Craziness continues

It's been a few days since my last post and its been nothing short of crazy around here since. Went to the station on Wednesday and met the guy who does the play by play for all the football and basketball games on JOY FM, I have worked with him for about 2 years and never met him face to face so I heard he was going to be there Wednesday for a bit so I went and hung out and talked to him for a few. Got a few ideas for the upcoming football season since I'll be on the board in the studio about some banter between the two of us, we will see how that goes.

Thursday and Friday I helped out with the sharathon answering phones and just having some fun, so much that I'll be back over there in the morning from 6-8 am doing it again. The station fell around $26,000 short of the goal so hopefully they can get that tomorrow. Went to see a buddy of mines son preform Friday night before he headed off to Nashville to pursue a career in music, good stuff. Tammy stayed the night with her aunt in the hospital then and I came home and got a call at 5 in the morning on Saturday saying that she, the aunt, had passed away. Came in got Tammy and came home to go to the station for the Saturday show, came home and went back to Muncie to go to a benefit for her aunt at their church, PK would have loved it southern gospel, a little bluegrass and a quartet. Not my cup of tea but it really wasn't bad.

Church and youth on Sunday and two of Tammy's cousins from Tenneesse came up and are spending a few days with us for the funeral so we hung out with them, cookout tonight, funeral tomorrow along with 2 meetings and then a little break, woohoo can't wait.

Sunday Set list:
Not To Us - Chris Tomlin (Seems like its been a while since we've done this)
Hallelujah (Your Love Is Amazing) - Brian Doekerson (Been a while on this one as well)
My Glorious - Delirious (Did this one end amazing or what?)
I Give You My Heart - Hillsong (I thought Shannon did a great job on this one)
I Surrender All - Judson W. Van DeVenter (I like this one)
One Way - Hillsong United (I think this pumped the people up)

Sharathon time again

Its that time of year again over at JOY FM for the spring sharathon, it started this morning and goes until 7 pm on Friday. If you can pledge ANY amount please do so, it is great having a christian radio station in our own backyard. Call in your pledges toll free at 877-335-4569 and I know they will appriciate it very much. I was over there for a bit this morning and things are hoppin' over there. I will be there tomorrow and Friday mornings from 6 am to 10 am to take your pledges, feel free to call in your pledge during those times.

I really enjoy my time over there, if you can't tell, and I am thankful not only for the chance to be a part of that ministry but also that there is a station like that in our area that is safe for the kids and enjoyable for mom and dad. Last I checked though the P-town down crew had 2 supporters, Albany 1 and our own hometown of Farmland is being shut out right now, lets go fellow Farmlanders, whats up with that?

Wow.

I had a feeling that something big and powerful was going to happen yesterday at church and it did, what an awesome God we serve. At small group Saturday night I was talking to Ryan and discussing the song "Saviour King" and I told him I think it is going to be a HUGE song like "Mighty To Save", "Let God Arise" kind of thing at the FFC, you know the kind of song that just gets people going. During the second time around for that song I believe it was there. I know how I get when you look out and see people worshiping and giving it all to God, I can't imagine how He feels. Great time and I believe we will be doing that song again and again. It was good to have Ryan back and singing for that song, kind of took me back a few years, not only did he bring it for that the message he brought was right on as well. Kudos to Ryan.

I was a bit bummed however yesterday, I had planned on going to the race track after service but on Saturday they cancelled the races with the forecast for rain all day, bummer but I understand, I've been at the track for hours before waiting on it to stop raining and dry the track, not fun. Glad they cancelled early, saved alot of people money and gas.

Sunday Set list:
Forever - Chris Tomlin
All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises - Paul Balachoe (Been a while since we've done this one)
Saviour King - Hillsong United (Gonna be HUGE)
King Of Glory - Chris Tomlin
Breathe - Micheal W. Smith (liked the little intro playing as Brent was talking)
Saviour King - Hillsong United (See above, great song and even greater moment with everyone coming to the front to pray, awesome, awesome, awesome.)

Radio, radio, radio

Had fun last night on Solid Rock Friday Night, I was supposed to take care of the first half of the show but ended up doing the whole thing. I had a blast and gave away a couple of cd's, had quite a few requests, it must have been Skillet night because 4 out of the 5 requests were for their songs. Gonna be heading back over there in just a few to do the Saturday Afternoon show from noon to 3 which will be the start of my new routine there. I am so excited about the possibilites over there with the Saturday show and filling in when needed, I am blessed to be able to do something which I really like with music and praising God at the same time. Get next Friday night off but then the next two I'll be doing the whole show both weeks again and might just have to take some guest hosts over there with me.

Getting pumped for tomorrows service, Ryan's got a good message to bring and the worship team has a few good songs to bring as well. Got a new one that I think is gonna be HUGE, we are gonna do it twice tomorrow, first time you all can just take it in then the second time join us in worship. Dusting off an older song that hasn't been done in a while that I get to put a little "drive" in it. Getting ready for that and also hope the rain holds off so I can watch some racing out at the Winchester Speedway and catch up with some old friends. Come join us tomorrow at the FFC.

It's Hot In Topeka

Just some senseless humor, hope you get a kick out of it.

Upcoming dates and weekend update

Some news for you and some dates to remember if you could, starting this Saturday April 18th from 12 noon to 3 pm I will be on the air every Saturday except for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend on 88.9 JOY FM as the new host of that time period. I got the call a day ago asking if I would be interested in doing that and without hesitation I said yes. It's the perverbial foot in the door kind of thing and I am excited about being a part of the JOY FM family. Who knows where this will lead but I know God has that all under control so I'll just obey and have some fun with it. I'll still be doing the Solid Rock Friday Night thing, which by the way I'll be on tomorrow night from 8 to 9:30, and now Saturdays, that is just too cool. God is good even though I am undeserving alot of times.

So this weekend will be packed with radio tomorrow night, radio Saturday and all kinds of things for the kids to do that day and then church on Sunday and after service I'm heading out to the Winchester Speedway to check out the opening day races with the USAC Sprint Cars and CRA Late Models, I'll get to hang out with some old friends and catch up a bit and watch some good racing, then its probably off to youth for a bit before coming home and collapsing. Gonna be a fun weekend with lots to do, plus I hear the weather might actually cooperate and be nice.

Busy weekend that was

What a fun, but busy weekend that was. Got to hang out with my brother and his family since Thursday when they arrived from VA Beach and had alot of fun just hanging with them, had a little party on Thursday night for Mom's B-Day then Friday hung around all day and took my brother and his wife out for a anniversary dinner, their anniversary is actually tomorrow, and had a big cook-out easter egg hunt thing on Saturday. Lots of good food and lots of fun, then off to small group and then home to bed. Sunday was good as well, did you see how many people were at church, my goodness there was a bunch. Great service and I pray that lots of people were touched and that we would see them again some Sunday at the FFC. Gonna miss the TXT series, that was alot of fun and very interactive, maybe we can do it again sometime.

Got up yesterday and took Taylor and a couple of other girl-scouts to Indy to the Statehouse where they were pages for the day. If you've never been to the Statehouse let me tell you it's huge. I got to take a tour of the place which was cool but the tour guide was giving facts about the place that sometimes just weren't very interesting. But I digress the tour was fun and got to go into alot of the "big" places like the House room and the Senate room, and the Judges area. Lots of fun. The building has a hallway or tunnel if you will that goes from the Statehouse to Circle Center Mall which is where we ate lunch, CHIC-FIL-A, great food and we need one of those in Muncie or Winchester. Took the girls back after lunch and went back to the mall, not impressed with Circle Center, too many clothing shops not enough other stuff just my opinion, spent about a half hour there then went back over to watch the House in action. Got in there and when they were getting ready to start they announced that the Republicans wanted a caucus and left for an hour, so I had to waste about an hour and a half until 3 when the girls would be done.

Sat on a bench and was watching all the people dressed in their suits and all and couldn't help but wonder, how many of them were on the up and up and how many of them are crooked politicians who take money under the table, do dirty business deals, you know the whole nine yards. Just a thought I had while people watching. There are alot of people in that building, young and old alike and I just wondered who was legit and who was phoney.

Sunday set list:
Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin (Brought the rock on this one, but heard you couldn't hear it, but trust me I brought it)
Here Is Our King - David Crowder*Band (Fun to play except those two fingers that don't move)
You Alone - David Crowder*Band (liked the spontainious thing with the kids)
Everlasting God - Chris Tomlin (Loud crowd on this one)
Jesus Messiah - Chris Tomlin (Haven't done this one a whole lot but people seem to enjoy it)
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) - Chris Tomlin (It is hard for me to do any songs arranged around Amazing Grace because I know the effect it has on Tammy, it was her moms favorite song and it reminds her of how much she misses her mom)
Blessed Assurance - Fanny Crosby (a little diddy thrown in late Thursday)

Frustration

Ever get frustrated? I get frustrated rather easy quite often and 9 times out of 10 it is myself that I am most frustrated at. Either not doing what I know I should do, speaking up when I know I should, going where I know I should go, and the list goes on and on. I wish I wouldn't let things get that way and just wise up and do what I know I should do, eaiser said then done sometimes but I know I can do it.

Don't forget to say a prayer for our church and all the other churches out there who are going to have alot of CEO's in attendance this weekend. Of course CEO stands for Christmas and Easter Only so say a little prayer that eyes are opened, hearts are softened and people are receptive to the message that will be preached this weekend. I'm pumped for worship team practice tonight because I think worship is gonna be HUGE this weekend.

TXT it.

I love the new series TXT and the use of technology to enhance something that has been around forever and something that we all far too often overlook and that is God's word, the bible. I enjoy the angle of this series and I hope that when it is all said and done that everyone who attends FFC will be deeply engaged in the word. Just imagine what would happen if we all dug in and started living out the word, it would be "OFF THE HOOK", so let's do it. There were alot of people at church yesterday, wow, what a great looking bunch and a loud bunch at that. Kind of a sneak preview of next Sunday, that place is gonna be packed and I for one am excited about that. I'm really excited that there are going to be people who don't normally go to church who are going to be there and hearing about Jesus, let's all pray that He moves within all who attend next Sunday, its not too early to start praying for those attending this week, in fact we should all be doing that everyday leading up to the service for God to do an amazing work this week. He is faithful and I'm ready to be blown away by what He has in store.

Music was fun yesterday, I enjoyed playing the bass and putting the low end in the music. Like I said earlier you all were LOUD during Mighty To Save, I love that when I can hear the congregation over us. Great times. Looking forward to next weeks worship, got the initial list of songs and I'm pumped because I have a feeling it's gonna be even LOUDER next week, got a couple of favorites lined up. I am getting this feeling, if you can't tell, that something big is on the horizon.

Today is opening day for Major League Baseball today and I'm ready to kick back and watch some games today, in school opening day was the day that Mom and Dad allowed me to skip school that day to stay home and watch. Now back then there was only the Reds to watch and if you know me I've never been a fan of them but it was baseball and good to watch, plus I got to root for the team they were playing so today I'll be pulling for the Mets, sorry Andy.

Sunday Set List:
Because He Lives - Gaithers (Not a Gaither fan but I liked the way this one was done)
Grace Like Rain - Todd Agnew (Another fun one to play, Todd Agnew is one of Tammy's favorite artists, he's got a cool, deep voice but have you ever heard him talk????)
Made To Worship - Chris Tomlin (Haven't done this one in a while)
Give Me Jesus - Jeremy Camp (An Indiana boy)
Mighty To Save - Hillsong (This is one of about 5 or 6 songs that we could do every week and the reaction would be the same each week)
I Stand Amazed (How Glorious) - ? Chris Tomlin re-did it (I loved the accapella ending)

The Essential James

Today as I was checking blogs I went to Steven Furtick's over there on the left hand side of this page and went to the watch messages online thingy, it has been a while since I've watched on of his messages so I thought I'd check one out as I sat here and ate my buffalo chicken pizza. If you don't know who Steven is he is the pastor at a church in North Carolina called Elevation Church which is a rapidly growing church in the Charlotte area, the series they are in right now is called "The Essential James" and its description is 4 weeks, 4 principles, one book, thats it. A fresh approach to spiritual growth straight out of the book of James. I checked out the message on James 1:13-18 which ended up being about temptation.

I've watched a few messages online before but this time about 15 or 20 minutes in I started jotting down some notes of things he said that just hit me and I'd like to share a few of them with you. Number 1 - If you haven't had a head on collision with the devil in a while it might be because your on the same path as him. Woah never thought of it like that.
Number 2 - New levels bring new devils. Each time we progress in our walk with Christ, the devil comes at us with different angles and such to knock us off God's path.
Number 3 - If God isn't in it then get the hell out. I got a kick out of this one, he was talking about conversations and situations and us knowing that what we are doing does not have God in it.
Number 4 - Worry is the opposite of worship. That one hit hard. How easy is it to worry about our jobs, our finances, our future, our family, and every other little thing there is to worry about. If we are totally sold out to God like we say we are we should have the faith to know that He is in control and we should worship Him for who He is instead of worrying about who we are.

I have a feeling I'll be checking out the other 3 messages in this series in the upcoming days. He even took me back a few years when he started talking about Mike Tyson's Punchout for the Nintendo game system, Bly and I used to play that every chance we could. You should check this message out sometime, you'll be glad you did.