Brain Frez

Many people get assigned to lead music for a small- or medium-sized church, not knowing much about what they’re doing. They may have just a little experience, or none at all, in playing an instrument, singing, or leading a congregation in worship. It’s great to be able to serve, but many people feel overwhelmed when assigned to such a position. They don’t know where to turn to find resources to help with their new responsibilities.

Sometimes, there’s someone in the church who can play a keyboard or guitar or other instrument to accompany singing. Sometimes there’s at least someone who can at least plunk out enough notes to help the crowd carry a tune. And sometimes there might be a person or a few who can sing on pitch strongly enough to carry a tune so the whole congregation can follow. But sometimes there’s not even a person with any of these skills.

That is where pre-recorded accompaniment can come in handy. Several sources sell CDs with recordings of familiar hymn tunes to play over speakers to accompany singing. So buying a decent stereo and speaker system can help to provide music.

For those who do have musical talent and the right equipment to record quality sound, this provides an opportunity to make resources available. What about recording hymns and worship songs to an mp3 format and making them available on music flash drives? That way, a church can put the flash drive into a computer that’s connected to the sound system and play the congregational accompaniment from that. Or if they don’t have a computer/speaker combo available in church, they can be allowed to burn files from the flash drive to CD for personal use.

They could have a custom layout designed with access to hymn mp3s, as well as lyrics in PDF format for printing and in Powerpoint for projecting on a screen. Every week, the music leader could plan the songs he wants. He could use them straight from the custom flash drive, or copy the files to a computer, or burn them to a CD for use.

The customer base could be broadened to include large churches, which could request a quantity of flash drives containing the songs they want, to give to music leaders or even a whole choir group so they can have access to printable music. CF Gear could work with a music publishing group or with a church to design a flash drive layout that would include whatever they need for their purposes. They’ve already worked with an independent music distributor, Indiedrive, in creating a solution for distributing music. Who’s to say that model couldn’t be modified for a ministry too?

A ministry could find flash drives a great help in providing music accompaniment for services. Consider CF Gear’s top-rated services for your ministry.

There is a children’s home on the north side of Tampa, Florida called Hope Children’s Home (HCH). That is the home for a couple hundred kids from all walks of life. It is a fantastic organization that raises kids that cannot be reared in normal homes for various reasons. The Florida Department of Children and Family Services has entrusted several children to the care of HCH.

The facility is built on a couple hundred acres with plenty of room for the kids to run and play and learn about nature. They have several dormitories, kitchens, a gymnasium, guest quarters and staff housing. They have their own school on the premise and a doctor who visits weekly.

Each year a group of kids from HCH visit our church and they sing for us. They cart along an electronic keyboard that has background music to the songs they sing recorded on it. They should really look into loading those songs on a music flash drive and bringing that with them. It would save them a whole bunch of trouble. They could simply plug in the flash drive into the computer in the church and we could pipe the music back through the sound board for them.

When they visit, they usually have about five or six kids tell how they arrived at HCH. It is heartbreaking to hear some of the little ones (as young as three years old) tell how daddy had left momma and she couldn’t care for them so she took them to HCH and left them there. I guess I have a tender spot in my heart for kids who have been abandoned by their parents. I just want to scoop each one up and take them home with me and give them everything my two spoiled brats have.

Each year our youth group tries to collect enough can goods; turkey’s and hams to take to them before Thanksgiving. Our goal is to be able to provide their Thanksgiving entirely and for them to have enough turkeys and ham left over to last throughout the year. This year will be no exception. I’m excited to see if we can gather as much food as we did in previous years since many people in our church are suffering themselves because of the lousy economy. It will certainly be a sacrificial effort on most people’s part.

I’m hoping that when the youth group takes a trip up to HCH to deliver the food, they open it up for the church people to go along with them. I went last year and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I love talking to the kids and finding out what’s going on in their lives. Each kid seems well taken care of and adjusted just fine to the circumstances they are in. That’s important and I find it reassuring that they will grow up and be profitable members in society.

Earlier this week I was in a high-dollar condo doing a packing job. The residents were moving out and they had quite a substantial amount of items that needed to be packed and moved. I had to chuckle to myself as I passed through the gated entrance at just how much insecurity these people have. First there’s the coded gate entrance, then the coded garage entrance and then of course, the locked condo entrance. And yet with all these codes and locks, they would not be able to prevent someone entering in their home if that person was of the mind to do so. What is even more shocking is just how much money these people pay for such security. It’s unreal.

I suppose I’m a down-to-earth type of person when it comes to my finances and how they are spent on security. One simple lock on each of my doors, a limited knowledge of the law, and six bullets in my revolver along with an I-Never-Miss track record, pretty much insures my security. Of course, some of these precautions are only good when I’m at home. However, there is another item that I would like to purchase in the future. Although I wouldn’t use it as a burglar deterrent, that is how it is marketed and rightly so. The Home Automation Store sells the X10 Eagle Eye Motion Sensor which automatically turn lights and appliances off and on! When motion is detected, these sensors signal your X10-enabled lights and appliances. It automatically lights up dark spaces like your basement, attic or back porch. Combine it with the X10 Dimmer Switch and you’ve got a pretty good deterrent.

Not only would these items be good for home protection but also good for the elderly homeowner. The X10 Eagle Eye Motion Sensor would enable the path to the doorway to be lit when they are outside, thus preventing falls. It would also light up the outside should some wanted or unwanted person arrive.

I would like to have the dimmer switches put in my home. They create such a warming effect when the lights are dimmed, thus welcoming guests and residents alike. My bedroom light can be brutal at night time. Even a dimmer switch in the bathroom would be a welcomed feature. I don’t wake up easily and the glaring bright lights above the vanity just make me want to keep my eyes shut while I’m showering and getting ready for the day.

Of course, all these nice X10 products can be hooked together to one X10 Wireless Remote (they even have one which is as “thin as a credit card”) which is the king of all modern conveniences. Just think of how nice it would be to go upstairs to bed and never question whether the garage light was turned off. The wireless remote would answer the question for you. Give yourself and your family a great Christmas gift…check out The Home Automation Store.