Brownout, Burnout, or Blackout?

This caption is from Pastor Ronnie Chin's sermon last sunday. Well, if you look at the dates of my blog, you will notice a decrease in entries. So is the blog browning out? Burning out? Or worse still experiencing a blackout? NEITHER OF THOSE! It's just that we have gone to 2nd gear!

In the first quarter we put in place the buddy system, fixed teams and evaluation report. We trained the sound personnels and they will be getting the certificate of completion this June. We fed you guys KFC. We have in hardcopy the PCC hanky panky book. Ooops .... I meant the HANDBOOK. In the month of May, I have been to every single practice to pray, exhort and spur the teams to a DEEPER spiritual encounter for sunday. Kok Yen has started the Worship 101 in the Bible Explorer. In June, the guitar training will start. So are we experiencing a brownout, burnout or blackout?

I think not. The reason articles are sparse is because I have been busy on the ground. Like you, I have only 24 hours a day. I am also waiting for the department to start reading. Once we have the handbook fully circulated and the entire department briefed and re-briefed, the REDOUT begins. Those who are counter productive to the ministry will find themselves issued the RED card by the referee.


Where are we heading?

So where are we heading? We are shifting to 2nd gear and it's at the threshold of the REDOUT season. We at the CWC are working triple hard to ensure that the music department will indeed grow from strength to strength! It can only be done if the members themselves grow from strength to strength. So come early. Be there before 5pm. Step into the spiritual dimension of worship leading after being musically/physically prepared. Expect to see the supernatural when God's people lift Him up! After all he did say "I will draw all men".

Shalom.

Going Up To The Next Level

by Pastor Aris

When someone complains that a program or presentation is 'boring', what do they actually mean?
They probably mean one or two things listed below...
1. There is nothing new about it.
2. They have seen/heard that before.
3. Nothing has changed or improved over the years. Its the same old thing. The worship structure is set in cement.
4. It is predictable. They can tell the end from the beginning of the program.
5. There are no 'wow' moments.
6. It is sub standard to what they are exposed to.
7. It lacks creativity
8. Mediocrisy is tolerated.

A worship service can easily melt down to a mere maintainance mode where worshippers just drift in and out every weekend without having an encounter with God. When this happens, who should take responsibility? When a TV series drops in its ratings, does the management blame the viewers that they dont know the value of the program. On the contrary, the management, the producers of the program takes a hard look at why they are not drawing the crowds and make the necessary changes to make the program exciting.

For the full article clikc here.

My Boo Boo

I want to apologize for a stupid action I took that has caused hurt and humiliation to brother Joe Lye. After service last sunday, he admonished me and I apologized. Though the apology was accepted, I feel I need to offer the apology here in the blog. Joe, I am sorry for the silly mistake I made. I am praying the hurt will only be for a short while.

What Happened?
Just before the service started, Joe walked up on stage with his instrument. I did not want the music arrangements to be disturbed since he did not come for practice and soundcheck. So instead of using PCC handbook guideline 4.4, which states "worship leader has the right to ask members to step down for that sunday if they are deemed counter productive to the worship service or to the team" , I made a wrong call by instructing the soundman to mute his microphone. Yeah, I know, stupid of me!

How Could You Make Such A Silly Decision?
I took the easy way out at a moment of weakness. Instead of exercising my authority, I thought I could please everybody by muting the mic. That way, Joe gets to play and not disturb the entire team. Well it backfired! I am not offering any excuses. It's just a dumb move - period.

Now why didn't I exercise my authority? Because we were about to go up and like I have said before, this is not sunday karaoke. I didn't want to get distracted or embroiled in negative emotions. Worship leading is not about singing some songs to Jesus. It is an utmost holy endeavour to lead God's people into His presence. Moving in prophecies, gifts of the Holy Spirit, healings and things of the Spirit (for me) requires concentration, prayer and spending much time seeking the face of God. So I did not want to be distracted and as a result, I made a big boo boo. In other words, I did not have the strength/will at that moment to say no to Joe. If I had, he would be okay and so will I.

So Will Anything Good Come Out of This?
For one, a new article on this blog.
Two, now you know that we have a PCC handbook and implementation has started.
Three, I need to buck up.
Four, you need to buck up as we are now heading to a more spiritual emphasis of moving in power ministry, prophecy, gifts of the Holy Spirit, etc.
Lastly, pray for me and Joe. I am optimistic that this will be a start of more good things to come after the hurt has healed.