A Long-Overdue Tribute Post for Dean Alfredo Vicente

It is apparent from her daughter's Facebook status that the Vicente family has heard many people testify about how admirable he is:

"Wherever and whatevet Daddy does, he hast left a legacy. It was from the accumulated legacies and testimonies coming tat made me realize what a great man Daddy really is." (-Liezyl Vicente-Frias)

Amidst that plethora of testimonies, my contribution may be negligible in value but I'll proceed anyway. Alfredo Vicente was a long time dean of the College of Accountancy and Business Administration (CABSA) in Virgen Milagrosa University Foundation (VMUF, my Alma Mater). Of course, his influence on me is not on the spiritual level for most probably, he does not adhere to the evangelical battle cries (five solas), but we have to give honor to whom honor is due. We also have to praise God whenever the Imago Dei is displayed. Yes, the Imago Dei in every man has been broken by the fall, but it is not totally destroyed.

After graduation, I never had the chance to practice accountancy. And what we don't review and practice, we will soon forget. I have long forgotten Dean Vicente's lectures on the income statement and the balance sheet, but the lessons he gave transcending accountancy shall surely last.

1. He knows how to encourage and motivate. His strong desire is to produce Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), and so whenever he has a chance, he motivates his students to press on. In the classroom and out, he was like a basketball coach who is fond of giving pep talks to the team.

During our first semester as freshmen, he offered the best motivation I heard. He announced that whoever tops the periodic exams shall receive free books from him. And whoever does it for three consecutive exams shall receive a scholarship for the next semester.

I received two books from him (with his patented signature) for topping the Prelim and Mid-Term exams but I failed to grab the scholarship prize when I did not do well in the midterm exam. Yet the fault is not in him but in me. He offered the best he could to motivate us to study well.

2. He taught us to keep our focus on our goal. For him, even if an activity or a hobby is not inherently bad or even useful, you have to get rid of it if it might disturb your focus on your main goal. Cross-stitching may be fine but you must study accounting. Learning how to play the guitar may be fine, but you have to learn accounting.

I think this is where he was upset about me (for joining The Virginian, the official student publication of VMUF) and my friend Albert Calimlim (for joining the Council of Student Leaders). Perhaps he was correct in Albert's case; but in my case my performance in the Accounting classes was already deteriorating even before I joined The Virginian.

3. He has his own share in fighting for students rights, like his crusade in mortifying the Workbook business in the university.

4. He was insistent that if we will be resourceful, there is a way to earn income. He rejects the idea that money is found by working overseas. "No" he objects. Money is right here in the Philippines, if you will find ways to earn it.

5. He desired the political maturity of the people. He offered his services to the people at least twice I think but never won. I had a chat with him at least twice on this issue and he was really upset about the voters who are more interested in vote-buying politicians rather than on candidates with substance.

2nd Halo-halo Huwebes

 The Problem of Information Overload

Sana may maligaw na kopya ng Amusing Ourselves to Death sa Booksale. Dalawampu't limang taon na ang nakalipas buhat nang unang ilathala ito, at hanggang ngayon ay pinag-uusapan pa rin tulad nitong panel discussion na ito na pinangunahan ni Albert Mohler. Nagpakita siya ng karunungan sa panayam na ito noong panahong bagong silang pa lamang ang Cyberspace. I think waht he said which begins at 4:48 is the highlight of the interview:

Charlayne Hunter-Gault: What images come to your mind when you think about what our lives will be like in the cyberspace?

Postman: Well the worst images are of people who are overloaded with information which they don't know what to do with, have no sense of what is relevant and what is irrelevant, people who become information junkies

Hunter-Gault: What do you mean?

Postman: Well the problem in the 19th century with information was that we live in a culture of information scarcity. And so humanity addressed that problem beginning with photography and telegraphy in the 1840's. We tried to solve the problem of overcoming the limitations of space, time and form. And for about a hundred years we worked on this problem and we solved it in a spectacular way. And now by solving that problem, we created a new problem that people have never exprienced before: information glut-- information meaninglessness-- information incoherence.

The Cry of Helpless Children

We cry 'Abba, Father' 

"Paul speaks here about Christian crying  'Abba, Father!'  The verb he uses is krazein, and in the New Testament it denotes a loud cry, often a cry or shriek of anguish (cf. Mk. 15:39, our Lord's cry on the cross; Rev. 12:2. a woman in childbirth). The picture is not that of a believer resting quietly in his Father's arms in childlike faith, but of the child who has tripped and fallen crying out in pain, 'Daddy, Daddy'. That cry is the mark of the presence of the Spirit of adoption, not least because it shows that in time of need it is towards our Father in heaven that we look."

Sinclair B. Ferguson

The Christian Life, page 100

"By their books we shall know them.

And by our books we shall be known."

"To a great extent, our personal libraries betray our true identities and interests. A minister’s library, taken as a whole, will likely reveal a portrait of theological conviction and vision. Whose works have front place on the shelves, Martyn Lloyd-Jones or John Shelby Spong? Charles Spurgeon or Harry Emerson Fosdick? Karl Barth or Carl Henry? John MacArthur or Joel Osteen?

"How serious a Bible scholar is this preacher? The books will likely tell. Are the books all old or all new? If so, the reader is probably too contemporary or too antiquarian in focus. Are the books read? If so, the marginalia of an eager and intelligent mind adds value to the book. It becomes more a part of us.

Is this person a Christian intellectual, feeding the mind and soul by reading? For too many pastors, the personal library announces, “I stopped reading when I graduated from seminary.”

When I think of my closest friends, I realize that I am most at home with them in their libraries, and they are most at home with me in mine. Why? Because the books invite and represent the kind of conversation and sharing of heart, soul, and mind that drew us together in the first place.

By their books we shall know them. And by our books we shall be known."

R. Albert Mohler, Jr.

read the whole post here

Akanunot ya Man-Reunion Iray Mamasiken

May bagong bandang nabuo! (click here) It seems there's a bright future ahead for these young musicians... LOL! 

The report is that they have re-recorded the old songs, largely from the Greg X. Volz era. Nang ako'y magsimulang makinig sa Petra, panahon na ni John Schlitt kaya hindi ako pamilyar sa mga awit ni Volz. Sinusubukan kong makinig sa kanya at mahusay naman talaga si Lolo Greg.

Bukod sa album ay may tour pa sila ngayong 2010-2011. Siya nga pala, may live show pa sila sa TBN sa Nobyembre 20.