God's Forgiveness

I was contemplating yesterday on the ability of God to forgive people. Does God really forgive us for every sin that we commit? And does He really forgive us even if we've sinned against Him for the nth time (n being whatever possible number out there)? Doesn't He get tired of seeing us sin, say sorry, then sin again?

Matthew 18 shows us one of the most logical and reassuring proofs of God's unlimited forgiveness. In verse 21, Peter asks Jesus, "How many times do I need to forgive someone who sins against me?" Peter proceeds to make a suggestion, "Up to seven times?" If I'm not mistaken, in Jewish tradition, a person is required to forgive the one who sins against him up to three times. After the third time, that's it. He doesn't have to forgive him anymore. In Peter's suggestion, he plays it safe by doubling the required amount and then adding one more bringing the total to seven. Jesus gives a profound response in verse 22, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."

Jesus isn't being literal here. He's not expecting us to count to 77. What Jesus is simply saying is forgive the sinner as many times as he sins against you. In short, display unlimited forgiveness. This is the standard which Jesus has placed upon the believers of God. We are to display unlimited forgiveness.

However, take a look at the other logical implication of this standard. If this is the standard which we must uphold, then that must also mean that this is the standard which God, Himself, must also uphold. Therefore, logically, God must also (and He does) display unlimited forgiveness!

And so going back to our original question: Will God really forgive us for every sin we commit? According to the standard of God which He, Himself, gave through His Word, the answer is a resounding yes.

Do Not Worry

I've read Matthew 6 dozens of times especially the part where it says "Do not worry." However, I never realized that the statement "Do not worry" was more than just a suggestion. It was a direct command from Jesus to his followers. Jesus commands believers not to worry.

There are instances when I do worry a lot. I worry the most during the days before I speak and in the moments before I get up on stage. It's nerve wrecking to say the least. This Sunday, I've been invited to speak at a youth service and so now is about the right time I start panicking about it. I've been worrying about it all day until a friend of mine pointed out to me this nugget of truth: "To not worry is more than a suggestion. It's a command." Maybe this time I'll take the advice of Jesus and try not to worry but instead "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

The Sound of Music

My aunt took me, my mom, and my sister to watch the broadway rendition of "The Sound of Music". "The Sound of Music" was originally a music film released in the mid 60's. I never got to watch the original film but I've heard much about it. The broadway musical was actually very good. Kudos especially to the production efforts found in the stage design and lighting. The stage was a sight to behold. The company sang familiar songs such as "Do-Re-Mi," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," "My Favorite Things," and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." A fantastic cast, an interesting story, and songs I haven't heard in such a long time will certainly make this performance one of the most memorable ones.

It's just not as exciting

To say that my one month stay here in Canada has been "uneventful" is an understatement. Truth be told, I find Canada life quite slow and boring. Time is slow. Days are long here in the summer. The sun comes up early (I've never actually been up early enough to see it though) and the sun goes down late at 8:30. Not much of a night life here--at least none that I know of yet. The only consolation is that the weather is great. Now if I could just find a couple of friends to share the great weather with.

I haven't made many friends yet. There's so little opportunity to meet new ones. I guess part of it is because school hasn't started (it starts in 3 weeks), I don't have a job, and I haven't found a regular church yet. I hope things will pick up when school starts.

There's also really not much to do here. Like I said, b-o-r-i-n-g. Even the malls don't manage to look cheerful. Malls are small and lifeless! They simply cannot compare to the malls in Manila.

I'm already starting to miss it back home. I miss my church and my friends. Of course I miss my family but my mom and sister (she happens to be studying here too) arrived a few days ago so that makes up for that. I especially miss the excitement of everyday life. Unlike here, there's always something interesting going on in Manila. In my one month of absence, here are some of the things that have passed me by:

1. One or two outings with friends. I see the pictures!
2. I heard that four of my friends have gotten into relationships! It's about time for some of you. ;)
3. A bunch of my friends recently attended a "singles" conference. I heard it was an awesome event.

Stories like these make me miss it back home even more. It's just not as exciting here.

Failure

I hate failing. Period. I try to do everything I can to succeed but I guess that there are just some instances in life when you can't avoid failure.

I took the road test today to upgrade my Canadian driver's license. I spent hours preparing with an instructor and I spent even more hours practicing on my own. I failed the 15 minute exam. Disappointing. I'm taking it again in a few days. I just hope I don't end up like that lady who took the exam earlier than me. It was her 6th attempt at it. She'll make her 7th attempt on the day I take it again.

Silly Sleepyhead

One of the funniest youtube videos I've ever seen is "Charlie the Unicorn." It's about 3 unicorns who go on this stupid journey to Candy Mountain--a land of "sweets, and joy, and joyness." A friend of mine sent me this picture a few days ago. "Silly sleepyhead" is a line found at the beginning of "Charlie the Unicorn." She would call me "Silly sleepyhead" every time I would yawn or show any hint of drowsiness. You can check out the hilarious video of "Charlie the Unicorn" below.

Wild Weekend

Here are the highlights of my third weekend in Canada. Last Monday was a civic holiday and so it was a long and wild weekend over here.

Friday

My aunt took me, my mom, and my dad out for the evening. We had dinner at this fancy restaurant called "Baton Rouge." I ordered a steak. She then took us to watch a broadway musical. One of the great things about being in Toronto is that you get to watch some of the best stage performances. Years ago, I watched the live broadway musicals of "The Lion King," "Beauty and the Beast," and "Mama Mia." Last Friday, I watched my fourth broadway musical entitled "Jersey Boys." It's the story about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Apparently, this singing group was a big hit in the 1960's. I don't know most of their songs but I did recognize popular ones such as "Walk Like a Man" and they're extremely big hit "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You."

Saturday

I was invited to be the guest speaker at a youth camp hosted by a Chinese church here in Toronto. When they said "camp", they literally meant "camp." My aunt who invited me to speak warned me days before that we were going to "rough it out" at the venue. I didn't know what she meant by "roughing it out" until I got there. The venue for the youth camp was camping grounds designed mainly for boy scouts. All the facilities were what I would call "basic." It makes every youth camp venue I've been to in the Philippines look like a five star hotel.

Cabins looked like army barracks with bunk beds as amenities. There were two showers in the vicinity. The two showers were supposed to be good enough for the 75 campers and 10 staff at the site. Some campers eventually ended up skipping one shower, or showering in the river, or who knows, maybe not even showering at all. We also had to cook our own food and clean the place ourselves. In fairness, the food was really good. The cooking team did an excellent job. It was an interesting experience to rough it out in the wild.

That evening I delivered the first message. Half of the campers didn't exactly know who Jesus was to them and the other half, in my observation, wasn't serious about a relationship with Christ either. I recounted for them the last moments of Christ and showed them what Jesus had to go through for our sins. It was quite an emotional moment for some of the kids. I could see tears in some of their eyes especially after I showed them a short video of the death of Jesus made by my brother. We ended that night with a bonfire and marshmallows.

Sunday

On Sunday morning, we had a simple service at a beautiful outdoor chapel near the river. I delivered my second and final message about trusting God with everything. The camp planning team informed me days before that many of the campers struggled with confidence issues. So I explained to the campers that confidence to go through whatever life hits you with comes from trusting in the one and only Creator of the universe.

A few parents came all the way to the campsite to hear me speak that morning. I was flattered that they would drive two hours to the venue to listen to a 30 minute message. They told me they weren't disappointed. It looked like God did a fantastic job that morning.

After finally completing my tasks, I was able to relax the whole afternoon. The campers went canoeing. I decided not to canoe which was actually a smart decision. The canoe route they took was a tedious five hour journey. I opted to take the motorboat instead. We spent two hours rescuing canoes that tipped over and teaching people how to canoe properly.

After the motorboat ride, I decided to help at the kitchen. I don't know much about cooking but they had me cooking fried chicken. I fried 300 pieces of chicken. That was a lot of chicken. The campers ate them all. It was good chicken. We had a workshop in the evening and we ended the day with a bonfire and marshmallows again.

Monday

It was the day we headed back to civilization. Before we left, we had to clean everything--as in everything. Beach front. Kitchen. Mess hall. Cabins. Toilets. My team was assigned to clean the toilets. "Lucky" me. Real "lucky" too because my aunt decided that we should leave earlier due to a dinner we had to attend that evening. I didn't complain. ;) We left right after they announced the cleaning assignments.