My thoughts:
Last Saturday, January 20, 2007, we had our first ever YoungPro Joint Fellowship among the five churches in the Manila area that are included the Association of Zhenghua Churches of the Philippines namely UECM, UECPasay, UECP, UECG, Jubilee. The event entitled "Are You One Of Us?" aimed to have brothers and sisters in Christ interact with other Christians in other churches. It started out as something simple, but ended with something greater planned in mind and a challenge.
The night started out by the buffet table awaiting us - but there's a catch, we should sit next to someone from another church! Of course at first, people tend to group together with friends but as the night grew, we slowly got comfortable being with other people. We started to greet each other and just took the time to get to know one another by asking them where they work or which church they are from. After a good dinner, we went it to worship the Lord through songs of praise and adoration. Many people sang their hearts praising Jesus through songs such as "Worthy is the Lamb", "Redeemer, Savior, Friend" and many more! Right after that, we were finally enlightened as to the true purpose of the AZCOP and why they held such an event especially for YoungPros. Remember guys: finding a girlfriend is only a BONUS, not the ultimate goal of AZCOP! Then came the fun part - the games! Our ID's were shaped differently to match which team we should join for example "Team Kisses"! The games tested team spirit, team coordination and team oneness as called forth by games like "Team Name and Cheer", "Happy Feet" and "Melody Chain"
The night ended with the most important program - the message. The passage was taken from Joshua 5:13-15 which stresses the question, "Are you for us or against us?" I agree with the pastor who said that this is a very selfish question. If you are the one asking this question, then it leaves the one who will answer in a spot wherein he needs to choose if he will be for you or against you. But unlike our society's notion of this question, we Christians interpret this differently. "Are you one of us?" is a question that challenges us to think about the people in our area, people who we interact daily with, people who we see, people who we do business with. Are they one of us? Do they know the love of God? These question cannot possibly come from someone selfish becaue these are the same questions that show true care and concern for the individual. This is the lesson that Joshua learned as he immediately fell on his knees and removed his sandals.
Another lesson that can be learned from the passage is through observing Joshua's response to what has been said - he removed his sandals. We must remember that during this time, Joshua was at war and removing his sandals may prove fatal in the battlefield. But he bowed before God barefooted not with swords and shields and this he did before battle. In our lives, we may not bring swords and shields to work but these may be represented by our laptops or palms or notebooks. But as Joshua, let us learn to set a time for God before going into the workplace's battle and win souls for His kingdom.
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My prayer:
My God, You have shown me again and again of your wondrous blessings. I pray that you are the One who was most pleased with the gathering of believers in this event. I hope that what has been started here will be faithfully and truthfully carried on so that more and more people will be blessed by You, so that more and more people will come to know you and praise you even more. Let me be like Joshua who came prepared to the battlefield not with laptops and stylus, but with your presence and blessing. I thank you for your love for us that even though we are separate small churches, in You, we are one big Church. Continue to guide eahc and everyone of us, the churches, AZCOP. All these we ask in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Invisible Father
My thoughts:
I've just finished watching a heart-warming Korean series entitled "Invisible Man". It is a story of an unlikely couple who was sweet in their first years of marriage but had problems later on in their family life. From the onset, the parents of the girl didn't approve of the marriage because of the status of the boy (no more father, mother remarried), but later unhappily approved of it. Somewhere along their marriage, the husband became so engrossed with work to provide the best for his family, but as a result, his presence was not felt by the wife and his twin children. You could say he'd rather work than be at home not because he wanted it that way but because He wants his family to be proud of him since this is the only thing he could do due to his status. The wife, on the other end, became stouthearted and had to work several jobs and, at the same time, be there for the children. All of these piled up which led to their eventual divorce. The story progressed and climaxed at a point where the husband, due to several hits on his head during his early years of being a cop, contracted dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Later, the wife who had a kidney transplant in younger years needed another kidney transplant in order to survive. With no time left to find a donor and the husband having the perfect match of kidney at that time, he already decided to donate his kidney to his wife even if he knew he may never wake up again. Of course, before all of this happened, the father spent the rest of his days being happy with his children, with his wife, with his friends even held a happy live funeral for him because anytime he could die from the disease and he also wanted to leave happy memories before he died. Unknown to his friends and family, he keeps all of this burden to himself until the day he died in the hospital after the succesful operation of his wife. His only favor that he left his wife through a letter is to save his phone number to encourage his younger son so that even when he's not around, his children may feel that he is with them.
In our Christian walk, it seems we blame God for what is happening to us since we cannot see him. When we are alone, when we are sad, when we are hopeless... it seems our God is not with us and that He let go of our hands and left us to suffer. But just like in the poem "Footprints in the Sand", He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He walked with us during the happy days of our lives and carried us through the winds and storms in our lives. We cannot see Him but that doesn't mean He doesn't care for us, that doesn't mean He doesnt care about what we do about our life!
Yes, He is invisible yet He is also a Father. He knows us more than anybody can know us. He even knows us more than we know ourselves that's why He is the only One who knows what's best for us, His children. If our earthly fathers care for us so much, how much more will our Heavenly Father care for His children? In the film, the father wasn't around his children because of work, because of his sickness, because of his situation, but he made sure that his children always felt that he was with them through his unusual gifts and bonding time with them. Our Father gave us the most unusual gift yet it is the most priceless one that anybody can give to His children. He gave us Jesus to be the intermediator between Us and Him. He gave us His only begotten Son so that we could be with Him forever.
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My prayer:
Dear Lord, sometimes it is hard for me to believe that You are there for me since I cannot see You. I pray that You forgive me of this and please give me a heart that believes that I can rely on my invisible Father. Help me to trust in You more and take to heart all of your comforting promises in the Bible. Guide my paths and help me remember and cherish the wonderful gift of salvation through Jesus your Son. You know me more than myself so I pray that your will be done through my actions, through my words, and through my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
I've just finished watching a heart-warming Korean series entitled "Invisible Man". It is a story of an unlikely couple who was sweet in their first years of marriage but had problems later on in their family life. From the onset, the parents of the girl didn't approve of the marriage because of the status of the boy (no more father, mother remarried), but later unhappily approved of it. Somewhere along their marriage, the husband became so engrossed with work to provide the best for his family, but as a result, his presence was not felt by the wife and his twin children. You could say he'd rather work than be at home not because he wanted it that way but because He wants his family to be proud of him since this is the only thing he could do due to his status. The wife, on the other end, became stouthearted and had to work several jobs and, at the same time, be there for the children. All of these piled up which led to their eventual divorce. The story progressed and climaxed at a point where the husband, due to several hits on his head during his early years of being a cop, contracted dementia or Alzheimer's disease. Later, the wife who had a kidney transplant in younger years needed another kidney transplant in order to survive. With no time left to find a donor and the husband having the perfect match of kidney at that time, he already decided to donate his kidney to his wife even if he knew he may never wake up again. Of course, before all of this happened, the father spent the rest of his days being happy with his children, with his wife, with his friends even held a happy live funeral for him because anytime he could die from the disease and he also wanted to leave happy memories before he died. Unknown to his friends and family, he keeps all of this burden to himself until the day he died in the hospital after the succesful operation of his wife. His only favor that he left his wife through a letter is to save his phone number to encourage his younger son so that even when he's not around, his children may feel that he is with them.
In our Christian walk, it seems we blame God for what is happening to us since we cannot see him. When we are alone, when we are sad, when we are hopeless... it seems our God is not with us and that He let go of our hands and left us to suffer. But just like in the poem "Footprints in the Sand", He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He walked with us during the happy days of our lives and carried us through the winds and storms in our lives. We cannot see Him but that doesn't mean He doesn't care for us, that doesn't mean He doesnt care about what we do about our life!
Yes, He is invisible yet He is also a Father. He knows us more than anybody can know us. He even knows us more than we know ourselves that's why He is the only One who knows what's best for us, His children. If our earthly fathers care for us so much, how much more will our Heavenly Father care for His children? In the film, the father wasn't around his children because of work, because of his sickness, because of his situation, but he made sure that his children always felt that he was with them through his unusual gifts and bonding time with them. Our Father gave us the most unusual gift yet it is the most priceless one that anybody can give to His children. He gave us Jesus to be the intermediator between Us and Him. He gave us His only begotten Son so that we could be with Him forever.
---------------------------------------------------------------
My prayer:
Dear Lord, sometimes it is hard for me to believe that You are there for me since I cannot see You. I pray that You forgive me of this and please give me a heart that believes that I can rely on my invisible Father. Help me to trust in You more and take to heart all of your comforting promises in the Bible. Guide my paths and help me remember and cherish the wonderful gift of salvation through Jesus your Son. You know me more than myself so I pray that your will be done through my actions, through my words, and through my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
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