The new and improved MAC

Last week I told you that I was going to post the finished facelift. Well here we go. I have pictures from several different people who were here on Friday, or Sunday. This has been a great process, and I have learned a lot. Here are some of the the pictures... Enjoy.

MAC 1 week before

This is Russell. He and his crew of artists did an amazing job transforming the MAC.


This is the coolest thing I saw them do all week. You can see that there is a hard, straight line around the top of the MAC where the color stops and the black starts. This guy painted that line BY HAND.

Here is Russell putting the beginning touches on the black part of the stage.

This is my friend, and fellow worship leader, Jeremy helping me dry fit the Truss on the stage.


This was just a cool picture that Don took when Jeremy and I were getting ready for Soul Life on Wednesday.



And Finally, Friday...

When Sunday came, you might think that we would have a bit of an anti-climax, but not so. The band and choir came out strong and brought it home. I don't think that we have ever sounded so good.

Thank you all for a great week.


This post is part of the Creative Chaos @ Ragamuffinsoul.com

Thanks Carlos.

Went to a rehearsal...

and Church broke out. That is right, last night we had a rehearsal with our mini-choir to prepare for worship on Sunday, and right in the middle of PRACTICE, we found ourselves in the middle of a worship moment that took us over. It is amazing what scripture from the mouth of a child, plus an incredible song, and a group of people that love to worship a great God can do. The song started out with Paige reading Psalm 1oo:4-5 while John David played the intro to Glorious One lightly.























As she finished, we started to sing and the spirit took over and we had a very personal time with God. It was beautiful. I love it when God takes over let's us know how much he loves us.

Another cool thing was that Paige just stepped back and started to sing with us. It was really cool to hear her sing praises.

Later...

MAC facelift days 5 & 6

Good evening all. This has been an incredible week. The facelift has been exhausting, but I think that you will agree that it has been well worth it.

Day 5

When we started this, I posted a video of Andrew taking the cloth down off the walls. Here is another one, this time it is Ted and I putting the cloth and truss up on stage. We had a really good time getting this ready.




Day 6

Also a couple of days ago, I posted pictures from the MAC before we started the facelift. Well here is what it looked like right before I left tonight...



This is just one shot, there are many others that I will post in the next few days. We are very excited about the new look and I cannot say enough about all the people that it took to, as my friend Jason would say, "Make the magic happen." People like Ted, and Dean, and Jeremy, who worked really hard lugging stuff, folding stuff and building stuff, to help us get here. Also, a huge thanks goes to Russell Simpson and his crew of incredible painters. They took us from empty old room to all the walls covered in time for Soul Life in just 2 1/2 days, and finished the room in under 5. They were truly amazing.

That is all for now. Maybe more later...

Facelift day 3

Have you ever had one of those days where you couldn't wipe the goofy grin off your face? That was my day today. I got to see the painters completely change the look of the MAC today. I am giving you some pictures of the old look for the MAC stage, and if you want a glimpse of what the new look will be, you will have to come to Soul Life tomorrow night.






























Another reason that I was smiling today was because I got to go see an old friend that I haven't seen in a long time. His name is Chris Carter, and he is a brilliant young lighting designer. Chris is the lighting director at Hillvue Heights Church We got together because I had told him that I was looking for some PAR cans, and he said that he had a few that the leadership at Hillvue told him he could give to me. It was really good to see him and hear about what is going on in his life. Chris will always be special to me.

Now I am getting ready to get something to eat and then spend some time with my boys, and my beautiful wife. Tomorrow is another early day that will end very late. Tomorrow, our greenroom gets shown some makeover love, with the help of one of the guys that is on our praise team, Dean Allen.

later kids...

And the facelift begins...

OK, so I have been kind of quiet the last week or so. Partly because I was exhausted and was taking some down time, and partly because I passed a kidney stone on Friday. Yes, that's right, I said I passed a kidney stone. It sucked and I don't want to ever have to do that again. So I have to start drinking a gallon of water a day.

The other reason that I have been quiet this week is because we are preparing for a big facelift the MAC (where we have our contemporary services). I will be posting pictures and stories along the way.

The first thing that had to be done was taking the cloth that decorated the side walls of the room down. I have a new program on my mac that allows my video camera to do a time-lapse video. I hope to make a video of the entire process when we are done. Below is said video of my son, (and indispensable right hand), striking the cloth on one side of the room.



Now, I am off to bed. I will start tomorrow at 6:30am with a bike ride to the church and start un-boxing the new LED lights and such.

Later kids...

Happy Birthday Ninja

OK, so I know this post is a little late. I had a long day yesterday. Anyway... Yesterday was my friend Jason's birthday. Jason is the MediaShout king at Broadway. He makes all the scripts, around 5 to 6 completely different ones every week. He runs the scripts on Sunday mornings, and sometimes runs 2 machines at the same time for 2 different venues. He is an amazing young man. He doesn't say much, but he is always there. Jason is the most quiet guy I know. We call him the Ninja around the tech ministry, because the only way you find out that Jason is around is when he walks up behind you and pops the top on his always present Dr Pepper. The first hundred times he did it to me I nearly jumped out of my skin.

And Dr. Pepper brings us to the theme of the day for Jason. Every one around Broadway knows about Jason and his DP. So when we arrived at the church at our normal 6am, there was already 2 cases of DP in the refrigerator in the booth under his desk, 2 at the tech booth in the Sanctuary, and 1 sitting on the stage in the MAC. It was at this point, my son Andrew brought out the ultimate Dr. Pepper gift... DP Cupcakes. Below you will see pictures and a video of what came next for him. I hope the rest of his day was great. His church family came together to let him know that he is important to us

The aforementioned Dr. Pepper Cupcakes...
.

Jason... scarfing


For all you Pyro's out there, here is the fire section of the post. Andrew placed 25 candles on a single, Dr. Pepper cupcake.


And finally, a serenade in G (really) FLAT


Happy Birthday my Friend. I hope it was great.

Why my Starbucks is the best, pt 1

I wondered into my local St. Arbucks this morning, saw this, and was reminded why the one by my house is the best. This is just one of the many reasons. The artwork. Not the standard starbucks stuff that you see in every store, but the stuff that is only found on Campbell Lane. You see, they have an artist who works there by the name of Jeff Dehut, you can check his work out here. He changes the signs up often and keeps them fresh and fun.

Just one of many reasons why My Starbucks is better than yours.

Nightmares

Do you ever have nightmares? I rarely even remember my dreams, let alone know that I had a nightmare. Last night (this morning) I had a nightmare. Things coming up from my army days, and other things. I was bolted out of bed at 4:30am from this one, having remembered everything in the dream, and covered in sweat. I like it better when I don't remember. I have been having night sweats again recently, and now I am wondering if they are not related to nightmares and I am being spared the memory of the dream itself.

I would covet your prayers on this matter.

Thanks,

L