Diatribe Of A Mad Bassist

Ok.. thanks.. I’m now playing a bit role in the Dialect Church Easter Drama. Due to a lack of manpower. And as usual.. I’m supposed to be a bad guy. I’m Annas (no not a girl), the “Ka Kia” of Caiaphas.. the chief high priest. But good la.. I get to do my evil laughter. But the challenge is to act in HOkkien.. and also to change back into normal clothes to play the song for the crucifixion scene. Man.. it’s gonna be a challenging and stretching 2 weeks. Pls pray for me.. on top of that I still have rehearsals for Chinese Easter service… so yeah..

Ok.. A bit hard to phrase the title.. Wanted to put God’s needs but does God really need anything?

Essentially, just learnt that many times in ministry and our walk with God, the idea of self disappears. Sure, we have to love ourselves and watch for our own backs. But sometimes, when push comes to shove, when it’s the crunch time, will you be willing to put your own needs and wants aside to fulfill a need?

Just think: If Jesus decides that He doesn’t want to go to the cross for us, because basically, He doesn’t really have to if you think about it ( it’s our sins, not his so why shoud He?) or MAYBE, He wants to carry on His ministry here on earth, what would the world become? Where would you be? Where would I be?

Nonetheless, it’s always God’s will over our own will. God increase and we decrease in our lives.  His purpose and not my purpose. What He wants and not what we want. And as frequently used as it is, when u seek first (put first) the Kingdom of God, everything you need will be added onto you.

So much to say, dunno where to start.

It’s been a crazy week of serving for me.. hence the title..

Let’s see here

Wed - Went down to Riverwalk for “Encounter” which was a youth revival meeting of sorts by the zone. Was there to basically supervise and guide the new guitarist that the zone is trying to raise up. Ended up playing the 3rd session, as well as direting the two piece band, doing sound, catcher, bv ( yes.. bv). Had a long talk with Wendy, one of the Subzone leaders in my zone. 3 hours long to be exact. But felt really ministered though it was more of a casual sharing session.

Fri -  Played bass for “Youth Edition”. Felt really weird playin bass without drums, in fact, I felt I played badly. But one of the members came up to me after the session and said I played very nice.. thank God for that encouragement then. Kelvin Tan then asked me to stay back and help the drama cos it was apparently long, dry and not funny. Erm, ok.. so I was like saying “Wah.. need a clown then ask me issit?” Haha. Anyway, yeah stayed back and helped them all the way till 11.

Sat - Went down to Riverwalk again early in the morning to help the drama team one more time. Then went off to prepare for CG, had CG, then went back to put down the guitar for my bass and headed to my grandma’s place. Then headed down to Jurong for Chinese Church Prac. Along the way heard that the drama team did really well so thank God for that. Reached home at about 12 plus.

Sun - Went for service in the morning before rushing down to Jurong to play for Chinese Church, then Dialect Church, then Dialect Church prac. And after that stayed back to help train the new drummers, so to speak. Reached home a 1130pm.. so yeah. I’m on overtime.

But, of course I feel good to be used by God this way. And in a way, I feel now everybody is on overdrive/overtime (no, Yenhao.. I’m not talking about pedals).

Pst Kong and the team is bringing Taiwan up to a new level. They are going to be there for the better part of 2 mths. For sure the devil is gonna try to whack the home base la. But right now is a time for us here back home to rise up a new level. In a way, to take the baton to be on the frontline here back home.

Just take the music team for example. Look at the bass department. KC is in Taiwan, so Weitian has to anchor for main service. Which kinda leaves me to rise up to the occassion to anchor for Chinese Church even though i just started playing like end of January. In a way I have to rise up to the occassion or else.. well… I dunno what will happen lah but yeah. But yeah, it’s good training for all of us. After all, the strength of a team can be seen by the strength of the “reserves”. Just look at the world’s stupidest football club Chelsea to know what I mean. I mean sure, they bought their way to success (losers!) but just look at their reserve bench. Formidable.

So whatever it is, I need to train myself up, stretch myself, and be prepared for whatever God has in store for me. Pray and pray.

Do feel a great burden to pray for the people around me who are struggling. Whatever it is you are going through, sometimes you gotta just keep forcing your way through. Keep banging the wall (aka Long Bia). Many times, you will keep thinking that you are not getting anywhere and you might even hurt yourself. But bang it hard and long enough, you will break through. So yeah, be bold and stay strong. Now is a time for all of us to hold on and fight on together.

Guess what came in the mail today?

Haha… yes, I’m officially mad….

For those of you who have forgotten.. here’s just a reminder of how good they are.. this is a complilation of clips taken by someone in their 2006 concert in Hong Kong, which sold out for 5 nights!

WHOO!!!! Yes.. snigger all you want. But I’m going for it. These 3 are like the ones I grew up listening to. Imagine the joy that I had when my bro came into my room this morning and told me they are coming. Immediately, I went to the SISTIC website and tried to buy the tickets… only to realise it’s only open at 9am today. (It’s 8am now). Love my bro.. hahaha… anyway my mom has agreed to sponsor the tickets, so both of us are going. Yeah!

UPDATE: Got the tix!! Row 5 Seats 5 and 6!!! Which is quite to the centre of the stage! Yeah! WHOO!!!

Hmm… Lishan (keyboardist in Chinese Church) has “challenged” me to write a Chinese song. Haha.. come to think of it, I haven’t written a song of any value before in my life. And now that Emerge is drawing near, I guess I’ll give the song writing competition a shot. I dunno la.. see how. Somehow I just can’t seem to find the creative juices. Want me to do a stand-up comedy, no problem. I might even win it if they have that compeition. But I guess song writing for me will have to be something that really challenge me as a musician. I guess it’s the perfectionist mindset that many people told me that I have sometimes. It’s either I do a super good one or I don’t do at all. It’s bad.

Anyway, the past week has been rather cool. Had a chance to meet one of the top guitarists in the world (reputedly world number 11), David Holmes. He and Andrew Naylor, both who were part of the original “Prayerworks” combination came down to lead Praise and Worship in church this week. They also conducted two days of workshop for the musicians. So yeah, finally after “idolising” him for dunno how many years, I finally get to meet him.