Hillsong worship songs in Korean

I was trying to connect with some young people in my church to get their thoughts about worship. 

And I've seen some of them with K-pop memorabilias and I thought I'd go check out some Korean worship songs to get them more exposed to Christian worship songs. 

It was then when I found out that Hillsongs do have this thing they called Global Project Korea, with their songs translated and sung in Korean. 

I listened to a few and found this one interesting.

I can only understand bits here and there and so in checking out the original English version, I found the lyrics quite creative and unconventional.

However, I find that it's more of a soloist song rather than a worship song because to me, it will be difficult for a regular congregation to sing it, only to find out later that it won worship song of the year and song of the year. 

Looks like my church congregation has a lot of catching up to do, in order to upskill our singing and music abilities. 

Back to the Korean version, I noticed that in my Apple Music app, the song was posted up as : 나 또한 (featuring Joseph Butso).

Okay, not a Korean singer but he sang it in perfect Korean, as far as I can tell, that is. 

So who is he?

It turned out that Joseph Butso is a young African exchange student in Korea who became viral when he went busking in the streets singing and spreading the good news of Jesus Christ.

He took part in a singing contest and wowed the judges too. 

I found this documentary. Too bad it's not subtitled, but for the parts he spoke in English, it's still a good watch. 

And it is a right and good thing that Hillsong got him to sing in their Korean album. 

Kudos to Joseph Butso both in bringing the good news to the Koreans and singing his heart out for the LORD. 

pearlie

p/s I am always mindful about lyrics in worship songs, and I'm not very happy with the part, "Where You lost Your life so I could find it here". Jesus didn't "lose" his life but laid it down and gave his life rather than losing it.

The composer got into problems too with the words, "And as You speak, A hundred billion creatures catch Your breath, Evolving in pursuit of what You said," (emphasis mine).

Psalm 1

I was invited to do Psalm 1 with the young people in my old church and it has been brewing in my head for awhile what I wanted to do with them. The group was small what with some of them in school (it was a replacement school day for some) and some of them helping their parents at home to get prepared for the Chinese New Year.

I started them off by breaking them into 2 groups, gave them a big piece of paper and some crayons, and gave them 20 minutes for a depiction of Psalm 1 in pictures and colours. They had fun drawing the good man, the bad man, trees, sun and moon, flowing rivers and floating chaff. I hope they will certainly remember the beautiful psalm for life.

Psalm 1
1 How blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers.

4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knows (protects) the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.

I highlighted that this psalms spend more time expounding on the righteous man than the wicked. Several points I brought up:

1. The righteous is presented in what he does not do - walk, stand and sit with the evil. The verbs are given in a progressive manner. First, one would walk and get in the flow and rhythm of the wicked. In time, he will get the wicked to stop and talk about their wicked intentions and finally to really sit down to discuss how to bring them through. This is not what the righteous do.

2. The righteous are the ones that delight in the Word of God. Not merely read or study or look through or even adore as an object - but delight in. A delight that will result in meditation of the Word all the time, to ponder and to put into practice.

3. The righteous is like a tree planted by streams of water - not a puddle, or pond or even a lake. It is not just planted in fertile ground but by flowing streams of water. The sustenance given by God is everlasting. The life that God gives is eternal, if we believe in him and stay true to him.

4. The righteous will yield fruits in season - not all the time, but produce fruits they will- after times of testing and trials.

5. The righteous will prospers - which may not be in the eyes of the world but in the eyes of God, as we prosper in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.

6. There is only one thing to be said of the wicked. They are like chaff. Chaff are the seed coverings and small pieces of stem or leaves that have been separated from the seeds - they are lightweight and has no substance. This shows that even those who proclaim Jesus as their Lord can be lightweight and with no substance - as long as they do not delight in the Word and do not meditate and apply it, they are indeed wicked.

We need to choose right as we live our lives. It is one of the another - there are no two ways about it. Which would you choose?

pearlie

Methodism, Day 5

One of the reasons I was quite reluctant to attend Methodism was the fact that I had to go through The Book of Discipline of The Methodist Church in Malaysia 2004, but now that I get to it, it isn't all that bad.

In fact, I now find it quite beneficial to have it as a guide, though at certain times we need to realise we should adhere only to the spirit of the book and not take it as absolute. It must be used wisely. My only problem with it is that it isn't so systematically organised, or maybe it is and I have not gotten used to it yet.

pearlie

Why did Jesus have to die?

I promised the Youth Fellowship last month that I will bring them through the Passion in the Gospel of Mark next. And now that I am to do it, I am not sure if I am up to it. I did not know where to start. The cross of Christ is such a profound event that we have nothing in our capability to fully express it, or to fully understand it.

I was at a loss: atonement and justification, reconciliation and propitiation, expiation and redemption, historicity and authenticity. What else?

In the end, I had to resort to simplicity. Simple but profound, that is. The session was broken into three:

Engaging
Yesterday, I managed to hunt down a copy of Mel Gibson’s Passion of Christ, and thought that it would be a good thing to engage these young energetic minds on a probable graphic portrayal of what Christ have done for them. I showed them about 25 minutes of the last section of the movie. They were totally in it.

Reading
After that, words seem so insignificant. I began reading Mark 4:32-15:47 with a running commentary as I went along. They were immersed in it.

Learning
Next, I asked them a simple fundamental question, a question I have found to be in every real and serious believer in the Lord: why did Jesus have to die? Aren’t there many other ways God can save us? No? But why?

The cross was a most violent death. To Rome at that time, crucifixion was political, it was Rome's way to destroy those whom the empire despised in the most shameful way possible (Frederick Niedner). The Son of God did not die a mundane death. He died a remarkable and spectacular and yet most violent and painful death. Why?

Because God is just. Because God is love. There is no other way.

We have separated ourselves from God, we need to reconcile ourselves back to Him but how can an unholy and sinful people be reconciled with a holy God without any amend? And what on earth can weak human do at a scale that can unite the unholy with the holy? Absolutely definitely nothing! The unholy cannot be united with the holy until the unholy become holy. There is nothing we can do that will make us holy. It can only be done through Christ’s vicarious atonement – an atonement that is suffered or done by Christ as a substitute for us. There is no other way.

And through our faith in that act of Christ, only are we justified as holy and righteous. And only then, reconciliation is possible. We are reconciled to God through His Son’s violent death on the cross. There is no other way.

pearlie
Picture from The Passion of Christ, 2004

The Challenge of Difficult Passages

It is a very interesting day today but for some reasons, I cannot disclose it. Just take it that God does have a sense of humour, a big one and a dry one at that.

What was exciting though was the Take up the Challenge session we had during the Youth bible study in the afternoon. I challenged them to take on 2 difficult, really difficult passages from the Gospel of Mark.

Mark 7:26-30
The Syrophoenician Woman
&
Mark 11:12-14
The Cursing of the Fig Tree

I broke them into 4 groups of 5 each. Got them to read each one of the 2 passages, and the verses surrounding it for context. Their challenge was to ask 20 questions and if they can, to interpret the passages as well. But time ticked on, and so I gave them a discount – 10 questions would be good enough.

The purpose of the exercise was to get them to think and think actively about the passages, to have them realise that we must ponder and agonise over God’s word and the outcome will be awesome.

The results?

An intriguing and beneficial one and a half hours of questions and answers I must say (but with 2 “bobbing” heads as well since it was held during the dead of hour from 2-4 pm.)

Questions asked include:

The Syrophoenician Woman
· What does the bread, children and dog represent?
· Why wasn’t the woman angry?
· Why should the children eat all they want?
· Why didn’t Jesus just heal?
· Why is it not good to throw the bread to the dogs?
· How was the demon driven out of the woman’s daughter?
· What is the significance of the crumbs?
· Why did Jesus say “because of this answer”?
· What does this have to do with the clean-unclean debate that happened before this?
· Why were the disciples regarded as “dull” in the passage before this and what was the connection?

The Cursing of the Fig Tree
· Why the mention of the fig tree “in leaf”?
· Are there any emphasis to it not being bare?
· Why did Jesus curse when it wasn't a season for figs?
· Why didn’t Jesus “forgive” the tree?
· Why didn’t the tree die immediately?
· Was it important that the disciples were listening?
· What was Jesus thinking when he was cursing?
· Why did Mark use the Sandwich Technique?
· Where’s the meat?
· What has the cursing and dying of the fig tree got to with faith and prayer?

Did it make you think as well? The youth thought hard and they listened hard, which was no doubt a hard thing to do at four in the afternoon. The results amazed me - they were engaged, they were interested, they suggested meaning, and they asked more.

Learners do desire some challenges once in awhile.

pearlie

Pearlie's Threes!

Things always pile up all at the same time for me, almost always!

With the usual Friday Bible Study on John 3, I am also worship leading this Sunday with band practice on Saturday. Time has also arrived for Youth Bible Study for the month of July on Sunday afternoon.

I will have a lot to do this few days until Sunday - prepare for John 3; figure what to do with the Gospel of Mark and prepare for it; think about worship songs, prepare them and go for band practice.

This time I think I will challenge the youth to interpret a couple of difficult passages in the Gospel of Mark. I already have 2 in mind - do you have any I can consider?

pearlie
Photo (c) 2005 Cristina Romano

Away?

God is indeed so good. He knows us perfectly and pours his grace on us sufficiently at all times. Just when I was getting a bit discouraged about some things, he comes with multiple blessings and reminders.

For one,
a sister shared with me how she had read my sharing on my TEE experience in this blog at the right time – she soon met someone who indicated her interest in taking up theological training on a part time basis.

Two,
I had an excellent session with the youth today, as I submitted it all to Him. We studied the parables in the bible and learnt how to interpret the bible. Not with a “I think ...” or a “What this passage means to me ...” but what the passages mean as they were originally and contextually and only then to apply it into our lives as obedient children of God. As an example, I challenged them to give me the most important lesson in the so-called Parable of the Prodigal Son. It was a most interesting session. We learnt a lot, including me.

Three,
I may have started a hiatus in pearlie gates, but through it all journaling the web-log-way has become so much part and parcel of my life that I automatically reflect the days that I lived to thank God, on lessons to learn, questions to ask and blessings to share with whoever who has an ear to hear (or more accurately, an eye to read). To cut the long story short, I cannot stop thinking or reflecting and I do it best writing.

Mark 4:24-25
24 And He was saying to them, "Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. 25 "For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him."

pearlie

Questions asked, questions answered

We had a testimony as sermon today, and I was discussing it over with Ann and with Melissa. I can only say I do not know how I can blog it. I had too many questions.

However, it was also the Sunday where I was scheduled to lead the youth in continuation of the study on the Gospel of Mark. I was given about one and a half hours - not a lot of time for a monthly bible study but it will have to do. I took them through the five conflict stories in Mark 2:1-3:6.

Leading the youth in bible study has proven to be both quite interesting and challenging for me. I cannot go too deep into the details or there will be yawns but I cannot merely graze the surface either or they will have their knowledge of the Word of God barely scratched. I have to look for a niche, pitch in and take a home run.

This round I got them to role play one of the conflict stories: the healing of the paralytic man. In our lectures last year, we did not quite have the role play in full blown but we somewhat assumed the characters and discussed the event. For the youth, I had them all up playing out the parts. The good thing was they got involved but the not so good part was that it was not taken quite so seriously. But it will have to do -- I can't ask for too much I suppose.

However, the discussion that ensued was good. I brought up Jesus' saying to the paralytic man, who most probably was expecting Jesus to say, "be healed". But Jesus said instead, "Son, your sins are forgiven." We discussed what sins were.

The topic of body piercings and tattoos were even brought up when one asked if those actions were considered sinful. I had to admit to them that I can't well answer that question fully but I did try, basically to tell them that while I think it may not be wrong in itself, what and why it is to be done is very important. And even if you think it is right, and still you are not comfortable with it, and if you think that it may be a stumbling block to others, then don't do it. Moreover, it will do you no harm by not doing it, but not the same can fully be said for doing it.

Bringing them back to the topic of Jesus' statement, I emphasised what I had brought up in Friday's class - that the sin that Jesus is forgiving is the fact that we have fallen off the mark, and that our ultimate sin is idolatry -- the very worship of ourselves, seeking for a God that fits our bill.

I encouraged them to go back and read the conflict stories again and ask questions. There are many questions that one can ask.

pearlie
Photo © 2007 Sophie