I got this one from Eve's LiveJournal.
Ask me three questions. Any three questions. No more and no less, and I will answer them for you.
The only catch is that you must also paste this on your journal/blog, so people can also ask you three questions.
Since I have used up my three questions on Eve's LiveJournal, I think it's my turn now to be three-questioned :P
Okay people.... start asking.... (use my reader comments below, or shoutbox is also okay with me, but comments are preferred because my shoutbox is limited to 50 entries, if you post on the shoutbox one day it will be lost but if you post it in the comments, your questions will be stored there forever with my answer on that issue, hehehe) ^^


••• Friday, April 16, 2004 •••
Since the VCD hasn't come out yet (it's under editing and finalizing process which will be done by the end of this week), I think I'll just post the the lyrics and overview of the Easter Cantata here for you guys. Once the VCD is here I will make a special page containing screen captures of the best scenes from the Cantata. Wait for it guys! There are 14 songs from the Cantata, which I will list below along with the lyrics and descriptions. The original lyrics are written in Indonesian, and these are just plain translations with no regards to the musical notes.


01. Prologue
"Six days before Easter, Jesus came to Bethania, to the place of Lazarus who was revived. There, a feast was prepared for Jesus and one of they that came to eat with Him was Lazarus. When the multitudes heard that Jesus was there, they came. And when they knew that Jesus was going to pass through Jerusalem, they took the leaves of the palm trees and waited upon Him while singing, "Hosanna, blessed be He that came in the name of the LORD, blessed be the King of Israel". For the multitudes, Hosanna meant "save us now", a prayer to free Israel from the bonds of the Roman Empire and to return the freedom of Israel. The answers for their shouts will indeed come, but in a different way...


Then one who plays as a soldier blows the trumpet signaling the coming of the King, Jesus of Nazareth, to Jerusalem.


02. Procession
In this part, the choirs came out from behind the people watching, and they gave the palm tree leaves to the people, and they say that the King will come, and then they started moving towards the stage.


03. Hosanna!
"Hosanna! Hosanna to the King! Blessed be Him that came in the name of the LORD. Rejoice, o daughters of Zion, shout victory, o daughters of Jerusalem! Your King has come! Blessed be Him! Hosanna to the King!"


Phew... listening to this song, you will certainly feel the POWER and GLORY of our LORD, Jesus Christ!


04. Remember Me
This is the scene of the Last Supper where Jesus sat with His twelve disciples. Jesus prayed then crumbles the bread, and passed it to His disciples. And they also drank the wine. Before they eat and drink, Jesus sang:


"Eat... the bread of the supper. Drink... the wine of the supper. This is my body, crumbled for you. This is my blood, spilled for you. Remember Me... Remember Me... I will go to Heaven to provide places for you. I will return and take you with me. Look for Me... look for Me... yes, look for Me...."


This is indeed a touching scene...... and here I have to play as Judas, who escaped from the table... >_<


05. Father, Protect Your Children
After Judas left, Jesus went with His disciples to the garden of Getsemane. There He prayed for them so that they will be freed from temprations and so that Father will protect them. This is the song which truly touched me first, and it is the one that made me repented my wrong ways and returned to Father and loved Him greatly.


"Father, protect Your children. Bless them. Purify them. Protect them, guard them with Your love".


In this scene, the twelve disciples and the males from the choir knelt until their faces fell to the ground, and you can see how deep Jesus loved His disciples, and how deep He loves all of us. He prayed for us, so that Father would protect us. We are His children. He will pray for us, and be our intercessor for our Father in Heaven.


06. The Crucifixion
This is the BEST, LONGEST and HARDEST part of the entire Cantata. This is also where my role ends. Judas came up with soldiers and high priests to take Jesus away. Judas moved forward and embraced Jesus, and after that the soldiers and high priests move forward towards Him. This part below are done with singing....


Jesus: "Whom do you seek?"
Men : "Jesus of Nazareth!"
Jesus : "I am He...."


The soldiers and high priests show signs of disbelief, then they repeated the part above. Then, after that they captured Him and took Him to Pilate, with the crowd (choirs) chanting "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"


Pilate : "Are you the Son of God?!"
Jesus : "I am. You will see the Son of God come in glory." << You can really see His glory here! That's my Jesus!


Then Pilate told the crowd that he could find no mistake in this Man. But because it was Easter, there was a tradition that He will free one captive. The crowd chose Barrabas over Jesus and asked Pilate to crucify Jesus. Jesus was taken away and the crowd shouted as if they have won and satisfied with the crucifixion of Jesus.


07. Glory, Hallelujah!
The choir knelt down. Then one by one, each of them raised up, and lifted their hands towards the Cross (there is a big Cross in my church above the stage). They sang this song with a very solemn atmosphere... so holy...


"Glory Hallelujah... worthy is the Lamb..." (four times)


08. Isaiah 53
The part of narration from Isaiah 53:2-8. The two narrators spoke up with their utmost feelings, especially in the part "we are all astray like sheep!" it really made the people who saw this scene struck deep in their souls and cried. Because this part is rather difficult to translate to English, I will write it in Indonesian. If one person can translate this without losing its original meanings and its poetic aspects, please write to me, I'lll be really thankful.


"Sebagai taruk Ia tumbuh di hadapan Tuhan sebagai tunas dari tanah kering. Ia tidak tampan dan semarak-Nya pun tidak ada sehingga kita memandang Dia, dan rupa pun tidak, sehingga kita menginginkan-Nya."
"Kita menghindari-Nya, kita menutup muka terhadap-Nya."
"Tetapi sesungguhnya penyakit kitalah yang ditanggung-Nya, dan kesengsaraan kitalah yang dipikul-Nya."
"Padahal kita mengira Dia kena tulah, dipukul dan ditindas Allah."
"Kita sekalian sesat seperti domba! Masing-masing kita mengambil jalannya sendiri."
"Tetapi Tuhan telah menimpakan kepada-Nya kejahatan kita sekalian."
"Seperti anak domba yang dibawa ke pembantaian, seperti induk domba yang kelu di depan orang-orang yang menggunting bulunya, Ia tidak membuka mulut-Nya."
"Dari tahanan dan pencobaab mereka membawa-Nya untuk dihukum mati. Tapi siapakah di antara orang-orang itu yang sadar untuk siapa Dia mati - tersiksa untuk dosa mereka?"


If you are not crying when you hear this, well, you may not have fully understood how much He have given you...


09. The Heights of Heaven
"A holy Lamb... was made as sacrifice for our sins. His blood was spilled... to purify all of us. The savior of men... was killed for us. Freedom was given... until the heights of Heaven! Glory Hallelujah, worthy is the Lamb!"


I love the "until the heights of Heaven" part where the choir raised their hand and waved it in form of a rainbow. It really made me feel the Glory of God, that have given us freedom and everlasting live. I feel like I want to praise His glory until the heights of Heaven. A magnificent song, and they sang it with all of their feelings... *sighs*


Narration:
"So the Son of God was afflicted"
"We were strengthened"
"He was rejected"
"We were accepted"
"He was hurt"
"We were healed"
"He was separated"
"We were reunited"
"He received punishment"
"We were forgiven"


10. Father, Forgive Them
This song shows you how GREAT is the love of Jesus. Even though He received harshness and sufferings, He never cursed the ones who did it to Him but He forgives all of them in the name of Father. Can you do that? This song really made me cried, and from what my friends told me, the people also cried most in this song. Touching.


"He was betrayed. He was chained. He was cursed. He was crucified. He was denied. He was forsaken. He was left behind. He was crucified. Father, forgive them, prayed the Savior. Father, forgive them, I have taken up their sin. Father, forgive them, when they believe. Father, forgive them, for what they have done. Although we knew Him, we rejected Him. We didn't listen Him, we crucified Him. We denied Him, we don't protect Him. We rejected Him, we crucified Him. Father, forgive them, prayed the Savior. Father, forgive them, I have taken up their sin. Father, forgive them, when they believe. Father, forgive them, for what they have done."


11. Alive Today!
This song depicts the resurrection of Christ, and this is the best song among the others, because the moves of this song are so nice and in this part the choir have to run, move around and do many moves. It is the most entertaining part that will make you can't sit in your seats when you watch it, you will want to move with them ^^


"He is risen! God has risen from the grave! He is risen! He has won over death! He lives now in eternity. He lives now as the Eternal King."


12. He Loved Me
The part with four solo performances from the most gifted choir members. It is also touching (well, aren't all of them touching?) because it depicts how much He loves us, and yet we left Him, and we made Him suffer and die.


"Chosen when the world was made. Chosen as His own. Crafted, given freedom, but I left Him."
"His love never changes. His love never changes. We was won by the blood of Christ, the Son of God."
"Who can take me away? Dreams and the future, sadness and sorrow? Hunger and riches. Warfare and chastisement. A crown of victory have been provided for all of us in Christ our Lord."
"For I am convinced, dead or alive, angels or principalities, and powers of present of future. All cannot separate His love from me."


13. Your Love Compels Me
The choir sang this song accompanied by a solo performance from a ballet dancer, and that made this part so beautiful, and this really taught me many things about what Father wants me to do in my life with His love.


Narration:
"His love moved Him to gently answer what His disciples asked Him on the night before He died."
"His love did not think about Himself when He prayed to Father, "Father, not my will, but Your will be done."
"His love touched a thief that was crucified with Him when He said, "Today you will be with me in Paradise."
"His love shown forgiveness when he said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."
"His love for those who are lost and for the dying world, abled Him to stay crucified on the Cross, in sufferings, pain and humbleness."


"Your love o LORD, taught me to give, to love, to live like You. Your love o LORD, taught me to serve, to have mercy, to live like Christ. Your love o LORD, taught me to live like Christ."


14. All Power
FINAL SONG! And it really shows all the power of the LORD! It is so majestic and so grand... very "wow"!!! :)


"All power are given, on Heaven and on earth. All power is given to Me. Go and tell all nations, baptize them in My Name. Teach them to do all things I have commanded you. I will be with you, forever, until the end of time.
--repeat Your Love Compels Me-- I will be with you (Amen), I will be with you (Amen), Amen Hallelujah, Amen Hallelujah, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.... Amen, Amen, Amen..... Amen!"

---

This cantata really taught me much about Jesus, this cantata made me knew more about Him like never ever before. And I can feel His power and His glory, which, in actuality would be far greater than what is depicted in this cantata. I told Him after, "I was never so proud to have a God like You, Dad!". I wish that all of you can see it, but maybe it cannot come true, but I'm trying! This is what I can give to you at the moment, and I am really really sorry for those of you who cannot see this >_< If you are on Jakarta, I will come there on July/August and I will bring the VCD with me, we can see it together later. The ones I really think about are Chette, David, Aibou and Marisa... what can I do to make you able to see this? Oh... I really feel like I can do nothing for you... >_<


••• Tuesday, April 13, 2004 •••
Father, Into Your Hands I Commend My Spirit         Luke 23:44-49

And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46)

The first of the seven sayings of Christ on the Cross was "Father". Then on the fourth saying He said "My God, My God". And on the last saying He said "Father". How miraculous, that the relationship between the Father and the Son is from eternity to eternity. Forever He called God as "Father", but on the moment when He had to carry the punishment of sins for the whole human race, Father had to left the Son. On the moment when He was burdened with unspeakable sufferings, He could not call God as "Father", because He stood on the position of a sinful man, He had to call God as "God". After that, the relationship between Father and Son was reunited, and so, after He finished the promise of salvation , not only He said "It is finished", but even more He commend His spirit to the Father.

In this world, there are many people that sacrificed their lives for others, for the people they love or maybe for their countries. But often this sacrifice is not given willingly, because if possible, they would still cling on to their lives. But it was not that way with Jesus, if He didn't give up His life, then we won't have eternal life. But He is a God of life, so He said: "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again (John 10:18)". If it was not Him that gave up His own life, the whip, rod, and crown of thorns from the Roman soldiers would not be able to take His life, not even the nails of the cross. Praise God, He endured a great suffering so that we will be freed from the horrible payment of sin. He gave up His life and surrendered it to Father, for us to have everlasting life. Because of that, even if our entire body are crumbled, it will not be enough to return His love. How are we loving Him right now?



••• Sunday, April 11, 2004 •••
It Is Finished         John 19:30-37

Then when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, It is finished! And He bowed His head and gave up the spirit. (John 19:30)

Often, reaching the end of a journey or process with good and clean results is not a simple task. History recorded so many people that started everything good and ended up with a tragedy or a shameful loss. A few months ago, a movie about the last 12 hours of Jesus' life was made. The movie director even reminded the actor that played as Jesus Christ that this movie may be the opening and also the closing of his career, because it is possible that the movie will be hated by the Hollywood people and the public. With no regrets and fear, this film was finally made, and it turns out that today, this spectacular movie have instead gathered many profits and is waited by many people because it really visualizes a tragedy that has never been potrayed like this before.

Jesus surely knew that His death on the Cross was not the end of a tragic loss. He knew that His sacrifices have been truly given, fully and wholly. Those three words indicated a new age of a victory that cannot be blocked away. Jesus ended the wait for salvation that has been endured by mankind, even though not many knew about this at that time, and this closing was signaled by this short sentence that was let out from His bloody lips. For the world and for the Jews, Jesus had lost and His word can be comprehended as a relief that at last his sufferings won't be for any longer. It was as if Jesus couldn't hold on with His condition. But for us, that saying reminds us to His perfect sacrifice. There is nothing more necessary for men to do to gain salvation other than in Him. And now, even more we are reminded that the news about the perfect sacrifice must be spread so that others may know that the salvation has been granted.

By the sacrifice of Christ we began our meaningful lives. Will we end it later with a proud smile and victory because we have done our part as best as God wanted us to do? Share and spread the good news to every man, that the salvation has been completed and has been finished only in Jesus Christ when He was crossed in the mount of Calvary.


••• Sunday, April 11, 2004 •••