Meeting Sir Paul

Yesterday, Christin and I went to OMFLit. We had the wonderful privilege of meeting Sir Paul Aragones, the CEO, a very kind man who is enthusiastic about the message of Do Hard Things. We thanked him for having the book published in the Philippines and assured him that we would continue to promote and spread the word about Do Hard Things, as well as other books.



Truly, Do Hard Things is spreading across the Philippines, not just among teenagers, but among parents as well. As each day passes, our excitement grows, as more and more people step up to take the challenge of doing Hard Things.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Spreading Do Hard Things

A few years back, The Rebelution was only a simple blog with great posts. It blew our minds that there's actually much more to teen years than school and fun. That there's much more that God can actually do through us if we would just choose to throw the shackles of low expectations and step up to the challenge that God has for us.

Alyssa and I were so excited. We wanted to share the potential of teen years to every Filipino youth. We recommended the site to everyone we know but the response wasn't exciting as we expected it to be. Just how do you recommend a site to people who are not keen in reading blogs? (Blogs weren't that very popular here)

Fast forward three years later... The Rebelution has become a great website with great posts, forums, and conferences. And the blog posts were condensed into a book: Do Hard Things. With a book as a medium, more people caught the fire in maximizing their teen years for God. But just how do you recommend a book that isn't even available in your country? God answered by bringing the book here through OMF Literature.

I'm so excited that we're not the only ones now who recommend the book but there are rebelutionaries springing up from everywhere across the archipelago. We're glad that the book is here but there's still a lot of work to do in igniting fire and it does not end in reading the book.

Do Hard Things is still new and you might be the only one in your group who has read Do Hard Things. I'm sure you're excited as we are with what the book has to offer to teens but not everyone loves nor likes to read. While it is prevalent among Filipino teens to easily get bored with books there is a way you can share the book's message to them.

Not many people may care when you say, "Do Hard Things!" or tell them about the book, but there are many teens and adults alike in your church, school or work, who are chained by the society's low expectations. And their hearts are silently crying out for bigger things that God has for them. You must find these people.

These people may not be easy to find at first. But until you reveal yourself will they only probably reveal themselves. Your first "hard things" might be alone but if you live as if God is the prime source of your life and faithfully exert yourself in doing hard things you'll attract these people. They're just around and are probably looking for a fellow youth and a comrade like you who can be with them in stepping out of their comfort zone and forward to battle.

I pray you'll find these people and together with them,

DO HARD THINGS FOR HIS GLORY!

Are You A Princess?

Are you a princess? I would request you to answer that truthfully before reading the rest of this post? Well, are you?

Princess culture has been so prevalent in the past few years. At first, it was just Barbie and Disney dolls and in came Bratz Dolls and all sorts of "princessy" items in the market. Megan Bashan of the Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article on how this princess industry is turning little girls into future narcisstic women.

Bringing Up Princess: Turning Girls Into Narcissists
http://online.wsj.com - Megan Bashan - 12-June-09

The princess industry has been booming in the past few years -- not just the Disney dolls and scratchy toy-store ball gowns that are a rite of passage in most American girlhoods, but a brazen new breed of princess products that target a far wider age range and tap into less seemly attitudes. The hot-pink, leopard-print princess backpacks, T-shirts, purses and bedspreads that girls are now buying (or, rather, their parents are buying for them) have little to do with indulging sweet princess fantasies and everything to do with catering to over-indulged princess egos.

Take the popular tween retailer Justice. At malls nationwide, it carries multiple "Princess" tops and accessories that look a lot more like Paris Hilton's attire than Snow White's. No surprise that part of its marketing slogan is "Love yourself."

How many times have I seen girls wearing shirts with similar prints and didn't even realize that narcissism was creeping into the culture like a pussing kitten? I thought it was all cute and safe but reading Bashan's article revealed that there is an underlying power in this princessy culture that we all seem to adore. Bashan noted a sad fact that even we Christians have already caved into the princessy narcissism.

Sadly, even believing Christians are participating in the princess push. Christian retail outlets like A Different Direction carry "God's Girlz," glamour dolls dressed in princess shirts and spandex with sparkling tiaras on their heads. St. Paul may have exhorted women to be modest in their dress, but many church-going girls proudly wear Christian-marketed clothing imprinted with messages like "Yes, I am a Princess." The small print underneath -- "I'm a daughter of the King" -- is supposed to differentiate the sentiment from secular princess gear (never mind that the King's firstborn declared himself not a prince but a servant of all.)

Read the rest of the article>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'm 100% sure that you answered, "Yes, I am a princess. I'm a daughter of the King." If you didn't, I bet your answer is the same but just of another form. Aren't we God's children? He is a King and so, we are His daughters. His princesses.

Most Christian girls have that reasoning and though there is truth in that logic, it poses a great danger to us on becoming narcissists. It may be we use that reasoning to have an alternative of the mainstream princess culture but the question we should answer is, "What kind of princess/daughter are you?"

While you may call yourself a princess, God doesn't want you to become a royalty. He, the King of all Kings and Lord of Lords, a royalty in every right, did not come down to earth to declare himself a royalty but to become a servant to all.

Philippians 2:5-8 tells how, as we daughters of the King (i.e."princesses") should conduct ourselves. "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."

What is our attitude towards the prevailing princess culture? Do we consider ourselves none the better than others (Phil. 2:3) or puff up and declare royalty to our unbelieving counterparts with the hey-I'm-a-princess-too-daughter-of-the-Creator-King-of-all-Kings attitude?

What is it like to be a servant then? Phil 2:8 completes the answer of what it is like being a servant.

"And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on the cross!"

As a servant He did more than healing the sick, raising the dead, turning blood into water, and feeding thousands. He served as an atonement for our sin.

Now, what are you? A serve-me-love-me princess? Or a Christ-like love-others-serve-others daughter?

IT IS OFFICIALLY HERE!

Alyssa and I went to OMF yesterday to really see for ourselves Do Hard Things on the shelf. Well, we found it not on the shelf but on display for all shoppers to see. Here are some photos of our visit.



We pray that the Lord will bless the heart of the readers to take action. May it not just be a good or inspirational read. May Do Hard Things be a battle cry of our generation for His glory.

Fireproof and Rejection

I've watched Fireproof the fourth time over the past week. Though there was a good amount of humor and sudden-thrill-that-tingled-over-me-from-head-to-foot scenes, there was one scene that constantly seizes me whenever I watch it. The scene where Caleb surrenders to the cross.

“How am I supposed to show love over and over and over to somebody who constantly rejects me?”

That’s a very good question, isn’t it? Not only for Caleb but for all of us—especially believers. Most of us probably think that that Fireproof scene was made to reach unbelievers only. I think its message should hold more meaning to us believers.

The apostle Peter believed Christ was Messiah yet he rejected knowing Him when questioned after Jesus’ arrest. In the same way we have believed and received Christ, yet we’re also guilty in constantly rejecting Him.

We have been rejecting Christ in our lives and in many ways unconsciously done. Yet doing something unconsciously that we consciously know about is not an excuse. When I disobey my parents, I reject Him. When I refuse to get up early to help around the house, I reject Him. When I make physical weakness as an excuse to not do my devotions, I reject Him. When I make bargain with Him on doing a task, I reject Him.

He said, “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves Me…”

How many times in our lives have we allowed Him to work in our thoughts, words and actions? Do you give quick excuses to be let off on something that He wants you to do? How is your life displaying that you are of Christ? Is it even noticeable? How’s your complete obedience to Him? Have you submitted it yet?

If we truly love Him, we would obey. If we truly love Him, we would submit every single little thing in our lives to His control. The decisions we make every day are also decisions whether we’ll reject Him or not.

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“How is He supposed to show love over and over and over to somebody who constantly rejects Him?”

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And He answered by dying on the cross.

Article: The Burger King Syndrome

Written for TLW Philippines

Imagine a huge, delicious, juicy burger staring up at you from a tray on the table. You take a sniff, feeling hungrier every minute. There it is—all what you want, how you want it. The bun, toasted lightly. No tomatoes or lettuce or that icky sour stuff. Just the delicious meat and the delicious cheese.

Welcome to Burger King. The place where you can have your burger prepared just the way you want it. Want tomoates? No? Okay, how about lettuce? An extra serving of pickles? Absolutely no mustard or mayonnaise?
That’s Burger King’s greatest feat—you get to have what you want the way you want it.

Often, we take the “Have It Your Way” attitude—or what I call “the Burger King Syndrome”—all the way through life.
As long as we want something, we think we can get it. We push the limits, we step past the boundaries. We think that the world out there is to please us. Read More...

Here It Comes!!!

Got a blog? Love reading? Want to write a review? Tell us and you could get an advance copy of our latest book--FREE!

Do Hard Things is the revolutionary book by Alex and Brett Harris that's got every teen talking--and doing. Eighteen years old when they wrote it, the twins are spurring other teenagers to rebel against society's low expectations. They're saying that the teenage years isn't a vacation from responsibility. It's the launching pad of life.

Do Hard Things will be hitting the stores in June. Be one of the first to take a sneak peek!

If you want to read the book and write about it, email promo@omflit.com with your name and a link to your blog (or Facebook, Friendster, Multiply, MySpace account). OMF will randomly select 20 bloggers who'll get a FREE copy of Do Hard Things. All OMF asks is that you read it and post a review in your blog, then copy-paste it in the OMF site, too. It's that easy!

For more information, call 531.6635 local 304 or email promo@omflit.com

The Importance of Teamwork (video)

I saw this clip earlier and thought that it illustrated a good point about teamwork. One of the things we have to constantly remember in choir is to never be too loud. A choir, after all, is not about just one person but about the whole group. Practice and unity causes us to blend the right way, producing the right sound in order for us to sing a song the right way.

Just like music, sometimes, life's "notes" get a little out of tune. Teamwork, however, is what makes a simple melody a beautiful song.

Enjoy watching!

IgniterMedia.com

Parenting Seminar 101 by Pastor Clem Guillermo

Our church will be hosting a parenting seminar. Speaker is Pastor Clem Guillermo. If you are interested in attending, please feel free to contact us, or the cellphone numbers in the poster.

Spread the word!

Thanks!

March and Doulos

March has been a very busy month with Alyssa and I. March is the closing month for our school year in college. With it also came Doulos, a ship ministry we've fallen in love with.

Doulos the ship, is the world's oldest ocean-passenger going ship. It was built in 1914, just two years younger than Titanic. It was launched on 1914 in the U.S.A. as a freighter named Medina. She became Roma, a migrant carrier, in 1948. In 1952, she became a cruise liner named Franca C and in 1977 she was renamed again and to this day is named Doulos, a Greek word which means "servant."

Aside from being the oldest sailing ship in the world, Doulos is also a floating United Nations with around 350 crew members coming from 50 different nations working together for one purpose of bringing Knowledge, Help, and Hope to the people of the world.

It sails around the world with its bookfair, bringing knowledge through the literature they carry. As an expression of God's love and concern for those in need, Doulos crew members provide help by building water pumps, building a community day-care center, and distribution of food, clothing and other basic needs to poor communities around the world in the ports they visit.

There would be no bringing knowledge and help if without the hope of each crew member onboard--the hope they have in Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. The hope they have in Jesus is what each crew member wish to bring in ports they visit.

Doulos was docked in Pier 13 in Manila for the whole month of March. Alyssa and I had a chance in experiencing life onboard, even for a very short time. For my part I was a port volunteer for 12 days. The next few posts on the next days will be about our experiences on board, which caused so much growth in our lives as we made interaction with an international community that is all for Jesus.