I did something yesterday I haven’t done in a really long time.
I lost my temper, big time....
----This blog entry has been removed by the author. I got tired of looking back and being reminded of this time that I stumbled. If you want to know what happened, comment and I'll be glad to tell you the story.
-Shawn
Friday, April 24, 2009
Movin' On Up
I blogged yesterday about Mrs. Annette's retirement.
I learned last week that there was one advantage for me that was a result of her decision. I'm getting her old office. To understand how much I appreciate this move I need to tell you about my old office first.
- 10' X 10' room.
- Formerly used as storage.
- Door with a doorknob, but no lock. (Before my time here, someone kept locking the storage closet door and they didn't have a key so they just took the lock out leaving a hole in the doorknob.)
- Gray walls (all the other office walls and hallsway are painted "mocha".
- No Windows
- And the highight of everyday... I had an adjoining wall to the men's restroom, so I knew when anyone went in there and whether they flushed the urinal or toilet, because they sounded different. (I should have rented that space to "The Michael Scott Paper Company" - shoutout to all "The Office" fans.)
But thankfully those days are over. Here's my new office.....
Complete with:
- large window
- Mocha walls
- Wrap around desk
- 12' x 18'
- and most importantly, no adjoining restrooms.
I've almost completed the move-in process.
Now I just have to replace the flower picture behind my desk with this framed piece of art...
I learned last week that there was one advantage for me that was a result of her decision. I'm getting her old office. To understand how much I appreciate this move I need to tell you about my old office first.
- 10' X 10' room.
- Formerly used as storage.
- Door with a doorknob, but no lock. (Before my time here, someone kept locking the storage closet door and they didn't have a key so they just took the lock out leaving a hole in the doorknob.)
- Gray walls (all the other office walls and hallsway are painted "mocha".
- No Windows
- And the highight of everyday... I had an adjoining wall to the men's restroom, so I knew when anyone went in there and whether they flushed the urinal or toilet, because they sounded different. (I should have rented that space to "The Michael Scott Paper Company" - shoutout to all "The Office" fans.)
But thankfully those days are over. Here's my new office.....
Complete with:
- large window
- Mocha walls
- Wrap around desk
- 12' x 18'
- and most importantly, no adjoining restrooms.
I've almost completed the move-in process.
Now I just have to replace the flower picture behind my desk with this framed piece of art...
Thursday, April 23, 2009
He Works Hard For The Money
- Note: This blog was written in late February. But, I am just now posting it because I've just gotten copies of the pictures to include with it. -
Friday was probably the most interesting day I’ve had working at Oxylance since I started here in Aug of 2007.
When I started I was told my job responsibilities would involve two major responsibilities.
1.) Book flatbed trucks to haul orders to customers
2.) Inside Sales –Answer phone calls from our distributors and input orders into the sales system so the plant can manufacture the needed products. I am constantly answering questions, explaining proper use of our products, and giving out pricing information.
I’ve had many folks ask me what we do at Oxylance. If you’re interested, check out this video. We make these burning bars and the items needed to operate them properly.)
Another thing I was told was that I’d be working closely with one other staff member who also handles inside sales. Mrs. Annette Cox. A lot of people in the office call her “Mama”. Annette started working for Oxylance 7 years ago knowing that’d she’d be at retirement age within two years. Well here we are, 7 years later and she’s still working. That is until Friday. Friday was her retirement day. She’ll be 70 in April and decided it was time for her to enjoy her grandkids more often. She will be greatly missed. I’ll miss her because we’ve gotten very close during this time. We’ve been working together now for over a year and a half and I understand why people call her Mama. She’s so loving and kind, but doesn’t mind telling you what you need to hear every now and then. For a while I thought of her like a grandmother. But now that I know her better, she’s more like the crazy aunt that you love to go visit.
I’ll also miss her because we’re not replacing her. I’ll be taking on her duties in addition to the responsibilities I already had, so my days are about to get much busier. You probably won’t see as many blog post or facebook updates in the weeks to come. I imagine I’ll be on the phone more and trying to handle all the customer calls instead of the half that I’ve been used to.
This day was also interesting for another reason. Friday was the last day of the month so it was very busy. So busy in fact, that a prior offer I’d made was brought up and taken advantage of. A year ago I said “If we’re ever busy and you guys need help in the plant, just let me know. I’m not afraid of a little hard work.” Well our plant manager remembered that comment so all of the sales staff, except for Mrs. Annette, were “invited” to come out and help in the plant. So I spent 6 hrs Friday putting couplers onto lance pipe.
See, I can do more than sit at a computer all day. =)
Friday was probably the most interesting day I’ve had working at Oxylance since I started here in Aug of 2007.
When I started I was told my job responsibilities would involve two major responsibilities.
1.) Book flatbed trucks to haul orders to customers
2.) Inside Sales –Answer phone calls from our distributors and input orders into the sales system so the plant can manufacture the needed products. I am constantly answering questions, explaining proper use of our products, and giving out pricing information.
I’ve had many folks ask me what we do at Oxylance. If you’re interested, check out this video. We make these burning bars and the items needed to operate them properly.)
Another thing I was told was that I’d be working closely with one other staff member who also handles inside sales. Mrs. Annette Cox. A lot of people in the office call her “Mama”. Annette started working for Oxylance 7 years ago knowing that’d she’d be at retirement age within two years. Well here we are, 7 years later and she’s still working. That is until Friday. Friday was her retirement day. She’ll be 70 in April and decided it was time for her to enjoy her grandkids more often. She will be greatly missed. I’ll miss her because we’ve gotten very close during this time. We’ve been working together now for over a year and a half and I understand why people call her Mama. She’s so loving and kind, but doesn’t mind telling you what you need to hear every now and then. For a while I thought of her like a grandmother. But now that I know her better, she’s more like the crazy aunt that you love to go visit.
I’ll also miss her because we’re not replacing her. I’ll be taking on her duties in addition to the responsibilities I already had, so my days are about to get much busier. You probably won’t see as many blog post or facebook updates in the weeks to come. I imagine I’ll be on the phone more and trying to handle all the customer calls instead of the half that I’ve been used to.
This day was also interesting for another reason. Friday was the last day of the month so it was very busy. So busy in fact, that a prior offer I’d made was brought up and taken advantage of. A year ago I said “If we’re ever busy and you guys need help in the plant, just let me know. I’m not afraid of a little hard work.” Well our plant manager remembered that comment so all of the sales staff, except for Mrs. Annette, were “invited” to come out and help in the plant. So I spent 6 hrs Friday putting couplers onto lance pipe.
See, I can do more than sit at a computer all day. =)
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I'm Gonna Get Fired
Here's the article I worte for this month's church newsletter, "The Builder".
I might get fired. =)
One of my favorite things about Sundays is standing around after the service talking with people. There are two subjects that almost always come up. The first, is my attire that day. “I see you wore a coat & tie today? Did you wake up too late to iron your shirt?” (The answer is usually "yes".) The second most talked about topic is the songs we sang during the services. I recently heard about a group of people who gathered in the parking lot after a service. As they were talking and hanging out, they began discussing a song we rarely sing at Westwood “I’ll Fly Away”. Specifically, they were discussing whether it was appropriate for use in a worship service. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the song. To summarize, the songs basically says: When I die, I’m going to fly to heaven and sing hallelujah forever. So, I began to wonder that same question myself. Is this an appropriate song for worship? My first concern was with the word “fly”. Will we actually fly? This research led me to Psalm 90:10 where it says we live for 70 or 80 years then we “fly away”. In the Hebrew, the word used there is `uwph which means "to fly". So, yes. According to Psalms, we die and then we fly. How cool is that?
My second thought about this song was about what isn’t said in the song. There’s no mention of God, Jesus, His grace, His mercy, or anything that God has done. The only time God is mentioned in the song is when we sing about His “celestial shore”. The lyrics don’t really speak of God or to God. So I would have to say “no”. This is not a worship song. It is simply a song of celebration about our future. Any glory given to God is implied in the fact that we will "fly away" to heaven because we have a relationship with him and we’ll sing Hallelujah (Praise the Lord).
So, now I’m left with the question of “is it appropriate for use in a service?” My answer is “it depends on the service”. I think there are times when we gather in fellowship and the setting is perfect for us to sing a celebration song such as this one. But when we gather on Sundays to worship, I think I’d like to use all the time we have together to sing about and to our Heavenly Father. I think you'd agree that's the best way we can spend our time together. Now I’m just left to wonder if there’s a biblical reference to an “Old Gospel Ship”.
One other thing I think has to be mentioned...Remember that group in the parking lot I told you about? As they discussed this song and some things they’d like to see in our worship services, a bird left a nice present on one of their shoulders. I’m not saying that means anything. I’m just saying …
Hallelujah By & By,
Shawn
I might get fired. =)
One of my favorite things about Sundays is standing around after the service talking with people. There are two subjects that almost always come up. The first, is my attire that day. “I see you wore a coat & tie today? Did you wake up too late to iron your shirt?” (The answer is usually "yes".) The second most talked about topic is the songs we sang during the services. I recently heard about a group of people who gathered in the parking lot after a service. As they were talking and hanging out, they began discussing a song we rarely sing at Westwood “I’ll Fly Away”. Specifically, they were discussing whether it was appropriate for use in a worship service. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the song. To summarize, the songs basically says: When I die, I’m going to fly to heaven and sing hallelujah forever. So, I began to wonder that same question myself. Is this an appropriate song for worship? My first concern was with the word “fly”. Will we actually fly? This research led me to Psalm 90:10 where it says we live for 70 or 80 years then we “fly away”. In the Hebrew, the word used there is `uwph which means "to fly". So, yes. According to Psalms, we die and then we fly. How cool is that?
My second thought about this song was about what isn’t said in the song. There’s no mention of God, Jesus, His grace, His mercy, or anything that God has done. The only time God is mentioned in the song is when we sing about His “celestial shore”. The lyrics don’t really speak of God or to God. So I would have to say “no”. This is not a worship song. It is simply a song of celebration about our future. Any glory given to God is implied in the fact that we will "fly away" to heaven because we have a relationship with him and we’ll sing Hallelujah (Praise the Lord).
So, now I’m left with the question of “is it appropriate for use in a service?” My answer is “it depends on the service”. I think there are times when we gather in fellowship and the setting is perfect for us to sing a celebration song such as this one. But when we gather on Sundays to worship, I think I’d like to use all the time we have together to sing about and to our Heavenly Father. I think you'd agree that's the best way we can spend our time together. Now I’m just left to wonder if there’s a biblical reference to an “Old Gospel Ship”.
One other thing I think has to be mentioned...Remember that group in the parking lot I told you about? As they discussed this song and some things they’d like to see in our worship services, a bird left a nice present on one of their shoulders. I’m not saying that means anything. I’m just saying …
Hallelujah By & By,
Shawn
Monday, April 20, 2009
Kids Say...
Been a while since I've blogged. Life has been very busy. But this was worth sharing...
Sunday night, while I was at church, my wife and kids were hanging with my in-laws. Unfortunately, there were tornados in the area, so weather coverage was on TV the entire time. At one point, Ethan walked in the room and said
"Hey, Papa! Your weatherman looks like my daddy!"
What do you think? I don't see it.
I get told that I look familiar a lot.
Personally, I think all us big guys with brown hair must look alike.
And by the way, the piercings aren't real.
Sunday night, while I was at church, my wife and kids were hanging with my in-laws. Unfortunately, there were tornados in the area, so weather coverage was on TV the entire time. At one point, Ethan walked in the room and said
"Hey, Papa! Your weatherman looks like my daddy!"
What do you think? I don't see it.
I get told that I look familiar a lot.
Personally, I think all us big guys with brown hair must look alike.
And by the way, the piercings aren't real.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Inconceivable!!!
Check out these messages I got today...
Shawn Stinson,
Congrats on winning the NCAA Pool at TheWorshipCommunity.Com!
$10.00 iTunes Gift Card
So as it turns out, you don't have to know anything about Basketball to win a bracket tournament.
But wait, there's more..
I also got this message:
Hey-
Woo hoo - you won the "Godology" drawing on my blog. Send me your mailing address and I will get it out to you ASAP. Congrats, and most of all - thanks for being a part of the community over on theblog!
For the Kingdom,
www.fredmckinnon.com
Yep, I won this book....
What a weird day. I won two contests.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
Hmmm?
Shawn Stinson,
Congrats on winning the NCAA Pool at TheWorshipCommunity.Com!
$10.00 iTunes Gift Card
So as it turns out, you don't have to know anything about Basketball to win a bracket tournament.
But wait, there's more..
I also got this message:
Hey-
Woo hoo - you won the "Godology" drawing on my blog. Send me your mailing address and I will get it out to you ASAP. Congrats, and most of all - thanks for being a part of the community over on theblog!
For the Kingdom,
www.fredmckinnon.com
Yep, I won this book....
What a weird day. I won two contests.
Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket.
Hmmm?
Friday, April 3, 2009
“Never Go To Pluto. It’s A Mickey Mouse Planet.”
I was reading Mark Batterson's Blog earlier today and he briefly talked about Walt Disney and his commitment to creativity and excellence. I've never been accused of being very creative, but his blog made me think about the creativity I use in my position as a worship leader. I'm given four opportunities each week (Sunday AM, PM, midweek service, and choir rehearsal) to use my creativity to find ways to help people express their love, thanks, and praise to God. While I strive each week to stay out of a rut, I know there's so much more we (I) could be doing in our worship services.
Sometimes I'll have an idea and decide that it's too "out there", that it might hinder someone more than assist in their worship. I've also felt before that by trying new ideas, the service can become more like a show than a worship service and each week people will wonder "What is going to happen today." When I have tried different things before, it has felt a little goofy. Like the people are thinking "Oh isn't he cute. Looks what he's trying to do today. That is not my goal. My true goal is to simply do all I can to give everyone in the room an opportunity to worship in the way that The Holy Spirit leads them to. But if I have an idea that may be a little out of the box (Don't worry. I'm not talking about snakes) maybe I should run with that idea and use a Disney like attitude with doing it the best I possibly can. Who knows, one of my goofy ideas just might be what someone is needing to see to lead them to worship.
Maybe what we need is a teacup ride in the lobby. Hmmm?
Bonus points to anyone knows who originally said the quote that I've used to title this blog. =)
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Go Tarheels!!
Last week I blogged about the NCAA Basket tournament.
Believe it or not, I might actually win one of the contests I entered.
I know already that I lost the one at work (So that's $5 gone.)
At work we judge by correct games picked, not a score based on rounds. So it's mathematically impossible for me to win even if my team (North Carolina) makes it to the finals.
But, I also entered my picks in a contest against other worship leaders through theworshipcommunity.com. In their contest, I didn't have to gamble anything, but will win a $10 itunes card if I stay in first position.
Here are the top 10 in that contest.
1 Shawn Stinson - North Carolina
2 Daryl Goard - Pittsburgh
3 Fred McKinnon - North Carolina
3 Russ Hutto - Mississippi St.
3 Susan McKinnon - Connecticut
6 david young - Louisville
7 Ronnie Burgess - Louisville
7 Stephen Canfield - Oklahoma
9 Eddy Mann - Louisville
9 James Rutherford - Memphis
I'm blown away by the fact that I might win anything regarding basketball.
You know what they say..."Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."
So join with me and keep pulling for North Carolina!!
Believe it or not, I might actually win one of the contests I entered.
I know already that I lost the one at work (So that's $5 gone.)
At work we judge by correct games picked, not a score based on rounds. So it's mathematically impossible for me to win even if my team (North Carolina) makes it to the finals.
But, I also entered my picks in a contest against other worship leaders through theworshipcommunity.com. In their contest, I didn't have to gamble anything, but will win a $10 itunes card if I stay in first position.
Here are the top 10 in that contest.
1 Shawn Stinson - North Carolina
2 Daryl Goard - Pittsburgh
3 Fred McKinnon - North Carolina
3 Russ Hutto - Mississippi St.
3 Susan McKinnon - Connecticut
6 david young - Louisville
7 Ronnie Burgess - Louisville
7 Stephen Canfield - Oklahoma
9 Eddy Mann - Louisville
9 James Rutherford - Memphis
I'm blown away by the fact that I might win anything regarding basketball.
You know what they say..."Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes."
So join with me and keep pulling for North Carolina!!
Blame the Flux Capacitor
Disclaimer: This entry is all about LOST. The greatest TV show ever made.
It finally happened. On LOST last night they referenced “Back To The Future”.
My favorite TV show discussed it’s own similiarties to one of my favorite movies. How bizarre.
I heard Hurley (Jorge Garcia) in an interview recently. (If you like LOST you should check out these guys.)
He was asked “What is your favorite line or conversation you’ve had on the show?”
His answer was “You haven’t heard it yet. We’ve filmed it, but you haven’t heard it.” I’m betting that was it.
Hearing Hurley try to think through the problems with time travel was pretty funny. Especially since he was convinced he was about to disappear.
My friend Jamie is also addicted to this show. She said this at the end of her most recent blog:
"All I want to know is WHERE IS FARADAY?"
Well I want to know a lot more than that. Here are my top 10 questions…
1.) Where Are Rose & Bernard?!!!?
2.) In the boat chase from earlier in the season, who did Juliet shoot?
3.) What’s the deal with Lock, Claire, and Jacob?
4.) Juliet clearly knows more than she’s letting on, why does everyone continue to trust her?
5.) What’s the deal with the smoke Monster? (Hopefully that will be answered on the next episode.)
6.) Where is Faraday?
7.) Is my theory right? I think Richard Alpert is the Egyptian God “RA”.
8.) Why didn’t Sun time jump along with the rest of the Oceanic 6 off of the flight to Guam?
9.) Why did Hurley come back to the Island with a guitar case?
10.) Why was Ben so beaten and bloody before flying back to the Island? I’m afraid he killed Penny. But I hope not.
Wow, this is a great show. I’m distraught that the season will end in May and it won’t be back until January.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Sunday Setlist 03-29-09
This entry is part of the Worship Leader community here.
I considered calling this blog "April Fool" due to the video that is included. I think I might need to start recording any video blogs earlier in the day. These post-midnight blogs have a tendency to make me appear to be intoxicated. Enjoy.
We had a good Sunday at Westwood: Video, worship, communion. It was a full Sunday.
Here's the set list followed by a video description.....
Video Countdown To Begin
No pause into “That’s My King” Video (Igniter Media)
Sing To The King (Tomlin)
Announcements / Fellowship
Hallelujah To The Lamb (Moen)
Grace Alone (Brown)
Offertory Prayer
D.E.P.T.H Student Drama Team: Heal Me (Aaron Jeffrey)
Message: Bro. Steve: “Redeemed! From Selfishness to Service”
Invitation: Step By Step
Communion
Closing Prayer
How was your Sunday?
Sunday Setlist 03-29-09 from Shawn Stinson on Vimeo.
I considered calling this blog "April Fool" due to the video that is included. I think I might need to start recording any video blogs earlier in the day. These post-midnight blogs have a tendency to make me appear to be intoxicated. Enjoy.
We had a good Sunday at Westwood: Video, worship, communion. It was a full Sunday.
Here's the set list followed by a video description.....
Video Countdown To Begin
No pause into “That’s My King” Video (Igniter Media)
Sing To The King (Tomlin)
Announcements / Fellowship
Hallelujah To The Lamb (Moen)
Grace Alone (Brown)
Offertory Prayer
D.E.P.T.H Student Drama Team: Heal Me (Aaron Jeffrey)
Message: Bro. Steve: “Redeemed! From Selfishness to Service”
Invitation: Step By Step
Communion
Closing Prayer
How was your Sunday?
Sunday Setlist 03-29-09 from Shawn Stinson on Vimeo.
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