Christmas quote

Here’s something I read today, an excerpt from one of Dietrich Boenhoffer’s Christmas sermons, a prayer which I found to be memorable:

“Lord Jesus, come yourself, and dwell with us, be human as we are, and overcome what overwhelms us. Come into the midst of my evil, come close to my unfaithfulness. Share my sin, which I hate and which I cannot leave. Be my brother, Thou Holy God. Be my brother in the kingdom of evil and suffering and death. Come with me in my death, come with me in my suffering, come with me as I struggle with evil. And make me holy and pure, despite my sin and death.” Every day, despite its location on the calendar, a still, small voice answers our cry persuasively, “Behold. I stand at the door and knock.”

 

Welcome to Our Blog!

At last, we now have a blog for the YPs. Thanks a lot to Francis for setting up the account and starting the whole thing.

We hope this is a great way to communicate better and more regularly with our friends, whether in Cebu or elswhere in the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand, U.S., or Europe, as well as with online visitors who are just surfing around.

Who exactly is a Cebu Navs YP? Well, it’s any person who was or is involved in the Young Professionals affairs/ministry/activities of the Navigators in Cebu. Many are alumni from the college campus ministries in Visayas, Mindanao, and Luzon. Some are friends of these, or friends of friends.

Although there have always been young professionals among the Cebu Navigators ministry, about eight or nine years ago, the national leadership made it a point to focus on the graduates as they moved into the working life (something which we are thankful for). The first gatherings were hosted and nurtured by Ate Elvie, a bit later by Kuya Dan, and still later by Kuya Jack and Ate Miriam. Many of the early YPs are now working in places outside of the country, and we plan for this site to be a way to connect with them and with other Navs sites.

Today, those of us who are in Cebu strive to meet every week for Bible study, fellowship, board (“bored,” hehe) games, outings, hopefully outreach in the future, and other “one-anothering” activities. (See next post for the schedule for the next three months.) Recently we were also involved in helping to train students in two campuses to study scripture, lead or facilitate Bible studies, and in general learn to live a life where the Kingdom and the Gospel are day-to-day realities that we partake in—which is also the same vision we have for ourselves.

So to all YPs who are happy to have stumbled upon this site, welcome. We dedicate this to you, wherever you are. Feel free to participate, comment, post write-ups or photos. See you soon—online, if not personally. =)

Blessings!

“Let him who cannot be alone beware of community. . . . Let him who is not in community beware of being alone. . . . Each by itself has profound pitfalls and perils.  One who wants fellowship without solitude plunges into the void of words and feelings, and one who seeks solitude without fellowship perishes in the abyss of vanity, self-infatuation, and despair.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Sunday morning breakfasts

YPs at Mr. Coffee

 

YPs at Mandaue

BS at Edna and Amy’s place in Wireless, Mandaue.

Raquel, Tin-tin, Daisy, Kevin, Monique, Edna

Ging-ging, Amy, Ate Elvie, Danny

yp’s

yp’s

 

 

Book Study: Gift of Work by Bill Heatley

Now halfway into the book, we’re finding lots of great insights about work and faith. Here are some quotable quotes:

– There is no work, as we understand it, without people. So the purpose of work rightly begins by bringing people together, and in that way work is an extension of the loving family structure.

– The kingdom of God is the range of God’s effective will or where His will is done.

– Loving God is about transforming work into a place of discipleship and loving service to others.

– Business is a matter of human service.

– Without a real sense of how their job matters to the company and the community it serves, employees are more apt to be out for themselves.

– As we pray each morning for our daily bread, people are already busy at work in the bakeries (Lee Hardy)

– Every day, whether we see the loving nature of work or not, we contribute to fulfilling “daily bread” prayers.

 

a poem by adrian plass

poem worth sharing…

 

When I Became a Christian

by Adrian Plass

When I became a Christian I said, Lord, now fill me in,
Tell me what I’ll suffer in this world of shame and sin.
He said, your body may be killed, and left to rot and stink,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – I think.
I think Amen, Amen I think, I think I say Amen,
I’m not completely sure, can you just run through that again?
You say my body may be killed and left to rot and stink,
Well, yes, that sounds terrific, Lord, I say Amen – I think.

But, Lord, there must be other ways to follow you, I said,
I really would prefer to end up dying in my bed.
Well, yes, he said, you could put up with the sneers and scorn and spit,
Do you still want to follow me? I said Amen – a bit.
A bit Amen, Amen a bit, a bit I say Amen,
I’m not entirely sure, can we just run through that again?
You say I could put up with sneers and also scorn and spit,
Well, yes, I’ve made my mind up, and I say, Amen – a bit.

Well I sat back and thought a while, then tried a different ploy,
Now, Lord, I said, the Good book says that Christians live in joy.
That’s true he said, you need the joy to bear the pain and sorrow,
So do you want to follow me, I said, Amen – tomorrow.
Tomorrow, Lord, I’ll say it then, that’s when I’ll say Amen,
I need to get it clear, can I just run through that again?
You say that I will need to joy, to bear the pain and sorrow,
Well, yes, I think I’ve got it straight, I’ll say Amen – tomorrow.

He said, Look, I’m not asking you to spend an hour with me
A quick salvation sandwich and a cup of sanctity,
The cost is you, not half of you, but every single bit,
Now tell me, will you follow me? I said Amen – I quit.
I’m very sorry Lord I said, I’d like to follow you,
But I don’t think religion is a manly thing to do.
He said forget religion then, and think about my Son,
And tell me if you’re man enough to do what he has done.

Are you man enough to see the need, and man enough to go,
Man enough to care for those whom no one wants to know,
Man enough to say the thing that people hate to hear,
To battle through Gethsemane in loneliness and fear.
And listen! Are you man enough to stand it at the end,
The moment of betrayal by the kisses of a friend,
Are you man enough to hold your tongue, and man enough to cry?
When nails break your body-are you man enough to die?
Man enough to take the pain, and wear it like a crown,
Man enough to love the world and turn it upside down,
Are you man enough to follow me, I ask you once again?
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said Amen.
Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen; Amen, Amen, Amen,
I said, Oh Lord, I’m frightened, but I also said, Amen.

 

 

Cultivating True Leisure

Came across an excerpt from the book Still Bored in a Culture of Entertainment by Richard Winter (in Critique magazine, issue no. 1, 2003 (http://www.ransomfellowship.org)

 

In this fast-paced culture we find it hard to slow down and be still. Even our leisure times often get packed with endless activities. “Perhaps you can judge the inner health of a land by the capacity of its people to do nothing,” wrote Sebastian de Grazia in 1962, “to lie abed musing, to amble about aimlessly, to sit having a coffee—because whoever can do nothing, letting his thoughts go where they may, must be at peace with himself.” The biblical command to rest for one day of the week is an important God-given principle for our health and sanity. We neglect it at our peril. Some people feel very guilty if they are not doing something “worthwhile” with their time. They cannot rest with a clear conscience. The Christian understanding of the sabbath is that it is given by God as a symbol of our being able to rest in his presence with easy consciences. Knowing that we are forgiven and accepted by him, we do not have towork to earn our salvation because Christ has done all that was necessary for us to have a relationship with him. We can, as the Bible says, “enter God’s rest” (Heb 4:1-11). We need to take time for our minds and bodies to re-create and recover from being driven so hard. This also allows time for a renewal of perspective.

Leisure time is often when we rest and relax, but it is also good for us to know how to play well. We live in a time when entertainment comes to us while we watch, and though that is not all bad, it is important forus to engage in active as well as passive play. We listen to music, we watch sports on television, we go to movies—but how often do we make music? How often do we get out and play a sport ourselves or go hiking, climbing, biking or sailing?

Some people think of Christians as being joyless and sober, suspicious of any earthly pleasures and preoccupied with spiritual things, of being too heavenly minded to be any earthly good. On the contrary, when truly understood, Christianity sets us free to enjoy leisure andpleasure in the way God originally intended. It affirms the goodness of the creation, of food, of drink, of beauty.

 

what we’ve been up to . . .

We are almost done with our Bible study on Romans. Yay! Up next: “The Gift of Work.”

 

Long Time No Blog (Romans 13 at Ate Jeanette’s)

The topic was timely: government and authority, and the Christian’s “debt” of love for others. Are Christians ever to participate in protests? How is the topic of government related to loving God and one’s neighbor?

For around a year now, the young professionals have been meeting (and eating) in Ate Jeanette’s place in Labangon to spend time together and study the Bible. Lately we have been taking up the book of Romans, and after that a book about one’s job, The Gift of Work, by Bill Heatley.

Hope to enjoy the company of more YPs soon.

leony, ate jeanette, edna, monique, ate elvs

 

Shoulds, Wants, and Faithfulness

Shoulds, Wants, and Faithfulness

A thoughtful article about our consumption habits, human nature, and business opportunities. By Denis Haack of Ransom Fellowship.

 

Activities for February to May 2009

The YPs again gathered last Saturday for to plan for the next three months at Banawa. Thanks to Ana and Dennis for the great siopao and siomai. =)

Here’s what we came up with.

 

Date        Location and Activity

 

Feb. 28     Gaas: Students’ Trng. Culmination, Z’s Commissioning, Outreach/ Bundles of Joy

 

Mar. 7      Labangon: Despidida for Z

 

Mar. 14    Edna’s place at Mandaue: Bible study on John 17 (facilitator: Ana)

 

Mar. 21    Laag/Videoke/Taboo/Board Games. Invite friends. Also CIT graduation (invite graduates to YP eventually).

 

Mar. 28    Monique’s place at Labangon: Bible study on John 18 (facilitator: Danny)

 

Apr. 4      Eunice’s place at V. Rama: Bible study on John 19 (facilitator: Eunice)

 

Apr. 11     Break for Holy Week. Those remaining in the city can still meet.

 

Apr. 18     Mister Coffee at Mango: Bible study on John 20 (facilitator: Kevin)

 

Apr. 25     Ana’s place at Banawa: Bible study on John 21 (facilitator: Edna)

 

May 2       Camotes outing, with games, snorkeling (overnight?). Invite friends.

 

May 6       Dan and Hazel’s Wedding at Bohol

 

May 9       (Moriah?) Seminar/Talk on the Father Heart of God. Invite alumni, students, community.

 

May 16     Talk on Managing Finances

 

May 23     Labangon: Topical Bible study on the concept of church

 

May 30     Topical Bible study on another topic

 

June 6      Next planning

 

Everyone is also encouraged to book early for the National Alumni/Professionals Conference this August 21–24 at Rizal.

 

 

Thoughts from F. Buechner on Christmas

 Hello, everyone,

 

Christmas is in the air. I came across this interview of author Frederick Buechner that made some points worth pondering. Here’s part of it. You can click here for the full article (worth the read, I guarantee–or maybe I say that simply because I’m a fan :-)).

It seems to me one of the miracles of the Christian faith is that the feast of Christmas survives what we have done to it — all the hoopla, clap-trap, commercialism and all the rest of it that I don’t even need to go into because everybody knows what it is. Yet, somehow it does survive. This extraordinary moment when the whole year slows down and you point to this unimaginable event where God somehow became made flesh. It is so cataclysmic; it is so extraordinary; we try to make it habitable; we try to make it cozy; we make creches and we sing Christmas carols. At best, it can be touching and real. At its worst it can be cheap and banal. What often occurs to me about Christmas is that if it is really true, if the word really became flesh, if the mystery behind all that really took the form of a human life, this vulnerable, tiny human life whose skull you could have crushed with one hand, then there must have been extraordinary anguish and intergalactic struggle to have this extraordinary thing come to pass. It wasn’t an easy thing to happen. There is a kind of terror about Christmas, a kind of holiness and awesomeness about Christmas that we tend to forget. The resurrection and the life came down and tasted the bitterness of death.

Hardin: It is almost as though we say, “I’ve got to get through this. As soon as I’m through it, then I am going to sit back and take in Christ and this wonderful event of God’s gift to us all. But, I’ve got to get everything out of the way and usually that ends at about 6:00 PM on Christmas eve.”

Buechner: Do I have time to tell you a story about Christmas?

Hardin: Sure.

Buechner: One Christmas Eve, exhausted, about to go to bed having put all the presents under the tree, I remembered that our neighbor had asked us to feed his sheep every day he was gone. The snow was falling — this was in Vermont — my brother and I went down the hill to feed the sheep. We went into the barn and we got the bales of hay. We took them out into the sheep shed, cut the string, turned on the forty-watt bulb and began scattering the hay. The sheep came bumbling up, getting close to it. With the smell of the hay, the smell of the sheep and the snow coming down, all of a sudden I realized where I was. I was in the manger and I almost missed it.

Hardin: You were in the right place.

Buechner: I was in this holy place and I might not even have seen it. I happened to see it. It seems to me that in a way, you could say that the world itself is a manger where God is continually being born into our lives, into the things that happen to us. Most of the time, if you are like me, you are looking the other way.

—Frederick Buechner, interview with David Hardin http://www.csec.org/csec/sermon/Buechner_3305.htm