STCC@Candon City : Venue of Summer Block Course on Christian Doctrine

A 3-unit masteral credit at Aparri Bible Seminary shall be offerred from April 12 to 17, 2010 with Sto. Tomas Church of Christ at Candon City as the learning venue. This will be taught by a SUNBEAMer Dr. Samson B. Lubag of Oahu Christian Church, Honolulu, Hawaii.

In his promo-letter, Pastor Jun Segudo wrote, Aparri Bible Seminary has started its Master's degree program in a bid of reaching seminary alumni who need advanced degree, and are living in the STCC-Candon vicinity including preachers from Ilocos and Abra.

ABS agrees that Candon City is a strategic place and Sto. Tomas Church of Christ is willing to host and house the prospective students, but they must be responsible for their meals (P25/meal) or pay for rice equivalent. There is a non-refundable P50 registration fee, and the class is scheduled at 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. on April 12-17, 2010.

This program will accommodate twelve (12) students only, with no sit-ins, to ensure quality time for the students. The deadline for registration is April 9, 2010.

Interested students may please fill-up the form. Please contact Pastor Jun or Jainee Mangma- Castillo at (0918) 331-4642.

Meanwhile, its professor Dr. Lubag sent SUNBEAM its course syllabus as follows:

CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE, By Prof. Samson Lubag, 3 units, Apr. 12-17, 2010

I. Aims of the Course:

1. This course seeks to present the major concepts, institutions, and standards of Jesus and the early church as recorded in the New Testament, especially in the light of exegetical and other recent scholarships.

2. The emphasis is not primarily on what the mass of biblical theologians have written about these, (though we shall study some of them also), but on what the New Testament (and the Old Testament roots) says about these realities.

3. This is, therefore, an analytical and descriptive course, not an experimental, speculative, or dogmatic one.

II. Classroom Procedures of the Course:

1. Class lectures will be the prime method of approach to the content of the New Testament theology.

2. Question-and-answer, and discussion of both will be used frequently, on the part of both teacher and students.

III. Assignments for the Course:

1. Each student will submit one book critique taken from the pre-listed bibliography - 20%
2. Take home Examination at the end of a unit course - 20%
3. Daily Notes to submit on final examination day - 20%
4. Class Participation which includes introductory questions - 20%
5. 10-page article on any Christian doctrine issue approve by the teacher - 20%

IV. Course Schedule:

Apr.12 a.m. , M - Introduction and Assignments
Apr. 12 p.m. M - The Doctrine of the Bible

Apr. 13 a.m., T - The Doctrine of God
Apr. 13 p.m. T - The Doctrine of Man

Apr. 14 a.m. W - The Doctrine of Sin
Apr. 14 p.m. W - The Doctrine of Christ

Apr. 15 a.m., Th - The Doctrine of the Holy Spirit
Apr. 15 p.m. Th - The Doctrine of Salvation

Apr. 16 a.m F - The Doctrine of the Kingdom of God
Apr. 16 p.m. F - The Doctrine of the Church

Apr. 17 a.m. S - Doctrine of the Last Things

Professor Lubag may teach again next year on different course. (30)

Dr. J. Falla Chairs Evaluation Committee on Search for Best Paper

This blogger (Dr. Josue S. Falla) chairs the Philippine Rice Research Institute's (PhilRice) evaluation committee on 2010 Search for Best Paper (Technology Promotion and Increasing Yield category). The Search is in line with the 23rd National Rice R & D Conference which will be held at IRRI, Los Banos, Laguna on March 3 - 5, 2010. Other members of this Committee are Dr. Sol Mina-Roguel (Dean of CLSU Graduate School), Dr. Claire Aganon (CLSU Professor), fresh from Australian study Dr. Karen Barroga (PhilRice Techno-Promo officer), and Dir. Ruben Miranda (PhilRice Deputy Director for Development).

Four papers were initially evaluated dealing with SMS (aka Text messaging) and Web-Conferencing as agri-knowledge sharing tools; use of GIS for visualizing rice technology diffusion, and an exploratory study on Digital World among rice farmers. Elimination was done last Jan. 26, 2010 at PhilRice main headquarters in Maligaya, Munoz Science City, Nueva Ecija, while the finalist-papers shall be presented at the plenary session of the Conference proper on March 3-5 in IRRI, Laguna.

As posted in the past, this blogger (Dr. Falla) is due to retire from the government service come March 31, 2010 under Executive Order 366 (Rationalization Program). This kind of special (short-term) assignment is what this blogger is looking forward to as one of his main post-retirement activities for him to be of continuous service to the industry. (30)

Kyle Chosen as MVP - Meycauayan Taekwondo Team

Kyle Falla-Taruc, Grade 1 pupil of Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) gradeschool was recently chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of Meycauayan Taekwondo Team, for having won the most number of gold medals throughout 2009 tournaments.

Above are some pictures of Kyle taken last Thursday (January 21) in one of his usual days in the campus. (Photos by Lola Rose)

CCNE : A Newly SEC-Registered Body of Christ in Central Luzon

It's CRN-Company Reg. No. is CN200919604, with Company TIN 007-539-721 as indicated in the Certificate of Incorporation signed on 18th December 2009 by Director Benito A. Cataran of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Department of Company Registration and Monitoring.

Name of Organization : Church of Christ in Nueva Ecija, Incorporated (CCNE, Inc.)

Nature : Umbrella organization of 32 local Churches of Christ in Nueva Ecija rooted from Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, including provincial sectoral para-Church groups namely, CLEAN (Church Leaders' Association of Nueva Ecija, an aggrupation of male Church leaders), the SPKKNE-Kababaihan (Christian Women's group in the province), and the SPKKNE-Kabataan (Samahan ng Kabataang Kristiano sa Nueva Ecija).

Reasons for Being : Better coordination, meeting the legal requirements including licencing of pastors to officiate wedding and similar civil and cultural institutions, and building-up the Body of Christ in general. It also aimed at preserving New Testament Christianity and the Church established on the day of Pentecost in 33 AD (Acts 2).

Current Officers and Incorporators : Bro. Arnold Juliano of Maligaya Church of Christ, and the current CLEAN officers and Board members.

Governance : Local autonomy of the 32 local Churches; Decentralized.

Office Address: Munoz Church of Christ Pastoral, J. Damian St., Science City of Munoz 3119 Nueva Ecija, Philippines

Introducing the PHMech

Only God can change the direction! Thus said BPRE Deputy Director Dr. Rosendo Rapusas, of the organizational transformation currently going on in this Postharvest bureau, during the closing ceremonies of BPRE Operational Planning Workshop held in Veniz Hotel, Baguio City on January 19-22, 2010. The change is the result of Executive Order 366 otherwise known as Rationalization Program.

NEW NAME : From Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extension (BPRE) to Philippine Center for Postharvest Development and Mechanization (PHMech)

NEW STRUCTURE : From top/middle-heavy (ala equilateral triangle) to flat (isosceles) structure. Six Departments were abolished, retaining 11 Divisions (from the original over 20). Over 30 posts were declared redundant, thereby saving millions of pesos for MOE annually.

OTHER SIGNIFICANT CHANGES : Center Director and Asst. Director directly supervise 11 divisions which are clustered into R&D, Extension, and Administration, each overseered by 3 Director I (who are co-terminus in status). These 3 Director I are lodged at the Office of the Director.

PLACEMENT STATUS: The 11 Division Chiefs/posts (4 support units, 7 technical units) are filled (through matching and promotion)by all (but 3) doctoral degree holders (wow, something PHMech can be proud of). The Asst. Director post which is a political appointee shall be filled (on acting capacity) by one of the 3 remaining Director I.

TIMELINE: Full implementation of the new rationalized organization is March 31, 2010. Rationalized officers and employees may still report to PHMech even after March 31 until they fully received all their incentives and separation benefits.(30)