God's Kitchen

It is way past midnight (oh yes, my BEDTIME too!) and I’m still wide awake. The reddish grey cloud outside is already hinting that rain is inevitable while the accompanying cool breeze is saying amen to that! Lovely…

I can’t help myself from munching the hot potato PIK-NIK “Shoestrings” while writing this…it is so addictive I’m beginning to think that if I don’t stop now I’ll continue eating it like an Eat-To-Sleep Chewing Machine! Oh don’t worry, I don’t do that all the time…and my current weight is still bearable…so it’s okay…

By the way, there’s a SMALL bowl of Cruzer’s Daybreak Salad waiting for me in the kitchen!

Hmmm…anyway, I’m just thinking…

If again tomorrow night I can’t sleep, despite the perfect weather, will I drug myself with more junk food or will I turn to the solid spiritual food? Shhh…I know…

Yes; lately, I’ve been so challenged and healthily bugged by the word of God written in Joshua 1:8. It says…

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful”. (NIV)

You see…too many of us, me included, I’m pretty sure we’ve came across this scripture too many times we overlooked the lamb-chop-like juice of truth it contains. Often time I realize I’d focus more on the “God’s Promise” part of the scripture neglecting the “My Action” part. It is as though I was too hungry I couldn’t wait for my lamb chop to cook I ate it raw – far off from His plan for me to enjoy the meat well done.

The thing about me (and probably you too) is that I don’t really love waiting and I want what I want right here right now. That’s how I am sometimes. I wanna be prosperous and I wanna be successful and I want them both fast, minus having to go through any hurdles. It is like I’m demanding for the profit but totally choose to forget about the investments! It doesn’t work that way, right?

But God being the fair Boss, His strategy is different – always! Not that He loves to withhold His promises, but in my own opinion, He is just not a fan of having to fork out salary advances to any of His servants. Unless faith actions are constantly and sincerely shown, He can choose to delay in delivering the desires of my heart…and He will not surprisingly do just that!

The whole experience of being enlightened by this simple verse has really caused me to dig in whatever I read so much deeper with the quest to find a fresh revelation and the whole package that comes with it. Like those who serves in the oil and gas industry, they dig deeper not with the goal to find out more about dinosaurs or fossils they knew ever existed; their prize – the oil and gas itself! Likewise, my attitude is not to just read whatever that is visible but beyond.

That’s just one of the things I learned…would love to share more juice with you again next time…perhaps in one of my other sleepless nights. Til then, enjoy what I’m leaving behind for you…

Cruzer’s Daybreak Salad Recipe:

Chicken Sausages with Cheese and Chili – raw, sliced to your hotness;

Onions, sliced thin enough to remind you of the unnecessary fat you might gain;

Tomato, sliced to the number of hours you have left in bed;

Carrots, sliced enough to shut your Parrot mouth;

Coral Leaves/Lettuces, generously green enough to remind you Jude is a vegetarian;

Sprinkles of coarse Black Pepper, as desired as you would tiny sweet moles on your face;

French Dressing, poured to perfection to romance your taste bud.

*would be nicer with Parmesan Cheese & Croutons!

Best paired with: Iced Lemon Tea chilled at -2°c.

Total Preparation Time: 7 minutes

Accompanying Soundtracks:

Nightminds by Missy Higgins

Water Feels Warm by Electralow

Hide Me by Grandad Bob

Change Your World Tour - Teaser

Guys! GO TO YOUTUBE AND COPY THE URL OR EMBEDDED THIS VIDEO TO PLAY ON YOUR BLOG, WEBSITE OR MYSPACE.

SPREAD IT OUT AND TOGETHER LETS BRING CHANGE!!!!

1a.m. NEW WEBSITE LOOK

What a crazy month March turned out to be for us at 1a.m.! We are currently in the midst of fine-tuning a project we dreamed of embarking months ago called Change Your World, among others.

Concurrently, we are also in the last phase of upgrading our main website temporarily replacing it with the Change Your World website. If you would like to explore and check out the content, simply log on to our existing address at www.1am.com.my; you might just find something that will trigger your curiosity.

Just a little snippet of what you will find:

Facebook: Join us here and be a part of the 1a.m. community;

Twitter: To get instant updates about what we are up to;

Wordpress: To get details of our daily chores;

Indieheaven: Listen to our music and find out more about other Christian musicians near you;

Merch: Buy our merchandise;

Youtube: Watch our videos; Embed our new promo video to spread change!!!

Nominate Your City: Invite us to come to your city.

Well that is all we have for you this round. Have a great day! God bless..

F(e)asting to CHANGE!!!

Happy New Year to all those that are a bit slow on the dates. Like me, my new year was postponed due to a fever that I got from my younger brother. A day before New Year! It’s sad but I loss a lot of weight, so that’s something to be happy about.

Year 2009 started with a 7-day prayer and fasting, we do this every year but I decided to do something different, I’m going for the Daniel fast, not because my name is Daniel, but because Pastor Timothy the senior pastor of our church made an awesome statement that got me thinking (and also because I rarely eat vegetable. LOL). Seriously.

He said (I quote, not the exact words) Jesus fasted 40 days because that was what needed for His ministry, and Daniel (the dude in the bible) fasted for 21 days because he wants to change that nation. So my question to myself was this,

1. What am I fasting for and in what capacity of fasting does it require?
2. What is the amount of magnitude do I want to see change in me and around me?
3. Am I going to do it? yeEEEAAAAaaaRR~~~~

Take Zack Hunter for an example, he is a 15 year old dude that take the extra mile so abolish modern day slavery. Just like Bono, helping people in Africa. Why do these people go the extra mile to help others? Why don’t they just live in their own comfort? That you ask yourself and find out whether you want to be a world changer or a person just going to pass by without a legacy to pass on (rock and roll hand motion). This reminds me of john Meyer’s song Vultures.

Anyway, back on track, by fasting we die to our body and what seems comfortable for us. I’m not going to say that fasting is easy for me; in fact it is the hardest thing to do for me. I love to eat, hence the body size. I like to play computer games, sleep and yeah… you get the picture. But if I want to see change, a sacrifice of the flesh is sufficient to bring me to another level of my life.

I believe that everyone is meant to live so much more (switchfoot?) than what we are living for. We cannot do great things if comfort is what we desire and not change.

We as a team in 1AM is looking forward to our tour this year, and we pray that we can change your world.

Cheers. Dan1am

2008 ..... The year that passed - Neil

The year that passed ….

2008 I believe was a year where the Lord has been doing a lot of maintenance in my life. Honestly I feel I haven’t done much but if I am going to base my year on the things I do physically (no wonder I’m growing in size) then I’ve missed the point on what God has been doing internally.

Unlike 2007, we didn’t travel much but like I said, MAINTENACE!

It has been challenging as a musician, a leader and a discipler but I believe it’s for the good for the year 2009.

Musicianship – I believe there has been growth in 3 areas. First is my songwriting/arrangement abilities. I remember praying to God about really bringing me to the next level in terms of my writing. I struggled as I worked my way through in writing not just worship songs but mainstream song where at the end of the day I wrote more than I expected this year. I’ve been also listening to a lot of today’s music, just to know what’s in and out. With that, I’ve been open to a bit of Jazz and classical music which so broaden my creativity. There has been so much soul searching adding depth to what I write so yeah….Praise God!

2^nd and 3^rd, my vocals … hmmm… became better, rockier according to Daniel and my guitar skills… well I bought an Electric Guitar (GRECO 79’) so that should answer my abilities. I still play rhythm though.

Leadership – Wow…. I had to step up a lot in situations I felt needed the most. You have to understand that I’ve always labeled myself as the “Laid Back Leader”, just chillin’. I’ve been reading a leadership book where what struck me was that “A leader is one that steps into the uncertain. You as a leader can afford to be uncertain but cannot afford to be unclear in terms of moving forward.”

Personally, I feel I’ve used my brain so much this year in terms of thoughts, thinking of a clear direction. I may not know the outcome but so far there has always been a direction with a positive outcome. And even if it didn’t turn out right, it gave room to grow and learn. This goes out in all the areas I lead may it be as an assistant to Kelvin in terms of our 1a.m. ministry at church, the main band whenever Kel and PC is not around on tour, the youth band(Relent), Creative life, Discipleship etc.

Discipleship – Well I didn’t reach my faith goal in this area but I’m happy that the people I follow up grew the next level whether it’s their walk with God or serving. I had an additional friend added up in the group and he’s been doing great so far!

To see them serve in more than their natural ability is a blessing. I am determine to raise leaders who does not serve where they find comfort but push them to areas where I believe will help them grow and even so determine to raise people who loves God, fueling their passion to serve.

Relationship with the opposite sex – FAILED! Hahaha. Let’s see what 2009 has in-stored! I guess I’m still searching. I saw one but I maybe looking at the wrong one. I don’t know. Well whoever it may be, I hope she’s looking out as well. Bottom line is, what I feel, should be from God.

Enough said.

Overall God has been great in my life. He filled every void that needs to be filled with love and poured so much grace even when I don’t deserve them.

What do I mean by that?

Well being foreigner and living in Malaysia away from my family (miss you guys. Dad take-care of yourself, praying for you! I’ll see you guys soon) and friends I grew up with can be tough. It’s not like I can pay a few hundreds to go back home, I would need a few thousands for the flight and that’s a lot so I really thank God for being there always and giving me friends here to grow with.

Grace? How truly sweet the sound of grace is! I am not perfect as a worker at the office, a minister in or out of church, a friend. I mean I didn’t graduate as a business man, a good communicator, a super talented guitarist. At times I really feel inadequate with what I do. To be honest there are times I feel I am not the smartest, on top of that I have my challenges. But again, Praise God for it is Him who sustains me, in my weakness He strengthens me and pours out that sufficient grace, that amazing grace I so need everyday in my life.

Serving God, serving the church, serving the people has been a pleasure. I find no regrets.

I’m excited for next year. Everything that took place personally in my life was so that I can step into a bigger picture that God painted for 2009. I know its going to be bigger, better and greater. All for His glory and I know that YOU all are in it!

RELENT is coming soon. Don’t know what I’m talking about?… stay tune!

2008 Briefly - Cuzario

Looking back, 2008 was like a roller-coaster ride for me personally.
There were lotsa ups and downs almost everywhere all the time.

Compared to the year before, there weren't many tours in 2008 but itdoesn't mean we didn't do much this year. What I personally perceive is that God kept us for a season just to prepare us for a greater year ahead.

Through this time of confinement God truly have brought us as a band to really dive in deeper into the ocean floor, understanding a new level of what worship is all about. Finding new revelations about how great God really is was almost like having an incurable brain tumor! Even mind-boggling doesn't come close to describing the magnitude of this God we are serving!

Generally, especially in the 2nd half of the year, we enjoyed our time ministering, empowering, equipping & training a few worship teams from some local churches around the country. Besides, we also prioritized to strengthen our own worship teams at home.

Personally, it was and still is a very emotionally-challenging year for me as relationships with friends turned rocky and all that. Worst, I had to fight with time as God welcomed some (in the last 2 years) of my dearest home to be with Him forever a bit sooner than I
could imagine.

In my brokenness facing the reality of life I'm thankful that God is still so ever faithful in having so much interest in every area of my imperfect life. I cannot but keep thirsting for more of Him each day. It's His grace that fuels me to lift my heavy feet as I drag my own cross daily knowing that in my weaknesses I'm always made strong. More than often His comforting living Words has never failed to keep me sane and grounded each time unexpected storms came by, which in some desperate moments made me feel as though I'm clinging for my dear life on a sinking boat only to realize He's always there to grab me from sinking deeper into the troubled waters.

Overall, the journey this year wasn't easy at all but definitely rewarding. Surrendering everything to Him is still the best choice and the right thing todo. As I lay here waiting for a better tomorrow, all He's asking me to do is to be still and let God be God! So...I'll just stick to that in obedience. After all, He's the One who's in control over this broken
life.


~cruzer~

The year that was 2008 - Jude

Since joining 1a.m. on the 17th Feb 08 ( YES EXACT DATE.. )

My journey has been a most exciting one though its only a short amount of time. I remember being exposed to the different fields of work, like managing an entire academy, to overseeing the whole musical department as music director in training, things I'm not good at, but which 1a.m. had the confidence (or audacity) to entrust me with. But it is by God's grace the academy and music team is still surviving! (insert laughter here)

But really, journeying together with 1a.m. has really broaden my view towards God, from God only being my comfort and provider, to God being BIGGER THAN ALL MY PROBLEMS, and seeing him in a bigger worth. Being my 1st time away from home, often times I go to God for a "home security", which is good cos I i believe he wants us to go to him as often as we are able to.

But as God slowly reveals to me himself more and more, I felt God saying "MY PRESENCE IS BETTER THAN ANY HOME ON EARTH". So kinda like God became bigger than any castle mansion made. God has been so gracious even before I joined 1a.m. and I realized that often times I only acknowledge Him whenever He provides, intervenes in my problems, or when he delivers me from my grief.

Being with 1a.m. has open my eyes in worshipping Him, and honoring him EVEN WHEN HE SEEMS TO BE QUIET, or when things doesn't go MY WAY. God is always in control of everything regardless of different situations that we face. My heart has always been music, playing music, and anything to do with music, and when God gets involved in the music it just makes it even better. I've always wanted to play better, improve in my skills, learn everything possible, JUST so that I can equip myself. But...slowly God change me, as I journey with 1a.m. I now realized doing all the work, practicing 100 hours a day, trying to play faster than that speeding bullet, became secondary as MY HEART WAS MORE IMPORTANT ABOVE ANYTHING ELSE.

God changed me from WANTING TO BE ABLE TO PLAY EVERYTHING TO EQUIP MYSELF to WANTING TO IMPROVE MYSELF SO THAT I'M ABLE TO SERVE HIM BETTER.

This year has been awesome, 1 year flew by without me noticing the red light.

Throughout the year I met many a challenge, most of them made me feel extremely inadequate. I specially remember one of them where my playing styles completely differ from the current band members.. ( I grew up listening to classical, jazz and Prog Metal and music like Japanese pop...yes, worlds apart... ) Everyone was either...rock...or...not-classical-not-jazz-not-metal kinda thing... So a lot of times it was extremely hard for me to gel with them, to play skillfully up to an expectation, ( everyone thought highly of my musicality's apparently ) and being a musician it's hard to change instantly and suck in your pride. But I thank GOD for THE AWESOME journey He hooked me up in '08, for being such an AWESOME GOD, for BEING SO REAL, and walking me me thru all the moments where I felt I'm inadequate, cos that's where i feel him the most. Of course God is slowly changing me as well musically, at least now know jazz is not the band's thing :) ....

I look forward for '09 to come, cos I know God has in store for me MORE AWESOME THINGS that He wants me to experience.

It's been good being a guitarist for God, I regret nothing...

Philippines Tour Day 12 and 13

Philippines Tour Day 11

Philippines Tour Day 10

Philippines Tour Day 9

Philippines Tour Day 8

Philippines Tour Day 7

Philippines Tour Day 6

Philippines Tour Day 5

Philippines Tour Day 2

Loving God Part 2

Loving God Part 2

When growing up, let’s say between 4yrs to 10yrs old, have you ever felt that you will be taken care off for the rest of your life by your parents.

- no need to buy food, clothes

- Shelter/Protection, Money, ETC…

Not that my parents never spoke about me living independently, its just that I was so loved that I never thought about it.

But as we grow older, REALITY checks-in

- Parents don’t live forever. There only on earth for a while.

- Parents stop providing at 18 (Well does not technically apply for all but it was for me

But you know what?

Praise God that we have a God Yesterday, Today and Forever

Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Continuing from what God spoke to me about loving HIM (Loving God), I felt God challenged me in 3 things base on the verse:-

1) Think of the God of Yesterdays but DON’T love Him like Yesterday

I say this because I believe God deserves the best everyday in terms of our love, our devotion, etc

· Let’s not love God with leftovers of yesterdays love. Remember Him and love Him more.

Ps 25:6 Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love,
for they are from of old

2) Think of who God is Today and love Him more.

· How do we do this? By doing things better all for the glory of His name.

For example: - If you think you worked better than yesterday with what you did, then challenge yourself to do better today. Even if you go beyond your daily routine, then do it all for Him, for His glory.

Ps 59:16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.

3) Think of what God does Tomorrow (Forever). So be Excited

Ps 100:5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

· Everyday is an opportunity to meet God. So be excited on what is God going to do and speak in your life

I am challenged, what about you?

Neil1am

Are YOU Fresh?

Are YOU Fresh?

Are you Fresh? Ok, lets rephrase that into “do we keep ourselves fresh” or “what keeps us fresh?” or “ what refreshes us?”

This blog was meant to be out a fews months back during one of our church worship team practice. So this is what happened.

We had our band practice with the 3^rd team where every week we practice on how to “move prophetically” in the spirit during songs. We aren’t there yet but have seen and heard a lot of improvements over the months of just “moving in faith” in this area.

Well I can’t really explain much of how and what we do during practice but I can tell you testimonies where people (musicians and singers) during our practice are just “refreshed” after a long day of work through worship.

It was a confirmation for what God has placed in my heart after hearing every ones heart through a prophetic song or a word (testimony)

It was when we were singing “Majesty” by Delirious? that I began to sing words such as “Humbled by your grace so free, humbled by your love so free, humbled by your power, awesomeness… etc…” These are words that we normally hear or read of everyday, every week through times when you have your devotion on your own or fellowship with your friends, and you know what? Though we’ve heard them over and over again, it never fails to amaze us, strengthen us, encourage us, rebuke us, build us, refresh us.

We can read the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation and read the whole thing again from cover to cover and still get something new out of it. Why? Coz His words are alive, It never fails to amaze us!

I was reminded of a story in the book of John which spoke about Nathanael’s encounter with Jesus :-

48"How do you know me?" Nathanael asked.
Jesus answered, "I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you."

49Then Nathanael declared, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."

50Jesus said, "You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that."

Nathanael was "blown away" during his encounter with Jesus.

What is it that God amazes you? What "Blows" your mind?What is it that God has “told” you today through His word, His Love? There maybe a lot of things that He may have told you that had left you standing amazed but let me tell you this… “You’ve not seen anything yet”

Just like Jesus Said "You shall see greater things than that".

For now…. I encourage you to hear from God and allow yourselves to be amazed by Him.

Neil1am

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

A new year, a new start. We have no idea what the year has in stored but we know God does.

We'll make sure that we'll keep you updated in whatever God has been doing in our lives,devotion, ministry, tours, etc.

We're excited. Hope you are too!

1a.m.

Sabah Trip

As a full-time worship ‘minister’, it doesn’t take too much before certain things begin to feel a little dry. Suddenly trying to stir people’s hearts in the presence of the Lord becomes something it should never be; nothing more than a duty, a responsibility that you bear the burden to carry. Even as you get more skilled at playing the songs, or more accustomed to building the environment with your instrument, there is still a stark difference that shows and comes through when you’re not there yourself for God, not tuned in to worship yourself. It’s something that can’t be explained.

Our first concert in Sabah went pretty well by technical standards, hardly any mistakes, the flow went down smoothly, a ‘performance’ by any means in which you’d expect a roaring uplifting of great enthusiasm from the congregation. However, sadly the reality was they didn’t sound much more than polite claps, it didn’t look as if they were ministered to very much if at all. There was something missing that night; it was the tangibility of the Holy Spirit. If there was one thing I learnt this trip, it’s the most important component to any worship service. Too many times we over emphasize the importance of skill, playing the right notes at the right time, and while nevertheless important, we forget the most important part, the part that makes the biggest difference; the Holy Spirit.You could visibly see the difference in environment when it came to our second concert. This time we took the time to prepare our hearts, internally and externally, to make it a point to worship him ourselves, and repented for not doing so in the concerts we did not. Most important of all, we humbled ourselves, that despite all we’ve been through, we still needed God to do anything at all.

To be frank, the 2^nd concert wasn’t that much different in how well we played. However, it was how we worshipped, and how we brought worship. The congregation went crazy, they lifted their hands, some bowed, some cried. The difference? It wasn’t us, it was presence of God.It teaches me that you can’t depend on yourself to make a difference in worship.

Make a prayer to God when you minister, we need Him.TJ1am