Category: Worship

New Lyrics For “Away In A Manger”

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A few years ago, I wrote the lyrics for two additional verses for the Christmas Carol “Away In A Manger.” Please feel free to use them if you so desire.

No Longer A Baby, He Grew To A Man, Sent To Us From Heaven To Fulfill God’s Plan,            He Died On A Cross To Atone For Our Sin, Then Rose From The Dead To Be Alive Again…

This Precious Lord Jesus Is All That We Need, If We Make Him Our Savior And Our Lord Indeed,           O Please, Wondrous Jesus, Be With Us Today, Fill Us With Your Spirit, We Now Humbly Pray…

Merry Christmas.

 

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Simple Yet Perfect

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And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.  Luke 2:6-7

Two sentences. That’s all Luke uses to describe the birth of the Jesus. No parade, no details, no celebration. Nothing that would announce the coming of the Son of God.

However, maybe that’s the point. In this moment, God shed the His rightful power and glory, refused all claims to honor and praise, and lowered Himself to be born among us in the lowliest of circumstances. In doing so, he stepped into our lives fully so he could completely identify with us and ultimately redeem us.

So what can we learn from Luke’s description of the birth of Jesus?

We learn that the time came. This was no regular birth. This was a time when God got involved in history. The Redeemer of our world was entering our world.

We learn that she gave birth. Mary delivered Jesus in a similar fashion as all mothers give birth. The God of creation came to be with us through ordinary means.

We learn that Mary wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. While it is unbelievable to many that no one made room for this expectant mother, unfortunately similar things happen all of the time. Refugees, immigrants, and the poor are often cast out with nowhere to rest, no matter if they are hungry, sick, tired, or pregnant. Jesus was not only born like all of us, but he was born like the most vulnerable of us all.

Jesus was found not in palace in an important city but in a backwater town, not in a palace but in a stable, not sleeping on fine cloth but lying in a manger.

How simply written and how marvelous.

Lord, You came to earth as a vulnerable child, delivered in an ordinary way, but You ultimately redeemed the world. Help us to see You working, even in the most simple of ways. Amen.

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Retreat Prayer Experience

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Recently, for a retreat, I revised an older prayer experience I used in college based on Psalm 97, Romans 12:1-2, and Philippians 4:8. The experience is designed to help you renew your mind, either at the beginning or the close of the day. I hope it ministers to you.

Simply read the scripture and follow the instructions below:

Read Psalm 97 below and take some time to meditate on the identity of the Lord.

1 The Lord is king!  Let the earth rejoice!  Let the farthest coastlands be glad. 2 Dark clouds surround him.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

3 Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes. 4 His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles.

5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.

6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory. 7 Those who worship idols are disgraced—all who brag about their worthless gods—for every god must bow to him.

8 Jerusalem has heard and rejoiced, and all the towns of Judah are glad because of your justice, O Lord!

9 For you, O Lord, are supreme over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods. 10 You who love the Lord, hate evil! He protects the lives of his godly people and rescues them from the power of the wicked.

11 Light shines on the godly, and joy on those whose hearts are right. 12 May all who are godly rejoice in the Lord and praise his holy name!

Write down five words that describe the greatness of God:

Now use those five words in a brief spoken prayer to the Lord.

Read Romans 12:1-2

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Living Sacrifice Prayer: Romans 12:1 tells us to offer our lives as “living sacrifices” to God as an act of worship. Where you are, kneel before God as a sign of surrender and worship. Pray and ask Him to show you how to be a living sacrifice to Him.

Things of the World Prayer: Romans 12:2 says to conform no longer to the patterns of the world. Make a list of ways you struggle with conforming to the world, then pray a prayer, asking God to help you no longer conform to each of the items you’ve listed. 

Read Philippians 4:8.  

8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Pray and ask God to help you fix your thoughts on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, and admirable throughout this staff retreat. Ask Him to help you speak what is excellent and praiseworthy…

Finally, craft a note of thanks to the Lord for helping renew your mind. 

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Psalm 103 Night of Worship Outline

Opening Worship Set

Welcome

Explanation of Service and Prayer

Song – 10,000 Reasons – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtwIT8JjddM

Scripture – Psalm 103:1-5a

Let all that I am praise the Lord! With my whole heart, I will praise His holy name.

Let all that I am praise the Lord; May I never forget the good things He does for me.

He forgives all my sins and heals my diseases. He redeems me from death

And crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things.

Expounding on the Goodness of the Lord – Campus Pastor or Representative

People Sharing In Small Groups about God’s Goodness

Pastor Led Prayer –

Song – This I Believe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-m9sRRN9MA

Scripture – Psalm 103:6, 8-12

The Lord gives righteousness and justice to all who are treated unfairly.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

He will not constantly accuse us, nor remain angry forever.

He does not punish us for all our sins; He does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve,

For His unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height

of the heavens above the earth.

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.

Expounding on the Forgiveness of the Lord

Live Campus Specific Salvation Testimony –

Intercessory Prayer at Front –

Suggested Song – How Can It Be? – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UXn_OuJkvE

Or

O Come To the Altar – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYQ5yXCc_CA  

Scripture – Psalm 103:13-17a

The Lord is like a Father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him. For He knows how weak we are; He remembers we are only dust.

Our days on earth are like grass; Like wildflowers, we bloom and die

The wind blows, and we are gone – As though we had never been here.

But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him.

Expounding on the Love of the Lord

Pastor Led Prayer

Suggested Song – To My Knees – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZs26lTjAuM

Praising the Lord Section –

Scripture – Psalm 103:19-22

The Lord has made the heavens His throne; from there He rules over everything.

Praise the Lord, you angels, you mighty ones who carry out His plans, listening for each of His commands. Yes, praise the Lord, you armies of angels who serve Him and do His will! Praise the Lord, everything He has created, everything in all His kingdom. Let all that I am praise the Lord.

Suggested Song –

The Lion and The Lamb – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k

Optional Continued Worship Set

(Campus Specific Selections)

Offering/Closing Prayer

 

 

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Pornography Showing At Church

At a church not too far away, in the Sunday morning worship service, the pastor was introducing a well known guest speaker. To aid in his delivery, he called for a video to be played. The technicians followed his instructions…

And pornography appeared on the screens.

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Most people understood that it was a mistake. A few left and never returned.

I was shocked when I first heard this story, but honestly, I’m surprised it doesn’t happen more often, not just in worship services, but in youth classes and children’s gatherings.

Here are some steps churches can take to make sure this never happens.

  1. Preview every video that is supposed to play in your service from start to finish. This just makes sense. You can’t always control what people are going to say, but you have complete control over whether or not you show a video.
  2. Never show videos straight from the internet. It’s just too unpredictable. A similar version of the most godly video could contain pornography. An unseemly ad may play when you least expect it. Someone could accidentally hit the wrong tab and play the wrong video. It’s just not worth it. Download the video and play the file.
  3. Protect your presentation computers. You can install filters if you think that is best, but the best protection is keeping it away from public use.

In the case above, too many people had access to the church worship center computer and unfortunately, someone had used it to view pornography (which is tragic in itself). When the speaker called for the video, which he was having the technicians play from an online source, a wrong button was pushed and the rest is history, or at least the church was, especially for many of their former members.

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Repentance and Restoration Night of Prayer and Worship Outline

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Welcome and Opening Pastoral Prayer

  • Pray a “We need You God” type of prayer.
  • Posture – Have everyone raise their hands to the Lord in prayer and surrender.

Suggested Opening Song – We need you God type of song – Here’s My Heart, Lord – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xD-Wz6CWOw

Praying for Justice Section – Praying against murder, violence, racism, etc…

  • Posture – Have people pray in groups around the worship center
  • Suggested Scripture – Psalm 7:14-17 – The wicked conceive evil; they are pregnant with trouble and give birth to lies. They dig a deep pit to trap others, then fall into it themselves. The trouble they make for others backfires on them. The violence they plan falls on their own heads. I will thank the Lord because he is just;  I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.
  • Suggested Song(s) – The Lion and the Lamb https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9ujBoud26k

Praying for Christians Section – Praying for all Christians to come together.

  • Posture – Have everyone in the room join hands for prayer
  • Suggested Scripture – 1 Peter 2:9-10 – But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.
  • Suggested Songs: I Need You to Survive by Hezekiah Walker  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5_7LEWnGaQ

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Praying for our Nation Section – Praying for our nation to turn to and follow Jesus.

 

  • Posture – Ask those who are physically able to kneel and bow before the Lord.
  • Suggested Scripture – 2 Chronicles 7:14 – Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

 

Praying for the Church Section

  • Posture – Hands outstretched toward one another
  • Being salt and light in the world – Transforming the culture from within
  • Suggested Scripture – Matthew 5:13-15 – “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
  • Suggested Songs – This I Believe – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtUNQpu2b7Q

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Praising God Prayer Section – Praising the Lord, thanking Him for who He is.

  • Posture – Ask everyone to clap after the scripture is read.
  • Suggested Scripture – Psalm 97:1-6 –  The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice!

Let the farthest coastlands be glad. Dark clouds surround him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire spreads ahead of him and burns up all his foes. His lightning flashes out across the world. The earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth.The heavens proclaim his righteousness; every nation sees his glory.

 

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Closing Song(s) – Powerful upbeat song(s), thanking and praising God!

 

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Why People Skip Church On Father’s Day*

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Father’s Day worship services can be lots of fun with giveaways, man-centered services, funny videos, and testimonies. However, Father’s Day Weekend is often a weekend when people skip church.

Father’s Day most often means “Dad’s Choice” Weekend

Let’s be honest, going to church isn’t usually on men’s top ten list of things to do. Moms and children often tell dads, “This is your day, Dad! We can do whatever you want to do!” Given this option, most dads won’t skip breakfast in bed and say, “Ok, everyone up! Get dressed and get in the car! We’re going to church!”

Men Are Afraid They’re Going To Be Lectured

Think about it. Churches often use mother’s day to shower love on moms. Often, these same churches use father’s day to tell men to step it up and be a man. Writer David Murrow, the Director of Church For Men, in his article The Futility of Father’s Day Services*, has reported that only 4% of pastors consider Father’s Day as a high attendance weekend. Murrow attributes one cause to the pastoral beating up of men on Father’s Day. He writes “Can you imagine a pastor standing up on Mother’s Day and saying, ‘Women, I know you’ve messed up your families – but it’s never too late to become a great mother.’ Any minister who said these things about women would be out of a job by Monday morning.”

 

Father’s Day For Many Is A Day of Grief

As Father’s Day approaches, not everyone is wondering about whether to get Dad a goofy tie, golf club, baseball cap, or fishing equipment. Many dread the approach of the day, the entire day itself, and the commercialism and celebration that is connected with it because of difficult circumstances.

People who often have grieving issues on Father’s Day include:

  1. Widows
  2. Widowers
  3. Orphans
  4. Children (of all ages) who have lost Fathers (and Grandfathers)
  5. Parents who have lost Children
  6. Single Men
  7. Single Women
  8. Wives and Children of Abusive or Dysfunctional Fathers
  9. Men and Women who are Childless
  10. Recently Separated or Divorced Men and Women
  11. Children of the Recently Divorced or Separated
  12. The Critically Ill and Their Families
  13. Father’s estranged from their children
  14. Children estranged from their fathers

A Few Practical Ways The Church Help Make Father’s Day Better?

  • Make it fun! Why should the day we celebrate dads be boring.
  • Use discernment and be sensitive to those who might be hurting on Father’s Day.
  • Don’t beat up on men in your Father’s Day’s Services. Honor them, challenge them respectfully, and move on.
  • If you have Fathers stand to be prayed for, consider having all men stand instead of only Fathers. You can still pray for the fathers, but you can also pray for all men present to be godly examples to the next generation.
  • Include humor within the service and message.
  • If you give a gift on Father’s Day, give it to all men and not just those who are dads.

There are lots of reasons for fathers, men, couples, singles, and children to skip church on Father’s Day. No matter what pastors and church leaders do, some people will always bail on church that weekend. However, it’s up to us to do our best, count our losses, and continue trying to plan and promote powerful service that will reach and minister to people, even on difficult days.

*This post has been adapted from a similar post in 2015. Hopefully, I’ll learn more about possible solutions by Father’s Day 2017.

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What Makes Christianity Unique?

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Once, during a British conference on comparative religions, experts were discussing if there was any belief truly unique to Christianity.  Creation, incarnation, and resurrection were quickly eliminated because of examples in other religions. C.S. Lewis wandered into the room and enquired as to the topic of conversation. When the debate was explained to him, without hesitation, Lewis replied, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.”

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Grace is so simple that it baffles the experts. Grace is what makes Christianity unique. Because of it, we have the opportunity to know Jesus as Savior and Friend. Grace helps us understand the difference between happiness and joy. It allows us to conquer all of our fears. There is nothing we can do to earn grace and there is no way that we can destroy it. In Ephesian 1:5-6, the Apostle Paul wrote: He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us with in the Beloved.   

Grace is free and yet it is also priceless. It truly is amazing. 

Since such grace has been given to us, we should always strive to treat others with grace. In doing so, we are imitating our Heavenly Father.

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Why Pastors Should Keep Track of Weekend Worship Service Attendances*

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I recently joined a discussion with a few pastors about the importance of tracking weekend worship service attendance.

In our conversation, it seemed everyone agreed that weekend attendance:

  • Is the most obvious measure of success.
  • Is fairly easy to track.
  • Is easily understood by most church leaders.

However, as we were about to move to another topic, one pastor, who may have been playing Devil’s advocate, asked the following question:

How can we justify counting people in our worship services when King David got into so much trouble with the Lord when he conducted a census?  

He was referring to a story in 2 Samuel 24. The scripture indicates that the Lord was angry with Israel and caused the king to want to count the people of Israel and Judah. The parallel passage in 1 Chronicles 21 actually reports that it was Satan who caused David to take a census. However it took place, it’s possible that David’s sin was not the counting, but pride associated with the numbers. Joab even tried to stop David from ordering the census, saying:

May the Lord your God let you live to see a hundred times as many people as there are now!  But why, my lord the king, do you want to do this?  2 Samuel 24:3 NLT

After reading both accounts, it seems that King David might have been:

  • Putting his trust in the numbers of his people rather than in the Lord.
  • Taking his eyes off of the Lord when earthly success seemed evident to all.
  • Stealing the glory of what the Lord had reserved for himself.

Whatever the reason, before the Lord’s punishment of David for the census was completed, a 3 day plague swept through Israel killing 70,000 people. (One could easily wonder how they knew the number of people who perished without enduring more punishment for counting). I’ve made lots of mistakes about lots of things in church work, but never anything that’s caused even one death (that I know of), much less 70,000.

So is it wrong to keep track of your worship service attendances?

Interestingly enough, until that pastor asked that question, I had never compared knowing the attendance in a worship service with King David taking a census of Israel. It could be because many of the churches I attended while growing up posted the weekend attendance in the worship center for everyone to see. Another reason may be because the Bible is filled with examples of people counting.

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Here are a few examples:

  • The total number of Jacob’s descendants moving to Egypt was 70 (Exodus 1:5).
  • The Levites killed about 3,000 of the Israelite brothers after the incident with the golden calf(Exodus 32:28).
  • On the day the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, about 40,000 were equipped for war and crossed to the plains of Jericho (Joshua 4:13).
  • The 4th book of the Bible is Numbers.
  • The Lord limited Gideon’s Army to 300 when he attacked the Midianite camp  (Judges 7:1-8).
  • Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen (1 Kings 10:26).
  • Jesus broke bread and fed 5,000 men plus women and children (Mark 6:44) and then later fed about 4,000 men plus women and children (Mark 8:8).
  • On the day of Pentecost, 3000 were added to the number of believers in one day (Acts 2:41).

How did Jacob know he had 70 family members with him when he moved to Egypt? You can bet with a family that large they stopped to count everyone before journeying forward each day.

How did Gideon know the Lord had left him with only 300 men to help in attacking the Midianite camp? Someone must have counted.

How did Jesus and the disciples know that there were 5,000 men present when Jesus broke the bread and fish? One of the disciples must have counted. They would want to know because that’s a whole lot of people to serve even if the food is being miraculously multiplied.

Still not convinced?

I asked my social media friends why it would be important to count worship service attendees each week. Here are a few answers I received.

– Counting your weekly attendance helps you celebrate what the Lord has done and also helps keep you accountable for pastoring the people with whom God has blessed you.

– You count your offering, right? Why wouldn’t you be as faithful with the people resources God has entrusted you with?

– Tracking and then studying the numbers can help you spot trends and know your congregation…  It can also help you see decline before it is full-blown. Numbers in organizations are like numbers on a growth chart for a child in development. They’re indicators of what’s working and what isn’t.

– It can be used for message traction. One church I was in before learned that too much effort went into teaching series openers. There was a large (15%) spike in attendance for the first message compared to the others. It helped us re-tool how the series were put together.

– I’m responsible for the team setting up for communion each month and let me tell you, counting is important. Our church attendance kept rising, but no one ever told me so I didn’t buy enough supplies. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to tell congregation members they can’t participate in the Lord’s Supper because you’ve run out of juice?

– Being able to look at trends and seeing low attendance periods helps church leadership know when they need to step up marketing, promotions, etc…  It also helps to know that sometimes a slump is just prime vacation time.

While being surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses to the benefits of tracking attendance, I must say that keeping track of worship service attendance numbers is not only beneficial, but is an absolute must for any pastor desiring to serve and lead in a thriving, healthy ministry.

All this being said, here are some practical steps to remember when keeping track of attendance:

1.  Tell the truth. If all of your attendance numbers begin with the phrase Evangelistically speaking we had… something needs to change. Lying about your attendance is like cheating on your eye exam. You’re only hurting yourself.

2.  Count in the second half of the service. It’s my experience that the number of people you have in the building at the beginning of your service is no indication of how will be there by the end of the service. (This is a different problem for a different article). For accuracy, have someone count in the second half of the sermon. People are normally seated during this time and they’re easier to count anyway.

3.  Create an easily accessible graph for your own reference. Doing so will allow you to compare attendances quickly and efficiently.

4.  Compare attendances from season to season, year to year, and finally Sunday to Sunday. Consider the why’s regarding your trends.

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Willie Nelson once said When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. It’s uncertain if keeping track of your ongoing weekend church attendance will turn your life around. However, it is certain that those you are counting are God’s blessings for you to evangelize, disciple, and lead.


Happy counting!  

 

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The Culprit In The Sanctuary

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“There must be a culprit in the sanctuary,” I thought.

The video equipment had been set up and taken down by the same faithful volunteers for close to a year and a half without any problem. Now, each week, throughout the service, the video system would suddenly lose connection for a second or two and then return to normal. It started happening once every five minutes or so, then the problem grew steadily worse.

Pastors, leaders, technicians, and volunteers were all baffled over the situation. Over the course of several weeks, different teams tried updating the presentation system, double checking the connections, updating the computer, using different computers, checking the multiple adapters, replacing a converter, checking the temperature of the equipment, and checking the stress on the cabling, all to no avail.

In the end, I wondered, “Could someone be sabotaging the system?”

Finally, the entire system was setup during the week by a small group, determined to double check every connection until the issue was discovered. However, when everything was setup, the problem could not be reproduced.

Fortunately, one of the team members received a text message, and the problem occurred. Testing a theory, he sent a text message, and the disconnect happened again. Then, the technicians realized that a phone could simply be placed near certain connection points and the glitch would occur. The team found a thicker, more insulated cable and retested the system, placing cell phones over the cables and sending text messages back and forth.

No glitch.

The culprit in the sanctuary had been found. Unseen frequencies, which had previously not been released for cell phone use, had been steadily increasing in the room as people had updated their phones, thereby causing problems in the wired video equipment.

Crazy, right?

Thank the Lord we were able to purchase higher grade, better insulated cables. We would have hated to make everyone check their cell phone at the door.

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