Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE the Black Eyed Peas. Anyone who REALLY knows me knows that I live my life making random and sarcastic comments. Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, I thought I’d use this as a title for the new year. It just seems to work.

I’m really excited about this new year. And not necessarily for the same reason that my good friend Bryanna Hampton is, but I’m excited. There are a lot of really cool things on the horizon and I’m ready to see what God is gonna do with 2011. He did some pretty awesome things with 2010 (and every year before that too, but you know…) and given His amazing track record, I don’t see any real changes in the future. I’ve been thinking about how much we get excited about the new year and new beginnings and I think that’s good. I have also been thinking about those who act like New Year’s Resolutions are the most idiotic, immature thing ever and that’s why they don’t do them and I think that’s interesting. Sometimes we try so hard to be different that we end up looking kinda goofy. But that’s another blog for another time…

I think about all the things that have started in my life, new school year. New job. New marriage. New child. Other new things. All of these things were stinking cool. I can remember all of those days vividly in my mind. They all bring back great memories that I cherish greatly. The question that I always go back to is, “What did I do with those new starts?” What happened after the new start smell wore off? Did I dig in and stick with whatever it was I started? Or did I fade like the Wii exercise program I started last year? Did I just tell on myself? Oh well…

I guess what I’m saying is this. It was okay to get excited about something new. I already said that I’m excited about 2011. But my challenge for myself and for you my beloved readers (even though I don’t know who you are because my stat tracker has been broken for a year…) is what happens when that new start smell wears off? You know, around March 3rd or 4th? Will you keep pushing through? How will that resolution look? How will your walk with Christ look different than last year? I encourage you friends to be consistent in the choices that you make. Make good choices day in and day out and before you know it, we’ll be talking about real changes at the end of this year. Who’s with me?

I just want to start out by saying I don’t like this phrase. I was trying to think about why I don’t like it, and I think it’s because I can’t use it. I mean, I COULD use it. But in my own heart and mind, I can’t use that phrase. I was reading on the Internet this week when I ran across another celebrity divorce upcoming that used that as their reasoning for the break up. Now, I don’t have any real ties to that relationship so it doesn’t really matter to me in that sense. But I do wonder what it is in us today that allows us to so easy walk away from things when we don’t like them. That brought me to this idea…

Is this the mindset we operate from when it comes to church as well? What about worship music? The pastor? I see this very easily being something that people use without realizing it. Sometimes we will be involved in a situation and when it starts to not look like we want it to, we start to find ways to justify our disdain. One of my favorite people, Kevin Hughes always says that when someone comes to his church because it’s ‘perfect’ he already knows that they won’t be around long. Eventually that new church smell will wear off and they will begin to see all of the imperfections of the church and get disenchanted and leave. Whenever I hear about these things happening, I wonder if we ever get to a point that we look inward. At what point do we decide that the irreconcilable differences don’t come from the church, but they are within us? Are we not willing to reconcile the problems in our own hearts? Are we not willing to make the hard changes when we are forced to look at them? Are we not willing to say that we are getting older and even though it’s not bad, the new music is just something we need to get used to? Can we accept that the pastor isn’t perfect and sometimes he will say things that we don’t like? Do things that we don’t like? Not call me back as quick as I would like because he probably has other stuff going on as well?

I am from the school of thought (and I may be alone in this) that says that it’s not always the other person’s fault. Sometimes I have to look at myself no matter how hard that may be and no matter what I might find and know that I may have to make some changes. What are some of your ‘irreconcilable differences’ that you may need to take another look at?

Today is St. Patrick’s Day, that one day of the year wear people break out all the green in their closets and wear it proudly. Black people, White people, Mexicans, Jamaicans, Russians, everyone decides that they are Irish for either the beer or a kiss or just so they don’t get pinched. I, don’t have any green in my closet so I had to go a different route. Thanks to my friend Nicole who supplied with my green for the day. That was all that I had and it was my quick fix for the day.

The other day my girls were cleaning their room and, as most kids do, they decided that they didn’t want to clean anymore. So they trying to bargain with my wife to not clean their room and play instead. So they came up with this perfect idea, in their minds anyway… They would collect the materials and Daddy would come home and build them a robot that cleaned the room for them. They would just push the button and it would clean away. My asks them how would we build it and get everything needed to make it run. They said, “It’s really easy. It will run on one C battery!” They were so excited about this plan, not knowing that their dad has no building skills in his body. But that was a quick fix (in their mind) to the dirty room situation.

Why are we always looking for a quick fix? I don’t remember teaching my children to look for a quick fix to cleaning their room. They came up with that themselves. It seems so easy for us to just create something that will fix a problem or situation quickly so we can get back to doing what we want to do. I am SOOOO glad that Jesus didn’t go for the quick fix. He had a job to do and he could have called down angels and taken care of His situation, but he didn’t do that because He had a job to do. Take some time and thank Jesus for not settling for the quick fix. Do NOT waste any time waiting for me to create a room cleaning robot. That’s not happening. Now go clean your room!

Why do we do what we do? Why am I a Christian today? Why do I live this life and try to share it with others who don’t? Is it because it’s the cool thing to do? Is it because it’s my job and I support my family in this way? All of those things have popped into my head at some point. As I deal with these things, I notice that none of them have anything to do with Christ himself. They all have to do with me. I tend to struggle mightily when I take my focus away from where it should be. My heart gets hardened towards ministry and the work of Christ when I turn things inward and look with my own eyes. It’s not until I step back and refocus that I get another glimpse of the cross and Christ hanging there for me and my sins as well as those that we try to reach.

I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in a really long time. I woke up, got myself ready and went and did some work in some other place than my office or my home. I went to Hartford Coffee Company in South St. Louis City. If you’ve never been there, find yourself there soon. Great people and the coffee is pretty amazing. The atmosphere is really cool. One of my favorite places in the city. Anyway, I was there because I thought that I’d have a better chance to meet some people that might not know Christ if I wasn’t in my home or in the dungeon that is my office. What was the result? I met a couple that sat next to me at a table and I was able to talk to them for just a little bit. I also met an area columnist who comes there frequently to write and get coffee. None of these ended up being real long conversations, but they were conversations I would have never had working in my home. The other plus, I got a whole heck of a lot more done in the 3 hours I was there than I have in a really long time. But the focus changed for me from getting things done to being in a place where work is really secondary to presenting the cross to someone I may come in contact with. I feel that if I’m going to be able to lead people to the cross, I have to go where they are. For me, that also means that I need to be continually led to the cross myself. A lot of times I know that the cross is there and that’s where I leave it. I don’t go up to it, I simply look from afar just to keep an eye on it. I still have to allow myself to be led. Allow myself to let the power and severity of Christ’s death penetrate my hard, crusty heart. This became very clear to me as I was getting ready for this upcoming Sunday’s service. The pastor asked me if I could sing ‘Lead Me to the Cross‘ by Hillsong. I had already planned to do another song, but I listened to this one anyway and immediately decided that the Lord was putting this song here for me. I need to be led. Am I the only one? Am I the only one that needs to take a step back and refocus on Christ and what He’s done? I would venture to say that I’m not. I leave you with the words to the aforementioned song.

Savior I come
Quiet my soul remember
Redemption’s hill
Where Your blood was spilled
For my ransom
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost

Lead me to the cross
Where Your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to You
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and trialed
You are
Te word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you’re risen

To your heart
To your heart
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart

Devos. Quiet Times. Bible Study. Whatever you call them, we all strive to do them. But why? Why is it that we are all so bent on making sure we get these times in on a daily basis? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that this is a bad thing. I mean, I work hard at trying to spend that daily time with God as well. I just remember a few years back wondering just WHY I was doing it. I was struggling with the idea that it had become just a part of the daily routine and not something that I was doing to actually look to spend time with God and really have an encounter with Him. And when something becomes a simple routine for me, it generally gets knocked out of the box because I get bored. I have struggled with this off and on for my whole Christian life. Lately, I have really tried to focus more on the opportunity to spend time with someone I love that loves me that much more. This has really changed my perspective. When I take the time daily to spend with God, it makes me totally happy. When I don’t take the time to do that, I’m pretty much messed up. This has seemed to help me seeing that I am such a social person. This is the time that I get to hang out with God.

Have you ever stopped to think about the purpose of your quiet times and devotions? Have you built yourself into a rut because this is something that you are ‘supposed’ to do? Or are your times spent with God purposeful and meaningful and special where you go expecting to hear from Him and you expect to be led? I’ve been on both sides and I tell you, I love being in the place where that time is special and meaningful. I had just dealt with this and I thought that I’d put this thought in your heads as well…

Yesterday was a pretty good day for me. I got something that I’ve been wanting for a long time. When the FedEx guy knocked on my door I about jumped out of my seat to open it. I spent a few minutes just staring at it. I spent the rest of the day figuring out how to make it work. I had a pretty good idea by the end of the day. So what is this thing? Well, it’s this. The reason the Zoom R16 was something that I’ve wanted for a while was because I have wanted to find a way to record music using my keyboard that I have had for a long time. I had purchased this beauty Friday and I was ready to put them to work together. I had some fun working that out. With all of this working now, I’m ready to start writing again.

Here’s my question for the day for any of you writers. What’s your writing process? I have tried a few different things. One of the things that I have learned is that I cannot write at home. It doesn’t matter if there are 60 people in my house or I’m the only one here. It just doesn’t work. I have learned that. Other than that, I haven’t found any other things that DON’T work. The problem is that I haven’t quite found the one thing that really does work. I’m still searching. Most of the songs I’ve written have just sort of happened. It always takes me a while to get going and so many things will run through my brain. I have to work really hard to concentrate. It happens eventually, but it takes longer than I would like. Just ask my friend, Brittany Howard.

So how do you work this? What’s your method? Do you have a certain thing that you always do? I’d love to hear from you. I’m gonna keep trying to find what works for me.

We are all busy. That’s the way of the world today. 40 hour weeks have turned into 50, 60 and even 70 hour weeks. But when it’s all said and done, we love when Friday night gets here because we know that it’s the weekend and we can sit back relax in whatever ways that we relax. How do you kick back during the weekend? How would you LIKE to kick back during the weekend? I personally have ‘kicked back’ in quite awhile because I’m always assuming that there will be something else that I have to do. Either way, I’d love to hear from you guys. What do you do to wind down from all the busyness of life?

Here’s my challenge for myself and you. I know that I don’t do a good job of taking time away from the grind and enjoying this life that God has given me. My goal is to take some time in the near future and go off on my own and write some new music. Just because it has been so difficult for me to find money and opportunities to record and get that whole thing going doesn’t mean that I should sit on the gift that God has given me. My creativity has been a little stale lately and I know it’s because I haven’t sat down to write in FOREVER! What are you going to do? What type of commitment will you make to slowing down from the craziness that is life in today’s world? Share you thoughts and maybe we can pray for each other. Have a good Saturday and weekend.

I have been in a severe drought as of late. I can’t remember the last time I’ve sat down to be creative. For me, creativity pertains to writing music and making stuff up. I’m starting to think that I’m trying to hard. I’ve been looking for the conditions to be perfect: the lights to be low, soft music in the background, the water is warm and the bubble are soft and fluffy…wait, wrong conditions. But I think this mindset is killing me. I haven’t had any time to just sit and think and let my mind do what it does. It has been filled with so many other things, life, that I have crowded out all my other fun stuff. I realize that it is starting to affect how I am around other people. I don’t want to be that person who has all these regrets and wanted to do all this stuff and never did because of whatever reason. I’ve been stuck for a long time

My question to all of you(whether it be 200 or closer to the 6 that might actually read it) is this: What do you do to make sure that you don’t lose yourself in all the busyness of this world? It’s so easy for me to throw myself into things that I forget to take time to be me; the me that God created me to be. How do I work through that whole thing? How do you work through that whole thing? I have officially stumped myself and am wanting to hear your thoughts and ideas…

Woe to those who are at ease in Zion, and to those who feel secure on the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the first of the nations, to whom the house of Israel comes! …O you who put far away the day of disaster and bring near the seat of violence. Woe to those who lie on beds of ivory and stretch themselves out on their couches, and eat lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall, who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp and like David invent for themselves instruments of music, who drink wine in bowls and anoint themselves with the finest oils, but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Amos 6:1-6

I was sitting in a Sunday school class this pass Sunday when they started their lesson on this passage. The lesson was on social justice this passage was discussed in many different ways. I was impacted by these words and wrote them down with the idea that I would write about them now. So that’s what I’m doing.

As I sit here this morning getting ready to start this ridiculously long day, I think about just how much time I spend ‘stretched out on the couch’. So much time gets spent with us trying to relax or doing the things that we want to do. I also think about those of us who spend time trying to emulate people that we see on TV and wanting to have what they have. We would never say it, but when we obsess about all these things and toys and cars and such, we are making them our idols; our God. I say we because I am guilty of this as well. I have been obsessing about some music software and it has clouded my thinking as far as the rest of the world goes. I have cared so much about this and other things including this current holiday that I have ‘put far away the day of disaster’. I haven’t spent much time caring about what’s going on in the world. It’s times like these that when I need a new God. That doesn’t mean that the God of this universe, the Savior of the world needs replacing. It means that I have replaced that God with all of the earthly things that I obsess about. I need to turn my focus back to who God is and what He has done.

I watched this happen to me this past week. Because I haven’t led worship for a church in quite awhile, I hadn’t focused much on reading or doing any of the things that I normally do to keep my mind sharp. It took me a LOT longer than it normally does to put together a worship set because I was so out of ‘practice’. I have had to do my share of ‘Encountering the Savior’ lately.

The question…is there anything out there that has taken the place of God in your own life? Is it money or the pursuit of it? Is it trying to find a better job? Is it trying to find the perfect guy or girl? Will any of these things better your life in a way that God can not?

I have been feeling like this whole worship180 ministry idea and this blog has lost something over the past couple months. I’m pretty sure that I know why. Without having a job and not focusing on the importance of who I am and what God has called me to do, my ideas have been so scattered. I haven’t channeled my thoughts about worship because a lot of that came from having a job where I thought about it constantly. Which is super wrong. There have been glimpses of smart thoughts, but overall they have been few and far between. I had a lot to think about and work through this weekend and so my mind has had to work. The biggest thing I got from all that time was that I’ve been neglecting the thing that God has put inside of me. Sharing about worship and my experiences and asking questions and all those things have been missing.

Here are some things that are going on, and then I’m gonna share a thought from yesterday. First, I’m going to be recording a radio spot for KSIV (local radio station) talking about what worship180 is. That was scary because I hadn’t quite put that all together in a way that I could share with radio listeners. So I had to figure that out this weekend. With the help of some friends, we came up with an idea and a mission statement. I’m gonna share it with you now. Worship180 is a consulting firm that exists to train leaders and build worship ministries by teaching churches and individuals to Encounter the Savior, Enrich their Community and Engage the world. So I’m working with that idea in my head now. So I guess that means that I’m starting worship consulting. I am personally not completely sold on the consulting word because I think it bottles up what I do and who I am. I’m still working on that. Anyway, I’m excited about the opportunity to figure out just how effective this idea will be with churches and people in the area. A bit of market research, if you will… That’s a prayer point, btw

So my idea for the day.

Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord. This gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it. I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:19-24

I read this passage at the church that I led worship for yesterday. It has been a staple in my father’s church for quite a while. I can remember my Aunt Barbara making the whole church memorize it so we could internalize this message. It has been stuck in my heart and mind for years. But I can honestly say that it had become a routine and some of the message has been lost. We all keep the last verse and say it all the time. But the verse that seemed to stick out to me this weekend was verse 23. “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” That is such a key verse for me. With all the things that I have gone through in my life over the past few months it’s hard to see that this is the Lord’s doing. But if I only look at the tough or bad things, it’s easy to feel that way. In reality, He’s also done so many great things and has sustained my family.

As you are going through the challenges of life, are you able to keep in mind that this is the Lord’s doing? I know I’ve had a tough time doing that. I’m thinking that maybe it’s time for me to get back to the basics…