Moving forward with Day3Missions.org

If you are looking for Something Standard Time, you have come to the right place. If you've been following this blog for any time, you are aware of direction Bryan's and Cassi's adventure is taking. With that it was time to move forward with the development of Day3Missions.org.

First, let me say, it is a privilege and honor to contribute to Bryan's blog. I've looked up to Bryan for roughly 30 years now, following his example as a musician and as a man. Throughout the years, I've gotten to participate in many of Bryan's successes, playing bass or keyboard or even just lugging gear before I learned to play. When Bryan told me about his opportunity in Belgium, I wanted to offer him whatever I have, and participate in any way I can.

I don't speak French and I've never been to Europe, but I have acquired a great deal of tech savvy over the years. I have been in Web development/programming for roughly a decade now and have been a Web application developer for Dave Ramsey for the past three years. I have been blessed to be surrounded there by brilliant minds who paved the way for me, and they are generous in sharing their knowledge.

I will essentially be working to implement Bryan's vision for the site. Currently, we are in the process of migrating the old blog to the new domain. Unfortunately, in the process, we had to revert to an old template, but we intend to get the new look and feel back soon. We'll also complete the process he started, by tightening up the flow of the site so that you can get the content that most appeals to you. The site will continue to take form as this ministry does. Ultimately, this is all about us connecting with each other in the most meaningful way possible.

I look forward to serving here at day3missions.org and moreso to seeing what God continues to do in the lives of Bryan and Cassi.

Peace,

Jon Wolski

Listen at Your Own Risk

Hey guys. Since I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with Casting Crowns, I got a copy of the new material that is on their new CD, Until the Whole World Hears. This CD encompasses why I fell in love with the group in the first place. There are only 2 songs on the CD that I tend to skip over when I am listening for my own pleasure. Those are the title cut, Until the Whole World Hears, and what seems to be the only other up-tempo song on the album, Holy One. Both of these are great tunes, but I usually just can't wait to get to the next song.

The main reason I love this record is that it is another great worship record like I feel Lifesong was. In fact, last week I was driving home from my mother's house after some hard work and found myself so in to the worship experience I had my eyes closed, singing out. Did I mention I was driving too? Luckily Cassi called my cell phone within about 20 seconds of that.

Cassi and I had the pleasure of sharing 2 of my favorite songs on this record with our small group this past Sunday. Both of the songs, Blessed Redeemer, and Glorious Day talk about the sacrifice that Jesus made as he was marched to His death. The imagery is breath taking. In fact, I had to have Cassi finish reading the lyrics to our small group as I was choked up. Megan Garrett, keyboardist and vocalist for Casting Crowns, even got choked up at their Nashville concert during a song titled Mercy. This song is a great ballad that says, "Your Mercy saved me, mercy made me whole." It says that we are sinners and in desperate need of mercy, which we are given.

I also got to share the song, Always Enough with a friend that had been through some incredibly tough times over the past few years. They say that the music of Casting Crowns literally saved their life. This particular song was a comfort also. It captured me from the first line. "In a dry and weary land, Lord You are the rain." When we cannot rely on the world, family, peers, or anyone else, God is always enough for us.

There are a few more great mid tempo and slow songs on this record that are worth listening to. I love all but 2 of the songs those 2 still get a "like" from me.

If you want an album that is full of cool riffs and sounds "poppy", this one may not be for you. If you like music to take you to a high plateau where you can get lost in the worship, dance in the presence, and bask in the message, there is not a better album than this one.

If you are listening to this while you drive your car, please listen at your own risk.

Peace

P.S. The album drops today. Do yourself a favor or someone else having a hard time. Go buy it! This one is going to change and save more lives.

Never Give Up Your Dreams. Never? Really?!?

These people all had a dream in the 70's. 9 of them are millionaires and 2 are billionaires. Dreams are important for success. One of my favorite passage in the Bible is Proverbs 28:18.

Abraham was told that he would be the father of multitudes. His descendants would outnumber the stars. The Messiah would come from his bloodline. He and his descendants would be given the land which is now known as Israel. His wife Sarah was barren and both of them were old. He and Sarah wanted all that was promised from God. They wanted it so much that they tried to help God fulfill the prophecies. Genesis 16 has more info on this part.

The part I am interested in is after Abraham was given what he and Sarah wanted and were promised. When God promises you something how can you not feel a sense of entitlement? Their dreams were realized. They had their son. God asked Abraham to give up his dreams, his destiny, and turn it back over, as a burnt offering to God. An interesting thing about a burnt offering as opposed to a regular sacrifice is that the sacrifice is fully consumed by the fire. There is nothing left to bury or that would have any value. Rather than hold on to his dreams he trusted God with it. He was willing to give it back completely.

Through our recent past people have asked why I am willing to walk away and leave my dreams right when it seems I am in the midst of them being reality. They see me playing for Casting Crowns, Avalon, Michael English, Buddy Jewel, and our band, The Daniel Doss Band, being on a major label as me on the edge of my personal dreams becoming a reality. The truth is, if God asked me to sell everything I have and leave music forever I would. I am not exactly sure how I would function, but it would make me dependent on God that much more. I tell the ones who ask me that I am not walking away from music, I am walking with God. He knows the plans He has for me and that is exactly where I want to be. Jeremiah 29:11 is a great passage to live in.

Peace

4 References in 3 Days are Enough to be Uncomfortable

Lately we have gotten a little behind on telling you what is going on in our lives. I will do a quick recap here and we will hopefully have a number of posts over the next week that are more in depth on what is going on in and around our journey.

The last few days Cassi and I have purchased a "For Sale By Owner" sign, which was suggested by our financial counselor. We have been moving some stuff in to storage that will subsequently be sold, thrown out, given away, loaned out, stored, or packed to go to Belgium. Paint has been purchased for touch up and the thought process of staging this house for sale has begun. We are "peeling back another layer" of what is keeping us from being mobile. Our dog has gone to stay with other family members as research shows it is easier to sell a house with no pets.

What has been a short-circuit in my brain as of late is the reference from 4 others about me being a pastor. 2 people have said that they would want me to be their pastor. 2 people have said that I "look" like a pastor. One of these people was a complete stranger that said I looked just like her pastor. We were not talking about religion in any of these cases already. These people brought it up out of the blue. If I can be honest, I am uncomfortable with being recognized as a pastor or someone having the desire of me pastoring them. I hold pastoral care on such a high regard that I don't feel I have the knowledge or skill set (yet) to be one. I do, however, trust that God sometimes uses someone seemingly unqualified to bring glory to himself. If that is the case here and I am called to be a pastor (which makes me sick to think about) I would have to fall on my face daily and ask God for guidance on what and how to do that. Maybe that is the point.

I am just an imperfect man. Totally incapable of anything extraordinary on my own ability. Why would God choose someone like that? Well, the bible is full of stories like that. More than likely I will be writing about some of these people over the next week or so. I think Abraham might be my first victim. Although if I write about him it will probably have a bit more of a twist.

Thanks for letting me air my fears honestly here. I am trying to get though this process in one piece but I am afraid metamorphosis must take place in some areas.

You Got-ta Know Your Roll

This past weekend Cassi and I were out with the Daniel Doss Band. It was great having Cassi out on this weekend. It was a youth rally for Providence Baptist Church in Pageland, SC. She helped us out first off by cooking some biscuits and making sure there was coffee for our 5 am departure from the Nashville area. Our guitar player had to leave an hour earlier to be here by 5 am. Yuck! Daniel had an hour drive to Chicago for a 6:40 am flight. Needless to say this was an EARLY morning for all of us.

The youth pastor, Brandon Smith, saw us on tour with Avalon and Michael English last year. He loved the DDB CD and thought we would be a good fit for what he wanted the event to be. The night had a local worship band named Fading Doubt. It was a four piece band led by 2 female voices and rounded out with a guitar player and a drummer. My initial reaction was that of surprise that you could have a band without a bass player. :-) Actually, the guitar player did a great job of setting his pedals to compensate for the lack of a bass player. The band was pretty good and reminded me of Evanescence. Very cool female harmonies.

After Fading Doubt, we went on to do a 40 minute praise set. This youth group was a little more familiar with our originals since Brandon was such a fan. We did a few covers also. Lately, we have been starting our set with Here I Am to Worship instead of a song that is up and in your face. It is such a cool way to set the tone for the evening. We started as a worship band and have tried to stay true to those roots.

Next, a very dynamic speaker came up. His name is Matt Pitt. His back story is pretty amazing. Six years ago this weekend he almost died from a drug overdose. That helped to trigger his transformation from a drug dealer to sold out Christ follower. His website will do a much better job of selling his story.

I will say this, I learned quite a lot about the importance of knowing your audience and message delivery. This was the first speaker I had experienced that had his own DJ. When I say speaker, it was only by title. It was more like a screamer. The DJs music was so loud that it was hard to understand about 40% of what Matt had to say. There were also slick videos that went along with the message with cool sound effects. Parts of the message were emotionally charged and, unfortunately, came across as contrived. This is not to say that Matt Pitt is not genuine, or that any part of his message was wrong. I do feel that he believes everything he said. He comes from a ministry that has up to 7,000 participants a week and is high energy. For him, this kind of presentation would be par for the course. It seemed out of place in rural South Carolina.

This along with some technical difficulties made me realize that what ever you bring to a service needs to be able to stand on its own merits and not be so heavily leveraged on presentation. When Cassi, I, and the rest of the team are in Belgium, we will not have the ability to present a message or service in such a slick manner. We need to make sure that we bring the Truth the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. I have nothing wrong with bringing your best, but you need to know your audience. Belgians are typically reserved. We need to minister to them in a way that they can "get it".

Pray for us that we can connect in a real way with with the people of Brussels.

Peace

“Until the Whole World Hears”

It has been a couple of weeks since I have blogged, but I have come to terms that this is how life is going to be for the next 12 months. I promise I will try to get better at fitting blogging into this crazy life of mine. J I am more than happy to walk this road God is leading us down. Becoming a missionary and joining a church planting team is an enormous commitment, but I couldn’t be more thankful. We have to make the most of everyday from sun up till sun down. The days of relaxation are going to have to be over for the next 12 months to give this our all. I have recently changed my ringtone (lol) to a song that really inspires me. It is on Casting Crowns’ new album and really touches me. It is actually the title of their new album and my blog it is called “Until the Whole World Hears”. Here is the chorus just to show you why it inspires me during this time.

ready yourselves
ready yourselves
Let us shine the light of Jesus in the darkest night
ready yourselves
ready yourselves
May the powers of darkness tremble as our praises rise
Until the whole world hears Lord we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we're crying out
as the day draws near
we'll sing until the whole world hears

I am currently taking an Old Testament class in college, and it has been an amazing blessing. During this time when life is turned upside down and you are preparing to leave everyone and everything you know, it is a comforting feeling to be reminded of the sacrifices God has made for us. It makes what we feel like is a major life change seems ill in comparison to what God has sacrificed for us. I sit in class each week with 20 other students and a facilitator. I get to hear their thoughts, beliefs and hear about their relationship with the Lord if they have one, and see their eyes light up when they learn things that they did not know about our savior. I thought this is just a taste of what we will experience in an area where God is not often spoken of. To go to an area where people are not sure what to believe in and walking around with an agonizing emptiness inside, it will be amazing to see the changes in their lives when they accept Christ. Once we realize it is not about us it is about him it is an amazing feeling.

If you have been keeping up with our blog you already know that we are working in so many areas of our lives that our heads are spinning. We are meeting with ministry partners, learning French, constantly seeking God and praying, cleaning out clutter, selling unneeded items, meeting with a financial counselor, plus everyday normal life. Our biggest plan for the coming weeks is to get our house on the market by next weekend. We have been advised from our financial counselor to try the for sale by owner thing for a couple of months. If that doesn’t work then we will seek the help of a realtor. Please pray for us as there is so much to do to have the house ready.

Thinking of leaving my family is one of the hardest things I will do in my life. I have amazing Grandparents, Parents, and siblings who I will leave behind. I also have amazing in laws, nieces, and nephews who we will leave as well. This is a sacrifice we are willing to make. We have families who love us so much and we are so thankful, and we are lucky enough to have families who love the Lord so I know they will understand why we have to do this. When God is calling you to something it would be easier to look the other way and go on about your normal life, but answering that call is the right thing to do as Christ followers. My main goal is to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength and be obedient to him. I ask you to pray for our families during this time. I pray that God will give them understanding. I know they will be a constant support in our lives no matter where we are at. To our Mothers we will be home once per year and you can come visit whenever you like. J We love you all.

I was reading a team members blog and it was talking about how we started this process 7 months ago. I cannot believe how these months have flown by. I cannot believe that I have had the blessing of visiting this country to help make plans for the coming year. It is scary and exciting all rolled into one. Even though I got to spend a week there I still cannot imagine what all God has in store for when we get there. We are trusting God through it all. Please join with us in praying for the missionaries serving in Belgium now and for the people of Belgium, please pray for us along with our teammates as we work harder than ever before to answer the call.

Matthew 28:18-20 (New International Version)

¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Welfare? No way, learn to feed yourself!

I just spent one of the MOST difficult weekends on the road that I have ever had. It was physically, mentally, and spiritually tough. I was texting or calling Cassi throughout the weekend telling her how much I wanted to be home immediately. This rarely, if ever, happens. I was out with friends from our home church. We played 4 services at 3 different places in 2 days, but with travel we were got back on the fourth day.

We had less than 9 total hours of sleep over the 2 days we played and those days were packed from when we rose to when we fell. Even though I was on the road with friends in a band called Jacob's Road, I felt like there were barriers around me. It felt very closed off. It forced me to have a heart that sought God for answers. I had to find out if God put these barriers there or if I did.

Peace started to settle in the last day of services and especially during the last service we did. I forgot my bible on this trip so I had to find other ways to connect with God. The only thing that kept popping in to my head was, "Create in me a clean heart oh God and renew a right spirit within me." When I got home I read that passage in Psalm 51. This passage is my prayer right now and is what I intended for this blog post to be about. I thought I would let you in on my realness and struggles instead.

Over the past month or so I have heard 4 different sources talk about feeding yourself spiritually. One that stayed with me was from this weekend's trip. The pastor said that it is not the churches or the pastors responsibility to feed you. The pastor and church should be concerned with teaching you how to eat. This would include teaching you how to read the bible, how to reach out in prayer, and how to reach out for wise council.

This weekend taught me (reminded me) how to eat. I did not have the option to be spoon fed. I had to rely on God. You have to learn how to feed yourself. I did and now it has made me even more hungry. The body can't do it for you forever. Luckily the table is set and there is abundance.

Peace

Life In the Fast Lane!!!

Hello Everyone,
Sorry it has once again been a while, but our life has been in the fast lane since I have returned from Belgium. Bryan was out on the road with Casting Crowns, and I have been swamped trying to catch up at work, help my mom move, and I am still working toward my degree. We had a family reunion last weekend which was lots of fun and Bryan is on the road with Jacobs Road this weekend.

In the midst of normal everyday life we are constantly praying, preparing, and having weekly small group meetings with Team Belgium. I have recently started a new devotional book by Beth Moore called Voices of the Faithful, and I am loving it. It is so inspirational and starts my day off right with some words of encouragement, scripture, and prayer. It is written by 300 IMB missionaries who are currently working in the field. Since we are all called to be missionaries I would recommend it to anyone even if your mission field is not overseas. In the evenings I have been reading a book called Sister Freaks by Rebecca St.James which is about women who risked it all for God. I guess you can tell what is on my mind. The truth is I am taking the advice we received from the missionaries while we were in Belgium. One thing we heard from all of the missionaries was to know how to feed yourself, and I don’t mean food I mean spiritually. When you are in an area where Christians are literally nonexistent it can be easy to get knocked down. By keeping ourselves in the word and uplifted we will be focused and ready for the constant challenges we will be facing daily. Sometimes it can be hard in the US to stay immersed in the word, but in the US we have our church(LifePoint), Christian friends, Christian radio, and tons of Christian organizations to be a part of. We have resources and support all around us. When we are an ocean away from everyone and everything we know I want be as ready as I can be so that nothing will distract me from the work I will be there (Belgium) to do. My husband constantly says you are what you eat and he is referring to spirituality as well. It really does make sense if you know how to feed yourself then you maintain a strong relationship with our Father. When I feel closest to God no other feeling can compare. I am so blessed to have grown up in an area where I can join with others and worship our Perfect God. I can’t wait to get to Belgium to share the good news. I can’t wait to start a church where hopefully everyone will feel free to worship and get involved and build that personal relationship with God and eachother that I know so many are longing for and just do not have the resources or the knowledge on how to start it.

I also want to thank ALL of our ministry partners. Without you this would not be happening. So thank you, thank you, and thank you! If you are or are not joining us in this ministry please know when we move to Belgium our door will always be open. You will always be welcome to come and visit and get your hands dirty with some of the mission work we will be doing there. The financial support is huge, but if Belgium is tugging at your heart you are welcome to get on the ground once we get there and help out. I also want to say a special thanks to our friends Keith and Kerri who gave us Rosetta Stone French Version, a book on Belgium, and a heating blanket that will work overseas. Since Kerri just moved back from Luxemburg she is an amazing resource. We have so many friends that are stepping up to help in many ways so just know how much we appreciate you.

As we continue to prepare we are looking at apartments online to figure out budgets, getting our house on the market, paying off debt, getting prepared spiritually, raising support, learning French, and much more. I ask that you pray for us and the rest of our team during this intense time. It is very exciting and we are trusting God to get us there. We have an amazing Team that God has put in place. Everyone brings something different to the table, and including children we have 19 people going and one more college student who will be joining us a few months after we get there for a total of 20. I am so happy to be going with such an awesome group of adults and children.

Please remember that even though so many view Belgium and Europe as a country with everything it is one of the hardest mission fields out there. There aren't as many physical needs to be met in Belgium as in some countries, but the spritual need there is endless! We have been told this by many. People are so closed off from one another that they are a tough country to get through to. Please pray for God to start working and preparing their hearts now. Please pray for the missionaries who are currently serving in Belgium. We thank all of you for your support!

We are going to be in the hall of fame!

Time is just flying by. Cassi and I have been so busy since her trip to Belgium and my stint with Casting Crowns. This weekend is the first time we are really going to have to debrief and spend some time together. We plan on taking in a tourist attraction this weekend. We are going to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

So we will be in the Hall of Fame; as visitors, not inductees.

Meet the people who are making it happen

Hey guys,

I am still out on the road with Casting Crowns. Yesterday we were at a Provident Records dinner and performed with Brandon Heath, Matt Maher, Chynna and Vaughan, Phil Stacey, and Leeland. It was really neat spending time with all these artists back stage. Admittedly, I was one of those guys who had a bit of a Junior High crush on Chynna Phillips when she was with Wilson Phillips. I ended up not talking with her, fearing that I might come across as a gurm.

The tour rehearsals earlier this week were in Nashville at the Sommet Center with Casting Crowns and Matt Redman. His band sounded so good in rehearsal. Especially the opener. The keyboard player is a guy named Nathan Nockels. He was one of the guys who almost produced the DDB record for us. He does quite a bit of producing in Nashville, especially for his wife Christy Nockels. He and his wife were a group called Watermark for years.

It has been cool to meet and hang out with a lot of the artists that have been writing the lion's share of worship songs of the modern church. This is all just over the past 8 days I have been with Casting Crowns.

We are staying at a nice resort style hotel called Lowes Portofino Bay Hotel. Free tickets to the Universal theme parks. I am staying in the room today though. I have to realize that this is work for me. I need to make sure the music I play tomorrow is right on the money. If I get done later I might venture out to the park.

Chris and Amanda had their baby last night. This morning Hannah seems to be doing well. I should know soon how much longer I am on the road with Crowns. Their tour for the new album starts this coming Thursday in Albuquerque and Friday in Phoenix. By the way this new album, for me, is the Casting Crowns I fell in love with in the beginning. There is quite a bit of worship on this particular album. I have had moments of "church" sitting there learning the tunes. I find myself going between work and worship. This album drops in November and I suggest you OWN IT!

Well, gotta run. I think Cassi said she was going to try to do an update on her trip to Belgium. Not sure about when, but keep looking here for it.

Peace

A Trip With Casting Crowns

I just got back in town from a weekend with Provident recording artist, Casting Crowns. For most people who read our blog they need no introduction, but for those who are just starting to check out this Jesus thing, Casting Crowns has 4 platinum records and 2 gold records. They also have a new record being released in November I believe. They are partners with World Vision and over a year ago they had directly helped to get over 19,000+ children sponsored on a monthly basis. I am sure that number is so much higher now. Like I said this was over a year ago when I was at a World Vision night in Nashville and CC was recognized for their help.

I ended up filling in for them because their bass player and his wife are expecting a child any day. They just needed me to fill in on some dates and help them get ready for the upcoming tour. We start tour rehearsals in Nashville tomorrow, Sunday the 6th. I need to be learning 8 additional Casting Crowns songs from the new album. I like what I have heard from it so far.

So, I will post a few picture from my trip.

Waiting on bus

Bus waiting on me

Back stage area

Crew setting up

Empty seats

Getting some of the details worked out

On stage

Peace!

Belgium Mission Trip Update#1

I am so sorry I am just now getting the chance to post a blog. We have had limited access to the internet because the wireless isn’t free unless we are at a café that has it. We have been incredibly busy and it has been amazing journey thus far. It definitely involves a huge amount of walking which is nice but tiring. We have literally fallen asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow which is another reason I am just now blogging.

Although it is so beautiful here you can definitely tell something is missing. While on public transportation (Tram, Train, or Bus) no one makes eye contact. Everyone is quiet and very guarded. Lots of people have IPODs with Earphones or are staring at their phones as a barrier. We have had a chance to speak with a couple of people none of which are true Belgian, but do live here. We Were lucky enough to have a great conversation with one lady and she told us that she believes Belgians are so guarded due to being used as a battle ground in past years. She said that most conversations are very general on the surface conversations. They typically do not invite you into their homes unless you are family or a very close friend. She said it may be a couple of years before it would be appropriate to have a conversation with a Belgian about politics or religion. We have been trying to communicate and observe as many people as we possibly can.

We landed in Brussels around 8:00am (Belgium time) after flying for nearly 9 hours. We were all exhausted, but really wanted to have a productive day. We needed to keep ourselves busy to stay awake and get acclimated to the time difference. They are seven hours ahead of us(Central Standard time). We checked into our hotel, grabbed breakfast, and started our day. We mainly just got our bearings and attended a church service. We have been using a method that consists of prayer walking, observing and connecting. We are trying to use every minute of daylight to get as much done as possible. No doubt the scenery is beautiful in some areas and you can’t help but snap a picture we have a much bigger mission in and on our minds constantly. Although we would love to spend many hours doing only mission work while we are on this trip, the fact is we also have to make time to see different areas and scout out potential areas we may need to live. We want to be in the area we feel we could really have good opportunities to connect with and meet many people and share God’s word. We want to be in his will 100 percent!

On Monday we were able to visit an area called Stockel. It was very much a suburban feel and family friendly. It was a nicer area of Brussels. We walked around most of the city and were able to view an apartment. Tuesday we went to an area called Gribaumont which personally I loved. There were a couple of great parks where meeting people would be easy. They have walking trails, exercise equipment; skate park areas with concrete hills, and lots of shady sitting areas for reading. People have dogs everywhere in Brussels. It is not uncommon to see dogs walking through the mall or any building. Lots of people are at the parks walking dogs or playing with their children. There are lots of bike riders as well. Any of these would be a great way to make friends. They have lots of mom and pop owned shops which a nice change. Wednesday we will be traveling to Namur to do more research and mission work.

I cannot tell you how thankful and blessed I am to be on this trip. I will admit when I first started feeling like God was leading us towards Brussels I thought of the glamour and beauty of this place and most importantly a huge population of people that do not have a personal relationship with our Father. They are walking through life not even realizing they have a savior who is ready to step up to bat for them and do amazing work in their lives if they will just let him in. Through speaking with the British lady that I mentioned earlier we learned that a lot of people claim Catholicism through status not practice. Meaning they baptize their children because it is the popular thing to do for your friends and family not out of love and obedience.
Many people cannot fathom why we would do such a thing as to move to a foreign country with all of the beautiful historic art, rich chocolate, diamonds, and lace. The truth is they have many things, but God is not one of them. The British lady also said something that really touched me and made my desire to be here even stronger. She said that although has lived in Belgium for a while and although she was married to a Belgian, life here can be lonely. Everyone is so guarded that they are not only missing out on a relationship with God they are missing out on relationships with eachother. Our job as Christians is to love, to encourage, and to be missionaries (in your area or an area you may be called to). Most Belgians do not even acknowledge others presence. It is sad to think in such a beautiful area full of people there are many people who are walking around sad and lonely. There is so much I want to share from this trip already. I will try to post again in the next day or so depending on how busy we are and what access to internet we have. If you have questions please feel free to email me or post them on here. We are trying to learn ourselves. Please pray for Team Belgium as we continue this trip that God will use us as his hands and feet and show us his ultimate plans. We are praying for everyone at home as well. We miss you and we love you all.

Cassi

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all of the earth.
Isaiah 12:5

Tuesday in Brussels and Home Base

Cassi and the team are going on a prayer-walk today through Brussels. They also plan on surveying more of the city to find out more of where we can move and make an impact. They also plan to engage people today by starting conversations. They hope to find out about society, the community, their spirituality (as we call it in America). I hope that today will be a fruitful day there. They are 7 hours ahead of us here in the central time zone so there day is mostly over by now.

At home: This past Friday was our first meeting with LifePoint members to talk about being financial partners. That went well. Sean and Shonna Harrison, and another LifePoint couple (name withheld-I did not ask them if they cared if people new they were sponsoring us) have come on board. I have also had 2 conversations in the last two days and had interest from both of those. So, in the last five days it looks like we have gotten our first 4 monthly sponsors. God can work fast.

Please continue to pray for the team in Belgium for safety and clarity. Also, pray for me. I am putting the finishing touches on the Casting Crowns music I am learning. I leave tomorrow afternoon for a stint with them.

Peace

Belgium Trip update: breakfast and such

I talked with Cassi a few times today. We Skype'd at our small group today, so we got to see each other too. The entire team is exhausted. Cassi had a waffle for breakfast and pizza for lunch/dinner. They are most likely sleeping right now and will be up around 9 am Brussels time. That is 2 am central. This is one of many little chocolate shops around their hotel and surrounding area. Godiva is Belgian.

34,000 feet and steady

Cassi and the team going to Belgium are currently cruising at 34,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean. They have been on this leg of the flight for 5 hours and 36 minutes. Cassi snapped a few photos of the team as they loaded the plane. Unfortunately there are none of her, but here is the team. Jordan, the girl in the bottom picture, is going to be Cassi's roomate this trip.

Peace

Bryan and I

Last day together for a week. Headed to Belgium tomorrow.
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Greater Than Us All...going, going, GONE!!!

Ok y'all. For those of you who have not heard, the Daniel Doss Band is an independent artist again. We are no longer on EMI/Sparrow. That being said, we have purchased every copy that the EMI warehouse had left. It was only a couple thousand. If you will ever want one, or another copy of it you need to let us know soon. Once they are gone they are gone.

One cool thing about being independent is that we are working on a record that will have our stamp on it. Complete artistic license again, but with better knowledge than before. There are some great new songs that are going to be coming out. We plan on recording the album this fall. There is not a release date yet, but it would be late this year or early next year.

Go to http://www.danieldossband.com/ or let me know if you want a Greater Than Us All CD.

Team Belgium Partners

We have added the blogs of the other families traveling with us to Belgium from LifePoint. You can find it in the column to the right. See what they are up too as we go along.



They are:
Kyle and Amy Goen and family
Dan and Elizabeth Christensen
David and Angie Ebensberger and family
Rob and Cynthi Law and family
and us


Peace

Belgium Update #6: Introducing...

Today the Belgium and Thailand teams were brought up in front of the church for a formal introduction. The two teams took up the front of the stage. There are quite a few of us being sent. Once the video is up of this service you can see the introductions here. There is 1 song and some baptisms. We are directly after the baptisms.

The purpose of the introductions was to let the church who is going overseas to represent LifePoint. It was also to explain that we are vocational missionaries and need support in many ways including funding. It is estimated that a married couple like Cassi and I will need to raise $4900 per month to survive. It is very expensive. Our Bangkok, Thailand counterparts will need about $1500 per month to survive. As you can see, it is very expensive to live in Brussels.

Cassi and I are very thankful of those who have already stepped up to make a commitment to partner with our ministry. For those who received a letter from us already. Please pray about your role in this. For those who have not yet been contacted, you are free to contact us if we don't get to you soon enough or at all. We have a lot on our plate and are trying to keep all the things going that we need to.

Today was another baby step. How many are left? 1500? 2000? Who knows. We keep plugging away though.

We had some great conversations with some people today who are wanting to make more of a commitment to reaching out with their faith. That is exciting! I can't really go in to much detail, but "stuff is stirring".

Peace

Blog #100: I want to Change - by Russ and Tori Taff

This song/prayer is perfect for the 100th blog! It is from Russ Taff's 1983 Walls of Glass album.

Lord, You know my past
How the many things of life have molded me
The years have brought so many things from examples I have seen
Some good, some bad -- they're all a part of me
So I see my selfish motives and my inconsistencies
And block upon block, the wall was built complete
Lord, please come and break the wall down
And show this captive heart how to be free

(Chorus)
I want to be like You
I want to change
And not be trapped in the paths my life has set for me
I want to be like You
Please help me change
Into what I was meant to be
Until all I can clearly see
Is the loving reflection of You in me

Teach me to forgive
Letting go of hurts I hide behind
Replacing all the things in me that I've buried deep inside
Till Your healing love brings all of them to light
Let my life be an example of what true life can be
When it's given like a gift to those who need
Please come and take control, Lord,
Of this yielding, willing soul and live through me

(Chorus)

This album is on iTunes. I suggest you get it if you like or miss soulful worship music. Man we gotta get churches doing this stuff again. Church soul is my favorite! These lyrics are great for prayer and reflection too. I downloaded this album a few weeks ago. I wish I was playing in church back then. We gotta bring it back. Who's comin' with me?

Peace

Brussels update #5: Introductions and cleaning

This Sunday our pastor, Pat Hood, is introducing the families that were placed on the Belgium and Thailand teams. I think there are 10-12 families total. This will be a chance for LifePoint to see who is going overseas to start the first international campuses for LifePoint. This is a week to show your support for these families if you are a "Life-er". Just another step in the process.

Cassi and I and getting our house ready to put on the market. We have some interest already and are pursuing that. We have been doing the typical cleaning and such that it takes to get a house ready to show. I guess we are about 35% there. It is so much work. Cassi's family is coming in this weekend to help get the house ready. They are going to help clean the baseboards, floors, walls, concrete, etc. That is a huge help!

It is getting closer. One week at a time.

Peace

I Need a Good Interpretation

I have a theological question. There are people out there that have more knowledge of what I am about to ask, than I do.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." When he referred to those 3 things (way, truth, and life) was that an allusion to the trinity; the 3 parts of the one God? Father, Son, and Spirit? In verse 10 Jesus answers Phillip and outright says that He, Himself, is the Father and the Son. The Father lives in Him, and He in the Father. Verse 17 and 18 might suggest that the Spirit is in Him too.

So I wonder if it is possible that it is like this:
Way = Jesus
Truth = Father
Life = Spirit
All 3 = I Am

All of these parts are one? I do think that there is support even in this passage that it might not be the case. I am just wondering if there is something more to the words Jesus chose here. The way. The truth. The life.

I probably made a jump here in the theology, but it all started when I started wondering why Jesus used those 3 specific words and started it with "I Am". That is how God referred to Himself in Genesis when Moses was to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go out of captivity.

Screwing things up one verse at a time.
Peace!

Why Belgium?

In the country of Belgium 90 percent of Belgians claim Catholicism, but almost none regularly attend any kind of religious service. In fact, less than 1 percent of the people in Belgium are practicing Christians. LESS THAN 1%. The Muslim faith is the fastest growing faith in Europe. If you have watched the news recently you probably have seen European politicians begging America to not go down the same roads they did. They see us making the same mistakes. In a trip Bryan made to England and Greece in 2005, he noticed very different fashion styles. Over the next 2 years those styles crept in to pop culture in America. What happens in Europe does not stay in Europe. It eventually gets shipped to America. This goes for fashion, politics, and religion. This post-Christian society needs to hear of God’s love so that cultural and religious exports to America are once again biblically based.

Brussels, Belgium is the heart of the European Union. People are constantly coming and going in Brussels. We NEED to reach these people to help turn Europe around. They need to understand what a personal relationship with a real God looks like.This mission cannot be accomplished alone by us and the four other families that are being sent. It will take a host of families stateside to make this possible. If you feel like God is tugging at you to join in this ministry please contact us. Several friends have joined already and we thank you guys so much! We will keep you all regularly updated.

We had our second small group meeting yesterday and I cannot fully express how excited I am about the team God has assembled for us to work with during this mission. It is truly a group of Christ followers driven to make God famous in Europe.

I want to ask all of you reading this to pray for us in the coming weeks. I and 6 other Team members will be flying to Brussels, Belgium later this month. Please pray for God to guide our steps while we are there and please pray that the Belgian people will have open hearts and minds. This is mainly a vision trip to scout out possible areas to plant the church, meet with and possibly witness to some college students, look at potential places for us to live, and plan plan plan.

When we first started feeling like God was calling us to the country of Belgium I could not wrap my brain around it all. With everyday that passes the urge to get over there and start working for Him is more overwhelming. I now know why God is assembling this team he is making it clear to us the need for Christianity in all of Europe. This is something we are very passionate about! If you have any questions please feel free to ask. We have had about a million questions ourselves since starting this process in early May. If we cannot answer them we will get the answer. I am attaching a video that shows part of the importance of having a presence and sharing God's word to a lost country. They deserve to feel the love a church family can provide, and we are stepping up to the plate. Please take a few minutes and watch the video. It blew my mind.

Au revior.

Cassi Wolski

Brussels Update 4: Find a partner

Today was great. Our first small group meeting with Team Brussels happened today. Twenty of us convened at the Goen's. Our pastor, Pat Hood, stopped by to give the LifePoint vision. You know, "straight from the horse's mouth." We had our first worship session with the Ebensberger's at the helm. Fittingly, our first song was How Great is Our God sung in French.

Also, we now have been given the green light to start finding our ministry partners. The team is pretty much firmed up and we are to be contacting people to partner with us to make this mission a reality. Cassi and I have already heard from a handful of you that want to partner with us. We want to thank you so much for that. We will be contacting you soon to work out the details of what that looks like.

Our first official ministry partners are Jon and Joy Wolski. Jon works as a web developer for a national ministry and had some great ideas in our brainstorm meeting tonight. They are going to help us integrate the technology part of what we do. It is said that the number one reason that ministry partners quit giving support is for lack of information on what is going on in the ministry. We talked about ways to keep people plugged in and to have transparency on what we are doing. We will be trying out new ideas to implement soon. We will also probably go to a dedicated domain for the mission work. This particular blog will most likely have a new URL in the near future.

Cassi's next blog will be on why we are going to Belgium specifically and what needs to be accomplished there.

Things are happening. Hop on board and hang on.

Peace.

P.S. I hijacked the picture from Women of Grace. They own it, not me.

Brussels Update #3

Cassi and I are still plugging away at our list of things to do. She is leaving for Belgium in less than a month from now. She will be gone for 9 days on a trip to see where we are going to be and some of what to expect.

We have had to get some pictures done for a prayer card through our church. We have been coming up with strategies on how to get our debts paid. We are looking at ideas that include golf scrambles, yard sales, concerts, and a few other ideas. Cassi is the one that has most of the ideas right now. We have some support raising that we are starting. We are contacting potential sponsors in this journey. As missionaries it takes quite a bit of support from home to make it happen. If you feel like you would like to see if there is a way to help us along the way feel free to contact us.

There are many areas that we need help. We are not just looking for someone to open up a wallet to help us. We need strategic partners to help with things from the web, to stuffing envelopes, to donating items for a yard sale, to sponsors, to prayer partners. If you have a skill that you feel you would like to invest in an international church plant let us know.

Next week Cassi and I meet with a financial advisor to come up with a plan of how to attack this debt. Be praying for us to have the resources needed and the wisdom to find a solution.

This week we start meeting in our small group. This Sunday is the first meeting of many where we are going to really get to know our ministry partners that are going over seas with us. This is very exciting for Cassi and me.

Peace

5 Out of 6 Ain't Bad, Or is it?

I have not been doing much of a "normal" life over the last month and a half. It has been the busiest season I have had in a LONG while. That is good in the fact it means I am working. I will be writing a series about my time on the road with artists such as Buddy Jewel, Avalon, Michael English, Daniel Doss Band, and Casting Crowns.

Five of the last six weeks I have been traveling the country. I have seen some of the most beautiful scenes in nature and on earth. My job allows me to see THE most breath taking thing on earth week after week. The Mona Lisa, Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, et. all pale in comparison. I am in front of thousands of people who 1.) recognize who created them, 2.) recognize their position in relation to Him, and 3.) return the ONLY thing they have back to Him in the form of praise. Have you ever really watched people worship? It is truly amazing. Maybe just to me and that is why God chose me to "stand and deliver" on stage.

Cassi has been busy holding down the full-time job and the house while I have been gone. This is the first Saturday we have had together in 6 weeks. We are going to Morton's Steak House tonight on someone else's dime. That is the best way to go!

We both are happy I am home now for at least a few weeks. The Casting Crowns shows are coming up soon. Pray for Chris and his wife that these last few months go smooth. I have already been called up and put on notice once for a slight scare.

Look here in the future for more Belgium updates and road reports.

Peace

Leaving Las Vegas

We are now at the airport heading back to Nashville. This was a great trip. Many students made decisions for baptism and also becoming Christians. One thing that struck me was what the kids in Vegas have to deal with growing up. They are definitely under attack. Again, please pray for these students specifically.

Peace
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Teens are addicts too

Tonight there were hundreds of lives touched and changed. Teens praying to get over addictions of ALL kinds. Don't be naïve and think that teens don't have addictions to be worried about. Please pray for these kids as they let God take over their lives. Tonight was awesome and emotional.



Peace



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It's what's for dinner

108 Domino's pizzas. Camp is good today.
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Inspiration Point

Overlooking a 400 foot drop at this camp. Good place for devotions.
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Two Heads are Better than One

Most of you all who read this blog are expecting to hear from my sweet husband Bryan. Incase you don't know who I am, I am Cassi Wolski, his better half. Just kidding! Since we have started the process of becoming vocational missionaries in a church planting team with our church (LifePoint Church) we have decided to share this blog to keep our friends updated. We will let you know which one of us is doing the posting to keep the confusion to a minimum. :)

During the process one of the things the church has asked us to participate in is a Strengths Finder test. We were given a book "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath. It is pretty neat to learn your strengths and focus on improving those areas rather than focusing on your weaknesses. Here are the results. I look forward to blogging more in the future.

Bryan Wolski
Connectedness - People who are especially talented in the Connectedness theme have faith in the links between all things. They believe there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Belief - People who are especially talented in the Belief theme have certain core values that are unchanging. Out of these values emerges a defined purpose for their life.

Developer - People who are especially talented in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Cassi Wolski

Includer - People who are especially talented in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.

Responsibility - People who are especially talented in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.

Positivity - People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do.

Woo - People who are especially talented in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.

Communication - People who are especially talented in the Communication theme generally find it easy to put their thoughts into words. They are good conversationalists and presenters.

Brussels Update 2: The Money Obstacle

The process of actually going over seas to be a full-time missionary has many steps. These steps are actually hurdles, and if you can't get over them, you can't go, essentially. The next immediate step for Cassi and me is a financial planning one and has 2 main parts.

One is raising support just as any missionary would have to do. Brussels is about the same cost of living as Manhattan, so it is very expensive. We have a meeting on June 13 to start this process and come up with a plan. There will be much more on this as it comes.

The second part is getting out of debt. This is the actual next step that Cassi and I are working on a plan. We have been in contact with a financial planner and will be setting up an initial meeting shortly. If you could see our financial picture you will realize what a literal miracle it will be for us to be debt free by 2011. I have been a professional musician for some time and that has a way of damaging your finances. :-)

For us and others who are or have struggled financially there are some great things in our manual (Bible). I keep 2 passages bookmarked with a dollar bill as a reminder.

Psalm 50:10-11
10"For every beast of the forest is Mine, The cattle on a thousand hills. 11"I know every bird of the mountains, And everything that moves in the field is Mine. 12 If I were hungry I would not tell you, For the world is Mine, and all it contains."

Haggai 2:7-8
7 'I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory,' says the LORD of hosts. 8 'The silver is Mine and the gold is Mine,' declares the LORD of hosts.

Wow God owns everything? Everything is His? He can allocate it where He wants then. Now you have to believe that if God ordains something he has the power to orchestrate it too. There is hope! Don't let money keep you from your saying "YES" to a calling.

Peace

Brussels Update 1

Busy weekend. We have visited with a lot of family. That has kept us away from the computers since our meeting we had with our church.

Big news though. We have been selected for our churches LifePoint Brussels team. There is still a year and a half of training, support raising, education, paying off debt, and much more. This will probably be the toughest thing that Cassi and I attack. Please pray for us through this process. We will be blogging about the process as we go.

Storm vs. iPhone: Take 2

I had a notification in my Application Center on my Blackberry Storm that new software was available. It is an app called Blackberry App World. This is basically RIMs attempt at a localized App world for the Blackberry. There are many apps out there for the Blackberry, but there has not been a good central location to find them.



Taking their lead from Apple, this App World makes my Blackberry so much better. Now I can search Apps that are free, top downloads, made from many different developers, all in one place. My favorite one was the free download from Pandora. I have been a Pandora user for a few years, but, to my knowledge, it was not available on the Storm until just recently. And yes, Pandora works fine even without built in WiFi on my phone. I was driving down the road and using it fine.



There are apps for Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Vlingo, games, GPS tracking of my phone, mobile CRM and many more. Ahh...this makes the Blackberry that much better.



Try the Blackberry, we have had Cut & Paste since version 1. :-) Actually the iPhone is still more slick and has way more Apps, but if you are one of the millions and millions on other networks (other than AT&T) get a Blackberry.

All you need is love

John 13:34-35
34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

So all we have to do is love? That can't be right. This implies that we don't have to have a degree in theology. It suggests that we don't need to host a small group at our house. We don't have to be in a certain class system. The bible is full of rules and regulations right?

While it is true that the bible has many rules, laws, regulations, suggestions, etc. the way we can let other people know we follow Christ is by our love for each other. Simple. To the point.

So if you do not love others as Christ loved you can you be a Christian? I think this passage suggests that you cannot. Jesus talked about trees and vines and the fruit they bear. It is easy to see that an orange tree will not produce olives. So if you were "grafted" in to the body of God, the vine, you would produce love. If you are not producing love you either need to be pruned or completely removed and thrown away. I hope some pruning is all I need.

Show your love to someone today. It is the only way for people to know that you are different, that you used to be a rugular person and now you are a Christian.

Dates with Casting Crowns

I received some dates that I will be performing with Casting Crowns. Chris Huffman, the bass player for Casting Crowns, is taking a short leave for his 2nd child to be born. I will be filling in for him while he is out. As of right now that is looking like September 3-5.

The shows will be in St. Paul, MN, Kansas City, MO, and New Braunfels, TX respectively. Come out and check them out if you can.

Casting Crowns tour dates information can be found here.

I am a bass player, not a plumber

I came to West Tennessee today to help mom out with a few things around the house. I thought I would work on her kitchen floor and fix a few things with the laminate floor. Well, the toilet handle had been not acting right so it needed to be replaced. The cutoff valve for the toilet would not shut if all the way so I had to turn the water off tho the entire house. I took the next hour getting all the new innards of the toilet replaced and put back together.

Voila, everything is back together and working. But, an hour later I am downstairs and a drip drops on my head. I look up and there is a wet spot on the beam right above me. The bathroom is right there above where I was. I walk up the stairs and meet David coming down with a bunch of toilet paper rolls that have been soaked and says, "We have a problem."

All the work we did was fine and was not leaking, but the valve started leaking. Apparently from when we tried to get it to shut off all the way. Now there was water on the floor on the second level and dripping on the beams downstairs. OK, I tried to tighten the coupler on the valve and then water just sprayed in my face like out of a garden hose and you put you finger over it to create pressure. I run outside and cut the water off to the house again.

Now I realize that I have to replace that valve. I am in rural West Tennessee and it is after 7pm. I get in the car and drive 2 towns over to Lowe's. Luckily the lady there in plumbing realizes I did not know what I am doing. She goes and gets every part I will need to do the job. She wants to know if I have a 1/2" water line or 3/8" coming in to the toilet. I don't know. I forgot to look, and I have never done this before. I thought it was standardized. I have her give me the parts for both. I also need a hacksaw to cut off the old valve.

Get to mom's. Cut off the old valve with the hacksaw. Neither one of the parts she sold me fit. Everyplace is closed until the morning, my mom has company and there is no running water in her house. Sorry mom! Happy early Mothers Day! I guess your guests will have to relieve themselves outside until I get the right parts tomorrow.

That's what you get when you get a bass player to do a man's job. :-)

Belgium; It's not just for waffles anymore

Cassi and I have hinted around and outright told some of you that we were trying to decide on starting the process of going to Brussels, Belgium. We spent MUCH time praying, talking, thinking and reflecting. We really feel that we are to answer the call for this international mission.

LifePoint Church is sending a missions team of probably 4 or 5 couples and some college singles to Brussels in January 2011. If we are selected through this process we would go there for a 3-year appointment.

We have an initial interview on Wednesday, May,13. We will know more then.

God is a cyclops, but at least it is a blue eye :-)

I am sure that many of you have seen this picture. People would like you to believe this is 'the' eye of God. Check it out on any of the sites like here on Snopes and you can see it is a real photo of a real place in the universe with a slight bit of color doctoring.

A buddy of mine from church, Micah, used a passage in our devotional yesterday. It was 2 Chronicles 16:9. I am going to include verse 8 and 9 here.

"8 Were not the Ethiopians and the Libyans a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet because you relied on the Lord, he gave them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him. You have done foolishly in this, for from now on you will have wars.”

God's eyes are constantly looking for looking over His creation for those that have committed their heart to Him. To those people He will give "strong support". Well, I don't know about you, but I need strong support. What are you taking on that you could use some strong support on. Check your heart.

In the passage above the Ethiopians and Libyans had armies that were too large to beat. They were delivered over to Asa and defeated because of God's strong support.

I dare say you have nothing in your life that is impossible with God's help. Nothing.

Body Wanted

I have been reading Mere Christianity for some time now. Let's just say I have been distracted and now I am determined to finish it. I find that I like the way C. S. Lewis puts the thoughts together. For those who don't know, he started out as an atheist and over time realized that God could not be explained away. He argues that there is proof there is a God.

So that is a VERY brief background, and it really does not do any justice to the man. I want to get to what I read last night. Let me put 2 paragraphs here exactly as they appear. Also realize that you do not have the benefit of the context since you are not currently reading it, but trust me this all makes sense.

"When you come to knowing God, the initiative lies on His side. If He does not show Himself, nothing you can do will enable you to find Him. And, in fact, He shows much more of Himself to some people than to others -- not because he has favourites, but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight, though it has no favourites, cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.

You can put this another way by saying that while in other sciences the instruments you use are things external to yourself (things like microscopes and telescopes), the instrument through which you see God is your whole self. And if a man's self is not kept clean and bright, his glimpse of God will be blurred -- like the Moon seen through a dirty telescope. That is why horrible nations have horrible religions: they have been looking at God through a dirty lens."

He goes on to suggest that the only real adequate instrument for learning about God is the entire Christian community. So we need to be a community and a body of believers. We need that fellowship and camaraderie to help to reveal God in and through each other. We need to go be the church where there is no church. That made perfect sense to me last night. Wow. People everywhere are deffinitely seeing things through a dirty lens.

A pic from the road

Here is a picture I snapped during the acoustic portion of our show.
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AWANA Summit '09

Hey all. DDB is in Greensboro, NC this week. We are providing the worship for their Summit 2009 event. We are capturing some live sounds for a forth coming DDB project. Part of my station looks like this. I have a Dell and a Mac, a mixer, and some MOTU mic preamps.

It's 3am...who do you want to get that phone call?

It IS 3am right now in the Central Time Zone. I am in the Eastern time zone however. Cassi and I just finished up a weekend of shows in Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Cassi did an excellent job. I did ok. It was a nice distraction after going through what we did with her grandmother this week. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers all of you who sent them.

I called a wrong number a few minutes ago. I thought I was calling the guitar player who played with us this weekend. I instead called his wife. It was after 2 am her time. Oops. Sorry.

When I get a picture of the shows we did I will post them. I got to play with some old friends. Derek Williams and Joe Stevens played these shows with us. We got to hang out with their wives too. It was somewhat of a reunion for us.

Peace

Not since college...

...have I stayed up for more than 24 hours. I got up yesterday at around 9:30 am and did not sleep until 5 pm tonight. So I was up for 31.5 hours. But I just took a 2 hour nap. That should be ok right?

As we get older it is harder to do this. Unfortunately this happens to us musicians every now and again. I was not up for a gig, my sleep patterns are just messed up.

So is it that as we get older we just can't do what we used to? Or is it that BECAUSE we did what we did when we were younger, THAT is what ruined us and made us feel old? If we would have taken care of ourselves would we feel so old some times? You hear people say that pain, hurting, etc is part of getting old. Well, it may not be. I need to start taking care of myself.

2hours of sleep! Yeah!!!

Peace