Chinese Service Musings

In my church, we have a Chinese service and an English service, and to save ourselves loads of scheduling grief we have the same band playing for both services on Sunday. We practice for the services on Wednesday evenings, first for the Chinese service, then for the English one.

Couple of things I noticed after playing for the Chinese services for about half a year. First, the melodies for the Chinese worship songs tend to be quite active. In other words, they tend to fill up all the main counts of each bar, just like the melody of All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name, for example. Because of that there isn't really much room to add in more musical elements without making it distracting or gimmicky.

That's actually great for the musicians, because we can quickly run through the songs, play a simple bare-bones accompaniment, and that's good enough. Rehearsals for the Chinese songs get done really quickly, in about half the time we take for the English songs. Sometimes the Chinese backup vocalists stay behind and sit in for the English service rehearsals, and watch us struggle through all the stuff we need to put in for the English songs. I wonder if they feel as if we are not putting in as much effort for them as we are for the English service?

(Side Note: my brother – as in blood brother, we-have-the-same-parents kind of brother – has started playing on the worship team also, playing keyboards. Because he is less confident than I am, he is of course happy at having to play a lot less for the Chinese worship songs!)

Another thing I noticed also is that the worship leaders for the Chinese service are more dependent on hand signs rather than vocal cues. That's pretty frustrating for me, because I believe in vocal cues. Hand-signs only direct the musicians; they don't lead the congregation. If you are using mainly hand-signs, you are more a lead singer than a worship leader, since you are singing TO the congregation rather than leading them in THEIR singing. Are you with me?

God knows, I did try to explain that especially to the Chinese worship leader scheduled on the most recent Sunday. I encouraged her on a number of occasions to use vocal cues, and even demonstrated them for her a few times. She'd just tell me it's really difficult, and I'd try my best to explain to her (in my pathetic Chinese) that it's difficult only if you are obsessed with keeping up with a slick vocal performance. If you are more focused on leading the congregation than on your own singing it is very easy!

Anyway, I do understand why she might be struggling with this. Bear in mind that she doesn't see other Chinese worship leaders using vocal cues, whether in church or on the Chinese 'worship' albums. So within her immediate circle and exposure she doesn't see any immediate confirmation of my advice. And showing her how well the musicians respond to my vocal cues during the rehearsal just doesn't seem to impress her for some reason. *sigh*

That's the force of habit for you!

One thing playing for a wide range of worship settings has shown me is that there is an equally wide range of worship ministry cultures. Those who are afraid of offending others will take that to mean that there are no absolutes in worship ministry, no methods that are more effective than others, and claim that I am dogmatic and carnal by insisting that things be done my way.

I choose to see things differently.

I choose to believe that when you've seen a wide range of worship cultures and settings, you can see what works universally and what doesn't. And what works universally is usually based on how people really are, because fundamentally we all struggle with the same issues and problems. Or to express it in Scripture:

"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man."- 1 Cor 10:13 (NIV)

And because most of the time people in the congregation are not able to read the minds of worship leaders and will therefore need something more obvious to direct them than hand-signals given to musicians, vocal cues are still going to work no matter what the language, what the culture or whatever the music style used.

Of course, if I ever come across any exceptions I'll definitely keep you posted!

In case you missed my previous blog post, I'm writing an e-book about worship musicians and singers. Do send in your book title suggestions and the questions you'd like me to answer in this e-book. I want to make it as useful as possible to people in worship ministry, so help me by giving me your questions! You can email me here.

Thanks!

Send Me Your Questions!

Quick announcement: I'm going to write my NEXT e-book soon. It's been stewing around inside me for quite a while and I think it's time to sit down and start on it NOW. So I'm going to need your help in two areas (for now):

1) Help me think of a suitable book name about recruiting, understanding and leading worship musicians and singers. Names are really a big challenge for me, so far all I've come up with is "Herding Cats - How to Recruit and Lead Church Musicians and Singers". What do you think?

2) Give me all the questions you have about recruiting and leading musicians and singers. Questions like: Should you pay your church musicians? I want to make this e-book as useful as possible to as many people as possible, even to non-musicians who may have to lead worship teams.

Please don't feel shy to either email your questions or leave them on my blog here. Thanks!

P.S. So email me with your suggestions for the book title and your questions about musicians and singers! And ask your worship team people to send in their questions too! :)

WARNING – Is Your Soul in Danger of Being Snared?

I've been pondering this alot recently: the prosperity of the soul.

Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. (3 John 2, NKJV)

According to that passage of Scripture, if our souls prosper all the areas of our lives will prosper. That's something that I really want, especially when I realized Matt 25:14-30 suggests that we are to double the wealth God has entrusted to our stewardship. 3 John 2 tells us to seek the prosperity of our souls, and that will set the other areas of our lives right. That includes our physical and financial health.

It's like the idea expressed in Matthew 6:31-33.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (NKJV)

Matthew 6:31-33 tells us that giving priority to God's kingdom leads to our material needs being met. Let's face it, for some people that alone will be a drastic improvement! But I find myself desiring more than that. So I kept asking myself, how do I cause my soul to prosper, so that I can prosper in all the areas of my life?

Yelling at Jessiah

In the meantime, I've also realized that I have been quite bad-tempered towards my elder son recently. I would yell at him when he doesn't follow my instructions or when he tells me absolute nonsense to make excuses for his mistakes. The troubling thing is, my reactions are entirely out of proportion. Jessiah is actually a great kid, very obedient AND a fun kid to be with. Why am I blowing up when he occasionally messes up in some very small matters? Why am I having anger problems? Here's one of the reasons I discovered.

My Soul Ensnared

Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go,
Lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul. (Prov 22:24-25, NKJV)

This passage of Scripture tells us that one way to end up with anger problems (and your soul ensnared) is to associate with bad-tempered people.

When I first looked at this passage, it seemed like such a cop-out. I can't imagine saying to someone "The reason I'm bad-tempered is because I've been hanging around bad-tempered people…" It sounds like I'm just trying to make excuses for myself and avoid the blame! But if I reject this verse I am saying that I am that unchangeable in my character, that what can drag others down won't drag ME down.

If I ever think that I am too good for this verse, you'll know for certain I'm deluded!

I got my soul ensnared when I chose to associate with two bad tempered people in particular. I did my best to be calm and even-tempered with them, but after many years I grew tired of it. In the end I started blasting at them whenever they wilfully chose to ignore my boundaries.

Actually, they didn't really get it at the beginning, because they were not really bright. They were the sort who only understood very hostile words, blindingly obvious threat displays, throwing stuff around the house and other things you learn from watching Hong Kong and Taiwanese soap operas (That's why I don't like my kids watching TV). My blasting was like what you'd get from those hard-core teachers who could structure a scolding into lecture notes and sermon points. So by the time they understood what I was doing, discovered that I saw them as bratty kids and talked to them accordingly, they ended up feeling like fools.

Yeah, I made them realize they were fools and that I wasn't to be messed with. But at what cost? My soul got ensnared and Jessiah suffers for it. If I go on like this I am more a fool than they are!

Conclusion:

Maybe, just maybe, I'll have to get my soul out of this snare first before it can really start to prosper as God intended? I've decided that I need to deal with this anger problem before it gets worse and before I infect Jessiah with that same spirit. So if I ever come across anything useful or enlightening from the Bible, I'll certainly let you know!

In the meantime, do learn from my mistake. Don't let your soul get ensnared. Keep people with chronic anger issues as far from your life as possible. I was proud and thought that those angry people couldn't affect me. I was wrong and now have to get myself out of this fix. Please don't make the same mistake I did!

Be blessed, everyone!

P.S. And pray for me of course! Pray that God will grant me wisdom and patience… Thanks!

Hosanna (Paul Baloche) Worship Leader Tutorial

Hosanna (CCLI Song No. 4662491) by Paul Baloche and Brenton Brown is a great fast song to use for a worship set. This video shows how I'd do this song in small group or even for congregational worship. Pay attention to how I structure this song, it's different from how Paul Baloche does it in his album.



One thing I've grown to appreciate is how Youtube allows me to add notes and comments to my playing and singing as it goes along. You get a behind-the-scenes look at my thought processes and reasoning, and see how I actually apply the principles and concepts I teach in my e-book, Invisible Worship Musician.

So enjoy the video! Please leave your comments, either in the comments section of this page or on the original video page at Youtube. And feel free to share it with your worship team people or other worship leaders you know! :)

Drumstick exercises

One of my friends, Chingmei, shared this video with me via Facebook a few weeks back. I think it's a great video, with a drumstick exercise that I find pretty challenging.

Here's the vid.



If you find it useful, share this with your drummer friends! And if you don't play drums, watch it and you'll discover that a drummer's life isn't as simple as everyone else thinks it is... :)

Be blessed!

Random Musings (really)

Personal blog post

"I'm sorry, I can't make it back for lesson. I'm still stuck at school..."

And with those words my afternoon's teaching appointment was cancelled. It would have been nice if the student actually thought of calling me BEFORE I made the trip and was standing at his doorway, right? But for some strange reason I wasn't irritated or upset in any way. Maybe it was because of the agreement we had, that I would still be paid in the event of any last minute hiccups like this.

Or maybe it's because it's a hot, still Singaporean afternoon.

I don't know how other people feel about it, but I feel very serene and calm in the midst of the heat. I walked away from the student's place, through our local HDB flats and headed towards the bridge over a canal to feed the fish with some expired bread that I brought along from home for this purpose. It's good to have some time alone for myself.

... ...

One thing about me - I am very much a loner.

I don't mind being by myself. In fact, I quite enjoy it. Don't get me wrong; I love talking with people especially in a coaching setting; and public speaking leaves me feeling high for a long time after that. But this is one afternoon I am glad to be by myself, enjoying the stillness and allowing myself to soak in the serenity around me.

Being a loner means that I am better at the Christian stuff that is best done alone - prayer, bible reading and bible study. If you consider my other interests and pursuits, such as research, music and ancient styles of 'conflict resolution', you'll realize that they are very much loner-style activities too.

Of course this means that I have to work very much harder at the Christian stuff that requires living in community, like all the 'one anothers' we see in the New Testament, such as exhort one another, forgive one another, encourage one another and all that. So I don't get to gloat very much over people who struggle with the prayer and bible reading stuff. :)

It's rare to really really click with a loner. There are so many different types of loners, with different flavours of personality traits, so they don't necessarily get along with each other. :) The greatest compliment I ever gave someone was to say "When I am with you, I feel as if I am by myself." I wonder how many ladies would see THAT as a compliment! :D

... ...

I made it to the bridge, took out my bread and started feeding the fish with it. I usually go there on Monday mornings with Jacques. We stop there for a while to feed the fish before we continue on to my in-laws place and he goes to his kindergarten classes. The fish feed differently on the bread when it's a hot Tuesday afternoon, I noticed!

Thought of getting more bread to feed the fish with, but the only shop nearby is a Sheng Siong supermarket. I'm boycotting Sheng Siong, so I decided not to get the bread from there. The fish will just have to wait for another day!

Just in case you are not from Singapore, we Singaporeans usually buy our groceries and foodstuffs either from supermarkets (which are air-conditioned, dry and smell better) or wet markets (which are not air-conditioned, they are wet, smellier but the food is fresher). Sheng Siong was running supermarkets but recently bought over a few wet markets. And very soon after they bought over those wet markets they inflicted a 30% rent hike on the stall holders renting the stalls there.

What was their excuse? They claimed that the hike was necessary to pay for bank interest fees, taxes and maintenance fees. I don't buy that. Sheng Siong should have already calculated how much they could earn from buying over the wet markets; and if they were not going to earn enough to recoup their investment through rentals, why should the stallholders and their customers be penalized for it?

Some people speculate that Sheng Siong is deliberately trying to drive the stall holders away so that they can appeal to the government to convert those wet markets into supermarkets. I don't know about that, but I won't be surprised if this happens. Anyway, the wet markets Sheng Siong bought over are not near my place, so it doesn't make any difference if I boycott them. Besides, the stallholders are the ones who suffer if the wet markets are boycotted. I'd rather boycott the Sheng Siong supermarkets, let Sheng Siong feel the pinch directly!

... ...

Yeah, it's pretty rare for me to blog without any teaching points whatsoever. Well, if you find this and read it, it's because you were really looking for it. Thanks for reading! :)

This Weekend...

A couple things on my heart this weekend:

The resurrection - If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor 15:19-22, NIV)

This weekend we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection. Through this we receive forgiveness of our sins and justification.

He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (Rom 4:25, NIV).

Personally I believe it is so easy for us to let this truth be crowded out of our hearts through the things of this world. Or we may get too caught up with getting our lives in shape that we forget that we are working out of a position of victory and success, that in God's eyes the matter is settled through the death and resurrection of Christ, and we are now to walk the land and claim the victory.

Without the cross and resurrection, Christianity would be only a self-development program amongst many, such as NLP, the Sedona Method and even Ho' oponopono. We cannot reasonably expect to have more results in our lives than practitioners of those methods if we forget the cross, the very source of our power!

Servanthood - For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves. (Luke 22:27, NIV)

Even before the crucifixion, Jesus was still pouring out his heart to his disciples and serving them. If we get so caught up with preparations for our church Easter service that it all becomes a burden, then we'd have missed out on the meaning of Resurrection Sunday. It's not about putting on the most impressive show or the most elaborate song and dance routines. It's about remembering the reason for our hope, celebrating it with our siblings-in-Christ and maybe seeing yet another person born into the Kingdom of God as we commemorate this occasion.

So if you are getting frazzled by a demanding choir director or worship team leader, or if you are the one doing all the frazzling, stop! Take a deep breath, drink some water and focus your heart and mind on Jesus, who stooped down to wash our feet even before his crucifixion. How do you think he would feel if we forgot his gentle and humble heart and let ourselves get caught up with complex chord progressions, weird vocal harmonies or we end up losing our joy and peace because of trying to organize a slick show?

Anyway, that's what I’d like to share for now. Be blessed and may you have a joyful weekend remembering the reason for our hope and faith!

Guitar Chords for Worship

Dave Hartwell (from Worship the Rock) did this great video on people's five favourite chords. Check this out! I'm sure that it'll give you some fresh ideas for your guitar playing.



And do let the other guitarists in your church know about this video too!

If you like the vid, please head over to Dave's page on Youtube and leave a comment. Thanks!

Matthew 25 Musings

Did I mention that I've been doing inductive Bible study this year? After going through the Bible in a year last year, I realized that I don't know the New Testament as well as I would like. So I got started on a more intense study of the New Testament.

Here's something interesting I found.In Matthew 24 Jesus shared about the signs of the end-times. Matthew 25:1 starts with "At that time...", which tells us that the rest of the chapter is especially relevant to living in the end-times. What happens if we look at the rest of the chapter in that light?

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matt 25:1-13)

Notice all that the virgins in this parable had in common - they were all waiting for the bridegroom, they all became drowsy and fell asleep and they all had oil for their lamps. The only difference was that the wise ones had enough oil for themselves to last a long time. In other words, they expected that the wait would be long.

Does that tell us that the way to be ready for Jesus' second coming is to expect that it would take a long time? Hmm...

Another interesting thing I noticed is that the wise virgins did not help the foolish ones. Their first priority was to ensure that they had enough for themselves. They took personal responsibility for being ready. They set boundaries for themselves; they chose not to share their oil with the unprepared virgins, and Jesus did NOT chastise them for their 'selfishness'. On the other hand, the foolish ones probably expected that if they did not have enough oil they could always beg some off the wise virgins.

Not smart.

The Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30)

When looking at this parable, many people apply the principles in this lesson to everything else except what it was talking about in the first place - money!

Matt 25:16-18 (NIV) The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money.

Here's the interesting part - the master commended the servants who doubled the money entrusted to them (Matt 25:21, 23). The servant who did not lose any of the money (Capital Preservation, they call it) was called wicked and lazy (Matt 25:26). Wonder what would the master have done if there was a servant who lost the money or spent it all away frivolously, thinking it was his own money?

Can you imagine wearing a T-shirt with the logo "Jesus is coming back. Double your money QUICK!"

But that wouldn't be too accurate a logo, would it? We are not to double our money; it's not ours in the first place. Everything in our stewardship came from God in the first place (1 Chr 29:12). Many prosperity teachers promote the idea that we are to prosper in our finances so that we can give money to further the gospel. The problem with that idea? It's not our finances in the first place; it's God's. Meanwhile, other bible teachers react by roundly condemning the idea of financial prosperity for God's people. They ignore the scary part of this parable: We are to double our master's money or be condemned as wicked and lazy.

In other words, are those teachers guilty of spreading wickedness and laziness amongst the servants of Christ? Food for thought...

The Sheep and the Goats (Matt 25:31-46)

If we were to sum up this teaching, it would be that Jesus sees what we do for the least of his brothers as what we have done unto him. Here's the question: who does Jesus see as his brothers?

There are three possible answers:

1) Humanity in general? Possible, since Jesus repeatedly addressed himself as the Son of Man.

2) The Jews? This is likely, since Jesus himself was a Jew, a descendant of David (for example, Luke:18:38)

3) The believers - Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. (Heb 2:11, NIV)

Remember, whatever group we choose to apply this principle to, we need to make sure that we do not exclude the Jewish race. Remember, at that exact moment Jesus gave us this teaching, there was no body of Christ yet, since the Holy Spirit had not yet at that moment baptised us anyone into the body of Christ (1 Cor 12:13).

That means that the most immediate application of this principle ought to be to the Jews. And that Jesus sees how we treat the Jews as a reflection of how we regard him.

In Conclusion:

Maybe we could sum up this chapter as:

1) Be prepared for the long term;

2) Double HIS money; AND

3) Watch how we treat his people.

What do you think? Be blessed!

Worship Leader Tutorial - Awesome In Power

Awesome in Power (Rick Founds, CCLI#631526) is a simple and powerful song that works well in many worship situations. This vid is about how I'd teach it and lead it for a group of people who don't know the song. Enjoy!



As you'll see from the video and the notes, this is a easy song for people to latch on to and use. If I had to lead worship for a group of people whom I totally don't know, and if they don't know each other either, I might as well use a song unfamiliar to EVERYONE, so they all start on the same page. And when they get it, they get it together. Awesome in Power allows that to happen quite easily and quickly, IF you do it the way I did.

Try it out yourself and let me know how it goes for you?

Metronome Musings

Hi, everyone!

I played drums for church for the past few Sundays.

It was a stressful experience, because of both my role in the band (the time-keeper and the mood-moderator) and my own personal standards. Yes, ego does drive me hard! How did I do? Let's just say that I have a lot more work to do, and a lot of it involving training with metronomes!

Metronomes really help a drummer keep time. Usually if a drummer has sloppy playing, it is because he/she doesn't have a good internal sense of tempo OR because he/she is unable to express the sense of tempo through his/her limbs while playing. Either way, this comes out very clearly when you train to a metronome. It shows you what it means to keep strict time as well as the areas you are sloppy in your playing, whether fills or changing the drum beats.

People who refuse to train to a metronome often have an undisciplined and individualistic spirit. They want to play at what tempo feels right to them, or what their current level of technique can manage, not what tempo the rest of the band can work with. If we are playing for church, and our effectiveness as worship drummers is very dependent on how well we keep time for the band and the rest of the congregation, this kind of attitude should not be tolerated at all. If the drummer plays inconsistently and yet refuses to train to a metronome, this person does not have the basic servant's heart to serve in the worship ministry, especially when it comes to playing drums.

(I could go on ranting about this, but I think that's enough for now. It's obvious now why I give myself so much pressure when I am behind the drum kit!)

One thing I discovered when I started training with a metronome - there are two ways you can perceive the metronome. The first is to see it as an external standard and you are trying to react to it. The second is to allow your inner sense of tempo to tune into the counts from the metronome and then play according to that. You'll still have the metronome to remind you when your inner sense of tempo goes off, but because you calibrated yourself to the metronome first it becomes a lot easier to keep yourself in time.

It's like how we believers are supposed to relate with the Bible. We can see the Word of God as something external, we refer to it when we've got questions or want to have an intellectual understanding of what God expects from us. This doesn't need much engaging with the Scriptures at all, and for many believers that is all they are willing to do.

Or we can let the Word of God tune us into God's frequency. I have two main ways of doing this: the first is to take a particular passage of Scripture and read it aloud many times a day for a few days in a row (mindless, I know, but it works for me) and the second is to do inductive Bible study, when I go through a book of the Bible a few times, looking for key themes, drawing up lists of facts, making notes and all that.

Whichever way you do it, the idea is to engage with the Word of God as much as you possibly can, and in a more active way. Make it a part of you, and you'll find that you're following it even without thinking.

And that's always good!

Training with the metronome by yourself is important, but unless you have a fantastic sense of musicality (OK, just more than I do) you'll find things slipping past your notice. And sometimes it's just easier for an outsider to pick up your mistakes. Last night a singer (a non-musician) was telling me that the part of me that keeps going out of time (lagging behind) is my snare. I tend to slow down when changing from one section of the song to another, like from the verse to chorus, for example.

You know a problem is bad when even a singer can pick out where my mistakes are!

It's like how we can read the Bible by ourselves and yet miss the parts where we fall short or need to put in some effort. We think we're doing fine, while anyone else who has lived with us for a while can easily point out that we need to correct some of our blind spots. That's why we need to live in fellowship with each other and be teachable (Pro 9:9).

Psalm 19:9-12 (NIV) The ordinances of the LORD are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

Notice that just after David declares how precious the Word of God is, he realizes that even with the Word of God he still needs help in discerning where he falls short and misses the mark? That's the same for us. Even when we know the Bible, we have done our inductive bible study, attended Bible Study Fellowship's entire 7-year course or just simply read the Bible cover-to-cover, we will still have blind spots we need loving siblings-in-Christ to point out to us. And we need to teach one another in all wisdom (Col 3:16), to be ready to receive wisdom from each other.

So, are you submitting your life to the Word of God and allowing some trusted siblings-in-Christ to help you work out your salvation into your life? And are you likewise committed to helping someone to do the same?

Think about that while I take out my metronome, my drumsticks and sit down and get some more practice done!

Announcement: a number of people have bought my Invisible Worship Musician but have not signed up for the updates email list yet. If you are one of them, please sign up for that email list as soon as possible. Email me about it and I'll enter your name for that list. Then watch your inbox for your confirmation email. Remember to click on the confirmation link inside! That way you'll get access to all the follow-up lessons I carefully, painstakingly prepared for you (and you already paid for...)

OK, be blessed, everyone!

Game Plan of the Wicked

I recently got to know this guy who does Chinese Martial Arts. Being more adventurous than the typical practitioner, he participated in a sparring session with people from other styles. And at the end of it he realized that the other people were better prepared than he was. In his own words, "they all had clearly gone in with a game plan in mind".

As Christians trying to survive in a world that is often apathetic and sometimes even hostile to what we stand for, we need a game plan too. We need to know the general strategy of the wicked, understand what they are up to, and then formulate our responses to deny them their objectives. Here's a part of the game plan of the wicked.

For, behold, the wicked bend the bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string to shoot in darkness at the upright in heart. (Psa 11:2, NASB)

Notice that the wicked are depicted as using bows, long distance weapons. That allows them to inflict damage from a distance, rather than wrestling with us face-to-face. This suggests to me that the wicked would rather avoid direct confrontation with us believers. Also, the wicked are also described as shooting in darkness, suggesting a cowardly, sneaky attempt to catch God's people unaware and finish them off without having to deal with any resistance.

That's their game plan. What is their objective?

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psa 11:3, NASB)

Their objective is to destroy the foundations that the righteous stand upon. If the foundations that the righteous stand on are destroyed, they fall. And the foundation of God's throne, what we are to stand on, is righteousness and justice (Psa 89:14). So when we see things happening in society at large that go against righteousness and justice, what are we to do?

Continuing on with the rest of Psalm 11 -

The LORD is in His holy temple; the LORD'S throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates. (Psa 11:4-5, NASB)

First, we declare the praises of God. We declare that he is the God of justice (Isa 30:18) and that he will bring about justice in his own time. If we truly know the power and justice of God, we will speak boldly even as we admonish the earthly rulers of this world (Psa 2:10-12).

"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Pro 31:8-9, NIV)

Then we are to speak up for others. Even if it seems like what the wicked do will not affect us directly but affect the poor and oppressed instead. Remember, the wicked begin their attacks from a distance and in darkness. They do not like us bringing up their deeds of darkness into the light (Eph 5:11-12). We need to foil their attacks first, because if we do not the foundations will gradually be eroded and chipped away from under our feet. And then we would be in REAL trouble.

And after we speak, we are to act in obedience to God, because that establishes a foundation within our own lives (Matt 7:24-25). Consider the following passage:

... and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday... Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations (Isa 58:10, 12, NIV)

Notice that in this passage God's people raising up the age-old foundations comes only AFTER we take concrete and practical action to help the poor and needy? That's our game plan. We speak up, first declaring the praises of God, then for the oppressed in our communities. Then we act, we restore the foundations we have neglected and the wicked have destroyed. Do you think this game plan will work? I think so, the last time I read the book of Revelations it tells me that we won!

Thoughts from a Funeral Wake

On Sunday I attended the funeral wake of a lady who took guitar lessons from me many years ago. Two years back she had a cancer relapse and last Saturday she went to be with the LORD. Just a few weeks ago I was in touch with her, trying to meet and catch up, but she wasn't feeling well (no surprise, right?). So I missed the opportunity to meet her before she left. Not a good feeling...

One thing about her, she was an extremely serious student. She started learning guitar for the sake of playing for her cell group worship, and she kept on at it until I had taught her everything I knew how to teach her. And she'd practice. I never had a lesson she'd give me some excuse about not practicing whatever was covered in the previous lesson. She also gave priority to her lessons; she almost never missed them even though she was doing accounting work and would have to work late some days every month.

Contrast that attitude with the drummer wannabes I sometimes end up arguing with. They get offended when I insist that someone who wants to play drums should hold the sticks right for starters. I keep hearing MANY say "everyone has to start somewhere..." and think they are entitled to play drums on the worship team when they aren't ready. The rest of the band has to endure them trying to learn the instrument and wasting everyone else's time.

We don't put up with this from pianists, guitarists or bassists. Why should we put up with it from drummers?

Not only was this student serious with her lessons, she was also serious with serving. She would lead worship and play guitar for her cell group. And do it well. It was such a joy to be her worship guitar teacher, because she was so dedicated to learning AND serving.

Anyway, attending my student's funeral has gotten me even more sober and serious about how I use my time this year. I don't know if she had any regrets or unfulfilled wishes as she considered her eminent departure from this life. What I do know is that it is students like her who remind me why I got into teaching in the first place. Her husband told me that she was playing guitar even as her health deteriorated and it became difficult for her to get her fingers in the right places. It really touched me deeply, to know how seriously she took what I taught her those many years back.

So right now I am thinking about how to best invest my time and my life this year, so that I can not only take good care of my family but also invest my life into other people. How about you? What is on your mind and heart now as you plan how to steward your time this coming year?

The Truth About Walking in Forgiveness

I was just talking with one of the leaders I work with in ministry, and I am honoured that he was willing to share transparently with me how much he was offended by some slight he faced in his own church, as well as how frustrated he was with himself at being stumbled by such a small matter.

Then he said "You know, JJ, I'm so impressed at how much you've grown. I heard in the past that you…" and brought up an incident, from a few years ago, when I was unfairly attacked and accused of wrongdoing and my reputation was damaged. Now that was a big matter to me, in fact after all these years the hurt remains quite fresh because I never got the chance to defend myself in this. So I was tempted to set the record straight by telling this leader EVERYTHING.

If you argue your case with a neighbor, do not betray another man's confidence, or he who hears it may shame you and you will never lose your bad reputation. (Pro 25:9-10, NIV)

The problem is, telling that leader everything meant betraying someone else's confidence. The above passage in Proverbs says that it will not restore my reputation, in fact, it will damage it even further. So there really wasn't anything else I can do other than swallow the pain of the original insult and pain, and pray again that God will give me fresh grace to walk in forgiveness.

Walking in Forgiveness
Not as easy as we want it to be, right?

Ask a passerby on the street what he or she considers to be the teachings of Christianity. Almost all of them will say "forgive your enemies". And rightly so, even when Jesus was teaching us how to pray, he told us to forgive others as we pray that God forgive us our sins (Mat 6:12).

It may be basic, but that does not make it easy to do. We may find ourselves forgiving others of small matters but struggling to forgive them of big transgressions (like in my case). Or we may be able to walk in forgiveness over big matters but suddenly find ourselves stumbled over a small detail (like in my leader's case). And we cannot understand why.

What happens when we find it difficult to forgive? There are three things we can do.

1) Lie to ourselves. Tell ourselves that we have forgiven when we haven't. Try to just forget the matter, and think that the fact that we can forget an offence means that we have forgiven the culprits.

Problem: this doesn't work. Unless we can effectively walk in forgiveness, the hurt within us is like a poison slowly seeping into our spirits. Pretending that it isn't there does not help. People who try this may end up with depression, tension, migraine headaches or come down with chronic anger syndrome, when any little thing can cause them to blow up and lose their temper.

2) Give up. Say that the Christian walk is too difficult, unrealistic and that God is unreasonable in expecting so much from us.

Problem: this is like saying that because we can't perform a surgical operation on ourselves, we don't let the doctor do it for us. The Christian walk is never meant to be attempted by our own strength and willpower alone. If we were that capable, why would Christ have to die for us on the cross in the first place?

3) Seek God again and again. Pray to God every time the hurt resurfaces, and tell him you need the power of his Holy Spirit to help you obey his command to forgive.

Problem: this way requires humility. Every time we tell God that we cannot make it by ourselves and need him to help us again, we are crucifying our pride and self-sufficiency again and again. Unless you are dead to yourself and alive to God in Christ Jesus, that's painful!

After more than 25 years as a believer I have a certain level of pride over how well I can manage the Christian walk. Seeking God over a past hurt requires me to face up to the fact that I am still not that perfect, even after 25 years. I have to admit to God (and now to you) that I still need to work on the basics of the Christian walk.

The only harder than walking in forgiveness…
… is living in un-forgiveness. Walking in forgiveness is like taking out a knife that someone has stabbed into your back. Many believers who want instant gratification think that the pain should go away immediately, but if the offence is serious enough life doesn't work like that.

But if you do NOT forgive, it's like keeping the knife there and pushing it even further to make the wound worse. If you pretend the knife is not there, you will eventually bleed to death. If you push the knife in further, you'll bleed even faster.

Gory images that are very disgusting, I know. But that is how God sees us when we do not forgive. He knows that when we don't forgive we are hurting ourselves the most. It disgusts him to see us doing that. And it pains his heart, because he wants to heal our hearts and bind up our wounds (Psa 147:3). But we've got to take out the knife first.

So now, my plan is…
… to meditate on God's forgiveness.

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Eph 4:32, NIV)

That passage from Ephesians strongly suggests to me that the more I consider God's forgiveness of MY sins and wrongs, the more I can extend his forgiveness to other people, especially those who have wronged me deeply.

This post is different, isn't it? Usually I am boldly declaring the way to deal with a problem or get the result. But this time, because it is something that I am still seriously struggling with, I cannot do that with authority. In this matter all I CAN do is share my plan for getting out of it. Maybe it's something you may want to try also, if you have problems forgiving other people.

That's all for this time. More stuff coming up soon!

A Lousy Movie...

It went exactly as my wife predicted. I thought the movie was a waste of my time.

I am talking about Storm Warriors, a Hong Kong film based on a Chinese comic series. Having gone to watch similar movies with my wife before, I already had very low expectations, but even then I felt disappointed.

What's wrong with the movie?
 

There was no coherent storyline.

So many lines, details and special effects were thrown in, but not developed into anything coherent. Meanwhile, important elements that would have developed the plot better, to keep the film from being way too jerky and the plot changes from being too abrupt, were introduced too late in the story, or flooded out of consciousness by the constant barrage of details, or not there at all.

It's like worship leaders who try to do too much within a worship set. They've got great songs they want to try, the latest album releases from their favourite Christian singers, and they want to put as much of it in as possible. Asking them to show a little restraint on the creativity or artistic expression usually gets you incredulous looks. "The Holy Spirit prompted me to use these songs," they'd say. "How can you ask me to quench the Spirit?"

I don't know everything about the Holy Spirit, but I DO know his heart.

He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. (John 16:14-15, NIV)

The above passage tells us two things: first, the Spirit's task is to glorify Jesus; and second, he glorifies Jesus by teaching and edifying us, giving us revelation about Jesus. In other words, the Holy Spirit will not have us worship leaders and musicians do things that do not reveal Jesus to the people.

And because the Spirit wants to make sure people can receive the message, we can safely expect that he will restrict himself and not flood the people with information overload. Consider the following passage:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two--or at the most three--should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret... Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. (1 Cor 14:27, 29, NIV)

Notice that even when it comes to divinely inspired utterances the Holy Spirit shows restraint? He keeps himself to two or three. If you've ever been in a meeting where there are prophecies released, you'll realise that two prophecies are already very heavy for people to listen to and judge if they are from the Lord. By three people's minds start to shut off already, so they are quite unable to judge and exercise Scriptural discernment on the utterances.

So if the Spirit shows restraint when it comes to tongues and prophecies, why should we worship ministers not show restraint in our song selections and music arrangements? Do we know more than the Holy Spirit about how to bless God's people?

OK, let's get back to the movie.

My wife kept saying "You didn't read the comic series, that's why you don't understand the movie". My reply to her was "You didn't read Lord of the Rings and yet you could understand the movies. So that's no excuse for lousy storytelling!"

It's like telling a congregation member that they couldn't understand or appreciate the worship set you just did because they didn't hear the original CD or album you got the songs from. "If you hear the album, you'll hear that the people can still worship even when the electric guitar is playing all that stuff, and after the guitar solo the congregation can all start singing again without the worship leader telling them when to start!"

That does not work at all.
The CD version is may not be the best version of the song for you to use. What comes out on CDs is meant for people to listen to, not necessarily to sing along with (otherwise why would Chris sing How Great is Our God in Db major???). Doing a worship song in a particular way just because that is how it is done in the CD is dangerous.

Remember, many people who do worship albums come from a performance background. Their training has been to sing and play music in such a way that the audience will listen and be impressed, not that the people will jump up to their feet and sing along. So if your objective is to unify the praises of the congregation, why would you copy an example is was created with a different objective? Yes, it MIGHT work, and SOMETIMES it does work. But wouldn't it be better to go directly for what would work and be effective in YOUR church worship setting?

 

Back to the movie

So you can guess that the CGI and special effects, the eye-candy actors and actresses left me underwhelmed. There will be women who watch the movie because they are fans of the pretty-boy actors, and because in their eyes those actors can do no wrong, they will say that it is a great movie.

It's like people who are convinced that certain Christian artistes or groups (or churches) produce fantastic and anointed worship albums, so whatever is done in those CDs can never be wrong. And if their home church doesn't appreciate the songs and arrangements from that album, that is because their home church does not have the heart of worship.

Anyway, I think this is enough ranting about a lousy movie! Maybe I shouldn't be complaining, since I am a worship leader, not a movie producer. But I really hope that you, at least, will be better at ministering in worship than the producers of Storm Warriors are at producing a movie!




P.S. and if you know you need more equipping to be an effective worship leader or musician, and you haven't got my Invisible Worship Musician E-book yet, what are you waiting for? Get it as a Christmas present for yourself! Order from this Christmas Sale page and get it more than 10% off!

An Email I Received...

I just came across something in my spam filter and thought of blogging about it.

It was an email from a worship leader from whom I have not heard from for a long time. I subscribed to his mailing list, and soon discovered that he had only one product to sell, and he would email me only to sell me that one product, so I got to see how many different ways he had to plug that one product. It was entertaining until he ran out of ideas…

Then I saw his most recent email. It was on a money-making opportunity with a multi-level payout. To qualify you had to get people to click on internet advertisements, and once there are enough people in your group clicking on online ads you stand to make a handsome 5-figure sum monthly.

I am not going to say if such an opportunity is going to work in the long term, or will it collapse within a couple of months or so. The best way to find out, I feel, is to get involved, but I honestly don’t want to give up even 5 minutes a day to look at online advertisements.

But that is not the point of this post.

What I want to say is this: if you have subscribed to my mailing lists at Invisible Worship Musician, I assume you want information and insight on worship ministry. I am also going to assume that if you want money-making opportunities, you will look for people you respect in this area and consider the opportunities they offer. I am currently in the midst of setting up a secular business of my own, but if you are on my worship ministry list I will NOT bug you over it, because when you signed up I promised not to spam you with irrelevant messages. And that, in our context, refers to anything that doesn’t apply to worship ministry.

As for the other guy, I wish him well. He is the Lord’s servant, and he is accountable to God for what he does with his mailing list (Rom 14:4). On MY mailing list I will NOT promote to you anything that is not related to worship ministry in some way, shape or form.

And if you are on his mailing list too, I’d like you to share with me, either via email or the comments section below on this page, your thoughts and feelings about him branching out into such other matters and emailing you about it. Are you intrigued, amused, irritated or offended?

Let me know!