In each of the churches that I have been involved in as an adult I've tried to be a helper in the technology area. I've done sound, I've edited recordings, have made tapes and DVDs of messages. And of edited video for services.
A few years ago when Windows was finally catching up to the Mac movie editing abilities the pastor of the church we were going to at the time asked me if I could make a video to play in the background while he and his daughter sang a duet. It was for a Sunday leading up to Easter or for Easter, I can't remember. But he wanted clips from the movie the Passion of the Christ synchronized with a song about the blood of Jesus flowing down the cross.
The movie had been a big success and had come out on DVD and people were watching it at home and crying about the amount of torture that was depicted in the movie. The brutal nature of what was done to Jesus brought to life on the screen. When I saw the movie it was extremely moving because as a Christian I could envision what had happened but to see it depicted with blood and flecks of flesh and agony and everything that that movie showed was hard. And extremely moving.
The song was about 3 1/2 minutes long. It was very touching and had a male and female voice and was a good fit for both my pastor and his daughter's voices. What he wanted was to have the different views of Jesus on the cross interspersed with the chorus of the song about the blood running down the cross. He wanted video of blood running down the cross during the chorus. But he wasn't very specific in his guidance about which scenes to use.
Because he wasn't very specific I had to spend hours watching the movie the Passion of the Christ. I had to watch over and over and try to get the right scene and try to make it fit with the words without having to distort the speed of the video too much. And this is all in Windows movie maker, which while capable as a program was not the best experience when using.
All in all I spent over 10 hours watching and editing the movie the Passion of the Christ to boil it down to a 3 1/2 minute background video for their duet. It was horrifying and satisfying all at the same time. Now when I see in the story about the movie the Passion of the Christ I quickly move along because I really don't want to read it. I have learned enough about Jesus and have a good relationship with him and I understand the pain and agony as much as I can. But after sitting there for several evenings while my kids played downstairs and went to bed I really just don't want to see that again.
I'm only an amateur but of all the videos that I've edited that was the most challenging in my life.
Monday, July 26, 2021
Thursday, July 8, 2021
Through the Bible podcast ~
When I was younger entertainment options were not as varied as they are today. You had AM/FM radio, you had the 3 to 5 channels on TV and maybe more if you are near a big city. You had tape of some kind, 8-track or cassette. And AM radio was still big.
But AM radio was dying. It was more and more commercials. It was staticy and not as clear as FM. Reception was not always very good, especially between cities.
But as a Christian AM radio was the place to go because that's where the Bible teaching shows were. We had preachers and teachers going through things and talking about the Bible. You heard sermons and teaching on a theme. One of my favorites that I would listen to on AM radio was J Vernon McGee.
J Vernon McGee founded the Through the Bible ministry. Basically he would go chapter by chapter and verse by verse and talk about the Bible on a radio program. And it was all sequential. And he would stop and tell stories and interpret an explain and help apply what the Bible said no matter which part of the Bible he was in at that time. It was great when he was in the New Testament. It was still awesome but not quite the same when he was in the prophets. The Old Testament was fun because he would give insights that I had never heard. But despite his dry southern voice and humor that often sounded hokey I learned a lot from J Vernon McGee.
I remember when I ordered his commentary books via mail. The five book set of Through the Bible commentary was where they had transcribed his teachings and put them in books. My mother-in-law was so excited that she had to borrow one of him and kept it for years because she loved reading the Bible and she loved J Vernon McGee. He was one of those great big personalities from Christian radio.
Recently I was missing hearing his voice and that kind of teaching, verse by verse through the Bible. So I went to my podcast out and searched for Through the Bible and came up with multiple podcasts playing J Vernon McGee himself and the radio shows that he had put out but commercial free. So I subscribed. It's awesome! Now I get to listen to Bible teaching that I got many years ago and can refresh and renew and gain new insights from. Read along with them and read that chapter about Paul as he's going through it. I can pick which one I want to listen to and listen to that chapter or focus on specific things. And I can then reminisce about what I was doing when I first listen to those things. In my car, on my Walkman, or whatever.
I love modern technology!
You can find the through the Bible podcast with J Vernon McGee at https://ttb.org
But AM radio was dying. It was more and more commercials. It was staticy and not as clear as FM. Reception was not always very good, especially between cities.
But as a Christian AM radio was the place to go because that's where the Bible teaching shows were. We had preachers and teachers going through things and talking about the Bible. You heard sermons and teaching on a theme. One of my favorites that I would listen to on AM radio was J Vernon McGee.
J Vernon McGee founded the Through the Bible ministry. Basically he would go chapter by chapter and verse by verse and talk about the Bible on a radio program. And it was all sequential. And he would stop and tell stories and interpret an explain and help apply what the Bible said no matter which part of the Bible he was in at that time. It was great when he was in the New Testament. It was still awesome but not quite the same when he was in the prophets. The Old Testament was fun because he would give insights that I had never heard. But despite his dry southern voice and humor that often sounded hokey I learned a lot from J Vernon McGee.
I remember when I ordered his commentary books via mail. The five book set of Through the Bible commentary was where they had transcribed his teachings and put them in books. My mother-in-law was so excited that she had to borrow one of him and kept it for years because she loved reading the Bible and she loved J Vernon McGee. He was one of those great big personalities from Christian radio.
Recently I was missing hearing his voice and that kind of teaching, verse by verse through the Bible. So I went to my podcast out and searched for Through the Bible and came up with multiple podcasts playing J Vernon McGee himself and the radio shows that he had put out but commercial free. So I subscribed. It's awesome! Now I get to listen to Bible teaching that I got many years ago and can refresh and renew and gain new insights from. Read along with them and read that chapter about Paul as he's going through it. I can pick which one I want to listen to and listen to that chapter or focus on specific things. And I can then reminisce about what I was doing when I first listen to those things. In my car, on my Walkman, or whatever.
I love modern technology!
You can find the through the Bible podcast with J Vernon McGee at https://ttb.org
Friday, July 2, 2021
Book - Dream Big ~
Bob Goff's book Dream Big was a good book! It's basically a roadmap on how to corral and then chase after the dreams of your heart.
He starts out by saying that it's good to have dreams and that you should think big and go after them. Then he gives some inspirational stories on how to narrow down and then get specific about what it is it will take to achieve your dream and then some stories on how sometimes you don't and how to recover from that. It was a really good book and I enjoyed the stories a lot.
Dream Big also has a workbook that you can buy. I did not get the workbook but I'm sure that it has worksheets to fill out that he referred to and the that will help you focus your energies and actually achieve things rather than just walk around dreaming about all the things that you could've been done.
I enjoy Bob Goff's writing. I enjoyed his stories and the tone of them. Always upbeat, always pointing back to God.
I recommend Dream Big as a good book if you're looking for a way to get a little bit more focused than you are right now.
You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081MYW3VT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_SMER3D1B1YEN9JMB8GYX
And you can find the Bob Goff website at https://bobgoff.com
He starts out by saying that it's good to have dreams and that you should think big and go after them. Then he gives some inspirational stories on how to narrow down and then get specific about what it is it will take to achieve your dream and then some stories on how sometimes you don't and how to recover from that. It was a really good book and I enjoyed the stories a lot.
Dream Big also has a workbook that you can buy. I did not get the workbook but I'm sure that it has worksheets to fill out that he referred to and the that will help you focus your energies and actually achieve things rather than just walk around dreaming about all the things that you could've been done.
I enjoy Bob Goff's writing. I enjoyed his stories and the tone of them. Always upbeat, always pointing back to God.
I recommend Dream Big as a good book if you're looking for a way to get a little bit more focused than you are right now.
You can find it at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081MYW3VT/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_glt_SMER3D1B1YEN9JMB8GYX
And you can find the Bob Goff website at https://bobgoff.com
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