Haha I went to Planetshakers' just now with a couple of friends. It was... Wow.
(haha really must thank God for Max Pavilion/Hall 10, been taking it for granted that we get to worship Him there every Sunday for service, it's practically home. it's the best la. anointed place. haha)
God's presence just filled my heart. Especially during "Beautiful Saviour", "Here I Am to Worship", "How Great is Our God", "One Way" and "Majesty". lol. All familiar songs, I know. But I realized something. If you want to experience God through p & w, you just have to make that decision to put all things aside and worship Him. It's either you decide to sing and jump for Him, or you can just sit there and look around at others passively. It's a decision that you have to make for yourself. To engage yourself in worship or to sit in disconnectedness.
I am deeply convicted by God of what true worship is about today.
It's never about what you feel at that particular moment neither does it matter that the day sucked because you got a scolding from your boss or a kid dropped his ice-cream cone on your expensive brand new skirt (you know what I mean). Once you choose to lay aside all distractions and just sing for God, He comes through. His glory just shines. His love just fills your heart. Because worship is all about Him. His goodness alone deserves all our praise. And how sucky we feel does not change any of His goodness.
You know what is the difference between a pop concert (be it KT Tunstall or Backstreet Boys or Coldplay, etc...) and a Christian concert?
Jesus.
Sure, you can say that there's nothing different. Groups of ppl gather near the stage. They sing, clap to the beat, holler/shout/scream, point or even raise their hands (as if the band deserves worshipping). It seems all the same, doesn't it?
No. It's not. God's presence is in the house of His people. We sing and jump and shout only for Him. Because He deserves all glory and honor and praise. Nothing is great about the worship band. Neither is there anything special about the musicians or worship leaders. Sure, they play good music. But it is nothing about the music or the band's technical skills. Do you see people with eyes closed, just enjoying the presence of God in an ordinary concert? Do you see people jumping for joy simply because of the knowledge that God is great? No. Simply because He's not there.
One good reason why I believe in choosing only to make music for God (i.e. no secular music-making in my future): It's all for His glory. It's not about me.
Learnt that secular music is really all about the self. Common themes in secular songs: love, breakups, getting over breakups, being angsty, being emo, wars, violence, sex, etc. (but okay I'll give credit to songs dedicated to charitable purposes). And about playing secular music? It's about glorifying oneself on stage. About displaying your wonderful technical skills for all to see. And it ends there. Beep. Red light. STOP. No more.
And hey don't misunderstand. I like secular music. Rachael Yamagata, Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World, Hot Hot Heat, etc.
And I'm also not saying that showcasing your talents is a bad thing. It's wonderful that you have such gifts.
What I'm saying is: Put these God-given talents into good use for the glory of God. People need to know that there's a Saviour who died for them because of one word:
LOVE.
We need to get word out there there is hope in this world. And music is one way to do it. And I think life's too short to waste it on making music for ourselves. There is purpose in writing lyrics for God. There is purpose in singing words that resound with His love and goodness. There is purpose in playing in a band that is for God (and I can't thank Him enough for putting me in two such bands).
So go Hillsong! Go United! Go Planetshakers! Go Paradise! wOOOOOOT! All for God!
His word for the day: Psalm 150.
1 Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.
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And I anticipate tons of hate-mail for this post from pre-believers. But I don't care and tonight I'm not into subtle. Just had to write this out. People need to know.
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