I have a few minutes to spare. Nalani, if you're reading this, kindly restrain that eyebrow and be careful of what you say in response to this entry. We don't know who's reading it.

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If anyone reading this is currently church-hopping, I respectfully recommend attending the vesper service at The Good Samaritan United Methodist Church along Quezon Avenue, near Roosevelt. Pastor Melvin Guerrero, who's in-charge of the service, is a close friend of mine. I can't speak for the other services TGSUMC but the vespers which start at 6:00 PM is cool.

My Sunday daytimes are usually spent playing for churches: JCSIA Bankers (Main), JCSIA Pleasant Hill Cell Church, and occasionally, GCF North. It's immensely satisfying work, but tiring, especially when I have to lug my djembe all over the place. Yet despite the whole day's drain on my energies I try to make it a point to leave just enough for me to be able to make that final trip of the day to Good Sam, as we fondly call it, for the following reasons:

1. The place is beautiful. Most Methodist churches in the Philippines have gothic-inspired architecture. It has great acoustics, which is fortunate because...

2. The TGSUMC Vesper Choir is awesome. It's not that they don't make any mistakes or that their blending and pitch are perfect. I can hear the occassional sabit. But they sing tight. When you hear them it's not like a bunch of people singing together; it's like listening to a single entity. That, I believe, is the essence of singing in a choir.

3. I get to sing hymns. I don't get to do this at my home church. Anyone who belongs to an AG affiliated denomination will understand.

4. The preaching is sensible. Maybe I'm just biased, since I'm friends with the pastor. Or perhaps it's because we are peers and we speak the same vocabulary, hence making it easier for me to understand his points. Yet no one can deny that he speaks with substance. He's a fun guy to be with but when he speaks from the pulpit, he speaks with the competent authority of one who "walks the talk."

5. I've made a lot of new friends there. Which surprised even me. The people of Good Sam are so down-to-earth and friendly that they easily won over this surly, aloof, and shy guy. And finally...

6. I don't do any work there. Yet. But right now I just go there, relax, sing them hymns, chat with friends, kneel and pray, etc. I just immerse myself in His presence when I'm there. Not that I don't meet God back at my home church, but in Good Sam I'm just a plain attendee. That makes the whole experience a bit different.

Check it out one of these days. You wont regret it.

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My said friend Ptr. Guerrero spoke last Sunday about all ministries not being a profession but a lifestyle. I couldn't agree more.

Here's how a ministering lifestyle has changed my routine: my rest day is now on Mondays. And I'll try to keep it free for myself from now on. Otherwise, my body will surely breakdown soon.

Time's up.

For the nth time, V has been placed in the backburner. Right now I'm just not in the mood of putting up with inconsistency and unpredictability, not to mention the lack of basic social graces (from my point of view, of course).

So I will be spending valentines day with no particular person in mind. Again.

Surprisingly, I can taste no hint of bitterness as I mouthed (or typed) that last word. P asked me one time if I see myself as being single till I die. I told her it's fine with me. Seriously.

If being single means having as much joys and aches as I'm having right now, then I doubt if I'll mind it very much.

This of course doesn't mean that I wont look at girls anymore, nor will I no longer sigh whenever I chance upon a particularly exceptional specimen of femininity. I don't even discount the possibility that I'll marry someday and kids, nor do I deny my deep desire for doing so.

It's just that, right now, I am content. Singlehood has it's own benefits.

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A thought:

"Ah but it would be awkward, wouldn't it?"

After more than a year of blogging, I finally found something worthwhile to put in my content pages.

As some of you may know, we (I mean me and a few college friends) started a Bible Study smack in the heart of Megamall. We meet twice a month, for a couple of hours each, to study the Word, among other things.

I have just uploaded the 3 latest outlines in the Contents section of my Tab. Feel free to check it out. Pardon the typos and the snags in organization. I posted the raw data that I use in the Bible study. I wrote these as the thoughts flowed from my mind.

Each session doesn't go the way I plan it, so these are more like 'outlines' for me. What you'll read there is basically how my mind conceived of the study before the input from my BS-mates have enriched it further as we synthesize during the session. During synthesis, however, some data is lost so I am posting it here to preserve it (aside from the local copy at my PC).

Comments and criticisms are welcome, of course. If you want to use these 'outlines' for your purposes, just ask for permission. I'm likely to give it anyway. More importantly, if you read it and you found it useful or enlightening, lemme know. Please.

Happy viewing!