July began with a road trip to New Mexico.

            After we passed the flatlands of West Texas and East New Mexico, passing through the annual UFO convention in Roswell (lots of Aliens walking around…some thought Brian’s head was an un-identified flying object…lol), the beautiful mountains were finally in view! We celebrated the 4^th of July, once again, at J Bar J Church in Ruidoso. What a joy it was to sing outdoors with some wonderful folks, with beautiful mountain scenery in the background! It was also very special to have Stan with us. Our friends from KUPR in Alamogordo wanted to fly Stan out to join us for a couple dates in New Mexico…Thanks to Jim, Bob “WHO”, Devere “DJ”, and the rest of the gang for letting Stan be with us and for such a great visit! We were the feature group at the 2^nd Annual Music Festival in Alamogordo. Several other local groups sang through out the evening, including Rebecca Linda Smith and New Hope Full Gospel Baptist Church. We were treated to a trip and lunch up the mountain into Cloudcroft at Rebecca’s at The Lodge. That was extra special for me because Lynell (my wife, for those who forgot) grew up there. Steve and I had to make a trip to McGinns to sample lots of homegrown pistachios of different flavors and the pistachio brittle (MAN…YUMMY)…of course, we brought some home! We love all our Alamo “ghetto” family! See you next year! The next day, on Sunday morning, we participated in another patriotic service at Del Norte Baptist Church in Albuquerque with Music Minister and friend Ira Pinkston. Ira was the Music Minister at FBC Waxahachie when I auditioned for Shiloh and when we had those first rehearsals before I hit the road! What an awesome worship service! And what a great trip to New Mexico! We will definitely look forward to returning sometime in 2009!

            The following Wednesday found us at Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton for a great night of worship and fellowship. The following Sunday, we headed north of Dallas to Valley View at First Baptist Church, There I did SOMETHING to throw my back out of whack. FUN STUFF…I tell you! We enjoyed the youth camp slideshow and the youth sharing about their camp the week prior! We will never forget the Gecko boy….this boy ate a live Gecko! What are these kids thinkin’ nowadays!?! That night we went out into the sticks to Highland Missionary Baptist Church. I was blessed to see a lot of friends, most from the singing schools that I used to teach at in the summertime. Thanks to our friends Stuart, Christine, and Cody Bridges for the good food and fellowship afterward!

Heading to IOWA….lots and lots of CORN !!!

            We took the long road north up through fields and fields and fields, ending up in Cedar Falls, Iowa for the Singin’ in the Cedar Valley. We were the featured concert on Wednesday night and were part of the all-day sing on Friday and Saturday. Thanks to Ken and the rest of the Iowa gang at the Cedar Falls Bible Conference Center for such great hospitality. Also, it was great spending some time with our friends from Forgiven Quartet out of Oklahoma (www.forgiven-quartet.com ). I have to say…if you ever need some navigational help (directions...for you folks challenged by BIG words…lol), Mark Green of Forgiven Quartet is your man…LOL! It was also a great opportunity to share the stage with the Booth Brothers and Roy Webb. Once again, we challenged the Booth’s to a cage-wrestling match! The only one with the nerve to step up was Michael Booth, when he crashed our Saturday evening set, running up on stage, talking trash…then realizing what he was getting into, decided to hop up into my lap like a little child….MAN…I wish someone had got a picture or a video of that…hilarious! We decided to back down and…more than that…decided to campaign for Michael Booth for President. Yes!!!! When you get a chance, go to the MySpace at www.myspace.com/shilohnet and look at the July pictures. You’ll see Brian and Steve sporting new “Michael Booth for President” t-shirts! We really do love those guys! It was very special to have Jim Brady of the Booth Brothers, come up on stage Saturday night and sing “Don’t Ever Miss the Chance” with us. He, along with wife Melissa, wrote that awesome song! Thanks Jim! Sunday morning we were back in Evansdale at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church for lots of awesome sweets and a beautiful morning of worship! It was great to see several of our Iowan friends who were on the Alaska cruise with us! Sunday night we made our first ever visit to  New Hope Assembly of God in Urbandale. We could tell those folks didn’t know what to think about us at first, but soon we all were all worshiping together, praising our AWESOME GOD! We quickly fell in love with the folks at New Hope and look forward to worshipping with them again in the future. Overall…we had an amazing trip to Iowa AGAIN, building on previous friendships and making many new ones as well! It just keeps getting better and better…or gooder and gooder…lol! Thank You God for so many blessings!

            The weekend of July 25^th had us on the East coast. We started off with a Friday night concert in Maiden, North Carolina at Mount Anderson Baptist Church with my awesome friends, Jason and Maria Myers, who shared their home with us! We had a great visit, eating lots of good food, singing around the piano and organ, and more. Steve and Brian got to see some old videos of me back in the early 90s in the Cumberland Valley School of Gospel Music when I received the first Student of the Year award! They couldn’t believe that I was ever so thin. I AM, however, still just as good looking!!! On Saturday, we headed north of Atlanta, Georgia to see Dr. David Edwards and wife, Mona. Brian had to have a little Sinus clean-up! You CANNOT believe what we saw come out of the little bald guy’s nose…that is all I can say about that! It was neat to visit with the good doctor and his better half. They are special to us! Saturday night we arrived at Justin and Christy Myers house. Justin is Jason’s twin brother…this really threw Brian and Steve for a loop (it doesn’t take much…trust me).  A big thanks to Justin and Christy for sharing their home as well. We love us some Myers!!! Sunday morning, we were in Loganville, Georgia at Corinth Christian Church to be a part of their Homecoming. We were glad to be part of such a special service and for a good ol’ fashioned “dinner on the ground.” Before heading home, we stopped off at Stone Mountain, Georgia. We walked all around the place and took the tram up to the top of the mountain (more pics are on the MySpace). We closed the month of July with a concert on Thursday night at St. Francis Village in Crowley, Texas.

The month of August finds us staying in Texas, which means more time at home with our families! This is awesome, especially when we look ahead to our September schedule…YIKES! Please keep us in your prayers as we travel all over this beautiful country.

God is good…ALL the time!

Jeremy

June started off with a trip to Seattle, Washington, to board the Norwegian Star to Alaska. Before we boarded, we took a road trip to Richland, Washington to sing at the KGSG Celebration Concert with The Johnson Family (www.johnsonfamilymusic.com  and www.myspace.com/johnsonfamilymusic ). Take a minute and visit their website(s)…what an awesome singing family! We were definitely privileged and honored to share the stage with this family.  They will be coming off the road soon because one of the girls is getting married, another is going to college, and another is IN LOVE! (well…they all seem to be in LOVE….aren’t we all!) We had a great visit over a meal after the concert and learned much more than we needed to know about those young ladies…lol!  Heck…they were getting marital and relationship advice from Brian and Steve….please PRAY FOR THEM…LOL!(they chose not to ask me for advice, which was probably a wise decision!) No, really… Pray for Richard (dad), Kelly (mom), Jennifer, Amy, and Erika (“with a K”)  as they go into these new directions and changes in their lives!

Now…All ABOARD!!!!!

The cruise was awesome! We were blessed to have Southern Charm and Woody Wright, as well as around 200 guests/family/friends! Lots of great food, fellowship, and cool weather was had by all! Alaska was breathtaking as expected. A big thanks to all those who took part in the 2008 Shiloh and Friends Alaskan Cruise! A special thanks goes to NEAL and The Cruise Outlet crew for all the hard work in planning each event, and Neal, especially, for having such a wonderful wardrobe the entire cruise…lol! (inside joke…if you were there, you know) Please take a look at our next cruise planned for October 3^rd through the 10^th of ‘09 at www.shilohnet.com/schedule/banners.html . It’s the 2009 Shiloh and Friends Fall Foliage Cruise to New England and Canada, with The Talley Trio, Tim Lovelace, and KCBI! AWESOME! DON’T MISS IT!

            After a weeks rest from the cruise (enjoying my own bed, actually NOT eating for a bit, preparing for a diet to lose some of those cruise pounds) and adjusting back into the TEXAS HEAT, we took off for a day of worship at Lakeview Bible Fellowship in Pilot Point and Lamar Baptist in Arlington.

The following weekend we went to Copper Canyon to the historic Chinn’s Chapel United Methodist Church for a community wide outdoor concert. You talk ‘bout HOT! We set up on a wrecker bed in the middle of a field. Hamburgers and hotdogs weren’t the only things cookin’…Brian’s bald head was bakin’ baby! Thankfully (and I truly mean that), closer to concert time, a few clouds rolled in, and a bit later, turned into a nasty looking storm. We sang a couple songs before we thought the wind was going to blow us and the equipment off the truck bed. We had some great help in moving the equipment into the small historic church and finished with a great time of praise and worship.

Finally, we closed the month of June with a concert in Steve’s and my hometown of Corsicana, at Northside Baptist.  It’s always great and very special to be close to home and to share our ministry with our family and friends, and many of those who pray for us and our ministry regularly. A big thank you to all the churches in and around Corsicana who canceled their night services to attend this special night!

Next month includes some long out-of-state-road trips, including New Mexico, Iowa, Georgia, and North Carolina. Please pray for us as we travel and continue to share our hearts with so many people! We love you!

Love God and love each other!

May is always a special month…we have the special opportunity of honoring the mothers that surround our lives. I hope you took the time to let the mothers in your life know how much you love them and appreciate them. Let’s not just honor them in May. Let’s honor them every day of our lives!

We began the month of May at a Senior Adult Appreciation Banquet at Great Hills Baptist in Austin. We shared a wonderful meal followed by an evening of worship in “The Great Hall.” (Sounds fancy huh!?!) A few days later, we traveled east and spent a Sunday at FBC of Buna, Texas. There we participated in the morning service, in a luncheon for the Senior Adults, and finished up with a full concert that night. The following Monday night, we were back in Fort Worth for the Birthday Club at Luby’s. This was the first birthday club as a trio. I think we were received pretty well, even if the old man crashed the party. I’m talkin’ about Stanley. Yep…we got to sing with the old man. We really do miss him a bunch!

The following weekend, we took off north to Hatfield, Arkansas, to the Christian Motorcyclists Association Pavilion for a Saturday night community-wide concert event. The road trip up there was gloomy with tornado watches all over Arkansas. After the event, we chose to drive back late into the night to get back to our home churches for Mother’s Day. The storms had passed on to the east of us by the time we left. Little did we know, within a couple hours northeast from where we were traveling, a Prevost tour bus would lose control in the rough weather, striking a guard rail, and finally hitting an embankment. Many were injured on the bus, and a legend in gospel music, Dottie Rambo, would go home to be with the Lord. Dottie traveled for many years and wrote many great songs, such as “Sheltered in the Arms of God,” “He Looked beyond My Faults,” and “I’m Sailing Towards Home.” Dottie will be greatly missed by many.

After getting home at 5 A.M. on Mother’s Day, I got a couple hours nap and then went on to church with my wonderful wife, Lynell, and the rest of the McKissack crew. I DO have the best family in the entire world, even though I don’t tell them enough! Lynell, Erika, Jonah, James, and Emilee….I Love You All SO MUCH and thank you for putting up with me and loving me for exactly who I am, mistakes and all!

The following Friday we were back at the Travis Avenue Baptist Church for the quarterly concert series, sharing the stage with The Weatherfords and others. A couple days later we worshipped at Fort Graham Baptist Church in Whitney and then at FBC Blooming Grove with our friends Pastor Grady Cashion and wife Kathy. Thanks to Grady and Kathy for letting us hang out at their house, letting Brian and Steve test-taste cookie after cookie, and for feeding our families after the worship service!

The next stop was back to Fredonia Hills Baptist in Nacogdoches with our friend and writer of “In My Shoes,” Kevin Funderburk (by the way, “In My Shoes” has entered the charts at #67…YEA!). We were treated to a night’s stay at the historic Fredonia Hotel, along with its awesome breakfast. We also got to hang out with the entire Funderburk family for lunch after the worship service. Kevin and his family are about to head overseas to do mission work. Please pray for them!

Finally, the last stop of the month was one to remember. We hit the road for Tyler, Texas, at First Christian Church. There we shared the stage with the First Christian praise band and heard a couple songs from Angelos (4 Asian tenors from the Philippines). The awesome praise band was lead by a good friend of mine, Chad Miller, who wrote some of the songs they sang. Chad and I both shared and studied for many incredibly TOUGH math classes together at UT Tyler. We joked about hanging out with one particular instructor, Dr. Mitchell, every chance we got. All that brown-nosin’ has got to be the only reason we passed ANY of his classes! Great to hang out with you, Chad! I also want to thank our new friends Kris and Reese for all their help that night!

We’ll…I’m finishing this blog up about 10 P.M. on this Wednesday June 4^th, and I have got to be up around 3 to head to the airport…YUCK!!!!!! The good news is that we are heading for Seattle, Washington for a couple concerts and then boarding a Norwegian cruise ship for our Shiloh and Friends Alaskan Cruise.

Suffering for Jesus….SOMEBODY’S GOT TO DO IT!

Til’ we meet again…

Love God and Love Each Other!

Jeremy

Once again….we were blessed to be close to home for most of April. It is always a privilege and an honor to be able to worship the Lord is so many places each month! This particular blog is going to be short and sweet…and possibly even more boring than the usual. I apologize up front for this and I am sure most of you will forgive me!

We worshipped with many, many wonderful people at:
FBC Comanche,  Faith United Methodist Church in Fort Worth, at the Parker/Pinto Baptist Association meeting in Weatherford, Mobberly Baptist in Longview, Arlington Church of the Nazarene (where we sang with a wonderful choir), Pleasantview Baptist Church in Arlington (a Shiloh mini-reunion…it was great to share the stage and spend a little time with all the previous members of Shiloh), a 60-plus Celebration Day at FBC Granbury, Northside Baptist in Conroe, Rural Shade Baptist in Cleveland, FBC of Carrollton, Bethel Baptist of Celina, and FBC of Cedar Hill.

HEY….I told you it was going to be short and sweet! I’ll do a better job with it next month!!

In Christ,

Jeremy

Much like February, March kept us close to home, giving us much more time with our families and friends. We are very thankful for times like these! March kicked off at McPherson Road Baptist Church in Fort Worth with an evening of worship and preachin’. The pastor’s message was “Who to vote for?” The bottom line is…who IS THERE that is worth voting for.  Maybe…NONE of them! But somebody has got to be elected. We all need to vote, and we all need to seek God’s will in making the right decision. Whether we like the new President or not, we need to pray for him…or her.

The following weekend we went to Glen Rose, Texas, to the Glen Lake Camp and Retreat Center for a private event with some folks from St. Luke United Methodist in Arlington. We had a blessed day in fellowship and worship with all these wonderful folks. The following day, we went to Mexia, Texas, to Calvary Baptist for an evening of worship. Then, on the following Monday, we were part of an Association Senior Adult Rally at FBC Canton. WOW….what an awesome weekend!

The following Thursday we took off to Broaddus to the East Texas Jamboree Theatre. There we shared the stage with some of my friends, the Rileys. Caleb Riley was one of my choir students in Groveton, who went to UIL state competition his senior year (tell Morgan I missed seeing her). Later that week, we sang in Corsicana at Westside Baptist and then went back east to Tyler at Southern Oaks Baptist….another great day of worship and fellowship!

After a week of Spring Break with the kids, that involved a lot of rain and a little fishin’, we went to McGregor High School auditorium for a pre-Easter service on a Saturday night. We were all able to be at our home churches on Easter morning. Not only was I at FBC Corsicana on Easter morning, I got to play a little trumpet in the early service and jam on the piano in the contemporary service thanks to Laurie Duke having a beautiful baby boy, Timothy Brian, on Easter morning. Laurie is Steve’s sister for those who don’t know! Congrats to the Duke family and to Uncle Steve! On Easter Sunday night, we were in Fort Worth at Southwood Baptist for a great night of worship. A big thanks to Southwood for scheduling us yearly on Easter night, which allows us to be in our home churches with our families on Easter morning!

The last weekend of March started in Mineola, Texas, at Northside Baptist Church. The following morning we worshipped in 3 different services at Argyle United Methodist Church and closed the weekend in Decatur at Cornerstone Baptist Church. Thanks to Harry and Mary Jo Nelson for treating us to lunch Sunday afternoon and opening your home in order for us to relax a little bit. Also, an extra thank you for the Antelope sausage and the Venison jerky. We CANNOT wait to break it open!... (actually…the jerky is wonderful….wait…WAS…wonderful!)

I hope you all have your “Passion for the Mission” CD. If not, go to the website store and get your copy ordered! God is really using these new songs to bless and touch many people in many different ways. We give Him all the praise and honor and glory. Until next time…let everything you say and do honor our Savior Jesus Christ!

Jeremy

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