Search 4 ME!

First of all this blog is very personal and transparent..........(prayerfully you can handle that lol)

AnTyway....I've been doing a lot of soul-searching these past few weeks. However, one thing that I discovered is that amid all of the rough time, well, "challenges" I faced this year i had many GREAT, LIFE-CHANGING experiences. I mean I was able to attend the Greatest Conferences, begin ministering at other places besides my own church, and getting local and national recognition for my singing! YEA BUDDY! Only God can do that! Trust that it is none of me but all of HIM!!!. He Loves me and I love Him back so therefore great things can't help but to happen.

With that being said, I know who and who's I am but lately I've been seeking God for my flow. What is my specific assignment. I know it is to lead people to Jesus and to impact other through singing, but if you know anything about me you know that I appreciate 'SPECIFICS'.
One thing I can say is that I know the EXACT genre I would love to sing in and don't be Shocked but it isn't the GOSPEL GENRE INDUSTRY> however it is a Christian Genre (BREATHE SAINTS)

1 mistake I did make this year and I trust if you read this blog you won't fall in the same trap. I allowed a few too many people to join my circle. And the flip side to that is that I didn't let some folks that were in my circle to exit. In 2010 I vow not to make that mistake because I've learned that your associations are crucial to your destiny. I had folks who only wanted to jump on the wagon when I had multiple engagements a week or when they thought I was the 'Hot Topic' for the moment. However, when it was time to write or do some manual work, they were nowhere to be found. Lesson Learned = Don't allow people to just come along for the ride. They will let you down every time.
So all in all I'm still searching for me. I used to be afraid to say that because a lot of people expect different things from me. But this year I can say that I've learned that you can never please man fully and that you shouldn't aim to please man. So really now I'm in better shape than I've ever been because I'm HONEST and I'm pleasing God. Remember the name of my blog is the "Evolution of Bro.J So understand that I'm still growing and learning. Be patient with me! I do know that my honesty will help a lot of people and once I'm really to the point of total victory I will be able to help even more people.

You may still be looking for your true identity. Again, I know who I am in God! Don't get it twisted. I'm not wavering in my faith. I'm just still searching for my niche in a God-successful life. Trust me there is a difference. So these are some of the signs when I knew that I was still confused on my role or niche.

Deeper Level 2009!

Better late than never....................

Ok it's been about 3-4 weeks now since the conference but better late than never huh? Well first let me say that this conference was the BEST conference I have ever attended! Israel had so much to offer and yes I said Israel.* Israel Houghton (Multi-platinum and world reknown worship leader) hosted the conference and folks attended from all over the world. You know that U R loved when you can host something and folks from Indoneisia, Africa, and Austrailia show up. HA! Here's a pic of Israel speaking at one of the sessions. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

He was a great energetic host and might I add he did a wonderful job imparting into the lives off all of the worship leaders that were in attendance! He is such a blessing to the kingdom of God!

I would love to tell you everything that I learned but it's sooooo much. The first day I couldn't figure out what more they could tell us. I think every worship artist should attend this conference yearly.

If you would like more in depth information feel free to email me at brojll@yahoo.com I would love to share. (I have a lot of pics/I'll post some)In attendance this year was Israel (Of Course) and his beautiful family (Couldn't get a picture of them together because they all worked so hard .I pray my family is just like his. Also, Mich Stampley, Kevin Levar, Worship Leader from Indoenesia named JaKarta, Kari Jobe (I LOVE HER) Bishop Joseph Garlington, Pastor Jentenzen Franklin, Christine Caine, COCO Brother, CoCo of SWV, Aaron Lindsey (Awesome Producer), James Fortune and Fyre!! Many More so many to name but I'll post a few pics below check them out. I met some really cool people. To sum it up this was one life altering experience. I'll never forget it!

Below CoCo sing "You Made A Way" off of her new Project. "The Winner In Me". I fall in love with songs when I hear them live. And I can't stop singing this one. It was awesome also to speak with her on twitter before the conference. I couldn't find her after the conference but she seems nice and humble.

Below James Fortune! I didn't know much about this guy except the he "Trusts" God. He renditioned "I'll Trust You" and I must have lost it! (Excuse me janitor just let me lay here! Sweep around me! lol ) I quickly did my research on him and he's great guy and awesome man of God! He brought the FYRE! ( His group for all of you lost people lol)

Below(Me) and Daniel Johnson the lead singer of NewBreed/

He's awesome(ly) cool and gifted

Below (me) and Krystle Harper! AWESOME/HUMBLE/BEAUTIFUL/ GIFTED WRAPPED IN ONE LADY!

Below (Micah Stampley) It was actually held at his church. He made the sound of heaven RUSH AND RUSH in! (Somebody got that?!) lol He also prayed with me. Awesome!

Below The Best Group/Praise Team/Worship Band this GENERATION goes to/ In my opinion: NEW BREED> (Let's not walk in offense others lol) Greatest thing is that they aren't even in it for that. TRUE WORSHIP ONLY!

I was not coming home until I met and talked with My mentor, the great, Israel Houghton!
This will sit in my Grammy Cabinet one day!! YES! >>IJusWannaSay That the Conference was Beyond words. Maybe I'll be able to explain next year.

Dry Place...

Well for this blog post I was supposed to give my review on the last conference that I attended which was the Deeper Level Conference 2009 with Israel Houghton. It was really powerful and I feel without I wouldn't probably be writing this blog right now.

The title of the blog is entitled "Dry Place" because that's where I am. I'm still a believer that God is able but I believe God understands me and that He is not surprised by my reactions nor my current state because He knows everything about me.

I actually feel as if God has me here for a reason. I could move and get myself out but I really don't know where it is He wants me to go. So with great teaching I learned to stand still. But the longer I stand the dryer it gets. (This is all funny, I'm not depressed) I know God is going to bring me through because that's the only way He can get me to!

If you are reading this blog and you feel what I'm saying leave a comment. We are in this thing together and I don't feel guilty or ashamed because the title of this blog is "The Evolution of Bro. J".

After this dry spot I trust and believe that God has my destiny on the other side.

Kansas CITY!

MY DAY.......

So… Yep I’m loving Kansas. A LOT! It so Bourgeois. Coming here really affirmed that I love nice things and that I’m meant to live a exquisite life-style.
So--- I did some shopping earlier but I got up this afternoon (yea I slept-in) and I went to Leawood, Kansas to a very nice shopping arena called OAK PARK! It was great. Only thing about shopping far from home is that I like to shop at places that we don’t have back home. SO it takes me a long time because I have to try on everything. And it takes a while cause I can’t take anything back unless I come back here. I know that’ll be a while. I also went to the movies for the second time. First time I went to go see. ORPHAN. It scared me. Everyone knows that I don’t do jumpy stuff lol. And so when it would get to a scary part I would pull out my iPhone and tweet. So on one account while I was tweeting, I tweeted something about the movie and Esther “the girl in the movie” tweeted me and said please don’t leave. That was kind of creepy and then she followed me. Of course I know it wasn’t her. I guess it was the marketing manager for the movie but it crept me out! Today I went and say Harry Potter. (Yea Yea Yea) I know the church folks don’t agree. But these are the same church folks that cuss and listen to vulgar music. So cast the first stone! Lol. It was good. Sad. But good. I ended the day by hitting up a very fancy restaurant called Bistrol. Now everyone know I love value and savings but I have expensive taste I guess. I stopped by the restaurant because Uncle Donnie (McClurrkin) said it was good. I got so full and for the place to be so nice and ritzy, they bring out biscuits when you first get there lol. I felt like I was at my grandma house. Then I looked up and saw the beautiful ceiling and they brought me tea that looked like wine. But it wasn’t. Jeez don’t panic.
My stay here has been great. I have my day planned for tomorrow. I’m going to sleep in (unlike me on a Sunday). I’m going to an 11 o’clock service with a church member’s family member (get it) lol then go eat and come back to the hotel and pack, souvenir shop, then attend an evening worship service at the CHURCH OF THE RESURRECTION! That church is so cool.
That’s about it for today. I’m sort of ready to go home and in a way I wish I could stay longer. I feel really “growner” here. But I already have my plane ticket so I guess you know what that means lol. I’m getting tired and I need to prepare for tomorrow. There’s so much running through my head right now. I feel like I’m at a fork in the road in life. Pray I make the right exit. Love ya’ll
BroJ

THE MENU AND MY DINNER AT BISTROLS

Blackend Chicken Penne Pasta (anybody can boil a noodle lol)

NWLC' 09

I heard someone say that "writing heals those things that can’t be said". Phsyce I said that lol. And you may think that I still have some growing up to do. Well I Do! But I believe that growth stem from experiences. So I guess that just sort of explains my EVOLUTION (since I do blog about my experiences.)
I have been praying and asking God to make me more loving. We could all use some improvement. For me, being raised in church like others, you can get conditioned to look at those outside of the church as if there’s no hope for them . {And don’t jump on me so soon, because I know a lot of church folks, choir members, preachers, deacons, etc that do it also unconsciously.} One of the pastors at the conference really hit my heart when he spoke about how easy it is to get caught up and we sing and preach what we would like to do and the way we would like to live. But when will our lives measure up to where we only sing and preach what we are actually doing? We easily throw “BY FAITH I WILL” out there but the bible says faith without works is dead. So I made a conscious decision that I’m going to become more observant, patient, faithful, slow to react, and most of all more loving. I also will do some mission work real soon! Excited! I’m going to live this thing to the fullest not just for church. I’m ready to bless not only the Body of Christ but the entire World! Let’s GO!
This week has been awesome. SO awesome that when I got back to my room all there was left to do was to sleep! Below are a few pics. These are just a few of the National Worship leaders. I didn’t know a couple so I got to get up on my worship music game lol. But note one of the guys below Last name Rodriguez. He is totally gifted. My favorite through out the entire conference. He is new but GREAT! Maybe because he sounds and is a lot like my mentor:

Israel Houghton.
But the conference wrapped up so great with UNCLE DONNIE. That’s Pastor Donnie McClurkin to you lol. But WOW! He brought his band and singers and wrecked the entire conference. Starting off with “Days of Elijah" and ending with “Great Is Your Mercy”. He also did “Victory Chant: Hail Jesus.” It was sort of like a remix and he asked everyone to dance and OH MY I had to close my eyes to stay focused on God. (Mind YOU there were all different races lol So you let your imagination roll.)
I also enjoyed Dave Crowder! He’s Awesome! Anthony Evans: Future Tour Buddy, um…….Oh And I had a writing session with MATT MAHER! Awesome Worship Leader and Song Writer. He wrote “ Your Grace is Enough” for Chris Tomlin. Awesome!
Well I just wanted to do highlights tonight. If I feel compelled I may share some things that I learned in detail in another blog. Oh but in my next blog I will definitely have to tell you all some of the other things I did in Kansas besides the conference. In the morning I’m getting up to find the “Yellow Brick Road” Peace!

Pics=Caption Below Each PIC

One of the Worship Leaders I Didn't know but He definitely took me iNNN!!Paul Baloche! AWESOME!!

One Of the Worship Leaders that kept me company! Cool Guy

Matt Maher and a friend (Both Awesome Song Writers)* That Sister can sang!~

Look We could Twitter In Church! Direct Feed To The Projector

Oh Be careful Saints What You TWEET! lol

Uncle Donnie doing His THANG!

Uncle Donnie's BGS (Not Bubble Guts- BGS=Background Singers)

GREAT IS YOUR MERCY LORD!

National WL Conference 2009 Day 1

(ExCUSE ANY MISPELLINGS it's 2:00AM)

O-M-G! If today hasn’t been the most mind-blowing experience I don’t know what is. I’m over excited for what will occur the rest of the week. I’m going to try and not to tell it all in one night but Kansas has been great! Or am I in Missouri? Wherever I am(lol) Overland Park is such a beautiful city. But it is rather nice and ritzy. The sounds and sights of the city are right outside my bedroom and I woke up this morning with the sun peaking through my blinds * iLove waking up to that. I went and grabbed a bite to eat at one of my favorite fast food places {Chipolte’s} Yumm.. So after I ate myself merry I drove over to the store. (I had no idea that there was such thing as a Walmart Family Market. They only sale food and other items like Krogers/but No Clothing) WEIRD (Oh and this city’s McDonalds doesn’t have a dollar menu like at home *I’m cheap at times)
So…I drove over to the conference venue>Church of the ResurrectionANTHONY EVANS AND DAVID CROWDER ) I went to register and after they fond out who I was (The Contest Winner) They treated me like I was an A-List Celeb {The Saints call that FAVOR and one day I will be} They gave me free bags, cds, magazines, T-Shirt and other stuff. They began introducing me to staff and it was in all an awesome opportunity. _______________________________

So…..Fast forward> after purchasing a book entitled “Thriving as an Artist in the Church” by Rory Noland, I entered the sanctuary and sat in the front. Worship begin with this video and a huge choir that sang a song that I didn’t know but I quickly caught onto thanks to the lyrics on screen. A children choir sang, yada yada and then ANTHONY EVANS (Pastor Tony Evans in Dallas, Texas Son) OMG! AWESOME Worship Leader. He took me INNNNNN!!! Then TOMMY WALKER!! Another OMG!! Took me even deeper! One of the lines in his song that stuck with me was “There’s still hope for me today, for the God of heaven loves me." Afterwards an awesome word was brought by Pastor Greg Laurie from California. AWESOME! His message was entitled “Song’s of The Night” And he taught us how to worship when we don’t feel like it by giving us examples such as JOB and PAUL and SILAS. Even in their circumstances they worshipped because we have to learn that we don’t worship according to our circumstances but according to the truth of God’s Word and what it says about God. As long as God is good we are to worship. When He stops being good, then worship ends. _____________________________
To wrap it up cause I could go on and on. Tonight was like a glimpse of heaven. Everyone there could sing (We were all worship leaders duh) So it was like heaven cause the saints tell me that we will worship all day and night. And it was such a comfortable atmosphere. You didn’t have to beg anyone to lift their hands or sing along. It was an understood atmosphere on who we were there for. Matter of fact God rained down so many Ideas to me that I have to write down after this blog entry.
Our purpose is to glorify God. When I sing I sing to an audience of one and I must keep that in perspective. I carry a spiritual power that causes me to be able to lead others into worship ( I learned that) God is in control and He is all Wise! On judgement day God will say well done my good and faithful servant, not my good and successful servant. God has great plans for us but we should not live for a wordly outcome but for an eternal outcome. MY NEW GOAL IN LIFE: is for the Lord to find me FAITHFUL! PeAcE..(Check out the PICS I took!)

ANTHONY EVANS (AbOVE) LED A PORTION OF THE WORSHIP! Very AWESOME and Very Slept ON! I'm going to support him! Grabbing his cd 2morrow!

Tommy Walker (Above) Awesome WORSHIP LEADER! His Songs really hit my heart and his music was sweet sounding! I'm definitely behind in hearing about this guy! GOTS TO DO BETTER!!

DAVE CROWDER (ABOVE AND BELOW) !!!! Featured artist for the night! Awesome Guy and Awesome BAND!! His musical style is phenomenal ! He did ROCK, WORSHIP CHORDS, COUNTRY, BANJO! Genius! Definitely a new FAN!!

STAY TUNED FOR TOMORROW! COMMENT PLEASE!

Topsy Turvy....(ugh)

This is exactly how I felt today! I know I've been preaching, 'Keep it Positive'. ... but don't you ever feel as if your day is going up and down, back and forth, topsy turvy. It's like today I was riding on a spinner (like the little ride that used to make me sick at the park) and I didn't know what would happen next. Well all I can say is when my destiny is fulfilled I will be like Destiny's Child last Tour Title ( Destiny Fulfilled and Loving It Tour ).



Well in other news I just found out today who Farrah Fawcett was. .....
You know I'm late lol. But I had been hearing her name a lot and found out that she was one of the first Charlies Angels. Well anywho, she died around the same time Michael Jackson died and she barely got any media attention. (Runs and hides before the MJ fans come attack me*) I mean I love them both, didn't know much about them but I'm supposed to love them. (I'm part Jesus) and anyways it was just amazing how both famous celebrities were called home around the same time. (Not sure what home but not mines to call) Now what did that have to do with anything? (Everything) It just goes to show you how topsy turvy my day was. I had that much extra space in my day to find out who Farrah Fawcett was. Never knew her or really even watched her but take it for what it's worth.

In other news, this day really wore me out and it's 12:44AM so I think it's time for me to mosey on along and get some shut eye since NOW I have to start being to work on time. (Can't wait until I work solely in the Music Industry-oops the flesh is beginning to talk!) Night Night!

The Beginning of the Beginning

...Today is where my book begins the rest is still unwritten. (Natasha Bangfield?)

So .......today I realized that some things have to change about my life. I find my self easily doing the same 'ol same 'ol (ugh) and I figured why wait to get to a certain age to decided that I will write my own book. (meaning= Stop existing and start living) So this blog entry will be the first official page to my book. Everything before then we will call the Prologue (I guess).

So .......first things first is I want to set a goal to work towards. It's always smart to set goals that way you can get off your do nothing and do something- as my dad often says. So goal #1 is by the beginning of 2010/ end of 2009 to work full time in my music ministry and part time day time staff at my church. Right now I'm full time at my church and I love it don't get me wrong, but I know it's not the life for me. At least not to just do that. It will still be a part of my life but I have to do what I was created it to do and that's to minister around the world in song; leading the people into worship. I LOVE IT!

So .......that's goal #1. That's all I'm going to set for today cause I learned one thing about myself is that when I'm excited I plan to say alot but fail to do anything. So I'm gonna take it slow.

The plan of action is to continue selling my Promotional Cds of the Worship Music I have created, shop around for some paid gigs and also seek God for a creative way to bring in finances that I can live off of. I want to live off of my gift. I feel that's why it was given to me. ( So I Shall )

(Sigh) Well let's wrap up today. Just to give you a heads up, next week I'm traveling to LEAWOOD, KANSAS to the National Worship Leader's Conference with Artist such as Michael W. Smith and Donnie McClurkin. I'm so excited and I will blog and have pictures everynight. Well that's it for Now. (Very Good BROJ)

Friend of God,

BroJ