Worship Leader Blog

A Magical Time, Indeed

February 8, 2011

Thanks for following along with my Magical Blog Friends posts (1|2|3|4|5) last week while we were away. We had an incredible time at Disney World – better-than-expected weather, small crowds, good friends all make for a great experience. My kids loved every moment and it was definitely a magical experience for them. Princess and fairies are still very real for them and you should have seen their eyes light up when they had the chance to meet Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, “No Tite” (as my 2-year old Isabelle calls her) and a bunch of other characters.

I was so impressed with the Disney staff, their commitment to service and their desire to see us have a great experience. We had a couple of interactions that really stood out and I sent an email to someone behind a Disney contact form to let them know about the impact those two specific staff had on our time at Disney.

We came home Saturday morning, plowed the driveway, loaded the washing machine several times and tried to unwind a bit before I had to hit the road again for recreate. Added in that whole mix was an unexpected adventure to the emergency room when my 5-year old, Avery, slipped off a chair and split her chin open. An extra 3 hours at the hospital I wasn’t planning on – she’s fine, a little glue and a band-aid and she’s good as new.

When I’m back home next week I’ll pull some photos together and get them posted to give you a glimpse in to our time away. Our kids are already asking when we’re going back! :)

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Let’s Do This! #recreate11

February 7, 2011

This is my fifth year attending the recreate conference and I have to tell you that it is really one of the hilights of my year. It has been a privilege to get to know Randy Elrod, the rest of the recreate team and so many like-minded people who make this event part of their calendar. Each year, God brings together my own life circumstances, conversations with friends, and the recreate experience to reveal one or two major shifts that need to happen in my own life and in my ministry at OBC. I’m praying for that to happen again this year.

One of the great things about recreate (and there are many!) is that we have been encouraged every year to push the envelope when it comes to technology and communications – blogging and twitter are part of my life now because of recreate.

For those of you at home this week, there are a few ways you can stay up-to-date with what is going on here in Nashville:

1. The recreate blog here – http://www.recreateconference.com/category/updates/

2. A daily recap email of the day’s events here

3. Follow the #recreate11 hashtag on twitter.

4. One other interesting way is through a twubs that’s been setup – anytime anybody tweets or uploads media with the #recreate11 hashtag, that content will be gathered on the twubs site. Here’s what that looks like -

<a target="_blank" href="http://twubs.com/recreate11" onclick="javascript:_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','outbound-article','http://twubs.com']);"><a href="http://twitter.com/search?q=%23recreate11" rel="nofollow">#recreate11</a></a>

Nothing beats actually being here with the whole crew but if you’d like to follow along, there are a few ways to do that.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Magical Blog Friend #5

February 4, 2011

I’m away with my family this week on the most magical family vacation ever so while I’m gone I want to introduce you to some blog/twitter friends to help share the magic.

Today’s magical blog friend is Gillian Gauthier. I had mentioned that we convinced some good friends to come with us to Disney and it is Gillian, her husband Abby and their four awesome kids who are celebrating the magic along with us this week.

Gillian is a ridiculously talented photographer and if you are looking for some inspiration, you should check out her work. My favourite photo of hers? I might be a bit biased :)

My three little birds, loving each other. Can’t wait to get some more family photos know that we’ve added Anderson to the crew.

Gillian’s blog – www.gigiphotography.com/blog
Gillian’s twitter – @gigiphotography

Bonus magical fact? Gillian, like all the good ones, is Canadian!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Magical Blog Friend #4

February 3, 2011

I’m away with my family this week on the most magical family vacation ever so while I’m gone I want to introduce you to some blog/twitter friends to help share the magic.

Today’s magical blog friend is Michael Krahn. Michael is a great writer, much smarter than I am and has a wonderful way with words. He also likes to draw pictures which help me understand things which are very complex. Pictures like this one -

If you want to know what this picture is all about (and learn something while you’re at it), check out this post on Michael’s blog – “TV and Social Media: The Medium is the Message”

Michael’s blog – www.michaelkrahn.com/blog
Michael’s twitter – @michaelkrahn

Bonus magical fact? Michael, like all the good ones, is Canadian!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Magical Blog Friend #3

February 2, 2011

I’m away with my family this week on the most magical family vacation ever so while I’m gone I want to introduce you to some blog/twitter friends to help share the magic.

Today’s magical blog friend is Jeff Somers. Jeff lives in beautiful Moncton, NB (I’m not saying that jus to be nice, it is an incredibly beautiful part of the country) and is on staff at Lewisville Baptist Church. Jeff is bright, witty, megatalented, has a pet bear and writes a great blog.

I’m not kidding about the bear. Here’s a photo -

Jeff’s blog – www.worshipperiod.com

Jeff’s twitter – @jeffsomers

Bonus magical fact? Jeff, like all the good ones, is Canadian!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Magical Blog Friend #2

February 1, 2011

I’m away with my family this week on the most magical family vacation ever so while I’m gone I want to introduce you to some blog/twitter friends to help share the magic.

Today’s magical blog friend is Reid Greven. Reid is the music director at a little church called North Point and is leading some incredibly talented people to pull off some incredibly creative stuff. Remember that iBand video you saw right before Christmas? Yeah – Reid and his guys pulled that off.

Reid’s blog – reidgreven.wordpress.com
Reid’s twitter – @reidgreven

Bonus magical fact? Reid, like all the good ones, is Canadian!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Magical Blog Friend #1

January 31, 2011

I’m away with my family this week on the most magical family vacation ever so while I’m gone I want to introduce you to some blog/twitter friends to help share the magic.

Today’s magical blog friend is Stephen Brewster. If you have a creative bone in your body (and you’ve got lots!) you need to be reading Stephen’s blog and hear what he has to say about creativity, teamwork and making it happen.

Stephen’s blog – www.stephenbrewster.me
Stephen’s twitter – @b_rewster

Bonus magical fact? Stephen, like all the good ones, is Canadian!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

The Most Magical Family Vacation!

January 30, 2011

Right now we are on our way from the frigid, sub-zero tundra of central Ontario and heading towards the land of sunshine, palm trees and Mickey Mouse. We’ve been saving for this trip for a couple of years and very, very excited to be taking our kids to Disney this week.

Best part of the trip? We convinced some very good friends of ours who also have four kids to come along for the insanity. Between the two families, we have eight kids under the age of 7. This will either be awesome or awful but, either way, we are going to be making some memories!

I won’t be blogging while I’m away but I’ve written some posts introducing you to some blog/twitter friends of mine. Each day there will be a new post with a link to their website and a little write-up on why I want you to meet them. Hope you find some new folks to follow and some new inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Martin Smith from delirious? coming to Ontario

January 29, 2011

There’s no denying the influence and impact of Martin Smith and delirious? on how the church worships today. So many of you and your churches have been shaped by his songs and his writing. I’m thrilled that Martin is coming to Ontario in February for three events.

You can get all the info at the Glass Jar Group website.

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

Artwork, Pattern & Inspiration

January 28, 2011

I ended up on an incredible new (to me) site today that I thought I’d share with you for a little inspiration. The main idea behind 20×200.com is that “art doesn’t have to be expensive to be good.” Amen. Love it.

Filter Samples from 20x200.com

While art should always be costly, it doesn’t need to be expensive. And even if it’s expensive, art is generally an investment worth having. That doesn’t mean you should throw money at every artist who asks you to buy their work. Think about your life and where you spend time – in your office, do you want to be inspired and reminded of certain things? Hunt for artwork that will lead toward that inspiration.

Day 114: Dice on 20x200.com

For me, I know that my brain really gets going when I can pull together a series of objects or moments and realize that they are part of a pattern or have some kind of commonality between them. I like uncovering relationships between events, songs, dates, whatever. I enjoy finding rhythms of continuity – it’s something that fascinates me. As a result of that, I enjoy artwork that shows pattern or sequences or collections. I’m not a fan of abstract – not because I don’t appreciate the aesthetic of it but because I’m not able to uncover any kind of relationships within the artwork itself.

Prairieside Forks from 20x200.com

This idea of uncovering and appreciating pattern comes out in how I plan and lead worship services for my church. Explicit or not, I want a thread of continuity running from the beginning of our time together right through to the end – even as a way of helping me lead people through the experience. Sometimes it is more evident, sometimes it’s more of a foundation to what we are doing. But usually as I’m planning our services, I’ve found it helpful to identify some of these commonalities for people as we’re journeying through the different elements. I’m sure you understand.

125 Swimming Pools at 20x200.com

For me, I want artwork that is going to inspire me towards this idea of uncovering pattern and relationship. I’ve put some examples in this post that reflect that and I’ll definitely be heading back to that site to buy one or two of these pieces to be included in my collection.

What’s the last piece of original art you bought?

Thanks for stopping by the blog. I'm currently on sabbatical this summer - you can read more about my sabbatical here: Personal Update - What's Next

Since I'm away from the blog I've decided to close comments. I love the interaction and discussion that happens with readers and since I'm not able to do that this summer, I'll be very much looking forward to that when I return in August.

Click here to add your comment and join in the conversation.

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Chris Vacher Married to Sonya, dad to Avery, Emmy, Isabelle and Anderson. Director of Worship at Orangeville Baptist Church near Toronto. Founder of WorshipRises and doing my best to follow Jesus in the midst of it all.

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A Magical Time, Indeed

Let’s Do This! #recreate11

Magical Blog Friend #5

Magical Blog Friend #4

Magical Blog Friend #3

Magical Blog Friend #2

Magical Blog Friend #1

The Most Magical Family Vacation!

Martin Smith from delirious? coming to Ontario

Artwork, Pattern & Inspiration

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