Word on the Street
News and thoughts from Tom about recent and upcoming events...
September 2010 -- September 8 I will be speaking at Chapel for Gordon College, a prestigious school in the Bay State, but first I will be at Church at the Gateway in good ol' Staten Island, NY! Looking forward to being with the Mercaldos and all the folks at Gateway. Then September 25 I will be at Christian Music Day in Carowinds Park, Charlotte, NC. If you are near Charlote, NC, come on out, it should be a great line-up: Casting Crowns, Kutless, Brandon Heath, Fireflight, The Skit Guys, Tom Richter, and Bone Hampton.
August 2010 -- Hot summer days are ending with a trip to the South, where I am preaching a series of messages called Summer Breezes at DeSoto Hills Baptist Church in Southaven, MS. God moved in each of the worship services, and it was great to reunite with these brothers and sisters. This is my second trip to Southaven, and everytime I go, I gain like 20 pounds. Thanks, Pastor James, for the trip to Abbay's, and thanks, Eddie, for the 300 fried chicken dinners!
July 2010 --After a great week of Vacation Bible School at my church, we left for our 2nd Mexico City Mission trip! It was great to be with Iglesia Bautista El Camino. Here is a video of our time there. After that it was off to FL for COAST CAMP with Christ Church (Anglican) of Plano, TX. We had a great time with the band for the week, The Afters, whom a certain team of 6th grade girls ALMOST best in the volleyball tournament! (You know who you are!)
June 2010 --Another Summer is almost here! First up is Las Vegas, NV where we are off from Vegas (BABY, VEGAS!) to the mountains of California for a one week student camp. From there I fly to Chicago, IL where I look forward to again speaking to a great group from Mobile, AL called the Spring Hill Singers. Then it's home for a few days until FESTIVAL SEASON starts. I am at Kingsfest in VA, followed by Spirit Song in OH, and Heartfest in Kansas City. I can't wait...hope to see you there as we kick off another great summer!
October 2009 --I thought October was going to be a slow month, but quite the opposite.
I was invited back to Stonybrook School, to speak at their chapel service. I always have a great time at SBS, thanks for having me!
The next weekend I got to hang out with my friend Daniel Lee and the group from Compass Fellowship in Manhattan on a retreat to New Jersey. I will never forget the insane floor hockey match, the awesome spread of snack food, and I am still expecting a field trip to Shake Shack!
Back at City on a Hill for two Sundays, once to preach on Sabbath, and once to preach on Fearless, about how idols cannot save us. As always, it is great to be with the folks from City on a Hill.
For the first time I finally got to Church at the Gateway in Staten Island for a youth event. I say finally because I have wanted to get out there ever since I met this group at Winter Weekend retreat. Thanks for a GREAT night of worship, football, and we almost (SO CLOSE) got to see Ron Francis shave his head. And who didn't want to see that? As for the hospitality of the Mercaldo family, please, I AM STILL STUFFED from that cheesecake, which was delicious! Hope to be back out there in the near future. No, not JUST for the cheesecake!
September 19--POINTFEST at Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio with Toby Mac, Family Force 5, Brandon Heath, and Bluetree. WOW what an amazing night. The fall weather was perfect, the bands and the coasters were both rocking, and the crowd was hyped. I love preaching after a band like Family Force 5 because the crowd is already so amped up. I think the attendance count was somewhere around 4,200. It was great to see God moving in the Buckeye state. If you were there, drop me an email, I would love to hear from you! By the way, I got to hang out backstage all night with comic Rich Praytor, who emceed the event. What a great guy--check out his website.
September 9-September 12--Great Chapel service to kick off Three Days in September. The students at Hannibal-LaGrange are a really great audience. Of all the rides I have ever received from various hosts across the country, the custom van of the folks at HLG was the best ride. Totally tricked out. Looking forward to seeing what God does in the lives of these students here in the boyhood home of Mark Twain.
After leaving Hannibal, I had a great weekend in Marks, MS, speaking at a Fifth Quarter event as well as a Youth service Saturday night. Thanks to the Tacketts for hosting me, and I gotta say I probably gained 5 pounds that weekend! BBQ, Chicken strips, cookies brownies, Mexican food eaten in a train station (wha?), pizza and banana puddin'! Just one question for my people in Marks--what WAS THAT STUFF in those kiddie pools during our kickball game? Yikes.
July 31-August 2, 2009--Just returned from a GREAT weekend at Desoto Hills Baptist Church in Southaven, MS (just outside Memphis, TN). This was a "Disicple Now" weekend with the band December Radio, and it was great! I believe God was at work in the lives of the students, and the testimonies of the afternoon service project were inspiring. In other news, I ate WAY too much BBQ! Wow. The local leaders and ministers were terrifc and the guys from December Radio were not just great musically, but really cool Christian guys.
July 19-26, 2009 Sonburn Camp for CBC Bearden, Knoxville, TN. WOW what a week. I was so excited to be with Tommy, Jeff, Chad, Laurianne, and Matthew. Highlights for me will always be Kidney Stone, the talent show, THRILLER (gave me nightmares--nightmares involving moon walking), and seeing how God was working in the lives of students. I hope to hear of great things when I return to Knoxville.
July 10, 2009--For the second straight year, I had a GREAT time at KINGSFEST at Kings Dominion Park in VA. I was with Switchfoot, Skillet, and Hawk Nelson--as always they put on a great show. The weather was such a gift from God, breezy and 75 or so, IN JULY!?!? I thought the crowd was fantastic, really supportive in my attempt to make much of Jesus.
July 5-9, 2009--Crossings Camp, Hardin, KY. This week went BEYOND my imagination! (haha). Had a great time "Blobbing" students in the lake, and totally enjoyed the nightly worship services. A highlight for me was the Psalm 148-150 reading that led into worship Wednesday night. I hope if you were there you will check out www.thebeyondeffect.org and see what students are doing to "Go Beyond."
June 2009--Mission Trip to Mexico City
I was so excited to be a part of my church's first international mission trip to Mexico City. We worked in a tough part of the city, Tepito, and saw God do amazing things. Thank you to our translators, local contacts, and may God continue to shed his grace upon the neighborhoods of Tepito and Mercado.
May 2009--He-Brews cafe and Summer camp with West Jackson
He-brews cafe--clever name, great event, and really good coffee! From Dunkin Donuts, my personal fav. Also "His Only Lighthouse" and "Restore" were terrific.
West Jackson BC, WHADDUP? What a great week in sunny FL. Volleyball, pool, SETTING RECORDS IN KIDNEY STONE, waffle house, and of course the Corinthian GRID! (quite a few of you emailed me for your own copy, by the way--well done!) Andy Neely, ladies and gentleman, man of the year candidate? I think may haps so. Thanks everyone for a great week.
April 2009--Thank you KANSAS CITY Shinefest!
I had a GREAT TIME at SHINEFEST with some really cool bands...Switchfoot, Skillet, Decyfer Down, and Disciple. The storm held off for us, but the crowd was so great I have no doubt they would have ROCKED on in the rain anyway! I rode the MAMBA about 6 times and finished the day at local BBQ favorite Arthur Bryant's. Thanks, Kansas City!