A Must Read..

My good friend Jake Miller, stewardship director at Catalyst Church, wrote a post yesterday dealing with who we cheat, and priorities in our life. Its a subject that I believe I've written about before on this blog, but i think what Jake said was great....so I'm gonna revisit the topic. So.........head over to Jake's blog and check out the post. Its called, Who Are You Cheating?.


have a blessed day.
bg

This guy made my day.

Dont act like you dont like you some Macguyver. Press that play button and be changed my friends.

iphones and porting?

So...I have been very patient. The iphone comes out, its sweet and I like it a lot. Just a great product with great features, but it wasnt one of those things I had to have right when it came out. Usually its good to wait on stuff like that b/c something will go wrong or in the iphones case, the price will drop a few hundred dollars. Waiting is a good thing i think.

Last night, as I'm doing a little research on the phone and just reading about its features...I learn about this little thing called Porting. You see, one of my setbacks of getting an iphone(at&t) was the fact that I've had my cell number(verizon) since I was 16 yrs. old. It would have been a pain to change my number after having the same one for the past 8yrs. However, last night I learned there is this feature called Porting, which some you probably know about I'm sure, and basically I can take my phone number(even though its a Verizon phone/phone number)and transfer it to the iphone(once again, a different carrier). To summarize all the jibberish, I can get an iphone(even though its on a different carrier) and still use my cell number that I've had all these years. Amazing.

No, I'm not going out and buying a new iphone....................yet. I will continue to be patient and contempt with what I have. Santa, wherever you are my friend, I hope you're reading my blog and taking notes.


bg

Crazy Awesome!

So, I mentioned in my previous post that I played for Metamorphosis Church yesterday. It was a pre-launch service. They are doing one service a month, and officially launching in January 08. Basically, these services are just a time to share the vision and get people excitement levels up. Well, check this out...just now read that 5 people gave their lives to Christ yesterday in the service. Praise the Lord, He is mighty to save!!! Incredible.

monday thoughts

Some thoughts for today, including the weekend:

-I got the opportunity to lead worship this past Sunday for Metamorphosis Church. Its a church plant here in G-ville located at Greenville Tech. Considering this is the first "pre-launch" service, and that they wont even "launch" until January, I'd say things went really well. They really strive for excellence and the volunteers are incredible. So it was fun being apart of their fellowship yesterday.

-PS-Not that this has any spiritual meaning at all, but they definitely brewed 3 different kinds of Starbucks coffee in the lobby for church...awesomeness.

-Megan and I are moving this week. Exciting stuff. Its such a pain to change addresses and try to remember every thing that we get mail from. Oh well.

-My parents came over to the apt last night to help pack up some stuff. It was some good hang out time.

-SC lost this weekend. Bummer.

-Fantasy Football victory this weekend. Awesomeness.

-Speaking of FF, I think I have a pretty good team talent wise. And some guy just accepted a trade offer from me. I think I got the better deal on it. He gets Jeremy Shockey(TE) and Deshaun Foster (RB). I get Heath Miller(TE) and Andre Johnson(WR)--Andre Johnson is injured but is about to return, and Heath Miller gets touchdowns. I think I won that one.

-I need/want a new job. Anyone know of anything out there? I'm thankful for my job now, but its getting old and frustrating.

bg

and we wonder why....?

thought some of you might get a kick out of some church signs. some definitely made me laugh, and on a serious note, its pretty sad. No reason the Church(not the building folks) is portrayed the way it is sometimes. ok, back to unserious mode. my personal favorite, which you will see below, is the one that says, "Jesus is the rizzle for the sizzle." WHAT? It wouldve been better, and probably wouldnt have surprised me, if I looked up and saw that the pastor was none other than snoop D-O double G. wicky wicky. yea...anywho, here they are. enjoy.

Kid Nation...what?

So I dont know if it was just because I had too much time on my hands last night, or the fact that there is nothing on tv on wednesday nights. i sat down, with dinner in my hand prepared by my wonderful wife. I had just gotten home from church, and was wanting to just sit, eat, relax, watch some tv. After looking through all my channels, there was absolutely nothing on. Then, as I'm on CBS, a show is about to come on. What is it? Its called Kid Nation. Have you heard? So, not wanting my food to get cold, I left it there....lol. After 15 or 20 minutes, I wouldnt say that we were hooked, but we were beginning to understand some of the characters on the show and understand what they were doing. Its a show about 40 kids, who basically live together. They have leaders of the "community". The big thing is there are no adults. Yes, we watched the whole show. I did learn a few things. Number one...there are some kids on their that I would have been ashamed of if I was there parents. I'm talking spoiled brats. The kind that dont like to work, but like all the work to be done for them. Number two....because of number one, our future could be really scary lol, bunch of punk kids. Number three...there is some hope, b/c some ofthe kids dont mind getting their hands dirty and doing some work. Number four...I'm never watching that show again. peace.


bg

Coffee and set lists

I'm feeling kinda tired this morning, good thing I'm equipped with my coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts. Speaking of coffee, I have a new favorite drink. It is the Iced Caramel Macchiato from.......starbucks. Try it. It is a beautiful creation. It is the one in the front on the pic. Its a blend of milk and espresso, on the top and bottom of it is caramel. Top it off with some whip cream, and what you have my friends is one great tasting treat.

This past weekend I played at CRCC. This was fun. Incredible worship times. I got to play electric, so I got to crank up the AC30 finally. I'm enjoying the pedals I have, although I think there are a few changes I'd like to make to my board. I'm not sure how much I like the Line 6 DL-4. I think I'll get rid of that and start using my boss gigadelay. I think it has a better sound and all to it. And I might switch out my distortion as well, not sure. It was a great morning.
Set List:
I adore You(phil wickham)
there is nothing like(united)
how He loves(Jon Mark Mcmillan)
it is well(spafford)

On Sunday night I got to play for a church that is going to be starting in Jan. 08 here in Gville.
Set List:
Marvelous Light(hall)
unchanging(tomlin)
blessed be your name(redman)
everlasting God(brown)

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I just typed out a super long blog, only to have my internet stop working, and I lost it all. I'll try to get it back sometime today.


bg

Another Friday

Hey everybody, hope you have had an awesome week. Mine has been pretty busy, but a lot of fun. Here are some thoughts today...

-It is raining outside, and I love it. I know you do too.

-last night I went to Sonago, which is BCM of Spartanburg, headed up by Tracy Turner. Incredible man, with an incredible heart for college students. They meet at the Hangar. As you can see, its just a tiny little place where students meet every week. hmm... My good friend David Walker led worship. Awesome.

-We had practice on Wed. for CRCC, and the set is going to be really great this week. We're playing a Phil Wickham song, and it is so sweet. So come hang out with us.

-Catalyst Church, a North Point Strategic Partner, meets here in G-ville. I read about their Baptism that took place last night and it sounded incredible. I've been blessed to be able to hang out with those guys some, and I really believe the Lord will use them to do great things for the city of Greenville.

-USF lost last night...umm..we all knew it was coming, they are not a number 2 team. They are good, but not that good. sorry.

-I finally get to hang out with my wife some. She has had to work 3 nights straight this week at the hospital. She's a trooper though, she doesnt complain. My kind of woman.

-House stuff is coming along. We are set to close on Oct. 31. And whats scary is, that is not that far away. But we are super excited.

Hope everyone has a great Friday!

thoughts on this beautiful day

Yesterday I played at CRCC again. Incredible. I'm not even going to try to do it justice here on this silly blog. Bottom line, if you're in the Greenville area, you need to come hang out with us. Yesterday David did an incredible job of helping us as a band to understand our roles on stage, and to really help us place our hearts in the right place. I'm so thankful for his leadership. Most of the time, when it comes to bands leading worship and all, most bands(and I'm guilty of this as well) just say a little quick prayer and walk on stage and "go for it". While that may be ok in some regards, I really believe that its so much more than that, and its so CRUCIAL to be in the right frame of mind, and to align our hearts with the Father's. And David, out of the overflow of his walk with the Lord, does a great job of facilitating that with the band. We are able to spend time walking around the sanctuary just praying over the empty chairs before people even step foot in the doors, and spend time in our back room just praying as a band.

I say all that to say this. Yesterday David read us a passage out of Matthew 25. Talking about the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Go read the passage now, then come back. My good friend, Rich Butler from CRCC, had a post on this very passage, that I'll use some stuff from b/c he says it much better than I can. Check out his blog HERE!

Here is what Rich says in his blog:
Few thoughts:

10 virgins (Bridesmaids) all awaiting the BrideGroom.
* 5 were wise (had enough oil to keep their lamps burning)
* 5 were unwise (had only a little oil and their lamps began to flicker out)

Oil= intimacy with the Lord
Lamps= ministry
TRUTH: Oil (intimacy is not transferable)

*** Intimacy can't be birthed out of ministry. Ministry has to be birthed out of intimacy. ***

Everyone wants to have a growing ministry. Everyone wants to be used greatly by God. Everyone wants to be networked with the greatest names in Christianity and be on Celebrity blogrolls.....But not many people want to do the work themselves.

Ok, so my closing thoughts for this post(by the way, this is bg again) are this, this is how it relates to me, and its honest, not covering up anything:

There are so many times that I pursue so hard trying to excel at my gifts. This saying is so cheezy and I cant believe I"m going to use it, but it goes like this: Placing the gift before the giver. So many times I'm working on playing this song, or singing this song, and I lose sight of my relationship with God and having those intimate times with Him b/c I'm so consume with trying to get better. This isnt a bad thing at all, in fact we should strive to be excellent at the gifts God has given us. However, when I begin placing my striving for excellence with my gifts before my time with the Lord and growing intimate with Him, then its not a good thing. I want to make sure that my lamp(ministry) is full of oil(intimacy with the Lord).

have an awesome day.
bg

It's Friday!

Sorry for the slow blogging week. This week has been kinda crazy, so its been hard to get some thoughts together for a decent blog. Long story made short, Megan and I have put a contract on a house in the Simpsonville area. Crazy stuff let me tell you. Its a "For Sale By Owner", so basically all the stuff that the realitor normally takes care of, we're having to do that. Make a ton of phone calls, make sure this and that are lined up. In the midst of the craziness, we are super excited. Living in a nice apartment was fun. Its a cool atmosphere, and our apartment overlooked the pool and all, which made it even cooler. And the best part was we were able to use the wireless internet coming from the clubhouse, which saved us $40 a month. shhhhh...dont tell anyone. But I wont miss being up on the 3rd floor. I wont have to carry my 80lb VoxAC30 up and down, or make several trips when it comes to getting gear up and down. YES! Anyways, I'll keep you guys posted, just keep checking back.

Random story: Went to starbucks last night with Megan. Got the normal Caramel Macchiato, extra hot(b/c they get cold too quickly). I get the cup off the counter, and it feels like I'm just picking up a cup, with no drink in it. I give Megan this weird look, which lets her know something is not alright. I proceed to the condiments table, take the lid off, get a straw, and pull back the whip cream(which is conveniently all the way at the top of the cup, a little deceiving), and wouldnt you know it the drink itself only fills up like 1/2-3/4 of the cup, and the rest is whip cream. So I then go back to counter, and promise the guy first off that I'm not trying to be a pain in the butt, but was curious as to why the drink was only half full. He told me that is how it is supposed to be, its supposed to be only 3/4 full. Being as nice as I could sort of, I said, " no, no when i pay $4 for a cup of coffee, i would like it to fill my cup up." In my head I'm thinking, there is no way I paid $4 for a 3/4 cup of coffee. And actually, as was the case last night, if you bring it up to Starbucks, they will fix it. Maybe not with a smile alwasy, but they get you another drink. So she made me a new cup of coffee, all the way to the top might I add, and let me keep the other one. Sweetness. Sorry for that random story.

If you've come seeking spirtual lessons, I dont necessarily have a devotional or sermon for you, but I can tell you what I'm studying and wrestling with right now. I'm really being stretched when it comes to leading worship. This is coming from being a part of the band at CRCC. And it has nothing to do with being what people think are the two categories of leading worship a) traditional, wrapped up in the history and the heritage of faith, which is cool if thats what you're led to do b)being relevant to the people, trying to become something or do it in certain way to get on peoples level. It has more to do with using the measure of faith that the Lord has given me, and being led by the Spirit to create a culture of faith around us. If this paragraph made no sense to you, then thats good...b/c really its just some stuff I'm wrestling with and asking the Lord to help show me what it means to bea worship leader, and those of you who know me know that I jumble words easily, and it takes me a while to process things. I'll keep posting as I continue to learn and maybe it will all come together to make a complete thought. If you wanna add anything, then speak up in the comment section.

Be sure and check out some of the other blogs to side of my blog. They more than likely have more interesting and intelligent things to say than I do. Check out Rich Butlers blog, Jay Hardwicks blog, Jake Miller, Ragamuffin Soul.

bg

Tattoo

I'm sitting here at the apartment. Just got done practicing some music and working on some songs, now I'm watching LA Ink. It really makes me want to get another tattoo. Not only that, but it makes me want to fly out to LA and get tattooed by one of the artists at LA INk. I dont even care about getting on the show. I just really dig their work. Hmm..maybe I'll start some brainstorming about what will be next. Anyone wanna join me?

bg

Yes, it is Monday

It is Monday, and I havent blogged in several days. I had a great weekend. Got to hang out with my wife, she didnt have to work all weekend which was very cool. As far as college football goes, well, we all know how that went. Its pretty crazy. I'm enjoying this year a little more, obviously, b/c South Carolina is doing well. But I'm also enjoying college football a little more b/c all teams seem to be beatable. To me this is more exciting than having several teams that just blow out everyone they play. Although, LSU is really good. They played clutch football the other night. I dont really know what to say about Clemson. I actually believe they do have a very talented team, and in the ACC they should be dominating I think. But as nice of a guy and good christian man that Tommy Bowden is, he isnt really showing his coaching skills off right now. Maybe that will change, we'll see. Oh well, my thoughts for what they are worth.

On to way more important news. I got to play again yesterday at CRCC. I feel like I say this every Monday, but it is so true that there is revival taking place at Crossroads through worship. Not revival like we picture it in our heads a lot of times. There is no evangelist that we paid mega bucks to coming and telling us all the same thing he did last year we paid for him to come. There is no gospel quartet or joyful sound singing(oops, did i say that?). What is taking place is revival folks, and you need to come check it out. We are beginning to see what takes place when there is intercession and prayer and healing. We are beginning to see and understand what it means to have a measure of faith, and being reminded of the simple yet profound truth of God's love for us. Hmmm..good stuff. Come hang out with us.

Fantasy football was good to me this week. I actually played Zach, my brother. Yea, I won.

I played last night for a church that will be launching in January. Very cool. The people there really showed Megan and I a lot of love. It was refreshing. I'm praying God will use them to reach Greenville.

I shall now go and enjoy my coffee. More to come later.

bg

Game time

Today is a good day. I get to leave work early and drive to Columbia to hang out with a good friend of mine, and go to the Carolina game tonight. Night games are fun. Yes, it is usually a late night getting back...but who freakin cares. I get to see friends, eat some great food, see a college football game only a few rows up from the field. So its all good for sure. Carolina plays Kentucky tonight, which is weird saying this, but they are the #8 team in the country. HOpefully it will be a good game.

have a great day.

Cannons

I mentioned it a while back, and I mentioned it this week. In case you havent done so already, you need to go buy this dudes cd right now. I was introduced to Phil Wickham I guess sometime last year, and saw his cd for like 6.99 somewhere, so I picked it up. I could not put it away. It was amazing. His vocals are insanely awesome, and more importantly his songwriting and lyrics are amazing. I've seen a couple videos of Phil Wickham, and the dude is crazy in love with Jesus and crazy in love with the Word of God. You owe it to yourself to buy his new cd. So, click on itunes, click on itunes store, search for Phil Wickham, click buy this cd, enjoy. (i guess i could have posted a link, but that was much more fun).


Wait a minute, what is this? A video of Phil playing a new song off his cd? And you know this!

Watch and be blessed!



bg

LA INK

For some reason, a couple years ago I began watching this show called Miami Ink. It was about a few guys who had opened a tattoo shop in Miami. It was on the TLC channel, so I'm assuming they wanted to be artsy and air a tattoo show. Well, this show turned into a pretty big hit. I watched it a good bit and for some reason it was fun to watch. Maybe it was because I actually got to hear the stories behind the tattoos, which takes them to a whole different level. Its amazing to hear the life stories, and its also amazing at how people can cope with difficulties in life and store memories with tattoos.

Basically, long story short, one of the ladies that worked at Miami Ink got fired or something, and basically went to LA to start her own tattoo shop called High Voltage Tattoo, or LA INK as we know it. Its a lot of fun to watch. Megan and I usually try to catch it on TLC every week. You should too.

I was reading Rich's blog this morning and he was talking about it. YOu see, there is this guy who I have never met, but has a very awesome blog that I started reading a few months back, and is one of those guys you'd love to just sit in Starbucks and hang out with for a few hours. He just moved from California to Atlanta to work at Buckhead Church. His name is Carlos Whitakker, and you can check out his blog HERE! Why do I mention Carlos? Because he went on LA INK, and made it through the screening process, to get tattooed on the show. And come to find out, the episode that he will be on will be on tonight. So you need to watch it, b/c his tattoo that he got is pretty sweet, and once again, the story behind the tattoo is amazing.

So tonight, at 10:00 PM eastern time, tune to TLC, and check it out.

Monday Morning Thoughts

Today is Monday. I have some thoughts. I will share them with you. Please read them.

-Have you checked out my previous post? If not, scroll down and click play. That junk will make you laugh...for a second or two.
-Yesterday at CRCC was amazing. Chris Brooks, from Wayfarer Ministries spoke. The time of worshipping through song was crazy awesome. Our conversations backstage and before and in between the services have become a lot more focused on prayer and intercession. Those conversations bring us closer together as a band as well. And when you walk out on stage, having prayed for each other and for everyone in the room, it just seems like things go up another level when it comes time to play. Dont know if any of that makes sense, I"m still processing things.
-I was supposed to go to the Catalyst Conference this week, but it doesnt look like I'll be able to make it due to work. I am thankful for my job, but sometimes it gets old. Anyone need a worship leader? hahaahahahahahahahhaaaaaa just kidding...sort of.
-God's timing is so perfect, I'm really trusting in that right now.
-Gamecocks won this past weekend which is a good thing.
-I think I might have some tickets for the Kentucky game this week. It took me a second to realize this morning that Kentucky is actually #8 in nation. So this might be a pretty good game. Plus, night games on ESPN are always fun.
-I love this cooler weather. I like the summer unlike a lot of people, but this weather is quite nice as well.
-I think I'm getting too much into this fantasy football stuff. I dont know why it is so fun, but it is. Maybe its the competitive side of me or something. For instance, here is how I know that I'm way too into it. Yesterday a player on the Bucs got injured, their starting running back to be exact. Normally, this would mean nothing. But in the fantasy world, it means everything. You see, when the starting running back gets carted off the field, thats usually a good indication that he aint coming back anytime soon. So, this means that someone will have to take his place. So I immediately start doing some searching, figure out who his replacement is, and pick him up on my team. Pretty smart, eh?
-New Phil Wickham cd comes out tomorrow. Sweet.
-I might have some BIG news coming up soon, so stay posted!

Change is coming.


bg