Hi everyone!

Sorry we’ve been gone for so long. We have been hard at work at putting the finishing touches on all the details for our new album! We are excited to share it with you and even more excited to worship God with you. We have a couple dates coming up, so mark (get it?) your calendar.

On Saturday, February 11th we are having a “Storytellers” acoustic event. Basically we are stripping the songs down and explaining the theology and where they came from. For more information visit uprisingstudentministry.org.

On Sunday, February 12th we are going to be worshiping during the morning services at University United Methodist’s North Campus worship services at 9:30 & 11am with some of our new worship songs. Please come join us!

Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Halloween, Thanksgiving, and here we are…the Christmas season. Where has all the time gone?

The Mark Swayze Band has been preparing themselves for a busy 2012. We are currently putting the finishing touches on the album and hope to release it sometime in the early spring (early, early, early spring). We are so excited about these new songs being introduced in churches across South Texas and we pray, even farther than we could have imagined.

Couple of funny things that have happened lately:
1. We had our annual Swayze Halloween party and as you can see from the picture above, RT and Lisa won this years Halloween contest (their 3rd win in a row)
2. I got back on Facebook. I had a three month sabbatical from social networking and it was great, however, I missed connecting with all of you so much that I joined back in. Hopefully, we are friends on Facebook (if not, MAKE IT HAPPEN)

Well, I wanted to give everyone a little update….hope to see you at a worship event soon. Big things coming up….check out uchurch.tv and reachingyouth.org for all those details…

Swayze

It’s always my favorite thing to do…to go out and share what God has given us…Im not talking about music!  This weekend was full of opportunities, for us as a band, to share the love of Christ! 

Amazing Night with the Cedar Park FUMC group! We love you guys.

 Mark and Alison started this weekend with a night of worship at Cedar Park FUMC…then the whole band joined in with the great people of UUMC Sunday morning worship…then ended with Boerne FUMC for their Costumes for Cans celebration…they collected a ton!  Tired???…no.  It is what we are created to do…and the Lord is our strength!  So thankful for renewal this weekend, so thankful to be with the people of God and getting a chance to worship our Creator wherever we go!

What an awesome night of worship with the FCA-Youth from all over the Hill Country.  We experienced worship with songs, scripture and testimonies.  The weather could not have been better and we were so thankful to be a part of it.  A big, big thank you to Grant and Beth Palmer from FUMC Kerrville and all the others involved for hosting us.

The Magic Kingdom ROCKS!! I haven’t been since my senior year of high school. Let me just say, its way better when you’re older. Favorite Ride: Space Mountain.

I had the incredible opportunity to go to Disney World for the 1st annual Experience Worship Conference in Orlando, FL. Rusty Freeman, Dave Stewart, Zach Huckabee, and Greg Graham joined me for a week that I’ll never forget. Worship leaders Kari Jobe, New Life Worship, Brenton Brown, and others led us in God-glorifying worship. To not have to lead the music was worth the trip. Savoring the presence of God is a gift and the greatest desire of the human heart.

The highlight of the week was when Pastor Matt Chandler from Dallas, TX gave a powerful and moving sermon. I was reminded that life was not about me. The world does not revolve around my needs and my desires but that the world (and my life) revolve around the God I know and serve. His glory is my purpose. Chandler will never know how much this impacted me.

To say that this week transformed me is an understatement.

Much love,

Swayze

Thank you to everyone who came out to the AT&T Center for Family Faith Night. We had a great time! A special thanks to Sandy Vasquez for having us out and thank you to Chad from BP Lighting and Sound for running sound!

Like I said, we had a great time, but unfortunately we can’t say the same for everyone. It turns out you can’t win ‘em all. Thanks for humbling us, kid.

Our band will play before the Silver Stars Game on Saturday, September 3rd at 6pm. Tickets can be found by emailing Sandy Vasquez at SVasquez@ATTCenter.com.

Come watch us play before the game, watch the Silvers Stars hoop it up, and then Jars of Clay will play right after the game.

Hope to see you there.

The album is about to start its process of mixing and mastering. We are asking everyone we know to be praying each day for its completion. It has been a long journey since we began seeing this vision come to life and now we are anticipating the finish. It can’t come quick enough!! For many of the local churches that have asked us to come and share these songs, stay patient. We know all of this lies in the timing of God and we are praying for God to lead us where He wants. We expect great things…and are grateful for your prayers and support.

Swayze

Hey everyone. Here is a behind the scenes look at our recent trip to Houston. Thank you to Joel for the exceptional videography, editing, and drumming skills he loaned us on this trip.

Thanks to Brynden O Grady for hosting us at Lake Travis UMC in Austin, TX. A huge shout out to Lago Vista UMC for making the drive and bringing bus loads of students. We could feel the presence of God and the movement of the Spirit as we worshiped Him on Saturday night.

Favorite moment:
Watching the band pray with students and then watching students pray for the band. Thank you God for these moments.

“I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs of people I will praise you.”
Psalm 35:18