AROUND THE SUN

Today marks another trip around the sun for the most beautiful woman in my world! If you get a chance, take a moment to show her some love in my comment section (or you could go to her blog, but she hasn't been blogging all that much lately, so maybe here would be better? I dunno...).

If you hadn't noticed, I'm madly in love with this woman! She is absolutely gorgeous, totally intelligent, and completely sold out to Jesus! There is no other woman on the planet as amazing as my Roo-Baby ... and I don't care if I'm biased (it's my blog. I can be biased if I want to be!), I'm just speaking the truth!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Baby. I love you now!












Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

TWO GUYS, ONE BIG DEAL

 This guy likes cows...

  

So does this guy...

This guy likes to hang around with this kid named Schad...

So does this guy...

This guy likes to sing...

So does this guy...

So what's the big deal about these two guys?

THEY'RE BOTH A YEAR OLDER!!!

Anthony Lancaster

Birthdate: January 29, 1988

Wes McKinzie

Birthdate: January 6, 1970

Happy Birthday, Boys!!!!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

Tater Faith and Whatever

No, it's not the latest Christian bluegrass duo to land on Nashville. I just thought it would be a fun title. And it has a point, believe it or not.

Steph and I watched Faith Like Potatoes night before last and it completely sparked something in us. If you haven't seen this 2006 movie yet, I highly recommend that you go rent it or buy it and watch it as soon as possible (I hope I don't get sued for this free advertisement!). Here are three reasons I fell in love with this film:


1. It's based on a true story. Can't go wrong there.
2. It's about people completely surrendering their lives to God and stepping out in faith to answer His call.
3. It's about God showing what He does when we are totally sold out for Him. Basically, it's God showing off!


Seeing this movie has kicked us into gear. We've been sitting on some major, life-changing decisions for a while, but now we have to choose. Will we take the comfortable route or take a risk that will alter our lives forever? I think God has shown us what we need to do.

Go check it out yesterday! (note: if you have a hard time understanding thick Scottish and/or South African dialects, you may want to turn on the subtitles)


Faith Like Potatoes reminded me of a song I've been hearing a lot on the radio and it kinda hits me in the gut every stinkin' time I hear it. It goes perfectly with this idea of having "tater faith" (as we southern folk would say it). It also fits perfectly with today, seeing how God has allowed me to be another year older. I still say it's just Tuesday! Enjoy today!!!

It's time for healing time to move on
It's time to fix what's been broken too long
Time make right what has been wrong
It's time to find my way to where I belong
There's a wave that's crashing over me
And all I can do is surrender

(Chorus)
Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something Heavenly

Time for a milestone
Time to begin again
Reevaluate who I really am
Am I doing everything to follow Your will
Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills
So show me what it is You want from me
I give everything I surrender...
To...

(Chorus)

Time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out
That I've wanted to say for so many years
Time to release all my held back tears

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but I believe
You're up to something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly

Whatever You're doing inside of me
It feels like chaos but now I can see
This is something bigger than me
Larger than life something Heavenly
Something Heavenly

It's time to face up
Clean this old house
Time to breathe in and let everything out

Whatever You're Doing (Something Heavenly)
Sanctus Real
songwriters: Dan Gartley, Mark Graalman, Matt Hammitt, Peter Prevost, Chris Rohman

Peace, Love, and Chocolate Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday, "Groove Master"

On this date in 1939 my favorite drummer was born. Over his extensive career, he has completely changed the way we listen to music. He is the inventor and innovator of "groove" drumming. His name is Bernard "Pretty" Purdie, also know as the "Groove Master" and today is his 70th birthday!

The reason Bernard Purdie is my favorite drummer is not because of his technical ability (although he is technically sound), or even because of his groove (although he grooves harder than any other drummer on the planet). I love Bernard Purdie because he loves what he does and it shows. I know that sounds a bit cliche, but it is so apparent in the way he approaches music. It's like notes are words and he believes every note he plays. That's how I want to approach the music I make. That's how I want to approach the ministry I do. That's how I want to approach life in general; living like there's no tomorrow and loving every minute of it! Watch the videos below to understand what I'm talking about (since it's his birthday, I decided to give you three for the price of one!).

Here, Bernard "splains" his signature groove, "The Purdie Shuffle."

In "part 2," Purdie shows you how to really feel this groove. Pay special attention to the end of this clip. Classic Bernard Purdie!

This clip gives a very small glimpse into Bernard's career. Listen to his stats. Incredible!


Peace, Love, and Chocolate... and GROOVE!

Whirlwind Weekend

I'm recovering from a whirlwind of a weekend. Lots of stuff can go down in four days, and did it ever! I have to take this opportunity to thank Rhonda Coleson, our booking agent, for all of her help and support. She's been awesome and we couldn't have made it through this weekend without her. So, the ten peso version of the story is: we went to Little Rock, Dallas, and Searcy, AR, leaving on Friday and returning yesterday. It was a fun trip and we are glad to be back in Nashville.

Now here's the million dollar version!

Friday, June 13th
Zach Wilson and I drive the Acappella van and trailer to Little Rock. The original plan was for us to get there around 6:00 PM and get settled into our housing for the night. Arrangements had been made for our van and trailer to be cleaned and detailed in Little Rock on Saturday while we flew to Dallas. Most of that plan happened the way it was supposed to...except for the van. It broke down again. We were driving down I-40 toward Memphis, not quite an hour out of Nashville, and it just quit running. We had to pull onto the side of the road and start making phone calls. Somehow, the van started again and we got back on the road. There were lots of prayers going up on our behalf, and they worked! We eventually made it to Little Rock around 8:00 and got the van where it needed to be. Zach stayed with our booking agent's sister and her husband, and I stayed with my best friend's brother and his wife. It was great to see them and spend a little time with them. It was a long day, but we got through it and prepared ourselves for Saturday. (by the way, it was also my late brother, Ron's, birthday. He would have been 42.)


Saturday, June 14th
Zach and I flew from Little Rock while Zac George, Allen Brantley, and our newest member, Anthony Lancaster (if that name sounds familiar, it's because he's our boss' son) flew from Nashville to Dallas. We all met there to be inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame. That's an experience I won't forget. We were inducted along with the likes of the Jordanaires (featuring one of my heroes, Ray Walker) who sang for a time with Elvis Presley, the Cathedrals, Lulu Roman from Hee-Haw, songwriter David Meece, the Imperials, Jessy Dixon, the Florida Boys, and many other pioneers in the Christian music world. There were also tributes to Larry Norman (Bebo Norman's dad and the "father of Christian rock music")and Dottie Rambo, one of the greatest gospel music songwriter who ever lived. Both Larry and Dottie died earlier this year, so it was a great night. We were honored and humbled to have been a part of it.

Sunday, June 15th
We flew back to Little Rock and were met at the airport by our freshly cleaned van and trailer, courtesy of Kevin, another brother-in-law of our booking agent. We drove our nice clean van an hour away to Searcy for the first of three concerts at Harding University for Uplift. After we checked into the hotel, Jacob and Laura, who both work for Harding, took us to lunch at the Rib Crib. That's good eatin' right there! We headed back to the auditorium and got our lights and sound set up. It was the first time we had set up lights since October, so the process was a little slower than normal, but we got it done in time. We had some dinner (Brick Oven Pizza) and went to the hotel to get ready for the concert. I finally got to call my dad and wish him a happy father's day. I hope you did too! Anyway, we had our devo time and then a 10:00 PM concert that was electric! The crowd was hyped and we just had a blast. Anthony did great, too, for his first Acappella concert. We took our equipment down and moved it to the back of the stage (because we'll be back again) and went to bed.

Monday, June 16th
We left the hotel at 7:00 AM so we could get Zac back to Nashville for work before 2:00. We got fuel and breakfast and drove about 15 miles down the road to Bald Knob (yes, that is the name of the town) and the van broke down again. This time, it didn't start again. To make a long story short(er), we had the van towed back to Searcy to be repaired, the trailer was towed to an impound lot for safe keeping, we rented a van that was a little bit too small for us and our equipment and luggage, and drove back to Nashville. I managed to get only one speeding ticket, even though I was going the same speed as everybody else. Yeah, that happened. Anyway, we got back to Nashville around 5:30 (no, Zac didn't get to work) and had just enough time to get the van unloaded and take it to the rental place five minutes before it closed (now you understand that if I hadn't been speeding, I wouldn't have gotten the van to the rental place in time and would've been charged over $300 extra. I saved the company some major money!). It was nice, though, because Anthony took me to Stephanie's parents' house just in time for my birthday party! That's what you call a happy birthday!!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Big Ron: The Man, The Myth, The Legend (as seen on myspace)

I remember growing up in Texas with my family. I was blessed to have a mom and dad who took care of me and showed me love in ways that some kids unfortunately never experience. I also had a brother around for the first 8 years or so. Ron Williams was born 10 years and 3 days before me and, when I was growing up, he was about 10 times bigger than me. He taught me about life in the real world. He had some interesting ways of doing that, though. Sometimes he'd share great music with me (Run DMC, Aerosmith, The Fat Boys, Prince, AC/DC, Sugar Hill Gang, Ready for the World, etc), sometimes he'd pick on me and make me defend myself (that's how I learned the phrase "They're just jealous."). Sometimes he'd have to babysit me while my folks were out of town, so he'd make me take responsibility for myself by doing extra chores (mine and his). He went off to college when I was 9 and we started seeing less and less of each other. It was while he was away that I began to realize how much of a hero he was to me. By his example, he showed me how cool it could be to be a Christian and to be unashamed of it. He would "encourage" his friends and teammates (he was a lineman on a football scholarship) to go to church with him. There weren't many people at that church (or at that school) but he always had at least one guest with him. I'd go and visit some weekends and I'd go with him to round up friends to go to worship assembly. He'd bang on their dorm room doors with his humongous hands or kick the door with his size 17 foots and make sure those guys got to the building on time. The epitome of boldness.

He moved to California right after he graduated from college (that's where he was born and lived his first 8 years on Earth, and where our Gram lived). He had to return to Texas only a couple of months after he left so he could attend our mother's funeral. She lost her battle with breast cancer on September 17th, 1989, which was one of the last times Ron was in Texas. After that, I had to go to California if I wanted to see him. Fortunately we'd go every summer to visit and we had some great times together. He showed me the meaning of pure, unadulterated, heart-felt worship. I don't remember ever hearing him sing softly, especially in a church setting. He was the first to start calling me "Rob" on a regular basis, which is why I still go by that name. He also taught me that it was okay to wait a little while to get married. He was 28 when he got married and he started having kids soon afterward. The rest of my brothers (and my dad) got married in their early 20's or late teens. He showed me that people are just people, no matter who or where they are. I remember this one time when I went to visit him and his family. We were driving to his house from the airport and stopped at McDonald's drive-thru to grab a quick bite of dinner. When we pulled up to the window, he spoke to the guy serving us like he spoke to me, his brother. They had never met before but Ron treated him like they were lifelong friends. Ministry in action.

Ron had been my counselor at church camp, my teacher of life skills, and my best friend. He was the one I always called when I needed a boost. He always seemed to know just the right thing to say to make my day go better, or to motivate me to be the man I've been called to be. On March 28th, 2003, God decided that Ron had served his time here on Earth and took him Home. His body left but his spirit remains strong in everyone he came across. You can see him in his daughters, Shinarri and Bethany, his wife, Melissa, his sister, Rahnee, and her daughters, Sumaya, Miriam, Corrine, and even baby Felicity (the ones in the picture with me...that I can't get to load...long story...maybe later). You can see him in his former students/youth groupers. You can see him in his friends and family. You can see him in me, especially when I'm on stage.

I write this on this day because this is the day he was supposed to turn 40. I always envisioned us growing older and our kids playing together while we sat on the front porch and talked about old times. I guess that won't happen in this life but I have the feeling that anything is possible in Heaven.