HE KNOWS MY NAME

I just got back from a fun dinner with Joy and Lennie at Sbarro.
But before that, I had fun watching tonight's rehearsal with Tommy Walker and his team for tomorrow's worship concert. It's pretty amazing to finally meet the man who wrote some of my favorite worship songs.

Although tonight was the first time I met him, Tommy Walker is a frequent visitor to the Philippines. In fact, one of his songs found its inspiration from the slums of Manila when a young kid came up to him during a ministry time and asked, "I'm just a kid in the slums, do you think Jesus knows me?" That little experience inspired the birthing of the song He Knows My Name. Presbyterian theologian, Robert McAfee Brown wrote a personal statement of faith one time in which he said that “there are little moments when vast things happen.” That little moment for that kid God showed His vastness.

I believe some of the kids who were rehearsing for a dance number tonight came from the slums and are products of his church's (Christian Assembly Los Angeles) ministry to the poor of Payatas, Metro Manila's largest slum area.

Tommy Walker with some of our Chancel Choir members

Incidentally, this morning, as I began my day, I read Psalm 139-- one of the many Psalms that teach us about the amazing attributes of God- Omnipresence, Omniscience and Omnipotence.

Theologian Paul Tillich in a sermon taught that we all know that we cannot separate ourselves at any time from the world to which we belong. There is no ultimate privacy or final isolation. We are always held and comprehended by something that is greater than we are, that has a claim upon us, and that demands response from us. The most intimate motions within the depths of our souls are not completely our own. For they belong also to our friends, to mankind, to the universe, and to the Ground of all being, the aim of our life. Nothing can be hidden ultimately. It is always reflected in the mirror in which nothing can be concealed.1

Does anybody really believe that his most secret thoughts and desires are not manifest in the whole of being, or that the events within the darkness of his subconscious or in the isolation of his consciousness do not produce eternal repercussions? Does anybody really believe that he can escape from the responsibility for what he has done and thought in secret?

Omniscience means that our mystery is manifest. Omnipresence means that our privacy is public. The center of our whole being is involved in the center of all being; and the center of all being rests in the center of our being.2

“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence?”

When life becomes full; full of job and family and complicated relationships, professional demands and tight schedules, bosses’ expectations, long days with no time for leisurely lunches or even pleasant conversations over coffee, not to mention praying, you just might want to remind yourself about God:

“You know when I sit down and when I rise up,You discern my thoughts from afar.”

Fairly recently, I was on a plane on my way back to Manila enjoying a totally different persepective of the clouds. The cumulous clouds that day were bright and beautiful, but unlike how I normally "look up" at them, I was looking down at the clouds! And this verse came to mind:
“If I ascend to heaven, you are there.If I take the wings of the morningand settle at the farthest limits of the sea,even there your hand shall hold me fast.”

Tonight, when you fall exhausted into bed, you might be intrigued by:

“You search out my path and my lying down.”

And if your life can only be described as hellish: if nothing is working, if it all seems tragically empty and lonely, if relationships are sour and work is boring—and there is no light on the horizon—no promise, no hope—hear these words:

“If I make my bed in Sheol,” which is another word for hell, “You are there.”

And if you find yourself thinking a lot about your own limitations, if the recent death of a loved one, a close call, a dreaded lab report, the worst diagnosis you could imagine, if you find yourself thinking about what someone called “the insult of our mortality,” hear these words which I think should be the very last words any of us is privileged to hear:3

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall cover meand the light around me become night,even the darkness is not dark to you;the night is as bright as the day,for darkness is as light to you.’”

He knows my name...He knows my every thought
He see each tear that falls and hears me when I call.

_____________________________
1 Tillich, Paul, sermon Escape from God, UTS Chapel 1955
2 Ibid
3 Buchanan, John, sermon Inescapable God, Fourth Presbyterian Chicago, January 16, 2000

ENJOY THE RIDE

The sleepy town of San Mateo did not have a Baptist church. There's been a Methodist Church since the early 1900s, and a Baptist Church was started in the 1930s that dissolved during the war, its members joined the Methodists.

When my dad took on the challenge of starting a Baptist church in San Mateo, Rizal, he also took his whole family with him. When my parents started the church in our large garage, a good number of folks came. Some just wanting to know what Baptists are, and others came from neighboring churches- particularly, the Baptists from the Methodist Church, and a family whose church was in Quezon City.

My dad pastored that same church for the next 25 years, and in many ways, planted our family's roots in that sleepy little town.

One of the realities that my family had to face as we grew was the commute! My mom ran a real estate firm in Quezon City, my dad went with her and held office there because our church neither had an office (just a chapel and a Sunday School Room) or staff. We all woke up early- siblings who were in college left earlier than my parents. Parents drove me to school, etc.

Those were the days when cell phones were heavy like weapons and laptops or any device that made it particularly easy to get anything done while you were traveling were status symbols. What it meant in practical terms is that many parents left for work before their children got up in the morning and returned home often after they had gone to bed.

The morning and evening commute were always horrible experiences. As a college student, it meant waiting for a bus, a jeepney or a cab for at least an hour, not to mention the huge crowd that went along-- more like tackling with you on your pursuit of public transportation. Oh, how could I forget instances when I witnessed pickpockets, snatchers, and road accidents.

What it meant on the psyche of all of those commuters I cannot claim to know. But if I were to guess, I would say it drained something from them. But if there's anything I learned from commuting, it is this: enjoy the ride! Yes, I can make a few phone calls and stuff, but that won't stop me from enjoying the ride.

I recently bought a DVD, Into the Wild, where a young man who just graduated from Emory University decided donate his $24,000 savings, trashed his car, burned all his cash and tramped around America. From his home in summery Georgia, he ended up in the bleak Alaska. He wanted to live a simple life as he could, and he did.

Henry Thoreau, whom we know as a poet and essayist, a deep and practical thinker, lived in the mid-1800s, from 1817 to 1862. When we think of those days, we see them as simpler—not as complex and rushed and hurried as ours today. No cars, very little machinery. There were no telephones, no electronics. We think it must have been a calmer and easier time. Yet people in that era were uptight. They were overworked. They felt rushed, they felt troubled. It seems to be part of the human condition. Out of his own century Henry Thoreau spoke to this:
Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life? We are determined to be starved before we are hungry.
As you know, he withdrew from town life and went to live on Walden Pond to learn how to live simply and naturally. In those quieter sur­roundings he became attuned to nature, and much of what he taught and wrote about later he learned from the natural world at Walden Pond.
We need to learn to live in the moment—to be present to the present. To live in each day as each day happens. To be aware of the now, but with a sure hope for the future.
This is a very hard thing to do.
If I were to count the number of years that I have lost because I was anticipating something in the future, I am sure I would get depressed. And as I have talked to many people over the years, everyone has the same problem. Such a hurry, such a hurry, going so fast. Always in the future, always thinking about what is going to be, always dreaming, dreaming, thinking ahead, not living in the present.
There are two words we need to avoid if we are going to live in the present. One word is someday. Someday I’m going to do this. Someday I’m going to do that. And for me it was, “Someday I’m going to spend more time with my family, more time with loved ones.” And you know what’s happened? Some of them moved away, and some of them have died. Someday—I short-changed life.
The other word is when. When, when, when. But what happens with the whens? We spend time out there, and we miss what is going on in the very moment.
Ever wonder how many people right now, at this very moment, are present to the moment?

In this Christian Life, it is better to sit back in our chairs and enjoy the trip, take in the view passing the windows because we know where we're going. There is no need for hurry. The only moment we really have is the present moment. All we have is the moment. No more somedays; no more whens. One step at a time. And thank God for the moment!

(jlas.dking.acaliandro)

HEADACHE AND THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)

NOT HUNG-OVER
This morning, I woke with a splitting headache-- let me say ahead that it wasn't a hang-over! The strongest drink I had last night after Bible study was pineapple juice at McDonald's!

Immediately after praying, I checked wikipedia and given the symptoms, I have reason to believe that it was migraine- one-sided, pulsating headache! Since it was early, I opted to wait it out by going back to bed. After an hour, the pain was still there. I slept some more. Around 12NN, I contacted a ministry assistant to inform the office that I was having a horrible headache that rendered me incapable of even walking to the nearest drugstore to get pain pills, and I had to take oatmeal with fresh milk and bananas for lunch. It was that bad.

At around 3, I managed to write and compose a worship planner for our midweek service, and emailed it right away. I went back to bed and slept the pain away, occasionally waking and whispering a prayer. When I finally woke up around 6, the pain has substantially subsided and I was able to walk to the nearest mall for dinner and get medicines.

I feel so much better now. Thank God. Too bad though I missed the midweek service.

THE LATEST AT THE PRESBYTERIAN GENERAL ASSEMBLY.

Although I am not surprised, I feel that the PC(USA) is going towards the direction many of the conservatives speak of being on the road to perdition.
Many evangelical-orthodox churches and ministers are hoping for a change in the heart and soul of the PC(USA) that is why a large majority of such churches and ministers stay within the denomination to make a difference. But so far, there has not been any change other than what is expected- the PC(USA) is becoming less and less evangelical-orthodox-Reformed-Biblical in its understanding and character.

By a vote of 41-11 Tuesday evening, the Assembly Committee on Church Orders and Ministry recommended to the 218th General Assembly that it send an amendment to the presbyteries to delete G-6.0106b — which requires “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness” for church officers — from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s Book of Order.

This simply means that what the Bible calls sinful in the form of adultery, fornication and sexual perversion are no longer sinful within the ranks of the PC(USA).

A number of committee members, knowing the inevitable vote was coming, didn’t return to the committee’s meeting room after the dinner break. The Rev. Emily McColl, who was on the losing side of the vote, asked committee members to call those who didn’t return for the evening, saying she was “so saddened by their absence that my heart can hardly stand it.”
Committee member David Reimer predicted the fallout would be heavy. “I have a fear that the ramifications will be severe,” he said. “Churches won’t wait for the ratification votes [by the presbyteries] but will leave immediately, though I hope they won’t.”

McColl agreed with Reimer, saying “many churches will no longer consider us Reformed in their understanding of biblical interpretation and theology.”

STANDING AMONG THE CROSS-BEARING RANKS

One of the finest movies I believe ever made is Dead Poets Society where painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life.

Anyway, it's a pretty long movie, but a fairly significant- and for me striking- quote was made by Professor John Keating from Robert Frost who said, "Two roads diverged in the woods and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference."

One of the things I look forward to each Monday morning is to listen to the sermon preached from the pulpit of a New York City Upper East Side church. I listen to a number of ministers from a variety of denominations from some of New York City's finest churches- Steve Bauman, Tim Keller, David Epstein, James Cooper. As I listen to these witty and sincere ministers of the Word, varied their theological stances may be, I can't help but realize that I, with them and all Christians all over the world stand among the ranks of the cross bearers- people who have chosen to pick up their crosses to follow Christ! People who are both loved and hated, respected and scorned, influential and ignored! People who have chosen to walk the road less traveled.

Matthew records the story of Jesus who said these disturbing words: “Do not think I that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother…Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” When Jesus said that, Israel was in a very fragile political state, so with talk like that it's no wonder the local authorities found him offensive.

In Matthew, Jesus is said to be a sword who will set family members against themselves as he calls all comers to take up a cross in following the way he maps out. That's why Christianity is not that popular for a number of people- people who have made themselves secure in the world. When we speak this teaching of Christ to such people, we may very well find ourselves on the receiving end of the darkest side of human nature. The Cross is not popular! Nobody wishes to suffer. No one wants to be without a family. No one wants to be denied some of the great things in life! No one wants to walk a narrow, unpaved, thornbush-bordered road when one can drive on a wide freeway!

Steve Bauman of Christ Church NYC (from whose sermon this reflection is based) said that for many it is paradoxical and challenging [to note] that Christians build their lives in honor of a famous criminal who died a cruel death, whose very criminality has become for us a provision for the Way to Life, even Life Eternal.

Will you join the ranks of cross bearers!

LAST WEEKEND AT THE COOPERATIVE BAPTIST FELLOWSHIP

I love American summer-- it brings a lot of Christians together, in denominational meetings, that is!

Over the weekend (June 19-20), the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship held its General Assembly in the Blues and Barbecues City of Memphis, Tennessee! There were 1,824 registered participants at the gathering. Leaders had predicted an attendance of 4,000, but the hall in which the meeting was held contained only 2,800 seats.

The CBF Gathering

The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a direct result of a reaction of moderate congregations and pastors who felt that they were no longer being represented in the Southern Baptist Convention when it showed very strong bent towards the conservative side that began in the later 70's to the early 90's. In 1990, these disheartened churches and ministers gathered in Atlanta, Georgia and started the Fellowship. However, CBF does not consider itself a denomination, but a fellowship of churches and Christians cooperating for a missional purpose, although it functions as one in some ways. Today, the CBF is a conglomeration of 1900 churches.

Amazingly, it is the only national gathering of Baptists (or Protestants, for that matter) with very little issues discussed! Throughout the assembly, the whenever the moderator, Harriet Harrall would open the floor for debate and discussion, there were very little number who would want to engage in a debate!

Harriet Harral, Moderator of the CBF

Attendees heard a strong criticism June 19 of anyone who believes Scripture limits the office of pastor to men. Chuck Poole, senior pastor of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson, Miss., said during a theme interpretation that the church he once attended claimed to take the Bible seriously but ignored its teaching on women.Proper interpretation of Scripture, he said, involves realizing that some passages "embody the spirit of Jesus" more than others."I came to see that passages such as Galatians 3:28 really did embody the spirit of Jesus more fully than passages that drew a small circle and raised a tall wall. And quicker than you can say, 'new skins with new wine,' I came to see that if we were not going to ordain women, we were going to have to stop baptizing girls," Poole said to applause. But what else is new and what was Poole's issue? CBF does ordain women.

Anyway, their goal for the meeting was to Discern God's Will. According to Daniel Vestal, Executive Coordinator for the CBF, "This is what we are attempting this year as a fellowship of Baptists Christians and churches– to discern God’s leadership for the future. And we are attempting to do it together."

Daniel Vestal, Executive Coordinator

But like any other CBF gathering, there are still some hints of bitterness and dismay with their past affilliation with the SBC reflected in some of the leaders' comments like:

Daniel Vestal said- “In 1993 I was at Southern Seminary about to enter the PhD program when Al Mohler was installed as president. My wife and I sat together that night and asked ourselves if we could still be Baptists in light of the pain that was going on. I went to bed that night…and I was unsure."

Molly Marshall said she has long desired to start a denomination called the "not that kind of Baptists Baptists" in reference to the SBC.

The Fellowship gathering ended with a Celebration of Missional Churches Program, and endorsing the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals in October, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship focused on its commitment through a report by CBF moderator-elect Jack Glasgow, workshops and the launch of new ministry initiatives at the 18th annual General Assembly in Memphis, Tenn.

In June 2007, the Assembly sent a motion to the CBF Coordinating Council “to investigate the feasibility and means by which the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship might be involved in acting with other bodies to reach the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.”
The eight goals are eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; decrease HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and create global partnerships for development.

Communion Service at the Gathering

AT THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA)

A couple of weeks ago, I followed and commented on the happenings at the 151st Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, and I mentioned that I was looking forward to the General Assembly of the PC(USA) in San Jose, California.

Here it is. The week-long assembly gathers more than 3,000 Presbyterians, including 752 voting commissioners in San Jose for the June 21-28 legislative and educational gathering of the 2.3 million-member PC(USA).

First off, I'm proud to say that the new Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the PC(USA) is the Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, an energetic new church plant pastor of from the San Francisco Presbytery, is of Filipino ancestry- a son of Chinese-Filipino immigrants!
Reyes-Chow is pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, a church whose membership is predominantly under-40. In her nominating speech for him, Elder Vivian Guthrie of Greater Presbytery urged Reyes-Chow’s election “to keep our church relevant … or we aren’t going to be on the same page as younger people. Bruce has a profound understanding of the way the world is changing, so he can help us feel less anxious and less resistant to change.”


In both his speech and his responses to questions, Reyes-Chow reiterated over and over his belief that “nothing is too hard or too wondrous for God. If the church steps out in faith rather than clinging to survival, to be more intent on being faithful than on being right, to be together based on our common covenant in Jesus Christ rather than by property or pensions, then we will be able to live into a future in which we are a vital and vibrant presence in the world.”


Funny side note: They are giving away John Calvin Bobbleheads to participants! Why didn't the Methodists come up with the idea of giving away John Wesley Bobbleheads at their Conference?

The Assembly involved guests from a variety of denominations including His Eminence Avak Asadourian, Archbishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church of Iraq.

The assembly will act on hundreds of items of business, which it receives through the reports and recommendations of various assembly entities, and through overtures from synods and presbyteries.

But more importantly, the issues that will be covered in the GA are what's worth looking into. Now, like the General Conference in the United Methodist Church, the GA is the highest governing body of the denomination will decide on these issues, among others:

Worship A Common God (Item 07-01) where GA to assert that "Jews, Christians and Muslims worship a common God, though each understands that God differently.” It goes on to ask the GA to encourage Presbyterians to set aside days to worship with Muslims, such as on religious holidays, and to "celebrate diversity." The thing is, the statement that we “worship a common God” but understand that God differently can be understood in several different ways is highly questionable to evangelicals.



Regarding God’s identity, is it saying the God of Muhammad is really the Father of Jesus? This intent would reflect a serious Christian imposition onto Muslim understanding. Or, very differently, is it saying that the Qur’an’s depiction of God and the New Testament’s teaching are both incomplete understandings of a God who is ultimately something different from the teachings of either? This second option reflects a view from outside of both faiths: it begins with an ambiguous monotheism (“there is only one God”) and then sees each monotheistic faith as various human attempts to understand and approach that God. Whether we were to understand the statement in the first or second manner, it would express a very different view of Christian-Muslim relations than either mainstream Islam or mainstream Christianity would find appropriate.


Redefining Marriage (Item 04-08) proposes to amend the PC(USA)’s Constitution to change the church’s understanding of marriage in order to include marriage between persons of the same gender. The Rationale for this overture concludes by saying, “For the good of loving, monogamous, same-gender couples in our church and for the community and for the greater ministry of our clergy, sessions, and churches we propose these changes to the Directory for Worship.”


Chastity and Fidelity of Ministers. Five overtures (05-06, 05-08, 05-09, 05-11, 05-13) seek to overturn our Book of Order requirement that ordained officers (deacons, elders and ministers) must “live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.” (G-6.0106b). These overtures call for the “fidelity/chastity” standard to be deleted, and also for the 1993 Authoritative Interpretation (a.k.a. 1978 “Definitive Guidance”) on unrepentant homosexual practice to have no further force or effect.


Now, in response to the overtures in the last General Assembly, a number of PC USA congregations have decided to withdraw from the denomination, particularly those who are more evangelical/theologically conservative leaning and more missional thinking. I personally know a congregation that has recently voted to withdraw.


Sadly, the PC USA has been in steady decline for the last three decades. At the end of 2007, there were 2,209,546 active, confirmed members in the PC(USA), a net loss of 57,572 from the previous year. These members were found in 10,820 particular churches across 173 presbyteries and 16 synods. Twelve congregations were dismissed to other denominations, and 71 churches were dissolved. More churches are being dissolved than formed. The number of ministers of the Word and Sacrament increased only by eight to 21,368. There were 93,226 elders and 64,581 deacons. Gains in membership by profession of faith, reaffirmation, or restoration were just over 9,000 less than the previous year


Commenting on the numbers, Stated Clerk Cliff Kirkpatrick said, “Any decline in membership is a disappointment, to be sure, because those numbers represent members we know and love who are no longer part of our congregations... I hope these figures will underscore the importance of one of the items coming to this Assembly from the General Assembly Council — a call across the church at every level to ‘Grow God’s Church Deep and Wide.’"


“Indeed, it is a call that none of us can ignore.”

BACK FROM CHURCH SERVICE

I just got back home from church. Attendance was way low-- perhaps the lowest in two decades! The 11AM and Vesper Services were most well attended, 800 and 500. But it's amazing how some folks choose to be in church on a stormy Sunday than anywhere else.
The height of the storm was crazy!

The Worship Leader assigned for the day has begged off since he and his family live in the low-lying eastern suburbs, and deemed it necessary for him and his family to stay at home, so did the rest of the worship team, which was totally understandable. At the first service, husband and wife team Pastor Art and Rose Handog led worship with pianist, Miriam. The rest of the band came at the second service joined by two other worship team members. By the time I arrived it was 2PM- I had to wait for flood waters in my area to subside- I played second keys for the Tagalog service. By the time it was Vesper, most of the Worship Team has arrived. I led worship at Vesper which was amazing. It was something I've not done in our Sunday services in months.

I'm so proud of Exalting Ministry Assistant, Ruby Poyos and our technical team- who normally sleeps in church Saturday nights- for handling the morning worship services so well-- even in the absence of a number of folks, myself included. I am also particularly blessed with the Band who still came despite the horrific weather. During worship as I led the singing, on the back of my mind, I was thanking God for having gifted the church with such people- with deep commitment, discernible heart for worship and always ready in season or out of season, or any season!

I pray the Lord will raise more people in the Ministry who will step up and embrace the call to lead people to deeper life of worship!

The past few weeks, I've been reading Darlene Zschech's book, Extravagant Worship where I'm reminded again that in the presence of the Lord, there is fullness of joy. In Him is our life, our health, our peace, our hope, our joy. He has created us so that everything we need, we find in Him! In His presence, our longing hearts are fully satisfied. We are complete. We are fulfilled. We are created for His pleasure, and this is where we find our joy. His desire is for His people, and our desire is for Him. There is a longing within us that cannot be satisfied by anything else but our intimate communion with Him. The things of this world grow strangely dim in the Light of His glory and grace. We must so desire His presence in our lives that we allow nothing to take His place or to distract us from knowing Him. He is our greatest passion. No one else, nothing else can fulfill the cry of our hearts!

And oh, I've never led worship in blue jeans in our main services 'til tonight!

UNOFFICIAL SOURCES AND KINGDOM MENTALITY

Last night at the rehearsal for Tommy Walker Worship Concert Choir, I sat in the back of the Fellowship Hall admiring the beautiful sound and the sheer number of singers from two major churches in our area- GCF and CCF. It's interesting to note that except for a few locations where there is a GCF satellite there's a CCF branch. CCF at one point considered purchasing the piece of property right behind our ministry center, to the dismay of some evangelical leaders. Additionally, some of their members attend our services, some of our attendees go to theirs. The guest director mentioned about what seems to be an unspoken or perhaps a spirit of competition between the two megachurches. In a rather serendipitous conversation with one of their elders a couple of years ago, he mentioned to me that we're like Jollibee and McDonald's, Target and Walmart, CNN and Fox! Seriously, that wasn't something I expected to hear because it sort of gave flesh to what just seemed to exist.

The guest director comes from a Conservative Baptist church who later moved to CCF Alabang said, "We must break that spirit! In this choir rehearsal, we will show our churches that we are united under the Lordship of one Christ!" That for me was groundbreaking, even more powerful than the words of the elder I spoke with.

I can never be happier to see local churches- given their unique identities, diverse strategies, polities- uniting for a common cause to glorify the Lord's name.

But there are those who just won't join. Later in the evening, I met with another Pastor from the Union Church of Manila who shared with me and another friend from GCF his passion for the Young Adults, and fostering partnership among large evangelical churches in the area for a joint fellowship that gears to kick off a movement among the country's X and Y Generations! He mentioned however, that there are churches in Metro Manila that are very guarded and territorial to the point of disassociation with other like-minded communities. Others are threatened by the inter-church meetings and movements with fears of losing their "parishioners" to other churches.

In my experience as a pastor, some basic reasons why people leave their churches include: distance, disagreement with teaching and lack of nourishment and a sense of community. If people are well fed in their local churches distance and even personality differences won't matter, and some folks won't bother about the chairs they sit on or the color of the carpet! Warm fellowship isn't even a enough a basis for staying church. It all lies in the teaching ministry of the church and its commitment to the Word. We have people from as far as a two two-hour-drive who come to worship with us, while some attend our services and bring whatever they learn from us to their local churches! One man I recently met in our midweek service told me that he is a worship leader in a church several miles east and he comes to our midweek service to be fed and get ideas.

What am I driving at? Being powered by the unofficial sources and kingdom thinking!

We boast of our achievements, and take pride in our organization and the system we follow that we end up believing that what we have come up with is what's best for all others. We are powered by our own official sources and believe we are THE kingdom of God.

In our different evangelical traditions, we have operating systems that have become official sources of authority. We have our councils, sessions, consistories, classes. we have manuals and books of order, vision statements and strategies. But –appropriately organized as our organized religion may be, as important as official sources really are – the Christian faith is always at its best when it dares to remember that God is bigger than any system. At its best, our faith insists that no matter how refined the theology, no matter how eloquent the words, none of it is ever big enough to hold God. Nothing can box God because God is bigger than all the boxes. While I believe that God will not contradict what He chose to reveal about Himself in Scripture, I do believe that sometimes we misinterpret His revelation of Himself to satisfy the system we have created!

So, do attend to the “unofficial sources.” But remember that the spirit of God may come to us in whatever way God chooses. God may also come at us from unofficial sources as well. After all, a God you can control is, by definition, not God at all.

If you have not heard, the Lord is doing something extraordinary in Jena, Louisiana, population 2,971. On Sunday evening, March 9, the community will start its fourth week of revival services. The meetings, now being held in the Jena High School gymnasium, are bringing together more people from the community than any church auditorium in the area can handle. The location seems ironic. More than one person has asked, "Isn't that the high school where all the troubles started that wounded this town?"God often uses such things to confound those who see themselves as wise. On Feb. 17, the pastorless Midway Baptist Church started a regular "annual" spring revival meeting and, in answer to prayer, the Holy Spirit moved in power. Led by their interim pastor, Bill Robertson, confession of sin, worship, prayer and seeking forgiveness has become the "new normal" for this church. Every service, people are surrendering their lives to Christ and the majority of them are adults. The Jena community buzzes with the news about the meetings and people are reaching out to each other across racial lines in love and prayer. That's Kingdom mentality at its fairest!

Aside perhaps from Charles Dickens, Leo Tolstoy was doubtless the most influential writer of the 19th Century. Tolstoy understood himself to be a follower of Jesus Christ, and many of his works reflect his faith. But he was an idiosyncratic Christian long at odds with the Russian Orthodox Church, which notoriously excommunicated him in 1901, not long before his death.

Tolstoy wrote a short story named “The Three Hermits.”

Here’s the gist of it: A certain rather pompously pious bishop is traveling by ship to visit a remote monastery in the White Sea in the far north of Russia. On the way, he learns of a tiny island that locals say is inhabited by three ancient hermits. Local stories represent them as odd, but gentle and generous holy men. The bishop wants to visit, but the captain explains that he cannot get very close to the island. The bishop would have to be rowed ashore. The ship anchors at a distance and the bishop goes ashore in all his episcopal regalia. He’s greeted by the three ragged hermits standing on the beach. The bishop discovers that their isolation has left them stunningly ignorant of official theology, so ignorant that they are veritable heretics. They don’t even know the proper set prayers.

The Bishop spends the day teaching it to them. They are profoundly grateful and seem to love the prayer. As evening approaches, the Bishop returns to the anchored ship. A lovely night falls. Crew and passengers are walking the deck when someone spies a light advancing toward them from the island.

Here’s the end of the tale in Tolstoy’s own words: “‘Look there, what is that?...’ The Bishop repeated, though he could now see plainly what it was – three hermits running upon the water, all gleaming white, their gray beards shining… The steersman looked and let go in terror. ‘Oh Lord, the hermits are running after us on the water as though it were land…’ The passengers hearing him jumped up and crowded to the stern. They saw the hermits come along hand in hand, and the two outer ones beckoning the ship to stop. All three were gliding along upon the water without moving their feet. Before the ship could be stopped, the hermits reached it, and raising their heads, all three as with one voice began to say: ‘We have forgotten your teaching… We can remember nothing of it. Teach us again.’”

The Spirit of the Living God is not yours or mine to control. Sometimes it comes from official sources, sometimes it comes from the direction you least expect it, from quite unofficial sources. You never know. So listen hard to everyone, look closely at everything; attend closely to even the least likely sources.

You never know how the Present Tense of God might become God present to you.

j.las.m.lindvall.gcf.

BREAKFAST HOPE

Last night as I watched Made of Honor with my movie buddies, my mind kept racing back to a scene in a different movie I saw with them early in the week where Master Oogway said, "Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present."

Did I not enjoy the latest Patrick Dempsey/Michelle Monaghan flick? I did. A friend seated one chair away from me can attest to the fact that I did with the many outbursts of laughter throughout the movie. But when scenes got a wee bit serious, my mind raced back to Oogway. But I guess that was because my day started strange to begin with. I knew when I came out of my condo that it wasn't going to be a typical Wednesday morning. I had an important breakfast meeting that required reminiscing yesteryears in order to reach a point of closure. Breakfast started out fun and ended the same way, but the in between wasn't something I expected. At any rate, like I said, it ended nicely. I'm amazed how things have changed and how some things remain the same but shouldn't. It's interesting how people so dragged down by and entangled with the passed which make them fail to enjoy the present.

I tried my best to present to the person I met with what I know about God and His grace- the same grace that brought change to millions of people who know Christ. I'm hoping that somehow, throughout the course of the morning, grace has been clearly presented and will be appropriated.

Short story writer, Flannery O’Connor, an amazing woman with great faith once said that “grace changes us and change is painful.” She meant God’s grace, of course. That theme runs through a lot of her work. Of course, change can also be wonderful, or better, astonishing and transforming. If that wasn’t the case I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. Grace changes us. It changes us in ways we cannot predict.

Hope is spirit-formed and gifted. It’s a present virtue concerning a future condition and gives meaning to the past. It’s predicated upon change.

PHOTOS OF MY SIBLINGS IN FLORIDA
Ending on a lighter note:

Ahia-Sachi at Busch Gardens Tampa


My bro cooking Filipino dishes for sachi in her messy kitchen



Disneyworld Orlando

HERE'S MY HEART

The ministry of worship.
Firstly, I must confess that in the last several months, my mind was all set on many things until a number of issues God had been wanting me to see and face began to arise. And so, over the last few weeks, I have spent time in prayer and the Word with GCF Ortigas Exalting Ministry in mind. In the process, I realized the Spirit kept directing me back to four important passages of Scripture.

While I recognize that each church is in varying circumstances and stages in their experience of worship, but the passages I cite are crucial to every Worship Ministry (Leaders and Members alike) to consider among other scripture texts when it wants to help the community of faith to be drawn in a deeper life of worship.

1. A NEW THING.

In my visits to other churches, I have reason to believe that GCF is very much at pace with the current trends in Evangelical worship. We are even more updated in terms of music materials than the churches I visited. But in my visits, I also realized how we fall behind in terms of capturing the essense- the spirit of evangelical expressive worship which is reflected in the way the congregation responds to our facilitation of worship. Don't you sometimes feel like going down from the stage and shake up people in our congregation who just won't participate during praise and worship? I do!

As I read ISAIAH 43:19 where God says,

Technically, the verse talks of the redemptive work of God when He freed Israel from bondage in Egypt and causing water and food to miraculously appear in the wilderness, and that He is able to do that again for Israel. But, in relation to GCF worship life, I could't help but ask, "What is that new thing God is doing?"

Recently, we had a guest music minister who led the choir and congregation to a more expressive worship style that drove our people to believing that such an experience of worship is what they need- a more Spirit-controlled, Bible-defined free and expressive kind of worship. I have reason to believe that, compared to other Baptist churches, our worship is more expressive! But since our community feels led to a deeper life of worship, and there's clamor for styles that facilitate such. People wanting a deeper and expressive life of worship is a new thing- the wave the Spirit is causing to rise! I believe we need to be prepared to ride the surf.

2. HIS RENOWN, OUR DESIRE.

When I arrived at GCF and started leading worship, I realized as a 23-year-old Bible college intern that I had just joined performance/entertainment-oriented church! With the many artists and musicians in the congregation that were and are part of the Ministry of Worship, the church is presdisposed to such a culture. I was in denial for a time-- I would not admit that I was in an entertainment-oriented church where people expect to be pleased by the people on stage Sunday after Sunday- since I drew that out of an observation on my part. Until I heard one person said, "The people liked our performance a lot. It's good they were amused!" I never talked about this observation and conclusion I made to any of the Worship staff - present and past.

Praise God that in the last few years that orientation has slowly changed. Worship leaders and pastors wish for their teams to become like Hillsong, Abundant Life, Prestonwood, etc.- and there is nothing essentially wrong about that, but I pray that at GCF, people, particularly the leaders and the team- will be known for their heart for the Lord's renown! Isaiah 26:8 , Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. (NIV) will be the cry of our hearts as we srtive for godly excellence!

Should the Lord take GCF Worship Ministry to a higher level of influence it will solely be for His renown, not ours. I was telling some Worship Team members of our Singles Ministry that my prayer for them is to be an excellent team that even other churches will desire to invite to lead and facilitate a genuine worship experience because they live and breathe God's renown.


3. HIS NEARNESS IS OUR GOOD.

I envision a Worship Ministry whose members cannot live a day without having had a genuine and heartfelt quiet time with the Lord. I pray for Ministry members who will love the Lord with all their hearts more than their skills and crafts-- more than pianos and guitars, above their earthly/numan relationships. People who are so committed to the ministry that they will not exchange being in a worship event over work, play and fun!

My heart wishes to see the day when all our volunteers, and the entire church desire growth in their walk with Christ, and would live exemplary lives before God and men, and get others to walk with Christ with them.

4. LIFE-CHANGING WORSHIP EXPERIENCES.

Corporate worship is part of that idea of being joined together. Individual praise to the Lord is richer when it is given in the harmony of fellowship with others. Together, our love for God and our sense of being His children becomes much more powerful and real to us than when we are alone. Of course this means each of us must be walking with Him in truth, living our Christian lives with integrity. Fellowship is marred when even one member of the Body of Christ has unconfessed sin in her life. I can do little about the person next to me, but am responsible for keeping my own life clean and my sins confessed.

I pray and envision a GCF worship service where all-- not just a majority, but all people worshipping God expressively, pouring their hearts out in praise, and there's genuine repentance whether singing an old hymn or a new song, and the manifest presence of God is discernible by all, even by those who come for the first time just as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14, 24 But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in...he will be convinced...he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"


Here's my heart.

FATHER'S DAY THOUGHTS

Today is Father's Day!

The Rev. Thomas Perez-Las (Chen Ah Fu)
Minister, Father, Friend

I thank God for my dad.
He chose to stand on his faith as his traditional and deeply religiously entrenched family persecuted him. He chose to be a minister and serve God rather than pursue a business he worked so hard to establish. He raised five children-- his eldest having gone ahead in glory 21 years ago, his second daughter married a minister and is a mother of two beautiful daughters, his third is living successfully in the West and a mother of three bright young adults, his son is a business and uniformed man with two young boys, his youngest a pastor. He survived his wife of 38 years.

There are many things in which my dad and I don't agree. We've had some pretty sharp disagreements and he tells me that I am the most independent-minded of all his kids. Yet, I'm the only who followed his footsteps to pursue the vocational ministry.


I remember when I was three, when, for some reason I burst out into a tantrum in the middle of a worship service in a church where he was associate minister. The missionary pastor motioned for him to take me out. He took me from my mom's lap and carried me out of the chapel and into a Sunday school room. He sat on the piano stool, placed me on his lap and he started to play "Jesus Loves me this I know." He asked me to sing with him, and we stayed in that room until after the service ended. I believe that was the time I started loving music and singing- something I have not stopped doing!


He remains to this day to be a source of wisdom and encouragement. My dad!

EGALITARIAN VS. COMPLEMENTARIAN (my thoughts on women ministers)

At around 6 last night, after walking Joy to megamall where she and Lennie were to watch a movie, I rushed to Ayala's Trinoma Mall up north for a scheduled dinner with three of my closest female friends! I had a fun time eating out with them, something I've not done in a very long time.

I met them way back in Bible College 8 years ago! After Bible college and some time in hands-on involvement in their local churches, all three of them decided to go to seminary, something they've always wanted to do. One wishes to teach in a seminary, one wants to continue leading her church's youth department [and so claims/dreams to be a preacher's wife!], and one already works actively in her denomination's leadership team as somewhat of a bishop/superintendent for a region.

Like any other group of Christian workers gathered around a cramped dinner table in a noisy Chinese restaurant, we talked about the current state of our faith walk, our ministries, struggles, hopes and vision! Being the only man in the group I felt as though my role should be somewhat of a booster/comforter/big brother to my sisters swamped with overwhelming issues in the ministry, and at the same time be the life of the party- cracking some jokes here and there, making them laugh and all that! One of them admitted, "I have not laughed this much in days! Let me rephrase that, I have not laughed in days!" At that instant, I realized that the struggles that these women ministers are way more serious than I imagined. They are facing things I wish they never have to. No, their not facing gender issues, they are facing life and ministry issues that men normally face, or at least given to men to face!

I seriously thought how these women in their 20s came to grips with a sense of call from God to the ministry. Most women their age spend more time climbing the corporate ladder, making themselves more attractive, getting swooned and falling in love! These resilient, strong-willed but gentle and delicate women are in the same way called to the ministry as I am, and many others.

There are women ministers everywhere, and in many evangelical churches, they have been boxed in ministry to children, among other "minor" positions.

The first woman ever in recorded history to be ordained is Antoinnette Brown by the Congregational Church in 1853. She later joined the Unitarian Church. Eventually, egalitarianism rose from among the ranks of Protestants. Now, no one would deny its potent symbolism as a measure of gender equality and feminine achievement--today about half of all American denominations ordain women, and about 30% of all seminary students (and in some seminaries over half) are female. Egalitarianism holds that all people should be treated as equals from birth, and anything a man can do, so can a woman.

But I am a complementarian. I am a firm believer in the complementarian understanding of manhood and womanhood. In short, I believe that while being absolutely equal in personhood and dignity, man and woman are distinct in regards to roles in the home and church. This position is to be distinguished with both ancient patriarchal culture which often neglects the equality of the sexes and egalitarianism which neglects the clear Scriptural role distinctions of genders. Man and woman are equal, but there are commanded role distinctions in the Bible. Scriptures teach that we each have proper roles in the home and church.

In our church, we don't have ordained women pastors, but we do have women ministers! Women who love God and have sensed God's call in their lives to serve Him full time! As a pastor, am I equal with them in standing before God? Yes. But like I said, I, as any other man, have a different role.

There has been genuine, respectful dialog between complementarian and egalitarian scholars. But more often than not, the emotions that are brought into the dialog caused some disrespect for both parties by both parties. The body of Christ is meant to fight the enemy together but when some turn their weapons inward in order to fight their brothers and sisters in Christ because of a secondary issue of faith, this certainly brings not only shame upon our Lord Jesus, but harm to some precious members of the body of Christ.

The Lord Jesus is best served when we treat our fellow believers in Christ with respect even when that respect is not afforded to us. Yet we do not give up sharing truth and doing so in love. The winning side will be the one who fights for the truth of scripture while passionately debating the issues in love. (C.Schatz)

Thought for today:
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." - Master Oogway, Kung Fu Panda

THE WESLEYAN CHURCH...AMONG OTHERS

While the 7600 Southern Baptists meet for their Convention in Indianapolis, another denominational meeting was taking place at the 11th General Conference of The Wesleyan Church in Orlando, Florida.

The Wesleyan Church is an evangelical, Protestant denomination that emphasizes a holy life empowered for witness and service. With headquarters in Indiana, The Wesleyan Church has nearly 5,000 churches and missions in 80 countries of the world. Formed in 1968 resulting from the mergers of several like-minded groups, dating back as far as 1843, The Wesleyan Church has its roots in John Wesley's Methodism.

The Wesleyan General Conference didn't make much news because of its size (119,000 in the US, and 411,000 all over the world). Perhaps the media thinks the 1400 delegates discussing issues within their ranks won't even make a dent on the American and global religious landscape, unlike Baptists who comprise 20% of the American population, and numbers 110 million throughout the world [bwa stats].

At the Wesleyan General Conference, the 1400 delegates elected its first woman General Superintendent, Dr. Jo Annw Lyon, CEO of church-affilliated World Hope, a compassion ministry organization. If Southern Baptists elect a woman president, that would make news that could ring out loud as long as a decade and could outrage the most silent traditionalists and ultra-conservatives! Part of the reason why the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship was formed was because some Southern Baptists proposed ordination of women, and the rest of the denomination won't! The Baptist General Convention of Texas last year elected their first female president, Joy Fenner.

A General Superintendent of the Church of the Nazarene, Dr. Nina Gunter, also a woman, commended the election of Dr. Lyon saying, "The election of Jo Anne Lyons is a powerful testimonial of the heritage and Biblical, theological persuasions of the Wesleyan Church....the Church is commended for this forward step into the future."

Dr. Lyon, in her speech after having been elected said that her father trained her to serve the church. She quotes her father who said: "I trained my girl to be a good churchman!" Talk about lack of gender-sensitivity! In Dr. Lyon's acceptance speech she said, "I believe the Lord is positioning the Wesleyan Church to have a voice in the 21st century like never before!"
Like some of my blog readers know, I may have been Baptist all my life (and almost a Presbyterian), and my masteral studies were done (being done) in a non-denominational but quite Baptistic seminary, but my Bachelor of Theology degree I received from a Wesleyan-rooted college. My half of my professors in Bible college found their way into that school from the Wesleyan Church. Bill Oden, former president of Faith Bible College is an ordained Wesleyan minister. In a retreat at Caliraya, he once admitted to me upon discovery that I am Baptist that his influences are Baptists- Billy Graham, Jack Hyles, Jerry Falwell and WA Criswell. After that conversation, he asked me to sing in a program he was planning!

Bible College adjunct professor of Johannine Writings and Pastoral Counseling, the Rev. Jack Carlson was my first real, true-blue Wesleyan exposure. I remember the Rev. Carlson saying:
- "We embraced the doctrine of holiness so much that we have become so self-centered-- concerned solely with our individual growth, holiness and prayer life. We become too judgmental towards people who have a different view of holiness. We forget about missions and church growth!

- "We declare to live in holiness! But that's fancy talk for most of us! I hope that when we say we live in holiness, we will quit judging people who we 'feel' aren't walking in it."
- "Our number is dwindling! The only real growth being recorded in my denominations annals are fruits of the Philippine branch of the Wesleyan Church." "

Once over dinner with his wife Carole, he said, "I'm guessing, if my denomination remains the way it is, we're seeing the last remaining numbers of the Wesleyan Church in North America!"
I have not heard from the Rev. Carlson, but I believe his dream of seeing his denomination grow, reach the young people and step up once again is coming to a reality.

In the Presbyterian Church (USA) thirty years ago there were nearly two thousand missionaries on the mission field worldwide. Then we got some folks in leadership positions entrenched in those positions in the headquarters -- who began to question the need for missionaries around the world and who began to discourage missions and who actually began to pull missionaries off the field to the point where just a few years ago our missionary force had dwindled down to about between four and five hundred.

During the same thirty year period of time the membership of the PCUSA went from near four million down to about 2.6 million where it is today. Do you think there is any connection there, folks? Now praise God things are turning around. there are some new leadership in the denomination. There is a rebirthing of a worldwide missions vision in the PCUSA for which we should be grateful.

In my case (Baptist), the denomination has fought for doctrinal purity in the 70s through the 90s, and the conservatives won! But Fighting is still going on over minor things!

I read the book of 3 John this morning about Diotrephes and Demetrius.
This Diotrephes is a pretty sorry person isn't he? He emerges out of this text as an arrogant, egotistical, self-centered, control freak. His motto is Just Say No. His theme song is Sinatra's I Did It My Way. He is not the kind of guy you want in a leadership position in a church and yet he's there, not just back there in the first century; he is still around in a variety of churches across this globe.

Good Christian leader need to put our lives up against this text, up against this contrast between Diotrephes and Demetrius. Good spiritual leaders are first of all good followers, followers of Christ. Good spiritual leaders are folks that don't cut down other people's ministries but come alongside and encourage other ministries and work hard for the advancement of the kingdom even if they are not going to get any credit for it. Good spiritual leaders have a missions vision. Good spiritual leaders are involved in raising people up into ministry not running people off. Good spiritual leaders are willing to hear the truth about themselves.

A church advances no further than its leadership does. That's why in the body of Christ we need to hold the leadership to the highest standards according to the Word of God.

THIS YEAR AT THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION

As a Baptist-- a Southern Baptist by heart, I always look forward to the yearly meeting of the Southern Baptists.

Since I was in college (or perhaps earlier, around the close of the Conservative Resurgence), I've always wanted to attend the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting that takes place in the summer, usually the second week of June, which normally hits my birthdate! When Covenant Presbyterian Church in West Lafayette, Indiana issued an invitation for me to be their visiting Worship Pastor, I got so stoked about the fact that the SBC Annual Meeting is slated to take place in Indianapolis, just an hour or so away from Lafayette. Since I'm not in Indiana, I join the Southern Baptist Convention taking place this week via webcast on 316Networks, an entity in partnership with the North American Mission Board of the Convention.

The Broadus Gavel. James Draper, President of the Executive Committee opened the 151st Session by handing the Broadus Gavel to Convention President, Frank Page. The gavel has been in continued use in annual meetings since 1872. It was presented by John Albert Broadus to then Convention president, James Pettigru Boyce at the opening of the 1872 Meeting. The gavel- it's handle is made of balsam wood from a tree that grows along the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized, it's head is made of olive wood taken from the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem where Jesus ascended to heaven. Significantly, the gavel represents the beginning and the end of the Jesus' public work on earth.

John Albert Broadus and James Pettigru Boyce

Billy Kim Recognized. A highlight in the Executive Committee Report was the recognition of Korean Baptist leader, the Rev. Billy Kim as Distinguished Baptist Statesman Award for his lifelong service in global evangelism and leadership among Baptists. Kim, Pastor Emeritus of 15,000-member Suwon Central Baptist Church is now president of Far East Broadcasting Company. Billy Kim noted a time when he was a young minister visiting the United States with limited knowledge of the English language. He was introduced as a "Model Preacher." He didn't know the meaning of the word "Model" so he checked his Korean dictionary and it read "A small object that represents a larger object." The person introducing him went on and said, "Billy Kim is a warm preacher." He didn't know what warm meant so he again checked his dictionary and found out that warm means "moderately hot"!

Election of Johnny Hunt. Senior Pastor of the 17,000-member First Baptist Church of Woodstock, GA was elected President of the Convention garnering more than 50% of the votes over five other candidates.

Johnny Hunt, and the worship center of FBC Woodstock

On the surface level, members of the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the country – may pat each other on the back for all the good works they’re doing, but outgoing SBC president Frank Page urged them to see themselves as they really are, even though it may hurt. “I wonder … will we as Southern Baptists recognize the signs of what is happening among us?” Page told thousands of attendants Tuesday.

In his nominating speech of Hunt, Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist in Pensacola, FL. said he was nominating Hunt because of his "heart for the nations" and his "heart for the next generation." Hunt will unite the convention and "forge a hopeful future" focused on the Gospel and connected to local churches, Traylor said.

Johnny Hunt, who has led his church to grow from a medium-size congregation into a bustling 17000-member community that meets in a multi-acre campus, now faces the challenge of getting the SBC back on track again and prepare for growth. The alarming decline of the denomination's membership has to be overturned and churches need to again focus on missions and not denominational politics. While baptism numbers are down, giving is up, but money is not as good as baptisms!

There's one more day of meeting tomorrow...actually, today. I'll just have to wait 'til it's uploaded!

And I await the coverage of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) next week.

MY RADICAL BIRTHDAY...

Today is a special day (for me, at least!).

It's my birthday. I write this at 6:30PM-- killing time before I head off to our midweek service, after having the whole day to myself and the Lord, almost totally secluding myself from my friends; wanting to take time to think, pray and enjoy the day alone (with God). I came out of my apartment in the middle of the day for lunch. By noon, I have received a total of 104 text greetings, and I remember texting back to just one person; not that I'm not appreciative, I just had to control myself from diverting my attention from having a contemplative day. Eccentric though it sounds, that's what I've planned on doing for my birthday- spend it alone.

My personal birthday lunch at Bizu was a blast, in weird way! While I did not splurge (I just had the simplest meal on the menu), I had a party--but a party can never be just for one, but I did have a party for one. Silly, huh!? The only trouble I had was in choosing which cake to celebrate my birthday with. There were just too much to choose from I decided NOT to have cake at all.

My birthday. While a special day had nothing special in particular, no unusual group of folks surprising me with a party or a band of guys with whistles. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a Wednesday I spent to thinking about how much I have to give thanks for. Perhaps you had a moment like that. How blessed we are. I started thinking about how my personal faith journey has been. How much I’ve learned and grown. The mistakes I’ve made and how I have been able to overcome them despite myself. Decisions and choices made. Dreams - some unfulfilled, but dreams worthy of dreaming just the same.

Family. Friends. Good work that matters and great colleagues. Life. Health. Freedom. A place to call home. Peace of mind. Clarity of thought. I had a good time and came out overwhelmed. It occurred to me that I should not wait for another birthday to be thankful. But birthdays lead us to remembering, assessing, naming: lest I forget or take for granted, or assume too much brilliance on my part, God’s abundant presence in my life. And all the unexpected ways and places where God shows up in people and circumstances to provide little miracles, manna and sustenance for my journey.

BACK FROM EXTREME ZERO

Well, I had a blast last weekend at Extreme Adventure Camp!

Extreme Adventure Camp is one of GCF Crossover Ministry's two major out-of-town weekend events. The other one is called Crossover Conference. How are the two different? The Conference, which normally takes place in October is more geared towards spiritual retreat, study and physical respite. Extreme is more of adventure-filled camp at the end of summer-- an Amazing Race of sorts, with games and activities that have spiritual implication, coupled with worship and teaching to corroborate the theme and spiritual implication of the games. My assignment this weekend is to lead a devotional message, man a game station, and facilitate a men's buzz group.

To begin with-- there was this funeral car on the road with a hilarious license plate (LAS 114)! My last name is LAS and finding my name on a license plate of a funeral car just felt a wee bit creepy in a hilarious kind of way!

Rizal Recreation Center is a lush tropical Christan resort and conference center in Laguna run by the Rev. Joe Mauk, together with Cecilio Pedro of Lamoiyan Corporation, and Tom Randall, a Christian athlete/missionary. After 3 hours of driving a scenic route, we arrived at the resort, immediately realizing that there is another camp going on- the college camp of CCF (our neighbor church here in Manila).

Rev. Joe Mauk, a missionary in the Philippines for 28 years now, is known for his collection of and passion for spinning tops! Yes, tops! His largest to is 28 kilos heavy and requires more than 100 kilos of scrap metal hauled up by a pulley on a tree and ten men to spin (see video below)!

We proceeded to the covered court for the morning worship and devotion. The praise and worship was led by Archie Sy. My Gossip Girl/Grey's Anatomy-inspired devotions ended with the people's overwhelming excitement for lunch!
The afternoon games were amazing! Too bad I wasn't able to take photos of the whole event because, like I mentioned, I manned the pool-side activity station which confined me withing the pool area all afternoon!

Our speaker was Col. Mike Asperin (Ret.), an elder at GCF and leader of the JOSHUA Ministry, GCF's arm reaching the Philippines' uniformed men and women. It was a Purpose-Driven Life sort of preaching series that allowed the campers to discover their purposes. Fifty percent of the campers were newbies-- a number of unchurched, a few moving up from the Youth, and a number of church attendees who were never involved in any activity other than attending services.

One of the things the resort is known for over any other resort/camp sites is the buffet! The food got to be overwhelming for me at times. Everyone had to forget about their diet and decided to go on a splurge last weekend.

Over a little conversation with Pastor Chris, he mentioned that the Extreme Camp '08 is his last program with Crossover and he'd praying for a pastor to take the reins of the Crossover Ministry since he's married late last year. He and his beautiful wife Jo-ann are expectant parents. Recently, he was assigned to be Assistant Pastor for the Quezon City District.
Sometime last April, he approached me and asked if I would consider leading the growing and exciting ministry to young adults and singles just as he was being transitioned into district leadership. After some not-so-deep thought about the matter, I figured, my heart and passion is for the Worship Ministry. While I do get excited about ministering to folks my age, my heart cries for worship. I told some of the leaders in Crossover that if ever, I could spend 70% of my time with worship and 30% with Crossover, just as I would have spent my work time at Covenant Presbyterian should it (had it) push(ed) through.

Over my quiet time at camp, I wrote in my Moleskine that in my life as a young adult thus far I have learned two valuable things: 1. Days that begin with a devotional quiet time are better than days that do not; 2. God's sovereign will is inescapable! Whatever God's will is, there is no escaping!

THURSDAY AT THE MOVIES

Prince Caspian and Christianity.
On my days off, I either write something on my Moleskine or watch a movie at a nearby mall when something good is out.

This week, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian came out! I can never be more thankful for having Christian parents who instilled in me the value of books and reading. The Chronicles of Narnia were stories I heard at bedtime from them until I was old enough to dish out books from the school library and read them on my own. My early exposure to the stories wired me to like the movie.

The novellete Prince Caspian is not exactly the strongest in the seven-book Chronicles. It's more of a transitory section to advance the series. 1300 years after the Pevensie kids left Narnia, the Telmarines have invaded and populated the land, driving the original Narnians to extinction. The inhabitants purportedly found their way to a then-leaderless Narnia after "a great famine". More importantly, it is also the site of a 'chink' that leads from Earth to Narnia. Six pirates and their wives from our world were shipwrecked and fell through this gap into Telmar, producing lines of proud, warlike descendants, the Telmarines. These are the Telmarines who eventually invade Narnia, at the time in disorder, after a famine in their own land and attempt to rid the country of its magic. It is from this line of Telmarines that Prince Caspian is descended.

Aslan is portrayed by Lewis as the Jesus Christ. Aslan's father (the "Emperor-Over-Sea") is God the Father. Some believe the story is a parrallel to Moses and the freeing of the Israelites. Edmund and Lucy assist Prince Caspian in his attempt to get to Aslan's country (over the sea) in Lewis' The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

More obviously, the new Narnia can be seen as a parallel to the modern world, in which old beliefs are scoffed at. "Who believes in Aslan nowadays?" asks Trumpkin when he first meets Caspian. Those who "hold on", like the badgers, are praised: this links with Lewis's views on religious faith. Faith is another of the major themes of the book.

Ben Witherington writes: It ıs always a dilemma for film makers as to how strickly to hew to the original story lıne and this film certainly takes more lıberties than its predecessor for sure sacrıficing a literal renderings or reproduction for better action and flow.

I actually don't much mind this since the original story needed a bit of help but it would certainly have been more helpful to keep in some of the more Christian philosophy of Lewis (quoting the line 'Things never happen the same way twice' is insufficient to explain things). Lewis was perhaps the most influential non-Calvinist apologete of the 20th century and these films have an opportunity to explore that and so explore a world where all things are not predetermined by the active or passive will of God. The opportunity is missed to pursue this line of thought more effectively. Oh, and wait, I love the closing song, The Call by Regina Spektor.

A Trip to the City.
One of the things I most appreciate about being single guy having two very-special-and-in-every-way-platonic female friends to hang out with is I get to watch intelligently-written chick flicks like Sex and the City without having to observe other men look at me like I'm some other gender-confused guy. I have seen a number of mostly enjoyable and intelligent chick flicks with my two friends. And, my two friends don't mind watching man flicks with me-- like the boring and almost-a-silent-movie, The Assasination of Jesse James (but I have the feeling they went with me because of Brad Pitt and nothing else).

Back to SATC.
While I do not approve the values it sublimenally promotes, I like the writers' style and how some social realities are revealed (and I'm happy for the necessary cuts made by the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, cleaning up the movie a lot). As a Christian, it made me think about the values, expressions, felt and deep needs of 21st-century humanity. It got me to thinking: How do people continue the process of maturing and advancing on their spiritual journey? I think at the heart of it, spiritual growth has to do with one’s capacity to first love him or her self in a way that inspires constant renewal and personal transformation – and then through the grace of God, love others as we love our selves.

The movie was long with too much talk- well, the talk is part of why I like about it- but that's just it, while I did not fall asleep, I did think that the movie could've been shortened, and the writers could have gone straight to the point-- 2 hours and 20 minutes of PURE talk is just way too much for a man who likes words! For a time during the movie I thought I'd rather watch car chases and sword fights than a group of 40+-aged ladies in an Upper East side restaurant talk about boys!

But I must say also that we guys should watch stuff like that once in a while for our own benefit. We get to enter the world of women without being intrusive- we don't have to ask them questions that would reveal who and how they are, all we need is observe. It may help men understand how women are wired. That's why I'm glad I have these two friends I get to watch with. A quip like, "She was an smart until she fell in love" jokingly said though it was by a female reveals a lot of the female psyche!