26 August, 2009

35 SIGNIFICANT PEOPLE IN MY 35 YEARS

" I thank my God every time I remember you." Philippians 1:3

1. Papa – for always being proud of me, for supporting and loving me in spite of my shortcomings; for providing in the family all these years; for the many times you have given me a ride even if I was already a grown up; for your non-stop provision and help…….. THANK YOU!
2. Mama – for the many dishes you’ve prepared, clothes you’ve ironed and washed for me; I am a very good cook because of you and popsy; for understanding and being patient, for loving and taking good care of me even as a grown up……….. THANK YOU!
3. Eden (my sister) – for doing all my errands and taking good care of our household especially mama and papa…………. THANK YOU!
4. Bong (my brother) – for working hard to help our family, for giving in to my massage request whenever I need it; for the many times you picked me up and sent me to take a cab for work………. THANK YOU!
5. Tito Buboy – for believing in me and for helping my father send me to college by paying a huge amount of my tuition fee. I wouldn’t be where I am now if you didn’t believe that I can do it.; for inspiring and exposing me to music, maybe you didn’t realize but I did listen to all the tapes you brought from Saudi from classic to reggae, pinoy rock etc. I just love then all!!!! THANK YOU!
6. Ate Rose(wife of Tito Buboy) – for your support to Tito and for not stopping him to pay for my tuition; for praying for me and sharing your heart with me; for always watching the plays that I direct; for helping me come to Singapore; for always having nice words to say about people, about me…………….. THANK YOU!
7. Teacher Pow – for being my accountability partner for the longest time; for the ears that listen each time; for all the prayers and friendship; for the laughter and tears, teach, you have been wonderful! J THANK YOU!
8. Pastor Eddie – for the many preaching and learning you’ve shared; for helping me developed such a strong foundation of my faith; for being a friend and a pastor; for telling me that I am a wonderful lady and that a wonderful lady will never lose admirers……………. THANK YOU!
9. Ma’am Cindy – for the many inspirational talk you’ve shared and home cooked recipes you taught me; for being a good example of how a wife, a mom and a pastor’s wife should be and for showing me how a woman of God is like by being you………… THANK YOU!
10. Pastor Lance – for showing me a good example of what “self-control” is and “being angry without sinning”; for being a friend, for all the laughter and wonderful memories of missions trip and other ministry work; for believing and saying yes to a ACTS Theatre Ministry years ago; and for always getting better and better as a pastor, a minister, a husband, a father and a friend to me and the rest around you………. THANK YOU!
11. Melanie – for inspiring me to laugh each time; for making me feel special – you bake for me, you buy me flowers when there’s a play, you greet me on my birthday, you chat with me whenever I am around, you share recipes with me etc; for always remembering me even if I am far away…….. THANK YOU!
12. Fiona – for being such a wonderful person inside and out; for being such an inspiration and a good example of how a daughter of God should live; for always striving for EXCELLENCE! For attending and shepherding ACTS; for always saying yes to most of the projects/assignments I asked you to do; for teaching me how to say no when you really don’t have the time; for listening to all of my stories whether interesting or not; for believing that I can still counsel you even if I am far away; for being a very good friend in spite of the distance; for praying and loving me………THANK YOU!
13. Lain – for all the stories we’ve shared; all the places we’ve been to; for all the happy and crying times, for all the ministry work and challenges we have experienced together; for taking care of ACTS; for not giving up or losing hope; for always encouraging, praying, supporting and loving me………. THANK YOU!
14. Albert – for teaching me what “FAITH” really is and that “God is never late yet never too early”; for inspiring me and for doing such an excellent job in school, church and your family; for all the good and bad times we have shared and still I never heard you complain, not even once; for being a great leader and an example to the youth….. THANK YOU!
15. Erwin – for being so hard-working; for being courageous enough to take charge of ACTS; for all the wonderful memories you have shared with me whether personal or ministry related; for always believing in me as your director; for not being afraid to try new things; for your humility and willingness to learn; for being a great leader, preacher, actor, trainer and a friend…… THANK YOU!
16. Weng – for 20 years of friendship! Gosh, words are not enough to express what we have been through as friends, but in spite of all the ups and downs, we are still together! For all the secrets we’ve shared, ministry work, travel and missions trips, for all the musicals and projects we’ve made; for the many wonderful memories and still counting…… THANK YOU!
17. Angelo – for being such an inspiration and for proving that God can truly change lives and that with Him nothing is impossible; for the years of friendship; for praying and loving me…… THANK YOU!
18. Jennie – for always spending time with me; for all the love, prayers and support; for always reminding me to save; for just simply being a friend, a wonderful mom, a minister and a pastor’s wife; for always changing for the better especially from the time you married Jeff; for not tolerating wrong doings; for the years of friendship……….. THANK YOU!
19. Jeff – for being excellent in all that you do; for showing humility, perseverance, hard-work and for loving and obeying God; for all the years of friendship we have shared from Voices of Glory Quarter (since high school) to SUMAYA, Sunday School, Choir, Drama,(I can still vividly remember you saying “good news, good news, Christ died for me! Hahahaha) Breaking Point etc; for being a great leader, a pastor, a trainer, a minister, a father, a husband, a friend……… THANK YOU!
20. Tonie – for the trust, respect, support, prayers; for all the laughter, and joy; for all the plays we have made, arts festival and missions trip we have facilitated; for all the places we’ve been to; for the ears that listen; for always being the first one to see me each time I go back home; for all the love in spite of knowing all my weaknesses………THANK YOU!
21. Alvin – for being such a good buddy; for always making me laugh; for inspiring the youth; for being such a powerful and energetic preacher with very high sense of humor; for assisting with ACTS, for always spending time with me over a cup of coffee; for all the wonderful memories in the ministry; for the years of friendship……….. THANK YOU!
22. Theodore – for the endless inspiration of making music for the Lord; for training the youth without expecting anything in return; for your servant heart and humility; for never failing to inspire me with your songs…….. THANK YOU!
23. Chie – for simply loving and believing in me; for always spending time; for not giving up and for the inspiration of forgiveness and undying love; for your friendship so sweet and true……….. THANK YOU!
24. Digi – for being “strong” in the Lord; for not giving up nor losing hope; for staying focus on HIM; for learning how to stand up after a great fall; for always believing in me and ACTS; for the love and friendship………THANK YOU!
25. Ice – for the countless times you made me cry, you taught me mercy, patience, love, understanding and grace. Hahaha, But in spite of all the hurt, our friendship remained strong; for always believing that there is hope in God and that prayers can move mountains, for the brother-sister friendship that we share for the longest time…… THANK YOU!
26. Joy – for all the ministry time we have shared; for always saying yes to Arts Festival, missions trip and other ministry work with me; for inspiring a lot of youth each time you dance for the Lord; for being such a good listener, for trusting and believing in my abilities; for always wanting to attend my lectures; for your eagerness to learn and humility as a servant of God; for being a very good friend…….. THANK YOU!
27. Sephii – for consistently doing production stuff with me; for always making yourself available for meetings and ministry work; for not being afraid to share your heart with me even if you are a man; for not giving up on love; for saying yes to Jesus and obeying Him when He called you to preach; for your prayers and friendship…….. THANK YOU!
28. Rizza – for all wonderful memories we shared together; for the love and respect in spite of the pain; for surviving the times of trials, for always assuring me that I will be proud when you get married; for all the wonderful ministry time together and years of friendship…… THANK YOU!
29. Beng – for all the time you shared with me since way back “theatre time” (won’t mention the theatre’s name anymore, you know what a nightmare that was! Hehehe); for all the help you gave when I was new here in Singapore and even up to now; for all the cooking, cleaning, singing, laughing and crying sessions we had; for the travels, ministry works, outings, events that we were together; for richer or for poorer we were together!J For the years of friendship and still counting……… THANK YOU!
30. Jade – for teaching me how to save which I still couldn’t get up to now, I really am a bad student in terms of finances; for being a good example of discipline, hard-work and perseverance; for always being excited when I cook; for laughing at my jokes; for giving me company when I travel; for all the love, support, prayers and friendship……. THANK YOU!
31. Teacher Dolly – for being such a great example of how a wonderful teacher should be; for giving and sharing with me kitchen tips; for dreaming of starting a school with me; for being such a great mom and a wife; for always spending time with me; for the many times we went out and you brought me home; for the love, prayers and support……THANK YOU!
32. Doc John – for all the discipline and inspiration in establishing a Christian Theatre Ministry; for the very first missions exposure and stage performance you have given me; for believing that I can do it…………. THANK YOU!
33. Teacher Super – for all inspiration you gave on how to handle arts for kids; for teaching me to love them unconditionally; for sharing ideas on arts and craft, directing kids and for helping me understand on the importance of praying over your students and lifting them up in the Lord; for the unforgettable “tacos moments” we had with all the PVIS teachers while were doing our bible studies………. THANK YOU!
34. Teacher Tetes – for giving me the chance to work with you; for the inspiration of being a great teacher and employer; with you I can say that, “All things I needed to learn in pre-school teaching and discipline, I learned it all in PVIS!”……… THANK YOU!
35. Teacher Salve – for believing that I am one of the best pre-school teachers in the world; for trusting that I can really help you run your school (Ingenium) before; for bringing me to Davao and asking me to train all the primary school teachers of Ateneo de Davao in Fingermath which pave way for me to ride an airplane for the first time and since then it never stopped; for letting me go when I needed to move on with my career bringing me to where I am now……. THANK YOU!

15 August, 2009

EMOTIONAL PURITY

gave this lecture to ACTS last July..... read on.......
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Matthew 5:8

I. Emotional Intimacy – a close, private relationship that would invoke strong feelings, passions, and the senses.

Emotional Intimacy will bring about physical intimacy. It is the kind of closeness and familiarity that stirs feelings and senses that promote a bond, a union that God reserves for the marriage relationship.
“Marriage is to be held in honor among all” (Hebrews 13:4a)

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[
b] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[c] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:22-32

COMMITMENT produces intimate relationships, in that God-given order.

We must re-sensitize ourselves to the importance of guarding our hearts from the “just friends” battle wounds.

Heart check: How is your level of intimacy with the Lord?

II. Emotional Purity – is when you prevent yourself from sharing your heart and your deep emotional feelings to members of the opposite sex.
(Compare dating 100 years ago to this new generation – not much emotion involved!)
- define or clear out intentions
- do not “over-share” especially to someone of the opposite sex (“emotional strip tease” is very common during camp and bible studies/small groups)
-do not spend one-on-one time with members of the opposite sex alone

When you experience intimacy without commitment you are playing with the heart of a fellow brother or sister in Christ and will violate emotional purity.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16

III. Defrauding – means to have more, or to gain or take advantage of another, to overreach; to swindle, to cheat.
You defraud people when you use them, or cheat them of something they need to save for someone else; teasing them with what they couldn’t have; playing with the emotions or expectations of someone in which you do not expect to righteously satisfy.

3It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. I Thessalonians 4:3-6

A man’s tender attention and smooth words can steal a girl’s heart. However, the young girl in Song of Solomon requests repeatedly not to arouse or awake her love until she pleases.
Men, when you treat a young lady as “special” you may be whetting her appetite for marriage. And if you tell a woman that you are just friends yet your behaviour treats her more than a friendship, she will believe your behaviour rather than your words!

We all understand the beauty of saving our physical bodies for our mates. How much more wonderful if we saved our emotions as well?


When one avoids defrauding, blessings will follow.


IV. Commitment equals protection
18This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. 19Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. Matthew 1:18, 19

Without a solid commitment in a relationship, the walls around the heart are not protected. Commitment equals protection. When a man and a woman become emotionally and spiritually intimate without commitment, one of the two things will happen: they will marry or they will break up. God the protector asks us to “guard our hearts for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23)
Guarding your heart will require you to discern when to share and when to hold back.

V. The Prize of Life
The prize of life is a relationship with our Creator. To look to anything else to fill that gap will not bring about satisfaction. God designed marriage but He designed us to be complete when we are with Him. Marriage is not the answer to eternal bliss. To give it that much credit is taking away credit from the Creator. Marriage is a blessing, not THE BLESSING! A deeper walk with the Lord is not to be brought about by marriage alone, but by reading His Word, talking to Him, obeying Him and giving Him praise, glory and honor.

VI. God’s Plan for your single years
32I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. 33But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— 34and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. 35I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. 1 Cor. 7:32 -35

Why do so many unmarried people have a hard time facing their singleness head on? Mainly because many singles keep themselves wrapped up in activities that do not foster a love relationship with Christ. They do things they want to do (selfishness), without counting the cost paid. They live in the here and now, without a thought of the future. This focus on self permeates this life stage and in many people the years of being single become a wasteland of me, myself, and I, with little concern of serving and enjoying God.

Jesus was in His thirties and not married. He knew God’s will clearly. He was secure in His position with the Father and His purpose was apparent. Therefore, He kept His undivided attention on the Father.

"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Luke 2:49

Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 4:34

I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. John 17:4

When singles keep their attention and energy focused on themselves and not on a love relationship with God, they miss out on many activities that would bring about deep satisfaction ENJOYING AND SERVING THE CREATOR SHOULD BE OUR NUMBER ONE GOAL, and this period in our life allows for 100 percent attention on GOD

This undivided attention to the Lord is the point of single life!

CONTENTMENT is not the “gift” of celibacy, nor it is the magic key that gives God a go ahead to send a spouse your way. Being content does not mean giving up hope.

What you do need to do to make sure you align with God’s Plan in your single life?

I Continue to seek Him with all you have
“dying to what you want and replacing it with what God wants”

II Make sure that you are serving God.
When you are seeking Him first He can do awesome things and open doors of ministry you thought were impossible.

III Make yourself emotionally UNAVAILABLE to the opposite sex.
If you saw God as your mate, how jealous would He be over you?

When we pray from the selfishness of our hearts for a mate, it can be compared to going to your spouse and asking for money for a prostitute because your spouse is not satisfying you. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures James 4:3

IV Ask God to enrol you in His “Wife or Husband Training Program.”
The Holy Spirit is our teacher, and if you know deep in your heart that your desire to be married is from the Lord, then asks Him to prepare you.


Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

COMMITMENT:

“For better days or for worse days, I accept what God has for me as a single person. He will not keep me unmarried a day longer than He plans. I will save my emotions for God’s plan and I will forgo the games singles play!”

MARRY SOMEONE WHO IS CONTENT WITH THE LORD ALONE!

Made this lecture from the book, Emotional Purity of Heather Arnel Paulsen July 2009

06 August, 2009

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried:
Quietly, patiently, lovingly God replied.
I plead and I wept for a clue to my fate,
And the Master so gently said,
“Child, you must wait.”

“Wait? You say, wait!” my indignant reply.
“Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have You not heart?
By faith, I have asked, and am claiming Your Word.”

My future and all to which I can relate
Hangs in a balance, and YOU tell me to WAIT?
I’m needing a “YES”, a go-ahead sign,
Or even a “No” to which I can resign.

And Lord, You promised that if we believe
We need but to ask, and we shall receive
And Lord, I’ve been asking, and this is my cry:
“I’m weary of asking! I need a reply!”

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate
As my Master replied once again, “You must wait.”
So, I slumped in my chair, defeated and taught
And grumbled to God, “So, I’m waiting…… for what?”

He seemed, then, to kneel
And His eyes wept with mine,
And He tenderly said, “I could give you a sign.”
I could shake the heavens, and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead, and cause mountains to run.

All you seek, I could give, and pleased you would be.
You would have what you want –
But you wouldn’t know Me.
You’d not know the depth of My love for each saint;
You’d not know the power I give to the faint;

You’d not learn to see through the clouds of despair;
You’d not learn to trust just by knowing I’m there;
You’d not know the joy of resting in Me;
When darkness and silence were all you could see.

You’d never experience that fullness of love
As the peace of my Spirit descends like a dove;
You’d know that I give and I save, for a start,
But you’d not know the depth of the beat of My heart.
The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without a sight,
The depth that’s beyond getting just what you asked
Of an infinite God, who makes what you have last.

You’d never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that, “My grace is sufficient for thee.”
Yes, your dreams for your loved one
Overnight would come true,

But, Oh, the Loss! If I lost what I’m doing in you!

So, be silent, My child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to get to know Me.
And though oft’ may My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still, “Wait.”


From the book,
Emotional Purity of Heather Arnel Paulsen