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

A couple of weeks ago on a Tuesday night, I was able to experience Hillsong United at First Baptist Orlando. It was an amazing experience to see the collective body of Christ...some who may have never set foot in our worship center collaborate together and praise our Savior and Lord.

Before the show, I was able to help the crew setup for the event. I was surprised, the equipment they used I could have probably operated flawlessly. It is all of the same toys that I am learning in my study at Full Sail. It was mind boggling the amount of gear they brought into our venue for their performance.

The worship experience was wonderful. Even though that is my home church to worship at from week to week, it is always special to have other leaders come in to lead worship.

Lets hear from you . . . Who else attended a show from Hillsong United on their latest tour in the states?

-Ken

Labels: concert, First Baptist Church Orlando, FIrst Orlando, Hillsong, show, worship

As I grow older, the only thing that I regret is not doing something when the time is right. I am sure that many of you can relate.

I received an e-mail from my Grandfather earlier in the week. It was one of his forwards that he blesses me and many others with daily. It was a very interesting story. In a nutshell, it is an elderly lady who begins taking college classes. When asked by one of the younger students why she was going to college, she responded with something to the extent of she had always dreamed of coming to college, so now she is finally doing it. She also said that the one thing that older people regret is dreams they did not follow through with during their life, making it to late to do anything about it now.

It took a couple of days for that to sit in, but this morning that line really spoke to me. I thought on my way to lecture this morning, how many opportunities have I passed up that may be to late to do anything with? How many dreams have I passed up because I was not totally dedicated?

Monday evening I was chatting with a friend of mine. I mentioned to him a dream that I had, that had been developing recently. He was very encouraging with the idea and thought it was great. I have also mentioned this "dream" or vision to other people and they have been very encouraging as well. Sometimes you need that type of support in order for a dream to become a reality.

Through the years, I would like to think that I have not let too many dreams slip away. My move to Orlando was probably the biggest dream that I have had in a very long time, and that was tough, but it has been great since I have been down here studying. Another major dream I had was to serve at a church again. It had been a couple of years since I had done that, but I was able to work through some stuff I was battling with and had lunch with the Media and Communications Pastor at First Baptist Orlando. Every since that day back in early 2008, I have been serving in the broadcast ministry at First Orlando.

Let me encourage you to read this post, and take it to heart. Please, do not let you most cherish dreams of today become a big regret later on in your life, because you were too scared or afraid to pursue them.

-Ken

Labels: application, Buckhead Church, dreams, First Baptist Church Orlando, ministry, no regreats, Orlando, politics, serve

The Memorial Day weekend services at First Orlando were absolutely top notch! I was there to witness most of them, and going into the services, we were unsure of what was going to happen. These services are very special to most people in the congregation and especially our Senior Pastor, David Uth. Changes were made to each service minutes before the Sunday services. It is amazing to see what a little prayer can do. That is proof that God is in control. If we were to do these services out of our flesh we would fail each time. This Memorial Day, let us celebrate in thanks those who have fought for and served our country out of love. It takes much passion and fear to serve this country, and I am thankful each day for their service.

Also, lift up Doug Pierce, one of the worship leaders at First Baptist Orlando. He has a medical condition, but I have every confidence that God will heal him and be a testimony to His power. Doug, I am praying for you and your family. Thanks for all that you do for God's ministry. Your church family loves you. Have a blessed memorial day! -

-Ken

Labels: America, Doug Pierce, First Baptist Church Orlando, FIrst Orlando, Memorial Day, ministry, production, Remember

Everywhere you go, you can see and here in one form or another people getting all hyped up or joking about the "Swine Flu" or as I refer to it as the "Pork Scare."

This weekend was an interesting one. It seems as though a Catholic church in the Orlando area encouraged the attenders that they had in their mass to not shake hands with other people attending. My church, First Baptist Orlando did not go to that extreme, but were planning on practicing the regular safe guards, which is nothing out of the ordinary. If I was making an executive decision on the matter, I would have gone with the option that my church took. I believe that people are extremely over reacting to this swine flu scare. People do not get this hyped up over the regular flu each year.

The Media and Communications Pastor of First Baptist Orlando, Scott Link was interviewed by two news networks here in Orlando on Sunday morning. Scott answered their questions honestly of what our church in regards to the Swine Flu. The interview aired during the Sunday evening news. One network quoted him correctly the other network misquoted him completely. If you listened to the interview, you would blatently see that was not the point Scott was making. This is a prime example of how the networks misquote and mislead their audiences. Is that what you want from your news networks?

I remember a couple of years preceding the turn of the century when the media was sending everyone into a panic about every computer system, government and banking computers systems were going to crash at the turn of the century. This caused many people to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in preparation for it...in buying food for week/months and taking precautions to prepare for a long outage of food and supplies. Corporations spend thousands if not more dollars to become Y2K compliant...reconfigured databases and software systems all for something the media was getting the audience all hyped up for. What happened when the clock turned from December 31st, 1999 at 23:59 to January 1st, 2000 at 00:00, absolutely nothing. Power was still on, money was in everyone's bank account and computer systems still functioned. So what was the scare for? Did we over react?

I think we did. The media continued to push a non-threat so much that the American people started being concerned. They recommended many things to do and in reality we did not have to do anything. It could have been another nice new year.

I think this swine flu is the same thing. The liberal end of the media is totally over reacting. Since they choose to not give a balanced report on what is really happening is Washington, they have to dig and dig for some sort of story to blow out of proportion. It was Bush, picking him apart piece by piece. They arrogantly selectively report specific things about Obama. Do not give the truth about what he is doing, destroying, or other leaders he is bowing to, this leads the media to dig into something that is not really a threat to get a reaction out of the people. So explain to me how this is supposed to be the most transparents administration ever if the American people are being lied to?

-Ken

Labels: church, First Baptist Church Orlando, Media, over reacting, scare, Scott Link, swine flu, virus, Y2K

One of my most cherished events of any week is being able to serve the broadcast ministry at my home church, First Baptist Church of Orlando each Saturday night. In serving in such a ministry, you are able to bring worship to many people through both television and streaming online for people who either can't make the service or live in another part of the country or world.

There is nothing more satisfying that being a part of a ministry that brings the Word of Jesus Christ to many people. Recently, the church upgraded their website. I would encourage you to check it out! The video streaming service was upgraded as well and now it is done on Adobe Flash...and not that old-school Microsoft stuff anymore :). The 1K stream looks beautiful, and is just like you are watching it on television.

I also would like to put my heart out to the Uth family, as David has lost his father this week. This must be a bitter-sweet moment for him and his family, but David's father is in a better place...with no pain or sufferings. My prayers are with you and your family in this difficult time.

Anyway, I am going to get back to worshiping along with my church. Thanks for stopping by!!

-Ken

Labels: David Uth, First Baptist Church Orlando, Flash, streaming, suffering, worship

A week ago...last night I showed up to serve at church. But...there was a problem. The lighting system had somehow failed.

I sat and watched the service, and I was impressed how the lighting team worked together under pressure to find a solution for the problem...in a little over an hour before the service began! The best part is...a small group of folks stayed all hours through the night to rig lights and trusses for the following Sunday morning services. It is great to see people that are passionate enough to give above and beyond the calls of ministry in order that others can worship the Lord.

Is it an absolute necessity in order to have "lights" in order to worship the Lord? Well...no. It is an amenity that sadly most of us overlook most of the time. But in fact, at this church, the lighting aspect is a large aspect of the service for many reasons. One, broadcast...without lighting, the Message cannot be spread to home and venues of people watching via television or internet broadcast. In addition to that, lighting is also pivotal to the service in order that it sets the mood for the worship environment.

In conclusion, I would like to thank those that served above and beyond in order to allow others to worship last Sunday morning. Your willingness to serve has not gone unnoticed, and you will be rewarded. Thanks again.

-Ken

Labels: 316 networks, failures, First Baptist Church Orlando, lighting, worship