It has been a while since I have made contact with all of you. Nevertheless, I am thankful for all of you, and I pray that the goodness of life has been directing your attention to the Giver of good. If you are like me, you might have a distorted idea of goodness. But God has a way of using even what we deem to be "bad". It is through the rough stuff that we are molded and fashioned by an ever-pursuing God. God will stop at nothing, and use anything, to bring us to himself.

I am looking forward to doing full-length concerts again, and I am taking bookings for the remainder of this year. The calendar is filling up, and I am looking forward to getting back to some places I have been in the past and stopping in to some new ones as well. It will be a time of getting re-acquainted with old friends and making new ones.

I was blessed to travel and open up for Ray Boltz on his tour for the better part of a year. It was a wonderful time of being stretched as an artist and as a follower of Jesus. I am thankful that God continues to use the experiences of life to build and construct me, and that was definitely the case this past year. Ray and I had very different approaches to music ministry, but I was so fortunate to be around someone who is being faithful to, and taking very seriously, the call Jesus has on his life. Ray is a wonderful communicator with his audience, and is a lot of fun to be around.

It has been a very good 2004 for me thus far. I am in the midst of recording my next record. I have stockpiled a number of songs, and we (Brad Layher, Cobra Joe Curet, Mark Robertson) are recording it incrementally. We have made a permanent record of six of the songs and are looking forward to finishing the CD in the coming months. This time we are recording in Bloomington, Indiana at Rich Morpurgo's studio. He is doing a wonderful job of engineering it.

The ball has begun to roll with the whole process of writing my first book. I was originally slated to have the book done this fall, but it has been postponed to a later date when I can give the writing process the attention and the energy it deserves. I am looking forward to seeing how God will work through the writing experience.

With the remainder of the year, I am seeking to rid myself of my mask and seek only the approval of my Lord (check out James Bryan Smith's latest book Room of Marvels). I want to be truly real so that I can experience being fully known and completely loved. I want to take one step of faith closer to Jesus and knowing him each day. I long for my love to lead to obedience and my obedience to lead to love. I want to let trust fuel my journey through this life. Trusting in a Savior that will love me perfectly regardless of my flimsy attempts at crafting an ever-changing mask, because my life is now hidden with Christ. And here is the good news...God will complete the good work he has begun in us in spite of our efforts to thwart it, both knowingly and unknowingly.

Peace of Christ,
Mitch