Life-giving Kingship

We headed to the cars. We were supposed to worship God and pray at my friend’s new place, a house-blessing event, but received news that her friend’s old mother’s health had taken a turn for the worst. And her friend was about to leave for a mission trip in just a few days.

So after lunch we went to that friend’s place. Now ‘we’ were an interesting mix of people. A retired couple that used to be missionary pastors, a newly ordained Presbyterian pastor, my friend (an undergrad) and me. Along the way, we found out that the old lady had cancer for years, and in fact outlived the doctors’ expectations while refusing conventional treatment and taking massive amounts of fruits and vegetable juices every day.

But just when her daughter was about to go for an important missions trip in just a few days, her mother suddenly became sicker. So we became a kind of prayer Emergency Response team, going there to pray.

“We fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus” – Chris Tomlin, “We Fall Down”
For years I just couldn't click with that song. The lyrics seemed artificial and contrived somehow.

“And we cry holy, holy, holy is the Lamb” – Chris Tomlin, “We Fall Down”
When we got to the home and entered the room, we saw a tiny, frail old lady sitting in a chair, head down. She seemed so weak, barely able to lift up her head to look at the sudden burst of visitors that appeared out of nowhere, struggling to lift her hand to signal to her maid to show hospitality to these people who seemed to know her daughter.

She didn’t understand English, we were told, so the pastors in the group tried to speak to her in Cantonese. Because she was too weak to respond, we gave up trying to communicate, and the rest of the people started praying for her.

Now, because I hold quite strongly to Word of Faith teaching, I felt that the way the rest of the people there prayed lacked faith. It was as if they weren’t too sure that God wanted to heal the lady and wanted to pray in a way that would hedge their bets, whatever happened. (this was just my impression, ok?)

When it came to my turn to pray, I had a choice. I could pray in a way that would show off my theological position, make me feel superior to the other people in the room and alienate these brothers and sisters in Christ from me, or I could pray the same way they did (and leave me feeling like a hypocrite, because I wasn't praying the way I felt was right), or I could just take a song and worship God. I chose to worship God.

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. (Revelations 1:5-6, NKJV)

And when we all ended the worship song, that old lady finally looked up. Looking into her eyes I saw so much life in there, I was bowled over. And I felt God telling me in my heart that He touched her body and gave her life because I sought to bypass our theological differences and unite our prayers around Jesus Christ.

I sat there, stunned by the transformation that took place right before my eyes. And at that moment I realized that what the Chris Tomlin song spoke about, laying our crowns before Jesus, could not make sense to people who did not know, in their heart of hearts, that they have been made kings and are therefore crowned with power and authority.

And this is what I’d like to share with you. The question is not how to we, as believers, get more power and authority. Its how are we going to use the power and authority we already have as kings and priests serving God the Father. (Rev 1:5-6)

In the situation described earlier all it took to unite these believers from very different background into a group that saw the hand of God at work was a simple worship song. Why was this unity so powerful and life-giving? Because it was an alliance of kings.

“When a king’s face brightens, it means life…” Proverbs 16:15 (NIV)

And that is why there are so many accounts of kings, those of Judah and Israel, in 1st and 2nd Kings and Chronicles. God included all these accounts in the word of God so that we, as kings-in-Christ, will learn from whatever they did, whether wrong or right.

So what does that mean to you now, king and priest of the Most High God? How does my reminder of your power and authority in Christ affect you? I’ve got a couple of suggestions, practical steps you can take to exercise the life-giving kingship powers God has given to you.

1) Pray with confidence and authority.

2) Worship God more, especially with people from a different denomination or church. (Tuesday Group is perfect for this, of course)

3) Seek alliances with other believers, whether in work, ministry or even in family life. Some believers I know are talking about home-schooling their kids together when they have kids. This is a powerful example of the alliance of kings that we can set up.

Prayer time: God has been speaking to me through his people about growing up even further as a son of God, joint-heir with Christ. Pray for me that I will be led to the Scripture Passages that I need to feed on at this time, as well as the believers whom God has chosen to mentor me in this area.

Thanks, everyone! Be blessed!

Stepping Out

1 Chronicles 29:5 “… who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?” (NKJV)

This is the season of the year when I listen through “Prosperity” by Randy Gage

This is a CD series on the spiritual principles that he used to transform his life from bankruptcy, dysfunctional relationships and horrendous health to being a multi-millionaire with great health and joyful relationships in his life.

Now, Randy Gage is comes from a Mind Science church, one of those pseudo-Christian movements. He is very New-Age in his mindset and he is quite dismissive of evangelical Christianity. Having said that, his explanations of spiritual laws that correspond to Scripture principles are very clear and fresh.

And he pulls no punches, calling things the way they are. And sometimes, that’s just what we need at times.

Here is something that he taught that really struck me. He had this chapter called “the Return to the Creator” law of prosperity. This is what he called tithing. And he expanded the idea to more than just money. He said that we are to tithe our Treasure (money), Time and Talent.

The first time I heard that was during the season when I was running away from worship ministry. And when Randy Gage spoke about tithing the Talent (which for me was playing for and leading worship), that made me VERY uncomfortable.

Can you imagine? How could I ever let myself be out-tithed by a New-Ager?

That is what I wanted to bring up with you today. If we expanded our concept of tithing to include Time and Talent as well as Treasure, how different would our lives be?

Or in another sense, as King David asked in the passage from 1 Chronicles quoted above, who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?

“JJ, you don’t understand. You’ve been playing for worship for many years. It’s so much easier for you than for me to get started…”

Actually, God seems to delight in keeping me in a position where it’s not easy for me either, so I actually DO understand. Just on Sunday I was playing for worship at a church where I may be doing worship training for their worship teams.

• To start with, I was on my WEAKEST instrument, drums. Common sense would dictate that if you are going to some place new, start off with your strongest instrument so you leave a good first impression.
  
• On top of that, I was playing on Electric Drums, not the acoustic ones I was used to. Lots of my secret techniques just suddenly became impractical. Oops…
  
• I was playing with people I don’t know. I didn’t know who was gonna cover any slips I make or what I’ll have to do to cover theirs.
  
• And finally, I was already introduced to the congregation as a music/worship instructor. So the congregation’s expectations were raised higher. And thus I had even more to lose if I flopped.

So, in a sense, it NEVER gets easy. Therefore, you get to see whether you REALLY trust in God more than your skills and experience.

Now, if your music skills are not up to par yet, you of course shouldn’t be rushing off to play for service or cell group this coming week. That goes without saying.

But talk with one of the worship leaders in your church or your cell leader. Tell them of your decision to play or serve in worship and make a firm commitment to begin within the next 3-9 months.

Notice I didn’t tell you to wait till you are ready before you talk with them. Why? Because the biggest struggle many of us have is with our mindset. At our core we don’t really see ourselves as worship ministers, skilled and equipped to serve the congregation with music instruments.

So if we wait till we are ready, what will almost always happen is that something will crop up. Our kids will start acting up when we are going to practice, or our jobs will suddenly have a burst of work requiring OT, or something like that. All these events will delay us and become excuses for us to not pursue the equipping and training we need. So we end up not serving at all.

That’s why I urge you to make a firm commitment to begin serving in worship. Talk with your leaders about it (submission to authority is crucial as a worship musician) and give a definite date.

And once you do that you will tell your subconscious that you ARE committed to serving, and that it is to submit itself to you and work with you to obtain ALL the equipping and training you need.

Now on my part, I am in the midst of compiling and defining what are the music skills needed to play in an average church setting. This will be useful both to those who are interested in serving but need to know if they are skilled enough or what they need to work on, as well as to Worship leaders who are actively trying to recruit new musicians, because potential candidates would want to know what is expected of them before they subject their music skills to scrutiny.

But YOU can just email me about what skills you are gonna need at which level and I can give YOU an answer straight away. And if you are actively taking lessons from me I’ll tell you what else you’re gonna need to be ready.

And by the way, in case I haven’t mentioned it yet, after you start playing for worship, that’s when we can start moving on to the REAL training. Not that you’ve not been receiving real training from me before, but everything I share suddenly seems to take a deeper share of meaning.

Those of you who are actively serving in worship right now, whether at a cell group/small group level or for church services will understand what I mean.

Pray about the question I shared from King David “who then is willing to consecrate himself this day to the LORD?” May you be in that number, and experience the exciting and blessed journey that such a decision will bring.

Be blessed!

The Power of Encouragement

KK: “You know, JJ, you really ought to turn up for this Tuesday Group meeting I’ve been telling you about.”

JJ: “uh-huh…”

KK: “Yeah, one thing about the people there, when it comes to worship, they want the real thing. And that is what I know you can bring them.”

I was in Kenneth Koh’s car when we had this conversation. (If you are familiar with the people from the Tuesday Group, you know that this is the Kenneth who would NEVER be accused of having long, greasy hair).

At that point of time in my life, I was tired and weary, feeling quite hard-pressed on every side. I had gone 2 years in the wilderness, worn-out even at the thought of returning back to the worship scene.

The last thing I wanted to think about was any form of worship ministry whatsoever.

Did I lose my anointing during that period? Hardly. There were occasions when I led worship for a small group here and there, and ALWAYS received rave reviews. But I was settled in my thinking, comfortable with things exactly the way they were.

Hebrews 3:13 “…encourage each other daily, while it is called “Today”, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

Sin – harmatia, Strong’s #266: Missing the mark.

That was what happened to me. I was hardened by the deceitfulness of sin, of falling short of what God intends. Nobody could say that I was doing anything wrong (playing in pubs, teaching classical piano, doing training here and there), but I fell short of pursuing the ministry that God called me to, to lead worship AND teach others to do the same.

So what broke the hardening of my heart? Encouragement.

Looking back, I see now how God orchestrated opportunities for me to receive encouragement. Snatches of conversations with other people, culminating in that turning point in Kenneth Koh’s car, finally broke all the hardness of heart I had when it came to worship ministry and pursuing the calling of God in my life.

As a side point, it was most likely the overwhelming flood of DIS-couragement that caused me to finally burn out two years before and leave the ministry. Hmmm….

Now, I could have chosen to not listen to Kenneth Koh at that time. I could have used all the excuses I used before to keep things exactly the way they were.

“You don’t understand.” “You don’t know what it’s like.”

I used to think that the only people who could tell me what to do were those who had gone through exactly what I had gone through. That was a deadly mistake.

Proverbs 14:10 “The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.”

Being totally logical, the only people who will know exactly what I’ve gone through are those who have gone through ALL the experiences that have shaped me as a person, and in exactly the same way and is NOW facing the identical situation I am facing now.

Now that just ain’t gonna happen. And if by some supernatural miracle I meet such a person, all that shows is that this person isn’t any smarter than I am, or he won’t end up with exactly the same problems as I have. “If the blind leads the blind…”

Can you imagine a person undergoing a heart attack insisting that he will receive CPR ONLY from a person who has experienced a heart attack before, because only such a person will know what it’s like to have a heart attack? Does a person HAVE to undergo a heart attack before he/she knows how to administer CPR?

There was once when I was fellowshipping with this sister from Tuesday Group. And she told me that the way I spoke of my wife at that time was wrong.

If I wasn’t teachable, I could have said “you don’t understand, you don’t know what it’s like…”

And why should I listen to her? She wasn’t me, married to my wife, undergoing all the same experiences I went through. So of course she wouldn’t know what it was like.

She was no relationship expert, I mean, she wasn’t a trained psychologist or counselor.To top it all off, she herself was emotionally volatile, and had problems relating with her own mother. She didn’t even show much fruit in this area of her life. Who was she to tell me I was wrong?

But at that moment she spoke forth the wisdom of God. I could take refuge in my excuses, or I could take heed to the wisdom of God in her words. I chose to take the wisdom of God to heart.

I share the above story not to boast of how smart I am, but to show you the excuses and self-deception that can take place when a person is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. I did the right thing that time. Only God knows how many times I flopped all the times before.

So when you take that step of obedience, seek out that sibling in Christ that God has laid in your heart and begin to encourage him/her to rise up to his/her calling and high destiny in Christ, don’t be surprised or disappointed if you don’t meet with an immediately enthusiastic response. Or you run into the same excuses I used myself.

Just recognize that your encouragement is a powerful force, and it is the weapon God has ordained to overcome the deceitfulness of falling-short. Use it, as we are taught in God’s word. Remember, in due time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up!

Prayer time: Pray with me that I will hear God clearly as I continue to refine and tweak my marketing efforts. I am looking at a large change in my ministry, and I need wisdom to handle all the details.

Be blessed!

The Fear of Man

Vincent Kwok and I had just finished a band practice and were hungry. (not surprised, right?)

So we headed off to Plaza Singapura for food and as usual I began telling him my ah-peh stories. Somehow the topic turned to my wilderness years, the 2 years I went way out to avoid anything to do with a worship ministry.

And Vincent asked the logical question: Why did I do that?

Simply put, I was in a setting where I HAD to please everybody.
People, verily, I kiddeth thee not. And it was not unspoken rule or unstated assumption. I was explicitly told by my superior that I HAD to please everybody. He said that HE did it and therefore I could do it.

And I accepted that.

And set out to please everybody.

Needless to say, it was a dismal failure. First, I am NOT the sort of person who does that. God didn’t make me that way.

Then as I tried harder and harder to do so and failed, I prayed for God’s help. He didn’t help me. And I got unhappy with him over that. (Yeah, people, I am being very open with you here).

Looking back, it’s funny that I’d even dare to ask God to make me even more of what I am not and blame him when he didn’t. But it wasn’t funny then. And that was how I got burned out, frustrated and bitter with people and God.

Please don’t walk that path.

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.” (Proverbs 29:25, NKJV)

I wish I remembered this verse during that season. It would have greatly sustained me and kept me from being bothered by the dislike of the minority.

1 Timothy 6:9 “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare…” (NKJV)

What I have discovered to that the fear of man is very closely linked with the love of money. It makes sense, if you stop and think about it. After all, money is powerful, but it only gives us power over other men. Try using money to bribe an attack dog to leave you alone. Doesn’t work, trust me.

So if you fear man and feel powerless to affect other people, it is very easy to fall into the love of money to try and gain influence over others. It doesn’t happen all the time, but often enough.

Likewise, if you are greedy for money, it’s very easy to feel into the fear of man, because you feel compelled to please your customers (and you start to see everyone as only a customer, rather than a sibling-in-Christ).

So how do we keep ourselves far from this snare? Trust in the LORD and you shall be safe.

If you feel that you MUST please man, and find that you are deeply affected when people dislike you, it means that you have insufficient trust in God. And you can grow to trust God not by beating yourself over the head with it, but by growing to know more about him through his word.

Psalm 9:10 “…those who know Your Name will put their trust in You, for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.” (NKJV)

“The LORD is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6, NKJV)

Now you people know that I am not talking about being rude and offensive to other people. I am talking about what happens within you when you face rejection or when people dislike you. I am talking about what happens when you gotta address an issue and you are tempted to compromise or ignore the issue because you are afraid that people won’t like you after that. (like me talking about worship conferences and seminars)

I’m only human, of course I want people to like me. But I want them to like the REAL me, not some fake, sanitized, dismembered, politically correct semblance of me. “Any resemblance to the real JJ is purely coincidental”.

And that is why I am so frank in all my emails and conversations with you people. I am giving you the room to decide if you like the real me or not. And if you don’t, well, I’d rather you dislike the real me rather than like a fake me. Get it?

Paul said “… we were well pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God, but also our own lives…” (1 Thessalonians 2:8, NKJV)

Why did he say that? Because the gospel of God permeated his whole life, affecting him in all he did, said and thought. Therefore it was impossible for Paul to impart the gospel without imparting the rest of his life too.

And likewise for me. I cannot divorce what I teach you about worship from the rest of my life, so it becomes such that like Paul I’ll impart worship to you together with my own life as well.

Yeah, it makes me vulnerable. Like it did for Paul. It leaves me open for rejection. Like it did for Paul. It doesn’t make business sense, because I am reducing the potential customers I can have because there’s more room for people to be offended or dislike me.

But it’s how God has made me to minister to you. It’s one of those things that I am here to do, to say things that need to be said.

Ok, I’ve gone on long enough about how I got burned out and into the wilderness. Next time I’ll share about how God brought me out. Stay tuned!

Prayer time: Looking at this issue made me realize how much I have been blessed by you, by the love and acceptance you people have shown me. I thank God for you people. You have been a blessing to me. Thank you!

Pray for me that I will continue to trust in God and be kept from the fear of man, so that I will not be tempted to compromise on the message God has entrusted to me for you. Thanks!

Conference Complacency and Seminar Shudders

I get this question ALL the time. "Do you know that (XXX) is coming to Singapore? Are you going for the seminar/workshop/clinic/worship session (XXX) is holding?"

I know this is gonna ruffle a few feathers, but in all my years of serving in the music ministry and having been sent to all these events countless times, I've NEVER been to one that was worth my time.

And what's my criteria for that? Well something is a waste of my time if it doesn't give me something tangible and concrete that I can use in ministry within the next 3 weeks. And no matter who taught in all those I attended, NO ONE has ever given me something that I could use within 3 weeks.

I can feel the temperature rising in here…
And don't get me started on all the vocal or instrumental clinics and workshops that usually follow.

What usually happens is that whoever is holding that workshop has no idea of what to teach the people, so in an attempt to say something that is appropriate for everyone, they end up with what's not useful for anyone.

And because of the low price of these instrument workshops, they usually attract a number of absolute beginners, dabblers who have not made the quality decision to be equipped in that particular instrument.

And so whoever is running that workshop feels obligated to cater to those people and give those people information they can get by going to Yahoo or Google and doing a search.

That of course makes the workshop even more irrelevant to those with a certain degree of skill, and so those with a certain degree of skill end up NOT going to such workshops. And so the proportion of dabblers attending those workshops increases, and thus the gradual and inevitable lowering of the skill level of what gets taught in those events.

Imagine the frustration I felt. I went for all these events hoping to get something that I couldn't get from the other musicians in my church and ended up with info I knew before even playing for church. What on earth was I doing there? I mean, other than wasting my time?

To all the dabblers out there, I say this: stop dabbling. Get REAL. Go join a REAL class. Pay REAL money and make a REAL commitment to equipping yourself for the music ministry. Why pay that few dollars to get what you can get free-of-charge from Yahoo? For the sake of the company and opportunity to socialize with other dabblers?

"He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of dabblers…" (Nevermind. You figure that out for yourself)

Why then do people still religiously go for such events?
Well, there are two sorts of people who go for such events. The first sort is made up of those who have made a quality decision to be equipped for ministry. They are actively going for regular classes or are being closely mentored, or both. And they attend such events to get inspiration.

I salute these people. They take concrete action AND have people monitoring their progress. These are the people who will count for the Kingdom of God.

Now, it's the second sort that will be really uncomfortable with this email by now. They attend such events simply because there is no follow-up. No accountability. If you're attending a class, the next lesson the instructor's gonna ask you "Did you practice what I showed you last time?" It's this accountability that leads to growth.

Such accountability and follow-up doesn't usually happen when it comes to worship seminars or the instrument workshop that goes along with it. So those who want to feel like they're growing but are not committed to the effort that brings about REAL growth are perfectly comfortable with such an arrangement.

Now I can't change everything that occurs in this area. And there are probably many who don't want me to.

But if YOU are a frustrated keyboardist with a certain degree of skill and training, and you still want more, and if you have genuine reasons why you can't commit to regular lessons with a good instructor (money issues, a job with shift-work) then I want to help you.

And this is my offer
I play for services at The Living Faith Church (www.thelivingfaith.org) on Monday evenings. Turn up for the worship and listen to what I play.

And if you like what I play and want to play that, email me with your questions. I'll give you a FREE email consultation with me on what I played and why. Email me at jvworship@gmail.com with your questions and I'll give you that free consultation.

Why should I do that, when I can charge you good money for the information? It's simple. If you are serious enough about being equipped for ministry that you'd turn up for a service, pay attention and ask good questions, you deserve that free email consultation, in my eyes.

If you're serious about the worship ministry, I'm serious about helping you.
Yes, there are many things that I can't explain over email. But I believe that if my playing resonates with you and you show God that you're faithful with what the little I can impart to you through my playing and my email, God will provide you the finances and open the way for you to have one-on-one lessons with me.

Of course, I'd like to expand this invitation to guitar and drums as well, but the fact is that I am not ministering with those instruments regularly, so I can't make such an offer for those instruments.

Anyway, my keyboard invitation is open to all. Whether you are currently a keyboard student of mine or not, or even if you've never had any formal lesson with me before in any instrument, you are welcome to take advantage of this offer. Just send me an email to tell me who you are, where you're from and when you'll be turning up, and we'll see what we can arrange from there, OK?

I know this is a crazy offer, and probably unwise too, from a business point of view. But well, in this case I've chosen to be a fool for Christ. (and not the first time either)

Prayer time: I am recovering well. Thanks for your prayers. Gradually getting back into the swing of life again. Pray for God's blessing to be strong upon the drum classes especially during this season, because it's about time for me to tie everything together so that the students can see the whole big picture of the skill and art of playing drums for worship. Thanks, everyone!

Be blessed!

What is that in your hand?

So the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A rod.” And He said, “Cast it on the ground,” (Exodus 4:2-3, NKJV)

What a week!

I just poured out my heart trying to get my website up, so that people can find out easily what training I provide.

And to top it all off, I fell sick earlier this week. Those of you who have met me or had lessons with me this week know that now my voice is good for doing Elvis imitations and very little else.

I actually wanted to talk about something else this week, but finishing up my website just triggered off something else in me, so I decided to just flow with that a bit.

When I clicked through my website and read through my text again, I realized the depth and breath of worship-related info and experience I have. Reading my descriptions gave me a somewhat surreal feeling, as if it was not possible for a person to accumulate that much skill and knowledge within a short period of time.

So that got me thinking. How did I ever get it? And how can you get it too?

First, you need to realize that the raw materials you need got whatever ministry you are called for are already in you.

Remember Moses? We tend to look at his calling and his ministry, but forget that his rod, a humble piece of wood, was the instrument he had in his hand at the moment God called. That was the same rod he bashed a few serpent’s heads’ with, brandished in the air to frighten off wolves, and used to poke straying sheep back in line.

I don’t know about you, but if I were Moses and knew that God wanted to use MY rod to do miracles, I’d get a new one, polish it, engrave some cool logo on it (together with my mission statement, website address and contact info) and then present it to God, fully expecting God to be impressed.

Didn’t happen that way.

Yes, I know that we’ll always have to upgrade our skills, strive for excellence and all that. But we have to remember that we do all that with the rod that is already in our hands. That rod which is mundane and normal to us, which we use to get through life, the rod which we most likely despise (make light of)

And that is what I’d like to bring up with you now.

What is that you have in your hand?

It can be just your physical body, your better-than average intellect, your money, your experience with computers, sports or music (as in my case).

Or if you despise all that, then how about your time?

Consider this: if you took 3 years to attend a tae-kwon-do class every week you’d get a black belt by then.

If you read a new chapter of the Bible everyday for three years (15 minutes a day) you’d have finished reading the whole Bible, New AND Old Testament.

If you choose to study one book of the Bible in some depth each month, you’d finish the whole Bible in 5 years. (If you start from Genesis, Obadiah, Haggai, 2 John and 3 John won’t take you a whole month each, trust me).

And you’d have a grasp of Scripture that many people I’ve met don’t have. How about using that to start ministering to God’s people?

Now when you take the rod in your hand and cast it down on holy ground, what’s gonna happen?

That’s right! Just like Moses, it’s gonna become a serpent!

You’re gonna see the evil within your gift. I never knew the dangers and character challengers of a worship ministry until I cast my gifting on the ground. I discovered things within myself that I never knew, none of which I was proud of.

And when that happens to you, you have two choices.

You can run away. “I need to get my heart right” “I need to deal with my inner pride” (makes you sound humble, thus feeding your pride even more) or “I want to serve God for the right reasons” or other religious excuses are perfect for this. Your church leaders will be impressed (I won’t) but at the root of it all you are running away.

Or you can do what God told Moses, which is to stay there, reach out your hand (“Won’t the serpent bite me?”) and grab the serpent by the tail.

And when you do that, you’re saying to God “I can’t take care of the head. YOU take care of it!”

And it will become a rod again. But this time, it’s one that you have seen become a serpent. You know that it’s poisonous, capable of great evil, and that it’s now a rod, an instrument of God’s work and miracle-power, by God’s grace and his grace alone.

When you step forth into whatever ministry you are called for, that God has purposed for you, you begin to live life in such an exciting and fulfilling way, that you’re gonna wonder why on earth you took so long to get started.

So get started!

Prayer time: Well, pray for me that I’ll recover even faster than this. Taking this enforced rest period (“huh? You call this rest?”) to wait upon God even more than usual. Pray with me, that I may hear God clearly concerning details in my life direction. Thanks, everyone!

You Gotta Sing!

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 7:12, NIV)

Those of you who know me longer know that I am driven by dissatisfaction.I can only tolerate staring a problem in the face for how long before I end up compelled to do something about it.

Even in my emails about the drums, guitar and the keyboard teaching that I am doing, you can tell that I get involved with a particular field only if I believe that there are no viable alternatives to what I offer, or there are sufficient problems with what else is available. I rant a lot.

So I'm gonna rant about another topic, vitally important for worship musicians to understand.

You gotta sing!
As I said in my guitar course email, too often we have worship courses created by musicians with musicians in mind. They play Christian music for Christian gatherings and teach others to do the same. The unspoken emphasis is on good music, not on what works for worship.

I remember a conversation I had with one such person. Aw man, he was talented. If you think I'm good, you should have seen him, in raw music skill he had me choking in the dust.

The conversation went something like this:

Him: "Why don't we do THIS chord here instead of that one?"

JJ: "because it clashes with what the worshippers are singing."

Him: "But it sounds richer harmonically."

JJ: "Yes, but it clashes with what the worshippers are singing."

Him: "But it's musically more interesting."

JJ: "Yes, but it clashes with what the worshippers are singing."

Him: "The chord you want here is so conventional and boring. Everyone does that chord."

JJ: "Yes, but it fits in with what the worshippers are singing."

You can guess how the rest of the conversation went. In the end I gave up, and spent my time praying that nobody I taught would ever look at the chord sheet and ask "JJ, why is THIS chord here? Wouldn't it clash with the singing?" I probably would have burst an artery.

God is merciful. Enough said.
Now that you are in the habit of listening, take things a step further and sing, to see if what you play fits with what the worshippers are singing.

Because that's what we are counting on worship musicians to do. In the years before we started to understand music and how to play for worship, we assumed that the musicians would choose chords based on what would support our worship of God, not what tickled their ears musically.

"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."

Since this is what we wanted musicians to do, this is what we ought to do ourselves. Please, guys, before you get seduced by the Dark Side of the Force, please remember that serving the cell group or congregation is the reason why we minister as worship musicians. Decide everything,
from the key you use for the song to how hard you whack the hi-hat cymbal, based on what enhances the worship for the people of God.

"Test everything, hold fast to what is good…" (1 Thess 5:21)

And the way to really check if what we want to play supports the worshippers' singing is to sing. You wouldn't believe how many musical problems would have been solved if the musicians took the effort to sing along with what they wanted to play in the first place, to see if it fits.

In worship I'd rather you play music that bores you stiff than music that distracts the people in any way.

Now, before those of you who haven't heard me play jump to conclusions and think that I am one of those anti-skill advocates in the worship arena, some of my more advanced students (Dynamic Devotions) have seen me spend ONE HOUR explaining the chord variations to "I Worship You, Almighty God" that fit into the singing.

And I wouldn't have discovered all of them if not for me singing and listening to both the singing and the chords I was playing.

Think about it. If it takes one hour to explain the variations that can arise from "I Worship You, Almighty God", that means that the chord variations do have depth. They effectively add fresh color to the same song and yet do not distract from the worship.

So take the time to sing and listen to what comes out. For those of you who are actively taking lessons from me, you warm my heart when you show me the stuff you discover by yourself by testing your music choices by singing along with what you play.

More than anything else, this joy of seeing you grow is what drives me on in my teaching efforts.

Be blessed!

Who's the mediator?

It never offended me before, but it did now.
I was having a conversation with one of my students, a lady in my Dynamic Devotions Course.
(In case you don't know, Dynamic Devotions is the course I conduct for keyboardists already serving in church and want advanced training in playing keyboards for worship. I cover the subtle details that many musicians miss, details that vastly enhance the worship experience of the congregation. This course also builds them up to the level where they can play the piano prophetically, that is, play down the presence and glory of God through the piano. Think of it as a black belt worship keyboardist class…)
This lady said "In order to lead the people into the presence of God, I HAVE to be close to God. How can I bring them to intimacy with God if I myself am not intimate with God?"
And if YOU believe that, brace yourself. And read what I have to say.
If you HAVE to be intimate with God in order to lead people to that point, you're saying that if you are not, the people CAN'T be intimate with God. You are setting yourself up as the mediator between God and man.
Well, in 1 Timothy 2:5 says "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus…"
And when I lead worship, especially for Tuesday Group, I am so conscious of Christ Jesus in every believer present. If for some reason I am not living in the truth of Christ's mediation for me, there are so many others who can be that link, that mediator, that I can be touched by God, be closely embraced by God and be blessed.
That's why I LOVE to lead worship for Tuesday Group, by the way. :) There are so many people there who live in the truth of Christ in them, that at anytime they carry within their bodies the very one who connects God with everyone around them. No wonder the worship at each meeting is so powerful!
Now why then, doesn't that link, that divine connection, occur more often when people worship God? Couple of reasons.
First, there are too few people who truly understand true worship leading, how to really lead worship. They've been given cliches such as "You worship God and the rest of the people will follow." They do what they've been told works by people who can't consistently make it work. And wonder why what they do falls flat.
Second, many people neutralize the Christ in them, making him of no effect. In Galatians 5:4 "You who are trying to be justified (made right, be in right standing) by the law have been alienated from Christ…"
You can tell me all the doctrinal truths you subscribe to, Justification by Faith, Salvation by Grace and all that. All I want to know is this: when you have to meet God face to face, what are you counting on? Are you counting on you doing the right things? Or on Christ having already given himself as a ransom for you, making you good enough?
And let's take this verse a little further.
Mark 12:29-31 "The most important one, Jesus answered, "is this: Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second one is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these."
Since in this passage, Jesus himself said that loving God and your neighbor is considered the law. When you face God, are you able to stand before him with confidence because you love him and your fellow man? Or because he has loved you? When you are counting on you loving God and your neighbor (fulfilling the summary of the law) to be in right standing before God, Christ (the anointed one, the mediator between God and man) is made of no effect to you.
As I said, don't tell me your doctrine. Tell me what really happens within you when you step up in front of the congregation after you've just quarreled with your spouse, yelled at your kids, shook your fist at the person who snatched that last parking lot from you (and realized that's your pastor!)
I personally believe God allows all these things to arise before we lead worship so that we can go back to square one and say "God, it's still ALL about your grace, sufficient for me, your strength made perfect in my weakness."
Before I get flamed by the people who are offended by what I say here, let me make this crystal clear.
I believe in intimacy with God. Really.
But I crave that intimacy with God not for the sake of the people I serve, but for my own sake. I know by now that I am a wineskin for God's people. My experience, my understanding, my deep knowledge of how to lead worship, my music skill and even all my anointing makes me an excellent wineskin. I am one of the best wineskins I know.
But I am nothing without the wine of God. Do you get it?
And that is what's on my mind every time before I lead worship, play for worship or even teach worship. God, give me (or us) the fresh wine!
My intimacy with God tells me one thing: God wants to be with his people and bless them because he loves them. My time with God tells me that I lead worship well not because of my time with God, but that he wants to spend time with us, with his beloved and precious people.
And he does, because someone in the whole group (not necessarily me) has the faith to believe that Christ, the connecting link between God and man, dwells within him or her. And God shows up.
So, worshippers of Jesus Christ, do give thought on what I share here. I'm pouring out my heart to you, hoping that somehow or other God will use my words to speak to you, that you may be blessed.
Prayer time: Thank God! The arrangements for the beginner guitar course are blessed! We are making my Core Concepts for Worship an integral part of the course, as well as teaching some things about how to effectively lead worship. Pray that God will bless us and expand our territory.
And help us ask your close friends and ministry leaders this question: if I were to take all my teaching on how to lead worship and make it a separate course by itself, would they be interested? Ask them to email their thoughts, comments and questions to me at jvworship@gmail.com.
Thanks! Be blessed!

Listen up...

“He who answers before listening - that is his folly and his shame.” Proverbs 18:13

I love to answer good questions from people.

Why? Because I usually know WHY I do something, but it’s when I have to articulate it then I become very clear about those reasons.

Otherwise they’re just kinda hazy in my mind. Get what I mean?

And after the first time I played for the Monday service at Living Faith Church (www.thelivingfaith.org) I was helping a student from that church understand my playing style.

And she remarked “it seems as if you are listening before you play each note.”

And she was right.

It was when she brought it up that I realize that I whenever I play for worship I am listening to the rest of the worship team. If I am playing for a church service with a band I am listening to the rest of the musicians in the band.

(so if there’s anyone who messes up his/her part, yes I am affected. Boy am I affected!)

And I am always listening to the congregation.

When I am leading worship, people seem to be overly amazed at how I just know when to stay at a song and when to move on. Two things, first whenever I lead worship, I always take time to let the song sink into my own spirit first, so that I can understand its unique internal flow, as it were.

And second, I am listening to the worshippers. If their hearts are still on a song, I’ll just stay there.

You’d be amazed how little church musicians really listen.  

Especially keyboardists. Most don’t play the keyboard, they type on it with the same level of emotion and attention they give to the rattling that comes from their computer keyboards when they are frantically rushing their Excel worksheets or Winword documents for the next board meeting.

Hey keyboardists, when was the last time you sat down on the keyboard and listened to the C chord? Yes, in root position? Do you still remember the wonder you felt when you first played those three notes together and experienced the C chord for the first time?

And guitarists, when was the last time you stopped to listen to your simple, open-string E minor chord? Listen to it string by string, then hear the awe-inspiring beauty of this chord as you strum all the strings together. Beautiful, isn’t it?

And drummers, hit a ride cymbal and listen to how long the ring resounds. In the ancient tribal cultures, they’d use percussion instruments to bring themselves to a trance-like state where they felt they could connect with their deities. For us, the Bible repeatedly talks about praising God with the cymbals. Can you hear the glory and holiness of God as you strike the cymbals?

And everyone, try this out the next time you are talking with someone. Just chill out, sit back and really listen.

Let your mind be still and just hear what he or she has to say. Listen for their heart, listen for their inner thoughts. Know that they will be revealed to you if you just calm your own heart and listen to what they are saying, not what you think they mean when they say something.

Don’t be too quick to answer. It is written “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” (James 1:19, NIV). Let moments of silence arise in the conversation and let God speak to you too. Do a 3-way call with God, as some people put it.

Practice this awesome skill of listening. If you don’t, but hurriedly jump in with your own replies before you’ve truly heard the questions, well, Proverbs 18:13 is very clear in how it describes you.

And that verse implies that if you DO listen before you reply, that is your wisdom and glory.

Let us to be known as people of wisdom and glory, OK?

Be blessed!

Prayer Time: The next intake for the Play Drums for Worship course is open for registration. Thank God for his divine favor in the eyes of worshippers desiring to serve God and his people directly. Pray that I’ll be able to touch the right people with this course, that God will bless me and enlarge the territory of my ministry.

And feel free to forward the drums info email to your friends and ministry leaders too. Thanks, everyone!

Be blessed!

The power of silence

“Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.” (Proverbs 17:28, NIV)

Those of you who have:
1) seen me play for the Monday evening services of Living Faith Church, (www.thelivingfaith.org)
2) watched me lead worship for Tuesday Group, or
3) attended my lessons on playing keyboards or guitars for worship,
know that I am a big fan of using silence to draw worshippers into the worship. When I have to construct a musical intro to start off a song, I will almost always have a moment of silence before starting the song proper.
And it works. Powerfully.
Many musicians, especially keyboardists, pound away on their instruments and wait for the congregation to start singing. And usually this idea works only when the worship leader is confident and skilled. He or she will start the song and the worshippers will think “Oh, so I start NOW…” and join in moments later.
And that’s ok, but there’s a better way. To use a moment of silence to tell the worshippers “I’ve had my say. Now it’s your turn.” And they’ll respond.
From a bigger perspective, silence can also be used to draw people into sharing. It follows the same principle: you start off telling them what you’d like them to share on and in what way, then you give them that moment of silence to let them know it’s their turn.
And if you’ve tried this method, you’ll know how difficult it is.
Because when we go silent, we are surrendering control to the other party, whether it’s the congregation during worship, or the friend during an after-dinner conversation. And something within us, an insidious sense of insecurity, panics at the thought of surrendering that control.
For a worship musician, that’s a lot of control. Think about it, with a mere flick of a wrist you create a sound that resounds through the whole room (or auditorium, or stadium). You’ve got people listening to you. And to just stop, for just a moment…
How to we build up our courage to utilize moments of silence effectively during times of worship and the other areas of our lives?
We practice such moments of silence in our daily devotional times with God. Reading the Bible, prayer, worship, all that is great stuff, but after you’ve done that, give that few minutes of silence and give room for God to speak.

“Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth..” (Psalm 46)

Musically, when we are doing rhythm drills and exercises, we count aloud. Hey, even after spending so much of my life in music, if I’m trying a new rhythm and have difficulty, I’m still counting aloud. So you do it.
Do it to the point when you can feel the counts in you even when your mouth is silent. At this point, you can use the moments of silence in your music to draw the worshippers into the worship.
The skilful use of silence is a technique used only by the truly effective worship musicians. And when you learn it and use it, you’ll be one of them too…

Prayer time:  

My personal schedule has been crazy. Yet I know that there are people out there who need my training course in how to play guitar for worship. I am right now working out details with a skilful guitarist AND hardcore worship fanatic to bring my guitar course out of the shadows and out to the body of Christ. Pray for me that I will have wisdom to work out the best arrangements with this brother-in-Christ for him to help me teach my materials and convey my heart to the people God has chosen for us to serve and mentor.
And also pray that my marketing efforts will be focused and directed at the right people, the people who need my ministry the most.
Thanks, everyone!
Be blessed!

What you MUST know when you start on a new instrument

Hello, everyone!

Psalm 141:3 “Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD, keep watch over the door of my lips.”

What a week it’s been! The official launch of the Play Drums for Worship course, going back to teaching drums again in a systematic and organized fashion… boy, I feel like a 15 year-old, back in my secondary school band room, looking at the faces of the new intake of percussion recruits again!

And despite the obvious difference in age, the zeal and desire to learn is there, whether we’re talking about the secondary 1 boys from half a lifetime ago, or the new students of the Play Drums for Worship course. To all you students who have taken the bold step of starting to learn a new instrument, congratulations! I hope that you will enjoy this journey with me and your fellow students.

One thing I keep seeing and want to talk about is this: many people starting on learning a new skill spend time talking about their mistakes. For example, “Oops, I missed it!” or “Salah!” (the Malay word for “Wrong!” or “I got my wrist/body/drumstick position wrong.”

And if you do that, stop it.

Now.

Why? Because, first, I’m the teacher, I can tell when you’ve made a mistake Some of you know I can hear a mistake from across the classroom. There’s no need for you to tell me. :-)

Next, when you talk about the mistake, at a subconscious level you are reinforcing the mistake. Trust me on this: in all my years of teaching experience, I’ve seen that if you keep describing and talking about your mistake you get better and better at making that same mistake.

So what should you say? In class, either you ask me how to do something correctly, or when you understand what I am saying you echo me “I’m to hold my stick THIS way? Got it!”

And when you’re strumming, playing the rhythm on the keyboard or doing the stick exercises this is what should be coming out of your mouth:

“One and two and three and four and one and two and three and four and…”

Use your mouth to count out loud, and decide that your hands will follow your counts. Keep your counts steady and your playing will eventually conform to them. Got it? :-)

Proverbs 10:19: “when words are many, sin is not absent…”

And guard your words at home when you are practicing. If you can’t say anything good about your playing, keep counting aloud. Your hands will eventually conform to your counts.

So have a great week practicing! And think through what I just shared today in this email, you will find it applicable to many other areas of your life too.

Gotta go. Do uphold me in prayer. I’m starting my next round of marketing efforts for the Play Drums for Worship course. Pray that I will be directed to the right people, and that the right people will be directed to my classes, that I may serve the people God wants me to serve.

Ok, be blessed!