Tomorrow Pastor Chuck is preaching a message entitled “Noisy Love”.  After hearing the description of his sermon I decided to put together this video to “set-up” the sermon (i.e. play before it).

It was pretty fun to do as I created a layered “noise” sound track from some stock sounds I had and also used effects to reduce the noise on the video while superimposing the heart\cross image over top (the first version had the heart\cross with a background but I didn’t like that so I did a quick photo edit to remove it).  Whole thing took about an hour to put together.  There was a text element I was hoping to add but didn’t have the time on this one.

Doing this stuff is a lot of fun.  Hoping to do more in the future.

Noisy Love Bumper 2 from Jeff Honnold on Vimeo.

Let me know what you think.

Today I headed out to the movies to see the new movie “To Save a Life” with some of the members of my youth group.  After watching it and having some brief discussion afterward I can say that this is a movie that I would have no problem recommending to youth, to those that work with youth (either in a school setting, church setting or anyplace else) and to parents of teenagers.

Is the movie perfect?  Nope.  They try to cram in a bit too many things in the two hour running time (suicide, drinking, drugs, sex, pregnancy, abortion, divorce, cutting).  However, everything they do put in is handled well.  This is NOT an ABC after-school special. It does not hold anything back with depiction of any of these things….you see teens drinking, smoking, cutting themselves and the suicide scene is replayed (as a memory of Jake’s) a number of times.  It can be a bit much for some kids.  That being said, it is all handled very well and in a way that I don’t feel dishonors God. It doesn’t get overly preachy…and it even challenges the church on a few points.

I know that my youth were still talking about it tonight before and after our evening worship service.  I think they all enjoyed it and I’m praying that it really gets them thinking about their own lives and the lives of those around them and the impact they can make.  I challenged them to go home and reflect on the movie and how it made them feel, what it got them thinking about.  We’re going to be talking about it this Wednesday night at youth group and I’m looking forward to the discussion as I really think it’s going to be a good one.

As I mentioned earlier, there are also some great challenges thrown out to both teens AND the church in general.  At one point while at a youth group meeting the main character is upset about the way that people made his girlfriend feel when she came (and soon left).  He gets up and goes on a little tirade but then says this line to them, “What’s the point of all this if you’re not going to let this change you?”  How many of our own congregations need to hear that question?

Do yourself a favor and head to the theaters to catch this movie before it leaves.  I can’t deny that I was a bit discouraged that the theater we saw it in was empty except for our group.  I’m hoping that word of mouth from the youth that saw it will help get people back in the seats this weekend but I’m not expecting that it will last in the theaters a long time.

Wherever you are right now.

Whatever you’re doing right now.

Stop.

Be still.

“Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10, NIV)

Think about your life right now.

Think about the good.

Think about the bad.

Now give God one praise…just one.

And again: People of all nations, celebrate God! All colors and races, give hearty praise! (Romans 5:11, The Message)

Now stop.

Be still.

Be quiet.

And listen.

Listen for Him.

Listen to Him.

I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints — but let them not return to folly. (Psalm 85:8a, NIV)

Stop.  Praise.  Listen.

Yesterday’s evening worship service was a bit different.  Pastor Chuck told me in the morning that he was going a different direction with the evening service.  In the morning he preached on Jesus turning the water to wine at the wedding in Canaan.  In the evening however he said he felt like he was supposed to address the situation in Haiti and what our response should be to it and to people like Pat Robertson.

The music set that I had planned was:

Praise Adonai (Baloche)
Indescribable (Story)
God of Wonders (Byrd\Hindalong)
Forever (Tomlin)

The response to the message and closing song I had chosen was Matt Maher’s new song “For Your Glory” – a great new song that is based on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  I decided not to change anything as the opening set was a nice way to spend time praising God for who he is, the amazing creator he is and remembrance that even in times of devastation and hurt God is there.

After thinking about the change for the message I decided to add in “You Are The Light” by Fee prior to “For Your Glory” .  The song is about being the people of God and shining his light to those that are in need and hurting.  I felt that it would be a nice reminder that we are to shine God’s light to all of those in need in this world.

Little did I know that the scripture that God had placed on Pastor Chuck’s heart for his evening message was Matthew 5:13-16.

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.  You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”  (Mat 5:13-16)

The chorus of the song is “You are the light, the light of the world and we shine you Lord” – The song is based directly off of these verses.  It’s things like this that remind me that no matter how much planning and preparation WE try and do that ultimately God is in control.  We just need to sit and listen to him and trust him at all times.

We had quite a few new visitors last night which is always good to see.  My prayer is that they felt welcomed and were able to worship God.

I pray that your Sunday worship experiences brought you closer to God and that you take time this week to sit and talk with Him, bask in His Word and listen for His voice.

Like everyone else I am brought to my knees as I see the videos and pictures coming out of Haiti right now.  I like so many others am wondering how we can help.  I’ve seen a lot of tweets and blogs with different links to various organizations that are helping out and I think that’s great.

I know the United Methodist Church has a the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) that is also organizing a relief effort.  There were three UMCOR executives that were in Haiti that have not been able to be reached since the earthquake hit.

If you would like to give through UMCOR you can by click this link.  Know that 100% of your donation will go to support relief and development efforts due to emergencies in Haiti.

Also, we are in the early planning stages right now – but on Super Bowl Sunday the Rittman United Methodist Church will be hosting a “Big Game” Watch Party after the 6:00 Evening Connexions Worship Service (don’t worry – you won’t miss any of the game OR the commercials).

In addition to enjoying fellowship and the game a major priority for this event will be to raise awareness and funds to support the UMCOR relief effort for Haiti. Admission will be free and there will be a Chili Cook-off for those who wish to participate.  More details will be available here on this blog and on the church’s website as they become available.

OK, I don’t watch Saturday Night Live anymore.  However, one of the things that’s always been good about the show is when the guest star wasn’t afraid to make fun if themselves.   Charles Barkley recently hosted the show and they had some fun with him in regards to his “golf swing”.

Just a reminder – don’t take yourself too seriously.

Wow! I just realized it’s been a little while since I’ve posted. Things have been pretty busy. Some of the highlights are:

My daughter Ally turned 10.
I’ve Gained some new responsibilities at the office as a co-worker is leaving.
Sr. High Youth Group is in full swing. Planning out some of the events for 2010.
Sunday Evening Connexions Worship is going strong. Looking for new songs to introduce.
Sunday Morning Kidz Church is into it’s third month. Planning a whole new worship experience for the kids of the church.
Beth and I are looking forward to our February cruise to the Bahamas (to get out of this cold and snow for a bit).

I’m hoping to get back to some regular blogging this week. Thanks to everyone that continues to follow me.