Presidential Race

As I sit and watch the tail end of the election results, Obama is winning 207-138. For most of the day I've been almost in a state of depression about the election.
Tonight, as I took time away from watching the results and took a shower, I began to pray about it. The Lord really spoke to me during this time. He reminded me of a sermon I heard from Pastor Johnny Hunt at First Baptist Woodstock where I attended for many years. Johnny preached that we are instructed from the Bible to pray for our President and leaders of the country.

1 Timothy 2 :1-3 "The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live"

As much as it's in my flesh now to complain, and mope, I know I need to be obedient and pray for Obama as he takes on the leadership of this great nation of ours. It's been "easy" over these past 8 years as President Bush has been in office, a President that has been outspoken about his faith in Christ. Now, as Obama takes office we will begin to learn more about him and his spiritual walk. As Christians, it's our duty to pray for him daily.

Thoughts?

My Bday Weekend

My amazing wife Bonnie surprised me with the best birthday gift this past weekend. For those of you who know me, know that I'm a huge Auburn fan. (Yes, even in years like this one where they aren't doing as well as expected.)

On Friday Oct 10th, we departed Franklin and headed to a bed and breakfast/ lodge outside of Auburn. Then Saturday, we went to Auburn. We got in around 11 AM, and spent the day going in all the Auburn stores, spending time on campus, going to Tiger Walk and to the game. She got us tickets on the 35 yard line, about 11 rows up. Needless to say, this was an amazing gift. After the Auburn game, we made a trip to see my parents in Newnan GA for my mom's bday.



Thanks Bonnie for an amazing weekend. I'm blessed to have you in my life.




For my birthday, I was lucky enough to have many of my good friends join us for dinner and bowling, thanks everyone!

Eagles concert

Had the chance to see The Eagles last night here in Nashville. I must say it was one of the best sounding shows from a mix viewpoint that I've heard. Everything was A+, from production, songs etc. Here's the setlist if you're one of those who cares about that :)

Set 1

How Long

Busy Being Fabulous

I Don't Want To Hear Anymore

Guilty Of The Crime

Hotel California

Peaceful Easy Feelin'

I Can't Tell You Why

Witchy Woman

Lyin' Eyes

Boys Of Summer

In The City

The Long Run

Set 2

No More Walks In the Woods

Waiting In The Weeds

No More Cloudy Days

Love Will Keep Us Alive

Take It To The Limit

Long Road Out of Eden

Somebody

Walk Away

One Of These Nights

Life's Been Good 

Dirty Laundry

Rocky Mountain Way

Heartache Tonight

Life In The Fast Lane

ENCORE

Take It Easy

Desperado

New Post! Can you believe it?

Sorry for the 5 of you that read this, it's been 2 months since I've posted.  Quite a bit has happened! Trips to LA, Vegas, San Diego and Disney World have all happened. In addition to the start of the college and pro football seasons. I'm a huge Auburn fan, as well as having season tickets for the Vandy games. Also, I'm in 2 fantasy leagues, and my wife is in 2 also. 

I have managed to sneak in some great new music purchases in the last 2 months. 

First off the new Metallica "Death Magnetic"..wow this record sounds great so far. It's heads and tails better than their "St. Anger" record.

In the Christian market, definitely check out the latest from my friends DecembeRadio "Satisfied", to say the record will leave you satisfied is an understatement. Also, the new one from old buds Third Day, "Revelation". IMHO the best record they've turned in in quite a while. Good job Mark. Also spent some time with a friend at Word the other day and he hooked me up with 10 new releases. So far I've spent some time with the new Francesca Battistelli (if you're into piano powered pop ala Sara Bareilles, this one is for you) and Remedy Drive. 

More thoughts coming soon! Off to see The Eagles tomorrow and Third Day/ Switchfoot on Saturday and a visit from mom-in law and sis-in law. 

Surreal

Growing up as a child of the 80's, I developed a love for 80's hair bands. It was almost my way of being "rebellious" without being over the edge. Sure these bands were "hard rock" or "heavy metal", but really they just played pop songs wrapped up in guitars. Usually they were songs about love, women, cars or just being happy.

One of the bands that I got into in the late 80's was Poison. This was a band who had all the traits of a successful hair band. Great songs, big choruses, and the women loved them. I never got to see them during their "hey day", but since they reformed in '99 with the original lineup I've caught them at least 4x.

I have a good friend that lives in LA who has toured with Poison. He called me a year ago to tell me that CC Deville had just gotten saved. Then June 23rd of this year, he called to tell me that CC showed up at church on 6.22 and rededicated his life. The tour would be hitting Nashville on July 8th, so my friend called CC and put us on the list. I told him I'd love to encourage CC and bring him some books and music to help him in his walk.


Fast forward to last night, July 8th. Bonnie and I made our way down to the Sommet Center. After checking in at will call, we found out that Poison hadn't turned in their guest list yet. At 6:45, I received a call from CC on my cell wanting to know where we were. He sent up his personal assistant to get us and took us back to his dressing room.

This lead to a hour and half converstation about what God is doing in his life. To say this was surreal is an understatement. First off, I'm sitting in the dressing room of one of my favorite band members, then to top it off, he's talking about his salvation experience, and how he's getting chill bumps talking about what God is doing in his life. Then he's asking Bonnie and I questions on how he should handle things. After about an hour, my pastor Pete Wilson and Brian Alexander came down to spend some time with us and CC. CC asked us to watch the show and see if there was anytime we felt that he wasn't honoring God. Wow.

The show was pretty awesome. Filled with all the hits, fist pumping and pyro.


After the show, we went back and spent another 20 min with CC in his dressing room. We were able to share our thoughts on the show, and spend a few more minutes encouraging him. At the end, we all gathered around and prayed for our new brother in Christ. I told CC that Bonnie and I may try to go see them again in Atlanta in a few weeks, to which he asked me to make sure and hold him accountable when I see him.

All this to say, CC has had a wild ride with his life. He's sold over 25 million records, played to millions of people, and now he's made a new turn in his life for Christ. He's going to have a tough road ahead with the temptations that the road and the lifestyle that he leads brings. Please keep him in prayer as you read this, or hear a Poison song on your local Jack FM or classic rock station.

Below is a video I shot at the show, not the best quality but you can sense the excitement.

Thankfulness..looking back, the present and looking ahead.

One thing I've been thinking about recently has been the subject of thankfulness. It seems these days that many people really forget the "art" of being thankful. In the current age of take what you can get, and what's mine is mine, thankfulness sometimes takes a back seat. Many times, people seem to forget that there are many blessings in life that we aren't guaranteed, and aren't deserved in most instances. It's hard to be prideful when you're thankful. I think that when you are thankful, it almost always includes humbleness.
In looking back over my life, and specifically the last year, I know that I don't deserve everything that's happened to me, and all the opportunities that have been laid in front of me. It seems like God was and is continually opening doors and saying try this. I feel that I'm being blessed far greater than I could've ever imagined.
2007 was a year that turned out to be a landmark year for me in a few ways. Growing up being a massive music fan, I never would have dreamed that I would be able to attend the Grammy Awards. That opportunity happened for me in Feb., when a band I worked with called DecembeRadio was nominated for the Best Rock Gospel Grammy. I was honored with the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles and attend the awards and all the parties and festivities surrounding them. The whole time I was in LA., I felt like a child on Christmas morning. As an added bonus, I got to meet Martin Sheen and his son Emelio Estevez at our hotel. Being a fan of the West Wing, this was pretty amazing to me.


The day of the Grammy Awards , I received an added bonus. As if just attending the Grammy's wasn't enough, I got to walk the red carpet with the band as they did interviews with everyone from The Tonight Show, to Entertainment Tonight, to Extra. Behind us on the carpet was Little Big Town and Buckcherry. During the pre-show awards, which is where 90% of the awards are handed out, we were just feet away from legends like Tony Bennett and Smokie Robinson. Unfortunately, Dradio didn't win the award as it went to Jonny Lang.
The televised awards show was very cool, as I got to see The Police's first live performance in years as they kicked off the show with "Roxanne".
The after party was fun, as we got to see Chaka Kahn and Kool and The Gang play.

In May, I left Slanted/ Spring Hill to manage my friends Jump5. One of the first things I got to do was travel to Norway with the group for a series of concerts. Norway was incredible. How often do you get to travel internationally and get paid for it at the same time. wow.
The summer consisted of me putting together the farewell album (Hello & Goodbye) and tour for the fall. On the tour, I finally got to go to San Francisco, which is a city I've always heard about just how amazing it is.



For me, the biggest event of the year started with a phone call I received on Sept 3rd from Sammy Ward. Sammy has been a great friend of mine for over 10 years, and I also manage his music career. He had been playing a retreat for First Baptist Nashville over the Labor Day weekend. He called to say he found me about the student ministry assistant, Bonnie. He said he had been watching her life for a few years, and loved how she carried herself. He felt that she would be great for me. He asked her if she was dating anyone, and if she liked older guys. She said no to dating anyone and sure to older guys. So he gave me her email address. The next day I emailed her to introduce myself. She emailed back the next day. After a week of emailing, we became facebook friends. We had our first "blind date" on Sept 13th at Fido's, then went out again on the 17th with a group of friends, then again on the 20th to a Predators game.


Needless to say, we hit it off. We officially became a couple on Sept 23rd, at around 1045 PM.
After about a month of dating, we both knew we had found the one, or T O as we both called it. We were engaged on Dec 21st. Needless to say that was the only Christmas present I needed.
We were married this May 10th.


To say I'm thankful for Bonnie is an understatement. She's the completion to who I've always wanted to be. Every day she fills my life with love, happiness and contentment. I don't ever want to take her for granted.

On the professional level, I'm getting to do what I love. Each day I consider a blessing.

All this to say, too many times I think people tend to focus on the negative parts of life, the things that drag us down. Take a minute to reverse that, be thankful for the things in the past, the present, and what God has for you around the next corner. When we start thinking that we deserve certain thing, that's where trouble can creep in.

The Story Continues..

So sorry it took a few days to continue the story. On Friday, Bonnie I had the chance to go to another taping of PBS's "Songs and Lyrics" show. The taping on Friday afternoon was a special one for Bonnie, as it was her first time to see and hear Mindy Smith in a live setting. It was really fun for me to watch Bonnie be giddy about something like this. Mindy ended up singing one of her favorite songs called "Raggedy Ann" which made Bon really happy. After the performance, Mindy stayed around the stage to meet and take photos with people. Bonnie was a little nervous about meeting her, but after some prodding she gave in. She ended up getting 20-30 seconds with her, a great photo and a memory that will last a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzu3Ihyq50c