face off!

Peace.

A Fresh View

Had a great second week in our series Deal or No Deal! I'll catch you up on the Orchard Rewind tomorrow.

Several cool things happened this weekend including getting to meet Jon and Dori French, some friends of Scott's. Jon and Dori hung out with us and got a behind the scenes view of a weekend at The Orchard.

I'm always curious to hear what people think about our gatherings. Jon wrote a great post about their experience this last weekend. You can check it out here.

Fresh eyes on a process as simple as our production reviews or on different elements within our leadership gatherings helps keep the right perspective. Not a bad idea to have someone you trust do this on a regular basis. I say someone you trust because not everyone is looking out for your best interest (or the church community's best interest) when they give you a critique.

Anyway, check out what Jon had to say about his experience. If you've been to the Orchard, we'd love to hear your story too.
Peace.

DOND - Wow!

My family and I love this show and tonight there were 13 chances out of 26 to win $1 million!

The contestant settled for like $437k with one additional case to her own.

Her case had a million in it. The crowd was on their feet and it was intense. Now, she said she knew that her case had $1 million in it yet she was willing to settle. A tough decision.

How much would you settle for?

Peace.

Today is a New Day

So I'm making a commitment to get back into blogging more regularly. So it's my plan to blog everyday this week.

Take it one week at a time and see how it goes.

Peace.

Valentine's Day

Yeah.

My kids love this day and look forward to it for some reason, which is odd since they're homeschooled and we don't really do a whole lot for it.

Scott had a nice little blog post about it today for you to check out.

And if you think his is good, you should check out Perry Noble's post... excellent! I love my wife year round and we date each other weekly (or at least every other week), so why should this day be any different. She's my best friend and the person I grow more in love with every day - I pray that I don't show her this only one day out of the year!

Maybe for some relationships, it either helps them get started or is a nice reminder.

ok... I did get my wife a card though :)
Peace.

Deal or No Deal Series

We started a new series this weekend called Deal or No Deal and it was awesome! With the help of Howie (Chris Bell), our wonderful models (Katie, Heidi, Minga, and Cherie), not to mention the banker (still wondering who the banker was?) - we had our own version of the game and had a lot of fun!

Here's the music setlist from this weekend (with links to iTunes to purchase the original recordings):

• Your Grace Is Enough - Chris Tomlin
• Mighty To Save - Hillsong United
• Holy Is The Lord - Chris Tomlin
• If I Had A Million Dollars - BNL

Scott started off this series talking about generosity. What does it mean to be generous? Do you consider yourself generous? Most people like to think they are generous but in reality we aren't always as giving as we'd like to be.

"If I had a million dollars I would..." How would you finish that statement? The key to generosity is that anyone can be generous and that generosity begins now, regardless of your circumstance.

One last thing... my music and production teams rocked this weekend!! Doug had me rollin' with his banter in the BNL tune and my production crew was on top of the DOND game we produced. Could not have gone better than it did! You know what this means guys? We've raised the bar even higher for the next time, so get ready!

Peace.

First Wednesday Canceled

Canceled. Well we can't actually cancel the first Wednesday in February from occurring but we are canceling our gatherings for tonight. We have several inches of snow that have dropped within the last hour or two and they are expecting more through midnight tonight. Some places will get 12".

Bummed to have to cancel but want to make sure everyone stays safe. Had a great evening planned that we'll save for another time.

BTW, for those who don't know what First Wednesday is, or have never been to one at The Orchard, it's a time we take at the beginning of each month to make first things first - to align ourselves with our Creator. A chance to take a breath and slow our pace a little in the midst of our hectic lives. We have a great time of corporate worship together, in a different environment than our weekend gatherings. Usually highly interactive and multimedia driven.

See you at First Wednesday in March.
Peace.

Deal!

Dang it! How do I get on this blasted show?

No win tonight and the game is going to even higher levels... the next show is supposed to go up to 11, count them - eleven, $1 million cases. I mean 11 out of 26 will have $1 million!! That's pretty good odds in this game.

Count me in!
Peace.

More Snow

I love how we were supposed to have some 'flurries' with 'no accumulation' this evening.

I guess I need clarification on what's considered accumulation as we have an additional 4.5" of snow. What's really wild is the snow came down really fast and was accompanied by thunder and lightning (came down about 2"an hour). I've never experienced that before.

Sweetness.
"Do you know the street value of this mountain?" - Better Off Dead

Peace.

Giant Win

Unbelievable game! I am not particularly a fan of wither team but I was actually pulling for the Patriots to win and finish an incredible season.

After finding out that the Giants were a wild card team to start with and that their quarterback's brother won the Super Bowl last year, I'm glad they won. The did play a pretty good game.

At least this year it was actually a game as it seems like many Super Bowls are blow outs.



I am also not a huge Tom Petty fan though I appreciate his work. Him and the Heartbreakers performed the half time show and it was great! The last couple of years there has been an improvement in the halftime show performances - lights, fans on the field, and the music. Last year Prince was pretty awesome. This year Tom and the boys really rocked it. Very impressive.

They even ended with "Runnin' Down A Dream" which we did as our walk-in today at the Orchard. I actually think Ken's solo this morning was better :)

What did you think of the game?
Peace.

Orchard Rewind 21

Update on the music, message, lighting, audio and multimedia at the Orchard - all in 60-seconds.

Ended the series "I Am Spirit". Definitely recommend the podcasts if you weren't there for this series. The song "We Shine" was an awesome song to end with and my team rocked my face off!

How was your weekend?
Peace.

WInter Wonderland 2

Kind of hard to see but we ended up with a little more than 7" of snow so far this morning. Some areas were up to 10" which is awesome. I love snow (especially when I don't have to drive in it)!

I remember living in Colorado Springs for a few years when I was a kid and we would get a LOT of snow. This stuff here doesn't bug me too much, though they have been running out of salt for the roads out here in the suburbs. Nothing in my area has been plowed or salted all winter.



Still hoping to go sledding possibly this afternoon (Kristen is still having the kids do school - the downside for my kids in terms of homeschooling :)

This pile here after shoveling part of the driveway was up to my chest! Awesome!

Peace.

POST: Just watched the poor waste management guy driving this huge truck down our street trying to collect garbage (neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow... oh wait that's supposed to be the post office). Even with the big truck he is slipping and sliding all over the place. It took him several minutes just to pass our house, trying to go forward and then backward to be able to go forward. Dedicated!