Bethel Hoops

I'm already pumped about bethel basketball this season. I don't know if they're going to be good seeing as they only have on senior on the team this year, but I"m still pumped. If you head over to Bethel Hoops, you can see this as the new header. A Jeff Myers original. And by original I mean a knock-off of a Duke basketball poster from last year.

Pulse FM

Just on the outside chance that there are any people that read my blog that DON'T already read Corey Mann's blog, I thought I'd inform you all that he is now the morning show DJ on Pulse FM 96.9 on your radio dial. I personally do not own a radio except for in my car, which I had to learn how to work monday morning at 5 a.m. just so I could hear his debut (which was actually tuesday...oops). I haven't listen to radio since I was middle school, when the only thing my parents would allow me to listen to was the local oldies station, and let me just say, if any of you wonder why I have absolutly no taste in music, you can blame that on good old 106.3 "The Eagle" out of Ottawa, Ohio. But if you use your radio, or maybe if you just love Corey, or perhaps you want to know, 'who is this man that Jeff Myers wants to be like all the darn time?' Well turn on your radio and there he will be...pumping out the power praise tunes, churning out Nicole C Mullens at 2,000 watts, and giving you the time and temperature, just in case your S.U.V.'s in dash display doens't already tell you.

Who's goin left?

Corey did a great job speaking at Lifeline tonight. He talked about stepping up. God doesn't need us to do anything, but He wants us to be a part of His kingdom. He pushed the kids to do something, and be a part of the ministry at church, serve and pray for their schools, and do whatever else they can for God. And I think the students really responded to that call. There was definitely a different attitude in the room after Corey finished speaking.

But the entire time he was speaking, I couldn't get this image out of my head...

Does anyone remember this scene in the movie "Saving Private Ryan?" Captain Miller is asking his men to do something they don't really feel like doing. They keep making excuses and trying to find a way to talk him out of charging an enemy bunker. At one point, one of his men says "Seems like an un-necessary risk given our objective ,sir." To which he replies, "Our objective is to win the war." I'm guilty of that a lot with God. I see things that are wrong, but I don't take any action, because I feel like it's not my job, or its a job for some one with different giftings. That may be the case sometimes, but definitely not as often as I use the excuse.
But the real thing that catches me about this scene is when the Captain is making his battle plan. He assigns on man to go right, says he'll go up the middle, and then asks..."Who's goin left?" No one responds. Finally after an akward silence, a man who really shouldn't be volunteering steps up, because no one else does. A few moments later, you can see the regret in the sergeants eyes for not volunteering. He tries to make up for it, but it's too late. I don't ever want to feel like that with God. I don't want to have try and weasel my way back in with God after I intentionally didn't step up to something He was calling me to. Luckily, we have a God who won't tell us..."maybe you should shut up!" when we ask Him for forgiveness. But I need to remember that sometimes there's things in the Christian life that I don't really feel like doing, but I do them anyway. I do them because I love God, and I love his people. It won't always be fun, but it's our duty.

Snakes on a Plane

Two thumbs up. Dumbest movie I've ever seen and I loved every second of it. First time I've ever been to a dollar movie and the entire theater erupted in applause when the movie ended. Loved it.

Notre Dame vs. Michigan State

First Quarter...

Second Quarter

Third Quarter

Fourth Quarter

Drummer love...or ?uestlove

So some interesting taste sightings.

"The Roots" were on Leno on September 7th. As I was watching, I noticed that their drummer, Ahmir '?uestlove' Thompson, was using the exact same Yamaha drumset that I have, even the same silver sparkle paint job. He even uses the same cymbals that I use (ya that's right, who needs A customs, A is good enough) on that set. I felt loved



Shand and Shane were at GCC today, and from the back of the room, it looked like he was playing a kit with the exact same dimesions and specs as my gretsch kit that I have used for the accoustic new communities and virtually every club gig I've ever played. Even the same silver sparkle paint job. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I was wrong, but even more right. I saw that he actually had a half sized 18" kick drum, which is the same as the one I have in my apartment. He also used Bosphorus cymbals, which I have been advocating for the last two years. Again, some tasty affirmation.

Diana Krall - From This Moment On

Ok......WOW. I know I said Leeland was the best c.d. I'd heard in a long while. Well sorry Leeland, you've been ousted. Alright that's a bit much. They're in two seperate categories. However, I haven't been so excited for an album release in a long time. When I heard the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra did all the arrangements and backed the whole album, I was instantly pumped. Anybody who knows me well knows I have a little bit of an obsession with Jeff Hamilton. You can see why here. But anyway, I got the album last night and I love it. Just as much energy as a Connick album, with a lot better drumming and a heck of a lot better intonation. If you like jazz, get this album. If you don't like jazz, step out of your box and buy this album. If you don't listen to music, grow up and buy this album.

Field of Dreams

I know I might be hated for this, but this movie made absolutely no sense to me. And I realize that movies don't always have to make sense, but a lot of those movies give you a feeling of, 'this movie doens't have to make sense, just go with it.' I didn't get that vibe in this movie. I thought eventually it was gonna make sense, but I was wrong. Hmmmm.....oh well. I always like a baseball movie, and I think Kevin Costner has done three.

LIFELINE IS BACK

That's right...LIFELINE IS BACK!!! So much anticipation ever since I started this internship, and now it's finally here. God's going to do some amazing things this year at LIFELINE. Here's my top ten list from last night.

10. "Scream your favorite Country on 3"
9. "Sorry to use harsh letters"
8. "I'm going to tarintino it"
7. "No actually, it doens't start in genesis" Oh if Corey could've heard the reaction to that in the back row.
6. Power Outage
5. Dustin Maust new song debut "Our Love is Always"
4. Redoing powerpoint at 5:50
3. Mexico video....times two
2. My first words spoken to lifeline..."Who thinks this is akward?"
1. "And (jesus) is coming tonight, actually right through that door right now!.....Ok not really, but you looked."

My Weekend Prediction

Who's got dat witch?

On the last P.O.D. album "Testify," there was a song at the end called Mark My Words. In the middle of the song, it made a reference to the the White Witch from the "Chronicles of Narnia." There was one repeated line at the end of the song that said "Who's got that witch?" I don't really know if this is what the songs about, but when we were in Mexico, I was told that it was about friends looking out for one another; watching each others backs. Lately, I've been going through a lot of rough things, but I think I've come through it. I've told all of these people thank you, but I would like you all to meet the "Who's got dat witch?" All-Star Team. I give a huge thank you to these people...

-Corey Mann
-Johnny Keim
-The boys of EYPie, especially...
-Jeff DeSelm
-Andrew Schaefer
-Robbie Lightfoot
-Bobby Morton
-Geoff King
-Brian Spenn
-Mark Beeson
-Kevin Coates
-Jen and Patrick Thompson
-Trace Rorie
-Kara Weaver
-And last but not least, my mom. Mom and I had a chat at about 1:30 in the morning last week that really changed the way I've been looking at things. It's probably the best conversation I have ever had with my mother.

These people have all really stood by me in these last few weeks and have helped me. They are amazing people. I know I probably missed some people, and I apologize. I know a lot of you have been praying for me, and I appreciate it.

Stampede

Has anybody ever seen the movie, "The Lion King?" If you have, recall the scene where Simba get's caught in the stampede. Right before the stampede starts, all you can hear is this low rumble. And it's not the good-towels in the dryer-low rumble. It's more like the-here comes the death star-low rumble. And like an idiot, he just stood there confused. Not until he saw all those animals barreling down on him did he take off running. Then of course, daddy had to come down and save his butt, and we all saw what happened from there.

I don't want to be ultra-revealing about my life or anything, but I think that pretty aptly describes the last few months of my life. I heard the rumble....oh....I heard it alright. I knew something was coming. I vividly remember sitting down and telling Andrew Schaefer that I heard it. I guess I was just hoping that maybe that low rumble was a more of a-when the furnace kicks on-low rumble, rather than a-when all the kids go running for the dodgeballs at the beginning of the game, and you're the fat kid-low rumble. Well it happened, the stampede came rolling down the hill, and I was too late. I was stuck in the middle of a gigantic swarm of bad news. Call it satan, call it the consequences of my actions, call it bad timing, call it whatever you want. Bad news from all angles friends. I went to Steak and Shake tonight at about 1:30 in the morning, and just sat there, looking out the window at nothing. Why didn't I get prayed up when I felt it was coming? Why wasn't I ready? How could I let this happen? I wasn't mad at God. It's not His fault I wasn't ready when the hard stuff came. I had nobody to blame but the guy who was staring back at me in my bowl of soup.

---BUT---

I came home, sitting in my chair, wondering how in the world I was going to get to sleep tonight with everything I had on my mind when God decided He'd clear his throat a bit. He reminded me of a verse that I was so focused on at the beginning of this summer, and forgot all about. Jeremiah 2:13: "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water." When all these things in my life were falling away from me, it felt like my life was falling apart. God reminded me in that moment tonight that He is the number one focus of my life. I let all of these side things take priority all too often, and it get's me into trouble. I need to always be mindful of the fountian of living water, and be focused on God; let Him always be the center. And when I hear the rumbling, I don't have to be worried. I can just hold tight to that knowledge. I can know that life can rumble and shake me up all it wants. God's ultimatly in control of all of it.

I know it sounds corny. I know you've probably heard it before. But sometimes, the simple things don't ring true until you're forced to realize it on your own. I can wake up tommorow knowing that what I thought was a mess really isn't a mess at all. It's just God shifting my course a bit. And sure, it'll be a little weird, and it'll take some getting used to where He is taking me. But there's so much hope in knowing God is taking me wherever I'm going. So bring on the weirdness. I'm ready now...

Leeland

Well, Corey was right. The band Leeland is amazing! I bought their c.d. so I'd have something to enjoy while I was driving to Detroit this weekend. In particular, the last song the album really touched me. I'm not really one to get all caught up in lyrics, because I usually only listen to the melodies, but this really struck me. Buy the c.d...enjoy it....let me know what you think.

"Carried to the Table" -Leeland

Wounded and forsaken
I was shattered by the fall
Broken and forgotten
Feeling lost and all alone
Summoned by the King
Into the Master’s courts
Lifted by the Savior
And cradled in His arms

I was carried to the table
Seated where I don’t belong
Carried to the table
Swept away by His love
And I don’t see my brokenness anymore
When I’m seated at the table of the Lord
I’m carried to the table
The table of the Lord

Fighting thoughts of fear
And wondering why He called my name
Am I good enough to share this cup
This world has left me lame
Even in my weakness
The Savior called my name
In His Holy presence
I’m healed and unashamed

You carried me, my God
You carried me

I LOVE COLLEGE FOOTBALL!!!

So today was a day I look forward to every year. Ever since I started college, I loved saturdays in the fall. Those days usually consist of this: Wake up about noon, roll out to a couch somewhere near my bed, eat cereal, watch football for 12 straight hours. And today was no exception. I spent the night over at donaldson house last night so I wouldn't have to drive anywhere to commense college football watching. I woke on the couch in the living room of the donaldson house in my pj's, where I stayed for the next several hours. We watched Michigan roll over Vanderbilt, Ohio State dominate NIU, took a short break to go to GCC for evening service which was AMAZING by the way. Great music, great drama featuring some drama team first timers like my good friend Amy Franklin, and a tight message which actually didn't get finished but who cares. Anyway, back to the house to watch Tennessee upset California. Then we all hopped in the car really quick to go pick up some domino's to go, shove it in our pie whole's, and settle in to watch Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech. It was a great game, and yes I was a bit scared at times. But ya know what, to you nay sayers out there. The other top ranked teams who rolled over their opponents today didn't play anybody good. Who'd Michigan play agian? Who was that Ohio State killed? Oh ya, nobody! Notre Dame played a team that might just win the ACC, and a team who had some huge upsets last year. I see good things for Notre Dame's season. It's hard to roll into a decent teams home stadium and win I'm sure, especially with expectations Notre Dame has. But all in all, today was a great day. The Irish won and the Buckeye's won. What more could you ask for...oh ya, Miami of ohio lost yesterday, so that makes it even better. Jeff...out.