The Passion for Worship

Last weekend was awesome. My church DUMC had our very first Worship Conference... and it turned out to be a very meaningful weekend for me.

I had been quite tired and stretched lately because we've had 4 concerts in 4 consecutive weeks, the Worship Conference being the fourth. Nevertheless, I was still looking forward to the Worship Conference because I just felt that God had something in store for me... and I wanted God's touch desperately.

The speaker was Pastor Glenn Packiam from New Life Church, Colorado Springs and his messages really spoke to me personally. I was looking forward to each session because there was so much to absorb from him. He emanated with a truly inspiring and overwhelming passion for God, not only in his worship but also through his preaching and interaction with people.

Sunday was my favourite. The morning's message was titled 'Let Worship Rock and Justice Roll'. It was about hearing what God hears. That God doesn't care so much about all the great things we do if we tolerate injustice. Because God is a God of justice. And that loving God is about loving and helping those considered the very least in society. I feel that sometimes, injustice exists in the most unlikely places.... and we won't see it unless we really look...and listen.

The night session revived me. I was up at the gallery by myself (apart from the security guys) just outside Media Control. I wanted to worship God so badly because I had not been doing that lately...being caught up in all the technical stuff. So I did. Worshipping God freely all by myself in the dark.... singing.... after awhile I just switched off from everything else.

When Glenn started singing 'I Am Free' and 'Counting on God', by this time I was dancing with overwhelming joy..... till my energy ran out and my knees hurt. Haha. I was filled with so much joy seeing the congregation... old and young, dancing with such freedom and passion in worshipping God. I was reminded of how much I loved worshipping God, and how much power lies in the act of worship. That through worship, God breaks the chains of the enemy, releases the joy of the Lord, grants peace and supernatural healing to those who need it. Worship is the key to being free....

Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.

Exodus 23:25-26

My Vision & Mission

Phew! I'm so relieved. I found the back-up to my old blog from 2002 to 2006. The entire blog got deleted from Tripod for some reason. Yesterday, I searched through my back-up hard disc and found most of the files.

One of the most precious writings I had there was my vision and mission I wrote in 2004. Reading it again last night reminded me of who I used to be and who I want to continue being.

My Vision

I want to be a living testimony of God's power, leading people to fruitfulness, faithfulness and undying love for our King!

My Mission

I want to walk in God's perfect will. I will commit everything I do in prayer to Him, I will seek Him in all my ways and I will always come before Him with thanksgiving. I will not forget His goodness towards me and I will continue to guard and nurture my faith in Him. I will obey His command to 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind (Luke 10:27).' I will continue to commune with Jesus in prayer, worship and reading His Word daily.

I want to love others the way God loves me. I will be sincere in my actions, always keeping a check on the state of my motives and my heart. I will not judge others on their outward appearance and I will always forgive as Christ has forgiven me. I will look to the needs of others above my own.

I want to be humble in all I do, always seeking the glory of God and not my own. I will not be overcome by evil, but I will overcome evil with good. I will try my best in everything I do, and I will not be afraid to fail. I want to be in a constant learning attitude, and avail myself to teach others what I have learnt. I will work hard and trust in God, remembering that perseverance builds character.

I want to be passionate in everything I do. I want to be a good steward of the gifts God has given me, no matter how big or small. I want to bring love, joy and peace of God into people's lives, showing them that life in God is indeed awesome. I will encourage and build people up to see how precious and unique they are in God's eyes.

I will always cherish and maintain my childlike faith in God, the energy of my youth, the beauty of purity, the value of integrity and the importance of truth. I will be excited as each day unfolds, revealing more of His plans for me.

I want to be the woman that God created me to be. I want to be a woman after God's heart.

My Testimony

When I was about 6, my mum told me stories from the bible of someone called Jesus who loved me and could do all kinds of amazing things like heal sick people. I can't remember everything she said but I do remember saying a prayer after her asking Jesus to come into my heart.

So after that day, I started talking to Jesus since He was now my friend. I told Him everything - please watch over my family, please give me a new pencil box and all sorts of requests. Once when my parents argued, I wrote long letter to Jesus telling Him I didn't like earth very much and it would be nice if He took me home.

One of my most vivid memories of being with Jesus was when I was about 13. While I was sleeping at night, someone came to take me somewhere. My spirit seemed to be flying in the air, and I couldn't see but all I could feel was a love that was so strong .. a feeling that I belonged to that person. A love much more intense than what I feel for my earthly parents, and what I have ever felt from them.

We seemed to be flying in the sky, and we reached a place where there were lots of children. They seemed to be surrounding someone and they were all singing. We were there for awhile... then it was time to go back. We 'flew' back to my 'body' and I woke up. The experience was so real I touched my face... and it was so cold.... just like I had just been flying in the sky.

I realise now that I had been with Jesus. And when I was with Him, I didn't want to be with anyone else. I would have chosen to be with Him and never go back to earth if I was given the choice. No words can express the intense love I felt from Him... and there is no possible comparison of that love to anything I that have ever felt in this world.

Its been nearly 20 years, and I still miss that moment of being so near to Jesus. And I know, one day I will experience it again. I know not everyone will believe me, but this is my testimony.

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and how long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

The Measure of a Leader

Obama became the 44th President of USA today. I'm not American and probably know very little of what's going on in that country... but hearing and reading all thats in the media got me all hyped up too. I saw many 'coloured' people in tears, rejoicing at the very first 'coloured' President. I was touched seeing so many people of different 'colours' united and cheering the leader they have chosen.

People have different reasons for electing a leader. However, its not always that we get to choose our leaders. So I think its a privilege that Americans get to vote for their leaders, and their leaders get to rally for themselves. This got me thinking about how I measure leaders...

My respect and allegiance to my leaders are based on this question - Do they sincerely care about me? I have discovered that it is quite impossible for me to pledge my undying support to a leader who does not seem to care about the people he is leading. He may be a really eloquent speaker, have great knowledge, good looks and is extremely talented but if he doesn't care about his people, I don't think he's fit to be a leader.

On the other hand, he may be shy, not so great in looks and not such a great speaker but if he has a heart for the people he's leading, I will support him. I'm not saying that leaders don't need to have skills, its just that at the very least they must care for the people they are leading.

Leaders aren't superhuman or God, and I think they will fail once in a while. The difference is this - a leader who has cared for his people consistently will be forgiven easily by those under him, but the leader who has not shown care for his people will not be shown mercy when he fails. Its as simple as that.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13