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?

Hello to all of you and Happy New Year! There are so many things to say. I wrestled with the idea of doing a “end of the year recap” or whatever, but I decided that I’m not that cool. Instead, I decided that I was going to use this first blog of the year to say goodbye to the old and introduce the new. Thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog, even though it has been highly inconsistent as the year ended. Part of the reason for the sloppiness on my part was lack of vision. I’ve been working hard on creating a vision for this blog and for worship180. Well, I hope to be able to share all of that with you in the upcoming days, weeks, whatever. Anyway, here’s a preview of what’s to come.

First things first, the format of the blog will be changing greatly, which is a good thing. Part of it is an idea I took from my friend, Alisha. Her blog has always had a couple sections, and I loved reading it. So in sort of a stolen sort of way but not really, I’m going to do something similar. It will look like this:

Worship As Life- This blog is meant to be about my life as a worship leader. I want to be able to help people understand what it’s like to live this life. Also, I want to be able to hopefullly say some things that other worship leaders and worshipers want and need to hear. So that is what the first section will be about.

If My Mood Was a Chord…-I’m excited about this one because I get to let out some of my music nerd. To some people music is just music. But to us music nerds, music is a way of life and we relate music to everything. So my goal with this is 2 fold. 1, I want to be able to share with my fellow musicians how I feel with music. 2, I want to be educational to those of you who may not think this way. You may not start thinking like this, but you’ll at least get an understanding of what I mean. Maybe…or you could just think that I’m really weird.

Live Out Loud- If I’m going to be sharing this life with others, I should at least give you tools to share yours as well. This section will be designed to share ways for you to use the worship180 concept in everyday life.

As if that wasn’t enough, I will also be launching a facebook fan page for worship180 as well. It has already been created and is up and running. I haven’t officially launched it yet, but it’s definitely there. If you are a facebook user, the link is here: Worship180 on Facebook You should be able to click that and become a fan. I’m excited to start this new year off on the right foot. Come with me. And invite some others for the ride. Help me get worship180 out to the world this year.

So, this year has already brought challenges in my life. I expected it to, because life always brings challenges. I didn’t think that I wouldn’t get through 10 days before things started to happen. Oh well, that’s life I guess. I think that God is getting me ready for something big…something I haven’t quite imagined yet. I don’t really know WHAT God has for me right now, but he doesn’t do anything half way. Here’s what I do know. I’ve been called to lead people in worship through song and I’ve been given a gift that I cannot take for granted. I know that if I’m going to do what it is I want to do I have to just step out and start doing it. I am preparing myself to move forward. I don’t know what that means quite yet, but I’m writing again. I’m even going as far as starting to set up possible opportunities to sing. For those of you that know me, this is a big deal. I don’t normally just promote myself. I don’t really know how to do that.

Anyway, I’m asking for your prayers as I attempt to step out of a comfort zone that has been there for a really long time. I’m quite scared, but I want to be obedient to God. Pray that I can listen to God AND respond the way I’m supposed to. That’s been the big issue for me. I have been running from some things because I’m scared of the outcome because I can’t see it. I need to start following God’s lead. Believe it or not, I’m not that great a leader…

I am called to lead people in worship. I am called to minister to people through song. I am called to be a servant. I am called to be a leader. I am called to help people unite their hearts with Christ. I am called to help people turn away from the distractions of life and focus on the God that saves and sings over us.  I can’t do any of that while I’m looking backwards and holding on to my fears. I can only do that if I turn around and begin to move forward. So lead the way, God, lead the way…

I am very excited about 2009! I can’t believe that God has brought me to this point in my life. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, and I know that God is continuing to use me, which is why I’m still here. What does that mean for this year, though? I believe that this year is going to be a year for letting God of the things that I’ve held on to for so long. I am not a selfless leader or father. I am not good at taking care of myself. I am not a great studier and reader of the word. All of these things I want to do better this year. Along with all of that, I want to be a better worshiper. I am called to lead people in worshiping the Father. That’s what I’m here for and I’m committing to going all out in 2009.

Keep your eyes out for the Worship180 project this year. I know that God is calling me to move forward with this ministry, and I know that He’s going to do what’s necessary to get me in line with Him.  I don’t know what else to tell you about it right now, but keep praying for me and I could use your encouragement in making this thing come to life. I am willing to share with anyone who is willing to listen. I am also preparing information about what this ministry that I’m calling Worship180 is all about. If you would like to know more details or be involved in an email newsletter type thing, send me your email address. And if you like to get mail (like I do), send me your address and I can send things that way.

Ultimately, I want to say Happy New Year to all of my friends. This will be a New Year, Redefined…but it has to start on the inside. Who wants to go with me?