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3rd Wave I Will Be There music rally in Malaysia

The K-popped! crew and their guests attended the 3rd Wave I Will Be There Music Rally in FGA, KL on Oct 15. Here’s the lowdown on what happened at the Christian event.

A few were a little confuddled. They expected a Kpop music event since Brian Joo of Fly to the Sky and Alexander Eusebio (Xander) – formerly of U-KISS – were appearing at the 3rd Wave Music Rally on Oct 15.

PhotobucketCHRISTIAN CELEBS: Brian Joo (left) and Alexander Eusebio before flying down to Malaysia for the music rally

Was it a miscommunication, the wrong presumption or both? Kpop is so popular these days that when one hears “from Korea” one instantly thinks of catchy Korean songs and sleek dance routines. Even when it was held at a church – Full Gospel Assembly, Kuala Lumpur – to be exact, some still expected the stars to sing Korean tracks and bust a move or two.

These people would have been disappointed.

The 3rd Wave Music Rally was unapologetically a Christian event. Yes, Brian and Alexander are known as K-celebs, but they are also Christians, and together with 3rd Wave founder Pastor Johnny Lee, they have come together to spread the Good News through their music.

K-popped Christian event

Nonetheless, it felt like we were going for a K-pop concert. It was about 45 minutes to showtime and the line to the Main Sanctuary of FGA, KL snaked to the basement. Everyone – mostly youth for the 4pm show – was orderly and in high spirits. When the doors opened, the crowd shuffled into the sanctuary and the seats were quickly filled up.

PhotobucketTHE LINE: Whoa, this doesn’t happen every Sunday for church 😛

The rally kicked off about 15 minutes after 4pm. The opening act were a trio who popped and locked to the delight of the young crowd. Mid-routine, the 3rd Wave band came out from backstage to go to their VIP seats at the front of the sanctuary and when the young ladies spotted Brian and Alexander, they went nuts.

The Star Park artistes then took the stage to warm the crowd up with contemporary Christian tunes. The songs were in Mandarin and English. After that, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived….

3rd Wave in the house

Pastor Johnny and Brian, along with the rest of the band took their places on stage while Xander slipped back stage when the show started. Amidst the screams for him, Brian went: “Tonight is not a Kpop event. Tonight is the night where we are united under one God.”

The band then sang their original contemporary Christian tracks such as Sweetest Name, I Stand and Jesus is Coming Back.

THEY ARE HERE!: Brian (center) and Pastor Johnny (right) lead worship

Halfway through Awesome God a technical glitch occured — a few mics and sound monitors blew out — but the crowd was supportive and lent their voices instead when the singers on stage could not be heard. The technicians scrambled to get the sound back while Pastor Johnny got Brian to relate an anecdote on how the track I Will be There ended up on the CD.

Apparently, Pastor Johnny had binned the track. While playing around with the Pastor’s computer one day, the curious Brian stumbled upon the song in the recycle bin. Brian thought it was a splendid track and eventually managed to convince Pastor Johnny to put it on the album. They eventually decided to make it the title track for 3rd Wave’s debut album.


3rd Wave Music Rally in Malaysia

Technical glitch

The audio was not completely fixed but the show must go on. Xander was invited onstage and the band sang Looking for the Day. Poor Xander had to wrestle with a faulty mic for a bit before the audio mojo decided to kick in…a little.

PhotobucketTHREE’S COMPANY: Xander (left) joins the band to sing Looking for the Day

After that, the rather shy 23-year-old prayed for the event. Still grappling with audio issues, the band plugged on with more popular contemporary Christian music.

They sang I Could Sing of Your Love Forever (Delirious?) and Open the Eyes of My Heart (Paul Baloche). The 3rd Wave band then ended their set with Amazing Grace – My Chains are Gone (Chris Tomlin).

The Message

Pastor Johnny’s message revolved around the strong belief that now is the time for Asia to shine.

“God is calling Asians to be light. Light is meant to be displayed,” he said. “God is telling Asians to use their skills to bless the world…for the glory of God.”

Whether it is through the economy or pop culture, Asia will be at the forefront in another global Christian revival a.k.a. the 3rd Wave. (Yup, the band named themselves after the highly-anticipated event).

Pastor Johnny delivering his message which
was also directly translated into Mandarin

To throw a little light on the matter, the 1st Wave occured back in the 1700s where preachers such as Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield and John Wesley shared the message of Jesus to the world. With the influence of the Holy Spirit, they were so effective and powerful that a global “Great Awakening” took place.

The 2nd Wave occured in the 1800s. World leaders such as D.L. Moody and Charles Finney went to greath lengths to share the gospel that led many to a saving knowlege of Jesus Christ.

The time is now ripe for the 3rd Wave – an imminent global revival that will surpass even the 1st and 2nd great revivals. It is strongly believed that it will start in Asia.

Pastor Johnny then threw down the gauntlet. He challenged all of us to be a part of the 3rd Wave revival. We will only be able to do that with Jesus in our lives. And for those who were already Christians, Pastor Johnny asked us to recommit ourselves to the Lord and be empowered and ready for the season.

Many responded to the challenge and call for recommitment. And on that encouraging note, the 3rd Wave I Will Be There music rally in Malaysia came to a close.


A pic of Xander, Brian and Pastor Johnny at the
3rd Wave Music Rally 2 i.e. the 8pm concert

Photobucket3RD WAVE BAND: On a mission to Malaysia. Romans 10:15 🙂

Pics credit: 3rd Wave Music Twitter (@3rdWaveMusic),  3rd Wave Music on Facebook and StarPark on Facebook

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