Temple Invasion

"Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you?" (1 Corinthians 6:19 NLT). Paul wrote these words to counter the Corinthian sex obsession. "Run away from sexual sin!" reads the prior sentence. "No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body." (v.18 NLT).

I am a man whose testimony publicly is clean from sexual stains. My words are clean, my house is clean, my relationship is securely pure, and from a public standpoint I can pass as a "livable" temple of the Holy Spirit.

BUT no. I am as filthy as everyone else. As dirty as the adulterer and as malicious as the maniac in the street. The Bible also says that if you look at a woman with lust, you have already committed adultery with her. How sad, that I am a guilty sinner in thought, and in standing before God.

Recently, when the power failures happened in the whole of Luzon, I was forced to go to the mall and spend the time there to cool off. I was alone, and I wanted to watch a movie. So after parking, I was surprised to see that almost everyone else had the same idea. The mall was brimming with beautiful and attractive ladies, from teenager up. I found myself thinking I was a single man, and I played with the thought of girl-watching, since my wife wasnt around. By the way,my wife and I do girl-watch and its quite different when Im with her, I sort of appreciate the beauty of ladies,and I thank God whenever I look at my wife, because she is very attractive indeed. BUT, when I am alone,I cannot girl-watch, because I suddenly become somebody else. I was constantly rebuking myself telling myself, "What's wrong with you? You're supposed to be filled with the Spirit, thinking about things of the Spirit..."

I really need a smack in the head. Get myself focused on the things of God, and not on the things of this world. My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, i should not sin against my body...

Ravi Zacharias' answers to atheists

Steps to debunk Darwin’s Evolution Theory regarding the Existence of God.

1. However you section physical reality, you take the physical universe as you see it, however you slice it down to its minutest form, the fact of the matter is you end up with a physical entity or quantity that does not have reason for its existence in itself. Ultimately, the physical universe reduced in any form cannot explain its own origin. It has to find its explanation outside of itself which means the FIRST explanation of the universe as we see it has to have something NON-PHYSICAL (Spiritual) as a first cause. So, you have something like a “haunted” universe without knowing what the FIRST cause is.

2. Next you come to the argument not from design but TO design. If you walk into a planet and come across a McDonald’s wrapper or letters of the alphabet, you immediately know that there is information there. Logic tells you that when you see information, you assume that prior to that information is a mind. You don’t just think that Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus accidentally came together, or the dictionary developed because of an explosion in a printing press. There is sequence to the whole thing. If you take just the composition of the enzyme in the human component, which is the building block of the gene, which is the building block of the cell, the possibility of the human enzyme coming together by random says Vic Ramsinky professor of applied mathematics in Cardith, Wales, the possibility of that happening by chance is 1/10 to 40,000!! That’s more than the number of atoms of the whole universe! It is, time-wise and mathematically impossible! So I say to you no.1 the physical quantity cannot explain itself number two, there’s intelligibility which assumes there is a prior mind… so the first case there something non physical, second case there is something intellectual, and

3. …third, in the history of society, human experience, and history itself you begin to realize that the moral issues, the social issues and just human intercourse, demands the explanation of a moral reality. So you have a FIRST CAUSE that is spiritual, a FIRST CAUSE that has a mind, and a FIRST CAUSE that needs to explain morality. You take these three struggles, and pause with me for a moment here, there are four fundamental questions in life: ORIGIN, Meaning, morality and destiny. You take these four questions, and these three explanations needed, and only GOD is big enough to explain this universe!

QUESTIONS from an atheist student regarding the existence of God:

Student: How can you talk about the existence of an all- loving and all-powerful God when there is so much moral and gratuitous EVIL in the world? Doesn’t that strike you as contradictory?

Ravi: Stay with me for a moment, because I have questions for you: When you say there’s such a thing as evil, aren’t you assuming there’s such a thing as good?

Student: Yes, I accept.

Ravi When you say there is such a thing as good, are you saying there exists a moral law, so as to differentiate between something good and something evil?

Student: I accept that as well.

Ravi: So if you pose that there is a moral law, then you should suppose there is a moral LAW GIVER, but that is what you were trying to disprove and NOT prove!

If there is NO law giver, then there is no moral law, if there is no moral law, there is no such thing as good, if there is no good, then there is no way to define evil, so WHAT IS YOUR QUESTION?

Asking God How to Die

We often ask that huh? Many times I think of these morbid thoughts, as I know that our “time” is inevitable. Yes, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but we all have to die. Generally, we all dread the thought of dying. Some of us don’t, because we’ve accepted the fact, but we dreamily hope we die a peaceful death.

Why am I talking about this anyway? Well to begin with, I am surrounded by dying people, some have gone, some are going, and some are facing the certainty of death. I fear to lose my loved ones in a painful death, such as cancer, or cruelty, or in the hands of evil people. I pray that I don’t die of cancer myself! I often pray to God, in all of the ways of going, I would certainly like mine to be meaningful, not pathetic. I hate it when we die because of some drunk kid driving and runs us over. Or because we were too busy talking to someone on the phone we get run over by a bus. I also hate to die of sickness. I know its going to be painful. Hope and worth dwindles as you see people around you move on with life and you don’t make a difference anymore. I dread that.

I often envision myself dying for God, for His cause, or sacrificing my life for my country, for fellow men, or protecting my loved ones… all those noble ways of dying. And how we’re going to be remembered and honored on our eulogies. People might erect a remembrance of your heroism, or name a hall or classroom in your honor. And then we smile and say, that would be an awesome death.

But, as often as I forget my stuff when leaving, I am again smacked in the head with reality. I remembered how my mom died, how many great people in my life passed on, and their mode of death wasn’t as glorious as most of us would like. They died unexpectedly, in the prime of health, or with a sickness they thought they would never have.

Then God moved my heart and I realized IT’S NOT HOW WE DIE, BUT HOW WE LIVED. We cannot choose(well some of us can) how and when we die, but we can all choose how and when to LIVE for God. This made me stop thinking of having a glorious death, when we can live a glorious life! We can stop thinking of how many people would think I am a hero when I die, when we can be appreciated by helping people around us now while we are alive!

So, with that said, whether we live or die, our lives must be guided by the words of the Apostle Paul: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

O Worshiper: Shame on Me, Shame on You!

It has been ages since I last dropped an entry to my blog… in the recent events of my life, I went through a lot of suffering, challenges, trials, and to be honest I am not sure if these burdens are really through… and as to my other burdens, I know God has a plan to bring them all in to fruition, in His time.

Recently, I was faced with issues regarding priorities, personal dreams, and even comparisons to the success of others, which I selfishly thought I deserved more. Shame on me. Shame on me. Sometimes, promotions, successes, blessings of others make us feel uncomfortable, and to the extent we think we deserve it more than other people. Well, though I knew it, I believed it, I was smacked in the head for actually feeling it. Before I shame myself more, I thank God for putting me back to my senses.

One of my pastors told me regarding that issue was that God wasn’t concerned with my temporal success (in this world), but He was more concerned in how I reflect His Son. I put that in my wall post in Facebook, and instantly, a lot of my friends felt the same encouragement/rebuke from that statement. Putting my own life experiences into that perspective, I found a lot of errors in my life and how I worshipped God personally.

Bear with me as I bare my heart. Again, shame on me. Shame on me. I’ve written a lot of wonderful songs which I believe was impressed upon my heart by the Scriptures and by truths I’ve learned from God. Semantically, I can’t say they’re written by God Himself because that would equate my songs with the Bible! So, I safely say these songs were impressed upon my heart by the Scriptures and by truths from God. Going back to my point, I enjoy writing for God’s people when they worship, I enjoy writing for encouragement, challenge, edification, even rebuke, and in all honesty I desired God’s glory in all that I do. I know my heart wanted to glorify God more and exalt Him in all my music. That is probably why the church (at least my home church) loves the music I write for worship, because they’re all for God’s glory.

But in light of recent events, I noticed my heart began to change. Some motives weren’t right. Some plans were selfish. Some of my desires were for personal gain. In this blog, I want everyone to know my dreams and frustrations. My personal dream is to see the nations worship. Yup, until now I desire that, before I lay to rest I desire that to happen. The way I see this to happen is for me to be used by God to write music that does exactly what I wrote above. Being a University of the Philippines student, I desired for my country to be placed on the music map, so I challenged myself to write our own music that would be loved by many churches around the world. Not only did I desire to bless God, but the Body of Christ as well. Now, I prayed that the Lord would lead me to people who can help me record these songs He has allowed me to write, produce them, distribute them to many people/countries, etc, and that way I could somehow indirectly lead people into worship and realize my dream of seeing the nations worship God. But after many connections, many opportunities with local and foreign artists, I still am left with nothing but a dream. A very noble, Godly and spiritual dream in the onset right? Nay, I realized it isn’t. No matter how spiritual I make it sound, it is tainted with the single-lettered word: “I”.

I felt God’s loving rebuke as I was singing worship songs in my room this evening, I noticed something wrong in the right things that I do. I was more concerned with the new tuning my guitar had (open D tuning),and I was more concerned with my voice’s timbre, style, and even thinking of how the song would be LIKED by the people, how the musicians would enjoy playing this one, and how this would sound instrumentally.. while worshipping God(multi tasking!). That mood can only be allowed in creative occasions, when, though it is also worship, we as artists try to make a song-offering better, and more smoothly written, musically sound, and poetically consistent. Now, I want to make it clear that this isn’t the same mood when I wrote my songs…Exact opposite. My mood this time was: I know I can sound better, sing better, play guitar better, write music better, be a better musician than so and so, WHILE I WAS WORSHIPPING GOD! Scary. And I felt so spiritual too! (See, feelings and emotions aren’t the best gauge for worship) And then in my Bible reading after, I read this simple verse: "Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it."
Numbers 21:17

I saw that Israel sang when the Lord has done great things. They sang in response to something God has done. It was all about Him. Psalms 103 says “Bless the Lord,O my soul, and all that is within me,bless His holy name!”. But when I was singing tonight, I realized I was singing so that I could be deemed a better worshipper by other people, not by God. I lost sight of the true meaning of worship! It was FOR God! I sing to praise Him, not to be praised and appreciated by other musicians! And in effect, that’s all I can get if I had that heart: appreciation from “lesser” musicians. The Ultimate Musician (God) wasn’t at all pleased with my heart, much less my music. It was a mediocrity if sang/written with a selfish motive.

I know how easily I fall into the trap of the carnal body I have. I pray that my fellow worshippers would stop worshipping music, even their ministries, stop trying to reach others more than reaching God Himself, stop advancing our own bands, our names, our churches, our organizations in “His” name, when we know they are all tainted with the word “I”.

I know I am prone to fall into this category in a matter of days, weeks, so I seek for God’s grace and rebuke. But if you, O believer, should look into your own soul and find that we have the same troubles, same struggles, well, shame on you too. Shame on you. Wake up to the fact that it’s all for God, and that’s all that matters.

Against the Flow (new song)

I wrote a new song for Nikki Gil. Please pray that it would pass their standards, if ever it is accepted, this would be the first time I would have a professional sing my compositions! Nikki has been a friend since way back 2005, and she has been a gracious recording artist (with the help of her mom, ate Sol, Ian and Nikko) as she agreed to sing my worship song "Take Me". I was so excited to have someone like her sing the song, and she said she loved it! Again I was given another opportunity to send a song demo, just in case my song passes, to be included in her upcoming album. I passed one op before when I didn't put any effort in sending one, when her producer/manager/mom gave me a rare chance to be part of her last album. I was not only irresponsible, but i was dumb. The Lord gave me another op when Tita Julie (her Mom) sent me a text mesage two days ago saying I might be interested in submitting a song for her new album, and she needed a Christian/inspirational themed one. Its an honor to be considered as a contributor, and that alone is already a great accomplishment for me. So I stayed up late last night, and started making a song. It was supposed to be a Mylie Cyrus style, country rock, pop song, but when I heard The Climb, its songwriting class was way above mine! I thought it was impossible to make a similar one, or even one that stands close to it! Whatever the case, I started working on it. I admit, I cant do it. So I prayed to God to help me write the lyrics, tune, chords, arrangement, style, etc. Jacqui my sister gave some input and she was more than willing to help except that it was late so she had to go home. I stayed up to until 2:30am working on lyrics and melodies, rhythmic patters, etc. and it was so frustrating! I finally said, whatever the outcome, let the Lord work in it. So i slept and at around 2pm this afternoon, i started recording a demo of it. Since the melody isn't finalized yet, I didn't ask my sister to sing it yet... So i decided to sing in a female voice, just to experiment. Well, after a few tries and a few revisions, I finished a whole song worth of my "female" voice. And since I thought it practical to submit the demo, it really didn't matter if I sung it or whoever, Nikki is supposed to sing it herself, so its just a study track. Well, I just sent the demo to Tita Julie, and I'm praying that the Lord would move through the song and make it as touching and encouraging to people who have lost hope in fighting for a better and brighter future. Ladies and gentlemen, "Against the Flow", written and performed by myself for Nikki Gil's upcoming album. Hope y'all like it!

Against the Flow

Theodore Amper

2009 botbydbludmusic

I find myself, drifting in a river of aimless streams

I cannot help, but float in the direction of broken dreams

I need the strength to turn my life around

It aint too late to start anew

I’ll never stop, won’t give in

There is hope, and strength within

I must ri----se, no matter how much I fall

I’ll lift my head, fight again

Though the current takes my strength

The world must know, I swam against the flow

Swam against the flow…

I wouldn’t just believe, what the world dictates my heart should do

Though they take me as a fool, I’ll remain in my convictions and follow Truth

Even if the mountain’s high (high), even if I cant yet see the Source of this call

I will trust that in its time, I will reach my destination (and) it was worth my all

I realize, Im not alone

I’ll need Your strength to carry on

I’ll never stop, won’t give in

There is hope, and strength within

I must ri----se, no matter how much I fall

I’ll lift my head, fight again

Though the current takes my strength

The world must know, I swam against the flow

BRIDGE: (F#m –G#m-A..)

I know its not the easy road, to believe when others wont

I know its gonna take some faith, so be strong and trust in the Lord!

Never stop, don’t give in

There is hope, and strength within

You must ri----se, no matter how much you fall

Lift your head, fight again

Though the current takes your strength

The world must know, you swam against the flow

My Wife's Cooking

One thing that I really appreciate about my wife is that she prepares my food and she does it exquisitely!  Her specialties are sinigang na baboy, manok, baka.  Menudo, afritada, adobong manok, baboy, pusit, and she does Japanese food like Maki, and Korean soups with Kimchi!  I also get excited when she sends me a text message to come home asap because she cooked something for me.  How sweet! It is true that the best way to man's heart is through his stomach, but I should add: it must go through his taste buds first!  Well, my wife is very good a that, she's very caring and always serving me with all her heart.  As a couple we pray that we please the Lord the same way she pleases me!  I thank God for her...

SUMULONG BAPTIST CHURCH, and how it has been instrumental in changing my life and countless others

In this entry, I am actually going to be dead honest with my church's flaws and strengths. I may be a little biased, but I will be as factual as I can be.

Let me start off at my personal history in our church. This is where my family met the Lord, and where I grew as a Christian. Our Christian journey started here, and to that fact alone, I am grateful. Ive never been part of another church, nor did i desire to transfer membership because I see so much blessing and exciting things happening in our ministries, some we started, some we continued, and some we are going to begin with. My experience with church in the beginning is alittle disappointing to me because I had all the wrong reasons about church... give me a break, i was an eight year old boy! Up to around 15 years old, church was as boring to me until small groups were instituted. At around the same time, the church leadership found it as God's leading to transition the type of music to use in the singing... contemporary. At the same time, the Lord was exposing me to all the "rock" "worldly" music and was getting good at it. And at the same time I was going through a lot of emotional stress about family, school (fraternity), and a broken off relationship to a two year courtship-turned seven-month girlfriend.

All the "bad" things God was allowing me to go through, He was cooking up something good for me too! And that was to be used by Him. Our church would've grown as much, reached as much, trained as much, even if I werent there... see its not about me. Its all about God's will being done, and us wanting to be part of it. I was called, and I responded, and I was used...according to His will, through the pastor's leadership.

That is a concept I really hope people new and old will grasp. I am not as financially blessed as others, not as talented or good looking, intelligent or powerful, not at all. But I have a blessing that I am NOT mad at anyone, nor do I know of anyone mad at me. I cant think of anyone tahtI hold a grudge against, and vise versa. Right now, I feel alot of respect almost everywhere I go, and I give respect to almost everyone I know! The only ones I know I've offended are those who go against God. What am I driving at? I am saying that the concept of submission TO GOD, not necessarily to your Pastor or your parents, will reap good results, specially in your area of leadership, influence, and relationships.

I recently was exposed to alot of negative comments about our church, which I also give credit to, and to a degree I agree, but, I see that the comments were coming from a bitter or a hurt heart. Whenever I sense that, I always set my guards up and sense if this is from the Holy Spirit, or from, as i said, a neglected person.

All churches have flaws. That's why we need Christ to lead us. There are mega Churches who are doing great in their ministries, and I praise God for that, but the Lord has instituted local churches for DIFFERENT tasks. The same way he has gifted us as individuals differently, some uniquely, some similarly, but generally, we are gifted for a purpose... His purpose. We get to pool our gifts together, and become a powerful entity lead by a powerful Spirit to a common goal and that is to accomplish His will in this earth. I see churches with excellent musicians as examples, models for our own church family. I see mega ministries as an inspiration, leadership and structure as a guide, but not as a competition, and though they are models, I do not aspire to BECOME them. My goal is to learn from them. The only person we should be like is Jesus.

I have my own dreams and goals for our church. I desire good things for our church. I envision greatness and awesome ministries, but it is not my task to do that. God has anointed a person for that task, and we should respect and submit to that structure. We can suggest, we can help start, we can act under blessing, but we must not put in ou self the burden of leading the church when we are not the leader. A ship with many captains cannot succeed. I know of many people who are neglected and their opinions are sometimes thrown aside... it is a hurtful experience when a church is supposed to be a haven of rest, and a spiritual shelter to the hurting and to the broken. We leave the church when our needs arent met, or when we think we arent growing anymore.... a legitimate reason. But i see it as an excuse.

We go to church to worship God in a congregational setting. We go to church to serve others and serve with fellow believers. We go to church to be used by God for His glory. We go to church to learn and be equipped. Sadly, most church goers' reason is to be blessed... and others entertained. They say "I need to be blessed by the message because I am not growing anymore", for me though legitimate, is a lame reason to go to church, much less leave the church!

Let me give some background on some basics: First, we go to church to BLESS GOD first, and it is up to Him to bless us. In Psalms 103, and many other scripture it is said to "Bless the Lord o my soul and all that is within me!" We should bless God, as an imperative. Now, other scripture mentions "MAY the Lord bless you and keep you..." "Keep His commandments, and He will surely bless you..." it is UP TO HIM to bless us, not us earning His blessing.

Second, discipleship is done in a one to one basis, or at most small group basis. Not a Sunday basis. We congregate to worship together. And if we are blessed by the message then Praise God! If not, maybe you are not listening closely, or your "better" talents in preaching can be excercised through writing your insight and sharing it to a smaller group of people... maybe you need to become a small group leader since you're so good at the exposition and rightly dividing the Word. And if you faithfully do that, you will, I tell you, be used someday to teach it to the congregation. But wait for your turn...and more rightly said, earn for your turn.

If the direction of the Pastor isnt in line with the direction God has given you, then leave the flock graciously, and without causing trouble. Leave with a blessing, not a bad word to say. In that, you are sinning. Again, the pastor can only reach a certain group of people for a certain time... language and social barriers become difficult to address, and the only way to reach a wide spectrum of the audience is to provide multiple services, in which you can do only so much... you would need help, but who is there to help? Most complainers and suggesters are often those who are not helpers or those who dont make much difference in the church. Because those who are really passionate about the church's welfare do something about the problem, and not throw it at the pastor's feet and wait until he does something about it. A wiser way to do that is to suggest your idea to the person delegated to that area of responsibility. If it concerns music, talk to the music director first, if it concerns children's sunday school, talk to the sunday school head, if it concerns beautifying the church facilities, talk to deacons or the elders, etc. The Senior Pastor cannot possibly keep track of all the church's problems.

Nobody taught me these concepts. I didnt read it from a manual. But it is taught by the Bible, and I simply noticed it through experience, and by humbly submitting to authorities, and loving the church passionately. Sure, there is always room to improve, members constantly give me suggestions which are practical and good, but they are not always possible. Some suggestions are good but you cannot do simply because you lack workers or equipment, or the even the know-how to accomplish it. And yes, often, we lack the funds. And sometimes their comments or suggestions are simply dumb. And when you dont do their suggestion, whether good or dumb, because of a number of reasons, they become bitter and spread to everyone their bad feelings. I see it as a pattern and this should stop! Besides, a leader is placed in that position because he is responsible for that area. If he doesnt do a good job, yes people suffer, but it is God who will replace him for not accomplishing his work. It is a God-thing. If your pastor isnt anointed to lead the church, God Himself will remove him.... and it is not OUR job to do that. Our job is to submit, as long as his authority is based on the WORD of God and He is acting as a servant of God, not a Boss to the children of God. He is a shepherd, a leader, a visionary, a model. We are supposed to follow that model in Christ to avoid divisions, splits, ad church deaths.

I personally grew in my spiritual walk because of my mentors in a different organization.. IVCF. I learned because I read my Bible, and I read books from trustworthy authors, and reputable theologians, and my church reinforces those. I didnt depend on my church for growth. I depended on God for that. The church is very instrumental in accomplishing this, but if not, maybe you should become an equipped leader, and help the church do that. Not leave the church for some selfish ("I'm not growing here" mentality) reason.

The only reasons I see for a person to leave the church is when he/she is called to a different ministry, when he/she is absolutely going against God's laws, when that person has a different leading/calling/ direction of ministry, and maybe a handful of others.. but not because he is not satisfied with how the church is being managed.

I personally am so blessed with my church. It has a lot of flaws, and all our leaders are flawed as well, including me. But working together with my leaders and co workers is such a pleasure and I find it so fulfilling to be used in our ministry. If the time comes that I am needed or called to another ministry, then I shall leave my church so I can bless others, because I have been a blessing enough to it, and I have trained better people to do my job.

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

When I Proposed to My Wife

Would you trust in things you dont see?
Would you jump the bridge at my count to three?
Would you run the race of life with me?
Just hold my hand and let's be free!

Winds may change, and seasons go
But love will stay and faith will flow
My only pray'r, my final plea:
Would you spend this lifetime with me?

Fly with me, let us soar through endless skies and
Be with me, my whole world would fall down on its knees
Just to be with you
I'd live and die for the love of a Rose

This is a song I wrote while planning to propose marriage to my long time girlfriend-fiancee-best friend-best enemy-most efficient partner-etc. Hehehe. I just love this woman.

It was January 28, 2007, a Sunday afternoon was perfect for me to ask her to marry me. Honestly, she didn't need this stuff. She knew I was going to marry her and I know her answer anyway, and in fact I was delaying everything she is kinda waiting on me already... which is a bad thing really.


I arranged for the place to be at an overlooking view of manila, so I rented out the top deck of Seven Suites Hotel, and got a package for us to enjoy an evening of fine dining, just the two of us (well of course with my friends who were my musicians too and camera men), and i was nervous at the same time excited to get on with the plan.

I asked Rose to dress up a bit, because I was wearing a coat, and i told her I'll bring her to a nice restaurant. I knew she knew what I was planning from the start because she smells me like a blood hound a mile away... see, Im that bad a liar or a surprise planner.

After church service I brought my friends (conspirators) to the deck and I asked them to stay put until I was to signal them. With everything ready, camera, guitar, this new song I wrote, etc. I was all set. I picked her up and we drove to the wonderful place, and even escorted her out. But something terrible happened... I forgot the RING!!!

I had to ask her to come back with me somewhere because I needed to get "something" important. As hard as I was trying to conceal it, Rose asked," You forgot the ring didn't you?" Though fuming with humiliation, I held my peace and said something else. She knew I was lying.

After I got the ring, we went back to the hotel and began our dinner.

ROMANTIC DINNER MENU:

Set 1

Tomato Bisque

Caesar Salad

Shrimp Cocktail

Steak Au Poivre with Duchess Potato

Choco Caramel Cake

She loved the place and we were serenaded by our friends' recording. After dinner and dessert, and a while of awkward talking, I finally signaled my friends to come in and get this over with.

I reached for the case, made sure the ring was there, and got down on my knees and sang the song above. After the song, accompanied by my good 'ol friends Kenneth, Jeff and Ryan, I asked her: "Rose, would you marry me?"

The answer was obvious and now we are happily married with a dog in Kingsville Subdivision where we plan to raise a family!

Not My Words

IN AWE of a Great God Concert Proper

Program Proper

Legacy Project video as walk in presentation
National Anthem
Prayer
Front Act by SBC Makati led by Pastor Jeff Aspacio

Opening Remarks about the Concert’s theme and the beneficiary project, Legacy Project.
(Pastor Lance Gotcher)

Opening Video (Symphony of Praise) (3mins)

Speechless- Ted Amper (5mins)

Host Spiel (2min)

Fast Song by the Shekinah (5mins)

Host Spiel (2min)

Fast Song by Master’s Pedestal (5mins)
Host Spiel (2min)
You Are God Alone-
Pastor Lance, Pastor James, Augie, Nyor and Ted (10mins)
Host Spiel (2min)
Indescribable- Nyor with Video (5 mins)
Host Spiel (2min)
Another Time and Another Place –Tita Glen and Oyie (5mins)
Host Spiel (2min)
I Can Only Imagine/A Light of a Million Mornings- Alexis Edralin (10 mins)

Message: Pastor Lance (30mins)
Guitar Solos
Caught Up In Rapture -Jeffrey Ayanco (5mins)
Always with Me Always with You – Alex Tabac (5mins)

Awesome God Human Video - ACTS (10mins)

Everyone stands for congregational singing:

Ted calls ALL the performers on stage to sing:
How Great Thou Art, How great is our God, Generation of Light, God is Great – Praise Team (20 mins)
A King Is Born

TOTAL RUNNING TIME: approx two(2) hours

Jules' Lament

This is Papa's recording of "Kahit Isang Saglit" by Martin Nievera. Papa's context fits the song better than Martin's. The word "sana..." is really a hopeless, desperate wish. But to no avail. Our only consolation is that we have a glorious hope of a great reunion in Heaven. And that is not SANA for us who put our faith and trust in the work and in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Papa's song is played here with the Manila String Machine as accompaniment.

The video's purpose is so that I can paste the song here in my blog. There is no music pasting option so I decided to put together video clips of us! I dont have pictures of mama in my computer, but this video is taken from our eulogies during the wake. The song, with all its sadness, is actually the opposite of what we experienced during the funeral, the time was filled with victory and true joy.

I hope you like the song, ladies and gentlemen, my Dad Jules Amper, singing Kahit Isang Saglit for his beloved wife Aurora, and the Manila String Machine.

Faithful Ones

Dearest Faithful ones, I commend you for fighting the good fight, and hopefully, when we do finish the race, we have all kept the faith and have not backslid to a point where we're not even sure we're saved at all.

Alright, in my recent article, I mentioned that how we look and act affects our target audience/unbelievers. It may be positive or negative, or plain ineffective. There is a common philosophy going around in youth churches that in order to penetrate the youth culture more effectively, you have to use strategic ways to get to them. To a degree, I agree. Yes, we have to be creative and very wise and shrewd as snakes.

I don't go and speak in a young people's congregation dressed up in coat and tie, in my shiny black leather shoes, and well pressed slacks. I usually go in jeans, a nice polo shirt, and with a neat haircut and a clean shave. Why? I don't want to gap myself too distant to the generation Im speaking to. Impression is very vital to a speaker's attention retention. However, I know of a speaker whose name is Paul Washer, who never cared for what he looked like, but focused on the Power of God to say His message...and I tell you, it didn't need fashion to do so. Bottom line, its really the Holy Spirit factor that counts.

But, at times there is credit to the "reach the audience" philosophy. Like the new translations of the Bible offer an easier understanding of the Scriptures as compared to the King James Version of it. And I know lots of young people drawn to the Lord because of churches using the contemporary music style, and "the preacher talking relevant topics of today's generation" talks.

I agree. Yes I do. But there is a flaw in this philosophy, that makes it soooo dangerous. If we as a church target these audience and do too much of the "Christians are cool too" philosophy, we neglect the change of heart part, the turning away from sin. We focus on Jesus as the gift of God, we hand Him out like pamphlets to people we meet in evangelistic meetings, but never focus on the relationship with Him. Jesus cant be your best friend if you're not willing to follow Him. He cant be Lord if you don't want to follow Him. Yes you're saved and all, but without Jesus as LORD, the whole point is missed. The kids only get to heaven, not be with the Savior.

Alright, as for my real message, the faithful ones now adapt this lifestyle of being like the world. Yes, again I do not disagree. But this lifestyle must be done with EXTREME caution. The style of music, the fashion trends, the places we go to, the lifestyle we show and live by more often than OFTEN changes us. In a scale of 1-100, it's 99% effective in changing the way of thinking of a young person.

Take my life as an example. I grew up learning classical music, Broadway musicals, church music and those stuff. I hated it. I then turned to Rock and heavy metal music, then to rap and dark poetry. Very appealing. God used the new trend of Praise and Worship music to "lure" me into the ministry, and I got addicted to the music ministry. But wait, had I stayed in the addiction, I would have easily fallen away and did something else in my life.

Music, has a lot that comes with it. The philosophies of the genre (punk is really an against the authority philo, rock is more of an emotion driven music, from where we get emo, Jazz is the enjoy playing and improvisation, freedom, etc, etc. etc. ) Once you learn the songs and get a preference your belief structure would soon conform to the music's structure. Also, fashion and the places these music are linked to become a common downfall of many Christians.

I am a rocker by nature. I have been a part of a metal band, a rock band, and acoustic band, a jazz-rnb band, a hip hop group, and all those music, before I got into classical music, orchestral, and the things old people usually listen to. In a word, I've done it all, been there, done that. My life was strangely preserved against the forces of music because after I got into the ministry, God gave me the commitment that I should worship Him and not the music style. I learned to respect other musical preferences and learned from them also. I was taught to simply listen and get what you need from any kind of music, and use it for God's glory, but God always reminded not to immerse myself in music that does not glorify Him.

Alright, here are the basics. Hairstyle is a little debatable, so the emo hairstyle (though I hate it) I'd go with allowing it if it was in my church. The music, I would say that even though everyone has their own preference, we must learn to WORSHIP GOD not the style of worship music. People often drift to other mental activities if the song style gets too corny for them or offends their taste. We should look at what the song is saying and if it glorifies God, makes a lot of sense, has a reasonably singable melody, has STRONG SCRIPTURAL content, why be bothered by the style?

If we cater too much to the "please me" generation, even our churches would find it hard to "please God". Its really not about us, what pleases the congregation, what is more comfortable, what is more stylish or in trend, these are all marketing strategies. And market caters to customers who are ALWAYS RIGHT. And if we focus on being a business too much, we get to serve the "Comfort" of the people, not their real needs.

Just study it. Statistics often tells us information whether we were effective or not. How many young people did we really effectively share the "CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE" to in our youth catering camps? How many young people really committed to transforming their lifestyles, loved God with all their heart, and become faithful members of a church? If a vast majority is still the same, or even got more confused because we tell them they're saved but they cant reconcile it with the fact that their lives are still unchanged, therefore we're missing the point. But some churches got their plans correctly coz they are effectively reaching their target people. Not 100%, but a lot of them.

Some churches boast of reaching 50,000 souls. I thank God they did share the gospel to those kids. But it should never get to your head, because I tell you not even a thousand faithfully attend their youth gatherings, and are really transformed. What happened to the 49,000? Our church is no different. Possibly, given a big budget, we would also focus on the peripherals too. My prayer is that God would work mightily in the lives of young people, and use people who really care for them and disciple them and be accountable to, and watch them grow as Christians. Numbers are great. But there are only so much you can do to make those numbers really count. Right now, I am focusing on my praise team members. I watch them, take care of them, train them, and ultimately to be better than I am. But I cannot commit to more than that. If my members commit to 3 people too, train them, disciple them, teach them God's ways and watch over them, then I would be confident that our small congregation of 800, would reach more effectively than a 50,000 youth-catering camp.

So, to all Faithful Ones, focus on God. Do the basics. Those marketing stuff are only good for a while, its the basics that count.

Where Have All the Faithful "Once" Gone?

It maybe is a funny thing, but really it makes me smile. I've worked for the Lord for many years now, and "faithfully" accomplished His assignments so far. It doesn't make me a better Christian actually, it never will. And my services to God will never make Him love me more over those who arent faithful. Nope, His favor remains the same...SAME TO EVERYONE. With my point established that Im not a goody-two-shoes, or holier than thou person, or a better Christian, because I know Im a dirty rotten sinner too. BUT, maybe because of the new nature God has given the believer, it makes me hate sin now, and though I get tempted alot, and I admit I desire to wallow in the mud (because its SOOO EASY), but there's the Holy Spirit always tugging at my shirt, reminding me, so0metimes spanking me softly (but sharply) to remind me of what I'm not supposed to do. I am a work in progress. Yes, I am born again, a new creation, but the curse of sin and death still affects me (BUT WILL NEVER HAVE ITS VICTORY OVER ME).

Why am I saying this? I have in my "sinful" mode, have wandered into attractive friends in my friendster account. Attractive-meaning scantily dressed, and provocatively posed. Yes, I admit. I'm no better than the sinner who's reading this! But in my wandering, I noticed that these beautiful ladies were part of our church once. Or some of them, have gone to our youth camps a long time ago, got our numbers and emails, connected with us via friendster, and VOILA! As if they learned nothing at camp. Some of course put in their affiliations "so-and-so" church, listed the Bible and Purpose Driven Life as their favorite Books, loves Christian Music, and all those Christian stuff, but poses almost nude and gives ALL the men a wrong impression of them.
I wonder, where have they gone? What has gone into their minds to make them boldly declare themselves in a fashion the Lord Jesus would be ashamed of? They were in my small group once, as I remember EXPLICITLY reminding them of the dangers of sexual sins, being identified as OF the world, as one of them.

Oooo, I hear the objections already.... even from the faithful ones. "Its alright to look like them, but we're not doing what they do and we don't believe what they believe." Fine. That's a given. You're still in church and you're serving Him faithfully. You say you look and act like them so you could reach them with the gospel. Are you really? But ask yourself, are you paying more attention to how you look as compared to how much time you spend reading God's Word? For me, I ask myself the same questions too. AM I SINGING TO THE LORD TOO MUCH AS OPPOSED TO LISTENING TO HIM THROUGH HIS WORD? I'm in the same category as you are, and I'm preaching to myself, because no one is perfect! BUT THAT IS NOT AN EXCUSE FOR ALL OF US TO STOP STRIVING TO BE PERFECT! The King James Version says that "Be Perfect as the Father in heaven is Perfect." In other translations, "Be holy, as the Father in heaven is Holy". But Holy and perfect mean the same thing when it comes to sin and a godly lifestyle.

Here's my point. Why are we confessing we are Christians, when actually we hate to follow Christ? Why do we pick out what's good about Christianity, weed out the "Thou shalt not's", and conform the Bible to our lifestyle instead of us conforming to IT? Why do we shut off God during the week and pay attention (ows?) to Him on a 30min message on Sunday?

I am not a model of perfection. God is. Jesus is. If you look at my life, you might find things you would be wondering why a Christian still has those struggles. BUT I AM NOT PROUD OF IT. I would be ashamed if anyone knew about my secrets, (hmm actually, I have not much, and if I do, I can easily confess them) I constantly battle the evil in me and I pray everyday to God that He would equip me with His armor, that I would be able to stand against the attacks of the enemy, that in all my temptations I would choose the way out provided by God. But I fail. I succeed, I fail again, I win again. Sometimes I fail more, sometimes I win more. But I FIGHT.

I speak as though I am strong, no. Do not look upon me as a pillar, for when I fail, you might stumble too. Fix your eyes on Jesus.

....
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It makes me smile...
but in my heart i cry.

As i discover where my old friends in the faith have gone, I cry.

Why aren't you fighting anymore? Is the blood of Jesus not enough for your reward? Has life's struggles overcome your faith? Why aren't you fighting anymore? Is Jesus' name worth living for for you? Why aren't you fighting?

Where have all the faithful "once" gone?