The Messiah

Wow! So I still have the Hallelujah Chorus reverberating in my mind as I write this. The Ministry of Culture, the German Embassy, and the Church of Christ in Thailand hosted the performance of Handel's Messiah, and Haydn's The Creation under the direction of Charunee Hongcharu and performed by the Bangkok Combined Choir and Bangkok International Community Orchestra at the Thailand Cultural Center. (Talk about a mouthful!)It was amazing. I went with Pastor Carl, P Dang, Sarah, P La, P Maew, P Waew, and P Gorb. My favorite part is during the Hallelujah Chorus when everyone in the auditorium stands in honour of the King of Kings. Tradition has it that King George II rose because it was customary to stand in the presence of royalty, and by him standing he recognized that he too was subject to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. This is something that Thais understand well and can take to heart since they too have a King and give him a great deal of honour and respect. The whole auditorium rose at the beginning of the performance to hear the Thai anthem which is in honour of the king of Thailand. I couldn't help but thinking during the Hallelujah chorus that this whole auditorium (which statistically is a majority Buddhist) stood in honour as the King of Kings was being praised. The whole performance was straight from scripture and translated into Thai. So most people may have been there for a "cultural experience", but they got the message of the Creator and Saviour of the world!

HALLELUJAH! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.

The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.

King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, HALLELUJAH!