Fatherlessness

Father's Day Preaching


After a month of not blogging, I'm back to share what I've learned! It's been a busy month so I apologize for the delay. I have been thinking a lot about these next few blogs as they have affected me greatly. The messages have continually been relevant to me and has fed my soul so much each week.

Question we are faced with is: What is fatherlessness? What is the difference of fatherless from fatherlessness?

Fatherlessness was defined as : may tatay nga hindi naman namumuhay parang tatay. Fathers that do not act/live like fathers.

While to be fatherless meant: having no father in its physical sense.

Another term was given out and it was Anti-paterianism which was defined as: ayaw kumilos na parang anak, na tipong hindi na sumusunod sa magulang. Not acting like a child to the point that the child is no longer following the parents.

So with this problems we are reminded that we ought not to make our earthly fathers as a basis of what a father should be. This brings us to the question, who is a good father or what makes a good father?

Our scripture comes from Matthew 6: 9 - 13 from the New American Standard Bible 

Pray, then, in this way:
   ‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.[For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’]


From this prayer we can give three points as to what a good father should be at home.


1. There is a good relationship in your home.

Coming from the where it says: Our Father in Filipino it would say Ama namin, this is how we know that there is a relationship. The awareness of titles and  the acknowledgement of who your father is a good sign of a relationship between fathers and children. It is also made aware through the behavior of children that shows that others do know that they have a working and loving relationship with their father. 

Dysfunctional relationships often lead to broken homes. When fathers are not able to discipline their children they create delinquent kids and they rebel and is a prevalent problem among youth. I believe fathers have an enormous responsibility in molding their kids that if not done right will lead to so much problems in the future. It's been an observation of mine that most children that have "father issues" often don't have a direction in their life and ultimately have issues with the whole family. Issues of being irresponsible and having no sense of spirituality because there is not proper training or guidance given by the father. Mothers will do their best to teach them to at least be their best but the father's influence is essential to any child's growth as an individual.

2. See to it that there is righteousness at home.

Fathers have the responsibility of meditating on the Word and eventually sharing it to his family. It is his task to bring his family together and share the gospel. To teach them to be holy and show them everything there is about the goodness of Christ. It is the father's responsibility to lead a spiritual life as an example to his wife and children and to his friends and workmates. That his family may continually be filled with the truth of the God and that they maintain koinonia in their home. This is the only way to maintain the right relationship with your family, a peaceful home that has something to share about each day and not a house that is filled with people who silently hate each other and isn't eager to be together at all.

3. Be able to manage resources.

It is he who divides the blessing to the family which is the daily bread. Pastor said: "Hindi madali mag-ipon at magpakain sa mga anak." Para sa akin puwede pa itong dugtungan: magpa-aral, magpa-gimmick at atbp. But we all get the picture. Those fathers that work so hard will do everything for their family to have a comfortable life and live the life that they deserve. Unfortunately not every father is selfless. A father that knows how to manage the resources and blessings given to him by God knows what he is doing because he follows God. God teaches us "Give us this daily bread" meaning that fathers are to worry about today and not for tomorrow. A father that has strong faith will never worry about tomorrow as to what to eat and if God will provide for his family but of course this still comes with hard work and dedication to his responsibilities.

So these are the three points as to what a good father ought to be. Taking God as an example we are left with the responsibility, especially to men out there, to keep knowing God that we may be good fathers in the future. In addition to these three points. Pastor Doy pointed out that there are certain practices at home that must be removed and that is shouting among family members. It is not a healthy practice among family members to be verbally abusing each other and degrading each other of their dignity. There must be respect most especially coming from the father being the head of the family. Father's should be gentle but firm with their instructions, forgiving, understanding and be filled with patience. Lastly, if parents want to provide for their families they should never opt to do it the wrong way or illegally. To set as an example to your family is not to desperately earn money through ways that will compromise you or your family just to experience a life of luxury. Mothers and fathers must live by the Word and live an honest life, live by faith that God will provide and to put away all their anxieties.

This topic is very personal to me because I know what it meant to live in house that experience fatherlessness. But somehow it was confusing too in my part. This part you may know me better by me sharing a phase of my life that happened just a few years back. Back when I was younger me, my mom and my brother were often beat up because we've had such a dysfunctional family and koinonia wasn't there at all. Attending church separately, not talking during lunch or dinner, parents go overtime and when they get home it was straight to bed. We were all fighting from cousins even to housemaids and this lasted until my mom passed away 5 years ago. I was left with my brother and eventually he had to remarry which we had no choice but to accept for my father's own good. By this time fatherlessness became worse, the gap became wider and from cold and broken relationship it turned into hatred that eventually led to me leaving my home to study alone for a year. At this point it, I was being fatherless. I had no parent but an aunt to help me out. Having no father or mother to guide me, I taught myself to live, I taught myself what my parents should have taught me while growing up but this didn't make me weak and be rebellious. I wanted to prove to them that being battered and verbally abused wasn't helping me and that I was insecure enough to even go through this life as an individual, that what they do to me affect my relationships outside my home. To be be fatherless or experience fatherlessness was for me not having confidence in myself, I lacked training, I was pressured, I was a mess. I didn't know myself fully, I had a hard time accepting things and forgiving those who have wrong me as pride ate me up all those time that I had for myself. But it has been years and I have learned to forgive and God has been gracious and merciful in accepting me again and forgiving me. Learning the Word and catching up to so many things my father would have taught me. This is what I meant when I was confused. My father knew how to manage his resources, in fact he was a diligent and hard working man but with issues with temper back then. He was holy and very devoted, and up to now he is very active so he was never lacking in the knowledge of God he just didn't share it with us with much joy. Once in a while you'd feel that he is teaching us to be holy and that the importance of prayerful life was essential but he was so stiff and selfish with his knowledge that we never really had that same understanding of the Bible and it was entirely up to us to understand it. So for me and my family it was really about the relationship, there are deeper issues that I cannot disclose to everyone that explains as to how complicated our problem is as father and son. I grew up not saying po or calling him dad, and we've just grown to feel uncomfortable around him and it is only these past year that this has been fixed and years of healing is needed to patch up a broken relationship. So to conclude, fathers greatly affect the future children. As cliche as it may sound there really is no other way to put it. It is not only compensated by their presence but is really what they teach and impart that help make us(as children) who we are.

My prayer is for the next generation of fathers to come that they invest their time on their children properly. That they value God's Word and that they live holy lives that they may be the one to lead their family to Christ and that they will enjoy each other completely. I pray that fathers will know the right kind of parenthood that the next generation of worshipers will not stray away from the truth and that the faith may be transferred to them as well. Amen

Kosmonia

The Affliction of the Second Generation Believers: Kosmonia Replacing Koinonia


Here's the scripture for last Sunday's topic.

1 John 4

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

1 John 4

Testing the Spirits

 ¹ Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

God Is Love

 ⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is ^[a]born of God and knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[b]in us, that God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. ¹³ By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[d]for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear ^[e]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. ²⁰ If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen,cannot love God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.

A little background on this scripture. At this time John was the remaining apostle of Jesus and he was a witness to the growth of the church or so it was. This is now John writing to the 2nd Generation and 3rd Generation church members and by his message we can see that a lot of them are missing the point. The lack of koinonia has broken the church and has allowed the penetration of worldly ways losing what the 1st generation of worshipers have maintained and that is constant fellowship and following strictly the ways of the church. So as an introduction it was discussed that Koinonia was fading away and that Kosmonia was quickly becoming a fad among the 2nd and 3rd generation of church members. It is an alarming trend that causes churches and families to fall apart. Without koinonia many of our institutions will end up as losers, failures, disappointments, you name it, these are consequences of neglecting the importance of Koinonina.

Definition of terms:
To better understand the concept of Koinonia here are the key words to take not of.
Koinos - that which is shared
Koinonos - anyone allowed to share as giver or partaker
Koinonia - the exclusive sharing relationship


An example of Koinos would be the church's doctrines and our singing in Praise and Worship.


So what is this that is causing the church to be "losers" to God that was brought upon by the 2nd and 3rd generation? It was called Kosmonia, and to explain here are its features.


1. Philos has replaced Agapetos. 

It is when Agapetos(God's love given to us) turned into Philos(love that is given by a friend). Agapetos was properly embodied in the use of the word "Beloved" which was used many times in this verse. By definition:

The New Testament Greek Lexicon
ἀγαπητός = Agapetos - beloved, esteemed, dear, favourite, worthy of love
This is really powerful we need to understand that in comparison to the NIV version John would use Dear Friends instead of Beloved and by that definition of Agapetos. Agapetos must overflow and dominate among church members when it comes to our devotion with God.


To have a better explanation of Agapetos I am quoting from http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/love.htm

"In respect of agapaO as used of God, it expresses the deep and constant love and interest of a perfect Being towards entirely unworthy objects, producing and fostering a reverential love in them towards the Giver, and a practical love towards those who are partakers of the same, and a desire to help others to seek the Giver."

another is this


" 'Phileo' is a love which consists of the glow of the heart kindled by the perception of that in the object which affords us pleasure. It is the response of the human [soul] to what appeals to it as pleasurable... The word was used to speak of a friendly affection. It is a love called out of one in response to a feeling of pleasure or delight which one experiences from an apprehension of qualities in another that furnish such pleasure or delight. 'Agapao' on the other hand, speaks of a love which is awakened by a sense of value in the object loved, an apprehension of its preciousness. [Cp. Rev 22:15; Mt 6:5; 10:37; 23:6; Lk 20:46; Jn 11:3, 36; 16:27; 1 Cor 16:22]"


2. The principles of the Word gave way to the principles of the world

Next to this title I saw in my notes the word "pakikisama" and to explain this, this must be the fact that many Christians today when they go into the mission field some forget their purpose and their principles. Outside of church they become weak and they try to blend in again with other groups. In effect, when he/she goes back to church they become neutral and make exemptions. Barriers are broken and limitations start to fade away. We start accepting other things and mix it up with God's Word and tendency is we get lost by trying to merge the ideas of the world to the teachings of Christ. By being lost, like sheep, we wander off and lose our firm stand of God's truth.

3. The world was mot the church's mission field anymore. The church was the world's mission field. 

From what I remember, this is like the world influencing the church of its ways and everything that was secular was being incorporated to the church. It allows the other members of the church to accept what was permissible to the majority and these were exemptions, cultures that were not meant inside the four walls of the church and practices that really are not supposed to change what was already tradition. Often times we don't notice how we desecrate these small things and we teach others to be more liberal about it but we forget that it is not our ways nor our traditions or practices that need changing it is the world that is in the dark and we are the ones to bring light to them and not us switching to what is acceptable and "hip" or even "just fun" for that matter. We are the salt that brings life and not the dead dimming our light.

What is the result of all this to us as a church?

From my notes: Koinonia has faded and Kosmonia intruded and started to take control.Without Koinonia a believer, a Christian home, or any institution ends up becoming a loser before God and the world.

I believe we become nothing more than those who are around us. Lost, confused, no form of fellowship or whatsoever, as dirty and as worldly as those around us. We miss the point and as Koinonia continues to fade and the rest of the 1st generation of worshipers pass away what will happen to us? No leaders, coming into one room but are all separated, quiet when we worship, thinking and looking forward more of what is out there in the world than the fellowship that we make with our brothers and sisters and in total a dull and lifeless church. Wonder what the apostle John would've said now, and to those churches losing its congregation or the church not even growing in any way? What word would he repeatedly remind us of because we've forgotten to keep our koinonia?

So Pastor Doy gave us reminders based from the scriptures and these are the 3 points that he gave.


1. The love of God for us is unique; it is called "protos love" (1 John 4:10,19)
¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹⁹ We love, because He first loved us. 


protos - first

It was explained in the same way mothers would love their child. Mothers have this instinct that when a child cries for any kind of need the mother drops anything that she is doing to attend to that need. And like mothers, God loves us the same way. We are His protos, His first love, first in time, first in value, first in everything. We are his priority, and when we pray and cry to Him, He responds to us quickly to our needs. How great and awesome is His love for us? Is there anyone else that can give the same love?

2. The care of God for us is unique we are called: Agapetos (1 John 4:7)
⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Agapetos again for us means that we are recipients of the best love from God. It is essential that our love is differentiating us from the non-believers. It gives us our identity and it separates us from the world. We are reminded that we are His beloved and the care that He gives will never be found here on earth.

3. The challenge of God for us is unique. It allows us to aspire for perfected love of God in us. (1 John 4:12)
 ¹²No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

It says in my notes that sometimes the love of God in us is not complete and not His love for us. His love for us will always be full it is how it is inside of us that is important. If we really fill inside that we are loved and given value. As human and as Christians we tend to harbor anger, envy and every other thing that is not loving in nature. This causes this void, this emptiness, this imperfection of love in us that can only be changed if we 

follow His command of loving others the same way we love ourselves. So as we gain complete love from God we fill that emptiness and it becomes perfect and through this we can do anything. And as God abides in us, people will see God through us because we love the same way God does even if no one has seen God. This is the identity that we want to maintain, having to love those around us the same way God loved us.

TO END, honestly I had a hard time getting this one down but after reading the passage again I realized why John jumped from testing the spirits of the 2nd and 3rd generation of church members to God is love. The idea is that the church lost its koinonia because people come and go to the church bringing in false prophets and other worldly practices. As a warning it is imperative that Christians must be aware that a greater evil outside is working to tear down churches through attacking individuals who are prone to waver in their faith and introduce other teachings to the church they go to. It is important that we are alert at all times to face these lies and stand on the truth. From the time John was observing the church until now 2011 this still happens so let us be mindful of the teachings of Christ that we do not confuse it with false teachings.

 "We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error." 1 John 4:6 says this and point is if its not from God, the Bible, or our leaders in church then take it as the spirit of error. Read the Word, let it not depart from you that you may not lose koinonia and not be part of those who introduce in kosmonia.

Part of the message, the reason why it jumped to God is love, is that John reminds his Christian brothers and sisters of the love that keeps the koinonia of the church. It is the kind of love that is cultivated among church members and is the kind of love that is shown outside of church. It is what fills us and nothing is to occupy that, nothing from this earth to replace our love for God and for our brothers and sisters. The world will teach us ways that will change our perspective of the church and bend our beliefs, this message of John reminds us of what our real purpose is, and what God did for us that no one in this planet can ever do for us. 

My prayer is that God helps us to set our eyes on our mission to bring light to those who are in the dark and that he gives us the strength to guard our hearts from false teaching or anything that the world will offer us that will cause us to lose koinonia. Let us thank God for the love that He showed us that in turn we can share that same love to others as well. Amen.

One useful link you guys can use for studying God's Word. :) http://www.searchgodsword.org/

Koinonia

Acts 2:42

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

⁴² They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.


My first blog entry of the series of preachings from the Sunday services. I'd love to share my thoughts and my understandings while at the same time having people to react and correct me. This acts also as a record of all my learnings a journal if you will. :)


Last Sunday Pastor Doy preached on a topic that I feel is being strongly promoted in the church (which is Bread from Heaven Christian Fellowship) and this was the importance of Koinonia and one that has to be avoided was the 2nd generation syndrome which meant the loss of koinonia among the 2nd generation of worshipers and leaders. As defined it was this event in history of the Christian church where the next generation of Christians were bringing other ideas into the church that they gain from the world  that brought negative effects and gave them a different perspective altogether and because of this they lose this important part of Christian living which is having constant fellowship with your families or with your brothers and sisters in faith which in effect loses connection with the church and not being able to serve faithfully. 


This preaching is taken from 1 John and it was emphasized that churches nowadays neglect the idea that 1st generation worshipers and leaders forget to pass down their experience with God that the 2nd generation may also experience that same grace; be able to transmit that same level of faith that the church does not fall apart and parts of the congregation strays away. It is then essential that we ask ourselves 3 questions to check ourselves if we really are acquiring the 2nd generation syndrome.


1. What is it that you are not doing that is increasing the power and presence of sin in your life?


As a Christian or maybe as a Sunday goer what have you been doing consistently that is keeping you apart from God. What is it that you are not doing or what is it that you neglect that instead of doing the Lord's work or instructions you are stuck with all this earthly obligations and activities. We all know they perish and will mean nothing in the end why do we insist to live a life of complacency and compromise that the power and presence of sin is dominating you in every aspect.  


The answer is found in 1 John 1:5-7 saying that:
 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

God Is Light

 ⁵ This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; ⁷ but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.


In my notes it says: Our sins have already been forgiven but through fellowship we decrease the power of sin.
Logically the more time we spend with our counselors and peers from church through Bible studies or even a simple dinner or just hanging out we put ourselves in a better place. Not only do we avoid evil but we enrich ourselves with God's Word and we enjoy more of God's blessings and presence when we are with the right people. The power of fellowship and communion is so important that if we continue as individuals we might just stray away and join wrong company.


2. What is it that you love that reduces the love of God the Father in you? 


So what is it that's occupying you more now than God. What's keeping you from loving God that you spend more time in this object or activity?


Well an answer for this has to be 1 John 2:15 which states: 
¹⁵ Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.


Again this is related to what mentioned awhile ago about how this earth is passing away. Why do we set our eyes on the world that is temporary and is only the creation when we can look up to what is eternal who is the Creator of all things. All material things and all earthly thing for that matter will pass away and will have no significance to what you really are destined for. To be consumed by greed, the pride of life, and all the lust of the flesh is to live without purpose.  What we have now we can not take in the after life. At the same time we cannot say that because life is short we make the most out of this world and forget that we have a higher being to serve. It is to say we love this world more than the Father and if this culture is brought to the church then we lose our touch with God. We indulge on something we only are supposed to appreciate and be thankful for and forget that we are to soak ourselves with God.


3. What are the specific steps that I should take to purify myself with God?


So what steps are necessary to rid yourself of all this evil and neglect?


The verse is taken from 1 John 3:1-4 which say: 

Children of God Love One Another

 ¹ See ^[a]how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when Heappears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. ⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.


In my notes its says:
a. Have gratitude for the fact that God made me His own
b. Accept that sometimes my friends will not take me as their own
c. Purify myself through obedience with the specific will of God


I think what Pastor Doy gave is pretty self explanatory. To thank God that we(all those who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior) are called His children. That when He comes we will look like Him and that we have represented Him well here on earth. And because of this people will reject us, our own friends that do not understand us will reject us just the same as Jesus was put to shame and rejected when He was here on earth. We need to understand that we are different and we are citizens of heaven that we live a different lifestyle and we do not live a life of compromise. Meaning we are obedient to God's will. We will stand to follow God's will no matter how this world will test us and through this we are purified and we bring a pleasant aroma towards heaven.


As part of the youth/young adults and the 2nd generation as part of a Joshua Generation koinonia will be essential in keeping this church together. We are able to increase in number and the congregation gets to grow in harmony. What a sight it would be that friends and families with the church leaders maintain fellowship and studying the Word as one. Breaking bread, comforting one another and uplifting those in need, singing songs of worship are examples of fellowship that we can do. It would be great that the church would be consistent with this practice that in the future it may also be passed on to the next generation of worshipers and leaders.

Comedy

Comedy on Prezi

Reaction to New Yorker in Tondo

To begin with I like the humor of this staged play simply because it shows the realities of OFW’s returning to the Philippines and showing this lack of patriotism after experiencing life in greener pastures. Unfortunately, Pinoy comedy is such a sad thing to watch now that it is filled with bisexual humor and somehow this represents a huge group of people in society.  It’s funny in an exaggerated way and it’s amusing for a while but every time I watch a play it saddens me that we draw that humor from examples that we normally are not proud of as a nation.  But then comedy draws from human flaws and we have a lot to get from those in the lower class citizens.  But at the end there is a mix of tragedy in it and despite the comedy infused in this play the good traits come out of the main characters and it teaches us that we cannot forget our roots and our relationship with those we’ve left behind are more important despite the time we have spent overseas.

            I also remembered that it covered most flawed characters in Filipino society which are the gay people, pre-marital pregnancy, arrogant overseas workers and the jejemons. From an educated and cultured person’s point of view, we laugh are every move they make. Everything that they do that was normal and acted out in the play are if not disgusting are off of what we think should be done around other people and so we laugh at it. This is what I classify as scatological humor because it hits on particular parts of society.

Reaction on Amelie

            This wonderful French movie is really creative and cinematography is absolutely brilliant. It really captures its audience but a bit draggy in the middle. It makes you not notice the kinkiness of the film but on how Amelie is very creative in plotting her good deeds. Although the quick flashes of sex, odd pictures and ideas make it humorous for the audience. I think that the way that the thoughts of most of the characters and their backgrounds are presented in the movie are also comedic in a way that their flaws make them look very peculiar to the point that you don’t see too much of these people intermingling all at the same time.

Characters that were presented were not perfect at all. It was filled with introverts, a special kid, insecure women, guys with weird hobbies, obsessive compulsive people and etc. In the real world we laugh at this people, we laugh at how different they think and move around others and even when not around other people. We laugh at their misfortunes and when tragedy strikes them when they deserve it. This is comedy at its finest, a mix of romantic comedy and screwball comedy. Nothing too exaggerated as its comedy plays in your head and it makes you laugh but not in a shallow way because as you realize the comedy behind every situation it shows also the good traits of people and how remarkable humans act despite being different and flawed.

Tragedy

Insights on tragedy on Prezi

ANBERLIN LIVE IN MANILA!! 03/09/2011

Words cannot express the overwhelming experience that hannah and I had in that concert. Finally after years of anticipation for this band to grace our shores the have finally arrived and it's been like 5 albums already and they really had to make it up to the hardcore fans. Obviously for most bands they would think meh we don't expect such a huge crowd and I don't think they'll even be singing along but there were in a surprise as everyone was just reminiscent of the years that Anberlin was a huge part of everyone's youth. If you missed it, you missed a lot and I mean it. If you were in the STP concert, meh I don't know, they're like the giants in the industry and they may never come back so you guys are still lucky. hehe. But yeah they promise to come back and I'm excited for it. I hope they come back with a new album and the same energy. This was one of the encores and they did two and the last one had confetti with it which was pretty epic haha! Lucky VIP guys! I didn't bother having to much pics, besides the fact that we were so damn far I wanted to enjoy the concert and not be some guy taking a video coverage of the whole concert. Kind of a waste that you'd flash your camera's for 2 hours and be focused on capturing the whole thing. Pretty useless watching it at home after! So here's the list of songs that they played for 2 hours.  (Not in chronological order, but I'll try to list i down as far as I can remember.)

We Owe This To Ourselves

Paperthin Hymn

Never Take Friendship Personal

Disappear

Inevitable

Unwinding Cable Car

A Day Late

Ready Fuels

Closer

Pray Tell

Art of War

You Belong Here

Dismantle, Repair

Impossible

Feel Good Drag

Godspeed

Encore

Adelaide

Take Me As You Found Me

Uncompromised

I would like to begin by saying that I am proud to be in a relationship of 5 years and despite its ups and downs we've managed to differentiate from most couples out there. One thing that I am proud to have is that of valuing commitment. The value of commitment would somehow be very easy to say but harder to actually do. It's one of those things most men and a few women don't get to practice as time runs faster nowadays more people just tend to end relationships faster. A lot of people just want to "try" a lot of other people because people are more liberal and most relationships are not taken seriously. You hear people talking left and right about problems, break-ups, quarrels, cheating and secrets and you wonder if anyone else gets sick of it. Well for one I am and I've always been traditional. I've always wanted to prove something among other people that it pays to be committed to someone even when your peers aren't. Not only does it give out this good impression to other people it also applies to how you decide on your daily activities and how you choose to commit on something and finish it without wavering at all. 


But as I have mentioned there are downs and we are at one point of our lives tempted to break our values. We become vulnerable in some instances and people present us with wrong opportunities whether or not the consequences will be known or not known to our partners. But true commitment comes with integrity and to resist any form of temptation is a test that even in public people know that you do not do anything behind their backs. Before La Salle I've been in other institutions and I've been to a number of places and events where you just feel like losing your way and forgetting who you actually have. Sometimes its easy to drop that status and pretend that your available for everyone. Fortunately enough, I'm not good with words. I am as shy as a shadow of a shade and I never get to take anyone in advantage. If introducing myself is already a feat for me how else will I hook myself up with someone else?


Of all values that I have, commitment would be the last thing I would want to compromise. People can say anything about the way I keep things in my life but it defines me and is a good way to share a love story too. :)
















A Photo of our last day in Singapore with our Singapore Sling!:)