For sound amplification, we currently use a wired microphone on a stand, hooked up to a powered mixer with a built in amplifier. Basic 12″ speakers are wired directly to the amplifier. That takes care of the “live” sound.

Recording the sound turned out to be a little trickier. For years, we recorded with a line level feed directly to a 20+ year old audio tape recorder. When it came time to switch to a digital work flow, I did a little research to find the best solution. Recording direct to CD was one option, but what if the message went over 80 minutes? A line running to the sound card on my laptop was another option, but that could prove to be a little too complicated for my liking. I ended up going for the Olympus LS-10, a digital voice recorder that records at 24bit/96khz direct to either the 2GB of built in memory, or an optional SD card. The bonus with this recording unit is that it also has directional stereo recording with the built-in electret-condenser microphone which is great for recording live singing or family sharing times.

For standard sermon audio recordings I

1. use a line level direct connection to the mixer
2. copy the resultant digital .wav file to my laptop
3. down sample to a mono .wav file from the LS-10′s stereo file
4. record to audio cd and label it for lending out
5. “rip” the cd with iTunes (gets better quality sound with a very low bitrate for some reason) to .mp3 for the podcast
6. enter all the meta data for the ID3 tags and upload to the website

That’s it. There are a few steps that I haven’t mentioned related to podcasting, but wanted to focus on the recording aspect, mostly. So, what methods does your church use for recording sermons?

Yesterday evening and this morning our church enjoyed the company of a number of SMBI students who are on their Western tour singing at various churches here on the West Coast. I had wonderful conversations with some of the students and particularly enjoyed meeting blogging friend, Hans Mast.

The music was absolutely beautiful, but more importantly, it really focused on the importance of each one of us going out and sharing Christ with others. I was challenged and deeply blessed.

I didn’t shoot any video, but this is a similar performance of the song Days of Elijah that the group shared with us.

For anyone happening to read this blog living in the Western US, I’ve included their remaining itinerary below:

Meanwhile, I just put the finishing touches on the website for our church that I recently converted to WordPress CMS from static html/css. I hope to be able to post the weekly messages and the occasional article of interest or announcement.

I recently found myself starved for the spontaneous creativity that used to spring from my imagination. I think I need to take up photography more. This particular hobby helps me to “think outside the box” and look for the beauty in everything. Who knows? Maybe this blog will become more colorful and “picturesque”.

“Life is not just a series of events… It is the road we are taking to reach a destination.”

Each year, our church has a time when anyone can share what events or thoughts from the past year had the most impact on their lives and looking forward to the year ahead to look through the foggy mists of Future and seek God’s direction and wisdom for the year, sometimes mentioning specific areas that we want to grow in. It’s good to pause every so often on the journey of life and reflect.

So with that I’m off to do a little meditating and thinking…

Download to your computer by right clicking on the link below and choosing “Save As…”

2007-09-23 – 12.5MB

I have never been good at memorizing exact quotes.  I love to paraphrase an idea or saying, so I can understand it better in “my own language”.  However there is a definite advantage in memorizing Bible passages word for word.  We can share God’s Word with others even if we don’t have a Bible in our hands, we can be encouraged in our own daily lives as we meditate on the verses we’ve learned, we can refute Satan’s lies with scriptures that come to mind, and we can allow the words from the Bible to impact our day to day decisions and responses to life.  

So how do we go about it, is there an age level advantage, and how do we stay motivated?  Rather than write out a detailed work on the topic, I decided to just provide links to some websites that I have found helpful in my own scripture memorization endeavors.

Here they are:

http://www.memoryverses.org/

http://scripturememorychallenge.org/

http://www.scriptureverses.org/

This e-book in particular (http://www.memoryverses.org/how1.htm), I found to be very helpful.  I strongly recommend it.  It is very detailed and insightful.

(By the way, feel free to comment… How do you go about memorizing scripture?  Any ideas you’ve found helpful?)

And a final thought about Bible memory that has helped me…  Just Do It!

Elijah Appel’s funeral will be held at 10:00am, Wednesday February 21st 2007, at the Peace Lutheran Church in Silvana, WA. Here are directions from the I-5:

1. Take exit 208 (Silvana/Arlington)
2. Turn West towards Silvana on the Pioneer Hwy.
3. Drive through Silvana.
4. At the far end of Silvana, take a left at Larson Rd.
5. The church building can be seen immediately on the right.

The first week it was Urie Sharp. He spoke about the church in China, persecution and some of the wonderful things that are happening over there through the work of various missions. Because it is a closed country, I won’t go into detail here on a public blog. His detailed stories and descriptions were at times heart warming, at times heart wrenching. His message caused all of us, I hope, to have more of a heart for the church in China and the vast needs of Christians there. The only question that remains what am I going to do, what action will it bring on my part? Prayer is a start for sure. Maybe more, who knows?

This past week we were blessed by the visit of John and Laura Smucker who are on furlough from serving in Minsk Mazowiecki, Poland. The mission they are working under is Anabaptist International Ministries. John spoke during our morning service about being called by God. During the afternoon time, they gave a slideshow, sang some hymns as a family and showed some of the “artifacts” from that distant land. One of the most prominent blocks to the spread of the gospel, as John shared, is the entrenchment of the Roman Catholic Church and all its associated rites and rituals in peoples lives. It is part of the culture, gives people their “identity” as it were, and the cost of leaving is high. Let’s remember to pray for the church there in Poland and the families there as they are a light for the Lord in their corner of the globe.

• What “talents” do you/I have, and are we using them to serve the Lord?
• Am I burying my talents?
• Am I acknowledging the Source of any talents I might have, and am I giving Him the glory or “showing off” my talents as if they originated with me?
• How do our talents affect our choice of career/vocation and our calling/choice of ministry?
• How can young people develop their talents for the Lord?
• How are youth to discover their talents? (excellent question asked by a student)

As I was thinking along these thought “threads”, I happened across an excellent message by Emanuel Esh entitled, “Spiritual Ministry“. I highly recommend you listen to the whole message (click on the link), but if you are short on time, I’ll give you the gist of what it was saying to me:

• Ministry is looking around, finding someone to help, finding someone that you can help
• True ministry starts by seeking after God
• Even the most mundane tasks (scrubbing the floor, doing dishes) can be a true Spiritual ministry if the heart is there.
• Spiritual ministry begins with a heart attitude of serving others
• Sometimes ministry is born out of adversity (people who have gone through difficulties can help others who are going through the same or similar circumstance)
• See a need… Meet that need… If you ask, “Why does no else do that?” Maybe it’s because God wants you to do it.
• William & Catherine Booth were effective in their ministry because they met the needs of the people to whom they were ministering…on their level.

Lot’s of food for thought, so, what do you think? Feel free to comment.