I’m coming to you this morning from the Kansas City airport after a long couple of days of touring. Last night we played a show at the Kansas City T-Bones ballpark and had a blast.  Aaron and I sang the national anthem and then got to enjoy the game from the press box… which was amazing!!  The show was a lot of fun and we have to say thanks to Calvary 88.5, KLOVE, and AIR1 for promoting and giving us a nice crowd of about 1500-2000 to play to!!  It was awesome!!  So now we wait for the plane to get us back home. “Time-Crunch” otherwise known as Brian Coleman (our road manager) got us up extra early anticipating a crowd at the airport and so I have about 2 hours to write this blog.  Thanks Brian Coleman… (can you hear the sarcasm in my voice??) lol.

Summerfest has been awesome this year and why wouldn’t it be???  The line-up is sick!!!  Britt Nicole, Mikeschair, and Finding Favour along with the always amazing (wink, wink) Building429 for $5… well it’s insane.  Britt is amazing… and she’s as deep of a well spiritually as I have ever known.  God is blessing her because of her faithfulness.  If I have seen her back stage praying with a fan once I’ve seen it a hundred times.  To be honest… I’ve never met another artist who was more serious about the power of prayer than her… EVER.  She never stops giving from the second she shows up til the second she leaves the venue.  No matter what’s going on she really understands the power of a moment and the strength that can be found in the simple process of praying over another person.  It’s truly inspiring for an old dog like me.

I am so impressed with the character of the bands that are out on tour with us this time. These guys are young, driven, extremely talented, and yet so humble and relational in a way that has really been refreshing for us to see.  I know that sounds weird for me to be surprised by such things, but Building429 has seen its share of ego maniacs and weathered its share of rat races through the years… so in a lot of ways the last few years have been great for all of us in terms of perspective.  Knowing that this is just a moment that we’ve been given to capture the hearts and minds of an audience and then turn them to Christ has truly been a lifechanging thought.  It used to be that we would try to “wow” a crowd of people with the gifting that God had given us.  But at some point we started to realize that our gifting and talent would never impact a crowd the way that the spirit of the Lord in a room would.  And with that realization we began to build tours and sets with that as our criteria.

Our concerts look different today, in every way, than they did in the past.  Today Building429 has found its voice as an ambassador for children in need around the world.  Some people may not enjoy me talking about such things for extended periods during our events, but if you’re a Building429 fan you need to know… it is our heartbeat.   It’s not going to change.  We’ve seen things around the world that have shaken up the hearts of men that honestly sometimes feel a bit cold.  I’ve cried in Africa, I’ve struggled in Haiti, I’ve been broken in Nicaragua and that is something that I can’t write off as a “nice experience”.  No it was a GOD experience… and all of us knew in those moments of brokenness why Building429 has continued to exist through the years, as much as Bono knows why U2 exists.  U2 is a band that plays music that matters… but it is also a vessel that is used to proliferate the plight of the needy around the world.

With that said I think it’s time to tell the fans that I am now the worship pastor of Grace Community Church in Clarksville, TN: www.gcomchurch.com.  I have been a part of the church for the last 4 years and watched it grow from a small gathering of 20-30 people to a huge gathering last Easter of 3100 people. As much as I’ve seen God at work in the band the last few years I have also seen God at work in my church and therefore I have decided to fill that need for the church and continue touring and record with Building429.  God is at work in my life and I can’t help but remember my father’s words as I think of the work that fills my life today:  “Son, you can sleep when you’re dead”.  That’s right I can sleep when I’m dead, but right now there are people who need the love of Jesus.  So, whether it’s leading worship on Sundays at my church, playing rock shows with Building429, or speaking on behalf of starving children around the world, the work is going to get done.

In other Building429 news we are working on a new record right now… that’s right and it’s BAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDDDDDD!!!!  You are going to be soooo surprised when you hear the new music.  We’ve begun tipping our hand to a few people around the industry and they are all blown away.  We’ve taken a completely different approach this time that is really helping us stay fresh and modern.  Everything on this record is being built off of the groove and the hook, instead of the guitar or piano.  It’s crazy cool.  I’ll have a melody idea and a lyric, and before we start playing the music we find the groove… program a beat… lock the vocal idea down and then find the music.  It’s so refreshing, and if I had to describe where we may land on this record I would say somewhere between Lifehouse and One Republic.  We’re all stoked and we can’t wait to start playing some of the stuff live… maybe even this fall???!!!!!

Speaking of fall, Building429 is cranking out a fall tour called “30 Seconds to Change: A Night to Benefit Haiti”, featuring Mikeschair and another amazing band called Abandon.  Get ready to come and be blessed by your willingness to serve.  To me, the moments when I’ve felt the closest to God were the moments when I served the way that Jesus did.  Not just by saying the right things, but by actually moving and making the effort to meet people where they are with love that is unyielding.  Maybe that, for you, is a mission trip, maybe that for you is the nursery at your church, maybe that for you is coffee with a friend and the heart to listen and love, or maybe for you this fall it will be joining us for an amazing night of music and learning how you can change a life on the  “30 Seconds to Change” Tour.  Either way, MOVE. Don’t sit there… get to work.  Jesus gave us an amazing example of how to live… so let’s follow suit.  He never sat still for long, and he was ALWAYS looking for ways to intersect other lives and free people from the ordinary.  So MOVE.

With all that said I’d like to end this update with my prayer request:

This weekend my church is going to have the Ugandan Children’s choir on Sunday and, for those of you who have followed my travels, you know that I’ve actually been on the ground in Uganda.  So my wife and I have decided to open our house and be a host family for the weekend.  5 Ugandan children along with my own.  It should be fun… and I pray that my children will make some new friendships and be changed by people who have joy without all the “stuff” that we think we need to be happy!!

Jason Roy