Review of E.R. 07

E.R. 07

GeT a LiFe!! (Fri)

LiVe iT oUt!~ (Sat)

Venue: Christian Ecumenical Centre, Stampin

Time: 7:30pm

I apologize for the late update on the event. As always it is due to some time constraint. So here I am, back to update those who did not attend the E.R. on how the two-night event played out.

First of all, would like to start off by extending a heartiest "congratulations" to the emPOWERed Youth Ministry for excellent efforts and preparations. The hall was set up wonderfully with a built-up stage right in the middle of the room complimented by some ravishing coloured lights and dried ice. The agenda of the night was very well-planned and the events that came up, one after the other, were pretty unpredictable. The agenda organized was truly creative and fresh.

E.R. 07 : GeT a LiFe!!

Concert session 1

First of all, would like to start off by extending a heartiest "congratulations" to the emPOWERed Youth Ministry for excellent efforts and preparations. The hall was set up wonderfully with a built-up stage right in the middle of the room complimented by some ravishing coloured lights and dried ice. The agenda of the night was very well-planned and the events that came up, one after the other, were pretty unpredictable. The agenda organized was truly creative and fresh.

Starting off with a short talk by Fr. Joseph Chai followed by an adrenaline pumping introduction by Benedict Lo, the crowd was brought to an uproar as the worship leaders made an impressionable entrance with religious rock songs which were accompanied by the emPOWERed dancers and special guest, Mark David. As it approached towards the middle of the event, there was a little sketch courtesy of the Drama Ministry followed by life testimonies by Edmund Lo, Emmanuel David and Errol Glenn. Also, there was a special message by our very own Archbishop John Ha.

My favourite and also the most expected segment was when Karen Chin sang, while playing the guitar, Kathryn Scott's "Ashes To Beauty" totally unplugged, accompanied by Cherlyn Joseph on the back-up vocals. More praise followed after in the night and the first night ended nicely.

E.R. 07 : LiVe iT OuT!!

Tonight's session was truly moving. With a more sentimental and soft choice of songs, I can personally say that the crowd was given a chance to truly reflect and worship Our Lord (based on the many opinions of a few other attendees). The night started off with a solo by Lewis Lo which lead into more upbeat songs followed by several softer ones. Karen Chin, Pius Kalang, Correine Loretta and Rainer all shared their respective testimonies boldly, all glorifying His name in the process. Loretta's life testimony was played out via a short sketch courtesy of the Drama Ministry. The rest of the night played out pretty much the same as the night before except with a different choice of songs, including Rainer and Loretta's self-written song which I found to be the most moving song of it all.

All and all the E.R.07 was a great success with the help of many supportive and generous sponsors, hardworking and dedicated ministers and helpers and above all, the goodness and grace of Our God.

May the emPOWERed Ministry continue to be showered with His blessings so that they will be able to continue to organize more unforgettable events in the future in their efforts to save our generation!

May God bless you all and keep on rocking for the Lord!

Review of Deeper '07

Last night, I attended the Deeper '07 youth rally which was held at the Good News building located at Green Heights (somewhere near the Kuching airport, behind the row of shoplots). The youth rally was organized by a group of passionate and God-loving youths. The turn-up was quite impressive with 300-400 youths at least and the rally started almost precisely on the time stated. The hall was surrounded by a slamming surround sound to match the staggering music that was played by the oh-so-talented young musicians. The youths were more than just pumped up for God and had been the most enthusiastic bunch that I had ever seen. The worship was lead well and the choice of songs seemed to have fit the environment of the night quite nicely. I'm not quite sure about the other participants there, but I definitely felt that the topic that was discussed by Pastor Chris Long had really related to me.

According to Pastor Chris Long:
There are only 4 essentials in our lives. If you have these, you may not have a million dollars but you will be a rich man. If you have these, you may not have a big house or big cars but you will have a BIG heart. And all this lies but in one bible verse and that is Mark 8:22-26.

What we really need:
1. We all need good friends. (v.22)
In the verse, the blind man was brought to Jesus by his friends. They did not
take advantage of the blind man's inability to see, instead they helped him
and took him to Jesus.

Verse 22: They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged
Jesus to touch him.

We all need friends to help us through tough times. In the beginning the blind man did not
believe that Jesus could heal him. He followed his friends to see Jesus reluctantly initially,
in the absence of belief. But his friends persisted and brought him to see Jesus anyway.


2. We all need Jesus to lead us by His hand. (v.23)
We all need Jesus to lead us by His hand. Trust that Jesus would never lead
you in the wrong direction. When you don't understand, trust Him. Do not
struggle, instead allow Him to guide you in the path that He wants you to
walk on.

Verse 23 (part I): He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village.

We must learn to trust God, in order to walk with Him. Trust that He is your salvation and
that He will never steer you wrong. Give Him your hand to hold and let Him lead. Trust in
His plans and know that when you follow God, you will never go wrong for we are all blind
and lost and so we need direction. God is our direction. He is the one who will point you to
where you should go and where you have to be. He is our guide.

3. We all need to experience the supernatural. (v.23)
Jesus spat on the eyes of the blind man, He anointed cool drool on him. God is
supernatural. He spat in the blind man's eyes because He was trying to create
faith in the blind man.

Verse 23 (part II): When He had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus
asked, "Do you see anything?"

In the words of Pastor Chris Long, we all need to experience the supernatural. In my
opinion, what it meant by Jesus trying to create faith when he spat in the blind man's eyes
was that He wanted to prove that merely by spitting, He could heal the blind man. But I'm
not too sure. Sound logical to you? What do you guys think?

4. We all need God's second touch. (v.25)
Only after receiving God's second touch, will you see people as people.You will
learn to connect with people instead of just letting the people around you pass
you by while you convince yourself that you don't need anyone and that solitude can be your ideal.
Jesus says look at the fields they are ripe with harvest. Do not wait anymore.
After receiving His second touch, you will no longer see your workplace or
your school just merely as it is but you will see it as a mission's field.

Verse 25: Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his
sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

According to Pastor Chris Long, Jesus' first touch gives us the feeling we get after concerts
and rallies, the pumped up feeling. The first step closer to Him. The introduction to God. The
second touch on the other hand is to further grow closer with God, to take a deeper step into our relationship with God. There are different levels in our relationship with God. Our first encounter with God will bring us a step into the shallow part of the pool. As we continue to seek Him and ask of Him, His second touch will bring us deeper in and thus brings our relationship with God to a whole new different level.



Overall, it was a very good experience. It touched many people. Some got the chance to pour out their innermost feelings and hurts to God. Some received gifts. A girl in particular even received the gift of Holy Laughter. It was very enlightening to see so many miracles happen only in one night. The power of God is truly great.

Next year's rally, Deeper '08 should be even more of a blast. I encourage you all to join in as well. On the other hand, St. Joseph's Youth Parish Ministry has organized a youth rally as well, also known as E.R. 07. It is held yearly and the turn up is always amazing. Lead by a group of young and empowered working adults, worshipping God is brought to a whole new level and experiencing Him was never made more easy. So I urge you all to attend the upcoming event. Also, for all those of you who have attended Fan into Flame last year, there will be another one coming up in May which is Fan into Flame II. For those of you who did not attend, it is highly recommended that you join in on this one. Both Fan into Flame I and II are organized by GENREV Live, a Philippino worship team. With a wide range of strong vocals, these Philippino worship leaders never fail to bring the roof down at every event held as they bring youths into great anticipation and an undying passion to serve God. These events are a must go.


Further details on the location and time will be posted up here when confirmed, for your reference. So, keep April and May free fellow youths! You wouldn't want to miss it!


God bless.