Responding to Violence with Love in London
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An Executive New Presentation
in association with
CHRISTIAN ERA BROADCASTING
SERVICE INTERNATIONAL, Inc.
Eddie: In London, there’s a lot of nice areas. For example, there’s the Big Ben, which looks quite nice and my favorite area is Oxford Circus.
The reason why Oxford Circus is my favorite area is because I will go there with my friends. There’s a lot of things you can do there. There’s a lot of shops.
What people do for fun, that are my age, a lot of them just play video games at home, but when they go out – like sports, basketball a lot, or football a lot.
It can be safe, but there are times that it’s not safe, for example, like every single place in the world, there are bad people. And there’s been a lot of stabbings. There’s been a lot of shootings. There [have] been people that have been robbed in and all around London.
[Video begins – Source: YouTube.com/BBC News]
Man’s Voice: In London knife crime is up 34% in a year, with more than 13,000 offences.
Woman’s Voice: Indiscriminately, they assault and threaten innocent people. With the capital’s busiest streets offering them rich pickings.
[Video ends]
Eddie: What I’ve experienced is a lot of things actually. Like, when I was just went on my bike once, and then a group of people, when I just rode past them, tried getting me off my bike to steal it. There’s been times when I have just been walking with my friends and someone comes up to us, or a group of people come up to us and they have knives on them and they tried to rob us. There’s been times when people have been racially rude to me. There’s been times that people have threatened me. For example, people have threatened to hurt me, people have threatened to hurt my family, sometimes.
It is very easy to get involved with the bad cultures, like violence and gangs because people do struggle with money sometimes. They think the only way they can find happiness is from earning money.
Christopher Cruz Davis: Yeah, it’s quite common to have violence in schools in London.
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Christopher Cruz Davis
London, UK
Christopher Cruz Davis: I’m always worrying about my little brother as well in his school because I’ve seen it in my time. And then I see and I hear people threatening him.
If I was to remember how was it like to grow up in high school here in London, it was quite tough at the beginning because I got bullied. One of my classmates started picking on me. And then after that, I just lost confidence.
I experienced different types of bullying. I experienced racial bullying. And then other times, they would see me leaning my head against the wall, they would go, “oh, let me see.” He grabbed my head and then he smashed it against the wall. I couldn’t do anything except just stay there.
Yeah, it’s a common thing for violence during our teenage years. You’d hear of other people traveling so far from other parts of the city to fight with the students from my school.
If I didn’t join the Church, I probably would have ended up in prison.
Growing up, I had to face all the different temptations, different pressures, peer pressures. And I know that my little brother is going to be facing those same situations and for me as a member of the Church Of Christ, I want him to be a part of the Church. Because I know that if he follows in my footsteps, in a way that he will keep busy in the Church, he wouldn’t have to find it hard to make a decision. He will know what to do, what’s right.
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Brotherly Love
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On June 7, 2020, the Executive Minister
Of the Church Of Christ led a worship service
To God through videoconferencing.
[Video of homily begins]
Brother Eduardo V. Manalo: We must make a decisive dedication of our bodies to God so we can render to God a well-pleasing service and a spiritual worship.
The Bible tells us not to be conformed to this world.
Brethren, we should not adapt to the customs of the people of this world.
God wants us to please Him. He is the One Whom we should satisfy or please because God is the One Who called and chose us to serve Him.
God gave us not only the life and strength but also the right to worship Him.
That’s what we should safeguard.
So, even if there are things that we do in the world, we should not do the things that people of this world do that make God angry.
[Video ends]
Christopher Cruz Davis: In 2005, my older brother became a member of the Church Of Christ. When my older brother was going to the worship services, I was thinking like, “Why waste your time?” or, “Why are you getting ready while I can be relaxing?” but my brother didn’t stop in inviting me or talking about Church. Then my brother invited me to some Evangelical Missions.
I remember when I went there, they were all so inviting and they were all trying to talk to me. And me, I wasn’t a confident person, but to feel that people want to talk to me, that really brought me in, and that was one of the first steps for me to feel invited.
I remember the first day going to the worship service, I was picked up by one of the deacons back then. Before going into the car to go there, there was something that was going to hold me back for that little moment, but I thought, “No. I’m going to go.”
So, after the worship services and attending Bible studies, I wanted to know more about the Church. I felt, “Oh, this makes sense.” It’s not some kind of made up thing. What they were saying, it actually makes sense. And you can actually search up for what they were talking about. You can go and see the Bible verses that they have been reading out.
When I was in the worship service, I felt like I could shut the outside world out. I’m there and I’m safe. I feel like I don’t have to worry about anything. And if I do have to face any problems, I can overcome those. And I had a sense of relief, like, “Ah, this is it. This is my life now. I will be going to Church, and I don’t have to worry about anything.”
I thank God that I was baptized inside the Church in 2006. The best thing to come out of being a member of the Church is that I know I have somewhere I will be going. I know I’m going to be saved, and I don’t have to worry about anything in this world.
[Video of homily begins]
Brother Eduardo V. Manalo: Brethren, isn’t that the best way to express concern for our fellowmen is to pull them out of the punishment? So they won’t be punished on Judgement Day?
Compared to the things that people experience in this world, to be condemned on Judgement Day is the worst.
However, our duty is to stop people from being punished so they will be saved from the lake of fire on Judgment Day.
That’s the greater amount of concern that we must do for our fellowmen.
That’s the greater thing we can do for them because that’s based on the Bible.
[Video ends]
Young Man: Like most people in England, I didn’t grow up very religious. It’s a good thing I had older brothers who joined the Church Of Christ because that inspired me to join as well.
When I was 13, I was baptized and that impacted me a lot. Me, joining the Church Of Christ really helped me to stay away from bad influences because it gave me a lot of chances to do activities in the Church, and especially that I became a CWS [Children’s Worship Service] Officer – it gave me a lot of things to prioritize instead of prioritizing the wrong things.
One of the things that I prioritize in the Church Of Christ is [the] worship service. And the way worship service helps me is because we get taught the words of God in the Bible, and that really calms me and gives me solutions to what to do in life.
Two years ago, my mom got diagnosed with breast cancer. And during these times, it was quite hard for me because, of course, I’m still in school and I was quite young then. I was 12, and…
Sorry. It’s quite hard to talk about it.
Ok.
Two years ago my mom passed away of cancer. Thankfully, before my mom passed away, she was a part of the Church.
At the time, because I was quite young, and of course if that happened to anyone, you’d feel very upset, and I felt like I had no one for me, but I was embraced by a lot of people from the Church. A lot of my family members, my friends, which helped me go through that period. And because of [the] Church, mainly, I was able to overcome that.
Prayer helped me a lot during this time because there were times that I was feeling very depressed, and feeling like hurting myself, but prayer really took all of these thoughts out of my mind and helped me think about just being a better person, and a better person in the Church.
[Video of homily begins]
Brother Eduardo V. Manalo: Imagine what we can do for our fellowmen if were are able to convince them to join the Church Of Christ.
Brethren, how can people be considered oppressed if they are already Church Of Christ members?
If we or anyone else experiences oppression here in the world, that is to be expected, because that’s how the world really is.
But as Church Of Christ members, we have received the love of God and He also treats us better than we deserve.
And we are able to please and satisfy God because we are able to completely follow His will.
Let us cherish our membership in the Church Of Christ.
Let us not let go of this divine election we received from God. This will lead us to our salvation on Judgment Day.
So, our membership in the Church Of Christ is a treasure we should not let go of.
[Video ends]
Christopher Cruz Davis: This year, in the beginning of this year, so much things have happened – the pandemic, you’ve got the different natural disasters, you’ve got the unrest, the violence happening around. People [are] feeling depressed, they’re getting worried, they don’t know what to do. But for me, I don’t have to worry about these things. I’m so grateful and so happy that I am a member of the Church Of Christ because I have Someone to call to. I have our Almighty God to call to. I know He will protect me and my family. And I hope and I pray [that] more people will feel the same way, they will come inside the Church.
Young Man: My desire now is to invite more people into the Church Of Christ, because with all the things that are happening right now, what we need the most is God, and this will help them.
Christopher Cruz Davis: Nothing’s going to stop the members of the Church Of Christ in inviting or sharing the truth about the Church. Because we know by sharing our faith, we are showing our love to our fellow friends and loved ones. Because we know that if they were inside the Church, they wouldn’t have to worry about what’s happening in this world.
Young Man: With all the things that are happening right now, I am not scared at all because I know I still have my membership in the Church, and I’m able to attend the worship service. And I have prayer, which really reassures everything.
[Video of homily begins]
Brother Eduardo V. Manalo: Brethren, do you need the protection of our Lord God? You can ask that from Him.
Brethren, let us implore God: Father, please protect me, especially from the disease that has been spreading.
I know that many of you are worried. Perhaps others have already been afflicted with the disease.
However, if we have the protection of God, we can surely overcome all those things.
We can uphold our services until we receive the promised salvation.
[Video ends]
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© Executive News 2020
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