TO ALL EMO's, THIS IS FOR YOU

[See graphic arts below]

I have ministered to many EMO's in various community, schools and churches. Oftentimes, they have been looked at with disdain and prejudice just because of how they look. Good thing, God don't judge us based on outward appearance. I have experienced that people who look rebellious are just actually people who are needing love.

I have encountered group of young people in one campus who were kick-out by the school because they started to make cuts in their arms using a cutter. When I counseled them, each one of them shared their frustrations and pains in life. One has a broken family, another has been physically abused. And goes the story of each one trailing stories of frustrations, self-pity, self-condemnation and guilt.

Oftentimes, these young people have been misjudged just because of their looks, their hair-style and their music. Even churches has the wrong goal to change their culture and their looks without addressing the pain and the reasons why they are doing Emo. Instead of receiving love, what they received is prejudice and rejection. All they need is to be listened at, to be cared for, to be accepted, and to be helped.

One Emo asked me, "Does Jesus loves an Emo like me?"
I told him the stories of the "emo's" in the BIble - the lunatic whom Jesus healed, the demonized boy, and Mary Magdalene. And I showed her my own scars in my left and right arms, "Even before this emo culture has emerged, people has been already struggling with self-hate, depression, frustrations and guilt. It's as old as the world. But there is hope. I experienced this freedom and I want to share it to you."

I told the 13-year-old girl who has the worst cuts in her arms, "You don't have to do this anymore, because Someone has already been wounded for you. Jesus has already been punished, cut and wounded for you. It means you are loved, accepted, and forgiven."

"So then it could mean Jesus is also an Emo in this regard?", the girl asked me.
"Well, if we take Jesus becoming "human" to die on the cross, and "emo's" are humans, then it is right, Jesus is an "emo" in this context. He became "emo" for you and died for you to have freedom. If you were called today as "Emo," He was called in his time as "Man of Sorrows." You don't have to do this because Jesus is hurt looking at you doing this because He loves you so much. He already shouldered all the pains and the sins."

This emo girl together with her friends cried as they received Jesus in their lives.

Emo culture, is just one of the many cultures of the new generation has. Instead of looking at them with disdain and prejudice. I think we can only reach them not through condemnation, but through the love of Jesus.

To all EMO's out there - Jesus loves you.
I dedicate the work of arts below for you.

“The Church

needs young blood

in its veins.

Our strengths for holding the faith

may lie in experienced saints

but our zeal of propagating it

must be found in the

young."

- C h a r l e s  S p u r g e o n

I ALWAYS SEE YOU IN FACEBOOK. I WILL BE SO GLAD TO SEE YOU IN MY BOOK - GOD

This is what it takes to be included in the Book of Life- confirm your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like as Facebook is free, so is salvation. It is not by your good works nor by your religion which you can have a new life and salvation. It is only placing your faith on Jesus love for you which He showed for you on the cross. So, will you accept Jesus?

Why Superman and Other Superheroes Can Never Be Greater Than Jesus

I love superheroes. I admire all of them. Since I was a kid, I have known their stories and their adventures. I can even draw them, with all the details of their costumes, from memory. But when I have known Jesus, everything was different. I have learned that though Jesus has no x-ray vision, has no superhuman strength, has no lightning speed, and costumes [thank God] like Superman, Ironman or Flash, yet they can never be greater than Jesus in any way. Here's my observation and comparison:

Superman can see through walls; but he can't see through the hearts. Jesus can.

Superman may fly up in the atmosphere; but he can't fly up to heaven. Jesus can.

Incredible Hulk may lift the biggest rock in the world, but he cannot lift up the fallen and the weak. Jesus can. 

Iron Man changed his heart into gamma to help the world. Jesus changed his heart as human in order to feel what we feel. Spiderman is only limited in his city, and so was Batman, but Jesus helps all mankind.

Clark Kent changed to Superman, and so were all superheroes to help people [From being weak to being strong]. Jesus did the opposite, He became human to help people[ From being strong to being weak].

Superman only loved Lois[same with all superheroes, they only love their love partner]. Jesus loves us all.

Superheroes may save you for a moment but they cannot give you peace, direction especially salvation. Jesus can.

No matter how powerful and fast Superman is, still he cannot save humanity. He is not omnipresent. If he will address all crimes in the world, he got to be here and there in different parts of the world in every second. Even all the powers of all superheroes are to be combined, still they cannot save humanity, because the problem of mankind is more than just physical.

Here comes Jesus, what everybody perceived as weakness and unlikely-superhero act, He SAVED mankind in JUST ONE SHOT by dying on the cross! 

Bam! It is finished! 

All the sins of the world were paid! And suppose these superheroes are real and they are human, even their sins are paid. Salvation was secured by Jesus for us all. He didn't use superhuman strength to kill his oppressors. He didn't use any power whatsoever but rather withheld it all. What he used was his body to die on that cross.

In any superhero story, we don't like any superhero to die in the story, but Jesus has to die to complete our salvation story.

And the greatest thing about this comparison is this - 

All of these superheroes are not real; while Jesus is very real.

If we glimpse toward the future, all of these superpowers we have seen in these superheroes are no match to the coming King of kings, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. If just suppose these superheroes are real, they too will all bow down to the Only One Superpower of all - Jesus!

Superman and all superheroes bowing down to Jesus. Awesome!

"Greater love has no man [yes, even superman] than this, that a man will lay down his life for his friends."

_______________________
* How about you? What makes Jesus greater than any of the superheroes? Share your comments below.


From FERDINAND GOJO, Canada:

Since I was a kid I wake up in the morning and think, “Superhero!” I always wanted to be a superhero. Didn’t anybody else have dreams of being a superhero? 

You know when surveys ask people why they want to be superheros nobody says, “To help people. Nobody says to serve. Nobody wants to be Batman to fight crime. You want to be Batman to have a cool Batmobile. And to park in the Batcave. And to beat up people who make fun of you for wearing speedos and tights... lol 

I wanted to be the Invisible Man. Not to help others but to be cool. To sneak in and get free stuff, that’s what I wanted. You get in trouble? Disappear :)

Jesus Christ had all the super powers there are available in the world yet He came to serve. He was a king born in a barn. He lived a meager existence. He was basically homeless throughout His ministry and He served others. He cared for people on the other side of the track. The down, the prostitutes, the damaged, the sick, the hungry. And He did all that even knowing how the world worked.

radical quote | ian thomas

“Nothing perpetuates ignorance

worse than

unenlightened enthusiasm.”

- I a n  T h o m a s

“Christianity

is best spread 

not through

force

but through

fascination.”

- C l a i b o r n e

The Challenge of Social Networking for the Church

In the first wave of media, it is the Christians who were on the forefront in changing the culture of the world. It was the printing of the Bible by Gutenberg which paved the way for this first media revolution.

The second wave of media was the television and at first, it was pervaded by the Christians who shared the Gospel in the mainstream. It was just eventually pervaded by secularism and humanism when the Church started to recede from being aggressive in spreading the Gospel through TV, movies and films.

Today, the current wave of media which by so far the fastest and the most effective is internet and social networking. Will the Christians take advantage of this vast and fast way of spreading the Good News or will we stay in the sideline? Think it over.