I wasn't able to vote last election because I wasn't able to find my name. The polling precincts were so disorganized that it was crazier than an Apu Tiangge Day. Hopefully, the first automated election won't be like this. I already made sure that my name is listed in the polling precinct to make sure I don't waste my day for nothing.
3. Fill in Precinct Number box (Your precinct number is found on your Voter's ID and/or that strip of paper that Comelec gave you as proof of registration.)
(Sample) Credit: Google
4. Click Find Voting Center button.
5. Results will give you the address of your precinct as well as the number of registered voters who will be serviced by the site.
(Sample) Credit: Google
6. Pin the location of the voting center on the map provided to help other find their precinct on election day.
Six ways to put more application into your sermons
By Rick Warren
"Good sermons need an ounce of reality, where you talk about your own struggles – revealing where you haven’t quite made it yet but also discussing, as a model of hope, the progress you have made."
Rick Warren
We are called to be doers of the Word, and not just listeners, which is why I believe every sermon you deliver should give very specific application. You’re not just trying to inspire your congregation; your aim is to help their transformation into Christlike people on mission for God.
Here are six guidelines for putting more application into your sermons --
1. Always aim for specific action The greatest weakness I see in most sermons is a fuzzy focus. A strong sermon is like a bullet. You identify the specific action you want as a result of the message. Consider this: you're not ready to preach until you know what you expect people to do after hearing the sermon. You then prepare everything in your message with that end in sight.
2. Model it from your own life In 1 Corinthians 4:6 Paul shares the reason his ministry was so effective: “Now brothers, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’” Paul says, “I applied it to me and to my friend Apollos and now you watch our example.”
You don’t have to be perfect to be a model. The most helpful models are not those who’ve figured it all out and are perfect (Usually, those people are just discouraging to me). Good sermons need an ounce of reality, where you talk about your own struggles – revealing where you haven’t quite made it yet but also discussing, as a model of hope, the progress you have made.
3. Ask penetrating questions Jesus constantly asked questions of those who were listening to him.
In Matthew 17:25 he asked Peter, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes? From their own sons or from others?”
In Matthew 18:12 he asked his disciples, "What do you think if a man owns 100 sheep and one of them wanders away. Will he not leave the 99 on the hill and look for the one that’s wandered off?”
In Luke 13 he asked the crowd, "Of those 18 who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?”
These are just a few examples of one way Jesus choose to communicate. Why is he asking such penetrating questions? Because he’s drawing answers out of the people listening.
This is a powerful way to apply Scripture to people’s lives. One of the ways you can do this is through self-evaluation quizzes. At Saddleback, we’ll often ask people to evaluate themselves at the end of each sermon point. For instance, “Rate yourself from 1 to 5 in this area.” This is one form of a penetrating question.
"Effective sermons answer the ‘Yes, but how?’ question, giving practical steps that listeners can immediately implement. Don’t just tell your congregation what they need to do; help them discover how to do it."
Rick Warren
4. Give specific action steps Growing up as a pastor’s kid, I heard a lot of sermons at conferences and from my own father. As I listened, I’d find myself thinking, This is good; yet, I was constantly writing, next to the verses we were studying, “Yes, but how?” “Be a godly father - Yes, but how?” “Study the Bible - Yes, but how?”
Effective sermons answer the “Yes, but how?” question, giving practical steps that listeners can immediately implement. Don’t just tell your congregation what they need to do; help them discover how to do it. That’s what people are looking for today!
Flooding them with what they ought to do without telling them how to do it doesn’t lead to life change. It only leads to frustration!
5. Give practical examples If you want your people to share their faith with others, then tell stories about people in your church who are already doing that. If you want people to care for the sick, tell stories about people in your church who care for the sick. If you want people to be friendly to visitors, tell stories about people who were friendly to visitors. Whatever gets rewarded gets repeated. You want to make heroes of the people who are doing what you want done. You treat them the way you want them to be.
6. Offer people hope People need encouragement to change. If they think something’s hopeless, then they won’t even try. For example, I once did a two-part series on getting out of debt. We had a woman share about how she’d gotten herself $100,000 into credit card debt. She explained how it took several years to pay off, but by applying biblical principles she and her husband were able to do it!
When she finished speaking – and I usually try to fit the testimony right in the middle of a message – I stood up and said, “You may have been discouraged thinking, ‘I'm never getting out of debt. But you can do this! Is there anybody here who’s got more than $100,000 on their credit card? No. You just heard a story of a woman who with the power of God’s Spirit and discipline, and using the biblical principle of putting God first, she got out of debt. You can do this!”
This builds hope in people. They say, “We can do that. We’re not nearly as bad off as that.”
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire… Jack Frost nibbling at the snow.
One Christmas, a parent decreed that she was no longer going to remind her children of their thank-you note duties. As a result their grandmother never received acknowledgments of the generous checks she had given. The next year things were different, however. "The children came over in person to thank me," the grandparent told a friend triumphantly. "How wonderful!" the friend exclaimed. "What do you think caused the change in behavior?" "Oh, that's easy," the grandmother replied. "This year I didn't sign the checks."
One day an old woman was on her deathbed and she gave some last minutes instructions to her long time friend. The old woman said, “Mila, I know my time is up. I want you to do everything I say. The day I die, do not bury me. Burn me. I want a cremation.” “But why?” asked Mila her old time friend. The old woman said, “Cremate me and then gather my ashes and spread it over the grounds of SM Mega Mall.” Puzzled, Mila asked. This is a very strange request. I don’t understand this.” The old woman explained. “Mila, I miss my children so much. After my cremation, gather all of my ashes and spread it all across the shopping mall. That way I can be assured that my children would at least visit once a week.”
Christmas time may be a picture of celebration and joviality but it could be pretty lonely for old folks whose relatives no longer visit. One businessman complained. He said: “Banks never seem to get totally into the holiday spirit. My bank sent me a card that said, “Have a Happy Holiday. If You Are Already Having A Happy Holiday, Please Disregard This Notice.” Christmas is a strange time of year. That’s when people celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace by buying toy rockets, submarines, artillery, and hand grenades for their children.[1] But certain people reach heights of depression when Christmas time comes. Memories. Many painful ones. You see the occasion may be important but never as important as relationships no matter what day of the year is. Take this occasion to remember your loved ones.
History teaches us lessons so we can learn. Some painful ones too. Thomas Carlyle had married his secretary, whom he dearly loved, but he was thoughtless and absorbed in his own interests and activities, treating his wife as if she were still his employee. Stricken with cancer, she was confined to bed for a long time before she died. After her funeral, Carlyle went back to his empty house. Disconsolate and grieving, he wandered around downstairs thinking about the woman he had loved. After a while he went upstairs to her room and sat down in the chair beside the bed on which she had been lying for months. He realized with painful regret that he had not sat there very often during her long illness. He noticed her diary. While she was alive, he never would have read it, but now that she was gone he felt free to pick it up and thumb through its pages. One entry caught his eye: “Yesterday he spent an hour with me. And it was like being in heaven. I love him so much.” He turned a few more pages and read, “I listened all day to hear his steps in the hallway. And now it’s late. I guess he won’t come to see me.” Carlyle read a few more entries and then threw the book on the floor and rushed out through the rain back to the cemetery. He fell on his wife’s grave in the mud, sobbing, “If only I had known … if only I had known.”[2]
Make sure you know what to spend this Christmas time. Spend time with your loved ones and not just money on gifts. Christ gave Himself for us…never forget that.
Commandment # 1: Pay Yourself First Commandment # 2: Define your financial target at each phase Commandment # 3: Stop spending on things that decline in value Commandment #4: Protect your greatest asset: Yourself Commandment #5: Grow with the economy and beat inflation Commandment #6: Trust the power of compound interest Commandment #7: Assess Risks and Options Commandment #8: Make Money Work For You Commandment #9: Invest and Diversify Commandment #10: Use the Power of One
Few days before the deadline for the COMELEC registration, I'll be one of those "lucky" people who will fall in line for hours under the heat of day to register for the coming elections. Some of my friends told me that the process will take a whole day, but I still want to make sure I can vote next year. First, it's going to be the first ever computerized election. Second, I want to support Noynoy Aquino. Third, it's a right we use so seldom.
For first time voters, you may have so many questions like how to register at Comelec, what are the procedures in registration and the requirements for you to be able to vote in the 2010 National and Local elections. Below are some information that will guide you in your registration at comelec offices. Preparing the requirements beforehand can lessen the burden and problems usually encountered by new voters. Let your vote be counted, register!
REGISTRATION PROCEDURES:
1. A qualified applicant need only to appear personally at the local COMELEC office. 2. The applicant's identity and residence will be verified. (Bring a valid ID with photograph and signature.) 3. The applicant's status of registration will also be verified. (NOTE: Your registration status may also be verified here.) 4. After a successful verification, the applicant shall be given an application form to fill up (in 3 copies). 5. The applicant's biometrics will then be digitally captured. 6. An Acknowledgment Receipt will be given to the applicant afterwards.
REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS:
QUALIFICATIONS: * at least 18 years old; * 1 year residence in the Philippines; * 6 months residence in the place wherein he proposes to vote
DISQUALIFICATIONS: * sentenced by final judgment to suffer imprisonment of not less than 1 year; * adjudged by final judgment of a competent court; * insane or incompetent persons as declared by competent authority
IDENTIFICATION DOCUMENTS: 1. Employee’s identification card (ID) with the signature of the employer or authorized representative; 2. Postal ID; 3. Student’s ID or library card, signed by the school authority; 4. Senior Citizen’s ID; 5. Driver’s license; 6. NBI/PNP clearance; 7. Passport; 8. SSS/GSIS ID; 9. Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) ID; 10. License issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC); and 11. Any other valid ID.
REGISTRATION SCHEDULE:
As Per COMELEC Resolution No. 8514 as amended in COMELEC Resolution No. 8585 (Promulgated: February 12, 2009)
WHEN: During office hours, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, (Mondays - Saturdays including holidays) beginning December 2, 2008 (Tuesday) to October 31, 2009 (Saturday)
WHERE: at the office of the local COMELEC office where you reside Satellite registration Schedule for NCR (Metro Manila)
HOW: personally
COVERAGE: All cities and municipalities, except the ARMM
