Getting to Know Your Media Staff: Conversations with Thomas, TJ, and Jon

Some of you may have wondered, "Hey, what does the media staff really do during the week??" Really, none of you have probably wondered this, but I pose the question anyway in assumption that all of you consume your lives with wondering about me. It just makes for better writing, and for better sleep at night. So, without further ado, I bring to you some very knowledgeable conversations and quotes from your lovable and furry media staff:


Thomas: What is taking this car in front of us so long to go?!?

TJ: You know, I have this vision, or fantasy if you will, that my car has a giant hammer on top of it. Whenever someone won't move or they are moving too slow, you can activate the hammer and it knocks them off the road.

Thomas: Yeah, but you would have to knock them over to the right, if you knocked them left, it would be into oncoming traffic and that's a whole other mess.

TJ: Yeah, I was planning on knocking them to the right, that way its off the road and out of my mind, but I guess they could plummet into a ravine...

Jon: What about ramming them out of the way? Well, that could cause a lot of damage to your car, so I guess you would need some kind of force field around your car to protect it.

TJ: I could just use the Force Push like a Jedi.

Thomas: A Jedi wouldn't Force Push an innocent person, that's why you are not a Jedi.

TJ: I'm a Sith Lord. I guess that means I could just shoot lightening at them from my hands...cool...

Thomas: Why do the Sith always get the cool features? A Jedi can't shoot lightening!

TJ: Because George Lucas is a pacifist.

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Jon: How does the ATM read the check when you deposit it?

Thomas: There is a midget inside that pulls it through and scans it in

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Thomas: When is this rain going to stop? My car is so nasty, I need to wash it!

TJ: Well, at least you don't have pollen all over it.

Thomas: I did the other day, it was covered.

TJ: Well, I guess your car will give birth to baby cars...baby cars that are half car, half...bee. Hey! You can have a flying car now!

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Jon: AX48393BE sublet 493&%foe23X2 with a 18-inch 29005%3900X speaker sub woofer plugged into ABC CBS FOX

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As you can see, we work extremely hard throughout the week to bring you the best service experience possible on Sunday. We appreciate all the volunteers do, and now, maybe you will respect all that the staff do too.



Til Next Time!





PTTO


Teej

Why Limit Myself?

Why limit myself?
It's a question I just started pondering. I work at Tanner Medical Center in Villa Rica, Ga. I work for Midway Church. I am a husband. I am a lover of salsa. Why do I limit my life to just these things? God has planned for each of us so much more than we allow ourselves to do. I am a sinner. That is the real answer here. Sin. As Pastor Todd loves to say, "Sin keeps us longer than we wanted to stay, makes us do more than we wanted to do, and pay a price higher than we were willing to pay"(Pastor, I apologize if I misquoted). You get the gist. God has more planned for us, but we are often too willing to hang out with sin instead of doing what God really wants us to do.

Which brings me back to my original question. Why limit myself? Why limit myself on this blog to just one post a week? Why limit myself to writing about just our media team, or about Midway West, or Midway Main? We are a world online. Its time to spread the church online. I'm not talking about church websites. I'm talking about God's children spreading love, hope, and real relationships to each other and non-believers. Christ died so that we may have life. Not just eternal life after death that so many Christians and churches focus on, but life starting now. It's time to grow our lives and stop limiting ourselves to what we believe we can accomplish. It's time to believe and live through Christ, so that He can accomplish what He wills, through us.

My challenge to you, my inquisitive reader, is this: Feel free to comment on this site. Start talking to one another. Invite others to write and talk. Form the loving, Christ-like relationships that He wants us to have. It's time to be the true church.

Why limit yourself?

Peace to the Out!
Teej

God Moves at Midway West

As I was contemplating what to write this week, I discovered that the “Midway Media Blog” is actually going to be quite one-sided. “What exactly do you want me to cover each week,” I inquired Mr. Davis. “All of the media team,” was his answer. After considering this endeavor, I deducted that this is not a possibility unless I complete one very important task first: clone myself. This process was not easy. Without going into details, I need you, my inquisitive reader, to stop reading at this point, go to your local video store or web based video selection site, and rent Multiplicity. I will now give you time to purchase said movie and watch for your education and enjoyment. Pop some corn while you are at it. Oh, there you go, that looks good. Now, add some extra butter. Oh, that looks wonderful. Not too much salt, it’s bad for your cholesterol.

So, I cloned myself. I thought I would interview myself to see what went on at Midway Main this week. Here is my complete, unedited interview:

TJ: So, TJ, how are you doing? You are looking quite good today.
TJ: Thank you, TJ, I appreciate that. How was the Midway West launch?
TJ: Hey, thanks for asking! It went great! Both services had nice crowds. How was it at Midway Main?
TJ: What do you mean?
TJ: How did the services go at Main? Media team do there job? Were there any mess-ups or anybody to congratulate? Something along those lines?
TJ: How would I know?
TJ: I cloned you so you could attend the Main campus on Sunday. What happened?
TJ: You didn’t really clone me, TJ. You are writing this on Monday.
TJ: So, you are telling me that I am not really having an interview with my clone?
TJ: …
TJ: Well, that wraps up that interview that didn’t really happen.

With all of that being said, I can basically write about what happens at Midway West, Thomas, not about the entire media team.

The Launch of Midway West
It is now official! Midway West is open to the public! (At least on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. Oh, and Monday night for Crosspoint. The rest of the time the doors are locked.)
All joking aside, there really is beauty in seeing God’s word spread. From my vantage point at the sound booth, I have the luxury of watching and experiencing God’s children in worship each Sunday. Hands lifted, heads bowed, hearts releasing the love we have for our Creator. This was the launch of Midway West. I have no idea how to differentiate the visitors from the members, but in that small room, all hearts came together as one in worship.

Sometimes, we have the ability to lose sight of the big picture. This is especially the case in the Media/Worship field. Yes, this area is where our gifts lie, and God is using us to deliver his message to others, but a lot of times, it ends up being more about the show than the message. In this lies sin. I took a moment on Sunday, during worship, to mentally leave the sound booth and experience the worship I saw going on in that building. God is at Midway! God is in West Georgia! Later that morning, I overheard a conversation about some awkwardness with the crowd standing and sitting. One song, the crowd should sit and another, the crowd should stand. Can worship be controlled, though? Should we control worship? God moves in each of us, allowing us to experience His great and adoring love. Agape love. Man tends to get in the way with his details. God is in control.

From a media standpoint, the launch of Midway West was a success. From the standpoint of a follower of Christ, the launch of Midway West was a success. God moved, and He is still moving.

Til next week…

Peace to the Out!

TJ Kelley

Midway Media Blog Genesis

Thomas sang a song. It was good. Some sound came out of the speakers. The lights swirled around. It was a good Sunday. Have a great weekend. See you next week!


As I sat on the plush ottoman of Thomas' office, this blog was discussed between the two of us. "I just don't think we have the time to write this thing. Plus we don't have anything to write about," says Thomas, quite negatively in my humble opinion. Oh, there is plenty to write about my young Padawan, there is plenty to write about...okay, lets do it...any day now...ummm...now I have writer's block. Hmmm...let me see...plenty to write about indeed...I guess, you, my inquisitive reader, would like to know more about the Midway Media Team (probably you are a part of said team and are reading this because we told you to). Or, we could discuss current events, like the declining economy, or that Cecil down on Turnip St just got a new mule and Gladys, his wife, was kicked by it the other day. Both issues are of dire importance.


However interesting these topics may be, I am here to write about this week's biggest topic: The Launch of Midway West!!!! (**Queue music, balloons dropping from ceiling, fireworks, and those horn thingies that you blown at birthday party that unravel when blown**) This past Sunday, March 15, was the preview service. From a media standpoint, West is better than Main in my opinion. If you have not seen the Worship Center yet, it is easily a quarter the size of Midway Main, but the sound system blows away its sister system. We are currently running a Yamaha LS9-16 digital sound board, a line array system, and two dual-18 subs. Big props to our awesome sound engineer, Jonathan Underwood, who built the system for us. While I may be operating the system at West, Mr Underwood humbles me with his vast knowledge of sound equipment and "lingo." Its almost like he speaks a different language. Actually, I purchased the Rosetta Stone software in hopes that I, too, could learn this complex language. Let me show you what I have learned so far: 900XB6A connected to USB RCA Blu-ray 56784 overhead with a HEW4389#$%& sound unit with 10 inch JFSW90894 subs with ABC CBS NBC FOX. It's a work in progress, but I'm getting there.


The light board in the control room is much like the one at the main campus, but on a smaller scale. We are only using two stage-mounted movers at this time, but after viewing the preview service, two is plenty. We have side and middle screens like main, except the middle screen is 16 feet long and is designed for a wide screen camera shot. Unfortunately, our cameras at Midway Main do not shoot in wide screen at this time. (Hint to Rex: We need new HD cameras)


Todd's sermon is on a one week tape-delay. We have purchased a Mac Pro for use at the main campus to capture Todd's sermon. We then edit it using Final Cut Pro, Motion, and DVD Studio Pro to issue the final product for use at West. This process is easy, but essential. No sermon, no service. Ouch!


For the back screen at West, we purchased a 52-inch HD720P Plasma screen TV. It makes for a nice view from the stage. However, I'm with Thomas, why couldn't we have gotten 1080P? I mean, come on?!?!? What were the PTB thinking? (PTB Powers that Be).


Okay, guess that about wraps up this week's edition of the Midway Media Blog. Someone think of a better name, I'm not good at coming up with names, apparently, I'm good at being witty, and writing, and eating hot wings with ranch dressing...tacos are good too...mmm, so are blizzards. Man, I love Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Blizzards, oh, and Birthday Cake ice cream from Brusters. Have you ever had them make that into a shake? Oh man, it is great...

Til next week...

Peace to the Out!

TJ Kelley