BSM Class 2011-2012 took for the last time moments to have class pictures before they tossed their hats into the air.

There were many moments of mixed emptions when the graduates were finaly dedicated in prayer to the work of the Lord. Pastor Rey Calusay was joined by the FARM pastoral staff and elders in praying for the graduates.

Rev. Rey Calusay gave this charge to the graduates:

1TI 5:21  I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels,
2TI 4:1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:

Charge
By the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ the Head of the Church, Savior and soon coming King, who will judge the living and the dead… I give you this charge.
-Live holy, ,continue to train yourself to be godly. Godliness with contentment is great gain. Sin is always a reproach to any people. The Lord says that bad leaders do not do what they preach. Do not copy them. Pursue holiness without which no man will see the Lord.
-Love God and surrender to Him with delight. The joy of the Lord is your strength. Enjoy worshipping Him and behold His face at all times. Build a body of worshippers and the church that would be lovers of God. Dismantle the stronghold of false worship and idolatry in the nation, and wherever there is a worthy altar for the true and living God.
-Lead in life through humble service for the people of God, without greed for power, position, or pleasure. Pagan leadership is an abomination, and should forever be banned from your system.
-Learn the ways of the Spirit now that you are about to embark on a race.. and stay in His anointing. Don’t despise prophesying. Do not quench the Spirit’s flame. He is the power of God to start a work and to complete it. Comforter and Friend.
-Labor ever to build His Church- not the concrete and wood. But the assembly of God, people redeemed by Jesus and belonging to God. Prepare His church for power and for purity, to be God’s army, and Christ’s Bride.
-Long for His appearing. The start of the journey may test your determination, the rest of the journey may exhaust your resources, strength and patience. The rigors of serving may suck all your reserves. You may loss precious and essential things in life , and may end up with nothing more left..  But the thought of a face to face encounter with Jesus Christ will always revive you and lift you. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.

Be Challenged by Saturation Challenge!

Instead of the traditional graduation song, BSM Batch 20 delivered a very emotional poetry choir written/edited by Joses Calusay. The many session the students had in speech class paid off.

SCATTER US LIKE SEEDS

For so long,
I’ve been loving You from a distance,
Because, I was afraid of Your silence,
Your silence speaks to me  more deeply than any words can ever say,
I was afraid of who I would be when I am alone with You,
Because I didn’t want to be rejected,

For so long, I’ve been loving You from a distance,
Holding myself hostage to the sound of You,
Running away from the thought of You loving me so deeply,
That I would lose myself & never be able to find who I used to be,

For so long, I’ve been wanting to bridge the  distance,
For  I can’t even survive without You,
Without You,
There is this vacant void that causes me  to collapse at the very center of who I am,
And that’s what I mean when I say You’re breathtaking,

CHORUS:
AND WE CRY OUT TO YOU,
WE NEED YOU TO HEAL US
FOR BEYOND THAT, WE NEED YOU TO HEAL OUR LAND
WE WANT YOU TO HEAR THIS HUMBLE GENERATION,
SEEKING YOUR FACE AND  TURNING FROM WICKED WAYS,
WE WANT YOU TO SCATTER US LIKE SEEDS,
THAT EVERY SOUL IN THIS WORLD WOULD KNOW YOUR ETERNITY.

You cared for me with a gentleness,
That made me want to love You more than I ever thought possible,
And I want to give all of my heart to You,
Even though I have no idea what that feels like,
You love me privately, publicly,
Lonely, lovely, or ugly,
And I want to give you the keys to every room in this house I call my heart,
And that means nothing is off limits to You.

(CHORUS)

It amazes us that a God who can easily overtake us,
Takes us, breaks us, & makes us more like Him,
`Cause  everyday You chisel our character,
Changing the picture of our lives by the brushstroke,

You want us to be Your masterpiece,
You want us to be the Master’s piece,
So we lay down all selfishness,
All agendas, all affections,
We come to bring a sacrifice,
We come in the Name of One who gave His life,
And we want to follow Him,
Which means we take up heavy crosses,
Which means we take sips of the bitter cup of denying self,

(CHORUS)

AS a way of welcoming  the graduates into God’s last day labor force in expanding the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ through church planting, Rev. Rey  Calusay bestowed  on each graduate a cloak of servanthood as Rev. Zeny Calusay explains:

“The cloak of servanthood should serve as a constant reminder   to you of Paul’s  words  in Philippians 2:5-8 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

A reminder of the very words of  our Master Jesus Christ Himself:
A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
“No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

Berean School of Ministry grants two levels of Certificates:
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLETION  –  means student has satisfactorily completed all the Academic and Ministerial Competency  Requirements of Berean School of Ministry for Church planters. The certificate is an endorsement to full time ministry as  church planter and pastor.
CERTIFICATE OF ATTENDANCE – means the student have attended the 10-month training but has not satisfactorily met the academic and ministerial competency requirements for church planters. The certificate is an endorsement  to serve in support ministry and granted with provisions for further  equipping measures.Mrs. Annahbelle Calusay, BSM registrar presented to Rev. Rey  Calusay the 18 candidates  for graduation of BSM SY 2011-2012,  15  of which are legible to receive certificates of completion and 3 to receive certificates of attendance.

Awards  were presented and explained by   Rev. Zenaida Calusay, BSM Academic Dean. BSM grants bestow to students two categories  of awards:
ACADEMIC AWARDS: Based on academic performance in all courses, over-all computed average and results of year end  board exam.
PERFORMANCE AWARDS: Based on points earned in the items under the four areas in evaluating student’s eligibility for graduation and endorsement for ministry
1. Character and spiritual progress
2. Academic and Ministry of the Word preparedness
3. Ministry skillfulness , leadership, communication skills and decision making preparedness
4. Personal Values and attitudes development
MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARD: Based on combined ranking in the two categories.
 
RECIPIENTS OF AWARDS
TOP 5 ACADEMIC AWARDEES:
1st. Lumpod, Jean B.
2nd. Dapat, Catherine S.
3rd. Basbas, Billy B.
4th. Haboc, Natividad A.
5th. Francisco, Richard S.

TOP 5 PERFORMANCE AWARDEES:
1st. Lumpod, Jean B.
2nd. Haboc, Natividad A.
3rd. Basbas, Billy B.
4th. Bolanio, Janice V.
5th. Villaco, Joenil G.

MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT AWARDEE:
Lumpod, Jean B.

Click to read and/or download: Message to Graduating Class
The 20th batch  of BSM graduating students received inspiring words from their graduation speaker Rev. Helen Bates. Helen Bates has been an Assembly of God minister. Her wide range of ministry skills and experience has openend opportunities for her   in mission and pastoral ministry across different denominations. Currently, she  is Associate Pastor in Gateway Baptist Church in Mackenzie, Queensland, Australia.  She has served with the Gateway Team since January 2004, facilitating Life Groups and Training at Gateway.  Her   passion is for people to grow and change as they come to know God and do their journey with Him. Helen is a very valuable  teacher in Berean School of Ministry. She flies all the way from Australia every year to teach and bless the students with her teaching ministry.

The BSM schoolyear 2011-2012 concluded with the 20th BSM commencement exercises. Mrs.  Franz Vasquez opened the event with these lines: “Graduation Day, a day when you say `I have done it!’ A Day of transition, a day to say `farewell’ , and a day to say `welcome’. For Berean School of Ministry students, it’s   farewell to the safety of the four walls of the classroom, and a welcome to the challenges of the harvest field”. Then the processional started headed by the FARM Senior Pastor-BSM Director- PGCAG President and Home MIssions Department Director  Rev. Rey Calusay along with the guest speaker Rev. Helen Bates. Following them were the Faculty and Staff, Parents, Sponsors and 18 ladies and gentlemen comprising BSM batch 20.

Download a copy of the  GRADUATION CEREMONY 2011-2012