Thanksgiving is a time where families come together around the table, enjoy some food and give thanks for another year. Everybody is happy and all is right with the world. Until game time.

No, not the football games that pipe through millions of American homes every year, I’m talking about board and card games. You know, the kind with the picture of a happy family on front. Yeah, that’s not us. My extremely competitive family enjoyed a nice post-Thanksgiving game of Imaginiff and Phase 10. In the instructions of Imaginiff, they warned us that “lively debate” might ensue. We had our fair share of those. Then we brought out Phase 10 which is a never-ending card game in which the luck of the draw leaves everyone frustrated. Now, before you start thinking we were yelling at each other the whole time, think again. There were a few moments of laughter but most of the time we were having “lively debates.” Oh, the joy of games bringing the family together.

What’s your favorite party game?

Stephen

I’ve heard of the Amazon mp3 store, a lot. In the news, blogs, DRM-free weirdos, writing in the sky, etc. I just never used it. Last night, there was an awful lot of twittering going on about Amazon vs. iTunes. In particular, Amazon offered Coldplay’s new EP for $5 cheaper than what I paid on iTunes. Crazy talk, I know. Someone asked me why I still used iTunes when I could get DRM-free, higher quality music for much less. I never really thought about it so I’m checking out Amazon. I have an iPod, iPhone and iMac so iTunes does make sense for me. The buying experience is definitely easier and more enjoyable but if I can get the same music for less, then I’m all for it. For example, I just saved $6 on The Killers new album on Amazon (I’m beginning to sound like a Geico commercial). Hooray for cheap music!

Now is when you chime in. How do you buy your music?

Stephen

It’s Sunday morning and my alarm begins to pump music into my room from the local Christian radio station. I come out of my sleep just in time to hear the DJ announce that the next song was from one of his favorite artists, Phil Wickham. The song was True Love.

Rewind to September 2007. Phil’s new album, “Cannons,” was about to release and he was coming to our worship conference. I was busy planning and promoting the conference and called our Christian radio station to set up an interview with Phil. I sent several emails and made a couple of calls. I finally received a call back from the station telling me that they weren’t really interested. The reason? Phil wasn’t on their current lineup of songs. Apparently, he wasn’t as cool as Petra or Avalon (sarcasm).

I talked with Phil about this, telling him of my frustration with Christian radio in general and how the songs they play are so old and the new one’s aren’t really the best. I even talked to one of the DJ’s at the radio station who confirmed that their target audience is “30-something” soccer moms (because they give the money). Brody has posted several posts about his frustration with the Christian Music Industry and I join him with this post. It’s way past time to step up to a level of excellence.

So, Listener Supported Radio Station, I would like to say, “I told you so.” While I’m extremely happy that you are playing Phil’s songs and proclaiming him as your favorite artist, I’m also extremely frustrated that you passed up an opportunity to interview one of the best in the business because you weren’t familiar with him yet.

All of this didn’t change the fact that it was one of the most awesome times of worship I’ve been apart of and it was just one guy and his guitar. If you haven’t downloaded Phil Wickham’s free album, go here and do it now. You’ll be glad you did.

Stephen

It’s been a very long time since I’ve blogged about stage design and this one is great. This month’s series is called, “Curtain Call,” so we knew we wanted to make it look “Broadway-ish.” My dad made the gold footlights to go across the front of the stage. When I was 12, I remember making marquee signs with cardboard and Christmas lights. I would poke the lights through the cardboard to spell out words. So we had a guy build some poster frames and drill holes for us. Then, we took mini bulbs and stuck them through (see pictures). Just like a real marquee but much cheaper! We brought back the red curtains from Heroes and swaggered them. The whole thing turned out real nice. And, we stayed within our budget of $500. Pretty nice for a medium-sized church! I love my job and the many people on the production team that helped make this stage a reality. Thanks guys!

All in all, a great night. Coldplay was amazing and the production was incredible.

What was the best concert you’ve been to?

Stephen

Do you ever feel like time is flying pass you and then you realize how long it’s been since you paid attention to your blog? That’s what I feel like right now. Rewind back to April when I started this blog and was so enthusiastic about it. I was writing every other day and building online “friends.” So much has happened and I feel like you’ve missed it because I neglected this blog for so long. I’ve posted some random stuff here and there to satisfy the occasional reader, but nothing too personal. I’d like to re-introduce myself to the blogging world via bullet points:

• My name is Stephen Lechner.
• I am the Creative Arts Director at In Focus Church in Evans, GA and am passionate about God, life, music and coffee.
• I have 4 brothers, no sisters.
• My parents are amazing.
• I am dating an awesome girl named Lindsey who is the most amazing and encouraging woman I’ve met.
• I love to blog but have neglected mine for too long.
• I am back now.
• I love to laugh and make people laugh.
• This is all you get for now. Read long enough and you’ll get some more.

Whether you are new to my blog or a regular visitor, thanks for stopping by. I can’t wait to start writing again.

peace,
stephen

I’m not saying this isn’t a fabulous eating establishment, I’m just saying I would have loved to be at the meeting where they chose the name…

Spotted at our local mall. Thanks to Eliza for tipping me off. 

Stephen

I’m not sure if it was because we were all tired or because we were excited, but somehow my family started analyzing the story of “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” during our trip last week. You may ask yourself, “what is there to analyze?” A lot my dear friend, a lot.

For example, when Goldilocks arrived, why were the three bowls of porridge three different temperatures when they were prepared at the same time?

Our answer: Different size bowls. The deeper the bowl, the warmer the porridge. Thus making Papa Bear’s porridge too hot. But, wouldn’t Mama Bear’s bowl be “just right” and Baby Bear’s bowl be “too cold” instead of the other way around (assuming Mama Bear ate more than Baby)?

My response: Why are we analyzing a children’s story? Why not question the talking bears that are eating porridge? Do bears cook? I think not. So, why are we discussing this?!

The moral of the story?

The best learning experiences are during family time.

Stephen

Caption, please.

Stephen

Today, at 6:00 am, I am boarding a vehicle with 5 other people known as my family. We are taking our annual vacation and visiting Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ, New York City, and Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA over a period of 7 days. Our trip today will contain 12 hours of exciting billboards and intriguing rest stops so follow my Twitter for updates and pictures. Try to contain your excitement. I, for one, love road trips so it should be interesting!

Tell me, what’s your favorite travel game?

Stephen