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As you know I’m a graphic designer at St. Simons Community Church. Well I also manage the tech and media for the youth group. Well I’m sitting right now in the sound booth while Justin, one of our youth pastors, is teaching the kids. The first picture is Justin teaching. The second is the youth band playing “The Stand” by Hillsong. We have 60 or so kids here tonight. Rock on.

The photos are from my MacBook iSight.

Tomorrow’s gonna be a busy day.

Stink. It is tomorrow.

Today’s gonna be a tired and busy day as I get ready for the Fusion Fall Retreat that starts today. The fall retreat is a weekend where 250 or so youth from the Golden Isles get together for a mini youth camp of sorts. It’s full of music, fun, teaching, games, and food. Last year was amazing and from what I’ve heard from the other youth leaders participating… it’s gonna blow last year away.

I’m on assignment again this year as the event photographer. It’s gonna be a blast getting to hang out with all these amazing kids and their leaders for a weekend. They are an inspiration in their walks with God as they seek Him out and try to get to know Him better. I wish us adults had a couple retreats a year to get away like this.

Leading worship this year is Unnamed Servant, who I’ve never seen before but their CD is great. And the speaker I hear is going to be great also but 3am doesn’t allow for me to remember his name. I’ll fill that gap in during future updates.

Pictures will be up soon as well.

So you guys have a wonderful weekend and pray for us. Some kids’ live are gonna get rocked! Yeah!

… to worship

During the last worship set at youth group tonight I look up to find my light guys gone from the production booth. Disappeared. Both the lead guy and the guy in training.

My sound guy pointed them out… hands raised… singing their heats out to God in the crowd.

I’m ok with that.

It seems that recently things like this are happening more. Like God has finally gotten through the blocks our youth had in their hearts - allowing Him to move in their lives. The event we call Inside Out on Wednesday nights has been going so well as well.

Shannon is getting better and better at leading and the music is getting cleaner and cleaner. The band is worshiping while leading worship. Their sound is great.

The messages recently have been outstanding. We’re seeing kids change their lives and appear to be following God like never before. It’s so amazing.

I could go on and on but I’ll leave with this.

When you find your production crew forgetting their jobs because God is moving in their hearts, consider it a triumph. I do. Praise God.

Amanda and I spent our Labor Day on a rather odd (for us) date. Each stop was a surprise for her.

First stop was the nail salon. Man, those ladies are upsellers like mad. She went in for a manicure and pedicure but I left with a chair massage I wasn’t planning on. We left feeling good.

Next stop was Cilantro’s for some mexi-lunch. I don’t care what you haters say. I love me some Cilantro’s.

Then was a stop at Shooters of Brunswick for some time on the firing range. Amanda had never shot a handgun before so I wanted to share the fun with her. She is a quick learner. After 5 minutes with our .22 handgun (with a silencer for that added coolness) she was shooting 8 inch groups at 10 yards. With a gun that inaccurate I was impressed. Wow. We kinda forgot pictures for the previous two stops, so we’ll make it up here with a couple photos and a video.

Click here to watch

Then stop 4 was a pool party with the Elevate crew. Fun crowd.

And for a plug… if you’re a young adult (19-35ish) join us on Tuesday nights at 7:30 at St Simons Community Church for Elevate.

Courtesy a blog post by Tony Morgan, I found an article in Inc.com spelling out tips from the country’s top innovation consultants on how to stay creative. Being one whose job it is to be creative, I read through it and gained lots of valuable insight into staying creative.

For those of us with short attention spans… here’s Tony Morgan’s summary. If you’re interested in the full version, read Inc.com.

1. Get multicultural. - You need to get around people that are different than you.
2. Provide lots of free time to think. - Give staff freedom with their schedules, and encourage them to be “off” and dream big.
3. Encourage risky behavior. - Maybe my wife will let me ride a scooter.
4. Write it down. - Encourage your team to write and share their lives with others. (More blogging!)
5. Hire smart. - Hire risk-takers. You need people that are willing to embrace change.
6. Bring in outsiders. - Bring in outside perspective to expand your thinking.
7. Be flexible. Very flexible. - The same strategy doesn’t work for every situation.
8. Do it for free. - Give your team the ability to give their work away and serve others.
9. Mix up your people. - Let people step into new team environments for a season.

To the readers my coworkers - Fred, Travis, Justin, David - after reading this, how can we get more creative and encourage an environment of creativity?

Your thoughts?

Link to: Tony Morgan’s post
Link to: The Inc.com article