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Another day in the life….

Mike Vogel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:41:57 +0000

Well…today is the first day of September, which means 1 thing….PARTY TIME!!!!!! In 6 days i turn the big
2-7 and for this occasion i have decided to go to the coast which makes my heart grow fonder….some people call it the left coast and it is that, but it is also the right coast….I am going out California for the long weekend that some have dubbed Labor Day Weekend, but to it means birthday weekend extravaganza…. I have few things on the agenda today to keep me busy and then i am out first thing tomorrow morning…. Maybe ill do some updates from the road with pictures….everyone likes a good story and picture….N e way…thanks for tuning in…catch ya later

OMG…..

Mike Vogel — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:03:59 +0000

I can’t believe they haven’t shut me down yet….i should use this more often i guess….

The Class of Sophomores….

Mike Vogel — Mon, 17 May 2010 18:51:22 +0000

Last night i had the privilege of hanging out with a group of college students that were once my kids that I was a leader of back when they were in High School. I was always drawn to this group of kids. There was something about them that had me wanting to be with them. It’s not like they were the cool kids, even though they were pretty cool. I didn’t love their class better than any other class. There was something in them, in all of them that had me wanted to be their leader. I would do anything for these guys, give them rides, get them food, check up on them and encourage them. I would do whatever I could for them because I knew they were culture changers, and leaders that would take this world by storm.

I have recently moved back to Maryland from Australia and have been cleaning my old room and getting rid of stuff, and during this process I found a lot of old notes and things, and some of these were from my students saying good bye and telling the things I had done in their life. I was reading through some of these and reflecting back on the days when I was their leader (this was about 6 years ago). I started thinking of all the things we had been through together, family struggles, drama, relationships, cigarette burns, injuries, games, late nights hangouts, and so much more. This group meant the world to me and all these guys are still leading amazing lives, learning and soaking up life.

I was sitting in the back yard with the parents of one of the girls I was closest with and her dad looked at me and said “you know a lot of the credit goes to you for this group being as close as they are”. I was blown away when he said that. I hadn’t really ever thought of that. I always did what I did because that was my passion. I didn’t even realize that I had developed a group of life long friends who would be closer today than we had imagined. Most of these people go to schools in different states and are studying different things, but that doesn’t matter. Time nor space can change this group.

I’m not writing this to say look at me and what I did, because quite frankly I doubt it had anything to do with me. I think I have learned more from them, than they did from me. The sad thing is how smart all of them are, they make me look like 4th grader who just peed their pants. What I want to say though is Thank you, to that group of sophomore kids who showed me a lot about life. I know you all are going to change the world in some way, shape, or form, in some sphere where you find yourself. I want to always be cheering you on and lifting you up.

I’m not sure what else to say, I hope you hear the heart more than the words…. You guys rock…. I’m really not even sure this counts as a blog post…. oh well….

Brisvegas to Sydney

Mike Vogel — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:16:44 +0000

I just looked at my recent posts and realized that my most recent is really not that recent. I really need to stay on top of this…

To keep you in the loop… I have just returned from to Sydney from Brisbane. I was up at our campus in Queensland for a little while as a children’s pastor helping them out and bringing up some things we do in Sydney.

It was a wonderful time up there and I am very grateful for that opportunity. If you ever get the chance to go I would say do it. Brissie is awesome and theres heaps to do as they are 45 minutes from the Gold Coast and an hour and a half from the Sunnie Coast.

Now I am back in Sydney covering Beci Wakerley’s maternity leave and hanging out in the city campus. I just had my first weekend back and it was awesome…. lots of services but also a lot of ministry to kids which is the best thing!!!!!

N e way, I hope to be blogging more regularly…but im sure I have said that before… Thats all for now…. MV out

Fight or Flight???

Mike Vogel — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 22:59:36 +0000

I have been reading a book by Bill Hybels called “Holy Discontent”, which is all about finding that one thing that makes you mad, that one thing that stirs up the inside of you to want to change something in the world, whatever it may be. I remember at a staff meeting once, Robert Fergusson talked about your passion being your permission, so if something in church life wasn’t good enough, your passion to change that was your permission to do something about it. It’s a profound thought that has been with me for the last few weeks maybe even the last couple of months. My holy discontent is child prostitution. When I think of the number of kids involved in this evil scheme my insides are torn apart and I start thinking of ways I can help end it. As Billy Hybels say’s, I am having my Popeye moment.

There’s a theory that is commonly known as the fight or flight theory and basically it’s about this…. say you’re walking through a park and there’s a guy thats harassing a woman, it seems to be moving to a physical dispute, will you a help her out and come to her rescue??? or will you turn your back on her and pretend it’s not happening because it’s not your fight???

In the world today there are 27 million people trapped in modern slavery. The statistics in this field are down right shocking. The stories you read related to this area are devastating and they should break you. They are stories that are happening as we speak. This is happening in our world. Fight or flight??? will you do something about it or just turn your back and say “this is not my fight”. This is your fight and your time is now. It’s time some of us have our Popeye moment and stand up for the wrong things we see.

One of the best quotes I have ever heard is this, “you’re either part of the problem, or part of the solution”. Apathy is part of the problem. Not standing up for injustice is a problem. The solution is doing something, whatever that is, whatever that looks like, to fight aging the wrong and immoral things of our time. The balls in your court now, fight or flight???

Guest Blogger - Funny Man Dan

Mike Vogel — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:57:36 +0000

Performance skills - 101 Sharpening your skills to use in every aspect of
your program.

One of my greatest frustrations is that only in the church world do people
think that performing, preaching and mc’ing are a natural gift. This
belief means that (1) those who believe that they don’t have this gift are
excused from any of the aforementioned tasks and (2) those with the gifts
just have to keep performing and they will get better and better.

This concept is absolutely ludicrous. It is the same as a man saying “I
have always naturally been good with my hands, I am going to start
practicing operating on people and I am sure I will get better”. Even in
the world of fictional TV shows this would be too far of a stretch. Doogie
Howser MD was a wizz kid and a doctor by 16 but he still did all of the
study and training…

A football team doesn’t just play games to get better but they run
specific drills to improve specific skills that will help them with the
game. This is what I believe we need to start doing.

In this episode we are going to look at one skill that is crucial in
on-stage speaking. In fact if I could only tell you one thing that most
help you it would be this:

Truth by Vibration!

The year was 2002 and I was in a theatre class. I was performing a piece
from the “Dead Poets Society” with a girl in my class, and I had to
confess my love for her. We got to the most crucial part where I said with
all my acting skill - “I love you”

“CUT”

The teacher stopped me and told me he didn’t believe me and to try again.

“I love you”

“CUT”

The teacher tried to help. He told me to just say the line. I said with no
effort “I love you” and he said “PERFECT - that is it” and told me to do
it in the scene. I got to the part again, I said my perfect line and he
said “CUT”

Over the next 30 mins it was really painful. He got me to stop and start
20 times speaking the line and getting it perfect, then performing it and
failing. After the 30 mins I still didn’t get it. I had no idea what he
was saying because to me they sounded exactly the same. It wasn’t until a
few months later I found out a secret that has changed the way I have
performed ever since.

I went to a voice training class and the speech specialist said during a
routine exercise “Truth is communicated on Vibration”.

Every time you speak, sing or make a noise a vibration is made in your
body. We generally talk with a bit of chest vibration and a bit of throat
vibration but when we get on stage for some strange reason most people’s
voice gets a little bit higher and it goes straight to the throat. This is
the easiest way to tell the difference from a preacher that has been
preaching for years and a rookie. The rookie’s voice is always a little
bit higher than they normally speak.

When I perform my voice goes high, goes low, goes all over the place for
the enjoyment of the crowd, but whenever I want to communicate a message I
make sure my chest vibrates.

Professional performers are trained to speak on vibration (that meaning in
the chest) because it sounds more confident, it is more relaxing, and you
can speak for as long as you want and your throat will not tire. The other
main reason is that if you don’t speak on vibration people will not
believe you.

So give it some practice. It is a learnt skill that takes time. It is not
speaking in a deep voice but it has certain feel that has to be learnt.
The best way is to practice your message with your hand on your chest and
focus on getting the vibrations lower.

If you look at all the great preachers, performers and mc’s, you will
notice that they speak very similarly to when they are off-stage. They may
not realise they are speaking on vibration but have just developed that
over the years. If you adopt this specific training you will find that you
advance a lot quicker than those who have gone before you.

Have Fun

Dan.

Tomorrow…

Mike Vogel — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 10:33:52 +0000

Tomorrow we will have a very special guest blogger @vogelpedia.com. The one and only Funny Man Dan will be bloggin here at Vogelpedia on children’s ministry, so you won’t want to miss that. Ill hopefully be posting it at midnight, but who knows… N e way, keep an eye out for it. Catch ya later

It…

Mike Vogel — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 04:26:14 +0000

I just got home from a Christian bookstore and as I was walking through the isles I was realizing there was not much creativity in the books and titles and artwork of these Christian artists. Now I don’t write this to slam other Christians, but i do think, as Christians, we should be at the top of the game in this field, I mean, come on, we work for The Creator… We should have an abundance of creativity and ideas that reflect his heart.

While I was thinking about this in the store I was realizing that some Christian artists/writers have “it” and some don’t. My prayer is we get “it” and lead the way in the world for creativity and innovation and all that stuff. Craig Groeschel might be able to help if you’re looking for “It”….

Let’s get with God and figure out what he wants to do, not what we want to do.

Mind over Matter…

Mike Vogel — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 22:32:50 +0000

I have this problem… I wanna run every morning at 6:30, but when i wake up all I want to do is put my head back against the pillow. I know it’s a pyschological thing, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to break through it…. My first idea is to get a coffee pot on a timer so when it hits 6AM the coffee starts pouring…I’m sure thats enought to get me out the door… Well theres my head at the moment…. breathrough is on its way… and I cant wait til I’m running every morning… Whatever you have going on, I’m sure you can break through as well… Mind over Matter

Time is flying…

Mike Vogel — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 07:38:35 +0000

Well it’s a bit strange to think that a year ago I graduated from bible college…. and well when I say I graduated, I mean I just barely squeaked by, but none the less I graduated and shook the hand of one of the greatest church leaders, Brian Houston. Today I work for him at the Brisbane Campus as a Children’s pastor and it is an incredible honor.

It seems like just yesterday when I was drinking cordial till I my stomach was about to explode and the sugar raced me into another dimension. All nighters were the norm, watching The OC till we felt like we were on Newport Beach. Every now and then the Sauna team would assemble, but those days are behind us and a new era is upon us. Instead of the bible college antics we stir others up in the church office and figure out ways to have fun in a whole new way. I love what I do and by no means is it boring. It’s definitely different, but it awesome none the less.

Whatever season your in, make sure you’re having fun… Love life to the max and enjoy it while it last, because you never know when it will be gone…. much love