My weekend

Saturday morning, ONE Atlanta took a group of musicians and singers to Safehouse, to play for a chili outreach block party for the homeless of Atlanta; things like haircuts and some basic medical care were also available.  Most of the event was moved indoors, but it was still a great time of celebration. Reuben Bidez led worship for us.  He had help too; one dude stood right in front of Reuben through nearly the whole set, “singing along” (he didn’t know the words) and almost sharing the mic with Reuben!

Here’s a beautiful story from Saturday, as shared by Alicia Benton whose husband Drew works for Safehouse:

The Annual SafeHouse Chili Outreach was an amazing day … despite the pouring rain. There were hundreds helped, clothed and fed. I wish I could share with you all of the stories of the day, but I narrow it down to my favorite …

Verizon Wireless loaned us 20 cell phones with free service and unlimited minutes so that our homeless friends could call their loved ones. Many, many of them took us up on this and made contact with friends and family that they had not spoken to in months or even years. 

One of the many who used this service was a young man who had not spoken to his mother for quite a long time. He made contact with her using our Verizon Wireless Call Home station. They spent over 45 minutes on the phone. When the conversation was over, he hung up the phone, with a huge ear to ear grin handed it to one of the women working this station, gave her a big bear hug then proceeded to walk to the corner of Ellis Street and Courtland Street and hop in the car with his mother!! Even retelling this story now brings tears to my eyes. 

Saturday night I went to this event at the fabulous Fox Theatre.

Right now (Sunday), I’m at Buckhead Church playing with these guys.  Check out the new Christmas single at their myspace page.  We’re doing it today, and to quote Will Ferrell impersonating James Lipton: “It is a delight!”

Catalyst

Spent a little time at the Catalyst Convention today at Gwinnett Arena.  Kudos to Brad Lomenick and his team for the great job putting all that together.  Brad has a good blog you should check out here.

Dan Hannon and I just had to stop in and see our boy Jamie JAMM Portee singing on the big stage.  He killed a John Legend song; that’s a compliment, of course.  His precious wife Joni was rocking a mic too.  There were so many friends there that I don’t get to see enough of, from fellow musicians and singers to my friend Ben that I actually got to know in China this summer.  (We were on separate mission trips that collided.) 

The green room was fun, as I got to hang briefly with Aaron Keyes, Kristian Stanfill, and Fee, who were all there with their bands. There was some other interesting personalities in there as well: Jeff Foxworthy, Franklin Graham (Billy’s son), Dave Ramsey (the financial guy), and my former boss Andy Stanley (to whom I simply offered a “Hey, Brother Stanley.” No one calls him that).   

I kept getting congratulations on the job Rudy Vaughn did on sax the previous day at Catalyst.  Rudy has recently signed a recording agreement with ONE Atlanta Music, our first official recording artist.  How weird is it that I’ve never heard him play sax? He’s apparently awesome. I know he’s one talented singer/songwriter.

Meeting and holding Candi P’s baby Elias made me cry.  Where’d that come from?  He was just so sweet and tiny.  

Oh, and it was also great finally meeting Jeff Moseley and James Rueger from INO Records face to face.   Fee is signed to that Nashville record label.

Sorry, but I wasn’t there long and didn’t actually see much of what happened on stage, other than a lifetime achievement award for Billy Graham, who wasn’t there in person.  Is anyone more deserving? His son Franklin is asking that anyone who has come to faith in Christ through hearing Billy speak go here to leave a note for Billy.

Must sleep now.  Big day tomorrow.  Tats for Tots 2.

Were you there?  Wish you had been?

The land of the Fee.

Fee played at Buckhead Church today, and I played keys for them.  Love those guys.  Love ‘em. Nothing profound to share other than that; I had a blast.

Oh, their single, All Because of Jesus, is the number one Christian song in the country this week, for the second week in a row.  Cool.

I Could Sing of Your Dove Forever

The Gospel Music Association’s annual Dove Awards happen tonight, and our own Dan Hannon is nominated for Pop/Contemporary Album of the Year for producing Aaron Shust’s “Whispered and Shouted.”

Other nominations for Atlantans include:

Spanish Language Album of the Year

• De Corazon A Corazon; Seth Condrey; Seth Condrey, Mark Balltzglier; CanZion