Lessons from my Day-job

The biggest change to my life this year is working at an office for the mornings during the weekdays. I’m doing paperwork in the conveyancing department of a law firm, which means day in, day out, my mind is on the buying and selling of property.

Not quite the kind of stuff that gets me up in the morning all excited and raring to go, right?

But the interesting thing is that I get to see how differently people behave when it comes buying their homes, often the biggest purchase of their lives. And it IS very interesting, because those who have more money to spend on this and those who have less behave very differently.

For the benefit of the non-Singaporeans reading this, Singapore has a forced savings system called the CPF. Deductions are made from the working Singaporean’s salary and put into his or her CPF account, and that sum of money is set aside for either retirement or paying for housing.

The typical Singaporean couple, when purchasing a flat to live in, will have to take a bank mortgage, make an initial payment from the CPF towards that loan and then continue to service that loan with the regular deductions from their CPF account (maybe with payments from their salary). Since the prices of the flats are so high, buying a flat involves using large sums of money from CPF and coordinating it with one’s salary in order to pay for a very heavy mortgage.

So when they came in the lawyers to work out all the legal details of the purchasing, I got see the difference between those who have more money and those who have less!

Most people would buy the flat as joint-tenants, which meant that the ownership of the flat would automatically pass to the spouse if they die before they finish paying for the flat. The richer, however, were more willing to go as tenants-in-common – each spouse had a pre-decided percentage ownership of the flat. That allowed them to will away their share of the flat to their heirs (and might make it easier to divide the property in the event of a divorce?).

I haven’t had the time or energy to research into which was a better option. I’d suspect it depends largely on the couple’s specific situation. But what I am certain of is this: the richer went to the lawyer’s table having already thought through and discussed such issues. I sensed no uncertainty whatsoever on this from either the husband or the wife.

It also shows a willingness to think through and plan estate matters, how their possessions will be divided should either person die an untimely death. Morbid topic, but the richer face up to it more willingly.

Proverbs 13:22 (ESV) - A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children…

Another thing also: the richer tended to have their insurance agents on call, and they would call their agents in the middle of meeting with the lawyers. They knew how much they were covered for and expected their insurance agents to be able to give them good advice on how to coordinate their insurance coverage with the mandatory insurance required by CPF.

Here’s a good tip for insurance agents – if you want to have wealthier clients, you had best be prepared to advise them well on such important matters. Why should they get insurance from you if you can’t give them better advice, specific to their situation, than the next agent waiting in line for their business?

When I noticed all this, I first thought, “Of course the wealthier can afford to be fussy and meticulous about insurance and estate planning, they have enough money for it!”

Luke 16:10 (ESV) - One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much…

And that is the point, right? If I am not serious about such things now, even if I have more money I won’t be serious with them either. I’ll just be lazy and try to hire someone to settle all these matters for me. The richer consulted the professionals, discussed the pros and cons with their spouses, then made up their own minds and took the final responsibility for their own decisions.

They didn’t just hand the money over to some stranger and put it out of mind!

Proverbs 27:23-24 (ESV) - Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

Finally, the clincher: husband and wife were in agreement. They already came to the meeting prepared to service the mortgage as partners. Both of them knew they had to work together in paying off their home.

This was the case even if the wife wasn’t working (rare, in Singapore, but it happens). As long as she has worked before, she would have money in her CPF account, and the wives in the more affluent marriages wanted to make their contribution also. That is even if she did not have the earning power or as much savings as her husband.

I don’t see wives trying to get away with doing less just because their husbands can do more!

As a side note, I will strongly discourage men from marrying any woman who has no working experience, who goes from school or college straight into marriage and wants to be a home-maker. If that happens she will have no idea of the working world, as well as no inkling of what it really takes to make a living in the real world. She may end up as someone who knows the price of something, but not its value.

Proverbs 31:10, 16 (ESV) - An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels… She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

Proverbs 31 paints a picture of the biblical super-woman, an excellent wife. Notice how she gets involved with property and real estate investments? That is what I got to see in person so far.

Conclusion:

All the above came from me observing the upper-middle class people. I know that there are the really rich, who in Singapore will buy landed property or condominiums. Do they have different rules or different practices, so that they will preserve and even grow their wealth? Maybe. But I suspect God just wants me to learn from the upper-middle class for now. And if I am faithful with learning and practicing those lessons, maybe then God will entrust me with the wisdom of the really wealthy?

Be blessed!

Quarrels Late At Night

(Personal Blog Post - modified from my Facebook post)

‎1.30 a.m., and there was loud quarreling from the void deck area below my flat.

In the past I would have been irritated, judgemental or amused. Now I find myself sad. Especially over the past 7 years or so I've learned firsthand what it is like to face provocation by a fool, what the Bible says is a heavier burden than stone or sand. 

Proverbs 27:3 (NIV) - Stone is heavy and sand a burden, but provocation by a fool is heavier than both.

It is heartbreaking to realize that someone you geniunely want to resolve conflict with delights in prolonging the strife. You wonder why you hold back the insults and barbs while the other person doesn't, in fact, delights in giving you a double portion...

Psalm 120:6-7 (NIV) -  Too long have I lived among those who hate peace.
I am a man of peace; but when I speak, they are for war.

So now my heart goes out to those who have to live with contentious people in their lives, the agents of strife who delight in war when others desire peace. Is there a way out? The Bible says:

Psalm 37:37 (NIV) - Consider the blameless, observe the upright; there is a future for the man of peace.

God, bring me to that future you have prepared for me, and not me only, but also those who love peace!

Lesson from 1 Corinthians 14

A few Sundays back, one of the church leaders spoke to me after the service. He told me “I just want to tell you that you minister on the piano, really minister. Not just today, but every time…”

And that really encouraged me a lot.

Before you get me wrong, I am not one of those high-maintenance musicians, who need to be affirmed and encouraged every week. In fact, one pastor I serve with mentioned that I am very low-maintenance, and he’s glad for that. There are two reasons why I am low-maintenance: 1) I enjoy serving in the worship ministry, so I am self-motivated; 2) I am very confident of what I am doing, so I am self-directed most of the time.

But sometimes I go out on a limb and decide to try stuff out of nowhere. For example, that particular Sunday we used the song Dance with Me, by Jesus Culture. At one point the worship leader did not indicate which part of the song to do next. On the spur of the moment I turned up the keyboard volume and played the melody of the chorus. Because my church worship band is really a dream team, the whole team went that way too, and it all sounded prepared and rehearsed.

It wasn’t.

And later the worship leader directed me to just linger after a song and give the congregation room to sing their own songs unto the Lord. Err… I immediately launched off into one of my trusty chord progressions, Bm7 – C#m7 – D – E (we were in the key of F# minor), and stayed there until the worship leader went into the next song (which was in the key of A major). Again unrehearsed and unprepared, but it all worked out ok, at least to me.

1 Cor 14:29 (NKJV) - Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

So to have that church leader approach me and affirm me after the service meant a lot to me.

Acts 2:18 (NKJV) - And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy.

This passage tells me that the New Testament church is to be characterized by prophecy (we can argue what prophecy means some other time). But if you want to prophesy you have to be willing to let your prophecies be judged by the rest of your local body of Christ, as instructed in 1 Corinthians 14:29.

So I take the same principle and apply it to my playing. I have to be open to having it judged by the body of Christ, especially my church leaders. Now, it isn’t practical for me to go around making a nuisance of myself and bugging the worship leaders and my pastor for feedback after EVERY service. But 1 Cor 14:29 does mean that I do have to be open to feedback on my work and ministry unto the LORD.

So what does it mean for you?

Two things:

1) Be willing to submit to judgment.

It’s unrealistic to believe that diligently seeking God's guidance will mean that you will make no mistake or have everyone approve of your decisions. And if that worries you, you are operating from fear rather than faith.

All it takes is humility, being willing to accept feedback and maybe realize that sometimes we don't hear God as clearly as we'd like. Exercise humility and teachability when you're serving God with other people. It's less pressurizing in the long run...

2) Be gentle and generous with your feedback.

If someone went out on a limb, either in the worship ministry or some other way, be quick to affirm the good in it. How about problems or mistakes? Personally I would not mention the problems or mistakes unless I have a relationship with that person (he/she trusts me) or if I am in a leadership position in that group.

Why? Because of my manner. I can come across as strict and harsh in person, so I have to be extra careful to be gentle, to not crush someone's spirit.

Isaiah 42:3 (NIV) - A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.

Watch out for that too, if you are in a leadership position. There will be times when you will have to call someone out on his or her mistakes or defiance, especially if the culture in that group has gone haywire. But hopefully that is not going to be common in the church or fellowship you serve at!


Conclusion:

We love God by serving his people (Heb 6:10) and we become effective only when we work together with others and let them sharpen us (Pro 27:17). So be open to the feedback and advice from others, and also remember to exhort and encourage one another, especially when they go out on a limb to serve God!

Christ, Ministry and Talent

Pro 27:17 (NIV) - As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Minister Warren Gilmore wrote again on my Facebook wall about a week ago. Something he said kept ringing in my spirit for some reason. He said that in my book, I teach people…

"… build their foundation on Christ first, ministry second, and then top it off with the steeple of talent, keeping us in check with of whom our gift, talent, and, most of all, ANOINTING comes from! "

His comment made me ask myself, what does it mean to build the foundation on Christ first, ministry second and then top it off with the steeple of talent?

1) Foundation on Christ

It means that our worship begins from Christ.

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. (Hebrews 13:15, NIV)

Our sacrifices of praise will NEVER be acceptable to God based on who we are or what we do. They are acceptable ONLY in Christ. If we think that our innate goodness or the 'sincerity' of our hearts is what makes God look on our worship with favour, we are seriously deceived.

We have only ONE way to offer acceptable sacrifices to God. Jesus Christ.

It also means that Christ is the object of our worship.

John 5:22-23 (NIV) - Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

Putting it simply, the Father takes it personally. When we honour Jesus, the Father takes it as honour we give to the Father. How about the Holy Spirit?

John 16:14-15 (NIV) - He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”

The calling and task of the Holy Spirit on earth is to glorify Jesus. He does so by revealing what the Father has given to Jesus, which is, everything. When we see the Father and the Holy Spirit working together to glorify Jesus, how could we ourselves not do the same?

2) Ministry second…

Some people use very emotive language to describe their worship. They say they want to bless the heart of Jesus through their worship. I personally believe that the easiest way to bless his heart is to care for what Jesus cares about.

And Jesus cared about two things while he was on earth, glorifying the Father…

John 17:4 (NIV) - I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.

… and the unity of the believers.

John 17:20-23 (NIV) - “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity."

I personally discovered that after I spent a lot of time and effort working towards unifying the worship, I began to truly value unity in the Body of Christ. And if you know how much a loner I was (and still am), you'll appreciate how profound that change is to me.

Ephesians 4:3 – Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (NIV)

I know that unifying the praises of the people seems quite superficial compared to working towards them being of one spirit and one mind (Phi 2:2). But if God will respond to that unity with his glory (2 Chronicles 5:13) then it obviously matters to him. And let's face it, if I am not faithful to do the easier task what makes you think God will entrust me with the harder one?

3) Steeple of Talent

The steeple is a tall tower on a building, usually topped by a spire (spear-like point). It gets the attention, but it doesn't support the building. In the worship ministry, talent gets the attention, but it isn't a foundation for the ministry. Only Christ and a genuine heart for the people he loves will do as a foundation for a sustainable and effective worship ministry.

I know it's fashionable these days to say that musical skill is the least important aspect of the worship ministry. And many worship musicians will say that Christ comes first, ministry second and musical talent third. They will talk about how they offer their skills to God, to serve him.

But talk is cheap. The REAL test of whether a singer or musician has offered his/her skills to God is when they find out what they do does NOT work. For example:

1. Some musicians have a very unique and personal playing style. That's great for self-expression. But are they willing to let go of that and play normal stuff so that the congregation focuses more on God than on the music?
   
2. Others may have gaps in their skill set, and find that they can't play what works. Will they start to take lessons and practice diligently to pick up the skills they lack?
   
3. Or if they are worship leaders, they may find that their singing range is too different from the average congregation member. That's when they have to decide if they will either train their singing range till it fits the congregation better, or if they will take a backseat and sing backup vocals instead.
   
4. In my case, I believe that 2 Kings 3 tells me to play like a harp when supporting prophecy or prayer time. I use that concept on the piano and it works. But there is a minister whom I regularly play for who moves powerfully in the prophetic. And he doesn't want the harp effect, he wants subdued chords on the jazz organ sound. Am I going to tell him, "Pastor, you are wrong! We're supposed to do it MY way…" or do I just give him what he wants, which he knows works for him?

So when the REAL test comes, that is when we see if people have a genuine heart to offer their skills to God.

I know I sound very exclusionist when I talk about these matters. But I am not. I honestly believe that worship ministry takes the least amount of skill and talent, compared to other ways of serving the Lord via music. But the skill and talent must be directed correctly.

And it may also be that a musician or singer may actually be gifted and called to serve God in other ways. Because we usually see the worship ministry using music most often, it's easy to forget that there are other ways of serving God through music and singing as well. If we try to force such people into the worship ministry, we are only making EVERYONE involved suffer. The musicians/singers suffer because there is a mismatch of ability and need, the congregation suffers because they are not getting what they need to unify their praises unto God.

Conclusion:

Stop for a moment and prayerfully consider your own ministry in the light of Minister Warren Gilmore's exhortation. Let's not get so caught up with getting things done until we forget to check if we are doing the right things or doing things right!

Serving the Master...

Proverbs 27:18 - He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit, and he who looks after his master will be honored. (NIV)

As I was preparing for the Petra keyboardist workshop, the above verse just came to me. It really expresses very well my major emphasis as I train and equip worship musicians, giving the worship leader what he/she needs.

What would you think of a man who tries to tend a fig tree without knowing about trees in general and fig trees in particular? Not very wise, right? But that is what is common in worship training these days. Very little (if any) emphasis is given to what worship leaders actually need. How well can you serve worship leaders if you don't know what they need?

And please don't give me the cliché of "My master is Christ, not my worship leader." There are people use that as an excuse to not work with their worship leaders, expecting their worship leaders to conform to their whims and fancies. They then throw in the claim to be led by the Spirit to do things that give their worship leaders problems (such as play their musical instruments in a disorderly manner, drawing attention to themselves rather than to God) and you have the right mix for dissension, division and conflict.

That such things can be accepted or tolerated is the result of the idea that the Holy Spirit's working in praise and worship is an unpredictable, anything-goes, anti-technicality kind of thing, as I mentioned in my last post. I'll address this misunderstanding in greater depth some other time. It requires greater attention, because these problems come out repeatedly in worship ministry and cause great confusion and damage.

So when I talk about looking after your master and how it applies to you, as the worship minister, let's get specific. If you are serving only as a worship musician, you are serving the worship leader directly and the congregation a close second. Therefore any training as a worship musician has to specifically teach you what a worship leader needs and how to use your music to provide that for him/her. And this also means that you need to know what a congregation needs so that you can provide that.

Any worship training that doesn't include those two closely linked elements doesn't deserve to be called worship training. I'm serious. You can get music training using worship songs, and even have deeply spiritual devotionals as part of the course, but if you are not taught how about the people you serve in order that you may serve them better you've been led up the garden path...

Now, because of all the current confusion about what worship music is about, what your worship leader wants may be very different from what he/she needs. And at that point of time, please don't get all offensive on them and tell them "My job is to give you what you need, not what you want. And because you're so misled you don't know the difference! JJ said so..." Please, this is an offensive message already and I already am an offensive person, with frequent bouts of Foot-in-Mouth Disease. Don't help me make things any worse!

What you could do in such a situation is to refer your worship leader to my blog. And if he/she resonates with what I write there we could arrange a meet and just talk. If there's an opening for me to serve more directly I've prepared workshops that introduce various facets of what I teach in a simple to understand manner. And we can see how things go from there.

Now what if you are a worship leader? Then besides knowing how to serve the congregation you'll also have to understand how your pastor thinks and study what your pastor needs. And what I said about worship musicians not getting me into any further trouble with worship leaders also applies to you too. Don't go telling your pastor "You don't tell me what you want! I'll give you what you need! That's what JJ taught me!" Please, I have enough enemies of my own. I don't need help in getting some more...

In today's terms I'd be seen as being very unspiritual, very materialistic, because I emphasize the specific technicalities that minister to the congregation. There will be people who feel threatened by my emphasis on understanding the congregation and worship leader (because they don't teach that but want to pass off what they do as worship training). They may say that you need to understand worship from God's point of view (which is true) and imply that if you know that you don't need to understand it from the congregation's angle (which is not true).

In reply to them I'll say that when Jesus was asked to choose ONE commandment as the most important, he couldn't. Think about it, the living Word of God himself couldn't narrow the commandments to one. He said the most important is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, your strength and your mind AND to love your neighbor as yourself. He had to give two. If you read the account in Mark 12:29-31 he said that loving your neighbor is just like loving the LORD your God.

So if we see worship leading as part of serving God and loving him, how can we leave out from the equation what Jesus himself could not leave out, the loving (and serving) of our neighbor?

Prayer time: Thank God! I just led worship for Acts Centre last Sunday and God gave his people great release in worship. I had supportive musicians who actually played what enhanced the worship rather than distracted from it, and the congregation was more ready for a deeper level of worship than I had given them credit for. (Which explains why God told me to use a more intense worship set than I originally dared to use.) I'm still basking in the afterglow of that even now!

My restructuring of my teaching (to fit into my current lifestyle and schedule) is pretty much done and God is opening doors for me to expand my territory. So I am really very thankful. Thank you for your prayers, everyone! They mean a lot to me, and I thank God for you!