I Had to Share This With You

Here is a video that I stumbled across via twitter and here. Wow! This was the opening song for the Easter services at Newspring Church. This is from their Greenville campus. The guy singing is Justin Land. I actually bumped into him last year at Catalyst. Here is my proof (he’s in the middle). He is a super nice guy. Some of you may not like the fact that this song was played in church. Tell that to the 300 people who excepted Christ that weekend. Anyway, here it is. Enjoy.

HIGHWAY2HELL_JUSTIN from Jiggle Snort on Vimeo.

Sunday Set List – Journey Church Edition

Holy cow!  It’s been 4 months since I’ve posted anything under this category.  I got the privilege of leading worship today at Journey Church.  It was a phenomenal worship experience for me.  And I can’t tell you how awesome it was to have this guy playing next to me again.  It definitely felt natural to be back in action.  I CAN’T FREAKIN’ WAIT to be leading worship for Refuge Church later this year.  Anyway, here is what we did today:

All Because of Jesus – Fee
Everlasting God – Brenton Brown
How Great Thou Art – Charlie Hall
You Never Let Go – Matt Redman
Mighty to Save – Hillsong
From the Inside Out – Hillsong United

Going Green

I hope you’re all wearing something green today.  If you’re of Irish decent and you’re not wearing something green, you might be drunk already apathetic to the color coordinating of your clothes.  From someone who is proud to be of Irish decent let me wish you a Happy St Patty’s Day.

If you’re offended by this post, you may need a few green beers.

In Case You’re Wondering

I haven’t forgotten to update you concerning Refuge Church. We have some news, but we aren’t telling just yet. For those of you who may be curious, just be patient. But as a measure of good faith let me assure you that God is still providing numerous opportunities for us. For those of you who might want to get involved, make sure you are watching this blog. I will soon be announcing how you can become involved.

Until then, hurry up and wait.

As Difficult As Selling Ice to Eskimos

After being unemployed for the past couple of months, I finally have a job.  I am now a sales rep for Viparious Elite Software Development in Lakeland.  Viparious is a company that offers various web solutions  From designing websites to SEO to SEM, this is not your typical web design firm.  Check out the website if your still curious.  I’m blessed to be a part of such a great company.  So be sure to let me know if you’re ever in the market for a website.

But only if you want real quality.

Who Am I, Really?

Last week I was given the book “Living Your Strengths”. It contains an insert in the back with a code on it. The code is used when taking a strength finder test by the Gallup Organization. Polling isn’t the only thing they do. It’s pretty cool. I’ve taken several personality tests before, but this one really had my number. I would recommend that you buy the book and take the online test. Here are my results:

Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families.

A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes.

Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your “top five.”

Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Communication

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Competition

Competition is rooted in comparison. When you look at the world, you are instinctively aware of other people’s performance. Their performance is the ultimate yardstick. No matter how hard you tried, no matter how worthy your intentions, if you reached your goal but did not outperform your peers, the achievement feels hollow. Like all competitors, you need other people. You need to compare. If you can compare, you can compete, and if you can compete, you can win. And when you win, there is no feeling quite like it. You like measurement because it facilitates comparisons. You like other competitors because they invigorate you. You like contests because they must produce a winner. You particularly like contests where you know you have the inside track to be the winner. Although you are gracious to your fellow competitors and even stoic in defeat, you don’t compete for the fun of competing. You compete to win. Over time you will come to avoid contests where winning seems unlikely.

Activator

“When can we start?” This is a recurring question in your life. You are impatient for action. You may concede that analysis has its uses or that debate and discussion can occasionally yield some valuable insights, but deep down you know that only action is real. Only action can make things happen. Only action leads to performance. Once a decision is made, you cannot not act. Others may worry that “there are still some things we don’t know,” but this doesn’t seem to slow you. If the decision has been made to go across town, you know that the fastest way to get there is to go stoplight to stoplight. You are not going to sit around waiting until all the lights have turned green. Besides, in your view, action and thinking are not opposites. In fact, guided by your Activator theme, you believe that action is the best device for learning. You make a decision, you take action, you look at the result, and you learn. This learning informs your next action and your next. How can you grow if you have nothing to react to? Well, you believe you can’t. You must put yourself out there. You must take the next step. It is the only way to keep your thinking fresh and informed. The bottom line is this: You know you will be judged not by what you say, not by what you think, but by what you get done. This does not frighten you. It pleases you.

Significance

You want to be very significant in the eyes of other people. In the truest sense of the word you want to be recognized. You want to be heard. You want to stand out. You want to be known. In particular, you want to be known and appreciated for the unique strengths you bring. You feel a need to be admired as credible, professional, and successful. Likewise, you want to associate with others who are credible, professional, and successful. And if they aren’t, you will push them to achieve until they are. Or you will move on. An independent spirit, you want your work to be a way of life rather than a job, and in that work you want to be given free rein, the leeway to do things your way. Your yearnings feel intense to you, and you honor those yearnings. And so your life is filled with goals, achievements, or qualifications that you crave. Whatever your focus—and each person is distinct—your Significance theme will keep pulling you upward, away from the mediocre toward the exceptional. It is the theme that keeps you reaching.

Command

Command leads you to take charge. Unlike some people, you feel no discomfort with imposing your views on others. On the contrary, once your opinion is formed, you need to share it with others. Once your goal is set, you feel restless until you have aligned others with you. You are not frightened by confrontation; rather, you know that confrontation is the first step toward resolution. Whereas others may avoid facing up to life’s unpleasantness, you feel compelled to present the facts or the truth, no matter how unpleasant it may be. You need things to be clear between people and challenge them to be clear-eyed and honest. You push them to take risks. You may even intimidate them. And while some may resent this, labeling you opinionated, they often willingly hand you the reins. People are drawn toward those who take a stance and ask them to move in a certain direction. Therefore, people will be drawn to you. You have presence. You have Command.

If you know me, do you think the test got it right?

Meet My Instruments: Stephanie

This is Stephanie. She is an Esteban guitar. It is interesting how I came to own her. If you have watched HSN more than twice, you have probably seen Esteban selling his line of guitars. I had seen several of the times when he was selling them and became curious as to if his guitars were legit. I then came across this guitar one night. I figured it would be worth trying it just to see how good it was. It cost 121 bucks shipped to my door. I then took it to Carlton’s where I spent another 50 bucks to have it set up to my liking. This guitar surprised me from the start. It sounds and plays fantastic. I also found it appealing that it has a solid spruce top and maple back and sides. This is significant because guitars that have such construction usually cost way more than this one. And not to mention that the electronics are solid to boot. Many people have asked me what kind of guitar it is. And when I tell them, they usually think that I’m joking. This guitar was my main gun for more than the first year that I led worship at RidgePoint Church. You can see a picture of it in action here. It has always been reliable and handled like a guitar that costs 10 times more than it did. I have in the past and still do recommend Esteban guitars for anyone looking to learn to play the guitar. I would also encourage you to check them out even if you are somewhat seasoned on the instrument. You will be hard up to find a more bang for your buck deal.

I wonder if they would give me an endorsement deal?

Meet My Instruments: Elizabeth

Meet Elizabeth. She is a 2001 Gibson Les Paul Classic. Les Pauls have become a staple sound in rock music. They are known for having thick, beefy tone and miles of sustain. They are well suited for anything from rock to metal to jazz to blues. Artists such as Zakk Wylde, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, and Slash, to name a few, have been know to wield a les paul. Liz came with higher output pickups than the standard les paul and has a slim-taper neck. In the past I have told people that I will take this guitar to my grave. And I still feel that way. I love this guitar. While les pauls are known for their amazing sound, they are also known to be on the expensive side. A les paul classic will run you in the neighborhood of 2000 bucks. I was fortunate enough to get mine new for just over half of that price. If you can afford one, this guitar is a must have! If you are ever feeling down, go to Guitar Center and plug one into a big Marshall.

Trust me, you’ll feel better.

Meet My Instruments: Leela

Meet Leela. This is my 2004 Mexican made Fender Telecaster. I purchased this guitar in search of the famous tele twang that telecasters are known for. And it definitely does its job well. I have played rock, blues, and country on this guitar and it handled them all with ease. Which may explain why telecasters have been played by the likes of artists such as Muddy Waters, Brad Paisley, Jimmy Page, Bruce Springsteen, Keith Richards, and the list goes on. I have left Leela stock just the way I bought her, except for one cosmetic change. You can read here about how I changed the pick guard. I have been very happy with this guitar. It retails for about 400 bucks and is well worth it. This guitar is a must in any serious guitar player’s repertoire.

Fender definitely got this one right.

Meet my Instruments

I have decided to do a series of posts on the different instruments that I own. I though it would be cool to explain the history behind each as they all have a different piece of my heart. And besides that, they’re not getting as much playing time lately. Hopefully my 3 readers won’t find this too boring. And just so you know, I have names for all my guitars.

Naturally, they’re all female.