Feb Update

I slept in my own bed this week! I realize it seems like a small thing, but after 31 days on the road it was a rare treat. 2005 started with a flurry of opportunities and I’ve enjoyed getting to see some old friends and make some new ones in Tennessee, New England, Mississippi, and Oklahoma. I’ve been beaten at every imaginable card game. I’ve skied Scenic Wachusett Mountain, posed on a covered bridge in Vermont, and walked on a frozen lake in New Hampshire. I’ve been tangled up in headphone wires in Nashville and I’ve shot skeet in Oklahoma. All the while, I’ve had the remarkable opportunity to speak and sing about accomplishing the Great Commission in our lifetime.

For several days in the beginning of February I had the privilege of staying at the boyhood home of a guy named Luther Rice. I realize most of you don’t know who he is. I didn’t know much about him till I got to his house. Fortunately, he was not there to greet me (he died in 1836) but I would have loved to talk to him about the passion that fueled his life and ministry. The focus of his work was in unifying the church around the goal of accomplishing the Great Commission. He traveled extensively speaking to any group that would have him about the need to focus our attention, our energy, our prayer, and our money on carrying the hope of Christ to every nation.

This month I am finishing a new record for Universal. Probably won’t be released until the beginning of the summer. It was blast to spend a couple of days in the studio with some remarkable musicians (Ben Shive, Andy Osenga, Aaron Sands, and Will Sayles). The record will include the songs: Echo, His Glory My Reward, She Burns, Murasala, Awake My Soul, Altitude, Galaxy, Dangerous Faith, Only One, and One Last Thing to Say. I’ll make it available here as soon as it’s released.

Thanks for all of your continued prayer support for Shera and me. These are crazy days but it is such a blast to participate in what God is doing in this generation and through this generation among the nations.

Peace,
james