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the officers. Hanging Church

Board Officers approval con-

cerning the venue of an over-

night stay outside Iligan City

Seventh-day Adventist Cen-

tral Church, the Acceptance

program itself, Food fraction,

and more were unsure to the

last minute. Providentially,

and as always, the Savior sup-

plied everything. It was a

learning experience for the

officers to trust Divine power

despite discouragements that

humans are prone to.

Young people ranging

from 12-22 years old over-

flowed the slots Epaphras

graduates left filling the

Mixed chapter, IIT chapterand High school chapters of

MAS- AMiCUS ICD.

MAS-AMICUS ICD accepted

the largest batch yet in history-

batch Zion.

A conglomerate of 67 stu-

dents from various schools

pledged to get them involved in

Advent Ministry to colleges and

universities during the Accep-

tance Ceremony at MacaratChurch, 3rd anf of March 2012.

Temporary constitution re-

dress hastened the approval of

application forms through one

on one interviews and a purpose

of why they like to enter the

organization. Common last

words for their expectations and

purposes were to attain spiri-

tual growth.

The mass number of appli-

cants pumped more pressure to

As in previous years, MAS

-AMiCUS ICD held for the

latest class of graduates,

Epaphras 2012, the Consecra-

tion, Baccalaureate and Tribute

Services at the Iligan City Sev-

enth-day Adventist CentralChurch (ICSDACC), March 30

-31, 2012.

Organized primarily by the

ICD Shepherding Committee,

Epaphras included 35 SDA

graduates from non-SDA uni-

versities, colleges, high schools

and grade schools throughout

the district, 14 of such fresh

graduates are now part of the

MAS Alumni.

The class philosophy, To

walk worthy of the Lord, based

on Colossians 1:10, was empha-

sized by both the Consecration

and Baccalaureate speakers

Elder Marcelo Rara, Jr. and Pas-

tor Eugenio Dela Pena, whowere chosen by the graduates

themselves.

Several of the graduates

parents also attended the ser-

vices, including the potluck

lunch held Sabbath, March 31, at

the ICSDACC Conference

Room, and the Tribute held du-ring the AY Program.

B u s i n e s s N a m e

J U N E 2 0 1 2V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

An officer orients MAS-AMiCUS Batch Zion during Ac-

ceptance Ceremony at Macarat, Iligan City

67, largest so farby Apryll Eunice Comison

ICD holds Epaphras pre-graduation services by Karen Crystal C. LastaI n s i d e t h i si s sue :

The Con-

creteness of

the Abstracts

2

Pinpoint 2

Activity

documenta-

tion

3

By Gods

grace I

learned

4

Mas Activi-

ties

4

That Ye May

Be

4

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P a g e 2 The Concreteness of the Abstracts

by Phoebe Mnemosyne Athena Galleposo

Dear brethren in Christ, pause for a

while as you read this article and breathe

a prayer. It is better yet to gird your loins

with prayer as you continue on reading

for we have been called to be sober, to be

vigilant; because our adversary the devil,

as a roaring lion, walketh about, seekingwhom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). Pray

that all praises be ascribed only to God,

not to self. Not to anyone else.

Prayer, Faith, Selflessness. Three

words. Three nouns. One concrete. Two

abstracts? As the MAS-AMiCUS ICD

(Iligan City District), MSU-IIT Chapter,

by the grace of God, worked on putting

up an Enrolment Assistance Booth inside

the campus of MSU-IIT for the incoming

freshmen students, a merciful God was

watching over them, guiding their steps,

reminding them of the three words

prayer, faith, selflessness.

Prayer. Prayer unites us with one

another and with God. Prayer brings

Jesus to our side, and gives to the faint-

ing, perplexed soul new strength to over-

come the world, the flesh, and the devil.

Prayer turns aside the attacks of Satan

(Christs Object Lessons, 250.)

MSU-IIT, known to be an institution

which does not acknowledge any kind of

organizations, specifically those with the

tinge of religiosity in it. Knowing this

fact, doubt slowly crept inside the hearts

of the group members. The enemy, also

knowing the rules of the Institutionstarted to plant seeds of doubt in their

hearts. Whispering those deadly doubtful

words, Sugtan diay mo? Dili baya

allowed ang mga organizations dira sa

campus. Basin nalimot mo. In times

when assailed by doubt and when the

clouds of disbelief seem to cover the

promises of God, go forward on your

knees. For Satan and his hosts trem-

ble when we pray. Through prayer

and by the grace of God, the group

were able to shoo away every doubt,

every unbelief.

Now faith is the substance of

things hoped for, the evidence of

thingsnotseen (Hebrews 11:1).

As the group marched toward the

Department of Student Affairs, in

their hands is the letter asking per-

mission for them to put up the said

booth, with the objectives of catering

the needs of SDA students concern-

ing the enrolment process, attending

to their inquiries, and making them

feel welcome in a non-Sectarian

school. Armed with prayer and the

support of IIT SDA constituents they

moved forward, with them was Dr.

Faith O. Miguel who was eager to

help the volunteers realize the pro-

ject. And they did walk in faith. But

Gods ways are not our ways. His

thoughts are higher than ours.

Through the working of the Holy

Spirit, The Director, Dr. Edward L.

Banawa, did not only grant permis-

sion but he himself suggested that the

AMiCUS should cater not only Ad-

ventists but all the enrolees regard-

less of their religious affiliations.

And indeed on the 14th of May,

2012, the Enrolment AssistanceBooth was put to realization. A list of

necessary information needed by the

enrolees was printed out, enrolment

flowcharts were already available,

the text hotline was waiting to re-

ceive SMS messages for inquiring

parents and first years, volunteers

were briefed and oriented, and another

table suited for registration awaits the

soon-to-be MAS-AMiCUS members

from the enrolling freshmen. The IIT

chapter members, coming from the

different colleges of came and volun-

teered to help. Tempers were tested.Characters were observed. To project

the countenance of Jesus to every indi-

vidual was the earnest prayer of every

volunteer.

After three days of helping, on the

16th of May, 2012, the Enrolment Assis-

tance Program ended. Smiles were

exchanged. Help was offered. Queries

were answered. Thank yous were

gladly accepted. Prayers were offered.

In a worldly point of view, the

program was successful. Credits to the

volunteers! But, hey! Let me bring you

back to the point where God taught usSELFLESSNESS. Fornot of works lest

any man should boast. For we are his

workmanship, created in Christ Jesus

untogood works, whichGodhath before

ordained that we should walk in them

(Ephesian 2:9-10)

It was indeed a unique experience.

MASAMiCUS members sharing the

love of Jesus inside a non-Sectarian

school. ENROLLMENT ASSISTANCE

PROGRAM - an activity where God

reminded us the value of prayer, faith,

and selflessness. Simple as it seems.

Commonly heard in sermons yet the

most forgotten and least applied. He

reminded us that these are not mere

words. Not plain nouns. Not abstract.

For these thingsprayer, faith, selfless-

ness, are words that should be seen,

reflected, and lived by. They are not

abstract. They are concrete. They are

action words.

For these thingsFor these thingsFor these things

prayer, faith,prayer, faith,prayer, faith,selflessness, areselflessness, areselflessness, are

words thatwords thatwords that

should be seen,should be seen,should be seen,

reflected, andreflected, andreflected, and

lived by. Theylived by. Theylived by. They

are not abstract.are not abstract.are not abstract.

They are con-They are con-They are con-crete. They arecrete. They arecrete. They are

action words.action words.action words.

may get all the spiritual privi-

leges you want and yet neverbecome truly spiritually filled

and fruitful, because all the while

you were mixing truth with erroruntil there comes such a time you

would no longer know the differ-ence and any additional lightwould no longer even be recog-

nizable.

Isnt this too tough? Thefact, is, if you truly trust the

truth, you take the risk, but even-tually youll reap the freedom. Ifyou greed for the default, appar-ently safe, compromising choice,it just means you did not trust the

truth that much, after all.

PinpointMid-high school to college years

mark the period in most peoples liveswhen minds fall significantly into and

become primarily driven by one of

three states: either (i) they wake up toseeing the invisible reality of the exis-tence of the faith world and they actwith absolute zeal upon it; (ii) they get

hypnotized into the servitude of fulfill-ing selfish ambitions and earthlydreams as if these were lifes ultimategoals; or (iii) they get caught up into the

apparently doubly beneficial and seem-ingly safe choice of meddling in themiddle, equilibrium condition charac-

teristic of the Laodicean, lukewarm,compromising state.

Of the three, it is most easy to fall

into the Laodicean sort. In fact, it isthe natural behavior of things toget to the point of equilibrium with

the state of environment they are in.

Paul should have been so wellacquainted with this almost inescap-able problem of conformity andcompromise that he has warned all

to be not conformed to thisworld (Rom 12:2). The natural,equilibrium state is such an easy,default course in this world that,

even thermodynamically speaking,it should require a continued supplyof Spiritual energy to maintain the

fiery zeal of the faithful (Gal 5:16,Rom 8:26, Acts 11:24), while a

persistent suppression of obvious

truth is needed to maintain the cold-ness of the unbelieving (Rom 1:18).

What point, then, is this whole

talk pinning?

Jesus Himself has bidden that weshould onlybe either cold orhot (Rev 3:15). Butyou askwhy

would He rather have you cold thanlukewarm? The answer is if you arecold because you absolutely know and

will stand on what you believe is right,then it would only take one pivotal

point in your lifetime for God to con-vert all your misapplied zeal to His

cause, as in the case of Christ-haterSaul who at conversion became Christ-like Paul. On the other hand, if you

are a compromising lukewarm, you

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P a g e 3V o l u m e 1 , I s s u e 1

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...that Godliness, God-likeness is the goal that I must reach.- Jibe Labenz Nebato

... to depend solely on GOD and not on my own.. That life is not self-focused but a

CHRIST FOCUSED one. Not to be self-confident but to radiate CHRIST CONFIDENCE.-Clendelyn Jane Bala

...

to yield to the power of divine truth, the entrance of God's word that gives light andunderstanding to the simple, whenever I've done wrong habits and sinful practices. tokeep my self away from EVIL pleasures of this world, for they are not for me.-Marian

Mae Montero

...that building patience and perseverance through Gods help is needed to make thingsrealized- Jan Lumancas

...that God puts you in a position where you could least glory, so you may find His grace sufficientfor you, and His strength perfect in your weakness.- Karen Crystal Lasta

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY2012

MAS-AMiCUS ICD NEWSLETTER

Second Issue 2012

BIBLE BRAIN TEASER

Can you find the names of 24 books of the Bible inthis paragraph?

This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone found itin the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to Hono-

lulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man fromIllinois worked on this while fishing from his boat. RoyClark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs men-tioned it in her column once. One woman judges the jobto be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calmher nerves. There will be some names that are reallyeasy to spot...that's a fact. Some people will soon findthemselves in a jam, especially since the book names arenot necessarily capitalized. The truth is, from answers weget, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister orscholar to see some of them at the worst. Something inour genes is responsible for the difficulty we have. Thoseable to find all of them will hear great lamentations fromthose who have to be shown. One revelation may help,

books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without theirnumbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle arenormal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Re-member, there are 24 books of the Bible lurking some-where in this paragraph.