Recommended Friday Reading: Stuff Christians Like

Well, the days have been going by in a blur here in the office --- get in, do work, get out --- so me thinks I'm running an automated-by-miracle-efficient process here. Yip-yey.

Was going through the archives of my favorite blogs and would like to direct you to some of my faves on Stuff Christians Like:

#333 Mayer Christianity

Okay, so it may be the first time I declare it, but I do. I love John Mayer. I have laughed to his songs and jokes in his concert CDs. I've had cry-fests while listening to his lyrics. I have done QTs to his songs (not to worry, Your Body is a Wonderland was never in that playlist). So for SCL to take him up? AWESOME AND FUNNY STUFF! See if you get the quiz all perfect.

#361 Taking God Seriously

I can seriously relate to this post. It has taken me a while to get around to, as Jon writes, "Seeing Him as someone that cares about the little things that no one else notices or as someone that collects my tears in a jar as Psalms..." So read it. And I do look forward to the day I can waterslide into His courts. Whee!

#376 Falling in Love on a Missions Trip

This I put in for DCFers although I know Kuya Butch has already forwarded it earlier in the day to DCFers. Makes for some good laughs especially if you have been to a missions trip (I haven't) and have fallen in love or seen one of your mission-mates (wow, buzz word) fall in love.

Happy, hearty weekend to you all.

In much fear and trembling

So I’ve been asked to talk at a fellowship. About sin. I spent a good part of the weekend just drowning in all of these verses in the Bible that talk about sin until thankfully Tatay Butch lent me his NBD and I had some direction. I spent the good part of yesterday’s holiday in doing first my own personal study on sin and I covered little over four pages of my bond paper sized notebook with notes.

It was a tremendous experience for me, something like finding the exact word to describe a crazy emotion or experience. The Bible being the story of redemption that it is, deals extensively with sin. I even learned there’s an entire “branch” of theology dealing with sin, Hamartiology. It is a very sobering, very heavy topic to grapple with. But God helped me a lot. I don't think you can go through a study like this and not look at yourself and how broken and unable I am to do anything good in God's eyes or how I am unworthy His love. I was sitting there in the Coffee Bean in Ortigas park. I watched the sky go from blue to rose tints to black after my study. And I began singing Amazing Grace. For it is amazing how God has chosen to rescue us out of our darkness; how Christ chose to step into the dark and hideous alley that is our world only to die to fulfill the demand of a holy God that we could never meet.

I have a bulky outline for tomorrow’s fellowship. I also know that public speaking is not a strength of mine. But I have prayed hard, studied hard and I will be myself tomorrow. That and a lot of Um's and Uh's. Bahala na si God. He seems fully capable of taken the bad stuff and turning it into something good.