Mac + Water + PRAYER = Dodged a Bullet

Oochie mamma! I dodged a bullet last night. I'm settling into my favorite chair, about to check email from the day, thirsty so I go to take a drink and then splash! Water on the Mac PowerBook G4.
Ahhh! I unplug, tip over and run to our other computer to search online for "spill on laptop." I then run back to the tipped over Mac, power down, remove the battery and start with the hair dryer on medium. Throughout this time, much prayer.
Well this morning everything works fine so far. Powered on, screen looks fine, keys and trackpad work. I'm about to go into the office, so we'll see if all the plug in items work. Update coming... Yes, everything works.
By the way, I've been a Mac convert for about two years now and love them! Unless forced to, I'll never go back to pc again. You can check out the newest Macs here, here, and here.

Children's Ministry 101
Wayne Geer

LinkedIn and Facebooked

I took the plunge a few months ago and joined both LinkedIn and Facebook. Both of my accounts kind of languished for those few months until this past weekend.
I went on a social network blitz.
I took time to update both of my profiles and worked at connecting with friends, family and colleagues around the country. And it's been fun. I've reconnected with some old friends who I would never have found had I continued on my path of not connecting via LinkedIn or Facebook. Also, I'm interested in both networks being an avenue for me to expand my professional network. It seems to be all the rage. Have you had success connecting on either network? Let us know.

Church Staff 101
Wayne Geer

Dance Praise 2 - Get Ready for the Lines

We made a very cool purchase about a month ago, Dance Praise 2. It is one of the funnest interactive games we've added to our children's ministry.
Here's a rundown of the product.

Dance Praise 2-The Remix with Pad Dance Praise, Christianity Today's Children's Product Of the Year for 2005 and 2006, is now better than ever. Dance Praise 2 - the ReMix combines new Christian music and may new features in an action packed dance game. With up to four pads, the whole family can dance together! It's a great way to get everyone off the couch and moving to the music. Each player can dance at their own level. Compete and see who has the highest score, cooperate for a combined score, or play follow the leader in a shadow dance. Music from top Christian artists includes Superchic, Pillar, Building 429, Third Day, Casting Crowns, tobyMac, Jeremy Camp, Ayiesha Woods, Plumb and more!

The box above comes with the computer game and one dance pad. You'll probably need at least one more dance pad

Dance Praise 2 (Pad Only)

so your kids can dance head to head. Since the game runs on either a pc or apple computer, you'll need either a desktop and monitor combo or a laptop. You'll also need a usb port per dance pad. Load the software, plug in the pads and start the dance party!
We've been able connect our laptop to the room's sound system and projector so the whole room hears the music and sees the games from the big screen.
And the lines are LONG! The kids can't wait to get their turn on the pads. I love the fact that it's showcasing great Christian artists. It's giving our kids a Kingdom alternative to the secular game and music.
Plus you can purchase expansion packs:

Dance Praise Expansion Pack 1: Modern Worship This CD Rom expansion pack accompanies the Dance Praise kit, offering 35 new Modern Worship songs for dance and exercise. Includes songs by ZOEGirl, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Newsboys, and more.

Dance Praise Expansion Pack #2: Hip Hop and Rap Layin' Down Rhymes For The Lord! Building on themes of life everlasting, overcoming temptation, and other real-life issues, this high-energy collection is a "must-have" for any hip-hop fan. The lyrics in the rhythmic poetry praise God while the pounding bass creates a backbone for over 100 new dances. Celebrated hip-hop artists, including tobyMac, DJ MAJ, Grits, and John Reuben offer performances that rock the house and will inspire you in your walk with God. The 35 tracks were selected from best-selling CDs. They integrate directly into the 50 hits in Dance Praise to give you over 85 songs-and over 250 dances-to pick from. You can sort the dances by play list, artist, title, or difficulty level.

and many more.
If you purchase it, you and your kids will love it!

Wayne Geer
Children's Ministry 101

Stories Just Keep Coming

For about the last eight or nine months we've been reminding our leaders to email us stories of life change taking place in their worlds. It's always good to know that the effort being put into ministry is making a difference.

The stories we've been receiving have been inspirational, touching and most importantly, they've been personal, hands-on, real life stories about people they know. We email the stories out to the rest of our team. It's been neat to talk about and hear our leaders talk about the great things taking place.

Stories are powerful.

If you get a chance, check out my post about stories entitled, Country, Opera and Stories.

Wayne Geer
Children's Ministry 101

A BIG All Staff Meeting

Every month, our church has an all staff meeting where everyone who's employed meets for about an hour as one big group. It's always fun and encouraging. Early this week, we had an extended all staff meeting where we met offsite for most of the day and it was wonderful. As a giant team, we had fun together, worshipped and prayed together, learned together and of course ate together.
Our jr. high student pastor, Josh Wintermute, summed it up perfectly, "It was truly a life giving event."
What about your team? Do you get a chance to pull everyone together a few times a year to encourage, fellowship, laugh and pray?
If your team is struggling with feelings that their environment is not life giving, take a chance and put this type of event on your calendar. Go ahead and get the process started of producing a life giving environment.

Wayne Geer
Children's Ministry 101