Music Stuff

Here's a link to a .wav file that I made for my computer-generated sound class. The task was to record everyday sounds and turn it into music - I decided that limiting myself to a theme was a good way to help me keep my focus and so I ended up recording sound clips of various parts of my car. Everything you hear here is either a pure sound clip, or a sound clip that has been processed through a filter or two using code.

If playing the sound doesn't work in your browser (it's not working in mine), try downloading it and playing it off your computer. It's kinda big though, 40mb. Sorry about that. :P

And since I'm on the topic of music that I've worked on, the concept album that I've been directing and working on with The Mendicants is finally out!! It's called Roses In My Hand. I made a preview: Click here for the full version, or if that doesn't work ('cuz so far one friend's told me that the video didn't play properly) here's a smaller version that requires more squinting:



I directed the a cappella group last year and we spent the entire academic year working on it. I'm pretty pleased with the final product! 12 songs, all covers of a wide range of artists - there's Simon & Garfunkel, Huey Lewis & The News, Jason Mraz, Frankie Valli, Barenaked Ladies, Sublime, John Legend and even Coldplay. All a cappella, no instruments (with the exception of a cowbell in one song). Most of those drums are me. :D

CDs are US$15 a piece. Let me know if you'd like a copy!

Thanksgiving break next week. I'm actually tired from Fall Quarter already. The break should be good for me.

Photos of home

National Day always passes by with songs and messages of nationalism, national pride, family values and all that. Want to sing about the greatness of a nation? Try this.

Singapore, Singapore,
Don't you know your own beauty?
Singapore, Lion's Roar,
You were made in His glory
So open your hearts
And open your eyes
'Cos the Father loves you so
Lion arise,
Arise and find your song

I wrote that over the summer in response to hearing Dan McCollam (one of the keynote speakers at the worship conference I was at) say that "Singapore's a beautiful place, but even more beautiful are the people" (or something like that). We go about everyday, busying ourselves with important stuff, serving others and loving them but never knowing how precious and valuable we are.

After I got my new camera, I started bringing it around with me and trying to capture beauty in the things I see everyday. Photography is a way to worship God just by capturing the beauty in moments around us which we don't usually see. Of course, it helps to have a good camera with a good zoom. ;D Check out the pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/sicheng.su/Home#. Here's a preview of Tang's shopping centre, taken from across Scotts Road (had to try several times to avoid getting a car in the middle of the picture blocking the sign)



You're welcome to check out the rest of the album if you have time. :)

Campout!

Went camping on Friday with Chi Alpha. It was really fun. I slept in my car! Haha. See the pictures!

And our epic campfire that got really big and pretty:

Quotable quote from Christina...

"Little kids don't get Holy Spirit Jr. They get the full blessing of real thing!"

The Holy Spirit isn't something you grow into or only receive when you become mature. He's freely given to everyone who will receive Him! :)

Bites of manna, cont'd

Love isn't the excuse for what we do. Love is what we do. Many of us think that receiving God's love and loving Him back is the starting point of our Christian walk. But it's not the starting point; it's the journey itself.

This isn't a principle, or a nice saying (although if it is a nice saying I'd be happy since I came up with it). Love is the deepest truth anyone of us can ever understand, and that understanding doesn't come without experiencing it.

Only God can show me how important I am to Him, and I bet the same applies for you too...

Revelations

Got two nuggets of understanding that I wrote down during service today. The best part (as I've mentioned to several people several times, including mike) is that the speaker (Rev. Casey Treat) probably barely touched on these at all. In fact maybe he didn't even talk about them. But I guess God did, to me at least. Haha.

The first one has to do with our authority on earth vs. Satan's reign on earth. I'm still a little iffy on this one and it may not all be right, so please don't be leaving comments criticizing every corner of it. Here's what I wrote:

1. Adam opened the door to Satan. Satan had rightful access to the earth because the one(s) placed in charge of it (God's children, whom He told to reign and have dominion) gave it to him.

2. So Satan reigned on the earth.

3. Jesus came and defeated Satan. The result - the earthly realm is no longer rightfully the devil's.

4. Yet Satan and his demons still continue to reign today, because the ones to whom this world was made for (i.e. humans) are still agreeing with him and letting him in.

5. BUT Satan's dominion on the earth is illegal, and still exists because the authority that God has given His children over the earth has not been fully enforced.


The second one's to do with the issue of our identity, our sense of "who am I?", which is at the core of everyone's hearts (Christians and non-Christians alike) but seems to be almost never explicitly talked about.

1. Abraham called himself what God called him - a father of many nations - even when he had no children. He stood in his identity according to what God had called him, not according to what his physical world showed.

2. God stands outside time.

3. Abraham's identity, and my identity, rightfully comes from God - God, being my creator, is the one who intentionally made me who I am. Therefore, He is the only one who has the right to tell me who I am. Since God stands outside of time, my identity is created and defined outside of time.

4. It is illegal for me to define my identity according to a lesser environment that what it is actually born out of. In other words, who I am now, or what I look like or seem like now, is not the same as who I am in God.

5. So at the end of the day, the question is: Who does God say I am? What does He say about me?

What a week...

Last week (Mon to Fri) was spent at a supernatural worship conference called Transformation, held at Church Of Our Saviour. The speakers were all from the USA and were either part of or affiliated with the ministry of Bethel Church, a church in Redding, California that I've been to quite a few times and whose ministry I've been so blessed by. It's been an amazing week, and God just met me and filled me in so many ways. I can honestly say that I want more, more not of His manifestations but of Him.

I just tried to upload a video of a song that one of the speakers sang at my Worship Leading elective, but blogger.com keeps giving me error messages so I'll try another time. :/ But here are some pictures from the conference, taken with my new camera! *grin*

Emily, and in front of her, Ralph Nader, worshipping God with flags:


Dorea, also flagging:


Emily and Ralph Nader again:


De Wen, looking at someone's prophetic art piece (I forget if it's his own):


The drama elective at rehearsal:


My prophetic self-portrait (asked God for a picture that represented me in some way and drew it out myself):

I later got the word "sound of gold" with this picture, and Cynthia, Ai Lin and David helped me interpret it during dinner.

Me and Dan McCollam, one of the keynote speakers and the teacher of my Worship Leading elective. He has such a light and joyful spirit...


Some of the ladies, hanging out at the hawker center before the last night session:


Worship during the last night session:

I really like this picture. It looks so glorious like we're dancing with angels, and so much glory is being released as we worship.

And finally, praying for the entire team from the USA. They were all such a blessing to us:


So that was my week last week. Surely, surely my days with God can only get better. =)