Touch Down

Pardon my Super Bowl metaphor, but I couldn’t resist.  Today feels like a touchdown, goal, grand slam, ace, slam dunk, and hole in one all wrapped up in a Chipotle burrito.  Henry lands in a couple hours for a five-week, six-state tour of the U.S. – the very day Divine Collision is officially released.

As chronicled in Divine Collision, this day has been a long time in coming.  It was almost derailed more times than I have fingers and toes, including two weeks ago when his final exams were rescheduled to conflict with his trip.  Fortunately, Henry can be quite persuasive, and was able to convince the medical school dean to reinstate the original exam schedule so he could get on the plane.

On Monday morning, I spoke with him while he was on the way to the airport, and he was positively giddy.  He texted me from the runway just before departing from Entebbe (Uganda) for Amsterdam.  On Monday evening, he texted me from the security line at Amsterdam while he waited to board the final flight to Los Angeles.

We have numerous surprises in store for him, including a trip to the happiest place on earth.  He will be singing for his supper, though, as we will be appearing at numerous colleges, universities, high schools, churches, theaters, and bookstores along the way.

If you want to meet him (and get your book signed by him also), please feel encouraged to come to one or more of the events, including a potluck at my house this coming Sunday at noon.  Seriously, you should come.  (E-mail me for directions – jim.gash@pepperdine.edu).

I had a great trip to Waco, Abilene, and Lubbock earlier this month, and very much enjoyed the chance to speak with so many folks at these places.  I will always remember my first-ever book signing at Lubbock Christian.  More that event from the campus newspaper here.

And I certainly won’t ever forget the bat (yes, a bat) that circled ACU’s Moody Coliseum and dive-bombed me and the crowd of a couple thousand for the last eight minutes of my chapel talk.

We had a chance to screen REMAND at both LCU and ACU, and the press attended the ACU gathering.  More on that here and here.

I recently wrote an article for Relevant Magazine about how Bob Goff exploded my life – more on that here.

Also, I have had the privilege of talking to several folks in recorded podcasts/broadcasts.  The first was the Eric Metaxas Show, the second was with Dan Darling of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the third was with Mike Schutt of the Christian Legal Society.

A few days later, I was invited to kick off Justice Week at Oaks Christian High School with a talk to the entire school, which is now on youtube here.

I will endeavor to chronicle on this blog, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter Henry’s adventures around the country over the next five weeks.  Thanks for following along.

One final note – if you are planning to buy the book, I would be grateful if you did so in the next week or so, as initial sales figures are rather important.  Also, if you would be so kind as to provide a review of the book (once you have finished it) on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and/or Goodreads, I would be much obliged, as my publisher tells me that the sooner we reach a critical mass on these, the better.