Monday, July 27, 2009

2009 Summer Shows

Lewistown
Well the concert in Lewistown was a great time; I can’t explain how good it was to be back in the church that feels so much like home. It was great to see everybody again. In many ways I feel like I never left, and just have been so blessed by this church! As far as the concert I think we had a good time laughing and worshiping, not to mention the ice cream afterwards. We especially had a good time laughing as I started into the first song, which has a track playing behind it, and I accidentally had left my mic and guitar channel muted on the soundboard. Therefore the track was playing through just fine but no one could hear my guitar or voice. So I was singing the song “I Love You” and some of the words say, “if I sing I sing only for you” and the people had to have been reading the words on the screen and thinking, “he really does only sing for God, cause we can’t hear him!” Well I realized it part way through the song and fixed it, and we had a good laugh about it. I hoped to have some videos but the camera didn’t record past 7 minutes so no video this time. But here are a couple pictures:


Helena
I’m so glad I got to come to Helena, not only had I never been to the city that is our state's capitol but I loved getting to spend time with Kevin and Stephanie Shafer and meet their youth group. I knew Kevin back when I was in High School and he was an area youth pastor. It is great to see God blessing him in ministry. I had a great time, sharing my heart with the youth group and I pray that God be glorified and that everyone was encouraged by something that God wanted them to know. After the concert we went and had ice cream and slushies, which is always a good time. 

You know as I have been traveling last summer and this summer, I’ve been trying to learn more about life on the road and how to go about it as civilized as possible. Well I learned something today that I thought I’d share in this blog. First, I thought maybe I’d try having one shirt set aside to wear only during my concerts, that way I don’t have to pack a lot of shirts. Well today was only my second concert of the tour, but as I prepared for tonight’s concert I put on my designated concert shirt and it became very clear to me that I should not try to reuse that shirt. It did get a little hot at the Lewistown concert and that shirt had a sort of stench to it. Wearing that shirt again could really distract from being the aroma of Christ. So new rule: “wear a new shirt for each concert.”

Keep checking back because as soon as I get time I’d like to upload some video from the concert. 

Kalispell
Well the last real concert stop on my tour was last night in Kalispell MT, tomorrow I will head up to Dickie Lake Bible Camp and lead worship there for the weekend, and then head back home. I had a great time with the concert last night. It was great to see some old friends and meet some new friends. Tim Owen who is the Superintendent of the Rocky Mountain District  for the Christian and Missionary Alliance, was also there. He shared a great testimony about how when he was a senior in High School, God had healed him of Hodgkin’s disease. We truly serve the most amazing God and there is no one like Him. 

I also had a really interesting experience today. I went to Shopko and I attempted to steal a DVD. WAIT…. WAIT…. Let me explain. My friend Charles is in charge of Security at Shopko and he asked me to help him out with a group of kids that was coming in today. He was going to show them how they monitor everything in the store and how easy it is to catch a thief. So he had another shopko employee and me stick a couple of DVD’s in our pockets and head for the door. He and a shocked group of wide-eyed 7 and 8 year olds met us as we were leaving the store and my friend very sternly asked us to follow him to his office so we could “talk”. The entire group proceeded to decide that they should probably call the police and our parents to have us punished for our crimes. All in all I think the kids got the message and I got to feel what it would be like to get caught stealing. It’s not a good feeling and apparently had I stolen the DVD for real, I would have had to pay somewhere between $500-$1200. I’m not sure, though, if that means I would get to keep the DVD or not…

Anyway check back cause if I get time I’d like to have some video added from the concert in Kalispell. 

Dickie Lake 
Well I had a great time at Dickie Lake Bible Camp. I would say that if you are up in the Kalispell area and are looking to go to camp – go to Dickie Lake. The lake itself is amazing, and for me, a poor eastern Montana boy I couldn’t believe how clear the water is. Anyway, It was a great weekend of camp. I really enjoyed making some new friends and being part of the ministry there. 
Sorry no pictures or video from the camp

I’m back home now and I’d say I had a really great time. I love being on the road and doing music. I got to see a lot of old friends and make new friends, and got to see God work in the lives of people. Thanks to everyone who prayed, you certainly had a part in this ministry. 

Well I put over 2,000 miles on my Ford Escape, but I also learned a few things. Like not to try and wear the same shirt every night, that’s a bad idea (unless you’re a rock star, then you are supposed to smell). I also only lost three bottles of shampoo during my traveling this summer. So, I learned that I need to keep a good eye on my shampoo (I accidentally leave them in various showers). Well thanks again for the prayer, and God bless you guys!