He Chose the Nails

I was going through a box in our bedroom and found a live recording of an Easter concert we did for several nights at Otter Creek several years ago called "He Chose the Nails". It is based off the book by the same title by Max Lucado. I had forgotten how great everyone sounded...even though there was NO editing or cleaning up or tuning. As in any untouched live recording, there are some mistakes, but it was still so sweet! The band was incredible! David Woodard and Jason Patrick did a fantastic job of leading them. John Catchings blessed us with his world famous cello skills too which just made the concerts so much better.

The vocals really sounded sweet too. Part of it is because I am partial to all those people...but man, they all sounded great! It put the biggest smile on my face to revisit this.

I am including a widget here (sound clip) from the concert. This is my wife Sheryl singing "How Beautiful". It might be one of my favorite songs to hear her sing. Kills me! And then when the cello comes in and the choir behind her. I still get chills. Click on the underlined song title and it should play.

15 HCTN How Beauti...

Hosted by eSnips

If you'd like to hear more, I uploaded a bunch of the CD from the evening on Esnips where you can listen to all of it or even download it if you want. Be sure to listen to "Because of Love" too. "You Are My King" and "Made to Worship" are fun too. Tim Woodroof also did a great job narrating that night. The website for this folder online is http://www.esnips.com/web/HeChosetheNails

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Feedback

Hi bloggers...
I know this blog gets a lot of traffic from various sources. Some of you end up here through google search for information on cruises or shows, others of you are here because you know ZOE or me. For those in the later category, I would really love to hear your thoughts on the previous post. Feel free to leave a comment and weigh in. I'm curious how some of those thoughts strike you guys out there. There is a good set of comments already going, but I wanted to take a minute and invite you to go back to that last post and join the discussion. I want to hear what you think.

Thanks!

Distraction

Sunday morning we walked into the worship center and the chairs had all been switched around into two sections facing each other. As Lloyd opened the service he talked about what happens when our "order" is distracted. They had rearranged the chairs on purpose...just to shake things up a bit and gently awaken people from the norm...even something as basic as seating. It's crazy how little things affect us. For me, it was great! I liked things being rearranged a little and I think it's good for us to have to get out of our comfort zone.

I've always thought it was weird when people complained about things in worship being out of their comfort zone. It's a bit ironic when you think about it. Worship...true worship does not leave us as we were. It is never about us. It is always about the unsurprising greatness of our Father and what HE wants to do in us and this world...or even simply about who HE is.

I believe the Lord DOES comfort us as we worship...but more than anything, I think He wants to prod us and convict our hearts. Frankly, when something is not to our liking or preference, sometimes we have to just get over it. Maybe it's in the discomfort that the Lord is trying to speak to you. Maybe that discomfort is the gentle hand of the Father leading us away from ourselves.

Ronnie Freeman rocked it leading Sunday morning. Lloyd taught, as he always does, with great wisdom and depth. But, the thing that meant the most to me was getting to worship with my family and with the Batsons who were there with us. Lloyd reminded us that we were made to be in relationship...even God is in relationship with Himself...the three in one. It is a beautiful thing to have friends who walk with you and who know you inside out. It just serves as a reminder that the relationship we are in with our Father is one of deep intimacy. There is nothing hidden from Him. He KNOWS us inside out...and loves us in spite of ourselves.

Blessed Be the Lord who would not give us up!
Blessed be the Lord for His unfailing love.
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the Lord!

New York Auditions

Trick or Treat 2009

Saturday seemed like a long day. The kids were ready about noon to trick-or-treat. We met at the Batson's early that evening ready to roll!

Batgirl, Ella the soda shop waitress and Sharkboy

The Batson and Thomas kids were a force to be reckoned with

Grant gave everyone the watch-for-crazy-drivers speech. Good thing he did. We encountered one. Hello, people??!! Who speeds through a neighborhood on Halloween??

Sam and Michael

Sheryl, Grant and Jill Batson and me

Today we finished our Discovery Classes at Fellowship. It has been a great series of classes and very encouraging spiritually. After church we had a ZOE meeting at our house. It was great to be together. What a great second family we have in all of them. 13 years is a long time to journey together. We've all grown up together in a way. What a blessing to have relationships like that. We will be travelling to Atlanta in a few weeks to sing. Hope to see some of you there!

Have a great week, blog family!

Last weekend we went to Trunk or Treat at Otter Creek. The kids had a blast. We took our good friends Grant and Jill Batson and their kids. Everyone enjoyed themselves.

In true Sheryl fashion, she transformed herself into Lucy...and totally looked the part! She also made each of the kids' costumes by hand. Way to go, Sheryl!

Ella was a malt shop waitress. Maddie was Batgirl. Sam was Shark Boy... and Sheryl was Lucy

The Thomas kids and the Batson kids.

Maddie as Batgirl

Sheryl and Amy Westerman

On Monday night we went to the TV taping of Amy Grant's "Holiday Postcards From Home" at the Grand Ol' Opry. It was so great! Take 6 was there as special guests. The Air Force Reserve band played as well as the Air Force Strings. It was a gorgeous full orchestra! I had gotten tickets through work and so we made a family night of it and had Kiki and Kevin, Mom and her friend Dorris Colvet, and our adopted daughter Dani and her friend Maria.

Bird's-eye view of the stage

Take 6 performs

Amy sings "Tender Tennessee Christmas"

This special will air on the Armed Forces channel on Christmas Eve. I'm guessing it will air elsewhere too. I'll keep you posted.

Sheryl has a couple of new pictures on her blog from an arrangement she did as a centerpiece for a formal Asian themed gala. Check them out at http://www.sherylthomasflorals.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend, blog friends!

Perfect Fall Day

This morning we slept in a little and ended up hitting the 11am service at Fellowship. It's so great to actually have a Sunday morning where you're not rushed and show up to worship with your wits about you. :)

Ronnie Freeman had lost his voice but the worship team carried on while he played keys. We sang several of my favorites including "No Sweeter Name" and "Desert Song". I am so glad we put those on the new ZOE CD. (speaking of...I'd love to hear from you guys...how do you like the new CD??)

After church we went to my mom's for lunch. The Langfords (some friends from Texas) were visiting and we had a nice time of catching up on life. The kids love going to my mom's. It's such a HUGE blessing. The role of grandparents cannot be emphasized enough!

This afternoon, Maddie, Ella, Sam and I played football in the back yard. It was a sunny, but crisp fall day. The leaves crunched under our feet. Our noses ran. It was perfect. We even built a little bonfire and roasted some marshmallows.

We ended our Sunday night as we often do...by watching Extreme Home Makeover. Our kids love that show. As they commented tonight during commercials, it struck me...this is also teaching them the way of Christ. The whole act of helping those in need is certainly not lost on them.

Last week marked 18 years since the death of my dad. Many of you knew him or have heard stories about him. He was something. My kids often say, "I can't wait to meet Poppy someday." I hope they can. He was a great man and a great influence on many. And...he did a lot of it through humor.

I'll close with an excerpt from my mom's blog. I had completely forgotten this story and it made me laugh out loud. This was my dad...

Eighteen years ago last night just before midnight, a large group of people, Brandon and I were sitting on the fifth floor of Hendrick Memorial Hospital listening to the last breath of my husband Sam. He had fought a valiant 8year fight with prostate cancer, and it had won.

Although the mood was somber, we couldn't help but tell some Sam Thomas stories. Sam was a notorious prankster. After he became a principal, there was the story about his interview with a prospective, newly graduated teacher. Seems she had slipped her shoes off during the interview, and he had somehow maneuvered to get them under his desk. When the interview was over, the woman realized she couldn't find her shoes. She was embarrassed to ask, so just started walking toward the door barefoot, until Sam confessed and rescued her. She got the job.

His favorite thing to do was to put plastic bugs or snakes in the mail boxes of unsuspecting teachers (it didn't take long for them to catch on). The teachers could always look for candy in their mailboxes on Monday and many times there would be a personal note of encouragement, as well.

He loved stealing lunches of his teaching buddies and putting paper in the sandwich and then returning the lunch to its proper place. If we had guests for dinner, a large ugly plastic fly would find its way to the bottom of the ice tea glass, or a plastic piece of cheese would be placed among the other pieces. I couldn't do much about his propensity for fun--I loved it.

Even after all these years, I miss his sense of fun and his warmth. Love you, Sam!

Yes, love you, Dad!

Saturday Life

ACU--ranked #1 in the nation fell today to West Texas. BOOOOOOOOOOO!!! What a great game though. It was so fun to follow @acuoptimist on Twitter!

On the other hand, the University of Texas showed their stuff today by beating OU. HOOK 'EM HORNS!

Sheryl and I watched "The Proposal" last night. Cute movie.

Lots on our mind this weekend. We're living in some very uncertain times. Sheryl's brother Shelby lost his son yesterday. Matt was 27. We don't have a lot of details yet, but we're all sad. Please pray for Shelby and his family.

Sometimes things just get put into perspective.

Mary Alice Duncan Photography

Many of you know Phillip Duncan who sings some with ZOE and is a good friend of mine. His wife (also a good friend) has an amazing photography business that you HAVE to check out. Run, don't walk, to this website http://www.maryaliceduncanphotography.com

*notice some of the first pictures are of ZOE's own Amanda McKinney Vickers! Awesome shots Amanda and Mary Alice!

Praise God for weekends!

Welcome Fall

1 Chronicles 16--

31 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, "The LORD reigns!"

32 Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!

33 Then the trees of the forest will sing,
they will sing for joy before the LORD,
for he comes to judge the earth.

34 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Thank you to Grant Batson this morning for being a David in my life and ministering to me through prayer, the Word, and hearing his amazing skill on the guitar. God sat with us this morning over coffee.

If anyone loves guitars, check out his work http://www.batsonguitars.com/ or follow him on Twitter: @batsonguitars

NCL Spirit Fall 2009

I returned on Friday from a week of intense show installs on the NCL Spirit. There are three shows (2 of them brand new) going out there so this cast had their hands full. We all went out and for a week worked around the clock trying to get the shows up and running. Thanks to Jason, lighting designer from Nine Inch Nails, for the amazing light design. Thank you to Gavin who did the sound design. Thank you to all the wonderful costumers who came to the ship and worked so hard...Lee Ann, Rose and Julie. Thank you to Angi who was a fantastic production manager. Thank you to Paul--their very gracious and kind cruise director. And, thank you to Robert Hertenstein at NCL for his presence and keen eye.

The cast did an amazing job. Kudos to Jenna, Becca, Ryan, John M, John S, Tobin, Michael, Cass, Kristen, Jessica, Lauren, and Carlos.

The ship's itinerary was really beautiful--although none of us were able to get off the ship all week. We went from Boston to Maine, up to Nova Scotia, and around into Quebec City, CA.


The cast...at the end of the week as we celebrated the successful opening of both shows.

L-R: Robert Hertenstein (NCL Entertainment), The Spirit's stage manager, Rusty, Angi Weiss-Brandt-our production manager, Jason Bullock (lighting designer) and me.

Jessica, me, Cass, Lauren, and Ryan

We made these motor cycle fronts for the rock show. They were really cool! Great job, Gary Musick Scenic!

"Life in the Fast Lane" from Soul Rockin' Nights

Ryan--country section of "Soul Rockin' Nights"

Jenna--country section

Becca sings "Last Dance"

Ryan sings "Love the One You're With"

Pinball Wizard from Soul Rockin' Nights

The theater on board the Spirit

The cast also did a show called "On Broadway". It features sections from Mama Mia, Wicked, Movin' Out (the music of Billy Joel), Swing, and Hairspray. It's a fun show!

One of the difficult parts of show installs is not only working out the staging of the show, but also adding lights, sound and costumes. They were all very patient with their costume fittings. It can be very tedious but our costumers make it fun.

costumes for Mama Mia

Jenna and Becca as Glinda and Elphaba from "Wicked"

Jessica and Kristen in their "Wicked" costumes

singers...Becca, John, Ryan and Jenna in their "Swing" costumes

"Hairspray" costumes

Jenna, Becca, Jessica and Kristen showing some "Hairspray" attitude

Opener of "On Broadway"

rehearsal of "One Short Day" from "Wicked"

"Hairspray"

This was taken in Nova Scotia...it looked beautiful but cold. The deck was as close as I could get to land with our rehearsal schedule.

"Soul Rockin' Nights" opener

"Cloud Nine" from "Soul Rockin' Nights"

"Dance to the Music" from "Soul Rockin' Nights"--the cast was having a great time in rehearsal. This number in the actual show was really awesome and the audience loved it!

"Life in the Fast Lane" from SRN--these are the bikes from the earlier picture. Really cool.

"Fire and Rain" in SRN--John has seen some fire and rain in his own life. He is a great guy and his own experiences made this song really come to life in the show. And HOW had I never heard the real story behind James Taylor's "Fire and Rain"??

part of the Folk section of "Soul Rockin' Nights" rehearsal

Pinball Wizard..."Soul Rockin' Nights"

ZOE Conference 2009 "Inside Out"

I made it home from the NCL Spirit (I will post some pics and video later from that trip). I came back just in time to finish out the 2009 ZOE Conference. Friday night we had several families over for dinner. It's always such a great time to see special friends.


Two of my very best friends and our sons...Peter and Brayden, Sam and me, and Josh and Noah.

Baby Brayden and Lindsey

Pete and Sam

Maddie and Brayden (the kids were enthralled with Brayden)

Philp Organ, Kevin Penna and Peter Wilson...waiting to sing with ZOE at the conference

Amy Westerman and Karin Hensley preparing to sing with ZOE

Greg Taylor served as the MC for the weekend at ZOE

Josh captivated the audience yesterday afternoon. I love his heart. He's a good man and a good friend. I've learned a lot from Josh.

Rich Smith teaching at the ZOE conference

After the conference, we went out to celebrate. There's a new Texas BBQ place in Brentwood called Judge Beans. INCREDIBLE!! It was like a little piece of home in Tennessee. I've lived here 14 years but still consider TX home.

Family! Zach, Peter and Lindsey, Sheryl and me, Taylor and Bruce

Ella really loved holding Brayden. She loves babies but really LOVED Brayden.

Peter and Sam.

Bruce and Taylor stayed with us for the weekend along with Sam and Scott Souder. I didn't get any pictures with Sam and Scott. It was so awesome having all of them in our home.

This morning we stayed in and had our own devotional here with The Morgans, Wilsons, and Souders. It was a very special time. Afterwards, Taylor made the most incredible breakfast. I am so grateful for them and how they've blessed our lives over the years.




Bruce and Taylor are so great with our kids. Bruce won them over a couple of years ago when we were all at the beach together in Malibu. Bruce helped them rehearse for an afternoon "show". The kids ate up every second of it.

Sam made up the words to this one. He likes to sing it...a LOT. It is the song that never ends....yes it goes on and on my friends...!

Though I missed most of the weekend, I was so thrilled to get some time with all those who were here for ZOE and to get to worship with everyone at in the Saturday sessions. It was a great day! I am exhausted this afternoon and ready for a looooooong nap. I have a lot to process from the weekend and a LOT to be thankful for!

To everyone who came to the conference--God bless your travels home. Hope to see you next year!

NCL Spirit

"Soul Rockin' Nights" opened to great reviews on the NCL Spirit last night. The cast did a great job! The lighting was amazing (thanks to Jason--lighting designer for Nine Inch Nails). Congrats to everyone! No rest for the weary--we're back in the theater all day today getting ready to open the Broadway show on Thursday.

I fly home Friday from Quebec City to Montreal to Toronto...finally into Nashville. Please pray all flights go on schedule so I can make it back for the last half of the weekend. Looking forward to ZOE!

ZOE Inside Out

The countdown to the 2009 Nashville ZOE Conference is underway...just one week from today! How many of you are coming? The CD released this week. I am anxious to hear feedback from those of you who are blog readers. Please let us know what you think!

I leave in the morning for the Norwegian Spirit...taking out a brand new cast and 2 new shows along with Robert Hertenstein from NCL and Angi Weis (production mngr from Gary Musick). The cast has worked very hard to be ready for their debut. It will be a tough week. Please keep all of us in your prayers.

I am looking forward to seeing some of you next weekend at ZOE. I will be late, but I'll be there.

PS: Palmer Richardson

I meant to include this in the earlier post...please pray for our friends Scott and Lori Ann Richardson and their family. They are in Dallas tonight preparing their teenaged daughter, Palmer, for hip replacement surgery tomorrow morning. Palmer is a cancer survivor but her body will need a lot more fixes before it's all said and done. This is Prentice Meador's grand daughter. We love this family. The Richardsons go to Fellowship with us in Nashville and Scott has been a great friend and brother. Please pray for their peace of mind tonight and that Palmer's surgery goes well tomorrow. We love you guys!

Eventful Weekend

It's been a very full and good weekend. We spent time today with ZOE refreshing our minds on all the new music we recorded over the summer in preparation for the ZOE conference in 2 weeks. We're looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible!



Ella captured this picture as we were singing downstairs. If you'll notice...Sam is curled up in a ball of remorse. He had just confessed to Sheryl that he had dumped his chicken fingers in the trash and grabbed a fruit roll up. ;)

Friday night we went over to the Penna's house for dinner (thank you, Kiki and Kevin!) and the kids were all over Gracie. She's such a cutie!

Love this of Gracie. And of course...I am sporting my Texas shirt. The game was INCRDIBLE last night! Both QB's were from Abilene...Potts and McCoy. Colt's uncle was my roommate for a bit here in Nashville. His grandmother and my mom pledged together back in the day. Love that family. It was cool to hear the announcer on ABC talk about how both QB's grew up in Abilene and went to church together. It was an awesome game! Hook 'em HORNS!

This morning we continued through our Discovery 1 & 2 classes at Fellowship (2 Sundays left!). It has been really amazing. This morning Doug said, "Community is a lot like life on Noah's Ark...it can get pretty messy at times but the alternative is to jump overboard and drown." Love it. So true! After class we went to the worship segment of 3rd service and then went home to get ready for the ZOE's who were coming over for rehearsal. We sang "No Sweeter Name" and "It's All Because of Jesus" this morning. Both of those are on the upcoming ZOE CD which should release this Tuesday! I love both of those songs!

After ZOE left we gathered up the family and drove over to the rehearsal studio for a run of the Spirit Broadway show. I have been working with this cast for several weeks. We leave Friday.

John and Jenna sing "The Winner Takes it All" from Mama Mia

Jenna and Becca sing "One Short Day" from Wicked

Claire Williams who I have worked with for a couple of years was there with her son, Jack. Claire has been a dear friend. She's one of our choreographers and is awesome. For Ella's birthday she came and taught all the 6 yr old ballerinas some movement to "The Nutcracker". Claire is from the UK and has a proper British accent. Ella loved having her at her party. She brought Claire some original art that she had made for her today.

"No One Mourns the Wicked" from Wicked

"One Short Day" from Wicked

"Popular" from Wicked

"Defying Gravity" from Wicked

And...over the weekend, my kids pulled out an old video of one of my shows at Six Flags Over Texas from 100 years ago. CRAZY! It was fun seeing all those old friends and re-living those memories. I'm ready for Christmas!

Have a great week Blog family!