korek kuya elhiko..unfortunately, its very worldy here, that's the price you pay for being in a developed, complex society. madaming distractions and if you dont constantly remind yourself of your purpose, its easy to get lost in the shuffle.
dito naman ang struggle ko ay ang ang hirap mag penetrate ng ideology(presenting the gospel) sa mga tao. sangkatutak na religions/ideologies dito and people are "innoculated" na sa kung anu anong false things na na-present sa kanila before that they are wary and hostile to the true gospel when you present it to them. madami kase tlagang mga unbelievebaly sick religions/kulto dito like, animism, yung iba sumasamba sa hangin, may mga cults na may mga ahas sila sa sunday service nila, talaga namang its just twisted. so when you share the true gospel to them, they think its just another twisted religion, and consequesntly sny gospel sharing, if not done under the sound, biblical, methods, can become a theological debate and can end up in the sharer defending, instead of sharing his faith. dami ding atheist. mga tao, sobrang nagpapaka talino at bilib sa sarili nila dahil sa achievements individually and being a citizen of the most powerful country in the world.
sabi nila land of the free daw? i dont think so. freedom ba yung pagtatanggal ng prayers sa school, bawal ang monumento ng ten commandments sa harap ng isang establishment dahil 'offensive' sa mga di kristyano, pinalitan na ng 'happy holidays' ang 'merry Christmas' to be politically correct, society makes it IMPOSSIBLE for sexual purity, to all kinds of people in all walks of life (if i want to be an instant laughing stock, i can just let people know that at 24, i dont have a boyfriend and im still a virgin--but i still do say that i am and im proud, and yes, even some of my friends at work think im such a 'killjoy'). pagtapos when events like september 11 happen, they all wonder why a 'supposedly' good God allowed all this to happen. America was founded on Christianity, evidenced by its constitution, and God has immensely blessed this place for hundreds of years because of that. pero antay lang kau kase they are ammending the consitution to be more 'tolerable', like for example, 3 out of 50 states now allow for gay marriage to be legalized, and they are in the works for making abortion an option for every woman (and teenager), rallying for pregnant teens under 18 to not have their parent's consent anymore to have abortion.
the hypocrite and false christians' testimonies are not helping as well. i was dumbfounded by the fact that Baptists are leading the list of most divorce rates among societal groups. recently, Ted Haggard, the president of Nat'l Association of Evangelicals (NEA) and Senior pastor of his mega church (14,000 members) in Colorado resigned both positions and confessed to sexual immorality (with a gay) and buying of illegal drugs. non Christians are just finding more and more reasons to not need this Jesus that we Christians are passionately propagating. if you are not secure as a believer, its not hard to imagine imagine how one can be shaken by all this.
So i dont think my friends would blame me for moments when i look around and say to myself "I wanna get out of this place..". but then this is where God put me and even though its exactly not inspiring to be here, good thing i get my inspiration not outside but indside of myself, the unfathomable love story of Jesus Christ's saving grace that i have in my heart, body and soul, and that should be enough to compel me to serve Him, despite all the despites.
so to end in a positive note
, im praying for buckets of grace for me to plow through this cell group strategy that my church here will start soon, pray for me, that i might be able to share what i have learned in LA, to not be shaken when people say "no" when i give out gospel tracts and any other persecutions (for some reason, I nearly cried the last time it happened). i have given a copy of the Way of the Master book ( very powerful book that focuses on helping equip Christians share the gospel) to our pastor and I have gotten only rave reviews from him so im holding my breath because hopefully this cascade of events would lead to a revolution in our church . as for my 'difficulties', I am and will just keep rebutting each one with God’s promise, that His word will be a double edged sword that would pierce any heart of any one i would share the gospel to, I just have to be the willing soldier that would take up the sword and fight!
But He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore i will boast all the more gladly about my weakness, so that Christ's power may rest on me.
2 Cor 12:9
Subject: First BS in Sweden 
Fri Oct 27, 2006 12:27 am
go elson 
