Florida Baptist Convention 2006....

on thursday and friday, i attended a course about worship leading. i just applied and went for it myself. not really knowing what i was doing except that the group that was coming was from florida.

and God just amazes me.
the 200 member choir spent a week in sydney and dropped by malaysia. of the 200, 85 were teaching the courses in their respective expertise. they come from the baptist churches all over florida. most of the teachers come with 25+ years of experience in the music ministry. they're worship pastors or the music director of their churches. they each have formal training in an instrument and most are trained singers. they're professionals.

during one of the courses about Worship Planning, the teacher asked, 'how many of you here have an orchestra in the church?'
we were looking at each other and going, 'huh?'
in another class, the teacher said, 'he comes from a church whose choir is quite big. about 500-600.' what the? that's HUGE.
another displayed multimedias of high creativity and quality.
there were lots more of course.

they really shared their experiences. of course its not possible to teach all in just 2 days. but they gave all they could. there were the mega churches of 10,000 and also the churches of 200-300. they shared with me their preparations in terms of practising and also for the travelling.

i got to meet and take a picture with Camp Kirkland. i didn't know he was there. he's one of the pioneers of instrumental Christian music. he has worked together with Integrity Music a lot. most of the musicals that you have watched or orchestral arrangements for christian music are done by him. i grew up reading his name on most of the musicals that i was involved in or while doing some personal research.

well, the classes are full on. i got to mix around with the teachers as well. and they're people with the heart for God. the heart for the music ministry in Asia as well.

friday night, the florida baptist convention presented a musical and worshipped. after praise and worship, the musical started. and quite a number of times i was close to tears. i was just so amazed and in wonder. imagine, a 170+ choir singing together, both mightily and gently, with a 20+ orchestra playing alongside. how similar is that to heaven? it is only just a touch. we read in the bible about multitudes worshipping God. when you hear the choir and the orchestra, you see these people just giving to God. so majestic, so inspirational, so organized, so controlled and precise. that is really true quality and standards.

my father asked me where i stand among them... uh... i'm nowhere anywhere. there's so much more to learn. i'm only touching the surface. i hear of these things overseas but never had the chance to learn. but now i learn and i see.