Things I learned from shooting Shawn's Promo (Click Title to see on Vimeo).

Last weekend, Shawn Brace, Temple Bragg, and I had a whirlwind of an afternoon coordinating the shooting of this video for Shawn's new book. He's a pastor up in Bangor, Maine, and his Website is : newenglandpastor.blogspot.com in case you didn't make it to the end of the video. Temple is a teacher in Williston, Vermont, originally from North Conway in New Hampshire. Both were not only great sports (and supportive) of my amateur endeavor, but very patient and cooperative. It was a good team. And Shawn used no cue-cards, and performed in a minimal number of takes. I had an inquiry from a friend, whose comment prompted an response I thought would make a good post:

Things I learned (or at least were reinforced, if I had known them before):

1) Planning is 80% of the shoot
2) Planning keeps you on budget
3) A good slider (that tool that allows me to pan smoothly sidewas on the praying, hat, and candle shots) adds the most creativity for your money, dollar for dollar.
4) Just like still photography, post-production is a key element. More so in video, because you have to match the color gradings.
5) A class in still photography composition translates well to video better than people realize, take one if you can (or learn strong photographic composition from independent study).
6) Support is so important, even more than in still photography. Get a good tripod and fluid head. Don't cut corners in this area. Period.
7) Story board it well before you break out the camera. Shawn and I talked for about 6 six weeks prior to the shoot (which lasted all of 5 hrs).
8) Remember to shoot for the cut, allow 3 seconds prior to the take as well as 3 seconds following.
9) Composition in video involves multiple things: form, color, but also motion.
10) Secure your location before the shoot (Temple and I waited outside for some time because I didn't secure the keys to the church.)
11) Longer focal lengths (70mm or longer) produced a more dramatic effect on a short slider. If you can afford only a 24" slider, keep that in mind. We shot all our slider shots on nothing less than 100mm.

So a habit I'm trying to form is to follow up a project (or my day) in a review with the intent to take an honest look at it and seek for ways to make improvements.

Things I can improve on during for my next video:

1) Although Shawn's shot was technically ok, a more dynamic shot might be needed. Maybe some motion pulling back or something.
2) Storyboard, storyboard, storyboard ... oh, and more elaborate shot list.
3) Lighting for color balance.
4) Take more shots than you think you need (see #2)
5) Use a shot-gun, off camera mic., and monitor the ambient sound.

If there are other things you all can think of (to help improve the video) after you watched it, send it in comments.

And please check out Shawn's book (it may be the gift you're looking for to give yourself or someone else).

Manifestion of Truth

cul·ture   /ˈkʌltʃər/ Show Spelled [kuhl-cher] Show IPA noun, verb, -tured, -tur·ing.


noun

1. the quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.


We come in contact and influence many people. As Adventist, I think we make the mistake of introducing them to the culture of Adventism without introducing them to those Truths that give us distinction. The only thing that some people know of Adventists are that they don't eat meat, and some do, and they go into the medical field, and some don't, and they play Rook on Saturday night, not many own TV's, we make haystacks, and go hiking or sleeping on Saturday afternoon. And sometimes they find out that we are friendly and happy and healthy, always attend Church on the day that the best children's cartoons are on TV.

With that exposure, they seem to love the people, and find a community, and decide they want to become baptized, believing they are 'converting' to the Seventh-day Adventist faith, when in actuality, they are merely seeking to be part of the Adventist culture.

While the true culture of a society stems from the Truths that said society regards as important, if we mistake the reception of Culture for the reception of Truth, then the little trials that come which separate the people from their community will also remove their handle on the Truth.

Our Truths must not only be integrated into and be displayed in our culture, but must be spoken of with a distinction that we respect them, not that we are afraid of those Truths that not only make us free, but give us Strength, Peace and a peculiarity that must be awe-inspiring.

I spoke with a gentleman friend of mine, and in conversation realized that he didn't know why he was vegetarian except for the fact that Ellen White says. I was afraid for him, but realize that many of use have grown up in the culture, which now has become our own Pop Culture, instead of what it should be: an outward manifestation of the Truths that we have been called to uphold with reverence and affection.

With the reception of Adventism merely as a culture and not as a Movement of Truth, then the Bible is reduced to a good book of suggestions instead of our Life. Ellen White is reduced to a prolific writer who some pejoratively declare as their 'favorite author,' instead of the Prophet of the Lord. If that token were applied to Christ's day, would Zecheriah be Ezra and Nehemiah's 'favorite author'? Would John the Baptist be merely a 'controversial speaker' that knows how to strike enthusiasm into a crowd of people craving for Nationalistic identity?

with the reception of Adventism merely as a culture, our choice of food merely becomes a diet, our healthy emphasis merely becomes an activity, our emphasis on mental culture is reduced to IQ and emotional intelligence. A stark reduction from that which we have been called to be: these actions are actions of obedience and repentance from our disobedience in the past. These things that others might simply term as Adventist culture must be what Paul terms a 'manifestation of Truth' in our lives.

But it can't be more than culture to us if we don't know. If we don't know or believe that we read the Bible to direct our steps. That these Truths do a work in our lives that provide a stalwart strength of purpose that is unswayed by popular opinion or novel conjectures.

Because one day we will be reduced to a people where we are removed from our society with those of similar culture. And the only thing we will have remaining to stand on are those Truths that prompted our ancestors in the societal direction that we see today. And if we don't know how that came about, we will have nothing.

Running Together

There is no coincidence that a common metaphor for life is a race. Whether the defining adjective is the word 'Human' or 'Rat', each can be  fitting and lends much to the analogy.

Others have eloquently expounded on the virtues of endurance, perseverance, and other traits of character necessary for running and finishing a race. But in this post I wanted to make observations about running WITH someone. Hopefully, we'll be able to see the application.

Almost two months ago a friend approached me to have me teach him how to run. It came about that there was a race in Portland that we could use as our goal. At the end of all the training, there were a few things I learned.

Naturally, I'm a solo flyer (think more than running here, folks), and have been justifiably accused of being extremely self-reliant. But after running with someone for 6 weeks, my preference changed from running by myself to running w/ someone else.

So just some observations of the benefits of companionship (read into this all you want, that was the intent.)

1) SELF-FORGETFULNESS. You really forget yourself when you're running with someone else. You forget you're exercising, you fool yourself into conditioning.

2) EFFICIENCY. 8 miles with my friend seemed fun and good conversation. 3 miles by myself was a little less so.

3) MOTIVATION. We really have to be in agreement to NOT run. The other day when we were planning our long run, I initially wasn't in the mood to run, but he was, and then we started he wasn't in the mood but I was. If we ever skip a day, it will be because we both aren't in the mood at exactly the same time.

4) FASTER. After the race last weekend, I resolved to increase my training pace a touch. When I run with my friend, the pace increase was actually doubled at the same effort. I run faster when we run together.

5) CONVERSATION. I enjoy solitude, but another independent mind can actually talk back to you. Not only will it save you $125 per hour on therapy bills. You don't have to wait till next week for a follow up.

6) PRODUCTIVITY. Better than a 'bored' meeting, agendas get addressed, plans get laid, details get ironed out, ambitions get ignited, inspiration is enlightened, and determination is rejuvenated. The world consequently is a better place just because you ran with your friend.

7) BONDING. The trial of hardships born together forms a solidarity that is not easily dissolved. 

After six weeks, my friend's training pace has increased by more than a minute. He ran his first 5K race at a dignified 7:22 min/mile. I had a new PB without any effort. 

Now we're braking out the heart rate monitor and measuring our Lactate Threshold. Along with the dreaded intervals and hill training. We continue to run almost every day between 3-8 miles, even in foul weather (even when I'm on call or he has to see late patients). That's what running with someone else will do for you.

One of the most convincing arguments for running with someone is actually finding that person that is willing to share the burden of hardship, to join you in submitting to the rigor of training that you know will result in the desired fitness. Without complaining or compromise. And to enthusiastically believe that this is also what they want for themselves, but would simply like to be along for the ride (run) of their lives.

Friend: "Hey, I really need to get back into the running thing. Any tips?"

Me: "Grab a friend to do it with you. If you're really serious, find a race to do together."

Sent from the iPhone of Elwyn Garaza.

https://picasaweb/google/egaraza

Making the Hard Decision

My second attempt at Jonah Lehrer's book entitled How We Decide.

Life got in the way of my first attempt and I found myself somewhat disoriented, so had to start again from the beginning.

In the introduction Mr. Lehrer places two conjectures before the reader that he attempts to answer throughout the book.

How does the human mind make decisions?

How can we make those decisions better?

The book is excellent and has a the substance that one comes to expect from a Rhodes Scholar, yet with an easy intellectual playfulness as if we were all sitting around the locker room after a game talking about something unrelated to the game. Mr. Lehrer wonders well. If you've ever found yourself making decisions (which apartment to buy, what major to choose, what location to live in), you might want to pick up this book. And add a grain of salt. More on that later.

The questions jumped out at me, because I asked myself what that second question really means.

Better?

Maybe we mean, how do we make decisions that will most effectively return a desired outcome?

We often as this question in terms of outcome / consequence. How do we make decisions that produce higher grades, more money, more satisfaction? This is how we generally look at that question.

Yet as God fearing people, not just the lip-service Christian, but one who looks at God as sovereign and whose influence is one that not simply touches our lives but is the foundation for all its facets ("In Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17:28), we MUST make our decisions based on a "something better" COL 299.

While our non-religious, but spiritual, friends (have you met those people who say they're not religious but consider themselves spiritual?) will encourage us to move from material consequence to more existential consequences (they'll say we must move from more money, higher grades, bigger house as a goal to more meaningfulness, and inner peace), even this for us falls short of that "something better."

Our decisions, as Seventh-day Adventist and Bible-believing Christians, must be based on obedience. While in actuality this is how righteousness by faith works, simply looking at the Biblical example, obedience was the final factor by which every decision was made by those who are faithful. Without the criteria of obedience as the major factor, we may wonder if the decisions of holy men were failures.

Without obedience as a consideration, Noah only saved 8 people. Without obedience Moses's roving community wasted 40 years wandering. Without obedience, Gideon's military strategy, not to mention Jehosephat's 'special teams' would not have a consideration if we were to use those ideas as factors for decision making today.

Obedience continues to be the key for the people of God.

Yet how often do we lay aside the counsel given to us as Seventh-day Adventists on how we are to do Evangelism, how we appeal to the youth, how we worship in Church? If we look at our recent methods of running ourselves, we use criteria other than obedience to make decisions how our churches and our families are to be run. We use reasons like, "it's more effective to reach teenagers." or "research shows that we can reach the most amount of people." or "we find that we have more baptisms using this method." or worse yet, "other churches are doing it with good outcomes."

But obedience hasn't been a criteria for any of those. Obedience to the counsel that says Sabbath is a good time to knock on doors. Obedience to the counsel that we have been for the principles of outreach. That the colporteur work will reach the end of time, that our health message is the right hand of the gospel, that The Three Angel's Messages are righteousness by faith in verity.

We speak of repentance but continue to use every other criteria other than obedience to make decisions for our spiritual well-being.

Mr. Lehrer did not include spiritual considerations, and I don't believe it's an indicator of his stance on God. This is because it is an exposition on how, not why. Like many of the other factors that influence decision, God and His Word are not isolated. It is the things that are truly important to us, whether we acknowledge it or not, that inform our decisions. If God really is in our lives, then He will bear the heaviest weight in our considerations.

From the Sermon on the Mount:
"[Bible religion] is not to be like a dash of color brushed here and there upon the canvas, but it is to pervade the whole life, as if the canvas were dipped into the color, until every thread of the fabric were dyed a deep, unfading hue." Desire of Ages 312.3

While Mr. Lehrer makes a pretty convincing case for how decisions are made and contributes his ideas on how they can be made better, we can (ironically) choose what informs those decisions. We can decide what we read, what we watch, what we use for recreation or amusement, who we spend time with, what influences we receive. We can place ourselves in a position of advantage. Choose by the criteria of obedience.

And then leave the consequences to God, He is that "something better."

Measure Twice

I just moved in to a little one bedroom house.

I found myself imagining the great furniture I'd buy to make it working, useful, and comfortable place to spend my time. I looked online, and walked through furniture sections of various stores and office furniture suppliers.

In my head a table would go here, and shelf would go there, a table would be useful here. And I wanted a wing back chair to sit in and read (like the ones you see in a library). But walking through the furniture section of various stores, I was inundated with choices, colors, styles. Many useful, many quite good looking.

So my first purchase was a tape measure.

I needed to measure the wall and the height agains which the table would fit, and the space to the window and how much did the stairs protrude into the living room. And even before picking my furniture a checking had to happen, similar to an the wise carpenter's adage: Measure Twice, Cut Once. I measured each space to make sure the right furniture was chosen, that all would fit together.

This made me think of THE work going on right now. In the heavenly Sanctuary.

The thoughtfulness and consideration I had put into my humble dwelling made me wonder about God's thoughtfulness and care in fashioning a place, not only for Himself to dwell, but also that He was fashioning something for His Son, Whom He cares for deeply.

The deliberateness of measuring each space and then measuring each furniture, piecing them together made me think of the command given in Revelation to measure the city (Rev 11:1). This intentional work of judging, of measuring the people, was to make sure they fit. Because He needs a fit people for the finishing of the work. For the High Priest was to take the transgressions of the people in all their sins and put "them upon the head of the [scape] goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness:" (Lev 16:21)

Making sure the people measured up. That they were meet (suitable, fit, proper) for His Son. That they were the helpmeet for Christ. (Eph 5:27). That His church would be a suitable, proper and fit bride for the Son. And a suitable and fit dwelling for the Sovereign of the Universe, the Majesty and Source of all that is Good, Righteous and Pure.

All I had to was measure and find the furniture. I didn't have to trim, cut or lengthen.

Christ's work is more difficult. He's preparing a people. A people that fit. And He is measuring every part.

So the question comes: Will you let God do His loving work, the work of measuring every part to make you fit? That you can be fitted to the body of Christ?

"From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love." - Ephesians 4:16

Object Lessons on a Laceration

On Sabbath morning, I slipped crawling out of bed (it's a longer story than this).

It only hurt initially, but as I look on the scar every day, watching it get better, I thought of a few object lessons...

1) Examine the wound - Take a look at what was hurt, cut, or broken. This requires an honest assessment. If there are multiple layers, you have to at the least, admit it.
Sometimes this is the most difficult, because the wound still hurts while the examination is occurring. But it is the most necessary first step. God requires this, we should, too. Jer 3:13, 2 Cor 13:5

2) Clean the wound - Remove anything, such as debris, that will prevent healing. Is there extra blood, dirt, or chunks of tissue? These have to be cleaned out. Sometimes you have to remove things out of your life that just keep you from healing. Eph 4:31

3) Approximate the skin - in other words, bring the separated portions of skin back together as close as you can. This is difficult, despite the puzzle piece shapes of my wound, but care in this point of the process will speed the healing and maintain the appearance more than any other reconstruction afterwards. To restore as close to the original is a difficult but terribly necessary part of healing, especially prior to throwing the first stitch or placing the bandage. Often you have to do your best to reconcile things that have been separated, even before you lay down that thing that will keep things together. 2 Cor 5: 19

4) Apply structured and consistent restraint - Two characteristics: they have to be somewhat maintain restraints, such as a stitch or a bandage. For healing, a consistent structured restraint has to be there to provide support while the body heals itself. These two qualities must be there for any other kind of healing as well. With out consistency, the body will not be able to lay down the proteins appropriately to close the wound. Without traction (restraint), the would will be too open for scar tissue to form rapidly enough. You just can't heal without consistent structure and restraint. 2 Peter 3:11

5) Duration - I'm giving it about 7 to 10 days. That's about how long we keep stitches on. Exodus 7:25, Jeremiah 42:7, Ezra 10:13

It's Biblical, look at the way God healed the human race...

Oh, and by the way, I'm fine, I'm thinking straight, the wound is painless (now).

I'll let you know how it goes ...

I'm sorry Japan, it was my fault, too.

I'm sorry, Japan. I'm sorry Haiti. I'm sorry, New Zealand. It was my fault. Mine and my brother's.

I just finished reviewing some stories from the Boston Globe's The Big Picture, with all the devestation and destruction going on around the world.

After the initial response of horror, and sympathy for their pain, and then the subsequent response at the question of how many of them had met and known Jesus as their Saviour, the reflection went further.

It struck home to the heart.

As Seventh-day Adventists, we believe that we live in a time of judgment, and because we believe that by a deeper surrender to the Holy Spirt, by His development of character in us, we may participate in hastening Christ's return. It is because of this fact that we hold some significant responsibility of the pain and suffering of our fellow human beings as well as the pain in the heart of God in the suffering of His people.

We don't like to think so, but our lack of surrender, our prideful rebellion as He daily speaks to us of those defects in our character and lack of strength in obedience, and more importantly of the remedy for each, it is these things that are delaying His return, and by correlation, prolonging the destruction that is so devestating to us and our brethren. Though we do not directly cause the tsunami or the natural destruction, we directly prevent Christ's fulfillment of His character in each of our lives. Though we cannot choose the weather patterns around the world, we can choose our response to His Spirit's promptings.

Though He might not have shown us all that needs to be surrendered in our lives, he has shown us things that need to be surrendered today. Now. Our neglect in Bible Study, our prideful self-righteousness, our laziness in prayer, our lack of faithfulness in duty, our disbelief in the words inspired by His Holy Spirit, our own self-justification that those words are not binding to us today, and further, our progress in deepening the initial surrender of self. Those things we can choose to surrender today.

In an indirect way, we are at fault for Sendai, Christchurch, Port-au-Prince's pain. We didn't have to let this all get this far. And since we participate in the trouble, in our remorse, doesn't it behoove us to be part of its resolution?