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Inspiring mando-pop DT

The Christian Post online has a very nice article abt the Franklin Graham event in Taipei:
Graham Concludes '08 Crusade in Taiwan
By Ethan Cole
Christian Post Reporter
Wed, Nov. 05 2008 01:07 PM EST
American evangelist Franklin Graham concluded his 2008 world crusade this past weekend in Taipei, Taiwan where nearly 10,000 people committed their lives to Jesus Christ during the event.
The four-day festival from Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 drew more than 150,000 people to the outdoor plaza of Taipei’s famous Liberty Square - formerly known as Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall – making it the largest religious gathering in the history of the venue.
Graham preached a simple but fundamental message about salvation only through Jesus Christ, which is proclaimed at all the Franklin Graham festivals.
“There is no other name under heaven by which you can be saved. It’s only through Christ,” Graham said, according to the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, to citizens of a country that is 90 percent Buddhist and Taoist. “Jesus said ‘I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life. No man comes to the Father but by me.’”
In addition to the 150,000 adults that attended the Taipei festival, another 33,000 kids attended a special children’s event on Sunday.
Local musical artists opened for Graham each night, including Heavenly Melody, JJ Lam, and popular mando-pop singer-songwriter David Tao.
During his visit to Taiwan, Graham also met with Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou on Oct. 30 in the Presidential Office.
President Ma called Graham “one of the world’s best-known preachers” and said he was delighted to meet the evangelist. He also praised the past evangelistic event led by Franklin’s father, renowned evangelist Billy Graham, for its positive effects on Taiwan 33 years ago and expressed that Franklin’s event would also bring the same comfort to the people in the country.
Graham also met with many of the country’s leading pastors and city leaders.
In total, some 650 local churches participated in the Festival.
The event in Taipei was the sixth Franklin Graham Festival this year. Prior festivals were held in Belfast, Northern Ireland; Knoxville, Tenn.; Villahermosa, Mexico; Timisoara, Romania; and Charleston, S.C.
For 2008, more than 487,000 people in total attended the Franklin Graham Festival events.
So DT is a 'popular mando-pop singer-songwriter' ^__^ Anyway just wanna express my heartfelt thanks for the msgs below. I really love it when you guys rant abt DT cos really reinforce my own feelings abt him. Like Sukyee I too feel at a loss 'without the conviction of his voice'. Perhaps that could be his weakness, that his physical presence can sometimes be so overwhelmingly inspiring that we need to be constantly reassured. Thanx beachgurl for digging out the Parable in Black Tangerine. He got the album rite anyway if not the age :P
Black Tangerine could be his most inspiring album perhaps. When the album came out, it made ppl realised that music can be inspiring & that it could reflect social issues happening in our times. The reason David was able to touch us with songs like Black Tangerine, Today's News, Dear God & Angel was because he was witnessing the events at firsthand. He was in the US during the 911 incidents & he was affected by them directly. So he wrote the songs that told of his fears, his depression, his frustration, his anger, his helplessness & his uncertainties. The songs reach out to us cos we felt all of his feelings with him & we could think of situations where we felt the same. In these songs he cried out to us not to sit back but to do something cos this is the world we live in & no matter how hard we try, we cannot run away.
Reality always bites. President-elect Barack Obama made history significant again but he had to make his acceptance speech behind bulletproof glass walls. There is no magical 'ever after' where he and his family can go and live happily in the White House. I would imagine he would require the tightest security ever by a US president. Brave new world indeed. Dear DT's fav phrase hehe but then he has always been a visionary man. So yeah I long for his new album. Apparently on 11/1, he said that he is the midst of producing his 6th studio album. I thought he said earlier that it was completed. Whatever. So long as there is a DT album coming out SOON I hope.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Obama's win was a victory shared all over the world. His speech touched many of us. Walls, physical, mental, emotional were broken down. Tears shed, hearts touched and lifted.

I was truly inspired by the human spirit on that special day.

"But what next?" one wonders. Only time can tell, I guess.

But at least we can look forward for the new album!

Love, Joy, Peace,
Suk Yee

Zhao said...

Thanks Suk Yee, hope you are keeping well. Yeah, felt uplifted by Obama win too :D

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