A Prophetic Arts Prayer Trip... What's That???

It was already crazy enough when God said to prayer walk the land of Japan. I mean, how huge and outrageously expensive that would be!! But then He added on that He wanted it to be a prophetic arts trip too! Like, how many Christians even know what 'prophetic arts' means?! Who would come with me on this wild venture?? But within a week, He led me to three people who said they would pray about joining the team - and all of them are prophetic artists! So I had to say 'yes' to Him, and started preparing for the trip with much fear and trepidation... Firstly, Job wouldn't be able to come on the trip so I'd have to lead the team on my own. Secondly, I sensed that there would be some fierce warfare involved and I wasn't sure if I or the rest of the team would be ready for it. However, on both counts, God showed up and did all the hard work for us so we breezed our way through with great joy and celebration!

So how prophetic can the arts be?

God spoke to us so clearly through the arts. For instance, on our second day in Japan we had visited the Peace Memorial Park in Okinawa. There's an art gallery with a series of paintings by a particular artist on the theme of  'War and Peace'. I noticed that nearly every one of his paintings had similar wavy lines that looked like the wind.

I was especially struck by this piece which depicts the strength of the people in the face of hardship, as represented by the flowers that stand strong in the midst of the billowy winds. We had heard that we just missed a typhoon as we had arrived the day after it hit Okinawa. But little did we know that for the rest of the trip, God would protect us from two more typhoons - one changed direction midway and the other struck Tokyo the day before we landed there! So this painting was God's way of reassuring us that He would keep us safe even when typhoons are raging around us.

Then on another day, God prompted us to do team drawing so we all prayed and drew one picture each. Turned out that all the pictures formed a map for the rest of our trip as we kept seeing real-life representations of the things we had drawn thereafter! (I can only show you my picture as I don't have the other members' permission to show theirs...yet...)

We got to visit a pottery in Okinawa and through learning about the process of how clay is turned into ceramics, God also showed us many lessons about our Christian walk. The master potter was from the church we had just visited and as he was sharing about how he realised his true identity was to be found in Christ and not in culture or even the arts, I suddenly saw the link between his testimony and the impromptu dance that Aimee had presented in the church earlier on. The pastor (the potter's wife) had requested to see Aimee dance so she chose the song 'Who Am I' on the spot and improvised to it. Amazingly, God had already started speaking to us about our identity in Him through the dance and continued the same message during the potter's sharing.

 



God also spoke to others through us and the arts. At the church that was hosting us in Kyoto, we had presented the pastor with a postcard print of one of our team members, Chloe's painting, 'The Covenant'. The rainbow background reminded him of an actual rainbow that he had seen in the morning. It held special meaning to him as the church had just celebrated their 37th anniversary the day before. But he lamented that nobody else had seen the rainbow. We proceeded to get the four church members who were present to pick out one prophetic art card each from a bag and to our surprise, every single one of them received a picture with a rainbow! The probability of that happening was really very small as we had multiple copies of nearly 20 different pictures and only 3 of the pictures had rainbows. What's more, the next day when we met another church member and got him to pick a card, he got a rainbow picture too! So it was clear that God wanted to show the rainbow to the church members too, not just the pastor, in order to emphasise that He will keep His promises to the church.

On another occasion, Chloe was showing some missionaries-in-training the painting that God had inspired her to paint for and bring on our trip (you can also read about God's provision for her to come on the trip in her post). Through her explanation of how God wants to restore every nation, including Japan, He actually brought about reconciliation between a Korean believer and a Japanese believer who were listening to her!

The arts also helped to usher in great power to tear down strongholds. We were on our way to a place famous for its shrines and we were expecting a fierce spiritual battle there. However, a couple of days before the trip, God reminded us of how Jehoshaphat had won the battle through praise and worship (2 Chronicles 20:1-30). So throughout the 2.5-hour drive there, we kept singing song after song from our playlist and even added more songs to the list as they came to mind. When we finally arrived, we all sensed that God had already won the battle. He led us to a riverside instead of entering the shrine area, and released us to continue praising Him and making a joyful noise unto Him.

Don't forget God's masterpieces!

Of course, God also spoke to us wonderfully through His artworks painted in the skies and revealed through nature. Once when we had just finished praying, a butterfly landed on Jesse's thigh and rested there. Then on the day we did the team drawing, just as we had finished and were packing up, a butterfly hovered over Aimee's head for a while. To us, both incidents were signs of His presence with us.

On our first morning at Kyoto, I was woken up at 5.20am by a pink glow in the room. I looked out the window and for the next half an hour, witnessed the most amazing live painting with the clouds as His canvas. That was God's way of reminding me that I was indeed in the land of the rising sun, but also a confirmation of the word we had received earlier that the Son of Righteousness will rise over the land.

What about leading the team?

Well, my fears were unfounded, of course! I learnt to rely fully on God's prompting as He was the leader of our team, not me. Each time He prompted me or anyone in the team, there would be confirmation from the rest, and then we would act accordingly. Things would work out perfectly and we would even make pleasant discoveries along the way (one of them being the fantastically clear view of Mt Fuji even though it had been a cloudy day). However, the only time where the team disagreed and did not follow God's prompting led to a minor understanding with a couple of local people. But thankfully, when we admitted our mistake and apologised, things were quickly resolved.

To be honest, I hadn't been confident at all that the overwhelming itinerary (4 cities in 10 days, 6 flights and countless hours of driving) would be achievable, or that the crazy things (singing, dancing, playing instruments, flagging, bubbling, drawing, painting, giving out art cards) He had shown us to do during our trip would have any impact. But thankfully, my team members were willing to obey God's instructions and we got to experience incredibly divine things together!

The final confirmation that we had done everything right came when we saw this at the boarding gate of Sapporo airport as we were about to fly back to Singapore.

It's the same Hachiko dog that I had drawn (see earlier picture). But instead of waiting to hear the voice of his dead master, my picture shows the dog listening intently to his master's voice singing over him (with slight reference to the HMV dog who also happens to be listening to his dead master's recorded voice over the gramophone). When we incline our ears to listen to our Master, who is most definitely alive, we will find that:

The LORD your God is among you; He is mighty to save. He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you with His love; He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Love is... - 'The Liar and His Lover' (aka 'Lovely Love Lie') [Spoiler Alert!!!]

If Strong Woman Do Bong Soon is the cutest drama of 2017, then surely The Liar and His Lover has got to be the sweetest! You can tell just by looking at the poster - the pastel colour theme plus soft glow filters are splashed all over the entire 16 episodes. The premise of the series, as reflected in the title, is that songwriter-producer Kang Han Gyul (Lee Hyun Woo) has been living in a web a lies created by himself and others. The story is built around his transformation after he meets and eventually falls in love with a girl with a beautiful voice, Yoon So Rim (Park Soo Young, better known as Joy of Red Velvet). [You can watch the series here and/or read the recaps here.]

The thing about So Rim is that she not only has a lovely voice that captures the hearts of many people, she also has a bubbly and loving personality that leaves a string of boys falling head over heels in love with her. Unfortunately for these other guys, she bumps into the moody Han Gyul one day and it's love at first sight for her. She wins him over initially with her voice but subsequently also with her pure and selfless love for him.

Love is patient, love is kind...it always perseveres
But it's not an easy journey and takes So Rim all of  9 episodes before Han Gyul finally realises that he has fallen not just for her voice but also for her as a person. However, she never gave up and kept on showering him with her love and attention, even in the face of his rejection. She continued to speak to him kindly despite his hurtful words, like when he got mad at her for letting her bandmates listen to and record his song without his permission.

Love is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs
Actually, Han Gyul is the mystery music producer, K, who is behind So Rim's favourite band, Crude Play. His identity is hidden from the public for various reasons and he also hides it from her. That is why he became angry with her for letting her bandmates listen to a yet-to-be released song as that might have given his identity away as well as leaked the unreleased song to the public.

Later on, So Rim is spotted and signed by Han Gyul's record company. By the time she gets to tell him about it, he has already turned down the offer to produce her band (without realising that it's her) and the job has been given to Seo Chan Young (Lee Seo Won). So when So Rim breaks the happy news to him that she's been offered a contract, instead of congratulating her wholeheartedly, he loses his temper yet again at having missed the opportunity to have her sing his songs. Of course, So Rim is clueless as to the cause behind his outburst and feels hurt. But instead of blaming him for not sharing in her joy, she chides herself for not having told him earlier and forgives him readily the moment he comes back to apologise to her.

However, the bigger bombshell comes when she finds out that he is K. She is devastated that he did not trust her enough to let her in on his true identity. In fact, other than lying about his identity, he also didn't tell her about his recent breakup with his ex-girlfriend, singer Yoo Na (Hong Seo Young). So Rim accidentally discovers that the song she had recorded for him earlier had been written for Yoo Na. So now she is doubly hurt. However, she ultimately forgives Han Gyul's lies and later on even defends him while chatting with his father (Choi Min Soo) by saying that Han Gyul would never lie to intentionally hurt anyone. This reminds me of a scene much earlier on when she had already suspected that he was hiding things from her and told him so. At the time, Han Gyul had remarked that she was not acting like a normal person as anyone else would be angry at being lied to.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth

This is especially incredible when we see how So Rim always tells the truth, for instance she couldn't hide her feelings for Han Gyul and told him from the start that she liked him a lot even though they barely knew each other. And she pretty much wears her heart on her sleeve throughout, regardless of whether it's ecstasy over his reciprocal attention or dejection when rejected. She is also very honest with all those around her, from her grandmother to her closest buddies cum bandmates.

Another big lie that Han Gyul has a part in fabricating is that the Crude Play members, other than Chan Young, do not play the instrumental parts themselves. The music is recorded by session musicians and they simply play along to the recordings with their instruments muted during live performances. When So Rim learns about this, the Crude Play members have also had enough of living with the guilt and are considering confessing to the public. Han Gyul struggles with the decision as he fears the backlash from fans may lead to the end of the band altogether. But So Rim encourages him to reveal the truth about the band together with the rest and applauds him when he does.

Love does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud

We witness how So Rim's love for Han Gyul remains constant, from the beginning when they were both nobodies, to when she became famous while he was still unknown, and eventually when his celebrity status is revealed. This is totally unlike her schoolmate Se Jung, who dates So Rim's bandmate Gyu Sun after they’ve become famous just so she could brag about it.

Love does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking

So Rim's love is so wide that she even denies her own feelings and refuses to sing Han Gyul's song in order to honour her promise to Chan Young to sing only his songs. Instead, she tells Han Gyul to give his song to Yoo Na so it would not be wasted. She only sought to do good to others rather than her own gain. In contrast, Yoo Na had dumped Han Gyul because he couldn't meet her emotional needs (ie demands), and later dates their manager Jin Hyuk (Lee Jung Jin) in order to get ahead in her career.

Love always protects

So Rim also sides with Han Gyul and protects him whenever anyone tries to attack him even though he himself may feel that he was wrong (rather than wronged) and doesn’t deserve her protection. Her unconditional love for him changes him so that he also learns to protect his friends too. One of the main reasons for Crude Play miming their performances was so he could protect his music. After his turnaround, instead of trying to protect his music, Han Gyul makes a deal with CEO Yoo Hyun jung (Park Ji Young) to sell the rights of his future songs to the company in order to protect the band from getting sued.

Love always trusts, always hopes

So after the whole fiasco of having his lies exposed and then receiving So Rim's forgiveness, Han Gyul initially feels depressed as he keeps seeing his own flaws whenever he is with her. But instead of condemning him, she continues to love him and hopes that he will change for the better. He finally realises that he needs her to be beside him in order for him to become a better person.

This actually reflects God's love for us in that the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin, yet in Jesus there is no condemnation and we receive grace and forgiveness, and God's love then leads to our transformation into Christ-likeness!

Love never fails

Yoo Na can't understand how So Rim manages to influence Han Gyul to change for the better when she could not, and lamented her 'failed love'. But So Rim doesn’t comprehend what 'failed love' is as her kind of perfect love never fails!

Perfect love drives out fear

In fact, it is So Rim’s perfect love and constant support that gives Han Gyul the courage to decide to stand up for the truth despite the negative press and public criticism. When the onslaught does come, So Rim continues to stand by him and gives him strength to start over.

Love in reality

A note of caution here though… I have not mentioned so far that So Rim’s character is a high school student while Han Gyul is a young adult in his mid-20s. So Rim fell in love with him at first sight without knowing anything about him, not even his name. And when she happened to see him again, she declared her love for him at once and exchanged phone numbers with him while still not knowing anything about him (but at least she got his name this time)! She goes against her bandmates’ warnings about meeting up with a stranger and arranges to see him again and again. Of course in K drama land everything turns out well - Han Gyul isn’t a bad guy after all and he falls in love with her too. But in real life, one must not be as naive as So Rim and make friends with a total stranger so easily for there are countless bad guys out there who are looking for young, gullible girls to prey on!

Furthermore, in the idealised K drama world, both So Rim’s character and her love are perfect. However, in reality nobody's love can be perfect like hers as none of us are perfect. Don't expect to change our partners overnight like she did either! If we are endlessly looking for such perfect love from someone else, we would be forever disappointed, or worse still, constantly hurt. The only perfect love that has the power to transform us is from God alone. We must acknowledge that our need for true love can only be met by the one true God.

La La Land - comedy of errors

So apparently La La Land is supposed to be a romantic comedy, but the only time it made me laugh was when I heard about the fiasco at the Oscars. In fact, I was cringing throughout the whole movie and I kept screaming (in my head),"There are so many talented actors and actresses who can actually sing and dance (like those in the opening sequence), why did they have to choose these two?!?!" Well, the answer's pretty obvious, isn't it? They needed these pretty faces with BIG NAMES to sell the show! But if that was all there is to it, then I wouldn't be offended. The real problem was that they were also trying to sell something else!

Various other writers have already said their piece about the movie: here, here and here. So I'm not going to repeat the same points. I'm just going to unload my own grouse about it. I am offended because the film tries to sell us real art (authentic, unadulterated jazz and improv theatre) using the vehicle of a banal musical-wannabe where neither is the music soulful nor the acting convincing. To me, that is as offensive as trying to sell golf using sex. True art does not need a patronising nod from the commercial, shallow world of entertainment to prove its value.

I'm also offended because it sells the idea that living (and consequently sleeping) together is to be expected once you fall in love. There was no discussion or hesitation, no questions asked! You love each other, so you live together, then you can conveniently have sex whenever you want. But I must be fair, La La Land isn't the only movie that promotes this way of thinking. It's only one in a whole plethora of films and stories that are changing cultural norms for the worse (in my opinion).

Finally, I'm offended that it sells the idea that breaking up is easy to do. It's never easy and always painful, even years and sometimes decades later. It sets the stage for young people who launch into relationships without thinking of the possible consequences, when they should be thinking twice about whether they are ready for long-term commitment and whether the potential partner is the right one for them. (I've written about being equally yoked some time back.)

Ok, that's enough complaining for now. All this is giving me indigestion but I'm glad I got it out and hopefully I don't have to keep brooding on it anymore.

2016 - The Year of 'Just Enough'

The week before Christmas, I was busy producing not one but TWO Christmas videos! One of them was a personal greeting for one of our lecturers by a group of friends from bible college and the second was our family's annual Christmas video (this one below...)

For both productions, I had to compile a selection of photos and video clips into one continuous video while adding captions and background music. AND I had limited time for both - just about 2 days each (more accurate to say 2 nights cos I still had my regular work and motherly duties in the daytime.)

So anyway, in both cases due to the lack of time, I simply put in the first piece of music I could think of that suited the theme/purpose without much thought to the duration and whether I would be able to fit in all the photos and video clips. I figured I would just fade it out if it was too long and find another piece of music to lengthen it if it was too short. But as I started placing the photos, video clips and captions, somehow everything just fell into place and the duration of the music was just right - for BOTH!

[Hold on! Some of you may be thinking, 'But there's a different piece of music at the end of the family Christmas video!' That was intentional cos the greeting at the end is separate from the silent movie segment. ;) But good observation if you noticed!]

Well, as I thought about how amazing it was, almost miraculous, for the music duration to be just enough twice in a row, I realised that for the whole of the past year, God had never failed to provide just enough and just in time for our family too, just as He had promised He would!

At the end of the year before (2015), we had just returned to Singapore from further studies in the UK and were down to the last bits of our savings. We had no idea what we were going to do but God showed me that if we were willing to trust Him with the last of our 'flour and oil', He would provide miraculously for us just like He did for Elijah and the widow of Zarephath and her son (1 Kings 17:7-16.) In Jan, things started to happen which led to jobs for both my husband and I within a few months (plus we're doing what we love!) And in between, before our income had stabilised, He provided for our children's educational needs through other means (including scholarships and bursaries.)

Other than finances, He also provided just enough wisdom, creativity and resources just in time so we could accomplish all that He wanted us to do. During our recent mission trip, we had to conduct worship training and a youth workshop, as well as put up an outreach performance. We didn't have time to prepare for any of it before we left as we had work to clear. But during the trip, He opened up pockets of time, which we hadn't expected/planned, for us to make the necessary preparations. Furthermore, the worship and youth training had to be conducted in Chinese and I had no idea how I would be able to carry it off! But at both events, the words just came out of my mouth and when I got stuck, He had made sure that there was at least one participant there who could help to translate!!

I could go on listing all that He provided just in time so we would have just enough, but that might take till next year! Haha! So I'll just end with this - when I was reflecting on the year 2016 and giving thanks, I felt really moved by His faithfulness throughout the year. He kept His promise and always gave us just enough, not too much that we become complacent or greedy, nor too little that we start to worry or become anxious.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 

Hebrews 10:23

P.S. Here's a little New Year treat for you - our family Christmas videos from the past few years. Hope you enjoy watching them! :)

Destiny Music

Warning: This is an authentic, sincere Auntie post! You've been warned... he he! Btw, in case you haven't noticed, the above image has obviously been photoshopped cos you can't possibly play more than one track simultaneously on Spotify!!

I must admit I'm pretty backward cos I only got onto Spotify a couple of months ago. Hard to believe but true! Haha!! Being a noob, I'm still exploring the different things it can do, like recommending the top acts in Singapore for me to listen to. Well, with Nathan Hartono's recent conquest (almost) of Sing! China, it's not surprising to find his photo representing this playlist. But as I scrolled down the list, I discovered that I actually recognised a few of the artists' names and that they had been through the doors of Destiny Music!! In fact, other than these names spotted on Spotify, there are also many other Destiny alumni who have become Youtube stars, taken part in national and international competitions and won or done very well, performed at all kinds of events all over the world, produced recordings and staged their own concerts and more!

For those of you who don't know, my husband and I co-founded and ran a music ministry for youth where we trained them and provided opportunities for them to perform and share their faith through music. Our aim was to raise up a generation of young people that would glorify God through their God-given talents in music and the arts. We weren't out to train worship leaders, mind you. Instead we wanted to see the light of Christ shine in the commercial music industry.

When the time came for us to wind up the ministry, there was quite a bit of reluctance on our part as well as among the young men and women who had grown up with us. (Some of them had joined us when they were just 12 or 13 years old.) At the time, we felt that we had already achieved what we set out to do - together with these more than a hundred young volunteers, we had reached out to tens of thousands of people with their songs and dances, through live performances and online videos. Not only that, many of these young musicians had also caught the vision of using their God-given talents for the glory of God.

However, as I look at what many of them are doing now, I realise that what we had achieved was much more than that, we had actually planted a seed in these youth that has continued to grow and bloom and bear fruit over the years.What a privilege it is to have partnered with God in the work that He's doing in these young people's lives! And I continue to pray and hope that they will keep that passion for God burning in them no matter how high or how far they go.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.

1 Cor 3:6