Last Few Days of My 30th year

I am quickly approaching my 31st year and man, time flies so fast!  My peers tell me at least (its a consolation) that I dont age as fast, i really hope as I age, I may grow spiritually, emotionally, responsibly, and FINANCIALLY!!!  hehehe

Well, with regards to last years financial performance, it was alot better.  This year's global economic crisis affected my flow of clients and I am now honestly thinking of where to get the extra that God steadily provided last year.  I dont worry.  I hope I never will. I need to think of how and where to get the money the Lord is preparing for me to get.

The only option I am open to now is, to prepare my fields for the rain, which i dont know when, but  when it does, I am ready.  And that is by practicing cello religiously again, so when ops come, I am not dumbfounded.  I am also thinking of making new songs and recording the old ones I've made so I am busy even in "dry" times.

SO with that said, I am not discouraged even in these tough days, though really I am, I find my strength, security, and success in Christ's promise.

A Good Thought for Both Atheists and Christians

Hello, to start off, I would like everyone to know I am a full-pledged Christian and a die hard follower of Christ.  On the other hand, I am also a thinker, logic-based, not-blind-faith guy.  Like the atheist, I must depend on facts to support my belief,or faith.  But I cannot say that strictly on the definitions of faith and science.  Science, or at least PURE science are conclusions based on observable facts.  Apart from that we can theorize, conjecture, hypothesize, etc.  Any statement outside of the OBSERVABLE realm is a stement of belief, of faith and i should say a "religious" statement.  Say, I declare that there is a God is not a scientific statement, for He cannot be observed, though there are evidences of His existence.  On the strict definitions, God is, yes, just a theory, based on evidence and documentaries (authentic or not).  The same way I look at science's theories like electrons, which is the theory of electromagnetivity, and of course, evolution, the theory that we and all living creatures have a common, primitive origin.  These are theories with bases, BUT, are statements outside the TRUE science of observable data. They are purely hypothesis based on what was experimented, and observed with evidence available today.  That is why it is a theory.  So, is it right to call God a Theory?  Based on these definitions, Im afraid so.  So I personally have stepped outside of these definitions and have declared BY FAITH, (statement based on faith) that there is a God.  I have concluded based on what I have heard from the Bible (which is a historically authentic document), based on the logic of the five basic laws of science, that there has to be a Creator, an Intelligent Designer above us who started it all, who has the ability to create from nothing, but He Himself cannot be created for He is outside of our saptial and temporal dimension.  Yes, I declare this statement of faith, there is a GOD.

Now, I accept that the atheists or the evolutionists have the same stand.  They choose to believe on whatever they believe based on what they have observed.  Based on their evidence, which they believe to be authentic, and they believe to be true.  My observation is this: alot of those are statements of faith also, and they formulate all sorts of theories to support their hypothesis, gathering evidence along the way to somehow cement their findings.  Which is true for some Theists too, who formulate a doctrine and find Biblical support taken out of context.  Both are true in both camps.

Now, with regards to the authenticity and popularity as a basis for what is right and accepted, I find a most interesting observation:  Science has more followers who actually NOT believe oin a created world, a created biology, and all simply because they choose to NOT accept the story of the Bible, who accounts the universe as a creation of God, full, complete and perfectly functional. To repeat my stement above, they cook up all sorts of experiments and archeological digs to explain their theories.  However, I am pleased to know that THERE IS NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER TO PROVE THE BIBLE WRONG, only to evidence to support their beliefs, but not to DISPROVE the Scripture.  Never has any evidence been found, and fortunately, new found scientific discoveries actually support myteries which are IN LINE with Biblical accounts.  AMAZING!  Science actually complements and reinforces the Bible!  Going back to who believes more, I have noticed that more students believe the "scientists" more simply because more of them support the theory that there wasnt any Creators and that there is no god.  More scientists join the band wagon because more of them choose not to be accountable to God.  They choose to believe in the philosophies, theories, and beliefs of the scientific world.  Therefore, according to them, God is not real because MORE, "scientists" believe so. "They are the experts, they  know more than I do, therefore, I believe them!"

However, it is true also for the Theists who want to play the popularity game.  About 3/4ths of the entire population of the world (and a vastly bigger percentage based on all people who lived since the start of civilization) believe in a Higher Being/s.  Now, more than half of the worlds population believes in ONE GOD.  Only a small percentage believe in YAHWEH, the God of the Bible, but still, according to the popularity game, a vast majority believes in God.  In respect to this, can we assume that the atheists and the scientific community(selective) are wrong?

Another issue arises as we observe within both camps, much are really undecided!  Maybe 90-95% of the members of each camp (Theists and atheist) believe not because they want to but because they're playing safe, or simply believing blindly because they were born that way,  to their community's or soceity's belief systems.  Not because of personal quest to know, to find out, to investigate.  To illustrate, many atheists become atheists simply because they had a disappointing encounter with "god".  Their prayers werent heard, or a tragic event happened, and the God they used to believe in was silent.  Most Theists on the other hand believe in their God, but really never want to follow what He teaches.  They use Him as a crutch, an easy explanation, sometimes an escape from reality, taking their belief completely out of context.  Which for me, is really not a theist, but an agnostic.  People who dont care whether there is a god, or believes only when it is convenient.  There are many Biblical teachings that contradict their lifestyle or philosophies but they say that it is old fashioned and socially out of date.  Therefore they adopt other teachings, knitting a quilt of beliefs to fit their wants, not really submitting to a particular faith.  The Convenient Religion.  Most theists are members if this one.  Accepting everything "science" teaches them, and all sorts of convenient philosophies and practices, because they fear they will be labeled as a Christian Freak, or a Scientific Atheist.  So they balance between the two, to play safe.

Here is the conclusion of the matter: according to Joshua, ..."Choose you this day, whom shall ye serve? (yourself, your convenient religion, the atheists-humanists, scientific theories, or God, the Everlastic Father of the Bible) As for me and my house, we shall serve the LORD."  That is what I've done, and I hope you choose your side wisely.  Make that statement of faith. Choose which side of the fence are you on... and stay on it until proven wrong.

Going to the next

I hope you guys are following my thought.

I am tired of fighting, but will never quit

I have often gotten into "debates" with atheists and they have always managed to somehow end the debates as a stale mate.  They never convinced me,  but sadly, i never convinced them. The only positive thing about this is that i know my faith in Jesus can never or at least not easily shaken.  I have indeed a solid Rock as a Foundation. I owe this to my church, my parents, my mentors in IVCF, and most specially to God.  Going back to debates, I have really learned from those experiences that no one can win the argument.  They have points, I have points, they can say anything they want (not all), you have to control your temper (not all too) because what you say reflects your faith... its difficult to get across because your foundation of faith is theBible, which they dont believe.  You go to science and logic as an argument, they throw valid questions but answerable only if you believe in the Bible (because most questions they throw the Bible addresses, and amply answers).  However, these arent acceptable answers for the "scientific" mind, since from a worldly, or in other words, secular and observable standpoint, our answers do not logically fit.  We say this is where faith comes in, they say that is another reason we are laughed at. We throw in answered prayers, miracles, they become insultingly sarcastic and say they are coincidences... weird, a constant coincidence.  Statistics (a science itself) will say otherwise since the probability of this happening at a constant rate is like winning the lottery over and over again.  Probable, buit highly improbable.

I have often thought of not using God's Word to refute them, thinking I can defeat them on their ground.  (occasionaly I have shut up some atheists) but I never won an argument.  I can only achieve this much.  My Pastor told me and some friends too that I am wasting my time since I can never accomplish my goal.  Praise God if I do, but my commission is to make disciples, share the Word, not convince the atheist.  I must introduce them to God, if they reject, then so be it. What my pastor said struck me, if I do throw to them their own flaws (which often is an unanswered issue), it returns void.  If you throw them God's Word, it NEVER returns void.  It can change their hearts, challenge them to think it over twice, or make them admittedly guilty of their rejection of the Holy Spirit... which is a sin against Him.  If you continually reject Him, your sins can never be forgiven in the first place... making it the unforgivable sin.  

On the other hand, I do admire the Christians in the scientific community who are researching and experimenting, making formulae and trying to topple the arguments of our friends the atheists, evolutionists, etc, with their research.  That is the war they are called to fight.  I would love to join that army actually, and I often find myself a soldier in that company, but I am ill-equipped, and my strengths are called to a different battlefield: and that is to show love and give love.  Be an example of success, be excellent in what you do, be fruitful, encourage others, serve others, be salt and be light.  Worship as a lifestyle. That is my calling.  Now with that said:  atheists, I may or may not come back to our battleground, but watch out, Love is heading your way. 

In Awe Part 3, Lost But Found

This is a concert which featured Master's Pedestal and Shekinah, two home-grown bands that have developed into very skillful and artistic young musicians. Today (and last friday), they rocked the house down! Praises and glory for the Lord God erupted as tone levels were pushed higher and these two bands really prepared by putting together a great line up and great selection of genres.

I am really proud to be part of their growth. They are indeed starting to blossom into competent musicians... though admittedly, still ALOT to learn and develop, but they sure will get there! I remember whem I was 17 or eighteen and Pastor Jeff was painstakingly triaining our group, which composed of purely non-trained musicians... a gang of rag tags who didnt have an idea of balance, musical dynamics, and because of Jeff's efficient and patient guidance, we slowly learned the basics of group playing... and worship. Watching JIVE youth perform a while ago gave me the chills. They were more than awesome! To think that they werent even complete and they were still not fully rehearsed, but they blew the house down!!!! Pastor Jeff is a classic teacher. No musician who came from under his tutelage becomes a nobody... they all become monsters of music!

When the baton was passed to me as music director, I only had to hand down the basic principles i learned from him. And of course a bit more since I worked and played with different genres of musicians such as Jazz, classical, country and even 20th century music groups! And my training as a classical musician (where did that go now?) also helped in educating and developing our new musicians at church.

But that is beside the point. My role in this concert is only to call the shots... from behind. I still lead worship, and direct music yes, but I know the time will come when new people will have to take my place... I feel so old, yet so fulfilled! I am so proud, like a dad! But, I have to get more training so I could share and train more! My contribution as an artist in our church is still minimal. I have to strive to give more.

I watched myself grow in worship and in music. I also grew in responsibility and leadership. Now I am watching others do the same. Is there a better feeling than that? And also seeing these young people mature and follow God and obey Him makes me prouder! Guys like Russel, Kenneth, Momon, Jeff, Ryan, Augie, Weldon, Jun Rey, and also the ladies like Kaye Ann, Ashley, Asia, and countless others who are dedicated to follow and obey the Lord Jesus. What a scene!

I am truly blessed. I am truly blessed.

Crawl through online shops!!! Save lots of money!

I was so excited this month as I had the rare opportunity to be able to purchase a pair of dream sunglasses for myself! A pair of Oakley Romeo 2! It was a good thing to buy it from the internet and truly it was a great thing!!!! Its a lot cheaper compared to the shades being sold at the stores. The shades were delivered on time, in excellent condition, and it was really a treat. There is always a risk factor because you pay without the product being handed to you. The picture is your only image upon buying it, and you have to wait for 5-7 business days.

But upon receiving the item, all the wait and all the worries just faded away! Simply beautiful. It all depends on the item you purchase, of course, and the dependability of the site you purchased on. I receive many negative comments about the purchases on internet. Since it really involves risks, I submit that the purchaser still researches on the seller’s, store’s credentials, you can take a look at their history, comments, and if it is paid through paypal, usually it is dependable.

There are lots of dependable stores, but there exists also swindlers so beware. The sad thing though is that the majority of dependable stores/ sellers/ vendors are not advertising on a paid site. So they are usually left out. There are some sites who can help you crawl through the net and find all, I mean all, stores who has your item on sale. It acts like a search engine and it really is cool! Try shopping the wiki way.

Humble, Hard Work Teaches Great Leadership Skills

writing about humility in a first person point of view kind of negates the whole point... but, i cant help but share my experiences here in church, and taught me to have a teachable, submissive, yet leading spirit. I grew up in a home where we didnt have a helper for long periods of time, not because we are good in household chores, nor are we responsible, but because of financial strains.

I remember getting our water from a well, and pumping and transporting them gave us workable bodies! Those were only light stuff, but to make the long story short, we know how it is to do manual labor.

We were sent to exclusive schools though, and that was a plus because my parents valued education. These schools taught us also to be "a man for others", and i was encouraged to join Boy Scouts, and competitive sports to inculcate the leadership and competitive minds in us. But out of all these, nobody taught me more than my church. Yes, my home, my school, my organizations were big factors, but my church was really where it went to getting down and dirty.

I started out as a guitarist in church, and then as a bassist, and eventually a worship leader, now worship director. When I started, and up to now, i never neglect or regret having to experience carrying stuff, cleaning, setting up, tearing down, planning, practicing, and being mr. do-it-all. I know there is a leadership principle of delegation, and stretching yourself out too thin makes your quality less. I know that and I practice that.

On the other hand, i found that my leadership has become more effective being more involved with the workers, with my subordinates when I work elbow to elbow with them. I am deeply involved, but i am also a model of faith and respect. My Pastor has the same principles that's why I respect him so much. He wants to serve and to work along side of us, but i understand his position and his work that is why we try to take as much responsibility off his back by doing the work ourselves.

I learned another principle in the movies where the villain has all the henchmen, and eventually, the hero confronts him directly because his legions werent able to stop the hero. So he ends up saying, " if you want things to be done right, you have to do it yourself.." I agree, to an extent, and I experience this so much, that if want things done right, i have to do it myself, or overly supervise everything. Which again is too much of a stretch. The key is training someone to duplicate you, and eventually to replace and out-do you. Your job is to do your job and train someone else to do a better job than you do. Apparently, in the movies, that doesnt happen.

I recall all our years carrying and setting up, transporting and all, and week in and week out, in the 14 years i was in this ministry, I never left that position, though my experience grew, my responsibilities became immense, my position rose, my skills developed, everything else was growing, but i feel that manual, hard labor keeps my head and feet down on the earth. I heard from someone in our team before, that as our positions rose, we shouldnt be doing the hard stuff anymore, but train someone else to do the work for us. I may agree, and that works for paid professionals... but in a volunteer, church setting, that is very difficult to achieve, but not impossible. However, if God doesnt give you co-servants in your church with the same servant heart as you have, it only means God is teaching you to do it yourself, and stop puffing your head up and tell yourself somebody else deserves the dirty work than yourself.

Even though I lead my own music team, have my own music company, and all those "accomplishments" in my pocket, nothing beats the lessons of hard work. And I admit, I still have a lot of learning to do.

IN AWE OF A GREAT GOD CONCERT

Our church had the opportunity ot serve God for 28 years, and we have had a great history to tell... but we made a concert as culminating activity for our Anniversary and we tied it as a fund raising for the Legacy Project!

It was amazing!

Here is the opening video of the IN AWE OF A GREAT GOD concert.

I am so glad many in our church were willing to sacrifice their time, effort, talent and resources to make this event possible. I was wondering if ever these guys were paid pros, our concert was a BIG production!

We held our concert at Eastwood City Libis, and we invited not only or members, but also friends and guests. Our goal was to communicate the awesomeness of the God we serve. He's not a small God we can choose to ignore everyday, He's GOD.

It began with a special number by SBC Makati, led by Pastor Jeff Aspacio and his praise team, who did an excellent job in both playing and singing! I was blown away with the vocals! And of course Pastor Jeff's drums were classic.

We opened the night with Pastor Lance saying a few words of encouragement, and immediately showed the openeing video. The kids choir, praise band and I opened with Speechless by Steven Curtis Chapman (supposedley with live strings, but they werent able to make it).

Our wonderful hosts were Pastor Alvin and Fiona Javelosa, who were somewhat "pros" at hosting. They were simply smooth and spontaneous! They provided the effective transiti0ns to the next numbers and they really did a great job!

Shekinah, an all ladies band, Ashley, Pauline, Kaye Ann, Ara, Herschelle, and Rachel rocked the auditorium with You Gave Me A Promise by Barlowe Girls. These ladies knew how to sound heavy and at the same time melodic. The guitars, drums and bass provoded the heaviness, and the wonderful passionate voices drew all ears to the lyrical lines sang.

Master's Pedestal threw in an equally powerful performance as they played a happy spirited song called Stars by Switchfoot. Augie, Kenneth, Ryan, Jeff and Russel were boys who studied the art of rock as a degree in college! The group's showmanship was a treat, and the musical arrangements were executed masterfully.

Next in line we switched the channel to a more mellow sound of a male vocal band, composed of Pastor Lance, Pastor James, Augie, Ted and Nyor, who were pastors and worship leaders too! They did a rendition of You are God Alone by Phillips, Craig and Dean. Indeed the "boyband" displayed the vocal prowess of pastors and worshoip leaders by declaring their faith to the ONLY GOD!

Alex and Augie came up next with the song You Are Amazing God by Chris Tomlin, together with the praise band. This song aptly "describes" the helplessness of man in attempting to describe the unfathomable wonders of God!

Our frequemcy and theme now shifts to God's promise of Heaven. Sis Glenise Javelosa, and her son Oyie now captures the audience as they perform an awesome duet. Another Time and Another Place by Erick Driskell. Our longing for God's eternal comfort and peace in heaven is embodied in this song, and the performers Glen and Oyie did a trully masterful job!

Up next is Ted, Ashley and Augie, with the praise band of course, singing I Can Only Imagine by Mercy Me. This song was done with parts, and the melody soaring in the end part as the dilemma of the Christian overpowers him about questions upon finally reaching heaven. Powerful performance.

Our Senior Pastor Lance sang next with Ted on Piano singing Your Grace Still Amazes Me by PCD. He then shifts to a song he knew as a boy and after sharing the word and gospel of Christ, he called his mom to accompany him on stage and the final two songs.

Jeff Ayanco, our church bassist/keyboardist, rendered a surprising guitar solo called Caught Up in Rapture by Jerome Rico. Jeff skillfully glided his fingers in the board as he gracefully plucked the notes of this very relaxing song. Hail Jeffrey!!!

The next number is another very surprising, at the same time intimidating piece. Performed by Alex Tabac on electric guitar, the SBC team accompanies him as he played Always with Me, Always with You by Joe Satriani. Man, his fingers flew and soared! The notes were flashing past your eyes and mind but your ears heard a beautiful melodic line.

The next part was ACTS, led by Erwin Ibana and the rest of the masters of drama. They did a compelling choreography of the great stories in the Bible, who all declared that we have an awesome God! Many of their movements were slowed down like in the Matrix movies, and their movements were synchronized and timed exactly to the music!

As finale, we called in all the singing performers and asked them to lead worship with Ted as they sung How Great Is Our God, You Are God ALone (encore), and Generation of Light. Before we finally ended we threw in the rocking God is Great, and finished up wth A King is Born to welcome the Chistmas Season!

This concert began with the idea of making people be in Awe of God, and it ended with the challenge to continue to BE IN AWE OF A GREAT GOD we serve forever!!!!

directed by Jacqueline Amper

written by Theodore Amper

produced by SBC

Music Director: Theodore Amper

Music Consultant: Rev. Lance Gotcher

3M, Videos and projection: Eric, Junrey, Alex, Alvin and Ted

Sound and Tech: Russel, Weldon, Ted, praise team, ACTS

Hosts: Pastor Alvin and Fiona Javelosa

Performers:

SHEKINAH

Master's Pedestal

Kid's Choir

SBC main Praise Team

SBC makati Praise Team

Jeff Ayanco

Alex Tabac

Glenis and Oyie Javelosa

ACTS

Ted, Augie, Alex, Ashley, Rev Lance Gotcher, Rev. James and Mrs Gotcher