Posts Tagged ‘magician’



Jul20

How Changing Your Perspective Can Dramatically Change Your Life

By Harris III | 3 Comments

I bet you’re missing out on so much of life, just by how you currently see things.  There’s so much to gain by just changing your perspective every now and then.  My recent trip to Nicaragua was a strong reminder of that.  Few things bring more perspective than international travel to a third-world country.

Do you need to change your perspective?

Mona LisaThe famous artist, Leonardo Da Vinci, (who painted the Mona Lisa), was known for changing his perspective before considering one of his masterpieces 100% complete.  Apparently, when Da Vinci was supposedly 99.9% finished, his final step was to look at his painting in a mirror.  Simply by changing his perspective and how he saw the painting, he would notice needed changes in the painting that were impossible for him to see before.  Turns out, perspective is a really powerful thing.

I’ve always struggled with this.  Judging others is something I used to do a lot of.  My pride, arrogance, and selfishness always allowed me to look at other people and situations and immediately jump to conclusions.  I’d think, “That guy has READ ALL

Jul12

What I’ve learned from Social Media (A “Free Show” Update)

By Harris III | No Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I made an urgent request for help.  We found ourselves in quite a pickle, after violence sprung up in Thailand, and our tour there got cancelled last second.  (Click here to read about that.)  So rather than sit around for a month or two, we decided to go out and use our talents, and serve anyone who was willing to let us show up and do what we do.

I’ve been blown away by how people responded so immediately!  Everyone started tweeting, re-tweeting, posting to Facebook, making calls and sending emails, and before you know it, we had plenty of opportunities and invitations to make a huge dent in our July & August schedule.  We’re even going to Nicaragua for a week…more on that in a later post.

There are still a few dates left, and we’re still making our “Free Show” offer available for July & August, so check out these dates, and get in touch if you’re willing to give us the opportunity to serve you!  (It’d also be a good time to consider one of ONLY 2 DATES LEFT during our 2010 Fall Tour, Mayhem & Misdirection.)

Honestly, I can’t believe what’s happening.   READ ALL

Jun22

Sometimes, life is hard. (And you’ve just gotta ask for help.)

By Harris III | 2 Comments

If I were really honest with you, I’d have to confess that I hate asking for help.  I’m serious.  I’m not a good receiver, and asking others for help has always been really hard on my pride.  You see, my personal life has always paralleled my vocation.  I’m an illusionist, and I have a tendency to live an illusion.  I’ve struggled my entire life with maintaining and managing perceptions, doing my best to control and manipulate how others perceive me.  If you’re good at that, it’s pretty simple to fake it, and leave others with whatever impression you want that person to have of you…humble, nice, kind, or even wealthy, popular, or successful.  Let’s just say that traits like authenticity, and transparency, have never been strengths for me.  Until…   READ ALL

Jun15

Jesus Got Struck by Lightning!

By Harris III | 10 Comments

What do you make of a huge statue of Jesus getting struck by lightening?  I mean, if God is in control of that flashing light from the sky, why would he allow it to happen to a statue of his only son?  Definitely stirs up conversation, huh?

That’s what happened recently in Ohio.  I’ve driven by this statue what seems like hundreds of times while traveling that stretch of interstate on tour.  Here’s what the news article had to say:

MONROE, Ohio – A six-story statue of Jesus Christ was struck by lightning and burned to the ground, leaving only a blackened steel skeleton and pieces of foam that were scooped up by curious onlookers Tuesday.

The “King of Kings” statue, one of southwest Ohio’s most familiar landmarks, had stood since 2004 at the evangelical Solid Rock Church along Interstate 75 in Monroe, just north of Cincinnati.

The lightning strike set the statue ablaze around 11:15 p.m. Monday, Monroe police dispatchers said.

The sculpture, about 62 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the base, showed Jesus from the torso up and was nicknamed Touchdown Jesus because of the way the arms were raised, similar to a referee signaling a touchdown. It was made of plastic foam and fiberglass over a steel frame, which is all that remained Tuesday.

You can read the whole article here, on Yahoo! News.

Apparently, the statue cost about $400,000 to construct.  Maybe it was allowed to be struck by lightening because God might not be cool with wasting a whopping $400k on concrete? For the record, I have no idea. Just wondering. I’m also not saying that God always causes natural disasters.  But I’m not sure how you could deny that certainly “allows” them.  Again, I’m just wondering…

They’re also already making plans to rebuild it, wasting that kind of money, plus more, all over again.  I mean, I’m not God, so I won’t pretend to know or always understand what he does, or why he allows certain things to happen, but I do know of a whole list of better uses for a few hundred thousand dollars.

And, I’m not the only one. A lot of them are a book called the Bible….maybe this church should read it.  If they do, they might learn a lot about Jesus, the guy they’re making statues of, and in the process, how he encouraged us to live.

What do you think?

Jun14

To Arkansas and Back in a “Swagger Wagon”

By Harris III | No Comments

If you follow my wife or I on Twitter or Facebook, you’ve likely heard about all the vehicle problems we’ve been having lately.  We tour in a Toy Hauler. It’s like a moving truck + tour bus + RV.  We definitely got the “lemon”. We’ve had nothing but problems, very few of which the manufacturers have dealt with.  We keep getting shrugged off by both Chevrolet, (the makers of the chassis, cab, and engine), and Gulfstream, (the company who converted and built it out).  It’s been an absolute nightmare for the full four years we’ve owned it.

Anyway…we had an event in Arkansas last night at Harding University, and it was out of commission.  We couldn’t make repairs over the weekend, so we ended up renting a vehicle to get us to Arkansas and back.  Tried to find a cargo van, but couldn’t. And every rental car company in Nashville was out of SUV’s.  So, we rented one of these…and yes, I drove it with pride:   READ ALL

Apr8

My Failing Career, and the Illusion of Success

By Harris III | 12 Comments

What if I told you that I fail repeatedly?  I don’t mean in the whole “I’m an imperfect guy who messes up, just like everyone else, blah blah blah…” sort of way.  I mean literally, I’m currently a failure.  I know, after reading all of this, some of you would love to argue and debate about how “failure” isn’t the best word, or how in the process of failing “financially,” I’m actually winning spiritually.  I get that, and know what you mean, but let’s go back about 15 years, and I think you’ll get what I’m trying to say. Even if I fail at expressing and articulating it.  ;-)

When I was 9 years old, I got a magic set for Christmas from my grandmother.  Not at all what I asked for, but that’s what I got.  Turns out, it changed my life.  When I was 11, I got paid $25 to do my first “real” show.  By 14, I was traveling, performing for schools and churches, and even at all kinds of public and private parties and events. By 16, I got my first cruise ship gig, performing on a big boat back and forth from the Carribean.  By 18, I was making almost $200,000 a year.  By 25, I had made a million dollars in my lifetime.  And I had wasted every penny of it.   READ ALL

Feb10

How to Lose Weight & Avoid Deception Throughout the Process – Interview w/ Biggest Loser Contestant, Sean Algaier

By Harris III | 1 Comment

Last week, Kate and I had the privilege of performing three shows aboard the Monarch of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, in partnership with the K-Love Friends & Family Cruise.  We had a great time connecting with long-time friends, relaxing, and even working, sharing the stage with folks like the Newsboys (w/ Michael Tait – very interesting), Big Daddy Weave, MercyMe, Mandisa, 33 Miles, Fireflight, Tenth Avenue North, Francesca Battistelli, Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, the guys from 321 Improv, and more.

We also made some new friends, including Sean Algaier, a contestant from Season 8 of the Biggest Loser.  Turns out, Sean had seen one of our shows in Indiana, and was already a fan.  I was excited to hook up and hang out with him a little, and even more excited to be able to sit down with him for a quick video interview.

In my last post, I sat down with music artists, Everlife, and discussed their new song “What’s Beautiful”, and we talked about the role deception plays in self-image.  This video is closely related to a similar topic, as Sean and I talk about his experience on the show, how to lose weight, and how he was deceived throughout that process.  Enjoy!   READ ALL

Jan30

How to Feel Beautiful – Everlife sings “What’s Beautiful”, and discusses how deception impacts your self-image…

By Harris III | 1 Comment

A question for the girls: Do you feel beautiful today?

If you’ve seen me perform live, you may have heard me talk about how easy it is to be deceived, and one of the ways it happens is how the world attempts to define what true beauty is.  Every day you drive by billboards, see ads on TV, and look at pictures as you flip through magazines, and it’s everything inside of you to feel pretty.  Does the world and it’s blurred messages of self-image impact how you see yourself in the mirror?   READ ALL

Jan6

“_________ Church: A Community where Life is Comfortable & Invigorating!” Umm, try again.

By Harris III | 4 Comments

The SquareI passed this sign today in Germantown, (the part of downtown Nashville we live in), and sadly, I couldn’t help but think, “Wow, that sounds like a church flyer.”

So many churches these days are obsessed with comfort. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s easier to grow your church that way, since churches are just groups of people, and people in general are obsessed with comfort, safety, and security. The problem is this: Churches claim to study, believe, and teach the Bible. And my copy of the Bible doesn’t have much to say about promising comfort and security.  In fact, a lot of the people who followed Jesus in the Bible got their heads chopped off.  And at the least, did some jail time.

I know, this isn’t an ad about a church.  But the reality is, many of the churches in America today could just change the name on this sign to the name of their church.  ”__________ Church: A community where life is comfortable.”   READ ALL

Dec8

Udon, Thailand – Video Blog #2, Dec. 8, 2009

By Harris III | No Comments

Here’s an update from Thailand.  We’ve been going non-stop, so it’s been easier to just turn on a camera rather than take the time to write.  Enjoy my second ever “vlog”…more coming soon!!