So any of you that are following me on Twitter know the morning that I’ve had, and are probably sick of hearing about this, but for the rest of you here’s some pictures from my day so far.

This morning Jonny Diaz was scheduled to play at a church about 2 or 3 hours from the venue that we are playing at tonight.  The only way to make that possible was to fly with a guy in their church who had is own plane.  Yep.  Awesome.

So about an hour flight there and an hour flight back in the smallest, go-cart, feeling thing I’ve ever been in, only it was about 4,000 feet off the ground.  Again.  Awesome.  Jonny even got to fly the whole way back.

Now it’s back to work and time to get ready for the show tonight.  Great experience this morning.

Anyone ever been on a plane like this one?  What’d you think?

So, as most of you know, we’ve been broadcasting the MercyMe tour every night possible and have done so for the last 3 tours.  Well yesterday was one of those special days where you show up at a venue and they have everything to make the broadcasting possible.  I almost kissed the church video guy…. but that would have been a weird first impression I suppose.  But anyway, I knew last night was going to be a good show online, and it was.  The awesome thing?  We’re here again tonight.

See, the people of Des Moines apparently are pretty big MercyMe fans and they needed to add a second show because the first one sold out so fast.  Funny thing is, the second show sold out faster and I’m guessing they could have added a third show.

All this to say, 1,267 of you showed up online last night to watch the show and make my job awesome.  So thanks for that.  Also, tonight is round two of the ‘Des Moines Take Over’.  Make sure you start telling people about it now.  Tell people to head to m.ercy.me 7PM Central.  See you there.

We are a skeptical culture. We’re paranoid that we are going to get sick from everything. We are concerned that our kids will die from every sickness. We are worried about viruses that are all around us. And at the same time we are paranoid that the Government is pumping us full of useless, dangerous chemicals. We’re vigilant to not let ‘Big Brother’ take over. We’re naturalists.

So here’s my question. Did you, or are you planning to get the H1N1 vaccination? And your reasoning. Ready? Go.

Thoughts?

So, if you remember the other day I had that ’super secret project’ that turned out to be not as much of a ’secret’ so I blogged about it?  Well, tonight is sort of a ’round two’ of that only this one isn’t secret at all.  This is a full blown broadcasted evening with Steven Curtis Chapman.  Turns out the other one went so well that they wanted to do it again, and called me back.

So tonight at 9PM Steven will be playing some songs, talking about his record that came out today and answering some questions all from the World Wide Internetland.  Now, I’m going to warn you though.  When he starts talking about the songs and meaning behind this record I promise you will choke up.  So guys, if you want to be all manly and junk watching it, just make sure you have some sunglasses next to you so no one can see you like Rocky Balboa did in Rocky 4.

Seriously though, take an hour tonight and head over to Steven’s Facebook page and check out his amazing story of loss and recovery through the making of this record.  It will blow your mind.  I’m honored to be a part of it.

I’m going to ask you to spend another two dollars today.  You know why?  Well, first because it’s my blog and I can do whatever I want on it, and second, I want you to hear my friend Michael’s new song and also my friend Phil’s new song.

Pocket Full Of Rocks released their new song “Alive” today to iTunes and it’s absolutely worth picking up.  I’ve known Michael for a while now.  Him and his wife live down really close to us, but in ‘Nashville language’ that means that we have to schedule time to get together three months out and even then it’s hard to get together.  There’s a rumor that we might be getting lunch one of these days, but I’m not sure when…. Sorry… long rambling story about how I wish we could hang out more.  Anyway…. go now and first check out Pocket Full Of Rocks’ “Alive”.  Then come back here for your next mission.

You back?

Okay, next up is a Mr. Phil Wickham.  Phil’s new single “Safe” featuring Bart Millard from MercyMe is also available on iTunes today for the low (though fairly standard) price of 99 Cents.  You see how I did that?  I made it seem like a reasonable price by saying “for the low price of”… Clever marketing right there folks.  Seriously though.  If you haven’t heard Phil’s song “Safe” yet, you’re missing out.  Seriously.  There’s something missing from your life.  And that something only costs 99 cents.  Can’t beat that can you?

Go now.

So let’s recap your mission at iTunes today shall we?  First up, we’re going to get Shane&Shane’s “Everything Is Different”.  Then we’re heading over to get Pocket Full Of Rocks’ “Alive”, and finally we’re grabbing Phil Wickham’s “Safe”.  All in all I think it will set you back exactly $11.97.  Not bad for 17 songs eh?  Go now and you can come back and thank me later.

I was first introduced to ‘The Shanes’ in 2001 when I was browsing through some independent music website and stumbled on to Shane Barnard’s indie version of “Psalms”.  The first song I listened to was a song called ‘Psalm 145′.  I got about thirty-seconds into it and bought the whole record.  From that point on Kristin and I have been fans.  Obviously now, ‘The Shanes’ have joined forces and become an even better songwriting team.

Well, if you haven’t noticed the last month or two has been the season of releasing records and today is Shane & Shane’s turn.  Today marks the day of the boys releasing “Everything Is Different”.  Now, over on their site they have been playing videos of each of their songs so head there for a preview… or you can just take my word for it and go directly to buy it.  It’s classic Shane&Shane, but somehow a fresh new sound too.

Check it out, and come back here and let us know what you think.  And here’s what I’m thinking today.  In the comments let me know which Shane&Shane albums you own.  Ready?  Go.

So, most of you know that we recently started working with a band called FFH.  While we’re still in the process of a full site design and build we have started working with them on some little things, and today their new record “Wide Open Spaces” is officially available on FFH.net only.

I had a chance to sit down with Jeromy and Jennifer a while back and it was awesome to get to know them a little bit and hear about where this record is coming from.  They are definitely some awesome people and from what I’ve heard from this record it’s pretty amazing too.  In fact, click here and check out the song “This Is What It Feels Like”, and tell me you’ve never felt that way.

Anyway, make sure to check out the record, go buy it, and come back here and let me know what you think.  And also, make sure to check back at FFH.net for updates soon.

…Not in the “controversial, worshipping Satan” kind of way, but in the “let your kids dress up and go Trick-Or-Treating in your neighborhood” kind of way….

I don’t know anything about this song. I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know where it’s from. Pretty bizarre though huh?