Straight From Pastor Ey

Miss California Carrie Prejean dreamed of becoming Miss USA and eventually Miss Universe. Last Sunday, in the recent Miss USA pageant, she made it in the top five. During the Q&A, contest judge and gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who is openly gay, threw her an explosive question: “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?” Carrie declared her Christian conviction that marriage should be between a man and a woman. She apologized if her comment has offended anyone. But she called it her personal position. She made it clear in an interview later: “I’d spoken from my heart, for my beliefs, and for my God.” She won 1st Runner Up. But pageant organizer Donald Trump admitted, “[Her answer] probably did cost her the crown.” Another judge piped in, “In pageants as in politics it is probably best to give a neutral answer if you want to win.” But Perez’s reaction to Carrie is far from neutral. He actua...

A true follower of the Lord Jesus abides in His Word. “So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, ‘If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.’ ” (John 8:31-32, NASB) Thus, definitely the word “Biblical” was not inserted as an afterthought in our mission statement. ( “Glorify God by Multiplying BIBLICAL, Committed and Loving Followers of Jesus Christ.” Emphasis added) When we crafted that mission statement, we spent much thought and prayer on it. Note that we purposely want to multiply “biblical… followers.” By that we mean people obedient to the word of God. I like how John 8:31-32 goes in The Message: “If you stick with this, living out what I tell you, you are my disciples for sure. Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you.” We are to teach the Bible for transformation, not just information. Bible study is the means not the end. We are to live o...

While preparing for the 10th Student Camp of MGC New Life Christian Academy this Holy Week , I googled “What to do if lost?” The theme of the camp is “Lost.” Since I am not familiar with the TV series, I decided to check out what hikers do to avoid getting lost. I came across a hikers’ website. According to HikeSafe , “The best ‘rescue’ is the one that is never needed. Hiking safely is about being prepared for any situation. No hiker ever plans on getting lost…” One of the ways to be prepared is to follow the Hiker Responsibility Code. It says that we are to be prepared to stay together. “When you start as a group, hike as a group, end as a group.” There are times that in order to survive the group must pace their hike to the slowest member of the group. Though it may slow down the group, we must make sure no one falls behind. We also need to leave our hiking plans to somebody back home. We must tell someone where we are going, what trails we are taking, when we will return and what ...

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 ot...