Worship List 081206

Before I come to the list, I want to make mention of the worship team here...

I was supposed to lead the worship next Sunday. However David Yeoh, who was next week's worship leader, told me that he could not make it to practice this Saturday. I had to swap with him.

I was immediately put in a dilemma. This week is Hari Raya week, so many of our musicians were away for a holiday. All week I was trying to find the right time when all the musicians could come together for a practice. It was a tough time trying to synchronize all our calendars and find the right time to practice. Bearing in mind that I also did not want to deprive them of their holiday as they have worked hard for the worship ministry and deserved a holiday. I spent much of my week worrying about the practice and the worship time. We finally decided to practice on Saturday morning at 10:00AM instead of the usual 1:30PM. Suddenly all the musicians were available, even David made it to the practice! I was very encouraged by the commitment of this group of musicians. They really went out of their way to serve God in this area. In the midst of the confusion I forgot to inform Donny, our lead guitarist, that we have moved the practice time again this week. I had previously spoken to him about the change of practice time. I thought I informed him but I was making so many calls to so many people that I left him out.

Bobby (bassist), Irvin (sound tech), Marcus (keyboardist), Timothy (rhythm guitarist), and I (worship leader) arrived at church at 10:00AM. We all came in my van. We setup while waiting for the rest to arrive. By 10:20AM we gave Donny a call asking him how late he was going to be. It was then that we realized that there was a communication break down. He explained to us that he was not informed of the practice. I apologized for leaving him in the dark and told him that it's alright if he cannot make it since the songs are very simple, as I was anticipating that there would be very few people in church this holiday weekend. But Donny told us that he will come immediately if we could wait. We started our practice without Donny, he arrived only when we were doing our 4th song. That was approximately 12 minutes... Kelisa quite fast!

Practice went on very well, at the end of the practice we spent some time praying for the team, the worship time, and the church members. We did not do the usual "thank you for this practice... amen". We took our time this time. We were implementing the decision that we made based on the worship evaluation form from the last time I worship led. Practice was good.

After the practice we all went for a CS session. It was a good reward for our efforts. We had a great time killing each other, laughing our hearts out as we did it. Nice!

Here is the worship list:

1. Beautiful One (D)
2. We Wanna See Jesus Lifted High (G)
3. It Is You (G)
4. Heart Of Worship (G)
5. I Love You Lord (G)

The worship time was very good. The musicians were really "into it", we could feel a different energy in the music. More importantly, the church was really "into it". It was a wonderful time of worship. At the end of the session during our briefing we asked each other what was the difference this week. I mentioned that it could probably be the break. The members might be more relaxed and responsive after having a holiday. However after reflecting the rest of the day on what we did different this week I came to a conclusion that although the holiday might have played a role, the bigger factor was more probably 1) the extended prayer time we had, and 2) the attitude and commitment of the musicians who went out of their way to make it to the practice this week. Not just Donny and David, but also Bobby, who just flew back in from Indonesia on Friday. Their commitment encourages me to continue to give my best to God in this ministry. Let us continue to encourage each other in this way. Thank you musicians, and bravo!

Religion and Cults: Chinese Deities & Ancestor Worship

Here are the two files that I promised to share with the rest of the students in the Religion and Cults class in my church:

*Click on the link to download:

"Malaysian Chinese Beliefs" by Lemuel Yee

"Ancestral Worship and Christianity" by Victor Lee


The Religion and Cults class was quite refreshing. Instead of the usual lecturing method, the class was split into groups and designated to research certain religions/cults. Then we were supposed to present it in our class. Since I took this course in BCM my group volunteered to be the first to go. I wish we could have had more time to prepare a better presentation. My group was designated to research on the Chinese Religions, which includes the 3 major religions: Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism. Also included the various chinese deities, ancestral worship, religious practices, etc.

I made my presentation and informed the class that I am opened to questions, and that we would learn from each other. After my presentation a lively discussion ensued. Many of my classmates took part in the discussion, sharing their thoughts openly. In a flash one hour had already passed and time was up. I offered to make these two files available for those who are interested in studying the subject further. So here they are.

The first paper is my term paper for my Religion and Cults class in BCM. I chose to do this paper so that I could interact better with the Chinese people that I meet. Especially my relatives. So the paper is more focused on the local Chinese beliefs.

The second paper is from Victor Lee my classmate from BCM. His paper is on the topic of "Ancestral Worship and Christianity". Feel free to visit his blog as well, incidentally his blog is called "My Reflections". We had no idea our blogs had similar names until much later.

Feel free to comment on the papers or my group's presentation. There is much that we can learn from each other. We could continue with our discussion here.

1 Timothy 2:9-15

Now this blog was named "Reflections" as I wanted to do some "reflecting" here. Lately my reflections have been more on the "casual" side, unlike the posts this blog started off with. It is no easy work trying to dig deep into God's word and situations around us. However once in a while someone or something comes along and pushes you to do it.

So my friend Angela Yap, who recently went over to Oxford, England to complete her studies, emailed me and asked me about a certain passage in the Bible that she was reading. Angela mentioned that she was reading 1 Timothy. I believe the exact reference is 1 Timothy 2:9-15. This is what it says:

9 I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, 10 but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

11 A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. 15 But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Read the rest of the passage here.

This view of a woman's role in the church is rather passive and male chauvinist. Is there such a thing as "equality of genders"? Can a woman teach or preach in church? Or is the role of women only to "make babies"? Or does the Bible view women as secondary to men? What is the Bible trying to teach us here? Does the church's practices reflect the principles taught in the Bible? Or are we conforming to worldly trends?

Before I go any further, let me hear your initial thoughts and responses to this question raised by Angela (who still doesn't have a blog yet). In the meantime I will be attempting to formulate a "proper" response. Hopefully we can have a meaningful discussion on this very interesting topic. Ultimately I hope that through this exercise we can provoke each other towards growth. As my newbie blogger uncle says in his blog: "iron sharpens iron".

Looking forward to hearing your comments.

EduCare & WidowCare Fundraiser

As previously mentioned, here is the post on the Assemblies of God charity dinner.

I was contacted by the committee earlier in month to come give a testimony during the dinner about how EduCare has helped me. Rev. Jeremiah Kong who contacted me based on a list given to him did not realize that although I applied for the EduCare scholarship for my studies in BCM I did not get the scholarship. I informed Rev Jeremiah that I did not get the help, upon realizing that he apologized profusely. It really wasn't his fault but he felt so embarassed about it. I was already helping Shanti to find some PKs (pastors' kids) to give special numbers during the event, but I volunteered my help in any other way to Rev Jeremiah. He thanked me and apologized one last time before hanging up.

Few days later I got an email from Rev Jeremiah asking me to emcee the event. That was when I kinda regretted opening my big fat mouth. However I thought that if they felt I could contribute in this way I would give my time.

For those of you who are still blur let me inform you. Educare & WidowCare is a fund set up by the Assemblies of God of Malaysia to help our ministers. Many pastors who work in the outskirts do not "earn" enough from their job as a "minister" to support their families. So AG Malaysia wanted to help support some of our workers by helping them with their children's studies and also by taking care of some of the widows that are left behind. I understand that this might not add up for some of you. You might ask why God does not provide "properly" for these people who are working for him. I believe this would be one of the ways that God would use to provide for these servants. There is a general rule an there is always an exception to the rule. God works in different ways with different people.

Anyhow, I believe that Christians should be more sensitive. Keep your eyes opened, take good care of your shepherd so that they can minister effectively without external pressure or duress. Might discuss this more in another post.

Here are the event details:

Date: 22nd September 2008 (Monday)
Time: 7:30pm-10:00pm
Venue: Dewan Sivik, Petaling Jaya
Price: RM100.00 per seat
Estimated Attendance: 600 (60+ tables)
Guest of Honour: Yang Berhormat Teresa Kok

The event was to start at 7:30pm. I was asked to be there by 5:30pm. I met many who were part of the committee when I arrived. We were all there doing last minute preparations. I went over the script with Shanti my "co-host" and made some changes. Some of the people who were giving special presentations (including Juwita Suwito, also a PK) were also there setting up.

I soon realized that it will be an hour since the opening till diner will be served. Taking into account Malaysian's "flexi" time, it will be almost 9pm before anyone had anything to eat. That certainly worried me as I did not want to become the "hate figure" of the dinner. They will be seeing me coming up and making announcements but there will not be food. There would be many hungry (and angry people). I suggested to Shanti that it might be good to adjust the time so that there will be less hungry people. After some consultation, Shanti finally told me that the schedule will be adjusted as the guest of honour would also rather not give a speech to 600 hungry people.

Here's the itinerary for the dinner:

7:15 - Arrival of Guests
7:25 - Arrival of VIPs
7:30 - Opening Ceremony (Hip Hop Dance by Christian Dance Fellowship of Malaysia)
7:35 - Opening Address by hosts (Shanti & Lemuel)
7:40 - Opening Prayer by Rev Ronnie Chin
7:45 - Praise & Worship (Good Tidings, Shah Alam)
8:00 - Song Presentation: "I Surrender All" by Rev Sean Prasad
8:05 - Greetings by Rev Terrence Sinnadurai
8:10 - Speech by Rev Ong Sek Leang
8:15 - Speech by Guest of Honour (YB Teresa Kok)
8:20 - Dinner served
8:20 - Live Band Performance by X4JC
8:40 - Testimonies by
Rev Jeremiah Gan (his son recipient of EduCare fund)
Sis Sharon (recipient of EduCare fund)
Rev Ezra Muthu
9:00 - "My Love Gift" Pledge (Rev Terrence Sinnadurai)
9:10 - Table Lucky Draw
9:20 - Finale by Juwita Suwito

So that was the official plan. But when time came for YB Teresa Kok to give her speech she went on and on about her ISA detention. YB Teresa Kok who is the Member of the Selangor state Assembly for Kinrara, almost did not make it for the event due to her ISA detention. YB Edward Lee, Bukit Gasing State Assemblyman (who I just found out is my BCM classmate's father) was ready to stand in on her behalf. YB Teresa Kok, as we know was released and made it for the dinner. I do feel that it was not right for her to be held for such a long time for such menial issues. She spoke for about her ISA experience and how she felt God had helped her during her time in detention for about 25 minutes but only spoke about 3 minutes on the EduCare & WidowCare fund. The crowd sat and listened intently to her speech. In some ways she is like Malaysia's own Nelson Mandela, but of course Nelson Mandela is a whole other league. She did however pledge RM5,000 to the fund and applaud the efforts of the committee to take care of the pastors and their families.

So the schedule was screwed beyond recognition. Everything was pushed back, by the time we reached Juwita's part of the schedule there were few people left. Juwita was advised to do just one song, she decided to perform her song "Leading Change". Despite the 40-odd people left in the hall Juwita gave her best. It was like an intimate concert with her fans. Those who stayed behind had a chance to interact intimately with her while she sang. Those who stayed on screamed for more and Juwita duly obliged. By the end of it she sang 3 songs, everyone got into it. It was like a karaoke session with Juwita. I must say her attitude impresses me. She's such a pro, even with so few people she gave her 100% knowing that she was using her talents as God wanted her to.

So that was the EduCare and WidowCare Fundraiser. It is great that the Assemblies of God Malaysia is doing this for their credential members. We have to take care of our ministers. There were some Canaan Church people who were around, I caught a glimpse of Joshua taking some pix of the event. You can read his account of the event on his blog. The better pix here are from his flickr account, the sucky ones are from... "other people". I think I might have to get a camera of my own, can't trust anyone with their cameras. End up with no good pix, as you can see no picture of me hosting the dinner.

Anyway if you would like to contribute towards this fund, speak to your pastor. Or you could also visit the Assemblies of God Malaysia's website for more info.

For the more visually oriented:

Arrival of YB Teresa Kok

The VIP Table

Teresa Kok presenting gifts to some individuals and companies

Mikayla was not left out, she too will soon be a PK

Some PKs that were there. R-L: Shanti, Kenny, Reuben (I assume you know Melanie by now).

Juwita Suwito (center) with X4JC. Watch out for the release of X4JC's album at the end of the year

Mikayla and Shanti. Shanti was recently featured in a newpaper article.

My mother got in the action as well.

My mother wanted a picture with "someone famous"... I think she was talking about me.

Way better pictures from Joshua. Didn't find any of me though...