to the second and third generation

the bible is constantly talking about how generations are affected by that actions of their forebearers. if the parents sin, then their children will feel the effects and continue in that sin. if the parents do something well, then that blessing will extend to their children.

on saturday, 30 july 2005, this generational principle will be proven true once again.

generation 1: in the late 1980s a group of young men and women underwent training to be pastors. a vast majority of those people are still in pastoral ministry today. one of those guys is my partner in ministry here in manila.

generation 2: for the past year or so we have been involved in training some of the second generation. each month we help shape their minds and ministries by showing them how to lead their churches to be agents of transformation in filipino society. these pastors have finished 9 of their required 15 courses. we are very excited to see them grow. god has blessed them by giving each of these a church with many potential leaders!

generation 3: on saturday, we will begin training generation three! a group of our students in cavite, philippines have decided to take our program to their followers. on saturday we will introduce this third generation to the basic foundations of the christian worldview. i am very excited to begin this new stage!

will you pray with me for this third generation?

you have to work twice as hard when it's honest

how much impact has your belief made on your life?

in the classic movie "gone in 60 seconds," sway (played by angelina
jolie), when asked why she has two jobs, says, "i found you have to work
twice as hard when it's honest."

that got me thinking this morning as i was taking the kids to school.
while on the jeepney i saw an advertisement from a local motel. motels
where we live are places to have sex. sometimes you bring your own
partner (rarely your spouse) and sometimes a partner is provided for
you. rooms are available by the hour. it is really a big issue here--our
area of quezon city has several such motels.

but the question arises, what if one of these motel owners becomes a
christian? how does that affect his business?

the advertisement i saw was for the kabayan hotel, which used to be a
typical motel. then the owner became a christian and realised that he
could no longer, in good conscience, maintain that type of business. he
realised he had two choices:

choice #1. sell the motel to someone else. in his way of thinking this
was not an option since the new owner would simply start up his/her own
version of the same kind of business and the sin would continue. the
problem would not be solved.

choice #2: transform that business into something that would positively
influence the local community. he decide to remarket the motel as a
place for families. couples are not allowed to check in together without
a valid marriage certificate. the top floors have been designated as
prayer floors, with little cubicles where one can stay and pray for as
long as they want.

how has that choice affected business? profits are way down. honesty
doesn't always reap financial rewards.

how has the choice affected the community? the impact on the community
is great. the hotel and its owner are being held up as an examples of
morality and integrity.

how much impact has your belief made on your life?

your pastor

have you ever thought about your pastor and what it has taken for him to be who he is? what makes him a good pastor?

his personality?
his training?
his love for god?
his love for you?

just what is it?

how much work did he have to do to get to be who his is today? some stuff is caught and some stuff is taught: how much of what makes him who he is is taught?

my own seminary training really prepared me well for life in the ministry.

i got a good biblical foundation,
i got a good theological foundation,
i got a good handle on who i am as a leader.

but most importantly, i learned how to think.

my job involves teaching pastors how to think so they can face the world and find solutions to its problems.

monkey world

i was watching "monkey world" on animal planet the other day and it had this couple who basically built a zoo for monkeys over the past 15 years. i wondered where they got their funding and realised that they found groups and individuals who shared their passion for monkeys! my passion is not monkeys (not by any stretch of the imagination!!!). my passion is training pastors. so i began to ask myself the following questions:

1. who has a passion for pastoral training and churchplanting? in the Philippines? in Canada? in the US?

2. what kinds of people are they? pastors? professors? schools?

3. are there businesses/ businessmen (ie. people with financial resources) who are into seeing pastors trained?

4. how can i partner with them here in south east asia so we can continue our pastoral training and churchplanting?

do you have the answers to my questions?

thoughts on god's plan

welcome to our blog.

for a while i have been thinking of way to effectively get out our thoughts on church life, missions, and life in south east asia as wel as encourage others to join us in our ministry here.

i came across this site from one of my former classmates' sites and since in enjoyed the stuff he had on his, i decided to give it a try. since i am new at this whole thing, please bear with me as i get the hang of this.

today i sit here as a single man--well actually a single man with 2 kids!! eva left me for 2 weeks to attend the wedding of mike and christine, two of our former youth group members in langley, bc. she will get back on 21 july.

in my job i have the opportunity to preach in a lot of different churches. just last sunday i had the chance to preach in one of our sister churches. during the service they had a special part where they talked about raising funds for a new building. as i listened to their dreams i began to think about the dream god has for us as christians. pleas understand that i am not being critical of what is happening today in churches -- i actually think they are doing a great job -- i am just coming to terms with my thoughts on what impact can i have on the world!

i began to realise that god is not primarily looking for us to establish a 1000-seat church that has so many members, etc ., etc., etc.

how does god describe what he is looking for on earth? a place of justice, no poverty, blessing, hope, joy, peace, etc., in society as a whole--not just among a small group of people!!

so what does that look like? how do you create a society with those attributes? i guess that is the $64,000 question! i think that it would be more like a movement than an organisation.

how does one start a movement like that? how do we get people to change their lives to conform to those ideals?

eva gave me some good advice the other day. she told me not to change the world in a day but to start the process and slowly build up until all of a sudden the world is changed. i guess i need to change the way i think and act and not worry too much about others--the way i drive, my attitude toward those who are around me.

o, of course, i need to pray :-)