Friday, December 21, 2007

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Shalom Class!

May you have a truly blessed and meaningful Christmas with your family, friends and all you hold close and dear, and may the New Year bring you more opportunities to experience God's love for you and share it with others. I greatly enjoyed even my rather brief visit to your Christmas agape parties.

Congratulations too to those who got a perfect grade for their Scrapbooks:

H1A
Daniel Quiaoit
Vince Gawtee
Martin Ongchuan
Jasper Tiu
Jeremy Yu

H1B
David Ngo
Aric Lim
Robert Go
Derrick Yao
Jodaren Dyhengco
Prudy Reyes

H1C
Shane Benedicto
Al Ramos Yeo
Julliard Tan
Richter Siccion
Reiner Locsin

H1D
Charles Gosiaco
Lucas Ngo Dee
Janson Sy
Marco Bermejo
Vincent Whang

H1E
Michael Tobias
Markyn Kho
Joshua Reyes
Philippe Bitong
Gregory Tecson
Michael Tobias

H1G
Jessel Herradura
Alex Oh
Eric Lao
Jed Chua
Josh Co

Although practically all your projects were truly great, these projects excelled not only in creativity and presentation but more importantly in content and even group participation.

God bless all of you.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Saul and David



The King Controversy ended with God granting the people's ardent request for a king. However, an important condition was given by God through Samuel: a king has to be faithful or else, he and the people with him, will perish.

It was an assurance as well as a warning: God will continue to bless his people and their king as long as they continued to honor him as their One and only True King, from whom authority and the strength to carry it out comes. But then, it was also a very serious warning: all infidelity to the Covenant will have to pay its price.

This part of the lesson explores the lives of the first two kings of Israel and how their actions and attitudes led to their eventual success and downfall:

Saul and his father’s asses (1 Sam 9) – Saul here is described as a tall and handsome young man who, besides being comely of stature, is responsible and efficient in being entrusted with an important errand by his father.

A King among the Baggage (1 Sam 10) – After being chosen and anointed King by Samuel, Saul remains hesitant to accept the post, feeling unworthy and unqualified for the job. Some of the people also question his capacity but Scriptures described them as worthless. He is shy and weak in the eyes of men but in the eyes of God, he is humble and submissive.

Merciful to His Enemies (1 Sam 11) – Certain groups rebelled against Saul and his men slaughtered them. Saul however was hesitant to execute his enemies, thanking the Lord instead for his victories. Saul was not proud about his own achievements but recognized God as the real source of his victory and success.

Chapter 12 – Samuel’s Homily at Saul’s Inauguration
Here, Samuel gives his famous exhortation about authority. Authority comes from God and must be exercised in accord with his will. Fidelity will be the ultimate condition for the kings' success or downfall.

Saul at Gilgal (1 Sam 13) – Saul was waiting for Samuel to offer the holocausts before an important battle but be became impatient and preside over the ritual himself, to the anger of Samuel who arrived just as he finished.

Saul and Jonathan (1 Sam 14) – Jonathan unwittingly disobeyed Saul’s order for a fast. Saul became very angry and ordered him executed. If not for the intercession of the other soldiers, Jonathan's life would not have been spared.

Agag and the Bleating Sheep (1 Sam 15) – Saul disobeyed the “ban” (herem) to dispose of and keep none of the war spoils. He tried to deceive Samuel but God had found him out and told the prophet. Samuel vows never to return to him and refuses henceforth to ever see him.

By the end of Chapter 15, both God and Samuel are already very dissatisfied with Saul. Samuel already refuses to see Saul, although he grieves for him. God orders him to fill his horn with oil once again and look for another king to anoint in Saul’s stead.

When God, and Samuel, finally turned their backs on Saul because of his infidelity and disobedience, the search was on for another king to replace him. Let us try to find out whether this king is indeed better than Saul and what made the difference.

Call of David (1 Sam 16) – David is the youngest of Jesse’s children, but he is the one who was chosen by God. “Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart." (6, 7) He does not measure by human standards but supplies power, strength and grace with the mission that he gives even when it seems lacking at first. The Spirit of God departs from Saul and now goes to David together with God’s favor and blessing. He now possesses the gift of healing “for the Lord is with him” (6, 18) and uses this to help relieve the affliction of Saul.

David and Goliath (1 Sam 17) – With God’s Spirit in him, the young David defeats the feared Philistine giant, Goliath. His renown spreads throughout Israel and he begins to outgrow Saul in popularity among the people with his great skill and also his humility.

David was successful because the Lord was with him. Saul on the other hand grows more and more jealous of David and seeks to end the young man’s life. Jonathan, the son of Saul protects his dear friend.

David’s Attitude towards Saul (1 Sam 24, 26) – Saul is hunting David down but when David finds the opportunity to kill Saul at the latter’s most vulnerable moment (easing nature in a cave), the former refuses to do so. Here, they make a peace pact but Saul continues to pursue David.

Spear and Water Jug (1 Sam 26) – Despite Saul’s infidelity to the peace pact, David continues to refuse to lay his hand on the Lord’s anointed, waiting for the Lord himself to put an end to Saul’s reign in his own way and time. (1 Sam 26: 10-11) Here, David gets another chance to slay Saul at another vulnerable moment (sleeping) but only takes Saul’s spear and water jug as a sign of his mercy and respect for Saul.

The chase continues until the defeat and death of Saul and Jonathan. When Saul and Jonathan died, David wept bitterly for them both. Afterwards, he succeeded Saul and began his reign, soon to become the greatest of all Israel’s kings. He unified the kingdom and established peace in the land.

David established the city of Jerusalem as his capital and brought the Ark of the Covenant there, amid great joy and rejoicing. David’s reign, after many and successive victories, marked a period of peace in the turbulent history of Israel. They were settled in the promised land at last.

David however was not a perfect king. He too had his own mistakes, like Saul. But what made the difference?

David’s Sin (2 Sam 11) – David here commits a double sin. Not only does he take Bathsheba for himself, another man’s wife but he also has Uriah, the husband of Bathseba, killed in a setup. The prophet Nathan goes to David again to rebuke him. David, however, repents, acknowledges his fault, and begs for God's forgiveness. (See Psalm 51 for David's prayer of forgiveness)

Although David was punished by God for his great crime, God forgave David for David remained sincere and loyal to God in his heart despite his grave sin. He continued to show goodness and kindness even to his enemies, even for example, to his own son, Absalom who rebelled against his own father.

God did not take back his promise to David and will continue to fulfill it, for the sake of his promise—to David himself and Abraham, his father.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Early Christmas Gift from Mr. Ocampo

Shalom Class!

To make sure you do your Final Output for the Creative Synthesis VERY WELL, and in keeping with the spirit of the season, I am officially extending the deadline for your Scrapbooks to December 17 for all classes.

Your preparatory outputs (journal entries) will be returned on Monday and Tuesday during class time. As you get them back, please do the following:

1. Write the Introduction of the Scrapbook by describing the promise to the Patriarchs as you prepare to unfold the story of how it is fulfilled through the journal entries.

2. Revise the individual journal entries so that the journal, as a whole, will be consistent and coherent.

Example: You may want to change first person singular references (I's) to make them first person plural references (We's).

The length of the articles should also be proportional. Cut down articles that are too long while add on articles that are too short. Polish the grammar and finalize the lay-out. No prescribed font style, size or color.

3. Mount your memorabilia in the scrapbook. Do not forget to write a short but complete description (3-5 sentences) for each memorabilia and how it is important/meaningful for that part of Israel's history. Also, make sure that the memorabilia itself appears in the story as narrated in your journal entry so its importance is highlighted.

4. Conclude by writing the final prophecy and/or prayer as described in the rubrics.

5. Finally, decorate your scrapbook with pictures, cut-outs, drawings, etc. to make it even more beautiful.

Enjoy your work and let your learning, talents and creativity shine! God bless you.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Advent Prayer Service

Shalom Class!

Are you beginning to feel and notice the cool December breeze? Christmas is in the air once again and Advent is an opportune time to help us prepare to receive Christ truly in our hearts as we celebrate his birth.

Here are the guidelines for this quarter's Prayer Service, which will be part of your class agape on December 21. God bless.

Advent Prayer Service
To be celebrated as a class on December 21. Class Prayer Text due on December 17.

Sample Christmas Card
Cards are due on December 17 also.

Recommended Site for Christmas Clipart
(You are free to use other sites/ sources or even do your own drawing and lettering!)

Monday, December 3, 2007

Scrapbook Ideas

I found a webpage online that has an Old Testament Scrapbook.

They made use of doors, windows, rotating wheels, pull-tabs, pop-ups and other exciting scrapbooking strategies that are fun and easy-to-learn! I'm pretty sure you can do even better by letting your creativity and artistic talents shine.

Of course, content is also very important, which I think can be a little lacking in this scrapbook, as you will see. Your journal entries must provide for that.

Check it out for ideas!

Sample Bible Scrapbook

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Advent, Xavier and Deadlines!

Advent is coming on Sunday... a beautiful season to rediscover our inner thirst for God and pray for his real indwelling in our lives. Monday is also the feast of Saint Francis Xavier! May he inspire us to give our lives generously to Christ in the service of others.

As festivities arrive, our deadlines are also fast approaching:

Dec. 5 - Individual Journal Entries (Creative Synthesis)
Dec. 7 - Reflection Paper
Dec. 14 - Group Scrapbooks (Creative Synthesis)

For those who may have lost their handouts, here are the softcopies of the guidelines:

Experiencing Israel's Journey
(Creative Synthesis)

Choosing Covenant:
Burning the Barbs and Thorns that Crush It

(Reflection Paper)

Some pointers:

1. The individual journal entries for the Creative Synthesis should NOT be mere paraphrases or rewrites of the original Scriptures. You should narrate them in such a way that you bring out the most important part of the experience and discuss the important issues behind it (as we did in class, but in your own creative way this time).

2. Submit to your group leaders so you can submit them to me altogether as a group. Try to help each other even if the grade for this component is still individual.

3. Let us not procrastinate so we will not find things more difficult towards the end.

The coming of Advent increases our longing for Christmas in hopeful expectation and the feast of Francis Xavier is a true cause for great rejoicing. Meanwhile, let us do all things with generosity and excellence so we may truly be able to celebrate these two great feasts with abundant joy. God bless you all.