When Obama changed his view on same-sex marriage, it shook America. The homosexual community let out a whoop of joy while the church was chagrined. Well, the issue is not limited in that area but throughout the world.
Homosexuals are everywhere. They are designers..they are stars..they are influential..and they are fighting for their rights. Just turn on the TV and you have Vice Ganda or John Lapus. There's Ogie Diaz, there's Aiza Seguerra..there are other celebrities that are rumored to be homosexuals and some showing signs of being one. They are your neighbors, classmates, office mates and even friends.
And we just do not know how to deal with them. That's true for the church in particular. The church says homosexual lifestyle is an abomination before God since when He created humans, He made two genders, male and female and nothing in between. There was no half-male nor half-female. And the Bible writes that "God knows us even when we were in the innermost part of our mother's womb". So, when God planted us in our mother's uterus, He has already determined our genders.The church points those facts out and they are true.
But honestly, this only adds up to the dilemma. Personally I believe the teachings the church lays out but I also have homosexual friends. They are humans, too. I cannot just shun these friends away. It's hard, really hard.
To the church, how will we win these people when all they get from us are hate messages and harsh judgements? But if the church also let's them in, it seems like showing tolerance to wrongdoings, a compromise, something the church cannot take on.
(sigh) What is there to do?
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
the call to be child-like
i wonder why GOD is calling us to be child-like. many ministers have preached about it, explained it but i find their words wanting. i may just be a perfectionist (and preachers are only human!) but my heart is searching for something from this call.
but looking at my kids now, i, at times, see why GOD wants us to be CHILD-LIKE.
maybe GOD wants us to have these characteristics that we once possessed but has lost when we decided to "grow up".
BOUNDLESS ENERGY - even on very sick days, i could not keep jazzer and jahzeel from playing and running around! i had a hard time keeping my little girl in the hospital at bay recently.
GOD wants us to possess that boundless energy, too! this is the only life we will ever live on this earth and when death comes, there are no second chances so this may sound cliquish but i might as well as say it, LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST.
HONESTY - children are just down right honest - no pretense and back-biting. if they like you, they show it. if they don't, they show it. if they want something, they'll ask you over and over until you give it to them just to make them stop (that's called persistence). if they don't want something but you give it to them, they'll most likely throw a tantrum and throw that thing away (my kids does this all the time, it's annoying but i get their feelings ",)
in a world that's so wrapped-up with pretensions and "plasticity" this is a welcome attitude - just be honestly honest to the people around you. An honest criticism is better than false praise.
EXPRESSIVE - kids are very expressive and are never afraid to show what they feel. we on the other hand keep our emotions locked up! GOD knows that emotional denials and repressiveness is detrimental to our health so HE tells us, be like a child.
TEACHABLE - children's minds are like dry sponge who will seep water quickly if given the chance. i for one love to teach kids because they are easy to talk to and catch up easily on what is being said. there's an unexplainable joy when i see my students practice what i teach and i feel fulfilled when i hear my two kids pray or say that GOD healed them and see them give willingly for church as these are the things that i want to impart to them and their actions tell me my toils were not in vain.
nevertheless, i cannot speak the same for us in our relationship with GOD as our heavenly father. HE wants us to learn so many things...we are just unteachable. we go about our bull-headed ways that the only thing that will jolt us back to the thought that we have a heavenly father is a trial, a problem, a suffering. think about it.
TRUSTING - kids do not have worries, have you noticed that? they do things when they want to and ask for things without worrying where these will come from. they trust their parents to provide for their needs. have we done that with GOD? i for one is a "fretter". i pray but still i can't stop myself from fretting over that problem! FAITH is a big thing for GOD. it plays a vital role in our christian life. that is why GOD is asking us to mirror the child's trusting nature.
LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDS - children do that. they don't hold grudges so they have no enemies. they show love in the most possible ways. my children would cuddle next to me even after reprimanded. they don't keep track of wrongdoings but they never forget a promise made to them. what a better world we will have if we will learn to love like children! and the same, GOD wants us to love Him like little children does.
this list could go on and on! but i hope these few mentioned traits will encourage us to be more CHILD-LIKE in our FAITH in connection to our relationship with GOD.
blessed dawn, everyone!
but looking at my kids now, i, at times, see why GOD wants us to be CHILD-LIKE.
maybe GOD wants us to have these characteristics that we once possessed but has lost when we decided to "grow up".
BOUNDLESS ENERGY - even on very sick days, i could not keep jazzer and jahzeel from playing and running around! i had a hard time keeping my little girl in the hospital at bay recently.
GOD wants us to possess that boundless energy, too! this is the only life we will ever live on this earth and when death comes, there are no second chances so this may sound cliquish but i might as well as say it, LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST.
HONESTY - children are just down right honest - no pretense and back-biting. if they like you, they show it. if they don't, they show it. if they want something, they'll ask you over and over until you give it to them just to make them stop (that's called persistence). if they don't want something but you give it to them, they'll most likely throw a tantrum and throw that thing away (my kids does this all the time, it's annoying but i get their feelings ",)
in a world that's so wrapped-up with pretensions and "plasticity" this is a welcome attitude - just be honestly honest to the people around you. An honest criticism is better than false praise.
EXPRESSIVE - kids are very expressive and are never afraid to show what they feel. we on the other hand keep our emotions locked up! GOD knows that emotional denials and repressiveness is detrimental to our health so HE tells us, be like a child.
TEACHABLE - children's minds are like dry sponge who will seep water quickly if given the chance. i for one love to teach kids because they are easy to talk to and catch up easily on what is being said. there's an unexplainable joy when i see my students practice what i teach and i feel fulfilled when i hear my two kids pray or say that GOD healed them and see them give willingly for church as these are the things that i want to impart to them and their actions tell me my toils were not in vain.
nevertheless, i cannot speak the same for us in our relationship with GOD as our heavenly father. HE wants us to learn so many things...we are just unteachable. we go about our bull-headed ways that the only thing that will jolt us back to the thought that we have a heavenly father is a trial, a problem, a suffering. think about it.
TRUSTING - kids do not have worries, have you noticed that? they do things when they want to and ask for things without worrying where these will come from. they trust their parents to provide for their needs. have we done that with GOD? i for one is a "fretter". i pray but still i can't stop myself from fretting over that problem! FAITH is a big thing for GOD. it plays a vital role in our christian life. that is why GOD is asking us to mirror the child's trusting nature.
LOVE WITHOUT BOUNDS - children do that. they don't hold grudges so they have no enemies. they show love in the most possible ways. my children would cuddle next to me even after reprimanded. they don't keep track of wrongdoings but they never forget a promise made to them. what a better world we will have if we will learn to love like children! and the same, GOD wants us to love Him like little children does.
this list could go on and on! but i hope these few mentioned traits will encourage us to be more CHILD-LIKE in our FAITH in connection to our relationship with GOD.
blessed dawn, everyone!
Monday, January 23, 2012
saw my aunt's pictures in facebook yesterday. how time flies. she seemed so alive, smiling her usual sunny smile. but she's already gone, nine months ago.
our lives are short like the dash on a tomb's epitaph, one author wrote. that's right. so many of us think that we are the captain of our own ships. we don't even know when our Creator will demand back the breath he gave us, we can't even control the time when we will leave this world...so much for being the owners of ourselves.
our lives are short like the dash on a tomb's epitaph, one author wrote. that's right. so many of us think that we are the captain of our own ships. we don't even know when our Creator will demand back the breath he gave us, we can't even control the time when we will leave this world...so much for being the owners of ourselves.
I am about to cry. I just want to give up. Why is it so hard pleasing these people? maybe because they want their money's worth. i never thought working will bw this hard, would be this demanding, would be this discouraging. i am tired. and only after a few weeks work.
i don't have a fixed employer yet. Lord, please help me find the right job, where i can grow and do what i like.
i don't have a fixed employer yet. Lord, please help me find the right job, where i can grow and do what i like.
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