What to pray for Malaysia?

What can we pray for Malaysia? Well, if you have run dry on what to pray, why not pray over the points of the following article? Article is taken from Malaysia Today http://www.malaysia-today.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=30931:real-cost-of-nep-insights-from-an-ice-cream-seller&catid=18:letterssurat&Itemid=100129

I cant help but put in my two scoops worth over the recent discourse over the cost of the affirmative action policies we have undertaken over the years – which affected the most part of my life.

By Roland K Selvanayagam

Numbers have been tossed in the air but essentially, the real costs cannot be quantified. Its ill implementation has affected our lives in more areas than we can sit up and observe

Lets look at a convenient 10

1) Education

Up to the late 60's our education was considered top class from primary to tertiary level. Even the diploma awarding colleges had a certain class about them eg the precursor to the now Universit Teknologi Malaysia

Thanks to the politicised implementation by our 'educators', our schools are now shunned. Tuition after hours becomes almost a standard. What our 'teachers' do not do in schools, the tuition teachers fill in. When the string of distinctions are announced, the schools and their teachers claim the credit.

I need go no further than my own two children.

Universities locally are generally avoided unless one cannot afford the alternative of overseas education or private sector university colleges.

The atmosphere in schools and public universities are so sterile that I wonder if I am sometimes in Brunei.

2) Health

I remember visiting our old GH in KL in the 60's and 70's and also the UH in Petaling Jaya.

The doctors and nurses were dedicated, pretty professional and you never really thought of going to a private hospital for better treatment.

Today, one has to ensure private health insurance is in place or 'endure' the public healthcare system.Sure there are exceptions out there but then, that should have been the rule. How many lower middle class and upward segments of our society opt to have their babies delivered in the government hospitals? That itself is a gauge of damnation.

For full article, please click here.

Thank God for Brothers Like These

Thanks to Lud, Adriel & Amiel Leong & Adriel Quek for packing away the Christmas tree and clearing the music room.

Have a look here before the room was cleared.


After




The Left Changing Room is officially the Music Room now. Please do not defile it.

Why We Do What We Do:Part I Bought By The Blood of The Lamb

This is a multi part series. It is advisable to read all to get the full picture of PCC culture and teaching.

Some of us here are asking the questions below:

• Why do we slothe through hours of practice? Why spend extra hours?
  
• Why do we get admonished for coming late or not turning up for sound check?
• Why do we bother with memorizing the lyrics? Searching through Youtube to learn the songs?
• Why have the songlist been given 1 week in advance?
• Who cares if the chords are a bit wrong? So what if the singer is out of time? So the projectionist is a bit late in changing slides? So what?
• Why should I commit fixed teams and weeks? Why can't I serve as and when I like with who I like?

The Why We DO What We Do series of article will adress the questions above and give us a sense of mission.

In the last Sound Engineering training conducted by me, the fees were donated to the PCC Creative Ministry fund. In other words, I gave away RM1,600. That's equiavalent to my dream handphone, the Nokia N97. Most people may not realize this but PCC members Pastor David & Bernard, Jim Abigo and Joseph Oleyemi has attended GSUS training in previous years. Incidentally, the collection was the same amount, which was collected by GSUS the company. So why am I trying to prove? That I am a benevolent guy? That I can afford to give away X ringgit?

Why, why tell me why? Anita Mui
Really, ask yourself this: Why am I in the music department? Why do I sing/dance/play an instrument? Why do I put in so much effort to practice and learn songs? STOP! Rewind and repeat the last line slowly, meditate on it, and tell yourself the answer outloud.

While you are thinking that through, I'll tell you what I don't believe in: There is no such thing as volunteers in the Kingdom of God! Really, I'm not kidding! Is there a volunteer position? There are apostles, pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets, etc. There are servants of Christ, ambassador of Christ, those who GO for Christ and "Lord send me" types. Volunteers? Hmmm....

My guess your answer is this: I am serving God through my musical talents in the music department. And that is Why We Do What We Do.

Let me testify that I are serving God because Jesus died for me, saved me, turned my life around for the good of me and those around me. I am doing what any servant of the Lord would. And that is this: All true disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ have taken an oath, Jesus is the Lord and Master of our lives. As Paul puts it, "For me to live is Christ...". So since I am a talented in the area of music, and I serve God effectively in the music department. Would that be part of your answer too?


No, I am not a rich guy nor am I that benevolent a chap. I counted the cost and we need good quality sound personnel. What's the point of practicing so hard only to be compromised by bad sound? I am sure any of you would do the same if you were in my position.

And the conclusion is?
We do enjoy the music, singing, etc. We do enjoy our musical hobby. Boys and girls will look at us when we are on stage. We have a productive thing to do during saturday afternoons. BUT above and beyond the last 3 sentences, we serve God because we are indebted. We want to express our love and gratitude via our service to Him. That's Why We Do What We Do

Talent Scouting Programme

An explaination by Lud Lee, Mother Of All Servants. Cut and pasted from his e-mail without edit.

Talent Scouting, Why?

The church, especially creative ministry has been doing recruitment drive for many years and one of the weaknesses is that there is a mismatch in the vacancies available and the resources offered.

The other issue is that sometimes the follow-up is not done due to several factors and one of them is the availability of mentors/coaches/trainers. The other issue would be the time of practice and training. It is either the trainer is not free or the trainee is not available.

Another issue is the lack of staying power of both the trainer and trainee. Couple with that is the availability of opportunity for the trainee to practise their skills.

Looking at the situation above, it would be a better option to talent scout the person. This can at least address some of the issues namely :

1. The availability and readiness of the mentors

2. The availability of the trainees and the commitment of the trainees to be trained for a certain period of time

3. The agreement of time and day of practice and the duration of the training

4. The exact matching of the need with the resource available.

5. The progression of the trainee can be monitored and thus thrust into service at the appropriate time.

With that mentioned, it does not mean that we don't believe in the practise of recruitment drive. On the contrary, we believe and support the recruitment drive fully as we could also "net" some hidden talent from this exercise. The hard work would be to match the talent to the vacancies with the various variables at play.

This perhaps may be a slow process but I believe this is a more effective way of ensuring the people recruited will not fall into the crack.

Please do understand that this is only peculiar to Creative Woship Ministry and not applicable to the other department.

--
Regards and God Bless

Lud Lee

Buddy System

With the kick off of Fixed Teams and Weeks, the buddy system is now possible. It is a link from one team member to another binding the entire team together.

How It Works
1. Worship leader communicates to/pray for/encourages/warns/etc team member no 2
2. Team member 2 who does the same thing to the next person, team member no 3
3. Team member 3, who receives the communication/prayer/encouragement/etc and relays it to team member no 4
and the chain continues until it comes back to the worship leader. In a way you can call this "The Fellowship of the Ring" ha ha

Because it is a fixed team and you have chosen your buddies, if the message is not passed on, the worship leader can PINPOINT who broke the communication. Worship leader can also know if it was communicated wrongly as the chain ends with worship leader!

Wha Good Is This?

• It enhances fellowship during the time we are not serving. It gives us an opportunity to say hi, and hopefully a start to deeper meaningful conversations and genuine heartfelt prayers
  
• It is a system of accountability for everyone in the team. Everyone is accountable for receiving and transmitting to their buddy. Everyone is aware of the going ons, the songlist, the obejctives and is accountable to their buddies and team. Everyone is accountable to their 2 buddies.
  
• It builds a belonging in the team with mini ministry. Every member has 2 buddies, one to receive the transmission and the other to relay the transmission. These 2 buddies are also your closest friends in the team. It allows you to share your thoughts/feelings/problems/etc, with these 2 buddies. Ministry can be given and received from your good buddies
• System of feedback and knowing what the team is going through. IF and when the team members open up to their buddies, the worship leader will have a better understanding of the condition of the team members behaviour, challenges, etc. It will build a more understanding and compassioante team.

Wow it's a brilliant idea. Did you create this system?
I would love to take the credit BUT the truth is I got this idea from Sun Tzu Art of War. No, not the management books, the comics.... sorry to have let you guys down he he. A comic book? Actually a lot of life's lessons are everywhere in everyday living, even in non christian comic books... you just need to let the Spirit of God open your understanding. Same thing with money. It's everywhere. We just need to reach out and earn lot of it legally.

Ok, I am off topic. So a bunch of farmers are fighting against the might of a real army. These farmers chose their padi fields as the terrain for battle. They grouped their farmer soldiers to cover certain sections of the terrain. Those who were from the same family, or farm, were organized into fighting units. They were familiar with one another to the point of being able to recognize the voice of their comrades in the dark! They knew exactly the strength of the guy fighting next to them. And yes, the farmers won. That's where your buddy system came from.

The tool is in place. Are you going to use it?
Are you? The CWC and I can only come out with good systems and environment to serve in. The actual execution is up to you, the Creative Ministry members. I do pray that this will be a step to better fellowship, prayer, unity, accountability and OWNERSHIP to your team.

Gloria In Excelsis Deo.

Power of Music

This song moved so many to tears in the Bollywood show 3 Idiots. We can learn a lot on interpretation, expression and inflections from this song. If we apply to singing in the spirit, it would be a world of dynamics in our worship services! Have a listen and see how perfected their art is. Section one is sung low, and later in the song an octave higher to make it sound like a different part of the song. Section 2 is introduced with loud percussions and later on is modulated a fourth down to create 'another' part in the song. All the standard success formula. And this guy's vocal and inflection is fantastic! Don't forget to pump up the volume on your sub woofers!

Music Room cum Miscellaneous Storage Room

What is a Christmas tree doing in our music room (left changing room) in March? It is still intact with all the decorations on!

#1 - Whose department does it fall under to keep them?
#2 - Does the Creative Dept have the jurisdiction to "throw" away the Christmas tree?
#3 - Can Jon find the person responsible and bill him/her for storage? Cheap cheap lar. RM50 per day, that'll be 70+ days since January 1st.

Wait, what is this?

Alamak! LN notes are on the floor. Now I wonder why they didn't chuck these stuff to the right changing room which is not under Creative Dept jurisdiction. Have a look at the right changing room picture below.

That's why lorr.....

The church belongs to us. We'll have to take care of it. Those kind Creative members who are willing to help clean and manage the room should contact Lud and do something about it!

Power of Music Ministry

Just another reminder fro all of us....