MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

I’ve never been a big fan of compilation albums that put together songs you have heard before from various artists original albums and provide very little new for the listener (read: Passion, WOW, et al). I’m not a fan of “best of” albums mostly because it is a sign the artist is on their way out. But for whatever reason, I bought this album and I like it. Maybe it is the encompassing international unity message or maybe because there are a ton of songs on here I rarely listen but love. Whatever it is, it got me. I guess record labels still know how to get the consumers money.

It was a nice Mother’s Day. We chose to give one big gift to one deserving mom instead of splitting the money up and buying all the mom’s flowers like is typically done. We also didn’t want to do that because it is typically done. However, I still think our kids area got a hold of a ton of flowers and gave each child one to give to his or her mom. And Michaels’ message…was on why men hate going to church based on the book by the same title. Very well done.

Here is the set list:

• We Stand (Lee McD)
• My Savior Lives (Desperation Band)
• O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (Crowder)
• Awesome is the Lord Most High (Tomlin)

I’ve posted a few times about how much I like and/or have been frustrated with Renewed Vision’s software software. Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and spend more time than I ever have before just checking out the features on ProPresenter 3. Oh my goodness, I feel like a whole new world has been opened up to me. It is now official. Without a doubt, ProPresenter is hands down the best lyric presentation software available.

Trust me, I’m not saying that lightly. I’ve used just about everything out there – many times – and none of them even come close. Why? Well, for one thing most of them are for WIndows systems only and I’m not even going to begin to explain again why that is a disadvantage. PP3 has always looked slick and been easy to use but now that I have seen the light with some of the features I wonder if most of their users even know about, I am singing it’s praises and will be using it exclusively when I travel this summer.

Here are some of my now favorite features:

1. Song Automation – insert an audio track (i.e. click track) and record when the slides are supposed to change. Yes, exactly what you are thinking. You can even make it so the words change color or light up as you sing them (i.e. bouncing ball effect).
2. Countdown Timer – with it’s built into countdown generator, you can insert a clock or countdown on top of anything. Mess around with this for a minute and you’ll see how useful it is.
3. DVD Clips – Instead of having to rip sections of a DVD for a short clip, you can set in/out points in PP3 and it will play them directly from the DVD.
4. Live Video Feed – hook up a video signal via firewire or SDI and you can overlay text on a live feed.

There are so many other little things I love (i.e. color coding song sections, quick editing, common sense video library, playlists) that I regret ever saying anything negative about any Renewed Vision products. Just remember – the Apple Button is the most important button.

Now that my son is riding the bike like an up and coming Evil Knievel, I have got the bug worse than ever. You can’t really tell by looking at you (very frustrating) but I’ve been working out like crazy trying to trim down and prepare for some insane 150 mile charity ride some of the guys from church have got me all worked up about being a part of. Problem is, I don’t have a bike. Well, I do have a bike, but it is cheap and broken, and not something you ride in a road race unless you beggin’ for pain, discomfort and a guaranteed last place finish. So I’m trying to find something like the picture above but in the $300-it’s-just-sitting-in-my-garage-but-i-paid-a-fortune-for-it kind of range.

Anyone know anyone who’s looking to get rid of a nice road bike to a broke broke?

God has been taking me a rollercoaster ride for about a week now.

Life changing, but it is still difficult. I haven’t even talked to my wife about it (though I guess I’ll be getting some questions after she reads this – I love you).

The question I keep asking myself…”How long?“

We’ll have a CD release concert and announce the date soon, so keep checking back.