When I took on the Presidency of the National UMYF, I became very busy that I have not committed to any local church. Well, since my father came to Manila, I had to join him in his local church. After all, it doesn’t make sense if I’m not in his church. The last time that I really chose to be a part of a church–that of my own choosing was when I became a member of God is Love UMC in Concepcion, Marikina City. It was a great ministry for me. I actually felt like I was ministering with a church I chose as compared to a church imposed on me because of my father’s appointment.

It seems I need a local church again–not something I choose out of obligation, but a church where I can meet people, grow in my faith and become more like Christ. I initially thought of Good Samaritan UMC since I’ve been there a few times already. The Vesper service appeals to me particularly. But I have apprehensions, though. I also thought of Puno UMC, St. John and Kamuning. They are all good but so far, I ain’t committing to any. Will try to attend worship services in these churches–> church shopping, so to speak.

Serving God and worshiping him are not disconnected with each other. After all, service derives out of worship and love of God. But what if the servant (or the friend, as Jesus puts it) forgets to connect with God? What if it all becomes heartless service and ministry routine? What if service is no longer motivated by love but by economic necessities? What if service becomes nothing more than one’s profession and expertise?

…
The heart gets lost.
…

That heart is what I seek to recover.

I am reading Chaim Potok’s best selling book In the Beginning. I have always been fascinated with Jewish culture, customs and history. This book allows me to gain a deeper view to the culture of Jews and how Jewish children and young people make the transition to adulthood.

Potok manages to recapture the Depression era and World War II in his novel. The characters are so real and believable. David Lurie’s character, which I gather may be Potok’s autobiographical representation, may be dreamy and wistful and overly intelligent for his age. But his genius and his questions penetrate the heart of Jewish orthodoxy in a way that makes his family and his immediate relative cringe.

The novel chronicles David Lurie’s coming of age. And in doing so, Potok presents the culture crash between Judaism and the broader secular culture. He extols the Jewish culture while at the same time warns against cultural chauvinism. We read David Lurie saying that the world would be better off without the goyim (Gentiles) yet his father responds by saying “I doubt it! We would probably start killing each other.” Whoa! Such an honest appraisal of the human condition.

My salute goes to Chaim Potok. While I may be decades late in reading this bestseller, I am honored to have read it. The America of the 1930s-1940s comes alive to me through the eyes of young David Lurie.

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything significant here at my Multiply site. Well… this is because i am only maintaining my Multiply site as a means to connect with friends, acquaintances and other contacts. Here are the headline from my blogs, so you can click on them and go straight to my blogs.

Check out the movie releases at various movie houses in Metro Manila for September 2008. There are a number of interesting movies like Babylon A.D. and Hellboy 2.

There’s an ongoing Ignite Yourself series over at www.BeMightyNow.com. If you are interested in creating your own Personal Development Plan, just click on this link .

Tennis and Sports fans out there. If you want some US Open 2008 updates and results, check out my WhateverMighty Blog.

Hi there, a lot of topics have been posted in penstalker blogs. Just click on the links below if you are interested in reading any of these.

Check out my newest blog: WhateverMighty! and read about my rants, my brags and anything under the sun. Recently, I made several posts about the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

At Penstalker.com, I posted about a recent digital music and film festival called Phildigiawards and of course, something on how we can watch Olympic Games videos and movies.

At BeMightyNow, I started a series on Communication for Personal Development. If you wanna learn more about the application of communication to personal development, then read about the definition of communication and read other tips and lessons on communication and personal development.

That’s it for now folks. I got some catching up to do. I gotta write several articles on the Beijing Olympics so I can catch up with the SEO stuff and make money online.

Tomorrow is the last day of July. Whew! Another month’s over and a new one is coming along.

Man! Time flies!

I would just like to make some announcements and plugs.

1. The Passion Conference will be in Friday. You shouldn’t miss this event! I will be there as a volunteer. So if you’re coming along and you know me. Just say hello.

2. If you are looking for the Top Ten Jobs in the Philippines so you can start pursuing your career, head over to www.bemightynow.com and read on.

3. If you want to know about the latest movie opening at Manila theaters, visit the Penstalker site for the movie openings on this last week of July.

I’m reviving this blog simply as a kind of headlines blog. Gotta post the updates on my blogs so that people may learn about my other blogs. So I hope people who got directed here will still get a chance to visit my other blogs.

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I got me a webhost and a domain name. Penstalker Spectacles has moved.

Please visit www.penstalker.com for more of Penstalker’s articles.