God in us.

God in us! But He doesn't take over as would be His right as God. It is for us to turn our heart-house over to Him.

As we do He changes us.

A Vision for Amplify.



I would like to share my vision for Amplify and CSC. The reason why I am so optimistic about dreaming big because I know we have a Big God and great people in Amplify. I know if we put our shared efforts, experience and enthusiasm, there is nothing we cannot achieve.

We need to create environments that are relevant and attractive to Young people. Make inroads to their hearts before so we can later share God with them.


This entry is a re-post of an entry I did in May 2006. Its has been coming two year already and much in Amplify has changed since then, Praise the Lord!


This posting is especially for the wonderful youth leaders who attended the Team Leadership Workshop at the Leaders for Christ Convention. (Hi guys! Add me on facebook to stay in contact!) Cheering you on!



Thank God It's Friday!

Imagine.

CSC is such an quaint old place. Which means it has an incredible charm about it if we can spruce it up.

Think 'CHIJMES. '

A beautifully restored place that blends the modern and the old resulting in an environment of absolute wonder and charm. In CSC, fix up colored spotlights on trees, light them up with electric pink, smooth blue and lively green. Wash stairs and walls with a touch of color. Darken the place and release an array of lights and color, sights and sounds. Irresistable.


A beautiful balcony we have that overlooks the field. Can it not become a site for a Cafe? Serving up designer coffee enjoyed with chill out furniture, a blend of conversation and a touch of pool and cues. A tea light on every table, cane chairs, a solo guitarist and whiffs of cookie and cream. A charming setting patroned from 6pm to midnight? The young and old can hang out before prayer meeting and chill out after that? Amplify partners adorn aprons, serving in cheerful labour. Why not?


How about wireless internet? X-boxes? Manicure. Board games. Why just settle for a prayer meet? Make it an experience. Get young people down and half the battle is won. Provide an alternative to clubbing and other unsavoury places. A night of Praise and Worship, lively relevant talks, video presentations, Dance and Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. A place where God meets real life.


I imagine a huge crowd of young people gathering at the ghrotto, praying the rosary before meeting starts. Our talks recorded and podcasted on the internet. I see young people hanging out and bringing their friends and colleagues.


"I didn't know church could be like that."



It can. If we make it happen.







Saturday Surprise!

Saturday, awash in daylight brings myraid possibilites. CSC transforms into a youth Centre. The cafe business still opens. Leadership Meetings can be held at dawn. Ministry training can happen at noon. Band practices or cell groups.

Nothing new. Think further.

But what about a tution centre? Can the massive wood tables we have be converted into a study corner? Can those of us, with higher education offering free tution? Maths, Chinese, Econs etc. What about All-nighters? Man the Cafe through the night, offering fresh hot brews to students cramming for their exams?

And if Coffee is not enough to boost confidence, the Adoration Room is always open for last minute supplications!


What about screening movies or a monthly flea market?


What about football matches? We have a wonderfully big field for all our sporting needs. Interchurch soccer? Paintball?


What about a Speaker's Club? A Christian Toastmaster's Club to help young people build confidence in public speaking and raise more youth speakers.


What about a counselling centre where youths can talk about their problems in an open and friendly environment? Can more of us be able to get ourselves trained in counselling?


Worship workshops, baking classes, leadership conferences. Poetry Recite, Art explosions, guitar classes. What can't we do?


What about a Day where youths can spend the whole day with host of activities to enjoy and partake? Or a launching place for missions and acts of justice?


Imgaine the friendships can we form and the influence we can have with young people to lead them slowly to Jesus who inspires us to make all these happen?



There is so much we can do to reach out to young people. We need to look beyond simply the platform and prayer meetings. I know not all of us are called to be a speaker or a worship leader or an event planner, but surely we can put on an apron and a smile on your face to serve coffee? What about a Pool ministry or an X-box ministry? Tution ministry? Sports?

Any inroads to the hearts of young people, we can create, let's do it.

Amplify's Vision is make CSC an Epicenter of Youth Spiritual Awakening. And it starts with us making inroads. "Become all things to all men to save some." The possibilites are endless. We need more people to come forward with fresh ideas and make them happen. Rise up, initiate and take lead and make dreams come true.

Anyone want to join me?


leo

If God is good, why is there evil and suffering?

There is no question that the world is filled with an appalling amount of evil and suffering. We are impacted by this reality every day on all levels: emotional, intellectual and practical. As such, it is not surprising that people have a difficult time reconciling this harsh reality with the idea of an all good, all powerful God.

According to Peter Kreeft and Ronald K. Tacelli’s Handbook of Christian Apologetics, the problem can be summed up by the apparent contradiction between the following four propositions:

1) God exists

2) God is all good

3) God is all powerful

4) Evil exists.

If we affirm any three of these propositions, it seems we must reject the fourth. For example, if we accept that God exists, is all good and that evil exists, we must reject the idea that God is all powerful, otherwise He would put a stop to evil. Or, if God exists and is all powerful and yet evil also exists, then God must not be all good, because He wills or allows evil to exist.

Kreeft and Tacelli suggest five possible responses to this problem.

o Atheism solves the problem by denying proposition one, that God exists.

o Pantheism, the belief that God is everything and that everything is God, denies proposition two and allows that God could be both good and evil.

o Polytheism, the belief in many gods, denies proposition three, and reduces God to just one of many gods.

o Idealism, the belief that reality is a product of the mind, rejects proposition four and states that evil is just an illusion.

o Christianity, on the other hand, affirms all four principles and denies that there is any inherent contradiction between them.

How is the Christian solution possible?
Because it is always feasible that God could have a good reason for permitting evil; a reason of which we are not aware. And as long as this is logically possible, there is no contradiction between the existence of an all good, all powerful God and the existence of evil. Just because we may not be able to figure out what that reason is does not mean it does not exist.

However, God has not left us completely in the dark.

This world is clearly not the best of all logically possible worlds, but it is the best world God could create given His commitment to create genuinely free creatures like us. Free creatures are the only beings who can love and experience love. Since one of God’s main purposes in creating us was to have a reciprocal love relationship with us, God created the best of all actually achievable worlds. God cannot make people freely choose to good or freely love Him. If He makes them do it, they are not free. If they are genuinely free, then He can’t make them do it. That would be a contradiction.

Therefore, the possibility of free creatures choosing evil is not something God can control without eliminating free will. And a free will is not just a nice addendum on human nature, it is an integral part of who we are. This being the case, if God were to eliminate evil, He would also be eliminating free will. And in doing so, God would be perpetrating the most horrendous evil of all: the annihilation of the human race.

Moreover, God has done something about the problem of evil and suffering.

For most people the problem of evil is not an intellectual problem, but an emotional one. They want to know why God allows evil and suffering. When they can’t get a satisfactory answer, they become angry. They don’t like a God who would permit them or others to suffer. This is not an atheism of refutation, but of rejection. A child who is hurting needs reassurance, not an intellectual explanation. Atheism cannot supply this reassurance. It does not reduce suffering one bit-it just removes hope. In an atheistic universe, there is no ultimate accountability or justice. Evil people will get away with what they’ve done.

But in the Christian worldview, God has done something about evil in the person of Jesus Christ. He does not just say, “Okay, I created you. Now prepare to suffer!” He has given us a clue, a deposit, a down payment that He does have good reasons for allowing evil and that He does have a greater good in store. By appearing in human form, He showed us that we could trust Him. And what did He do while He was here? He suffered!

Jesus endured a suffering beyond all comprehension. He bore the punishment for the sins of the entire world! For all the evil that everyone of us from the beginning of our species has perpetrated, He paid the penalty. None of us can comprehend that suffering. Though he was innocent, He voluntarily took upon Himself the punishment we deserve. And why? Because He loves us. It is like He was saying, “I know you don’t understand why I permit every evil. It’s not possible for you to understand yet. But just to show you that you can trust me, I’m going to suffer with you.”

When we comprehend his sacrifice and love for us, it puts the problem of evil in an entirely different perspective. We see clearly that the true problem of evil is the problem of our evil. Filled with sin and guilt before God, the question we face is not how God can justify himself to us, but how we can be justified before Him. And it is through Christ’s payment for our evil by his death on the cross that we can be justified before God. Through Him we have forgiveness.

Many Christians will also testify that Christ provides inner resources to cope in the midst of difficulty and suffering. He promises that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God (Romans 8:28).

Ultimately, He promises victory over death, the ultimate evil. Those who genuinely choose to accept and receive his forgiveness will rise from the dead with a transformed, immortal, imperishable body to be with him forever (1 Corinthians 15:42, 52). Death, pain and suffering have been dealt a fatal blow; they have suffered a crucial defeat.

So paradoxically, God is not banished because of the problem of evil, rather God himself is the solution.

(extract from: 'The power to change.com")