Song Share Sunday #5: "Love Break Through"

This week's song is one that's really fun for us to play when Allan & Friends does concerts!

"Love Break Through" is a celebration of God's love and an invitation for the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts and to break down our chains, our walls, and our uncleanliness, so that we can worship the Good Lord with everything that He has given to us. These words of praise didn't come from something big that happened to me, but from a prolonged desire to feel God's hand in my life. I was tired of trying to control my destiny and fix things that were beyond my abilities. I simply sucked and needed someone who knew exactly what he is doing. I needed God and His love.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians that love is the greatest among the three everlasting (for lack of a better word) things. And the greatest love of all comes from the Good Lord (Can I get an AMEN?!?). Such great love pours from God's own hands and flows into our hearts. It's a love that is not addressed to the entire world, but to each and every individual whom God has made and calls His own.

We are all buried at least knee-deep in sin. Most of us are overwhelmed with our sinfulness that we haven't seen the daylight in years. Sin, simply put, is what keeps the distance between us and God. No shelves stocked with self-help books, no never-ending counseling bills, nor servers holding countless gigabytes of motivational YouTube videos can ever stop us from steering further and further from our Maker. And it is a solid concrete wall, unpenetrable by our own strengths. But praise be to God that his great love reaches our hearts no matter the distance and no matter the cost! Only by God's love can the walls between us and Him be broken down so that we may be with our Father once more! 

Once again, our worship to God is a response to the simple (yet so great and grand) fact the God loves us so much that He gave His son Jesus Christ to step down from heaven and die for our sins (Everybody say HALLELUJAH!!!). If the Good Lord gave it all, holding nothing back, then we MUST worship with it all, holding nothing back. It is the least that our God deserves.

Go on praising the Lord. 

Hallelujah.

Prayz the Lord.

Prayz, prayz, PRAYZ the Lord!

Amen.

Peace, love, and inconspicuous mangoes (will be the end of me),

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #4: Summer Day Camp Cover Song & My Love For Leading Worship

No song from the upcoming album this week. I've lost my voice in this last week of our summer camp, but it is all worth it! Instead, I will be sharing with you a video I made as a message from our counselors to close off this year's ministry, as well as my role this year as Worship Coordinator. Enjoy this video of us embarrassing ourselves, with special guests Wesley Chew and Aaron Agudelo.

I've led worship at our summer camp for a couple years while leading a middle school group, but this year, I have the pleasure of focusing my energy in our morning worship services as Worship Coordinator.

The reason I love to lead worship is very simple — I love to worship my God. Everyone has their own unique relationship with God and their own unique connection with God. As I grew in faith, I've discovered that I connect with God the most through worship and praise.

I especially love to lead worship with our youth groups because so many of them are just beginning to experience God, and I have the honor of leading them to a secret place with their Father in heaven, where they can simply enjoy His presence.

This year, I got to work with such a wonderfully passionate team of worship leaders. God blessed me with team mates with hearts passionate about sharing the gospel. The Holy Spirit guided us, and through that, we put a lot of emphasis on personal prayer and finding that secret place in your heart which only you and God can find, and to just dwell in the presence of the Lord, in His sanctuary and in our hearts. I truly believe that the best type of worship does not take place in a corporate setting, but rather when there is no one around and you just adore the Lord for who He is.

There is so much joy in our worship to God with young children. Jesus calls us to have faith like little children, and when we offer our worship to God, we can just praise Him with all that He's given us, and we do it like no one but God is watching, because that is all that matters. We encouraged the kids to just jump, dance, sing, and go crazy in worship! And sometimes, it's just simply so much fun to have worship dance parties in the middle of the sanctuary, with those who want to join us, stomping and clapping like there is no tomorrow.

Lord, prepare me
To be a sanctuary
Pure and holy
Tried and true
With thanksgiving
I'll be a living
Sanctuary for You

Peace, love, and Rachel's chocolate pudding, sprinkled with cocoa powder, topped with a mint leaf, and a Yogurtland spoon to match the leaf!
-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #3: "Oh How"

"Oh How" marvels at God's grace and mercy. It started with just simply worshipping and praising God, saying "Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful." The verses express how God makes me feel. Sometimes I have these small moments where I just think of the way God makes me feel, like the way the He makes me smile when I see people show love, and how the Holy Spirit makes me sway when I worship. While camping with our middle schoolers this summer, my good friend and counselor Vicki shared with us that worship is the simple response to the fact that God loves us, and, in His love, sent His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in an act of unconditional redemption — and this song is my simple response.

No long story this week. Just simply enjoy God's nature and beauty.

Peace, love, and chrysanthemum tea,

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #2: "I Know You"

This week's song is called "I Know You", and it is God's response last week's song, "How Do I Believe".

I wrote this song for my cousin when she was going through probably the most difficult time in her life. She had lost so much, and our family was hurt beyond repair. No words can express and no one will ever be able to understand the despair that weighs her heart down everyday. No one, that is, except the Father.

This song poured out from me one night. I don't remember which night it was, or if anything particular happened that night, but God spoke, and that's all that matters. God was saying that He knows every single moment that I've felt pain, sorrow, and fear. When I felt broken down and had no strength to pick myself up, He was there, waiting for me to call back to Him after He had called me to Him by name so many times before. He called me His child, his beloved, and his prize.

God the Father knows your heart. He knows all the times that you've felt alone and afraid. He has collected all your tears in a jar and remembers each one, just as He remembers you. He knows our struggles, and He also knows our sins. You are the one sheep that was separated from the flock. Maybe you saw a pretty butterfly and you wandered off. Maybe you saw another herd with another shepherd who seemed better to you. Maybe you just got tired of your own shepherd. No matter how or why you've left your shepherd, He leaves the rest of the flock to find you. You are so precious to Him that He would risk losing the 99 other sheep in order to save you, wherever you may be and however much trouble you are in. He has a very particular set of skills. He will look for you, He will find you, and He will love you.

"Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine." Isaiah 43:1

I hold this song especially close to my heart because I don't cry out to God in this song, but rather God cries out to me. It is through songs like these that I know this is something God wants me to do. I plan to go all the way through with recording these songs, making them as best as I can make them. I don't know if I have practiced my skills enough to push this album to be as best as it can be, and I don't know if I will have the resources to kick off the CDs, but I know God will bring me through one way or another. I have faith that the Lord will guide me in all that I do, and He will do it for His glory! Amen!

I could use all the help and support I can from you, my friends! Share this post and these songs with your friends and family, and all the wonderful people you are connected to through social media. I truly believe that these songs will touch someone's heart. May it also touch yours!

Find me on Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram.

Peace, love, and Mom's chrysanthemum tea,

-Brandon

Song Share Sunday #1: "How Do I Believe"

Hello, friends!

Welcome to Song Share Sunday, where I hope to share a new song every week from the "Run, Love, Run" album as well as some other songs as long as the project is in the works, though I hope to be done in 9 weeks. (*wink wink* that's how many tracks are on the album) I'll mostly share a little of the background of the songs in the beginning of each video for those who don't make it here to the blog, but here you will find the meaty and complete story behind each song. I promise that I will do my best to be as honest as I can to you and myself.

This week, we're kicking it all off with a song called "How Do I Believe."

This song is a huge prayer of mine (and maybe yours, too), loaded with doubt, fear, and a deep yearning for God to be present. This song came about when I was asking God why all these bad things keep happening to me. These things aren't necessarily bad, as God's great plan often includes stumbles and falls in order for me to grow and for Him to pick me up, but nonetheless, I was frustrated, tired, and angry in the moment.

There are also some parts in this song where I would ask myself how long I would last before my spirit or my body broke. I always knew that I need to go through many trials in my life in order for God to refine me, and I also recognized that God is a masterful builder, and it will be a long time before I am ready to be a masterpiece. So I wondered if I would make it to the end, or would I lose hope when I had no more strength, both in my physical body and in my will to patiently wait for healing and change.

This song started with my doubts and fears, but it continued on through my witness of a strong warrior whose relentless passion in serving the Lord continues to inspire me every day. I've served side by side with this brother, Ray, for five consecutive summers, where we discipled young middle schoolers and introduced them to Jesus Christ. Ray is the type of guy who loves his students and is saddened by the thought of missing a week of camp and not being able to interact with them before he even meets them. Besides being a passionate servant, Ray is also a passionate athlete, always balling as hard as he can. With that said, Ray had his share of injuries and surgeries, many of which held him back from giving summer camp his all, and he was so hurt by that. Last summer, Ray had to miss about half of the entire camp because of school, surgery, and  his "ball-too-hard" incident, and, boy, was his heart broken. I continued writing this song for Ray, because I knew this was a prayer he had in his heart many, many times.

I finally finished this song on an MTR train in Hong Kong at the end of a short mission. I was meeting my (then) girlfriend for dinner, and I was feeling just the right emotions to make me whip out my Evernote app on my phone to search for the right words to lay down to complete the song. So far, I had verses that screamed the weariness and burdens in my heart and begged God to put an end to my suffering. I was frustrated, tired, angry, and most of all, unsure of what to do. But my time of screaming and crying was up, because at that moment, the numerous people coming on and going off the train disappeared, the train tracks disappeared, and God spoke to me. He shut my mouth from saying any more and opened my heart to the sound of His still, small voice. This is what God said:

Is it not enough for you to let me take it all? Is it not more than everything that you don't have to fall? You can stand on mountains. You can reach the stars. If only you give me your heart. 

These lines never made to the final song, not because it wasn't good enough, but perhaps because it such a precious moment of mine with my Father, that it is better kept between me and Him. Jesus teaches us in Matthew 6:6 that the most intimate of moments with the Lord should be private and not boasted to the entire world. It is not forever lost, though, because it did make it to an earlier version of the demo which is only in the hands of some of my closest brothers and sisters who have always encouraged me in my music.

May these words touch your hearts as they have touched mine. Stay tuned for God's response to this prayer in next week's Song Share Sunday! Thank you for reading!

Check out my Facebook and Instagram for some extra goodies!

Peace, love, and Ikea's cinnamon rolls,
-Brandon

Official Announcement: "Run, Love, Run" The Album Project

It is my honor to announce "Run, Love, Run", a new collection of songs portraying some aspects of a relationship with Jesus, such as pursuit, intimacy, wonder, doubt, and reassurance. These songs are conversations which I've had with the Lord many times as I grew in faith, and these conversations will be had further down this winding road, may it be right now, tomorrow, or years from now.

Photo by Stella Yau

I had the pleasure of sharing these songs with Allan & Friends to some churches here in the Bay Area, and now I'm ready to lay them down into an album. You can follow the entire project here, as I record these new songs with my good friends. You'll get to see behind the scenes as I record, mix, and produce the final CD! I'll also bring deeper into each song as I reveal a new track from the album each week with "Song Share Sundays". Also as some extra goodies, I'll be coming out with some covers done with good company!

I am beyond excited for you to join me on this adventure as we bring the songs to life! I really want these songs to mean a lot more than they do. That's why further down the road, I will be announcing how this album will benefit some people in and out of our community and how you can join me in making a difference in the lives of some close friends of mine.

May God bless this project with love and grace.

Love, peace, and homemade ice cream sandwiches,

-Brandon

P.S. Keep up with me on Facebook and Instagram.

Broken Strings, Broken Hearts

I broke a string yesterday and I didn't know what to do with myself.

I came home after worship at camp in hopes of starting a recording for "Run, Love, Run." Naturally, I picked up my beloved guitar and started playing some of songs. Sometimes All the times it feels great to strum out some chords! The song led me into a palm mute, and the moment my palm hit the bed of strings, my D string snapped at the bridge with a twang! Needless to say, there was way too much tension.

At that moment, my heart stopped, and I suddenly didn't know what to do with myself. 

You see, my guitar and I have this really intimate relationship, something like what the homies would call "tight", but it's more than just tight. We're so close that I never needed to name her. We just know each other. She's there for me when I'm singing hallelujahs, and she's there for me when I need to cry. She sings with me and she sings to me. Most importantly, she is God's instrument. When she sings, God's words sing through her, injecting his Gospel straight into my veins.

I've broken quite a few strings just in the past couple of months. Maybe we're together too much.. Maybe we need break..

Nah, that can't be it. I just love to worship the God who paid for my sins with his own flesh and blood. I would put a ring on it, but I wouldn't know where to put it.

Fear not! God did allow me to have some fun!
Peace, love, and microwaved chocolate chip cookies (with a cup of milk, of course!),
-Brandon