JonathanBryant.info

So I took and uploaded this video with my new Motorola Droid.
Our cousin Dillon has a Lionfish and Eel he feeds small guppies to.

Enjoy!

I don’t even know if I remember how to post here.

I got a great Bday present from my wifey last night… here it is for all to see:

A tattoo is one thing. But the love and devotion behind getting my name tattooed on her body was the real present.
I love you babe! Thanks for sticking in there with me. You’re the best.

Thanks everyone else also for the bday love! Feels good. Thanks again!

You should come.

Email me if you need more info! Click here!

Ok, so WHAT A DAY!!! I’ve only got 17min on the battery on my Mac, so I’ll try and slam it all in.

-Played first service at Foothills Seneca this morning. Great team! Great set!
-Had Schlotsky’s with some friends and then back to Foothills to catch the end of the 2nd service and to hang with some students from Toccoa Falls College. I’ll be working with them VERY closely in the near future… more on that later.
-Those students are GREAT people with hearts HUNGRY to worship Jesus! Awesome!
-I had an amp someone gave me and a pedal I wasn’t using just laying around the house. I saw a guy on Craigslist yeaterday who was wanting some beginner musical gear. I asked him what he had to trade for it, and he replied, “A brand new XBox 360 with 2 wireless controllers, 20gb HD, 3 games, and all the hookups, box, and manual.” I said, I’ll meet you in Greenville tomorrow night. So I met him tonight and we swapped gear. I LOVE the new toy!
-13min battery left.
-Candice and I played Halo3 for a while. She’s really good. When we were going to go to bed, I said, “Next kill wins.” So I proceeded to fire a rocket, accidentally, into a nearby object and killed myself. She says she wins, because she got the point. I say that I win because I said next KILL. I didn’t say who you had to kill. We’re still debating that.
-I’m finally getting over the croopy cough I’ve had for a week. Gracias Jesus.
-I’ll have some HUGE news on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. STAY TUNED!
-10min battery left.
-I had an old friend come up to me today and ROCK MY WORLD with kindness. She said that when she heard about the position at Foothills Toccoa, God laid me on her heart and she has been praying for me and my family. Wow. Her and her husband are cool cats, and I think we’re gonna plug into their home group. I’d love to get to know them even better.
-Abigail started saying, “Uh oh.” It’s friggin’ cute.
-8min battery, better wrap this up.
-It’s been a great week, and I’m looking forward to good things this coming week also! Like I said, check back in the next couple of days… you don’t wanna miss this!
-Also, you should follow me on Twitter if you don’t already. http://twitter.com/jtb And you can get me at my Facebook.

… so that’s it… with 5min to spare.

Candice, Abbi, and I filmed this dance this morning for your viewing pleasure. Hope you love it!

So, to give you a little backstory… since I’ve lived in Virginia, I’ve:

-been saved out of the pit by Jesus Christ.
-been to college at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, SC.
-fallen in love with the woman that would later become my wife.
-gotten rid of a TON of habits and baggage, including MAJOR sexual and integrity sins.
-gotten married.
-had a kid.
-been called to and participated in full time ministry.
-held down a decent job.
-stopped trying to get every girl in bed with me.
-stopped trying to get my hands on every medication I can find.
-stopped trying to make myself look better than I am by telling lie after lie after lie.
-etc etc etc.

SO FAST FORWARD TO TODAY… I’m in the mall with my wife, daughter, sister, brother-in-law, and mom. We’re in line to get my daughter’s picture taken with Santa for the first time EVER. Family’s good, Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I’m living the high life.

Then she walks up.

A girl I haven’t seen in 8 1/2 years. A girl that I messed around with that I used and abused. A girl I lied to and didn’t feel bad about. A girl whose life was torn apart when I made her false promises and then bailed on her at graduation. A girl that trusted me and I let her down over and over and over. Also, a girl that I’ve since called and apologized to for everything I ever did to her… making sure she noticed that I have changed and felt like a total (yeah) for everything I’ve ever done to her that was out of the character of God.

I have been bothered all day by this and just needed to get this out.
I felt like an idiot ever since this afternoon. Actually, I’ve felt like an idiot since I accepted Jesus Christ on July 28th, 2001.

Here’s the deal: Jesus has brought me out of the pit, but what about my sin? What about all the girls I hurt, all the people I lied to, all the grades I flunked, all the… you get the idea. What happens with all that stuff? When I get grace, what then happens to all my issues, baggage, and stuff…?

Micah 7:18-20:
^{18 -20}Where is the god who can compare with you—
wiping the slate clean of guilt, Turning a blind eye, a deaf ear,
to the past sins of your purged and precious people? You don’t nurse your anger and don’t stay angry long,
for mercy is your specialty. That’s what you love most. And compassion is on its way to us.
You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing. You’ll sink our sins
to the bottom of the ocean. You’ll stay true to your word to Father Jacob
and continue the compassion you showed Grandfather Abraham— Everything you promised our ancestors
from a long time ago.

Wow… so God casts my sins into the depths of the sea? If I embrace the Blood of Jesus, and those people that I hurt will do the same… they’re gone. As much as I wanna hold on, they’re gone.

Jesus, help me let go. You’re my Rock.

Ok, I know the first thought someone’s gonna have is, “I thought we were supposed to be ministers all the time, not just when we get paid for it!” If that’s you, please click the little X in the top right-hand corner of this page or the little red dot in the top left-hand corner of this page to see what I have to say to that argument.
Just kidding, but to that I have to say… I’m not talking about “ministry” in a sense of our everyday, God-given calling to spread the Good News about Jesus Christ. What I AM talking about is the idea of getting paid to do work for the church.

See, I’ve been in full time ministry (and by that, I mean my primary place of employment was a church organization) for about 6 1/2 years now. Also, by full time, I don’t necessarily mean that all these years I have been getting a full time salary or compensation for the work I was doing… sometimes I have been paid full time salary, sometimes it has been housing and periodic gifts, and sometimes nothing at all.
Let me also say that I have been out of vocational ministry since July 27th of this year. My previous employer and I decided that the position I was then filling was not the right fit for me or the church… so I moved out, and they are in active pursuit of another Worship Pastor. Please be praying for them in their time of searching and hiring. Also, be in prayer for my family as we search and seek after God’s plan for our lives.

ANYWAY… ALL that to say… I’ve had a few months now to think about what the pros and cons are of taking a break, so I’d like to share them with you now. These are just my thoughts and have nothing to do with any church I have ever or will ever be associated with. So, here they are, in no certain order:

-#1 I miss it. Really, to get up everyday, go to the office and talk about and dream up ways for our church to reach the surrounding areas is the best job I’ve ever had. Everything I’ve done since seems kinda dull.

+#1 The break was much needed. I worked 60+ hours per week and life got a little crazy. My wife and I never had a night of the week to ourselves, people always calling needing stuff, not a lot of wiggle room as far as my schedule went, etc. I needed it. That leads to the next positive…

+#2 I’ve learned my limits. I worked a lot and loved it, but during this time of introspection, I’ve looked back and started recognizing my limits as a leader, employee, husband, and father. My next ministry vocation will be checked against what I now realize are my boundaries concerning time, money, etc.

-#2 I’m out of practice. As a worship pastor, I was constantly practicing and playing and singing. Now that I’m not doing that “for a living,” my regiment has slacked a bit. Everytime I practice for a time of worship now, I can see how my chops, singing and playing, have let go a bit. (But I’m working on it)

-#3 The hiring process SUCKS HARD! I really do just hate the process of resumes, interviews, bleh blah… every ministry vocation I’ve ever had has started with a relationship, not a resume. I hope my next turns out to be the same.

+#3 Time with my daughter. So right now, I don’t feel like any less of a man to tell you that I went from making a good salary to making nothing. I am secure in the fact that God has us in this particular situation to grow us and not to harm us. All that said (haters are gonna hate) I love being home all day with my daughter! She’s almost 14mo old and she’s a BLAST! Starting to talk, running around, learning sign language, cuddling, reading books, IT’S AMAZING and I wouldn’t trade any of it for the world. I know that one day soon a job will call again and we’ll have to find somewhere for her to stay during the days, but I’ll always remember these few months we had (have) to share.

-#4 Money gets tight. As I said in the last one, I love being home with my daughter and I realize God has us in this situation to grow us… but, money is tough. It takes a toll out of me thinking about it, but when I step back, everything is covered. We’ve had to trim back a bit, but nothing is going unpaid. Utilities never turned off. God has us.

+#4 Networking. I’ve met a TON of new people during this time. Church leaders, planters, worship leaders, guys that go to these amazing churches and love to tell about them… it’s been a wonderful experience to get to talk to and learn from these guys.

-#5 My issues come up a LOT more than when I was working full time. I get a bunch of time to think and plan, but sometimes that backfires. A couple of my big issues (if we’re being honest) are fear and doubt… and believe me, they show up. It’s been good, because God has been dealing with them a TON, where as before I was working so much I didn’t have much time to entertain them. It’s gotta come into the light before it can be exposed, you know?

+#5 The future is ROCKING MY WORLD!! Jesus called me out of the darkness and into ministry on July 28th, 2001. Since then, every day has been great, because when it ends there is hope for tomorrow. Mercies that are new every morning, and a Fountain of blessings that never runs dry. I look to Jesus in these times, and know in my heart that He has a plan for my life, my family, and my vocation. He’s pretty neat.

So, there it was. 10 random thoughts because I couldn’t sleep after Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It was horrible, by the way… aliens. I know. Also, PLEASE don’t comment or e-mail me with advice on how to get a job or how a “real man” would go out and provide for his family. It’s happened before, and I’m still here, no job, still head above water, still loved by my wife, still have lights and water and cable and internet at my house. Besides, I will probably laugh at you, and no one likes to get laughed at, right?

Have a great night and a great Sunday morning in the AM!

-JB

Spirituality, Calling, and Giftings aside, Here are 10 things that I really like:

.::Cici’s Pizza (it’s on my mind b/c we just got back from there) It’s good for the groups, because everyone can find something they like

.::My Tacoma guitar – It’s amazing. Just enough treble, nice balanced bass. It got broken earlier this year by a girl at my old church. The whole headstock came off…

.::The Luthier who fixed my Tacoma guitar – he could’ve charged me upwards of $400+, but instead, he decided he’d do it for $140. WHAT??? Gracias Jesus!

.::WCW Vs. nWo for Nintendo64 – Still my favorite vintage videogame of all time. Great gameplay, a bunch of really cool characters, and one of the best wrestling engines I’ve ever played.

.::My old Macbook – it has gone on to be with Jesus, but I loved it! I bought it cheap from an old friend and it did everything I needed it to do. Photo editing, movie making, internet, office, website building… ah…

.::The new Macbooks – haha, thought I’d tie it together. I really do need a computer, but I’m gonna save and get a Mac instead of buying something cheaper right now. Not being a snob, just know what I need and what will be most productive.

.::Watching my little girl run to the door when my wife gets home – wow… nothing like that big smile!

.::Guitar Tone – I love everything about electric guitar tone: swapping effects pedals, testing new EQs on my amps, finding out which guitar sounds best with which pedals in a certain situation. I would say that I am obsessed, but not in an unhealthy way. I don’t spend a ton of money, if I want something that I don’t have, I trade for it or sell something I don’t use and buy the piece I’m missing. I wouldn’t say that I’m searching for the perfect tone either… I would say it’s more of a situational experiment… I’m a gear nerd, I know.

.::GoogleDocs – super easy to use, very intuitive, and nice interface.

.::My iPod alarm clock – It wakes me up to whatever song I tell it to, when I tell it to. It’s basically my music slave.

Well, for no good reason, there were 10 things I really like. What do you really like? Leave me a comment.

So I have missed sharing my thoughts with everyone for a little while now (especially since my computer is no more), but I think I’ve found my inspiration again.

So here’s what’s been happening with me since my last entry:

-Still loving going down to Canton, GA and leading worship at Revolution Church every few weeks. They’ve started a new campus and it’s rockin’! I’ve got a good buddy Thad there, and the pastor Gary is a pretty cool guy. You should check them out.

-Playing at a wedding this weekend. Not my favorite thing to do, but excited nonetheless. The bride is our friend from college who has been in Honduras as a missionary for the past 3 years. She fell in love with a local and brought him back to the states. Weird story, good people. Asheville, NC, Sunday, 2p.

-God has really been stirring some gifts up in me lately that I never knew about. The last few months I have discounted as being a dry time in my life… but everytime I get squeezed lately, I can see that God has been pouring into me like crazy. Not only is He making them known, but He has laid out such specific instances for them to be used that it’s gotta be Him. I’m blown away, and God is good.

-The baby (my 13mo old daughter Abigail) is growing like a freakin’ weed! She had her first pumpkin patch experience the other day and it was amazing to see her having a great time. We’re so blessed. Here’s a pic:

Abigail Cadence

-My computer is still dead. I really need to get a new one, as I have some things coming up that really do require a computer, but money is tight. Anyone want to contribute?

-The biggest thing as of right now, I’m about to take a trip in the next couple of weeks that could change my life. I’m excited about the details, but can’t say much yet. It does have to do with old friends and a few days away from SC. Church visits, a conference in Cincy, and a retreat center are in my future. Pray for me, as I’ll be praying for my family and our future. Thanks a ton!

-I’ve been visiting some area churches around Seneca, Clemson, and Anderson. Seeing some great things and some not so great things. Just being honest.

-This just in… a member of our close family was arrested this weekend and will probably be in jail for a long long time. The details aren’t important, but please pray for them that they might be turned around by God’s great mercy. Thanks.

I guess that’s about it. Goodnight internet.

I know I’m a sappy dad that loves his baby! So I’ve gotta show you her first birthday dress ever we just ordered off eBay for dirt cheap:

She’s gonna be so friggin’ cute in this thing. I think Candice bought napkins and plates to match her dress too… I don’t go that far, I let her do that.