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Pope John Paul II, the third longest reigning pontiff, served his 26th year as St. Peter’s successor and the head of the Catholic Church. The picture of the 84 year old pontiff, who could hardly stand, celebrating mass with drooping head and trembling hand had projected a familiar image to television viewers around the world. This image provoked many comments such as “Pity the old man, why doesn’t he slow down or even retire? Some cynics remarked: “What is he trying to prove?”

Yes, he did not need to prove anything but his actions continuously reminded us: Do not be afraid!

Do not be afraid of suffering.

The Pope showed the world that suffering forms a part of our life. Fully aware of the sufferings around – from the sickness and hunger in the third world to the pains of moral decay and family breakdown in the rich countries – he epitomized the courage to suffer both in performing his duties as the supreme leader of the Church and as a human being. He bore it with dignity and without complaint. There is nothing shameful in bearing the sufferings of injustice, exploitation and poverty as well as those of sickness and old age.

Do not be afraid of living.

On many occasions, the Pope reminded us that life represents a gift from God. Every morning brings a new day of hope and we should be thankful to the Author of Life. Always fighting against the “culture of death,” he urged us to value life regardless of our circumstances. Fulfilling our duties demand us to live our lives to its fullest no matter how difficult it is.

Do not be afraid of old age.

Old age is a blessing from God. Our present world places extreme premium on youth and beauty, thus many are tempted to keep their sick and aging parents away from the public eyes. The Pope was not afraid to show the true picture of an old man, i.e. with all his frailties, sickness and infirmities. That is how your parents will look. And that is how you will also look if God will grant you additional years of life.

Do not be afraid to trust God.

The whole life of Pope Paul John reflected someone who entrusted himself wholly to God. From his early struggle in his native totalitarian Poland to the time when the assassin’s bullet hit him, he maintained his inner peace -a peace that can only come from his total trust in God. He showed no anxieties over the constant danger faced on his over 100 global trips, his surgical operations and the dreaded Parkinson disease.

Do not be afraid of death.

As every one of us will pass this inevitable stage, the Pope showed us the Christian way of facing this threshold with calmness, hope, and dignity. With our faith on the Resurrection of Christ, death is but only the passage to an eternal life with God.

About The Author

Ricardo Liong, a freelance writer based in Hong Kong, regularly contributes to WWW.Tsinoy.com and church’s newsletters.

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Clothed in Majesty

Terry Dashner………………………Faith Fellowship Church of Broken Arrow, OK 74013

Have you contemplated the beauty of God’s majesty lately? Have you heard Him speak lately?

Did you know that God has several blankets with which He cloaks Himself? His coverings are expansive, vast, and immeasurable. His majesty is beautiful and certainly beyond mortal words of explanation. So, it’s best to just stand in awe while we consider Him.

The Lord God covers Himself in three majestic huesblack, gray, and blue. He chooses His wardrobe of blue by day. He desires black by night, and woolen gray during the stormy days. He is majestic in His appearance with His wardrobe of many colors.

In Psalms 93:1 it says, “The lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty; The Lord has clothed and girded Himself with strength; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved.” (NASB)

In Psalms 97:2 it says, “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” (NASB)

Why do we consider His majestic covering? His majestic covering accentuates His Glory. To be heard, a voice must be amplified. To make her statement in art, an artist must use the bold strokes of her brush. To be seen in the midst of gross darkness, light must be greater still. God’s majesty intensifies His glory. Intensity defines our God!

His name in the Old Testament is Elohim. Consider this. The verb in the name construction is singular, but the noun is plural. How can that be? Our God is one God. He stands alone, and no other god stands above Him; however, He is manynot many in number. He is “many.” He is much in intensity. His majesty is like the sound of many voices upon the skip of the waters. Can you hear this? He is abounding, excessive, exceedingly, and more than enough in His manifested majesty.

If we consider God in our prayer closets only, we might fail to grasp His glorious majesty. That’s why He created and uses the heavens to declare or speak on His behalf. To consider the intensity of His glory, go outdoors and peer into the heavens. Go to the Grand Canyon and send your voice echoing across the expanse of His beauty. Can you hear this?

Why do we consider His majestic covering? His majestic covering accentuates His extravagance. Jesus attended a wedding celebration in Cana of Galilee and performed His first miracle. He turned water into wine. That is awe inspiring, to say the least, but that’s not all there is. The miracle is intensified when we consider His extravagance. He didn’t just give them wine for a refill. He gave them more wine than they could drink in one sitting. God is intense. He always goes the second mile and beyond with His people. Yes what you ask for in prayer, you will receive in extravagance!

Can you hear this message? God reigns. His majesty is His covering of sky, starlight night, and even the gray clouds of rainy days. He is forever to be praised and magnified for His glory’s sake. See Him. Feel Him. Be consumed in His fire. You and I belong in His consuming fire. He’s speaking today from the voice of His creation. Wow! What a beautiful sound. Can you hear Him?

Keep the faith. Stay the course. Enjoy the fight. It’s the good fight of faith. Blessed we are.

Love and hugsPastor T.

About the Author

Pastors a small church in Broken Arrow, OK. Writes devotions for his congregation.

Retired police officer with Tulsa. Veteran of the United States Navy. Husband of 27 years and father of three grown children.

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. -1 Corinthians 12:28 KJV.

The ministry gifts such as apostles, prophets, evangelist, teachers, and pastors receive much acclaim and recognition, as it should be. The Body of Christ needs every office set in the Church by God. However, there is a ministry not mentioned as much also set in the Body by our Lord. That is the ministry of helps. There is an important place for the minister of helps.

How would the church manage without the hands that help with the details? When something practical needs to be done, a person anointed to help steps in and sees to it that the job is completed. God is practical and good and so are they that help.2 The behind-the-scene jobs in the church often go unrecognized. Yet the humble tasks are the ones we benefit from the most.

There are faithful people who maintain the grounds, clean our church, make repairs, do plumbing, assist with the administration, type bulletins, usher, greet, watch babies, make sure the sound and electronics work smoothly, make snacks and food for the church, do dishes or simply help with the details. Praise God for those serving in the ministry of helps.

Through Scripture, we know God placed ministries in the church, not man. 9 A person should not enter the ministry just because someone told them they were suited for it. Let God call you and place you where He wills.10 I encounter many who say, “I’m called to preach.” Yet they do not start with the small God puts before them to qualify them for their calling. When you are answering your call to serve, consider God may want you to spend a season in the ministry of helps before He matures you to your ministry office.

Remember Stephen and Phillip, who started in the ministry of helps but later operated as evangelists? They were faithful to help where God assigned them first.11 Also, I must mention that there were five others assigned to help. There are no other references of them in the Bible. I believe they continued faithfully serving in the ministry of helps.

If you are uncertain of your call to the ministry of helps, ask God to confirm your calling. Apostle Peter admonishes us to be diligent with proving that we really are called and chosen by the Lord.12 Give all diligence to exercising and developing His virtues the fruit of the Spirit (listed below), so that you may be effective and productive in your gifts and calling:

•Faith. Exercise your faith at every opportunity. Faith pleases God. Everyone receives a measure of faith to function within whatever gift God has graced him. He whose gift is practical service, let him give himself to serving according to the proportion of his faith.13

•Virtue. After exercising your faith, develop virtue, which is spiritual excellence. Daniel, in serving God and exercising his faith, developed an excellent spirit. So much so that he and his fellow Jewish slaves were found ten times better in all respects than the others assigned to the Kings’ service.14

•Knowledge. In developing an excellent spirit, add knowledge. Get to know your Heavenly Father. As we know Him better, we are sure to discover our destiny and what He wants us to do step by step. Paul wrote to the saints in Ephesus, “I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better.” 15

•Self-control. In exercising knowledge, develop self-control. We live in a world of steadily decreasing self-control. The number of road rage incidents is evidence to that. More than half of U.S. Adults are over-weight.16 Many suffer from lack of control in eating habits. Drug abuse and overdose have increased beyond what our ancestors would recognize. In gaining self-control, more and more we learn to put aside our own desires so that we may fulfill God’s desires.

•Patience. When allowing the Holy Spirit to help you gain more self-control, add patience. I overheard a teacher’s advice to his student, “Never pray for patience, because you will get lots of problems with opportunity to learn patience.” The student’s reply was, “I don’t believe that God would send me problems to teach me anything.” Look in on what the Apostle Paul writes the Roman Christians, “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for usthey help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it, until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady.” 17 What do you think of the teacher’s advice?

•Godliness. As you develop patience, put aside your own desires in an increasing measure, so that God may have His way with you in godliness. The Apostle Peter wrote the Jewish Christians and now us, “Obey God, because you are His children; don’t slip back into your old waysdoing evil because you knew no better. However, be holy now in everything you do, just as the Lord is holy, who invited you to be His child. He Himself said, ‘You must be holy, for I am holy.’” 18

•Brotherly affection. When practicing godliness, develop brotherly affection. Love one another with brotherly affectionas members of one familygiving precedence and showing honor to one another.19 Love the brotherhood of believers.20 Pray for God’s people with strong purpose. As you pray for the Body of Christ, interceding on their behalf, your concern will become Christ’s compassion. Your hands and feet will become Christ’s members, reaching out to the saints. Your affection will become Christ’s love flowing through you for His Church.21

•Love. When praying for the church in brotherly affection, finally add love. Let love guide your speech and actions. In my B.C. before Christ days, I would often hurt others by just bluntly telling them the truth. If anyone would say anything to me about it, I would respond with, “Well, it was the truth!” After meeting Christ, I continued with this speaking the truth. But each time I did, I would feel so miserable, I was compelled to apologize. Later, after prayer, the Holy Spirit instructed me I could speak the truth, but in love. I discovered that truth in love is often silent. Let love guide your actions. The Apostle John wrote to his friends in the faith, “Little children, let us stop just saying we love people; let us really love them, and show it by our actions.” 22 Let love guide your life. Grow to love more and more.

The more we add and develop these qualities in our life, the more useful and fruitful we will be to our Master, Lord Jesus. We will become the special vessels prepared and ready for the Master’s use. In Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he encourages us to be like the expensive dishes in God’s house, “If you stay away from sin, you will be like one of these dishes made of purest goldthe very best in the houseso that Christ Himself can use you for His highest purposes.” 23

About the Author

Most leaders need a strong team of support. Your leadership should have one too! Earma is Director and Co-Founder of Armorbearers International, Inc. who offers help with designing strong teams of support for God’s leaders. Subscribe to their free ezine “The Armorbearer Coach” at http://www.armorbearers.net/newsletter.htm or visit host site at http://www.armorbearers.net for other insightful articles and resources.

You should treat your Acid Reflux disease with pure & natural 100% certified organic high food grade essential oils of lemon & peppermint, taken twice a day in a tablespoon of fresh squeezed certified organic lemon juice. This natural method of treating the reflux of acid will not only heal your esophagus, it will also clean out your liver.

You do this for 30 days. Then you repeat this 30 day treatment every 3 months for the rest of your life to manage both the clean liver, as well as keeping the esophagus healed & burning acids down- also strengthening the stomach valve.

If you suffer from Acid Reflux disease & want to rid yourself of it for good, then there is a simple method for treatment that will take care of the issue. Purchase certified organic lemons. Buy the highest food grade certified organic essential oils of peppermint & lemon.

Twice each day ingest 1 tablespoon of the fresh squeezed lemon juice with 1 drop each of the peppermint & lemon oils. Do this for 30 days. Repeat the cycle every 3 months for the rest of your life. You will have a clean liver & the oils & lemon juice will also heal your stomach valve & esophagus.

Why was Jesus crucified? Because His Gospel was highly politicized. It had EVERYTHING to do with GOVERNMENT! God’s people would do well to note that fact. His enemies accused Him of sedition. They distorted His Message to make it appear He was out to overthrow the government! (Jn. 19:12). They led the rulers to believe Jesus was a dangerous individual, a real threat to public order and national security (Jn. 11:48). Jesus had to be stopped! Both the political and religious authorities turned on Christ!

Why was Stephen murdered? Should he have just kept his opinions to himself? He BLASTED THE RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT for their hypocrisy. Although he spoke the plain truth, they confused the issue by taking his words out of context. He undoubtedly did tell them that Jerusalem was going to fall and the Temple was about to be destroyed – just like Jesus prophesied – if they didn’t quickly change course (Acts 6:8-15). He was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin (their religious court). They angrily condemned him to die for being so blunt (Acts 7).

I read the Book of Acts, making it much more meaningful and relevant, during my prison stay in Jerusalem. If you examine the evidence surrounding Paul’s frequent arrests and imprisonments, you’ll see a pattern of trumped up charges, misunderstandings and misguided zeal. It’s a miracle that Paul didn’t say “enough is enough” and quit. But God used him to provide for us a very human example, since we expect Jesus to act divine (I Tim. 1:16).

Many in jail proclaim their innocence, but GOD KNOWS that I was an innocent political prisoner! The leftist government in Israel was out to crush their opposition. As a Christian member of the Temple Mount Faithful, I represent all that the secular hate. I’ve been involved in many televised demonstrations to remind the government of its Biblical responsibilities. Whether they listen or not is between them and God.

Living by Faith

The Israeli settlers whom Gerald Flurry once condemned are putting their lives on the line! By living in Eretz Israel (the Land of Israel) they are exercising their faith in God’s Word that promises the Holy and to Israel, not Ishmael. How cowardly for Mr. Flurry to throw rocks at their faith when he sits safe in his comfortable office in democratic America. God help him (and all the other Church leaders) to wake up to this aspect of the Bible of which too many remain ignorant. Thankfully, from subsequent articles in The Philadelphia Trumpet it appears Mr. Flurry’s understanding has improved.

God’s people won’t suffer the prophesied PERSECUTION (not that we’re seeking it) until we take a PUBLIC STAND on religious matters that have political ramifications, just like Jesus and the apostles and prophets! It’s an artificial separation between politics and religion. God’s ONE government has two branches: Church and State (Malachi 4:4-5). Spiritual issues are fought in the political arena of men’s minds (II Cor. 10:4). Whether we recognize it or not, our Israelite nations are engaged in a cultural war. Unless we join the struggle, promoting the biblical platform that pierces through the mental fog, how can we expect to be in any position to help influence our nation’s direction away from the precipice (Rom. 10:14)? God’s Church has a superficial understanding when they fail to put God’s truth into practice and take political action (Jas. 2:14-17)!

I was arrested for a righteous reason. I’m closely associated with those who call for a return to Biblical values. We uphold God’s Law as our true Constitution. We plead with Judah (and Joseph) to obey God and not men; to put their trust in Him and not fear the UN; to restore the Temple Mount as the Temple Mount! If the Jews fail to listen to this opportunity for restoration, they’ll self-destruct, falling apart at the seams. Israel faces the growing threat of a civil war and European intervention!

Warning the Jews

My enemies (if you don’t have any, God is your enemy), knowing that I’ve written that the mosques must go – the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aksa mosques – have falsely accused me of being in a plot to destroy those beautiful abominations! It’s the serpent up to his old tricks, telling half-truths and mixing it with outrageous lies. I did tell the GSS (Israel’s Secret Police) that I was thankful for the opportunity to clear the air and answer any questions. I didn’t want to incriminate myself in any way – and they did try to entrap me – but I also didn’t want to deny Christ the opportunity to testify before them (Mk. 12:13).

All the while during my six and a half hours of interrogation, I prayed only to speak what God would have me to say; nothing more or less (Lk. 20:12-19). I did clearly warn them that the “peace” process is a trap; that it’s about to blow up in their faces, and that a German-led Europe is going to wage a new crusade to enforce the Vatican’s version of peace. Catholic Europe will backstab and betray both the Arabs and the Jews. They’ll push for Jerusalem to become “an international city” (Zech. 14:2).

I maintained that the only explosives that I’m involved with is the BOMBSHELL I’ve written, Beyond Babylon: Europe’s Rise and Fall. I continually referred them to it, stating that’s where my beliefs are on public record (Jn. 18:20). (Later I gave them a computer disk with my book on it to assist their alleged investigation). I told them I know that Israel won’t take God’s warning seriously, any more than those Jews who spurned Jabotinsky’s efforts to save them from Hitler. (Ze’ev Jabotinksy warned the Jews of Hitler’s fury but they thought he was just crying wolf). Nevertheless, God will intervene and save us after our worst time of suffering, and every survivor in Jerusalem will be holy.

That whole ordeal brought my name, and the fact that I’ve written a book, and that I’m a Sabbath-keeping Christian member of the Temple Mount Faithful, to Israel’s attention (Philip. 1:12-14). It also increases my standing in the Jewish community who know I’ve willing to suffer to help try to save Israel from itself, and that I’m not bitter, but still expect Israeli citizenship! I’ve proven that I’m not a fair-weather friend. I plan on standing by Judah’s side, even when they fall because they’ve refused to take the necessary actions to insure “Never Again!” (Isa. 49:5; I Sam. 12:23).

About the Author

David Ben-Ariel, an American author who has travelled widely and who has lived throughout Israel, shares a special focus on the Middle East and great interest in Jerusalem, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out www.benariel.com

Dying From Vacation
(From the book Spider’s Night on the Boom)
by Gary E. Anderson
www.abciowa.com

My parents visited from Oregon this summer, and we saw more of Iowa than we’d seen in all the years since our own arrival. It was a perfect excuse to visit places we’d been meaning to see, but somehow had never gotten to. But the pace began to take a toll on my kids and yesterday my son began to complain. In my “philosophical father” voice, I said, “Just relax and enjoy yourself. We’re on vacation.”

“I can’t,” he lamented, “I’m DYING from vacation!”

I instantly flashed back to my own childhood, and I understood exactly what he was saying. There are times when every kid feels like he’s dying from vacation. For me, those times usually began about three days after school was out for the summer.
I joyfully kicked off my shoes after I’d leaped off the school bus for the final time. Except for church and an occasional trip to town, those shoes and I would remain strangers the rest of the summer.

During the first two days of vacation, I could feel the chains of structure and obligation begin to melt away. Summer stretched out before me like an endless promise. But on the third day, the novelty began to wear off. (This was long before kids went to an endless series of camps, played little league soccer, summer basketball, baseball, volleyball and gymnastics. You stayed home and lived by your wits until back-to-school time finally rolled back around.)

But the endless hours of boredom took their toll. By the time school started again, I’d aged 40 years. Even so, there were a few things about back-to-school that almost made my abnormal aging seem worthwhile. One was the arrival of the new clothes we’d ordered from a mail order catalog. When those packages arrived, it was like a 95-degrees-outside, shorts-and-bare-feet Christmas. But it had its downside, too. Sometimes, the shirt that had looked so cool in the catalog made me look like a giant tree frog, eyes peeping out from a hole in a stump. Since no other part of my body as visible, sometimes it looked like my new shirt was walking around by itself. In fact, several older ladies in our neighborhood nearly had heart attacks when they caught a glimpse of my disembodied shirt floating across the cemetery next to our farm, taking a shortcut to the store.

I knew those baggy clothes were bound to be a detriment to my image. (This was long before kids wore tents to school in the name of fashion.) My mom’s favorite line was, “You’ll grow into them,” and I have to admit, she was right. Several of those shirts fit me pretty well today.

But the worst thing was the stifling heat of my new shoes. The salesman had made no mention of the fact that those shoes came with a built-in furnace; much less one stuck on the “middle-of-winter” setting all year round. Steam rose from my feet, and I fully expected my socks to catch fire at any moment. I could only hope my mom had anticipated that possibility and ordered fireproof socks. (Luckily, moms are pretty good at stuff like that, which probably explains why you so rarely see kids’ feet burst into flames.)

It seemed to me that shoes were unnecessary, since no one could see my feet anyway, what with my new shirt dragging in the dust around me. On the first day of school, I stood at the end of our driveway, trying not to be blown into Illinois by a having a gust of wind blow underneath my tent-shirt.

Then something strange happened. Even though I’d soon be seeing kids I’d been missing all summer, suddenly I remembered a thousand things I should have done during that endless summer! But now it was too late. There I was, a 40-year-old fourth grader in a tent-shirt, waiting for a bus, examining a wasted life … it all seemed so sad.

So I knew exactly what my son was going through. Sometimes it does feel like we’re dying from vacation. But sometimes, it’s nice to just sit back and enjoy the ridebefore the school bus comes. That makes perfect sense to an adult, of course. But try explaining it to a fourth grader, who’s in the process of dying from vacation even as you speak.

© 2004. Gary E. Anderson. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Gary Anderson is a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter, and manuscript analyst, living on a small Iowa farm. He’s published more than 500 articles and four books. He’s also ghosted a dozen books, edited more than 30 full-length manuscripts, produced seven newsletters, and has done more than 800 manuscript reviews for various publishers around the nation. If you need writing or editing help, visit Gary’s website at www.abciowa.com.

Singing solely to spread the gospel has never sounded or looked so good, but that’s exactly what the Bukas Palad Music Ministry does. Fact is, even if they don’t compete or do any of the high profile activities other professional chorales do, ask people if they’ve ever heard of songs like “Tanging Yaman” or “Sa ‘Yo Lamang”, and they’re bound to sing a few verses.

Church choirs on a nationwide scale have been singing Bukas Palad’s songs for over a decade now. One song in particular, “Hindi Kita Malilimutan”, was even popularized by balladeer Basil Valdez.

According to a member of Bukas Palad, Reggie Regala, their group isn’t as much into the commercial side of singing and performing as the other chorales. Although they have had their share of appearances as guest performers at well-known concert venues, they consider their singing an apostolate—deriving joy from touching lives more than from achieving popular success.

The beginnings of Bukas Palad started way back in June 7, 1986, when there were only nine members of what was then the Ateneo Christian Life Community (ACLC) and Ateneo Student Catholic Action (ATSCA) Choir. It was only in 1990, when they recorded their second album, that they were officially launched as the “Bukas Palad Music Ministry”. Truth of the matter is, their name was taken from one of the album’s songs “Pananalangin sa Pagiging Bukas Palad”, a tagalog translation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s “Prayer for Generosity”.

From a tight group of nine, Bukas Palad is now comprised of around 80 college students and young professionals. In an interview with a few of the group’s members, Palan Reyes disclosed that although not all members are currently active, they still support the group’s projects—from concerts and recordings, to rehearsals or just plain gatherings as close friends.

“It’s an apostolate for us, a personal commitment. We come from different backgrounds and we are busy with our own different professions. But those who aren’t as active as before still find time to be with the group. Nobody really leaves Bukas Palad,” Reyes said.

Far different from the likes of the structured professional repertories of the University of the Philippines or De La Salle University, Bukas Palad members admitted to, rather proudly, being a loose and informal group. They have their share of rehearsals (which are said to be as informal as any rehearsal can get), business meetings, and funding for concerts and outreach programs just like the other groups. Through the years, Bukas Palad has also successfully endured four scholastic generations.

Their unique, close-knit bond undoubtedly transcends the normal “lifespan” of the more popular groups. Maybe it’s the familiar ease which each member shows toward the other, or the common interest and roots they shared in the Ateneo. Or, their camaraderie has something to do with the group’s touching experience with the coma-ridden wife of a friend. She awoke from her unconscious state with tears in her eyes after hearing the group sing one particular song.

Whatever the reason, Bukas Palad is touching people’s lives with their music. With 13 years of performing all over the country and eight albums under their belt (including their most recent release “Pasko Na!” distributed by BMG Pilipinas and which to date, has been sold out), the group has proven that there is, indeed, an audience for liturgical music. Bukas Palad is one of the major influences from where choirs nationwide draw their musical inspiration from.

Tagging their “sound of music” as eclectic liturgical, one of Bukas Palad’s musical arrangers, Gino Torres, said they try to explore different musical genres and not just limit themselves to one. This is why their music is an interesting combination of the different rythms of soul, gospel, pop, jazz and broadway. The group’s conscious effort to make music more appealing to the youth started when kundiman-type liturgical music was causing people to shift religious beliefs, to where the music was more upbeat and “alive”.

“The kundiman music which appealed more to our parents was not doing much to keep people in the Catholic faith. Our idea then was to make liturgical music more popular, to make the sound more ‘today’,” Torres said.

Slowly but surely, Bukas Palad has come a long way. From being Ateneo’s ACLC and ATSCA Choir to BMG Pilipinas’ gold mine when it comes to praise music. Although not as commercialized as the likes of Gary Valenciano and Regine Velasquez, the record label still added Bukas Palad to their roster of talents because of their steady following.

Explaining the group’s and their songs’ growing popularity, founding member Norman Agatep said, “It’s the songs’ ability to reflect the sentiments of today’s congregation in terms of sound, message and language.”

Torres also aptly captured the group’s sentiments regarding their apostolate. “As the art (of music) is immortalized in our songs, we become instrumental to that immortalization. In touching peoples lives, we are able to live up to our calling as a music ministry.”

About the Author: Karla Gae L. Pascua is a senior copywriter at Agatep Associates, Inc., one of the country’s leading public relations agencies. Pascua has been writing professionally for over a decade, seven years of which were under the stewardship of the industry’s acknowledged father of public relations, former UST professor, and journalism textbook author, Charlie Agatep.

Source: www.isnare.com

The way to get page ranking with search engines, many use coding, or links, and go the easy way through Search Engine Optimization sites.

SEO’s as they are called help your site, or web page get page ranking, and get noticed by search engines, which, of course draws traffic to your site.

Drawing traffic to your site gets hits, and rankings, which, if you have a site that saled items, makes you money.

Spending just a bit of money to buy SEO help gets you more money in the long run.

I myself once had a business site, and adding your site to ALL of those search engines costs time, and money!

Web presence, and web recognition is something that you can buy, earn over a long length of time, or even get all on your own, if you have the know how.

I have a family member who builds wonderful sites, and I am sure he uses the techniques that SEO sites use to get your site noticed by the search engines.

Search engine Optimization will increase your web traffic, and get you more money, and page rankings.

Page rankings equal more visitors, which brings you more money. Spending a little bit of time, or a little bit of money helps everyone out!;

Excerpts from The Third Testament

Reincarnation and Destiny

I have spoken to you about the spiritual destiny, about the evolution of beings, about reincarnation, and about the restitution of the spirit. I have spoken to you of the different stages of trials and teachings that Humanity has had on Earth, symbolizing them as a book sealed with Seven Seals. I have revealed to you that this is the Third Era, in which I come to you in Spirit, because I find you capable of feeling My Spiritual presence; and I have come to tell you that you can summarise in two precepts or commandments all the Law: Loving your Father and loving one another.

Meditate, and you will understand that it has not been signs which I have given you, but rather, a great manifestation of My fatherly love.

Those who have had only signs, are other people who have not erased from their heart My promise to return; those who scrutinise space and observe the meaning of all the great happenings, with the hope of saying: -The Master is near.

What little interest My manifestation causes to the world! How few are those who are vigilant waiting for Me, and how many are those who slumber!

From those who live waiting for Me, I can say to you, that not everyone anticipates the rightful manner of My presence during this era, for while some, influenced by ancient beliefs, believe that I am to return to the world as a man, others believe that I will come in some form visible to every human eye; and very few are those who guess the truth, perceiving that My coming is spiritual.

While some ask themselves what form I will adopt, at what hour or day I will return to Earth, and from which direction I will appear, others, without thinking about forms or determined moment, say to themselves: -The Master is already amongst us. His light, which is His Spirit, is bathing us.

When this message reaches all hearts, it will be a gift of rejoicing for some, because in it they will confirm all their presentiments and their faith; conversely, others will deny any truth to My message, not finding it in accordance with what they believed it to be, and the form in which it would be manifested.

Think about them all, beloved people, and be aware that the wait for those spirits is painful, and while they suffer, thinking that perhaps this is not the time of My return, you can, day by day, enjoy yourselves with My Word. How great your responsibility will be toward Humanity once it ceases!

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