disclaimer - content may contain traces of spoiler. don't read if you are planning to watch it fresh.
Just finished watching the avengers, and naturally got me thinking about that team... and eventually my question became: ARE WE GOD'S AVENGERS?
You gotta admit, the two ideas are pretty similar. Evil was spilled into the harmonious world, and like Loki, Satan wants to take control over our free will and make us kneel before him. He wants our praise, he wants our attention, and he wants our hearts. He has the ability to directly control our minds (like with hawkeye) or indirectly manipulate through understanding our weaknesses (like with hulk). Worse of all, Satan infiltrates our world with his army of sins - it attacks us, frightens us, and attacks us some more. When his army grows so big, the avengers is the only hope of the world.
Aren't we all recruited differently? Some of us at a younger age; some of us through evangelical meetings; some of us with a lot of persuasion; some of us through a near-death situation... the list goes on, but at some point, we were all called to be God's army and to engage in the spiritual warfare. Did we have a choice? Yes, we could walk away, but when our world is endangered, how can we not do anything?
Seeing the other members that was recruited, what was our reaction? Did we notice the different unique gifts that was scattered in the community? Did we start on the wrong foot with some people to begin with? or perhaps still on the wrong foot...? Was it not Loki's plan all along to stimulate arguments and stir up segregation? Loki was afraid the formation of the avengers have the possibility of ruining his plans... Satan thinks the same! he knows unity of Christians is a strong force and thus thinks of ways to prevent the unification.
Are we willing to put down our own individualism (our own different "heroic" titles), and be classified as simply a group of "avengers"?
I think I am misusing the word sabbath here... I do realize it means i shouldn't do anything... but for the time being, i dont think it's possible....
These weeks had been hectic with various practices and meetings... I am not complaining about them, but at the same time, I was having a hard time putting everything in place, and at the end, i ran out of free time or time to just rest.
Miraculously, all the meetings got cancelled this week :D! Initially i was double booked for Usher meeting and WinterCon practice.. and somehow both are cancelled. Initially I have to play piano on Sunday, and somehow that got rearranged.. and all various meetings are also not set this week.. so FINALLY, i will be home from monday to thursday night. I have a feeling this is God's witty arrangement to get me to rest and fix my cough.... I prefer this way instead of giving me a red light (collapse).
And I will not be exactly "resting" these nights though.. coz I have to prepare for my Advisory committee meeting.. get all my data compiled, organized and powerpointed. i'll see how it goes... but i guess sleeping early will be a must!
Got a few realization this weekend during teleios camp (to become perfect)
Realization 1: The first song in camp that made me want to cry was 得勝 . the content itself isn’t all that touching, but the history behind it was. This song was the theme song of the first ever jubilization I’ve been to, and also the first time I stepped into AFC. I cannot say it was solely due to AFC, but I’ve grown a lot spiritually during the 4 years (and chronologically too…) I’ve won over many battles and improved my relationship with God…The final victory isn’t here yet, but it’s approaching. The other song is also from AFC, 人間行傳. it was the first song I led in CCF, before I even became a ST. Life slips past so quickly and I’ve been on campus for so many years. Whenever I pass by Scarfe, I always wonder what would happen to me if I decided to reject the invitation and chose early-home instead. Then I was reminded of the short opportunities we are given on campuses, so it’s really a now-or-never experience. I did prolong my service at CCF but it’s also coming to its evitable end. 今天，讓我延續這行傳, yes it starts TODAY! Can’t wait! It’s a good reminder.
Realization 2: During the confession prayers, even if they sounded repetitive and I tried to rush through it because it seemed like I would not have enough time to say it all. I also stumbled quite a bit with the Chinese. I didn’t think there would be much effective to just reading a scripted prayer… but it felt surprisingly lighter afterwards. I had this analogous image that we are like helium (actually hydrogen) balloons tied down by a rock.. so for all my life, I didn’t know I was able to fly. Yet with my past behind me and with Jesus claiming my life with His blood, the string was cut and the burden was gone. I was free again =) It was a good feeling! I am hoping with all the “spirits” gone, I will keep on flying and not be weighted down by rocks again.
Realization 3: Tony and Gigi just recently visited Israelish places and bought me back a necklace as souvenir that says the sea of Galilee. I didn’t really think there was any indication, and of course there probably wasn’t any… At teleios, God was speaking to me through Wayne and told me to sail to the deep water. When I first heard this, it reminded me of our church retreat and its theme song… but I wasn’t completely sure what God was trying to tell me. Where exactly am I sailing to and in what area do I need to get out of my comfort zone and go into the deep ends? I thought whether God refers to my workplace, my fellowship, my family, my serving positions, or just internally… but pondering did not result in a reply. I later asked Wayne and he told me it’s merely a response of willingness and the destination does not matter. The sea of Galilee was the location where both time, Peter dropped down the net into the deep water, once when he was called and once when after Jesus’ death. I am willing to go.. but at the same time afraid of what is to happen. Still I am sure God has for me a guided path and peacefulness.I actually also asked God myself and what I got was, the way of heading to deep waters is to continue developing the gifts I have. He wasn’t about to “teleport” me right into the deep water, and I would obviously be scared if He did. The gradual path will be the way for me, and God is sailing with me. The necklace, although unintended, reminds me I can have Peter’s faith and I anticipate what God has for me in the future.
I’ll continue later with other random realizations
I guess with preparation work! First of all, if i were to describe the retreat in one word, it would be "miracle" (hmm i guess miraculous, but i wanna use miracle instead). The initial idea of even having a retreat came up in mid October, and nothing really wasn't done for 2 months except finalizing the date and the location. The location had been an issue already when we wanted to find inexpensive places so students could afford the stay. Another factor was the distance from our campuses and how people would get there. This place was just perfect because it was significantly cheaper with meals included, it wasn't a very long ride for all of us, and we were able to occupy the whole campsite ourselves! (Oh food was good too)
Real planning came after Christmas exams except retreat wasn't that high on the priority considering the need to talk about 2nd term ccf and revere in January... The theme of the retreat, officially came out in January (4th, i believe?) Hey, then there's less than 1.5 months to work out all the details?? hai gah! But that meeting i thought was very productive... drilling out the idea of the theme took almost an hour, but after the debate between "I am a Christian", "Christian for life", and "I am a Christian for Life"... every other pieces seemed to fall into place on its own... For the next 30 minutes, it must have been the most productive meeting anyone could ever have!! (Hey i was awake for once so i knew exactly what was happening)... Jess wanted to write out the schedule but i took the pen coz she was too slow with decorating the board. After my messy writing kicked in, the ~44 hours program fit like a puzzle! To be honest, having the programs was the least to worry because it's the content of the programs that needs a lot of brain power. Somehow we formed many departments responsible for different tasks and we made sure each program on the schedule fall under each department, and that was it. That was really the only "official" meeting we had and needed. Afterwards, it was just through email that we assured each other of the progresses. I am pretty surprised how everyone got time to do the things they did - like they had to lead weekly jau wui's, midterms, assignments, going to lectures, work, other serving positions... God will make time geh! He's the one in the driver's seat anyways. For myself, I really didn't think i ever have time to do anything... (I guess I still don't, but I learned to control time a bit better! )
I think out of all the "departments," the theme song was first to finish. I didn't think i would be able to write it though because although I dedicated a few nights for it where i just sat in front of the piano and thought what Christians were, no inspiration came. For the longest time, all i had was the melody for "I am a Christian for life" in the chorus... i started whining to my ST teammates and they started throwing out random words for me to use... (nice try, i dont think i used too many of them) but the encouragement is always nice! I gave it up for a few days and just prayed for it... and then one day, the bridge came into place within 30 minutes.. and then a couple of days after, the chorus words came to me when i was bussing and both choruses were done in 3 hours.. and verse somehow took the longest... I wrote it when i was waiting for my 401 home and used Metro as my scrap paper. So yes, i guess i have a busy life somewhat, but God pours out His words when I am not busy... and that was really all the time I would need when He was the main writer. I was just the one who typed out the lyrics, the score, and recorded a demo for STs,but He wrote it...
Another worry came into the scene when we weren't sure whether we would have enough attendance to the camp. When it was first promoted to SFU, we were told that only seven people would be interested and paid deposit.. and i thought, that made sense because their ccf wasn't that big... and the ridiculous thing was, even when they only had 7 people registered, UBC had less! As the deadline approached, the registrees just kept on increasing. It even got over our goal of 40 people...It showed us once again that worrying is pretty pointless... God does amazing things and He does it at His own timing! He's the real shepherd and He will lead His sheep into the camp.
a week before the actual retreat, we started to pray "together" for the retreat! Together in time and heart, but not geographically. I guess by that time, you could say everything has been in order and entropy was slowly approaching 0. Again, yes God is amazing with His work, but He's also amazing in providing the necessary gifts to people on the team so working together turned out like ... like.... TETRIS! when we filled each other's "pits" we were able to knock down the row... During one of these praying nights, I suddenly thought of Ps 127. I guess we could boast ourselves for doing this and that and this and that, but if it weren't for His grace, all labour would have been in vain. AND we weren't more superior than other people, it just so happened that we were in this position! Glory to Him and Him alone.
AH! I am finally on retreat day!! dang dang DANG! kay, so the night before i didn't get too much sleep (not because i was excited... but because I had to finish packing the stuff i need for games, and also because i had to hand in an assignment so i was doing last minute edits..) And i really should not have worked on Friday, and went home immediately after class. Nothing i did that day was too urgent anyways.. but well.. so no, i overestimated my alliquotting speed and i left at like 3:15, got home @ 5. So within 30 minutes, I had to load everything to the car, think of a way to "finish" prepping for games, and eat dinner. At the end, i made it on time geh! I copied and pasted the stuff i needed from website and I thought i could finish the prepping at night after lights out. so ya... here we go... sleepy and rushing driver heading out! HAHA i proved to be an awful driver right after i drove Jodie! when i was turning out of Taiko, a car almost crashed into me due to busy traffic.. and then all of a sudden a person dressed in black stood in the middle of the street (Odlin) and i almost crashed into that... yaah! and then i wasn't sure where every passenger lives.. so by half guessing i got to everyone's place.. and with Tomtom's help, i got to the campsite safely too (i had to make some guesses too because tomtom lost his signal a few times)
I guess i was one of the few people who didn't think SFU and UBC ppl would have a problem blending together. I mean, i didn't think it would be a problem because it was bound to happen! and the moment in walked into the registration place, i guess i was right. SFU ppl in a group, UBC ppl in a group... but that soon dissolved already when SFU ppl were very ju dong at knowing the others. and for some reason, they were more energetic than UBC ppl. My first theory was that they didn't have school that day, but how was that possible... off to a good start, except i wasn't fully prepared with what to say during the debrief of my friday night game. I was telling wayne and he told me to find a corner and prep... but then i got pulled away with rehearsing for singspiration.. hmmm.... YA, but during our last ST prayer before camp started, every idea i wanted to say pulled together :)
The first night passed by just like that.. and the rest of the night, i spent prepping for what to say in games... I pulled out 56 pages of notes from website to read over... and at the same time, wayne was prepping for his sermon, lieza prepping for devotion section, dp prepping for singspiration.. and as usual everyone was din-ning. I spent the night there although i didn't really prep that much! the fat-din-ing was too distracting... i am sure God will say what He wants to say...
okay it's getting late and i spent too long typing.. this is it for now...
I am sure many things were not expected in the camp! The time table wasn't planned to be this way... and I bet many people didn't expect to get so "dehydrated".. and many things were not meant to be said were said... and I didn't expect fuk bui moon yat liu to be that "popular" but i m always glad songs were able to touch ppl's heart! I guess my 2009 new year resolution came true after all! write songs that gum dong people :) And it was encouraging on my part that I could continue to write and continue to share the power of music.
I don't know what is going through each of you guy's mind right now regarding the recent "change"? I guess I wasn't in much of a shock until I asked how long we have until we have to execute the new option.
Our church really hasn't gone through much these seven years. At least seeing it from my end, everything has gone through so smoothly, with finding RCS, and each of pastor's houses, nothing really involved the congregation ever. (Okay, well 7 years ago, i wasn't able to vote though so maybe I just didn't know about it...) I guess it's good to finally have a change and make some progress towards our ultimate goal.
I have no idea if three months is enough to find a right place. It doesn't sound easy fulfilling all our criteria and we dont have that much money on hand to play with. Whatever option we get to, I guess a lot of us can just pray. If i had more time, i would help research on places .. but since I don't, all I can do is try the Christian-network I have, and I already filed a prayer request to the CCF prayer group.
=) It's a good challenge God gave us! and I think we'll grow closer together in unity!
Thanks for sharing :) and Yes! GOD WILL MAKE A WAY!
I am going to do my little summary of my year!!! I checked back and realized that I didn't write one for 2009!!! But 2010 was definitely a better year than the one before!! and hopefully 2011 is even better =) My greediness again!
School: I guess school went well having finished another certificate with an acceptable average... not that it matter all that much because the average is not really counted towards anything. Actually, it kind of does: I was applying for grants and apparently BCIT was full time so it could be used but my 4th year grades weren't as competitive. I dont really care about the grants... didn't expect to get it anyways. Then in May, officially got accepted into MSc program. I think i liked the BCIT course load more just because it seemed like it was high school level.. and MSc, although no exam, i had many papers/assignments to complete.. but overall everything was great! sleep cycle was altered but i think i enjoyed it overall.
Work: finally getting a relatively stable income!!! and I don't even withdraw money from there coz I still spend what I earn in cash from tutoring. I really like my boss coz he doesn't really force me to work and he expects that I would focus more on schoolwork until i finish the required credits... and i still get the same salary~ still i feel bad for not working so i try to work as much as possible during holidays. For those interested, my thesis project is on designing a drug that would slow down heart rate but acting as a blocker to the adrenaline-induced pathway involving a pacemaker channel protein. Not making much progress, still in the stage of finding which commercially available drug to try.
Fellowship(s): somehow got myself involved in three fellowships these days although the three combined isn't really all that loadful. Light fellowship, as a secretary, doesn't do much on top of taking minutes! even the committee team is pretty slacked? i would say. In our progression of being a less-relying-on-committee fellowship, i guess it's easy for the transition since most of the members are comfortable with leading programs already.. but it also seems like we don't have a direction as to where we are going. All the programs are so scattered like we are only doing those to fill the assigned time slot. hopefully in the new year, the fellowship wont be as scattered. Luke fellowship...i dont know where we are even going with this! like is it even worth starting a fellowship and planning stuff when attendance and participation is so sacred? like i want to say that everything is worth working towards when it's for God but sometimes it's just disappointing when not a slight outcome is observed. it's also ahrd to put into the mindset of what they are thinking at their age coz i was already teaching sunday school (and i think retired from teaching sunday school) at their age. Biblical training really should have been done earlier, but we should really ask them whether they even want to be trained. I think the planning team could be more organized themselves. CCF... i was really doubtful about still going before coz of the age difference and i am uncomfortable being the oldest person... also i didn't know whether i would have time to sneak out of lab and go to CCF... but i guess when you really want to do something you can do it for sure. I only missed the first and last jau wui due to lab commitments... I guess i was also concern with the time i have to put in... it was fine even with the 13 hours meeting! haha that was kinda fun except for the part where i started dozing off but the comments i got was nice. However i have to agree as a MST i guess i didn't do all that much... especially when i dont think i do it because of the position but more as friends... and CCF this year gave me one surprise =) Quoted from the surprise: 又真係好夾喎！聲音嘅tone好和，冇特別練之下unison時感情嘅運用、句子嘅起伏都可以咁齊，仲有嘅係… 大家竟然可以同樣咁去feel個music，而有一樣pattern、timing嘅搖擺，就連…ling頭嗰下都一齊嘅
Servings: besides fellowships, all the other ones are related to music... as usual. I am very comfortable with knowing my calling and i guess there's varieties itself in the different roles geh, being a pianist, songchooser and NaCl member. Nothing really special happened. I used to have NaCl as a separate section but there really isn't that much to talk about anymore. The only thing we did was a long long meeting in july and CCM christmas show... ya, didn't accomplish much.. even on my own, i only wrote 4 songs? i think!?! I think some of them are good songs gah! And towards the end of the year, I got another role and i was actually very very interested into accepting despite the potential amount of workload.. but well, at the end i don t think it takes too much time.. but it'll be an interesting and a change into what i do :) thank you Gigi EE
Revival: Like i mentioned in my other post already, 2010 is really a great year with lots of message regarding revival in vancouver... events i attended included ACM and 1040 screening both encouraged youths to take a role, take a stance against the world! And monthly CRY Revive meeting and wpms are very good in getting continual doses of this encouragement so we know our fire has to keep going!!!
Nin do ji goh: You raise me up i only know this song at the beginning on the year.. i think i heard it from Jason's baptism... and then from youtube.. and then i changed the song to cantonese lyrics... it's another encouraging song
洞，基本上都係孤單寂寞。我做好多嘢都係間接地將自己填滿。最明顯嘅係，我會將schedule填得密密麻麻，讓工作或事奉去麻醉自己，起碼唔會哩在房間裡，質問點解會剩下一人。 我會好努力做好每一樣嘢：當然都要有神嘅恩典啦！我自小學已經知道我要考第一！乜都要第一！但原因並不是因好勝，而係，聰明的會吸引到朋友嘅擁戴，無論什麼企圖都好，同學會因問功課主動同我傾計，我樂於助人就自然受盡歡迎！得到地位，and my hole is filled。 我要音樂上excel，因為能夠肯定在事奉的崗位，凡需要嘅時候都會記得Leo係彈琴嗰個。得到認同，and my hole is filled。 我唔需要家人的擔憂，自己會為未來打算，自己賺夠所需，什麼出夜街也不會被管制。得到信任，and my hole is filled。
（gonna limit what I say so I will have more to write for my year-end post) 轉眼間已經過了一個學期，由第一日對新挑戰新工作量的不習慣，到今日已寫上了數份X千字paper和幾個presentation。感恩的是每回都有充份 時間完成；感恩的是明明準備不足沒有計時下剛好在time limit裡講說好；感恩的是有傻人會深夜後仍守候在旁陪伴左右；感恩的是可以抽空玩戲一番。感恩的是無論忙也會應邀改文，從而polish英語詞彙用 法，亦分享到高分的快感。
:) Tony suksuk was our guest speaker @ CCF today and it's really awesome how he gave the group the activity of choosing 10 wants and 10 unwants like we did back then... So now, i can compared what i had in mind of marriage 5 years ago and what I feel right now.
10 WANTS 2005 2010
emotionally healthy trustworthy
energetic level financially stable
intelligence intelligence
personal habits personal habits
same hobbies education
character character
value system value system
talents race
religious belief spirituality
face sex history
-Four out of Ten remains the same.我覺得我自己現實咗，更加著重對方嘅intellect，然而去determine 二人是否compatible.
10 UNWANTS 2005 2010
tell lies tell lies
unfaithful unfaithful
poor anger management poor anger management
addiction to drugs/alcohol addiction to drugs/alcohol
smoking smoking
gambling poor money management
sex addict sex addict
improper behaviour improper behaviour
arrogant arrogant
different religious belief dirty words
Ging ah! Eight out of Ten still remains the same. I guess it makes sense because these have to do with my values and they can hardly be changed. Some qualities just cannot be tolerated, ten years ago or ten years from now.
This year, the first thing i put on both list has to do with sex... probably because of the CCF topic last year and unraveling bits of life i didn't know back then...
i am pretty sure it wouldn't be my turn to lead! Correct me if i were wrong, but i think i JUST led the 5th week immediately before in august... and there was part of me that didn't want to coz I knew i was busy this weekend and prepping the script usually takes a night...
:D but during mid week-ish... it might have to do with post-1040 motivation, i really wanted to lead!! Six hours before the practice with the team, I was doing my morning devotion.. and what to say just CAME to me. Like.. God just told me exactly what to say in which part and which scripture to use. I don't know if you guys realized, but everything I said today regarded to 1Peter 1-2. So scripting didn't take very long.
I was also pretty worried about the singing... didn't know the team would have so little people. i m most comfortable when kai ma is by my side -- 陣住! Also, having led in these three months, today is the only time I am neither sick nor bothered by the ear problem. August, still coughing a lot even though it wasn't normal... September... still coughing and my right ear would have this "internal blocking' feeling so my voice resonated in my head... very distracting. So this time, i was still worried about the ear thing... got many prayers.... as i was driving to church, the right ear was doing its thing again and even during rehearsal.. but miraculously, during worship, it was under control! PRAYING IS AWESOME :D :D :D :D
估唔到嘅係，呢個topic幾個月裡面不停再我身邊兜圈。除咗叫我唔好再歲月蹉跎外，要被send out！要肩擔使命！有使者嘅＜獻身後＞sharing group，互勉勵與支持同行者。有CRY事工，我哋年青人要出番力，興起校園，興起教會！不可叫人少看你年輕，出發啦！一齊打呢場屬靈戰爭！ 直到今晚嘅1040 screening，讓我唔能夠再deny，神在溫哥華，唔同嘅culture、背景、國藉都要聯盟，同樣都知道耶穌基督為我們而死。 We unite because He loves us! We proclaim, we worship, we love because He loves us! ARISE! SHINE!! RISE to be the Army of GOD!
I really should get on with my presentation preparation but I really want to jot down that amazing feeling!!!!
Today afternoon, my family planned to go to the Ling's for a visit. I hesitated with my prep, but I figured I haven't seen them for so long I should, and really want to, pay a visit. On the way to Delta (i didn't remember it being such a short ride...), a lot of childhood memories re-emerged: after our first visit, probably 10 years ago now, my mom got lost and made a detour to White Rock. There was this trail thing near their house where we hiked. Another curiosity suddenly struck me - I never drove to their house.... and the reason was because i would have my license yet!! It has been that long! I can still remember last time I visited, Mr. Ho drove and I slept on WH's shoulder on the way back... i am very glad God gave me a huge hard drive for compartmental memory storage, and how a short car-ride stimulated the memory.
Okay... and then when we got there Josh wasn't home even though I was really looking forward to seeing him... (Oh, a little bit of background - I knew Josh since he was 3, so you could say I've seen him become the person he is today. And we were also memory verse buddies where our marks would be added together for prizes... and our families were also good friends so we used to have dinners often and gamed. After church became ABC, we went to different churches and thus didn't get a chance to see each other much) after like 2 hours, he came home after a bball (?) game. So despite how i had the urge to run up to him when i saw him, i restrained myself to avoid getting wet... yaa.. he showered first before we hugged =)
CHIU DAI GOH loh! even though he's still just gr 10.. but going from age 3 to age 15 is very dramatic and he definitely grew and his voice deepened since the last time i saw him. it's all good, developmentally! it was just really great seeing him again (and unless my observations were wrong, he felt the same way).... it was like reuniting with a long lost brother... HAHAA except in this case, it's a long lost son -
long story short, in one of the church plays for a parents-appreciation-event, he took role as my son 8.5 years ago!!!!!!!! Ivan suk suk said he wouldn't look like my son today luu... and for security, i said he didn't look like my son back in the days either....
Since church baptism (and service) got moved to 2:30 pm, i had a whole morning free... instead of sleeping in, i decided to go visit another church. Arrived at VCEFC at 8:15 for the morning service... and they already started singing. I felt kinda bad even though it appears that 20% of the congregation arrived later than I. I've never, and never intended to be late for ABC services... and i usually arrive early anyways. The last time I was late was probably in HK coz I had to wait for sis to church. Their sermon was SO short! 20 minutes jah! short sermons are so great! It doesn't require as much mental capacity to remember everything said and the main theme is right to the point. After service, I even got time to attend one of their fellowships, discussing Jesus' life. Lesson 5 encloses from after-temptation to disciple callings. I think i made a pretty good impression in class and the instructor was surprised I knew so much chinese! (Canadian Chinese School FTW :D) ... ya i guess you can't hide quality :)
After getting to richmond for lunch, I got ready for my own church's baptismal service. It's always awesome to witness a life-changing moment when a new brother/sister is revived. May God guide them through all the temptations on Earth, and willingly submit as the follower of Christ. 莊稼多,工人少!!!
Oh and I had 2 communions today. I like the ABC crispy "bread" more
it was an EXHAUSTING experience 1) I don't think i've ever stood at the same spot for so long before, and for so many days, EVER in my life. My childhood consists of a lot of freedom :) .. i guess there were those morning assemblies in HK, but they really weren't that long (i think), and i remembered getting a chance to be seated. At worships in church, the standing duration is usually limited to compromise for the age and physical differences. 2) also mentally tired when i come home at like 11... and it was time for me to do other things. Even though i was supposed to work on my homework, i spent a lot of the evening time talking, to catch up on the things i've missed due to ACM - ie, fellowship and NaCl meeting... "我只誇我軟弱" and 我軟弱 = lack of time!!! but.. 神恩典重重繞著我, so despite all difficulties, everything shall work out! 3) and i am low on sleep for sure! did not fall asleep in sermons though! This morning, i was going to sleep til 9, but i automatically woke up @ 8, and started singing already. Following my promise, I read the bible.
IT WAS a SCARY experience 1) there was just so much lyrics to memorize. on thursday night (dressed rehearsal night), we suddenly were told to sing this verse which we never heard of before... just a little confusion gave us one day to memorize before the actual concert 2) sitting on the steps were scary, and i m on the last row so i could fall off the steps if i lean backwards. Good that i do not stand on the very very side. 3) the stage today had a baptismal tub right in the center of the stage... and that's where the dancing takes place... so we were jumping on top of a few pieces of boards. The churches we go to are increasing difficulties for us. Church 1 was fine, just a bit tiny.. Church 2 was wide, but a huge mic stand was in the way. Church 3 had a tub AND the mic stand!
it was a TOUCHING experience 1) there's a huge difference between the audience and actually being on stage. In the dedicating portion of the event, when i was in the audience, i would usually close my eyes (as indicated by the pastor).. and there isn't a good view. but on stage, as one of the highest standing position, you can see exactly whom did not believe and who did. It was great when you saw a sitting person stand up. I guess it's like Jesus lifting someone from their issues. and when people are willing to walk out and commit themselves and crying like crazy, you just can't help but to cry with them. 2) it must have been the most i've cried this year... actually it was either this, or campfire at retreat. my green uniform got all wet though with tear dripping.
it was a SPIRITUAL experience 1) i think, the praying ministry is weak in a lot of churches. i haven't prayed SO MUCH in my life before, in a group. Maybe we are used to praying alone, but the feeling that there are 50 other Christians around you praying for the same thing is much stronger. And i realized again that, nothing is too small to pray for... nothing is silly... just PRAY because we believe it makes a difference. 2) also, haven't held so many people's hands before too... you'll see why if you come XD 3) this morning, i walked into the office... and my colleague said i looked happy. (haha was i not happy before?... )
