Internet Ramblings

Just a few things I've run across lately that I thought were worth sharing/processing:

This article on CNN about a highly successful music producer made me sad. Pop music is a guilty pleasure of mine - and it's not a surprise that it's more of a science of figuring out what sells vs. making music. It maybe just surprises me to have someone be that transparent/self-aware about their intentions ($) and desire for control (rather than collaboration).

I'm almost done with my Christmas mix. If you want one, let me know. Fortunately for everyone, I found a new instrumental album this year (that I didn't have when I did my Christmas Music of 08 review) - Jingle All the Way - Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. If you combine banjo, bass, reeds, and throat-singing (!!!) together with Christmas music - you get the most unique holiday album ever. I've only had it a few days - but I like how creative it is. You can listen to clips on the website. If you do....you're welcome!

For other worship planners that might read this blog, I've found a couple more blogs/places to see what other churches do in their services. I always enjoy getting away to worship other places - just to see another church family, to be able to be a part of the congregation (vs. being up front), and to get ideas. Thanks to the internet, I can do some of that in my office. So here are some of my new worship feeds:

• Sean Bublitz at Community Christian in Naperville, IL.
  I've been sad that Bill Carroll hasn't blogged since the summer - but now Sean is doing weekly overviews from CCC's services.
• Parkview Christian Church in Orland Park, IL redid their website and now has a media site where you can watch whole services.
• **My favorite recent find: Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, IL has a cool Advent site up - which includes daily devotionals (which you can subscribe to via email). Really cool.

Just as it's fun to see what other people are doing - I also want to be excited about what is happening in my church family. Every community is unique - and that's a good thing.
A few videos that we've made for services - including all of the In Plain English series are now on the WSCCMedia YouTube channel. My personal favorite is Esther In Plain English. I'm also excited about Feed500. If you're a WS-er, don't forget to bring food this week!

And thus ends my random internet ramblings...for today.