Question and Answer

Sometimes questions are enough but if we can find the right answers then answers are much better than questions. Let us always strive to be an answer in a world full of questions.

by aats

Actually Not Giving

In giving ourselves to the mission, we are not actually giving because when we say we give, it means we own it, but in fact when we say we give to the Lord we are in actuality just returning back what belongs to Him. We belong to the one who made us. We are not the owner of our life, God is. Until this truth sinks in, we will continue running exhausted instead of enjoying this life.

This truth is being played in some stories in the bible regarding the owner of the vineyard and the tenants. The tenants plow the field and watch it out until harvest time, while the owner maintains the tasks that are expected of owning the land, like paying the taxes and other obligations related to being the owner. The tenants concerns are to make the land produce its fruits as much as it can, they concern not about any other things.  The good thing about not being the owner is we don’t have to worry about losing it. The pressure is not on us, though the implication of being a tenant is that we have to do our best in order for the land to produce the best fruits.

Like tenants, lets worry not about losing something and giving up because we owned it not anyway. Better yet work hard in the vineyard of the Lord and return everything back to Him so He will give it back with bonus and without tax.

Have the mindset of returning instead of giving and the Lord will multiply the blessings for you.

by aats

This is a Marathon

Saint Paul’s exhorted the Corinthians about correct posture on our faith. He wrote in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”

Our posture is a posture of the one training to win a prize. When we focus on the prize, training is nothing, no matter how hard it will be.

Along the race, we will get tired, discouraged but at the same time we will get encourage and enjoying the race. So all in all, it’s going to be a roller coaster ride.

Excitement is not enough, because if excitement dies down what will happen? When we are discourage it will be easy to quit. And to tell you, there will be plenty of discouragement ahead. We cannot rely on our emotions, we simply cannot. In mission, we cannot afford to be emo. 2 Timothy 1:7 exhorts us, “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”

Our faith journey is a marathon. We need to train ourselves in order to finish the race. 

by aats

Too Much YFC

The question of having so many meetings in a month usually comes out every assessment in our community. But come to think of it, without YFC meetings how many times does a youth usually go out of the house, or how many hours do they actually spent browsing the internet, social media and computer games? We are just actually replacing the usual things with something more meaningful. It is a lot when we look at it as activities but little actually when we look at it as a lifestyle. YFC is a lifestyle not just a set of activities.

(CFC Youth For Christ – youth ministry of Couples For Christ)

by aats

Broken To Be Shared

Today we celebrate the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is so much indeed to celebrate when it comes to matters of the heart. The heart of Jesus is capable of going beyond the usual seeing and looks instead the other with the eyes of love. This same heart crucified Him and yet it is also this same heart that conquered humanity. The celebration reminded us that the heart is capable of looking at the others beyond what the eyes can see. It is a heart that is capable of sacrifice.

In our beautiful liturgy we hear the priest repeat what Jesus said at the last supper, “on the night he was betrayed he took bread, give you thanks and broke the bread and shared it to his disciples, saying, ‘take this all of you and eat of it, for this is my body which will be given up for you.’” O how beautiful and powerful, such ultimate act of love! How is it that He who was broken by betrayal on that very night was capable of sharing himself? O holy night indeed! Broken by betrayal, His only reply was breaking Himself so He can be shared.

The answer to brokenness is to be broken ourselves. Isn’t if there are more people and there’s only a handful of bread, the bread has to be broken so it can be shared for all. We are broken in order to be shared. So when nights of brokenness come and our hearts shattered and hope gone, we look up to Him and take comfort of the fact that he broke Himself in order to be shared.

A heart willing to be broken for others can change the world.

by aats

Careful in Prayer

Sometimes when we pray we say a lot of things and in fact at some instances say a lot of promises to the Lord. At the heat of the time we promise a thing or two. When we are emotionally high we can sing in prayer, ‘we will abandon it all for the sake of the call, no other reason at all…” Well, be careful what you pray for, the Lord might answer you.

by aats

The Challenge of Relationships

Why is it after a few months or years we say, “I’m struggling with time for her.” But you have the same number of time when you courted her. So you have time before and now you don’t? The reason is not so much about time but emotions. Before, when you were still courting, you have so much passion for your emotions and feelings that you can always find time. Somewhat along the way this has diminished, so much that it reflects in “time”. What was easy then is difficult now. The challenge always of relationship is not falling in love but remaining in love.

by aats 

Position By Accommodation

In politics we have heard many times of someone being put into a position out of accommodating the wishes of some supporters. We call it political accommodation. So much so that even if they are not fit for the job, they are put into the position. Others even resort to creating a position just to accommodate someone, a politician indebted during the election.

This is not so in mission. In mission it is not position by accommodation. We do not put someone over the other just because of seniority, or indebtedness, or because of any emotional considerations. For us, position is nothing as long as we can serve. There are no other criteria but the anointing of the Lord, well discerned and prayed for by the leaders put before us.

Saint Paul exhorted the Ephesians, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Eph 4:1. Our position in mission is not because of any affiliation or any favor from whoever but from our steadfast belief that we are anointed by the Lord. So we strive to be worthy of the calling in different areas of our service.

It is very important to have this kind of mindset so that when changes in assignments comes, we will not be hurt if what we dreamed of to be is not given to us.

God in all His goodness uses everyone in every circumstance to further His message of love. It is all about Him not us. 

by aats

Where Did The Message Go?

Have we not seen it, crying in worship, promising here and there and dwelling more on emotions, and yet after, goes back to the old ways. What is the use of crying, of promises and intense emotions if we cannot translate it into action? We are so good at giving talks and sharings, singing songs and tongues in worships and yet when we go back to our tweets and facebook updates, when we go back to our homes and schools, we do the same bad things and bad words. Where did the message go? Only you can answer. One thing is for sure; you gain nothing from attending conferences if you do not listen with your heart and apply it in your life.

(In the context of Couples For Christ – Youth For Christ community)

by aats

Everything Matters to God

There is nothing small and unimportant to the God. Thank You Lord for the grace of faith and the grace to share it. Amen.

by aats

It Is Not Enough

Time is up for “it is good enough”. It cannot be good enough, because our God is more than enough! We have to challenge ourselves to be creative because our creator is a creative God. We have to strive for excellence because our creator is an excellent God. We have to strive for greatness because our creator is a great God.

Creativity + Excellence = Greatness

by aats

Your Area is Your Mission

Don’t look for mission somewhere else. Mission is your area! How is your chapter? You can never go out somewhere without even doing something within your chapter. There are so many things you can do within your chapter. You don’t have to look for somewhere else to do mission. Mission is right in your doorstep.

by aats 

God is Above Possibilities

Someone asked me, “Do you believe that everything is possible with God?” I answered, “Yes.” The questioning continued, “So, if everything is possible with God then its possible that there is no God?”

The conversation really made me pray harder and seek for the wisdom of God. I know this philosophical question has been there ever since, and the Fathers of the Church had eloquently answered these things. I believe in God and everything that my church teaches. It does not limit me though in studying further and knowing more my God.

Saint Paul articulately wrote on this matter to the Corinthians:

¹⁸ For the message about Christ's death on the cross is nonsense to those who are being lost; but for us who are being saved it is God's power.¹⁹ The scripture says, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the understanding of the scholars.”²⁰ So then, where does that leave the wise? or the scholars? or the skillful debaters of this world? God has shown that this world's wisdom is foolishness!

 ²¹ For God in his wisdom made it impossible for people to know him by means of their own wisdom. Instead, by means of the so-called foolish message we preach, God decided to save those who believe.²² Jews want miracles for proof, and Greeks look for wisdom.²³ As for us, we proclaim the crucified Christ, a message that is offensive to the Jews and nonsense to the Gentiles;²⁴ but for those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, this message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God.²⁵ For what seems to be God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and what seems to be God's weakness is stronger than human strength.

 ²⁶ Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing.²⁷ God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the wise, and he chose what the world considers weak in order to shame the powerful.²⁸ He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important.²⁹ This means that no one can boast in God's presence.³⁰ But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God's holy people and are set free.³¹ So then, as the scripture says,

Whoever wants to boast must boast of what the Lord has done.

Our minds are limited in knowing the fullness of Gods wisdom. We can never really fully comprehend.

In the same letter to the Corinthians, Saint Paul articulated further, “For the scripture says, God put all things under his feet. It is clear, of course, that the words all things do not include God himself, who puts all things under Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:27

When we asked about possibilities, yes in God everything is possible. The “all things” does not include God himself, because everything is under Him. He is above all possibility. So “possibilities” is under Him. The statement then that it’s possible that there is no God is out of question. There is God and everything is possible under Him.

by aats

What Have I Done For My Country?

Going around the country, looking at its images and viewing its videos, makes me exclaim, “What a beautiful country we have!” Look around, it is beautiful and yet we are doing everything to destroy it. It is not China or any other country but us who are capable of destroying our homeland. We are our worst enemy!

That is why we cannot wait for politicians to change the status quo, we need to rise up and do our part. We only have to look at ourselves and ask what can I do to build this country instead of destroying it? Will paying a small bribe to get government papers help? Will cheating in school provide a good practice for me to be honest in dealings with others? Is not favoring family members in small matters giving us a glimpse of bigger political accommodation at the expense of efficient and honest governance? When I just let time pass by and just set on the street corner smoking and drinking, is it not a glimpse of a mendicant and lazy mentality that our society is contributing in this kind of mess we are in? Is not throwing garbage anywhere, a glimpse of an irresponsible and uncaring government run by the same people who cannot even throw their trash properly? When will we learn? When will we change? Shall we wait for the well to run dry before realizing how many chances we have wasted?

We don’t have to wait, we just have to do our part and if every one is doing their share, these little things put together is actually the change we are looking for. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask what have I done for my country?

by aats