the sound of lime juice

happy birthday to chris...

2006-10-11T23:38:00.000+08:00

before the day's over...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHWISSA!

sorry chris koped this from your multiply and couldn't find any photo of you alone! so somehow jeremy gets the honours... (no actually it's the sky backdrop).

Why do you...

2006-08-14T09:11:00.000+08:00

Jus a little inspirational smthg from my friend's Monday 2-liner sermonette to share with everyone...

"Why do you lift hands/jump/kneel/cry and worship/praise God on Saturday and Sunday?

So that you can lift hands/jump/kneel/cry and worship/praise God on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday"

And when you (like me) are spending a Monday morning in the office/school, mourning the loss of the weekend and feeling totally grouchy over the rubbish that has happened over the past few days in your life, the simplicity of those 2 lines really hit home.

Why go through/desire the whole euphoric, exciting, exhilarating experience of worship through singing songs and lifting hands and jumping?

It is not to supply my weekend dosage of 'high' per se, but that I should leave the worship hall changed. That just as I bring a spirit of willingness and desire to worship and praise God in church and give my all to Him in worship, the same spirit of worship should also apply to my life apart from service-worship.

Wow. That's it. Nothing long, just 2 lines that have 'enlightened' my Monday and the week ahead...

Why do you lift hands/jump/kneel/cry and worship/praise God on Saturday and Sunday?

2006-07-08T22:13:00.000+08:00

hms. don't exactly know what to say. but in order not to let this place die of stuffy cobwebs. here i am. haha. well worship the past 2 weeks in church have been really empowering to me. cause i kept asking God to move among the youths so that we could see Him face to face. i don't know how many of the youths are really hungering for the Lord's prescence. but i am. anyways, great job to joel/ ade/ nana for leading the worships. heh. hopefully the WLs at hand could bring the youths into deeper worship cause some of us really want to see Him [:

Y let me live forever lost in your love
all i want is more of you.

Yoof Music Min Events...

2006-05-04T08:37:00.000+08:00

Hey guys...! by now u should have gotten the e-mails and seen the posters and everything... just a summary...

20th May 2006 - 2 events.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1000 hrs - 1200 hrs...

'Created to Worship' Workshop in church.
Open to anyone...

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1800 hrs - whenever..

Ministry BBQ... at Minxian's place...
For Youth Music Min, Youth Comm, Youth PA Ministry, Youth Creative Arts Ministry, Greeters Ministry... Anyone who's serving...!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For both events, pls RSVP ShuMay ASAP... even if you cannot go... let her know...

For the BBQ... if anyone wants to volunteer to bring food... pls let minxian or myself know... ASAP...! we'll be charging for the BBQ... but don't think it'll be coming up to more than 7 bucks per person.. this we'll settle after the BBQ.... but if more people bring food the cheaper it'll get...!

Hope to see all of you there...!

poster 1

2006-05-02T23:18:00.000+08:00

THE YOUTH ROOM

2006-04-18T11:08:00.000+08:00

ah hah hah. seems like every time i post its something super controversial and scary to at least someone. ok, this is to scare melena and her deco team! yay. L4-03 has been officially given to us as the youth room. its the cosy (read: small) room opposite the prayer room. this means, among other things, that we have a place to put up photos, stone, play our guitar, have our various comm meetings, write our encouragement cards, post our encouragement cards, and drink kopi (ok not the last one, there's carpeted floor). we cant use it on sunday before second service because the kool club will still be using it. however it's mostly ours.

ive been put in charge of it cos i suggested it to pastor :/ but im trying to find someone to take over, too many things on my hands (music min/ava). anyone who really likes to stone in church playing guitar or otherwise just stoning?

any one has sofas/chairs/cushions/beanbags/beds/hammocks/shelves/lamps/radios/hi-fi sets/mini-FRIDGE (for plain water only!!)/personal knick knacks/photos/photo frames/large photo albums/huge inheritance from uncle you never knew, which you want to contribute to the youth room, please approach me or just put it there (except for the inheritance, that one can give me). nothing too bulky tho, except for the sofa. i dont want TVs, and a guitar / e guit and amp would be nice.

hrmmm. any objections to a computer? or playstation thingy. and a cafe, why not, serving gelato. and maybe a basketball court--- ok too far. but consider everything.

again, does someone want to take this over? i hope its just one person, preferably not too young, but a committee of young'uns might be fine too.

famous last words

2006-04-06T22:08:00.000+08:00

helloo everyone.. i think i told chris i would post one last time before i go NS so here i am :)

...

AAAAHHH I'm going in tmr! AAAAAAH AAAAAAH AAAAARGH :( klah uhm actually i think its not so bad, i'm quite looking forward to it actually =P should be quite an interesting experience. I've been really encouraged by the current NS guys like josh, alan etc and the way God's been using them in the army. Anyway.. please pray for all of us yah? think we'll need it alot and thanks alot for all your prayers so far :) don't know how we're going to get through this except by His strength, His grace but i know God is still more AWESOME than i know

anyway let's all keep praying for our YM, i'll confess i for one haven't been praying much lately and vincent's msg last saturday a real reminder for me. let's keep praying for God to take us and the whole YM deeper in worship, not just in song but with our whole lives too, and for all the friends around us who aren't saved yet.

klah, looks like i won't be playing/leading for some time now, but by God's grace i hope to be serving Him where He'll place me in the army too :) sooo for all of us too, wherever we are, whatever we do, in church, in school, at home, let's

Keep praying,
Keep r0ckin' for Jesus :)

recording...

2006-03-26T21:15:00.000+08:00

as per informal discussions within the ymmc and various people, we are aiming to do a live/pro recording in december '06 (near christmas). the point of this is to raise funds for mission trips/youth things in general.

the working title is "ben's band", for lack of a proper band name (we'll think of something), and the setup will be styled on the worship night layout, with an additional keyboardist. that means 4 worship leaders, 2 keyboards, A/E guits, bass, drums, percuss (maybe 2), and perhaps 2 backup singers. if thats overkill, then we'll lose the backup singers.

ben, adee, jess, (one more slot for worship leader), mx, nana, ben(again), josh, me, joel, chris, jerm, please get back to me if you are on about this. backup singers, please volunteer.

ive already done some research into the whole recording thing, and buying a multitrack recorder capable of recording everything to individual tracks is about 800 pounds (the money, not the weight) for a 8-track. for a comparision, the above setup needs 15 tracks (we'll need 2), not including backup singers/audience mics (makes it 3). as can be seen, too expensive.

based on the current design, we're going to use individual laptops to record directly from the mixer instead. each laptop can only record 2 tracks at a time in left/right form. so we'll need 8 or 9 laptops. chris tells me its no problem, if the poly guys are willing to chip in. we'll load them up with audacity (a free recording program) with the more powerful ones allocated to catching the harder to catch inputs, ie. drums, e guit, bass. we'll need to buy a few mikes, if im not wrong, but ill talk to pastor about a budget.

practice will be 3 hours on sat and sun for the whole of december, this is tentative.

hope youth-wide prayer and fasting to start in november, as well as sound setup testing and logstics. we'll make anouncements.

the hour long song set will be chosen early (june/july?), and we'll write to hillsongs/planet shakers to ask for permission to use their songs. with the low press rates im expecting (less than 500 pieces) i hope no royalties are involved. ben's got an original song im looking to ask him to do as well, which means we'll need to start teaching it in november prelims too.

need prayer to make this work. please pray for me (right now), us (later on when everyone comes on board).

if the recording doesnt come out right, hey, at least we'll have a good time of worship, no?

tired.

2006-03-26T20:55:00.000+08:00

haha. this is for aaron. so be honoured man XD
anyway, i'm sure everyone has been into the worship thing after exponential and all. but have you guys ever considered what will happen like a few months after this thingy has passed? i dunno about you guys but i've realised that it's high during a camp and right after the camp. but after sometime everything goes back the same and we'll be back in square one and we'll wait for another camp/ conference to get us to be fools for christ again. and it'll continue to go around and around the same way. and on sunday morning, while doing kool club i usually see the youths bumming around in church. or maybe they'll go for breakfast or something. why can't we start from this place and start moving? maybe like it's optional for us to have a mini worship session with just a guitar. i'm sure after the pastor's leadership training thingy we'll have more time. and this can help us with developing this passion for worship. i dunno. just suggesting. retardedly weird that this is just the first post:/

on a lighter note, i found my trackshoes! XD this is just crazy.

the mandatory hello post.

2006-03-26T20:51:00.000+08:00

since adding me, ehque has demanded that i do the mandatory post.

and to avoid being strangled, i will say more than one thing here.

hello, for one.
and camp was great, i really did learn a lot , especially through serving. ( for two.)

and before i get strangled, God bless and have a great weeek, hahahaa.

2006-03-24T01:11:00.000+08:00

ello everyone. welcome to the new layout of squishedlimes, proudly brought to you by jess! give a round of applause. (i did a little bit of touching up, hope you dont mind, jess? :D)

anyway, if you will kindly look to the bottom right hand corner of this blog, you will notice a link. *yes*, its the YMM chords database set up by your lovely ymm commers. namely, joel, me, chris, mx, and ben. worship leaders, please drop by often to check if the chords you need are there, many more will be ported in from the old system by march and we hope to have a better searching tool than ctrl+F by april. till then, just watch it grow.

however, it needs input from you guys to work. so if you have any comments, suggestions, bug reports, new chordsheets, programming skills, typing skills, extreme musical talent to throw into the mix, just approach me during service. yup! and thanks.

laptop gone wonky :(

2006-03-23T11:58:00.000+08:00

this is quite off-tangent in relation to all the post-retreat postings... but well... bleh...

my laptop's gone wonky all of a sudden... was copying and pasting some text into a word document when the keyboard refuses to respond and it is so so so so... devastating.... arghhhh... thank goodness the mouse still works so could still check on my american idol updates this morning heh... mum's sending it in to the 'laptop doctor' now and fingers crossed, it doesnt need to be warded... *gulp*

i've to prepare cg worship tonite! help... a lot of work to be done also... double help...

aaron: no worries, i saved your precious song db text files in my portable hard drive...

the obligatory post.

2006-03-20T23:02:00.000+08:00

thanks to God who made this camp wonderful, who showed me that the youth *can* worship, and that I can worship as well. it's been a long time since ive managed to worship from the stage. thanks to Him who made everything run so smoothly. on such notice, it wasn't really possible to do everything we did without His help.

and the comm, for planning a great camp at short notice.

special thanks also to the non-commers who have helped out in so many ways, ben, lin tong, and jess. thanks for stepping up, and may God bless you for your sacrifices. a lot of behind the scene work, but you can be sure God sees it, even if men do not. especially if men do not.

i blogged at my blog about the camp already, so... link

'quiet time'

2006-03-20T21:17:00.000+08:00

hey all, wow this place is starting to come alive again :)

would like to do a longish post-retreat post but yeah, schoolwork and deadlines call bleh... in the meanwhile, enjoy this short video clip courtesy of your friendly youth music comm...

a certain worship leader attempts to do his 'quiet time' after leading morning worship ;)

disclaimer: this vid was reenacted... all parties did their quiet time after the vid was taken... at least i know aaron and i did lol...

Thanks, God, for your grace

2006-03-19T18:06:00.000+08:00

hey guys... now that's it's all over... (the camp that is...) can tell u guys how good God has been to all of us in the yoof comm... and to me in particular...

before the whole camp.. i was actually very worried abt the commitment level of all of us... certain events actually led me to wonder as to whether people wanted to serve... were we getting too tired...? too complacent...? too flippant...? too disrespectful of God...? were we serving only because there was a need...?

well... when i first got the fixed camp schedule.. and knew how many musicians i needed... i sat at my PC doing what i do every camp... send out an e-mail to yoofmusic at yahoogroups... u know... my intention was to send out the generic 'who-wants-to-serve-i'm-just-gonna-roster-and-u-tell-me-if-u-can't' kinda thing... but as i was typing this generic thing i just started typing wat i typed... believe most of u guys saw it... basically... i typed wat i felt about serving without desire... i mean even that was pretty generic... then suddenly i was -heck it all- and then i typed "so for this retreat i won't ask u if you can lead... i won't ask u if u can play or back-up sing... the retreat is frm 16th to 18th of March... we definitely need WLs, musicians, and back-up singers... pls pray abt it... and then decide if u're willing to serve... then come to me... my HP is ********... and my e-mail add is ********@*****.com..."

u know... i didn't feel especially like God was challenging me or saying in a loud voice from heaven "joel... this is wat i want u to do" but well... after i typed the e-mail out... i read through it... and then i thought to all the stories we had at Alpha last year... and then well.. i said to God... "Jehovah Jireh, You can make this work." And i knew the thoughts in my mind about service wasn't for nothing... so i just went ahead and clicked send...

the minute i did... i was, "JOEL, U BIG FOOL...!!! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM...!! 'Do not test the Lord your God'! Wat do u think you're doing...?!" and well i didn't even discuss it with my comm... i think that was the worse... i put us out there on a limb without them even knowing what was going on... and they've really been good about it but i bet they were thinking, "JOEL, U BIG FOOL...!!! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM...!!" and stuff like that...

anyway... that was on the 1st of march, a wednesday... as i said... jessica sms-ed me almost immediately... my brother next.. then ade e-mailed on the 3rd... i remember posting here abt the power of 'yes'... when people say 'yes' after they've been serving non-stop... i tell you... jessica, in this respect, was really my encouragement that week...

anyway... i can't remember when... but sometime that week... i think it was friday, 3rd march... i sat down with the comm sansminxian... chris, aaron and ben... and well.. we were talking... and we committed to do a daniel fast for the following week... we ended late and well... i dunno lah.. doubts crept in like anybody's business... i told them that night that if no one stepped up... i would lead / drum / guitar every single worship if i had to... we made a decision... if by the end of that week... saturday, 11th march... we had not enough... we'd go talk to people... as in ask people to play... i was so against it in my heart coz well.. then it went against the whole point which i was trying to emphasize... having the desire to serve... and the honour involved when serving..

anyway... that sunday... melena said she could play... but she was going part-time and was leading Alpha programme... so well... and now i owe a big apology to Sam... coz he said he wanted to play... and i went and forgot... yeah.. but well.. we definitely didn't have enough people...

that whole week was really horrible... we were short of everything... Alpha programme was chasing me for their mucicians.. and till that last day... the day before the camp... i was trying to arrange WLs for morning worship...

anyway... how the camp turned out is not for me to say... maybe u guys have more stories....? i just know The Lord provided for the comm... in spite of my pride.. in spite of my doubt... and these are a few things i want to thank God for...

1) Thank God for Pastor Adrian... he really had a vision before the camp.. i think we talked about it a few times.. and i don't think he knew what he was getting into... but i think God used him this camp... not only for his messages but also just to inject some liveliness, some enthusiasm... esp. during alpha... his is not an easy job... let's pray for him...

2) Thank God for the chiyon's class guys... how amazing that the whole bunch of them (besides TRZ) was having block leave or were not yet in the army... i'm sure we'd all agree that ben, josh, peter and alan were great servants in their own ways while joash, sze wai and darf made the camp more fun generally... when they knew games would be short of people... they changed their plans and came back for the games.. what would we do without them...

3) Thank God for Aaron... he's oft overlooked i think... he did the music logis... and the sound setup for the camp... now that's actually a lot of work... and the area most open to criticism actually... also... most wouldn't know it but there was a problem with the camp file on the night before camp... wed night... instead of the booklet format... they had printed in A4... and we happened to be in church... and aaron redid the whole think into the booklet format u used... he was there doing it till 11... this is the kind of servant i think we should be.. ready and willing to do anything for God's glory without need or desire for recognition...

Personally... i want to thank God for a few more people...

1) Thank God for Jessica for being ready to serve... Jessica volunteering really helped me through the week we were fasting... and she had another camp which ended on the 15th... but she rushed down after her camp to practice her set...

2) Thank God for Josh... he's amazing... he came down on the 17th for a 2-hr Alpha prac... then spent the entire day on the 15th... Alpha prac from 1000 to 1300... then worship nite prac from 1500 to 1800 and 1930 to 2100... with no complaints... he's an example for me... coz i'm whiny and grouchy after 2 hours of prac... yeah...

3) Thank God for Minxian... in the days leading up to the camp... she was juggling school... going to see her dad in hospital... and serving in yoof comm and music comm.. God bless her...

4) Thank God for Ben... he was really the rock of this camp i think... i remember the last day when i was talking to benice... and i was jokingly saying, "want to sing a song...? ask ben..! need a guitarist...? ask ben..!" but he stepped up every single time... he makes my job so much easier... i love him..

hmmm... this is a goodishly long post... anyway... the whole point is... thank God for his grace...

rev rev vroom vroom

2006-03-15T21:52:00.000+08:00

hello! this is a vain attempt to recharge this place! kickstart it! make it rev rev vroom vroom!
haha i think that an entry on the eve of an exciting youth retreat on worship is in order. as i hear it, the theme is exponential, which is pretty funky heh. let's pray that we'll have an exponential burst of energy within the music ministry, that in terms of number of musicians we'll grow from strength to strength, and that our service to God will scale new heights! (note the attempt at following the theme haha.)

You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness
And I look to You
And I wait on You
I'll sing to You Lord a hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
I'm carried in everlasting arms
You'll never let me go
Through it all

yeah let's wait on God for Him to show us great things at this youth retreat! and to remember that when we sing to God, we sing hymns of love to Him, so we should mean it with our hearts.
okay see everyone at retreat tmr! haha maybe this post will spark off a flurry of activity. *crosses fingers* oh and someone pls answer irene on the tagboard?

making a difference

2006-01-08T21:58:00.000+08:00

hello. decided i should post since this place is soo dead... :S anw, shall just post the context of making a difference here for your reference, the one we talked abt at thanksgiving. read it quite a long time ago, and it really helped me to understand the lyrics so much better. hope this will help you all too, especially worship leaders!

this song's written by a guy from city harvest some years back, and copied this off the guitar4christ forum. but first, the lyrics...

Won't You Lord, take a look at our hands?
Everything we have use it for Your plans
Won't You Lord, take a look at our hearts?
Mould it, refine it, as You set us apart

We want to run to the altar and catch the fire
To stand in the gap between the living and the dead
Give us a heart of compassion for a world without vision
We will make a difference bringing hope to our land

We will answer the call
To build this church without walls
Let Your glory be shown
Bring salvation to the lost

The History:

This song was written after Pastor Bill Wilson, a sunday school preacher, came to singapore to share obout his children church ministry in Brooklyn, USA. His message's main theme was talking about "making a difference". He shared from Numbers 16.

The people of Israel was rebelling against the leadership of Moses and Aaron. So God wants to destroy the rebellious people, despite attempts by Moses to appease God. When God began to send a plague to destroy the people, Moses instructed Aaron to take a censer and run to the altar to get the incense lighted by fire, and then run to the congregation (who are being plagued) to make an atonement for them.

As Aaron ran to the altar, caught the fire onto the incense and ran to "catch" up with the plague, where he stood with that offering, "between the living and the dead" (Num 16:48), the plague stop.

The story tells us that just one person (in the case above, Aaron), is enough to make a difference in many people's life. We need to go to the altar and "catch the fire", just as Aaron did, and stand in between the lost, the people who are in need, and intercede for them before God.

After Pst Bill Wilson message, this song was written by Bro Poh Heng (one of his best song to date), and was sang during our launch of the "Church Without Walls" campaign, where we sought to bring the church out of the four walls of the church building, and go into the community to touch the lives of the less fortunate people ("to stand in the gap"). There begins our community services ministry, which later gave birth to our non-profit organisation - City Harvest Community Services Association.

I understand that this song was also sang and favoured a lot by Pst Lawrence Khong and his church, FCBC - because it also describe their church vision of reaching out to the community.

for Shu May

2005-12-29T19:06:00.000+08:00

there... i've posted... so Shu May can post...! haha...

what i want for worship leaders' workshop!

2005-11-17T23:21:00.000+08:00

hey everyone! erm let me start the ball rolling!! i'm really glad we're having a worship leaders' workshop during youth camp cos i think it's a great idea, so kudos to the ymm comm for thinking it up :)

anyway, i guess i would like some form of mentoring system to stem from this workshop. like more "senior" worship leaders/musicians mentoring and helping to build up the younger members of ymm. it's very important, esp. if you're a new musician/worship leader, cos it can get a bit scary at times, not knowing how to go abt playing/choosing songs. sidetracking a bit, when i first started leading in sec 3, it was april who helped me a lot! like giving me advice on my songlist and how to plan the music stuff etc. so yeah hopefully some form of mentoring could stem from this workshop.

oh, i would also like to hear testimonies from other worship leaders, eg. occasions when God helped them prepare their songs and more. it'll be encouraging for everyone and it'll also show that even in the midst of all the musical technicalities, God must always remain the focus of every worship.

and yeah, an informal jamming session thing is kinda cool! heh but it might be quite hard to erm let everyone jam at the same time, esp since there's only 1.5hours. so maybe jamming on the sides! like late at night, if we're allowed to haha.

yay i'm so excited abt the workshop!! :D (oh btw this means that there's no more workshop on 26nov right?)

i want ____ for this youth camp's worship workshop!!

2005-11-16T12:39:00.000+08:00

youth music min will be holding a worship workshop (1.5hrs) during this dec's youth camp! everything's still in its planning stages at the mo and what we need from everyone now is your ideas : such as topics for speakers (e.g. what is spirit-filled worship / how to be an effective worship leader / attitudes of a music minister / how to lead together as a team /volunteering to fill a need vs. being called into God's service etc etc), or you wld prefer a Q&A session with an established worship leader/musician or side-stuff like free time for peeps to jam outside of the workshop - we're open to all ideas la...

please dun be shy, we wld lurve to know what you would like to be fed with for this worship workshop! like the title says, we want to hear you say:

i want _____ (fill in the blank) for this youth camp's worship workshop!!!

the youth camp's happening real soon so we'll need your ideas soon also so that we can pray, go approach speakers and plan stuff and a whole lotta other things so either email me @ my usual yahoo.co.uk a/c or just flood this blog with comments!

i've been reading this blog i stumbled on quite a long time back.

http://dandykatkonnection.blogspot.com/ <- link is dead

the writer's involved in the music ministry and talks quite a lot abt worship. he writes very interesting stuff that i can't help but agree with, and have gained many insights from him as well. go check it out =)

parable of the sower

2005-11-09T02:00:00.000+08:00

hey. ok just to share some thoughts from my quiet time.

Luke 8

Parable of the Sower

^"4When a large crowd was coming together, and those from the various cities were journeying to Him, He spoke by way of a parable:

⁵"The sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell beside the road, and it was trampled under foot and the birds of the air ate it up.

⁶"Other seed fell on rocky soil, and as soon as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture.

⁷"Other seed fell among the thorns; and the thorns grew up with it and choked it out.

⁸"Other seed fell into the good soil, and grew up, and produced a crop a hundred times as great." As He said these things, He would call out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

⁹His disciples began questioning Him as to what this parable meant.

¹⁰And He said, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is in parables, so that SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.

¹¹"Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God.

¹²"Those beside the road are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, so that they will not believe and be saved.

¹³"Those on the rocky soil are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no firm root; they believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away.

¹⁴"The seed which fell among the thorns, these are the ones who have heard, and as they go on their way they are choked with worries and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

¹⁵"But the seed in the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance."

so basically, there are 4 places on which the seed is sown - beside the road, the rocky soil, among the thorns and the good soil.

the first one, beside the road - does it sound like our non-believing friends, they hear, but do not believe? but can i also say that it sometimes sound like us too, that we hear during service, but never really believe in what God says, and therefore are also disobedient to Him? or how abt, we sleep during service and only hear (the words go in to our ears), but don't listen?

the rocky soil - we hear the Word with gladness, and are enthusiastic abt it for a while, but don't have a firm foundation (from reading the bible regularly), and after a while, fall away. and dare i say this sounds like alpha weekend, when we were all so revived and renewed, but what happened to the pasison after that?

among the thorns - do we hear/read the word during qt, services, bible study, but when we go back into the world we become caught up in it again and allow worries, riches and pleasures to "choke" us?

and God only has to say abt these three things, that they did not bear fruit.

the seed in the good soil - "these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance." first, have an honest and good heart. and hold on to the Word, whatever God says, rely on His promises. His Word is truth. and perservere. then, God promises, you will "bear fruit".

so now, my question to all of you is, what are you to the seed that is being sown? let's all try to be like the good soil, allow the seed to be sown on us and see fruit producing a hundredfold in our spiritual lives. can i challenge all of us to start by not sleeping during services, and ask God to help us with whatever stage we are in right now.

galations 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

p.s. i'm not really 100% sure abt this whole thing and spent quite a bit of time reading a detailed commentary too. so just hope this is as accurate as possible! comments if any.

Talk of the Town.... (Cuppage at orchard mah...)

2005-11-06T00:40:00.000+08:00

hello...! i'm here to scold all those who didn't go for the Paradise Band Worship Seminar on thursday morning... after saying they would... you know who you are...! *tsk tsk*... why like dat....?!?!

okok... i'll be nice... and tell all of u guys wat was said there... think it was a really informative time for all who went... he (the worship team leader guy... dunno wat his name is... ) basically talked to us abt as musicians / singers / WLs... we shouldn't be mere fulfillers of rosters... we should all aspire to be MVPs.... essential to the team... i also want everyone to be MVPs.... make my job so much easier man... *mumblemumblegrumblegrumble*but seriously... he said that there were a few qualities his MVPs possess... and since i want the whole YMM to be a great big MVP team... i shall share the secret with everyone... here goes:

1) They have a passion for the house of God (the church).

2) Their passion for God exceeds their passion for musical excellence.
This is a tough one for me... as i was sharing today at yoof prayer... i'm quite a perfectionist... and i really like things to run oh-so-smoothly... but well...
oh.. but i can see people going, "Well then... since i got the passion, then why do i bother practicing my instrument anymore? Because if i got the passion, then that's good enough for God right?"
honestly... if someone said this to me... then i'd ask if he has the right aim in mind.. or if the passion he has is genuine... because if u'd have a passion for God... why would you want to give him something that's not worthy...? u'd want to give him your absolute best right...?

3) They know the power of "Yes".
Trust me on this one... it gives me great encouragement as a leader when this guy is going through all sorts of tough times... and he's been playing for weeks... and then on the week he's not scheduled to play... i ask him if he can fill in again for the millionth time... and without the slightest murmur... he says, "Yes." i can't do it myself... if cherie asks me to sub her... i'll go... eh... why again... i very tired can... why like that... sub you so many times already... well... something to chew on...

4) They are positive.
This doesn't mean that you ignore the bad, but that u choose to see the good everywhere.... i think when everyone joins the YMM... we should make everyone promise not to criticize... but only to encourage...

5) They don't see problems, but see potential / possibilities.

6) They have realistic expectations and understanding about their gift.

7) They are consistent.
Consistent in terms of their playing.... consistent in terms of their musical ability.... consistent emotionally... but most important of all... consistent in their relationship with God...

yepyep... that's the notes i took from the main seminar... if u want to know more specifically... ask sandra, gideon, aunty bel, and myself....

oh yah... to start a new line of discussion... nuts or no nuts in chocs...? macadamia....!!!!

Commercial Break

2005-11-03T14:34:00.000+08:00

I sooo lurve black/dark/bitter chocolate! For those who prefer white chocolate over dark chocolate - philistines all of you >.<

Just needed some brain-activity-inducers whilst I ponder my answer to Addie's question on standards of dressing for WLs and musicians, an age-old debated topic which i'm sure everyone has had thots about some time or another.

So go add your 2cts worth at http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=16509949&postID=113084661825949844

dressing

2005-11-01T19:57:00.000+08:00

Hello...

As musicians and worship leaders, what is an acceptable and appropriate attire? Ie. Are sleeveless tops, skirts above the knee etc, acceptable??

Should there be a standard that the music ministry, as servants of God, should enforce lest distractions/stumblings occur?

Please comment! (: Would like to know what everyone thinks!

pix up online!

2005-10-25T02:06:00.000+08:00

hey all, i've uploaded some of my ym pix to my online album http://chwissa.multiply.com/. feel free to chk 'em out... you'll have to register with the site and add me as a contact (my multiply id is: chwissa) to view my albums tho ^^;

and welcome to our 2 new contributors - peter and darren (the jc2 darren peeps, not darren quek, and also more known as the infamous darf who has been 'spam'-tagging the tagboard lol)... contribute more guys! :)

a big thank you...

2005-10-23T23:59:00.000+08:00

hmm... oh well just wanted to say thanks to everyone who wished me happy birthday today and for the presents too... really appreciate it... hmm just feeling like talking nonsense now... so ya anyway, first 5 ppl (in order) were... (ivan), clara, ben, xue ting and adelyn! ivan is in ( ) cos he actually did it an hour plus too early, but anyway, that qualifies him to be the last person to wish me from last year! heh... 364 days late. oh well. and most number of times goes to... xue ting! with a grand total of 4! heh.

thank you also to (in alphabetical order this time...) adelyn, ben, chwis, clara, darren low, joel, xue ting and yu huat (just wanted to put alan last... heh :P) for the slippers and wallet. and yup, special thanks to clara and all those who helped her (or got cut in the process...) for the cookies. oh yes not to forget... a special thank you to like... half the ym (or at least thats what i thought) who came in black today. heh. caoz you guys are lucky la actually i wanted to come in white to surprise everyone, but too lazy la. quite a surprise... didn't know so many ppl would co-ordinate... heh. thank you thank you thank you!

hmm ok i feel so inspired that i decided to come up with a nice poem...

happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me
happy birthday to me

heh. at least all the lines rhyme... unlike someone... *cough cough*...

oh man i just realised that this is my first post too... what a great way to start eh? oh well cya guys around... and i apologise for such a nonsensical post.

nice song!

2005-10-23T21:39:00.000+08:00

i'm here to put up the lyrics to one of my favourite songs, "Take my hand" by The Kry. it's really meaningful and it helped me through this week. :)

Verse
I know there are times
your dreams turn to dust
you wonder as you cry
why it has to hurt so much
give Me all your sadness
someday you will know the reason why
with a child-like heart
simply put your trust in Me

Chorus
Take My hand and walk where I lead
keep your eyes on Me alone
don't you say why were the old days better
just because you're scared of the unknown
take My hand and walk

Verse
Don't live in the past
cause yesterday's gone
wishing memories would last
you're afraid to carry on
you don't know what's comin'
but you know the one who holds tomorrow
I will be your guide
take you through the night
if you keep your eyes on Me

Chorus
Take My hand and walk where I lead
Keep your eyes on Me alone
don't you say why were the old days better
just because you're scared of the unknown
take My hand and walk where I lead
you will never be alone
faith is to be sure of what you hope for
and the evidence of things unseen
so take My hand and walk

Bridge
Just like a child
holding daddy's hand
don't let go of Mine
you know you can't stand on your own

Chorus
Take My hand and walk where I lead
Keep your eyes on Me alone
don't you say why were the old days better
just because you're scared of the unknown
take My hand and walk where I lead
you will never be alone
faith is to be sure of what you hope for
and the evidence of things unseen
so take My hand and walk

Confidence... *bleah...

2005-10-15T07:39:00.000+08:00

Goodness... my last post was nearly a month back...! ok... i'm just too lazy... but anyway... i'm here now to be gloomy again...! haha...

well... a couple of weeks back.. i went to FMC for their Youth Service with Aaron & MX... and well... i thought that if we look at their worship technically, they are not really light-years ahead... i mean that in the nicest possible way... wat i mean is that... ok... their drummer is slightly better then our drummer.. their guitarists is slightly better than our guitarist... their pianist.. ermz.. as with all pianists... i cannot hear actually wat u guys play... haha... but mx assured me the pianist is good... oh well... but also... as a band... they made a few "speed" mistakes...

but we're not here to talk abt other churches' deficiencies... when i came back after that... i told a few of you... the only main difference was that "their WL was very confident"... like an idiot... i set myself up... in the end... someone innocuously asked me, "How do you become more confident?"

urps... I don't know..!!!

but this is the kind of question that i'm supposed to know... so well... i thought about it very hard... and i've got a few observations... if i'm wrong... pls pls pls correct me... always keep in mind that i'm not a WL and that there's good reasons for that... besides the obvious one that i constantly sing off-key... ok... stop babbling joel, and get on with it... i'll come to it in 2 aspects..

firstly, the practical aspect...

number one rule... be prepared... how can u be confident if you are not prepared...? if u have to keep wondering how to sing that part of the song... how can u be confident...? if u've not chosen the right chord to sing in... how can u be confident...? all these things need to be worked out before sunday...

pray... i say this is practical because it slows / calms u down... ok... it's definitely spiritual as well but i think having a time of prayer on sunday morning soothes you.... it reminds you that the worship is not abt u / your own abilities / the congregation / anything other than the omnipresent and omniscient God... it also gives u the only period of time on sunday morning where u don't have to worry / focus on the worship...

secondly, and much much more importantly, the spiritual side... Worship Leading has never been abt choosing a few nice-sounding songs and singing them... i mean... ur songs better be nice-sounding and all that but at the end of the day... don't lose sight of what you're meant to be worshipping... anyway... moving on...

know that you have been chosen by God... this is super important... again... it takes the focus off u.... i'm sure all of u (not only WLs) can agree with me that it's God's will that you are where you are today, serving where you serve... i've heard a few impressive stories of how some people came to be serving... and guess how i started in the yoof music min...? jon leong asked me can help him do roster at sec 3 and then... *blink* 6-years-plus already (yes, it's been that long... i am old... got a problem..? *hummph*) yes...

John 15:16 (Jesus said) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

you have, then, been annointed by God... if we've established that we've been chosen... then don't u think he provides...? the God of "how much more" remember...? How many other people have felt unfit for their calling...? Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:6), Gideon (Judges 6:15), so many others... and the Lord always says.... Do not be afraid... I am with You... Do u think He withholds that promise from you...?

Jeremiah 1: 6 - 10 "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "Now I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and plant."

ok... last thing i want to say... always come before the Lord in humility.. the verse speaks for itself...

2 Cor 3: 4 - 5 Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

ok.... so does this help...? anyone, anything... pls add or correct... going off for a Mc Donalds breakfast...! Hotcakes...! i think Macs still has the best breakfast around... besides the absolutely sad coffee that is... ciaoz...

hAp.. hAp... hAp...

2005-10-13T20:25:00.000+08:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO CHWIS N XUETING!!!
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to YOU.........
Happy birthday to you!!!

Happy birthday Chwis!! (: Happy sweet 16th birthday xueting!
May God bless both of you RICHLY!

next dessert party, anyone?

2005-10-03T13:35:00.000+08:00

hello! oh yay i'm here to bring good news and suggest where we can go for our next dessert party ;)

haagen daas' new flavour of the month is... *drumroll*

CHOCOLATE!!!

yummy! so now one scoop is $2.90 instead of the usual $4.50, or alternatively we can buy many tubs and share! er for i-don't-know-how-much. but cheaper than usual price lah.

well, but perhaps a better place where there's more choices is SECRET RECIPE! heard that to celebrate their anni, for the whole month of oct, all whole cakes are going at 50% off and for every slice you buy, get one free!

yup oks so not as many choices as we had at big O, but these desserts are just as nice too!

date: anytime man!! =D

glorious dessert!

2005-10-03T12:17:00.000+08:00

wif such glorious choc double fudge cheesecake, who needs a fork?

looking pweetty~

addie's double fudge cheesecake (left) & xt's mochachinno cheesecake (right)

the YM's poster gals for dessert parties (xt, addie and chel)

date: 30th sept (friday)
time: 230pm
occasion: dessert party!!!
suspects: addie, xueting, tania, chelsea, peter, darren, sumin, rachel (addie's fwen), chwis
desserts consumed: a whole lotta mudpies and cheesecakes!

*if anyone wants photos from the event (have a few others besides those posted here), i'll be uploading them to an online album... no pix of our pweetty boys darren or peter tho so dun get your hopes up gals heh... anyone wanna organise the next outing? :)

jus an answer...

2005-10-03T01:08:00.000+08:00

jus to reply to shu may's question as to what this blog is for: (the answer's really simple) anything related to God and/or yourself :)

it can range from the serious (e.g. sandra's post on initative) to the silly (e.g. my missing pencil case post)... jus want this to be a place where 1) we can share and encourage/comfort/teach etc each other in the body of Christ and 2) we can just be ourselves and let others in on who we are....

that's abt it folks...

side note: found my pencil case... it was kidnapped by my very own mum... heartfelt thanks to all who expressed their sympathies and condolences... like j0e1, jon and darf (welcome to squished limes!) heh... hopefully darf finds his pencil case too...

just a question

2005-09-28T17:13:00.000+08:00

just a question: what exactly is this blog for?

(okay blogger's "compose" settings are just too strange for words).

anyway my friend visited pph last sunday and she liked it a lot :) but she is now convinced that she still likes her church (church of our saviour) best. i think church-visiting is quite eye-opening and interesting and so i shall commence that after my promos.

(actually this post was just to take up space, because maybe after one week pple could be bored of re-reading "i miss my pencil box" 128031708097503 times?)

:)

i miss my pencil case... :(

2005-09-19T23:12:00.000+08:00

the title says it all... i'm posting here to mourn the lost of my muji pencil case... must have left it in school cos it's nowhere to be found at home... chwis is devastated.... :(

Recipe 002

2005-09-18T23:40:00.000+08:00

well, brought a jug of the stuff down to church today, had a little lime juice party on the second floor after second service. was quite cool, just sitting down there and trying to sell the juice for free.

business was erratic, and rather discouraging. cos everyone only drank a sip, and i had like, a jug to get rid of, so you know? and it WAS a bit sweet, thats even after pouring away half a cup and replacing with ice.

so anyway, aunty mary comes along and i asked her to try the last half cup (chris had so kindy drank 2 cups, and so did i... nearly). and she thot it was pretty good! (i thot so too, but im not one to toot my own tuba)

now then, she had only taken a sip, and she left the cup on the table, so i thot: "hrm, we're all leaving for lunch, so i better clean up." and so i tossed the rest of the juice and washed the cups up.

apparently aunty mary wasnt done with the juice, she really wanted the rest of it. so... i owe her a jug now. haha, hilarious.

recipe 002 is (after learning from today):

9 limes
10 duck rice spoons of sugar
1.7 litres of water

instructions are the same as in 001. apparently, then, 001 must have been REALLY sweet. and to think i finished a jug.

also, btw, i couldnt hear anything from my place on stage, anyone have any opinions on the worship today? i know worship isnt about the technicals, but its really important to improve so we can give God the BEST? yeah.

cheerios

Offer to God a sacrifice of praise

2005-09-17T23:10:00.000+08:00

Hello... Here's something I would like to share with you guys since sands and shoemay brought it up! I don't know if you have felt like this: Aiyah, I dont feel very worshipy today.. My arms feel kinda heavy, and my lips feel rusty, so I think I won't sing along and I won't clap. Plus I don't like the tune of these songs, there just isn't this shoik-ness in singing.. I shall just stand here and observe the service... I have felt that way before, yet let's remember that it's never about ourselves. we sing songs to exalt and praise God, not to create emotional highness ( It's like, taking drugs to get high..)

If you feel like circumstances have you locked in today, read this.

"About midnight Paul and Silas were...singing hymns to God...Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken...all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose" (Acts 16:25-26 NIV).

Praise opens the doors! Praise breaks chains! Any time you're willing to praise God despite your circumstances, the forces of heaven come to your aid. "But I don't feel like praising God" you say. Then offer to God "a sacrifice of praise." Anybody can praise Him in the good times, but when you have to rise above your feelings, your circumstances and the opinions of others to do it - that's when it really counts.

"The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Neh 8:10).

If you look to your circumstances to find joy you'll live on an emotional roller coaster. But if you look to the Lord of your circumstances and rejoice in His unfailing goodness, you'll move from weakness to strength every time!

reading

2005-09-16T21:03:00.000+08:00

haha okay this is a horribly boring title, but there's a reason for it. i totally agree with sandra's post, and i think it's something that we all need to keep in mind, esp. since getting addicted to "spiritual highs" can be a real problem sometimes. i've realised that over the months the best times of my spiritual life was when i was just "coasting along" and feeling all warm and joyful inside even though outside i may be having problems at school. it may seem like a misnomer, but it IS possible to experience joy in times of sorrow, cos when it's joy overflowing from a life obedient to God it isn't dependent on events; it's a joy that is stable and overwhelming and empowering.

anyway, to have some link to my title, i've been reading a book recently called "Basic Christianity" by John Stott. it's a great book because it explains the basics of Christianity in a simple way, yet manages to crystallise several profound truths very beautifully. case in point: "Jesus was sinless because he was selfless. Such selflessness is love. And God is love." something as difficult to explain as love is simplified, but not dumbed-down, into three plain sentences! i was really blown away. my dad once told me that this period (adolescence/adulthood for the older ones heh) is the best time to read books on Christianity, because we have the luxury of time to digest these books properly. i'm really challenged by these books because they deconstruct Christianity and remind me of the basics, and anyway i read them purely so i can defend my faith when my friends and i have brain-twisting lunch conversations on religion, philosophy, God, etc etc. several of my friends are self-declared agnostics and our conversations are always intellectually stimulating, and basically i read such books because i don't want to be accused of having "blind faith". i want to be able to back up my points! thus, reading is good.

[edit: here's a list of authors that my "mentor" from syfc recommended! Francis Sheaffer, Frankie Sheaffer, Ulrich Sheaffer, John Stott, C.S. Lewis, J.I. Packard, John Milton, Thomas Akempis, Dietrich Bon Hoffer (The Cost of Discipleship). think that most of them should be found quite easily haha.]

for those who are currently in the midst of manic exam preparation, i've sth interesting to share. at my class prayer meeting today (in sch), my friend shared of how we must not push God aside even while we're busy studying, because in the end it would be pointless to have straight As and let your walk with God slip during this period. it is just not a good testimony to others.

hope that everyone will be filled with joy this week! :)

Breaking the curse of temporal Highs

2005-09-16T03:30:00.000+08:00

anw... i was just wondering what u guys feel about how our ym is doing spiritually right now... because somehow i just feel its not the same as it was during the awa and the weeks leading up to it. It's strange because there was so much talk of a revival in our ym then and one thing that i remember was said (and even i was saying this also) was "the true indication of whether revival has taken place will come after awa itself, whether there's a difference after that" and honestly, to me things seem so... back to normal now. what do u guys think?

The above was quoted from Ben's post about a week ago.

This issue never left my mind.

Exactly WHAT does it take, for the people of God to be spiritually strong, consistently, regardless of circumstances?

The Lord showed me a few revelations. Want to post it here to share and discern together as a family of God.

1. We need to BUILD DEEP. I just told Joel and Samuel earlier today at CG to imagine the image of a construction site, whereby there are those huge machines just pushing huge 'pillars' into the ground.... Deep into the ground. Or you may liken it to a tree with deep roots.

And spiritually that's what we need. When we're deep in the Solid Rock, NO AMOUNT of trial, tribulation, dryness, sianness (even if it's the WHOLE youth min) can get to us. Look at Psalm 1 carefully - the tree with deep roots bears fruit in every season.

2. Thing is, we need to be INTENTIONAL. It's not like we observe the cycle of 'revival highs', look upon it with disdain, and then just sit there and let things happen. Hello, we can do something about it! If we mean it when we say we want to be consistent and break the curse of revival highs once and for all, we have to start from ourselves by being RESPONSIBLE for our own growth and INTENTIONALLY committing to the disciplines of an obedient disciple, namely, the disciplines of

1. surrender [or prayer]
2. study [reading scripture]
3. solitude [intimacy] and
4. service [working the muscles]

And in order to attain such a consistency, we must sacrifice something. Are we willing to sacrifice whatever the Lord instructs us to?

3. Lastly, we need to LEARN TO FEED OURSELVES. Whether we are mentored or not, we must realize that our eternal Mentor is the Holy Spirit. And He mentors us through the bible, excellent books, sermons, CDs, DVDs... a host of ways! Are you hungry enough to seek the food and to feed yourself, or are you going to sit there and wait for someone to feed you?

May the Lord stir up in our hearts not just a PASSION for His Name, but also a spirit of daring to take INITIATIVE without shame!

God is...

2005-09-16T00:01:00.000+08:00

God is __bible study__

God is __church__

God is __CG/LAC__

God is __prayer meeting__

God is __serving__

God for us, more often than not, is about doing, doing and doing.

Jesus did a whole lot for God, whether it be in healing or teaching or casting out demons or praying for others BUT Jesus is an even better example of spending time in solitude with God. He'd do one-on-one with God in the morning before and after a very busy day ministering and doing His Father's work.

Perhaps it's time to reflect on whether or not we have missed out on growing our relationship with God... Spending solitary time just with Him, talking with Him, sitting in silence and listening to what He says... Not just for the sake of listening, but to understand His character better, the way He thinks, what He likes and doesn't, get advice from Him, to get recharged etc etc - Just like you would when spending dedicate time alone with your best friend or your boy/girlfriend.

God is __listening__
God is __spending time in solitude__

---> lessons learnt from CG

15 mins

2005-09-15T21:11:00.001+08:00

wow ben, ure a great an encouragement to me.

Gotta book back into camp in like 15 mins so ill keep this chop chop.

i think its easier to give your all to God when you actually keep in mind WHO youre serving, every second of the day. Its a pretty simple and basic concept, but its also very easy to lose sight of the King even tho we serve in His great Kingdom, just because of small things that we otherwise pay attention to.

Lets strive on, pray and serve with our whole hearts, by keeping the King in our sights.

Hungry?

2005-09-15T13:29:00.000+08:00

Went to FOP?

Can't get enough of Pastor Colin's teaching?

Get them all here, for free.
All you who are hungry, go on and eat your fill. :)

http://www.kt.org/?p=series_list

Thots...

2005-09-13T22:31:00.000+08:00

Talk abt 2 posts that are on opposite ends of the spectrum... But yeah i'm too mentally tired at the mo (yall go try reading a 30pg convoluted reading on "economic action and social structure: the problem of embededness" *bleh*) so i'll jus conveniently ignore joel's post (mr gloom and doom), keep ben's post at the top of my mind (ben inspires me!) and give some comments in response to shumay's post (cf 'Delighted Noises')...

(shumay's post in italics)
loved today's youth worship, esp. King of kings (Majesty)... but i don't understand the phrase "I can but bow", shouldn't it be "i can't but bow"?? the latter somehow seems to make more sense to me. as for "In royal robes, i don't deserve", erm i've no idea why we are in royal robes, cos i thought God/Jesus is King and we are worshippers (in heaven and on earth) so why will be in royal robes??? the only thing i can think of is cos we are children of God.

Take "I can but bow" and imagine there's an invisible 'only' --> "I can (only) but bow" and it'll make sense. Just a matter of English grammar here; no doubt that I can but bow makes sense ;)

As for why 'royal robes'? Think Shumay's right in accruing it to our being 'children of God' cos we're "heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:17) so yeah, we have royal robes too :) But apart from that, what came to me *snap/flick on a light bulb/eureka/etc* when reading Shumay's post was the parable of the prodigal son when he returned and his dad asked his servant to dress him in the best robe... Keeping in mind that the son was so undeserving and returned wif the intention of being his father's manservant, I refer you to:

Luke 15: 21-23
"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate."

hmm i think it's sad that sometimes you've catchy tunes with bad lyrics, which is bad cos you can't mean what you sing. case in point, "rain down" by delirious. it's such a super song, like all jumpy and exciting and cool!, but some of the stuff i don't really understand.

Shumay>> Hmm thot my post earlier on Delirious' "Rain Down" was pretty much all-encompassing, but I guess not ^^; What other 'stuff' do you not understand, dear?

-------------------

It never ceases to amaze me, how myriad are the ways in which God speaks to us. Personally, Delirious' "Rain Down" and "King of Kings" were 2 songs that I would roll my eyes (metaphorically & literallly) at... The lyrics to me jus seemed so cryptic or drama mama airy fairy but seriously thinking thru the lyrics and seeing that there's such beautiful imagery/truths within the same songs I scoffed at earlier had the effect of humbling me... Serves to remind me that I shouldn't jump to conclusions or judgements too fast + rely on my arrogance of possessing seemingly infallible 'music/worship discernment' (God, help humble me....)

Heaven's rain as the Holy Spirit... We as His children dressed in royal robes we don't deserve... There's just so much of Him to be found in worship and in the Bible... Truly, '(His) majesty, I can but bow' :)

Instrument of Praise

2005-09-13T21:34:00.000+08:00

Hey everybody! this really encouraged me so i'd just like to share it with u all!

Some time ago... i was just thinking about worship leading in the ym, and to be honest looking back my thoughts were getting pretty filled with pride. i was thinking things like, 'how can -i- get people to see worship the same way as i see it? how can -i- change this situation where nobody seems to be really worshipping from their hearts during prelims? maybe -I- am the only one that can change the situation!'

Ok that sounded pretty horrible to me just typing it out :( and what it resulted in was basically just me feeling worse and worse about myself, as i felt powerless and just unable to do anything to change the situation. I also ended up comparing myself with other worship leaders, thinking about technical details and all that. Pointless stuff really... all a result of my silly pride

Just yesterday during qt, God showed me something beautiful as i was thinking about serving Him. I imagined a guitar shop :D where there were lots of amazing amazing guitars on display. I was one of those guitars - just a lousy old cheap guitar and absolutely nothing compared to the rest of those on display. Then Jesus walked into the guitar shop, and for some reason which i will never understand, he picked me up, held me in his arms and started to play... music that was more beautiful than anything i'd ever thought could have come from me. It was so amazing, everybody else in the shop turned around and said things like 'wow that sounds really amazing'... but as i watched on Jesus smiled and He said, 'it's even more beautiful to me'. And then... what happened was i realised He was also playing every other guitar in the shop as well at the same time - everything sounded perfect and every part was important.

This image really really encouraged and humbled me at the same time.. that i was so unworthy of everything but God still chose to make something beautiful out of my life! and what's also amazing is that after all that today my mum passed me a thank u card from Susan, who said God encouraged her using my sharing when i led worship that day... :) It's so amazing! that God would use even someone who coulc think all those horrible things i typed up there just now.

Hope this encourages u all as much as it encouraged me... even this broken old guitar can

ROCK 4 JESUS :)

i speaks yet again...

2005-09-13T21:31:00.000+08:00

well, well... stopping all the postings already...? lol... ok lah... i shall be fair... am pretty free... but since my MC ends today and work calls tomorrow, i won't be posting here for some time also... probably till next week at least...

but anyway.... at FOP, i was having a conversation abt the *drumroll* Meaning Of Worship...

ok... not so drama-fied... but yah... we had an interesting talk that night... ended up with no real conclusions... in the end i said worship means different things to different people... but i think sometimes God can be very clear... well... draw from these versus what u may...

Romans 12:1-2 - Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

John 4:21-24 - Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

but well... it is obvious to me that xt (or henry seeley) was right when she said "like the water cycle, in order for God to rain down on us, we have to first give up."

As WLs, musicians, singers, but mainly as Leaders... how much are we willing to give up...? how much are we willing to sacrifice in our lives...? how many things are we willing to push below God in our priority list...? And also, as the 2nd verse says... are we truthful (with God and with ourselves) abt what we say we are willing to give...?

hmm... before this turns into a bashing & finger-pointing session, i'd just like to say that i feel i've been turning into a Jew... ok... a bit of an exaggeration... how abt i'm in danger of becoming a Jew... where i know... yet sometimes i don't worship in spirit and in truth... or i desire to offer my body as a living sacrifice... but i know it isn't pleasing and holy to God... and those not pleasing or holy i want to 'keep for myself'... and i tell myself, no lah.... that's not important, that's not a big thing, as long as my life in general is ok...

God is asking for totality and honesty in our worship... is that why the yoof is, as ben says, "so... back to normal now"...?

during Alpha, i believe many offered, but not in totality, not in honesty... what do u think...?

the missing limes/link/pic cringe

2005-09-11T22:29:00.000+08:00

limez!

Recipe 001

2005-09-11T22:02:00.000+08:00

indeed, if you have spotted me online today, you would have already known...

i made my own lime juice! whoo!

i tell you its quite fun and satisfying to have a jug of lime juice just waiting for you in the fridge. so here's the recipe i figured myself.

1.5 litres water/ice
10 limes (small)
15 tablespoons of sugar (or 12ish duck rice plastic spoons)

ok basically boil some water (about 500 ml) and dissolve the sugar. add to the rest of the water/ice. slice all the limes into half (wash first!), squeeze into the sugar solution and toss in the peels as well (for the "effect"). stir, chill, and serve!

i put more than 10 limes in my first batch, and its a bit sour. more like the duck rice one, so im going to guess 10. will experiment lol.

cool thing is, 10 limes will set you back about a dollar, and you can nearly pick sugar off the floor, so this is lime juice at 20cents a cup! (depends on the size of your cup) how cool is that? very. and you dont have to live in church/mx's house to enjoy squished limes everyday!

Upcoming Events - Refreshing Your Approach to Worship

2005-09-11T21:54:00.000+08:00

joel asked chris to ask me (or something like that) to post this.

interested parties can call/sms/email/tag joel. hopefully by tomorrow morning k?

Integrity Asia Presents - Refreshing Your Approach to Worship

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Open to all. This seminar is relevant for church leaders, Worship Ministry leaders, Youth leaders, aspiring worship leaders and those who desire to proclaim the glory of the Lord through the worship experience.

TOPICS COVERED IN THIS SEMINAR
Understanding Biblical Worship
The Power of New Song

Visit the Website for Details - http://www.integrityasia.com.sg/events.php

delighted noises!

2005-09-11T20:56:00.000+08:00

mymy how totally exciting that ymm has a blog!!! i think it definitely brings pple closer and gives us more opportunity to talk nonsense also. and to think that my blog is linked too!! hahaha super happy now my blog counter will hopefully jump faster.

okay anyway loved today's youth worship, esp. King of kings (Majesty). :) haha it was such a "sticky" song that my class babes kept singing fragments during class and joanna and beatrice were, erm, bemused, to say the least. but i don't understand the phrase "I can but bow", shouldn't it be "i can't but bow"?? the latter somehow seems to make more sense to me. as for "In royal robes, i don't deserve", erm i've no idea why we are in royal robes, cos i thought God/Jesus is King and we are worshippers (in heaven and on earth) so why will be in royal robes??? the only thing i can think of is cos we are children of God. hmm

i think it's sad that sometimes you've catchy tunes with bad lyrics, which is bad cos you can't mean what you sing. case in point, "rain down" by delirious. it's such a super song, like all jumpy and exciting and cool!, but some of the stuff i don't really understand.

anyway last day of hols hope pple are feeling all charged up for sch heh. (i'm not, really.) but yes on a trivial side note, i think youth at 9 is a terribly good thing indeed.

a lime juice caper on Sat

2005-09-11T20:51:00.000+08:00

excerpt from j0e1's very dramatic and verbose blog:

so we were going CAP-ping at TG... and chris, ervin, aaron and i [joel] were together after all the pracs in church... went to duck rice (corner one) to stuff our faces before TG... and this is how much we love the prata store lime juice... didn't order drinks at duck rice... gulped down all our food... and went to prata to ta-pau lime juice... yes... slightly mad abt it already... and in the cab chris was like "i'm the gweat lime pwincess chwissybabes" so who says their lime juice isn't good....? bet it's drugged... *

oh oh... listen to this weird conversation man...

joel: oh the cab is here...! quick quick...! bye aaron... eh...? aaron, u want a lift to teban or not...?

aaron: (immediately) yah sure....

*five minutes later in the cab*

aaron: errr... how do i get home from teban ah...?

wat the heck, aaron quek?
red socks, they do not suit you...
pink ones though, they might do...
i will get one now for you...urps...

sorry... was trying to do a dr. suess there... but realise the second part makes absolutely no sense... and the length is wrong for the first line.... well... obviously i have no future in nonsense writing for 6 year olds...

-------> what wld i do for laffs without aaron? aaron, you rawk my sox! :)

breakfast of squishedlimes-juice

2005-09-11T15:04:00.000+08:00

squished-limes-filled-lime-juice on a hot sunday after prelims for breakfast... doesnt get any better than that folks *beams*

cant seem to upload my pwetty pic which has 4 glasses of simply heavenly lime juice ordered by joul, sandra, ervin and yours truly (another convert to lime juice in the mornings: Ervin !) though...

will post a longer post abt our mad lime juice capers this morning in a bit after a nap... have officially fallen sick wif fever and a sniffly nose... has to be the msn convo at 230am this morning wif ben and xt on the meaning of 'consuming fire' when i wanted to sleep at 1am... i'll take fever over throwing up, like ben, anytime tho... *shudder... chwis is scared stiff of food poisoning, apart from a whole host of other things eg green things which go hoppity hop (and i dun mean jumping limes, idiot joul)* oh well... prelims turned out much better than i thot (the power of prayer in prelims prep~ talk abt alliteration, heh)... will blog smthg on prelims and 'consuming fire' later too... unless ben or xt blogs it first...

think the lime juice in the morning really was the highlight of my day...

it's gonna be a long week....

*poof*

my debut entry

2005-09-11T02:08:00.000+08:00

hi guys! ok just to join in the fun ;) yup keep this blog going.

anw, since we were on the topic of rain, my friend shared with us before that henry seeley (the planetshakers guy) said that like the water cycle, in order for God to rain down on us, we have to first give up. and i think he said it very well. so next time we sing that song again or just listen to it, let us also remember to tell God that we want to give up to Him!

haha yeah here's something sensible (i should think) for my debut =)

and can i just draw your attentions to caedmon's call's lead of love. it's really nice!! can borrow from me i have the cd too (just return). er but don't download (man i'm influenced too...).

ok and btw, i never got the thing abt lime juice... it's always teh ping when i go for prata and barley at duck rice. alright i shall try again the next time.

cheers!

Ben inspires me

2005-09-10T23:55:00.000+08:00

Hello all.

Ben. Do you know that you got me so inspired and God used u to convict me so much that I deleted all my ripped songs from friends and decided to buy my own CDs. :) Feels so good to be clean before God and not have any stains of stealing!! :)

And you guys, believe it or not... I was looking forward to getting my hands on the darlin' silver Yamaha Motif ALL WEEK LONG and just yearning so much to try on all the super ultra cool sounds like Silverlake, Analog, Atmosphere, Pan Sphere, Warm Pad, Bowed Pad.... AHHHHH!!!!!!! AND I'M SO PRIVILEGED TO PLAY UP THERE AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! *SUPER DUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*

Sorry but i really really am excited.

Guys. Ever since Raymond introduced me to gospel music (specifically Israel and New Breed. and if you gave a loud "HUH???" don't worry, i did too) and I couldn't get my mind off it ever. I'd be PUH-LEEEEEEASED to lend anybody my Israel CDs...

If you promise before me and Jesus that you won't rip it, of course! :)

Keep bloggin' of Jesus' wonders, warriors.

Sandy Bandy Dandy

2 Corinthians 4:7-9 Jars of Clay

2005-09-10T23:10:00.000+08:00

Heeeelloooooooo..!!

Thanks for allowing me to blog here! (: *trumpets blare* Announcing the arrival of... liu xiao jie. Haha. q:

Hey I like the verse on the right! Very very much! This verse really encourages me alot alot alot whenever I'm down and start whining to God, " God whyyyyyy You let this happen to me..." Let's read the verse 6 as well!

"For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed"

When I was reading this, I wondered, "What is so special about jars of clay? Why clay? Why not metal so that we wont shatter into million trillion pieces?" Then I realized the beauty of it all. We are jars of clay, shatterable (is there such a word? q:) and breakable, because we are 'containers' of God's light, of God's glory. As containers containing God's light and glory, how do we spread it around? It is through our brokeness in our lives that, like fragile jars being dropped onto the floor and cracking, God's light and glory can spill out! And through our brokeness, God's all-surpassing power will be seen... It is through our imperfections and weaknesses, that we marvel at God's perfection and beauty.

Yeah that's all I have to share with you guys now. (: Getting zzzZzzZZz... See you guys tml!

PS: Lime juice really really rocks!! I don't know how to describe the marvelous refreshing taste of it! It's refreshing, it's juicy, it's limish, it's cold, it's shooooik, it's sweet, it's sour, it' s... WOW.

hey everyone

2005-09-09T22:05:00.000+08:00

wow!! thanks everybody for letting me post here too! actually i don't even have my own blog, but i think this is more fun :D

anw... i was just wondering what u guys feel about how our ym is doing spiritually right now... because somehow i just feel its not the same as it was during the awa and the weeks leading up to it. It's strange because there was so much talk of a revival in our ym then and one thing that i remember was said (and even i was saying this also) was "the true indication of whether revival has taken place will come after awa itself, whether there's a difference after that" and honestly, to me things seem so... back to normal now. what do u guys think? I think that God still really wants to see us living with an ever-increasing passion for Him!! Let's pray that God will let revival start in us again - a passion that's not dependent on our circumstances, or any event but just simply because He's such an AMAZING God :)

Ok on a brighter note (see this is a ymm blog so all must talk music) (don't stone me), i think this blog is such a cool idea! come on more ppl join so i won't be so extra i'm currently the only one not in the ymm comm... we can talk about stuff here and learn from each other and i think God can use this to bring our whole ymm more together :) and together we will

ROCK FOR JESUS :)

thoughts on 'rain down' by delirious

2005-09-09T21:17:00.000+08:00

hey joul, which rhymes wif towel...

frankly whenever 'rain down' by delirious plays in my mum's car i've always thot it quite nonsensical... but after your post went to do a bit of research (one shld always find out for oneself ay)...did a bible search for "living water" and "holy fire" and i think that both are references to the Holy Spirit as seen below:

John 7:37-39 living water:
"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."

Acts 2:2-4 tongues of fire:
"Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

so yes... the song is asking for the raining down of the Holy Spirit... heaven's rain = the Holy Spirit... in that light, the song does have more meaning for me and hopefully for you too :)

side note... interestingly, the lyrics "Do not shut the heavens" and "open up our hearts" could have been drawn from the following passage -

2 Chronicles 7:13-14
"When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

perhaps there's a more biblical basis to this song than meets the eye... i agreed wif you that words maketh the song a worship aid but i wldnt take lightly the musical factor of a song too... cos i believe that God uses music powerfully to touch people, esp during times when words fail to express...

squishedlimes wants YOU

2005-09-09T18:14:00.000+08:00

have nvr felt so clueless in my life buying someone's b'day present.... and it's all j0e1's fault...

was standing in front of the glass cases containing watches upon watches trying to figure out if you'd prefer a round face over a square face (the watch, not your own face bleh), shiny or matte numbers on the face, strap wif or without contrast stitching, blue or black or brown face, black or brown strap...... arghhhhhh must have stood there in front of the display cases like an idiot for centuries on end *guilt trip guilt trip heh*

and which watch did i decide on? *drum roll please* well..........

you'll just have to wait and see la... suffice to say that i think it's one snazzy watch in one snazzy box *lol*

----------------------
calling for all contributors!!!

on a side note... i've no idea who else reads this but ben said that he wld like to be a contributor to *trumpets blare and limes squish* squishedlimes and we welcome him wif OPEN ARMS!!! (only ehque has administrative privileges so will have to wait for him to invite you)

good stuff :) anyone else wants to be a contributor to this music ministry blog, jus treat either of us to a lime juice and you're in ;) (seriously, jus ask la) and yeah, hope that we can all be a big family and post here as and when you feel like it... happy stuff, sad stuff, serious stuff, nonsensical stuff: anything and everything goes...

alritey... think this lime pwincess thing is getting to my head.... promise my next post will be smthg as serious and intellectually challenging as j0e1's earlier post... remember to let me know if you want to contribute!

i speaks again...

2005-09-09T17:31:00.000+08:00

ok... chris sms-ed me and was like...

"heh... how's the sore non-tooth? i saw your one-liner on squishedlimes.. post smthg longer la since you're free..."

I JUST WENT THROUGH AN OP LAST NIGHT, WOMAN...! free does NOT mean can post k....

plus i already posted on my own so...

okok... but since i can post now... i'll do a sightly longer one.... have u ever wondered abt that delirious? song, Rain Down...? for those who need reference... the lyrics can be found at http://www.delirious.org.uk/lyrics/songs/raindown.html...

reason i'm typing this is... does anyone know the meaning of the lyrics...?!?! wat on earth is raining down...?! living water...?! wat's that...?! or holy fire...?! or... is it just... ermz... rain...?? can hear some people going... well, joel... it's a nice song... why u wanna bash it like that...? ok... i know it's a great tune.... very good drumming... as musicality goes.. whoa...! but does anyone know what it means anyway...? wat is raining down...? haiz... maybe i'm turning into an old, grumpy, codger... like..

*hack cough hack* back in our days.... *wind whistling past...* we had GOOD songs... songs with meaning... *hackity hack* not like these new-fangled songs nowadays..... *koffity koff* OUR songs had meaning... had simple words like love... grace... *eyes glazing....* those good ole days...

NOTE: this is just my very own parody.... as far as i know, no one goes koffity koff... and most old, grump, codgers don't know how to say new-fangled anyway.... if you're an old, grumpy, codger... sincere apologies... and who taught u how to use the internet anyway...? well done you..!

ok.. after that very questionable aside... (and also taking note that when u really REALLY get down to it... love and grace isn't very simple anyway...) back to my point.... believe that songs don't worship God... and all the smart alecks cut in together with, "No joel, PEOPLE worship God..." why thank you all you SAs... what i meant to say was that a song's just a song unless the WORDS mean something to u... aiding YOU in YOUR worship of God... well... that's why i feel very worshipful listening to MercyMe's The Love Of God (http://vagalume.uol.com.br/letra/m/mercy-me/the-love-of-god.html)... but not the delirious? song...

before the brickbats come out... let me just say that this is nothing abt delirious?... it's I who don't understand the lyrics to that song... maybe if someone sat me down and went, "hey thickhead... this is wat it means" and proceeds to hammer it in with a sledge-hammer... when i go ooooooh! that's wat it means... then maybe i'll feel worshipful when i hear it... but for now...

my point is... its words that maketh the song into a worship aid...

at least... this is what i think... care to comment...?

i speaks

2005-09-09T09:50:00.000+08:00

wat on earth...?! sound of lime juice...?! think we've hit a new low in lack of originality guys...

the horrors of naming a blog....

2005-09-09T01:28:00.000+08:00

*trumpets blare*
*limes squish*
all hail the lime pwincess, squisher of limes!

ohmigooshness, aaron and i spent, what seemed like, eternity on coming up wif a name for this youth music comm blog (thus the title of this post *rolls eyes*)... we went from:

1. politically correct
- sticksandstrings.blogspot.com (which was taken up by a blog on _knitting_)
- stringsandsticks.blogspot.com (which was taken up by a *koff*beep*koff*)

2. food-based - smthg that's always associated wif comm working breakfasts/lunches/dinners/supper
- 1egg2kosong.blogspot.com
- teh-o-aliyah-tarik-bing.blogspot.com
- prata4thesoul.blogspot.com
- duckriceduckrice.blogspot.com

3. the unofficial fav drink of the comm - lime juice from the prata stall!!!
- limejuiceclub.blogspot.com
- soundjuice.blogspot.com
- soundoflimejuice.blogspot.com
- suckupthelimeseeds.blogspot.com
- soundofsquash.blogspot.com
- sticks-strings-lime-juice.blogspot.com

4. frustration - you can just hear the angst, man....
- thelimesarescreaming.blogspot.com
- screaminglimes.blogspot.com
- limesthataresquishedwillscream.blogspot.com
** wespentadamnlongtimethinkingaboutthisname.blogspot.com

5. jubilation!
squishedlimes.blogspot.com
[this name bears a widdle background descript... like why lime juice anyway? well some wonderful soul, ms addie lau, intro'd me to it when we went for lunch at the prata stall near church after youth day worship pract... and it was lurrrrve at first sip! the lime juice from the prata stall is nothing like your usual lime juice... c'mon it's not even green in colour! it's jus limes in sugar and water = totally glorious!!!

it was only a matter of time before aaron and joel got addicted to the most glorious taste of squished limes (+ sugar + water) and now it's the unofficial drink of the comm! 1 glass on sunday morning after prelims, 2 glasses sat nite after worship pract... simply glorious...

on a side note, anyone remember the squashed pumpkins? we thot that 'squishedlimes' was reminiscient of the now disbanded squashed pumpkins... sighz... *a moment of silence*]

6. over the top insanity *evil laffter*
joel-is-going-to-kill-us.blogspot.com

[i just added that one in cos yeah, self-explanatory... our chief, who will be making an appearance pretty soon, and who is stuck at home wif after a wisdom tooth op, does not know that we named our comm blog so 'unorthodox-ly'... oh well... people who dont not like clowns cant be choosers... heh]

yeps so that's the story of how squished limes came abt! and yeah i cant believe i'm posting on a blog in centuries since my own failed experiment with blogging (comprising of a first and last entry heh)... i amaze myself sometimes *lol*...

stay tuned for more squishy limey postings... prolly complains abt comm workload and lack of musicians *HINT* and worship leaders *HINT* and lime juice cold turkey... you get the picture...

squish

2005-09-08T23:44:00.000+08:00

well chris has given me the dubious honour of being the first human to post. and possibly the first of any known mammal/fish/fruitcake/nut. and so the wheel of time turns. and runs over more limes. lime juice!

ok. im done filling up the first post. over to you, chris, i know you want this.