God is Good

What a great day we had worshipping our Savior this past Sunday (9.11.11). I could really feel the spirit moving in the room. It is such an awesome privilege to be able to do music for a living. More importantly than that, to use the talents God has given me to praise Him. I won’t try to pretend my life is perfect. There are things I struggle with, there are things my family struggles with. Situations come up where we just sit back and try and try and try to come up with a solution and nothing seems to pan out.  But I am learning as we continue our walk with Christ, that when those situations arise, it is the perfect opportunity for God to show up. He loves to show up just in the nick of time. He has promised us He will never leave nor forsake us. He has also said if He is for us, who can stand against us?? So, if I really believe that is true and if God is who He says He is…

What value is there in worrying? None. It solves nothing, gains nothing and proves nothing. If you are carrying something today, big or small…I encourage you to lay it down at the cross, TRULY trusting in Him to work it out. Then…just get out of the way. There is nothing more you need to do.

Thankful

It was a long, long day yesterday. I worked all day, rehearsed with the band for a few hours after work, then home to spend some time with my wife and (finally) eat dinner! At the end of it all, I was exhausted. Those that know me, know I have a high metabolism. I can go and go and go, get a few hours sleep, get up and do it all again. But yesterday was different.  I was totally beat. As I lay my head on my pillow, it struck me how lucky my family and I are to have beds to sleep in. Something we take for granted most days. But last night, feeling the coolness of the room and the comfort of the bed, blanket and pillow, my wonderful wife asleep beside me…I was reminded, in no uncertain terms, just how blessed I am. I was overwhelmed with the simplicity, yet importance, of a clean, safe place to lay my head. I drifted off to sleep thanking God. Amazed at how He not only provides in the big things, but is also in the small things of life. Praise Him today for that truth!

Communion Sunday

We had an awesome day of Worship yesterday (9.4.11) at SVBC. It was Communion Sunday, and I could definitely feel the Holy Spirit moving among His people. One of the greatest things about being a worship leader is to be able to watch the congregation worship. The staff prepares diligently all week to ensure Sunday morning comes together to be the best it can be. But at the end of the day, it is God who moves to make things come alive. It is God who calls His people to His throne and it is God who changes lives and saves souls, not man. Apart from Christ we are powerless. Through Christ we can do all things.

God is on the move

Wow!! What an exciting past few months. God is definitely on the move in my family’s lives. It is the end of August and we are now a part of the SouthView Baptist Church family here in Hope Mills, NC. Through a series of amazing events, I accepted the position of Director of Worship Ministries here at SVBC. We never would have dreamed we would only be in Florida one year. It was a difficult decision to leave our friends and church family at Legacy Church in Clermont, FL. But at the end of the day, we had to follow where we believe our Father is leading us.

The people here are great, they have reached out to us in a mighty way. Pastor Brian is a humble, Godly man. The praise team is a group of talented, focused believers set on giving their all every week. It is a great opportunity to continue to grow in Christ and build an awesome ministry together.

I praise Him for giving us this opportunity and thank the people and staff of SVBC for believing in me and giving me this chance. There is much work to be done, much to learn…much to accomplish for His glory. Stay tuned, I am sure this will be an exciting and interesting ride!!

Heather

God brought my wife Heather to me, no doubt about it. I knew right away she was different. She had character. She had morals. She had dignity. She was totally different from the people I had been used to hanging out with over the past few years. Not that those people weren’t my friends, they were. Some are still my closest friends to this day. But she just wasn’t of that “mold”. And that attracted me.

Ours wasn’t a relationship that started off with sparks, hot-n-heavy. It truly started off as a friendship first. The more I knew, the more I grew to love her. It wasn’t long before I truly was in love with her.  She is a woman of faith. She is my encourager, my supporter, my helper. She is strong and independent. Her identity does not revolve around mine, and neither does mine to her. We are separate yet one.

Through Heather, God has brought all things good into my life. Joy; Peace; Confidence; Courage not to continue to be the man I currently am, but rather to strive to become the man God has designed me to be; three awesome and wonderful children. The list of blessings in my life that has come through her is a long one. I praise Him for a woman committed to living her life and her marriage out in a God-honoring manner.

Music (cont’d)

A lot of good things came out of my experiences in secular rock-n-roll. I learned a lot about all things musical: how to write songs, how to record, how to manage, how to communicate with the audience. The years of playing in Buster Rogue, and then later on in another great band, “Wichita Caravan” helped me to develop my musical personality. Not to mention, it gave me a ton of pretty wild and funny stories. But by far, the best thing the experience gave me was my beautiful wife Heather. Besides my salvation, I can’t think of a greater gift God has given me than her. I met her in a club. She had just moved to Charlotte from West Virginia. I lived in the same apartment complex as her sister, who she was staying with at the time. We had seen each other around before, talked briefly, but something about that night was different. God’s hand intervened for sure. It never ceases to amaze me how God sometimes uses the dark to bring about the light…

Music

As expected, the first couple of bands I played in didn’t work out. But that was ok. I landed in a band called Buster Rogue. This was good. The best I had been in. The drummer was great, the guitar player and bass player were great. We were a great songwriting team. Things were going good. We signed a publishing deal with Warner Brothers. We were on our way…

But as I left my teenage years and entered into my twenties, I knew something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but there was a hole in me that needed to be filled. Music didn’t fill it. Drugs didn’t fill it. Popularity didn’t fill it. Nothing of this world seemed to be what I was looking for.

As I look back, my songwriting reflected this. People were constantly commenting on the fact that my lyrics seemed to suggest I was looking for something. I didn’t think much of it at the time…