The Not So Weekly FlipSide Weekly!

Beyond the Presence

By Nowell Ignacio 

Flipside Youth held the Bible study at the Impact Center last July 23, 2010 Friday. It was attended by 14 young people. 

What could have been a difficult subject matter to understand was made plain and simple by our Youth Pastor, Bro Jeromy Hogue. I find it amazing to learn things about the tabernacle without digging so deep yet still have the main point of what it all means. As it was told to us, and as the Bible tells it, the Old Testament figures are “a shadow of things to come..” As I see it, the tabernacle pictures simplicity and humility from the outside but as you get inside and inner to the holy place, it is where the presence of God dwells. And beyond the presence of God is the Glory when you have come into the Holy of Holies. Much like the life of a Christian believer, one may look at Christ’s follower as simple, bland or boring. Ones who do not enjoy the worldly affairs because of the lifestyle he or she has with Christ. But when you look deeper into the life of a redeemed soul, the beauty lies within, the joy is not superficial and the glory of living is not measured with the extravagance of material things but with the intimacy of fellowship with the One who set us free. Beyond just the presence of God, there is so much more that is in store for those whose lives are surrendered to Jesus. In the Old Testament times, only the High priest could enter behind the heavy veil, into the Holy of holies to offer up a sacrifice for atonement of SIN. I am glad that veil was rent, and even a common man like you and me could enter into that place and have fellowship with the Holy God whose presence was only available for but a few before. 

Bro. Jeromy taught us three(3) that typify the Tabernacle in the Old testament. One of which is the Fulfillment of Jesus Christ’s ministry in this world.  Our Lord was the ultimate sacrifice in that Brazen altar where His blood was shed for you and me. He, being a sinless one was baptized and cleansed first before taking up the sacrifice to the Holy Place. He lived His life above sin and illuminated the world with His light. He is the Bread of Life on which we feed and nourish our hungry souls. He is our faithful intercessor, His ceaseless prayers went up as sweet smelling incense towards God. And Jesus is the glory of God, the Shekinah that filled all men who received the Holy Ghost.

It also foreshadowed the Plan of Salvation in the New Testament. The Brazen altar represents repentance, our dying to self. Water baptism followed after repentance as the Brazen laver followed after the brazen altar. The Golden candlestick, represents Jesus as the Light not only of this world but the Light of our life and also the Table of showbread, in which we should consume the Word of God to live. The altar of incense, our prayers ought to be continuously burning as an incense to God. Beyond the veil is the Ark of the Covenant where God’s glory dwells. The Holy Ghost is God’s glory that we enjoy as we fellowship with Him. I am thankful that God’s glory now resides in men’s lives and is not confined in a room or structure made with hands. We are the tabernacle of God!

Lastly, the Tabernacle signified Self-sacrifice. We cannot move into the holy place without sacrifice in our hands as the High priest could not enter in without blood. Our sacrifice ought to begin with repentance. Our sins are forgiven when we come to the altar. In the altar we die, that is to crucify our flesh, our carnal man. But we need to be washed by His blood. As we invoke the Name of Jesus in baptism, we let His cleansing blood wash us anew. We will let Jesus to be the Light of our lives, in that way He will give us the revelation to His words. As the Golden Candlestick lights up the room, so Jesus brings light to our lives and bring us revelation about Him and his words. Our strength comes through the Bread of Life, the Word of God. The altar of incense is our continuous prayer and fellowship with God. Ultimately when we get passed through the veil, the veil that represented a barrier between a Holy God and sinful men, we can enjoy not only the presence but the Glory of God. I did not have to force myself into entering in it, I cannot by all means enter into His dwelling place. All my sacrifices would not suffice the requirement of a very Holy God, but I am glad Jesus made a way! He tore the veil, He made it accessible for you and me. 

We can now boldly enter into God’s presence, “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf.” (Hebrews 6:19-20)

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body …let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Upcoming Events

FlipSide Prayer Meeting: July 30, 7:30pm at The Impact Center, Daly City

True Expressions: August 6, 7:30 at Abounding Grace, San Francisco

Senior Camp: August 7-12 in Santa Maria, CA

For more info call Jeromy at 415.722.0477

The Coffee Doctrine

by Joshua 

The sun rays blast through the blinds on a summer Sunday morning awaking the newly married couple, Jack and Jill. “What a beautiful day! How about you make me a cup of coffee my sweet butter muffin.” says Jack as he stretches. “Umm… the Bible says that the men are to make the coffee dear!”, replies Jill. “What? The men are to make the coffee? Where in the world did you hear that madness?” asked the baffled Jack. “Really Jack? Really? HEBREWS, duh!”

Wobbly Steps

by Mari Criselda Marcado aka ‘Crissy’

Being a wobbly toddler, with my walk with Jesus, I never really get to grasp his greatness. Even though, he would reveal Himself, every minute of everyday, I sometimes fail to recognize his marvelous creation and blessings. I get so consumed with my busy schedule, of work, school and chores that I sometimes forget He’s up there, waiting for me to give him a wee bit of my attention. That I complain of how imperfect everything is, of how my situation just seemed to be out of place, and just taking myself around a vicious cycle of mistakes. I thought, is there something more out of this? 

Looking at life closely, both figuratively and literally, I marvel at the perfection of every life form. From frog’s life cycles, to how plants make their own food up to those bacteria that camps occasionally in our bodies.  I stand in awe of how He placed, every star and every planet in their respective places in the universe, the realization that I didn’t come from some hairy being with long opposable thumbs, made me think, hey, I must be God’s favorite daughters, just like you and everyone else. That He made me with so much thought, in His image and likeness :D and that if he has plans for these lovely creatures, let alone I, right? (oh yesiree! We all have a purpose) 

This dawning revelation made an imprint in my heart that amidst of it all, beyond the strife and behind the struggles is an amazing God, who loves me far greater than anyone else. And it is not the religion which made me realize this, but the truth behind my relationship with Him. I desperately long for Him to touch my life, that I may have an intimate relationship with Him. I need to experience the joy of serving Him. 

So would you come with me and hold hands with Jesus, as we walk together through spiritual perfection? Let’s go!!  Rarara! Pompoms up, pompoms down! :o)

What’s New?

FLIPSIDE COLUMN!!!

By Karmela Ignacio

          July 2, 2010, Flipside’s first youth service (The Bridge) was held at Abounding Grace of San Francisco, participated by a total of seventeen young people.  Weeks before the awaited service, Called to Action, which is the Flipside’s music department, committed in rehearsing songs at the Sisson’s apartment.  Worship was beautifully lead by the Sisson sisters, Hannah and Tyler. And for the most important and exciting part of the night, Nowell Ignacio, the youth pastor’s helper, fed the hungry young souls’ heart with his preaching entitled “The Burden and the Need”.  He focused on the need to reach the lost souls and the burning passion that has to exist to act upon that need.  In his opening statements, he stressed that “It took somebody to have a burden to do something,” and I believe that this burden was preciously carried by Flipside.  With God’s abundant grace plus the youth’s careful planning, preparation, and fervent prayers, the first “The Bridge” successfully accomplished its main goal: to bridge the young people to Truth and link them to the Body of Christ as it ended with fellowship and fun games. 

Think About It…

by Hannah Sison

          Have you ever lost something and looked for it hour after hour, day after day?
Thursday morning, on my way to work almost to the parking garage I realized I didn’t have the required card to enter the garage. Panic immediately kicked in. I rummaged through my purse, pockets, under the seats, the trunk, etc. I finally came to the conclusion, it was lost. I did what I had to do to enter the garage without the card. About three days later Brock was in the car with me and he looks at me and looks into the compartment right below the stereo system of my car and there lied the card, under a pile of sunglasses and keys. I laughed and felt so silly for not realizing the whole time it was in plain sight. Don’t we do this with God? We convince ourselves it is “too hard” to live a Christian life. If we would remove our pile of junk, being our doubts or excuses why not to do things we could go further than we have ever imagined. God is there in plain sight only asking us to live holy, and not make excuses why we can’t live fully for him. We have to realize it’s not difficult or impossible. Our incredible relationship with God  is already there we just have to transform the way we perceive things and realize we play a key part in the bigger plan. Let’s not slack and be discouraged because God is in control, and He is calling us to action. So let’s be unreasonable and give this 200%! We are going forward, so let’s all unite and be confident cause God will not let us down.

Check the FlipSide!!

If you weren’t there, you missed out! 

June 26th, 2010, was Flipsides Youth Picnic at Orange Park. If you weren’t there, you missed out on a lot of fun. With a head count of about 16 teens, we had a blast playing baseball & tackle football. Don’t worry, no one was hurt, thank the Lord Jesus in Heaven, because we don’t have insurance on these kids haha. Pictures will be posted on Flipsides Facebook and the Flipside homepage. Let’s keep it up and get with it.

True Expression!

Let’s all join together this Friday, July 2nd @ 7:30pm, for Flipsides True Expression Youth Service! Called to Actions’s Youth Music Group will be leading music! Be there or be square! Word up!

By Tyler Sison

Think About It…

“639 pages in this book. That means 306 more to go. Alright, I got three days to finish this novel, then write a summary+reflection about it.” After having been given a month and a half to do this, I scramble at practically the last minute to write a paper decent enough for some adequate grade. I stayed up, night after night in that last week, reading my assigned novel as much as I could. During the day, I’d write whatever I could whenever I had the chance. It was overwhelming to have so much to do with such little time left. I kept thinking, “this could have been easier, if only I had started early enough”. We were given a fair amount of time to complete this assignment, yet I end up getting so stressed over it because of my habitual procrastination.

However, if I can get away with finishing up at the last minute for school, it is not the same with God. Salvation is too important to deal with in the last hour. Just as I was given a month and a half to do one assignment, we are all given a lifetime to carry out the steps to be saved. As soon as you understand God’s plan of Salvation, you must take action, for we don’t know when our last breath or the coming of the Lord will be. It will be painful to have to regret and think the same thoughts I had for procrastinating over homework as when trying to get your name written in the Book of Life in the last minute.

Living in the endtimes can be either exhilirating or daunting, considering that we get closer to the Lord’s coming each day. It all depends on how you’re living. We must remember that God is not a homework or any temporary task that we can put off for later. There is much more urgency in living for Jesus today than ever before.

So let’s honor Him while we can, for we cannot blame time for going by so fast. We can only blame ourselves for falling behind. There is no better time to serve God than N0W

 By Mae Ignacio

The Haps…

June 5, 2010

Saturday June 5, 2010. Last Saturday’s Flipside donation car wash was a huge success! It started off at a slow pace but after a group prayer the cars began to line up. (Thank you Jesus!) We had loads of fun in the hot sun (although we all got sun burnt!), dancing around with posters and scrubbing them cars. I’d like to thank the White Ivie pet Hospital for allowing us to use their parking lot. We had a lot of support from our church and we really appreciate it (Seriously! We REALLY appreciate it!). Everyone that contributed whether it was donating supplies, sponsoring or attending the car wash, you’re all absolutely amazing!  Stay tuned for our upcoming events, God has a plan for Flipside youth group and you will not want to miss out on it!

By: Crystal Silva

Upcoming Events

The Spot: June 11, 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Games, food, and fun!
Location: TBD

The Bridge: June 18, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
A Bible study that builds a bridge toward spiritual growth and understanding vital for adult success.
Location: The Hogues House

For more info on these events please call 415.722.0477

FlipSide Funny

Acts 2:38!

An elderly woman had just returned to her home from an evening of religious service when she was startled by an intruder. As she caught the man in the act of robbing her home of its valuables, she yelled, “Stop - Acts 2:38!” (..turn from your sin…) The burglar stopped dead in his tracks. The woman calmly called the police and explained what she had done.

As the officer cuffed the man to take him in, he asked the burglar, “Why did you just stand there? All the old lady did was yell a scripture to you.”

“Scripture?” replied the burglar, “She said she had an AXE and two 38’s!”

By: Monica Silva

Think About It…

One Wrong Turn

“Tyler, I need ya’ll to come home, mom forgot the house key and we can’t get into the house.” After receiving this call from father, we all left church after fellowshipping and began the 15 minute ride home. With it being June, you’d think the weather would be beautiful with clear skies and summer sun. As for San Francisco, summer is more like winter for us. Like the famous quote says, “The coldest winter I spent was a summer in San Francisco.” On the other hand, pulling closer to the soon to be ramp a few feet ahead of us, the fog smeared right through the streets and blurred our drivers vision. The turn was out of sight and a slight wrong turn was made.

                Passengers began to panic. “Where are we going?!” “Agh we’re going to die!” “Geez Hannah, weren’t you paying attention?” Then a soothing voice entered the chaos, calming everyone down. “Just keep going straight,” Tyler said. As Hannah proceeded straight towards the unknown roads that lied ahead, before we knew it, we were definitely in unknown territory. The roads we had never seen before, lead into a trailer park, then to a neighborhood where one feared a drive by shooting!

                Finally, the best suggestion of all, “Put the address in the GPS!” What a life saver that was! We followed each turn it directed us towards, and made our way safely home into our loving parents arms, with bomb diggity hot cheetos and cup of noodles for dinner. Praise God for getting us home safe.

                Sometimes we get distracted by the simplest things in life, and let our vision get blurred with chaos. We get our eyes off of what we really are called to do in life, and that is to serve the one and only God, Jesus Christ. It’s amazing how one tiny wrong turn can get you so lost and confused. Make sure you always keep your eyes on God and don’t let the things of this world distract you from your mission in this life. Also always remember to keep your G.P.S.( God’s Protection Services) with you at all times! He will never fail you.

Extra Extra!

Tuesday June 1st, 2010

Sunday May 30th, 2010. What an awesome game night we had this weekend! With games, laughter, and straight up fun. Gestures was definitely outrageous, acting out scenes of movies, or titles, making each person look like immature 4 year olds, but it’s all good, we just laugh it off and move on to the next person. Not only was there just game night this weekend, but an extremely fun day at the park on Memorial Day.

Monday May 31st, 2010

Flipsiders met up at Cherry Park, and played some savage volleyball. There was a few injuries, the tremendous fall of Jon-Marc Morgan, and the sprained wrist of Monica Silva. We applaud the both of you for getting right back up and playing in the game. You guys are straight up savages! 

Upcoming Events

Friday June 5th, 2010, there is a youth rally at First Church in San Jose. For more details email us @ flipsidesf@yahoo.com. Be there or be square! :)

Presented by Tyler Sison

FlipSide Funny

The Holy Ghost Hangover Look

What about those moments when you are drawn in at the alter? They may not be as common as the one or two at your church who consistently “get it” but there comes those joyous occasions where the Good Lord beckons you to “come hither” into his presence…
Usually it starts with repentance and then you feel the burn in your heart….
And then you’re hooked….
Before you know it, you are in the rare but wonderful “HG INTENSITY ZONE.” These moments tend to happen at congress or camp, but on occasion they occur at your home altar as well…
And then after being in this “HG intense state” for an indeterminate period of time, you peel your eye lids open….
and to your shock/joy/horror you realize you are the only one at the altar….church was over a quarter past forever ago.
And then you resurrect your body to walk out of the sanctuary…
But as you gaze into the eyes of on-lookers and the shock on their face, you realize….
You have  gone through a rare Holy Ghost metamorphosis. You feel like the wind has been knocked out of you. Your eyes are bloodshot….You have the Holy Ghost hangover look
And what you deem as shock in the eyes of the onlookers is rather looks of envy, because nothing says you have just had an encounter with the G-Man upstairs than the Holy Ghost Hangover look/mood that you are reflecting…
Of course if you are on the other end of things, as the onlooker…The Holy Ghost Hangover does appear rather bizarre. You don’t quite look like a zombie, but you don’t exactly look “intoxicated.” It looks like you went to take on the town for the evening and instead the town ate you alive….Your shirt’s untucked with inside-out pockets accompanying (Does God turn your pockets inside out in prayer without your permission?!?)…

On the inside the Holy Ghost receiver feels like they have won the lottery. On the outside it looks like the Holy Ghost receiver had not only lost the lottery but was given the sole burden of paying off the lottery to the actual winner. But because they couldn’t afford to pay off that lottery, they were beaten senselessly for the entire night by a pair of Bitter Irish Farmers post-potato famine.

Presented by Hannah Sisson

Think About It…

    During World War II a famous author was in trouble with the  

Nazis.  Accordingly, he and his wife fled southward through Germany  

and into France, hoping to make the Spanish border.

    The Gestapo was one step behind them, and capture meant a  

concentration camp or worse.  Traveling by night along deserted back  

roads and across unfamiliar farmland, they finally achieved their  

destination.

    Spanish officials at the border, however, would not let them  

cross.  Bribes and pleading alike failed they were turned back.

    Unwilling to give up, they took lodging for the night in the  

little town in the Pyrennees called Lourdes.  They would try again the  

next day.

    Before retiring for the night, the author took a walk and soon  

found himself in front of the famous shrine.  He paused for a moment,  

then knelt down and said: “I do not believe in you I must be honest  

and say so.  But my danger is great, and in my extremity, on the  

chance that you might after all be real, I ask your help.  See my wife  

and me safely across the border.”

    He paused, tears in his eyes, “Do this,” he said, “and when we  

reach the United States, I will write the story of this place for all  

the world to read.”

    Having finished his prayer, he returned to his hotel.  A strange  

feeling of peace had come over him.  ”We will make it,” he told his  

wife.  ”I don’t know how, but we will make it.”

    Within a week Franz Werfel and his wife did cross the border, and  

less than a month later landed in the United States.  The first thing  

he did, once safe in this country, was to write a book, The Song of  

Bernadette, the story of Lourdes.

    Your prayers can be a source of strength, but with faith in  

Christ, they are very powerful!

A VERSE TO REMEMBER

     Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not  

depend on your own understanding.  Seek his will in all you do, and he  

will direct your paths.

Presented by Jonmarc Morgan