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Caption Please

Russell Martin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 15:50:03 +0000

Kind of afraid to ask but… Do you have a caption for this photo?

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Searching

Russell Martin — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:37:18 +0000

In one of the boxes pictured… There is coffee.

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Winterfield Concert

Russell Martin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:59:34 +0000

Thanks so much to the congregation at Winterfield UMC in Longview for having me out. We ate Thanksgiving dinner and I shared some music.

The Setlist.. pretty much stuck to it

The set up… this has become pretty standard.. Bose sound system makes it so easy.

Guitar looks kind of lonely back there.

When is the last time they fed you a complete Thanksgiving dinner before you sang?

I invited the kids up to sing “Hey I Love Jesus” although this kind of looks like a version of “Baby Shark”

We got the “Oh how He set me free!” part together though! Thanks guys!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Before You Create Your Webpage

Russell Martin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:24:05 +0000

“Do you want people to spend time visiting your church website or visiting your church?” This is the question a wise person asked me when I was talking about upgrading our church website. The question caused me to rethink some of the things I was planning for our site. I am not arguing against having a quality website, however I think there are some questions to be asked, and things to seriously be considered when you are starting a website for your church or non profit organization. Here is a list of questions I came up with:

1. What is your goal? You need to decide what your website will provide. Maybe it will have basic information like dates, times and forms. What ever your reason make sure that you are using the appropriate tool, or site, for the job.

2. How much are you going to spend- You can easily spend $2500 or more to have a beautiful website designed for your group or church. You need to ask yourself whether that money should be spent on your web presence or if it could be put to use in your organization in a better way.

3. What do you need to get your message across? Wait.. first figure out what your message is. Then what do you need to get that message out. Will flash slideshow with pictures be the best format? Would video updates be effective? Do you need to be able to create podcasts?

4. Who is your audience and how do they like to be reached? Don’t just think about who you are communicating with but also consider what ways they communicate. I recently had a member of our church tell me she does not go to our website. When I asked why, she said that she gets our email updates and facebook messages and they all came to her phone. She has no idea what the website looks like, how many hours I spent choosing the right photo or how much money we spent designing it. She gets the information she wants in the best format for her. That’s what’s important.

5. Consider other forms of communication- In this artcile by Fred Zimny he proposes that with services like facebook and twitter, that websites are becoming less important and are being forced to change:

“Over the next few years, we’re going to see official institutional websites become less important. They will cease functioning as the only point of web interaction between businesses and customers and will become merely the official storefront. The main “conversion goal” of these retooled portal sites will be to drive interactions onto the third-party social networking sites.”

It used to be that your goal was to get people to come to your website for interaction with your company. It seems more and more that websites are directing their visitors to their presence on social networking sites like facebook and twitter. Consider the thought that a website cannot be the only online presence your organization has.

6. Will your web presence be mobile?- Look at the number of iphones, blackberry’s, droids and other smartphones that are out there. More and more we access the web on the go. Are you considering how your site will be accessed by these devices?

What questions do you think should be considered before starting a website for your organization?

Songwriting

Russell Martin — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:31:03 +0000

See and download the full gallery on posterous

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Appreciating Your Worship Team- Ask for Feedback

Russell Martin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:49:24 +0000

Each year I have an end of year evaluation with my pastor and other church leaders. This is a great time to look back on the previous year, talk about goals and identify areas in need of attention.

This year I decided to go a step further. I sent a short survey out to my worship team. After all, these are the guys who are in rehearsals and leading worship with me week in and week out, and I really wanted to know what they were thinking. I will admit I was apprehensive about doing so at first, however now that we have gone through the process it is one that I plan to do every year.

The set up was simple:

1. I used google to create a form

2. I emailed the link out to the team members

3. As they filled in the sheet the answers were collected for me

Here were my questions:

1. Rate the overall musical quality of the worship Team (1-5)

2. How much do rehearsals prepare you for leading worship Sunday morning (1-5)

3. Rate the variety of music presented (1-5)

4. List up to three things you think the band has definately improved on in 2009

5. What are three things you would have liked us to have improved on but we did not?

6. If you were in charge, could do anything you want, what one major change would you make?

7. Give me your idea of something new we should try to do?

8. Can you commit to the worship team for 2010? Why or Why Not?

9. What else would you like to say?

Through providing this opportunity for feedback I was able to hear things that I might not otherwise and address them before problems arise. I am excited too about new suggestions that were given and am looking forward to implementing them in the new year.

I encourage you to find some way where you can receive honest feedback from those you work with on a weekly basis. Not only will it help you to stop possible problems, but it gives your team members ownership.

So.. how do you give opportunities for feedback?

Your comments are appreciated.

Instrumental Reflection #9- It Is Well With My Soul

Russell Martin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:10:44 +0000

Sometimes these reflections are hard to come up with. Unfortunately this weeks came too easy, but for a difficult reason .

My sister’s best friend was supposed to be married in a few weeks. A few days ago her fiancee went to sleep and never woke up. I cannot even begin to imagine what she and the family are going through. I cannot think of any words to say. When I found out the news this one song rushed into my head and has not gone away.

This reflection is not only for her, but for all who are going through tough times.

Click to listen. Right click and choose “Save as” or “save target as” to save to your computer.

It Is Well With My Soul

It is Well With My Soul
by Horatio G Spafford
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.
- Refrain:
  It is well, with my soul,
  It is well, it is well, with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!
For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.
But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!
And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

If you would be interested the family has set up a pay pal account which will be used to defray funeral expenses and to pay bills, etc. that may need to be covered. Any gift would be appreciated.

Also I will pass on any comments or words of encouragement you leave in the comments.

1. Go to paypal.com
2. Press Send (to send money)
3. Enter davidrosbrough@gmail.com in the to box and then enter your email address in the from box
4. Enter amount desired.
5. Scroll down and click on “personal” and “gift”
6. Press continue and follow instructions

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Wave Winners

Russell Martin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:57:08 +0000

Congratulations to those who responded in my Google Wave Contest, and will be receiving a Google Wave nomination. I want to say thanks to each of you who left comments Congratulations!

I will be sending an email to the address you left in your comment to find out what email you want the wave nomination sent to.

Instrumental Reflection #8- Lazy

Russell Martin — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:47:56 +0000

The 8th installment of Instrumental Reflections brings a piece that is perfect to play behind a prayer time, prayer walk or even to help you relax and go to sleep. I called it “Lazy” and it sound just like that. The song is about 3 minutes long but I looped it once. You should be able to loop it and have it play continuously in your MP3 player, or on the computer.

I hope you enjoy

Click to listen. Right click and choose “Save as” or “save target as” to save to your computer.

Download “Lazy”

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Instrumental Reflection #7

Russell Martin — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 02:40:04 +0000

I have to admit it has been much harder than I originally thought to produce one of these reflections per week. I won’t get caught up but will try to be more reliable in the future.

This week I sat down in my office and flipped through the hymnal. I came across one of my favorite hymns “My Jesus I Love Thee.” I love leading contemporary worship but definitely miss some of the hymns I grew up singing week after week. I decided to just sit down and play what came to mind. This recording is pretty close to my original thoughts. Enjoy.

Click to listen. Right click and choose “Save as” or “save target as” to save to your computer.

MyJesus I Love Thee

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Did you enjoy this Instrumental Reflection? Check out the other instrumental reflections in the suggested sites below. To get them delivered to your inbox Subscribe to forkintheroad by Email