Last week, our church was reminded that our head pastor from the Philippines is coming to Seattle. The head pastor( my uncle) Danny Calamiong is the leader in charge of the whole IFGC church branch in the Philippines. He oversees 13 churches all around northern Philippines. He comes to Seattle almost every year. He gives us reports on how the churches are doing and their needs. He is a very active servant of God.
He is coming next week and I am very excited. He is an inspiration and a great example of a leader doing Gods work.
The church has made plans to make this month and the next month(I think) called "missions project"
A project in which most of the activities of the church will be about ways to bring
notice of the work of the IFGC Philippines and their needs.
For example the church activities will benefit to recognize, aid, support, fundraise for, and help in any way to the work of the IFGC churches in the Philippines.
As for the youth in our church, we are challenged to make programs to fit the "missions project'' and be creative in making special events and activities.
I think this is a great opportunity because one of the youths' plans are to do something for the Phil. churches and people. I think my youth leaders and even the youth members will be blessed by doing this task because
-Its always great to help others
-It makes what were doing feel important and worth it.
-It helps raise awareness of peoples lives, culture, and struggles in a different country.
Doing missions work is always a great and noble act for a Christian, because its a way to show Gods love to others.
--------
I will update soon, for what the youth has come up with.
God Bless
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Communicating for a change- book review
This book review is on “Communicating for a change” by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. Stanley is a head pastor of a church and Jones is a campus director of a church school. They both have long time experience in teaching the gospel and wrote, in this book, their methods and ideas on effectively teaching people Gods word. It has seven strategies to help a preacher be creative and make an impact to his/her audience. It is a 200+ page book. It is broken down into two parts and segregated in 17 chapters.
The first part is called “How’s my preaching?” and the second part is “Communicating for a change”. From chapters 1 to 10, the author writes a story about a man on a journey to find the best way to effectively preach to his congregation.
The first chapter “No one’s listening” Is the introduction of a character named Ray Martin, a head pastor of a church. Who sees his sermons, not affectively communicating to his congregation. Then calls his wife and friends for help. They help Ray by letting him meet a man named Will Graham who is known as an affective preacher.
Chapter 2 is “Where there’s a Will there’s a Ray” This part of the story is when Ray meets Will Graham and finds out that Will is not an ordinary preacher, but a truck driver who preaches. This gets Ray really doubting if Will can teach him anything about preaching.
Chapter 3 “Go for the Goal” is where it reads that Ray stayed with Will and bonded. Also, both talked about having a goal in preaching.
Chapter 4 “The end of the road” Ray really starts hearing and understanding Wills method on effectively preaching the word. Will explained how it is better to teach about one topic over several topics so that, the listeners can grasp and understand the message better.
Chapter 5 “A map to remember” is the part where Will explains his “me-we-God-you-me” method on teaching. It’s about how to better connect to the audience throughout the whole entire message.
Chapter 6 "load up before you leave" is where Will explains that the speaker must "internalize" the message. Meaning that the message should really be coming from the speaker, as if it's personal or very meaningful or profound that it needs to be shared.
Chapter 7 "Crucial connections" is the part where Will explains how knowing the audience can be a big factor to the effectiveness of the message. Also, presenting ways for the audience to raise their own awareness of how the message connects to them.
Chapter 8 "show me some identification" writes about finding your own voice and style.
Chapter 9 "stuck in the middle of nowhere" is where they both talk about getting lost or stuck in a sermon. How it is a normal thing and it just needs prayer and a checklist questions to help get back on track.
Chapter 10 "a new attitude" is the ending part of the story of when Ray says goodbye to Will and what Ray learned from him, including the goal of a sermon, which is to change lives with God working through the speaker.
The rest of the book is the second part called "Communicating for a change". This part of the book talks about the techniques spoken about in the part 1 of the book in a more thorough and systematic way. There are seven things it teaches. Which are: determine your goal, pick a point, create a map, internalizing the message, engage your audience, finding your voice, and start all over. It goes to a more in-depth explanation on this method.
As a conclusion, I really enjoyed the teachings of this book. It helps me refine, mold, and evaluate my style and method of sharing messages and sermons to people. I like the idea of how a message can have one topic and be expounded upon and still be an affective preaching.
Another technique I like and will incorporate into my teaching is the "me-we-God-you-we". Me: means getting the audience to know the speaker and getting them comfortable so that they will more likely listen. We: means getting the audience engaged by posing a deep thought, question, idea, scenario or situation. God: means telling the audience what the bible says about the topic, and what Jesus did or has to say about that topic. You: means making the message personal to the audience, and making them relate to the topic. We: is the part of the message in which the speaker inspires, challenges, motivates, to apply the teaching in everyone's lifestyle.
Also, I know that affective preaching means that first: the speaker must be prepared, sincere and authentic. Second: the audience receives the message clearly, will remember it in the long term, and use what they learned in their own personal life.
The first part is called “How’s my preaching?” and the second part is “Communicating for a change”. From chapters 1 to 10, the author writes a story about a man on a journey to find the best way to effectively preach to his congregation.
The first chapter “No one’s listening” Is the introduction of a character named Ray Martin, a head pastor of a church. Who sees his sermons, not affectively communicating to his congregation. Then calls his wife and friends for help. They help Ray by letting him meet a man named Will Graham who is known as an affective preacher.
Chapter 2 is “Where there’s a Will there’s a Ray” This part of the story is when Ray meets Will Graham and finds out that Will is not an ordinary preacher, but a truck driver who preaches. This gets Ray really doubting if Will can teach him anything about preaching.
Chapter 3 “Go for the Goal” is where it reads that Ray stayed with Will and bonded. Also, both talked about having a goal in preaching.
Chapter 4 “The end of the road” Ray really starts hearing and understanding Wills method on effectively preaching the word. Will explained how it is better to teach about one topic over several topics so that, the listeners can grasp and understand the message better.
Chapter 5 “A map to remember” is the part where Will explains his “me-we-God-you-me” method on teaching. It’s about how to better connect to the audience throughout the whole entire message.
Chapter 6 "load up before you leave" is where Will explains that the speaker must "internalize" the message. Meaning that the message should really be coming from the speaker, as if it's personal or very meaningful or profound that it needs to be shared.
Chapter 7 "Crucial connections" is the part where Will explains how knowing the audience can be a big factor to the effectiveness of the message. Also, presenting ways for the audience to raise their own awareness of how the message connects to them.
Chapter 8 "show me some identification" writes about finding your own voice and style.
Chapter 9 "stuck in the middle of nowhere" is where they both talk about getting lost or stuck in a sermon. How it is a normal thing and it just needs prayer and a checklist questions to help get back on track.
Chapter 10 "a new attitude" is the ending part of the story of when Ray says goodbye to Will and what Ray learned from him, including the goal of a sermon, which is to change lives with God working through the speaker.
The rest of the book is the second part called "Communicating for a change". This part of the book talks about the techniques spoken about in the part 1 of the book in a more thorough and systematic way. There are seven things it teaches. Which are: determine your goal, pick a point, create a map, internalizing the message, engage your audience, finding your voice, and start all over. It goes to a more in-depth explanation on this method.
As a conclusion, I really enjoyed the teachings of this book. It helps me refine, mold, and evaluate my style and method of sharing messages and sermons to people. I like the idea of how a message can have one topic and be expounded upon and still be an affective preaching.
Another technique I like and will incorporate into my teaching is the "me-we-God-you-we". Me: means getting the audience to know the speaker and getting them comfortable so that they will more likely listen. We: means getting the audience engaged by posing a deep thought, question, idea, scenario or situation. God: means telling the audience what the bible says about the topic, and what Jesus did or has to say about that topic. You: means making the message personal to the audience, and making them relate to the topic. We: is the part of the message in which the speaker inspires, challenges, motivates, to apply the teaching in everyone's lifestyle.
Also, I know that affective preaching means that first: the speaker must be prepared, sincere and authentic. Second: the audience receives the message clearly, will remember it in the long term, and use what they learned in their own personal life.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Stages of faith -book review
This week, I want to review a book I have read called- “stages of faith –the psychology of human development and the quest for meaning.” It’s from James W. Fowler. It has over 300 pages and are sectioned into 5 parts and having a total of 24 chapters. The whole book tries to go in-depth of the subject of faith. It talks about the different views and definitions of faith. It’s also about how faith in an anthropological perspective. I mainly read and studied part 2 and 4.
As for the whole overview of the book, it starts in part 1-“Human faith”. The whole part contained an in-depth explanation of the definition of what faith means. Also, how faith ties into religion, relationship, imagination and to each other. The author, for me, seemed to want a distinct separation between faith and belief. Even though it was hard for me to understand, he explained how faith is not necessarily tied to religion.
The part 2 of the book which is titled “Windows on human development: a fictional conversation” is very interesting. The author wrote as if there was a discussion between 3 individuals and a moderator on the subject of faith from birth to adulthood. The three individual were men who were very intelligent in their field of study about human development.
One was Erik Erikson who is a pathologist who emphasizes on human development and, also, how it connects to religion and faith. The other person was Jean Piaget. He is into genetic epistemology. He connects biology with philosophy. The other person is Lawrence Kohlberg. His study is on moral development. All of these three characters are used in this imaginary conversation. All three are talking about how a typical person, from birth to adulthood, develops mentally, physically and how he/she interacts with the world around them.
The first discussion was about Infancy which from ages 0-1.5. Piaget says 0 -18 months old has a very small and gradual self-awareness. The infant only begins to know itself and recognizing space and time. Also, beginning to be aware of distinct casual relationships( like noticing the mother). As for Erickson, he says he agrees to what Piaget says and adds, that the environment has a big influence on their awareness. He called it “trust and mistrust” stage. The next topic was on early childhood. Which were 2- 6 yrs. old. Piaget calls this stage “Preoperational or intuitive”. It’s the process of language and thought. The point he claims where states and feelings can be expressed. Also, being able to perceive their own perspective and the perspective of others. Kolberg calls this stage “Heteronomous morality and instrumental exchange”. This is a development of balancing their morality between self-interest and interests of others. Erikson says early child-hood is around ages 4-6 yrs. old. Which he called “Initiative vs. guilt” stage. It’s a point of physical maturation and mental growth. An emphasized self-centered awareness and experience of shame and guilt. The next topic was on childhood. Which are ages 7-12 yrs. old. Piaget says it’s around 6-7 yrs. old which he calls “Concrete operational”. A logical operation of thoughts occurs. Thoughts that try to stabilize the world around them and in their body(like physical coordination). Kohlberg says it’s around 7- 8 yrs. old is when the child starts to deal with moral judgments and moral dilemmas. They still focus on self-interest towards dealing with others, but, having a developing moral “filter” in their interaction. Erikson says it is around 6-7 yrs. old which he calls “Industry vs. Inferiority” stage. It’s a point in life where the child is figuring out his/her mental abilities to do work. Then they all talk about adolescence which is 13-21 yrs. old. Piaget calls this “formal operational” stage. It’s when the person develops more deeper thoughts in logic and reasoning. He calls it “thinking about thinking”. Kohlberg somewhat agrees to Piaget but adds the morality factor. Which are a person’s moral judgment and social perspective comes into development. In adulthood, which are 21-35 yrs. old. All of the three basically says that’s when a person finds their identity and is more developed psychically, mentally, and knowing their moral level and judgment. I think the author chose to put this in the book to show how development of humans affects their faith and world view.
The next part in the book is called “dynamics of faith and human development”. This part of the book is the how the author connects the previous chapters topic in concern of faith views and dynamics in human development.
Part 4 of the book “Stages of faith”, is an interesting perspective on faith views from child to adulthood. It has recorded interviews on each stage. It seems, to me, that each stage gets more complex or defined as the stage rises. The views on identity, God and beliefs get bigger and yet people want to make sense of it all to understand what life is all about. The part 5 of the book “formation and transformation in faith” deals with a woman’s conversion story, the stages of faiths relation with conversion, and theological faith.
The book is a heavy read but, it’s full of informative content and material to help a person know what people goes through in mental, physical, and social development in concerns of world views and faith views.
As for the whole overview of the book, it starts in part 1-“Human faith”. The whole part contained an in-depth explanation of the definition of what faith means. Also, how faith ties into religion, relationship, imagination and to each other. The author, for me, seemed to want a distinct separation between faith and belief. Even though it was hard for me to understand, he explained how faith is not necessarily tied to religion.
The part 2 of the book which is titled “Windows on human development: a fictional conversation” is very interesting. The author wrote as if there was a discussion between 3 individuals and a moderator on the subject of faith from birth to adulthood. The three individual were men who were very intelligent in their field of study about human development.
One was Erik Erikson who is a pathologist who emphasizes on human development and, also, how it connects to religion and faith. The other person was Jean Piaget. He is into genetic epistemology. He connects biology with philosophy. The other person is Lawrence Kohlberg. His study is on moral development. All of these three characters are used in this imaginary conversation. All three are talking about how a typical person, from birth to adulthood, develops mentally, physically and how he/she interacts with the world around them.
The first discussion was about Infancy which from ages 0-1.5. Piaget says 0 -18 months old has a very small and gradual self-awareness. The infant only begins to know itself and recognizing space and time. Also, beginning to be aware of distinct casual relationships( like noticing the mother). As for Erickson, he says he agrees to what Piaget says and adds, that the environment has a big influence on their awareness. He called it “trust and mistrust” stage. The next topic was on early childhood. Which were 2- 6 yrs. old. Piaget calls this stage “Preoperational or intuitive”. It’s the process of language and thought. The point he claims where states and feelings can be expressed. Also, being able to perceive their own perspective and the perspective of others. Kolberg calls this stage “Heteronomous morality and instrumental exchange”. This is a development of balancing their morality between self-interest and interests of others. Erikson says early child-hood is around ages 4-6 yrs. old. Which he called “Initiative vs. guilt” stage. It’s a point of physical maturation and mental growth. An emphasized self-centered awareness and experience of shame and guilt. The next topic was on childhood. Which are ages 7-12 yrs. old. Piaget says it’s around 6-7 yrs. old which he calls “Concrete operational”. A logical operation of thoughts occurs. Thoughts that try to stabilize the world around them and in their body(like physical coordination). Kohlberg says it’s around 7- 8 yrs. old is when the child starts to deal with moral judgments and moral dilemmas. They still focus on self-interest towards dealing with others, but, having a developing moral “filter” in their interaction. Erikson says it is around 6-7 yrs. old which he calls “Industry vs. Inferiority” stage. It’s a point in life where the child is figuring out his/her mental abilities to do work. Then they all talk about adolescence which is 13-21 yrs. old. Piaget calls this “formal operational” stage. It’s when the person develops more deeper thoughts in logic and reasoning. He calls it “thinking about thinking”. Kohlberg somewhat agrees to Piaget but adds the morality factor. Which are a person’s moral judgment and social perspective comes into development. In adulthood, which are 21-35 yrs. old. All of the three basically says that’s when a person finds their identity and is more developed psychically, mentally, and knowing their moral level and judgment. I think the author chose to put this in the book to show how development of humans affects their faith and world view.
The next part in the book is called “dynamics of faith and human development”. This part of the book is the how the author connects the previous chapters topic in concern of faith views and dynamics in human development.
Part 4 of the book “Stages of faith”, is an interesting perspective on faith views from child to adulthood. It has recorded interviews on each stage. It seems, to me, that each stage gets more complex or defined as the stage rises. The views on identity, God and beliefs get bigger and yet people want to make sense of it all to understand what life is all about. The part 5 of the book “formation and transformation in faith” deals with a woman’s conversion story, the stages of faiths relation with conversion, and theological faith.
The book is a heavy read but, it’s full of informative content and material to help a person know what people goes through in mental, physical, and social development in concerns of world views and faith views.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Still all about love..
This week was great!! We(the church) prepared a sunday service that also had a renewal of vows for married couples. It was a very lovey dubby event.
The youth was involved by preparing the decorations, songs, and video presentation.
The youth had to focus on this event since its the pastors' orders and churches schedule.
But it did not bother the youths activity in anyway.
The youths activity soon(I forgot the date) is to join another youth night group. Their church is called-Love fellowship church. They are located near the south center mall. They have been our friend church for a long time. We often go to each other's youth night events.
This coming youth night is a little bit special. The love fellowship church invited us to their youth night, not just for invitation, but to have a part in the program. They want us to sing, and/or preach to the youth.
I think this is a great idea. I challenged one of our youth leaders to take the call and speak to their church. I think it's a great way for our youth leader for many reasons:
1- it gives something different(variety) to the youth leader. Meaning that it's not the same crowd and
it compels the leader to really study their lesson
2- its gives the leader more experience and exposure to other crowds and places
3- its a great way to build relationships to other church ministries
I love this fellowshipping of churches. Because even though we have our own church name and building, it shows that the body of Christ(which are God's people) can still come together, work together, and proclaim Gods love and message to others.
The youth was involved by preparing the decorations, songs, and video presentation.
The youth had to focus on this event since its the pastors' orders and churches schedule.
But it did not bother the youths activity in anyway.
The youths activity soon(I forgot the date) is to join another youth night group. Their church is called-Love fellowship church. They are located near the south center mall. They have been our friend church for a long time. We often go to each other's youth night events.
This coming youth night is a little bit special. The love fellowship church invited us to their youth night, not just for invitation, but to have a part in the program. They want us to sing, and/or preach to the youth.
I think this is a great idea. I challenged one of our youth leaders to take the call and speak to their church. I think it's a great way for our youth leader for many reasons:
1- it gives something different(variety) to the youth leader. Meaning that it's not the same crowd and
it compels the leader to really study their lesson
2- its gives the leader more experience and exposure to other crowds and places
3- its a great way to build relationships to other church ministries
I love this fellowshipping of churches. Because even though we have our own church name and building, it shows that the body of Christ(which are God's people) can still come together, work together, and proclaim Gods love and message to others.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Showing the love
This week was interesting for the youth.
We actually did our valentines youth in church last Thursday.
We had to do it early because of scheduling. But it was still a nice program.
It was one of our plans this year to make a "Valentines" youth night.
What we did special in this youth night different from our typical youth nights is that before the event took place, we challenged each other (youth leaders) to express love to the youths we invited days before the event. So, the target for was mainly the leaders in this occasion.
Challenging each other was a great motivator for the leaders to take action. It was like a game(almost), but in a sincere way, to see how we would show love to the youth and see who could do "better" or be more "creative " in their approach.
Some leaders took out a few of the youths out for a group dinner. Some leaders went to make scheduling times to hang out personally for a one to one interaction. Some just made time to play video games with them or played sports with them.
All in all it is good way for the leaders to get-to-know the youth. We did this challenge to be more interactive with youth and not just be in contact in church settings. I think leaders sometimes get too caught up in always focusing on the programs and lessons then forgets about the relationship aspect.
So with an activity to go out and not be in a "church" setting, I think it's a good way to build relationships with the youths. Also, it's a way in which the leaders can possibly meet the youths' friends who may not be believers and have an opportunity to share the gospel.
When the event finally started, we noticed the youth was more comfortable, and open to us. Also, some new faces arrived.
Amen!
We actually did our valentines youth in church last Thursday.
We had to do it early because of scheduling. But it was still a nice program.
It was one of our plans this year to make a "Valentines" youth night.
What we did special in this youth night different from our typical youth nights is that before the event took place, we challenged each other (youth leaders) to express love to the youths we invited days before the event. So, the target for was mainly the leaders in this occasion.
Challenging each other was a great motivator for the leaders to take action. It was like a game(almost), but in a sincere way, to see how we would show love to the youth and see who could do "better" or be more "creative " in their approach.
Some leaders took out a few of the youths out for a group dinner. Some leaders went to make scheduling times to hang out personally for a one to one interaction. Some just made time to play video games with them or played sports with them.
All in all it is good way for the leaders to get-to-know the youth. We did this challenge to be more interactive with youth and not just be in contact in church settings. I think leaders sometimes get too caught up in always focusing on the programs and lessons then forgets about the relationship aspect.
So with an activity to go out and not be in a "church" setting, I think it's a good way to build relationships with the youths. Also, it's a way in which the leaders can possibly meet the youths' friends who may not be believers and have an opportunity to share the gospel.
When the event finally started, we noticed the youth was more comfortable, and open to us. Also, some new faces arrived.
Amen!
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