Normandy

Today we played at the Omaha Beach memorial in France. It was pretty moving. Here are some pics.

Des

Switzerland, Part 3

More photos from my current trip to Switzerland and France. Most of these were from our second day in Zurich, and include some wonderful shots from supper that evening as well as the venue for that night's concert.

There are also a couple of shots from our day in Basel. If you look real close, you may even see an alpine horn of "Ricola" commerical fame.

Grace,

Des

What's the Flip?

Kristy and I (more her, than me, really) had the chance this weekend to conduct a Regional Junior Youth Councils for several kids in the immediate area (and some that came from much further away). The material we used was from Willow Creek and was called "Flipt" - the idea being that Jesus flips your life around.

It was a really cool experience and I think the kids really enjoyed themselves.

Here are a few pics of the set and the mini-worshippers!

Grace,

Des

splicr getting closer

Hey.

There's a little more info at http://www.opensourcearmy.org regarding splicr. So check that out. We're getting closer . . . I'm waiting on the final bits of a web server and then it should be ready to go.

Check it out and let me know what you think

Grace,

Des

New Podcast (more to come!)

Greetings,

There's a new podcast that will have media from around the Carolinas division! The Divisional Media Podcast is available from iTunes or other readers at the following link:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=250030236

If you use something other than iTunes to get your feeds (like the great democracy player, for example), you can point that at this address:

http://www.salarmy.org/podcasts/nscPodcast.xml

Enjoy. I'll be posting all sorts of different content here. We've got our Music Festival/Main Streen Ministries Conference in about a week, so there will definitely be some stuff from there going up.

For now, I've been posting the sermons from Youth Councils to get us started as well as a highlight video.

Blessings,

Des

Kristy's Make Up Artist Debut

This weekend at Youth Councils, Kristy was asked to turn one of the officers into a caveman for a Geico.com spoof (hopefully you've seen the commercials). She did an AMAZING job. Check out her blog for her story.

Here's a couple of shots!

splicr: the open source video project

I've been working a little more on a concept for a project that is coming along nicely. I'm hoping to really be able to knock some stuff out soon and hopefully promo it at one of the big events coming up soon that I'm involved with.

More (obviously) to come. Enjoy the artwork.

Grace,

Des

Sally Ann and her Strange Friends

I need some help.

I'm trying to get a list of old (or new) Salvation Army terminology (we don't make much terminiology up any more . . . .do we?). No, I'm not trying to compile it into a book or develop a sermon series or make money at the army's expense (yet . . . . no, no, I kid, I kid). Rather, I'm simply looking for some inspiration.

I've also been playing with some Photoshop toys that I found a few days ago.

As you can see.

In any case, I'm in need of lots of good ol' army terminology. It doesn't matter how obscure . . . in fact, the more obscure, the better.

Thanks.

Grace,

Des

the open source video project - coming soon

There is a new project coming. The open source video project is a collaborative effort to build a worship experience. You'll be hearing more about how you can participate in it soon.

Get thinking about how you can portray worship through a multimedia presentation.

Grace,

Des

the CORE

So, I've started in on a new project:

http://www.thecorevideos.com.

It's army specific - but I think it's going to be hot.

Des

Calling all Salvationists to an Open-Source Army

Attention Salvationists:

Your help is desperately needed.

For a couple of years now, some of us (in the USA South at least) have been crying out the mantra, "I am the Salvation Army," or "WE ARE the Salvation Army" in response to the thought that us soldiers are members of an organization that has become short-sighted at its upper levels. Whatever you believe about that statement, it is true that the Salvation Army will ultimately live or die by its soldiers, it's ground troops that either are or are not doing the leg work. We all have a role.

Those roles have the potential to cause reverberations that could shake the foundation of the army. Our actions, our thoughts, our passions have the potential to set of a nervous system response that will flow all the way the head of our army.

Your input is important - even when it seems as though it has not.

The concept of "Open-Source" has been around in software development for years. Essentially, it represents a community of people with different backgrounds contributing to a joint project resulting in a product that benefits the entirety of the community and the world at large. I know you want input into our army. We have griped and complained long enough. But that's the wrong approach.

You, no matter who you are, represent some of the most valuable assets the Army has. You are on the ground. You have a feel for the lay of the land. You know what some of the real needs are. If you're like me, you don't need the army or anyone to tell you what needs to be done because you can see it first hand. That requires you to act.

But you want to bring the Army to these new places too. You don't want to see the army die from stagnation.

There are lots of ways to contribute. Find a need and meet it - it may be simple or it may be crazy - ask God and your friends for help and then do it. Talk. Don't just argue or gripe or complain. Talk to inspire others (corps officers, soldiers, atheists, goths, skaters, etc). Defeat hell on earth by spreading the riches of heaven.

There's another project that involves thinking (a secret op that I'm letting you in on): for now, I'm calling it The Salvation Army Core. Read this and tell me what it means:

We believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments were given by inspiration of God and that they only constitute the Divine rule of Christian faith and practice.

Dont' just tell me what it literally means . . . but what does it mean in terms of action? What do we do with this? Because we believe that to be true, how does it manifest itself in our lives from day to day? We have known (or should have an idea) what this literally means for a long time. Have you thought about how it translates into action? What's faith without action?

Claim it. Foot soldiers, you have the power to win or lose the battle. Leadership can do some things to reposition the troops, but who is fighting the battles?

Grace,

Desmond