Archive for the ‘Church Life’ Category

Why Do We Fast Anyway?

January 4th, 2010 Jojo Agot

I was reading Pastor Steve’s blog today and all I could say was Amen to the first sentence, just the first sentence. Like him, I hate being hungry too. But this week is the annual prayer and fasting at Victory Christian Fellowship and as much as I don’t want to go hungry, I also don’t want to skip this opportunity to join thousands of Christians all over the world in a unified 7-day fast.

Oh it’s not gonna be easy. But why do we fast anyway? Isn’t it just Old Testament stuff? You know, like “forcing God” to do you a favor?

I’m not a theologian so I should just point you to Pastor Steve’s blog for a more informed answer. And instead of asking “why do we fast?” I think it’s equally important to ask “why DON’T we fast?”

I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. (Phil 3:19, 20)

Isn’t it about time we dethrone the stomach god this time of year?

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Does Your Church Embarrass You?

December 15th, 2009 Jojo Agot

http://apmethodist.org/images/blog.gifWhy don’t you invite people to church?

Most pastors would say this is because people are not very passionate about their relationship with God. I disagree. Why? Read on and see if you can agree with me.

Few years ago, I got these messages from college friends:

Jojo, don’t get me wrong but I’m just curious, why
didn’t you invite me to church when we were in
college? (text message from a college classmate)

…you only asked me if I was okay.
We never really talked about spiritual things.
I would have loved to talk about those kind of stuff…
(translated Friendster testimonial, Nov. 9, 2005)

Of course I was surprised at these messages but when I really thought about it, I came up with five LAME reasons why I didn’t invite them.

1. Our praise and worship was more of a cacophony than music. We had terrible sound system and very loud drums. What will my friends think?

2. My pastor might preach about money and the problems of the congregation. And he usually preaches at least an hour!

3. We didn’t have a nice church building. My friends might think I’m not cool because I go to that kind of church.

4. Someone in the congregation might suddenly cry and speak in tongues (we are Pentecostals). That might freak my friends out.

You see, I think I’m good at blaming other people why I failed to invite friends to church. I guess it’s just harder to admit I was the culprit. So how about you, what are your LAME excuses for not inviting people to church?

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Disclaimer: This was almost a decade ago. No harm intended to my former pastor.

Disclosure: I ended up pastoring that church for four wonderful years. I’ve had my fair share of terrible music and long, embarrassing sermons too.

Note: This entry is part of the Blog Carnival organized by Peter Pollock and Bridget Chumbley. To read more posts on the subject on CHURCH, click here.

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Oh No, He’s Talking About Money Again!

December 3rd, 2009 Jojo Agot

http://www.newsobserver.com/content/media/2008/6/13/money.jpgTo tithe or not to tithe?

The subject of giving and tithing is a controversial topic among Christian circles. When I searched Google about Jesus’ teachings on money, a few websites came up boldly declaring the unscriptural basis of tithing that it almost sounded like its a bondage that you need to get free from.

I don’t want to start a riot here by asking this difficult question. I’m writing this because last Sunday, we happened to talk about giving and tithing in our small group and our discussion was very constructive. I know some people can have very strong feelings about the pros and cons of tithing and I don’t feel the need to present both sides here. This is not a treatise on ecclesiastical economics so I think I’ll just leave it for the experts to weigh both sides. In this devotional blog, I only intend to share why I personally think giving is good for us.

I give to God because I don’t understand His economic system. If you happened to read my life story, you will have known that I came from the poorest of families in rural Philippines. When I was a kid, we survived on less than five dollars a week. We were twelve in the family. American economics would tell us we were supposed to have died of hunger. Typical third world thing. But we knew Christ, and that made all the difference. We survived to tell the tale and I could only testify that it was God who helped us through those hard times.

I don’t need theological debates about whether or not to give my tithe. I came from nothing but Christ gave me everything. I have nothing to boast apart from what Jesus did in my life. For me, that’s reason enough to be grateful. Let the theologians and skeptics have their field day, as for me, I’m worshiping God with the money He gave me.

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OMG, my Pastor is Preaching About Money Today!

December 2nd, 2009 Jojo Agot

http://uk2.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/mooooney.jpgHow do you feel when the pastor talks about money in his sermon?

Most of us feel uneasy when this topic comes up in a Sunday morning sermon. We think of the new attendees, the guests, the people we’ve worked so hard to invite to church. “What will they think of our church now?”

Others think that church money is running low and the pastor felt the need to do a little grovelling from the pulpit. As if people give more just because the preacher sounded desperate.

Others think this is a topic for “mature Christians” only. New converts should never be subjected to such “deep theological doctrines” because they’re just baby Christians and they might misunderstand.

I’ve only heard of very few people who were actually glad to hear sermons about money.

I know everyone can pretty much figure out what this says about us Christians in general. When we sit in church on Sundays, we pick parts of the sermons that we feel are for us. We love to hear about God blessing us, loving us unconditionally, being there for us in times of need, being a healer, provider and friend.

But when sermons are about giving, finishing the kid’s church, supporting a child in Africa and caring for the sick, we quickly dodge the topic and wish the pastor would do more research and preach more “life changing” topics than controversial ones.

Is it because deep within us, we really don’t want to give if we can help it?

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CHRISTIAN JARGON

October 26th, 2009 Jojo Agot

http://ebook30.com/security/security/11848/encyclopedia-of-cryptology-re-link.htmlFew years ago, I’ve had the “pleasure” of going to church with a sweet old lady who was so spiritual she wouldn’t even go to the market unless the Lord told her to. I’m not exaggerating. She considered her daily routines as divine appointments that a lot of times, she simply sounded out of this world. When you ask her how she was doing, she’d say something like, “Oh hallelujah praise God for His unfailing love that enables me to blah blah blah…” At the end of the conversation, you don’t really know her answer, you just get a mini sermon full of high sounding theological words.

It is good to acknowledge God in our daily lives but it is another thing to hide behind Christian jargon when confronted with daily realities. For most “regular” people, over-spiritualizing everything is weird. How can you keep a conversation with someone who tells you about divine guidance when you were just asking for spaghetti recipe?

When Jesus talked about “deep” theological stuff, He illustrated His point with simple things like rock, salt, birds and mustard seed. Some people love to do the exact opposite. When they talk of simple things, they professionalize their talk with complicated words like sedimentary formations (rock) or avian creatures (birds). My journalism professor had a point when he said, “Why write “conflagration” when you can write “fire?” Why indeed!

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