Moving, Reading, and more DaVinciSo we finally moved! Contrary to my last post we didn't close last Friday, we closed the following Wednesday. We didn't get the keys until late Friday, and 15 min. after went straight to painting and moving. It's Sunday now, we're done with the big stuff, and I'm exhausted. I leaven tomorrow for Chicago (Moody Pastor's Conference) so we had to work hard to do the bulk of the moving now. Em's pregnant, so she can't lift anything. And it's hard for me now to lift anything (there's something about getting a queen mattress into a 15 passenger van all by yourself that is a little draining!). My folks are coming down to help with the rest tomorrow as well.Before we got the keys I went to see the DaVinci Code (I didn't pay full price, I went to the matinee). I was quite different from the book, and a little less threatening to the church. People's general reaction has been that there's not so much to fuss over, it's clearly a work of fiction. I don't want to get into all the specifics about the discrepancies between the novel and the movie, or the easy job of debunking the whole theory. We should still pray for the gullible and for people in other countries (like India for example) who don't have the resources at their disposal. Over all this whole DaVinci circus has been a positive experience for the church at large. There is a new respect for many to the validity of our Scriptures. People who have never given it much thought before have a newfound respect for the all-time best seller down through the centuries, the Bible. 
Now I'm reading a book I just got in. I'm probably going to have to separate fact from fiction in this one too! It's my cousin Dave's book, "Life's too short to be an Underdog." I'll write a full review once I'm through with it. Well, I got to go back to do something on the house, probably mow the grass. I'll post again after my trip to Moody.
Closing on House, Birthday wishes, Strike up the old band
It's cause for celebration (I hope). Today we are to close on our new house. It's been a long an trying process. The price was right, we got a great rate, but the loan is being financed in Austin. So it's been a frenzy of email and faxing. We've extended our closing date twice already, but now I think we've finally got all the paperwork, etc.
My mother's day post was early. My dad's birthday post is belated. Well here it is. He's 52. At the big 5-O I made a photo slide show video. I thought it'd be good to preserve it now in cyber space, so here it is.
So strike up the band. Which band? I guess we could get the old band "brother john" to reunite. No, that'd be a little hard. Well, why preserve them in cyber space too. OK. The launch of the world renown "brother john" memory lane website is now. The site is up, and we'll be adding footage and pictures, and 
music, etc. Right now you can check out what's there and bookmark it @ www.brotherjohn.homestead.com. In all seriousness, we weren't the best local Christian band, but we sure had the best times of our lives together. And we had quite a ride. We ministered a lot more than some of the other bands too. God really open doors for us, and always provided for us when we'd have vehicle problems (all the time!). I'm grateful for those experiences, and miss those guys. Rumor has it that in the not so near future there will be another brother john album, all new songs.
Just finished a new song. Actually it is an old song that is reworked. I recorded it when I wasn't producing quality recordings. It's about missions. That's why I've got this picture of me baptizing a girl in Mexico.
Here are the lyrics.
and the
mp3Enjoy:
Here I am before you Lord
To answer the question "Who will go?"
I am willing
I am ready
Here I am
Send me
I feel unworthy
But use me Lord
Teach me and guide me in Your love
Take my body
Take my mind
Take my soul
It's Your's oh Lord
Multi-media DaysWarning: This post is long and interactive. May require a couple of visits.
My cousin,
Dave, has linked me to his blog, and named me a multi-media mogul. My response to that is "hardly." (And I perceive that he probably said it sarcastically.) Truth is I dabble in multi-media because 1. It's a hobby. and 2. I realize that these are Multi-media days. More on that soon.
The multi-media areas that I like are:
1. Video Production
2. Sound Recording
3. Web Design
in that order probably.
I don't have the kind of time to devote myself to any one of these and really develop my skills, so it's made me a jack of these trades and not a master of any. But I have done some stuff on a very part-time basis. Here's my history in this field, for your enjoyment or disappointment maybe. Then I'll finish the post with a spiritual nuance.
Video Production:To start us off, in high school I started making movies with my friends. This was camcorder straight to VHS editing (really bad). I took two of the early videos that I "directed" and re-mastered them on non-linear computer editing:
Rescue 911- Hazor's Razor
America's Most Wanted- Episode 1 (sequel was never done, so alternate ending was created)
In college I made two (humorous) videos for projects:
LOCfile Hunter (LOC = Life of Christ)- is missing as of now.
Missionary Discipline - starring Emily, Josh and Somer Quade, and Halle Doss.
Then I started making videos for church use (kind of the point of this post):
This
link has several examples of these to browse from (note: in Spanish- some funny, some serious, some simple editing, some more tricky (El diablo, Ir o No Ir, La Tentación).
I started doing missionary promo videos: The
Hellands in Holland and The
McClung's In Germany. I also did promo videos for my ministry in Tulsa and the National Hispanic Convention that we hosted in Tulsa.
I did a two promo videos for the ministry here in Brownsville (English and Spanish) as well as a history/building project video and editing a Living Last Supper production. These are all on the home page @
www.ccbrownsville.com.
Now I've got video backgrounds for most of the songs on my CD for concerts. They wouldn't be very fun to watch without the vocals, etc.
I just got some more stock footage (aerials). I'm waiting on inspiration to put it to use in different ways. I might take some and green screen myself flying like the Isaiah 40:31 eagle. That would be awfully strange! I'll make some scripture animations and poem videos maybe submit them to sermonspice.com. I have some more ideas, just don't have the time yet. I'm going to try and shoot some of my own stock footage too here in the valley.
Sound Recording:I've come a long way when it comes to sound recording. I'd like to redo a lot of the first songs that I recorded by myself. I'll be doing an English album soon. My Spanish album was done entirely at home on Adobe Audition 1.5. Hear it
here.
I've produced and played on other Spanish albums, but the English album that I produced and played on that I'm most proud of is Stephanie Pittman's. Hear it
here.
Some day I'll post all the old band recordings, give them a permanent home in cyberspace.
Web Design:I really fake it on this one! I don't know hardly any html. I got into homestead.com when they used to be free, and am a charter member. So I get really good deals through them. I wouldn't use them were it not for that. I also picked up Namo Web Editor, but haven't learned it well yet. Some sites I've created are:
www.gregoryfish.orgwww.ccbrownsville.comwww.iglesiacristianaagape.comwww.bensonautosport.comThere have been others (not very good ones), but these are current.
Emily created
www.fishkids.homestead.com. I put videos of the kids on this site.
Spiritual Nuance:I believe that the church and all its missions should be as cutting edge as the culture which it strives to change. In this day and age, media is the powerful agent of information and influence in all areas of life. That is why I take a particular interest in the field of Christian media.
In these days people are exposed to millions of messages though the vehicle of media. I understand that it takes a lot to compete with the quality that secular media puts out, even though our message is so much more lasting and true. Big churches can do it, because they realize that today the HAVE to! (By the way southeast's vine service is giving out media @ http://vineresources.com/.) We need to try and do what we can. When Moses didn't feel capable, God asked him what he had in his hand. I take what I have in my hand and use it for God with the best quality that I can. In 1 Chron. 12:32 it spoke of the "men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do." We should de the same, understand our times (media driven), and redeem the times as the days are evil (Ep. 5:16).
I know of some students that are producing incredible videos, far better than what I've done. We need more of that. We need tech-savvy people, and those who aren't need to incorporate stuff from www.sermonvideos.com, or www.sermonspice.com, or www.cityonahillproductions.com, or www.bluefishtv.com. The philosophy of visual metaphor is discussed at length at www.midnightoilproductions.com. The list of resources at our disposal could go on. But these are all in English. Who's gonna make stuff for Spanish churches? I hear the voice of the Lord, "Greg, what is that in your hand?"
