Living Out Loud

I was inspired and amazed by a Praise Concert spearheaded by CFC Youth for Christ. It was called "Liveloud." It packed over 7,000 people in the Cuneta Astrodome. It featured original worship songs composed by the community members.  We were on our feet for almost two hours, singing, dancing, and worshipping God.  Even after the concert was over, people still wanted more and even lingered for a while in awe of God's greatness through the songs and sharing of young Christians. We were encouraged to boldly or loudly live out our faith and be on fire to bring others to God.

I am reflecting on the words "Live Loud."  For me it is a challenge of boldness in Christianity in today's age of materialism, apathy, and secularism.  One of those who are living loud in faith is a known Filipino American football player named Tim Tebow, wherein the term "Tebowing" was derived from his act of kneeling before God in the game.  He also wrote on his eyeblack area the verse John 3:16 where it gathered 90 million searches in Google that day he wore it.  Not to mention that he is one of the National Football League's best players today as a quarterback and he is using his influence and fame as a platform for evangelization.

Tebow is living his faith out loud. There are many who praise him for his religious boldness but many also criticize him for the same reason.

In Bishop Quevedo's talk in one of our teachings, he quoted a Vatican paper on New Evangelization about the "New Areopagus" or the "New Courtyard." The Sermon on the Areopagus was referred to the preaching that St. Paul did in Athens (Acts 17:16-34), wherein he gave his fullest speech as a missionary.  He talked boldly against idolatry and elaborated about the one Creator.  In today's modern age there are different  types of  Areopagus or Courtyards. These are the Areopagus of social communications, migration, economy, scientific and technological advancement, and the civil and political life.  Tebow definitely made an impact in the courtyard of social communications side through sports media.

We may not be a sports superstar like Tebow, but each of us have our own "Areopagus" as a venue to be a witness of God's greatness in our lives.  How are we using our influence to bring others closer to God?  What hinders us from Living Out Loud the faith that God wants us to spread in our workplaces and in our homes?  Let us go forth boldly. Let us remember that we evangelize because of the One who saves, Jesus Christ.

For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control (2 Tim 1:7).

One Year of Blogging

May 3, 2011


My blog is 1 year old today. I find great joy in writing for the Lord. Literary was never one of my strong suits, but the call to share God to others gave me the courage to write.

I was just trying to discover a way where I can do mission online. I wanted to reach whom I physically couldn't. I checked my stats for a year of blogging, and here's the result:


I had 9,100 visits from 5,226 unique visitors from 110 countries. These visitors viewed 16,254 pages of the blog.  Thank you God for using this simple tool on the internet to share your Word.

Blogging has taught me:

To Yield. Writing a reflection allows me to let go and yield to God's word.  Dictionary.com defines yield as to give up, as to superior power or authority. Through writing,  I am able to surrender to Him and overcome the human tendency to hold back, control, and be independent. With God, we can only yield for His power to manifest in our lives.

To be Bold. One of my weaknesses is to be hesitant for fear of judgment. But what I realized is that God gives us a spirit of boldness through His power and not a spirit of timidity. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).  And so I dare explore cyberspace, knowing there are millions of souls there seeking God in their lives. And if by being bold, I am able to bring one person to Christ, then it would have been all worth it.

To Reach out. The act of reaching out requires straining ourselves so that others may be victorious in Christ. Like a runner about to cross the finish line. Writing takes time and energy. Above the daily work loads, there seems to be no time to blog. But it is exactly why it is a form of service, because of the element of sacrifice. Reaching out also means to reach in to myself first (prayer and reflection) so I can reach out to others.

Thank you Lord for the giving me the grace to yield, to be bold, and to reach out. A year of blogging all for Your glory, all for Your Word.

A "Bald" Move

Friday last week, my 3 year old son, Sev, finally had his hair cut. He was having an irritation behind his ear due to his long hair. Now, he's bald or in the local dialect, "semi-kalbo." We were worried that Sev would cry after the haircut and feel bad that he's already bald. So I decided to also get a semi-kalbo haircut. You can say that I made a "bald move." After many bouts between Sev and the barber, the job was finally done. My son was surprised to also see me bald. He was laughing out loud upon knowing that both of us are already kalbo. He liked the new light feeling and I felt that me and my son achieved a new milestone in our bonding.

I am reminded of an old Christian song, "God With Us Emmanuel." It was one of the early Charismatic songs back in the 90's when i was still in Youth for Christ. The song goes, "He walked where I walked. He stood where I stand. He felt what I feel. He understands." I wanted my son to know that I understand the feeling of being bald, and we're going to be bald together. Whenever we feel pain, hurt, shame, suffering, and betrayal, we have a God who went through them all and more. Jesus shares with us our joys and most especially our sacrifices. He is not someone who just observes us from a distance. He is Emmanuel. He is God With Us.

If right now you feel hurt, alone, betrayed, or abandoned, just remember that all you have to do is to close your eyes and feel Christ inside you. He's there knocking upon your heart, waiting for you to invite Him in. He came down from heaven to earth to let us know that He understands and He will save us if we let Him. He made a bold move to show His love for us, now it's our turn to love Him back...boldly.

A Challenge To Be Initiators

Last Sunday we were very excited to hold the very 1st Holy Mass in our residence community. We didn't know how many would attend since the Mass' schedule was given in short notice. But to our surprise there were about 120 people who came. The hall was packed. My wife, Michelle, was one of the main organizers and I was part of the choir. I remember my wife talking to our priest months ago of the possibilities of having a mass in our area. She initiated it and soon things snowballed and resulted to the 1st Mass in our place. Every Sunday hereon, there will be mass for all our neighbors to attend and recieve God's graces.

Our challenge as Christians is to be initiators. During the time of Paul and Barnabas, the Good News was only spread to the Jews. But a group of believers initiated evangelization to the Gentiles. But other believers, who were from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and proclaimed the message to Gentiles also, telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus (Acts 11:20). This eventually led Barnabas to go to Antioch, then later Barnabas sought Paul and brought him there too. This led to the first official Christian community. It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26) .

How are we to respond to Christ's call to initiate in spreading the Good News? Therefore go and make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).

First, we are prompted by the Holy Spirit. There will be a strong sense inside us that urges us for the task. There is an internal pressure in our hearts that tells us to do what God prompts us. We pray about this and be led by His Spirit. My wife had a strong sense from the Spirit that gave her boldness and confidence to talk to the priest.

Second, we are not to stifle the Spirit by minding our lack of ability. Instead we are to submit to God inspite of our inadequacy. It is the Spirit that will move. We have to be vessels of His words. For the words you will speak willnot be yours; they come from the Spirit of your Father speaking through you (Matthew 10:20). I felt that I lacked the ability to start a choir, since I could only play the guitar and didn't have the experience of organizing singers. But a day before, the neighboring residence community's guitarists and singers agreed to my wife's invitation of singing and playing for us. Praise God. Now I'm trying to learn from them. We didn't say that we'd cancel Mass because we lacked the skills and talents. Indeed, if it is God's will, and we are available vessels, He will use us.

Third, we will do our best but it will be God who will make the work grow. The one who plants and the one who waters really do not matter. It is God who matters, because he makes the plant grow (1 Corinthians 3:7). What we can only do is to initiate and try our best to sustain it, but it is God who will stir the hearts of people. It is Him who will heal them. It is Christ who will be their salvation.

Is there something you ought to do for the Lord? What is hindering you to make the initiative to do His prompting? What steps will you make to make "Him" happen?

When We Are Persecuted

I was at Ancient Corinth. Yes, the place of the Corinthians of whom St. Paul addressed his letters. I was excited to see and walk in the environment where St. Paul lived and preached the Good News. In his first visit, he lived there for eighteen (18) months. And on his second visit, he stayed for three (3) months. In Corinth, Paul was accused by the Jews of persuading men to worship God contrary to the Law (Acts 18: 13). He was brought to the tribunal before the proconsul Gallio. But Gallio dismissed Paul of accusations by answering,"If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters. (Acts 18: 14-15)"

Like Paul, we go through persecutions as Christians. There will be times when people will wrongfully accuse us and smear on our name, for the sake of Christ. Paul encourages us: We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9). What then do we do when we are persecuted? Paul further exhorts in 1 Cor 16: 13-14, "Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love."

Being on your guard, in my reflection means that we do not loose our posture as Christians, even in light of persecution. We are to be on our guard of the tactics of the enemy, so we will not give in to his taunts. We have to be standing firm in the faith, keeping our convictions and principles strong. We are not to be easily swayed to turn our backs from our beliefs. Courage takes a major role in persecutions for courage is not the absence of fear but doing things in spite of fear. To be courageous is to be bold in doing what is right. Being strong requires us to have trained and to have practiced our faith to be able build in ourselves great inner strength. Especially in times of persecutions, our strength will be measured by our reactions and our sense of hope. Doing every act with love is the greater challenge, since we are called to love our enemies. If amidst persecution, love still surfaces above all, then we have truly grown close to the Lord.

Paul, despite being tried and almost sentenced in Corinth, still went for a second visit. Let us not stop if persecutions come our way. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him (Philippians 1: 29).

Cyberspace: The New Mission Area

"There are 8 million Filipinos using facebook." This was what I heard yesterday in Fr. Jayboy Gonzales' workshop on Social Media. It's amazing how the internet has become part of our lives already. Just one click and the whole world knows. I wonder how it was during the time of Christ, 2,000 years ago. No TV, no radio, no facebook, only pure word of mouth and scroll writing. Yet, His disciples were very passionate in spreading His word, to the point of Christianizing Rome. I think with that kind of drive and with today's technology, more and more people will come to know Christ. I also heard in the workshop that the Pope said that "the new mission area of the Church is cyberspace." To reach out to people for them to know Christ through the internet, I believe we need to possess these qualities:

Humility
It takes a lot of dying to ourselves when we write about God. He is to be glorified. With this comes the humility to write about Him through our lives. The temptation of 'false humility' will set in once we try to testify. Thoughts like, "I'm not good enough to write" or "I have nothing much to say." This might lead us to be suppressed in sharing the goodness of God in our lives.

Boldness
We cannot be selfish of God's message for us. Good news is to be spread, not only to be kept in our journals and stacked in our cabinets. We need to be bold and share so more people may know Christ.

Diligence
This is the hard part. To be consistent. It is really a challenge to regularly write online. Apart from writing, we have a lot to do in our day's work. But I believe diligence has its benefits. By writing consistently we become more attuned to God because we are brought into a situation to seek Him. We come to ask "Lord, what shall I write today?" Diligence leads us to surrender before God and let Him take over our writing.

Millions of people are out there floating in cyberspace, needing to hear about God. Let us reach out and share our lives to glorify Him. And then he told them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. Mark 16:15"