What breaks your heart?

Olive Oyl walks with splendor and, with eyes closed, displays an innocent smile. Brutus appears, asking Olive to come with him. Popeye is watching yet somehow doesn’t seem affected. But when Brutus got frustrated with Olive’s “no”, he now uses force to make his plans work. This is the time when Olive cries for help. And this is the time when Popeye, with a sailors’ grammar says, “this is all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”. And so he swallowed a can of spinach and kicked Brutus’ butt.

Bill Hybels calls it the “Popeye Moment”. It’s when a person feels, hears or sees something that breaks his heart. It’s when leaders are born! Moses felt, heard and saw his own people’s suffering in Egypt; that broke his heart and God chose him to lead the people out of Egypt. David saw Goliath and heard him mock the army of Israel, thus defying God, and David felt his heart breaking; that made him step out and defeated the giant. This “Popeye Moment” is the burning passion that drives a leader into action!

And so Bill Hybels asked, what breaks your heart? What makes you say, “this is all I can stands, I can’t stands no more”? What is your “Popeye Moment”?

These questions set my mind wandering and wondering! What breaks my heart? All of a sudden, scores of scenes from the past came flashing in. I remember seeing a kid sniffing rugby in a mall’s entrance. A security guard drove him away, beating him with a nightstick. I saw it. I heard the kid’s cry. I felt the pain. It broke my heart.

I see young people drowning themselves with liquor. It breaks my heart. I see students wasting their time and money on computer games. I see them in the streets talking, shouting, cursing. I see them playing billiards on school days. I hear them singing on videoke bars, still on school days. I watch young girls smoke cigarette. I watch them enjoy as they toss down bottles of beer, laughing like there is no tomorrow. I hear these young girls talk “naughty stuff”. I see this younger generation slipping away from morality, and they are unaware about it. Confront them and you’ll get responses you won’t like. I feel their need. Yet they don’t. And it breaks my heart.

I get to know people unsatisfied with their jobs. I hear their plans to work abroad, not because of a present need, but because of certain desires they want to fulfill. I see families ruined because of irresponsible parents. Still I see families ruined because of parents leaving to work abroad. I hear people worry over their finances yet they spend money on worthless things. I feel their discontent. And it breaks my heart.

I see unbelievers, living their lives, unaware of the coming end. I hear them say they believe in God. Let them speak more, and you’ll find out that they’re talking about a God they don’t even know. I hear them say they have faith. Watch their lives and faith is just a “church thing”. Still I see believers, feeling satisfied with just the title “Christian”. I feel their ignorance as I feel mine. And it breaks my heart.

Ouch. As long as I hear, see, and feel these things, my heart continues to bleed. You may say I’m just paranoid. Maybe you’ll tell me to stop worrying about such things. Maybe you’ll tell me to ignore those things. Think twice. If I ignore them, I ignore Christ’s cause.
It’s time you ask yourself, what breaks your heart?
What makes you say, “this all i can stands, i can’t stands it no more”?
And I pray that God will use to do something for that “Popeye Moment”.

Age of What?

Centuries have passed since my hero stained that tree with his own blood, endured the shame and then died with a punishment meant for slaves and criminals. It was the birth of hope. The nails that wounded his hands marked the beginning of another covenant. That was a couple of thousand years ago. And now I’m reading through the pages of history.

Centuries. Eras. Periods. Ages. But as I’m reading through the pages of history and at the same time comparing it to the present world, it’s sad to notice that people seemed to become more interested on less important things about life. The people then were so curious about the truth. Today, we don’t care if it’s true or not, as long as it promotes temporal pleasure. In the past, wars erupt to reveal truth. Today, wars ignite because of mistakes. The greater our weapons for massive destruction are, the lesser our reasons for killing lives.

True wisdom is fading. I shared this insight to a friend, and she asked me to explain why. Man, a little child can tell if his father has changed. But for me to explain the great difference between the early centuries and today is another thing. Dr. Bruce Shelley wrote a book two-inches-thick about it and still admits his masterpiece is not that adequate. So I formulated a simple but striking answer, and maybe a punch for vanity. Here it is:

Age of Reformation, Age of Reason and Revival, Age of Progress,
Age of Ideologies; these were the development of history. What
would you call our age today? Age of fashion? Age of Sexual
Immorality? Age of Hollywood? Or here in our country, Age of Media,
Soap Operas and Lame Reality TV Shows? Age of Bob Ong?
Age of Camera-Conscious Politicians? Come on…
You can tell the huge difference.

Philip Slater, a psychologist, once said in his book entitled The Pursuit of Loneliness, “we seek for more and more privacy, and feel more and more alienated and lonely when we get it”. We compete rather than cooperate; we avoid rather engage; we play it “cool” and thereby make the world a little “colder”.
I’ll leave you thinking with two choices: Will you continue to be unaware or ignorant about the way of this sick, cursed and fallen world, and play it cool as you enjoy its fleeting pleasures? Or will you stand up with a spirit of revival and break the chains of slavery that holds you from knowing the Truth and gaining eternal pleasures?