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The new face of Chapel
Worship
A new sound was heard during ORU's first chapel last Aug. 14. Though some enjoyed it and others disliked it, everyone wanted to know more about the man in the suit and lady with blond hair.
Wayne and Jennifer Lee are Consulting Directors for the International Worship Center, formerly known as Music Ministries. They now oversee the department with Laura Cooke as Assistant Director.
Wayne Lee served as Director of Student Worship in Southeastern University (SEU), while Jennifer Lee was Coordinator of Ministry Tour Teams.
A recent graduate of SEU, Jonathan Swindal is also an Assistant Director alongside Cooke. He was involved with worship while he was a student at Southeastern University.
After seven years of service, the couple left SEU in May to focus on their worship consulting firm, WorshipLife International, based in Jacksonville, Fla.
“We are a Spirit-led consulting firm created specifically for the Spirit-filled local church,” they explain on their website. “It is our calling to assist the local church and pastor in finding the perfect solution for its worship leadership...We believe that God has ordained WorshipLife International to be the call to the local church that reclaims its voice of worship and establishes connection from the creation to its Creator. ”
Contrary to many assumptions, the new worship leaders stressed that they will not change anything in the program but simply make expansions.
"Our main goal here is to add to the great systems that are already here,” Wayne Lee said. “This department under Laura Cooke was run with passion. Our job is not to change anything but to add to it."
The Lees family and ministry are based in Florida, so they are flown periodically to Tulsa under their contract with the University. Several ministries also support the expenses of their travel. However, the couple is not fully employed by the University, so they do not receive any benefits.
“I know their ability, their confidence, their skill set,” Dr. Rutland said. “I know what they do, and they are professionals. They can deal with a wide variety of issues... They didn't graduate from college last year. They know what they're doing... There are not many people [or] companies that do that kind of consulting for a broad range of issues. And I have experience with them. I want to work with people who I am confident with, so I don't have to start over educating them from the beginning... Consulting is a great investment... You don't have to hire another employee.”
Students' reactions, however, are still divided. Some students prefer how it was last year, stating song selection as a concern.
“I think it's gonna take a lot of time to get used to it,” junior Reagan Barger said. “[I] have more of a bias towards Laura [Cooke] and enjoying that type of a worship, like the Hillsong... The new worship leader is really good and experienced but it's just a new style. It's like old church style, older songs... It's just new to get used to. I'm not a super fan of it yet, but hopefully we'll warm up to it.”
Others also found it important to see people their age lead chapel worship.
“I prefer student-led worship because, I don't know, it makes me be more engaged to it,” senior Lauren Oxford said. “These new people, I'm not really sure how to feel about them because it's new and their older and it's just more 'churchy'.”
On the other hand, groups of students feel more comfortable with the new leaders because of their energy and experience.
“The new husband and wife will bring a new balance to chapels,” senior Jasmine Edwards said. “They are very skilled and knowledgeable of music so they will bring a variety in the song selections and genres of music.”
The couple will also be spearheading the new premier singing group, which is still in the planning stage.
Their contract with the University only lasts for the Fall semester, but it is still uncertain as to whether it will be extended.
Speaker
This year, the chaplains don't have to announce the next chapel speaker at hall meeting. Dr. Rutland has chosen to preach for all chapels, except for a very few times when Ron Luce will be taking his place. Dr. Rutland will also be speaking during fall revival.
Our president says he takes chapel as an opportunity to speak to everyone all at once. By doing so, the ORU family gets to know him more. In chapel, he seeks to promote leadership and set an example among the faculty, staff and students.
He also wants to set the theological and spiritual pace of the university, something that will be hard to do with numerous speakers coming in and out.
“Chapel is a great place where leadership can happen,” Dr. Rutland added. “You can model the way you want things to run... It allows me the opportunity to set the pace, to state where I want things to go theologically or spiritually.”
Consistency is also a priority the president seeks to achieve.
“Continuity is one of the keys to community,” Dr. Rutland said. “[With different speakers every chapel,] each chapel becomes an event that starts from scratch. [With me speaking each chapel], it creates continuity, and continuity tends to a community. It's one of the keys to a community”
Dr. Rutland is still not sure if he will be doing this for his whole term at ORU, but he says that it will be so for the “foreseeable future.”
Chapel Offering
In less than a month, the ORU community raised enough funds to put a roof over a bible school in Bagdora, India.
The Father’s Heart, under the leadership of Pastor Sajib Sharma, is located near the foot of the Himalayans. Pastors from mountains of Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan hike down to the bible school to be trained. In their small compound, pastors sleep, eat and learn about the Bible for two months. When training is over, the pastors go back to their villages and head churches in some of the most unreached areas of the region.
The bible school building was formerly made of bamboo, but water from the mountains washed out all constructions in the compound. Currently, all functions are done in one hut. They are in the process of building a two-story structure that will not be easily damaged by flood. The first floor will be designated as a men’s residence area, while all teaching sessions will be done in the second floor.
The concrete floor and posts have been slowly built as the funds came in. The roof, which would also be the floor of the second floor, had to be laid down all at once. The Father’s Heart had to pay $3,500 up front, however, they did not have enough money to finance it. Because of the offerings collected in chapel, they are now able to release the necessary work.
A former Hindu, Pastor Sajib Sharma’s incredible testimony led him to start this training program for the people in the remote area of the Himalayans. His mother took poison while nursing in order to kill herself and her child. However, he was found alive beside his mother’s carcass. In his teenage years, Sharma contracted nasal cancer, which spread to his brain. Despite not being a Christian, he went to a revival meeting where he was totally healed of his fatal condition. He was kicked out of his house when his family found out about his conversion. While living as a homeless man in a tea farm, a pastor took him in and trained him in the Bible.
Pastor Jimmy Shaw, adjunct professor for the Theology department and pastor of Doxa Church, has been working with The Father’s Heart and relayed this concern to the administration.
A committee, which is still being formed, will be in charge of choosing the projects chapel offerings will be allocated.
The Oracle, Sept. 4, 2009
Photos courtesy of Jimmy Shaw
Cory on the Press
"National leaders who find themselves wilting under the criticisms by members of the media, would do well not to take such criticism personally but to regard the media as their allies in keeping the government clean and honest."
-Cory Aquino
Saints vs. Heros
"Saints are touched by the hand of God, they do no wrong, they are faultless, full of the light of heaven—but they belong behind glass cases, painted eyes lit by Christmas lights, of little use in a country where every man is a sinner because he lives. Heroes make themselves. They are human, their faults are their own, and their extraordinariness is not in their perfection, but in their struggle."
- Patricia Evangelista, "After Cory"
http://bit.ly/42eJXc
Today the country bleeds yellow
image from http://geekandahalf.tumblr.com/
Buhay ni Inday
It was jazz an ordinary day.
The skies were clear, the birds were
chipping. Ang ganda-ganda ng araw!
Nasa SM ako noon at katatapos ko lang
mamili ng groceries.
Timing naman nasa foodcore si Angel
Locsin, nagpro-provoke ng movie nya.
Grabe, andaming fans, pull-packed
talaga! Dahil fans nya rin ako,
nakipila rin ako.
Then suddenly, out of the loo, may
bumulong sa akin
ng: "Indaaaayyyy. ....."
Huh? It sounded like a familiar sound.
Who can it be now?
"Dodong!" sigaw ko.
Napalakas yata voice ko. Kasi the
other fans turned their backs to
their behind at napatingin sa amin.
Sabi ko "Sorry, I didn't mean to be
loud and proud." Hinawakan na lang ni
Dodong ang kamay ko at lumayo kami
from the crowd.
"Kamusta na Inday? Do you come here
open? tanong nya.
"Bihira lang, Dodong. I'm just
droppings by. Ethnic and schedule ko
eh" sabi ko.
Memories came flushing in my mind. How
can I forget to remember Dodong? Siya
na may mata ni Piolo, dimple ni Aga,
at bigote ni Rex Cortez. he's every
woman's dreamboat. I was just starting
my tour of duty kay ate noon nang
unang makilala ko si Dodong.
Contraction worker siya sa ginagawang
bahay sa tapat namin. Naging kami for
a while then after that were not an
item anymore.
"Tanghali na Inday. What did you say
we have lunch together?" tanong ni
Dodong. "I don't mine" sagot ko.
Sa restaurant, nilapitan kaagad kami
ng waiter. "What's your odor sir?"
sabi nung waiter kay Dodong.
"Do you have porkshop?" tanong ni
Dodong.
"Yes sir" sabi nito.
"And you mam?" sabay tingin naman sa
akin.
Hmmm... mukhang masarap yung porkshop.
Pero I'm cutting down on my carbon
kaya pinigilan ko.
"I'll just have water, thanks.
Liquidate diet ako eh." sagot ko.
Pagkatapos kumain, nagyaya si Dodong
manood ng sine. Teka teka, this is
going too far. Besides, it's a long,
long way to run.
"Reality chess, Dodong. May asawa na
ako, si Jay. As a mother of fact, I'm
happily married" pagmamalaki ko.
"Di na pwede yung tulad ng dati. Sorry
pero I didn't expect you still
have more feelings than I expected. i
don't want you getting the way.
Past is fast" dagdag ko pa.
Tumahimik sya. Parang may language
barrel na namagitan sa amin. The
seconds that passed seemed like
fraternity. Di nagla-on, nagsalita na
rin sya. "I don't care less!" sigaw ni
Dodong.
Shocks, give me a brake! The nerd ng
taong ito para sigawan ako! To
think it's his other woman that caused
our separation to part.
Kinabahan na ako. I felt speedbumps
all over my body and was having panic
attach. Tinalikuran ko siya at
nagmadali akong lumakad palayo.
Pero sumunod pa rin siya like a monkey
on my butt. Hanggang sa makakita ako
ng security guard. Biglang nawala si
Dodong.
"Excuse me kuya, pwedeng magtanong?"
sabi ko sa mamang guard.
"Diretso lang." sabi niya. "Then turn
right anytime with care."
"Thanks for your corporation" sabi ko.
Buti na lang nandun si kuya. Pero
saglit lang, I smell something
peachy. As I turned, nakita ko na
namang nakasunod si Dodong! Delaying
static lang pala kanina ang pag
disappear nya.
"Nyahahaha! You can run but you can
hide, Inday. No matter where you go,
there you are!" pananakot nya.
Oh no, is this the end? This is too
much, I feel degradable. My world
started falling afar.
Then suddenly, Jay come from behind!
Dodong was caught to the act! In the
matter of minute, it's all over. I'm
out of arm's way.
"Thanks Jay, my love. But how did
you?" bago pa man ako matapos, sabi
niya: "I was in the neighborhood. Fans
din ako ni Angel eh. I heard you shout
but at first I didn't give it a
thought. Pero nang makita ko kayong
magkahawak ng holding hands, then i
give it a thought. I know something is
a missed."
From then on, Dodong did not brother
me again. In fact, he didn't even
sister me. As in platonic at wala na
talaga.
Pero kami ni Jay, heto, shoot sailing
pa rin ang relationship. Lalo pa
ngayon, open na kami sa isa't-isa at
walang exhibitions. i feel I'm on
cloud.
REPOST :)
Filipino Divas in Tulsa
I went to the local Asian store (Nam Hai) in Tulsa yesterday, and I saw a poster that kinda looked like this...
Apparently, Kuh Ledesma, Zsa Zsa Padilla, Pops Fernandez, and Regine Velasquez had a concert in Tulsa... and I never knew! That's the price of not going to the Asian store enough. Not that I wanted to go to the concert (though I'm sure it was fun), but when did big Filipino stars come to good old Tulsa? They always visit big cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and even Houston, but Tulsa? Since when?? I don't know if Tulsa is really getting bigger or the 4 divas just needed something to do.
The concert was held in the Tulsa Convention Center on May 17, 2009. I'm one month late.
If any of you fellow Filipinos in Tulsa watched the concert, let me know how it went! And if you have pictures, patingin naman... lol
We still celebrate our independence
"I don't understand why Filipinos celebrate independence," said a Filipino-American who I met casually years ago.
I raised an eyebrow.
We might not have it all together (yet), but like what I always say, we are on our way.
Cindy Jacobs gave a very inspiring prophesy years ago about the future of the Philippines. As we celebrate our independence, let us keep our minds on the positive.
An interview with Peter Kairuz of The 700 Club
Bong Revilla's role in the Hayden Kho Scandal
Hayden Kho has saturated the Philippine media for past weeks. All other important news from across the country and around the world has been kicked off newspaper's front page. While I am all for women's rights and punishment of all perpetrators, I think the issue has become highly commercialized. Some (ahem, ahem) politicians have used the issue for free personal publicity, trying to portray themselves as the hero of abused women. Patricia Evangelista, columnist for the Philippine Daily Inquirer among other things, wrote a column about Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla's presence in the scandal. Shortly after the article was published, Revilla's Head of Public Relations (ahem, ahem) sent a response letter asking it to "be published in toto with the same prominence as the original literature." Below are both articles:
Method To Madness
The morality of Sen. Bong Revilla
By Patricia Evangelista
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:29:00 05/31/2009
EDITED VERSION--ACTOR Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. – Star of “Alyas Pogi” (1990) “Alyas Pogi 2” (1992) and “Alyas Pogi: The Return” (1999) – has a penchant for roles that demand bandanas, screaming half-naked females and paint-by-number tattoos. The boyish superman with the plastic M14 can take on a gang of hoods – hoods, we assume, by virtue of the mustaches – all while heroically sucking in the gut under the tucked-in T-shirt. This is the man whose defining moment in his role as Leon in the 2000 film “Ang Kilabot at ang Kembot” has three lovers accusing him of pretending loyalty, while at the same time attempting to get another virgin into bed. The women stride in, high heels clicking, big brothers in tow, all of whom launch themselves at a sheepish Leon. And then the action starts: elbow to gut, fist to face, knee to groin, the whining Casanova suddenly Zorro. The men fall bleeding at his feet, and so do the women, all four trying to squirm into his arms while Leon rolls his eyes. Another day in the life of a real man.
This is Bong Revilla, whose contribution to culture is in large part the image of the Filipino macho man in a country where film and television offer the public the most accessible set of social standards. In the celluloid world of Bong Revilla, women are either sluts or virgins, wives are forgiving, and a real man is someone with a gun in one hand and a breast in the other. This is Bong Revilla, whose various love affairs while married to his wife and former screen partner Lani Mercado has provided fodder for entertainment news, and whose final acknowledgment of a love child has even his father – who himself fathered illegitimate offspring at the age of 75 – lecturing him on the value of a good marriage. This is Bong Revilla, senator of the Republic, wire-rimmed glasses in place, pounding the lectern in a privilege speech demanding morality from a “maniac” and a “pervert” who he cannot believe is a real man.
There is little doubt as to the guilt of one Doctor Hayden Kho, erstwhile lover of plastic surgery queen Dr. Vicki Belo – he of the red bandanna, gyrating hips, and unfathomable love for George Michael. He has admitted to filming a number of women without their consent during sex, and whether he was responsible for the distribution of those videos, the act of filming alone is enough to toss him behind bars.
What is perhaps stunning about the entire Hayden Kho-Katrina Halili scenario is the level of attention it is getting from the national government. The Senate claims an investigation in aid of legislation is vital to ensure that instances like this will not happen again. Senator Revilla, in a GMA7 interview, claims there is no existing law that will hold Kho responsible, with the exception of perhaps a case of child abuse (Revilla says he has unsubstantiated evidence that Kho did film a minor) or civil damages. It is this “toothless” legislation that Revilla wants to change with his playing knight in shining armor, forgetting perhaps that Kho can be held liable under the Violence Against Women and Children Act.
It is difficult to understand why our national leaders feel the need to pit Kho and Halili against each other on taxpayer's time. Kho does not deny his responsibility. Halili has done little but weep and rail. And while the cameras are trained on the tears rolling down her cinematic cheek, the Comelec chief approves of a much-questioned automation bid, a landslide that kills dozens slips completely off the front page, and the GDP dips lower than conservative estimates.
Of course, allegations of Filipina rapes in Subic did not inspire privilege speeches from Bong Revilla. Charges of murder did not make Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez demand the blacklisting of now Partylist Representative Jovito Palparan. When the story first exploded, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita urged all the women in Dr. Kho’s sex videos to press charges, saying that “anything that is offensive to public morals must be sanctioned" the same day he brushed off a United Nations report on torture violations in the Philippines. Perhaps a blow job on youtube is more offensive to his morals than piss shooting down the nose of a Bulacan farmer.
And this is where morality walks into the limelight and demurely crosses its legs. Now every man is a puritan, especially the gentlemen of the Senate who “just happened” to view the sex videos. There is suddenly talk again of the evils of sex among the new generation, and a law, authored by Alyas Pogi himself--who has been unable to pass a single one of his bills--seeking to “safeguard the interest of the State" against the "menace” of “pornographic materials” that “disrupt the peace and order of the country.” Pornography, he calls it: anything that represents by whatever means a person “engaged in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any other representation of the sexual parts of a person for primarily sexual purpose that is intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feeling.”
I do not trust the gentlemen of the Senate to define what is aesthetic, what is emotional, and what is crude, as they do not recognize crudeness in themselves. It is a law that has nothing to do with the Hayden Kho case, whose main issue is essentially a conceded lack of consent. Neither does this explain why Revilla and other senators insisted on keeping the investigation public, when aiding legislation is not affected by whether senators have a venue to grandstand. And yet this national outrage can very well justify the passing of a law that can give a Manoling Morato reason to kick out another “Schindler’s List.” It would mean a farewell to films from “Orapronobis” to “Scorpio Nights” to “Burlesque Queen” to Ai-Ai de las Alas’ “Tanging Ina Mo.” It means the possibility of canning “Star Trek” and “Kill Bill,” of wiping out National Geographic features, of knocking out half the shelves of Fully Booked. Brillante Mendoza, recent Cannes best director, may find himself penalized for screening last year’s critically acclaimed “Serbis.”
Democracy isn't a sorority with conditional membership. It is a door that opens to all comers, even if it means turning the knob to a threesome of leather-clad men who fuck each other blind to Guns and Roses and the red light of a camcorder. Halili may not have been given a choice, but it does not mean it should be withheld from everyone else. It's all or nothing; to demand free speech means to permit all others to speak. Senator Revilla cites the Middle East and China as his models for pushing the Anti-Pornography bill, forgetting that the system that allowed an action star to be elected as senator is neither theocratic nor communist.
It's unnecessary to argue the height of hypocrisy for such a man to propose this bill. The only added value I see is a wholesale ban on Bong Revilla films from the shelves of Video City.
***
Originally published as The morality of Sen. Bong Revilla for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Edited version.
Revilla's Reply:
1 June 2009
MS. LETTY JIMENEZ-MAGSANOC
Editor in Chief
Philippine Daily Inquirer
MS. PATRICIA EVANGELISTA
Columnist, “Method To Madness”
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Madames:
This is with regard to the column “Method to Madness: The morality of Sen. Bong Revilla”, published in page A13 of the Philippine Daily Inquirer on 31 May 2009.
It is with deep regret that I convey my disappointment on the over-all condescending tone of the literature which I believe is based on false premises.
It is true that Senator Revilla, since 1986 when he first played a role in a motion picture, has been cast to portray the brusko and barako types. This however does not mean that Bong Revilla is each and every character that he has played as the column would suggest. You see, Senator Revilla has developed to become one of the most respected institutions in the local film industry not for the roles he has depicted on the screen, but for who he really is behind the camera – an emphatic, caring, and concerned individual who will always go out on a limb to help those who are willing to take his help.
Because of what has been written, I am now convinced that Bong Revilla is a better actor than what others credit him to be, especially now that presumably very educated people have been convinced that the persona he represents onscreen is who he really is, failing to distinguish between the roles he plays and his person off-camera. We should not confuse Bong Revilla with Leon, with Alyas Pogi, with Crisval, nor with any of the over seventy characters he portrayed in over two decades.
I personally expected these criticisms to surface even before Senator Revilla delivered his privilege speech. In fact, I expected worse, knowing how prominent, influential and financially capable the personalities involved are. The Senator shared these apprehensions, but regardless, decided to take a stand throwing caution to the wind.
What is saddening is that as the matter develops, it seems that public attention is systematically being diverted from the root cause, the real culprits of the whole “Hayden Kho Hidden Camera” brouhaha, so that Dr. Kho and his fellow perpetrators could recede to the shadows of obscurity.
Now it has become an issue about Bong Revilla and not about the hapless women in the over forty videos who were videotaped without their consent. Now, the issue is transforming to be about the messenger and no longer about the message. Now, the public is being led to believe in and sympathize with the plight of the evil-doer just because he is being defended by a recognized Women’s Rights activist, and at the same time, is also being led to condemn the victim just because her cause is being carried by an actor whose motion picture image is a barako.
We, as responsible citizens, and I as a parent, should not allow this to happen. We must look beyond the smoke and mirrors and realize what is absolute – the victim and the perpetrator. This is what is important. We must not make the mistake of turning the victim into the perpetrator. If we allow this to happen, then we will be sending the wrong signal to other victims. We will be imparting the message that justice may no longer be had, and that it would be better for victims to remain silent and secluded instead of embarking on a quest to vindicate themselves from the wrong done them.
It is true that Bong Revilla is not perfect, neither am I, nor anyone else for that matter. We do not and can never claim perfection. This should however not keep anyone of us, despite our faults and imperfections, from striving to do good things, to do what is right, and to stand up for it. We must always keep in mind that evil can only triumph if good people choose to do nothing. If all waits for the faultless, perfect, and untarnished to act, then nothing good will be done, for the perfect being exists only in our ideals and in our faith.
I am sure that we are all striving for justice so we should all work together so that justice is served.
Thank you very much. I am hoping, in the spirit of fair-play and responsible journalism and the Code of Ethics of Journalists of the Philippine Press Institute, that this reply be published in toto with the same prominence as the original literature.
More power to you and your publication.
Very truly yours,
F. ROBERT A. MORALEDA
Head for Public Relations
Office of Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr.
Camera not designed for Asians
http://www.8asians.com/2009/05/13/racist-camera-no-i-did-not-blink-im-just-asian/Uhm, I think she's just Asian...that's why...
LOL
Ma, click this.
If I were stuck in an island and could only bring one thing with me, I would bring...MY MOTHER!
(I know...she's not a thing...but it still counts.lol)HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MA!
Keren is in the Philippines!!
My dearest Filipino-American friend, KEREN APURA, is now in the motherland!
It's her first time in the Philippines in 10 years or so... She'll spend TWO months in the heat and humidity of Pinas. I just hope she likes the place (well, you better)! Cultural immersion time for my dear Fil-Am! Enjoy!
She will be staying in the Alabang area, so she will be going to New Life! If any of you sees her in church, give her a warm Filipino greeting (Like a tackle or something jk. A beso will be enough.) Don't be shy. Tell her I told you to do so. lol
Oh, and Keren, don't forget my pasalubong... Ang Tanging Ina Niyong Lahat on DVD!! Hahah!!
Relationships take effort
I always forget that quality relationships don't just fall from the sky. They don't just happen. They take time, effort and patience to build. This may mean conversations over coffee, girls' night outs, movie dates, summer escapades to the beach or simply a phone call.
It's the same with the Lord. We must take the time and effort it takes to have a quality relationship with Him. Just like a friend we haven't seen for years, He wants to have bonding moments with us too.Publish Post
He's not a genie, just because He is a perfect God.
We, like Him, were made for relationships. So, don't leave Him out of the list of friends you're planning to meet up with this summer.
