A Recent Media Event – Pastor Appreciation Day

Today is September 30, 2007, and the Sunday morning service was Pastor Appreciation Day.

The day was marked by much excitement and energy within the congregation. I once read (can’t remember where) that two of the signs of a healthy church are:

1. A spontaneous worship from the congregation toward GOD, and

2. A genuine love between the people and the pastor.

Today was quite an example of both. From the children to the adults, from dancers to singers and even poets…all were in one accord with worship, excitement and a genuine affection toward the pastor and his wife.

For this day the LORD gave me a video idea of having excerpts from Pastor’s sermons over the last two years. (That video can be seen here). This video really had quite an effect on the congregation and the pastor alike; I could tell from the start, that the audience “got it”.  From there I watched as the SPIRIT moved people from laughter and awe-inspired “ahhs” to a deeper appreciation of what the Pastor has said to us over a span of time.

It was very rewarding to see this happen and it honored the man of GOD as he diligently relayed GOD’s WORD over the years.

Here is where I say: This is the role of video and multimedia. I used a mix of three different songs, some of them musical scores and some with an African choral theme to create a visual companion to the messages we have received. All of the title screens were taken from my Sunday morning notebook that I use every Sunday when Pastor preaches. With various titles and video backdrops placed in a specific timing to the swell of a musical passage or a message, it was very effective.

The church needs to use the tools of technology to minister the WORD to a tech-savvy audience. How many of us have been to movies, seen musical videos and documentaries. Most of us have and with the LORD’s leading we need to use a commitment to excellence with an eye/ear for the leading of the HOLY SPIRIT to create multimedia to do such a task.

So this is what happened today on the 2007 Pastor Appreciation Day.

Drama Comes Into Focus

There was a time in which I was questioned if time had passed me by, and if I had wasted my opportunities. It was a fair question I thought. I mean if you had not gained significance by age 35, it was over in the eyes of the world, right?

One of the things that hindered me throughout my life (or so I thought at the time) was my inability to find “the thing” I wanted to do with my life. I once found that creative writing held an appeal for me, but then so did photography, then film, then music and art, architecture, building models, landscaping, electronics, astronomy, computers, web design, graphics, preaching, teaching, praying, holding bible studies, ….well the list is endless, actually. You can see my dilemma. I had way too many areas of interest to settle on just one; why, I would miss something if I picked just one.

There I was, the proverbial Jack of all trades and Master of none. It was a shame I carried for many years. This is how I went to college. Grades were fine but I had too many interests, so I never finished.

And yet, even here, GOD was at work. I have since found what I am to do today, and that is drama.

Here are some of the things I found out about drama that seemed to consolidate all of my interests and center my life with a purpose:

• Drama requires everything I have before GOD – that is all of my talents and gifts, and every “love” I have had such as music and art, film and video, design and architecture, etc….It was such a creative outlet for all of my passions in life.

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• Drama was able to do an amazing thing to a crowd of people – it could get their attention. I noticed that a certain message can get on a certain type of person to listen when preached, another when taught, but an amazing thing happened when that same message became a production. People responded with attention and would get the subtlest of themes.

• Drama ministers to all people – regardless of age, race, sex, financial status, or even if someone was saved or unsaved. In this it has become vitally important.

• Drama changed the way I viewed people – no longer did I have to live in Hermit-ville but I found myself actually looking forward to be with people to create something incredible. It became a people first production.

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• Drama was hard work. It exhausted me to every ounce of energy I had, even to the point I wanted to give up. I absolutely craved doing it. When the production was done, I have been know to collapse on the floor with utter exhaustion and delight.

• Drama requires excellence – give the best you have for GOD’s best.

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These are a few of the things I have learned about drama, but ultimately, I was designed for such a thing as this. All of my discombobulation and aimless interests tied together in a glorious moment to show me clarity of purpose.

The Beginning of What Is Now….

For me, the importance of communicating to “my generation” of the 70’s & 80’s was music. When I first became a believer, I was listening to bands such as Kansas (which for a believer, this band is a whole subject unto itself), Styx, Boston, Foreigner & Journey. Christian music had nothing that could compete with these “world-class” musical acts in my eyes, or ears, as the case may be.

Until one day, a friend bought me an album by a group called Resurrection Band.
The album was called Colours“. 

Granted, “world-class” is not what you would use to describe a fledgling Chrisitian act , but this band was like nothing I had ever experienced out of “Christianity”; I was instantly hooked.

]The media drew me in from the musical style all the way to the album cover so Colours really was my first exposure of Christianity using a medium that caught my eye:

Obvious to me now, the seed was planted then so that this medium could be used to communicate the important message of CHRIST’s enduring love to all of my friends. I was never one to go up to a person and say, “Hey, like, dude, you need to receive JESUS“, so this music was very useful to me. Many times I could be heard saying,”Listen to this cool album!” and discussions would naturally follow. The use of current media to show CHRIST became a desire in me.

My point is this: Now that this desire has begun to bear some fruit, I can see in hindsight what was not easily seen in the beginning: Media is an excellent tool for the church to use to teach the message of JESUS to the “unchurched” and “churched” alike.

…And, all this just when I was thinking time had passed me by, that I was too old for use in the kingdom of GOD, and how cool it would be to live as a hermit lying in a hammock in my own backyard…

Hmm……the LORD really knows how we are wired, doesn’t HE?….

Let The Journey Begin!

Well here begins an historic journey through blog-space.

This is a blog that I hope to begin to use in relating the ideas and directions I am finding at this point in my life with my walk with GOD. Some of the most exciting times as a CHRISTian have been the current days in my journey and not just the good old days of yesteryear.

Over the last two years, I have moved into Creating with all that I have to glorify the LORD. This has involved drama, acting, directing, singing, dancing, lighting, video, multimedia, the Internet, and even now blogging.

Where can I go to express my experiences? Well, here at WordPress is a good start.

My purspose here is to maintain a journal this new direction is taking me, and to see if there are lives being moved in a similar fashion. To declare the LORD JESUS through the arts and creativity – this is my passion.

Hmm….I wonder what lies out there? Are there others who are being moved the same way, and with passion? These are questions I am asking.

Until these are answered, I will chronicle my thoughts and directions here. I also might discuss any avenue that relates in some way, scripts, technology, ideas for props scenes, etc….

By the way, STORM SHELTER? What is it? Ask me sometime….I just might tell you!

For the great journey ahead… (I was going to say, “To seek out new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before”…..but I think someone used it already….)

Til the next post,

Brian Perkins
Storm Shelter.