My first experience in music ministry happened fairly soon after
I first picked up a guitar at 15 years of age. I knew about 20
chords and could play a few songs from a new songbook titled
Scripture in Song. Fortunately most of the songs were in
guitar-friendly keys.
There were four of us who played guitar in a small country
Baptist church. I know one song we dreaded was “Rise and Shine”
(’God said to Noah there’s gonna be a floody floody…’). The
chords were simple, but the strumming rhythm was a real wrist
breaker.
After church we would retire to one of our homes and listen to
the latest Larry Norman or Randy Stonehill album, and try to
work out the chords and guitar licks. As Bryan Adams sang, ‘I
played it till my fingers bled…those were the best days of my
life’. The songs were simple and we’d try and embellish them
with influences from progressive rock bands like Pink Floyd and
Yes. However there’s a limit to what you can do with a $20 nylon
string guitar. Sometimes this went down well. At other times
some of the elders would warn us of the dangers of getting so
caught up in the music that we forgot the main game. In their
quirky country ways, they had a point.
In the years since then I have enjoyed being part of many
different music teams. My studies meant I moved around a fair
bit, so I was part of a number of churches. Some were well
resourced and it was a struggle to get to do what I loved,
whereas others were small and welcomed whatever help they got.
When the Willow Creek team first came to Australia I witnessed
what was possible with a dynamic, creative and well-resourced
team. However, my frustration was that the models of music
ministry I was seeing presented by big, well-resourced, upper
middle class churches was simply not achievable in the majority
of churches.
This sparked my interest in training and developing churches
without these kinds of resources. The problem was to distil from
20 years of experience ‘what things really mattered’. What were
the issues that could make or break a music ministry, whether in
a mega church or a church struggling to survive as demographic
change followed its course?
Since then I’ve had the privilege of speaking with hundreds of
music ministers and team members here in Australia and from
overseas. From those conversations, these are what I believe are
the 12 “biggies” for creating an effective music ministry.
Notice that I said effective, not “successful”. Many people
equate success with big budgets and large teams. An effective
music ministry can be one talented and gifted person doing what
they do in harmony with their church and surrounding community.
So here they are:
1. Music is valued as a gracious gift from God, given for our
enjoyment, as well as being a strategic tool for strengthening
believers and reaching unbelievers.
2. The ministry team should have a biblical understanding of the
nature of worship, music, church and Christian experience.
3. Music ministry takes place in the context of a church with a
shared understanding of its purpose and mission.
4. The music team are servants with a clear understanding and a
passionate commitment to the part they play in that mission.
5. The music ministry is a team who: a. work together towards
common goals. b. love and support one another. c. deal
biblically and appropriately with conflict. d. have clear,
mutually agreed, written standards explaining what is expected
of members. e. receive regular training and teaching in
theology, practical musicianship and teamwork.
6. Music takes place in the context of prayerfully and carefully
planned services with an emphasis on cultural relevance,
excellence, biblical content, personal authenticity and
vulnerability.
7. Music team leaders are involved in the planning and
programming of services and special events.
8. The repertoire is regularly and systematically reviewed to:
a. assess its content, ease of singing and relevance. b.
evaluate and recommend new songs before they enter the
repertoire.
9. The music ministry has adequate financial support within the
church’s existing resources.
10. Human resources are used effectively and supplemented by
appropriate use of technology such as CD’s, DVD’s MIDI or
backing tracks where required.
11. The church supports and encourages local and “lesser known”
writers by using their material where possible and helping them
to develop skills and access training opportunities.
12. The music ministry obeys the letter and the spirit of the
law regarding copyright and performance rights.
I’ve distilled these into a quick assessment you can use to see
where you and your church are at in terms of ministry. You can
download this assessment as a PDF document here. It will give
you 60 quick ideas to improve your music ministry.
http://www.insideoutmusic.net/products/12_marks.html
If you’re thinking that liposuction is a great way to lose weight, forget about it. Liposuction isn’t about weight loss at all. It’s all about sculpturing and contouring the body to remove excess fat deposits that aren’t willing to go away with diet and exercise no matter how hard you try. It’s about looking good in that swimsuit AFTER you’ve lost all the weight that you’re going to lose.
Women love liposuction, but men dabble in it too. Women tend to have it done on their abdomen, thighs, knees, hips, chin or neck while men usually treat their neck, chest, abdomen, and “love handles.” In all but a very few isolated instances liposuction is strictly cosmetic which means your insurance company won’t be footing the bill for your new belly or butt. Your insurance company MAY get involved, however, if your treatment is prescribed for certain medical conditions including enlarged male breasts in men and certain fat deposits, such as “buffalo hump” which is caused by a hormone imbalance.
Liposuction is a procedure whereby fatty tissue is literally sucked from under the skin using a hollow wand which is attached to a suction device. Local anesthetics and other compounds including saline, and epinephrine are administered to control swelling and bleeding.
Once the patient is prepared the doctor inserts the wand, called a “cannula” through small incisions which are made in the skin. They push and pull the wand through the fatty cells causing them to break up and to be suctioned off along with other body fluids. That’s about as complicated as liposuction gets from the actual procedural point of view.
There are several different types of liposuction procedures in use. Each procedure is based upon the amount of fluid which is (or isn’t) injected during the procedure. “Dry Liposuction” uses no fluid and is rapidly falling from favor. Next is “wet” where the doctor injects six to eight ounces of ephinephrine, and “superwet” which uses the most fluid. Basically, the more fluid that is injected during the procedure, the less blood that is lost.
While the liposuction procedure is relatively safe when performed by a Cosmetic or Plastic Surgeon, it is not without its risks and side effects up to, and including, death in very rare instances (about 20 out of 100,000). Infections have been reported in some cases as well as “seroma” which is a pooling or oozing of body fluid.
Swelling, bruising and locally painful areas are almost a guaranteed side effect of liposuction and you can expect to lose a week or more from work during recovery. In almost all instances the procedure is performed on an outpatient basis and you’ll be home the same day.
An unexpected side effect of liposuction is that the fat can return and, often times, it returns to a different area from where it was removed. This is believed to be caused by drops in leptin levels. Leptin is a hormone that is made in fat. When the levels drop it signals the body to take in more food so that it can increase its fat levels to what it “thinks” is normal. This condition is most likely to occur in people who were overweight to begin with yet still sought liposuction as a hopeful “cure”.
Any doctor can perform liposuction with as little as 30 minutes “training” on the equipment. However, since there is so much at stake, and the health risks are real, you should only consider treatment by a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon or Board Certified Cosmetic Surgeon who has additional specialized training in liposuction.
Credit: Mike Jones of BodyFAQ.com, the health, body & beauty information site.
Click here for information on how home spas can make you feel younger:
http://www.bodyfaq.com/home-spas.html
Freelancers can provide many benefits to their clients, only
if they know how to freelance well.
For both established or a new business; using freelance talent
is valuable, cost-effective resource in many circumstances such
as..
1.When client is faced with situation that would benefit from an
outsider’s perspective.
2.When client’s vision is fuzzy as to what needs to be done and
in what order of priority.
3.When client’s needs are seasonal or they need help with a
one-time project.
4.When client’s talents can be more effectively used in other
parts of the business.
5.When client needs expertise needed to grow quickly without
diverting scarce resources from daily tasks.
Understand the perspective of the client to provide these
advantages, and you are sure to establish your freelance career
successfully. Follow the below four steps about how to freelance
well from start to finish and you should have a happy client and
a check in your hands.
Step-1. Find The Right Freelance Job
As a freelance professional with unique skills and expertise,
you can find the right freelance job from a number of sources.
The optimal solution is to find jobs through referrals — from
your previous clients, another freelancer, or industry contact.
If this isn’t possible, spread the word through local
associations or freel
ance networks for referrals.
The Internet is a good source for online
freelance jobs. However, most of these freelanc
e sites work in a reverse auction manner; that is, you bid
on the jobs. The bad part about bidding is that it drives the
prices way down, so you may not earn well, but it is one way to
get started. Visit Freelanc
eToday to find 100’s of freelance jobs in several categories
posted on most popular sites.
Step-2. Place Your Freelance Bid
Before you place your freelance bid, you need to know:
What price
to bid and How to write a winning proposal
As you attempt to create an attractive, profitable, and
competitive bid price, there are certain specific questions that
you should ask yourself. These include:
1. Have you done similar work in the past? If so, simply base
your bid on the amount you’ve received previously.
2. What is the going rate for such a project with large firms,
professional organizations, or colleagues in the same industry?
3. How long will the project take you? Use your standard hourly
rate, and calculate how long it will take you to finish the
project. Multiply the time by the rate to come up with a total
estimated project amount.
No matter how you come up with your price, if the employer has
left an estimated budget, make sure to use this as a guideline
to determine your price for the project.
Step-3. Manage Your Freelance Projects
Track Time For several reasons, it is important to use
the time log accurately. First and foremost, your client might
expect you to break down your hours for him so they are aware of
where their money is going. Secondly, in order to increase your
productivity, examining where your time is being spent is
essential. After freelancing for a while you will be able to
figure out how much to bid on projects easily from experience.
Open Up A Docket A docket is a huge envelope or sleeve to
keep all papers together. Nothing looks worse than going to a
meeting with a client and forgetting essential paperwork. In
order to escape this possibility, I suggest using a docket for
each individual project.
New Customer? If this client is working with you for the
first time you should start an information sheet on him or her.
You might not think that this is important, but if this client
ends up being a dead beat, you will be glad to have his or her
address and phone number. After you have completed this form,
place it in your docket.
Schedule Stages Of A Job Start every job with a piece of
paper. List steps that need to be involved in order finish
production. Otherwise, you might get stuck with having to go
backwards three steps in order to go forwards again. Sometimes
stages of a project will need to be reworked because you didn’t
take the time to write down your game plan. Try not to let this
happen to you.
Contract Protect yourself against problem clients by
writing a contract.
Step-4. Provide Your Freelance Professional Service
Get complete background information Ask the client to
provide the resources and information needed that will allow you
(the freelancer) to hit the ground running.
Be clear on details What are the start and finish dates?
When and how should you contact the client? At what key points
the client want to be involved?
Establish interim checkpoints This ensures the project
stays on target and allows your client to monitor its progress.
Discuss schedules Make sure the client is accessible when
needed. Be timely in submitting work for approval.
Money-Matters Keep your bid price in sight at all times.
Follow these suggestions about how to freelance well to
maximize your freelance career success.
We hear from friends or just general chat by people wanting to upgrade their cell phones. There are a number of very good reasons to upgrade but unfortunately the main reason people upgrade and without thinking is because the cell phone manufacturers are blitzing us with advertising on a daily basis with new features. I bet you can pinpoint a few friends who have new cell phones and have no idea as to how to go about using all the key features.
Upgrading your cellular phone needs some careful thinking. Many of us upgrade for fashion purposes to keep up with modern looks, understandable if you have a cell phone from the early years you might want something a little more portable and flexible in use.
Upgrading still costs money so choose wisely. There are many different upgrade options today such as Camera cell phones; PDA Cell Phones, GPS Cell phones and now we have the new line of 3G cell phones available. Honestly the best place to choose a cell phone is on the Internet, it’s your decision and not the sale rep at some store twisting your arm for a sale and blinding you with useless information.
You need to know the differences and the different functionality of the cell phones before you just go ahead and upgrade. By doing a little research you get to choose exactly what fits your needs and budget. GPS phones (Global Positioning Satellite) are widely used by people with a love for climbing or adventure walking in remote regions.
GPS phones can be pinpointed to a pacific area should you be lost or in need of assistance, long distance drivers and employers also find good use for these phones. Employers can trace the whereabouts of employees or the phones themselves if lost or stolen.
PDA phones are ideal for people who like using pocket organisers. These phones are expensive but have similar functionality to that of a PC, ideal for office workers or sales reps.
Camera phones are self explanatory, simply a phone that can take photos. There is more to camera cell phones but in a nut shell that’s what they do. They are classed more of a fun phone to have and prove very popular among all age groups. Once you have an idea of what the different phones do and can’t do you are better placed to come up with an upgrade decision.
Flip phones are very popular at the moment, these are the phones with the pop up screen, they are available in Camera, PDA and GPS format but be aware they are not for everyone, I personally do not find them very user friendly but that’s my opinion, I like to just answer the incoming call without messing around with the phone.
The phones on today’s market a very light weight compared to the large style from years ago, those of you who still use these type phones today should look at upgrading and come to terms with the technology of today.
General advice:
If you experience a bad reception on a regular basis you should check with your cell phone carrier first before changing the phone, most of the time it tends to be a bad signal due to the cellular phone carrier rather than the fault of your phone, many people just jump and buy the phone only to find that they same problem is reoccurring. In certain area’s you may need a small cell phone antenna or booster costing very little to get a better reception.
Powering down very quickly:
If you find that your cell phone powers down too quickly the chances are you need a new battery, once again many people exchange the whole cell phone instead of just the battery. The conception that batteries are almost as costly as the cell phone is untrue. You can get batteries at very competitive pricing along with third party battery from different suppliers.
No Power:
If you find that you have no power in your cell phone even after charging for hours, it could be one of three things. Firstly the battery in the cell phone could be completely dead, secondly the recharge supply unit could have a problem and last of all it could be the cell phone itself, by eliminating the first two you could save yourself money. It may all seem common sense but you would be surprised at how many good working cell phones are thrown out.
About The Author
Declan Tobin is a successful freelance writer providing advice for consumers on purchasing a variety of Prepaid Phone Plans which includes Cell prepaid plans, Carriers, and more! His numerous articles provide a wonderfully researched resource of interesting and relevant information for all of your phone interests and needs. http://www.no1-in-cell-phones.com.
Do you really need a website?
A Website is a powerful, resourceful, low cost, low maintenance tool to sell your product and services. And most important, it is reached worldwide.
If focused and marketed properly a website can bring a huge amount of traffic and sales.
Update your Website on a regular basis. Create a Blog.
The Fox Internet Marketing Solutions
A Division of the Fox Advertising Agency, Inc.
9114 58th Dr. East, Suite 103
Bradenton, FL 34202
Phone: 941.758.2404
FAX: 941.756.6484
Email: info@foxadv.com
Website: http://www.foxadv.com/
A funny thing happened to me three months ago. I decided to practice what I preach and publish a new article online. Hey, its easy to get sidetracked on other projects online and drop or forget about what works. We all do it.
It started when I was in a particularly good mood and itching to write about something I could publish online. I decided to post it for free on four article hosting and distribution sites. The four I chose were PermanentAds.net, GoArticles.com, Article-Emporium.com and EzineArticles.com.
The article I chose to write about was about buying tools online. Later, on April 28, I wrote an article about the early warning signs of mesothelioma cancer. After a couple of weeks of writing each article I decided to beginning checking Google and Yahoo’s search results to determine how many urls were displaying my two articles. The absolutely fantastic results obtained thus far are staggering.
My article about tools, with the title “Start Your Next Home Improvement Project With Tools and Hardware You Buy Online” now appears on 127 different Google search results (or url addresses). You can check it yourself. Just go to Google’s search box and type in the title of my article, being sure to put quote ” marks before and after the title. Like this:
“Start Your Next Home Improvement Project With Tools and Hardware You Buy Online”
When I ran it today, June 25, 2005, Google shows 127 listings.
The same type of search on Yahoo showed they have cached the article at 36 different url addresses.
My mesothelioma article, titled “Mesothelioma Cancer: Early Warning Signs and Causes” is currently showing up at 87 different urls on Google and 50 different urls on Yahoo. Once again, go to both search engines and search for “Mesothelioma Cancer: Early Warning Signs and Causes” with quotes at the beginning and end of the search string.
Each one of these article postings contain my author’s resource box, with links back to one or more of my websites.
Tell me, do you know of a better way to get free publicity to your site, better yet — to get free inbound links to your site without having to request or search for reciprocal links. And the beauty of these links is that they are coming from websites who focus on related topics or subjects — giving further creditability to them by the search engines.
If I had to pick just one article hosting and distribution site to post to I would pick PermanentAds.net because it has a large network of over 400 websites that could potentially host and distribute your article, depending on its keyword content. My second choice would be Article-Emporium.com.
Before you surf on to another website give free article posting some thought. I’m still amazed at how fast my article of just 57 days ago has spread like wildfire and being picked up by Google on 87 different url addresses, or how my article about tools 3 months ago is now showing up on 127 sites. I really can’t think of a better deal in advertising. Not just any advertising — but FREE ADVERTISING!!!
Visit PermanentAds.net now and see how many topics they cover that will publisch and distribute your site listings and articles. You’ll be amazed at how fast this free Internet marketing method works.
About the Author
Craig Whitley is a published author of numerous articles and ebooks on the subjects of Internet commerce, web marketing and search engine optimization. He owns and manages several websites, including CostCutterDomains.com. Mr. Whitley regularly writes reviews of websites like PermanentAds.net to introduce web surfers and Internet entrepreneurs to interesting, useful and unique online resources.
Pruning your roses is one of the most needed and the most annoyingly difficult tasks that goes with proper rose care. It takes a steady hand the proper procedure to ensure the best possible roses that you can get.
Pruning your roses is basically the act of getting rid of dead and damaged pieces, and teaching the new growth to grow in the correct outward facing direction. That just means that you are training them to grow facing the outside of the shrub or bush. This gives your roses the correct amount of circulating air to thrive in.
Here is a list of the proper techniques to guide through the pruning process.
* Soak your pruning shears in equal parts of water and bleach. This will help to protect your roses from diseases and insects.
* Pruning in the early spring, just after the snow melts is best. However you want to do it before any new growth appears. The best time would be when the buds are swelled, or red.
* Hand shears are the best tool for pruning the smaller branches. (about 4 1/2 inches thick) Loppers are best for the branches that are thicker or the thickness of a pencil. This will make it easier. You should use a heavy pair of rose gloves to avoid the thorns.
* You want to get rid of the winter protection that you set up like cones, burlap, and mounded soil.
* You want to get rid of the dead wood first. (That would be the black wood that is black inside as well as out).
* Next, you wan to get rid of the thinner wood, which is the stems that are thinner than a pencil.
* Cut all of the branches that cross or overlap one another because these are often diseased or will become so.
* Keep the remaining five healthy branches. These are often dark green. You will want to make your roses fluted or vases shaped, with an open center, and keep them from touching or overlapping each other.
* Cut your healthy canes to be about one to four feet long, or whatever size that you prefer.
* Cut you roses properly so that they stay healthy. Cut so that the bud is facing outside of the bush and at a 45 degree angle that slopes inward so that you can keep promoting the outward growth.
* You should use bypass pruners that work like scissors and not the anvil types because the anvils crush the stems and make the roses more available to diseases.
About the Author
Gordon Goh is author of the free, informative website Flower Garden offering quality useful tips for Rose Gardening Tips. He is offering FREE Wealth Building Software for download
Power Personified - With Massive Arms
Remember when you were in High School. So many characters and personalities. Here’s one I think you’ll relate to.
Gillie was the Paul Bunyon of my neighborhood. He had 20-22 biceps, and a neck almost as round. Weighing 220 pounds, he stood six feet one inch and had no fat on his body. I had never seen any one like him in my life. He ambled when he walked. The kind of walk someone has when they know they have nothing to fear. His nickname was Mr Clean. He looked a lot like the cleaning icon. Except Gillie had no earring.
On the baseball diamond, Gillie was awesome. His fungo shots to the outfielders in pre game warm-ups touched parts of the sky usually reserved for small engine planes. He scared the other team. He looked like Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killabrew and Ted Kluzewski all rolled into one.
Smacking a softball was where Gillie excelled. His shots were legendary. He was one of a handful that hit the ball over the right field fence. The fence was 270 - 280 feet away and climbed 40 feet high. He was the only person I ever saw that hit a ball that soared over that fence onto Goldsmith Avenue. His hits seemed to gain height as they cleared the fence.
For me, Gillie always represented strength, dedication and just being a real good guy. He never used his size and strength to put others down. It was his way of building himself up.
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. His passions have included; playing, watching, reading about, evaluating, and coaching the game he adores. Check out his baseball ezine. For inspiring quotes, unusual statistics and most of all heartwarming stories go here.
http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=ezart
Christmas (yes I said the ‘C’ word — Ho! Ho! Ho!) is just around the corner and consumer spending is once again at an all time high. For those of you that are struggling from the effects of bad credit the holiday season offers a small window of opportunity which, if acted upon, could open many possibilities for you in the New Year.
People often ask me why the holidays are the best time to repair their credit. Well, I have a theory. In preparation for the flood of holiday credit applications creditors shift gears and temporarily transfer dispute resolution staff to other divisions to handle the unusually high volume of new business. Being that the creditors make much more money increasing their customer base it seems understandable that they justify slacking off in the dispute department for a month or so each year. This temporary trend allows for your disputes to go unanswered which results in the items being deleted.
Another more obvious reason is that the holiday season is a time of vacation, cheer, forgiveness, charity and new beginnings. This combination tips the scales in your favor in a measurable way. It is common knowledge among credit professionals that this time of the year is perfect for disputing credit items on your credit report. The law states that if you dispute something on your credit report the credit bureaus have thirty days in which to verify that the item is valid or remove it. The vision of an understaffed creditor’s office with phones ringing off the hook and overworked employees surfing the net for last minute gift comes to mind. Your chances are great.
Now comes the hard part. Where do you start? Allow me to point you in the right direction. While each major credit bureau (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) has online disputing methods we have found them to be more trouble than they are worth, often taking hours to dredge through and providing dismal results when you do. Besides, you want a paper trail and return receipt snail mail is still the only way. What we recommend you do is obtain an inexpensive how to book or even better, an e-book with templates and devote an hour to doing it yourself. We have one featured at our website (link below) that is a 1,2,3, kit designed to have you finished in about an hour.
You may also choose to pay money for a company to assist you. This is also a good option. There are many reputable credit repair companies online. Before you do that and commit to $50 to $100 per month for twelve to eighteen months do yourself a favor and check out how easy it is to do it yourself.
Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Copyright December 2005, yourcreditcures.com, USA
Tad MacPherson is a credit specialist with years of experience assisting consumers with repairing, restoring and reestablishing their credit. Get free advice and valuable credit tools at http://www.yourcreditcures.com.
ATTENTION Ezine Editors/Site Owners Feel free to reprint this article in it’s entirety in your ezine or on your website as long as you leave all the links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above.
Where two people pledge their love for one another in a service that is recognized by law, it is called a wedding; many changes to the service have occurred in recent years. Whatever the background and history to marriage, it is still a legal union between two people; a legal document called a marriage license must be signed before the law recognizes a couple is married. Traditionally, the woman getting married is the bride and the man the bridegroom usually abbreviated to groom; once they are married they known as the wife and husband.
The White Wedding
Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Many people, whether religious or not, still prefer to have a traditional ceremony performed by a recognized religious minister in a Church of their choice. The traditional white wedding as we know it is really only a service that is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and some other Commonwealth countries.
Multiple Weddings
A rare type of marriage is where two separate couples decide to marry at the same time; ceremonies such as this are usually instigated by siblings who like the idea of a simultaneous marriage.
Weddings in a Foreign Country
These days it is easy for couples to arrange a wedding in another country and have the guests travel to them with the honeymoon continuing afterwards; although the idea of a isolated island beach may be your idea of a destination wedding, it doesn’t actually mean you have to travel outside your own country.
Weddings over a Weekend
Some couples decide to have their wedding over the course of a weekend and this can ensure the occasion is less stressful for all concerned. Other occasions come under the term of either themed or special activity which usually takes place over a weekend period. Lodging is usually at the same facility and couples often host a Sunday brunch for the weekend’s finale.
