|
|
 |
 Finally! Flame 3 is shipping today ...and there was great rejoicing.
The long awaited third volume of our series of flame worship videos is now shipping. From the funny to the inspiring to the thoughtful, flame 3 contains 10 new, short video clips that are perfect for worship and teaching.
Preview the clips here and buy a copy today. As a special introduction, flame 3 and its bundles will continue to have discounted prices of $40 for the disc, $75 for its bundle with spark 3, and $215 for the entire library, through August 14.
If you are a pre-order customer, yours will be the first shipments fulfilled. Expect your pre-paid volume in the mail within the week.
Also, don't forget the Summer Sampler which contains 2 of the clips from flame 3 and a bunch of other cool stuff. August is the last month for this special sampler offer so check soon if you're interested.
 |
|
 Speaking of flame volume 3, one of our 10 new clips is perfect for August, as students around the world go “Back to School.” Whether a young apprentice or a lifelong pupil, now is a great time to learn more about what it means to follow Jesus. Use this video to set up a theme about school or learning, or just to honor the teachers in your congregation.
 Get in the spirit with this nostalgic peek into a classic elementary school classroom. Hear the sounds of the first day of class as the camera pans around wooden desks, chalkboards, hanging skeletons, and the entire scene.
Click here to download this freebie today. |
|
 For those in the mood to learn, we’re teaching some new lessons of our own as we continue our how-to series on creating media for worship. Learn one of the foremost techniques for differentiating your art from that of amateurs with Light and Shadow: Adding Emotional and Visual Depth to Your Imagery.
Click here to read this article and the rest of our increasingly long curricula on Design Matters.
|
|
 Going to our seminar is kind of like going to school, too (in a good way). For a little continuing ed, you may consider attending one of our Digital Storytellers seminars to be held around the continent this fall. This one-day course may provide you with some new thinking and applications for the media you create for worship, and maybe for worship itself.
Here’s the fall schedule, with more dates in November to possibly be added soon:
|
|
|
|
Our nod to school continues with our newest class, Ask the MO Guys.
 In this month’s mailbag, Kevin Wilson wonders about the differences between PowerPoint and some of the worship presentation software packages available such as SundayPlus and Song Show Plus. He states, “I confess, I'm not that interested in learning a new product.” Kevin, we can all relate to that feeling.
A lot of people love using a specialty software program for worship. There are the 2 you mentioned plus Media Shout and Easy Worship, and a host of smaller ones. We promote all of the major ones to our folks, but honestly we don't have a preference. Different strokes for different folks, as they say. You may check out demo versions on our spark/flame discs or on their respective websites. (In fact, we use a Macintosh, so PowerPoint is about it for us anyway!) But, we must confess, a learning curve is part of it.
After seeing the little one we used onstage in our seminar, Stan Hall sends in wondering about small sound mixers. We use the Behringer EuroRack MX 602 A. It’s a great little board for both stage and editing work with 6 channels, balanced in and out, EQ, et cetera. Best of all, it’s under $100. Here’s a link:
http://www.behringer.com/MX602A/index.cfm?lang=ENG
Thanks everyone for writing and for your interest in our ministry. If you have a question of comment for us, we’d love to hear from you at mail@midnightoilproductions.net.
|
|
 One of our fall 2004 seminar hosts, Rev. William Myers, also wrote in, but with a story instead of a question.
He states that shortly after his church hosted our seminar they went through the 40 Days of Purpose campaign using our On Purpose Media worship media materials. It created a real hunger in his church, which then led him and his worship design team to develop a series based on a denominational discipleship program called "Claim the Name." They changed the program’s theme to “Base Camp," used our camping image from spark volume 2, and went crazy with the metaphor. As he writes,
We've had a pup tent and other pieces of camping gear on the chancel since. The first message title was "Smores" and dealt with God, sin and grace, AND, as you might suspect, we served smores after worship during fellowship time.
"Nature Guide" was about Jesus Christ, "Ignite" about the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit (Sparklers were presented after the service to ADULTS only), "Trail Signs" last Sunday was about Worship and Word, and "The Buddy System" this Sunday will be about the Body of Christ in action.
We'll look at John Wesley (a Methodist pioneer) as "Trail Blazers" and give a small compass to all in worship and we'll close with "Sport the Gear" as we claim the name as Christians and followers of Jesus.
Now please understand this: WE WOULD NOT BE DOING ANYTHING LIKE THIS WITHOUT YOUR INFLUENCE!!
Yes, I'm getting push harder than ever in the 30 years I've been a pastor to prepare messages, but the payoff, the "return on investment" is tremendous! Our attendance is climbing, even during the summer, and this past Sunday our average weekly offering reached a high water mark since I've been pastor (3 years)!
Boy, that's lots of exclamation marks. We love hearing stories of dynamic congregations using innovative methods in worship. We’re also very thankful to Bill for the note, and honored to be a part in some way of his ministry. At least by the sound of his email, hosting a seminar paid off for Bill and his church bigtime. If you would like to host a seminar, please let us know. But Bill would warn you that Midnight Oil ideas, images and videos may impact your ministry!
|
|
|
|
