Worship and Theology 敬拜與神學

Joshua Law

Professor Joshua Law teaches voice, choir and East Asian music at CCSF since 1972. As a boy, Joshua was fond of singing. He found interest in music in his preteen years when he started to learn to play the piano from his cousin Julia, sang in a church choir, learned music theory from his choir director Jenny K. Wong. Joshua began his music life as a violin player at his high school orchestra. He played trumpet as a teenager and started cello lessons in college because the small college orchestra needed one cellist. He was given free voice lessons in exchange for correcting music theory papers for a voice teacher. At his senior year at college, majoring in Social Work, he won first place in a city wide singing contest that landed him an European tour immediately after his graduation. Joshua was accepted into the graduate music program at Cal State L. A. from which he got his master's degree in music studying voice with Esther Andreas and William Vennard. He is specialized in voice pedagogy and was selected as a vocal workshop singer by Richard Miller. In addition to playing the above mentioned musical instruments, Joshua plays the baritone horn, the trombone, the saxophone and a number of other instruments. Joshua performed, in numerous occasions, leading roles in operas and oratorios, directed oratorio productions and Broadway shows, sang solo concerts, produced many concerts and many music for radio and TV programs and served in numerous singing contests as chief judge. Being known as an excellent vocalist and choir director, Joshua was invited by local and international churches for advice and workshops. To equip himself for such frequent invitations, he had pursued theological education which gave him two more post graduate degrees in theology and pastoral ministry. He maintains a piano tuning and rebuilding workshop at his house and in frequent occasions is invited to give sermons in churches, lectures on the principles and practices of church music all over this country, in Asia, South America and Canada.

My Immigration Story

I suffered because I have been all legal. Our country qualified us for applying for permanent resident status because of our education, qualification and acquired jobs. America needed people like us. I have been proud of my great contribution to the education process in this country for 40 years. For 41 years, My wife, an RN-midwife in the USA, helps delivering (legal) American babies into this country and I, for over 40 years, help educating them and often salvaging them from the ills of the failed education system of our country, the media which brain washed them into heart-throbbing mindless individuals, the ills of brainless merchants, who are only interested in making money from little kids and the immature, who created the cravings in them for things they do not need and from poor high school education. Because of the great opportunities and freedom that I can enjoy in this country, I am grateful for being an American. I can’t say the same about China. Continue reading

Hong Kong Noah’s Ark Fever

One doesn’t have to have any special qualification or education to have critical thinking, and able to observe that which is wrong. You do not have to be a scientist, anthropologist, archeologist to see what is fishy about the “Noah’s Ark” mess/blunder/stupidity. Continue reading

Good Choirs Do Not Follow The Director

When I told my choir “Don’t follow me.“ They were shocked. For many years they had been faithfully following their director, trying their best, doing their best. They often wondered why other members are not as good as they were in following the director. Some members even tried to sing “a little louder” so that the next singer who needed some help could follow them. They wondered why the choir had never made much progress since as long as they remembered. Continue reading

從民族音樂學的角度看宣教

從民族音樂學[1]的角度看宣教                       羅天樂

蒙   神厚恩,筆者從一九七二年起授課於加州三藩市社區學院〈全美最大社區學院,有十三校舍,十一萬學生〉音樂系除講授獨唱,合唱,樂理,鍵盤,及東亞音樂課程之外且開始從事發展「民族音樂學」教育,成為在北美社區學院講授民族音樂課程的先驅老師;曾在北美,東南亞各地演講授課。至今該校共有五位民族音樂教授,有四類民族音樂課程,共二十餘班。2002年被選為亞洲研究系主任。又因在神學院及教會事奉,常被問及教會音樂敬拜難題,因不懂教會真理常啞口無言以對,終於致力教牧學進修多年。筆者希望在此分享所得點滴,但願能對宣教事工作出一點提醒或供獻。 Continue reading