Cardboard Testimony

My friend, Sam, sent this video to me and I found it to be powerful, uplifting, Spirit-led, and full of hope! As you watch this 8-minute clip, formulate your own cardboard testimony and share it with us. I'll even share mine. Just look at the comments.








Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Tragedy

Take 6 recorded a song many years ago, one of their biggest hits, in which the chorus says: "If we ever needed the Lord before, we sure do need Him now." That line is on repeat in my head as I write this. Stop whatever it is you're doing and pray right now. A child has gone Home early. Her family needs your prayers for comfort, peace, wisdom, and understanding in this tragic time. Specifically, pray for her oldest brother, who accidentally was the reason for her meeting Jesus at such a young age. I can't imagine the thoughts, feelings, emotions coursing through him and his family. Pray as though your life depended upon it. It does, and the family's does, too. God wants to hear from you. There is no better time than right now.

Shalom

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MARIA SUE CHAPMAN, DAUGHTER OF STEVEN CURTIS CHAPMAN, DIES IN ACCIDENT AT FAMILY HOMENASHVILLE, TN...5/21/08... At approximately 5pm on the afternoon of Thursday May 21st, Maria Sue Chapman, 5 years old and the youngest daughter to Steven and Mary Beth Chapman was struck in the driveway of the Chapman home in Franklin, TN. Maria was rushed to Vanderbilt Childrens Hospital in Nashville, transported by LifeFlight, but died of her injuries there. Maria is one of the close knit family's six children and one of their three adopted daughters.More than five years ago, Chapman and his wife MaryBeth founded The Shaohannah's Hope Ministry after bringing their first adopted daughter, Shaohannah, home from China. The ministry's goal is to help families reduce the financial barrier of adoption, and has provided grants to over 1700 families wishing to adopt orphans from around the world. Chapman is a five-time GRAMMY ® winner and 54-time Dove Award winning artist who has sold over 10 million albums and garnered 44 No. 1 singles.

Prayer Time

This prayer has been on my heart for quite some time now. It can be found in Matthew chapter 6. You Bible scholars already know which prayer I'm referring to. Well, this is how I interpret the prayer. This is how I try to pray on a daily basis. I don't always succeed, but it's a good start. I also posted a link for you to see this prayer through the eyes of a child. Truly precious! I hope this blesses you as much as it has blessed me to work on.

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Our Father who art in heaven - Lord, Savior, King, Jehovah, Elohim, Abba, Daddy, God

Hallowed be Thy name - Your name is: Holy, Mighty, Wonderful, Worthy of all glory, honor and praise, Powerful, All-knowing, Compassionate, Righteous, Amazing, Counselor, Provider, Healer, Comforter, Love...

Thy kingdom come - Reign over me now, in this present time. Be in my life. Be real and relevant to me.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven - Let the things I do in this life be a rehearsal for eternal life with You. May all my thoughts, words, actions be worship to You.

Give us this day our daily bread - Give me what I need for today, for right now, no more, no less.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors - I'm not perfect. I make mistakes. Please forgive me. I understand and accept that nobody else is perfect. Help me forgive those who have wronged me in any way. You did it for me. I want to show the same grace to others that You showed to me.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil - When I am tempted, as Jesus was, help me to be sinless and blameless as Jesus was. I know I will have daily opportunities to do what is right and what isn't. Help me to always choose the right thing. Deliver me, Lord.

For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever - You made all of this. You own it all. It is Yours and I am Yours. All glory, honor, power, praise, blessings, worship goes to You, not just now, but always, beyond the end of time.

Amen - Let it be so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR4PQ30VkBk

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

What A Week!

God is doing some amazing things in my life, as well as Steph’s. She and I have built our relationship on Proverbs 4:23 (Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life), and our hearts have been tested quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. See, I went to Tulsa for the International Soul-Winning Workshop last week, which meant that we wouldn’t see each other for a week. We needed that. God worked on us individually and as a couple.

For example, JJ and I left Tuesday morning on the ten-hour drive to Tulsa. That morning before we left, she sent me a text message saying that we should take time over the week to have a mountain top experience, some quality time with God. She told me to look up Luke 6:12 (check it out). When we arrived in Tulsa she was at Bible study and would you believe that the speaker brought up the exact same scripture? I know, coincidence, right? Well, tell me it’s also a coincidence that the week before, the same speaker brought up the exact situations that she and I had been discussing the previous couple of days and told us we needed to take action on those very situations. That seems like no big deal until you put it into perspective. We were in a room with over 800 people!

So we start on this journey up the mountain and God’s talking to us non-stop. He’s talking to us through speakers, songs, scriptures, even friends. It’s an amazing experience. Saturday rolls around and JJ and I are planning on driving back the next morning...until the van broke down. Enter Sean Algaier. He comes to where we are, takes us to a safe place to have the van towed, loans us his car so we could get to our housing site to get our stuff, puts me up in his home one night, and gives me his Rapid Rewards free flight ticket on Southwest so I can get back to work! He reminded me what it meant to be a servant and to simply care. He reminds me so much of my brother, Ron, who passed away five years ago this past Friday. Yet another reminder that God is good. As an act of gratitude, Steph prayed that He would bless Sean and Misty like crazy. The very same day Sean got a phone call from a friend who had a 32" flat-screen tv with surround sound. He gave it to Sean and Misty for $50. Talk about prayers being answered right away!

There is so much to this story that I don’t have time to share. However, I will say this: God is moving in me. He’s showing me things that I already knew and forgot, as well as things I didn’t know but needed to. He’s trying to make this new man. He’s trying to make Steph this new woman. It’s time for all of us to break down our barriers and let Him make us what He wants us to be. Let’s make it happen!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

What's so Good about Friday?

Good Friday. What an ironic term. It's a term used to commemorate the day Jesus was brutally tortured and murdered by Roman soldiers. Now, some might say that brutal is a bit too harsh of a term to use when speaking of Jesus, but let's review what really happened.

Very late the night before He was crucified, Jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane to pray. The Bible says that "being in anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground." (Luke 22:44) This means Jesus was under the most extreme amount of stress imaginable. He knew what was about to happen and didn't want to go through it, but He knew He had to. As He was going back to pray more, after waking up the sleeping disciples to tell them to pray, Jesus was arrested and wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death. When a criminal was convicted of a crime punishable by death, that person would undergo some of the most horrendous treatment ever known to man. Roman soldiers knew how to kill a man and make it last for a very long time. It began with a scourging. A mob of men beat Him and pulled out His beard, which was an enormous insult in that culture, not to mention painful. Then they stripped Him naked, shackled His hands above His head, shackled His feet to the ground, and began to beat Him with a "cat-of-nine-tails," which is basically an ancient meat tenderizer. A handle with strips of leather that had metal balls and hooks made of metal or bone attached to the leather that would pulverize and rip His flesh from His body. This would send Him into shock. Many men died from the scourging and did not even make it to the cross. Such was not the case for Jesus.
The soldiers strapped a large log of Roman timber to Jesus' exposed back and expected Him to carry it up the hill to be crucified, but the weight and the splintering wood was just too much to bear. He collapsed under the strain, so one of His disciples helped to carry the cross to the place of His crucifixion. The soldiers placed a crown of thorns into Jesus' head which made Him bleed even more. They posted a placard above His head in mockery that said "King of the Jews," in Aramaic. He was already unrecognizable from the beatings and scourging. This just added more insult to more injury. They took long spikes and drove them into His hands (probably at the wrists) and feet. They fixed the log He had carried to a cross-bar, raised Him up, and dropped the whole cross, with Jesus nailed to it, into a hole in the ground. Surely, the impact jarred His body significantly.
As Jesus hung there, gasping for breath, bleeding, sweating, dying, one of the thieves who was crucified with Him mocked Him loudly. "But the other criminal rebuked him. `Don't you fear God,' he said, `since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.' Then He said `Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Jesus answered him, `I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.'" (Luke 23:40-43) Jesus remained pure, holy, faithful, loving, compassionate even up to the point of His death.
As He came to the end of His life, He felt for a brief moment what it was to live without God. The Father turned His back on His Son, allowing Him a glimpse of Hell. "Jesus cried out in a loud voice, `Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?' --which means, `My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?' With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how He died, he said, `Surely this man was the Son of God!'"(Mark 15:34, 37-39)
The temple curtain being torn in two was so significant. It meant that there was no more waiting room to get to God. Before, only certain people (Levitical priests) were allowed to enter into the inmost part of the temple at certain appointed times to be in the presence of the glory of God and to offer sacrifices for atonement from sin. Now, we are all invited to approach His throne as often as we please. Jesus became our sacrifice when He was crucified and died. He became our Savior when He fulfilled the rest of His prophecy and rebuilt the temple three days later by rising from the dead. He is now our temple, the Savior of the world, our risen King!

So what's so good about Friday? Sunday! That's the day my King rose from the dead, defeated the grave, and brought hope and salvation to the world! Jesus was crucified, died, was buried, and arose on the third day for the remission of our sins. That's the gospel truth! If you don't believe it, I'ma keep praying for you. Jesus wants you to seek Him so you can receive His grace and His salvation. He wants to take you to Heaven for all eternity. There is no better time than the present to let Him do that. Right now! Let Him be your Savior! If you need to talk about it, come find me. I'll be around. I know from experience that it's the greatest decision you could ever make, but the choice is solely yours. No one Else's. I'm begging you, if you haven't already made the choice to follow Christ, please consider what He went through for you and me. He loves you so much more than you know.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Oh Canada!

Well, we finally had our first concert of the year...with our new singer...in Canada. It was a lot of fun but a really quick trip. We left Saturday morning and got back Sunday evening. Good times, though.

Our direct flight to Toronto was quite bearable. Although it was a small plane, we toughed it out for the two-hour flight. Going through customs was a new experience for me. Of course, I'd been through customs several times before, but this was the first time I had this particular conversation in customs.

Customs Agent (CA): "What's your business here in Canada?"
Me: "Performing a concert tonight."
CA: "What do you do?"
Me: "I sing."
CA: "Should I know you?"
Me: "Probably not."
CA: "I had this same conversation with someone else recently. I asked the guy, 'Michael Bubble...should I know you?' and he said 'It's Buble (pronounced boo - blay) and I'm with the blah blah record label.' I still had no clue that I was supposed to know who he was."
Me: "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha..."
CA: "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha... Have a good show!"

Pure magic.

Mike, our promoter, met us after customs and drove us about 45 minutes to eat at a Mongolian grill in Waterloo, appropriately named "JB's Mongolian Grill." The food was really very good. After lunch, we drove a couple more blocks and arrived at the University of Waterloo campus. Our venue was a fairly small, intimate theatre that seated roughly 700 people. As we pulled up to the stage door, we saw the "sold out" signs and knew it was going to be a good night.

We did our set up and sound check, ran through some songs with JJ, the new guy, and chilled in the green room until devo time. Just before we started devo, one of our good friends from Camp Casowasco in upstate New York, Donnie Schussler, surprised us in the green room. He ended up spending devo time with us and praying for us before we got dressed and ready to rock.

And rock we did! It was a really fun concert. One of the most fun concerts I've been a part of in a long time. The only concert I've been a part of in a long time. It had been three months minus one day since our last concert. It felt great to be on stage again.

JJ did a great job. He knew his stuff and sang his face off. Nobody really knew it was his first concert until we said something about it...at the end of the concert! Good times.

After the concert was "meet 'n greet" which was an experience in itself. There were lots of people from foreign lands like Brazil and Africa. We even got to hear an African quartet sing a song for us. Beautiful!

We went to our housing site, the home of Dave and Patty Knutson (sp?) where we ate homemade chicken fetuccini alfredo and drank hot apple cider. Did I mention the temperature was below freezing the entire time we were there and snow and ice was all over the place? Yeah, that happened. So after we had eaten and warmed up a bit, it was time for bed. I don't know about the rest of the guys, but I slept great. We woke up Sunday morning to fresh biscuits and gravy, bacon, fruit, coffee, and juice. By the way, Patty is originally from Alabama. After breakfast, they took us to the Waterloo Church of Christ where we shared the Lord's Supper with that family and then headed back to Toronto to the airport...on icy roads most of the way.

Did you know there's a small patch of land in the Toronto airport that is "American soil?" We went through customs there, instead of Cincinatti where we changed flights, which was awesome because we only had an hour scheduled between flights and customs can take a while sometimes. It was very nice! We made it back to the great Nash Vegas safely. Now, we take the next step...whatever that is!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Wise Words from Max Lucado

Today's daily devotional from Max Lucado stood out to me and I felt like I needed to share it...so I am. These are powerful words, simple thoughts, and true, relevant principles for our lives. If you're experiencing any guilt or other pressure-filled feelings, this is for you. If it's not you, but someone you know, share these thoughts with them. Blessings.


A Robe of Righteousness

You were all clothed with Christ.
Galatians 3:27 (NCV)

We eat our share of forbidden fruit. We say what we shouldn't say. Go when we shouldn't go. Pluck fruit from trees we shouldn't touch.

And when we do, the door opens, and the shame tumbles in. And we hide. We sew fig leaves....We cover ourselves in good works and good deeds, but one gust of wind of truth, and we are naked again--stark naked in our own failure.

So what does God do? Exactly what he did for our parents in the garden. He sheds innocent blood. He offers the life of his Son. And from the scene of the sacrifice the Father takes a robe--the robe of righteousness. And does he throw it in our direction and tell us to shape up? No, he dresses us himself. He dresses us with himself. "You were all baptized into Christ, and so you were all clothed with Christ" (Gal. 3:26-27).

We hide. He seeks. We bring sin. He brings a sacrifice. We try fig leaves. He brings the robe of righteousness.


Peace, Love, and Chocolate

"Happy New Year" - even if it’s a little late...

Happy - joyous, elated, encouraged, excited, positive, eager, hopeful, ready

New - never having exsisted before, original, first of it's kind

Year - 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 (or this year, 366) days, 525,600 minutes

May God reveal to you his definition of a happy new year.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Hope for the Holidays

Okay, Kids. This will be short and sweet, but extremely important, so please pay close attention.

I have a sister who is raising four kids by herself and is having a really hard time supporting herself and her kids. She, like the rest of my family, is very stubborn and even more proud. That means she doesn't like to ask for help. Ever! That's why I'm asking for help for her.

First, I ask that you pray for her. Her name is Rahnee (sounds like "Ronnie") and her kids range in age from 13 to 1 1/2. She needs as much prayer as you can muster, and prayer is free.

Second, she needs encouragement. My hat's off to all single mothers. I can't imagine the level of difficulty and commitment it takes to be a single mom. If you are a single mother, I ask God for a special blessing upon you and your children. My your blessings overflow from his gracious hand. If you want to give her and her daughters some encouragement, let me know and we'll work out the details.

Third, if you have the financial resources to reach out and help her, I know she would appreciate your help in that regard. She works two full-time jobs, but that simply isn't enough. She needs financial help. If you are able and willing to help in that way, let me know and we'll make it happen.

Finally, pray more. Prayer changes everything. God is faithful to his people when we seek him diligently. My sister needs your help. She needs your prayers and your support. She's too embarrassed to ask for help, and she would freak out if she knew I were writing this plea for help, but I refuse to let her suffer anymore, as long as I have anything to do with it. Do the right thing. Search your heart and give my family some hope for the holidays.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 1 - Vamos! (Let’s go!)

[October 29, 2007] Let the madness begin! We left Nashville today on a two-week tour of the beautiful land called Brasil. I'm a little skittish about this trip for some reason. Maybe it's because my roommate (Zac's wife) Lacey didn't get to come with us (please pray for her a lot). Maybe it's because I'm leaving all my friends and family behind for a couple weeks with very little, if any, contact with them. By the way, I really miss you guys way more than you know. Maybe it's because we've been on the road in Louisiana for most of the past week and we're not used to being gone so long, or to being so continually busy. Whatever the reason, it's gonna be a long, trying, fun trip. I know God has some amazing things in store for us this time around.
We have had a great trip so far. We got back from Monroe, LA around 9:30 last night and did a little last-minute laundry before sleeping in our own beds for the first time in six days. We got up this morning, re-packed, ran errands, and then met at the studio so we could all go to Chili's for a great lunch together. After lunch, it was off to the airport for the smoothest check-in we've had in the more-than-two years I've been with the group. We sat in the gate area for a couple hours before boarding our plane to Atlanta. To pass the time, Byron led a short "airport devo" to help us focus our minds on our goals for this trip. The rest of the time was spent on the phones or the iPods or the computers or whatever other fun stuff we could find to occupy our minds.
After our 35-minute flight to Atlanta, we grabbed a quick bite and got on our plane to Sao Paulo as we said our goodbyes to those closest to us. As I write, we are nearing the tenth and final hour of this overnight flight. We have a very busy day ahead of us full of meetings, interviews, driving, and no sleep. Since I don't sleep much on planes, this will be a tough day for me. I've already started taking pictures, though, and I hope to write daily to keep you informed about us.
I'm watching my first Brasilian sunrise and it's breathtaking! This is gonna be a great trip. Thank you, Jesus!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 2 - Oi! (Hey!)

[October 30, 2007] This day has been among the longest of my life. Once we landed at 6:45 AM (that's 3:45 AM CST), we breezed through customs and picked up our luggage from an uncomfortably busy conveyor belt. We met up with our contact people (Saulo, F.H., Simval, and a few others) and drove to our first of four radio and television interviews. It took nearly two hours to drive across this city of 14 million people, and we found out later that we only drove about 20 miles.
After sitting around for a long time and perfecting our game plan several times, we went in and hit a home run on Brasilian national tv. Keith even sang some with us. Post interview, we had the pleasure of meeting Anderson Ramos, our opening act and translator for each concert here. He's a great Brasilian Christian who now lives in Richmond, VA. He's a lot of fun so far.
We ate lunch and did a press conference at the restaurant where lunch was. We were scheduled for another interview on a tv show but there was some wait time. They took us to the top of the building where the restaurant was, maybe 20 stories high, and we took pictures of each other and the city. Sao Paulo is huge!
We finally got to our hotel for a little rest before going to dinner and our fourth tv show of the day. The show lasted somewhere around two hours and started around 10 PM. Since the majority of the show was a debate over taxes (something the people of Brasil don't have much of a say over) the audience was about as drained and tired as we were. We had been on a plane all night and only got a couple hours to rest after doing three interviews, lunch, pictures, and rode in a van...a lot! We were pretty much exhausted! God kept us awake and alert enough to finish the day, though.
It's very late now and I'm very tired. Tomorrow will be busy but not as taxing as today, or so we've been tole. Let's hope we were told right!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 3 - Churrascaria (Brasilian bar-be-que joint)

[October 31, 2007] Today started off with a bang...or some type of explosion any way! I am pretty sure I ate exactly the wrong thing yesterday because my stomach was not at all happy with me when I woke up. What `s worse is that I didn`t realize there was a problem until it was way too late. In order for me not to get graphic, let`s just say my tummy is not happy. No bueno!

We met in the lobby around 11:30 this morning and left for lunch around noon. Saulo and the crew took us to a churrascaria, a brasilian bar-be-que restaurant, and we ate our weight in meats (about 20 different cuts) and a monstrous salad / food bar. I have to say I was sad to have woken up sick, but that didn`t stop me from eating very, very well. After lunch, which ended with a beautiful dark chocolate mousse cake, we went to our first of two interviews for the day, stopping on the way to get me some indigestion meds. The hour-and-a-half-long drive took us away from metropolitan Sao Paulo to a biblical institute where we did both interviews for radio and tv. They took us on a tour of the building after the interviews and we sang a couple songs on the fly for the employees there. They prayed over us and we headed back to town so we could get to the airport for a flight to Campo Grande (pronounced Gran-je). We ate a quick bite and parted ways with Saulo and the crew until we return to Sao Paulo in a few days. We, including Anderson, boarded the plane and had a smooth flight to Campo Grande. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by a happy mob who gave us gifts of t-shirts and cds of themselves, Grupo Familia, and we did a quick interview followed by pictures. Once we finished up and loaded our luggage into the van, we went to our hotel. It`s 12:45 AM now and we have a pretty early morning ahead of us. More interviews before the first concert. It`s bedtime. I need my beauty sleep. Hello melatonin! Let`s make that happen. Nite, nite!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 4 - Concert no Campo Grande (Concert in Campo Grande)

[November 1, 2007] I`m feeling much better today. Thanks for asking. My tummy still cramps up a little but I`m okay. Good thing I feel better, too. Today was our first Brasilian concert.

We woke up pretty early after a late night and went to a tv studio near our hotel for the first of four interviews. This was a Seventh Day Adventist radio station and the people there were just as warm and friendly as ever. It seems that most of the people are working with are Seventh Day Adventists and are some of the sweetest people we have had the pleasure of working with. We took some pics after the interview and then went to a different studio where Grupo Familia records a lot of their music. We did a couple tv spots there, after which we got to hear an unfinished cut from their upcoming album. It rocked my face off! It had a little bit of a Blood, Sweat, and Tears sound to it. Great work!

From that studio, we went to a local tv station where we met up with Keith and Sharon. They got to sleep in a little bit. We knocked that interview out and went to another tv studio to put another one down. It was finally lunch time so we went to a restaurant that is owned by one of the people responsible for bringing us to Campo Grande. And it was good.

We had a few hours of down time at the hotel before heading to the venue for sound check. After working out a few tech kinks we retreated to the dressing room where we worked out a few song kinks with Keith and Cory Martin (who is doing an job, by the way). Zach Wilson led our minds in devotional and prayer and, after Anderson sang a few really nice songs, we took the stage. The crowd of about 1000 loved us...maybe a little too much!

After the concert, we were ambushed in the lobby for pics and autographs. Madness! Pure mayhem! We had to be herded out of the lobby like a flock of sheep. It was insane!

So we packed up and went back to Multiplus restaurant where we had lunch. Since the concert started at 9:00 PM, we didn't get to dinner until midnight or later. The best part about the whole day is that we get to meet in the hotel at 3:30 AM to leave for the airport to catch a 5:00 AM flight to Goiania. That gives us two whole hours to shower, pack, and nap (if we so choose), before we are to be downstairs ready to go. It's tough being a superstar...especially when your tummy hurts! Poor, poor, pitiful me!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 5 - Bom Dia (Good day - pronounced bon jeeah)

[November 2, 2007] I guess today could be a continuation of yesterday. We left our hotel at about 4:00 this morning to head to the airport and it really wasn't a long flight. I think it only took an hour to get here, same as Sao Paulo to Campo Grande. Since we hadn't really slept yet, we were really not ready for the reception awaiting us as we arrived. At 7:00 AM local time (we changed times from Campo Grande) there was a gathering of about 20 - 30 "paparazzi" waiting to welcome us to their state and city. Those of you who know me and know how grumpy I am in the morning after a full night's sleep can imagine me dealing with a gang of strangers wanting pics with me after a 30-minute nap overnight. Really it wasn't so bad. I took the pictures, said hello, acted politely, and eventually got to the van. As we headed to our hotel we learned that we wouldn't have to do a morning full of interviews and such. Just rest, lunch, one short interview later, and dinner...with more rest.

We had a bit of a mob scene happening on the way to the hotel. As far as I could tell from the cramped van, there was at least one car full of people and a motorcycle with two people on it that followed us to the hotel taking pics and video the whole time. When we got there the rest of the mob had either met us there or followed us, but they managed to get a short interview out of us that went to 150 cities in the area. Then we slept. We slept until lunch (about four hours) which we ate in the hotel. Then we slept a couple hours more until our interview for the day (it was supposed to be two but one group never showed up). We had more down time and then it was dinner time. They took us to a brasilian pizza parlor where the pizza was delivered to each table by hand, a la churrascaria, and we took slices off the tray as they offered them to us.

They took us to a rehearsal of local gospel chorus Agape (emphasis on the first syllable, not the last like English). They sang a couple songs for us and we sang a little bit with them. They sounded incredible! I'm noticing how seriously people here take music. It's like it's a part of them. Sound familiar? After taking a few pics with them, we came back to the hotel for the night. Some of us went up to the roof for a few minutes to notice how big and beautiful this city is. I really love it here, but I'm definitely missing home...and you. Wish you were here!

This is craziness. We haven't even sang here yet and people are treating us like we hung the moon. I just want them to see Jesus in all we do, not us. Please pray for the people here more. Today was a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. Don't forget, it's "FREE HUGS FRIDAY!!!"

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 6 - Estrella de Rock (Rock Star)

[November 3, 2007] I'm not cut out for the "rock star" lifestyle. Don't get me wrong. I love people and ministry, but I just can't handle having people in my business all the time. I do understand that people in Brasil truly love us and just want to be near us. I also understand that the people here idolize us when they should be idolizing Jesus. How can we get that point across?

We had a radio interview at about 8:30 this morning and then a t.v. around 10:00 that lasted about 40 minutes. Then we had lunch and went to Wal-Mart...yes, Wal-Mart in Brasil. I got a couple shirts but I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Anyway, we came back to the hotel for a rest and then went to the local Seventh-Day Adventist church for an informal, unofficial interview and mini-concert (There were several people who couldn't afford tickets to tomorrow's concert so we sang a few songs to try to encourage them. The promoter asked for one or two. We sang six or seven.). After that, we went to a very large shopping mall (Yes, I went to the mall. No, I didn't like it.), and back to the hotel for the night.

Now, in every instance of us being in public today, we ended up either taking pictures with people, signing autographs, or both. Even at Wal-Mart were there people ambushing us for a pic. I never expected to sign autographs at Wal-Mart, and especially a brasilian one, but it certainly happened today. In a city of four million, it's bound to happen...I guess. There was potential for all kinds of trouble at the church. Before we got out of the van we were told to stick together and move quickly, not stopping to take pics or sign autographs, because we may not make it into the building. There were people standing in the street waiting for us to drive up and get out so they could try to touch us. Some of them almost got run over. After we finished performing, we took a few special pics and signed some autographs for church staff members and such. They told us the same thing going out because they knew we wouldn't make it out of the building for hours if we didn't hurry. That's no way to be. We can't be a blessing if we can't be around the people. At the same time, we can't be around the people when they mob us because someone is bound to get hurt and we definitely don't want that. It also doesn't help that our faces were on posters hanging in the mall. We couldn't eat our meals without stopping for pics and autographs.

I know it seems like I'm complaining a lot but I'm such a private person that I felt awkward all day with these strange situations. I just need a good night's sleep and a great concert tomorrow.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 7 - Concert em Goiania (Concert in Goiania)

[November 4, 2007] Yep. It's official I'm not cut out to be a rock star. We had a good concert with a great turn out. The 1700 available tickets sold out and they managed to squeeze an extra 500-600 people in the room. Each of them wanted pics and autographs and some wanted us to marry them! It was so crowded that I got claustrophobic...a lot. I mean people were everywhere all the time. It was hot too. The air conditioning was off because of an electrical fire a few days ago that got into the air vents. When we arrived at the venue people ran us to us to take pictures. When we got to the dressing room there were people waiting with stuff to be signed. We had to ask people to leave so we could get dressed, or have our devo without distractions, or even have any personal time at al. It was a mess. Pure insanity! I didn't like it one bit. Maybe some of the other guys like it (Zach Wilson, Allen Brantley) but it's not for me. I guess I've grown too accustomed to being in the road in the U.S. where we show up, set up, perform, take a couple pics and sign a couple autographs, take down, and leave, and people don't go crazy over us. No hassles, no privacy invasions in the dressing room, no threat of security guards who are such big fans that they misplace their priorities and stop doing their jobs...or do too much and not give us privacy.

Okay, I've been complaining too much. We have seen some cool stuff. For instance, Agape and Anderson both opened for us. They all did a fantastic job and we were proud of them. The crowd was all juiced up during the concert which provided a big energy boost for us. Even though we keep having frequency and feedback issues with the sound equipment, we have lots of fun during the concerts. That won't ever change. And people are hearing the Word. That won't change either.

There was so much chaos after the concert that they had to herd us off to a little "cage" area with tables so we could sign autographs and take pictures. Through the mass of people, a man approached me and gave me a huge blessing. He thanked us for sharing the gospel and using our voices and talents to glorify God. He was happy to have us in Goiania but happier to see God through us. It was a real ministry moment, both for him and for me. He ministered to me by encouraging me to keep ministering to others. He was an answer to prayers that the people would see God and not us. Hopefully that trend will spread and God will be exalted instead of us.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 8 - Hora de dormir (Time to sleep)

[November 5, 2007] My sleeping patterns are getting worse. Those of you who know me know that's a bad thing for me to deal with. I'm not feeling so well today. I went to bed around midnight after a very long day and fell asleep fairly quickly. I woke up, though, to go to the bathroom at 3:00 and didn't fall asleep again until nearly 4:30. We had a 6:15 lobby call this morning so I was up before 6:00. I may or may not have gotten 4.5 hours of sleep. That's really unacceptable for me, and especially after a crazy concert.

Everything irritated me this morning. People being loud, people being repetitive, people being repetitive, people repeating themselves, people singing the same annoying song over and over and over and over and people oversleeping and making us late to the airport. We did make it onto the plane after some frustration though. Zac G. had to leave his football behind and have it deflated and put on a plane to Belem because they said it might explode from the pressure. More annoyance. I was ready to punch people...but I didn't.

We took the shortest flight I've ever taken, though. Apparently it only takes twenty minutes to get from Goiania to Brasilia. We made up that time with a two-hour flight to Belem, so it kinda equaled out.

It's hot here! When we arrived at noon it was 93 degrees and humid. I guess that makes sense since we're in the Amazon River Basin. Our promoter for this concert (Martins, pronounced Marcheens) found out that we haven't been resting much so he canceled our interviews for today. Sweet!

So we rested at the missionary school where we're staying. Some guys played soccer, some swam, some slept, some caught up on blogs. We ate dinner with some of the faculty and staff, then some of our people went on a tour of downtown Belem. It has been a restful day. We all needed it. It also helps the attitudes. Those of you who have worked or lived with other people know how easy it is to get on each other's nerves. The same applies here. We are human just like you. We bicker and nag and ruffle each other's feathers and life goes on. Those of you who are praying for us, keep it up. We can't make it without God's help and your prayers only speed that help along.

Tomorrow is concert number three. Belem is home to around 1.3 million people who have no idea what to expect. All we know is that they love Acappella. All they know is that we are here. I think it's gonna be wild...again. We'll make it but it'll be tough.

Well, it's bedtime again, kids. Say your prayers and get good rest. Have a bom dia tomorrow. We'll do the same!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 9 - Concert em Belem (Concert in Bethlehem)

[November 6, 2007] Today was a long and busy day but it was a really good day. We had breakfast around 9:00 and left the compound to go downtown and sing for the Secretary of Culture for Belem. Unfortunately, the secretary had more pressing issues, so we sang for students at the Carlos Gomez Music Conservatory, a school where most of the kids are poor. Belem is a poor region compared to most of the brasilian capital cities. It was kind of weird seeing the contrast between some of the wealthier cities like Campo Grande (which, by the way, means Big Camp) and Belem. It reminded me of Ecuador where, if you have nothing, you have nothing but you find a way to survive because it's necessary. Words can't adequately describe the mobs of people on the side of the road hoping to get picked up to go to work for a very low wage. I was told the average salary in Belem is about 380 reais (sounds like ray-eyes) per month, which translates into less than $200 US dollars. That's so little! Yet, the concert tickets were 30 reais and the 2000-person convention center was sold out completely. We got to share Jesus with a lot of people and heard some great responses. It was clearly the craziest crowd we've had so far, but the love some Jesus. It was also our best performance so far. We hope it will continue to improve like it has been.

I do have a bit of bad news, though. I have suffered the loss of a dear comrade. You may have seen us together, some of you many times. We have been friends for quite a while now. We went through some tough times together but we made it out alright...until now. He may not make it this time. He was severely injured during the concert and I'm really pretty shaken up by the incident...mainly because it was my fault. See, what had happened was, I stuck my hand out to shake a kid's hand and he grabbed my Ecuadorian bracelet and broke the string, losing half of the beads that I spent at least an hour last month repairing...for the second time. I'm really heartbroken about this because it's my "Compassion bracelet." When I look at it I think of the Compassion kids we help support and it's my reminder that real people, real children are suffering more than we know.

Okay, enough with the sad talk. We had a good day and a good concert. We went to the zoo today too. Good times. Pray for my knees, though. I'm feeling a bit arthritic. Moving really slowly tonight. We be aight tho! Another early morning, and it's already after midnight. Hora de dormir!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 10 - Meio la (Half-way there)

[November 7, 2007] It's been a tough day but a wonderful night. We got up at 6:15 for breakfast and left by 7:00 for the airport. We got stuck in morning Belem traffic and got there a little late, but we made our flight. It was a bit of a long, tiring flight with one stopover, one layover, and one bad landing. In the pilot's defense, it was very, very windy and the landing strip was very, very short. He just came down really flat and kinda jarred everyone. We're all fine...although some people can't seem to stop complaining about it.

Anyhoo, we went to lunch once we arrived in Natal. At the tail end of lunch were a few news crews waiting to hold a twenty-minute press conference that we weren't all dressed for. Some of us were in shorts and t-shirts, unshaven, and exhausted from last night's concert and our short night's sleep. We got through it, though, and came to the hotel to get dressed for a couple more interviews, one of which was at a pop radio station right after a Britney Spears song. It was as weird as it sounds. It's all good. After the interviews we came back to eat at a nearby restaurant. This place was so nice and they had completely shut down, except to host us. The food was excellent and we had a great time just talking and enjoying each other's company. Now we're all back in the hotel. Some of the guys went to the beach a couple blocks away for a little while. Some went to bed (Keith and Sharon). Some worked on getting blogs caught up...and are still a few days behind. Ah well. Soon.

I needed the rest anyway. My body is starting to wear down a lot. I'm pretty sure I have a tough of arthritis or something in my knees because it's a chore to get them from being stiff so I can walk. It's tough, but I'm just as tough.

We have reached our half-way point. One week left. Keep praying. We need it!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 11 - Concert em Natal (Concert in Christmas)

[November 8, 2007] Zac spent the night sick and I've had an annoying cough all day. My knees and hips have hurt all day and Zac is still feeling yucky. In other words, we are struggling. It's been a long day and it's just now over. We got up and did three short t.v. interviews, all without Zac, in a couple hours. As a matter of fact, we almost flipped in the van on the way to the last one...a few times. We were in a little bit of a hurry. After we finished that, we went to a restaurant near the hotel, which is near the beach. They surprised us with a special roof top lunch. The view was breathtaking! Nothing but roof tops, sand, and ocean. Muito lindo (very beautiful)! We got Zac some meds and then had a few hours down before going to the venue for sound check. After sound check we sat and waited, and waited, and waited some more. The concert was scheduled for 7:30 and started around 8:30...with four different opening acts, including Anderson. The room was huge and concrete, which means it was hard to hear, and even though there were around 1000 people there, it wasn't even half-way full. Not enough bodies to soak up the sound. Plus, that small crowd was loud enough to drown us out at times. It was all good, though. We got to meet and greet with most everybody there. We got to take a couple pics with my ex-roomate, Jim Kizer's friend, Cris. She went to ACU with him. I went to a fival school. Go Buffs! Either way, we finished that and went back to the same restaurant as last night, which has been my favorite place to eat so far (and you know I like to eat). Very intimate and relaxd with incredible food. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for a night's sleep. No early morning this time. Yay! Zac is starting to feel better, but still needs prayers. Same goes for my knees. Just don't forget that I love you guys and we pray for y'all before every concert. See you soon!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate