"CATCH ME IF YOU CAN!" SAYS GOD

(The succeeding story appears with permission)

Last night in our Bible study, one guy shared why he was no where to be found by any of our church friends in the last several months. Well, he was going through a phase- a phase I wish none of my readers will ever go through. He'd grown so disappointed with his own life and the things surrounding his circumstances that he came to believe he had no control over the things he was facing and thus he goes through this phase. But even before I continue, let me say that, first, I think the decision he was making in the phase is just plainly insane; second, it's not a decision one makes to get God's attention. He was giving up on God!

While he was sharing, every ounce of who I am wanted to leap over the table, grab his head, shut his mouth and make him listen to what I was about to say. Finally, after detailing all that had to him, I was able to speak. In the spirit of Christian love, I tried to rebuke, discourage, encourage, reprimand, uplift, edify and admonish the guy's soul. That's what the Church is all about- we are a hospital for the broken, the battered, the bruised and the bored.

In my short little speech (since I wasn't the one facilitating), I told him and everyone that the decision to give up on God is in every way insanely inane. I know the word insane is strong, but that's just it. In the process, I told him that we should never give up on God because He never gives up on us. He never tells us "Catch me if you can" instead He says, "Take a closer walk with me because I want a closer walk with you."

During our prayer time, I told him that I was glad to see him and that he should never feel that way towards God ever againm because, if anything, trials and tough times are designed to make us better people, stronger and humbler beings. They are designed to chisel a character out of our rough souls!

What is God's will for your life, and in mine? I want to say something that is very important about understanding the will of God and our ability to discern what it is. God never has very much communicated with people through burning bushes. He chooses chiefly to communicate through burning hearts. Hearts passionately in love with Jesus Christ. If you are really, really serious about finding God's will for your life, but you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then that is the place to begin.[1]

You can divide God's will into his general will and into his specific will. His general will is always, always very clear. We find his general will clearly revealed in Scripture in the area of what you and I are to believe; ethics, morals, life-style, how we are to behave.

But most of our questions about the will of God don't come in that general area, do they? They come in a specific area. Who should I marry? Should I take this job or that? Am I to move? Should I continue chemotherapy or not? A lot of times, we get worked up in tizzy over what God's specific will for our lives is, without grounding ourselves and being sure we understand what God's general will is for our lives.[2]

Like the Christian guy who was fretting over 'Should I move in and live with Anne, or Sheila?' Well, if he knew the general will of God, that would not have been a question at all. He wouldn't have top choose between Anne or Sheila. Read through the Bible with me in its entirety; so that over the years as you will rub up against other people the clearly revealed general will of God, it becomes our anchor. It becomes our guidepost. It becomes the lens through which we can better discern the specific will of God. I can tell you now what God's supreme will for your life and mine is: its that we have an intimate personal relationship with him through Jesus Christ.[3]

Matthew Henry, the great Biblical scholar, one night was walking home and he was mugged, beat to a pulp, his wallet stolen. That night in his journal, Matthew Henry wrote these words: "Lord, I thank you. I thank you that I have never been robbed before. Lord, secondly I thank you that they took my wallet, but not by life. Thirdly Lord, I thank you that I was the one who was robbed, not the one doing the robbing."

The word "thankful." In the Anglo-Saxon it means "thinkful." When we examine our lives, when we think out our lives, when we think about our lives in the light of God's grace and our personal relationship with Christ, it is then we ought to be thankful for a whole lot of things. We have such a God of grace and mercy. Isn't it wonderful that he blesses our lives, not just in those areas where we are thankful. When was the last time you gave thanks for our shampoo?[4]

He continues to bless us, even in areas when we are not thankful. But you know what? When you and I are thankful, our heart beats more closely in sync with God's heart. When that happens, you and I are much more likely to discern God's specific will for our lives.

Martin Luther once said that, "If it were the will of God, I would plant an oak tree today, even if I knew Christ were coming tomorrow." [5]

www.confluentthoughts.blogspot
www.confluentthoughts.wordpress.com
www.pjonlas.multiply.com
__________________________________
1 Sermon June 20, 1999, Dr. Ron Scates Central Presbyterian Church, Baltimore
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Luther's Sermon, The Bondage of the Will

A SONG, A NOTE, A THOUGHT

INDIANA. HOW JON MCLAUGHLIN BECAME OFFICIALLY MY FAVORITE INDIANA-BORN MUSICIAN!

All I've kept myself updated with the last couple of years has been Christian Contemporary and Worship Music! Then comes Jon McLaughlin!

Yesterday afternoon after the Church, I was demonstrating to Joy, the pianist, how a portable speaker system that I'd just been given by one of the guys in the worship team works. As we were picking what song to play, she clicked "So Close" from the movie Enchanted. I've seen the movie but the song never had a recall for me. But hearing "So Close" again-- every word of it, was close to amazing!

I was just leisurely listening to random music while finalizing this Sunday's worship set when an unfamiliar but soothing tune in the piano started playing; a soft-sounding singing voice of a man started putting intelligently written words to the tune. The title immediately caught my eye: INDIANA! A state name that has become close to me in the last several months, where a number of people I have not yet met in the flesh have taken a special place in my heart!

Here's a video and the words to the song:

I'm glad I never lived next to the water
So I could never get used to the beach,
And I'm glad I never grew up on a mountain
To figure out how high the world could reach.

I love the miles between me and the city,
Where I quietly imagine every street.
And I'm glad I'm only picturing the moment.
I'm glad she never fell in love with me.

For some the world's a treasure to discover.
And your scenery should never stay the same.
And they're trading in their dreams for explanations.
All in an attempt to entertain.

I love the miles between me and the city,
Where I quietly imagine ever street.
And I'm glad I'm only picturing the moment.
I'm glad she never fell in love with me

The trick of love is to never let it find you.
It's easy to get over missing out.
I know the how's and whens, but now and then,
She's all I think about.

I wonder how it feels to be famous,
but wonder is as far as I will go.
Because I'd probably lose myself in all the pictures,
And end up being someone I don't know.

So it's probably best I stay in Indiana,
Just dreaming of the world as it should be.
Where every day is a battle to convince myself
I'm glad she never fell in love with me.

A huge part of me wishes to rewrite this song to fit my situation, but the song is already good as it is!

A NOTE RECEIVED, A THOUGHT CONCEIVED.

A surprising note was handed to me by an anonymous kid last Sunday. He ran quickly as soon as he got the note in my hand and did not get the chance to ask who it was from. In a church with several thousand people, I may never identify who this letter is from.

Hi! I join a number of other people who have been asking why we never see you lead worship in church anymore. Most of the worship leadership on Sundays is done by other worship leaders- who by the way, do a wonderful job leading us in heartfelt worship. Although we see you worship in your usual spot close to the band section- always joyful, expressive and uninhibited before God, yet it still feels a bit different for our loved worship pastor whose 2nd and 3rd Sunday leading we always look forward to not on stage but as a part of the congregation. Some months ago, Pastor Luis mentioned that you're leaving for Indiana, perhaps that is why we hardly see you lead. But we do hope you'll lead us again before you fly States-side, at least 10 Sundays in a row! God bless your heart, PJon. 

When the January to June 2008 schedule of Worship Leaders was made late in 2007, it was prepared with the assumption that I will be in Indiana by now. Obviously, I am not, although I wish I were!

On Sunday, I stand again to lead worship for the first time since Palm Sunday and Easter! I have led only three times in six months! I seriously missed worship leading. And although opportunities to lead worship arose a number of times I chose/needed/wanted to step aside for a while to set my heart straightened up, my mind refocused. My heart was set on leaving in April, my mind had drawn up plans for the worship ministry at Covenant. It has taken sometime for me to recover from a visa denial heartbreak. I still am in the process of a system reboot! God knew that I would need a couple of months to fully recover! I love how God providentially set man's plans in place according to His will!

The ball has started rolling for me. Life is beginning to get back to normal- even better!

Do I still think about Covenant? Yes I do. I'd be lying if I say I don't. Do I still wish to go? Yes, I'd still love to pay my new Hoosier friends that worship on Knox Drive a visit!

Do I still want a sabbatical? Yes, more than anyone would know! I'd still love to ride a bike on these plains.

But I am completely satisfied with what God has for me at the moment.

A NOTCH HIGHER, A DIG DEEPER

On the way to the movies to watch Hancock tonight, I bumped into a lady. I've not seen her in church in a while. The last time she was absent from church for a season was when she went to the States to take care of some stuff. We smiled and shook hands. I asked why I have not seen her in church for some time now.

"Well, Pastor, I now go to another church- where the Spirit is present in worship!"

I said, "I'm glad you still worship eventhough it's in another church."

I continued, "What do you mean by the 'Spirit is present?'"

She answered, "A church where there's more life and freedom in worship, where people can shout, dance, run, lie on the floor and be more exhuberantly expressive to God!"

I told her, "I'm sorry, but I don't think you got the definition of the Spirit's presence right." But even before I finished my sentence, she remarked,

"I mean Spirit-filled. Pastor, you're our favorite worship leader...When my family noticed some months ago that you're not leading anymore and learned of the possibility of your leaving for the States, we decided to move to a more Spirit-filled church."

I seriously prayed in my mind and took every word from her last statement captive and placed it at the feet of Christ. I went on to explain what the term/phrase meant Biblically, theologically and practically as concise as I can.

1. Being Spirit-filled is not a subjective reality but an observable and measurable reality as it was in the life of Barnabas and the deacons named in Acts 6.

2. When the Spirit fills an individual or a community of believers, expect to find permeating qualities of joy, gratitude and humility.

3. When the Spirit fills an individual or community, do not expect to find a life or atmosphere permeated by complaining, discontent, lack of gratutude and arrogance.

4. When the Spirit fills an individual or a community, expect to find permeating qualities like love, joy, peace, kindness, goodnessm faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

After explaining, she said she's coming back to our church. I told her that whether she returns or not really depends on what she wants, and that she should be sensitive to the Lord's will. But I respectfully asked her to stay where she's currently attending and be a blessing to that community. She still said she might come on Sunday.

As we walked away from each other, I wondered about what she said, what I said, and what God might be saying by allowing me to encounter that lady in the mall on my day off!

Quickly, I remembered what WA Criswell once said, "God sends people into our lives just when we need them, to say the right word, His word, just when we need it."

You see, just this week I convened our church's new Worship Creative Planning Team composed of people who have been active in the Worship ministry with discernible hearts for worshipping and serving our first Love, Jesus Christ. The team agreed that we do need to ask the Spirit to take our worship life as a church and as individuals a notch higher! The Spirit has taken our 5000-member church into transitions and growing levels of worship expression. But we believe, with the rest of the Pastoral Leadership, that we must never be too comfortable in the notch the Lord has taken us to. We must ask Him to take us higher in our worship, we do that by knowing Him deeper!

Each August, the Worship Studies class of FEBIAS College of Bible, among other groups from as far as Korea that visit GCF throughout the year, attends our service to learn about the innovations GCF worship has become known for! But beyond innovations and excellence, I pray that we will be known for our heart for and expressiveness in Spirit-directed worship, and a genuine yearning to be led deeper in it.

Does our worshipping community possess a discernible permeating qualities of joy, gratitude and humility? Or is there an atmosphere permeated by complaining, discontent, lack of gratutude and arrogance. Can a visitor find permeating qualities like love, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Can a visitor observe and conclude that "God is really among [us]!"?

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOEL OSTEEN

From denominational conferences to a preacher's homily, I find observing and blogging- commenting on the happenings in Christendom in the light of Scripture profitable, not just for me but for many of my readers. I am fairly comfortable in being vocal about my thoughts concerning issues of faith and practice.

My Bible College professor, now acting president, asked about the possibility for me to teach Worship Programming (which I choose to call, Worship Studies-Theology History and Practice). In preparation for that, I decided to update a syllabus I made some months ago. So, in a serendipity, while researching about worship and contemporary theological issues to update a Worship Studies syllabus, I found these YouTube videos about Joel Osteen, pastor of the 40,000-strong Lakewood Church Houston, reportedly America's largest congregation. The series of videos I viewed honestly alarmed me.

To begin with, let me say, I am not a huge fan of Joel Osteen (which means, I have not read a book he's written or frequently watch his TV program), but I admire the great worship music at Lakewood, and our church sings some of the songs they have produced.

I do believe that he is a Christian brother. I have no problems with his being encouraging- that could be his spiritual gift. I don't mind him being popular and being the most listened to preacher in America. What is concerning for me is this whole new wave of supposed Christian spirituality that is being propagated- get rich and successful, be happy and healthy, be a champion!

PRIORITIES: A REFLECTION ON WORSHIP

There was probably a general sense of emptiness in the hearts of some pastors all over the Philippines last Sunday with the expected drop in worship attendance and giving!

The culprit is none other than the Manny Pacquiao-David Diaz boxing bout which people, even Christians chose to watch at home instead of going church to worship! Manny Pacquiao's fights always take place on a Sunday morning (because Sunday morning in Manila is Saturday night in Las Vegas), and each time there is a scheduled fight, churches worry about an inevitable attendance drop- much like Superbowl Sundays in the US when churches cancel services on Sunday afternoons and nights for the NFL finals!

Anyway, I was never a fan of boxing so I really don't know the feeling of struggling between choosing to watch a boxing match and worshipping in church. Even though boxing first began in Greece, for me it is nothing more than a modern-day counterpart of ancient Roman gladiatorial matches where people fight to the death and people enjoy the site of gore and the stench of blood! However, today, boxers fight and get paid big time! People still enjoy the site of men rearranging their faces with their fists, so it's all the same.

On the way back to Church from a lunch date with Tommy Walker and his team from Christian Assembly, I reflected on the amazing service that was and thought about how many Christians missed a great time of worship at GCF! Our attendance was still in the thousands, our offering still reached a seven-figure mark. But it's not about the numbers, it's about the experience that they missed, the priority misplaced- worship.

Priorities. Whenever the topic arises I couldn't help but think of Abraham.
If ever there was a text that would represent for modern people the primitiveness of religion it is perhaps the one we read from Genesis. A father is asked to do the unthinkable, sacrifice his child, in order to satiate the need of his God. Who is this God of Abraham? Is this the same God we worship?

People think the Bible is a dangerous book to read to children because of stories like that of Abraham's. In truth the Bible can be a dangerous book for adults to read too, and it should be handled with great care. It’s wild, untamed, filled with surprising, often shocking stories that rightly give us pause. And the wildest, most untamed, surprising part of scripture is the God it reveals. This God of Abraham, this God we worship is anything but predictable, domesticated, or boring.

The God Abraham knew was always asking the unthinkable. There was never a time in Abraham’s experience of God when things were calm, simple, easy. As the story goes, from their very first encounter God asks Abraham to do the unthinkable: leave everything behind – his homeland, his family, his work, his security – in order to settle in an unknown land. As the story unfolds, we learn that Abraham and Sarah have been unable to conceive a child. Wanting Abraham to have a child, Sarah offers him her servant Hagar and together she and Abraham have a son named Ishmael. Later, God tells Abraham and Sarah something that to them was unthinkable. They were greatly advanced in age, and had given up hope of having a child of their own, but God declared that in spite of her advanced age Sarah would become pregnant and that they would have a son. It was so unthinkable that Sarah’s response to the good news was unrestrained, incredulous laughter. But soon Isaac was born, and their joy must have been complete.[1]

Then the unthinkable happened once more – not once, but twice. On two occasions Abraham is commanded by God to rid himself of his sons. After a quarrel between Sarah and Hagar, God tells Abraham that he must send Ishmael and his mother Hagar away, never to dwell with them again. Can you imagine how unthinkable that must have been? Shortly thereafter God says, "Abraham! Take your son Isaac, whom you love, and....offer him as a burnt offering." This is not only unthinkable, but barbaric.[2]

The initial barbarism and primitiveness of the story gives way to something quite important for you and me. It brings us back to that question: What is your idol? For Manila residents, of course, there are some obvious possibilities – the quest for money, the drive to succeed, the determination to find a life’s partner, more money, the need to have just the right address, the right look, more money, the right pedigree – all potentially badges of personal honor rather than gifts from God. But there are more subtle idols, images or needs we cling to at all costs, that are equally in need of examination – that persistent fear of failure or scarcity, notions of unworthiness or shame, the secret assumption of being a fraud or hypocrite, panic at the possibility that we will end up alone. These too can be idols we refuse to part with and which identify us at our core, but which are equally destructive barriers in life and in relationship to God.[3]

Back to our Sunday worship issue. A Christian's individual call to worship God is not an option, neither is the call to the whole church to gather and take part in the work (liturgy) of the Body.

I remember deferring, and ultimately seeking amnesty for not taking ROTC military training for religious reasons back in college- that's my choice and conviction. Even as an exchange student, wherever the exchange program took our team, the first place I looked for is a church where I can join others for worship. I've always believed that Sunday is particularly special for the Lord- not that other days aren't, every days is the Lord's. But the Bible sets apart a particular day to observe and engage in the worship of God with other people.

In a conversation between a Campus Crusade staff and another church volunteer tonight, I heard the Crusade staff say, "People are completely satisfied in the pew, worshipping whenever convenient. That has to break."
The story of Abraham is a story of anguished faith because it reveals that in order to walk into the life God has promised we must rid ourselves of that which does not belong to God, and by association does not truly belong to us. The good news in this story is that on the other side of the unthinkable Abraham experience a better sense of faith and life. In the end, Abraham was more blessed because He understood who God was and chose to please Him.

Is worshipping an option for you? Do you go to church only when it's convenient or is it a part of your life?

___________________________________
1 Viera, Javier, Risking the Unthinkable, June 29, 2008 CCNYC
2 Walter Brueggeman, Genesis, (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1982) p. 185
3 Viera, Javier, Risking the Unthinkable, June 29, 2008 CCNYC