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 hey hey hey! its been a long time since i've blogged! but yeah i've been busy. my photos will show that hehe.

i think i came here primarily because i've wanna put up some insights about churches and the pros and cons about the church and how Bethel can learn some from this. i would send this out to ps daniel and ps aaron for help. :) i tried my very best on evaluating the churches on their sound and music and all, without hindering God's movement, as best as i can. :D this are my opinions and because i've only been to one church, some of the practices i may have been biased to my church:D just talk it with a pinch of salt alright?

i went to 5 churches in total. here's my lowdown. :D

1. UniChurch

hmmmm. haha the first church i came to. i mean its kinda weird though. cause when the service first started, i was clapping and kinda jigging to the music, but then after a while i noticed that no one was clapping, and no one was singing, and no one was well, obviously jigging to the music haha. and its full of youths! they were just staring at the band. AND THEY ARE SINGING HAPPY DAY! oh myy haha. i mean thats maybe thats how they do things, but maybe a bit more life? sound and music generally ok? but no worship. this was the church that i close my eyes for worship and after a while i realized i was the only one standing up. lol. the rest getting ready for word. and also no tithes and offerings. i was amazed too, cause they have a parent church, but it doesnt mean that we shouldnt tithe or do offerings. but this was the nearest church so.... :)

2. Hillsongs

The name says it all. :) i not sure what denomination is this though. probably charismatic to my opinion. same style of service in church, but then the church news was impressive, can learn a thing or two from them. but some requires Motion, so hmm can try my best :) since its Hillsongs, the sound and music and projection was professional and all, with 3 cameras and 1 roving i think. EMCEE is great though, and i liked the sermon. prolly can ask him to come preach in our service hehe. however, although its nice and everything. i cant help feeling that it was so structured, and their morning services are similar. i had the time to sit through both. and wah exactly the same.

3. St Andrews Presbyterian Church

Historic building, built around 18th century. however well the demographic was a bit too much for me. i went in and i counted 5 youths, out of 60 in the congregation. and the worship leader was like, "i would like to introduce a new song for you," and he played Lord I Give You My Heart. i was whoa, thats new? and the sermon was talking about retirement and all. so yeah a bit too old for me.

4. Planetshakers

prolly thus far the best service i've been to. came in it was sam evans leading the service and everyone jumping around and all, adults included. its the church where everyone really knows everyone, and russell evans making puns about his team that would win in the coming footy finals in melbourne. sermon was great and the spirit of God just fell in that place. cant believe they sang as the deer, which hit home for me. and it was the only church that would change their order of the service to fit God in. all in all i really enjoyed the service and really dun mind going back for it. :D was also the loudest service. only had around 500 people? but they brought the house down. and immediately after the service, our "contact" brought us to the visitor's lounge, and there was coffee tea cakes and sweets and choco bars and all. and service personnel who are trained to talk. they can rattle on when you can just listen. everyone has a smile on their face, and it was fun!

5. church180

only saw the website and decided to try it out. went in and found out that it was a AOG church haha, disguised as a Australian Christian Churches Organization. lol. but quite the same. they just moved in to their new premises, so thats cool, similar to our church, but they could keep a almost full congregation. must ask the senior pastor for tips. :) also, their welcoming is different too. when we sat down around a minute later the senior pastor came to us and talk to us. doesnt tell us that he's the senior pastor, but i knew from the website. after a while the cell group pastor came and talk to us, and then the young adults leader came to us. and then the asians in the church took over haha. service was quite cool, with a lot of focus to planetshakers. haha. for the news they did a video without like newscasters. just text and all. quite cool, and done in final cut pro as well. 

with these experiences with new churches, i know my wishlist for the auditorium le! hehe

for news production
1. final cut studio latest version. preferably licenced to my editing guys as well, so that we can bring it home to do. 
2. mac editing suite
3. green screen room, sound proofed, which can double as recording studio.
4. studio director's room. like a show set, with studio director controls. 
5.  3 pro cameras, not the handycams we have, the large ones. 
6. 2 dollies
7. studio lights.
8. portable lights for outdoor shooting.
9. barcans for communications with studio director with cameramen in studio. (also can be used for service)

for lyric projection/service
1. 3 screens left right centre. (seems to be in thing)
2. intelligent lights, with lighting control panels
3. raised platform for central camera.
4. more backgrounds
5. screens set higher and behind band have a set background as well. planetshakers have like a starry background, which can change colours, i thought that was quite cool. 
6. smoke producer. i not sure whether needed, but may be useful. 
7. lights that can turn on faster, unlike our floodlights.

for now nothing else,  but will have a think more before i send this to uncle loy and ps aaron. anything interesting you wanna add can tell me. :)

i think thats it! what a informative post lol.

seeya!
joel

 heyos! i'm back! haha photos can be seen on fb about my taronga zoo trip and hillsongs!

it was really a wonderful time in sydney, probably one of the most memorable i've had so far. the fun times in the zoo, the sumptuous meals with branda and her friends, and hillsongs. Oh my word, hillsongs. I'm not the type to like big churches, but i realized something very special within me. Worship is paramount for my services. The past few times i've been to church in my university, all didnt have worship. it was literally song leading, and a big ego boost for some of the musicians. it got so bad for me that i tried to play worship songs for me to go into worship through song to fill the void, but it is a lot different (and harder) leading than following someone to worship God. i can totally understand it now. So when i reach hillsongs i felt liberated to say the least. being able to lift up your hands, jump if i so choose, and sing my heart out in worship to Him. hell, i could even CLAP. so youths, be glad that you have worship, and never to take it for granted. I was so happy in hillsongs that i went for 2 services, even though i knew they were going to be the same, even the same songs, and the same emotion flows through me every single time. the joy of worship. never understood that till now. i wouldnt say i havent been worshipping God, or even left Him per se, but, wa how to explain, its like you know you have wings but you cant fly because there is no space for a landing pad. haha i try to explain more i also confuse myself.

Its gonna be corporate attire day tmr! i'm suppsoed to act like a prof visiting the university PR class to explain PR theories! lol. hope they understand me and i minimise my Singlish. 

GOD I PRAY THAT ALL MY POSTCARDS THAT I SENT OUT WILL REACH ITS DESTINATION SAFELY! THANK YOU LORD!

i think thats it for now! oh ya! melb-brisbane-newcastle! cant wait! :D:D

 haha hello my babies! updates!

firstly, the girl's house had a run-in with a drunk, where he peed on their mailbox and kicked down their fence. if there was mail in there.. ohwells. :)

I CAN MAKE CHICKEN RICE!!! WAHAHAHA whats left is the real chicken(besides the one i just steamed with the rice that kind) and the chicken rice chilli.

i can make potato, corn, and carrot soup! i added chicken with it, but however i'm thinking of switching to pork ribs if i can find them. hehe, and its not just the western kind its the chinese kind!

i'm now eating my hot soup under tornado like conditions. there's rain thrashing against my house and winds rattling my windows. damn sian lol. the idea safe in a crazy world is really appropriate here. Good thing i have God and good thing God invented soup. :)

its so far quite interesting and many new aspects of life i havent seen before, and it does take getting used to. but its been fun! i have so much time to myself lol. but well i miss all of you guys! :D:D:D ok i have to go its like 4 here lol. seeyou guys! :D:D:D

 hey there! haha its damn fun cooking you know. haha i just whipped up a really home cooked dish lol. why is it home cooked? cause i took what i wanted to eat and dumped them in a pot and fried the hell out of it. haha. turned out really nice! haha. first i fried some garlic, made it a little brown, and then added some chicken slices into the pan. after a the chicken is like half cooked i dumped the rest of the ingredients in, onions, green capsicum and mushrooms. stirfry until it seems to be almost cooked, and dump in the killer ingredient. EGGS!!! lol. and mush them up so nice, and of course add salt. hehe, cant believe i created this dish by myself. haha.

there's this show called masterchef in australia, and it is super big here. the winner is this guy called adam liaw, and asian lol. the thing is at the end they had to make this dessert, called pink guava with snow egg. when we saw it we were like whoaaaa, that is going to be the most amazing dessert you'll ever see.





shiok right lol. fell in love with it. was planning to make a trip to sydney just to try this amazing dish, and gawked and the $75 dollar price tag. i mean it comes with other things, but this is ridiculous. i'm assuming i would have to book 2 months early now, but i'm determined to get it, as least if its cheaper, even if i would have to make it myself! (i really hope i wont have to make it myself)

school is starting tmr! going for an hour lecture and having the rest of the day free again! haha. have to pay rent though. guess there is a lot to do when you're living alone. really trains you well in future, when you have to get groceries for yourself, cook yourself, and all. but its still for now a positive experience for me, with each trip to the kitchen a new adventure, each grocery run to the same supermarket means venturing into a new walk every single day, and best of all, absorbing the wonders that is the magnificent quietness that preceded once it reaches 7pm. and the wonders that God has blessed Australia with. its always like taking a breath of fresh air everytime you see the nature. doesnt help when your university is in a forest of some sort. i'm still experiencing new things daily, and i hope that doesnt stop. God has already taught me so much in this trip, and i can feel so much more to come. :D:D:D

hehe hi all!

cooking isnt quite so bad. lol. my steak came out excellent man, perfectly medium. i think i have the natural talent to cook as well as eat man lol. 

orientation was quite alright, but i ponned the "amazing orientation race!" solely because of the name lol.

walked half an hour to the bank only to find out that i have to bring my real passport to open an account. irritating now have to go back again tmr just to open the account lol.

i have ended all my sentences so far with lol.

still ending with lol.

okok enough. my iPhone just crashed, i now have to reactivate it and back it up again. irritating don update to 4.0.1 yet, made my poor phone crash. 

guess what i took for my elective? hehe. they said i can take whatever i want, so i took introduction to guitar. HAHAHA free HD for me! lol. or i might decide to take intermediate guitar if i can impress the lecturer enough. :D this was one big reason why i decided to come here. CAN CHOOSE ANY ELECTIVE! how's your DNS cherell? :)

my skin is drying up. i was afraid of this. in China it looked like suckling pig haha. and that was 1 week. its gonna be at least 2 months in this weather. haha god please bless my skin, in Jesus' name I pray Amen.

finally found a church! its in uni so this sunday i'll go take a look. lets hope they have hillsongs singers hehe.

thats it so far! hope class will be shiok! currently my timetable is a 3 day school work. lets hope it continues that way! :D:D