Recently in Special Events Category

I could write for a long time about the symposium this weekend. There was a lot that happened and a lot of things to think about that I need to process. Instead of spending my precious time here at work doing that, I will just share a few pictures. This is Gabriel. He's from Venezuela, and he was fun to play with this weekend. He has great blues, R&B, and rock chops, so it was a lot of fun to experiment with the 2 guitar sound without just defaulting to the lead/rhythm roles.

Tanya and Chioma came from St Louis as well as our friends, Parker and Nicole, who just moved from St Louis to Athens, GA. We had a great time hanging out with these friends and getting to know them better. It's funny how sometimes you have get out of town with someone in order to get to know them better.

I miss worshiping at NCF Chattanooga. It will always be the standard by which I judge all other experiences because it was the place where I first experienced the joy of worshiping the Lord using my music gifts. However, I came home refreshed and excited about what God is doing here in St Louis. I can't wait to share some of the new songs that we learned there, and I can't wait until the musicians on our team can host a symposium so that they can inspire, encourage, and refresh others.

For a taste of the symposium, you can hear the "Panel Discussion" from Sunday morning in which Michelle Higgins-Loftin, Renae Higgins, Randy Nabors, my dad and I share some off the cuff remarks about crossing cultures, embracing changes, getting out of the box, and keeping people ahead of vision. Listen here on Skip's podcast.

You can also here a board-mix of my song "Rejoice In The Lord" here.

The conference is 3/5ths over, and things are going very well. I have been really impressed with the enthusiasm of the youth to sing and to pray. I remember the same feeling when I was at this conference as a youth myself. God used that time to really call me to a deeper level of discipleship. I began to want to know more about scripture and to pray with more sincerity. I was encouraged to take a stand in my school and with my friends instead of being led around by what ever was cool. I'm thankful to be able to be part of this conference now as an adult.

The camp director is Danny Mitchell. I'm a little bias because Danny is an old friend, but I think he's doing an excellent job with the programming. He's found a good balance between being fun and being serious. He has kept the worship free of goofy games and skits. They do goofy stuff, but it is during other parts of the day. Danny has also been doing things that are really relevant to today's youth. He has a seminar called "the Gospel according to YouTube," which involves showing a clip (sometimes they are just funny and sometimes they are serious or confrontational) and then discussing it.

I'm also having a great time with my family this week. My dad has not had any migraines (he even played with me last night.) We've seen my sister and her kids a lot which has been great for Joanna. This morning we're hanging out with some of Sarah's family, too.

By the way, check out my new facebook page here. I hope to get some sound clips up after we get back from my first recording and maybe a few rare clips, too.