Sammy Ward

       Christian worship artist Sammy Ward, 25, said, "If I'm not going to be my passion, God has to be my passion. That's worship-to give all my worth to Him, because I'm worth nothing and He's worth everyething."

       Ward's debut album, released on 40 Records and Gotee Records, is entitled "My Passion." With a style reminiscent of the acoustic rock sound of Steven Curtis Chapman, Sammy Ward sings to God, "I want You to be my passion, deeper than the sea, wider than the heavens, like Your love is for me."

       How does such a young person have that much of a passion for God? Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to the image of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Ward said that this verse has changed his life. He said, "We don't have to attach ourselves to what the world has. We need to attach ourselves to what God has. I looked up 'renewing' in the Greek, and it means 'renovation.' That's what God wants to do: Go in our heads, renovate our minds, put in us His Word and His life. If we think about God and His Word and we read the Bible, that's how we're going to live. It's going to come out in our lives. We're going to love Jesus. We're going to share Jesus with our friends."

       At the age of seven, Sammy Ward accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. God began drawing Ward to Himself more when he was in the eighth grade. He said, "I had confidence in Christ. I was able to go all throughout my schools, and wherever I went, I professed Jesus as Lord and shared Christ with my friends and stood up for the Lord."

       Sammy Ward had been playing sports all his life, and was contemplating a future in professional baseball. He had received several scholarship offers, and prayed, "Lord, do You want me to be a professional baseball player for You?"

       The Lord had other plans for Sammy Ward. During high school, Ward found his creative talent, and began writing songs and performing Christian rap. After he graduated, he went on to Kennesaw State University and began singing and playing guitar with one of his college friends.

        "I just asked the Lord for opportunities to share Him, and He started teaching me about worship. Worship is not just lyrics you sing. It's your attitude and your life and your heart. When you say 'worship experience,' I really see that as a lifestyle experience, and that's everyday. Since I accepted Christ, until now it's been a huge worship experience. It's been a walk of life, because worship is not just what we sing on stage. It's our lifestyle. It's how we walk. So that's what I really like writing now. I like writing songs vertical-songs to God, telling Him how much I love Him," said Ward.

       When he graduated from college, Sammy Ward was asked to lead worship at some youth camps. "I just started playing guitar and I was up there in front of a thousand kids, getting ready to lead worship, and it sounded horrible," remembered Ward. "I was like, 'Lord, I feel like the biggest failure.' That's the way I felt, but then all these youth pastors and all these kids started coming up to me and saying, 'Man, you really led me to the throne.' It just blew me away. I couldn't believe it. God was obviously opening some doors there, and showing me how I need to be serving Him."

       Ward hopes that God would use his worship ministry to draw people to the Lord. "I pray that seeds would be planted, lives would be changed, and that God would do His work through me, and that when people leave here-that's the big kicker-when they leave here, God's got that seed planted in their hearts and in their heads. When they go away, they'll go away changed, and in a renewed sense of worship. Worship is not just what I'm going to be singing. It's my lifestyle. It's my daily walk with Jesus. That's my prayer: That God would draw His children closer to Himself, and if there are people here that don't know the Lord, hopefully they will come to know the Lord and they'll be walking with Him."