3 praise & worship sessions in 1 day.

As the title of the post itself has claimed, i led 3 praise and worship sessions last Sunday and i think i'm addicted to it LOL...

Sunday morning, KBI (kebaktian bahasa inggeris), the service started at 8.30 AM and the PnW session begins at 9 AM and lasted exactly 15 minutes (video taped).

the feedbacks were encouraging. Aunty Sybil thanked me as if i have saved her life from drowning, LOL..seriously!

She said it is the first time in St. Kath that there is actually a flow in worship and that i did a good job. She shook my hands while thanking me non-stop.

Some youth (who were naughty at times) also congratulated me, for the right reason i hope, after the service- "You really ROCKKkkk...!"

ACTUALLY, I DID NOT DO ANYTHING NEW, TO BE HONEST. All i did was just done my part of leading a PnW sessuion the standard way.

...and because i did it the standard way, to some people it felt uplifting and the flow was there...

It's a good thing that i did a good thing there.

It's good to open people's eyes sometimes.

Hopefully, the KBI PnW will improve and experience a gradual positive change after today.

I did not set a standard that day. All i did was doing what should have been done long time ago.

i don't deserve the praise because it belongs to God.

That was the first session, another PnW session that i led that Sunday was during KBM (kebaktian bahasa malaysia).

I was supposed to play the guitar along but somehow, due to tuning problem, i had to sing without the guitar and it really distorted the flow because there were gaps here and there.

Anyway, my voice was at its end when suddenly ( i dont know how) i manage to hit a very high note which i never even dreamt of reaching LOL~!

If u watch the vid, u will notice that in the beginning, the worship seemed to be dry but as the progression was made, the musicians managed to 'feel' the rhythm and flow together in the worship.

The 3rd PnW session of that Sunday was held at Emmanuel Church, Cheras because we (KBM of St. Katherine) paid a visit to that church and to have a fellowship.

As usual, there will always be a technical problem. The LCD projector refused to cooperate with my friend's laptop and i was getting worried because all of the songs are inside the laptop and time was running out. Finally, it worked out well. By then, i already lost my focus because i was nervous.

the PnW went on smoothly with some GMB's songs at the beginning (in fact all of the songs are GMB's LOL).

It is a great and wonderful experience for me to be given the chance to lead in not one, not two but THREE PnW sessions in one shot- one Sunday!

Praise and Worship Visit to Chastity Home (Kajang).

'I LOVE YOU LORD!'

Last Saturday a team of faithful and dedicated Christians from St. Katherine's Church Kajang went to have a fellowship and pray for the residents of Chasity Home in Kajang. The home is for the physically challenged people and the elderly. They are actually abandoned by their family members due to certain reasons. Only God knows why.

The team was led by Aunty Sybil and comprised of Mrs. Rebecca, a youth leader,4 students from Masterskills Nursing College, a UKM student, the church's driver and myself. I played guitar for them.

The first person to greet us (while we were still outside of the fence) was an aged woman, apparently she had a difficulty to walk and speak properly. She waved at us and greeted, welcoming us to enter. Such a pure hospitality, a very rare scene in today's modern world. It was a very pure smile and full of warmth.

We went in to the compound but did not enter because the car porch was organized in such a way that all visitation could be made conveniently outside.

Then, it was time for a a praise and worship. I was playing the guitar.

In the middle of the worship, i suddenly broke down, still playing, i cried and cried without pausing to wipe my tears.

There, in the small circle that we made, a small physically challenged girl tried her best to clap along and danced in the middle. At first, i thought this was rather amusing (a normal reaction for any human, don't deny it) when finally it struck my heart and penitrated my soul, so strong that i cried.

If only we see this kind of true praise and worship among us, how delightful and pleased God is! Amen?!

For the first time in my life, i understood the meaning of "Break forth into dancing."

i have been to many churches, served in various places, never in my life to see this kind of unashamed worship. She danced without hesitation. I thought i can only see this in youtube where the African-American people would break forth into dancing.


"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy."
(Psalm 30:11).

I don't think i need to elaborate more on it. Just let the Holy Spirit explain what i am trying to say to you. Look at us, look at our church and most importantly, look at STM's style of worship.

For months, i have been gathering comments and ideas of how to improve our praise and worship in STM and I am convince now that i should go for the Worship Chairperson post next year.

The most challenging part is, i am going to work along side with some strict people with strict regulations.

Oh ya, almost forgot to mention, 3 of the people there (including one home staff) accepted Christ that day, PRAISE BE TO GOD.

Shouldn't this become a good testimony for God's glory?

"Lord, forgive me for being selfish all this while and keep You only to my standard while in fact even the world can't even contain your greatness, and that people should praise you based on what they believe and not what i believe and how i want them to behave in praise and worship"

- a prayer of humility.............(????)..... certain people need to say this prayer....

FAITH......!

“Faith”

For all in the hope- Rod

Seriously, it is very hard to talk on this topic especially when you live among the worlds most skeptical and pessimist Christians. This semester, I have been through many ups and downs but to compare them with the previous year’s, I think I’m doing quite well…so far!

Anyway, what are God’s responses to the question, “how can I become stronger in my faith?”

1. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
(Titus 2:2)

2. Observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,
(Deuteronomy 11:8)

Just as your muscles get stronger with exercise, so your faith gets stronger the more you exercise it. To strengthen your faith, SPEND TIME IN ‘TRAINING’ WITH GOD EACH DAY, be careful to obey His regimen for healthy and godly living. Then your faith will be strengthened and your spiritual muscle will be ready to take on whatever life throws at you.

What do I do to implement this?

1. Whatever things or matters that I meditate on, I will blog them out just like this and all of my posts. Dr. Voon says ‘we need to keep track of our daily journey with Jesus, so it is good to have a journal.’ In my case is this humble blog of mine. Somewhere in the future, we have the access to see our ups and downs and it is good to always reflect on God’s faithfulness. My blog may not be as theologically correct as some of the lecturers’ or as fancy as some of my friends’ but then it is enough to be a constant reminder to me that I should at all time remain as a faithful servant.

2. Have a quiet time with The Lord.

STM is a place where your reputation will precede you! (Can I have a good ‘amen’ for that??!)
“Rod, you got time to pray meh..?? Sure or not…??? Don’t bluff laaaa….haiyaaaa…bla...bla…LOL….!”

3 years spent so far in STM is enough for me to see how far some people will go in their ministry, but then God still have a wonderful plan for them (including me LOL)…

One simple advice, don’t judge a God’s servant by his appearance (laaaa…).

This might give a shock to STM students, council and quite a numbers of lecturers too, I DO HAVE MY QUIET TIME (a deafening silence for about 10 seconds).

Well, outside my room is a place where people move with lots of things in their heads, when they see me they will say, “Aha, this fella laaaa…!” (Then they will go on reproducing what they heard from others about me).

Back to my room is my music studio and my fortress where my time for God is spent most of the time in silence (to avoid ‘Phariseenism’ kind of public-figure). My guitars, my praise and worship books and my daily meditation as well as my journal is placed on my bed and I talk to Jesus. “I am not religious, I Just love Jesus”. Being religious does NOT make you spiritual.

MT 6:5 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

MT 6:6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

…but when I pray, I will go into MY ROOM, close the door and pray to my Father…

Last year I have my prayer partner, my ex-roommate, Soon Jun Jer. We had our quite time every day at 11pm last year. (Jacob did joined once, thanks for your support bro!).

This year, I am not so close with my new roommate because he is such a nice fella (people literally came to him on his first day here and warned him to ‘be careful’ with me LOL). I took it as a joke.

Anyway, just in case certain people might discredit my claim, they are free to ask my current roommate regarding my quiet time. (This is not a statement of pride, but I just feel that there is an urgent need to educate some students that I DO HAVE MY QUIET TIME). Don’t feel offended. This is how I exercise my FAITH. I DON’T need people to praise me and give me good stars in STM. I also have my feelings and so, please stop being prejudice to people like us in STM.
Actually, it makes me feel bad and I do feel bad to express my feeling in this blog. This action only opens me up and makes me more vulnerable for more critics from ‘future church ministers’ of STM...how bad and how sad…

I know that only God can judge my faith, and I accept that reality with an open heart…I was supposed to ignore people’s comments about my faith, I really should BUT I just can’t accept it when people call me ‘faithless’ because we all live in a seminary- a ‘heavenly’ place. We all should be building one another. Instead, we all became negative towards one another.

For my juniors, if you happen to go to St. Mark’s Seremban next year, you will know bout me and my healing ministry there (St. Mark's extension Centre in Port Dickson).

If you happen to go to Cheras (Emmanuel Church and GEPC), you will know about my youth and music ministry there.

This year, just go to St. Katherine’s Kajang and fellowship with us. Something GOOD is happening there.

My reputation precedes me, but unfortunately, the wrong and twisted information (laaaa…)…LOL.

‘Faith’ is very easy to be seen in a person’s life, but in my case I had to prove it and make some efforts to convince people! It is funny, isn’t it? I don’t blame them. I finally made myself look foolish just to ensure that people will become more sensitive and sensible. I finally made STM sounds NOT like a nice place to study (eventually, I plan to further at STS after graduation).

A thousand apologies to my brothers and sisters in Christ who felt that they need to defend themselves after reading this honest post. As iron sharpens iron, so are we to improve ourselves by grinding onto on another. We all are going to graduate one day, so for God’s sake, please change your mindset (laaa…!). Otherwise you will face difficulties in accepting your congregation and fail to love them with truth and honesty.

Here are some tips from Pastor Rock:
1. It is easier to love others if we see them through God’s eyes.

2. The measure of love is to love without measure.

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

4. Love without TRUTH will not go far. Stop pretend to love by stopping pretending to love.

HAVE FAITH, BUILD ONE ANOTHER, AND SUPPORT THEM IN PRAYER!

p/s: Pastor Rock ingin mengenal Tuhan lebih dalam dari semua yg dia kenal.

Reliability

Can i really trust God to keep His promises?

Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument.

Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.

God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.

(Hebrews 6:16-18)

Faith requires trust, and trust is believing something to be true and then acting on that belief.

thank God that i have been through many toils and dangers and meeting with terrible human beings in my past life. These incidents and people really had become effective tools to train me to trust and not to trust according to situations. anyway, we have to see them through God's eyes, then only we can love them. To add to that, a love without trust will not go far.

if u believe in God, then u will believe in his promises. When u do so, u will base your entire life on what God says and trust his promises to be true. To do this u must see your problems thru God's eyes AND THEN MOVE FORWARD IN FAITH.

Trusting God's promises and acting upon them will move your life ahead in the right direction. it will also spur others to move forward in their faith as they see the blessings that come from faithful living.

GOD CAN BE TRUSTED TO KEEP HIS PROMISE (HEBREWS 10:23)

the early stages of my ministry

people say im aimless when i choose to deny myself and carry the cross.

im building a house on a good foundation though.

ku ada untuk menjadi penyembahMu Tuhan

dan meluaskan kerajaanMu...

our new drums set

our new drums set and as usual Pastor 'Rock' Rodriguez will have to abuse it first.

APRIL FOOLS!!!!!

First of April reminds me of…!!!

…foolishness…

The question is, how does the Bible define fools and foolishness? Indirectly we are asking ‘what does God has to say about fools and foolishness?’

Only fools say in their hearts, “there is no God.” Psalm 14:1

Fear of The Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Only fools despise knowledge and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions. Proverbs 18:2

“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash." Matthew 7:26-27

The Bible describes a fool as a person who refuses to acknowledge God’s existence; makes no attempt to develop wisdom and self-discipline; enjoys making fun of that which is good and moral; speaks carelessly and thoughtlessly about others and thinks he or she always right.

Let “April Fools” describes the day and not you!