If you’re the type of person - Christian or otherwise - who is looking to stop looking at pornography on the Internet, I may have stumbled into software that can help you quit. (via Pastor Dennis)

www.XXXchurch.com, an online resource that helps people who want to overcome their sexual addictions, links to a free download called X3Watch. Simply, it’s a software that records the websites you visit and sends a list of the more, um, adult-oriented websites to an accountability partner (it can be your wife or husband, a friend from church, whoever).

The philosophy behind X3Watch Accountability Software is simple: open and honest communication between friends (or spouses) regarding vital issues is terribly important, and if pornography is something that both people feel is something that should be avoided, X3Watch can assist by facilitating the accountability of one person to the other. It may be utilize the ’shame factor’ a bit much, but I personally don’t see a problem with it., because nothing is more important to me than making my wife happy.

I downloaded X3Watch and plunked Cathy’s name into the email address field without hesitation. On occasion, I’ve failed to avoid websites of the seedier nature, but now that I know there’s a watchdog of some sort on my computer that will tell Cathy I’ve been, um, weak, I’m a little more encouraged and a lot more vigilant of my actions online. I’ve repented of this addiction, but it still takes action to ensure it doesn’t happen again. I owe it to myself, to my wife, to my kids, and to my God to be a good example, and X3Watch helps me take one step closer to getting there.

Read more about X3Watch.

Since I was a little boy, I’d always been fascinated by the mystery of the Shroud of Turin. Several issues of National Geographic, as well as material I’d run into throughout the course of my faith life. Well, now’s the time for me to truly enjoy the many mysteries behind this Christian relic. The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin is now showing in Manila at the SM Mall of Asia until December 9.

The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin exhibition is a 45-minute lights and sounds show that highlights the Shroud’s history, detailing the facts and myths behind the most studied archaeological artifact of all time. A module-by-module tour of the historical pilgrimage of the Shroud detailing the various theories based on art, science, technology, and the Bible that aim to shed light on this historical, scientific and ecclesiastical phenomenon, is another highlight.

Revered for hundreds of years as the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, the Shroud of Turin is locked away in a cathedral in Italy, publicly displayed only three or four times a century. On these rare occasions, pilgrims from all over the world troop to Turin to witness the exposition. Most of the items on display come from the collection of Mr. Barrie Schwortz, the Official Documenting Photographer commissioned by King Umberto II of Savoy, the Shroud’s previous monarch-owner.

Do swing by The Mystery of the Shroud of Turin if you get the chance. You won’t regret it.

Sing for joy to God our strength;
shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Begin the music, strike the tambourine,
play the melodious harp and lyre!” - Psalm 81:1-2

A few months ago, I entered the Kerygma Feast Songwriting Contest, entering two of my favorite praise songs, Magpasalamat (Purihin Ang Panginoon) and Superblessed. (I also used my legal name, which is James Michael Deen. Doesn’t it sound so formal? HA!)

Well, last night, I received a call from Brother Alvin of the contest. He called to inform me that I made the finals of the contest - WITH BOTH SONGS!

I’m overwhelmed by God’s providence. Left literally speechless. Last week at an early morning Wednesday prayer meeting at the Fort, this South African man named David prophesied that God heard the desires of my heart and told me that what I was praying most fervently for was coming. Little did I know what I thought was one answered prayer would grow into a floodgate of blessing!

These past few days have just been a wellspring of blessing, from my wife’s safe arrival from Singapore, to the extra income brought in by side projects, to two very generous offers of new jobs (which I’d turned down, by the way, because I’m believing God will use me to spread His Good News in Makati City), to an unexpected blessing of something as trivial to others or important to me as shoes (yes, I’d been praying for new shoes, and I got a pair! More on that later).

This is what grace means. I get what I don’t deserve. And when I do get it, the feeling is just… indescribable. Then you’re just overcome with gratitude.

I am in the finals of the Kerygma Feast Songwriting Contest. With two songs. I can’t believe it.

Congratulations to the other finalists:

1. Magpasalamat by James Michael Deen Quezon City
2. For Today My Heart by Chris Givenchy of Edejer Davao City
3. Aking Hesus by Ernigem Indac of Paranaque City
4. With My Imperfect Heart by Ma. Cecilia Datu of Paranaque City
5. I’m Yours My God by Ma. Cielito Michelle Tagaza of Taytay, Rizal
6. Forever in My Heart by Rea Gloria of Meycauayan, Bulacan
7. Superblessed by James Michael Deen of Quezon City
8. My Song of Worship by Bonifacio Tagadtad of Ontario, Canada
9. You Have Created Me by Allan Obias of Marikina City
10. Touch My Heart by Emmanuel Carlos Malibiran of Paranaque City

O make a new song to the Lord; let all the earth make melody to the Lord. - Psalm 96:1 (BBE)

You’ll notice it’s 12 in the morning. I just had a doozy of a time trying to put Nicki to sleep. Oi vey, a one-month-old can sure be cranky.A few hours ago, I uploaded ‘Pastor Puppet Pals,’ my entry to the Every Nation Funniest Home Videos contest. It’s inspired by the ‘Potter Puppet Pals’ phenomenon on YouTube, but I put a spin on the lyrics, the melodies, even the look, so it looks fresh and everything.

The idea, of course, is a litany of various countries where we can share the gospel. It’s to the ends of the earth, with countries represented from every continent (except Antarctica; I imagine most penguins are most likely saved).

I truly enjoyed making this video. Recording and layering my voices for the ‘Pastor Puppet Pals’ theme and the a capella song, the searching for the right clothes to dress the puppets in, the countless takes so my sleeve or fingers wouldn’t show up on screen (at some point, I just gave up and acknowledged that it was bound to show, and there’s nothing wrong with that)… making this video blessed me more than anything.

It is my sincere hope that Pastors Steve, Joey, and Robert don’t bar me from entering the Araneta Coliseum if they ever get to see this video. I thought they were really cute, and I hope that Victory people will feel the same way.

The video is now included in the official list here, and hopefully, will receive enough votes to qualify for the Top 3 in the Creative category come July 21. If you’re registered and you like ‘Pastor Puppet Pals,’ you can vote for ‘Pastor Puppet Pals’ from July 18 to 19. (I imagine voting information will be made available well before then.)

See you on July 21, everybody! (Oh, wanna view the video? Sure, right after the jump.) Read more

This is the story of beautiful baby boy Eliot Hartman Mooney, but it is also the story of his parents Matt and Ginny. I encourage you to watch this video with a box of tissues beside you. Visit Eliot’s website as well. Few stories move as much as the Mooney’s ongoing story of parental courage, faith, and love.

Thanks for the link, Sue.

Sunday. Emotional and spiritual high. God rocks my socks.

Monday. Great devotion time - worship is good, God gives me a word for Ross. However, work politics rears its ugly head. God still rocks my socks, but I let my baser instincts get the better of me again.

Tuesday. Repented. Worship was awesome. Am dreading work, though.

The enemy will try to drag me down and put all these negative thoughts in my head. I ask God to help me. Through this time, I try to keep Pastor Ariel Marquez’s call in my mind - Even if God doesn’t help me in the way I want, I praise Him anyway.

To paraphrase Job, the Lord can give, the Lord can take away. May the name of the Lord be praised.

Lord, You are majestic and great, a refuge, a tower, a source of strength when there is none left to give. I praise You in times in plenty and praise you in times of famine, I run to You when hope is lost and run to You when hope springs as eternal as Your glory, Your Name, Your love. I give thanks for Your providence, that out of nowhere come blessings when least expected. Thank you, Lord!

Father, I pray for the families and friends of all affected by the tragedy at Virginia Tech. 33 lives will not be forgotten. I pray for healing, for reconciliation, for love to spring forth, refreshing all who are touched.

Father, I claim emotional healing for the family and friends of Julia Campbell. I pray for their forgiveness of us on behalf of our nation. I pray the love Julia showed the people of Donsol motivates them to find her killers and bring them to justice.

I pray for complete physical healing for Jody McBrayer, a man I hold in highest regard. I claim healing for his heart condition in the name of Jesus. I claim a long life for him with Stephanie and his family, and a renewed faith and vigor in him as thousands throughout the world join me for his swift and safe recovery. Miracles, Lord, in the name of Jesus. MIRACLES!

Finally, I pray for Cathy and Nikki, that the rest of my wife’s pregnancy will be relatively free of Braxton-Hicks, in Jesus’ name, and that Nikki will join us safely and soundly in Your time, Lord.

In the name of the Christ, whose name Jesus opens doors and possibilities previously closed, Amen.

He died, He rose, He will come again.

There’s a hailstorm of discussion circulating around the Philippine blogosphere, centering on a few individuals’ disappointment at the Philippine Blog Awards’ invocation. Specifically, Benj, an atheist, was extremely offended at the mention of Jesus Christ as a motivating factor for Philippine bloggers in maintaining their blogs. He was further offended by the response of “a lot of people” (in particular, this fellow) to his post, and has gotten a good round of discussion from Jorge, Tess, and Gail, who defended the organizers and initially encouraged Benj to join the group next year to ensure non-Christians’ rights would be represented better, but later took back the invitation.

(To Benj’s credit, he did say that the organizers were not to blame; to moot the point, he placed the blame somewhere else, when at this point, finger-pointing would not do the issue any additional good.)

Joni, coincidentally, asked me this morning what I thought of the ongoing flurry of activity. Initially, I thought to myself, this is not an issue I necessarily want to weigh in on, preferring instead to just let the issue die. As a self-professed Fil-Christian blogger for the past seven years, I think I should at least say something about how the situation may have been handled better by the Christians in the group, so as not to further stoke the flames of this ‘controversy,’ which may have marred, in one way or the other, the success of the Philippine Blog Awards.

First off, I want to say that Benj and I have not had the smoothest of relationships, thanks in large part to two things: a less-than-stellar-but-more-than-civil exchange of thoughts on PinoyExchange, where we first ran into each other, and a tendency to read too much into each other’s blog posts, hahaha. I have often said things that may have been offensive to him, and he has done likewise. What I think makes our online relationship work - and translated at least into a decent conversation at the BlogParteeh ‘07 when we didn’t kill each other - is a common respect for the other person’s beliefs. After all, it is expected and common that, in our individual web spaces, we call the shots. He has the freedom to delete/edit anything I say on his blog, and I on mine; of course, we don’t, out of what I hope is a respect for the person’s freedom of speech, and to my (not-so-perfect) recollection, I’ve never had to delete any of his posts on any of my Christian blogs. Occasionally, he’ll make a post that will push my buttons, intentionally or unintentionally, and I pray for the strength to just let it go. I’ve often apologized to him in public and private, and he has, too.

There is something to be said for an online relationship between a hardcore atheist and a Bible-thumping Christian, that we can have reciprocal links to each other’s websites, and what I hope is a healthy respect for each other’s rights as people.

The Philippine Blog Awards, however, was no longer just a webspace. It was a gathering of people, not all of whom share the same beliefs - religious, political, whatever. What should have united every person in that theater that night was a healthy respect for each other as individual bloggers, all coming together to recognize that we are all equal - as bloggers, and as people.

Despite my being a Christian, I feel very strongly about recognizing and acknowledging Benj’s point that a more universal prayer or moment of silence would have been more appropriate. There was a point in my life when I was on the other side of that fence, when I was just like Benj. There was a time when I denied the presence of God, and did my part in trying to convince others of my beliefs. I can understand why he feels the way he feels. I may not have expressed myself the way he did, but I can see where he’s coming from.

I definitely disagree with how Benj may have phrased his disgust disappointment with that prayer - especially since some have since interpreted his rather angry post in a negative way. That post was written for response and controversy; there’s no way organizers would have not reacted to it because Benj did throw a lot at them.

When a negative response to something is made, it’s human nature for the owners of that something to react in defense. Shari and and a few other attendees who found that prayer a bit disconcerting may have been left out, but Benj spoke out. Whatever results or changes he may have wanted for next year’s PBA, however, were probably diluted because it was so angrily said.

There are diplomatic ways to express displeasure, but in the heat of the moment… well, Christians and non-Christians can all lose tempers and say things they may end up later wishing they had not said.

Of course, the non-Christians aren’t as driven as we are to forgive. Nor are they as smug as we are because we are in the majority.

Frankly, we Christians in the Philippines do not realize how good we’ve got it, that we can pray in public and not be shot. That we can open our Bibles and read it on the subway. We don’t live in the minority, unlike the earlier Christians, or like Christians in other countries like China or Cuba, and as a result, we’ve become complacent, and almost snooty, just because most Filipinos know of Christ, and a few have active relationships with Him.

The problem with many Christians - and I can include myself in that list on several occasions, unfortunately - is that we tend to become almost elitist and high-and-mighty, knowing we have something in our lives that others do not. We forget it is still their freedom to accept the gift we have ourselves been given and accepted. We become so ritualistic that we forget about the non-believer whose impressions of God and Jesus is based on their interactions with us.

How is a non-believer supposed to know our own Jesus Christ - the person we acknowledge is the Son of God - hobnobbed with the huddled masses, the whores, and sinners? He accepted them for who they are, and (I believe) they changed in time because they kept company with Him. He influenced them in a positive way, and one day, that message of love made a difference in the lives of the people.

How can we reach out to these people when we offend them fresh out of the gate? How can we build relationships with them when we leave them out? And how can we expect them to understand Jesus’ message of compassion when we throw stones instead of bread?

My ending point is this: I personally don’t think a message of tolerance is necessarily a message against Christianity. If we automatically shut out people who do not share our views and faith, we would have lost sight of that which Christ specifically told us to do in Matthew 28.

Last night, Nathan said something to his Mom that took both of us by surprise. We have no idea where he learned it, but you can bet both of us were taken aback. A lot of prayer was offered that night for our three-year-old.

How often have we said something that we knew wouldn’t be received well, or done something that we just needed to do, even if we knew it wouldn’t necessarily be good for us? Me, quite often. My life is littered with dumb decisions.

If we’re lucky, the persons we told about our stupid actions, the persons who knew better will rarely tell us “I told you so.” Still, Someone very important has never told us, “I told you so.” Instead, He forgives us for walking away from Him, and welcomes us back into His arms. We just need to pray and tell Him about it.
Now some people believe prayer is just you talking to yourself. Believe that if you will. I believe Someone listens to me when I pray. That Someone - my God, the God of Abraham, and my Dad and Jesus’ Dad - understands that more often than not, I will screw up, and acknowledges when I am contrite and truly sorry for having done something I know won’t please Him. Like I should be to Nathan, God is an understanding Father, and will never take your decision to do something - even if it is obviously against His will - against you if you return to Him and genuinely say sorry for having done it.

After all, we can’t be all expected to be white sheep. We weren’t created like sheep. We’ve got minds of our own and a free will that, more often than not, comes back to bite us in the butt. What else can we do but run to Him before we get into bigger trouble?