My New Album 1

I wanted to talk a little about my upcoming album in todays blog. In order to do so I have to talk about the United Pursuit community because thats where the music comes from. The greatest part of living in Knoxville are the people I call family. I have never been a part of anything so alive. I have never found such acceptance and love in any church, ministry group, or club. The way you know if your truly living in real community is if the people around you aspire to see you succeed in your calling and destiny as much as their own. Also, if you are inspired to lay down your own dreams to see others living out theirs. 

Unfortunately many ministries and communities don't operate in this way. They have a leader with his/her vision and expect those that attend to find their purpose in supporting that vision. The problem is that this does not look like family at all. In this model, if your called to anything other then the leaders vision, you really have no place. As a result one of two things occur; you either squelch your own calling or you leave. 

I am very thankful to be a part of a community that truly lives and loves like family. Family is the only institution in the earth where love abounds. Love doesn't abound in business or politics, however, many churches operate within these confines. 

I started a journey around 6 years ago. I asked the Father what His Kingdom looks like? I quickly found out, to the best of my knowledge, there aren't very many books on the topic of the Kingdom of God. Additionally, when I'd ask someone about it they would just kind of give me the look like; "you mean you don't know?"

 I have come to understand over the years that the Kingdom of God at its very core is a family. It's a great big, loving Daddy God and all his children. Like I said, it's the only institution in which love abounds. There are so many orphans in our world; children and adults alike that don't know their Daddy God. And God wants a functioning family operating in the earth because every orphan longs for family. Every orphan desires one thing, and thats to belong to a family! Family is the model which the church should operate.

As a father of six, five of which are adopted, I am daily laying my life down. I sacrifice my time, energy, and pursuits to see my children equipped, trained, healed and loved. They each have a unique design and intricate makeup. The way God made them to perceive the world is individual and beautiful. I count it an honor to patiently steward each life God has entrusted me with, and I love it when they succeed. In a family the child is never responsible for the fathers success! Sadly so many ministries rely on numbers of attendees and money and praises of people to gauge their success. 

So you might be asking what this has to do with my album? I am just so moved to have such amazing brothers and sisters like Will and Andrea Reagan, Nathan and Brittany Fray, Brock Human, Jake LeBoeuf, and Brandon Hampton who are taking time out of their own crazy lives to help me with my next album. Yesterday we spent time together dreaming and mapping out a plan on how to accomplish this! They are getting behind my songs because they see something in me that they want to share with the world. They know me, they know who I really am, and that's what they want to share. As an artist This is incredibly encouraging.

When you have talent in this world there always seems to be someone ready to capitalize off your abilities. Wether it's record labels that take so much and give so little, or Christian leaders hoping to add warm bodies to their congregation. I am set free by the family around me that is purely motivated out of love. They long to see my dreams fulfilled and the Spirit of God flood the earth. 

My hope is that everyone can experience the depth of relationship only family can give. And that each person would find themselves as a son, brother, daughter,sister, mother, father,etc. because in doing so you are building the Kingdom of God. You are building the only institution in the world that truly provides healing for the orphan. This is how caring for the orphan becomes the purest and most undefiled form of religion James 1:27. Because It brings the church back to its purest and simplest design. The design Papa God longs to see the church return to; family

This is what it looks like when a family decides to love an orphan broken and a abused by the world. This is my son Rodrigo, which means: "famous power." Because of being shaken and thrown across the room at 1 year old he was left with cerebral palsy. All the experts and Dr's had no hope for Rodee to become anything more then a vegetable. When he first came to us 1 yr and 2 months ago, he was blind and unable to even hold his head up. He could only make unintelligible sounds. Now Rodee can see, communicate with several words, and with the help of a walker take steps! He has already exceeded every expectation of the medical world and we plan on much, much more to come!.....And his smile!

 A Father will do whatever is necessary to see his son walk again! Your Father God wants the same for you....