Over dinner last night after church, I was asked to say grace before meal by the same folks I was with the entire weekend! We bowed and I started praying----and closed by saying:
"....Lord, there's just so much to thank you for for the things that You did over the whole weekend! We don't have time enough to mention every one of them over dinner...But You know what's in our hearts...they all say, 'Thanks!'"
And I don't think one blog entry would suffice for all that happened either.
Uprising! A Revolution of Faith! That's the theme and title of the young adults' retreat I joined last weekend-- around 60 young adults convened at the Word of Life Camp.
For young adults who lived most of our lives in a revolution-clad history, we are familiar with what it means for our stomachs to churn over things we see; and as a twenty-three year-old in January 2001, my small band of seminary buddies walked from Quezon Memorial Circle for a prayer rally to EDSA Shrine where we joined hundreds of thousand others who have the same gut-churn. Two days later, we had a new president!
It's called a Revolution of Faith because people were invited not to a regular retreat away from the city and feel good. Instead, the strange thing about the retreat was that it asked people to feel bad-- to feel a churning in the gut, and act on it! No. It's not a guilt-tripping, hell-fire-brimstone type of retreat. It was designed for the regular Christian to be committed to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ-- leaving our comfort zones, choosing to take a road that's out of the way, hearts breaking for the things that break God's heart. It was issuing a call to become a part of a spiritual revolution and revival.
I loved the composition. The crowd composed of bankers, engineers, educators, government workers, small and large scale entepreneurs, regular employees, students, musicians, medical and allied professionals, IT specialists, and many others spanning almost every sector- from descendants of old business taipans to children of working class citizens.
All through this past weekend, I was thinking about this: When my life comes to an end, what do I want to be remembered for? What do I want other people to say about me? What do I want to have written on my tombstone? I know that for some people, the thought of passing away is gory, blood-curdling and scary. But that's what I thought over the past weekend.
A few weeks ago over All Saints Day, I was walking over tombstones which reminded me of one tombstone found in Scotland by someone I know. The tombstone read:
Now, to be very very honest with you; I certainly do not want that to be on my tombstone-- for one, I am not a woman; second, to be beheaded is simply a cruel way to go! But every one who reads such a tombstone will know what those women stood for. They stood for the cause of Christ. And the retreat last weekend called for that- standing for Christ.
On Friday night, I spoke to the men's group about struggles and choosing to glorify God in the midst of temptation. Making ourselves vulnerable is not something we men are known for, but that night, the men were so led by the Spirit to be that which we would not normally want to be.
We also talked about how sometimes, we Christians-- churched people- become the actual obstacle for the healing to the unchurched! Dan Andrew Cura, president of Far East Broadcasting and an elder at GCF spoke on the Cost of Discipleship, with some references to the new book by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, UNCHRISTIAN. Dan Cura gave examples of Bible characters whose gut churned for things that broke God's heart and acted on them.
Ultimately, the call to radical and uncomfortable discipleship was issued, and as I observed from the back of the camp's sanctuary, 95% of the campers stood, walked down the aisle, sealing their commitment to live for Christ in radical discipleship!
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In other news:
Josh and Ruth have been away for three weeks now.
They've gotten quite adjusted to the time, life and all. Ruth is looking into getting into a nursing school at a local university in Tampa next semester, while Josh is interested in and preparing to getting into a magnet School for the performing arts. They both get bored at home since their mom has to go to work all day, and unlike in the Philippines where there are always activities happening any time of the day, their community becomes a ghost town between 8AM to 5PM-- and hardly anyone comes out of their homes so they always looked forward to weekends when their mom would take them out shopping and eating. They're still getting used to 2-story malls with large parking lots without that many people! I jokingly told Josh over YM that when I was little malls only had one floor and a stinky basement!
The two are in the process of getting their IDs and driver's tests!
I miss them so much!
Their photos from the weekend before last.
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