HILLSONG New York from Hillsong Church on Vimeo.

i’m still trying to figure out what types of thoughts i’d like to share here. i thought this would be a great outlet for displaying the stuff i get to work on and explain how we pull it off. maybe it will be helpful information to someone out there who is doing similar stuff. below is the title package for part 1 of the proverbs series. you could also call it an intro video to the sermon.

i started with an after effects template from revostock. revostock and videohive are top-notch sites where i have purchased after effects templates. the templates can be somewhat pricey, but the results are well worth the price. the original idea we had was to list some of the main topics we would be covering in part 1 of the series, but then elected to highlight a key verse from proverbs. we chose proverbs 1:5.

“let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,”

the audio track is “stand still” by the album leaf. we recently saw the album leaf in concert in chapel hill at the cat’s cradle with some of the journey staff. if you get a chance to see them live, do it.

in week one of the series, jimmy covered the overall theme of proverbs, wisdom. this coming weekend smooth will be sharing about what it means to fear the Lord. i encourage you to listen or watch to the sermons online if you have a hankering. it’s well worth your time.

let me know if you’d like to see more posts like this…

the past three weeks have been an adjustment for magan and i. going from a set work day/week to a schedule that ebbs and flows has probably been the biggest adjustment when it has come being on mission full-time with the church. we experienced this type of schedule when we worked at camp back during our college days, but it’s MUCH different in our current setting. i must say that my amazing wife has been a champ about the whole adjustment. i love her so freaking much and i’m so thankful for the blessings that she brings to my life. i also have a great group of guys on staff at the church that keep me accountable and not allow me to become a work-a-holic, throwing my priorities out of the window.

the rest of the adjustments have gone very smoothly as well. i’m transitioning from working on web sites for the majority of the day to a number of various tasks that pull me out from behind the computer. for example, we’re in the process of up-fitting our new space and we had to dig a trench the other day to bury pipes for future wiring purposes (shown left). i’ve learned very quickly that our volunteers are some of the best you could ever have on your team!

i’ve super blessed and am still in a state of shock that this is what i get to do on a daily basis.

more to come soon. i promise. i’m trying to get better about blogging. i know i have one person that always reads.

i have shared with a good number of people, but i thought i would use post to make the announcement to everyone on the inter-webs. no, magan is not pregnant, as several people have asked when telling them the news. you may have been able to deduce using some facebook/twitter reasoning as to my announcement. okay, enough on the suspense/unnecessary hype already.

i have accepted the call to get on mission full-time with journey church. starting today, i am the production and technical director for the church.

i am SUPAR hyped and still in somewhat a state of shock. the opportunity presented itself a little over a month ago. magan and i prayed about it and sought out counsel from family and our close friends and knew that this is what God has called me/us to for the here and now. i say us because there’s no way i could do this without the awesome support from my amazing wife!

my time with s&a cherokee was great. i don’t take any of it for granted. God had me there for a purpose. i’m thankful that they took a shot on a green/fresh web designer 2 1/2 years ago. i learned a great deal technically, but also picked up a lot of people skills along the way. i will miss the friends i made there.

i won’t get into the whole story in this post. i’d like to spread it out over a couple of posts as to keep myself from only being the occasional blogger (like smooth accused me of being).

until then i thought i’d share a blog post that i came across that made me laugh pretty good. check it out. now i know what you’re thinking (that is if you know me very well), matt keith probably has a monitor like that. my monitor at work is similar but not quite that outlandish.

i hope to post again soon. until then you can check out my wonder wife’s recent blog posts. she writes much more often that i. have i mentioned recently that she is absolutely amazing? well she is!

on the busyness scale, november has been a ‘moderate’ month. magan and i have traveled less this month than october. we haven’t slowed down any though. i think busy has just become the norm. we did get to spend this past weekend in boone which was absolutely amazing! boone is a special place to both of us and it was great just to get away for the weekend and catch up on life with each other. could boone be a future home for us? we dunno. we love it. there’s just something about it.

magan and i feel that God is calling us to something larger than what we’re doing now. He has us in knightdale right now for a purpose, but the next page in our story is completely blank. we don’t know what’s next, but we know it’s something more than what we’re doing now. there’s more to life than what were doing now. we’re praying through it.

we got the chance to hang out with biscuit and kendall this month as well. they are traveling the southeast visiting friends and family raising support to move out to california to serve on staff at south bay church. we are super excited for them! it’s amazing to see the hand of God in our friends’ lives.

thanksgiving is coming. means tour de north carolina. we’ll stuff our faces with food and spend time with family. it’s always a good time to stop and reflect.

until next time, you can follow the tweets.

matt

He is jealous for me,
loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.
when all of a sudden,
i am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
and i realize just how beautiful You are,
and how great Your affections are for me.

and oh, how He loves us so,
oh how He loves us,
how He loves us all

yeah, He loves us,
whoa, how He loves us,
whoa, how He loves us,
whoa, how He loves.
yeah, He loves us,
whoa, how He loves us,
whoa, how He loves us,
whoa, how He loves.

we are His portion and He is our prize,
drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
if grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
so heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss,
and my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
i don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
when i think about, the way…

1 John 4:10 says,

“This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

God’s love for His children could be described using so many various adjectives, but sometimes words do not suffice.

oh how He loves us!

i know this has just been some mindless rambling, but i like to write every now and again. wish i had the chance to do it a little more often. maybe then i could write something with some more substance.

rest well,

matt

worthy is the Lamb Who was slain
holy, holy is He
sing a new song to Him Who sits on Heaven’s mercy seat

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
with all creation i sing praise to the King of kings
You are my everything, and i will adore You

clothed in rainbows of living color
flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
to You, the only wise King

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
with all creation i sing praise to the King of kings
You are my everything, and i will adore You

filled with wonder, awestruck wonder
at the mention of Your Name
Jesus, Your Name is power, breath and living water, such a marvelous mystery

holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty
Who was and is and is to come
with all creation i sing praise to the King of kings
You are my everything, and i will adore You

if you don’t own this song, i recommend you pick it up on the quick.