In our society, when you mention a rich man...you will probably think of a man with accumulated cash, properties and very nice possessions. Yes, those can be a symbol of wealth on a financial level, but there is also a type of rich that is quickly overlooked.

The Richness of a man should not be just limited to his gross net income. There are other areas in which a man (or woman) can be rich. See the following:

1. Personality - You can gather a lot about about a person based on their personality. Some are warm . . . others are cold. Some are thankful . . . others are bitter. Some are passionate . . . others are careless. Some are forgiving . . . others are unforgiving. A person's personality is a reflection of every aspect of their foundational beliefs, characteristics and opinions. What is your personality selling about you? Are you content with that, or are there things within it that you would desire to see change?

2. Popularity - A measurement of how a person interacts with those around him. Oftentimes we have many "acquaintances" but how many of those people would you count to be your friends? A rich man (in this context) is loved by many people . . . the person warms up the room when he enters. People love being within his presence and strive to gain aspects from his life and ask for his blessings.

3. Knowledge - A stupid man is a dumb man. When you exhibit knowledge, people can and will learn to trust you. A rich man can obtain knowledge in some areas and apply that toward over aspects and gain even more knowledge. In a way, it is like common sense. If you have common sense, you can apply that to all aspects of your life and make wise decisions in multiple areas.

4. Sense of Humor - No ones likes a stale person, everyone loves to laugh. It has been said before that "laughter is the best medicine." How true that is. You have to be careful with this though . . . it is easy to make people laugh and sometimes this can be at the expense of another person. A rich man is funny but in good taste. People will begin to wonder how you make people laugh when they aren't around. "Am I the butt of their jokes?"

5. Thought Process - When a person has crack-pot theories or selfish ambitions, that does not make him any richer. A rich man will have his own opinions, but will respect those opinions of others that may differ from their own. Being able to think on your feet and make quality decisions quickly is a valuable trait that many people would enjoy to have.

6. Social - A rich man will be able to socialize well. He will be able impact positively and in fact a natural born leader, without trying. He wil not struggle to carry on a conversation with anyone. He will want to grow tomorrows leaders, focusing on making areas they struggle to areas that they are great. A rich man will be able to connect with many people no matter the medium.

What are some areas that you could use improvements in? What are some areas that you are an expert? What else would you add to make the richest man in town? Please leave comments below.

-Ken

Labels: A New Man in Town, funny, humor, improvements, knowledge, personalities, popularity, rich, social networking, thoughts, wealth

Of all of the many gifts people offer, one that I believe I lack the most at times is humbleness. Last weekend, I realized that I serve with one of the most humblest men at First Orlando. He cares for the general good of all people, but at the same time, he manages a team very well, keeping in mind their strengths and weaknesses.

If there was a personality trait that I could learn, I would have to say it would be humility. There is nothing more encouraging and welcoming that someone walking into a room and you knowing that they respect you, care for you and want your best. It is an honor to server under him. I have learned many things from speaking with him and working with him each and every week, I have also seen what makes up a true and respectable man.

-Ken

Labels: A New Man in Town, FIrst Orlando, gifts, humble, learn, multi-part blogs, personalities

This week, I am going to focus my blogs toward characteristics that I would like to possess, in which I would encourage yourself to apply them to your life and together we can grow and become the best that we can be! As the blogs are posted, I will update this blog with links to the others...so you can come back here for a reference to those.

We will look back many years from now and think about what we have done with our time here on earth. Wouldn't it be nice to look back to see a life lived without regrets? Now, I am not saying that if you apply everything in this blog series to your life that you will have a life without regrets, but use it as a model...to find aspects in your life that you can approve upon.


I hope this series will help you and your future endeavors to be a person that you can be proud of. I am no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I am a big thinker and a planner. Leave comments as you see fit to contribute or add to the thought posted. (If you are reading this via Facebook, do me a favor and click on "View Original Post" at the bottom to leave your feedback/comments there.) Thanks! You guys rock!

-Ken

Labels: A New Man in Town, encouragement, future, multi-part blogs, planning

You know... one thing that I have recently noticed is how far a simple thank you goes. I believe that too often a task is performed or a job is done, and no thanks if given. To be honest, I am guilty of this as much as the next guy.

I put myself in a situation when I give of my time and do something for someone that I did not have to do. I do not expect a "thank you," but it is always welcomed. It is a sign of appreciation and acknowledging that the person you did that task for recognizes what has been done.

-Ken

Labels: appreciation, Change in my Life, help, honest, job, thanks

Yesterday, I wrote a blog on time. This has had me thinking throughout today, and I need to focus on that for another day as well. You can read that blog here.

One thing that is most important to me is time. It is hard for me to find "free time" these days, so the free time that I do have, it is very valuable to me. That is not to say that no other time is, I just choose to use it all wisely. The other day (Monday, it was) someone did something for me that I thought was great. He took about thirty minutes of his time when I am sure that he could have been doing something better to help me with understanding on something. That meant a lot to me. He probably did not even think anything of it, but it meant a lot to me.

This has given me a new challenge. Each day, I want to help or "invest" into one person each day. After a complete calendar year, that would be 365 people that I could have an impact on. Adding those up after many years, would be...well quite a few people. People say that I am a good leader, smart and knowledgeable...If I could spread that knowledge to others throughout my life, I would leave quite a legacy. That would be a very successful life, in my opinion. It does not matter your political beliefs, opinions, fears or things you screwed up...what people will remember you by is what they learned from you.

A mentor once told me that each of us is going to die one day, and on the headstone will be two dates...your birth date and your "death date." He also said that between those two dates will be a "dash"...which represents everything you did in your life here on earth. I do not want to be remembered by a dash on my grave stone...I want to be remembered by what I taught people or helped them with. Anything less than that, I believe would be a waste of time. What do you think? Does anyone want to join me on this pursuit of helping people? One per day...that is all you have to do. Comment as you wish. Would love to hear your thoughts...

-Ken

Labels: assisting, Change in my Life, dealth, grave, headstone, help, life, life lessons, time

The other day, I realized how significant each and every minute is. Every moment, time is slipping away, and that is a scary thing. The memory flashed through my mind the other day from when I was setting up my sister's computer. Vista has an "old school" clock widget that can be placed on the dashboard on the desktop. I asked her if she wanted the second hand on there and she said "no, because that will just show that time is ticking by." I thought that is cute, but it is an honest truth. I had the same realization the other day when I was watching running time code in ProTools. (lame, I know...)

Every day, a set of 24-hours slowly breezes by without us second guessing it. That is...1440 minutes per each day, 86,400 seconds...I will spare you the time that measures out to in a week's time. Those numbers are scary to think about. Each and every day cycles happen, that we may take for granted...such as the sunrise or sunset. This brings up a question I have. What have you done today...or even this week for instance to make an impact on the world and better yet those around you? Have you been selfish? Over dramatic, mean, excessively confrontational, helpful? If we take a few minutes each and every day to invest into someone, that would be 365 people in one year that we can have an impact on...assuming that it is a different person each day. That is a humbling thought...

Labels: big ben, clock, days, digidesign, friendships, help, hours, invest, minutes, protools, seconds, sunrise, sunset, time, time code, weeks

For our generation, you will never look at an Apple the same way. About a hundred years ago, if you looked at an apple, you would think a fruit. When we see an apple today, yes...maybe a fruit goes through our mind, but also the computer company will as well.

We all have unique and specific characteristics that make up our individual selves. We can observe each other and notice how we all are physically different; but also many other factors go into play...such as our beliefs, strengths, weaknesses and many many others which can include things that we wear or use all which make up our individual character.

For myself here, I know what types of items I like. Usually, these are classified as a "name brand," especially when it comes to clothing. As an example, those that know me probably would witness my love for the Abercrombie clothing family (which includes the obvious A&F, Hollister and Ruehl.) On the tech side, I love products from Apple, SONY, Digidesign, GigaByte, Intel...the list continues for days.

This bring up the question, is it okay to be branded...to support the brands in which you prefer? To be honest, I think that it is perfectly acceptable. I desire nothing more than great quality in manufacturing, stylish and ease of use. As I attempted to point out earlier, you can learn a lot about a person by which products they consume and use on a daily basis.

I was having a conversation with a friend the other day, and he informed me (as if I did not know) that I am "branded." I knew that, but in reality...we all are. Even those that choose not to display the "brand logo" on their clothing...they still do a little bit of advertising for the companies they like consumables from.

If you look at Apple's marketing, many of their items sell themselves. Sure...they have television commercials and whatnot but most of their marketing is done through the end user. For instance, whenever you purchase an Apple device, you get along with the packaging two Apple stickers...which you can place on your vehicle or whatever you choose. Then, on every laptop they sell, the chassis has a nice Apple logo with a light behind it. Apple no longer participates in trade shows or anything like that. Their sales are done through the Apple store...and they are doing quite well, if you ask me.

What are your thoughts on branding?

-Ken

Labels: abercrombie, apple, brand, branded, characteristics, digidesign, friendships, hollister, intel, macbook, personalities, reuhl, Sony

If you know me at any extent, you will know that I have a major passion for respect for people, especially if it is someone that I look up too. I know this blog is going to make me sound old, but really...What has happened with the small little thing called respect? Has it gone on a walk and not to return? Each and everyday, I see at least one major issue in dealing with respect a week.

I am not going into detail on this one for the privacy of the individuals involved, but I was a witness to a situation this weekend where one person did not respect something their authority said to them. This individual wanted to start an argument with him, and I was a mere fraction away from getting involved and practicing my parenting skills on the situation. I mean really? This person was probably 10+ years older than me. I could not believe that this happened.

Another story, the other day these people were sitting in a class behind me...and being totally disrespectful to the instructor by "attempting" to whisper, that failed so they were just flat out taking. I have a big problem with that, it is very rude to not only the other people who are trying to learn but also to the instructor.

I was raised by my parents to respect authority and those folks that are superior to you. Now that I am an adult (hahaha) I see how right they are, and how immature it makes the person look if they do not show respect for authority. So, please do yourself and others a favor. Evaluate yourself and check on your respect.

-Ken

Labels: change, Change in my Life, evaluate, missing in action, respect, yourself

So, it is getting to be that time of the year when hurricane's frequent here is in the sunshine state. There are a few "tropical storm" impressions that have developed, but nothing has hit here as of yet. But...the Florida showers come and go as a daily occurrence. Earlier this year, I made another post about the rain. In fact, I think we can look to the rain for many examples in our lives.

In fact, our lives can be like a hurricane. With that being said, we can be having a wonderful week then all of a sudden, a little bit of a mishap can happen which can bring us down and teach us some mighty fine lessons. After a time of storms, the "rain" clears and we continue on as we did before.

he best thing to do in this time is not get frustrated, but learn as much as you can. Life throws many storms our way, take the higher road and never take for granted the sunny days. What are your thoughts? What are you going through that might be encouraging to others?

Ken

Labels: 2009, actions, Bible, Change in my Life, christ, consequences, effects, experiences, future, history, maturity, observations, over reacting, stubborn, tomorrow, yesterday

Add your own caption of your choosing. Let's see who comes up with the best one...

Labels: caption, photography, please, poll

Each and every sound engineer has their own tricks to help make their mix sound the best. Whether it be a specific EQ for an instrument or voice, a specific mic or placement or using all of the above and effects at their disposal for the best optimization.

The base of every mix with a drum kit are both the kick drum and base guitar...if the specific genre of music allows. I have found a priceless tool that is built into the Digidesign series of consoles that allows you to make your kick drum sound the best it can...all with the help of some Plug-Ins that the console has built in.

First and foremost, proper mic placement within the kick drum is always the first step in obtaining a good overall mix. I would always recommend double mic'ing the kick if you have the necessary equipment. Secondly, proper EQ and compression (Smack compressor is my favorite for vocals and kick) on the channel will allow your kick drum to "pop" and not sound like a soggy noodle. Third...the Digidesign consoles have a built in "Signal Generator" within the Plug-Ins that ship by default with the board. Place this Plug-In on the Direct-Input of an unused channel at about 50Hz. Add a gate to that, and key it to the kick drum channel. Configure the gate accordingly, and mix the key and the drum together for a solid and impactful "kick" impact for your mix.

Again, Digi always amazes me with their top of the line products. I love their stuff. What tips can you share for others to use? Would love to hear them. If you have any questions with this process, send me questions. I love this stuff, so maybe we can learn something together. Hope you find this useful.

-Ken

Labels: art, audio, digidesign, drums, effects, enginnering, foh, front of house, kick, mix, mix down, multi-track, music, oscillator, plugins, profile, protools, sc48, venue

One of the most controversial topics in film making today is digital projection. Some film makers are completely for the conversion from film to digital...others are against it. I have realized through film school and in comparing video to film the many differences of using the film medium. You can do some beautiful stuff on either medium, it is all in the way that you light it and capture it.

I will always love film as a photography medium, but I would have to say... it is an old technology. Digital film making is quickly taking the lead over the original film medium. In fact, I would have to say I love the way digital projection looks on the big screen. I am a firm believer that it looks cleaner than film. In the big picture, I believe that it is more economically friendly to shoot and project on a digital medium keeping in account that film does not age very well. Many older films have to be cleaned up or remastered in order for them to be played time and time again. In the digital world, the film is shipped out on a hard disk to be played back into a digital projection system. That therefore eliminates the tech work of maintaining and exchanging very large spools of film. Keep in mind though, Digital is not a flawless medium. The projectors still have to be cleaned and maintained in order for the most pristine image to be displayed on the big screen.

This afternoon, I have the joy of going with my class to the Regal movie theater on Alafaia, here in Orlando and we went up to the projection booth to see many different kinds of projection systems...This includes a SONY 4k digital projector, 35mm film projectors and IMAX. All are a beautiful sight to see.

What are your thoughts on this?

-Ken

Labels: 35mm, digital, digital projection, DLP, film, IMAX, progression, Sony

Please take a minute or two and watch this incredible video...



This is a very humbling performance...by a nine year old girl. For those readers who are not attenders of First Orlando or do not know the story, Gracyn started becoming ill on Christmas eve, 2008. Her and her family found out that her heart was not going to last much longer. After spending a long three months in the hospital, she is doing very well and sings the song "Healer" at First Orlando. It was a very encouraging experience.

This may be a song that has been performed well by many singers and/or church worship teams, but when it is sung by someone who has been "healed" it is much more prominent. I know how God has worked in my life and "healed" specific things, but that is only a fraction of what He has done for others.

If you struggle with anything in this life, God will bring healing. That is a guarantee. It may not be in a for that we desire, but God will work out His plan accordingly on each and every situation. Trust Him...and He will bring healing.

Last night, First Orlando had Kari Jobe in to lead worship for a unique worship experience. She led many of her songs, but in addition to those, she invited the parents of Gracyn up and they shared their story about their family's battle over the last year with their daughter's heart. After they shared, Kari invited Gracyn up to sing "Healer" once again. It was a wonderful few moments of worship. A beautiful sight.

What has God healed you from? Would love to hear how God has used a situation in your life to show His greatness. To GOD be the glory!

-Ken

Labels: Change in my Life, First Baptist Church Orlando, FIrst Orlando, God, gracyn, healing, life lessons, miracle

As most of you are aware...and for those that do not, nothing is more fun and relaxing as mixing audio. I would consider mixing audio one of my most favorite jobs to do. It is a creative art form and the operator is always learning something new! You can always learn factors by listening to music and the mixes of others. Yes, there are theories and practices that go into play, but at the end of the day you mix what sounds good to you. Everyone has a different technique to their mix.

I want to focus on a jewel that I have discovered recently...Digidesign. Digi, a division of Avid Technology, is in no way new to the audio world. They have been top of the industry for multi-track recording for many years, since their introduction of ProTools. ProTools leads the industry in editing digital audio tracks. The engineers at Digi released their live sound reinforcement console in the spring of 2005. They called it the VENUE. The VENUE is not just limited to a front-of-house console. Many have used the Venue for monitors, broadcast, recording and Post-production.

Since the debut of the original Venue series, they have had a couple of different releases of specific desks. First and most is the most popular which is the D-Show. This is primarily my favorite console to work with...not only from Digi, but from all console manufactures. It mimmicks a full spectrum analog console the best that I have seen. Since then, they have released other models within the Venue family, such as the Profile system and SC48. Both are of high quality, and it is giving other manufactures a run for their money.

The fact that the D-Show is backwards compatible with ProTools is a major plus. This means you can record a session from the desk then instantly play it back and remix it with complete control through the desk. They have a few varieties in rack units for your specific need.

Digidesign is hands down doing great things, and I believe are basically reinventing how digital consoles play within our industry, while setting a standard that others have not. I love the ease of use their systems have. It makes sense. The plug in effects are great...even the ones that are shipped from the factory. Of course, you can purchase additional ones. The effects that are state-of-the-art in ProTools are available for the digital desks. Digi has worked hard to engineer effects that function close to the outboard analog classic gear that many engineers have come to love. All available on the Venue systems. Above all, the effects are also easy to manage and configure. These desks are very common. In fact, many of my favorite artists are using this consoles for their front of house mix. These include John Mayer and Dave Matthews Band.

My apologies for the nerdy post. I just get all excited about toys that I play with. Feel free to leave feedback on what you think. Would love to hear back from you!

-Ken

Labels: art, audio, avid, digidesign, effects, front of house, mix, mix down, multi-track, music, plugins, protools, venue, Yamaha

This morning, my buddy Jake was in a tragic automobile accident. What was the cause? A drunk driver. To me, that is inexcusable. We all make mistakes in our lifetime, especially with driving. Sometimes we get distracted and are broadsided by an automobile. Forget to turn our blinkers on etc. Those are just everyday life experiences, some are more tragic than others.

Mistakes are part of our everyday life. Operating a vehicle while someone is under the influence of alcohol or any other drug that inhibits your concentration is simply stupid. It is inexcusable by many means. If you or someone around you at the time is considering driving while having any influence of alcohol in their system, do the right thing for them and for others and stop them. I do not care if you hate the person or whatever, but at the end of the day...if something happens, you had direct influence over that person and other people they could possibly cause harm to. You are stupid if you drive an automobile while under the influence. You deserve to be arrested and punished for the rest of your life for the stupid choice that you have made.

At this point, Jake is very hurt from the accident. I am very thankful though that he is still alive. God has His blessing on the situation, I know that for a fact. If you or someone you know has driven drunk, I hope this will be a learning experience for you. Please do NOT do it. I will have you know that if you drive drunk and hurt one of my family members or (future) children, I will myself file a lawsuit against you, your insurance company and your estate...and see to it that you are punished for the remainder of your life.

For you, the guy who collided with Jake, you have impacted his life forever. To you, I hope this haunts you for the rest of your life. You have messed up. I hope your sins will find you out. Jake, love you buddy. Hope you are feeling better.

I apologize if this blog is a bit harsh. I am against drunk driving, and I do not tolerate it from anyone of my friends, co-workers or anyone that I am around. It is completely inexcusable and un-necessary. Think twice before getting behind the wheel.

-Ken

Labels: accident, actions, alcohol, consequences, driving, Jake

With the hustle and bustle of health care reform, I still can not fathom how the health care bill that is hovering in the house for approval will be good for us as Americans. I spent some time today reading "the bill" (which is apparently too hard for our elected leaders to do). In order to give a well balanced opinion on the thing, I thought it was only right in order that I peruse the bill. Here are some of my thoughts:

1. Items of "reform." I would agree that we do need reform...but not the health care system. The American Health Care System is the best, by far. If you disagree with that...have you been living under a rock? Let's think about this for a minute. People from other countries who have a form of universal health care come here for health care. Why is that? Universal Health care options have waiting lists of people in order of their claim. There are higher chances of you dying on the list that receiving the health care that you need. What we should focus on here in America is not a government funded / administered system, but a private organization to regulate the payments for the health care claims.

2. Health care is a privilege, not a right. When you go on vacation, you choose what hotel you wish to stay at, based upon the funds that you have available. You can either stay at a five-star resort, or the local Hampton Inn. The same goes for health care. You pay for what you get. Health care should no be a hand out for anyone. I am sorry to say that. I know some of you may be thinking "oh, how Conservative of you. You just hate us folks who can't afford health care. WE WANT GOVERNMENT RUN HEALTH CARE!" No, I do not hate...It is just common sense. Health care should have a cost to those who obtain it.

3. Information about "Health Care Reform" The fact that the Obama administration is being shady about giving out information about this 1000+ page bill should be a tell-tale sign that it is not right for America. If the health care bill passes, we will be that far closer to a government-ran society...aka: socialism. If the Government can get a hold of our lives with health care, they know that they will have most of the control of our lives that they will need in order to implement more systems of socialism. Obama is a socialist at heart. Look at his policies and what he has done thus far.

4. The Government has lost their focus. I think of a quote by a President that I admire so much, Ronald Reagan ""Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives." The Government is a moving freight train that has gotten out of control, especially here in the last seven months since Bam-Bams came into office. People believed the lies and the flash cover ups, and elected a man who...yes wants "change", but it is a bad kind of change. If you did not do your homework during the Presidential election, you could easily be suckered into believing the lies that his campaign and ACORN had up their sleeve.

5. The figures are wrong. All programs that have been implemented by the Obama administration, notice one thing. Anything that has numbers involved, have been completely wrong. The amount they are saying this program will cost is wrong, it is too small to cover "everyone" the health care system is supposed t support. If, by chance...those numbers would have been correct, maybe they would have more support. The fact of the matter is, they were wrong. So, this system will fail.

6. The Post Office. For those that listened to Obama's speech the other day, I am going to use an example that Obama used. Look at the U.S. Postal Service and the private mail carriers. The post office is quickly failing. Over the last few years, the amount of mail that passes through them is quickly becoming a smaller and smaller amount. Look at FedEx and UPS. Those are doing just fine. Who runs the Postal Service? The Government. Who runs FedEx and UPS? Private companies. So... that right there proves my point...and the points of many others. The Government should not run an organization because they can not do anything right. Keep it private, for the best of the common good.

-Ken

Labels: conservative, free thinking, government, health care, mail carriers, Obama

This week two of my twitter friends (@bdivine and @jdivine) are in Orlando for a conference that @bdivine is doing music for tonight. I had the honor this afternoon of meeting them at their hotel.

They are just as great in person as they are on Twitter...if not better. They have three amazing boys. I originally met @jdivine in the lobby as @bdivine was on his way back over to the hotel. We had a little conversation, but the boys were so energetic...they were all over the place. That was cute. Somedays...I wish I had that much energy.

Within 4 minutes of initially meeting them, they were treating me like that had grown up with me. It is great. This reassured me that one day, I want my own children. I must say, this was the second tweetup that I have had, and again it was a great one. I have said it before, and will say it again...Twitter is a great way of meeting people with your same beliefs or interests, but again, please use caution. If you are talking to some stranger, I would not recommend following through. Luckily, the Divine's are mutual friends of people I knew already...so I knew that everything would be okay. Just please use caution always when meeting people that you correspond online.

It was great to meet the Divine family! Hopefully, next time we are in the same town we would be able to meet up again and continue our conversation. See you on Twitter!

-Ken

Labels: boys, Chapel Hill, meet, safety, social networking, travel, twitter

When looking at a person, you notice many things. You can tell a lot about their personality by their style, where they are from by their accent...but there is something else.

When a person gets physically injured, God has designed out bodies to heal the wound. The body then creates a scar. Some scars go away over time, others are more permanent.

I am sure there is a scientific reason as to why this is...but you won't be finding that here. I am a tech guy...I don't know all of that stuff. I do believe that these scars are placed on our bodies so that we can remember what we did in order to cause that. That is what makes each of our stories interesting and unique. If everyone was perfect, we would all live in Abercrombie ads. That is not the case.

We have all been places, and just as though a ship may come back from war all beaten up and almost destroyed, it is a beautiful sight. That ship protected people and took most of the damage so the people on board could be okay. That is what happens with us.

Our bodies get beat up through out our lifetime, which protects all that we offer. Knowledge, experience, stories... When I look at a person, I am not always oozing to look at a pretty person. I am itching to know what stories they have to share about their experiences. If you have a scar somewhere on your body that is visible, I am probably going to ask you the story.

-Ken

Labels: bodies, human, hurt, knowledge, observations, scars, story

"Gosh, it is so hot!"
"Ugh, this internet is SOO slow!"
"Man, these people can't drive!"

I will spare you from any more. But seriously, do people that complain irritate you? Why do people have to constantly state their discontentment with a specific situation?

I tend to think people that complain either are not aware that they are doing it or they are just miserable (or close too it) and would like to let everyone else know how miserable they are. Whichever the answer to the question may be, I believe complaints are very unnecessary. I welcome criticism any day (as long as it is in good taste); but there is a line between the two.

I will break it down into two "levels." A complaint is something a person states...that is not significant to any other human being, but it is a declaration of one's discontentment with a specific happening within their life. To be honest, complaints most of the time do nothing to help solve a problem.

Criticism is when a person makes an observation and offers helpful suggestions in order that one person become better at a specific task or situation. I am a big problem solver. I love brainstorming to find resolutions for a given scenario, but when someone comes over and is upset and starts rambling on about how discontent they are, that is unnecessary.

Come to me with a legitimate problem and your best solution for it, I will be more than happy to help you in solving that, come to me with an annoying complaint...I am sorry but that does not do anything for me.

You know yourself best. If you are forgetful, make reminders. If you are naturally cold, bring more clothes. For every problem there is a solution. People will respect you more if you are mature enough to learn from your own mistakes.

Complaints do not get you very far in this world. I am sure that what you find worthy of a complaint, does not compare to anything that someone within ten feet of you are going through. Thank you for reading. I tried to not "complain" too much. This is just an observation that I have made the last couple of weeks...and thought that someone could benefit from it.

Thanks for reading. I would like to hear your feedback on what you think!

-Ken

Labels: annoying, beliefs, Change in my Life, common sense, complaints, growth, immaturity, Jesus, maturity, observations, others, over reacting, politics, relationships, trends, tweet, twitter, YOU

Today, we are often faced with many challenges that inhibit us from attending a church on Sundays. Many churches that I am in communication with are now having a worship service on Sunday evening, that have two main goals. One of those being to allow members/attenders to worship because they are not able to make it on Sunday mornings. Two...to give room for more people to attend on Sundays.

Another option I have noticed here more recently is the advent of streaming the services online. This seems to be a more cost efficient method with the popularity of the Flash video encoding. This allows the video/audio image to be crisp and clean, yet not too bandwidth consuming. Even so, the turnout seems to be good for the services.

Many people have family situations or have to work in this day and age on Sunday. They can still connect with the church via a video stream while also allowing them to worship and be fed spiritually at the same time. This is hopefully another reason that churches allow streaming of their services.

Back in the 80's and 90's, many churches had to pay a lot of money to have their services broadcast on television stations. This was a lot of work and expense. Trust me, I worked at a church doing this. I think with the advent of the internet, it is more feasible for churches to send a live video and audio feed to the online community. This would require about the same amount of money up front to purchase and maintain the systems, but at the same time, internet broadcasting is a much cheaper medium of sharing God's message. Plus, you are not limited to a specific time block. You can stream the entire service because the ministry controls what goes out there.

I "attended" a church stream about a month ago. I was fascinated with how it worked, mainly because this church had a chat room contained within. Viewers could chat with pastors and seek prayer for specific needs that the person had. I thought this was a great asset to add to the streaming service. That way, it makes the viewer feel more connected with the church's broadcast ministry.

I want to hear from you guys. What do you think about online worship services? Do you have any experiences that you would like to share?

Thanks for taking the time to read.
-Ken

Labels: 316 networks, Buckhead Church, Chapel Hill, church, digital, FIrst Orlando, Flash, God, gospel, informative, internet, internet growth, Media, North Point, Orlando, Scott Link, simulcast

As many of you all may know, I highly respect Glenn Beck. He is a knowledgeable guy, who nails political theories and concepts on the head. So, today...I picked up his book "Common Sense" and I began reading it tonight. I would recommend that you pick it up also, if you are confused about what is happening to what was a great country. We are quickly loosing everything that the founding father's established, and it is up to us to get a hold of it and stop it while we still can.

For those on Twitter, I will be using #gbcmnsense when posting about this book. Let's use that...unless you know of another.

Pick up the book...if you care for this country. Liberal, Conservative, Libertarian...Green party. Whatever. Go pick it up. You will be better for it.

Labels: #gbcmnsense #912dc, America, common sense, coutry, foxnews, Glenn Beck, politics, reading, tcot

I posted to Twitter the other day...Why are we as Americans still dealing with racial issues? Everywhere you go, you can see people smirking towards people of other races, other races appearing to be dominant over another, people being chosen over another because of their race...people disagreeing with one another because a conflict of race...and even the dreaded race card being pulled. Ex: "He said I was (insert race here.) I'm offended!" All of these and many others can commonly be found through websites, Twitter, blogs, media and any other form of communication that we as humans interact on.

I ask why?

In my opinion...generally speaking, think that we as humans are raised or programmed somehow to have out race or a specific race dominant over others. Why can we not just get over ourselves and realize that we are different, have one GOD and love others as Jesus would? Why do we have to place racial discrepancies on everything? Why are we still fighting something that should have been settled years ago? Let's forgive each other and move on. It is what God would desire us to do.

-Ken

Labels: arguments, error, forgiveness, growth, human, Jesus, love, maturity, politics, race, racism, relationships

One thing that I see that we take for granted too often, is a wonderful gift that we have, which is the gift of life. I personally believe that we are here for a purpose. God has out every moment and breath planned out. He knows when we will struggle, hurt, mourn, cry, laugh, celebrate and even when we will die.

The thing is, He knows when all that will happen, but at the same time we ourselves do not. We can plan...plan...plan, but that only gets us so far. Something always has a way of changing our plans.

We are not guaranteed tomorrow...or even five minutes from now. With the death in my family this week, it really has upset me. It has me thinking about us, as human beings. We take so much stuff for granted. Beautiful sunsets, laughter...and even something as life. I find that we place our wishes on our top priority list, but is that how Jesus would want us to live? I beg to differ.

I think if Jesus came down and gave a seminar to His church, He would encourage us to life for others. Not for us. "Do unto others as that should do unto you." I would personally hate to have my life go to waste. Just think about all of the people that you (or we) can be reaching that we are not?

If you have read this blog, I have prayed for you. It is my encouragement to you that you go out and change the world...one day at a time. Go share the love of Jesus with that one person in your class that seems like they are along and hurting. Go and heal thing with someone you are fighting with. Go to the beach and spend time with the one and only God of this universe. He wants to be your everything. He wants you to live your life just for Him...share the Gospel to the unreached people.

I love you all.
Thanks for reading.

-Ken

Labels: application, Celebration, christ, Jesus, life, others, suffering, tomorrow