Baby Food

Clark is just adorable! The other day i was feeding him; everytime i remove the spoon from his mouth, he starts begging/crying for another spoonful. he's always hungry, i guess. always trying to bite everything he gets his gums on.

(see what i mean?)

people keep telling us to take it slow with him. not to feed him solid foods prematurely as his digestive system might go crazy.

i really appreciate all the advice.

for now, its baby food for Clark; even if he wants to eat anything & everything, shen & I know its not yet time for that.

sooner or later he's gonna have to start on the REAL food (like Krispy Kreme, sushi/sashimi, ice cream :)

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this got me thinking:

When we first believed in Jesus ("born again"), we became His children and He our father.

If we (parents) know what's good to give our children, don't you think God know what's BEST for us?

We complain that we only have this but we want that; complain that our heavenly Father is holding out on us; always complaining that God is not giving us the REAL FOOD!

whenever i start complaining, i remember clark and his baby food.

have you ever thought that maybe, just maybe, our Father is only giving us "baby food" because our digestive system might not be able to handle solid food?

has it ever occurred to you that no matter how hard we try to obtain a lot of things OUR WAY (trying to get our gums on anything & everything), it doesn't really satisfy?

I'm talking about:

a. i've always had this small house, when am i getting my new one?

b. my income is not enough to support my family. when am i gonna be rich?

c. why am i still struggling in my Christian walk? where's all the fruits of the Holy Spirit that's promised to me?

i need it. i deserve it! Give me the REAL FOOD!

if God gave you something you can't handle (riches, fame, perfect character), won't you be pooping all the time?

if God gave you everything, will you still talk to your Father?

if God added all these things, would you still seek His kingdom and His righteousness?

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God will decide if we are ready to move from baby food to rice to sushi (my personal fave)!

Just wait... GOD KNOWS BEST!

Sunday Summary (Aug 30, 2009)

"Why Fish?" - why do we have to tell other people about Jesus? why do we have to fish for men?

This was the message that Sunday and guess what??? I PREACHED!!!

I never look forward to preaching, not because i can't do it, but because i'm afraid i might not deliver the message the way it was supposed to be delivered.

shen told me that i did great. that's good enough for me! :)

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as for props, we added another wrinkle. in addition to the boat and the nets, we added seaweeds to the stage.

and when i tell you the whole theater smelled fishy, i'm not exaggerating. talk about 4D experience!

production team was perfect when it came to the 2 services. all that hard work pays off, i'm telling you!

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On to the songs:

Band opened with an instrumental of Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise"

Worship Set -

"Let The Praises Ring" - Lincoln Brewster

"Worthy of My Praise" - Jeremy Camp version (loud as in loud, but pretty cool)

"Beautiful Jesus" - Kristian Stanfill

Closer - "No Other Name" by Todd Fields

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Band: Eph Tonzo (worship leader & electric guitar1), Ching Cagas (drums), JL Sarcos (electric guitar2), Ben Purisima (bass & bg vox), Cris Ablanque (keys), Faith Capuyan (bg vox)

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"we fish because people will never know the message of salvation unless someone tells them!"

have you gone fishing today?

God is Unfair!

Of course He is!

In our world today, everyone is screaming for equal rights, equal privileges, equal everything. FAIR!

And why shouldn't we? Isn't this what the Bible says?

"Do unto others as you would have others do unto you!"

[which, by the way, does NOT guarantee that people will treat us fairly if we treat THEM fairly]

Actually, the Bible says that life is gonna be UNFAIR, most of the time!

The Bible does say that you're expected to be fair in your transactions and relationships with everyone else. but like i said, this doesn't guarantee that you'll be treated fairly by everyone else!

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Personally, I'm so thankful that God IS NOT FAIR!

If He was fair, what do you think would happen if i keep quiet when people ask me if I'm a Christian?

If He was fair, what do you think He would do to me if i "forget" to pray for 1 week?

What do you think would happen if I:

- "forgot" to give my tithes last Sunday?

- told "green" jokes to other Christians?

- "accidentally" clicked on a porn website yesterday?

- only spend 2 mins talking to Him everyday? (and that's including meal prayers)

- haven't read the Bible the PAST MONTH?

SEE WHAT I MEAN!

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So stop your complaining; and stop acting like you're not blessed enough; that you need this, and you need that, and you DESERVE this, and you DESERVE that!

And don't think i'm not guilty. We all are!

"We all deserve hell, but because of God's UNFAIRNESS, we're not going there!"

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Thank Him today for everything He's given you!

Can't Get Enough of Yoshi

Click This

Churchy???

There's a lot of talk going around these days about how a church shouldn't feel too churchy (nice way of saying "we shouldn't be too traditional & should be more relevant"), or else you'll never attract non-Christians.

Although I am so in favor of this philosophy/mindset, this got me thinking: WHAT IS BEING CHURCHY?

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churchy (c̸hʉr′c̸hē)

adjective

devoted, often obsessively devoted, to a church and its principles

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I will try to research this matter in the next couple of days, but i'd like to ask for your help.

pls email me or comment on this post about what you think being CHURCHY means.

examples:

1. Always saying the benediction after the service

2. Using the terms "SANCTIFICATION" "JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH" "ESCHATOLOGY" (among others) from the stage

* i don't even get all these words, how do you think a NON-believer feels when he hears these foreign words

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Get my drift? :)

Bring it on!

Death of a President

A few weeks ago, the nation was united in mourning for ex-President Cory Aquino (the widow who led the revolution that "dethroned" Pres Marcos). The final service & the funeral procession was shown in all national media. I don't have the facts to prove it, but i think it was one of the most watched event in the history of Philippine television.

Even though i don't really get into a lot of politics (and this post is NOT about politics), but when she led the People Power Revolution it shook the country to its foundations. It gave us democracy. It gave us freedom. It gave us back the REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES!

This is my way of saying goodbye and thanks to the woman brave enough to stand against a government; to the lady that started a revolution; to a President that gave us back our country!

So Long President Corazon Aquino! See you in the next life!

Sunday Summary (Aug 23, 2009)

We started the series Go Fish.

It talks about how we NEED to become Fishers of Men, not just attender of services or faithful giver. And because this is such a critical topic, we decided to "dress up" the series.

Exhibit 1 (FOOD):

(tempura)

(fishy snacks)

Exhibit 2 (ATTIRE):

(Can I pass for a fisherman?)

Exhibit 3 (BOAT, NETS, BUOYS):

(Yup, It's a real fishing boat)

(If you're wondering what's the ladder for, this is during sound check :)

[ladder is not connected to Go Fish]

SEE WHAT I MEAN?

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On to the songs:

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin

Everyday - Hillsong

No Other Name - Todd Fields

Closer - Dare You To Move by Switchfoot

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Band: Dennis Canlas (worship leader), Killen Krager (drums), JL Sarcos (electric guitar1), Ben Purisima (bass), Eph Tonzo (electric guitars2 & vox), Cris Ablanque (keys), Saralee Tilka (bg vox)

What's The Weather Up There?

You never can tell these days.

Right now, its cloudy; yesterday was scorching hot; last week we had downpour.

One night I was washing my car to prepare it for an occasion the next day. When I woke up, it had rained the whole night!

Another time, we had planned on going to the beach with the family. On the way there, the weather was perfect. Sunny, no clouds, PERFECT! Naturally, what happened? You guessed it, it rained the whole time we were there!

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Why can't the weather just make up its mind so we can plan around it?

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Here's my thoughts on this:

* Cloudy

- we can't really see what's going on in our world. we know God is there but we can't see Him, can't feel Him, don't know what He has in store for us; but we know He's there.

* Rainshowers

- a slight drizzle won't necessarily dampen your whole outlook in life, but it will dampen it a bit. rainshowers are either God's blessings or God's testings; we can't really tell which is which. we've got no problem with it though.

* Sunny

- ahhhh! this is what we pray ALL THE TIME! if you've ever been to prayer meetings, it seems everybody always prays for sunshine in their lives. and why not? can you blame them? I do that all the time.

* Thunderstorms - ranging from Signal #1 (trees slightly swaying) to Signal #5 (look for your car in your neighbor's garage)

- the Yin to Sunny's Yan. I don't believe I've ever heard anyone pray for thunderstorms. "Lord, pls send me trials & tribulations & testings & problems." uhmmm. nope, never heard that prayer yet. BUT.. this is probably the only time we will ever pray so i think God allows these in our lives for this purpose alone.

Weather Variables to consider:

* Wind Factor - Holy Spirit

* Temperature - Intimacy with God

* Humidity/Precipitation - our relationship with others

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one final thing, which would you prefer your life to be:

a. sunshine all the time - DESERT

OR

b. lots of sun, lots of rain, few thunderstorms - TROPIC PARADISE

I'm betting you chose letter "a".

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What's your weather today?

The Carrot, The Egg, The Coffee Bean

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to a boil. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me, what do you see?" "Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?"

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity -- BOILING WATER -- but each reacted differently.

- the carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

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- the egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

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- the ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

"Which are you?" She asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

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Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level?

How do you handle adversity?

ARE YOU A CARROT, AN EGG, OR A COFFEE BEAN?

Family Reunions

Have you ever been to a family reunion? Stupid question, I know. Of course you have, we all have!

Sunday, it was my grandfather's nth birthday, it seems like he's been around forever :)

He celebrates it on the same date as my mom's and 1 day later than my dad's, funny huh? and every year we get together with the whole tribe on that day; eating, talking, shouting, more eating, joking around, getting updated with each other's lives; you know, all that fun stuff!

we always enjoy these reunions not just because its only once a year, but you never know what's gonna happen. this year we were at least 5 persons short of complete. next year, who knows?

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But you know what, a GRAND REUNION is coming!

Everyone is invited, but a lot of them don't know it!

It's our job to invite them!

And if you're still thinking, "What in the world are you talking about?", I PROBABLY NEED TO INVITE YOU!

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Our next series at Quest, coincidentally, will talk about how we can tell other people about Jesus, and its very striking! Watch out for it!

Sunday Summary (Aug 16, 2009)

We concluded the "Why Worry" series last Sunday.

GREAT , GREAT series. People (and not just the Christians) have been coming up to us and saying the series was for them. And who can blame them? With the current situation the world is in right now, that was a message everyone needed to hear. And a message it was!

Eph led our singing that day. It was supposed to be me but my voice was still out from the crusades we did at Samar (see blog post below)

On to the songs:

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin. This is one of the louder ones from Tomlin's discography.. and i LOVE it!

Everlasting God - the Lincoln Brewster version;

You Are The Light by Steve Fee.

We did a closer that i think broke the generation gap that sometimes we feel at church; "It is Well" (yup the old hymn, but Todd Fields added a chorus to it and it just made it even more powerful).

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Of course, there was the intro package:

(stay tuned, to be added)

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Oh by the way, I didn't post the Sunday Summary last week so here's a quick look:

Songs:

Great & Mighty - Caedmon's Call

Today is the Day - Lincoln Brewster

Majesty - Delirious?

Special - The Remedy by Jason Mraz (yes, a non-"Christian" song)

Intro Package:

(again, to be added, sorry)

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Praise God for a great series! He just continues to amaze me with what's happening in Quest these days!

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Band: Eph Tonzo (worship leader & acoustic), Orly (drums), Jevan Gonato (electric guitar1), Ben Purisima (bass), MeL (electric guitars2), Cris (keys), Faith (bg vox)

Politically (In)Correct

May 2010

National Elections will be held throughout the Philippines.

Its still almost a year away but you can see/hear political ads everywhere (tv, radio, posters, etc). Its supposed to be illegal to do it this far out but there must be some loophole in the law because everyone's getting away with it.

Usually it can get really violent, especially in the rural areas (i.e. remote mountains, Abu Sayyaf-controlled areas). Most of the time, it is always a battle between the incumbent (current) vs everyone else; with the incumbent winning almost always.

Corrupt. Cheaters. Liars. Pretenders.

These accusations come out of people's lips during election period more than any other time.

Funny thing is, after the winners are announced & sworn in, everyone goes back to living their normal lives, minding their own business.

After a few years, when life seems really hard-up, we blame the government; more specifically, the government leaders.

And National Elections can't come any sooner, and we repeat the whole cycle all over again.

Corrupt. Cheaters. Liars. Pretenders.

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Why is it everytime there's a problem in our lives we blame the government?

Why is it everytime a hardship falls on us we say its because of the leaders' incompetence?

Why are we so quick to point a finger at everyone else, but never notice the other 4 are pointing back at us?

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Let's define:

Corrupt - showing a willingness to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain

Cheaters - a person who acts dishonestly in order to gain an advantage

Liars - a person who tells lies (duh!)

Pretenders - a person who claims or aspires to a title or position

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I don't know about you but from the definitions above, I don't see a trait that is specifically for leaders or people in authority.

I don't know about you but there are times in my life that I am showing one of these traits (sometimes even all of them at once).

I read a book titled "Lord, Change Me." It was about a wife that had to struggle through some tough times during her marriage. She prayed so hard that God would make her husband a better one. She came to a realization (some might call it revelation) that she was praying the wrong way. Instead of "Lord, change him." it became "Lord, change me!"

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You know what? This might actually apply to us.

Instead of praying for God to put "godly" leaders in govt positions, in our work places, in our churches (sic!); why don't we pray that God would change our attitude towards the people that are currently in authority?

I'm not saying that praying for Christian leaders is wrong; I'm saying it might not be the best way to change our nation.

I propose to each one of you, start praying this prayer for the next 30 days and I guarantee, God won't just change you, He will change the situations around you BECAUSE of you!

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So, how do we change a nation? by changing hearts, one person at a time!

The Mission....

“Across the street, or around the world...Proclaim & LIVE the truth...”, the song goes.

Last July 29, Adoration band was invited by ACM (Asian Center for Missions) to lead them into singing worship songs to God during one of their events. This group train locals to be missionaries to other countries.

One missionary’s story really touched our hearts: She said that even if she’s not well-learned or well-funded, she knew this was what God wanted her to do.

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Then just last week, we were invited to play for a 2-night crusade in Borongan, Samar (one of the poorest areas in the Philippines). After the 2nd night, I talked to one of the kids that got a free bicycle giveaway.

He said he’s never gotten a free gift from anyone before, so I tried to explain to him as best I can the free gift of Jesus.

I don’t know if he understood me (this island has a different dialect), but we planted a seed in that boy’s heart; God will do the rest!

more Samar pics: CLICK HERE

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FARM TOWN

There's this new craze going on amongst Facebook people - FARM TOWN. I don't own a Facebook account so I didn't really care much about what Farm town is all about.

But its just been so everywhere that I was really intrigued about why people are so into it. It has made common people so out of touch with the real world that they are willing to:

a) miss their meals just to "tend" to their lands;

b) willing to stay up until 2-3am to ask friends to help them harvest their produce;

c) desperately looking for internet cafes to make sure they don't have crops that are going to waste...

.... and I'm just talking about people i work with :)

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anyhow, this got me thinking.

Let's see, if people can be:

- so addicted to a game from a social networking website that really has nothing to offer (other than perhaps the occasional "stress reliever" reason);

- so worried about not being able to harvest;

- and even go to the extreme of CALCULATING what crop to plant so as to earn the most in the shortest amount of time;

- they even have their own language.

Why aren't we:

- so addicted to Jesus because He gave us everything?

- worried that we're not inviting enough people to church? (or for that matter, why don't we have enough non-Christian friends?)

- SO CALCULATING about how many hours we invest in other people's lives?

- so intimate with Jesus that we have our own love language?

Reminders Every Now & Then

We all need reminders... it comes in different forms:

a) post-its;

b) celfones;

c) calendars;

d) and lastly, if we have time, the BIBLE!

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Funny how when everything starts falling apart around us, we go to God as the LAST option, not the FIRST!

If we really believe that God is in control of the universe, can't He also control our finances? our relationships? our family? our future?

And if He is the One controlling our future, WHY WORRY?

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What is worrying you today?

BabyD (cool name for Baby Dedication)

The 3 happiest moments of my life:

1. when I found out that Someone died for me;

2. when someone was willing to share her life with me;

3. when my 2 boys were born...

but now, I'll have to add a 4th...when my boys were dedicated to God.

Dedication means "a quality of being dedicated or COMMITTED TO A TASK OR PURPOSE."

So literally, this means:

- we are committing our kids to a task even before they know how to say 'papa' or 'mama';

- committing them to a purpose even before they know the difference between a pacifier or a thumb;

- committing them to Someone they don't even know exists.

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This task or purpose i'm talking about, I myself have no idea what; but this Someone we are dedicating them to, we know that "...He will be faithful to finish what He begins..." - in their lives!

I better stop now before some teary-eyed dad starts bawling in his desk :)

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pics:

Sunday Summary (Aug 2, 2009)

It was raining, AGAIN! And... you guessed it, everyone was running late. Thankfully, 99% of production stuff was done Saturday so I wasn't really WORRIED (no pun intended)!

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FYI, we rent the facility on Sundays only so we set up everything on Saturday (if another group rent the place on Saturdays, we set up very, very late Saturday evening). Shout out to the volunteers. Without them, we couldn't do this every week.

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For those of you born in the mid-1900's, we did an opener, "Don't You Worry About A Thing" by Stevie Wonder, although we did Sergio Mendes' version. The 3 divas (Saralee, Shen, Faith) did a great job both services.

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Philip did a great job with announcements showing some pictures that maybe we DO need to worry about :)

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On to the songs:

Forever - Chris Tomlin, with some techno pads in there

Happy Day - Tim Hughes, we played the original version

Beautiful Jesus - Kristian Stanfill

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We had a funny intro package...

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We started our series, "Why Worry?"

Great topic. It talks about God having control over everything, even though sometimes we think He doesn't.

Listen: Why Worry Part 1

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Then after the message we did a verse and chorus and a little bit of "musicality" from the opener, to support what we've been trying to say the whole morning, DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT A THING!

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After the services, a lot of people were coming up to me and said the opener was really cool, they didn't feel like they were inside a church at all (WIN FOR US!).

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Band: Dennis Canlas (worship leader), Ching Cagas (drums), Jevan Gonato (perc & acoustic guitar), Ben Purisima (bass), Eph Tonzo (electric guitars), Mel (keys), Saralee (bg vox)

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Something to think about in your spare time - Should church always feel "CHURCHY"?