Five years ago, Mark Zuckerberg launched his Harvard dorm room project and now it’s a worldwide “genuine cultural phenomenon.” (Source: “Lost in Transit,” Paolo R. Reyes. Phil. Daily Inquirer, March 21, 2009) Now, it has “175 million active users, over 18 million daily status updates and 850 million monthly photo uploads”. Yes, as you guessed it, I am talking about Facebook.
Recently, Facebook made Friendster and MySpace eat a lot of dust as it pulled away in the number one spot in online social networking. Sony Pictures recently signed up Hollywood screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (of “A Few Good Men” and “West Wing”) and Oscar-winning producer Scott Rudin (“No Country for Old Men”) to come up with a Facebook movie. Stanford University has offered US$2,500 courses on “Facebook: Persuasive Apps and Metrics,” “The Psychology of Facebook,” and “Facebook for Parents.” Since I opened my Facebook account, I am amazed at how my network grew. I am nearing 500 in my friends list. But I know others have thousands! (If you want to add me as your friend, my e-mail is mgcpastor@gmail.com.) I have started also a “Straight From the Pastor” group to connect people who made a difference in my life. (You may join us also.) Since then, I have a lot of invitations to join Mafia Wars (Sorry but I really can’t.) and answer quizzes (such as "What kind of a Bible character Are You?”). I now understand why Reyes wrote, “The 3 billion minutes the world spends socializing in cyburbia make [Facebook] the current recreational drug of choice.” That’s why it is labeled as “Crackbook.”
What made Facebook so successful? It is satisfying a legitimate need for deep connection with each other. God created us not only to have a relationship with Him but also with people. The Lord Jesus told us, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the first and most important commandment. The second most important commandment is like this one. And it is, ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’” (Matthew 22:37-39, CEV) The Greek word for “like” means “another of the same kind.” Loving others is the same as loving God. “Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:21, NIV) With or without Facebook, we are called to relate with each other on an ever-deepening level.
Brethren, let us connect with each other.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
An Idea That Is World Changing
In Time Magazine recent cover story, “10 Ideas Changing the World Now,” it posted “The New Calvinism” at the number three spot. Unfortunately, Time has caricatured the teachings of Calvinism: “an utterly sovereign and micromanaging deity, sinful and puny humanity, and the combination’s logical consequence, predestination: the belief that before time's dawn, God decided whom he would save (or not), unaffected by any subsequent human action or decision.” To put it simply, Calvinism is a conservative system of theology. Though reformer John Calvin is credited with it (Calvin by the way is celebrating his 500th birthday on July this year), I believe Calvinism reflects historic, Biblical Christianity. Big names such as John Piper and Louie Giglio of the Passion conference fame espouse Calvinism nowadays.
Time traced the slide from Calvinism to “Evangelicalism’s loss of appetite for rigid doctrine—and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus” or the so-called “Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy”. People who claimed to be believers sought to make God in their own image. Sounds like 2 Timothy 4:3-4 to me. “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (NIV) But, the road back to Calvinism is basically a journey back to the Bible. Collin Hansen, author of “Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists,” wrote, “A lot of young people grew up in a culture of brokenness, divorce, drugs or sexual temptation. They have plenty of friends: what they need is a God. The moment someone begins to define God’s [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist.” (As quoted by Time) In short, God is pursued for who He really is, not for who we wanted Him to be.
Time summarized it well: “Our satisfaction —and our purpose—is fulfilled simply by ‘glorifying’ [God].” Of course, Calvinism is far from perfect. But to me it appears to be closer to what the Bible teaches. People are searching for a sure footing in the midst of the shaky grounds of the present global financial crisis. They thirst for security. The Word of God is our sure foundation.
Brethren, share the changeless Word to an ever-changing world!
Time traced the slide from Calvinism to “Evangelicalism’s loss of appetite for rigid doctrine—and the triumph of that friendly, fuzzy Jesus” or the so-called “Jesus-is-my-buddy intimacy”. People who claimed to be believers sought to make God in their own image. Sounds like 2 Timothy 4:3-4 to me. “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (NIV) But, the road back to Calvinism is basically a journey back to the Bible. Collin Hansen, author of “Young, Restless, Reformed: A Journalist’s Journey with the New Calvinists,” wrote, “A lot of young people grew up in a culture of brokenness, divorce, drugs or sexual temptation. They have plenty of friends: what they need is a God. The moment someone begins to define God’s [being or actions] biblically, that person is drawn to conclusions that are traditionally classified as Calvinist.” (As quoted by Time) In short, God is pursued for who He really is, not for who we wanted Him to be.
Time summarized it well: “Our satisfaction —and our purpose—is fulfilled simply by ‘glorifying’ [God].” Of course, Calvinism is far from perfect. But to me it appears to be closer to what the Bible teaches. People are searching for a sure footing in the midst of the shaky grounds of the present global financial crisis. They thirst for security. The Word of God is our sure foundation.
Brethren, share the changeless Word to an ever-changing world!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Mystery Worshiper
Since 1998, a group of people calling themselves “mystery worshipers” visited churches incognito to “ask those questions which go to the heart of church life: How long was the sermon? How hard the pew? How cold was the coffee? How warm the welcome?” (Source: http://shipoffools.com/) Then the mystery worshiper will post a report on the website. Depending on the worship experience, the report would either rave or rant about the church. For example, it gave a scale of 1 to 10 rating on how good the preacher was. Other items in the report included “How would you feel about making this church your regular (where 10 = ecstatic, 0 = terminal)?” and “What one thing will you remember about all this in seven days’ time?”
Not surprisingly, mystery worshipers have visited famous churches in our country. What struck me are not the comments about the preachers (I think it unfairly criticized a mega church pastor for having a thick accent and another for mouthing “prom” whenever he would say “from.”) or the praise and worship style (one was labeled “a church with a disco atmosphere” and another with “retro contemporary praise.”) What caught my attention are comments about the welcome. One report noted, “No one. As in no one! It’s hard to be noticed in a sea of people. Perhaps the ushers thought I was a regular. I came and went having met no one.” Then when asked if ever he would make this church a regular, the mystery worshiper gave it a 5 rating only and added, “I might have thought differently had there been a proper welcome.” Another report goes like this, “I went down to the fellowship hall… and took some coffee and a cookie. I finished both without anyone coming up to talk to me! I left the building having met and known no one. …It seemed a nice enough church in which to belong, but people could make use of a little more friendliness. …And I thought Christianity was about knowing a person, joining a family, and connecting.”
If ever, what impression would we give as a church? I can forgive criticisms about the length of my sermon or even my accent. Yet it would be sad if a mystery worshiper would comment that we failed to give a warm welcome. That doesn’t mean our goal is to impress people. But nonetheless we make an impression with the way we treat people in the church.
Brethren, what if a mystery worshiper visits our church?
Not surprisingly, mystery worshipers have visited famous churches in our country. What struck me are not the comments about the preachers (I think it unfairly criticized a mega church pastor for having a thick accent and another for mouthing “prom” whenever he would say “from.”) or the praise and worship style (one was labeled “a church with a disco atmosphere” and another with “retro contemporary praise.”) What caught my attention are comments about the welcome. One report noted, “No one. As in no one! It’s hard to be noticed in a sea of people. Perhaps the ushers thought I was a regular. I came and went having met no one.” Then when asked if ever he would make this church a regular, the mystery worshiper gave it a 5 rating only and added, “I might have thought differently had there been a proper welcome.” Another report goes like this, “I went down to the fellowship hall… and took some coffee and a cookie. I finished both without anyone coming up to talk to me! I left the building having met and known no one. …It seemed a nice enough church in which to belong, but people could make use of a little more friendliness. …And I thought Christianity was about knowing a person, joining a family, and connecting.”
If ever, what impression would we give as a church? I can forgive criticisms about the length of my sermon or even my accent. Yet it would be sad if a mystery worshiper would comment that we failed to give a warm welcome. That doesn’t mean our goal is to impress people. But nonetheless we make an impression with the way we treat people in the church.
Brethren, what if a mystery worshiper visits our church?
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Fireproof
It seemed to be a formula for a film flop. “It was written by novice screenwriters, cast nearly entirely with amateurs, staffed largely by volunteers, and shot almost all on location.” (Source: “What Christians Watch,” Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2009) Yet, “Fireproof” earned more than US$33 million, making it “the biggest-grossing indie movie of 2008”. Not bad for a low budget movie by Hollywood standards. (“…a total outlay of only $500,000.”) “Fireproof” is all about firefighter Capt. Caleb Holt, a local hero for saving people trapped in a fire. But he faces the toughest rescue challenge ever: “…rescuing his wife’s heart.” (“Fireproof” DVD blurb) But it is not your usual “feel-good,” family-oriented movie. In fact, producers Stephen and Alex Kendrick, both Sherwood Baptist Church pastors, took the message of this movie so seriously that, before casting sitcom actor Kirk Cameron, they grilled him about his moral integrity. Cameron understood why they did it, “If you’re cheating on your wife or have a problem with drugs or alcohol, they would rather not have you out there on ‘The Today Show’ promoting the movie.” Movies like this have impacted Hollywood. According to the Christian Film & Television Commission, “More than half of all releases included ‘positive Christian characters’ last year, up from just 6% in 1991”. Producers saw that they don’t have to churn out trash to earn cash. Talk about redeeming the culture!
Yes, “Fireproof” is a blockbuster because it focused on the oldest institution in the world that is so close to God’s heart: Marriage. That’s the first He created before the government and before the church. Thus, the strength of the nation and the church depends upon the strength of marriage. He personally builds the family (Psalm 127:1) He also warned those who wanted to break up marriages. “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” (Matthew 19:6) So, this coming March 14 (Saturday), 7pm, our Couples Fellowship here in Makati Gospel Church will feature “Fireproof”. Please bring your family and invite your friends and their families to watch this movie with us. It’s free. Someone wrote, “Fireproof is an entertaining and challenging reminder of what it takes to win in marriage!”
Brethren, let us “Fireproof” our marriage.
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