Inspired is how I would describe myself today. Spent the morning with my family, and when the kids went off to school, Wendy and I ate breakfast and chatted about our dreams and what they look like...our goals and how we will get there...focused on the positive...read a few inspiring stories (actually - we watched them on YOUTUBE) The success stories of the rich people of the DRAGON's DEN TV Show...they had nothing and made it big...
I love the underdog story...I love the people that had everything stripped away and somehow they found the strength and the belief to make it happen!!
I want to find that inner strength again! Now - before you get all up in my face about $ not being everything and that $ doesn't define success...YOU ARE RIGHT!! But, poverty isn't where I want to be either!!
I want to fulfill the dreams and the goals placed inside of me!! I want to see the passion come out again...the passion that dreamed the dreams...and saw the goals as finished...come alive again! Well, that is all apart of this CHALLENGE!!
I want to eat right - so I feel better, more energy! I want to exercise and work out so I feel better and gain discipline! I want to fill my mind with good thoughts, motivational thoughts, scripture - God stories!! I know the bad and the ugly happens...I am just a little tired of that being my focus!!
My life needs to re-engage with what I grew up with...I CAN DO ANYTHING I SET MY MIND TO!!! Is that new age? NOT AT ALL!!
God set the universe in motion - God put the universal laws in place...there is LOTS of evidence that prove we are what we think we are! I choose to look at life in a positive manner! I choose to FOCUS on the positive!!
I choose to make a conscious effort to be better in ALL areas of my life!!
I have let people down...I have hurt people...I have acted with lack of integrity and honesty...I have broken promises...I have done a lot of things that go against my core values (to borrow a phrase from Tiger Woods - not his actions, just the phrase!!!!)
I choose to draw a line in the sand...I WILL BE DIFFERENT!!! I WILL BE BETTER!!!
If you are honest - if we are all honest...this journey needs company...and we can all be better by being honest - and turning around and seeing ourselves the way we are - and starting to point in the direction of where we want to be!!!!!
This journey - after 42 years...is about to get interesting!!!!!
JOIN THE CHALLENGE!!!!
Kevin
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
The 20 lb Challenge...
Well, i am into my 3rd day of the "20 lb Challenge!" So far, i have eaten very well, run everyday (only 2 klm but i am doing it!!)
Now - into my 3rd day...already feeling some extra energy! Feeling focused and mind seems clear...I am down 3 lbs...202!!
I am more determined than ever to make this happen!! I have lived the last few years in a holding pattern. I have been "waiting" for "something" to happen and for the "break" to happen...I have plans to CHANGE WHEN that break comes my way and NOT until!! WHAT A JERK!!
I have been listening and discussing things to do with success. My wife is really reading some great books and we have been in talks about how to get things moving on the right path...Motivational...but I was still in a holding pattern...
It was like the light went on this past weekend...met with GREAT friends...heard a strong powerful message on Sunday morning...and I came to the conclusion that:
If things are going to change, than I have to change some things!!!
I am going to implement some changes and create the life I want to have...
God has birthed ideas and creativity in me...NOW - I need to stop waiting and hoping...and GO FOR IT!!
What have you been waiting for? Join me in this journey as I struggle through life and try to figure stuff out as I go...
Talk soon,
Kevin
Now - into my 3rd day...already feeling some extra energy! Feeling focused and mind seems clear...I am down 3 lbs...202!!
I am more determined than ever to make this happen!! I have lived the last few years in a holding pattern. I have been "waiting" for "something" to happen and for the "break" to happen...I have plans to CHANGE WHEN that break comes my way and NOT until!! WHAT A JERK!!
I have been listening and discussing things to do with success. My wife is really reading some great books and we have been in talks about how to get things moving on the right path...Motivational...but I was still in a holding pattern...
It was like the light went on this past weekend...met with GREAT friends...heard a strong powerful message on Sunday morning...and I came to the conclusion that:
If things are going to change, than I have to change some things!!!
I am going to implement some changes and create the life I want to have...
God has birthed ideas and creativity in me...NOW - I need to stop waiting and hoping...and GO FOR IT!!
What have you been waiting for? Join me in this journey as I struggle through life and try to figure stuff out as I go...
Talk soon,
Kevin
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Do you know your congregation...FOR WORSHIP LEADERS!
If you have led worship at the same church for a while, chances are you have a firm belief that you know your congregation. You should know them by now. But do you really?
I would like us to seriously consider this question: do we know our congregation? Or do we assume we know them?
I have traveled from coast to coast in Canada, singing in almost every denomination there is. I have seen many styles of worship and I have seen a lot of concerns. I have witnessed many song leaders that lead what they know, or what they like, forgetting there is a congregation that attends their church. Forgetting, in fact, that the congregation is the reason they lead in worship.
Here are a few questions for you to consider:
Am I playing music every week that the congregation “gets?”
Do I know what style of worship my congregation enjoys?
Do I care what style of music/worship my congregation enjoys?
Have I ever really stopped to think and ask what musical preferences are in my congregation?
Chances are…there are many styles of music represented in your congregation. May I suggest there might be many more styles represented in the congregation than you are playing? Is that possible?
There are a couple schools of thought regarding this issue…
1. It is our job to teach them and bring them along to the new worship.
2. We need to cater to everyone and please no one.
I would like to offer a different solution, based on the premise of love!
If you truly love your congregation, you will play music that is appropriate for your congregation. If you truly love your congregation, you will focus on them…and less on you. If you truly LOVE your congregation you will put their needs before yours. You will pick songs that your specific congregation knows and appreciates.
If you truly love your congregation and they know it, then you can lead them in worship. If you are playing the newest and greatest tunes, so they can hear how good you are, then you are not leading them…you are singing for them.
Now, I know that nobody reading this has ever found themselves being that selfish! Right? Well I have! There were times I would go into a service ready to show the congregation what I know…ready to teach them how to sing and worship! It was not my intention, but it was the outcome of wrong thinking.
I thought I was to lead in music. I thought I was there to sing and play. I forgot that my role – given to me by God – was to lead the congregation I was in front of, into worship – into HIS presence. We are to lay the groundwork for HIS word to be presented. We are not there to “sing songs,” although that is our medium.
If you remember that you are called by God, that it is in HIS authority you stand up and lead…that it is your job to lead the congregation into His presence, all the while LOVING HIS PEOPLE…then you will avoid a lot of controversy and have a congregation that feels loved.
That is a win/win!
Kevin Pauls, Live Music Producer
www.expressiveworship.net
I would like us to seriously consider this question: do we know our congregation? Or do we assume we know them?
I have traveled from coast to coast in Canada, singing in almost every denomination there is. I have seen many styles of worship and I have seen a lot of concerns. I have witnessed many song leaders that lead what they know, or what they like, forgetting there is a congregation that attends their church. Forgetting, in fact, that the congregation is the reason they lead in worship.
Here are a few questions for you to consider:
Am I playing music every week that the congregation “gets?”
Do I know what style of worship my congregation enjoys?
Do I care what style of music/worship my congregation enjoys?
Have I ever really stopped to think and ask what musical preferences are in my congregation?
Chances are…there are many styles of music represented in your congregation. May I suggest there might be many more styles represented in the congregation than you are playing? Is that possible?
There are a couple schools of thought regarding this issue…
1. It is our job to teach them and bring them along to the new worship.
2. We need to cater to everyone and please no one.
I would like to offer a different solution, based on the premise of love!
If you truly love your congregation, you will play music that is appropriate for your congregation. If you truly love your congregation, you will focus on them…and less on you. If you truly LOVE your congregation you will put their needs before yours. You will pick songs that your specific congregation knows and appreciates.
If you truly love your congregation and they know it, then you can lead them in worship. If you are playing the newest and greatest tunes, so they can hear how good you are, then you are not leading them…you are singing for them.
Now, I know that nobody reading this has ever found themselves being that selfish! Right? Well I have! There were times I would go into a service ready to show the congregation what I know…ready to teach them how to sing and worship! It was not my intention, but it was the outcome of wrong thinking.
I thought I was to lead in music. I thought I was there to sing and play. I forgot that my role – given to me by God – was to lead the congregation I was in front of, into worship – into HIS presence. We are to lay the groundwork for HIS word to be presented. We are not there to “sing songs,” although that is our medium.
If you remember that you are called by God, that it is in HIS authority you stand up and lead…that it is your job to lead the congregation into His presence, all the while LOVING HIS PEOPLE…then you will avoid a lot of controversy and have a congregation that feels loved.
That is a win/win!
Kevin Pauls, Live Music Producer
www.expressiveworship.net
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
American Idol - singing or performance...
I understand that American Idol is a “singing” competition. But what amazes me is that in order to be heard properly, you have to “bring it.” In other words, you must perform!
Stage presence, your ability to connect, your ability to draw the audience in – capture and engage, and create moments – in one song, makes all the difference.
Last night on American Idol, I heard the terms “performance,” “stage presence,” “the way I felt,” and others like that, all get bantered about by the judges.
I know they are looking for great singers. But the best singer doesn’t always win, right? The winner is that one person who can capture the voting public.
Many of these contestants are working on the mechanics and the “arrangement,” but they forget the most important thing: onstage performance. Communications is 15% content (in this case technique or mechanics), 30% tone or emotions, and 55% what people see with their eyes.
One contestant struggled with the mic stand last night. (He could have used the information on Tom’s DVD Don’t Fall Off the Stage.) One of the contestants was slammed online today because he “forsook his guitar this week” – he hasn’t learned yet how to be dimensional in his onstage performance.
Even the one contestant that Simon said had the best voice was told to stop slouching, stand and deliver the song. Great voice will not capture an audience by itself!
So if, in a vocal competition, the judges are talking about performance…don’t you think it is important to know how to perform? You need to learn the rules for the stage, learn how to capture and engage an audience, listen to Tom teach about how to create moments.
Then if you have a great voice, the audience will be able to hear it!
Kevin Pauls, Live Music Producer
Stage presence, your ability to connect, your ability to draw the audience in – capture and engage, and create moments – in one song, makes all the difference.
Last night on American Idol, I heard the terms “performance,” “stage presence,” “the way I felt,” and others like that, all get bantered about by the judges.
I know they are looking for great singers. But the best singer doesn’t always win, right? The winner is that one person who can capture the voting public.
Many of these contestants are working on the mechanics and the “arrangement,” but they forget the most important thing: onstage performance. Communications is 15% content (in this case technique or mechanics), 30% tone or emotions, and 55% what people see with their eyes.
One contestant struggled with the mic stand last night. (He could have used the information on Tom’s DVD Don’t Fall Off the Stage.) One of the contestants was slammed online today because he “forsook his guitar this week” – he hasn’t learned yet how to be dimensional in his onstage performance.
Even the one contestant that Simon said had the best voice was told to stop slouching, stand and deliver the song. Great voice will not capture an audience by itself!
So if, in a vocal competition, the judges are talking about performance…don’t you think it is important to know how to perform? You need to learn the rules for the stage, learn how to capture and engage an audience, listen to Tom teach about how to create moments.
Then if you have a great voice, the audience will be able to hear it!
Kevin Pauls, Live Music Producer
OK - Stop whining...
Ok - i am done feeling sorry for myself. I am done waiting for the ship to turn around. Have you ever got stuck in a rut...just could not find a way to get out? Could not change your thinking and it got you DOWN!! WELL, I have been there this last couple weeks...Really feeling like I need to give up on the "dreams" and become normal!!!
NORMAL - what is that anyway...
I have been shot with an extra shot of HOPE today! I don't know why, there was nothing I did different this morning...but I feel a renewed hope and a renewed passion for what it is that I have dreamed of...the music business! My specific career and the company that I have launched called SPF Music Group Inc.
I know that this will not happen overnight...(it's been 20 years, so no "overnight" success for me!!) I have been hearing my wife (the life coach) talk to all of her clients and talk to me...the underlying theme seems to be "believe". Now we just finished the Olympics and the theme for Canada was "believe" - well we believed right into the most gold medals EVER by ANY country in the winter Olympics...it makes a difference...I have always believed that to be true but allowed defeat to cripple me for a while...
NO MORE!! I serve a God that loves me and that, I believe, planted these dreams in me...HE is able to see them through!! SO - I will keep my eye on the prize...fight hard and we will see WHEN the dream becomes a reality!
When will I know it is a reality...I WILL JUST KNOW!!!
just thought I would share this...if you are feeling crappy...down...like you want to give up!! DON'T!!!!
"if you think you can YOU ARE RIGHT - if you think you can't YOU ARE RIGHT!!" (someone famous said this...i think it was FORD?)
Believe...dream...NEVER SAY NEVER!!!
kevin
NORMAL - what is that anyway...
I have been shot with an extra shot of HOPE today! I don't know why, there was nothing I did different this morning...but I feel a renewed hope and a renewed passion for what it is that I have dreamed of...the music business! My specific career and the company that I have launched called SPF Music Group Inc.
I know that this will not happen overnight...(it's been 20 years, so no "overnight" success for me!!) I have been hearing my wife (the life coach) talk to all of her clients and talk to me...the underlying theme seems to be "believe". Now we just finished the Olympics and the theme for Canada was "believe" - well we believed right into the most gold medals EVER by ANY country in the winter Olympics...it makes a difference...I have always believed that to be true but allowed defeat to cripple me for a while...
NO MORE!! I serve a God that loves me and that, I believe, planted these dreams in me...HE is able to see them through!! SO - I will keep my eye on the prize...fight hard and we will see WHEN the dream becomes a reality!
When will I know it is a reality...I WILL JUST KNOW!!!
just thought I would share this...if you are feeling crappy...down...like you want to give up!! DON'T!!!!
"if you think you can YOU ARE RIGHT - if you think you can't YOU ARE RIGHT!!" (someone famous said this...i think it was FORD?)
Believe...dream...NEVER SAY NEVER!!!
kevin
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