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3 Questions with Flavio Sala, Italian Guitarist

Meet Flavio Sala! Flavio is a remarkably well-rounded Italian guitarist from Bojano, currently living in the United States. Throughout his career Flavio has been captivating all kinds ... Read more

The post 3 Questions with Flavio Sala, Italian Guitarist appeared first on CMUSE.





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How and Why You Should Recruit a Christmas Choir

It may not feel or look anything remotely close to Christmas outside, but there is something in the air that brings back that ol’ “It’s after Labor Day, better get ready for Christmas” feeling. A season enjoyed by some, dreaded by others, but necessary for any who are involved with music in the life of a Church. At All About Worship we are here to help you navigate your way through the challenges and on to a successful season of Christmas cheer and high fives from your Pastor.

First up is how and why you should recruit a choir. So let’s begin with why.

  1. It looks, sounds, and feels like Christmas: Blame it on Hollywood Producers if you want, but we all have an iconic image of choirs at Christmas lodged into our brain that actually began at the birth of Jesus with choirs of angels. It’s Biblical and it satisfies the itch.
     
  2. It gets people involved…at a temporary level: Pastors are supernaturally driven to see the gifts of their people developed. Most worship leaders are concerned about letting people on the team who are may not be the best at singing or those whose abilities are an unknown. The solution is a Christmas Choir. A chance to let people be a part of something in a group setting where voices are blended and there is no promise of further involvement. A win-win situation.
     
  3. Talent scouting: Through the process of rehearsals you will have an opportunity to audition people without having an audition. While you may find some who don’t sing very well, you will also find some diamonds in the rough. People who you didn’t know could sing. Once identified, if you want, ask them to be a part of the regular team.
     
  4. It Boosts Attendance: More people involved means more people will show up for the special service. (Also a great reason to include a Children’s choir in your plans as well)
     
  5. It’s Fun: Gatherings are a big part of Christmas and it can be a lot of fun. Have people bring snacks and let there be an element of social time.

Ok so now you’re motivated to do it. But now ‘the how’ comes to the forefront so here are some tips:

  1. Decide if you’re a recruit/plan or a plan/recruit: If you have a specific piece of music you want to do, it might determine the kind of voices that you are looking for. Thus changing how you will recruit. For example a men’s number will obviously not include the ladies. It might also be that the piece is complicated or that you only have sheet music so a certain level of knowledge or skill is required to participate. However you can also recruit and see whom you get. Then adjust your plan accordingly.
     
  2. Determine the Qualifications and Commitment: Make a list of the requirements for participation. Make sure to think about Age, Gender, Ability, Part they Sing, and whether they need to attend your church. You will also want to be able to communicate when rehearsals and events are.
     
  3. Ask the Traditional Ways: When it comes to asking for participation most people immediately turn to the bulletin or ask for time during the announcements. A sign up table in foyer or/and a web based sign up form can add some names.
     
  4. Ask the Non-Traditional Ways: Have your pastor or announcement person ask the congregation for a show of hands of who has ever been in choir.  Take a moment and look around as these are prime targets for recruitment. If you feel comfortable in doing so, put a little social pressure on these people from the stage to participate.

    While the above mentioned methods are good, hands down the best way to recruit is to ask personally. But who to ask? And more specifically what to ask? The best way is to ask anyone, “Do you know anyone who sings?” or “Do you know anyone who was ever in choir?” That’s when people will tell on their friends and neighbors. Giving you the opportunity to approach that person and say, “I heard you used to be in choir?” and then ask them to be a part of the group.
     
  5. Have the next step determined: Make it easy to do and clear to understand what to do next. Do they need to fill out a form or just show up at this place on this date?

    I would recommend getting people to put their name to something as it can have a higher level of cementing their decision. People are more likely to come if they have signed up rather than if they can decide later if they are coming or not.
     

Hopefully you have inspiration and motivation surging through your veins at this very moment for an amazing Christmas season. In the coming weeks through articles and podcasts we will be discussing what to sing, how to teach people their parts even if they can’t read music, and where to find those resources. But for now, get started because it’s almost the middle of September and time is running out.






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184 AAW: Building Community in Your Worship Team (with Jordan Merritt)

Today, we're excited to introduce you to someone on the front lines of worship every single week at a local church, just like you!  He's a worship leader, pastor, husband, father and a good friend of the ministry: Jordan Merritt.



Jordan is currently serving as Worship Pastor at Embrace Church in Sioux Falls, SD, one of the fastest-growing churches in the country.  In addition to leading worship, he is a gifted songwriter. He co-wrote the Newsboys single, “You Hold It All,” and he has written songs for multiple projects with artists including Newsboys, Selah, Travis Ryan, and others. Jordan’s desire is to see the Church equipped, refreshed, and reminded of God’s promises through worship.

Thank you to Jordan for taking the time to sit down with us!  We hope you are encouraged by a "fellow soldier in the fight", who is leading worship in a local church every week.  Be encouraged and be confident that God has put you on mission as a worshipper in your church ... to restore the honor of God, to restore the People of God and to bring His presence into your services each and every week. 

Have a great week!





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Genuine Concern

I remember a few years back seeing a youtube video that people were sharing. It was a quick little video that people thought was adorable and funny. It kinda troubled me. The youtube clip was of a little child swiping through a magazine app on an iPad. As she swiped through more and more pages of the magazine app, they took the iPad away and replaced it with a real magazine. The child didn’t realize there was an actual, real life, magazine in front of her. Instead of turning the pages, she continued to try to swipe with no success. What struck me about that was how she had the real thing in front of her and didn’t realize it.

It got me thinking of how much this video relates to where things are in the real world. With social media, virtual and augmented reality, and every new tech that comes out everyday, people are losing sight of what’s supposed to be right in front of them. People have thousands of friends on Facebook, and they feel more alone than ever. There has been a breakdown of authentic relationships. We have had a breakdown even in church where we have people who are hurting and are in need and yet they are overlooked.

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. - James 1:27 New Living Translation (NLT)

I believe one of the main things Worship Pastors/Leaders are missing is having a genuine concern for the people. That’s not to say that they don’t care about people, but as a Worship Leader we need to be seeing where our congregation is and help to get everyone on the same page during a worship service. One of the best ways to know where people are at is to invest time into authentic relationships. When I first began leading worship, many, many, years ago, I was concerned about how I looked, how I sounded, and what people thought about what I was doing. Years would go by before I would meet a guy named Dustin Smith, who was my worship pastor while I was in KC. He taught me many things that developed my character and challenged me, but one of the most impactful things I learned from him was to have a concern for the people I was leading. That right there changed my approach to leading worship. It became so much more than about just singing songs, it was about leading people somewhere, together, lifting up the name of Jesus. Being able to look people in the eyes and know their stories and their families and as a community worship our God.

If we could start to do this I believe churches would grow in strength and in influence. Jesus said that the world would know that we are his disciples by our love for one another. Having a genuine concern for the people in your community is a continuing effort. It takes time and effort. It takes investing into people’s lives and getting to truly know them. People who know that you’re for them will follow where you lead them.





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Humans age dramatically at two key points in their life, How much water you should drink each day?, Snap Pea Salad with Green Beans and Quinoa

This week Zorba and Karl discuss new research that shows we age dramatically at two key times in our lives, and they talk about how much water we need to […]




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The Watchman: Building Bridges Between Christians and Jews - December 15, 2015

On this week's edition of The Watchman, we interview Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, about the new authorized biography on his life and work, "The Bridge Builder." We also recap ...




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The Watchman: Building Bridges Between Christians and Jews - January 26, 2016

On this week's edition of The Watchman, we interview Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, founder of the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, about the new authorized biography on his life and work, "The Bridge Builder." We also recap ...




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Four Ways to Build Your Marriage During Social Distancing

This is such a unique time in which we are living. No one could have foreseen this global COVID-19 pandemic, nor the ripple effect on economies and the daily life of people across the globe. The spread of the coronavirus and all of the related shutdowns have brought us to a stark dichotomy. While we are separating from the rest of the world through social distancing, we are spending constant time with our immediate families. In real time, many are experiencing the opposing truths of two well-...




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How Africans Are Building The Cities Of The Future

Africans are moving into cities in unprecedented numbers. Lagos, Nigeria, is growing by 77 people an hour — it's on track to become a city of 100 million. In 30 years, the continent is projected to have 14 mega-cities of more than 10 million people. It's perhaps the largest urban migration in history.

These cities are not like Dubai, or Singapore, or Los Angeles. They’re uniquely African cities, and they’re forcing all of us to reconsider what makes a city modern. And how and why cities thrive.

To find out what's going on, we go to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to talk with entrepreneurs, writers, scholars and artists. In this hour, produced in partnership with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes (CHCI) — a global consortium of 270 humanities centers and institutes — we learn how the continent where the human species was born is building the cities of the future.

Original Air Date: December 14, 2019

Guests:

Dagmawi WoubshetJulie MehretuEmily CallaciJames OgudeAto QyaysonTeju ColeMeskerem Assegued

Interviews In This Hour:

Rediscovering the Indigenous City of Addis Ababa'People As Infrastructure'A Tour Of The Networked City'I Am Because We Are': The African Philosophy of UbuntuHow Pan-African Dreams Turned DystopicDecoding Global Capitalism on One African Street Life in the Diaspora: How Teju Cole Pivots Between CulturesCan Artists Create the City of the Future?

Further Reading:

CHCI




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Building EIFS Houses

At one time, 30 percent of the EIFS business was in the residential market.




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LEED Data in Green Building

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a well-documented impact on the U.S. economy, the construction industry and real estate.




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How to Work Effectively with Your Local Building Department

Building departments and the hardworking professionals working within them are the silent defenders of our communities. By overseeing the permitting, inspection and occupancy authorization processes for new construction, renovations and repairs, your local building department plays a vital role in ensuring that projects are built to applicable building safety codes and standards.




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The Future of Fire-Rated Building Materials

We all know the importance of fire safety in the workplace and in our homes. Utilizing fire-retardant materials is an effective method for containing and controlling potential fires.




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RectorSeal Acquires Dust Free, a Leading Indoor Air Quality Manufacturer

RectorSeal continues to press forward on the acquisition trail. On Feb. 6, RectorSeal announced the acquisition of Dust Free indoor air quality products.




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OX Tools Announces Intent to Acquire Tracer Tools

OX Tools announced that it is working with Royd Tool Group on a potential acquisition of its Tracer Tools business.




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Building a Brand

With the expansion of the gypsum panel product offerings, a new logo represents what the association now has to offer.




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Drywall Finishing Consideration in Modular Building

Modular building concepts—also known as off-site construction—have been utilized for decades. However, the use of pre-fabrication and modular building techniques is increasingly common now. 




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American Concrete Institute Publishes Design Handbook and Reinforcement Guidelines

The American Concrete Institute, in collaboration with NEx: An ACI Center of Excellence for Nonmetallic Building Materials, has released two new resources for fiber-reinforced polymer reinforcement.




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Elevating Building Performance

The role of polyisocyanurate insulation in high-performance systems.




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Barricade Building Products Expands Availability to All BPI Locations in the Midwest

Barricade Building Products announced that its products will now be available at all Building Products Inc. locations throughout the Midwest. The expansion allows customers in the region to easily access Barricade’s comprehensive range of high-quality building materials, ensuring their projects are safeguarded from the ground up.




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Holcim to Acquire OX Engineered Products

On Oct. 8, Holcim Group announced the acquisition of OX Engineered Products, a leader in residential wall insulation and sheathing. The acquisition further strengthens Holcim’s commitment to expanding its comprehensive building envelope solutions beyond roofing, providing customers with a broader range of high-performance materials for residential and commercial construction.




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Barricade Building Products Joins BIMsmith to Empower Building Professionals

Barricade Building Products announced its partnership with BIMsmith, which will enable architects, engineers and designers to access Barricade’s extensive product information and seamlessly integrate it into their projects.




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How Building Product Manufacturers Can Use Offsite Construction Trends

Offsite construction methods like prefabrication, modularization, preassembly and offsite multi-trade fabrication have been around for decades.




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Eastern Shore of Md. First Multi-Story Multi-Use Commercial Building Constructed from ICF Complete

Chaney Enterprises, a ready-mix concrete, aggregates, custom blends, and related construction supplies provider, announced its customer, Eastern Bay Management Corporation completed the first multi-story, multi-use commercial insulated concrete form (ICF) building on the Eastern Shore in Maryland.




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SIPA Announces 20th Annual Building Excellence Award Winners

One of the most prominent offsite construction award programs, the Building Excellence Awards showcase the projects that best demonstrate the design flexibility, long-lasting energy performance and resiliency of SIPs.




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Structural Insulated Panel Association Names the 2023 Annual Building Excellence Award Winners

The Structural Insulated Panel Association announced the winners of its annual Building Excellence Awards, an off-site construction awards program that recognizes outstanding residential and commercial projects.




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Structural Insulated Panel Association Names 2024 Building Excellence Award Winners

A K-12 school in rural Alaska, a zero-energy-ready timber-frame home, low-income housing with a high-performance shell...the winners of this year’s Building Excellence Awards are a strong testament to the benefits of SIP construction.




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BlackStar SIPs Launches Affordable and Eco-Conscious Building Solutions

The BlackStar Companies, LLC announced the launch of a new business division called BlackStar SIPs. BlackStar SIPs is the company’s latest entry into sustainable, cost-efficient and high-performance construction solutions for residential, commercial and government clients.




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Rondolo Quick Ship Program

Looking for a solution for projects with tight budgets and deadlines that call for rush delivery? We have the answer for you: Rondolo Quick Ship by Decoustics.




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Westlake Royal Building Products Celebrates 300th Home Built with Habitat for Humanity - MidOhio

During a time where there is a need for affordable housing, Westlake Royal Building Products, one of North America’s largest manufacturers and distributors of exterior and interior building products, celebrated its 300th home built in partnership with Habitat for Humanity - MidOhio, an organization that aims to build homes, empower families and develop communities. On Thursday, Sept. 15, the keys to a three-bedroom, two-bath single family home were turned over to a partner family in Columbus. For this home, Westlake Royal donated 20 squares of siding, including Exterior Portfolio Vinyl Siding and Portsmouth Shake & Shingles Siding, as well as Royal Shutters, Mounts and Vents accessories - marking its 300th siding donation to Habitat MidOhio over the last 20 years.




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Westlake Royal Building Products Acquires Palight Trimboard from Palram Americas

Westlake Royal Building Products announced that it has acquired Palight Trimboard from its long-standing partner Palram Americas. Through the acquisition of Palight Trimboard product lines, Westlake Royal will expand its portfolio of brands offered under Westlake Royal Trim & Mouldings Solutions, which provides the finishing touch for the interior and exterior of a home.




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Westlake Royal Building Products Selected as Carter Lumber’s 2022 Vendor of the Year

Westlake Royal Building Products has been named 2022 Vendor of the Year by Carter Lumber, one of the nation’s top building materials retailers. Despite industry shifts and challenges, the partnership has remained strong, allowing both companies to continue meeting the needs of customers.




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Westlake Royal Building Products Rebrands Palight Trimboard to Skytrim PVC Line

Westlake Royal Building Products, Inc. announced Sept. 7 that Palight Trimboard is now Skytrim, a sophisticated line of PVC trim options.




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Westlake Royal Building Products Expands U.S. LUMBER and Amerhart Partnerships

Westlake Royal Building Products announced Nov. 28 expanded partnerships with U.S. LUMBER and Amerhart, which are both Specialty Building Products brands, that will encompass multiple products and locations. U.S. LUMBER and Amerhart are leading distributors of building materials.




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Chemistry: A Major Driver of Building Performance

Advances in chemistry make more sustainable building envelopes.




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Aspects of Building Information Modeling

 Over the past 15 years, building information modeling has developed into the undeniable future of the architecture and design industry.  




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Decorative Suites

Armourcoat’s new modular decorative panel system, ArmourFX, has been specified as a welcome wall backdrop as part of the ‘Your First Impression’ brand program for Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites.




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DAP Launches Premium, Hybrid Construction Adhesive in a 28-Fluid-Ounce Cartridge

DAP introduced the new HD Max construction adhesive, a premium, hybrid formula with polyurethane strength that provides superior durability and powerful adhesion, even in extreme temperatures.




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Simpson Strong-Tie Adds Quik Drive Project Pro Auto-Feed, Screw-Driving Attachment

Simpson Strong-Tie has introduced Quik Drive Project Pro, a screw-driving tool that installs on nearly any cordless drill or driver and provides the speed and convenience of auto-feed fastening for a variety of projects without the larger investment of a full-service tool.




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Tubelite INT14 Interior Flush Glaze Framing System Expands Buildout Options

Blending transparency and flexibility within commercial spaces, the new Tubelite INT14 Interior Flush Glaze Framing System offers versatile design options for floor-to-ceiling room enclosures or freestanding partitions. Expanding choices for facility managers, design professionals and glazing contractors, the INT14 system provides necessary separation and prioritizes daylight, visual connection and sound reduction.




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ClarkDietrich Announces Acquisition of Oklahoma-Based Studs Unlimited

ClarkDietrich announced on Oct. 1 the acquisition of Studs Unlimited, effective immediately.




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GA Revises Code Referenced Fire and Sound Manual, Application and Finishing Guidance Document

In its continual endeavors to keep its industry documents up to date, the association reviews the latest.




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US Ceilings Market Forecast 2024-2033: Commercial Building Rebound Fuels Growth

The “U.S. Ceilings Market 2024-2033” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offerings.




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Building GFRC

Each magnificent building’s ornate design is hand-hewn with an artisan’s precision and placed by skilled stone masons. From the distant past to our current modern era, the practice of building with stone continues, each structure reflective of the decade’s architecture.




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May 2024 Product Buzz Guide

The Buzz Guide features products from a variety of brands in the construction industry.




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Peter Stanford: We risk putting trustees through too much anguish

These are testing times for trustees, but do we expect too much of them?




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OSHA issues interim enforcement guidance on silica standard for construction

Washington – OSHA has released interim enforcement guidance for its Respirable Crystalline Silica in Construction Standard (1926.1153), which is set to be enforced in full on Oct. 23.




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Silica lawsuit ‘close to a resolution,’ Acosta tells House committee

Washington – A consolidated lawsuit against OSHA’s respirable crystalline silica final rule is “close to a resolution,” Secretary of Labor R. Alexander Acosta said Nov. 15 during his first appearance before the House Education and the Workforce Committee.