My Set List for the Youth Rally for Life
Thursday January 30th 2014, 3:45 pm
Filed under: DJ Bill's Shows

I had someone on Twitter ask me…

(paraphrased)

“So DJ Bill…what was your set list for the Youth Rally for Life in Washington, D. C.  at the Verizon Center”

Here it is…

Set 1 - GET ON FIRE/HIGH ENERGY SET

(Open with the bible verse Genesis 1:27) into…
That’s What Makes You Beautiful  – One Direction
Awesome God – Spirit Juice Studios Remix of He Reigns by Kirk Franklin
The Happy Song – Swing Praise Version
Blame It On The Boogie – Jackson 5
Me Without You – Tobymac
Follow The Leader – Soca Boys

Set 2 - FAITH/LOVE/JOY/DANCING SET

(Open with the bible verse Revelation 3: 15-16) into…
Hot N Cold – Katy Perry
The Catholic Dance (Larger Than Life) — Backstreet Boys

That is it.  Only 8 songs.  High energy.  Fun.  Follow me dances and JOY!

Now please note that I do not promote or support the artists listed.  All of my music is edited and mixed to make things work and appropriate for the event I am at.  So that is how the Youth Rally for Life rocked on Jan. 22, 2014…looking forward to new stuff for next year already!  Hope to see you there1

Peace, DJ Bill



December 20, 2013 – My Son Will’s Birthday
Friday December 20th 2013, 10:33 pm
Filed under: DJ Bill's Faith,DJ Bill's Life

Hey everyone….wow.  I forgot that I should probably blog since I have this blog and well, no one will care about it unless I CARE ABOUT IT…so I figured today I care and will blog!

(has it really been YEARS since my last blog post!  Dang!!)

So today is a special day for me.  Today is my son’s 14th birthday!  My first son….but let me tell you a story before I go any further.

My name is William Lage.  I am the 5th (that I know of) William Lage in a row.  My dad’s name is William Lage…my grandfather’s name is William Lage and the next 2 above them….yep…William Lage.  As a kid I was called Billy and my dad was Bill.  I always enjoyed that we had the same name. I was very proud of this tradition and I prayed I would be able to continue the tradition on.

I was married in 1998 and 9 months later we found out that we were expecting our first child.  I remember smiling and being so very excited and saying things like…”Life cannot get better than this!”  At 20, weeks along we were to find out the sex of the child and make sure all was good.  I remember it very clearly.  I was going to leave for a show out in Bismarck, ND but we first had to have the ultrasound.  I took the day off and we went.  The lab tech was doing her thing and I was doing mine…joking and smiling and being a fool.  She said that we are expecting a boy!  I was so excited.  We can name him William and he will be the 6th in a row!  Then she stopped and left and said she would be back in a minute.  I had not gone through an ultrasound before but this seemed odd.  Heather and I joked and said what happened….is there a third arm growing out of my son’s head?  We thought nothing of it.

She had gone to get another doctors 2nd opinion.  She said something didn’t look right…

Our joy quickly turned to concern.  What is going on?  This cannot be happening to us.  We are young, excited to be parents, feeling open to each and every blessing…the doctor came in and gave us some more info but we had to come back for a Level 2 ultrasound.

The level 2 ultrasound discovered 2 birth defects.  Here they are…if you want to know more…feel free to Google these…

1.  encephalocele (part of his brain was forming outside of the skull)

2. onfalocele (where his internal organs were forming in the umbilical cord)

So…it did not look good but we prayed and told God that He was in control.  We named him right away William Christopher Lage (the 6th William Lage in a row) and we promised to give his precious life a chance.

All was ok…Will was an active baby inside the womb but at 30 weeks along…he stopped kicking.  Our worse fears came to life…Will had passed away.

Will was still born to us on December 20, 1999.  We had 2 funerals.  One in Shakopee at the church where Heather worked and one in Hillsborro, ND where Heather’s parents lived.

Will is buried there.  Here is his picture of his final resting place….

1532158_10151808530265684_611378996_n

 

Since Will we have had a healthy son (Austin who is 12) and a healthy daughter (Megan who is 8) and we did have a miscarriage between the 2 of them who we refer to lovingly as “Baby #3″.   (Megan tells us it was a girl….just because!)

So today I celebrate his life.  We got to know him in the 30 weeks of his existence here on earth while he was inside the womb.  Today in his memory, I donated some gifts to Toys For Tots and they were ones that Austin and Megan helped to choose.  Ones THEY WANTED!  :-)

Will changed my life and he is the last William Lage in a row (unless Austin has a boy..then maybe…) but his life meant the world me!  I have been blessed to have 4 kids and 2 are in heaven and I look forward to meet them someday!  A part of me is already in heaven.  I feel at peace with that!

So please, this Christmas…love your family, hug your kids, tell your parents you love them and know that LIFE IS PRECIOUS.

Peace, DJ Bill Lage



Going Bananas for Jesus in Nebraska!
Tuesday March 24th 2009, 1:23 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Faith,DJ Bill's Shows,DJ Bill's Thoughts

Yes…I honestly think that if I was to have a youth rally and get a bunch of youth from around the diocese excited about it….I would want to name it “Going Banana’s for Jesus” as well! 

I had an opportunity to serve 650 Catholic youth from around the Diocese of Grand Island, NE this past weekend.  It was quite an amazing event.  My responsibility was to do a workshop and a keynote.  Once for the Jr. High then once again for teh Sr. High.  Then at the end of Saturday night, do what I do and bring the Catholic Dance to the entire 600 plus in attendance!

I was amazed at how the day flew by and how things just kept building to a huge explosion of praise, dance and fun.  Some of my highlights were…

1. Working with Jesse Manibusen – he is my friend and mentor in this industry.  I am honored to have worked with him and now we are both suffering from “Post Banana Potassium Deficiency” now!

2. Watching the youth be the stars of the show.  I had asked for 5 boys to come up on stage (and ironically had 8) and played a classic N’Sync song “Bye, Bye, Bye”.  I said that they should be the next awesome boy band…well one guy walked to the front of the stage and lip synced the whole song.  It was fun…I think he was channeling Justin Timberlake a little.  Lots of fun!

3. Watching the Bishop do “If Your Happy And You Know It” and then “The Catholic Dance” – nuff said!

I was honored to have an opportunity to share with everyone about my stillborn son William Christopher.  Anytime I get a chance to talk about him it makes it helps me remember him a little more than before.  Even after 9 years I miss him terribly and look forward to seeing him in heaven!

I am so excited that Jesus was praised and people across Nebraska are now doing the Catholic Dance.  Amen!

Feel free to comment and post your favorite memory of GBFJ XV!

Peace,  DJ Bill



Celebrating 9 years of the Sacrament of Marriage
Wednesday August 22nd 2007, 4:10 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Faith,DJ Bill's Thoughts

So today I am happy to share with you that I have been married for 9 wonderful years. The sacrament of marriage is an interesting one and I have to admit I am still learning as I walk with my beautiful wife through this world.

I remember like it was yesterday. With Heather in her beautiful white dress, not being able to stop smiling ear to ear. She truly was and still is a vision. Her heart is pure and her love is constant. I can honestly say I am a lucky man to be blessed with her love.

Not every year over the past 9 years has been all wonderful and dreamy…we have had our share of disagreements and times when we do not see anywhere close to eye to eye but through it all, she has remained my best friend, the one who supports me with all my crazy thoughts and ideas and the one who has always loved me.

Next year will be year 10 and maybe I will finally give her that honeymoon I have always promised her but this is year 9 and I hope and pray she enjoys the flowers, the dinner with me away from our beautiful kids and that she just knows that above all I love her completely and unconditionally!

Please pray for the sacrament of marriage. May all marriages stay strong and last through all the struggle that may arise. What God has joined may no one separate!

Peace,

DJ Bill Lage

CatholicDance.com



Catholic Social Justice – My story of Compassion
Sunday July 15th 2007, 9:16 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Faith

I love my job.  I love being able to have experiences and be with amazing people who are seeking Jesus.

I was blessed to be a part of the Diocese of Crookston’s JPII Junior High Leadership Camp this past week.  Instead of coming in and just doing a dance, I was able to help MC and be a part of the entire week.  It was a great time and I was honored to work with some of the most faith filled high school students and together we were able to share Jesus with the Junior High students who came as campers.  God was truly present!

One of the days was focus on being “The Hands of Jesus” and focused on Catholic Social Justice.  The presenter was Sal Solo who is a good friend of mine and his presentation was amazing.  During his presentation, he was mentioning a bunch of different organizations that help people in different ways.  One organization he mentioned was Compassion International.  Compassion gives people an opportunity to sponsor a child and donate some money every month so that the child can get an education.  My wife and I have always wanted to do this and after Sal’s presentation I knew in my heart it was time to ACT.

After the camp, I went to a Christian Music Festival in Minnesota called Sonshine.  I went for only Thursday night and got to jam out to TobyMac and Newsboys.  I knew from year’s past that Compassion always had a booth there and this year was no different.  I walked over, looked at the table with all of the pictures of kids in need and after talking with the people behind the table I chose one of the kids labeled as Priority Child which means he needs an immediate sponsor! 

His name is Leonel and he is from Columbia.  He will be 8 years old in August and we are very excited to have him as our sponsored child.  The guy from Compassion said that we will get a letter from him and that we are encouraged to write as well.  The one thing that they always want is a picture of the people who are sponsoring them because they want to “see a picture of Jesus”.  Knowing that something so small can mean so much to someone else is quite an amazing rush.  It is quite the feeling of being the Hands of Christ.

Please keep Leonel in your prayers and please consider helping out a child in need.  America has 35% of all the wealth in the world.  We can be that change.  It does not matter if you are young or old, God wants to use you to help change the world.  He is just waiting for you to ask Him in what way.

Peace,

DJ Bill Lage



Extreme Faith 2007 ROCKED!
Thursday June 21st 2007, 1:24 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Shows

I just want to give a quick shout out to all of my friends from Extreme Faith Camp 2007! I had a great time coming up and performing for you tonight. I have kept you in prayer all week and hope that you are all on fire for your faith and going out to tell the world about the amazing things God is doing in your life!

Don’t forget to teach everyone the Catholic Dance. Get a group together and record it and send it in…who knows…you may win the iPod I am giving away in my Catholic Dance contest!!

I will be posting some pictures as soon as my friends Donovan and Neil hook me up! Be sure to stop back often!

Peace,

DJ Bill



Catholic Dance Contest 2007
Thursday May 24th 2007, 4:51 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Newsletter,DJ Bill's Thoughts

OK…so I have decided to have a contest.  I have NO IDEA what to expect, I have NO IDEA what is going to happen, I have NO IDEA if anyone will even care…but…I am still going to do it.

Since video websites are EXTREMELY POPULAR I am going to have a Catholic Dance Video Contest.  I want you to take your video camera, record yourself, your family, your priest, your youth group, your mom, your school, your anyone doing the Catholic Dance.  Post it on YouTube and email me the link.  I will post all of the videos on my site and we will have a contest.

I am thinking about giving away an iPod nano as a prize.  (peaked your interest yet?)

So…I guess there should be rules….here they are.

1. One entry per person/youth group/church/event.

2. The winner of the iPod will be the person who POSTED the video.

3. The contest will go until Dec. 31, 2007.  My guess is that most of the videos will come in after I announce the contest to thousands at NCYC on November 8-10, 2007 in Columbus, OH.

4. In January we will vote on the videos submitted and have a winner.

5. Have fun.  Share the Catholic Dance with everyone and take pride in your faith, your religion and your God!

So…sound like fun.  If you don’t know what the dance is…I am going to make my video in the next couple weeks and you will know.  If you want a sneak peek…look at “The Catholic Dance?” page for the Sweet Moves!  :)

More info as it comes out but I think 2007 is going to be the year of “The Catholic Dance”!



My first ever podcast debut’s today!
Wednesday May 02nd 2007, 1:33 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Newsletter,DJ Bill's Thoughts

So I posted last week about this but I have to post one more time…in case you were not aware…

DJ BILL LAGE IS “INSIDE THE
YOUTH MINISTERS STUDIO”

Inside the Youth Minister's Studio
DJ Bill

DJ BILL LAGE IS “INSIDE THE YOUTH MINISTERS STUDIO”

http://www.dscottmiller.com/studio/index.htm

GO TO THIS SITE AND LISTEN TO MY FIRST EVER PODCAST!

Here is some cool things about it…

QUOTE TO NOTE: At any type of event when we gather youth together, the goal is to have them bring something with them (home) from it. To have that pride of what they are and who they are. And to really spread the word.
OBSCURE FACTOID: The Catholic Dance was a part of the celebration at the National Conference on Catholic Youth Ministry in Las Vegas in December. This YouTube link should never be shown to our young people- – – Yes, we do dance and party in our seats at the adult conferences. Bill is leading the way, even Jesse Manibusen danced, and video was contribute by our tech-friendly Canadian friend
Clay Imoo.

Go now…hear my thoughts on the Ministry of the Catholic Dance!!



…but we can’t have a youth rally without an inflatable obstacle course!!
Wednesday May 02nd 2007, 12:30 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Shows,DJ Bill's Thoughts

So what is YOUR initial reaction to that statement? I am guessing it would be something like “Yes! I agree 100%!” or something more like “No way! All you need is God!” or maybe more like “What is an inflatable obstacle course?”

Whatever your reaction is this was a statement made by a member of a Diocesan Youth Council member from the Diocese of Rochester, NY who was accustomed to always having one at their junior high youth rally during the entertainment and activity time.

Now, I enjoy the inflatable stuff as much as the other guy but this rally decided to instead of place money into this type of entertainment, they would invest in something new, different and exciting! Yep. They invested in DJ Bill.

Change can be tough. Change can be difficult. However, trying something new can have AMAZING RESULTS!!

The nice thing about investing in my show was that I was able to be a part of the whole day not just the entertainment and activity time. I was able to start up the youth rally with spontaneous fun and games while people were entering the room. I even had made a rule that for the first 30 minutes no one could sit down. As people came in, they saw that everyone was standing and no one was sitting down so they stood too!  Right before the MC’s took the stage I taught everyone the Catholic Dance and challenged them to share their faith by teaching it to their friends at the schools and churches. This was happening before the day was scheduled to begin.

Later that day before the official entertainment time I had everyone play a large group game that luckily no one broke any bones and everyone had a great time!

When the official time came for entertainment, no one even missed the obstacle course and enjoyed the music and fun that was provided.

After gathering again for dinner and Mass, once again I was called on to engage the group while releasing them for dinner. Slowly releasing groups for dinner while having the rest work up a healthy appetite! :)

At the end of the day we all celebrated Mass and left on a high note praising God for his goodness and his call to “Walk His Way!”

I don’t think anyone missed the inflatable obstacle course but I promise you they all had fun!



Mark your Calendar! May 2nd is only 1 week away!!
Wednesday April 25th 2007, 1:54 am
Filed under: DJ Bill's Faith

May 2nd is only one week away! Mark your calendar now!!

My guess is that you are like…ok DJ Bill. Why am I marking my cool calendar on May 2nd? Well, that is an easy answer. I am going “Inside the Youth Minister’s Studio” to be interviewed! There will be a 10 minute podcast that will allow people to get to know a little more about who I am, why I am a DJ who does National things and what the toughest things that face my ministry and youth ministry as a whole.

My friend Scott Miller who works out in Baltimore for the Archdiocese of Baltimore made a New Year’s resolution to post a weekly podcast of youth ministers, youth leaders and Catholic entertainers on his blog. So far, into May he has kept his resolution and I am who will be on May 2nd!

Check it out, let Scott know that you are thankful that he is doing this and continue to support him by checking out all of the posted interviews!