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So, I mentioned that we kind of remixed Forever (Tomlin) in this past Sunday Setlist. I wasn’t really sure how to describe it. I said hard/emo/euro/i don’t know…and honestly I don’t know what it sounds like.

The verses and pre-choruses are pretty normal, but the intro (not on this clip) and the ending (on audio clip) are what I’m talking about. You know when the full band hits a rhythm all together. It ended up pretty cool and was a great way to breathe something fresh into this good but “getting stale” song for us. The band loved it. We had some positive feedback from those who heard it. It was just generally fun.

Like I said, I don’t really know exactly what to label this. When I was doing the rock and roll thing back in the early 2000s the kids were calling these “breakdowns” which I never really got, because back in my day when you broke something down it got slower and funkier, not more intense and rhythmic. Anyways so that’s kind of what it is. Take a listen. [Camera placement right by alto monitors so you hear them vocally more than others]

What would YOU call it? Stylistically, that is?

1) Love the Lord Your God (Brewster):
Key D. I led from acoustic guitar today and played our entire set in DADGAD (alternate guitar tuning). It was a blast. I haven’t used DADGAD in a while. Our bass player dropped his E string down to D as well (Drop D) and we were able to kind of get a really good full guitar driven modern rock sound. (No keys today, all guitars)

The arrangement we use, though, is pretty much exactly how Lincoln and the crew does it, minus the smoking hot Lincoln guitar shredding, because: a) I am not he, and b) I am not he.

2) All We Want (Evans):
Key E. I capo’d 2 and played in D (DADGAD). One of the oldie, but goodie, Darrell Evans tunes. This one is so simple, but you can just really rock it.

3) Forever (Tomlin):
Key D/E. We remixed this one to fit the guitar driven sound we were working with. Cranked it up with a neat little intro, rocked the full band, and then at the end we all hit a rhythm pattern together for the last full chorus. Sounded very ummm…hard/emo/euro/i don’t know….kind of hard to describe. It was pretty sweet though. It was a good refresh for a good…but stale song.

Facility Update:
We’re having a lot of technical difficulties related to some changes made in the “access” that we have to certain areas at the theater we’re meeting in. However, the possibility of a new facility is right on the horizon. It’s the same place we met at for our Easter gathering. The local high school performing arts center. It’s a multi-million dollar facility (THAT ROCKS MY FACE OFF) that is perfect for a church plant, and would basically double or triple our capacity, move us back to one gathering time, and provide an awesome backdrop for the creative worship environments that  we try to craft. The superintendent and principal are on board, but the actual school board has a policy in place that was designed to actually keep churches out of the schools, so we definitely need that to change. Prayers appreciated.

Part of Sunday Setlists, where worship leaders and worshipers share the crunkness.

For those of you in South Georgia, feel free to stop by Valdosta May 2, for our huge yard sale! All proceeds will go directly to the trip.

This amazing pile of clothes is the “organized” HALF of stuff that we’ve got for sale. We’re going tonight to organize the other half.

May not look like much, but believe me, it’s a TON of clothes!

Thanks to all those who donated items!

We’ll be going in July to work closely with a local church and their leadership teams to do mission/ministry work in Tegucigalpa and Concordia, Honduras (including VBS style children’s ministry with the church in Concordia that reached many beautiful children.)

Honduras 09 Yard Sale
Parking lot of HOJ Offices
3971 C Inner Perimeter Rd.
Valdosta, GA

For more information, or if you’d like to donate financially to the trip.

Original post here.

Tam over at inprogress held a fort building competition this past weekend. Several bloggers from around the world posted pics and vids of their fort building and finished forts. My wife and I slept in our living room fort for 2 nights. It was cozy.

To my surprise, we won the competition! We built this fort out of items we already had at the house (rules) and spent about an hour building it.

Kudos to all the other fort building teams.

pastor t’s fort video | josephs pics of his outdoor fort | brendas pics of her fort adventure | bryan hills fort video | other fort photos and comments

Now, its’ your turn. I know the competition is over. But if you haven’t built a blanket/sheet/chairs/couch fort since you were a kid…or if you’ve never built one, you need to do it, ASAP.

And, you need to get your family involved. What a fun and inexpensive way to create family time. And if you build it big enough, you can spend the night inside the fort! If you’re single, invite some friends over, build a fort, and have a game or movie night!

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Psalm 18:2)

CHALLENGE: BUILD A FORT, ENJOY FAMILY TIME, READY…GO!

Finally finished!

Mandy Wrote the lyrics for this and provided the chorus and some great accent parts during the song!

Long story short, I had the bulk of the music finished for this song, and I totally had no lyrics (not even an idea yet) and Mandy asked over on her blog if anyone would “hire” her to write lyrics. So, I virtual hired her to pen the lyrics for this. She killed it! Homerun!

We sent the files back and forth for 2 weeks and here is the final version: