Can you believe I got my familiy to take this crazy picture???  I had to talk them into it a bit, but they actually had fun once we all got set up.  Farrah, our oldest is 13!  She’s leading her Junior High worship team at ROCKHARBOR and made her national stage debut at Fishfest this summer with a 30 minute set on the “Family Stage”.  There’s a snippet of her performance on Youtube here.  Brennan is rockin’ the drums with three years of lessons under his belt and several concerts with dad…all these new adventures this year inspired the pic.  Our famous photographer friend Jules Bianchi (julesbianchi.com) graciously donated her time and fit us in right after family portaits for Chris O’Donnell.  Crazy.  It was a blast!

This season and time of year reminds us of how grateful we are for friends like you.  Thanks so much for joining us on this adventure of faith, service, and leadership.

Read the book of LUKE with me these next few days, if you get a chance!  Let’s dive again into the drama unfolding all around us.  May we be CAPTURED by the story…again…of God’s great love, His generosity, and His reckless pursuit of us…how crazy is this???

The recording sessions in Seattle this month went great!  We are getting closer and closer to the long-awaited 10th album…  We’ll keep you posted, for sure!

2010 concert dates are filling up. We’d love to see you out on the road!

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If you’d like to make one last year-end, tax deductible donation to a great cause, this is your opportunity!  We’d be blown away and grateful beyond words for your financial support.  Every penny goes right into sending us out and pushing us forward.  To contribute, hit the Pay Pal button on our website, call with your credit card number, or write a check to:

Justin Fox Ministries

3007 Donnybrook Ln.

Costa Mesa, CA 92626

949-294-7039

Thanks again for allowing us to be an extension of your ministry to the world!

YAAAAAHHHHHHH, we did it!!!! It’s over! Everyone now; deep sigh of relief…

I’m really happy with how this last day went. It was a big one, but God was bigger. The 2 services at Oasis went pretty smooth, 2nd better than the first (I was more awake, audience had more energy, and I didn’t do quite as many clumsy things). Samme’s short sermon on “Poolman” was ground-breaking…in fact, I’m comfortable calling it legendary at this point. I will try to post it up on this site if I get a copy, and I definitely need to send it to TIM! Lou Gramm did not show sadly, but I did meet hundreds of warm, welcoming, supportive, and encouraging people! The CD donations, love offering, and church’s honorarium completely blew me away. It was a huge financial windfall that will propel our ministry forward in profound ways — THANK YOU, OASIS!!!

We all hit the Chinese food place again for lunch, and then I took off for my super-last-minute booking back in Geneva. My voice was doing well, but feeling a little stripped, so right after sound check in Geneva, I borrowed a pot and dish towel from the church kitchen, boiled water in it, found a quiet room, and with the dishtowel around my face, I inhaled steam for about 15 minutes. I have to say, that is one of my new favorite voice-care activities! It feels awesome! And it’s an excuse for more solitude and quiet…you should try it! The concert went OK…very small crowd…6, 7, 10 people? Very mellow, too. At one point, I felt compelled to say that “permission is granted to clap after a song, if you’d like”…hee hee… I really dug the pastor and his family. Good people with sincere hearts. Thanks to Paul Estro and his wife for helping me connect with this church. Paul is a unique, passionate musician that you should check out. He opened my Thursday night show this week and did a great job!

Well, New York is much bigger and more rural than I ever imagined…tons of open land with beautiful, vintage farm houses everywhere…it just goes on and on and on…I had a great adventure here, and I’m already plotting my return trip; Summer? Bring the family? Fire up the motorized surfboard??!!!! Oh yah, SAVE IT FOR ME, LOU!!!

I can’t thank all my hosts, concert promoters, and friends enough for this amazing week. I am humbled and honored to serve alongside you! Thanks, readers, for sharing in this trip with me. Please pray my flights all run smooth tomorrow and that I am home on schedule to pick the kids up from school.

4 days home and then the band and I pile in the van for a weekend of shows in Nor Cal.

…and The Tour rolls on…

I am rounding the corner, people! Over the top! I am feeling the momentum of the second-half pulling me toward home, and it’s all downhill now…in the best way!

I drove most of the day after my 11:30 am rock star breakfast by the lake. That’s livin’! I experienced the first feeling of warm sun since I left Cali and took a few pictures of the scenery, bought that capo and then hit the road. The Aspire does not have a CD player (or at least I can’t find one), so I’ve not been able to listen to the 5 or so CDs that people have given me - sorry, guys! I try to pray a lot when I’m driving, and today I reflectively journeyed through the Lord’s Prayer, adding in extra stuff and personal prayers to each line…it took an hour! The other hours I spent listening to Fresh Air, Prairie Home Companion, and This American Life podcasts.

After crossing miles and miles of farmland, I pass through Albany and then deeper into the country for my next stop. My hosts tonight are Pastor Roger and his family. They put on a great event to raise money for the local food bank…and cooked great meatloaf! The crowd was fun and responsive, my voice felt fine, and I ended up making my concert a little longer than I thought…the time just flew by! People were so kind and generous at the “tent table” and as I was reaching down to grab some more CDs out of the suitcase, I saw something shiny…something metal…MY CAPO!!! So, I guess now I have a back-up…

I’m in the extra bedroom at Roger’s house and getting ready to talk to Heidi and the kids and then get some sleep. I’m thankful that the fam has been doing good this week. I’ve called Heidi every day, talked to the kids several times, and I’ve been texting my 12-year-old ’cause that’s how she communicates now. I bought cheezy NY trinkets for them all…real crowd pleasers! Only 2 more real days to go, and then my fly-day home. I’m so stoked! I can’t wait to get back to Rochester tomorrow and hang out again with Samme and the Oasis crew…I’ll be rehearsing with his band for Sunday services and finally; PIZZA AND WINGS!!!

I’ll see my largest audiences of the trip on Sunday. It’ll be my fullest day so far. May God restore my energy and focus and keep me humbly dependent on Him.

On the home stretch…

Oh man, thanks for your prayers, everyone!!!  My voice recovered and my singing at tonight’s concert was totally fine!  A real miracle.  I tried to stay quiet all day except to answer the U.S. Border officer’s questions…as he pulled me out of the car and SEARCHED IT!  I didn’t know what was going on.  I just tried to stay calm and not look guilty or nervous…but that’s when you look the most guilty and nervous, right?!  They finally let me go, and I was sure happy to be back in America.

The Aspire is running like a champ!

My hosts tonight put me up at this really nice hotel overlooking a giant lake.  I was so blessed!  The concert went well.  I’m just super relieved that my voice held up and seems to be getting better and better.  Another big miracle:  I was unable to schedule a Sunday night service on this trip, but still booked my ticket for Monday morning by faith that something could come up.  Well, God’s plan unfolded…A pastor of the local Assemblies church was in the audience tonight and BOOKED ME for this Sunday!!!  Amazing.  I’m so stoked.

I uploaded a new video clip the other day.  It’s a fun piece in the middle of our DVD documentary, including interviews with three of my brothers.  They are STUDS! Oh yah, and I step in dog doo-doo…

Tomorrow I will sleep in for sure…and buy a capo after breakfast.  The Albany youth group concert tomorrow is 3 hours away.  It’s a benefit for the church’s food pantry.  May hearts be touched, motivated, and inspired!

I thought I’d try to write a little bit of my day to day adventures, each day of this week-long tour. I’m out here in upper New York, solo, and I’ve never done such a thing before, so I thought I’d give it a shot. Anyone up for a few SNAPSHOTS of the road life? If there’s anyone out there who has the time and interest to follow along with me this week…I’m thankful for your company!

OK, so it takes ALL DAY to fly to a place like this from sunny California. It’s now midnight here, and I just got in. It’s 20 degrees. Pastor Samme Palermo is my gracious host, picking me up at Rochester airport, swinging by Applebee’s for a late-night chicken salad, and dropping me off here at the Fairfield Inn. Samme is the best - a total New Yorker, a ROCKER, and a give-the-coat-off-his-back lover of people. I’ll be at his church twice this week, and I can’t wait! PLEASE PRAY FOR SAMME’S MOM; He found out moments before he picked me up that she is severe flu-like symptoms and being rushed to the hospital! He dropped me at the hotel and headed straight over there…may God’s peace comfort him and his family…

Besides a tiny nap, and some quiet reflections in prayer, I mostly read today on the flights, as I love to do…1st Corinthians, 2 magazines (American Way and Blender), and 2 Henri Nouwen books (Making All Things New and Letters to Marc About Jesus). Henri is awesome! I was really inspired today, too, by Paul’s encouragement in Corinthians to “run the race to win”. Of course, I’ve heard that a million times, but isn’t it like the Spirit to use something familiar to capture your heart in a fresh way? This week, I want to run the race to win…not just “finish well”…but actually to WIN it, you know? May God hear my prayer!

I’m fighting against the 3-hour time difference, so I’m going to attempt to listen to all 20 new songs from Blender’s “Download These” column, and then hope sleep comes soon…

Until tomorrow-

This is definitely under-the-table, and Randy doesn’t even know I’m writing this, BUT…

My favorite hobby, as many of you might know, is surfing, and I couldn’t have a better friend out on the water than Randy French!  I just love Surftech surfboards so much that I’ve GOT to make a shout-out!  Randy and his awesome team have created these amazingly indestructible surfboards that handle all my klutzy drops and road trips, plus they’re so light and responsive that surfing is always fun!  My brothers and I have all surfed these great boards, and Randy has been a generous, supportive friend for years now.  I visited the factory last week in Santa Cruz and got hoooooked up!  Here was Randy in the shaping room…

I ride a ‘9″8 David Nuuhiwa longboard, and it is MAGIC!  Surftech is branching out in tons of adventurous designs, and I totally admire Randy for taking the many leaps of faith required to start and sustain a company like this!

If you’re ever in the surfboard buying situation, consider a SURFTECH.  You’ll be stoked!!!

Our drummer John Macelwee and his wife (the ’60s couple) hosted our small group and a bunch of friends for a pumpkin carving party.  It was awesome!  I painted on a sweet handlebar mustache, Heidi went as a Starbuck’s barista, and of course the kids got into it, too!

I’ve posted over 100 pictures from our recent retreat; The Ascent, on a new Shutterfly website.  I’m thinking of putting a bunch more photos there, too, from my recent summer tours, family trips, and random moments.  Click the logo below to view…

4:45pm :: Refugio State Beach :: I got lucky :: Heidi had the camera

ANNOUNCING…

The first-ever Spiritual Retreat, put on and hosted by……ME!!!

THE ASCENT ‘08!

I have secured four sites at one of my favorite places on Earth: Upper Pines Campground in the jaw-dropping Yosemite Valley, September 18-20, 2008.

This will be a life-changing weekend to relax, refresh, and renew, caught in the beauty of God’s majestic handiwork. John Muir once said that God speaks to us in nature all the time, but that in Yosemite, He uses CAPITALS. Psalm 145 says it like this:

“Creation and creatures applaud you, God;
your holy people bless you.
They talk about the glories of your rule,
they exclaim over your splendor…”

Let’s take a few days to pull away and add our voices to the choir!

This retreat is open to ANYONE with a desire to get away and recharge…

THURSDAY night will include an amazing dinner, prepared with passion and artistry by our on-site chef, a devotional, an interactive worship experience, S’mores and guitars around the bonfire, and an un-plugged concert of requests and debut songs from the forthcoming album!

On FRIDAY, we will get up early and attempt the summit of one of the most famous mountains of all time: Half Dome! This is the perfect time of year for this, with the cables still up, the weather optimal, and the crowds minimal.
Here’s a link describing the adventure: Half Dome

Folks who aren’t up for this craziness have many options throughout the day at Yosemite.
For a link to some alternate things to do, click HERE

The entire weekend will be accompanied by a pre-trip suggested reading list, raves, advice, and tips on enjoying Yosemite, along with prayerfully prepared, self-guided spiritual exercises – cool opportunities for you to connect with the Creator of it all. My prayer is that it will also be a great time to listen, share, encourage and support each other. Friday night will include another incredible dinner followed by Inspirational Campfire Session #2!

SATUDAY, we’ll conclude our retreat with an awesome breakfast and a time of sharing, worship, reflection and response. I will be making my coveted Pete’s coffee for all…

(for those wishing to stay over Saturday night, other accommodations may be available)

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We’ll be tent-camping, so it’s kind of rustic, but I think that’s where all the fun is! (I can help supply some needed tents, if we’re short)

This will be an intimate journey, in that there are only

20 SPOTS AVAILABLE

It is a first-come/first-serve basis, and the registration has OFFICIALLY BEGUN!

The cost is $150 per person, which is a tax-deductible donation that will cover food and your campsite, and support our ongoing music ministry efforts. You can secure your spot with a $100 deposit or, of course, pay the whole amount.

To pay by check:
Send to “Justin Fox Ministries”
3007 Donnybrook
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

By credit card:
We can take your number over the phone at 714-432-8335

With PayPal:
Simply send a payment to “justin@justinfox.com”, or click on the PayPal button on the right of this site.

This is a big leap of faith for us…

THANK YOU for considering supporting and joining me in THE ASCENT!

Justin