September Update

September has been crazy-busy so far. I loved getting to reconnect with MATT CHRISTENOT this weekend in Jonesboro. In my search for great neighborhood coffee joints I tracked down a place near the ASU campus and found it closed late Friday. Attempt numero uno. Deterred but not defeated, I wandered back over there on Saturday evening. When I walked to the counter, I asked the Russian exchange student working the evening shift if they had soy milk. She said they did, so I ordered a soy latte. After trying three drink options she finally explained in broken english that there coffee maker wasn’t working. No espresso, no coffee, but she would gladly sell me a soda. OUCH! Back to Barnes and Noble’s Starbucks to feed the monkey on my back. That was the ONLY strike i could come up with against my new friends at Arkansas State. The Nashville show last weekend (pictured above right) was such a blast. Thanks to the faithful few who showed up for our little experiment. I’m in the studio the last weekend in september with Geoff Clapp and JP Scott to get some of this James Tealy Trio nonsense recorded. If you stayed on the site this long to read, why not drop me a note HERE.

Peace,
James

@ the Beach

It’s been a wild week in Myrtle Beach with the crew from Manassas. The gray skies finally parted this morning and I watched a gorgeous sunrise come up over the Atlantic. The guys in OVERFLOW ended the week by spiking all the pitchers of KOOL-AID with cherry-flavored liquid laxative. Ouch! That’s gonna leave a mark. I’ve had a blast getting to hang with these guys and I’m expecting their new record to be wall-to-wall with Southern Rock Hits. ShoutFest is Sunday and then I’m off to New Orleans to sing at a Katrina Anniversary Prayer Service and enjoy a little vacation with my wife.

I was sent a link today to a video of an interview I shot a few months ago. Check it out HERE.

Don’t Forget New Orleans!

Peace,
james

The Fall Rush is On

Bass player, JP Scott (PIC Right) takes to the velcro wall with style but couldn’t quite stick the landing. Biloxi was a blast. It was great being back with JP, Andy and Chase. They wicky-wicky-slam like nobody I know. Smokey Gibson at FBC Biloxi is one of my favorite guys on the planet and it is always rewarding to watch the way his passionate heart is translated into his work with students. I love getting to reconnect with some groups year after year like I have with the Biloxi crew. Off to SC to get some sand between my toes for the week. Big Love! - JT

Botswana Update

Never the same. I suppose it’s cliché to suggest that after a trip like this I am forever changed so I won’t say it…but it’s true! I am fresh off the plane from a couple of weeks in GABORONE, BOTSWANA in Southern Africa. I went with 10 of the most powerful, confident, and creative STUDENTS I’ve ever met. We were all scared sometimes, out of place and trapped behind a language barrier (even when they were speaking English). But I watched these students rise to what was expected of them. They fell in love with the people of Botswana; both hurting with them and hoping for them.

Our days included time at an AIDS orphanage outside of town. Some of the children seemed to bounce around as though completely insulated from their circumstances. Others carried the obvious weight of their own mortality; eyes too young to bare such a load. Slowly, there was change, there was the light of recognition in their eyes when we walked onto the campus. We began to see in their eyes the hope of a moments’ joy. I plotted ways to sneak sweet little Katlago into my guitar case when we left. A selfish wish.

Our afternoons were full of school visits and rallies. 500-700 students at a time would crowd into large open rooms and we would share with them a message of hope about a revolution of purity that was sweeping across Southern Africa. AIDS/HIV have descimated THIS REGION OF THE WORLD but the revolution has begun and a new generation is choosing abstinence as the radical solution, the greatest weapon in this fight.

Maybe I will post more pictures and more ramblings later. In the meantime, after 19 hours on planes, I am going to sleep for a while! Thanks again for all of your prayers and messages of support.

Summer Week Four Update

I survived week four of the summer. The only injuries this week were to my pride. I didn’t win a single game of ultimate pong this week. For those of you unfamiliar with this king of all games (next to SOCCER of course) it is played like ping pong with a large group of people. After a regular serve, the ball can bounce or roll across any section of the table but must bounce on the floor once before you can return it. Sides don’t matter. The net doesn’t matter. You return the ball in numerical order: person#1 serves to 2 who hits to 3…and running, diving, hilarity ensues. I AM a master, a champion…but not this week. Ouch. It was a great group this week from all over Kentucky, Tennessee and Illinois. I leave in about 19 hours for a couple of weeks in Botswana. Every morning we’re in school classrooms meeting students and talking to them about AIDS/HIV prevention. During lunchtime we will be at feeding stations loving on AIDS orphans. Then in the afternoons its back to the schools for an assembly program the students have put together called “Revolutionary Purity.” It’s based on the new TRUE LOVE WAITS theme and the students will be using it to teach abstinence in a country where more than 40% of the population is infected with HIV or AIDS. In the evenings I have a few concerts scheduled and we will do a camp weekend for students from around Southern Africa. Check back next week and I will do my best to post regular updates on the trip. Thanks for all of the encouragement and prayers you guys sent me this week. Keep it up. We’ll need it!

Peace,
James

Summer Week Three Update

The third week of summer camp has come and gone. I’m at CROSSINGS AT THE CREEK on Kentucky Lake. It’s a beautiful campus with lots of fun stuff to do. The pic is the winners of the big “Crossing OF the Creek” boat race. The Whacky shaped Superman boat flew across the top of the water. God did some remarkable things during the week.

In response to my first week at Crossings, I am learning to speak without “F’s” and “TH’s.” At the end of the first full day of camp, some staffers were goofing off with Airsoft guns (misnomer!) and taking pot-shots at some of us from the back of the worship center. I got hit in the sleeve by a shot and turned around laughing with my mouth open just wide-enough to take a BB to the tooth. The score is now BB-1, Tooth-0. An emergency ROOT CANAL and some superglue later I’m back to smiling again. I’ve debated whether or not to post a picture of “Tealy the Toothless Wonder.” Maybe once the full dental process is over I’ll post before and after pics.

I leave for BOTSWANA in a few days. Remember to pray for me and the rest of the team July 2nd - 13th. It’s a long travel day and busy days of ministry once we get there. We’ll be doing AIDS EDUCATION in schools and with orphans as well as a weekend retreat for students from around Southern Africa. I’ll also do some concerts a couple of evenings sponsored by churches around Gaborone. I believe there is great power in specific prayer so PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.

Summer Week Two Update

I survived another week of the summer. It was a big and energetic group at North Greenville for the second week of summer camp. My favorite part of working with FUGE in the summer is the staff. They hire the cream of the crop and I felt pretty honored again to get to work with them. Watching the way AJ is around his students. The wisdom Jason brings to his group. The patience Chasen expresses to his percussion track. The unstoppable force of Ana’s smile. The grace and confidence in the leadership of Sarah, Alicia, Beth and JJ. It was a remarkable two weeks and I’m a better man for getting to hang out with that crew. Big love to Mike, Dave, Chase, Andy, and Zack for playing along with me a couple of nights. These guys all had responsibilities all day long and then showed extra early to figure out a couple of new tunes so I could rawkstar it up one night. I’ve arrived in Kentucky for a couple of weeks at CROSSINGS AT THE CREEK. I’ll try and get the sermons up from last week in the next day or two. PROMISE!

New Music Recommendation of the Week

BLUE WATER BAND - LIVE AT UNION. These guys are leading worship with me in Greenville, SC. Top notch talents covering some of the greatest worship songs being used these days. The CD includes “Beautiful One,” “Sing ot the King” and camp favorite “Undignified.”(Clicking on the cover art to the left opens the CD in the iTunes music store.)

Summer Week One Update

My favorite image from week one of the summer. This picture is both sweet and tragic to me. The cute little boy in the picture was on one of the mission sites where our students were working. He is cute and charismatic and full of energy. He was also a mess; a dirty sweater, a nose that hadn’t been wiped clean in weeks. Hungry for attention and desperate for affection. In the summer I get to watch students from all over the US wander into the communities we serve carrying hope and love with them as they go. We have an amazing crew of 35 creative, energetic staffers. A new family to carry me through these crazy summer weeks.

I’ve promised I would post the sermons from this summer in the podcast. I will do that next week. I PROMISE. Check back here to find those. I’ll get 18 hours at home and then it’s time for week two. Pray that I’ll have the energy to survive this schedule. I feel a little older every day. Wait…I am a little older every day!

Camp 2006

I just arrived at my first week of summer student camps. I’m in Greenville, SC for the next couple of weeks. Spent the day getting to know the staff and catching up with old friends. It’s a little strange to wander back into this world but the energy of it all is refreshing. I had intended to finish a new Songcast before camp started. No Luck. All the pieces are there I just haven’t put them together. I also intend on podcasting my speaking from the different camps this summer. We’ll see how motivated I get. Let the sleepless, non-stop rush of summer camp begin!