Turtles, eh?

Check out this cool video. It made me laugh.

Remedy

Let me guess, most who read the title to this blog probably thought that I would be discussing the new album by David Crowder Band called Remedy. However, this is not the case. In fact, I had quite an interesting journey yesterday, and I would love for you to re-visit this journey with me.

Yesterday all was good. I was coming off of a great night of leading worship(Wed. night) with an awesome band behind me. Things were cruising. My boss asked me if I would go to his house with him for a few minutes to move/cut some limbs he had cut down. He's my boss, there isnt a yes or no, there is just a yes sir and I do what he wants me to. So as we are moving these limbs, I feel a little sting/sharp pain on my ankle. Me being the macho man that I would like think am, I toughed it out. I thought it was like a briar stuck on my jeans jabbing me in the foot. So..fast forward about 15-20 minutes. We arrive back at my workplace. I started feeling a little shaky, you know like when you hold your cup of water and your hand is shaking, and you arent controlling it. So, I thought maybe I should look at my foot. What wass there you ask? Well, thanks for asking, let me tell you what was there. A huge bite of some sort, that was probably an inch in diameter and was all puffed up. So I was like..hhmmm, benadryl time. We didnt have any at work, so I started driving to the gas station when all the sudden I started just getting this tingly feeling all over, nauseous, dry mouth, and it became a little tougher to get that big breath. Not good! So I called my wife, she is a nurse, and she did a great job of telling me that those were not good signs and that I should find an urgent care center quickly. I have no clue where one of these urgent centers might be. So I head to the hospital which is about 10 minutes away. Now, something you must understand people. I have never, ever been to the emergency room. In all my years of growing up playing sports of all sorts and doing stupid things as a teenager, I've never gotten seriously hurt. So for me to make the decision to go to the ER is a pretty big decision. It was like I knew something was wrong with my body, and it didnt matter how much it cost, I wanted help.

So I walk in to the ER, and there are two elderly women at the desk. Not a good sign. I knew I was in for a long day. I told one of the ladies, after she finally realized I was standing at the desk, what my issue was. I told her that I was short of breath and felt very nauseous. I tried to enunciate those words so she would get the picture. I go sit down, there are a ton of people, I thought I would die in the ER of Greenville Hospital. So after a few minutes, I wanted to give that elderly woman another hint that I wasnt kidding about my shortness of breath. As I walked back to my seat, they called me back. That was a blessing. I thought about giving them a hug, but there was a security guard next to them.

So anyways, I'll make the rest of the story short, even though I spent about 3 hours in the room. I didnt know what bit me, maybe a fire ant, probably a spider of some sorts. They basically gave me some medicine and steroids of some sort and they kept me in there to monitor the medicine and make sure my sugar levels were back up. When I was leaving the nurses told me that I had much better color to my skin(um..ok). There were several other things that took place as far as all that goes, treatments and stuff, but as I'm typing this write now I'm realizing how boring this story must be...so I'll just stop. Everything seems to be ok, I'm super tired and just kind of out of it today here at work as I type this, I guess it was the medicine they gave me or something. It feels good to be alive today.

So, if you've made it this far in my blog today, congrats! You get a cookie.

Maybe I'll type something more interesting later.

Have a great morning.

bg

last night

Last night, like I posted yesterday, we got to play at an outdoor youth event. I think it was like a see you at the pole rally type thing. although, maybe its the fact that I havent been in high school in like 6 years, but it seems like the whole 'See You at the Pole' thing has fizzled(cool word, eh?). Like I said, I could totally be wrong, but I just remember when I was in HS, it was like the big "christian" event of the year. I was definitely one of those kids that would go to..."The Pole"....with all my youth group friends. I would be the one standing there, and the only prayer I would be praying is....Lord, please do not let them call on me to pray out loud. I mean come on, I know some of you had to be in that same boat, lets take of our Super Spiritual Man caps and get real. I mean how many of us were like the kid who would try to bury himself in the mass of students around the flagpole so that none of his friends would be able to spot him. (ok, let me put a disclaimer in right now...I am not bashing See You at the Pole, only expressing a few thoughts that have ran across my mind. I TRULY believe that there are students who GENUINELY go to that pole to lift up their schools and really believe in the power of Jesus to change the lives of their peers and their schools). I dont really have some expert analysis on the whole thing, just saying that I believe its not as big of a thing as it used to be and I'm wondering why and what are some other ways that students in their respective schools could share the love of Christ in their schools? And I'm just throwing it out their and maybe some of you who read it could throw some thoughts my way on it.

Ok, so I dont really know how I got on that trail. I guess thats what a blog is for though. So we had a great time last night, even though the event started at 6:30, and I think the sound system began working at like 6:15, but thats usually how things go. Despite all of that, I do believe the Lord met us last night. It was great to see people from across the street looking over at several hundred worshippers journeying with each other towards the heart of God. I'm sure thats not something they see every day coming out of Zaxby's. Despite all the distractions that were around us, we had a great evening of worship under the beautiful sunset sky last night. Its amazing to be able to just stare up in the sky when singing, it really makes you sing some of those songs with a whole new perspective and mindset.

Set List for SYATP:
Happy Day
Marvelous Light
Everlasting God
Unchanging
Mighty to Save
Hallelujah, Our God Reigns
Jesus Paid it All
Salvation is Here

Hope everyone has a great day!

bg

chic-fil-a what?

me and 'the band' are playing tonight at the chic-fil-a on woodruff road here in greenville, sc. no, no, no, not inside the chic-fil-a..but on the outside. we're playing at like an outdoor see you at the pole POST rally thingy. should be fun. we're playin a good, long set which always makes it fun. so if you're in the area, want some dinner, and want to hear some music then come hang out with us. we'd love to see your smiling faces.

have a great day!

bg

forgot to put this in my original post, but it starts at 6:30 pm.

What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?

Just the other day, I was reading Perry's blog. I really enjoy reading his blog. He is the pastor at Newspring Church, which in case you havent heard or something...Newspring is doing incredible things for the Kingdom, and they are about to launch a campus here in Greenville. Anywho, the post I'm about to share with you was from his blog, and he really said a lot of things in it that hit head on with where I'm at right now in my life. The title of his post is....the title of this post.

Lets be honest, decisions are tough. They are even tougher when they require a ton of faith b/c you have no clue what you may be stepping into. So I encourage you to read the post in its entirety, hope it stirs you a little like it did me. So click on the link below, grab some coffee, and be blessed.


What would you be willing to attempt for God if you knew you could not fail?


bg

CRCC Setlist for 9/23/07

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I had the awesome oppurtunity to lead worship at CRCC. They continued their House series, talking about children. It was a great service to be a part of because it was evident that the Lord was moving among us. We sang the song Came to my rescue, by Hillsong, during the response time, as people moved all over the room to be prayed for and over. Incredible.

Here is the set list:
Happy Day (Tim Hughes)
Everlasting God (Brenton Brown)
Jesus Paid it All (umm...)
Came to my Rescue (Hillsong United)
From the Inside Out (Hillsong United)

football anyone?

On a side note: My fantasy football team did much better this week. I am pretty much dominating my opponent this week, and I still have my quarterback to play tonight. This is a good thing in case you're wondering..I know some out there think the whole fantasy football thing is stupid and a waste of time...and in some regards that may be true. However, I didnt like it all when I signed up last year, but it really is kind of fun. Soooo....Do It. On the college level, USC lost to LSU. LSU is just sick. I mean there is no way that those guys can be in college. In all serious though, they have a great team..there defense is fast, even the 300 lb guys can run fast. I feel like there were some stupid decisions made on the part of our team (hindsight is 20/20 right?). I still think we did better than most would expect, and its only one game...life goes on. Clemson won, which is ok. I'm not a Clemson hater, but I dont necessarily pull for them to win. I do think that the ACC is not a strong conference in football..there might be a few decent teams, but not many. Oh well....

Friday morning thoughts

So, I thought I'd post a few thoughts on my mind right now. Some to do with music, some with football....enjoy: -I'm soo glad today is friday. something about the weekend, combined with fall weather and football is really a beautiful thing. -should be a pretty busy weekend. I'm playing tonight with Stephen Cope in NC for a singles/college event. He's been a great friend for a long time, and its fun to get to hang out and jam together. -also playing this Sunday at Crossroads Community Church . If you're in town you should come hang out with us. Service times are 9:00 AM and 10:30 AM. Hope to see you there. -this saturday the gamecocks are playing LSU, the number 2 team in the nation. I, however, believe they should be the number 1 team in the nation(LSU that is). They are scary good. A lot of people are saying that USC will get blown out, and to be honest, yea that could happen. However, I wouldnt be surprised if Carolina gives them all they can handle. Spurrier, despite what all may think about him, is a genius at coaching football and seems to have a great ability to plan for big teams. We'll see, either way, it should be fun. -Jay , arent you glad that we wont be looking for a radio signal this weekend to find the game? Wherever you may be to watch the game, just know that at the kickoff I'll be jumping along with you and Philip in spirit. ha ha. -Clemson plays NC State this weekend. Should be an easy game for Clemson, they have way more talent than NC State. -Ever tried an Iced Caramel Macchiato from Starbucks? Hmm...maybe you should. -Week #3 for Fantasy Football. I'm definitely 0-2. However, this week will be different. I hope. Thats all I have for now. Hope everyone has a great Friday. bg

Typical by mutemath

Video from Jimmy Kimmel last night. Mutemath performs Typical in Reverse. Yea, I dont understand it either. Great song.

Mutemath

so if you havent checked out the music from 'mutemath', then you're missing out. go...now...buy the cd off itunes....now....go....do it. Also, I hear that tonight on the Jimmy Kimmell show that they will perfom their song Typical backwards. Yes, you heard correctly, backwards. I dont really watch the Jimmy Kimmell show, but I may just have to stay up to witness this.....orrrrrr I could just watch it on YouTube tomorrow...hmmm...i love technology.

wicky wicky

Check it out, yo.

So...I read this in my devotion today, and thought it was worth sharing with you and the blog world. I love this verse of scripture so, so much. It is great. In fact, I loved it so much that I got a tattoo on my wrist in greek letters relating to this passage of scripture. So check it out below, read the whole thing, and be blessed my friends.

"In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye
shine as lights in the world."
-- Philippians 2:15

We use lights to make manifest. A Christian man should so shine in his
life, that a person could not live with him a week without knowing the
gospel. His conversation should be such that all who are about him
should clearly perceive whose he is, and whom he serves; and should see
the image of Jesus reflected in his daily actions. Lights are intended
for guidance. We are to help those around us who are in the dark. We
are to hold forth to them the Word of life. We are to point sinners to
the Saviour, and the weary to a divine resting-place. Men sometimes
read their Bibles, and fail to understand them; we should be ready,
like Philip, to instruct the inquirer in the meaning of God's Word, the
way of salvation, and the life of godliness.

Lights are also used for warning. On our rocks and shoals a light-house is sure
to be erected. Christian men should know that there are many false lights shown
everywhere in the world, and therefore the right light is needed. The
wreckers of Satan are always abroad, tempting the ungodly to sin under
the name of pleasure; they hoist the wrong light, be it ours to put up
the true light upon every dangerous rock, to point out every sin, and
tell what it leads to, that so we may be clear of the blood of all men,
shining as lights in the world. Lights also have a very cheering
influence, and so have Christians. A Christian ought to be a comforter,
with kind words on his lips, and sympathy in his heart; he should carry
sunshine wherever he goes, and diffuse happiness around him.

weather

so, the weather outside today was amazing. it was one of those days where you just walk outside, take a deep breath, and thank God for all the different seasons that He brings. And it is a great coffee day, and a great day for football.

hope everyone had a beautiful day.

bg

Gorilla illa illa illa

The most beautiful, captivating, and hilarious thing I've seen in a while. Enjoy the next 90 seconds.

bg

Date

tonight my wife and i went out on a "date". it was great. because of her work schedule at the hospital and my schedule with music and traveling, it seems like we haven't had a ton of time to just hang out together. so we had an early dinner at Trio's in downtown greenville. (note to men: if you want to take your lady friend to a nice, classy resteraunt in gville, go to Trio's) We had excellent service. The guy knew his stuff, and made sure that we were takin care of. After that we went to some other stores downtown, then to the mall. Its so much fun to have nights like this. In fact, Megan and I are going to make this a normal thing that happens. Its refreshing to get away for a night and just go hang out and talk and catch up with no cell phones or laptops or anything. So, the point of this post: Date nights are good.

Book Recommendation: "Choosing to Cheat" by Andy Stanley. This is a great book that discusses what we value most in our lives. If any of you are like me, some days family is the last thing we think about, especially in the midst of just being busy with work and so forth..and it really does not need to be that way. Its something I'm really trying to work on right now. In fact, a review on Amazon sums it up like this, I like it:

"You love your family. You love the challenges of your job. But there’s not enough of you to go around. Somebody isn’t getting as much of your attention as they want or deserve. This little book presents a strategic plan for resolving the tension between work and home—reversing the destructive pattern of giving to your company and career what belongs to your family. But be forewarned...you will have to cheat."

So check it out and be blessed my friends!

bg

monday night

For some reason, right now, I'm into just posting thoughts and so forth. For me, when I read other peoples blogs I'm into reading about what they are doing and whats going on in their world. I like the deep, insightful posts...just not all the time. Anyways, tonight here are some thoughts, enjoy: -I might start a "real" blog soon, instead of doing it solely on my virb page. not sure yet, but I'll let ya know. anyone know how to set up those "real" blogs? email me HERE. -didnt have such a great fantasy football weekend. maybe this week will be better. -i ordered a new guitar pedal tonight, I'm pretty excited...I got a Boss DD-20 Gigadelay. Should be a great addition. -Carolina finally beat Georgia "between the hedges" as they like to call it. My wife is a huge Georgia fan, needless to say she recieved a phone call right after the game. -led worship in pigeon forge this past weekend. got to ride with Jay and it was a ton of fun. Jay spoke at the retreat, and really did a great job talking about identity. He spoke from Ephesians 2. -i'm drinking a coffee frapp from starbucks....oh yea, good stuff. -Newspring Church in Anderson baptized 562 people this past Saturday. Incredible. And it was a huge celebration with tailgating and all. Like I said, Incredible. Check out Tony Morgan's site to see pics and info on it. well, thats all for now. have a great monday night.

Fantasy Football with Jesse and the Rippers

our fantasy football draft was last week, since everyone else in the blog world thought it would be cool to tell everyone their rosters, i'll do the same...read on my friends ok,so the draft was last week. i joined in via ichat with my brother, who also is in the same league. he was giving me the play by play, then all of a sudden he reveals to me that i have recieved the first pick. then for some reason i became a lot more serious about fantasy football, it was weird. i'm not gonna lie to ya, i feel like i have a decent team. not the best maybe, but a team that should make it into the playoffs i would think. a lot of people who do fantasy football tend to do a ton of 'homework', as philip told me last week. but you see, bg does not do that...no no no...i didnt do much homework throughout my career as a student in school, i dont need to start now with fantasy football. i pull up on espn and yahoo the list of players available, and i pick away. no homework, no research, just pick em. and believe it or not, i will probably be even with, or maybe even beat the people who spend countless hours doing "homework". by the way, speaking of philip i need to say this. He sent me a message on ichat, asked me who i was going to take for my 1st pick, i told him LT(went with LT over stephen jackson, we'll see how that goes). What did Philip say? He proceeded to tell me that LT had broken his foot yesterday, and that i made a really stupid pick. (keep in mind, i dont do my fantasy ftbll 'homework', so i totally believed him). so i got mad b/c i wouldve thought that friendship would trump fantasy football, and that he would have warned me about the broken foot of LT...then after searching ESPN frantically, I figured out that he lied to me, in order to better his chances of getting LT. So what is the point of that story you ask? I dont really know to be honest. It should be a fun year in fantasy football. Roster for 'Jesse and the Rippers': QB - Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger RB - Ladainian Tomlinson and Deshaun Foster and Fred Taylor WR - Chad Johnson and Braylon Edwards and Devery Henderson and Isaac Bruce TE - Jeremy Shockey and Marcus Pollard Defense - New England and Dallas K- Robbie Gould and David Akers

Scripture

I've really just been resting here for a little while, and really trying to grasp what it says and let it soak in. Anyways, the passage is: Zephaniah 3:17, which reads: "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." There's a lot of good stuff packed into this one verse. First off, we see right off the bat that God is a personal God. It says, the Lord YOUR God is with you. So to me, this is very comforting. The God of the Universe, the God who breathed life into existence, the God who made the heavens and earth, and the stars...He is with me, and you of course. That's awesome stuff. It continues to say that our God, that same personal God we just read about, is mighty to save. It doesnt matter what kind of baggage you bring to the table, or where you've been or how bad youve messed up, b/c our God, even today, is mighty to save. Once again, I could go on and on about that. So we keep reading, and since I must return to work here in a second, I'll just touch on the last part. It says that "He will rejoice over you with singing". Um....hello, did you catch that. So you're telling me that the God that formed the heavens and the earth rejoices over me with singing? yes, thats what i'm telling you. I get this picture sometimes while leading worshp....a room full of people lifting our hands in worship, singing out to God...and while that is going on, just a picture of the Lord singing songs over His church, and His people. Man, that is so beautiful. And so I hope that this verse will touch you, encourage you, and bless you, like it has me. Incredible. bg

thought i'd post some thoughts tonight... For some reason, right now, I'm into just posting thoughts and so forth. For me, when I read other peoples blogs I'm into reading about what they are doing and whats going on in their world. I like the deep, insightful posts...just not all the time. Anyways, tonight here are some thoughts, enjoy: -I might start a "real" blog soon, instead of doing it solely on my virb page. not sure yet, but I'll let ya know. anyone know how to set up those "real" blogs? email me HERE. -didnt have such a great fantasy football weekend. maybe this week will be better. -i ordered a new guitar pedal tonight, I'm pretty excited...I got a Boss DD-20 Gigadelay. Should be a great addition. -Carolina finally beat Georgia "between the hedges" as they like to call it. My wife is a huge Georgia fan, needless to say she recieved a phone call right after the game. -led worship in pigeon forge this past weekend. got to ride with Jay and it was a ton of fun. Jay spoke at the retreat, and really did a great job talking about identity. He used Ephesians 2, check it out.-i'm drinking a coffee frapp from starbucks....oh yea, good stuff. -Newspring Church in Anderson baptized 562 people this past Saturday. Incredible. And it was a huge celebration with tailgating and all. Like I said, Incredible. Check out Tony Morgan's site to see pics and info on it. well, thats all for now. have a great monday night.

Spartanburg BCM last week

Last night I had the privilege of playing for the Spartanburg BCM... It was a ton of fun. They meet @ The Hangar. Which is pretty much the most amazing student center I've ever seen. Those students are truly blessed to have such a great meeting place. Maybe I can post some pics in the near future from last night, we'll see. I also was able to meet some great people. A couple of guys from the BCM leadership team, Jordan and Will, joined me on stage last night for a little acoustic set. It went great. Sometimes its refreshing to break away from the full band and simplify things. So it went well. Here is the set from last night: Salvation is Here Mighty to Save Jesus Paid it All Everlasting God Marvelous Light ////on a side note////fantasy football didnt go so well for 'Jesse and the Rippers' last night. I felt confident, and maybe that was my first problem(pride comes before the fall right?)...I have the number two ranked QB in fantasy preseason. Number one being of course Peyton Manning, number two being Drew Brees. Well, yea, Drew was horrible last night, the Colts defense was great last night...and of course Peyton absolutely did his thing. We'll see how the rest of the weekend will pan out. bg