You should see this movie

I know it's not brand new or anything but Diana and I just got around to watching it. The Movie is titled "Once" and it is amazing. I will post the trailer at the bottom.

I can't do the plot justice here because it is so well done and there is a lot going on regarding hope, friendship, and music but I will give a brief overview of the main story. The movie is about a street musician/singer/songwriter who meets a woman who is a classical piano player. They enjoy each other's company and end up writing music together and I will not give away the rest. If I say too much it could take some of the "good" out of watching the movie.

The music in this movie is brilliant. The first time they begin playing a song together I lost it. I started crying like a baby. The melody.. the harmony... the lyrics... soooo moving. The movie really is moving. Great plot, adorable characters, super funny, and full of hope. My only suggestion is to watch it with the sub titles. It is filmed in Ireland I believe and it is hard to understand through the Irish dialect. Once you turn them on you don't notice anymore so it's not that difficult.

I also know the band's name responsible for the music is The Frames - and this guy Glen Hansard is way talented. They happen to be playing in Raleigh on March 15. I tried to get tickets but it looks like it maybe sold out already. If anyone has any word on tickets - let me know.

Enjoy the trailer and song below. The song is "Falling Slowly" and it's the one I referenced above. Lyrics - "Take this sinking boat... and point it home... we've still got time..." SO GOOD.

Enjoy!


Trailer




Falling Slowly


Love and Peace,

-Jason

Songs from this past Sunday

Songs from March 2

Here is Our King - David Crowder

Unchanging - Chris Tomlin
Highest and Greatest - Tim Hughes
Oh The Glory of it All - David Crowder
Follow After You - Jason Gore


The idea and direction of the morning was to approach our time of worship as reflection and then response. We take time to reflect on who God is, what He has done, what he is doing, and what He is going to do... and then our response is to worship. Our hope is that our worship doesn't end in singing but in a response of following after Jesus and living out God's Kingdom with our lives.

Peace,

-Jason

A Public Service Announcement

If you take your dog to the public dog park, please do not allow your dog to hump other dogs. If your dog does hump other dogs, please make them stop. If they continue to hump and growl at other dogs when other dogs try and get away, please take your dog somewhere else. Further more, please do not get mad at my dog for growling at your dog when your dog is humping my dog and suggest your dog is just playing. Humping when both parties are not compliant is not called fun, it has another name. Please do not change the subject when I ask you nicely to not let your dog hump my dog (esp. if it's to say - "you should't bring your child to the dog park" - when the city of Raleigh says you can bring children to the dog park. Besides, this has nothing to do with you letting your dog hump my dog.)

For now that is all.

-Jason

ps - This did not happen to me today. I promise.

pss - Today is oppisite day

psss - The "kid" she was referring to is Jeff's son Matthew. Matthew likes to go to the dog park with Tanner and I.





*This message has been brought to you by The Partnership for "A Place Where People Use Common Etiquette"

Songs from Sunday

I was reminded this weekend (twice) that I have been failing to live up to my commitment of posting songs from Sunday morning here. Since I am studying Mathew 5 and specifically what it means for your "yes to be yes" I feel convicted. ;)

Here you go:

Awesome is the Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin

Salvation is Here - Hilsong United

Spring Of Life - Kristian Stanfill

Til I See You - Hilsong United

Teaching

True Love - Phil Wickham

Happy Day - Tim Hughes

Hope you're having a great week!

-Jason

Songs from Sunday

I was reminded this weekend (twice) that I have been failing to live up to my commitment of posting songs from Sunday morning here. Since I am studying Mathew 5 and specifically what it means for your "yes to be yes" I feel convicted. ;)

Here you go:

Awesome is the Lord Most High - Chris Tomlin

Salvation is Here - Hilsong United

Spring Of Life - Kristian Stanfill

Til I See You - Hilsong United

Teaching

True Love - Phil Wickham

Happy Day - Tim Hughes

Hope you're having a great week!

-Jason

Just click the link

This very funny. I recieved this link by a good friend; Mr. Scott Wenger.

Craigslist Ad

I feel like me and this guy could be friends.

-J



(*I am not agreeing that everything written on his post is right or good ;)

I have recieved many emails

I have received many emails regarding Jeff's comments in his message yesterday about people thinking he spends his time "sitting in coffee shops all day..."

It is a touchy subject for me and so I have released a statement to show my feelings on the issue. You may watch it below.



Thank you for your support,

-Jason


after thoughts
*This is obviously a joke. I have received only one email and it was comical. I merely wanted to show this video and saw this as a comical way to do so.

**On a side note - I respect Terrel Owens and Tony Romo for their hard work as NFL Players and the pressure they face from the media regarding their personal lives.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy 2008!!!!

I usually get excited each year about this time. I usually get some things organized and make some promises to myself that a lot of times stick and I believe also benefit my life and I hope those around me.

That got me thinking about how we celebrate New Years each year with such excitement. (Other than an excuse to throw a big party) I believe there is usually great anticipation when it comes to the New Year because we all have a sense of things needing to be renewed. We all feel the need for and are looking for change. I was thinking about that this morning and how it’s great that we have, in the gospel, the promise of all things being renewed. It was exciting for me to think on that this morning and I hope you can rest in that wherever you are and with whatever may be going on in your life… we have the promise of new life starting right now in the Way of Jesus. Praise God!!! I hope that sense of the gospel can flow out of my life and into the lives of others around me that are constantly looking for "new life".

May 2008 be a year of hope, peace, and love being renewed in the life of you, your family, and friends.

-Jason

Songs from this past Sunday

Hallelujah, God is Near - Robbie Seay
Everlasting God - Brenton Brown
Better is One Day - Matt Redman
In Christ Alone - Stuart Townsend - arrangement

From the Inside Our - Hillsong United
All We Need - Charlie Hall


This week my buddy Corey taught. He did a great job focusing us on the new possibilities that are present with Jesus being born and a new Kingdom being present. What I loved most was Corey's authenticity and rawness (the rawness may have had something to do with it being the first time he ever taught in this type of setting ; - I hope hope he never loses it)

have a great week.

Happy New Year!

-Jason

Some of you might not see the irony in this, but...

Chris Collinsworth and Gumbel are announcing the Patriots/Giants game. One of the just mentioned that since this was such a big game, Tom Brady brought his video camera to the game.

Pretty funy...

-Jason

I know it's not funny if you have to explain your own joke - but - For those of you who don't keep up with sports as much as others...

I thought to myself... the last time someone in the Patriots organization had a camera at a football game they got in a lot of trouble...

Songs...

So recently I have gotten a few requests for the names of songs we are playing on Sunday mornings in our times of worship. I will attempt to keep this updated on the Monday or Tuesday after if you're interested.

Last week had these songs in our time of worship:

All Because of Jesus - Steve Fee
Famous One - Chris Tomlin
Joy to The World - Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David

Message/Teaching

Jesus Paid it All - Alex Nifong/Kristian Stanfill
Glorious One - Steve Fee

If you're looking and have trouble tracking any of these down then let me know and I can point you in the right direction.

Peace and Love,

-Jason

A good weekend

So most of this isn't world changing but.. it was a great weekend nonetheless.

1) Friday Diana and I went to a surprise Birthday party for one of her co-workers. That was alot of fun meeting some new people that are outside of the "everyday" group of people I see all the time (no offense Jeff ;) - afterwards we went to target and walmart and did some christmas shopping. We also got to buy some gift cards for some people our church is gonna share some love with over Christmas. Pretty sweet!

2) Saturday morning we held our journey group (discipleship group) info session at Visio Dei and had a great turn out. I am excited to see how God uses this to help our church become more like Jesus. I am honored to follow God with this church and the people who make it what it is.

3) We built a shelf/table in our new shed. I cut wood, drilled, hammered, leveled, measured... you know... man stuff (with diana's help ;)

4) We went and saw Beowulf at the IMAX with Brandon and Julie. Always fun watching Beowulf ripping off Grendel's arm.

5) We had an amazing worship gathering Sunday morning. Jeff's message was great and the time of worship seem very connected, exciting, and authentic.

5a) Outside of Easter last year and a time when we showed a video with Bono speaking on the crisis/s in Africa... it was our largest sunday worship gathering as a church since we started a little over a year ago. - If you know me at all then you know I am not a complete "numbers guy" when it comes to measuring ministry effectiveness (infact it bumms me out thinking of ministry in those terms)... but I will say for where we are in our life cycle as a young infant church... this is awesome! There is something captivating about the gospel at it's core and so it should draw people towards itself and it's exciting to feel apart of what God is doing.

6) I got to play football with a bunch of friends Sunday afternoon. The team I was on lost one game and won the second. I did get to play QB for the second game and had many unlce rico moments during my 5 TD no interception performance ;)

7) This week marked the end of the regular season for fantasy football. I play in two leagues and due to some random shift in the planets I won both of my divisions and will move forward to the playoffs.

So as you can see... many exciting times... lots of fun... a great weekend. I hope your was as wonderful.

love and peace,

-Jason

The Big Surprise... (and a miracle)

*warning - post is a tad bit longer than normal... i do make no apologies as it is rather life changing :)

Well... it's been coming for a while. Some of you may already know about this but if not... I mentioned about a month ago I had some surprises coming over the next few weeks. I, however, have been a bit lazy in the blog world over the last few weeks so alas, here we go.

The Story:
About a month ago my mom sat myself and my brother (Brandon) down and proceeded to tell us a story. She told us with a calm yet nervous tone that when she was 16 she in fact became pregnant and had a baby boy. She then told us that due to family circumstances she was forced to give the baby over for adoption. Due to the times then and family circumstances my mother lived out her pregnancy at a "camp for unwed mothers" and due to this - no one knew other than my mom, her mom and dad (my grandma and grandpa), and my grandma's sister (my great aunt). My own mom's sister didn't even know she was ever pregnate (she was told she was going to stay with her aunt for a while). SO CRAZY RIGHT!!!!

Then she proceeded to tell us that a couple weeks ago she received note in the mail saying "I have wanted to know who my mother was for 36 yrs and I believe I have found you." He had a lot of paper work and stuff to show he was in fact her son (and our brother.) It continued to say that he had no desire to break-up her family or cause trouble to her if this was a bad idea. He did say that if it wouldn't cause any problems then he would love to meet her and any other family he may not know about.

So, she then told us that she had been in communication with him for a couple weeks and in fact met him the day before. She began to smile as she told us a little about him, his wife, and his three beautiful children.

This was (surprise) an emotional moment for my mom, me, and my brother. Brandon and I were both in tears but it wasn't sadness or anger. It was almost a sense of surreal and "wow, we have a brother... what does this mean..." and "now it makes sense why my mom loves us so hard and always has" and "mom seems as though she is free from something that she has carried around for years"

Here is where things get crazy... He (who will now be referred to as Rob - my new, older brother) and his family lives in Apex. They used to live in Cary less than a mile from where my mom and Rick live and where Brandon and I spent our high school and college years calling home.

They also attend Hope Community Church which is the church that my family and I served with for 9 years before we set-out to start Visio Dei in downtown Raleigh. Rob was not going there while I was on staff as they just started going there about 4-5 months ago but it's still crazy.

The story gets even crazier as we have some mutual friends and his adopted family is friends with some of our family... all the while we never knew.

So... I have now met Rob, his wife Kelly, and their 3 beautiful children. He seems to be an awesome guy. I am partial to think this makes him a great guy but i feel as though I can see similarities in him of both myself and Brandon in the way he carries himself and in his appearance. He has Brandon's nose and my hairline and he looks a lot like our grandpa (I really wish he could have met him Papa Gene.)

I would go on to talk more about him but I usually try and keep these posts as short as I can and this one is already relatively long. Long story short... he seems to be driven, hard working, cares about his family, and takes pride in what he does.

Here are some pics from our meeting of their family (which is really our family;):


The entire fam

Momma and her boys (mom, Brandon, me, and Rob)

Rickey and his new grand babies...

Mr. Rob Council (my new, older brother)

Rob playing photo time with his son matthew (Mathew is awesome.. wide open all the time. It's possible he is related to me ;)

Just a picture I took of my mom that night... my mom is pretty

I love this picture. In case you don't know it is my beautiful wife and sister-in-law (Brandon's wife Julie)



So the story is crazy. It honestly feels like we fell into a movie that should be coming out at Christmas time. My mom feels as though she is more free than she has felt in her entire life. I asked her if she thought about this much while we were growing up as a family. She told me "only everyday for 36 years." I am not sure how all this works from here. I am thankful God has allowed me to meet a guy who feels like he belongs in our family. I am thankful my mother can sleep at night knowing her child is alive, safe, and healthy. I am certain there is an element of deep reconciliation and redemption in all of this that I will probably not find words for. Whether or not I can explain it.. I certainly feel it and am thankful i get to experience it.

this is all for now...

Shalom,

-Jason

My buddy Chris...

is over in Africa right now. Feel free to follow along on his blog here. Chris is a great friend, pastor, blogger, father, and husband (he is not the last to for me at all - just a good example.)He has been gone since last Thursday and is kinda all over the place while he is over there. Please keep Chris and his family in your prayers and thoughts over the couple weeks. I am thankful for his willingness to be a part of a change that needs to happen in our world.

peace,

-Jason

Medium sized miracle

OK - as promised... the next item of big news. In the last 16 days I have now only had 3.5 cups of coffee. If you really want details - its been 2 cups of coffee and 1.5 lattes. I went the first 7 days with none at all and then have enjoyed a few over the last week.

I put a halt on things for a few reasons.

1) I was drinking as much as 3-5 cups a day. I fealt very dehydrated even though I drink a lot of water. Honestly - i felt as though i had very self-discipline in this area at all.

2) I sing a bit and i felt the constant singing while being constantly dehydrated was really taking a toll on my throat and voice (this feels better over the last couple weeks)

3) It just cost money to buy coffee and i was buying it a bit "carelessly"

So - that is the medium sized miracle. I assure yout here is a much larger "miracle" coming later in the week.

Stay tuned

-J

A small miracle

It's been over a year since my email inbox has been at zero. Well today it has happened. Yes my friends. Down to zero. Neat, clean, organized. The way things should be. I am content and somehow feel a bit cleaner.

Now here is the tricky part... and it may discredit the job of getting some older emails out of my inbox... I did "archive" a good deal of them. So... if you have an unanswered emails to me... please send them again. :)

On a separate update... the 10 yr reunion went great and we had a great time. It was good seeing old friends, smiling faces, and rehashing some fun times. Man - we've got some memories.. wouldn't change them for the world...

peace,

-J

ps - i titled this post "A Small Miracle" - There could be a post of a large miracle later in the week. Stay tuned.

10 years...

Tomorrow is my 10 yr. high school reunion. Tonight I will scan in some pics if i can find some of the old high school days. Well, on second thought.. maybe i will not. I embarrass myself enough without doing it purposefully.

It's hard to believe it's been 10 years since i have been in high school. I am not sure why but I am a bit nervous of the reunion. I am a fairly socially comfortable person (expect for a slight fear of small rooms with lots of people) but I am just a bit iffy about it. Maybe its that there will prolly be some people that I have some fairly "real" memories with. And even though I haven't spoken with some of them but a few times in the last 5 - 10 years - those real memories were in fact real at some point. My guess is they still are. So yeah.. somehow - some of the people in the room tomorrow night I will have spent a lot of time with laughing, learning, wrestling, playing football, and doin other things I will not mention here - and that happened in a time in our life where we were "becoming ourselves". I dont know... to me that just means alot. Honestly - there are going to be some people in that room that I at one point in my life was very close to - and i just wonder how it will be seeing them after 2,3,5, 10 years after...

Other things run through my head like "was too mean to people?" or "i was so insecure" or "what if someone did some crappy stuff cause I was doing some crappy stuff" - so - yeah... Part of me feels like i need to stand up and say something like... "sorry if I was an *SS H0LE... sorry if me being insecure was a burden on anyone... sorry if me not paying attention in class ticked you off.. and sorry if i was apart of doing something that might have damaged you as a person... I was young, insecure, and was just trying my best to find my way.... thank you... you may now carry on."

I will let you know if I do this... Hopefully I will not.

On the real though... I had a lot of fun in high school. Made some great friends. Had some great teachers. Had some amazing coaches. Had some more fun. Won some great football games and wrestling matches... which led to more fun. So - I am looking forward to the reunion... looking forward to seeing some folks in my life from back then when life was a bit simplier... i just bet it could be a bit odd at some point... maybe my announcement could make things even more so... we shall see...

peace and love,

-J

ps - I think this officially makes me not a kid anymore

Today I am a bike commuter.

I like it so far. It was cold this morning. I wonder if I could pull this off full time. I have a really good cup of coffee right now. it is cool outside. i am going ot the fair tonight with family and friends.

sentences. write them.

The Wreck

I have intentionally not posted about the wreck for about a month for a couple reasons.

1) I didn't want it to seem like I was looking for a few charitable "awwwwwws"

2) I didn't want to make very light of the situation b/c it was a bad situation and could have been a lot worse.

Now that some time has passed - here are the details.

Monday night, September 10th I was driving on New Bern Ave. Upon entering the Tarboro Rd intersection I all of a sudden felt like a shotgun went off in my head. Apparently I was creamed by a guy who ran red light while trying to escape from the police. They hit me on the driver side just in front of my door and sent me spinning. They flipped over my car and landed on their side (which is where they were when I got out of my car.)

When I got out of my car their were people with guns already drawn and a lot of screaming. The only problem was these people with guns were in street clothes and there were no police cars or sirens at first. SO - just so you know, if you are plowed by another vehicle and are a bit dizzy and incoherent and people have guns out and are yelling - you are afraid.

I finally noticed one of the guys with a gun had a badge on his belt and I noticed a minivan with a guy in it (which is the vehicle that was following Mr. Bad Guy) - I finally put 2 and 2 together that this was an undercover deal (turns out to be a special undercover squad after a guy wanted for armed robbery.)

I had headaches pretty bad for the first week and was a bit "fuzzy" but now most of that is gone.

My car was deemed totaled and now I am trying to find a new car (new old car most likely) and that is pretty frustrating.

The thoughts that went through my head when it happened were in order:

1) what the heck just happened

2) i think i got hit

3) I hope i live to see Diana again

4) i think that was an air bag

5) when am i going to stop spinning - this is not good

6) i hope there is not a semi-truck coming who can't dodge me

7) whoa - i am ok i think

8) how in the world am i ok - (thank you God)

9) why are people yelling with guns

10) I am a little scared


Here are some pics from where they towed my car:


refer to thought number 4


my front end was bent over about 2 - 3 feet... frame and all



Yes it is leaning over... that front tire isn't really connected to anything


refer to thought number 2


This is the coolest part. We actually found the video footage from the traffic light there at the intersection and saw the whole thing happen. Feel free to check it out. I am a little embarresed of how I handled myself.



On a serious note - It could have been a lot worse. I have probably never felt so protected in my entire life. I am thankful to still be around and enjoying life with all my family and friends.

Peace and love,

-J

A Good Story

We went to Hendersonville this weekend for Amy's wedding (Amy is Diana's sister.) On the way home we were extremely tired from all the festivities of the weekend. I decided to drive because I knew Diana was exhausted.

It wasn't long before she fell asleep.
But then I started to get a bit tired. I thought... man... I wish I could just pull ever. Then Tanner was like... "do you think I can drive?"

I said, "no way man. you're a dog. you're a puppy. You're not even 14 weeks old. you can't drive."

but then i got to thinkin... I am really tired... and German Shepherds are really smart, right... So I asked him, "Are you sure you are feeling up to it?"

He said, "Look at this face... please, please...."

So i said ok.... I gave him a chance and much to my surprise... he did great!

I soon feel asleep for a nice nap. I am not sure how much time passed.

Later however, I was scared to wake up and find that he was not paying to much attention to road in front of him. There was a poodle in the car beside us and he was swerving over to get her attention. Of course I took the wheel immediately.

So then I did what any responsible dog owner would do... I put him back in the back seat for the rest of the way home. He was a bit sad.. but I think he understood.

At least I got a good nap in.

This has been The Adventures of Tanner. For now that is all. See you next time.

-Jason