A FESTIVE MISSIONS SUNDAY

Last Sunday was the culmination of Missions Month at GCF, too bad I wasn’t there (I was in Baguio). The church has traditionally observed October as Missions Month, that’s to intentionally coincide United Nations Month. It is customary for me to evaluate our services by watching the DVDs on Tuesday morning! I had goosebumps just by watching last Sunday’s services.

When my Worship Creative Planning Team were praying through and visualizing the outcome of the services, we couldn’t help but be awed by the thought of God’s love and mission to call people unto Himself. The thought of people from different racial/ethnic background coming together before the throne of Jesus the Lamb just overtakes me every time!

I love the make-up of our congregation– very much reflective of our larger community. While majority are Filipinos we see generous sprinkles of people from other nations. A church our size makes it both easy and difficult to get people involved in our services. When we thought of inviting internationals to do the Call to Worship in their native tongues, it only took one phone call. But there are just too many internationals, we had to just pick five!

The praise and worship time was beautiful led by Kit Paraso and the choir in different national costumes. The festive worship was capped by a wonderful sermon on the “Great Imbalance “ by the denomination’s Global Missions Director, Dr. Jorge de Ramos. One major highlight for me was the Choir with soloist, Allison Salvador singing, Unto the Lamb which combines the Biblical experience of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6 of coming face to face with the Holy One with the future colossal worship service of all Christians before the throne of God in heaven.

 

Another highlight. A guy named Aaron came to church last Sunday for the first. His company assigned him to oversee its Philippine branch for the next six months. I met him last Wednesday at Midweek Service. He’s probably one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met! He is a Messianic Jew– in his own words, “a guy chosen by God twice.”

While we were having coffee, waiting for the service to begin, a guy who’s been attending our church for a time came by the coffee bar at the Fellowship Hall. I introduced him to Aaron. What’s unique about what was taking place before my very eyes drove me a bit to tears. That guy was a strong Muslim before coming to Christ, and there he was shaking hands with a Jew who shares the same faith in Christ. What a powerful picture of the grace of God and the unity of the Church!

This Sunday, our sermon is The Jews First, Gentiles Next, based on Acts 13. I have asked Aaron to share his testimony as a Jew who has come to faith in the Messiah, Jesus Christ in our services! I’m glad he agreed. So, I am very excited about Sunday!

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Today is Reformation Day. Reformation Day is an important liturgical festival that is celebrated by Lutherans and Christians of many Protestant denominations.  It commemorates Dr. Martin Luther’s posting of his Ninety-five Theses on the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31, 1517.  This act triggered the movement in world history known as the Reformation.  While the historical date for the observance of Reformation is October 31st, mostchurches celebrate it on the last Sunday in October.

While it had profound and lasting impacts on the political, economic, social, literary, and artistic aspects of modern society, the Reformation was at its heart a religious movement.  The Reformation was the great rediscovery of the good news of salvation by grace through faith for Christ’s sake.

A TRIP BACK TO HIGHSCHOOL

Friends flipped when told them I was out with hot date this afternoon! She and I saw High School Musical 3! She’s a beautiful 12-year-old! And I’m sort of like her unofficial ninong (godfather) since I baptized her last August. She’s a daughter of one of our worship leaders at church and I kinda had to keep a promise I made her some months ago when they started advertising the third installment perhaps the best high school-themed film series!

Chris, Joel and I thought of killing time by watching it last Sunday in Baguio but the long line of people- young and old- leading to the cinema indicated that the High School Musical fever hadn’t been rubbed off on us as quickly as it did with half the population of Baguio! We ended up watching (in my case, sleeping though half) the extremely boring Max Payne!

One main reason why I love HSM is because it is positive and clean! Now, I’m not talking about the celebrities’ values, lifestyles and all that, just the movie! It’s a clean movie. It kind of gives an impression of what an ideal high school life is all about.

Ah! High school memories! As the 70s Filipino song goes, ”High school life..walang kasing saya” (Nothing else is more fun than high school life). It is true; high school is fun, even more fun than any other stage of life! I was a highschooler from 1991 to 1994, and some of the best memories I can ever think of happened within those years. College and gradeschool have a goodly number of amazing memories but a lot of the bestest happened in high school! Too bad high school is not meant to last forever!

Although some people cherish thoughts of highschool, others choose to perish them. I know a guy who breezed through highschool and never really enjoyed it. In fact, I didn’t know he existed until he and I were assigned to come up with a slogan for Nutrition Week! Well, we belonged to different classes/sections. Perhaps because for the most part he was what we may dub as “invisible.”

It’s quite easy to write about this now that I’m 30!

You see, I belonged to a group of boys that weren’t necessarily popular jocks but we were quite popular. We belonged to different home rooms. We were leaders in class and other activities. The unofficial committee members of every committee there was! People valued our opinions. We were loved by students and teachers alike. Lehi, a Mormon deacon; Francis, a Catholic altar boy; Alvin the son of a Jehovah’sWitness elder; Richie the rapper; Melvin the basketball player; and son-of-a-Baptist-preacher me. 

We were the cool band of brothers everybody wanted to hang out with.

I remember one day after school when all six of us sat in my homeroom filling out specially marked sections for us in 2 dozens of autograph books (slumbooks) owned by girls some of whom we didn’t know! The girls even got us Coke and toron.

I remember the time prom season came when we were juniors. The whole group agreed to “appear busy” so we won’t have to be asked to go with anyone! It was our way of staying free on prom night and we won’t have to be tied to just one girl the whole time! We flipped at the fact that senior girls didn’t mind dancing with Alvin who had just recovered from chicken pox!

There are more stories to tell…I have no idea where the guys are now except for Lehi who now lives in Utah (the Mormon promised land).

Some weeks ago, quite unexpectedly, someone thanked me for something I didn’t know I had done. I was having coffee at a coffee place close to where I work. The person looked vaguely familiar, but I wasn’t even close to placing his name. That’s one of the curses of my profession, of course: I meet new people all of the time in a wide variety of contexts and it’s a challenge to keep my memory current.

He thanked me for making him feel he is “visible.” Immediately, I realized who he was. But more than making the highschool world aware of his existence, he thanked me for a small blue Gideon New Testament I gave him after we were done with the slogan. It was through which he learned of Christ and became a Christian. He immigrated to another country a week later.

 

MISSING MEMORIES

Today is my ahia’s (older brother) birthday.

My brother at Walt Disney World, Florida 2008

Quite honestly, I feel like I am the worst younger brother on earth for not showing up at his birthday dinner tonight. Every member of the family was there– so I was told! I have a valid excuse- I had to preside over our Wednesday Night Worship. The problem is, tonight’s birthday dinner was the last big event before a huge chunk of my family leaves for the US! Well, we still have this Saturday to gather as a family for All Saints’ Day festivities before they fly out at 2AM on Sunday!

Sadly, I have missed a good number of important events, relatives’ individual milestones, and family gatherings over the last couple of years largely due to some conflict of schedule with ministry undertakings and Church-related events. To name a few: The dedication of my niece’s baby boy, Daniel took place at Eastwood while I was facilitating a boys’ Bible study at last summer’s camp in Antipolo; my nephew Jacob’s first birthday party (2005) happened while I was at a Young Adult outing in Anawangin, Zambales; I was in a preachers conference while my niece had her groundbreaking modeling event; I missed several Christmas Eve dinners because I had to lead worship at church;  I was speaking at an event when my nephew was conferred his degree in journalism with honors at the PICC. That’s just a few of big events I missed, you catch my drift. But that is not to say I’m blaming the ministry for my lack of time for and involvement in family affairs.

Tonight, even as the preacher delivered his homily, my mind occasionally drifted to my brother’s 37th birthday party. My brother, who’s been realizing a number of major things in his life lately– particularly, God’s proper place in his life, has obviously been taking much effort in making sure we bond together more often than we used to. Maybe he’s finally realized that we’re no longer little boys! And that the brother whom he used to pick on often– his junior of six years, is now a pastor. But no matter what I turn out to be, he would always be my older brother!

As I came home tonight, I was exchanging text messages with my nephew Josh (who is leaving for Tampa Sunday morning), I pulled out photos from my dresser drawer, sat on my bed and browsed through memories captured on paper. In those pictures I realized the toll that time has taken on my grandparents and parents, and was reminded of human mortality. Other pictures reminded me of how inseparable and tightly knit my brothers and I once were, and I felt the need to close the gap that adulthood, geographic distance, and separate lives has created. I remembered friends once dear, and wondered what ever became of them. Thank God for that my dad who had a love affair with his camera when I was growing up, for without it a part of me would be lost.

Have you ever had a moment like this? A time when you remember who you are; a time when memories flood you and overwhelm you, revealing to you something that you always knew, but for whatever reason, forgot or took for granted? I imagine that you have. It’s important to take time to remember the parent or grandparent you loved, but who is no longer here; the house that kept you safe and warm, but which you haven’t seen or entered in years; the friends who shared the ecstasy and the agony of growing up. If you’ve not done this, I encourage you to find the time to do so. It’s powerful, and puts life in appropriate perspective.

I realized just now, that when my nephews, nieces and family members browse through photos taken in recent events several decades from now and NOT find Uncle Jon or Kuya Tan in them, posterity will forget that they had such a relative. But more than just “freezing time” in pictures, the impact of my life on them far outweighs every megabyte of digital photos. How will I impact people if I were not around in many occasions?

Last weekend, I was in Baguio with friends. It was weird for us to have went to and returned from Baguio without ever taking any pictures! Some of the events and happenings we’ve just committed to memory! But until when can the memories be stored in our heads? How many lives have been touched in the trip? Take that question into our bigger journey of life and think of the difference you’ve made in the lives of others by your mere presence in their lives?

My point in this whole blog entry is one simple question: What gift of love will you contribute to your family album? 

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This is GCF’s version of “God of the Ages.”

A WEEKEND IN BAGUIO

It was quite cold– 12°C (53.6°F), so says the lady at the hotel front desk said on the night we hung out at Starbucks ’til around 11.

Sunday began late (for me at least, I usually wake up at 4 on Sundays)– worship service was at 10 at the hotel’s function room. I had this amazing view of Mt. Santo Tomas to myself over breakfast! Well, I ate alone since my buddies were still in bed at 8!

View from the Summer Place Hotel restaurant

We had a pretty full Saturday– lots of walks, talks and food! I have never eaten so much food at so many places in one weekend! Our catch phrase for the weekend: “s’an tayo kakain?” (where are we eating)- mostly said under the guise of wanting to sound like we’re planning ahead. I’ve never seen Chris eat so much Mongolian food and our weekend addiction, Japanese cake!

O Mai Khan, a Mongolian eat-all-you-can restaurant (Saturday night)

 

Cafe by the Ruins after dinner. The Cafe was built around the remains of the gracious home of Phelps Whitmarsh, the first governor of Baguio. The house was built early in the last century and destroyed in World War II. The governor maintained a famous garden where Mrs. Whitmarsh, an Ibaloi, propagated flowering plants and introduced strawberries and vegetable seeds. 

 

Worship at GCF Baguio outreach

Worship at GCF Baguio was amazing. They now have close to 60-70 regular worship attendees. Not bad for a four-month-old congregation! They are working to improve their services and ministries, but in many ways, GCF Baguio is a couple of notch higher than all the other churches I visited in the city in terms of ministry excellence! I am untterly amazed at how the Holy Spirit is working in the life of that new congregation!

After worship at GCF Baguio, Chris, Joel and I went downtown to have lunch at this cool Chinese restaurant near the now defunct haunted disco! We walked to the mall under the shadows of trees that had seen Baguio grow from a city of 2300 to 250,000! While all the other tourists visited the must-see places, we we saw a must-see movie– Max Payne! Anyway, I didn’t think I would need a jacket since it was just 21°C at high noon when we walked out of the hotel earlier! What I failed to figure was that we were going to stay out ’til 11PM! When we worshipped the second time at five at Baguio Chinese Baptist Church the temperature had dropped five degrees! We had dinner at this famous Korean restaurant that serves dogs! No, they don’t serve people’s pet dogs, they serve people with dogs! I had chicken! Incidentally, Korean is the fourth most predominant language spoken in Baguio coming from the astounding influx of Koreans in the last couple of years!

Session Road and SM City, the two places we visited most frequently!

So, back to Starbucks Club John Hay. Twelve degrees is just so cold especially for me who was just wearing a pair of jeans and a relatively thin T-shirt! To make matters worse, we were forced to sit at the Starbucks courtyard since all indoor tables were occupied! My steaming hot mint tea turned into what seemed like iced tea in a few minutes! A whole lot of unclaimed-treasures-and-collectible-notebooks-talk followed!

As we walked downhill, gazing at the stars– I’ve never seen the constellations so defined on a great clear dark sky! My what I thought was dormant cough&cold started acting up! It was so cold! All my stored fat wasn’t that helpful! That’s when I said, “I wish I had a girlfriend to keep me warm!…neh, a jacket would do!” 

As we went uphill, a cab drove by to drop a passenger at The Manor. The kind-hearted, well-mannered cab driver returned and picked us up. He was so nice we gave him balut when the guys bought some on the way back to the hotel! At the hotel, there were more talks of unclaimed-treasures-and-notebooks.

An HBO movie in the morning, a great lunch at SM’s Mang Inasal, a short trip to the market and coffee at Cordillera comprising all day Monday, we were off to Manila at 4!

I can trace my affinity with the city from my childhood when my parents took me and my brother to a nice townhouse they got in Greenvalley. I have since fallen in love with the place, the climate, the culture and everything else! Baguio remains to be one of my favorite spots in the entire country!

NOTHING IS FINAL YET

Nothing is final yet.

Yesterday, before I met with my Worship Creative Planning Team, the HR Director of the church called for an “informal chat” about “stuff.” After some small talk, she asked me about my life plans (not insurance). I told of her of my goals and ministry plans– a visit to West Lafayette for an event, planning services and events for the coming days and seasons– even among multi-national companies these days, long-range planning is as good as a three-year span. She mentions that the Church’s leadership commends my leading of the church into a vibrant worship life and ministry (which are all by God’s awesome grace). She then asked if I would be open to being considering a ministry assignment elsewhere. I told her that I’m enjoying my present ministry assignment and am still praying for opportunities to serve outside the confines of this Republic!

Without batting an eyelash she said, “Toronto.” 

That beautiful cosmopolitan city facing a giant lake. The major North American city with the lowest crime rate, steady economic growth very littly affected by the market crash and recession of its titanic neighbor to the south.

A number of pastors wish to be assigned there, and quite honestly, I am not one of them. The church is growing, it’s friendly and since last year, the new church plant has grown to a little less than 200 in worship each week, and has planted a congregation 45 minutes away in Mississauga which now numbers 70.

She laid out all the possibilities, I shared with her my passions as well as concerns. We closed our conversation with her saying, “Please seriously consider and fervently pray about it, ‘coz we’re praying for you.”

Just last Sunday night, I was on the phone with another pastor and an elder from a far smaller city situated on the vast prairies of the Great Dominion. His growing multi-ethnic church of 800 people is in need of a worship pastor. The direction the 100-year-old church is pursuing is almost a perfect match to my gifts and forte! Their philosophy of worship ministry and mine are similar. He pointed out that the tiny but growing Oil Boom Town has seen an influx of Filipinos in the last couple of years, and his church has begun a ministry to Filipinos– some of whom know and actually have been to my church, GCF! I must say, that phone conversation made me more excited!

Nothing is final. But the maple leaf seems to be casting a shadow over the star and stripes!

“A belief that God acts with purpose in this world must lead to attempts, however feeble, to discern how my own actions might be attuned to God’s one action.”  -William Barry in Presence

Now is the time to sale in God’s deep waters. It is very hard to move a ship in harbor but a ship at sea, while sailing along, is set in the right direction by the slight turn of the rudder. Sometimes we are called to launch out from the harbor in order to get into a position where we are easily turned on the right course.

Meanwhile…I ask,

1. How can I best glorify God? “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). We should do nothing, say nothing, wear nothing, involve ourselves in nothing that would bring shame to the name of God.

2. Do I have any selfish motives? ”When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:3). How easily our selfish motivations crowd into our attempts to know and do God’s will.

3. Am I willing to do whatever God says? A commitment to obey God, whatever His direction may be, gives us a healthy premise for discerning God’s will.

4. Is this within the umbrella of God’s universal will? God will never lead us to do that which His Word clearly forbids or lead us to disobey that which His Word clearly commands.

5. Is this in harmony with God’s purposes for my life? Within the boundaries of God’s will for everyone are boundaries Cod may set for each individual. To know God’s will, we must consider not only what is right and wrong, but also what is best according to what God wants from my life.

6. What do my authorities say? (Hebrews 13:17). God often gives us guidance through authority figures.

7. Is this God’s time? How easily we are distracted from peace in the Lord’s wisdom and timing when we compare our lives with others!

9. Has God opened the doors? God can and does confirm His will through open and closed doors.

10. Do I have an inner peace? God can and does speak to the heart of those who know His voice.

MY BESTMAN IF SHE WERE A BOY

“My market value drops quickly!” That’s what I say when I hang out with close-to-my-age-level young women from church. And that statement never fails to make anyone laugh. But quite honestly, so do theirs when they hang out with me.

This morning at 7, as I took a dip in the clubhouse pool on the roof deck of my condo building, I saw a neighbor I have not met before walk to a nearby lawn chair, sat and opened a book. 

After a few minutes, I heard her say, “Excuse me..Hi!” For a moment I thought she was calling on the staff at the bar. But I noticed we were the only ones there so I figured she was trying to get my attention. 

I swam to her side of the pool and asked, “You called, miss?” She answered, “Yes…Hi I’m ****!” I said, “I’m Jon.”

She asked if I were a guest or a resident. Told her I’m a resident. “Oh, okay…nice to meet you, Jon. I’m just wondering, were you at Galleria last Sunday, and the Sunday before that?” she asked. I answered, “Yes, I was. In fact I work near Galleria.” “ADB (Asian Development Bank)?” she asked. “No, GCF– Greenhills Christian Fellowship. I’m actually a pastor,” I answered.

She remarked, “Oh okay, coolness. Know what? I’ve never met a pastor before. Anyway, ganito kasi, my sister recognized you as a neighbor on both occasions we saw you at Galle…and I think we saw you also at PeriPeri last Saturday.” 

“Have I met your sister?” I asked. “No, but she does jog every morning like you,” she answered. “Oh, okay. But I have not jogged regularly since June…I try to jog or swim when I have time…like now.” I remarked.

“How about your girlfriend? She’s not very active, is she?” she asked, and continued, “But she’s slim hah!”

“Girlfriend?” I asked. She said, “We saw you with the same girl on all occasions. Isn’t she your girlfriend?”

“She’s just a friend. In fact, a very good friend…a buddy! If she were a boy she would be my bestman!” I told her. She laughed!

For the first time in several months, I wanted to buy my friend a T-shirt that says, “We’re just friends” in front. 

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In other news.

- My some of family members leave for the US at the earliest, November 3! The rest are working on their papers. The thought of being left behind is a little disturbing!

- I fly to Baguio City with a church friend tomorrow for the weekend. I’m excited, in addition to getting a weekend off, being able to visit the church’s growing outreach there which my seminary classmate now leads.

- Missions Month Culminating Sunday will be an extravagant festive praise and worship celebration that will feature the choir in international costumes and lots of guests! Too bad I’ll miss it.

REFLECTING ON A PHONE CALL

Receiving a call from man in a small yet growing and diverse North American city last Sunday night did not come as a surprise at all. But my conversation with the man at the other end of the line grew from interesting to exciting!

I’m still not at liberty to share any further, but yes, interest has turned to excitement! The thought of it gives me goosebumps, praying about it generates a greater sense of faith in God’s providence! On Monday night before the basketball game, I found myself drawn once again to floor of the church’s prayer room lifting the issue up to God. I’ve never prayed and even cried that long in months. When I came into the prayer room at 5:30PM, the bright orange sun ray made its way through the partially drawn up olive colored curtains drawing a beautiful orange line across the eastern wall of the room. I came out of the room to grab some food before the basketball game I have gotten hooked to watching, it was evening has set! I prayed all through dusk. Again, I have come to a point where I’m trying my best to sense and discern, and eventually undertake the will of God.

This morning, as I prepared to go to work I listened to Jack Graham’s sermon on the Providence of God. As I stood in the shower trying to hear every word drowned out by the sound of water from the showerhead to the tile floor, I began to wonder about the hard realities of really trusting God. This afternoon before coming down for Bible study, I listened and read a sermon preached by a pastor-friend of mine at a church in Indiana where he asked a woman to share her story about her journey into fullly trusting God. Both the morning and afternoon sermons I heard speak of our own struggle with trusting God and His will.

I love the story of a seven-year-old girl who sat at the kitchen table with a blank piece of paper and a crayon. She begins to draw a picture, and her mother asks her what the picture would be about. “I am drawing a picture of God,” she answered

“You can’t do that. Nobody knows what God looks like because no one has ever seen God.” The girl responds, “They will when I am finished.”

I hope it were that simple to seek the likeness of God, that we could see all of God;s fullness and glory and wonder. If we could only used word to put into our minds a clear idea and definition of God. If we could just ex[lain who he is all wrapped in a neat package. But we can never fully describe God. We can never adequately picture God. Any pictures we could use, any words we could devise, would quickly be seen to be short of the mark.

For as long as human beings have lived on this planer, humankind has made an attempt to describe or explain. It cannot be done. We would never be allowed to handle capabilities that we cannot even approach it. We could bever be allowed to handle, control or manage God!

We are talking about mystery: the mystery of life, the mystery of God. Because of the nature of God, we live in the midst of mystery. Huston Smith, in his most recent book The Soul of Christianity, says, “We are born in mystery, we live in mystery, and we die in mystery.” He goes on to say that we sometimes see mystery as a negative, because we don’t like what we don’t understand. But, he says,

It is not a dead mystery that bogs down in befuddlement. Religious mystery invites; it glows, lures, and excites, impelling us to enter its dazzling darkness ever more deeply.

I love the words “dazzling darkness.”

In my own journey, mystery was very much distant from my thought for a long time. Yet the older I get, and the more I experience God’s magnificent, unbelievable presence, the more I see how God acts in our lives always in unexpected ways and in unexpected times, the more I love the mystery of God.

If God is so hard to understand, if God is such a mystery, how do we learn about God? There are several ways. One way is through Scripture, which encapsulates the wisdom of the ages.

When you have experiences of His action, it helps you with the challenging task of trusting God. It is a challenging task, but we have good reason to trust God. It is a mystery, but it’s a dazzling mystery, because God takes good care of us.

God is always at work on our behalf. We may not see or feel the presence of God, but it is there, touching your life and making a difference. Trust God, and God will be faithful in rewarding.

EXCITING SUNDAY

That’s how I’d call today’s Church– Sunday at Greenhills Christian Fellowship!

Beginning at 7 this morning to the 7:30 tonight, all of our five worship services are characterized by excitement! Just to highlight a few things that happened today…

 

GCF’s 9AM service (3 years ago)

A lady and a girl in tears. I’ve seen her more than a dozen times with her all-female cell group under another church’s auspices at a coffee shop at the mall on Friday nights. I figured that she’s transfered to that other church evidenced by her faithful attendance in that small group. At the 9AM service, as I stood to lead the song “Hosanna” (Paul Baloche), I noticed that lady standing on one side of the congregation. We started singing the second stanza:

“Hear the sound of hearts returning to You. We turn to You.”

She bursts in tears, and never stopped crying until after the third song, not to mention that there was a 7-minute baptism in between the first song and second songs. In short, she cried a whole lot! She stood in between two pastors’ wives who began ministering to her. Immediately, I felt an impression as to why she was crying, she had just returned home. Although she never really strayed from the faith, she probably felt she never saw that other church as her home.

Her teen-age daughter who practically grew up in GCF came with her and attended Sunday school. The Sunday school teacher mentioned to me how the girl came up to her and cried on her shoulder saying, “I’m so glad to be home.”

A group that intercedes. Over lunch at the cafeteria with Joy, a lady came by our table and asked if she could sit with us. She had been meaning to talk to me for a number of weeks now. I wondered what she was wanting to tell that would make her want to look for me for the last three weeks. All she wanted to say was that she’s blessed with the worship life of the church and how the services are planned and executed. She mentioned how the Holy Spirit has become more discernible in the last couple of months. Anyone can tell that this lady has a strong sense and high view of God, thus her heart for prayer, worship and missions. She goes on to say that she and a group of women her age have started gathering together a couple of times within the week to specifically pray for me and the Worship ministry. It was perhaps one of the most moving comments I received in days!

A moved preacher. The international board of the Wycliffe Bible Translators is in Manila for a week-long series of meetings hosted by GCF. The chairman of the board is the Rev. Roger Welch, pastor of the Merland Rise Church in Surrey. He spoke today on the Feeding of the Five Thousands, relating it with the missional nature of God in Jesus Christ! I was so moved by the message I had to hear it twice! At the final service tonight, he mentioned from the pulpit how he appreciates the exciting time of congregational praise and worship– a little to contemporary for him, but he loved how the worship is a fusion of a variety of church expressions and traditions! He felt moved by the sheer volume of people of various backgrounds lifting high the name of Jesus! He is excited to take hat same spirit of worship to his home church in Surrey!

A boy from Camp. I spoke with a college boy named Eric after the final service. Eric had just returned from college camp and shared with me how exciting it was to be a part of the camp. I asked whether he would be willing to take on the challenge of taking over  his school for Christ knowing that he can do everything through Christ who gives him strength. “More than excited” he answers, “More than that.”

A drummer boy leaving. One of our main drummers has been offered a job to be a resident musician in a hotel in Singapore. He flies out tomorrow and won’t be back ’til after six months. We will miss the dude.

A girl finally gets baptized. Part of the Baptist tradition to which I belong is believer’s baptism where a person who has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ professes her faith in Him publicly by being immersed in water as a symbol of indentifying with the Lord Jesus in his death, burial and resurrection. One of the candidates baptized today was Elyse. She was meant to be immersed last month but due to an illness, she’d been moved. Today, she professed her faith in Christ in baptism despite family opposition.

A dinner with old friends. Koko and Faye, two of my classmates back in Bible college came to church tonight and I invited them for dinner. I love seeing how the Lord has been beautifully at work in their lives as women ministers. They are among the most excited workers I know.

The Missional Movement has also influenced simple church. Missional thinking grew from the lessons learned from foreign missionaries and as a reaction to the Church growth Movement. In this line of thought, the Church’s purpose and theology come out of the Missio Dei — God’s Mission in the World. This means that everything relating to church life and Christian practice should be directly derived from a theology of mission. This means the Body of Christ should be primarily identifying with humanity, reaching to lost, ushering in the Reign of God, and working towards the peace (Shalom) the Kingdom of God brings. To aid its cause, missional thinking promotes incarnational ministry, messianic spirituality, indigenaity, and innovation.

EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND (GOLEZ)

I came home late enough to catch the late night news  At the close of the program, the anchorperson mentioned that there are only 68 days to left before Christmas! “Why so quick?” I thought. I haven’t even worn the special tie somebody gave me last Christmas; I’m still trying to lose some pounds I gained over the holidays; and now Christmas is just a little more than two months away. Today, we’re down to 67! Every time we come down to 67 days before Christmas my nephew turns a year older- he’s now 24!!

I remember hearing the news from my sister who then lived in Iloilo with her husband through a letter she sent my mom and dad telling us that she  had given birth to a baby boy she named Raymond Thom 67 days before Christmas. I looked forward to his arrival. A few days before Christmas, we saw Raymond, nicknamed Gideon.  He was no ordinary boy, he looked sickly, frail and weak. He had rashes on his cheeks and a horrible looking keloidal scar on his foot. My sister said it was were his last IV needle was stuck because doctors couldn’t find veins large enough for the smallest needle! The baby looked like he’d been deprived of all the nutrients he needed for proper development!

Even as a six-year-old, I wondered how little Raymond would make it into this world. He grew little by little and became strong enough to crawl. But he crawled funny– using his arms he his dragged legs like he were mermaid trying to survive on dry land. The doctors said his legs have been weakened by the intravenous therapy he had as an infant. He never learned to walk until he was about two–and-a-half years old! As a point of comparison with her last baby, I remember my mom telling me that I never learned how to crawl, it was as though I was born one morning and started walking the next!

Given our age difference, we practically grew up together! His father had grown irresponsible over the years so he pretty much grew up without a dad. My sister (his mom) is an iron maiden who able to stand as both mother and father to her kids. Observing her irresponsible ex-husband’s little or zero interest in supporting the family she left for the US to work, leaving Raymond and his two younger siblings. As a teenager and as a college kid, he developed a strong character. He went to church but we never really saw in him any interest in it. He dedicated his entire time on studying which earned him the title cum laude on graduation day! Yet behind his strength of character and slightly villainous demeanor he had some serious inner struggles with so many issues including gender confusion which manifested outwardly. The manifestations were quite alarming for us as a family, and might prove to be destructive for him were it to cintinue. We started praying for him as a family. Each night my dad would bombard family members with text messages reminding us to pray for him.

One afternoon, I received word from my dad that he’s seen some major changes in Raymond. We later learned that he had started getting involved in a church that meets in a mall. The Gospel he’d heard since he was a young boy growing up in his grandpa the preacher’s home had taken a new and fresh meaning. His church life grew warmer and warmer until we realized that he was set ablaze by the Spirit. That was about two years ago.

He has since taken leadership posts in his church. He’s active in disciple-making, and was even able to win for Christ my second-cousin who comes from a family deeply steeped in Catholic-Buddhist-Shamanistic tradition. He leads Bible studies and is an equipper of new Christian leaders. He’s also been involved in social services- serving the poor and the down-and-out. He has enrolled in ENLI (Every Nation Leadership Institute), and desires to be involved in Mission work.   

Baptizing new disciples of Jesus Christ.

On vacation in Singapore.

Raymond (with tie) leading a business dedication/blessing.

Today, he turns 24– years filled with evidences of God’s awesome grace. Counting on HIS sovereignty, HE has used and continues to use Raymond’s experiences to influence others and to glorify HIMSELF.

In his family- whether at home or in church, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND! 

 

“WHO WOULD JON DATE?”

It has been said that life is the sum of all your choices.
In one sense, this is undeniably true. And this is the cause of no small amount of anxiety in those moments of life when we are faced with decisions on which, it seems, our entire future hangs in the balance.
Two days ago, a lady I’ve known for six years now approached me and asked if I would be interested in working with her husband who is now ministering among dispersed Filipinos and internationals in a large cosmopolitan North American city. I answered (like any Christian would), “I’ll pray about it.”
Our choices give shape to the narrative of our lives. It would be a mistake – and frankly irresponsible – for me to suggest however, that the contours of our lives are carved out of our choices alone.

Who we are and who we are becoming, our personalities and loves, our passions and our desires, even the choices with which we are faced at any given moment evolve within the rich and complicated reality of family and time and place and genetics and circumstance. The stories of our lives inevitably involve other characters – lovers, enemies, friends – and all this within the frustrating context of a world in which all of life is vulnerable and uncertain and limited. Things happen – to us and around us – things that affect our lives in ways that we have no choice about the matter- disease, violence, abuse, crumbling markets, storms, flood, death. [1]
I have been a Christian for so long that I cannot dismiss the importance of discerning God’s will through prayer. But I have also been a Christian long enough to know that God has directives that no amount of praying can sway!
Should I stay or should I go – in this job or this relationship or this city? Do I say yes or do I say no? At this particular crossroads, which path will I choose to travel? The answers we make to these and so many other questions determine where we go, who we travel with, what we spend our time, energy, money on and all the rest. Our choices give shape to the narrative of our lives. [2]
About three hours ago, I received a text message asking, “Would you say that I am playing with fire….?” After giving the person’s situation some thought I gave my (very pastoral) two cents. Ultimately, my two cents dealt with respecting ther person’s choice to whether or not to fully obey God’s explicit directive found in scripture concerning the situation. It appears that the person is enjoying and loving the situation she finds herself in. But she also understands that it is not an ideal situation especially for her who knows what God view about it! When we find ourselves in an ideal situation we associate it with God’s seal of approval. If it makes us feel good, happy and pleased then God must be behind it. Hmmm….
A year ago, I was at a very expensive preaching conference sponsored by the UK-based Langham Partnership. Preachers were given Scripture passages to interpret. The guest scholar-lecturer was surprised with the preoccupation of Filipino ministers with the idea of blessing-prosperity-abundance-happiness evident in their interpretation of certain scriptures!
But it must be understood that sometimes we find ourselves at a time when we feel like a tree being pruned by a chainsaw without anesthetics and believe that God is building for us a resume that reflects a fully developed faith characterized by obedience! Who can’t relate to the moment when you have offered all you have, have put your very heart on the line, and are rejected, blown off, abandoned?
Our lives are not the sum of all our choices, thank God!
Our lives are not dependent upon the strength of our own skills. If that were the case, then we’d easily end up in despair – for we know well enough the limits of our own power to make it to the gym or to write that letter or make that phone call – much less our power to make life different, to make love appear, to make relationships work, to solve the crises that face us.[3]
For people of Christian faith, true life is found not in our choice, but in God’s choice. And that in living within God’s will, we choose to obey His choice! 
When I was an exchange student, among the best gifts I received throughout the program were a pair of WWJD wristbands from a Lutheran girl named Jen.

WWJD- “What would Jesus Do?” It was given to me at a time when I was “enjoying” the explicit attention of four beautiful and nice but non-Christian girls! What can I say, I was “exotic” (adjective #1 not the noun) in that part of the world! I jokingly told Jen that WWJD could also mean “Who Would Jon Date? I remember telling her that while she put the band around my wrist over lunch with a couple other friends. She answered, “Jon would date the girl Jesus wants for him.” I ended up dating none of the four!
Lesson learned: We need to choose God’s choice for us.
———————–

[1] Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, The Choice, October 12, 2008, CCNYC

[2] ibid

[3] ibid