How to defend your FAITH!

The core reason why we don't know how to defend our faith is because we don't know our faith. Has anyone asked you a question about your faith and you couldn't answer it? When you got home did you even feel compelled to do a little research? Here's some resources to help you out :)

 
"Sean Mcveigh (Apologetics)"
http://www.youtube.com/user/seanwithjesus

"CatholicAnswers (Apologetics)"
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL13FC02CEA0DB274C&feature=plcp

"The Catholic Church - Builder of Civilization"
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL57857981F3CC5D78&feature=plcp

"RealCatholicTV"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAOX-nW7SJ8&list=UUsUgCCaaOfESPA4REUfZ33g&index=15&feature=plcp

"Word On Fire (Fr. Barron)"
http://www.youtube.com/user/wordonfirevideo

"Jason Evert (Theology of the Body)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=sRTcod83PYI&feature=endscreen

"OneTrueFaithTV (Michael Voris)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caEoAItV3V8

Mission Statement

The Mission of Be The Living Verse is to first remind individuals about the presence of God, second to use biblical verses/artwork to educate, inspire, heal, and/or initiate dialogue, third to physically remind Catholics that we need to know, live, spread, defend and take pride in our faith and lastly to bring about unity. We are the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

It often seems nowadays that individuals who claim to be Catholic seem to hold back in letting others know about our faith. Why is that? We don’t want to be judged, ridiculed, make anyone feel uncomfortable or don’t feel we have enough knowledge to defend our faith? Our present world doesn’t make it easy to live a Christ-like life. It’s hard, but that shouldn’t be our excuse to surrender. We are all called to live a life that is pleasing to God. This brand is governed by the bible verse 1Peter3:15-16 that states, “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence…” God shouldn’t be our own personal secret. With God’s help we can ignite change and courage. But before you wear the brand; be conscious about what you represent in public. Think about our history. Wear it with respect for your faith and be prepared to defend it.  At church people know you are Catholic, but what about when you step outside the doors? How will people be inspired to follow God if your lifestyle isn’t different from theirs? Think about it. What sets us Catholics apart? God calls us in 2Corinthians6:17 to “…come out from them and be separate...” We have to change our lifestyles in order to sustain and gain believers. That was Jesus’ mission was, to change hearts.  Now let’s continue what he started. Wearing the shirt says, “I’m a sinner too. I mess up a lot and am willing to admit my weaknesses. I’m no better than anyone else, but I’m still trying my best to lead the life I know God wants me to live and if you want to know about my hope and why I keep trying just ask.” BE THE LIVING VERSE. –God Bless

What's the point of these shirts???

I've always found it really helpful during times of struggle to go the Bible and find a verse that would reassure me that God was still there. That everything was going to work itself out and be okay. That there was a reason why I was facing this obstacle at this specific point in time. There is just so much peace you get knowing that your not alone in whatever you're going through. Growing up, a lot of the time I would try to attain peace/happiness via other activities aside from God. Through my faith journey I'm realizing that God is actually present in my life. There are no coincidences, there's just a far greater plan that we might not understand yet. We just have to place our trust and hope in something greater than us [God] in order to achieve that peace and understanding. 

What these shirts are supposed to do is:

1. Announce to the public, wherever you're at (mall, gym, grocery store, theater, or McDonald's etc.) that I believe in and put my trust in God, I'm Catholic, I'm not ashamed and am prepared to defend my faith because He's worth it and calls us to do it. I'm not perfect but when I fail (not "if" I fail, "when" I fail) that's who I place my faith in.

2. To help people know the Truth. That God will be there for you when no one else is. That God is real and is constantly wanting you to come to Him, no matter how broken or unworthy you might feel, He wants you to place your complete trust in Him. Hopefully when someone walks behind you who is having a bad day, confused or anxious about something, they'll read the verse and find hope.

3. To put you in check. If you wearing these shirts you're sort of putting on Christ. Kind of like how a priest would wear his collar in public. You need to understand what you represent in public. And I hope if you aren't acting accordingly, that someone would approach you and remind you what your shirt promotes. It'll help make you more conscious to live a righteous life.

4. To bring about unity.

Founder: My Story

My name is Brian John Villamor and I'm the founder of Be The Living Verse. Here's a little background of why I started this in the first place. I'm 24 years old and I was brought up in a Filipino Catholic household. I attended Catholic school from first grade all the way up to my senior year of high school. I went to church every Sunday and sometimes during the week. I thought I was a "good" Catholic who really believed in God. But was I a real believer or was I just going through the motions somewhat blindly? It was more evident in my college years that I was living a double-life. During the week I was sinning by: going out, clubbing, bar-hopping and doing things that I am too embarrassed to admit in this blog and then on Sunday I would go to church, sit in the pews and act like nothing was wrong. I thought doing all that stuff was going to make me happy and it's what the world said was the norm so I didn't think twice about some of my actions. I thought at this age that I was supposed to make tons of mistakes and eventually when I get older I'd learn and be done with those habits. But then after awhile I started feeling this emptiness. I would have a ton of fun those nights, but came home late still feeling like there was something missing. Then I just started owning up to my insecurities and started to question why I did the things I did? Was I doing it to fit in with my peers? Was it for attention? Was it so I would be looked at as socially relevant? It was toward the end of my last semester in college, where everything was going great, that I realized that I could not deny God's presence in my life. There was just no way all of these events could have just fit together by chance. I also started realizing that if I say believe in Jesus, why was I doing things that put him on the cross to begin with?

I decided that I didn’t want to be another one of those “cradle Catholics.” You know the kind that was born into the faith and just goes along with what family does without truly challenging or questioning any of the practices. "Good" on Sundays, and promoting sin Monday-Saturday. I was sick of being a hypocrite and not being able to defend my faith. I did some research and asked myself a lot of questions: Why do I believe in God? Why do I go to Church? Where did the Church and its teachings come from? Where does it say that ….. in the bible? Who wrote and put together the bible? Why do we have sacraments? Why do we honor Mary and the Saints? Why am I Catholic and not another kind of Christian? Aren't we all the same, we all believe in God? What is Heaven, Hell, Purgatory? I learned little bits and pieces from my earlier education at school and at home, and I never really questioned anything, but now I'm understanding that there is so much more to it. The more knowledge I gained, the more I started to develop a greater appreciation for the Church, her history and traditions. I felt like I found something and wanted everyone to know about it. What that something was was the TRUTH and the peace that I got from knowing that TRUTH. I'm not saying that everyday is so peaceful. I constantly have to remind myself of God's presence and that each obstacle is meant for me to learn something about myself or of God's will. But when I do try to line up my wants with God's wants, everything makes sense and that's when I feel that peace.