So I completed almost 5 days of my Master Cleanse and I’m feeling great! 15lbs lost and a bunch of willpower gained.

I am taking Abigail to Charlotte on Tuesday and wanted to be in best condition, so I decided to have 1/2 a serving of dry mashed potatoes Sunday evening.

I’m glad I did this, and now I’m eating healthier and watching portion control and working out again. Updates coming soon… look out new world, here I come!

I suck. I know.

But a couple days ago I decided to do a Master Cleanse for a few reasons:
-Need to kick start my weight loss program again (scale says 264 right now)
-Need to prove to myself and my body that I can go without food for a period of time
-Need to focus in these next few weeks… some big decisions to make
-many other reasons…

Here’s the deal:
The only thing I can ingest during the cleanse is the 3 bottles a day of the lemonade mixture (4tbs Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice, 4tbs Grade B Maple Syrup, 1/5tsp Cayenne Pepper, 20oz pure water), water (as much as I want), and an herbal laxative.
And, I can do it for as long as I want up to 30-40 days.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Had our lifegroup tonight and we discussed Chapter 5 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Some quick highlights:

-How often do I love think, do, act, do church, etc JUST BECAUSE someone fed me the method, strategy, & theology?
-How would I love, think, do, act, do church, etc if I KNEW AND APPLIED the BIBLE AS IT READS, NOT AS SOMEONE OTHER THAN ME THINKS IT READS?
-How different do I ALREADY KNOW things should be, but don’t make a change because the way I’m doing it is the norm?
-Maybe Christianity isn’t for everyone. (Rich Young Ruler Vs. Zaccheus)
-Why would I live by philosophies and methods not clearly written in the New Testament?
-What if I, while sharing Jesus with people, told them the truth? What if I told them life may get harder, but Jesus is worth it… instead of telling them Jesus makes their life “better?”
-What if God says I should live a certain way, even if it meant losing everything?

I’m still processing. More to come.

You can tell. But, it’s me. Hope you like it.

Here

Seriously, people I haven’t talked to in years are Facebook’ing me saying they’ve been listening to my old stuff. People are asking me if I have a CD of my music. People have been pushing me like crazy that I have a song in my heart that I’ve been holding back for a few years now.

Here’s the deal. I have serious self-image issues.
I write music. I like it. I listen to it. I think people hate it. I stop writing music.

So my next step is gonna be just to put together some time during the week and devote it to songwriting again. I used to do this, and the churches I was in during those times were flooded with my original worship songs. People connected to God. All was good. So here we go again.

Just as a taste, I put a little love song here called “Like I Notice You.” Listen to it, let me know what you think. It’s from like 2005, and recorded very raw using some studio time I got on whim. Hope you love it.

Like I Notice You

I’ll let you know how this week’s songwriting session goes.

Are you writing anything lately?

“I am longing for my home, for a city not made by man. I am longing for my home.
From the mountains to the sea, I meet people longing just like me. From the mountains to the sea.

‘Cause there’s a language in my bones that this world has never know.
I will teach you if I can, though it’s seldom spoken man to man.

I hear echos when I sing, maybe restless hearts or angel wings. I hear echos when I sing.”

—

Just wow. Describes how I’ve been feeling the last few weeks.

I see joy, laughter, anger, destruction, pursuit, gladness, determination, failure, mistakes, love, not love…
and all I can seem to say is, “Jesus, help me feel what You feel so I can do what You would do.”

Truth is truth.
Love is love.
I am longing for my home.

How about you? What are you longing for?

In efforts to get this blog back into being necessary for me, here’s a quick update.

Since I’ve been gone…
-My parents’ divorce got ugly.
-My parents’ divorce got a bit more civilized.
-My dad had pancreatitis and was put in the hospital.
-Christmas.
-Abigail got a trampoline for Christmas.
-My dad had a heart attack and we went to Virginia to be with him.
-We found out we are pregnant with baby #2.
-Shannon Chiles stepped down as Campus Pastor in Toccoa.
-Brian Marshall stepped up as Campus Pastor in Toccoa.
-My role in Toccoa has changed a bit. Back in some aspects. Forward in others.
-We’ve moved into our new facility in Toccoa. (It’s great)
-Abigail has started saying she wants a baby brother.
-I think I’d like her to have a baby brother.

More tomorrow…

Here’s your answer!

Enjoy!

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!

-God doesn’t supply according to what I need, but according to His riches in glory. That’s a lot more.
-A big part of growth is acting like it.
-If you’re providing the energy for a task, you’re blocking the Spirit.
-(Speaking of a conversation with a hurting woman) God was saying to me, “There is no problem this lady has that I’m not the answer to.”
-Life Change = the next step. Not fifty steps, just the next one.
-As pastors, we have to always be on guard… we can’t give what we don’t have.
-We have to ask God everyday, “God, do what is not capable by anyone except You.”
-Christ in us equals unlimited power and influence.
-Four steps to a dying church – Starts with a MAN, God starts a MOVEMENT, we turn it into a MACHINE, and it ends up being a MONUMENT.
-It’s not my choice to tell God, “I can’t handle anymore.” That’s for Him to decide and provide.
-(Referencing the “people praying for Peter to get out of jail, and then him showing up and they didn’t believe” story) We can’t pray for something to happen and then when it shows up act surprised. We need to pray and then GET READY!
-Nothing of eternal significance ever happens apart from prayer.

So much more than I wrote down… I’ll be sharing in the coming days.
Just to go ahead and say it, I’M FIRED UP!

You can find the rest of the pics here.

For the demolition bring sledgehammers, saws, pry bars, etc.

It is going to be a hot one on Saturday so if someone could volunteer to bring water, etc to keep the workers hydrated that would be awesome!

If you have any questions call Sam McMillan @ 864-903-5137. Sam and Jody have agree to be the point person for organizing and directing all the remodeling activities! Please give them your support.

1. ANNOUNCEMENTS! Listen for the announcements on Sunday mornings about when the next work day is happening and what it involves.

2. EMAIL! We will be emailing work day information regularly. Please comment here, email us, call us, etc if you want on the Email list.

3. TEXT! We have set up a service that lets us mass text a bunch of you at once. We will not text you more than twice a week, promise. Please comment here, email us, call us, etc if you want on the Text list.

4. BLOGS! We have a few blogs that we will use to let you in on work day info.
-Shannon’s Blog – http://shannonchiles.blogspot.com
-Jonathan’s Blog – http://jonathanbryant.info
-FCC Toccoa Blog – http://foothillstoccoa.blogspot.com
These will all three say the same thing, so please don’t feel overwhelmed about having to look at all three.

Thanks I and look forward to getting connected with you.

-JB

No blog updates. I really don’t want to waste your time, so when I have something useful to say…

I will. Until then, I’m gonna get back to work.

Here are the details:

Location: 538 Imperial, Martin, GA (map to follow)
Time: 3:30pm – ?
Food: Grilled chicken, ribs, sausage, and hotdogs will be provided. Bring a side dish or a dessert to share.
Drinks: Drinks will be provided.
What else: Bring lawnchairs, swimming stuff, boat, tailgate games.

If you don’t feel confident that you can find the location….we will have groups leaving from Toccoa Campus and the Walmart parking lot @ about 3:15.

Also…if you want to be baptized, please let me know!

See you there!
Shannon

Do you have something good to share?
Do you want some new ideas?
Do you wanna get better at what you do while also helping others get better?

Join the three worship leaders at Foothills Community Church on Thursday August 6th from 10a-3p!
Email me at jonathantbryant@gmail.com for more details!!

– Post From My iPod Touch

My bad. I’ll get on that soon. Be looking for my next Using Tracks/Samples in a Worship Environment post and this week’s Sunday Night Thoughts.

First off in Reason you’ll open an empty rack (automatically when you click New in the File menu)

Next we’ll select an Instrument to use. You can do this a couple of ways:
1 – Click Create in the top menu and Click on Create Instrument.
2 – Drag an instrument from the menu bar on the right
3 – Click Create Instrument in the Menu bar on the right.

Any of those three ways will bring up this screen…

In this screen, find the instrument you want by navigating the menus and selecting the sound that best suits your application.

A side note, if your MIDI controller is plugged in you can sample the sounds as you click through this menu. VERY HELPFUL!

Next, it’s simple, you’re gonna hit the record button on the bottom and play your sound as the track records your notes.
Here is what it will look like after you add two instruments and record different parts:

A couple tips:
1 – if you arm the CLICK button (bottom lefthand corner of the main window) it will give you an audible metronome so you can play in time
2 – The time can be adjusted with the tempo input right next to the click button.
3 – If you arm the PRE button, it will give you a 4count before it starts recording… this good for coming in on the down beat
4 – The Click Level can be adjusted right beneath the click and pre buttons.
5 – Notice in the last picture there is a Reverb module attached to the last instrument. To achieve this, after you add an instrument simply add (from the Create menu) Reverb, Delay, Distortion, Flange, Phase, etc. Try combining these effects also… it’s a BLAST!

Now to the mixdown process.
Once you’re recorded a bunch of tracks, your rack should look like this…

Notice that every instrument you added to the rack has also been added to mixer at the top. As you play your tracks, you can pull the faders up or down as needed to mix the song… just like a live mixer. Need more keys? Just pull the fader up. Less pad? Pull the fader down. Your synth sound needs to cut through the mix? Change the EQ on the mixer to compensate. SIMPLE!!

Like I said, this is a basic tutorial. I post 4 we’ll talk about how to bounce this into Ableton Live for live use. Also, in more advanced posts, we’ll discuss Automation (mixing different parts of the song differently by making faders move on their own), different instruments and effects, etc.

Stay tuned for the next post on tracking in Garageband and/or Protools. This will be helpful in compensating for a missing player, as you can record live parts and attach them to your tracks.

Again if you have any questions, email me at JonathanTBryant@gmail.com or comment on the blog. Thanks and have a great day!

– Post From My iPod Touch

What I’m gonna do is break it up into four parts:
1 – Equipment
2 – Process : Tracking in Reason
3 – Process : Tracking in Garageband/Pro Tools
4 – Process : Outputting to Live and Setting Up Scenes/Outputs
5 – Live Triggering
6 – Extras (Just for kicks!)

Today’s installment will cover EVERYTHING I use on a weekly basis to track, record, test, and trigger.

::EQUIPMENT::

1) The heart and brains of this operation is a computer loaded with a couple of programs. I use a 15″ Macbook Pro (Older generation) with 2.4GHz Processor and 2G of RAM. The computer needs to be able to handle a bunch of stuff, because at maximum usage, it will be: Playing sounds, syncing click/cues/tracks/samples, receiving MIDI information, processing MIDI info into sounds, and then outputting everything via Firewire to the board. (I’ll go over what all that means in parts 2 & 3).
FYI: You can use a PC or Mac, as long as it can handle what you throw at it.

Macbook Pro - 15" - 2.4GHz - 2G Ram

Also, we use 2 programs called Reason (by Propellerhead) and Ableton Live.
Reason is used to track sounds, beats, and clicks… and then we output all that into Ableton for live triggering. (Again, more on this in part 2: Tracking in Reason)
In addition to Reason and Ableton, for tracking guitar parts I use Pro Tools and/or Garageband. I find that Garageband is easier to use for simpler stuff, and Pro Tools is needed for the more complex parts. This won’t be necessary is you don’t ever want to track real instrument parts (More on this in Part 3: Tracking in Garageband/Pro Tools).
I know some people like to use Logic, Sonar, etc… I just prefer Reason to track because it’s the easiest and most powerful… and Ableton to use live because it’s the best and most fail-safe way to trigger and put together songs and sets.

Ableton Live

Reason

2) Now to the interfaces:

First is an M-Audio Axiom 25. This is just a MIDI Controller. It takes on the sound of whatever you tell it to (Strings, Synths, Drums, you name it!) You can use any MIDI keyboard or regular keyboard that has a USB or MIDI output – See Part 2 (Tracking in Reason) for more.

Axiom 25

Next is an M-Audio Firewire 410. It hooks to the computer via Firewire and gives us 4 inputs and 10 outputs from one single connection.
In a nutshell, this takes everything we have – Click, Track, Guitar, Cues, etc – and outputs it to up to 10 channels. Ex. We run Track stereo from 1 & 2, Click and Cues both out to 3, Guitar Track to 4, and Secondary Keyboard to 5. – See Part 4 (Outputting to Live and setting up Scenes/Outputs) for more.
This Firewire 410 also lets us input into the computer to record Guitar sounds, etc. – See Part 3 (Tracking in Garageband/Pro Tools) for more. In the picture, notice all the outputs on the back… that’s what I’m talking about…

M-Audio Firewire 410

Lastly for interfaces, I use a POD X3 Live for Guitar tones. The stock tones with Garageband are OK… but the POD is great, and runs either into the Firewire 410 or hooks up directly via USB.

Line6 Pod X3 Live

I realize all this stuff costs money… so do what you can! Don’t feel bad b/c you can’t get everything right now. Build a rig in pieces like most of us did.
You can find info, prices, etc on all this stuff from Google, Amazon, Musicians Friend, etc.

So there is what I use physically to get the job done… check back soon for the second installment… TRACKING IN REASON! If you have specific questions or ideas for this series, please email me at JonathanTBryant@gmail.com or comment on the blog. Make sure to spread this around on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc. Thanks for reading.

-JB

“This comedy version of a well known secular rock track is a cheeky and light-hearted, yet satirical comment on certain elements of the 21st Century Worship Music Industry. It’s intended to make you smile, rather than get on your soap box!

I wrote the lyrics after meeting some kids after a show by my rock band in Bristol, UK. They said they were in a band. I asked them – So are you a rock band like us, or do you do praise and worship? Their reply took me by surprise. They said – Oh definitely worship; our youth leader told us that if we want to be famous and make a lot of money, we need to be a worship band.

So this song is dedicated to them and their youth leader and to any other bands who play worship music with mixed agendas. Its also challenge to myself and every other Christian musician to worship God with integrity and leave any egos and rock star tendencies behind when we stand before a congregation.

I’m sure you’ll appreciate the sarcasm, but just to to clarify things: this song is NOT an attack on worship artists who have become successful. Ive had the privilege of playing guitar for certain worship leaders on the big stages and have met many of the big names including Martin Smith, Tim Hughes, Matt Redman, Martyn Layzell and Vicky Beeching. Without exception, these guys are authentic worshipers with integrity and genuine humility. Maybe that’s why God has raised them up to where they are now? This song is NOT about them; this song is about the wannabe rock stars (you probably know at least one from your local church!) who join the worship band as a means to live out their rock star fantasies!”

LEAVE A REPLY AND LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

Chopped Liver – Become a Fan
Sleeping in Late – Become a Fan
Sunsets – Become a Fan
Eating Chopped Liver While Sleeping in Late Under a Sunset – Become a Fan

Well now there is something I would love for you to do for me.
Be a fan of JonathanBryant.info on Facebook.

I set up a page on Facebook with info and updates. Please help me spread the word about the blog and Foothills through social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc).

CLICK HERE

to go to the Facebook Page for the Blog and then click – Become a Fan. It’s easy… and it’s better than Chopped Liver.

THANKS!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swivel_Dock_Ring

New blog post tomorrow about our AMAZING weekend at Foothills Community Church.

If you answered yes to all these questions,
and you WANT TO MISS OUT ON SOMETHING AWESOME…
Don’t come this Sunday night.

IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO ALL THE QUESTIONS,
AND DON’T WANNA MISS AN AMAZING NIGHT OF WORSHIP, COMMUNION, AND BAPTISMS…

COME TO NIGHT OF PRAISE, THIS SUNDAY NIGHT, APRIL 26TH, AT 6P, ON THE SENECA CAMPUS!!

Trust me, you want to be there.

Also visit PlayingForChange.com to learn about what they’re doing around the world to bring music back to our communities.

If some guys can take a laptop, cameras, mics, and some willpower around the world and do this, WHY ARE WE SITTING ON THE GOSPEL? Let’s go out and change things through the power of Jesus Christ.

Praise Night

April 26th @ 6:00
A Night of Worship, Sharing the Lord’s Supper, & Baptism!

You and your family won’t want to miss out on this special event at Foothills Community Church.  We will be celebrating life!  A life found in Christ.  We’ll be doing this through a time of worship led by our three worship leaders: Eric Peters, David Odom and Jonathan Bryant.  We will also be spending time sharing in the Lord’s Supper, remembering and celebrating the price that he paid on the cross for us.  Following this time we will continue our night of praise with a baptism celebration.  Please plan on joining us for this time of celebration.  Child care will be available for those 6 weeks up to Kindergarten.

If you are interested in being baptized please contact our church office.

Here are a couple of teaser pics from this morning:

I love our volunteers.

Now to the pictures:

The new and improved Carr residence!

The spoils of war… All the used up palettes!

Yea, that sucks. Farmers’ tan… and it burns.

Good day, now to watch and movie and veg!

Think of that question… now ask it.

QuestionsUncensored.com

Completely anonymous. No strings attached. Pastor Greg is gonna take those questions and answer them on Sunday mornings. His messages will designed with YOUR QUESTIONS in mind. So ask away.

Coming May 10th to Seneca, and May 17th to Toccoa.

No tweets. No blog post updates. Heck, you probably won’t even know I’m writing this blog.

– Post From My iPhone

Picasa / Ron Hartzog

GREAT DAY BUT I’M BEAT… GOODNIGHT! THANK YOU JESUS FOR WHAT YOU DID FOR US!!

To Just Worship.
Worship without critiquing.
Without analyzing.

Become more engaged by what HE thinks of you and has done for you.
…and grow less concerned or caring about the music or style or genre.

Look at the stage, but don’t see the worship leader (V-Neck and all)…don’t see the band…or the lights or production.

Don’t talk or go home & blog about the worship leader’s style…
passion_previewjpg
…don’t be concerned if he wears a v-neck or not and his style is maybe “metro-sexual.”

Let all those things fade into the background as they create an opportunity to allow you to reflect…the same opportunity you had before you walked in the door…when you woke up this morning…all day long as you lived and breathed.

Remember your worship doesn’t start when the band cracks the 4 count and starts the first song…and it doesn’t end when they play the last chord or the last verse is read or the message ends and the house lights come up.

Let styles or worship become a thing for other people to talk about…but NOT you.
Not now in the moment when you realize Jesus was crucified for you…And all your opinions seem waisted.

So let go of opinions and a nature to criticize. Resist the temptation.
Let go of the deep rooted bitterness or hurt that causes you to use your tongue in ways that only bring YOU attention…and to critique or judge the attention others may get, realizing they are their to point the attention to Jesus.

So do that.
Give Jesus your attention.
Give Him your song and your sorrow and your hurt and bitterness and resentment and confusion and doubts…
…Give Him everything that you are holding onto and fighting to keep to yourself.

Give Him your worship.
The very thing He wants…but no one else can give for you….or sing for you…
…or create a moment in a service BIG ENOUGH to dare rival…the simple surrender of YOUR HEART.

I hope for us this will be a challenge so much bigger then this weekend.
Less talk about the worship leader. Less talk about the music style.
Less talk about your favorite song. Less of YOU and ME.

More of Him.

CASE
—————————————-
Mark Batterson
I Am Barabbas

This thought keeps going through my mind today: I am Barabbas.

Imagine what that Friday must have been like for him. He was sitting in a jail cell awaiting his execution. He knew it was the last day of his life. It was the end. There was no hope. Then he hears the crowd chanting his name and the next thing he knows he’s a free man. The charges are dropped. His life that was almost over starts over. And a sinless man named Jesus literally takes his place. He expected to die. He deserved to die. But his execution, in the sovereign plan of God, was scheduled on the same day Jesus was arrested.

If ever there was a picture of II Corinthians 5:21 this is it: “God made him who knew no sin to become sin for us.”

—————————————-
John Piper
A Conversation with Death on Good Friday

CHRISTIAN:

Hello, Death, my old enemy. My old slave-master. Have you come to talk to me again? To frighten me?

I am not the person you think I am. I am not the one you used to talk to. Something has happened. Let me ask you a question, Death.

Where is your sting?

DEATH, sneeringly:

My sting is your sin.

CHRISTIAN:

I know that, Death. But that’s not what I asked you. I asked, where is your sting? I know what it is. But tell me where it is.

Why are you fidgeting, Death? Why are you looking away? Why are you turning to go? Wait, Death, you have not answered my question. Where is your sting?

Where is, my sin?

What? You have no answer? But, Death, why do you have no answer? How will you terrify me, if you have no answer?

O Death, I will tell you the answer. Where is your sting? Where is my sin? It is hanging on that tree. God made Christ to be sin—my sin. When he died, the penalty of my sin was paid. The power of it was broken. I bear it no more.

Farewell, Death. You need not show up here again to frighten me. God will tell you when to come next time. And when you come, you will be his servant. For me, you will have no sting.

O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)

THIS IS A GOOD SEASON FOR MOVIES!!!
What are you looking forward to?

I’m not falling for your garbage today…

Just so you know… If you’re gonna give me any big, life-changing, catastrophic, SUPER COOL, or “anything other than normal” news today… just wait until tomorrow.

Thanks and goodbye.