I love this technology and the potential it provides for people to engage in the service like never before. However, I will say that it takes some adjusting to look across the congregation and see many people “playing” on their phones. It makes me wonder, “Are these folks following along or reading up on Facebook. Hmmm…” We’re giving everyone the benefit of the doubt.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on some of the questions below. Share your answers in the comment section.

• Does your church use YouVersion Live? If so, how do you like it? If not, is it something your church will likely adopt in the future as more and more people use smart phones?
• Mobile technology provides many wonderful opportunities for engagement during church. But where is the line between things that enhance our worship experiences and things that are simply more noise and distraction?
• What about tweeting during service?

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We’re starting a new post series, Sunday Service Synopsis, on the blog. Let’s continue the weekend church conversation by sharing your answers to a few simple questions.

1) What did your church teach on this weekend?

2) What was your take away? In other words, how will you apply the weekend teaching?

3) Anything awesome happen? Like a lot of salvations or baptisms? New songs? Etc.

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Have you ever attempted a Stop Motion project? If not, its time to bust out the digital camera and give it a shot <–pun. Here’s a short run down on how to do it.

What You’ll Need:

• A digital camera: While a DSLR provides more options, you can just as easily use a point-and-shoot. You’ll be taking about 10 photos for every second of video. That’s a lot of images. So, you may want to change your camera’s settings to reduce the image quality.
• A tripod: Its not absolutely necessary, but it does provide shot stability and consistency.
• Movie Editing Software: You’ll need some sort of basic movie editing software to animate all of your photos. If you’re on a Mac, iMovie will work. PC users, try JPEGVideo. Don’t get hung up on this one. There are plenty of free options. Just do a Google search.
• An idea: Since this is your first attempt, its best to keep it simple. You’re probably not ready to go all Tim Burton just yet. Imagine a sock inching its way across the floor. Or a Hot Wheels truck traveling down your hallway.

Step 1: Capture Your Animation

Let’s use the Hot Wheels car for our example. Suppose you want the mini-truck to “drive” from your bathroom, down the hall, over a pile of clothes, and into a kid’s room. Here’s how you can capture this using Stop Motion.

To make the vehicle seem as if its passing by, setup your tripod and place your truck on the edge of the camera’s frame. Take your first shot. Next, slightly move your truck in the direction you want it to “travel” and take another shot. Continue moving the vehicle in small, equal distance, increments. This will give the idea that the truck has driven through the frame.

Another option is to move the camera rather than the truck. Keeping the object in the same general area of the frame and moving the tripod will make it seem like you are moving with the object, instead of it passing by. What you choose to do is up to you. Try both. Continue shooting until your object has traveled the distance you want.

Step 2: Import Your Images

Download all of the images to your computer. If you’re on a Mac, you could use iPhoto. PC users, perhaps you’ll use Picasa. I’m going to assume you already know how to do this. Remember where you save the images.

Step 3: Animate Your Movie

For this example, we’ll use iMove. The same basic principles apply to whatever editing software you choose.

• Create a new movie project and give it a name.
• Tell the program where your images are stored. In iMovie, do this from the “Media” button above your timeline.
• In order for your animated short to play properly, you must tell iMovie how long you want each photo to appear before showing the next one. It’s kind of like creating a slideshow, except instead of giving each image a few seconds, you give it only a fraction of a second. The timing you choose will affect the overall tempo and length of your film. Start with about 3 framers per photo. Since videos you create in iMovie usually play at 30 frames-per-second, a setting of 3 frames-per-photo means you’ll see 10 photos every second. Now you can see why you have to shoot so many photos! Time in iMovie appears in “0:00″ format. The number before the colon is the number of seconds and the number after the colon is the number of frames (so 3 frames-per-photo looks like this “0:03″).
• This next step is very important, so stay with me! In iMovie, select all of the photographs in your stop-motion album (the quick way to do this is to click on the very first photo and then, holding down the shift key, scroll down and click on the last photo.) Now click “Show Photo Settings” and type in “0:03″ for your duration in the floating window that appears. Click the Apply button and your photos will start getting sucked into the timeline at the bottom of the window.
• Once iMovie is finished filling the timeline, play your masterpiece.

Congratulations. You’ve just created your first Stop Motion video. Pretty cool huh! Feel free to experiment with the number of frames per photo. Try speeding it up or slowing it down. Also, pick out a good audio track and add some music.

Contact me if you have any questions or would like to share your movie. I’d love to see your work.

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Without further ado, here’s my short list of celebrity crushes.

1. Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years – The show was popular when I was a boy. Kevin, played by Fred Savage, was about my age and I imagined myself as his character. My underdeveloped heart pounded inside my chest the first time he leaned in to kiss Winnie, my boyhood crush.
2. Meg Ryan – I crushed on Meg for a number of years. From her spunky and fun-loving personality in Top Gun to the way she cared for Nicholas Cage in City of Angels, I was definitely a fan.
3. Rachel Green from Friends – Rachel’s (Jennifer Aniston) adorable charm and somewhat ditzy personality drew me in. Plus, I’m a sucker for great hair and a beautiful smile.
4. Laura Bush – Hey, why not? She’s classy and has supported her husband through some tough times. That’s crush worthy in my book. I’ve told my wife on a number of occasions that she’s my Laura.
5. Pam Beesly from The Office – Pam (Jenna Fischer) is my current crush. My wife and I absolutely love the relationship between Jim and Pam. So, we crush on them as a couple. Anytime they kiss we look at each other and cheesily say “Awww.”

NOTE: Most of my crushes have been on the person’s fictional personality rather than her real life character.

YOUR TURN: Who have been your celebrity crushes? Have you crushed on a movie star, a rock star, or perhaps someone in politics? Tell us about it.

PS. Keep it dreamy and not steamy.

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More by Amena (via YouTube)

• He is Here
• Your Words
• Resurrection

The poem in the video above is entitled “You.”

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I was recently asked, “As a leader, what book has shaped you the most? And why?” While several authors and their writings instantly come to mind, there is one that has impacted me more than the rest.

During my undergraduate studies at Southeastern University, I had the opportunity to sit under Dr. Mark Rutland’s teachings several times a week. These times had a profound impact on my life. This personal experience, combined with my love for his story telling ability, makes him one of my must-read authors. Although, I will say that he’s not an easy read. A thesaurus doesn’t have a thing on this man’s vocabulary.

Dr. Rutland’s book, Character Matters, engraved in me that character, which is made up of virtues like courage, loyalty, reverence, diligence, frugality, and honesty, is far more important than my talent and competence. Charisma and basic leadership principles may open doors of opportunity, but it will be my character that sustains me. Leadership founded upon an individual’s talent alone will end in the humiliation and destruction of a person’s reputation, family, business, and ministry. This is a lesson that I’m glad to have learned early, and it is in part thanks to Character Matters.

To quote Dr. Rutland, “a life, like a block of granite carved upon with care or hacked at with reckless disregard, will, at the end, be either a masterpiece or marred rubble.”

Your Turn: What books have shaped you the most? Which ones have really challenged your way of thinking? What books would you say are must-reads? Briefly tell us about them in the comments below.

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Over the past couple weeks I’ve spent most of my free time giving DanielMosley.com an extreme makeover. Just ask my wife. She’s ready to have her husband back. Anyways, the site should be a lot more functional now. It’s not complete, but my guess is that I will always be tweaking little things here and there. Here’s a few major changes (besides the obvious).

1. Content is more accessible. There’s now a “featured” section that allows special posts to “live” longer. Popular posts will also remain on the surface.
2. I’ve added some necessary pages that the previous theme lacked: An About page and a way to Contact me.
3. There are hidden pages for Twitter visitors and new commenters.

Also, you can now subscribe via RSS or Email.

There are many other small feature tweaks. But you’ll discover those as you look around.

So, what do you think of the site? Mind helping me test it on different browsers, particularly Internet Explorer (as I don’t have that one). Please let me know if you find any errors. Also, I am VERY open to suggestions for improvement. Thanks a ton.

PS. I’m not happy w/ the temporary logo (see above). Any of you creative folks have ideas for DM?

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To use the lyrics from my favorite band, U2:

“It’s a beautiful day.
Sky falls, you feel like,
It’s a beautiful day.
Don’t let it get away.”

Blue skies hang low over western Georgia today and the temperature feels like that of early Spring. Winter has kept this outdoorsman couped up too long and I’m welcoming the sunshine again, even if it’s not here to stay.

Question: what do you like to do on a beautiful day?

Posted via email from Modern Mosley

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I’m the World’s Worst at returning rented movies. Even with a $1 deal like Redbox I still end up paying a gazillion dollars in late fees. I always forget to return the discs or I get too busy and can’t make it by the store. Sure, there’s Netflix or Blockbuster. But then the movie just sits around forever while I’m paying a monthly fee. And that my friends, is why I should only rent online. Rent. Watch. Forget about it.

I’m sure you’re good at many things, but what is one area that you can claim the title as The World’s Worst?

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