Posts Tagged ‘church on the rock’

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Marilyn Hickey | 724 Kids | Lisa Nikole

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Mothers Day 2010

Mothers Day is a time of reflection and deep personal meanderings, my mind just goes! Not that it does not “go” most of the time anyway, if you know me, you now what that means! I’ve never felt I needed to be celebrated and it always seems just a bit awkward when my family celebrates me.

I know a lot of great mom’s out there, some are so amazing and single mom’s they are pretty special to me because I was a single mom for 4 years and that has to be one of the toughest jobs in life.

When we have so much and feel so blessed for what we have, what else do we really need? I’m thankful for my life and all the abundance it brings and very thankful for my family, which I think is truly amazing and that we are all here in Missouri under one roof for the time being. Sure, it’s kinda crazy but having all my kids here, for now makes me smile!

Happy Mothers Day!

Mothers Day was Sunday and I got to photography Marilyn Hickey. Now I’ll be honest here and tell you I was just okay with listening to Marilyn speak. But I did not shut down to that idea. I was open. I sat in the front row, camera in hand as I watched this 79 year old lady share the story of Ester in a way I’ve never heard. I could not help but smile at the fact that here I was confidant in how I felt being shut down instantly as she began to speak. If you want to hear the message I did contact Church on The Rock and get the CD. It’s short but powerful message on Purpose, Power and Product!

Sometimes it just pays to be open in your mind and your spirit!

That aside, here are just a few of the images of Marilyn!

Marilyn brought this amazing blanket that had the names of God on it, Check it out there are few on there I did not even know existed! I wanted to check it out, but was so busy doing a few other things I did not have time.

Same day, next service I went down to our 724 kids where they have been planning an awesome event for some time “Kids Choice Awards” One thing I love about my church is the extent they go to make an event as real as possible. Lighting, red carpet, stage, awards, silly string (I love that stuff, except on my camera), video and tons of prizes. It’s pretty awesome.

Enjoy the next few images of this event

First meet Tommy and Mendy, ring leaders leaders of the 724 kids. If you’ve read many of my blog posts you’ll know I say it again and again, these two were created for children, I’m just so impressed by their crazy talents and abilities and okay their energy could fuel rocket ships. I kid you not!

“Celebrities” where on board for their choice awards here we see Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber winning their best choice awards.

And then there was a choice award for teacher you wanted to see get messy… and Tommy lost err won :-)

The kids had an awesome time and so do I every time I get to cover anything that goes on at 724 kids!

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Posted in My Family, Ramblings, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Jackie Joyner Kersee | Church on the Rock | Lisa Nikole

Saturday, April 24th, 2010

I’m privileged to go to one of the best churches around and because it’s pastored by two of the most awesome people around Pastor Blunt and his wife Pastor Kim.

Because of these two people I’ve been exposed to some of the best teachings and greatest people around, I’ve been privileged to photography those events.

A Wed. night a few weeks ago, I got to listen to and photograph Jackie Joyner Kersee, and I’ll be honest, when I heard she was coming I wondered what she could come to share.

I knew she was an amazing athlete and I was very sure she had profound things happen in her life to share. There was a moment in her sharing that I got lost in her words thinking about a woman from East Saint Louis making it to the level of stardom that she did. You know the saying “nothing good comes out of…. (you can insert your own town there if you like). But Jackie gave encouragement and hope and strong conviction of perseverance and life. It was an honor to hear her and to photograph her.

Jackie is considered to be one of the greatest female athletes in history, she won a silver medal in 1984 and gold medals in 1988 and 1992. She is also the heptathlon world record-holder!

Jackie retired from track and field in 2001 and started the Jackie Joyner – Kersee Youth Center Foundation to encourage kids in her underprivileged hometown to play sports.

There was an open question forum where some very interesting questions were asked, ones that came with thought, I enjoyed so much listening to everyone share and especially listening to such an amazing woman!

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Barlow Girls | Steller Kart | Vota | Lisa Nikole

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

WOW, what a night. I seriously have not had music THAT loud for a long time. Yes, yes I know I tell you all the time how loud I like my music but WOW, this was loud! But so much fun.

I have so much fun doing what I do I can’t even begin to explain it. I get to meet amazing people and shoot things that are a lot of fun. I enjoy the concerts because it’s such a challenge and so different then what I normally shoot. Can I just say this… red stage lighting… YUCK!

Last week I had a unique opportunity to shoot three amazing bands in one night. This was the Barlow Girl Love and War Tour.

The night opened up with a Q&A with Barlow Girls, three sisters with a unique message that they shared with all the people there, The girls were fun to listen to and shared a lot of their lives as sisters and answered questions from the select group of people that were there to listen to them.

First up Vota Great band, full of energy and a sincere tone is set in the way they perform and command the stage. Energy is one of the greatest things to capture with concert shooting. As the crowd of people got out of their seats to join the band upfront. It proved for some interesting shots and again a challenge to capture the night!

Following Vota was Stellar Kart (as of this posting it seems their website is down, but hopefully up soon!) Steller Kart is a boy band with an incredible sound and dynamics in message and performance. They came out in these really bright colored T’s (which you can purchase). The audience really enjoyed their lively sets and joining in with the band. They also shared a lot of personal (almost too personal) fun facts about each other! Great show!

The reason why they were all there: Barlow Girls!

Someone asked me if I knew who the Jonas Brothers were, of course I did and they told me that these were the girl equivalent to the Jonas Brothers. They are three equally beautiful and talented girls. They brought a strong message for the crowd and gave personal messages of battles in their own lives. One quote caught my attention above all others “I’ve got issues too, but God still uses me” So many people are defeated before they even begin. I thought their message was very powerful along with their singing and entertaining.

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Easter Sunday | Tyler Williams | Church on the Rock

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Have I ever said I go to the best church in the world? Well, if not, let me make it clear that I do!

Easter Sunday is always a special time of year, most people who don’t go to church do and then there are the family gatherings!

Every year Church on the Rock invites a special guest speaker to share with us. This year was no exception, we had Tyler Williams from “Everyone Hates Chris” and his family. He and his mom shared some amazing words. Tyler being ONLY 17 showed more wisdom and maturity, I could not believe he was 17!

Then, over in our north campus was an amazing eqqsplosion. Music, Message, Dance, Drama and some eqqstra special gifts, including some Wii’s.

Over 6,500 people were on campus at COTR, I even got to ride in the Limo Bus that was used to escort people back and forth between cars and campus!

I was honored to shoot the event and just had to share a few images of the day with you!

The Banner!

Full House at North Campus

Mendy is an amazing teacher!

Drama

Packed House for Sunday Service

Tyler Williams

An awesome amazing wonderful day!

Thanks to everyone that helped make this day so special, and a special thanks to Pastor Blunt and Pastor Kim without them and their vision and direction, I’m not sure where I’d be!

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The Ransom | Church on the Rock | Lisa Nikole

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

First I’d like you to watch this awesome video! What a great job done in house at Church on the Rock

This was played on a few networks and of course placed on youtube. It was a big night as The Revolution (youth group) of Church on the Rock prepared and practiced to present to the public several songs, dramas, dances and a human video!

I was proud to photograph the event, but I was more proud of the youth at our church. They worked hard with awesome results.

At the rehearsal, they were done in record time because they had their act so together there were only minor changes! Things were so well planned and practiced, little needed to be done.

The night of dress rehearsal, they had more time to relax and pray for you, those who attended and those who did not.

I can’t show you everything that happened that night, but I can show you a few images I took and tell you that at the end of the night over 240 people raised their hands and walked up front! THAT was worth every effort, every practice, every rehearsal. It was worth it all!

There was amazing dance, several drama’s directed to issues young people deal with, a human video (a drama skit performed to life music), A special guest from Miami Florida, Christian performer Blessed.

It was straight on, to the heart and done in excellence. I’m so proud of everyone that helped make “The Ransom” an amazing night that touched so many people!

Thank you for giving of yourself and your time!

Opening Dance

Youth Pastor Chris and Isaiah throwing Ransom T’s to the crowd!

Some of the drama’s

Scottie Cambell Music, you have to follow him and listen to his amazing talent!

Singing/Dancing

The stage was full of young people making a decision for Christ!

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Slimed | COTR | Lisa Nikole

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

Every so often this photographer gets asked to shoot some amazing things, and every so often I wonder… HOW am I going to do this?

Slime day, Feb. 14th, 2010…yes, happens to be valentines day also. I was down in our children’s area and getting ready to shoot… Slime!

How fun! I have to say it was a challenge. I had no idea how they were going to get slimed, nor did I know if my camera was going to end up as part of the sliming.

I have to tell you a bit about our children’s department, first I’m taking a guess, but, I am going to say there were about 800 kids down there between both services, probably more, but that is a good guesstimate.

There are a ton of amazing helpers and staff down there but the two that stick out the most in my mind are Mendy and Tommy. Talk about energy, these two if unglued could serious create rocket fuel. They are amazing for the 724 kids (children’s area) and to not take away from the seriousness, they both came bring amazing light to the kids lives and cause them to really think about bible principals and a daily walk with God!

Everything and I mean EVERYTHING at COTR (Church on the Rock) is done with excellence and I see that each and every time I get to shoot a new area or become part of something that is going on.

Just a side note, we had a concert last week and we needed a couple signs made fast for a broken water fountain, so we ask Jamie if she can do this for us real fast…Jamie goes and returns with two very nice computer printed signs. I laughed and said, ummmm.. you could have just wrote on a paper towel *you had to see the look on her face* and she responded…ummm no, everything here is done in excellence. Man, did I ever strike gold in finding COTR!

So, back to the sliming, it was a blast and I just had to share a few of the pictures with you, because, well… you’re awesome and sharing is what I do!

Slime me, slime me... yeah they all wanted slimed!


This is Mendy and friend... uh huh.. see what I mean.. she's a blast!


This is Tommy, and yes that's a water gun..


Looks fun, huh! You know you wanted to be there!

These next few are of Mendy getting slimed, she tried to cover her hair but at the last minute said, “forget it”… not sure if she regretted that or not?

and this..this is Jamison, he used the shower cap approach, I’m not sure if it helped much!

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Photo shoot | The ladies of midwest movement | Phoenix Arizona

Sunday, February 28th, 2010

Okay okay, you all know I had a good time in Arizona right?

Are you kidding me? I had a wonderful time and I made amazing new friendships and increased ones I already had.

During that time I spent a lot of time with the girls of COTR Mid-West Movement. We were all in the same car for hours and it was really a lot of fun. They were all great blessings to me and I enjoyed listening and talking to them all.

Once we left White River and got to the hotel in Phoenix, I wanted to do a photo shoot of them, so we did a fast shoot one morning and I thought I would share some of the images with you.








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Christmas | Live Nativity | St. Peters Missouri

Monday, January 18th, 2010

Running a tad late with posts, I had so many posts going on, but I wanted to make sure you all got to see this! How awesome it is. One private comment..yes, Bob, I know! :-)

I have to go to the coolest church on the planet.  I get to photograph the most amazing things and it’s a church that never stops doing and giving and bringing such great things for us to be a part of.

Sunday we had a live nativity.  How cool is that?  Fact is it was very cool, it was freezing cold.  These had to be some of the most dedicated warm blooded people I know.  I’m not sure what the temperature was but, for some reason I did not bring a coat and I was frozen through!  But there were two teams of Nativity people who sat, and acted for people to enjoy.

Not only were the people troopers but so were the camels and sheep and goats and chickens.

I got to look at peoples faces as they saw the live nativity right before their eyes.  Children looked in amazement and I heard the gasps of people as they saw what was put together for them that day.

and it had to be one of the most photographed event on phones that day!

I wish I had sent everyone a picture from my Iphone, I just was not thinking.

My favorite part are the camels.  I love Camels and I’ve been blessed to take pictures of Camels in Israel.  These camels were different, first off they did not spit, and the one camel became my friend, yes I become friends with camels.  Don’t judge :-)

So, below are some of the images of the day!  It was cold but it did not stop anyone from stopping and looking in awe at a very big real reminder of the Nativity.

The Nativity

The Nativity

Shepherd Boy

Shepherd Boy

She literally gasped when she saw the Nativity!

She literally gasped when she saw the Nativity!

He stood there and watched for some time

He stood there and watched for some time

From one generation to the next...

From one generation to the next...

My friend, I think he's trying to smile at me :-)

My friend, I think he's trying to smile at me :-)

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Gift Giving | Church on the Rock | St. Peters Missouri

Friday, January 8th, 2010

It rained the night before, the pavement was still wet.

It wasn’t as cold as last week, but the sky was still grey.

We’ve been hearing about this day for weeks, and we’ve been preparing for it also.

Buying gifts, wrapping and bringing them to church.  I put our gifts in a box and went on with my plans.  Saturday a call came to wrap presents and people showed up. A week before the young people wrapped over a thousand presents.

It was grey, it has rained and the pavement was wet, when I arrived to take pictures I could see that nothing had stopped the flow of what needed to happen early Sunday morning…

A tent with heat had risen in the night and boxes and boxes and boxes of wrapped presents were brought out to the tent, marked for age and set into a well organized pattern inside the tent….then we waited.

After the church service all children aged zero to twelve were invited into the tent to receive a free present.

I was once again privileged to take pictures.  To capture the emotion of the day, and to capture those amazing children receiving maybe their only gift this Christmas.

One woman came out of the tent thanking everyone in her path..she was so blessed!

Like a well oiled machine 1800 presents awaited a child’s arms to take them home.

The day may have been dreary and damp but the spirits were so high.  People were so excited to be a part of such a great event.

Thank you to everyone who made this such an awesome event and for making the world a brighter place, even on a sunless day, the Son still shined!

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So this is Christmas | Taking a break | Reflecting

Friday, December 25th, 2009

I’m not sure why, but whenever I think of Christmas the first words that come to my head are:

SO, This Is Christmas!

It’s late, and in a few moments it WILL be Christmas Day!

The wind is howling outside and everyone is asleep or on their way, I’m relaxing and thinking about how blessed I am as a person.  I’m not bragging, I have a great life.  Not because I have everything I want or need, not because I’m surrounded by people that love me and not because I have all the money I need.  See, none of those things are true.  But tonight as I sit here and type, I feel so abundantly met in every area of my life.  I’ve not even opened one present and even if there were not presents I’d still feel complete.

I talked with a person tonight that could not even look around them and appreciate what they had, because Christmas was not “the way it used to be”.  I hope none of my Christmases are like the “used to be”  I hope each one is different and unique and maybe sometimes even challenging.

I know if I were alone on Christmas I’d find something to do for someone, like a woman I talked to at my church tonight, she’s alone, but she is making dinner for herself and a neighbor and says “I’m never alone”.

Every year I wish the same thing, I could have a Christmas with out presents.  It’s just become SO commercial and I feel the same pressure you do as to what to buy, how much to buy and who to buy for.

This year I spent 2 evenings at a dress rehearsal and another 4 nights photographing 5 Christmas In The Park Productions.  I watched SO many people give of themselves and their time and money and talent to share one thing…. the true meaning of Christmas.

If there was any one thing I could ask of you is, tomorrow, as you prepare for company or prepare to go to someone’s home, as you open your presents or pass out presents for someone to open, as you sit to eat or serve someone else a meal, can i ask you to do one thing for me?

No matter if you are serving or being served.  STOP!  I want you to stop for just one moment and look around you.  Take in every sound, sight and smell.  Look around and smile.  Don’t miss out on the true meaning of Christmas.  Don’t miss Christmas this year, it’s never to late to appreciate!

Then do me a favor…I hear so often from so many of how I encourage you, that my words are so uplifting and upbeat.  So, I’m asking you, to let me know, in that one moment in time, when you stopped and looked around.  Tell me what you saw, what you experienced.  Or better yet, take a picture and share it with me.  Make me smile!

I want to wish you all the very very best Christmas Day ever!  Enjoy every moment of it and SMILE…

Here’s a cute video from one of the performances at our church…

Christmas from Lisa Nikole on Vimeo.

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