Today was amazing… Some time back, Rachel invited me for An Evening Of Worship With PlanetShakers + Tim Hughes organised by Youth Alpha at Singapore Expo. We got priority seat tix to go in which was great, as we didn’t have to queue and dash in for good seats!
However, what was supposed to be a great thing started off rather ugly. We went in early.. waited awhile to pick our seats and finally we took 3 rows for the 33 youth who were coming. So, what we did was sit at the ends of the row to make sure nobody came to take our seats. Awhile later, some aunties and uncles came over. They said “Excuse me” an in to let them pass thru to sit in our row, but I told them that they were taken. Then the aunty said that we were not supposed to reserve seats and bulldozed her way pass us despite our explanation. She even stepped on my foot without bothering to apologise! How mean are they! It saddens me to see such uglyness in adults! Calling themselves Christians summore! Where’s the compassion? The understanding? The respect for others? The generosity? It’s not that there were no other seats. Just behind our rows were full rows of empty seats which they could have taken. Not much of a difference in terms of distance from the stage from our seats. Why did they insist on making a scene? If I were them, I would just save myself the hassle of having to argue with other people.
The story did not end there. Later on, we noticed that there were empty seats in between them. So Pastor Rachel went to ask them about them. They said it was for their friends who were coming. Now, doesn’t that sound familiar? They themselves were reserving seats for their friends! And apparently they said something about it being ok for them to do that, but at the same time insisting what we did was terribly wrong! What utter rubbish! Double standards! Ok, I’m not saying we were right in the first place. Booking seats was wrong on our part, but them doing it too and pointing at us? Remember, when you point at others, 3 other fingers point back at yourself! Please do some self reflection! Come on man…
Anyway, in the The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant, Jesus tells us to forgive… not 7 times… but 77 times. (Not literally I think.) I think it basically means we should just forgive and forgive and forgive. Forgive till we lose count of how many times we have forgiven someone who has wronged us. Who will go and count the number of times he forgives someone? I sure have better things to keep count on. Like the number of times I’ve been blessed! People always say “Count your blessings.” and I’m sure there’s a good reason for that.
Matthew 18:21-23 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[1]
23“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.
Footnotes:
- Matthew 18:22 Or seventy times seven
So, back to the concert…. It was a blast! I could really feel the power of God’s presence there. PlanetShakers built up fire and Tim Hughes set in the mood for worship with some of his slower songs. It’s really a different experience to worship together with so many people. An amazing sight to see everyone lifting hands and jumping, praising and worshiping God! Even I myself, who is rather lazy as well as a lil shy when it comes to jumping ard joined in in full praise. I was singing will I was hoarse… halfway through the concert, I realised my voice was weirdly airy. I lost my voice for a moment there! But I didn’t care and continued to shout my lungs out. :p
There was this song by PlanetShakers which I though was super duper cool - Praise You. You should listen to it if you can get your hands on their cd or mp3. If you really can’t find it, leave me a comment and I’ll try to send it to you. Another song by Tim Hughes which I really really like is Beautiful One. I’m even attempting to learn it on the guitar. (I bet you’re wondering where did this guitar pop out from rite? Well, Rachel is trying to learn
how to play… so she borrowed Ming’s Epiphone… which means, I get to play too! Yaye!) Anyway, check out those songs! You must!!!
The concert lasted a good 2.5 hours with 2 full hours of worship with a short message in between. I also must declare that tonight, I asked God for the gift of songwriting. Music has always been a passion of mine since young. Being a part of a jazz band in school has given me a taste of what it is like to sing in front of many people. How much more enjoyable and edifying would it be if I could sing praises of God in front for that many people? I believe he gave me a gift (and a piano!) for a reason. I just pray that as I continue to meditate on His Word, He will put a beautiful song in my heart.
Anyway, after the concert, a bunch of us hopped into Pastor Rachel’s car an went for supper at the Boon Lay Market. Boon Lay Nasi Lemak!!!! So long since I last had that. Reached home past 1am. Thank goodness Pastor Rachel sent us home. Or else we would have to walk home! Lol. I had fun tonight. Really.
Note: All pics were downloaded from Flickr and credited to Gerald Khoo.
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