Dear MySpacers.

According to the "My Readers" link, there are 14 of you great friends who are subscribed to my blog here on MySpace. That's awesome, yet a far cry from the hundreds that read daily on my main site. I'm sorry I've neglected you. I seldom post here. I post almost everyday at www.fredmckinnon.com.

This is where I need your help.

How many of you 14 folks (and maybe there are more via RSS that aren't on the subscription list?)who read this blog on MySpace do any of the following:

1. you actually read the blogs posted here on mySpace.
2. you do NOT read on fredmckinnon.com.

I mean, basically - what I'm asking is this. Do you subscribe to and/or read on my main site? I'm trying to trim away unnecessary tasks ... and if copying my blog here on MySpace is helpful, and it gains a broader readership, it's worth it.

But if the reality is ... you don't really read it here, or you just as easily read it at FredMcKinnon.Com, I may just post a final "check out my blog at ..." post, and leave it alone.

I need your replies ... are you out there? What do you think? Do you prefer to keep it all within MySpace for your reading pleasure? (or your displeasure!).

Thanks,
Fred

(this post originally posted at www.fredmckinnon.com. Please visit my blog there and subscribe via RSS or Email Notification. Thanks!)

[ATTN: RSS readers, a special word for you at the bottom of this message!!]

Recently I was asked by Bridget Willard to participate in the "5Questions" series they are having over at TheWorshipJournals.Com.

The Worship Journals was started by a guy named Conrad Abraham ... we've never met in person, but have mutual friends from the Marietta Vineyard. I'm subscribed to their site via RSS and there are some great interviews with other worship leaders as well.

The 5 questions were:

1. What does worship mean to you?


2. What do you think happens when you worship?


3. What causes you to worship?


4. How is worship displayed in your life?


5. What is your favorite song and why

I'm grateful for the opportunity to participate in the interview. My 5 answers are posted at TWJ ... so, what are YOUR answers to these questions? If time is rushed, feel free to only answer 1 or 2 ... but everyone participate ! (that means YOU, my wonderful RSS-Readers ... c'mon ... click the link, go to the site ... leave a comment ... YOU CAN DO IT.) :-)

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Friends and Family:

It's with great excitement and pleasure that I announce the launch of v2 of TheWorshipCommunity.Com. I've been working hard behind the scenes with the help of some incredible people (such as Chris, Travis, Joel, and others) to release the 2nd phase of what is becoming a launching pad of community for worshipers.

TheWorshipCommunity.Com (TWC) is a grass-roots community of worship leaders, artists, singers, musicians, and technicians from all over the world.

"Version 1″ of TWC launched with public forums for discussions about worship, technology, songs, and planning. "Version 2″ of TWC launched in July 2008 with the new "e-zine" format including articles, how-to, reviews, featured videos, and interactive discussions.

One of the things that sets TheWorshipCommunity.Com apart is the grass-roots nature of the content. Our articles are written by contributors all over the world who are "in the trenches" …. leading worship in small, medium, and large churches. We combine exclusive content with re-published articles from what we discover as "the best of" from worship and ministry-related blogs, discussion forums, and resources.

v2 of TWC is like an interactive blog ... complete with it's own RSS feed that you can subscribe to, Twitter account that "tweets" new posts and forum threads, and open commenting on all the articles. Our launch has featured articles such as "Interactive Worship, Part 1" by John Voelz, "Worship Is A Risk" by Jeremy Killian, "Introduction to Loops" by Matt Huber (TheMonoBox), and "Google: A Free Solution for Small Budgets" by Russ Hutto, along with a review of Gateway Worship's new CD by Ben Harrell.

Would you go checkout the Featured Articles this week and leave your comments?
Would you blog about this and share it with others?
Would you consider subscribing to the RSS and/or Twitter feed to stay updated on new articles and discussions?

Finally - would you please add a link to TheWorshipCommunity.Com on your blogroll?

For the Kingdom,



Fred McKinnon

1. Communication. 2. Leadership. What do you think of for these two traits, how to implement them? Discuss @ http://www.fredmckinnon.com/myblog/2008/06/18/effective-leading/

See you there!
Fred

For the original post in its entirety, and reader comments, visit Can You Save A Life?



UPDATE: I published this blog, and went outside to mow the lawn, and heard that still, small voice say "offer to give away your music". So ... for anyone who makes a contribution of $10 or more, let me know in the comments and I'll send you the Worship Under the Stars DVD for FREE, including the postage. (limited to first 100 people, for now!)

Hey Everyone,

For the last week, I've felt compelled to do this blog. The majority of my readership is Christian, and we as Christ followers should be the ones sacrificing, giving, feeding the poor, providing shelter for the homeless, and yes ... protecting the lives of the unborn.

I have been so blessed to see how the blogging community has overwhelmingly supported such wonderful ministries such as Compassion International. This is a real-world example of how we can give up just a tiny bit of our extreme wealth to those less fortunate. (you think you aren't wealthy, check GlobalRichList.Com.

Right now, I want to make you aware of the various "Crisis Pregnancy Centers" around the world, but more specifically, the one right here in my backyard. CareNet Pregnancy Center of Coastal Georgia (ministry site | partners site) is led by one of my dear friends, Patrick Eades. He's passionate about the unborn, about spiritual wholeness, about purity and abstinence. This local center has done some amazing things in our community, and has since planted two other thriving centers in Southeastern Georgia.

Our local CareNet goes way beyond pregnancy counseling. Braveheart is their teen abstinence initiative that fills our public and private schools with hilarious, practical, and relevant presentations about sexual purity and abstinence. They have ultrasound now, and have already started offering FREE STD (Sexually Transmitted Disease) Screenings. They have programs where you can come and be educated about parenthood and earn "points" to redeem for baby clothes, cribs, formula, etc.

Most importantly - this ministry is saving lives ... both of the unborn, and the eternal lives of it's clients almost EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Here are a few stats that Patrick compiled for our local, Brunswick GA only (not including the other two campuses recently planted).

41 babies confirmed spared from abortion in past twelve months
41 clients became Christians in past twelve months
759 clients in past twelve months with 2,011 client visits
258 clients received ultrasounds with 77 at risk for abortion
60 sexually transmitted disease screenings with 16 testing positive and treated
With our current budget (which we are not meeting, so it may be a little unrealistic) the average cost per client visit $125 (actually a little more, but pretty close)

I subscribe to E-Care, Patrick's email alerts ... and almost daily there comes an email saying something like this ...

"Please pray. An abortion-minded client is meeting with our volunteers at this very moment. She is very pressured to get an abortion".

On many occassions, that email is followed by a second one like this ...

"Do you hear the angels rejoicing in heaven? The client that we mentioned earlier, after seeing her unborn child on ultrasound, chose to reject abortion and carry this child to term. Furthermore, after receiving counseling, the client accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior".

My blog friends, this happens almost EVERY SINGLE DAY.

However, with the downward turn in our economy - more people are giving less ... or not at all. Patrick has been bold and full of vision and their budget has been suffering. Not because of poor stewardship, and CERTAINLY NOT because of inflated salaries (believe me!). People just aren't able to give. Maybe they have moved on to other causes.

I want to ask you to help me. Joy and I have been faithful supporters of CareNet for as long as I can remember. But now I'm reaching out and asking you to help. I realize this local center may not be in "YOUR BACKYARD", but with our blogs, the internet, twitter, and social networking - we are ALL NEIGHBORS now.

Please consider making a donation to this ministry. I'm telling you - $5.00 via PayPal makes a difference. Can you sacrifice your latte' for one day? Can you go in your pantry, and blow the dust off a can of soup and have it with a grilled cheese sandwich, instead of spending $10 on a restaurant lunch this week? (ok, so maybe soup and grilled cheese isn't a big motivator!).



Friends, if the "Donate" button won't work - just go to OurPartners.Org and the Donate link is on the bottom. Please consider making a small sacrifice. If enough of us rally together, we can make a difference. I don't want to see a slump in the economy and giving result in a life-changing ministry having to cut back on it's marketing, advertising, or vision.

Join in and MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Donate more than $10 - leave your comment below, and I'll send you my "Worship Under the Stars" DVD for FREE. Including Postage. (limited to first 100 people).

Donate, and share your story.

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Hey Everyone,

Please go here, at www.fredmckinnon.com and leave your input. I'm teaching a seminar at the National Worship Leader Conference in Austin, TX this Summer, and would love to include your story or testimony.

For the sake of keeping the comments consolidated, please leave your response on the Blog ... if you leave a comment here on MySpace, that's cool - be forewarned that I'll copy/paste it over to the blog, though!

Please help spread the word to all the Worship Leaders you know!
Fred

(view original entry @ fredmckinnon.com)

Hello friends, family, loyal readers, and occasional visitors!

This is one of those "I just gotta unload a few things" posts. One of those where I just need to express some burdens on me, get you all to pray for me, and hopefully by blogging this, it will relieve some of the noise in my head. It's kinda long ... so you speed readers will choose to skip this blog. That's OK. I'll miss those possible comments ... but tonight isn't about comments, although they are welcome. It's about unloading.

Ever just get to a place where you want to find the "off switch" to your mind, and just flip it for a while. I'm that way tonight. Though, I've got a good 3-4 hours of business accounting to take care of. I was going to tackle that last night, but instead was preparing for and participating in a 2-1/2 hour long iChat with a group of bloggers, innovators, writers, and leaders about the upcoming v2 of TheWorshipCommunity.Com.

So here's the deal. My mind is full with more ideas than I can handle. Most of you know, I'm the Full-Time Worship Director for my church. That takes plenty of time already ... time that I absolutely love, and that I'm passionate about. At the same time, I have this entrepreneurial-business side of me that is constantly tweaking, testing, implementing, and engaging in various business ideas - most of them online.

I'm a crossroads in my e-biz ... prayerfully considering implementing some tools that could ramp up the volume dramatically. These tools are costly ... they would be an investment, and if they ramped up volume, I'd certainly need to hire help so that I'm not distracted from ministry. I've been wrestling with this "move" for months. I keep shoving it in the background, but it keeps resurfacing. When it comes to business, I'm typically much more prone to take risks ... I typically don't find myself being very patient.

Blogging and TheWorshipCommunity.Com are both ministry-focused and leadership-focused. Both are things I feel important about, and are extensions of the spiritual gifts and temperament that God gave me.

Beyond that, there are so many other things. Some of them come, go, and are gone for good. Others stick around. One such "idea" has been nagging me for months. It has NOTHING to do with ministry, and is more associated with e-biz. It's a resource that doesn't exist (that I can find), that I would be using like crazy if it DID exist .. and that could be a profitable thing to potentially "sell" down the road.

Don't forget - I'm a musician and writer. I have melodies, lyrics, hooks, phrases banging around in there, too. Sadly, these aren't getting from my head to the recording platform as they should. For that reason, I'm doing my best to unplug from blogging, twittering, etc., at least one day a week and spend that time focused on creativity, writing, and praying for the implementation of those creative gifts, and how they can best be utilized at my church and in ministry.

Robert Pooley, Craig Walker, and Bobby Lepinay get to hear this vent every year at our annual fasting/prayer retreat. They usually peg me on a few things.

You see ... obviously, nobody can really do all those things effectively. I was hearing Dave Ramsey teaching a small business seminar recently and he devoted a big portion to the "power of focus". I realize that all day long.

Still, I find myself praying, "God, I want to focus, I'll gladly let go of what You say let go ... but all this stuff just keeps coming to me". "God, can't you PLEASE turn it off"?

Thus, my dilemma. I get torn. Torn between, "am I supposed to just somehow get rid of this other stuff", or "maybe God made me this way, as miserable as it is sometimes [and as exciting as it is sometimes, and as exhausting as it is MOST times, and as rewarding as it is sometimes, and as challenging as it ALL the time]".

Today, I really felt the weight. I've become painfully aware of plates falling to the ground recently. I'm at a point with a couple of these "decisions" and "ideas" that I MUST move on them or CRUCIFY them. Then, I say to myself "I think I've crucified them before, and they keep coming back". With that weight comes the fatigue that even 8+ hours of sleep won't touch.

One thing is certain. God's yoke is easy. God's burdens are light.

So, tomorrow morning, I may feel completely different. It's not like I've been walking around oppressed for weeks. I just really felt the weight today. My chest is heavy. I'm tired. But I'll be OK!

Tomorrow is Wednesday. I'm unplugging from blog'ville. I'm unplugging from Twitterville. I'll be fasting the whole day, and I'll be leading 1+ hour of prayer/worship from 12:00 Noon - 1:15'ish PM. Then, I'll be doing it again from 6:00 - 7:00 PM at our church. I'll be available for phone calls and reply to some emails, and whatever planning/meetings I need to be a part of at church ... but for the most part, I hope to have my door closed, and my heart tuned into God's Presence, His Creative Power, His Divine Wisdom, and His refreshing love tomorrow.

See you on Thursday.
Fred

Hey Everybody -

I'm excited to be heading up to Ft. Belvoir, VA this weekend for the Open Air Faith Festival and Concert. I was honored to be invited as one of the many worship artists who will be performing at the event. It's a special worship event for all military-ID holders, so if you have a military-ID and are in the area, come on out! If you don't have a military-ID, let us know if you're in the area, and maybe we could get out and visit with you.

The official MySpace Profile describes the event as follows:
This event is intended to provide a worship experience for all military ID cardholders assigned to the Military District of Washington (MDW) area. This celebration is intended to provide a social event for all personnel assigned to Fort Belvoir, their families, as well as the general public throughout the surrounding communities.

I say "we" because I'm not traveling alone - I'm flying up with Jay Sellers (previously known as TheToneGuru.Com back when he actually blogged a bit) who has played electric guitar with me for years. He'll be helping me out on the backing electric guitar parts and singing, along with the rest of the "house band" that we'll be joining once we arrive.

I'll be opening the event at 10:30 AM on the Parade Field with a 15-minute acoustic set, which will be low-key, reflective, and intimate.

I'll be returning with full band at 3:30 for a full set of great worship music.

Below is the schedule of performing worship artists. Most of these artists have a more urban/gospel vibe, so with the exception of SonicFlood, we may be the only other band that has more of a contemporary rock/worship type sound, although I'd not actually qualify my music as "christian rock" by any means. I guess if anything, I'd call it "contemporary worship".

10:30 AM: Fred McKinnon (Acoustic)
10:45 AM: Trey Eley Experience
11:30 AM: Dr. Howard Patton
11:40 AM: Eddy Nubine
12:00 PM: Jason Crab
1:15 PM: Bishop Bruce Parham
2:05 PM: Paige Epler
2:45 PM: SONICFLOOd
3:45 PM: Fred McKinnon (Full Band, duh, that's me)
4:45 PM: Antonia Lawrence
6:00 PM: Mary Alessi
7:00 PM: Martha Munizzi

I've been asked to stay over and minister/teach in the chapel services on Sunday AM, so say a prayer for me. I woke up feeling a bit rotten today, as well - so I really need God's strength, wisdom, and favor. As always, pray for my wonderful family while we're gone.

Interesting lineup - I look forward to meeting the guys from SonicFlood, as we'll be following them immediately after their set. I've known Antonia Lawrence for years, and have been digging the video of Martha Munizzi and Israel Houghton on CCLITV lately, so it should be a blast.

Hey Ya'll,

I blogged about this a couple of days ago ... but this thing is FOR REAL! Not often do you actually have a chance to get REAL, FREE MONEY, where it's not a scam.

RevolutionMoneyExchange is a new payment processor (think like PayPal) that was founded by some of the same guys who founded (or currently still operate) America Online. It operates out of a FDIC-insured bank in FL ...

As a special promotion, they are offering to put $25 in your account if you open a free account today. FREE $25.00. There are no strings attached - you just have to open a free banking account with them. Once you add your bank account to your profile, you can withdraw the $25 to your checking account.

They also offer a $10 refer-a-friend commission, which is what I've been doing. It was supposed to expire on May 15 (yesterday), but as of today, i've made another $40 in refer-a-friend comissions just this morning, so it's still going on .. although I suppose they could stop it at any moment.

I'm usually quite the skeptic, so I checked it out and it's on USAToday. Plus, I got the real green to prove it!

Click the button below, and open your free account and get your Free $25! ... then, grab the Refer-A-Friend code, spread the word, and earn $10 for each referral (until the program expires).

Hey Everyone,
Usually when something seems "too good to be true", it is. In this case, that doesn't seem to be the way things shake down ... and this is verified by USAToday news.

A rather new Payment Processor (like PayPal, Alertpay, etc) has launched by the vice chairman emeritus and current founder of AOL (American Online) to create "Revolution Money Exchange" ... a competitor to PayPal.

Through tomorrow, you will get a free, $25 credit if you open a banking account with them. I just did it, and the $25 was in my account right away, and of course, I'll be xferring it to my bank account right away, too!

.. --> By copying and pasting and/or using the Refer a Friend Button software you are accepting and assenting to the terms of the MoneyExchange Button Software License set forth at https://www.revolutionmoneyexchange.com/website/Licenses.aspx -->


Just click the button above or this link to signup and get a free $25! But if expires May 15!

Here's the proof-in-the-pudding .. got this email a few minutes after signing up:


Dear Fred McKinnon:

Revolution MoneyExchange has sent you the following funds:

..tr>











..table>

Amount:	$25
Subject:	You have been sent funds via MoneyExchange
Message:	To accept and receive these funds, you must complete your account registration within 30 days. Please note that using the "Suggest New" feature will cancel your $25 bonus.

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