How can I invite my friends to church?

I haven’t been writing for a long time. Since I got married and helped my husband plant a church, I still don’t have a regular rhythm in life. Life seemed to have spun quickly for the past three years, and I am starting to adapt to this new normal. Why did it take me three years to adjust? Hard to explain, but I am just happy now that I see some signs of regular patterns in life. Hooray!

Starting to spread some roots here. Praise God!

Anyway, I blogged today because I want to tackle this query that most Christians ask, “How do I invite my friends over to the church?” 

NOTE: I know that there is a global pandemic, and I am aware that some nations are not yet allowed to gather in public places. Let’s set aside the COVID-19 for a while, and let’s say these are normal circumstances, and people are free to gather.

As a believer, I know how difficult it is to invite people to church, whether it be a family member, a friend, a colleague, or a classmate. We want them to know Jesus, and we want to give them a chance to experience this wonderful relationship with God. And we know that by inviting them to church, we hope we will provide them with an opportunity to know Him. Yes, we have good intentions, but the problem is, for people who don’t know Jesus and don’t want to know Him, “church” doesn’t sound appealing to them. Why would they go to a place where they feel like an outsider?

Arts is not only beautiful but it creates a relaxing atmosphere to have meaningful conversations.

Over the years of inviting people to church, one thing I understand is a misconception of what the church is. The church is not the place of worship but a people who worship God. If we know this, then we will ask the question differently. Instead of asking, “How can I bring people to church?” it will be more like, “How can I bring the church to the people?”

A vast difference, isn’t it?

We enjoy bonding together with food. Haha!

We will now know that worship is not just a 30 minutes program of singing Christian songs with a live band, but a 24/7 lifestyle of devotion to God. The proclamation of the Word of God is not just done by pastors and small group leaders only but by every believer who loves the word of God. Hearing the Word of God is not only once a week, but every day and everywhere. And the Christianese word “service” happens every day not just for Christians but for everyone around us. If the world sees this, they will be curious about Jesus that we love so much.

If we understand that the church is the people, then bringing others to know Jesus is not just an individual effort but a community effort. If we learn how to bring the church to the people and not bringing them to a gathering on the weekend, then maybe they will like what we do, and they would want to gather with us and enjoy church.

I can’t wait for this pandemic to end, but now, let’s start looking for ways to bring the church to our family, friends, and community.

 

Current mood: Super hot

She is Home

Today I went to the immigration office to get my working visa. Visa is something that we missionaries are praying for every time we would go to the field. I should be happy, but today I had mix emotions. I woke up today with the news that my dear friend and also a missionary, ate Emma received her permanent residency in heaven this morning. I’m struggling right now on how to write this. I feel like words can’t express how amazing she is. Though I planned to write her an open letter, but what for? I already told her what I wanted to say the last time we saw each other. I know she is not my audience. I wrote this for you, for you to know her and understand how special she is to this world.

When I was new in the field the first time I went back home, I had this deep sadness in my heart. I had high expectations of myself that I wasn’t able to meet, and it devastated me. I was in the cafeteria of our office, and she sat with me, and we had a good talk. I told her everything I felt and every sadness I bore. And this is what she said,

“You are who you are, and you are the only person who can do what you can do in the field by the grace and power God has given you.” – Emma

I will never forget those words, and I will always remember how awesome it felt to hear those words of wisdom from her. She reminded me of my strengths, and if I am weak at some points, God will provide help for that. She knows her weaknesses, too, and she is never ashamed of it. Then she told me many funny stories that happened to her in the field, and we ended up laughing.

Israel team’s strategic planning and strengths finder session last 2016.

She is a strong woman. Years before cancer came into her system, she is already struggling with personal things in her life. But she stayed strong and faithful. 

Then cancer came. I may not know the fullest story, but from what ate Emma told us, there were moments where she thought she would instantly die because she felt so weak, and the pain was so intense. When other Christians would turn their back away from God when they would choose to run away from Him, especially when problems, discomfort caused by pain, and loss happens. Ate Emma, on the other hand, would run towards God for she knows in His presence is comfort and peace. Though she may not understand the reason for all this and why her, she kept her faith. She chose to believe.

Ate Emma, beautiful inside and out.

She told us over and over again, “I want to go back to the field. I want to tell them my story. I want to tell them how good God is in my life.” We prayed for her and stood with her; by faith, this too shall pass. And it did, it’s over and today marks the beginning of her eternity with Jesus.

Thank you, Lord, for ate Emma’s life. Thank you for lending this world with such an amazing woman. I know you are proud of her. Thank you for taking away her pains and wiping off her tears. Thank you for the faith that you gave her. It has all taught us a great lesson not to give up and fight to the end.

The artwork I did for ate Emma where she is at peace and free from pain.

 

  current mood: Mourning

Open Up

Photo credits: Daniel Frank from unsplash.com

Every time we would fly back to the Philippines I would have to visit our dentist. This time Fosty and I had an appointment for cleaning and to check if there are some cavities that need to be cleaned and filled. As I sat on the chair and the dentist told me to open up, I stared at the ceiling and thought about the wonders of our teeth.

Photo credit: Dan Cook unsplash.com

I bet most of you already know that our teeth are the only part of the skeletal system that is exposed, but they are not considered as bones, said in this article. Also, there is this thing called enamel that covers the crown of our teeth that make our teeth one of the strongest parts of our body (I’m not even mentioning about dentin). As strong as our teeth may seem, it can be destroyed by a sticky deposit on teeth in which bacteria proliferate. And this, my friends, is what we call plaque. Plaque can develop when we ignore our teeth; when we don’t brush regularly when we don’t floss, and when we don’t visit our dentist for a cleaning and check-ups. I had some sessions of root canal procedures so I know what I am talking about.

 

The same thing with us, we have a soul and our soul needs to be taken cared of. When we ignore the hurts that we experienced, yes we can forget about them but, like cavities, it sticks to our souls and destroys it slowly. Like going to the dentist we also have a way to have our souls check and be healed, and that is by opening up. The first stage of healing is actually allowing ourselves to be vulnerable, but not to everyone of course. We can open up to God first, then our families, if not then our closest friends whom you know will not betray you. Also, if you have something that you think needs professional attention please seek the help of your local pastors, a counselor, or a psychiatrist. The more you hide your problems and try to solve it yourself, taking control of the situation and showing everybody that you got all things figured out the more it’ll take time for you to heal.

As strong as our teeth may seem it cannot heal on its own, and no matter how resilient your soul maybe it cannot heal by itself. So open up, seek help, and help your soul.

Also, please visit your dentist at least twice a year.

 

  Current mood: Sneaky

New Season

Artwork by yours truly. If you want to use this for personal consumption or for some other reasons please let me know. Sharing is caring.

I have not been blogging lately. Not that I stopped writing but more like I started writing only for myself more. I concentrated more on writing personal journals than broadcasting to the world what I’ve learned and reflected upon. Blogging has played a huge part in my single life and I put it aside after I got married. For the reason that I have someone to listen to my brain farts and ideas that I don’t find the need to blog anymore, but it has to change.

A month ago, my husband has been ordained as a pastor, that means . . .

I am a pastor’s wife. O_O’

People ask me what do I feel about it, and for some, they tease me and tell me something like, “Hello, Mrs. Pastor’s wife!” Not that I don’t like it, it’s just that things are still the same. I am the same girl that people know, I still have the same calling, the same job, and the same love for what God have for us. But I have to admit things will be quite different now. My husband has taken on a role that requires us to be in a very humble position. First, we don’t know how to do this, and we always seek God’s wisdom and heart for us and His people. And second, we are here to serve and not to be served. It will also not free us from the prying eyes of the public. People with good intentions, or not, will judge us according to their standards. Which means I should be careful concerning what I will post online. On the flip side, I have a platform to influence my generation and the next through social media and therefore I should write more.

What to look forward to my next blog entries? More learnings about life, more stories about me and my husband, and more revelation about God’s goodness. What about you, what do you want me to feature in my blog? Let me know in the comments section below. I would love to interact with you.

 

  Current mood: let’s go back to writing, beybeh!

From my sour bowl of cereals

I am my husband’s official cupbearer. How I got that title was when we drank a bowl of stale milk while eating our cereals. I knew for sure there was something wrong with the milk; he, on the other hand, didn’t notice any difference at all. After being convinced that the milk was stale he dubbed me as his official cupbearer, making sure he won’t drink any stale food or milk for that matter.

I’ve noticed, in this new season of my life, I need to upgrade my time studying the word of God. Like training my tongue to know whether the food is good or not, I need to train my myself to hear the voice of God through the scriptures. We are living in a generation that shoots information faster than the speed of light; we consume thousands of these

every.

single.

day.

Whether these pieces of information are good or bad we absorb them like a sponge. Exposing myself to the Word of God I can easily glean out things that will not be beneficial for me. Like a good cupbearer, it is my duty to know what information will poison my system.

It’s time for an upgrade!

 

  Current mood: UPGRADE!!!