A Life of a Worship Leader

It was 16th August 2011, a hot blazing sun at noon to be exact. A nice weather to go out actually to do errands especially during these rainy seasons which somehow brings about a heavy traffic. Prior to that - it was an issue with a long overdue toothache. Few weeks actually which I had managed to submerge it with pain killers which eventually lead to a bad rotting tooth - chipping off bit by bit. Yes, it was an afternoon I would not forget. The "drill" was fast. Literally. I'm making mention of the extraction and the whole procedure lasted in minutes. I did tarry a bit in the waiting area. Wondering if I made the right decision in losing a tooth. The Dental Clinic was about 15 minutes away from my office. That's when the minutes suddenly froze. As I was riding my bike. The next thing I was taken. It was a vision/dreamlike state where I was in church. It appeared to be like that church setting and there were 4 guys waiting for me.

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4: 21 - 24 This is my favourite verse in the Bible. This is very much my heart beat of what I cry out in worship. Let's look at this again. 1) Believe me, that a time is coming that you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem - where location is no longer an issue . 2) Yet a time is coming & has now come when The True Worshippers will worship the Father in the spirit & in truth. 3) For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks .

It was raining early in the morning. One of the things that upsets me as I would be delayed for work (I ride to work by bike and therefore I wear a raincoat when it rains, with the traffic jam & all other sorts of inconvenience on the road is so tiresome.) I was feeling very tired, worn-out and angry. Deep inside I was feeling very burdened. Something so unusual as this is a normal ordeal when it rains in the morning. This shouldn't upset me - so why is this happening internally? I wondered whether could it be pride or selfishness on my part. (self-seeking ambitious or my pride wounded) Sort of my own self-check to see whether my heart is in the right place. Even then, why am I feeling so tired, so drained out of energy? Back Story: It all started last weekend when I worship lead in a church. The practice and the worship flowed very smoothly but something was missing. I didn't sense it then but realized it the next day. (the feeli

“So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground." Exodus 3:4-5 Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the LORD with all his might. 2 Samuel 6:14 "I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.” 2 Samuel 6:22 1) Why did God asked Moses to remove his sandals? 2) What got Holiness and Holy Ground to do with removing sandals? (In today's modern times, internal issues of the heart carries more value than external factor, what got fashion got to do with issue of the heart?) When King David leapt and danced before God, his wife despised him. She despised him because he worshiped God in a manner

What happens when a Worship Service is nothing but a show? It's like it had arrived to a place where when you see your computer desktop screen and noticed the screensaver automatically playing by itself, a program. When you look at the worship team singing and praising God but you can't help but notice the attitude of the church members careless to join together in worship, rather they treat it like a they are attending a show or a set-up where it's a pub or a bar where singers sing and they watch them at their own comfort zone, doing your own thing. The red sticker with a gentle note or a warning saying, "SWITCH OFF YOUR HANDPHONE" Had become null and void, I wonder why do they trouble themselves coming to church and make others a stumbling block with their attitude towards worship Where are all the hands that should be raised worshiping God? Rather they are now, busy texting and playing mobile games during worship? What happen

Yeah... you read it right - copyright issues. I wonder if King David and the authors of Psalms, Song of Solomon and all other songs written in the scriptures have the same issues back then. What if someone lay claim that all the ancient scriptures as their own private property? I'm pretty sure Jesus would have come back and would had made a whip chord with scorpions this time around for   turning his house   into a marketplace. Prophets would have called "hail storms" and many more judges like Samson would have ripped apart temple foundations. Back then, it was simple - no one would ever thought of "paying tax" for singing "their songs" or worshiping God. But now, it has. It is almost like during the time when The Roman Catholic church had the idea of selling indulgences for the salvation of souls in purgatory. Less, if the clergy don't pray -these souls are bound in eternal torment of hell-fire for that duration of &q

The Origin of Pride Consider this: Imagine an amazing celestial being, far more superior in splendor and beauty. Created in all majesty and wonder. Of all the greatness and glory beyond measure and this being. Fall short because pride was found in his heart and therefore fall short & sinned. Isaiah 14:12-15 New King James Version (NKJV) The Fall of Lucifer “How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit. If Lucifer an angelic being, so perfected and lived in the heavenly realm.. And even he is not immune to pr

Psalms 136: His Love Endures Forever 2 Chronicles 20: 18 - 29 Jehoshaphat bowed down with his face to the ground, and all the people of Judah and Jerusalem fell down in worship before the LORD. Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice. Early in the morning they left for the Desert of Tekoa. As they set out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Listen to me, Judah and people of Jerusalem! Have faith in the LORD your God and you will be upheld; have faith in his prophets and you will be successful.” After consulting the people, Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the LORD and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:    “Give thanks to the LORD,    for his love endures forever.”   As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah,

Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. Psalm 4:3 This is the most trying moments of my life, together with other personal problems added - it seemed I have become very negative and see everything in a skeptical point of view. I wonder what happened to my faith, being tried and tested in a furnace of fire.. (it's not like you turn to gold in one day) Added to my negativity, l realized and had become a product of my environment. And going with that flow - it's not easy to accept the other fact that I had easily swayed into the mud slinging of blame the game of "poor me - pity me" factor... Coming back, can God use a negative orientated person? When all the murmuring, complaining, dis-grunting issues of everything that appears to be wrong, then after all that, can that person comes up in front, put up a big smile and say: "Let's Praise & Worship God"

I'm pretty sure there a huge resource of information concerning Christian worship that in my opinion may even take a lifetime to study and discover. However, this is my personal journey / journal in my experience in worship leading and very much in the area of trials of tribulation in trying to live up to the expectation of that high calling where God requires of me. Many times I had failed in keeping myself in that discipline. It's much easier to give up than to pick up the cross and follow Christ. All the more, when a calling and gifting is bestowed together with anointing, it's much easier to say, "Now, God - the journey is getting tougher and rougher, I think I shall stop here" God is gracious to a point where you can take a break, but He is going to chase you like how He chased Jonah, until you fulfilled what God expects of you or you can continue to run but have a very exhaustive, unfulfilled life. I wanted to write