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上周日是我第一次在Brooklyn Tabernacle 做礼拜。真的是一个非常有祝福的时间。
大多人已经知道这家教会的合唱团全球都很有名。我现场去听是比我想像的更有意思。
Sunday afternoon was my first time worshiping at Brooklyn Tabernacle and what a wonderful time it was.

As most of you reading this know, BT has been known for many years around the world for their amazing choir. To be there in person confirms that and more.

BT 开了一个赞美晚会系列，邀请很多有名的福音歌手来周日下午带赞美。这次是一位弟兄叫Larnelle Harris。 他得到好几个Grammy 奖的艺术家。 礼拜开始的时候有BT教会带赞美，觉得很容易举高我们的敬拜。
BT has begun a gospel celebration series that sees various contemporary gospel artists come and lead worship on Sunday afternoons. This week happened to be with Larnelle Harris, a multi-Grammy award winning artist. Service began with BT leading worship and it was very, very easy lifting our praises to the Lord.

当Harris 弟兄来带的时候，他是把力量和歌唱并在一起。他唱的时候真的相信他所唱的歌。 这样唱法给我们很大的鼓励和信心。如果无心来唱，可能变成一个普通的演唱。
When Mr. Harris began to lead, he led with such power beyond just singing some songs. Not wanting to use this commonly-used phrase, but he truly believed what he sang. And that made all the difference in lifting our spirits and hearts. Not only being unbelieveably musically gifted, he enabled it with his faith to do far more than what just singing alone can do.

在礼拜结束时，Cymbala 牧师分享了诗篇50章，呼招我们回到他怀抱中。合唱团也唱了一首新歌给大家，也让感到祝福。我之前有没有跟大家说他们的音乐家超厉害？？？
At the end of service, Pastor Cymbala shared a quick message on Psalm 50, and encouraged those that have been distant from Him to come back. The choir sang a new song that led us into His presence and many were blessed. Did I need to add that their musicians at their church are super talented?

觉得最大的鼓励是发现他们的合唱团不是他们教会的重点， 而且他们很热心去帮贫穷的人，也在他们的影响中把福音好好使用在他们的社会。可是他们的服事都是在祷告里建立的。 太酷。
Probably the most encouraging thing is that the choir is not the centerpiece of the church. If it was I’m sure it would not have lasted very long. Community outreach into the city, social awareness and assistance are other key pillars of this church, all built upon being a house of prayer.

Tags: Faith, Music by Administrator
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The shocking thing about Boston is the vast amount of musical talent in this city. Having so many colleges in the city doesn’t hurt, and with Berklee around it definitely helps develop some current stars (for instance, Diana Krall has attended in the past).

Friday night was an experience as my friend Louis helped book tickets to the 10pm performance of the Ron Carter Trio. Made up of Mr. Carter playing the double bass, Russell Malone playing the guitar, and Jacky Terrasson on the ivories. Each of these three are able to hold their own solo shows but having them together was a treat.

Without the drums, each of them have had to help comp and keep rhythm, and it’s quite impressive to hear the fullness of their sound. I can’t tell you how amazing they are comping for one another, not to mention the times they take turns improvising. Unfortunately I’m horrible at recognizing the pieces that they played. The only one I remember was Autumn Leaves.

It was a great show, albeit it felt really short. Then again, when you’re so caught up in something, time can really fly.

Tags: Music by Administrator
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Coming back to North America has been eye-opening in the fact that I’m taking two weeks to travel to the East Coast for the first time in my memory (I did supposedly go to Florida when I was young but I definitely don’t remember any of it). I’m relaxing at my friend’s place in DC, after spending a couple of days in TO, and on my way to Boston and NYC afterwards.

One purpose of my trip is to get a feel of every city, as every city’s got their own feel, own identity, and different styles of art, that arise as a product of its environment and people. I want to find out what makes their music THEIR music, and how it’s birthed. So here are a few observations from my travels so far:

Toronto:
• Unbelieveably multi-cultural. My friend Loulee says it’s the world’s 2nd most multicultural city in the world. I don’t doubt it. Where Vancouver is basically half Chinese, Toronto gives me the impression that there is no one culture that dominates
• Toronto has a much more urban feel than Vancouver, and the influence of Hip-Hop, R&B, Rap is stronger.
• Where Vancouver has a Chinatown (actually, it’s called Richmond), Toronto has many different neighbourhoods that are very ethnically strong. In the picture above, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” was filmed in the restaurant
• Finally figured out where Jarvis Church got his name. I’m not surprised that he has all these influences b/c TO’s got it all…

Washington, DC:
• This is city has way too many non-civilians! Oh wait, this is the captial…okay, it does remind me of Beijing…
• This city feels sterile, at least in Arlington, and the West side of DC.
• I figure a heck of a lot of people here in DC are Christian, and heavily engrained into this city’s psyche.
• The neat thing about DC is the abundance of amazing gospel music available. Obviously, having a lot of african-americans in this city help spur the market for this genre of music. I had a chance to chat with two african-american sisters who were shopping for Gospel music albums. They were definitely very helpful in pointing me towards the better gospel music out today. Too cool.
• Drinks at McDonald’s are wayyyyy too big. I ordered a medium, and I don’t think I’ve seen a medium milkshake that big before. Perhaps that explains why I see so many extremely overweight people here…

Tags: General by Administrator
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