Working Is Worshiping

How do you feel every time your alarm clock or cellphone rings to tell you it is time to wake up for work? Are you like me who would pick up his phone and reset the time and would say, “I could afford five more minutes.” It is until five minutes become thirty minutes!

Or are you the one who feels excited to finally sit down before your desk and start working? If that is you, well, I am happy for you. Whatever it is you feel towards work, do you know that working is an act of worshipping the LORD? Yes, it is.

That was the core of the sermon on the third Sunday for the on-going series in Victory Christian Fellowship last Sunday, November 22, which is entitled Beyond Sunday.

As a call center agent who works for a night shift, it is different to find yourself getting ready for work while the majority of people in your community are all excited, if not tired, going home. I am doing this for like two years now but I still feel not so in-tuned with the kind of work I have. Before we go any further, I would like to say that I am thankful I am working. But something in me wants more. Like something wants to get out of this routine that makes me feel deprived of the opportunity of exploring how much I could do and what I could do aside from taking calls all my life.

I always pray that I could work for Advertising or Marketing or Publishing or any business-related job since that is where my heart is. It is just that I am not finding my doors yet to get into that. But one day I believe I will get there.

What I like about my current work as a Customer Relations Agent for a Credit Card account is working with my friends. I can tell that there are only few people on the floor I consider real friends. It is very political in a call center environment. As a Christian in the midst of it, it is always a challenge, and sometimes disheartening, to be surrounded with people who always talk behind your back and people who wear invisible masks. Especially now that there are so many things changing on the floor and I feel like I am left with no other choice but re-consider another year staying at Sykes.



And hours before we attend the 4PM Sunday service which was led by Pastor Janssen, Bryan and Prince were talking about Bryan’s business plan of putting up his own specialized computer shop real soon which as I listened to him describing what it would be like, I was like hearing my very self repeating what I planned a couple of years before. It seems like Bryan and I both have the same thinking and ideas. The only difference there is between us is that he has the money to make it materialized and I don’t.

Honestly I felt a bit sad about seeing how limited I am when it comes to finances. But I remember that I am chosen by God Himself for something big which I don’t have any clue yet. But there surely is something big God is preparing for me. That has made me feel excited.

In the service, I was seated between Bryan and Chris. Chris is already setting up his computer shop in San Pablo City which might launch by next month. I am sincerely happy for them both. Funny part there was that I was in between of the two who are in the process of materializing what I thought and planned for myself not so long ago. If God was giving me clues that time, I wanted to know what it was.

Now going back to the series concentrating on us as workers, Pastor Janssen discussed the very purpose of work in our lives as God’s special creation. In Genesis 2:15, it teaches us that work is an act of worship to God. And it feels good to know to whom we are really working for as it is explained in Colossians 3:22-24.

Worshipping the Lord is not limited to singing Him praises, praying, and Bible devotion. It is in every detail we do. I was impressed when Pastor Janssen scrutinized our priority list by telling us that having God on the top of our priority list is not really that good idea or a lifestyle, although he also clarified that there is nothing bad about it. In fact, he said it was beautiful.

Presentation:

1. God
2. Family
3. Work
4. Ministry

Pastor Janssen explained it further by pointing out that if we put God on the top of our list, we are just simply following an order where there is allocated time for our priority number one and another scheduled time for our priority number two, or simply we are limiting our worshipping Him in morning prayers, in scheduled Bible devotion, in Sunday service, etc. which means that after we had our morning prayer, we could set God aside and do our own thing for the rest of the day. Like that if we are already at work, we could now then fit into the working environment as we follow the worldly trend in the office, even if it might be falling outside the standards of God.

Pastor Janssen stressed it out that God’s standards should be in everything we do, whether it is at work or not. He said that God should not be on the top of our priority list but God should be involved in everything we do. It is because work is an act of worship itself.

It feels better that I am not working for my boss but I am working for the LORD. The main point of the sermon was that, “Working for the LORD is worshiping for the LORD.” I still pray for the blessing of the LORD for a new work where I could really use all the talents and gifts of working as I worship Him more. But for the meantime, I will keep worshiping God in the current work I have. So the next time my cellphone rings to tell me it is time to get up for work, I could have re-phrased it with, “It is time to get up to worship the LORD.” That is way a lot better.

So get up and work! #

Reporting,
Fernand Yim

Everyday Miracles

Do you believe miracles still happen these days? Personally I believe miracles do happen everyday. In fact, everyday is overflowing with miracles. It is just that many of them have become so common because we experience them everyday that we stop noticing them. These are the things which the moment we lose them, that is the very moment we realize their worth, that we should be thankful that we had them and praying that we could have them back.

There are miracles that we do not notice anymore because of the challenging situations we are in. It is because we are still flesh, many times in our lives that we focus more on what our physical bodies feel that we forget to appreciate the miracles which are being delivered to us everyday. I am talking about the everyday miracles here.

How about those extra-ordinary miracles? They do happen as well. It is because God gives generously. In fact, He knows when to give, what to give, and how to give. And I just want to share one of the many things He had done in my life. God is the greatest provider of all our needs and I strongly believe in this.

Last Thursday, before I went to the Victory Christian Fellowship Alabang Center (VCF Alabang) Papa talked to me about his health condition. I don’t know the medical term or how to say it in English that he has an enlarged heart? Or something like that.



Good news is that it is still curable. He just needs to go under continuous medication and rest. He humbly said that if I could ‘temporarily’ take over the finances in our family. That day I was already okay with it. I told God that if He wants me to be in the position, let it be. Only that I was also praying that God would help me to do this.

While going to VCF Alabang, I was calculating my finances in my head. How much would I get for this cut-off and what my expenses are. I had three leaves which were applied to this cut-off. I applied for them in October for Victory Weekend which was postponed and moved in November because of Ondoy. I also had two late records for the last two days of the cut-off which means I lost my Health Bonus. In other words, I would be getting not much which made it more difficult for me to take over. I was praying, “God I would need more.”

I remember what I read in one of Bo Sanchez books. I could not remember the title of that book but I remember that he said God wants us to ask and when we ask God would appreciate it more if we ask specifically. So I gave the figure I wanted to receive for this cut-off. I asked fifty percent more. The figure in my head struck me with a thought which was, “Could it be really possible?” It is because the figure I was praying for was way too much from what I should be getting which would fall under the category of ‘impossible things’. But is there something impossible with God? No. And I held on to that.

On the night which was Friday, when our salary was already credited to our account, I checked my balance before going home. Again, I asked for that specific amount. I didn’t care if it was impossible or not. What I believed was that it was not impossible to God. When I opened my eyes to finally discover what my balance was, guess what, that was the figure on the screen! In fact it was more than what I was asking for! I was so amazed that right there I was praising God that I didn’t mind the short line of people behind me because I was so overwhelmed with joy.

True it is that LORD God is faithful and He knows what He had promised. Again, He knows when to give, what to give, and how to give. We only need to have faith and let God do it all for you. #

Reporting,
Fernand Yim

True Forgiving

My biggest challenge recently is the health condition of Papa. He had a spot in his left lung as a result of a longtime smoking. And many other complications which are all because of the kind of lifestyle he used to have during his heyday.

Honestly I was hurting so much. I was hurting because every time like this happens in our family which eventually will result to financial challenge, I feel like it is so unfair that I should suffer, or we all should suffer, the result of all his fault in the past. How could you forget something that made you so miserable now? How could you forgive someone who is not admitting his mistakes? How could you let go of something which is hurting you the more? And how could you accept the consequences of someone else’s fault which are taking your future away from you?

This feeling fed the longtime hatred I was keeping all along within me. I was blaming him for every problem, every heartache, every failed dream, every tear, every fear, every threat we are facing each day.

If I would write everything here it would be a very long post that might cover the entire space there is in this blog. Anyway that is not what I am writing about here. I am writing here all the things I had realized. Things that God made me realize.

I didn’t realize that nurturing this feeling of hatred is like blocking the power of God to be performed in my life. It is like closing my door from Him so that He could enter and help me through all of this. In other words, this is affecting my faith. It is corrupting my faith and my personal relationship with the LORD.

I am so thankful that God would not just allow my situation to get extended. Yesterday before I went to church I surrendered it all to Him in a prayer. It was amazing to realize that all along God was teaching me a vey important lesson that I should have learned long time ago. That is forgiving.

True forgiving is letting go of what already had happened. It is about not what are the results of the mistakes in the past. It is accepting what has become because of the past. Realizing that past is past is more than just knowing it. It is better that we are willing to take it and get hold of it. Not just merely reading or saying the words.

If you are the person involved in forgiving, if you are the one who needs to forgive, which obviously means that you are the hurting one, forgiving is not easy. And I tell you, it is not easy but it is not impossible. All you need to do is ask God to help you to forgive someone who has hurt you so much. Remember a perfect and all-loving God has forgiven us even before we ask for forgiveness. We are so blessed that God is so forgiving and loving. And one of many ways that we could glorify God for this beautiful gift of forgiveness is by forgiving all the people who have hurt us in the past. Don’t prolong the suffering. Forgive and let go. When you let go, don’t ever bring it up whenever something again happens. Prayers are very helpful as well as reading the Bible. And it would be more helpful if you would surround yourself with Christian friends whom you can ask for spiritual help and guidance who will help you as well in prayers.

In my prayer, I thanked God that He had waited for me to finally surrender it all to Him. After that prayer, Papa still has his health issue. We are still facing the financial challenge along with it. But one thing has changed, I feel so secured. I trust in the LORD that He is doing something. It feels good and I believe in the LORD.

As it is written:

But I trust in Your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in Your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, for He has been good to me.
Psalm13:5-6 NIV

I am so happy that God has been so patient with me. #

Reporting,
Fernand Yim

Life After Death

Yesterday was the celebration of the dead for the majority of the Filipino people. However, in our church, we celebrated otherwise. We celebrated life and the fact that we have a living God!

Pastor Janssen began his sermon by telling a story of a nine-year-old girl whose mother just passed away few weeks ago. It was a touching story but my focus was on the screen flashing the word DEATH. In my mind I scrambled the word and I came up with another word which was HATED. Amused I told to myself that Death is hated by many of us to be discussed about or to be merely thought of.

Yesterday had marked as well the last part of the the church most recent series called ABC which was all about the foundation of our faith-that is Jesus Christ.

As Pastor Janssen went on, he explained what is death by briefly explaining the 3 beliefs about death. These are annihilation, reincarnation, and resurrection. Pastor Ariel on his site had explained these three in a more interesting way. You can check it out by clicking here.

1. Annihilation is saying that you can only live life one time big time. Like we should be living life like today is our last which is not that really bad unless living life for you is all about beers, lusts, and other worldly stuff.

2. Reincarnation is, as we all know, living again in another form or level in a different lifetime. Pastor Janssen said that if you, say, did not good in this lifetime, you would still have a chance to be a better creature in the next lifetime which would have you promoted to be in Nirvana in the end of this lifetime series. Funny part was when he said that you could be a cockroach next lifetime and if you would have managed to be the best cockroach ever, you might be promoted in your next lifetime as a better creature which could be...a lizard? The question was, what could get you wrong living a humble life of a roach? So, could we then be readying to be the best lizard there is in lifetime series until we reach the end of this seemingly endless circle?

3. Resurrection is about life after death. This is the center of Christian faith–the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The amazing part of it was about the Judgment. Pastor Janssen cleared the misconception about Judgment. He discussed the two different types of Judgment.

1. The Great White Throne Judgment

This is for those who do not believe in Christ as Savior and Lord.

Rev. 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.

Rev. 20:15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

2. The Judgment Seat of Christ

This one almost made me cry because it was like what I needed to hear. I was already anticipating about this even before the service yesterday.

2Cor. 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

The conclusion is that Your view of eternity will determine how you live today. #


Reporting,
Fernand Yim

Welcome To The Pastors' Notes

I haven't written much lately here for the past couple of weeks considering that my writing spirit was back kicking and so active. So many things were going on in my family, at work, and many other things which would explain why I had kept my writing pen off lately from doing my reportings and sharings here at Reporting Fernand Yim.

I was thinking of writing reviews here as well and I would be coming up with a book written by Joshua Harris as my first reporting of a book review. That is when I am completely back on my...should I say writing feet? Laughs! That would be another section or category here. I am still thinking of a cool title. Hopefully I could come up with something relevant and interesting. But for the meantime, I will be starting my new section, should I say, which will be about sermons from the church.

I have come up with the idea because I had realized that since all the people I know seem to be aloof when it comes to me inviting them to the church, and every Sunday is always great that I was always hoping that in any ways I could have them shared with those people I know. Well, it seems like I am having so much transformation lately so...I might as well have the sharing here on Reporting Fernand Yim.

And you should be ready for this, ehem, welcome to The Pastors' Notes!

Reporting,
Fernand Yim