What are my goals for 2012? Some are just about being great at the basics…

Check ‘em out here!

http://socrates2012.zapd.net/

So we did it! My wife and I took the plunge to the iPhone from Android. Lots of times, the switchers you hear about are those who are going in the other direction. Not so with me. I drank the Android Kool Aid long ago, defended its merits and principles bravely for a few years. And yet have found that, in my instances of daily use, it comes up short.

I’ve noticed there aren’t a lot of users out there sharing the nuts & bolts of their Android-to-iPhone experience, something I would have found super helpful. With this series of posts, I hope to provide that for the other people looking to weigh the pros & cons, determining what gadget best suits their needs.

So why the switch? Read on in the next few posts to find out. For now, I’m knee-deep in new user saturation; you know, that phase you go through where you stay up late into the night configuring your settings and adding apps right and left. Instead of the saga, here’s my Day 1 impression of iPhone. And here’s to hoping my confessions w help someone, somewhere.

The Pros

• Syncing across Apple devices is seamless and almost magical.
• Overall speed and mobility around the phone is faster and smoother than ever.
• Group messaging is no longer a headache, but a joy.
• Access to some great, previously coveted apps, including Instagram, official Toodledo app, Flipboard, etc.
• Data coverage and speeds has been excellent so far, even with streaming music or web surfing while downloading apps.
• Siri is jamming! Super impressive. Understands and works smoothly about 85% of the time.

The Cons

• Not only is Google Navigation missing, but the Maps app is a far cry from the one in Android. It’s missing great features like Places, Layers, and nuances that made the UI amazing.
• Google syncing (Calendars, Contacts, and Mail) takes a little maneuvering and isn’t as intuitive. Noticing no push option for the Gmail setup and had to come up with a workaround for Contacts sync. The wifey is experiencing some trouble with syncing multiple Google calendars easily. Still figuring out how to integrate iCloud into all of this… There may be a solution in there somewhere.

The Finer Things

• Cleaner interface. There is nothing out there as smooth as the overall iPhone UI. Seriously, I’ll say it again: it’s like magic.
• Auto brightness is very smooth.
• Keyboard typing was very intuitive. Miss not having a back button, but the iPhone interface is pretty navigable in most places and apps.

It’s been a fun-filled, app-happy Day 1! More to come soon…

Since our new venture began back in January, Sarah and I have had the honor of not only seeing great things from God, but being a part of it! God has been using us to do things I once thought unattainable:

• to personally and authentically minister to individuals’ needs
• to tap into creativity for effective ministry to thousands of searching people
• to run hard in the work of the church with Sarah (our campus’s Children’s Coordinator) running together with me the whole way!
• to influence and inspire a team to do great things–like reaching out to almost 1700 people in our campus alone across 6 Easter services with excellence through the arts!

Our God is truly an amazing God who never gives up on us and draws us out of our insecurities to accomplish incredible things through His great power. I’m overwhelmed by the vision He’s allowed me to be a part of, and the IMMENSE potential that He’s given me a sneak preview of in such a short time.

In all honesty, I dearly miss my Orlando friends that have grown so close to my heart over the years, and my church for the last 20 years. I miss my family. I miss Austin’s and Drunken Monkey and The Social and College/Winter Parks. But I know and believe that Sarah and I are in a new season now: one of growing through giving rather than growing through receiving, growing through action rather than growing through preparation.

Until next time–hopefully sooner than the last!– ONWARD!

PS Here’s a glimpse of what God did here on Easter weekend!

Photo by papalars

This last month has been an absolute whirlwind. And while looking at it as a whole still seems overwhelming, my wife and I are certain that God’s hand has directed every breeze of it. Events and dates and times… Locations and meetings and handshakes… Prayers and heart-skips and calculations… He saw it coming; He made it happen.

It’s in this environment that we’ve been living, listening, learning, making decisions. So I’ll give you the short version:

We’re following God’s call on us to serve at Potential Church in South Florida.  Come February 1st, I’ll be the Worship Pastor for their Hallandale Beach campus.

There. I said it. Now here’s the longer story:

Sarah and I have been praying for a few months about what God has in store for us in future ministry. I’ve wanted to have more opportunity for leadership in worship to be able to impact more people, encouraging and enabling them to become fully-devoted disciples of Christ — bold in their witness, giving in their ministry, and reproducible in their own discipleship of others. Our prayer was that God would open our hearts and eyes for an opportunity to this as we remained faithful in the places that God had already put us, places to which we knew He had called us.

So while we strived to remain faithful, God put an opportunity in my path to visit Potential Church (formerly known as Flamingo Road Baptist Church) as a part of Doug Pierce’s Christmas Tour. While there, I happened to learn of the worship position in an unrelated conversation, and I brought it up to Sarah when I got back into town. Immediately, we felt like we should look into it. (Knowing Sarah’s reaction to any previous notions of leaving town, this was big!)

Over the next weeks, we had the opportunity to talk to Heredes Ribeiro, Potential’s Creative Director, along with so many others. Everything about Potential Church fit with what we wanted to be involved with in ministry. It gripped our hearts! And every encounter encouraged us to press forward, from lunch in Orlando with Heredes and Marcy to connecting with the unbelievable team of people at Hallandale Beach! In a way of speaking, it was love at first sight –and 2nd… and 3rd…

And that’s where we find ourselves today. We’ve officially accepted their offer and are in a bittersweet process of telling our friends and family, finding a place to live, and transitioning to Potential Church the first week of February. We are overwhelmingly blessed by the support and encouragement we’ve received from our loved ones and our home church, First Baptist Orlando. This has been home sweet home for over 20 years, but the time has come to move forward.

Photo by Joel Mann

Another step in our journey begins now. Let’s change the world!

in Christ,
socrates + sarah

My boy, Dunamis Dunn, can bring it! I met this dude on our mission trip to the Dominican Republic with New Missions and First Baptist Orlando. We got to jam out to “Get Down” at one point while we were hanging out with some kids in one of the schools. Here’s the result:

Merry Christmas, everyone! It’s been such a beautiful holiday season, and my family and I would love to share some Christmas cheer with you. You can download the music from this video at http://heyitschristmas.com . It’s a lovely, FREE compilation of Christmas favorites put together by Greg Perkins and his friends.

]]> http://www.socratesperez.com/?feed=rss2&p=1331 0 http://www.socratesperez.com/?p=1312 http://www.socratesperez.com/?p=1312#comments Thu, 23 Dec 2010 14:31:54 +0000 Socrates http://www.socratesperez.com/?p=1312

Photo by Foxrosser

I’ve found that time on the road generally amounts to time NOT on the blogosphere. Well, better late than never, right? Here’s a quick rundown of our last week of touring as part of the Share a Little Christmas Tour.

• A few shows in Arkansas wrapped up our out-of-state tour. We were welcomed warmly at First Baptist Church of Benton, which is about 30 minutes from downtown Little Rock.
• The next day, we headed to Paragould for a sweet time worshipping with the East Side Baptist congregation on Sunday morning.
• We bid the state of Arkansas adieu with a show at Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro. This happened to be Doug’s old stomping grounds, so there was a great, warm turnout with friends and family.
• Back in Florida, we spent an evening with Trinity Baptist Church in Ocala. Great people and a fun night of music and worship!
• Potential Church near Ft. Lauderdale was our next venue, and boy did they treat us well! Great preparation to receive us, and the audience was enthusiastic and engaging.

The full tour came to a beautiful close with a homecoming concert at our church, First Baptist Orlando. It was an intimate setup with our stage set up in the round and around 400 people in attendance. Tim Smith, friend of the band, took captured the night well… Here’s a great shot of the stage:

Photo by Tim Smith

What a way to wrap up an incredible run!

For more on the Share a Little Christmas Tour, Doug Pierce, and New Missions, visit http://dougpierce.tv/sharealittlechristmas

We’ve had excellent shows and have met some great people! Northbrook Church and Pauline Baptist were such warm hosts. I haven’t had much time to write bring on the road, but rest assured; it’s been a wonderful and successful run.

We’re in the Little rock area now getting ready for a show at First Baptist Benton. Should be killer!

For more on the Share a Little Christmas Tour, Doug Pierce, and New Missions, visit http://dougpierce.tv/sharealittlechristmas

Wow, what a town! We were able to collect our thoughts and regroup in Memphis on Monday. It was a day was full of music rehearsal, but every now and then we got to stop and try out some incredible local restaurants. (i.e. B.B. King’s Blues Club and the historic Arcade Restaurant.)

Then, last night, Advent Presbyterian hosted our second concert which went tremendously. Since it was Doug’s old stomping grounds, many familiar faces came out to share the evening with us. The music flowed seamlessly, and more children were sponsored for New Missions. All in a night’s work.

For more on the Share a Little Christmas Tour, Doug Pierce, and New Missions, visit http://dougpierce.tv/sharealittlechristmas

Last night was a RUSH in Ruston, Louisiana! After arriving in the Monroe airport at 4:45pm, our van shot down I-20. 40 minutes later, we were at Calvary Baptist Church to ready our 7:00 concert.

It could not have gone much better than it did. The crowd was responsive, the music was sweet, and the chill in the air could not have set a better stage for a Christmas celebration.

The people of Calvary Baptist sponsored 25 children in Haiti, giving New Missions resources with which to clothe, feed, educate, and medicate those in need. We estimated between 250 and 300 people in attendance last night, so that many children sponsored is a tremendous sign of their generosity and compassion.

Keep following for more updates!