David Whiting Live

Have You Seen Courageous? ($3.00 this weekend)

I have been asked this question a lot in the last couple of months. I haven't seen the movie, but I sure plan to. I haven't paid movie theater prices for a movie since the last Chronicles of Narnia film.

Almost all our of movie watching is at home, with a couple of trips a year to MOVIES10 in Henrietta (where every movie is $2.00 or less).

I wanted to let you know that it will be shown as a matinee only this weekend (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) at the Cinema Theater at South Clinton and South Goodman. The time is 3:45, but the cost is $3.00 per person (cash only). Check out the theater's website and notice the theater's history. It seems like a pretty unique place. It is a single screen theater that seats less than 300 and is clean. And the snacks are cheaper too (I've been told).

Have you seen Courageous? What are your thoughts?

There are mixed reviews on the movie. Here are some:

http://www.cinemarochester.com/soon.php

http://www.courageousthemovie.com/

http://www.providentfilms.org/courageous/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1630036/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/courageous/

Tomorrow @ Northridge Church (some changes)

Tomorrow WILL be different at Northridge Church! My sermon will be "normal" (Theological Time-Out #3). The music will be "normal."  BUT - there will be different things that EVERYONE will notice.  Way back at Thanksgiving we gave an offering for technological advances - particularly IMAG (Image Magnification).  This takes us one a huge step forward toward Multisite.

This week, Jeff and Steve are here (from Chicago) setting everything up (with Jeff Mapes) and Saturday morning is the training for our volunteers. Here are some photos...

The chairs in the front of the worship center have been stacked all week as they needed to add a bank of lights to brighten up the stage for video.

Here is the morning's training session. Jeff, from Church Solutions, is training our camera operators on all the features.  Thankfully, one of our camera guys does this professionally (for YNN) so this is second nature to him.

This is the "control room" (previously known as the "Data Center").  The screen on the left is what will have the song lyrics and sermon notes that will appear on the screen in the auditorium. The screen on the right is run by the technical director and switches between cameras and graphics.

We will all see how it goes tomorrow. Be patient with us and show grace.  It is a major step toward multi-site - so we have at least a year of learning curve ahead of us.  You will also notice a new big screen in the lobby to help people know what's happening in the worship center.

I think the technology team now includes the following (for each Sunday AM):

• Sound technician (mixes the band)
• Camera operators (2 people)
• Lighting technician (sounds pretty official, but they make the lighting changes during the service)
• Technical director (runs the switcher between camera and graphics)
• Computer operator (runs Keynote and ProPresenter)
• Director (oversees it all)

Interested in helping?  It would mean some long Sunday mornings, but if it feels like your only opportunities for serving at church are in areas that don't fit your interest (children, hosting, greeting, bookstore, music, etc...) - maybe this type of thing is perfect for you. If so, contact Adam Congdon!

Old Spice Ads - Why They "Work"

Have you seen the creative OLD SPICE ads over the last few months? The best known ad uses quotes like:

• "Hello, ladies! Look at your man - now back at me - now back at your man - now back to me..."
• "the man your man could smell like"
• "I'm on a horse."

When I first saw that commercial - I thought it was hilarious. And I saw it several times until I finally didn't pay close attention to it.  If you are wondering what in the world I'm talking about - you can see the commericial HERE.

I used to have a youth sermon that I regularly delivered (mostly at camps) about how Satan will chase after us with three temptation:

• Possessions
• Pleasure
• Pride

During that talk, I would mention how commercials sell their product through four primary means:

• You WANT this (possessions - this "thing" will make your life better)
• You will LOVE this (pleasure - it makes you happy or sexy)
• You NEED this (pride - people will look up to you; it gives you dignity and status)
• COMEDY (commercials often use comedy PLUS one of the other three to sell their product)

BUT - the OLD SPICE commercials often try to use all four... selling possessions, pleasure, and pride - with laughter.

Does it work?

Between May and June of 2010 - Old Spice sales went up 107% during a commercial push of their products. That's amazing success!

Satan's stategies still work. People "buy in" and even companies recognize how effective it is to "sell" happiness through possessions, pleasure and pride.

Northridge Church - First Sunday - part 1

Hey Northridge Church!

I've received several emails and phone calls asking for an update, so let me give you a brief one. I started to write one Sunday afternoon, but I couldn't think clearly so I gave up.

I'm still not thinking clearly because I am so overwhelmed at God's amazing goodness to us. So rather than my words - I will let some pictures tell some of the story.

Thanks for all your work, prayers and invites. I was told we had 1075 people!  It felt like it!!

As I was falling asleep Sunday night - I said to Sue, "It still hasn't hit me. I feel like I was a guest speaker at a really great church, in an awesome building."

The sound system is amazing. And our worship band is so talented, but more importantly - they LOVE to see Christ magnified and to lead people in adoring Him.

Room to stand and fellowship!  AMAZING!! 

Three channels did interviews... 8, 9 and 10. I saw two of the news spots (didn't see channel 10). They asked really good questions and some hard ones (why are you growing while other churches are closing). But I was thankful that they showed up.

Two days later - and I'm still overwhelmed with emotion... Someday I will be able to put my feelings into words, but not today.

"Glory to God - Glory to God - Glory to God -  -  - FOREVER!"

Interview with Local Post Newspaper (Irondequoit Post)

I received a call from the Messenger Post newspaper and an article is appearing in the Irondequoit Post this week. We had about a twenty minute discussion and I'm impressed with the basic accuracy of the quotes. The interview was about our building, but she studied the website before calling and had a lot of questions about changing the name.  See what you think...

Read the article by clicking HERE.

Here are some pictures that appear with the article:

War of Words...

Yesterday I talked about being interviewed for newspaper articles and TV news programs. You can read that post HERE.  I listed five things I keep in mind when doing the interviews... ways that I'm careful with my words so that I can't be misunderstood, misquoted, or misrepresented. 

And it hit me later - those five things to keep in mind - should be the five things I LIVE by - not just use when being interviewed.  Imagine if EVERY conversation I had - I followed these five "rules":

• Because of the fear of being misquoted or taken out of context - I always try to pray and ask God for help with my words.
• I try to talk about Jesus as much as possible.
• I long for the exposure that North gets to point people to the Gospel. 
• I try to speak in short sentences and simple thoughts... If it isn't a short, simple answer - it increases the possibility of being misunderstood or maybe misquoted. 
• I need to remember that when I speak, I'm not simply representing myself...  I must remember that what I say won't simply impact my reputation...  I'm representing Jesus. 

Those are pretty good "rules to follow" - I think - in EVERY conversation!!

By the way - the book "War of Words" by Paul Tripp is a GREAT book on how we use our mouths.

What Did I Say? Waiting to See How I'll be Quoted...

A handful of times over the past few years, I've been interviewed for a news program or by a reporter.  Experiencing the interview - then seeing the news clip or reading the article has taught me a lot.

No matter how long the interview is - they will probably only use a sentence or two of a quote - so I need to speak carefully.  Here are some of the things I keep in mind:

• Because of the fear of being misquoted or taken out of context - I always try to pray and ask God for help with my words - especially if I haven't had time to prepare for the interview (like this week).
• I try to talk about Jesus as much as possible.
• I long for the exposure that North gets to point people to the Gospel.  But it is hard to talk about swine flu and the Gospel (this week's interview).
• I try to speak in short sentences and simple thoughts. They won't use long quotes or complicated thoughts - so I try to keep it very simple. If it isn't a short, simple answer - it increases the possibility of being misunderstood or maybe misquoted.  The interview I did this week was probably ten minutes in length, but the quote in the paper is three sentences (at least the online version).  Wow!  That's scary...  Because I don't choose the content - I must be careful with each word I speak.
• I need to remember that when I speak, I'm not simply representing myself.  What I say won't simply impact my reputation.  When interviewed, I am representing our church body and (more importantly) - I'm representing Jesus.  I want to tell people what I'm really thinking, but I need to use wise discretion because more reputations than mine are on the line.

Seeing what "sound byte" or quote they choose to use is a scary thing for me.  I was told that an article will appear today that I was interviewed about this week.  I haven't seen the paper, but I found the article online today. A reporter called me about the swine flue and precautions our church is taking... ummm... good question.

If you didn't get the paper today - you can read the online article HERE.  Notice how a ten minute interview ends up in three very short sentences! 

By the way, some reporters make me more nervous than  others.  This week's reporter (Chris Swingle) made me very comfortable by her interest, questions, and follow-ups.