This was one the classic photo shots that I took - so unlike Mr Chew. even Dr Solomon Rajah is looking at him. *cheeky grin*
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Quote for the day
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” - Kahlil Gibran
Monday, June 25, 2007
'Sekarang Cikgu Sudah Setengah Mati'
I think I've found my new calling - exasperating teachers to no end (my driving instructor in particular). ;)
It's been quite a hilarious day. Spent most of my morning waiting for my turn to learn how to drive for the first time in my life. (hahaha - i think i can hear my bro in Australia saying 'finally'! I can drive you and Vern around the next time you come over to Malaysia ;) ). While waiting, it was just good to be alone with my thoughts and with God. I also took a short opportunity to pray that I will have a good driving instructor.
He finally came just when I thought that they had totally forgotten that I was waiting(and this was like 2 hours after - good thing I'm a very patient person). I had to wait for him to finish his food first - which was a good thing cos I think he'd be in a worse humour otherwise. :p
I do not understand which part of 'I'm a NEW DRIVER' he did not understand. After a cursory minute of pointing out the accelerator, gear, clutch and brake pad; he immediately taught me to do parallel parking AND the three point turn (this was so unlike Rod's instructor who let him drive around the circuit to get used to the car for the first half an hour before getting him to do the stuff I was doing). I was seriously quite blur about what I was doing and was hoping that I'd remember all the instructions that he kept rapidly shooting at me. :P Immediately after going through those two things, he said 'sekarang kita akan naik bukit!'... *faint* And it was the beginning of his troubles with me (serves him right!!) and the beginning of my fun...
I managed to go up the hill after a couple of tries. I even managed to stop of the right spot most of the time. His headache was when I had to go downhill.. As a newbie, I was still getting used to the three pads at my feet and was a bit confused (who wouldn't be when one is feeling disorientated and haven't gotten used to the functions of the pad and had a talkative instructor who kept on giving instructions that one had to try to follow at the same time - it was rather disconcerting). I also wasn't used to the hand brake - kept on forgetting to pull it up first. And so you see my dilemma - my legs didn't know how to function and neither did my hands. I attempted first to concentrate on what my legs were doing and follow his instructions - which I did ok after a few tries. The problem was when it was time to release the hand brake, I totally forgot what my feet were doing. Me being me, I saw the humour in my situation, and kept on laughing at myself. It didn't help that my instructor kept on making funny comments about my hand and feet coordination either. So no surpriselaa - I went up and down a hill quite a fair bit of times without any success. There was a guy at the pondok(hut) at the top of the hill and after seeing my dilemma, was kind enough to tell me to calm down, and gave the instructions in a SLOW manner that I could follow and absorbed. It finally worked! My instructor, by then quite exasperated with me (with his humor still intact) joked about it and said 'tengoklaa, saya ajar awak tak dengar, dia ajar awak, awak boleh dapat'. :p I wisely kept quiet (I wanted to whack him at that point already). :p
Anyways, he finally got out of the car and sat at the pondok after a while. By then, I was beginning to get the hang of all the controls - so while the coming down wasn't perfect it was definitely getting better. My instructor kept on saying 'tengoklah, kalau saya tak ada dalam kereta, awak boleh dapat. Kalau saya ada dalam kereta, awak tak boleh dapat' :P Funny guy. He also kept on saying 'kalau naik bukit - markah boleh dapat 100%. Kalau turn bukit, markah juga turun jadi kosong'. :p It was exasperating and funny at the same time (reminded me of another teruk lecturer i know). I seriously couldn't stop laughing by then(it was a better option than crying). Rod, who was quite far away could even hear him yelling at me from the pondok 'jangan ketawalaaa!'. hahahaha. The next time I went up the hill, the instructor asked me 'awak suka baca komik punya ah? selalu ketawa-ketawa'. :P
And so this went on for two hours - and the time definitely flew for me. At the end of the class, he asked me, 'You betul-betul mula belajar hari ini ya? Tak ada memandu di taman ke?'. Duh - what on earth did he think that i was trying to tell him in the first hour? :P I told him I was a law abiding citizen and that one of my granddad used to be a policeman in Bukit Aman.
Anyways, he appeared to be quite happy with my progress (me too!) - I could more or less go up and down the hill without a hitch towards the end of the class. He cheekily told me that he was quite happy that I could finish it in 2 hours cos some people take more than a day to learn it well (contrast this with him telling me earlier that some people took 3 tries to learn it and i was taking more than half an hour to learn it. :p). At the end of the class, I thanked him for his instructions and help. He, being the funny guy that he was said 'Tak apa, sekarang cikgu sudah setengah mati!'.
I'm sooo looking forward to my next class on Friday. Can't wait to torment him again. :D
It's been quite a hilarious day. Spent most of my morning waiting for my turn to learn how to drive for the first time in my life. (hahaha - i think i can hear my bro in Australia saying 'finally'! I can drive you and Vern around the next time you come over to Malaysia ;) ). While waiting, it was just good to be alone with my thoughts and with God. I also took a short opportunity to pray that I will have a good driving instructor.
He finally came just when I thought that they had totally forgotten that I was waiting(and this was like 2 hours after - good thing I'm a very patient person). I had to wait for him to finish his food first - which was a good thing cos I think he'd be in a worse humour otherwise. :p
I do not understand which part of 'I'm a NEW DRIVER' he did not understand. After a cursory minute of pointing out the accelerator, gear, clutch and brake pad; he immediately taught me to do parallel parking AND the three point turn (this was so unlike Rod's instructor who let him drive around the circuit to get used to the car for the first half an hour before getting him to do the stuff I was doing). I was seriously quite blur about what I was doing and was hoping that I'd remember all the instructions that he kept rapidly shooting at me. :P Immediately after going through those two things, he said 'sekarang kita akan naik bukit!'... *faint* And it was the beginning of his troubles with me (serves him right!!) and the beginning of my fun...
I managed to go up the hill after a couple of tries. I even managed to stop of the right spot most of the time. His headache was when I had to go downhill.. As a newbie, I was still getting used to the three pads at my feet and was a bit confused (who wouldn't be when one is feeling disorientated and haven't gotten used to the functions of the pad and had a talkative instructor who kept on giving instructions that one had to try to follow at the same time - it was rather disconcerting). I also wasn't used to the hand brake - kept on forgetting to pull it up first. And so you see my dilemma - my legs didn't know how to function and neither did my hands. I attempted first to concentrate on what my legs were doing and follow his instructions - which I did ok after a few tries. The problem was when it was time to release the hand brake, I totally forgot what my feet were doing. Me being me, I saw the humour in my situation, and kept on laughing at myself. It didn't help that my instructor kept on making funny comments about my hand and feet coordination either. So no surpriselaa - I went up and down a hill quite a fair bit of times without any success. There was a guy at the pondok(hut) at the top of the hill and after seeing my dilemma, was kind enough to tell me to calm down, and gave the instructions in a SLOW manner that I could follow and absorbed. It finally worked! My instructor, by then quite exasperated with me (with his humor still intact) joked about it and said 'tengoklaa, saya ajar awak tak dengar, dia ajar awak, awak boleh dapat'. :p I wisely kept quiet (I wanted to whack him at that point already). :p
Anyways, he finally got out of the car and sat at the pondok after a while. By then, I was beginning to get the hang of all the controls - so while the coming down wasn't perfect it was definitely getting better. My instructor kept on saying 'tengoklah, kalau saya tak ada dalam kereta, awak boleh dapat. Kalau saya ada dalam kereta, awak tak boleh dapat' :P Funny guy. He also kept on saying 'kalau naik bukit - markah boleh dapat 100%. Kalau turn bukit, markah juga turun jadi kosong'. :p It was exasperating and funny at the same time (reminded me of another teruk lecturer i know). I seriously couldn't stop laughing by then(it was a better option than crying). Rod, who was quite far away could even hear him yelling at me from the pondok 'jangan ketawalaaa!'. hahahaha. The next time I went up the hill, the instructor asked me 'awak suka baca komik punya ah? selalu ketawa-ketawa'. :P
And so this went on for two hours - and the time definitely flew for me. At the end of the class, he asked me, 'You betul-betul mula belajar hari ini ya? Tak ada memandu di taman ke?'. Duh - what on earth did he think that i was trying to tell him in the first hour? :P I told him I was a law abiding citizen and that one of my granddad used to be a policeman in Bukit Aman.
Anyways, he appeared to be quite happy with my progress (me too!) - I could more or less go up and down the hill without a hitch towards the end of the class. He cheekily told me that he was quite happy that I could finish it in 2 hours cos some people take more than a day to learn it well (contrast this with him telling me earlier that some people took 3 tries to learn it and i was taking more than half an hour to learn it. :p). At the end of the class, I thanked him for his instructions and help. He, being the funny guy that he was said 'Tak apa, sekarang cikgu sudah setengah mati!'.
I'm sooo looking forward to my next class on Friday. Can't wait to torment him again. :D
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Quote from Criminal Minds (Riding of the Lightning ep.)
“What we do for ourselves dies with us. What we do for others and the world remains and is immortal.” - Albert Pines
A Visit From The Past
Am so awfully excited! I saw an old OCF friend -Li Ming - online today (thank God for Yahoo IM!) after not seeing her for so many years. She and another really good friend of mine are getting married at the end of this year.
She was really cute- she wanted me and a few others to play for her wedding (we called ourselves the Delmont Group cos we used to practice in the garage of a house named delmont. The OCF guys were leaving there and we used the garaged to put all our equipment. The girls would stay at greenhouse - I stayed there in my second and third year - and our equipment and practice eventually moved to the garage there). My friend's husband to-be (Ho Vui Kian) is also my super good friend in OCF(Overseas Christian Fellowship). We both used to spend hours together praying and planning for the worship ministry in OCF - he was the committee in charge of worship(and eventually became OCF president) and I was the worship coordinator - you could say that I received a lot of training for my current job at church from OCF days. *wistful sigh* those were the days.
Am so looking forward to see everyone at the end of this year again. Crossing my fingers that there won't be any clashes-especially with potential mission trip!!!
TV Series
Finished watching Criminal Minds Season 1 during the holidays. It's quite fascinating and interesting - about profiling criminals (also known as unsubs - unknown subjects). Definitely more suspense than CSI. Adding it to my list of must watch tv series:
1. Monk (My Absolute Favourite!!!)
2. Criminal Minds
3. CSI: Las Vegas, New York and Miami
4. Gilmore girls
5. NCIS
6. Boston Legal
7. Numb3rs
8. House
9. Psych
10. Heroes
A Cool Quote from Criminal Minds (What Fresh Hell ep.)
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them? - Rose Kennedy
Friday, June 22, 2007
The ministry of a mother
Was just having a conversation with my mother in the morning as she picked me up from work to send me home to rest. As I spoke with her, I was reminded again of how blessed I am to have her for my mother.
My mother is a woman with lots of skills and wisdom. She also has a heart for missions. Yet, for all her giftings, she chose to be a stay at home mother to us instead of going out to work. She found ways to earn an income from the home while being there for us when we needed her. This meant that she had to be cook, driver, tuition teacher, income earner, financial manager, etc... Though I know it must've been tough for her, she chose to be with us. As she told me this morning, she'd always considered myself, my bro and my sis to be her top ministry priority. *wow*
As I look at all my skills, giftings and ministry abilities right now, I must say that I owe it all to my mother. She's one of the best teachers I know. She teaches and inspires us by example and not by mere words of commands.
I remember when I was young, she'd sit at the piano in the evenings and sing hymns or songs while playing the piano. I remember thinking to my self - 'when I grow older, I want to be like mum. I want to be able to play and sing on the piano - maybe even better than her.' Then, I'd never dreamed that it would one day be a major part of my work- worship leading in church and playing the piano from time to time.
I remember the times when my mum, myself, my bro and my sis sitting around the dinner table playing word games and scrabble after dinner. Mum was always the champion in the word games. I remember thinking too that I would love to win her when I grew older and sought to improve my vocabulary and read extensively. Today my English is what it is because of my mum's creative way of getting me interested in learning the English language.
As I look at my mother, I wish that many Christian mothers would see ministry the way my mum does - so that there will be a next generation of Christians that will be strong in their faith and that the church of Christ will be better for it.
My mother is a woman with lots of skills and wisdom. She also has a heart for missions. Yet, for all her giftings, she chose to be a stay at home mother to us instead of going out to work. She found ways to earn an income from the home while being there for us when we needed her. This meant that she had to be cook, driver, tuition teacher, income earner, financial manager, etc... Though I know it must've been tough for her, she chose to be with us. As she told me this morning, she'd always considered myself, my bro and my sis to be her top ministry priority. *wow*
As I look at all my skills, giftings and ministry abilities right now, I must say that I owe it all to my mother. She's one of the best teachers I know. She teaches and inspires us by example and not by mere words of commands.
I remember when I was young, she'd sit at the piano in the evenings and sing hymns or songs while playing the piano. I remember thinking to my self - 'when I grow older, I want to be like mum. I want to be able to play and sing on the piano - maybe even better than her.' Then, I'd never dreamed that it would one day be a major part of my work- worship leading in church and playing the piano from time to time.
I remember the times when my mum, myself, my bro and my sis sitting around the dinner table playing word games and scrabble after dinner. Mum was always the champion in the word games. I remember thinking too that I would love to win her when I grew older and sought to improve my vocabulary and read extensively. Today my English is what it is because of my mum's creative way of getting me interested in learning the English language.
As I look at my mother, I wish that many Christian mothers would see ministry the way my mum does - so that there will be a next generation of Christians that will be strong in their faith and that the church of Christ will be better for it.
New Blog Look
After 3 years of the same look on my blog and plenty of encouragement from others, I've finally given my blog a new look.
My pity party - Hate being sick
Have been in and out(more in than out) of bed yesterday and today because I'm S-I-C-K!!
Forehead and body feels clammy.
Head feels heavy with the occasional headache that squeezes out tears from eyes.
Abdomen is in pain because of my body wracking cough. (I dread it whenever I feel the next bout of cough coming along). *sob*
Feel like I'm coughing my lungs out.
Back is beginning to ache too. *sob*
Hate waking up in the middle of the nite because of the cough.
Limbs doesn't feel the same -feels week and achy.
I think my nose is thinking of running away too. :(
Can someone just shoot me and put me out my misery.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Happy Birthday Lucy!
Dearest Lucy,
Happy Birthday to You! I'm so blessed to know you. Since I've met you a year and a half ago, my life has been enriched. You have brought such joy to our prayer meetings and our fellowship. Your honesty(daring to just be who you are) and your lack of guile are qualities that I truly admire about you. I've come to love you as I would my own sister.
May our God continue to bless you in all that you do. I pray too that you will continually grow in His grace and love.
Love you heaps.
Broken Prayer
Sometimes, just when I think all is going well - that You are finally answering my prayers - the tide suddenly seem to turn the other way. It's like going one step forward but two steps back.
I hurt.
How long more till healing comes? How long before You will heal her?
How I struggle as I watch her struggle.
As I too am broken, I hide my pain from her. Even though I love her a lot.
She looks at me and see someone detached - someone who doesn't care.
She does not understand that some lessons learnt long ago are hard to undo - that it's easier to hide the pain beneath the smile in fear of being hurt again.
And so again I turn to You.
Where else can I go?
You see the struggle beneath.
You see how much I love her - and I know You love her so much more.
Will You speak into her life?
Show her that You are there for her when all others fail?
Will You take her out of the place that she's in and lift her to higher ground?
Brokenly I ask You - please God, please save her...
Monday, June 18, 2007
Rantings....
Have been back one day in seminary and life here has just been crazier than working in church... :p
Have been rushing around doing errands today during breaks (we've been having sessions cos it's Quiet Day :p). Have also practices and a power point presentation to do tonite for tomorrow's service before I sleep. *SIGH*
The sessions weren't too bad - more or less what I hear from my mum from time to time (my mum's a wise woman. :) )
Looks like I don't have time to finish this post - a milion things are crying out to be done before practice in 15 mins... Will pick up the threads later(if I ever get to it)..
On a side note, I had this really brilliant idea yesterday while I was unpacking - I sorta fixed my speakers to my bed and the music sounds awesome.... Sorta a surround sound when I'm lying down on my bed or when I'm blogging while sitting on bed ... hehehehe
Have been rushing around doing errands today during breaks (we've been having sessions cos it's Quiet Day :p). Have also practices and a power point presentation to do tonite for tomorrow's service before I sleep. *SIGH*
The sessions weren't too bad - more or less what I hear from my mum from time to time (my mum's a wise woman. :) )
Looks like I don't have time to finish this post - a milion things are crying out to be done before practice in 15 mins... Will pick up the threads later(if I ever get to it)..
On a side note, I had this really brilliant idea yesterday while I was unpacking - I sorta fixed my speakers to my bed and the music sounds awesome.... Sorta a surround sound when I'm lying down on my bed or when I'm blogging while sitting on bed ... hehehehe
Friday, June 15, 2007
Unexpected changes...
I was watching a show that contrasted expectedness and unexpectedness. It talked about how the unexpected changes a person... I suppose that this is why sometimes God throws in unexpectedness in our lives - though we wish that life would be more predictable...
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Am listening through some of the songs that I have... Came across this version of Amazing Grace by Chris Tomlin... Quite Nice....
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Verse 1:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see
Verse 2:
T'was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Chorus:
My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love Amazing Grace
Verse 3:
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures
Verse 4:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, who call'd me here below
Will be forever mine
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
Verse 1:
Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind but now I see
Verse 2:
T'was grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Chorus:
My chains are gone, I've been set free
My God my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love Amazing Grace
Verse 3:
The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
as long as life endures
Verse 4:
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, who call'd me here below
Will be forever mine
Monday, June 11, 2007
Today's Sermon
The rest of the today's service was also quite fun. A good friend and also one of my lecturers at STM , Dr Lim Kar Yong, was speaking in church this morning. His sermon "What story are you telling?" was also quite interesting. We collaborated together with two other friends, EJ and Chris Chew (whom I fondly call 'gramps' from the age of 12) to have a surprise sketch in the middle of his sermon to bring out the story in Mark 5:1-20 (the one about the demon possessed man). The aim of the sketch was to contrast the stories of the demon possessed man and the pig farmer. Gramps and Kar Yong wrote the script - I must say that Kar Yong did well in adding the witty bits (the congregation was quite tickled and one of my close friends who is a professional singer told me that she couldn't stop laughing). EJ acted as the demoniac and yours truly acted as Mrs PIG FARMER(somehow I was 'tarik'ed into it)! From my perspective, it was fun but a bit scary too. I have not acted for many many years(and when I did many many years ago, I generally took minor roles or just preferred the narrator role). So it was rather a challenge for me. Later on another congregation member pointed out he couldn't figure out how I could worship lead and act on the same service (now that I think about it, neither can I!). Was a bit stressed that I would forget the lines (I actually DID forget a line- but EJ and I managed to cover it up - Thank God!). I must say that EJ and I made a pretty good team -hahaha- must be all that squabbling and making up over the years that helped us work alongside in ministry and understand each other better.
For the fun of it, I will post the script below (which took 5-8 mins to act). Kar Yong rather naughtily insisted I started the sketch by screaming really loudly to get people's attention (mind you, this was in the MIDDLE of his sermon). Some of the feedback on the scream: "I didn't pay attention to the sermon until the scream!"; "I thought Kar Yong was screaming, but I thought it was weird cos it sounded like a woman's scream!"; "You woke my daughter up with your scream! But that was ok cos she enjoyed the sketch after that"; "It was so scarylaa when I heard the scream in the middle of the sermon. I thought something was wrong with Kar Yong, some more he ran off the stage suddenly. I was like OMG, what's wrong?!!"; "I knew it - it sounded like Ruth screaming - I thought the voice sounded rather familiar"(this last bit was from one of my colleagues in church, I guess he must be familiar with my scream cos of my doing so at work in frustration sometimes). Kekekeke.... Yup- the service turned out to be really fun. :) Our next repeat of the play will take place at Doulos Presbyterian church in two weeks time. Hope I don't forget all my lines by then or have brain damage from memorising my lines. :p
For the fun of it, I will post the script below (which took 5-8 mins to act). Kar Yong rather naughtily insisted I started the sketch by screaming really loudly to get people's attention (mind you, this was in the MIDDLE of his sermon). Some of the feedback on the scream: "I didn't pay attention to the sermon until the scream!"; "I thought Kar Yong was screaming, but I thought it was weird cos it sounded like a woman's scream!"; "You woke my daughter up with your scream! But that was ok cos she enjoyed the sketch after that"; "It was so scarylaa when I heard the scream in the middle of the sermon. I thought something was wrong with Kar Yong, some more he ran off the stage suddenly. I was like OMG, what's wrong?!!"; "I knew it - it sounded like Ruth screaming - I thought the voice sounded rather familiar"(this last bit was from one of my colleagues in church, I guess he must be familiar with my scream cos of my doing so at work in frustration sometimes). Kekekeke.... Yup- the service turned out to be really fun. :) Our next repeat of the play will take place at Doulos Presbyterian church in two weeks time. Hope I don't forget all my lines by then or have brain damage from memorising my lines. :p
*********************************************
It’s Gone!
By Chris Chew and Kar Yong
PFW: (Distraught) It’s gone! It’s gone! I am ruined! I am finished!!! (Ruth: make sure you really really scream here!! We need the effect here…)
DPM: (Relieved) It’s gone! It’s gone! I am saved! I am free!!!
PFW: (Between tears) It was not always like this, I had a house, a family, *sob sob*… had my own business. I was rich.
DPM: It was not always like this, I used to live in tombs, I was always bound by chains until it could not hold me no more. I was a mad man.
PFW: I was driven by profits
DPM: (Fearful) I… I was possessed by evil spirits
PFW: The day started beautifully, bright sunny skies, everything was perfect.
DPM: The day started as usual, possessed by an evil spirit. Can’t think straight, could not focus, always angry always shouting. It was a nightmare.
PFW & DPM (together): They he came into town
PFW: I knew he was trouble from the start. Why? (Angry) Because that mad man, than mad man possessed by an evil spirit, the very one that we could never catch him and hold him but He, that mad man went to see him. He knew Jesus was coming, somehow he knew.
DPM: I did not know what I was doing but I heard he was coming to town and so I went to meet him when he got out of the boat. I don’t know what made me do it but I think it knew, the thing inside me.
PFW: No one in town was able to hold this mad man town but when he saw Jesus, he fell on his knees. Devil’s trick I tell you.
DPM: I don’t know what made me do it, but when I saw him I fell to the ground. Then I asked him “What do you want with me, Jesus Son of the Most High God. Swear to God that you won't torture me!"
PFW: This man Jesus, just said "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" and that was the beginning of trouble. Then he asked for the spirit’s name.
DPM: "My name is Legion," I replied, "for we are many." Then I think it begged Jesus to send them to the pigs and when Jesus gave them permission… all the spirits went into the pigs…
PFW: My pigs, my herd, all those hard work looking after them. Feeding them. All 2,000 of them…
DPM: All the pigs…
PFW & DPM (together): drowned!!!
PFW: All my stocks gone! This is worst than Nipah virus, and the beta agonis crisis…
DPM: I felt my life has returned to me, someone.. no, God has given my life back to me.
PFW & DPM (together): Gone!
PFW: My pigs!
DPM: My chains
PFW: My char siew business!
DPM: The evil spirits!
PFW: No more roast pork
DPM: No more countless sleepless nights!
PFW: He ought to pay!
DPM: The Lord be praised!
PFW: Crucify him!
DPM: Hallelujah!
PFW: I should charge him no! I should sue him! Hehehe…should we say this: I must consult Daniel Yeoh…
DPM: I must tell everyone, the messiah is here!
PFW: No, I cannot do this alone. He has got 12 stupid disciples following him. I am outnumbered!
DPM: I must tell others what he has done!
PFW: These 12 good for nothing useless disciples. One of them is even a tax collector. Can’t he count the loss of revenue? Couldn’t he have told Jesus, how much it would have cost all of us. He could have stopped all this!
DPM: I wanted to join him and his disciples but he told me to go tell my family and tell how much the Lord has done for me and how God has had mercy on me.
PFW: No, I must rally with more people! Justice must be served! Jesus must go!
DPM: Yes, I will do what he told me to. I will go to home to Decapolis and tell everyone!
PFW: He must be rejected!
DPM: Jesus must be accepted! My chains fell off, My heart was free, I rose went forth and followed Thee...
PFW: My pigs ran off, now I am broke, I fell, went home and mourned my loss.. We will drive that trouble maker out of our town! Raise the pitch forks! Sound the alarm!
DPM: I’ve got a story to tell. I must do it now
PFW: I’ve also got a story to tell. I must do it now.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Today's Worship
This morning, the service was one of the more memorable ones for me. I was worship leading (this time without my partner, Jason, cos he had to go to Penang to see Shin Ee participate in a dragon boat race). It has been rather tough going with the songlist in this past week - senior pastor had very specific requests and his instructions was rather conflicting at times (seriously - how many GOOD songs are written on the presence of God/God's glory that are contemporary??)... It was a bit of a headache and a challenge for me - you would not believe how many times I reviewed the list and prayed over it - I wanted to fit in a BM song or a hymn at the same time which can be quite a toughie if one wants a smooth flow. Anyways, I was really proud of my team - all who I call friends. They were really supportive and sporting and though I know I asked them to do a few things that were difficult, as a team, they really helped a lot with encouraging the congregation to worship this morning. People said that there were more energy in the worship today. Personally, it was just very rewarding to see people just really getting into the worship. It was awesome to see people slowly put aside their inhibitions and worship God.
On reflection, it's been quite a journey for me. I see how much I've grown as a worship leader (and how much more I can and need to grow). There was a period where I struggle with being worship leader - and I still do sometimes. There have been times when I've wondered at the purpose of my being a worship leader and how there must be better things to do with my time(such as doing missions or just helping the poor). Today, I was very strongly reminded of why I am in this ministry in the first place. There was just great joy and a sense of rightness for me as I saw people worshipping God as I learn to be a lead them by example by worshipping from my heart. Not only that, it's been such an encouragement to see members of my worship team grow as we journey together to lead the people in worship. Many times I struggle with encouraging members of my team to grow in their spiritual walk. I get disheartened and discouraged many times cos there seem to be so much distractions for them in their daily lives. So many things to pull them away from God. It feels like a losing battle. However, as I take time to talk to them this past week, I am encouraged to see glimpses of growth and maturity in some of their walk. It encourages me to press on and to keep on praying for them.
Dear Lord,
Thanks so much for all that you've done.
Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.
On reflection, it's been quite a journey for me. I see how much I've grown as a worship leader (and how much more I can and need to grow). There was a period where I struggle with being worship leader - and I still do sometimes. There have been times when I've wondered at the purpose of my being a worship leader and how there must be better things to do with my time(such as doing missions or just helping the poor). Today, I was very strongly reminded of why I am in this ministry in the first place. There was just great joy and a sense of rightness for me as I saw people worshipping God as I learn to be a lead them by example by worshipping from my heart. Not only that, it's been such an encouragement to see members of my worship team grow as we journey together to lead the people in worship. Many times I struggle with encouraging members of my team to grow in their spiritual walk. I get disheartened and discouraged many times cos there seem to be so much distractions for them in their daily lives. So many things to pull them away from God. It feels like a losing battle. However, as I take time to talk to them this past week, I am encouraged to see glimpses of growth and maturity in some of their walk. It encourages me to press on and to keep on praying for them.
Dear Lord,
Thanks so much for all that you've done.
Be Thou my vision O Lord of my heart
Naught be all else to me save that Thou art
Thou my best thought by day or by night
Waking or sleeping Thy presence my light.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)