"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." (Ecc 3:1)

It's really quite an experience living in a temperate country, because the seasons become intimately connected to everyday life, from the sleepy 4.00 p.m. sunsets of winter to the brilliant azure skies of summer. Every season is beautiful in a slightly different way, and there is always a subtle pang of nostalgia when you realise, "Oh, we're now in the next season."

And so it is for the season of Euphor!a. It's been a beautiful journey having been able to share some of my thoughts and joys about worship in such a way (even if I'm many kilometers away!), but it's now time to pen some closing words on this chapter.

As I think back across the three(!) years that I've been working on this project, I think that I've grown a lot in this process, whether in terms of my listening palate, my writing skill, or my heart for worship. In many ways, writing a newsletter about worship has forced me to confront my own worship life, and to continually renew my commitment to offer my life as a living sacrifice. This has been one of the greatest joys of preparing Euphor!a, and perhaps in some way you may have been blessed and challenged by this same sense of yearning too.

Although this will be the last issue of the newsletter, it is my hope and prayer that you will not cease to pursue excellence and earnestness in worship! Rather, I hope that the many resources and sharings have encouraged you to keep seeking God, and that your worship keeps flowing out of new revelations of God's goodness and beauty.

Euphoria is a feeling of great happiness and excitement, and I hope that this spark will continue glowing bright in your hearts across seasons and times.

– alvin(:

Where do we go from here? In this special feature, Sis Samantha Lim tells us what it might look like to go and live out the Great Commission as creatives.

Creatives and the Great Commission

“The power of music can impact our mood, emotions, our day. But once you merge the strength of music with the heart, hope and passion of the Gospel, it has the ultimate power not only to change someone’s day, but to impact them for eternity. This is why we write music and sing songs—we hope that people will be moved, encouraged, and stirred to live a life for someone greater than themselves.”

Always start with why. Why do we do anything at all? As kingdom musicians and forerunner-worshipers, why do we do worship ministry? As creatives, why do we put art—music, words, pictures—out there, when the world’s already saturated with enough noise, and way more than enough images?

Our generation is seeing unprecedented levels of creativity. Tools and knowledge are so accessible to us that we could quickly (and sometimes too easily) materialise any figment of our imagination. In my case, apps and midi cables have enabled me to go so much further in songwriting than I ever could ten years ago. It helped, too, that when I took a year away from local church ministry to do a missions stint overseas, I had the time and headspace to sit with my thoughts and process them through songs.

In that space, one morning, I reckoned with why.

“God, I really don’t want to go down a path of vanity. All this singing, filming and posting up videos for the world to see would be an exercise in futility if it doesn’t serve a purpose greater than just my glory.” I knew that God had given me the release to be more public with my craft. Somehow, in ways that are still unfolding, He has a purpose for this and I just need to take things in baby steps. I knew that my motivation was not to become famous. But my heart has a history of deceit, and I wanted to chain it to an anchor purer than I, dropped deep so that the waves would never wreck the purpose God planted in me.

Maybe you’re like me, and you too are afraid of fleshly motivations overtaking even the purest of initial intentions. But if there’s any encouragement I can offer you today, let me say this: keep singing, keep producing, keep writing, keep placing your mark on the world, because each of us carries eternity in our hearts (Ecc 3:11b). Do this in the church, and also do this outside of church. Better yet, do this congruently, without a separation between what’s sacred or secular. I used to write songs in categories. One would be for congregational singing, another would be for a gospel album, and yet another would be unthinkable to release in any church context. But with some growth and hindsight now, I say: let the walls come down. I don’t write Christian and non-Christian songs. I simply write songs as a daughter who’s journeyed with the King.

So my creative friend, chain your heart to the Anchor, drop it deep, and then have the freedom to create. Create every day—counterintuitively to us creatives, inspiration takes some structure and discipline, but more on this another time. I’ll say it again, freely create, and create every day. In fact, I implore you to be creative. It’s a mark the King has given us to place in this world. He knows where and how it fits. He knows the places of darkness in the world that need it. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a jar (Luke 8:16).

He’s called us to be a voice, and not an echo.

Artists all throughout history have always been the prophets of society. They’ll raise a battle cry against injustice, they’ll lend voices to those who don’t have any. Their art enables us to express tangibly what unspeakable pain, what indescribable longing. They’re always observing the changes in the world, and speak for or against it even before society gains consciousness to its contemporary shifts. With art as a prophetic tool in hand, be a voice and not an echo. Keep one ear tuned in to the pulse of the world, and the other ear pressed even closer to the heartbeat of God. The Lord will give us things to say, because He is Himself, through Christ Jesus, the answer to the unspeakable pain and indescribable longings of the world.

Therefore, my creative friend, with your words and songs and pictures and dance and lights and every other way God has given you creativity, go. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything Jesus has commanded.

Here's my final parting gift to you: three more curated playlists (= 150 more songs), which perhaps might inspire you to listen to (and make!) more music.

Thank you for the lovely journey, through which I've caught glimpses of the God that makes everything beautiful in His time (Ecc 3:11a). And for the last time (for now!):

Over and out!