Blessed

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Can you guess what this is? Give up? It's a map of the world. Every red flag that you see on the map was a computer connected this past weekend on the Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus. Country #44 signed in...Vietnam! In addition, I got the chance to chat with a representative of a large group of American soldiers from Baghdad, Iraq that were watching Pastor Troy deliver an AWESOME message. If that wasn't enough, we had a visit in the studio from Eileen! She is an Internet Campus member visiting from Puerto Rico!!! She helped me do the opening for the 11:00AM service live on camera!

Here are some other cities that connected this weekend:
Quezon City, Philippines
Salvador, Brasil
Ketsch, Germany
Corner Brook, Newfoundland Canada
Hanoi, Vietnam
Bogota, Columbia
Oslo, Norway
San Jose Del Cabo, Mexico
San Francisco, CA
Littleton, CO
Dayton, OH
Asbestos, Quebec Canada
Kansas City, KS

What an honor it was this weekend to connect with 1312 computers from all over the planet... big crowds in the chat rooms... and the chance to pray with so many wonderful people.

I get to lead the greatest campus with the greatest team in the world... I am blessed.

BV

Wanna Chat?

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Have you watched FRC's TV show lately? Ian is doing an incredible job on the production every single week! I will always have a place in my heart for the TV ministry of Flamingo...I was blessed to be the first to create shows for it...and God has used the current media team to take it to a whole other level.

It is then that Pastor Troy takes it up another notch.... www.troygramling.com

Yep...we kicked it off last week. There is now a chat room where people that are watching the TV show can go and talk about what they are experiencing in real time. I am moderating the room with a few members of my team and it is going well! Last week, nearly half of those that were chatting went over to experience the live service at 11:00AM right after the 10:30AM TV experience.

Real community. Real life-change.

What an honor to be a part of it.

BV

Resistance is Futile

Greetings Faithful Readers...

In my effort to make each one of you more like me...I have been asked which Podcasts I regularly listen to...


WebChurch Podcast - In full disclosure...this is the podcast I host along with Miguel Umanzor and Stacie Gonzalez. Each week we talk about what is hot in the world of technology and how it can be leveraged for ministry in the local church. Also, I take a segment each show to highlight an area of the Internet Campus. It is my prayer that by doing so, it will help new Internet Campuses learn some of the successes and mistakes that we have made. We work very hard to keep the show safe for non-techies with still enough geek-speak for those that want it.

Potential Podcast - Pastor Troy, Pastor Heather, and Heredes lead this very cool podcast where they talk with some high-level leaders about all kinds of amazing leadership-related issues. If you lead...have been lead...or want to lead...this is something worth checking out!

The Dave Ramsey Show - This year, my wife and I are buckling down, living within our means, and paying off old debt. This show has changed the way we think about and spend the money we make. If you find yourself with more month than money...you HAVE to download and apply the lessons in this podcast. It is his radio show...with callers calling in and asking questions....a great use of 30 minutes or so of your life!

The WDW Radio Show - This amazing show, hosted by Lou Mongello, is the best Disney Podcast on the web. He has great guests, contests, and park audio. Lou is a class act, a great family man, and a pro when it comes to putting an incredible podcast together. If you only have time for one Disney Podcast (and who doesn't)...grab this one. Warning: You will find yourself walking around the parks and pointing things out to friends that they aren't noticing...You will earn mad geek cred....you have been warned.

Inside the Magic - OK, I have another Disney Podcast that I listen to...and this one is amazing also! Hosted by Orlando-native Ricky Brigante, the Inside the Magic podcast is absolutely incredible! Ride-thrus, interviews, contests, and a weekly visit from former cast-member "Skipper" Ben, makes this podcast a must-listen as well. Ricky has won much-deserved awards for his efforts...if you are a Disney fan, you owe it to yourself to add this one to the weekly regiment.

The LOST Podcast with Jay and Jack - If you are a fan of the TV show, LOST, this podcast is a must-listen. Updated every now and then when the show is in hiatus... it is rock-solid and very informative. Jay and Jack are funny and offer great insight into this incredible show.

Tekzilla - From the Revision 3 network comes this very cool and very short show about all areas of tech. Hosted by Veronica Belmont, Tekzilla gives daily tips and tricks on how to use technology better and more effectively. Whether you use Mac, PC, or Linux...this is a nice addition to your iPod touch...

XBOX Live's Major Nelson Radio - Hosted by Microsoft Xbox Live's Larry Hyrb (known to the gaming community as Major Nelson). The podcast covers everything in the world of XBOX video gaming, major industry events, and the like. Very entertaining and informative, Major (along with co-host "E") always put together a top-notch show... If you're a gamer and own an XBOX...you have to check it out.

Do you have any cool ones that you listen to? I'd love to hear them!

A visit to my web bookmarks is coming soon...promise...

BV

A Special Visit

Greetings Faithful Readers...

A couple of weeks ago, the FRC Internet Campus had a very special visitor...Eileen! She flew from Puerto Rico to visit with Pastor Arturo and myself in the campus studio! We gave her a tour of the church...took a few pictures...and just sat and talked about how God has impacted her life through the online experience...

It was an amazing time...what an honor to meet this long-time member of the Internet Campus!


See you online!
BV

Long-Distance Host

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Today I worked from home because I have a sick little girl....maybe she'll blog about it... anyway, I am the one of the hosts of a church/tech podcast called WebChurch....and we record on Wednesday mornings....

So I Skype-hosted. I called into the studio via VOiP and was recorded alongside the others that were on the show. I wan't physically part of the studio..but I was very much part of the experience.

Kinda sounds like the Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus... our campus might be virtual...but the experience is very, very real.

Enjoy Show #21
BV

Absolutely Amazing

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Tonight on the Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus I got the chance to worship with people from Australia, Chile, and El Salvador. I chatted with part of our campus volunteer team from England and Brazil.

I got to explain the vision for the Internet Campus to a brand new volunteer. People clicked on a button marked "Prayer Request" so that I could pray for them. In one night, nearly 400 computers experienced God in a way that just a few years ago would have been impossible. Pastor Troy led people to Christ that have never set foot inside one of our physical campuses. Guests chatted in the chat room and shared challenges that they were facing with others that lived hundreds...even thousands of miles away.

Tonight was special. Tomorrow will be, too.

I am so blessed to be the Campus Pastor.

BV

An Incredible Team

Greetings Faithful Readers...

What an incredible team I get to lead on the Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus! A few weeks ago, our technical director, Roberto, invited everyone over to his house for homemade pizza night! It was incredible!

They made every kind of pizza you could imagine...and the food just kept on coming!!! It was a great time to just hang out as a team and celebrate all of the great things that God is doing through this amazing campus.

What a blessing they are in my life...

BV

A Decade

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Well last week made it official... I have been at Flamingo Road Church as a staff member for 10 years!!! What a ride it has been! I taught at the school for one year and have been a staff Pastor for the last 9... Things have changed a lot over the years, but I have been blessed to be a part of the changes.

I would have never guessed 10 years ago that I'd be where I am today...Pastor of the Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus... what an honor!

Thanks to everyone who has made the last 10 years of ministry my best 10. To borrow a line from Heredes.com ... The best is yet to come!

BV

Crossover

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Just wanted to share this devotional with you all here on my blog. I wrote it for the Internet Campus devotional for tomorrow, but felt led to share it here on this blog today... I know there is one of you that read my blog that need to hear this... it is my prayer that it encourages you. BV

"More Than Grasshoppers"
Numbers 13:33 We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

How small do you feel this morning? There are times when I wake up and feel like I am incredibly strong...filled with the power of the Holy Spirit...like I can take on the world! Unfortunately, there are many mornings when I feel exactly the opposite: powerless, weak, puny, and small. It seems like these are the days when the giants in my life grow about 3 inches. I get smaller...and they get larger. Have you felt this way? Feel like a grasshopper in a land of giants? Here are some of the verses that I turn to when I am feeling small and beatable:

John 16:33
"I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 139:7-10
"I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me."

2 Corinthians 12:9
"Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me."

Psalm 37:23-24
"The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand."

Ephesians 3:20
" Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."

Revelation 19:6
"Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a vast crowd or the roar of mighty ocean waves or the crash of loud thunder:

'Praise the Lord!
For the Lord our God,the Almighty, reigns.'"

God reigns indeed. Nothing has changed with Him. He has overcome the world...He has healed the sick...raised the dead...heard every prayer you've ever whispered...

He loves you so much that He has given you a purpose and the gifts to accomplish it. You are indeed valuable...and through God's strength you are a giant-killer.

See you in the morning,
Pastor Brian

Group Photo

Greetings Faithful Readers...

As many of you know, Mindy and I host an online small group on the FRC Internet Campus on Thursday nights... It has been such an amazing experience...with an awesome group of people from around the world. Last week, we had over 50 in attendance from 3 countries...and have had as many as 5 countries join us before!

Last Thursday, my daughter took a few pictures of us as we were live from our living room.











I'd also like you to see a group portrait of our online small group...they smiled for the photo...















I love the Internet Campus...

BV

Where were you last night?

Greetings Faithful Readers...

Last night I got the chance to take part in a cool chat/meeting with Pastor Clay of Barefoot Church and Pastor Troy of Flamingo Road... Pastor Clay is doing a series called "The Exposed Pastor" where he is on camera 24 hours a day...much like the Naked Pastor series that we did here at Flamingo. The chat was great...both guys shared some leadership/life stuff and answered many, many questions from those that were in the chat room. I even got the chance to chat with some folks who had questions about the Internet Campus, online baptism, chat room salvations, and the like. I believe they are posting a recap of the conversation in an archive at www.exposedpastor.com.

A very cool experience!

BV

Online Baptism

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I think this video speaks for itself...we had a great morning yesterday on the Internet Campus!



God is doing big things on the FRC Internet Campus!

BV

My Naked Podcast

Greetings Faithful Readers...

If you've been reading my blog for long...you probably already know that I haven't always been the Internet Campus Pastor...I used to lead the media team at FRC...for 9 years, in fact.   On a recent episode of the Potential Podcast, I was asked to come on the show and talk about that transition.  I've got to tell you, I just listened to it all the way through for the first time.  It is a very honest and open discussion of my feelings, thoughts, and insight during that challenging transitional time.  There are some things that I mention on the podcast that I never thought I'd say publicly...not anything scandalous...just naked.  It talks about how I had become broken and stagnant...and what God did to fix that.

To hear it for yourself, simply CLICK HERE

It is my hope that by listening to this podcast...you realize that it is so important to realize what you are supposed to do with your life...and then pursue it passionately.

Please let me know what you think,

BV

This Week

Greetings Faithful Readers,

I haven't forgotten the last couple of questions from the previous posts...things are just a bit exciting this week...

1)  I get the awesome opportunity to teach this weekend at our Cooper City Campus!  I am speaking on "Sharing Your Story Without Fear" at all 6 services.  I couldn't be more anxious to share with you some of the great truths that God is revealing to me about this topic.  I hope that you will be there!

2)  I am meeting tomorrow with a group that wants to talk about our Internet Campus.  I hope to interview some of them for the WebChurch Podcast!  www.webchurchpodcast.com (or on iTunes)

3)  Our first ladies Bible Study kicks off tomorrow LIVE in the studio at 6:30PM.  My wife and several friends will be live in the studio and are talking about authenticity.  It will be off the hook amazing!

4)  We are continuing our small group THIS THURSDAY @ 7PM in the studio.  Last week we had 58 people from 4 countries and 11 states join us for a discussion about barriers to Joy.

That's what I'm up to this week...here's where you come in...

Can you pray for me?  It would be great to know that I as I prepare, teach, and lead this week that you would all be lifting me up in prayer.

Thanks so much,
BV

One of My New Projects

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I've been working on some amazing things behind the scenes lately and want to let you in on one...

Here it is...my first Podcast! It is called the WebChurch Podcast! I am hosting with Miguel Umanzor and Stacie Gonzalez (starting on show 4). Think about it as FRC Internet Campus meets Tech meets Web 2.0 meets my sense of humor....basically a quick trip through my brain without the basal ganglia to worry about.

A virtual bouillabaisse of Christian nerdiness...but it's fun! It's not a bunch of techno-babble...and it might be the best 30 minutes on the Internet...(unless you count the Internet Campus, the Online Small Group, or the episode of "The Office" that you missed on Hulu.com)

You can listen to the podcast on the website (www.webchurchpodcast.com) or on iTunes (coming soon).  Check out the first two shows...but make me a deal...stick it out for 6 shows...I am still getting comfortable hosting a show...and they get better after show 1. We have finished 4 shows so far...we'd love to have your feedback! Send comments or show ideas to webchurchpodcast@gmail.com

Until next time...Stay Connected...

BV

A Great Night

Greetings Faithful Readers...

What a great night on the Internet Campus!  We had a special guest...LIVE!  It was Jeff Mason from Hartlepool, England!  What a great treat to have him stop by and spend both services Saturday with the Internet Campus team.  I gave him a tour of the campus, introduced him to Pastor Troy, shot a video interview with him (coming soon), and got the chance to enjoy a great meal of Cuban food with him afterward!   

Jeff is one of our campus volunteers on our chat team.  He has been a member of the Internet Campus for about 9 months and told me that he has grown in his walk with Christ as a result of connecting each weekend online.  He found Pastor Troy on a totally unrelated website...clicked one button...which led to another...and so on...until he ended up on the Internet Campus of Flamingo Road Church!  God is REALLY doing awesome things with this campus!

Kudos to the entire Internet Campus team....we are up to about 35 volunteers from around the world...5 growing small groups...a great International Prayer Team...and an amazing group of leaders in the studio.  I am humbled to lead such an amazing group of men and women... Jeff's visit helped me see (in the flesh) the reason that God has called me to this.  People's lives are changing.   People internationally are growing closer to God....and we're just getting started!

See you in the chat room!

BV

 

Tonight - THE BED LIVE and WORLDWIDE!

Greetings Faithful Readers,

Tonight, be sure to join us for the wrap on our 2 week live "The Bed" kickoff.  We will be live from all of our campuses worldwide!  There is going to be a PARTY online and you are invited!  Simply go to www.troyandsteph.com to join in the fun.  8:00PM  (EST)  (GMT -5)  See you there!

BV

Here it is

Greetings Faithful Readers,

If you joined us last night for "The Bed" (and you should have...) we had a little spontaneous imitation game at the end.  You see, Pastor Troy said at the beginning of his question and answer time that he noticed that I liked to do imitations (see last post).  He said that we were having a contest...at the end of the Q+A.  we would go back live to the studio and try to guess who it was that I was imitating.  Contrary to popular belief, I had no idea that this was going to happen.  In fact, in the archive, you hear Troy say that they just "came up with" the contest.  I really had no choice but to pick Pastor Troy.  I had to choose someone who everybody knew (staff and non-staff).  Here is the photo.  Remember I had 20 minutes to put this together...



I called Troy immediately after to check to see that I was still a staff member of Flamingo Road Church.

So far, so good.

BV

Easter on the Internet Campus

Greetings Faithful Readers...

I could honestly write pages about this past weekend, but here's a quick recap of events on our Internet Campus:

1) New Page Elements - We debuted some new items on our campus page:  Spanish translation, lobby login, and connection map.  Campus guests are now able to click a button..see Pastor Troy teaching...and hear it in Spanish from our translation team!  Also, the buttons on the page and the teaching notes are translated into Spanish with the push of a button.  We also unveiled the new lobby page complete with map of who is currently connected.  Very cool stuff!  Kudos to the Internet Campus developement/tech team who made this all happen!


2)  Beach Baptism - Still don't have the final number of people baptized from the IC (Internet Campus).  We had 19 confirmed for the beach and Cooper City.  I got the chance to baptize Kim Knowles that flew in from the Bahamas to get baptized on the beach.  She has been attending the IC for quite awhile and couldn't wait to get in the water!   I got the chance to meet 9 other people on the beach that I had never seen physically before but felt like I had known them forever.  They would walk up to me at the beach and say...hi I'm _________.  If I didn't recognize their name, they would tell me their "chat room" name...THOSE names I knew...  We took a lot of photos for the Facebook page and blogs with all that attended from the IC.  We were broadcasting live from the beach the entire morning...Pastor Arturo even got the chance to wear his antenna hat again!  You can watch the beach baptism footage on Pastor Arturo's blog www.arturodelamora.blogspot.com.

3)   2023 attended the Internet Campus over the Easter weekend.  Small group attendance was higher than usual and the chat room was crowded in many of the services.

4)  Our Winter Park small group baptized 2 people on Easter Sunday!  They have been a part of the Ray's small group for awhile.  How cool is it that there are baptisms happening at the beach, at the other campuses, and upstate on the same day!   Did I mention that those two that were baptized in Winter Park are Christ-followers in a home where they were raised by Buddhist parents?   I am posting pictures/video of those baptisms soon on our campus Facebook page.

5)   72 people clicked the button for a miracle on the Internet Campus.  I'm praying for each and every one of you.

6)   We had a dedicated team of volunteers all weekend long in the studio.  Thanks to each of you for your sacrifices that you made to make this weekend execute so well.  I owe each of you a chocolate bunny.

7)   We had one salvation over the weekend.  One person that was headed for hell turned on their computer, heard Pastor Troy's great teaching, and came to Christ.  When they shut down their laptop for the evening..they were Heaven-bound.   Isn't that amazing?

8)  All the rest:   many visitors in the studio that wanted to see it in "person"...I got to sing with the Gospel choir onstage for 8 services...42 people found our UStream.tv live Easter feed by just "stumbling" across it while surfing the web...I drank 3 Sugar-free Red Bulls...16 countries connected over the weekend...  WOW!

I could go on...but I've got to get ready for "The Bed"...see you tonight!

BV

First Online Baptism

Greeting Faithful Readers...

Here it is...the video recap of Flamingo Road Church Internet Campus' Online baptism. To our knowledge, it is the first of its kind anywhere...

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qThUe1-RvXU&hl=en]


It was such a blessing to be a part of.

Thoughts?

BV