911 Song One Nation Under God

A song that works well for a memorial for 911 is One Nation Under God by Al Denson. We have created a dowel rod interpretation for it and Nathan Roberts has created a wonderful media presentation that works as a companion for it as well. You can reach him at nathanjroberts@msn.com. Nathan mixed video, slides and the voice oves of that tragic day.

You can still order the song on one of our DVDs...CODE Louisiana 05.

Have a safe labor day

Fun tip for October

Trunk r' Treat
Since many of us have concerns about the October 31st celebration that we don't agree with...we've turned it into an outreach event. We don't dress up in dracula, Frankenstein costumes, etc., so we encourage people to dress up in the Biblical attire. The we ask for church members to volunteer to park their cars on the outer perimeter of the church parking lot and line their trunks with a nice decorative clothe, etc...filled with candy. Children go from car to car to get candy. Parents especially appreciate the safe and controlled atmosphere. The Sunday school department is responsible for conducting games in the middle of the parking lot. Face painting, balloon tying is also a fun activity. You invite the whole neighborhood to participate...send out flyers or advertise how you want to. Families in the neighborhood will have the chance to meet you and you them. Who knows, you just might win a family to the Lord.
This year we are doing the trunk r treat event but with a concert in the first hour and the trunk r treat in the second. You can do give-a-ways...or games.
This year the 31st is on a Wednesday when many of you are having church anyway.

CODE Houston

Another CODE is behind us. CODE Houston is now in the books. Drama teams from all over the huge state of Texas came this year. This was the second annual and proved to be very exciting and anointed. Kelly Ventura from California joined us as an adjunct clinician...as well as Lisa Davis from the Houston area. More and more young people are jumping on board with the drama ministry. It's a wonderful thing to see the youth coming alive through mime, song interpretation, dowel rods and sign language. God truly is the epitome of creativity and we are just now rediscovering how to use that creative gifting in giving honor to the Lord.

If you have a youth group or drama team that you'd like to see come alive with freshness and spontaniety, schedule Howi in for next year. The year fills up fast so don't wait.

Next and last CODE of the year...CODE Louisiana.

CODE Houston

Well it's Wednesday night and we're just about to embark on our next CODE here in Houston, TX...actually in a suberb of Houston called Webster...it all runs together. We're not too far from the Space Center. "Houston we have a problem"...remember that audio sound bit that kept all of America on pins and needles?

Apollo 13 moon flight used (almost) this phrase to report a major technical problem back to their Houston base.

Boy talk about drama:

Swigert: 'Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.'
Duke: 'This is Houston. Say again please.'
Lovell: 'Houston, we've had a problem. We've had a main B bus undervolt.'

If you recall we lost contact with them as they circled the dark side of the moon. We didn't know if they would make it back to Earth. Well, we know that end of that story. Hopefully our second to last CODE for the year will be a lot smoother than Apollo 13s journey.

I'll update you on the event as it unfolds.

Outdoor drama ministry

Had a wonderful weekend teaching a group of young and not so young people at Turning Point Church, the songs Arise My Love and The Presence of the Lord is Here in Cameron, MO.

Saturday evening had a two hour rehearsal that started it all.

Sunday morning I ministered through the monologue, "When the Hardest Thing To Do is the Right Thing to Do." It's the story of Uriah. If you're looking for a script that encourages doing the right thing, then this one fits the bill.

Sunday night we all gathered with the local church for street ministry at the town square. McCorkle Park has a band shell with a stage where we ministered with The Presence of the Lord is Here and Arise My Love...then I did I Want to Go, This Blood by myself. Their sign language team finished the evening with "Holy Thou Art God."

We've been invited to come back for the Valentine/Marriage Encounter in February.

Drama tip "The Message and The Messenger"

The Message and The MessengerThe world we live in is driven by unbridled floods of media that appeal directly to the senses of the flesh. The successful advertising agencies not only have a message, but they know that the right messenger is what sells the product of the message. That's why they have Tiger Woods as the spokesman for credit card advertising and Michael Jordan as the spokesman for athletic shoes. They are messengers. Secular media has a message that is designed to tickle one or more of our senses. The message is dramatized to appeal to fleshly appetites. It is constantly selling something to the human element…eyes, flesh or the pride of life. The worldly message appeals to the fleshly appetites and usually becomes a detriment to the human spirit or a waste of money. The message in Christian drama appeals to the human spirit and keeps the flesh honest about itself and in check. Since this is true, the church must acknowledge that we may have to adjust our approach to the evangelistic effort. We cannot and do not want to make changes to the message, but we can make adjustments to our methods that communicate that message. No question, the gospel message is our most important subject, but how we communicate that message can be equally as important…not more important, but at times our method can be just as significant. How will the audience hear unless we are wise in our communication of it? Information is communicated in an entirely different way than twenty years. People see the whole world in a flash via satellite. I believe the Lord wants us to search for new ways of communicating the gospel. I know that the preaching methods have changed down through the years. Today's method isn't anything
like the way Jesus ministered. So, let's be careful criticizing changes in preaching methods, remember ours isn't anything close to Jesus' method or template. Today's method will hopefully evolve again into what God wants to use. We need to be open to what God wants to develop into being a viable and intricate element of today's evangelism. This may be hard to believe, but I think that as you read this book, you will come to the same conclusion. He who wins souls is wise. God has given us an opportunity to win souls through drama. We need to use it wisely. When you think about the way Jesus communicated, it made sense. His message was relative and the application was modern. I think that you should do what God calls you to do. If He asks you to stand on a soapbox and preach loudly on the city-street corner, then that's what you need to do. The problem with that is that today's mind-set doesn't respond to that way of preaching very well. They did in the 1930's and 40's, but not today. Maybe there will come a time again that the world could be brought to their knees and cry for bibles and repent like they did in America a hundred years ago. Having said all that, I think we need to seriously look at the opportunities that drama might afford to us as an end-time tool. The words, drama or theater might have the conservative church reeling from bad past experiences. There are also main stream religions that have opened their doors to drama but may have also opened the door to more than a pure evangelistic drama ministry. I think many churches have accepted a mix of secular entertainment and a so-called drama ministry which usually ends up be nothing more than secular theater performed in the church or fellowship-hall. That's a far cry from what this book is talking about. I'm talking about drama that genuinely draws people to Christ and causes people to really think about their soul and where they are going to spend eternity. Does that mean every play is nothing but scripture? No. Plays can be about how to live life…raise teenagers in today's world…love, hate, life and death. When my wife and I minister through dinner drama, we perform pieces or sketches that I call, "Slices of Life". Each sketch has a relative message that transcends religious background and family upbringing. The sketches are about finances, raising kids, relationships and everyday life. It wouldn't matter if your audience were Baptist, Methodist or Pentecostal, most could relate to the "Slices of Life". That's what Jesus did. His message was no respecter of persons. His message was about life situations that His audience understood. There are times that you might want to do drama for just your church family and that's fine. It could be a time for doing short sketches that included inner circle jokes or roasts. That certainly has its place. However, never invite guests to your drama or dinner drama where any or all humor is what we call inner circle humor. In other words don't do comedy that only your church members would understand. It leaves the guest out of the circle and they feel uncomfortable. The guest will most likely not come back. So, choose material and humor that's relative and transcending.
This is an excerpt from the book, "Drama, the Visual Language" by Howi Tiller
For more information visit our site at howitiller.com

Youtube video...wow

Man, I should have put videos on the website a long time ago. They've been a big hit. We're trying to get the word out to everyone. It's amazing how fast the word gets out through the internet.

Thank you for visiting the site and the blog

Lord bless, Howi Tiller

Youtube video samples

Now we are adding many video samples so you can see what we are doing world wide. Just go to howitiller.com and visit the DVDs, dowel rod or Christmas pages...scroll down and enjoy.

Are goal is to show just what you can do to spread the gospel, involve youth and get your church alive with evangelism. If you don't have a drama team already in place, then you need to schedule one of our drama evangelist/dramatists as soon as possible. We are traveling nationwide every weekend some where...you might as well get on board.

If you haven't visited our site yet...please receive our invitation to come on over. Be ready to spend some time because we have so much drama material, you won't be able to see it all in just a minute or two.

Thank you for stopping by.

St. Louis Sunday School Conference

What a great three days! Hundreds of teachers from all over the US came to St. Louis for three days to hear from experts in their fields...puppets, story telling, decorating, child psych, black light drum core and of course I taught teachers how to be more creative, expressive and dramatic in the class room. Wednesday night I performed, "Are You My Son, Father?"

I was amazed at how many teachers came up to my table and said they appreciated what our drama ministry has changed their youth and how they've used many of our drama products in their church. What a wonderful feeling to know that what you're doing is touching people world wide.

This is the day that we need to rise up and magnify God in creativity. He is the epitomy of creativity and we need to use what HE has given to us to ministry with.