First Love Never Dies
by Oliver Carlos
Thirty-two years ago, I was so in love. It’s not the tweety-tum love that you’re thinking of, but it’s a love that is much greater than that. I was so in love with Jesus. It was just at that time that I started to understand how much he loved me. Yes, I’ve been reading the Bible and attending religious gathering years before, but it’s only in 1989 when everything I’ve been reading suddenly became relevant. In July of that year, God led me to a local church and to people whom he used as his arms to make me feel that I’m loved.
I was a college freshman at that time, and I was looking for self-significance and belongingness. I was coming off from the greatest failure of my life. I had just been rejected in the UPLB varsity tryouts and I’m very much lost mentally and emotionally. My world had just crumbled down. But being an introvert, nobody knew what was going on in me. I didn’t let anybody know. I just kept things to myself. I thought that nobody really cared about me and my feelings. They’ll just laugh at me for sulking on a petty thing, but that petty thing for them means the whole world to me.
In one of those gloomy days, my Auntie Paz invited me to join a local church she and her fiancé (at that time) Pastor Vic Hermosa was pioneering. I politely declined the invitation. I told myself I can just read the Bible at home and pray alone in my room. I didn’t need other people and a church. But when I learned that my buddy and next-door cousin Vince Lasmarias was going to attend Auntie Paz’s church, I changed my mind and went along with him.
Since Day 1 in that church, there was no turning back for me. There were just a few people back then, but I find them nice to be with. The friendliest of them all was a guy named Danny Mercado. He’s a cyclist who’s around 10 years older. We got along well. He invited me to bike around the campus often, and I enjoyed those times.
Pastor Vic was also very friendly. I’ve never knew a pastor yet in my whole life, as he’s the first one I’ve ever met. He’s so down-to-earth, jolly, and encouraging. I always hanged out in his apartment every afternoon after class. I never had formal Bible studies with Pastor Vic. We just had informal but heartfelt conversations about God and life. In those chats, I found a new meaning in my life and my love for Jesus grew deeper and deeper to the point that I wanted to dedicate my career and my whole life to him. I also developed a love for other people and I wanted them to get to know Jesus as well, so that they can also experience the joy, peace, and salvation I received from him.
The church that Pastor Vic pioneered is the Los Banos Bible Community (LBBC). It’s now 32 years old this July. I still remember our very first Sunday worship service at the mess hall of the UPLB Student Union Building. We had services there every 2:30 PM, but soon we moved to different locations. We transferred to Ma Gym in Plaza Agapita, and then to the old Agrix Building (now Centtro Mall) where we stayed for quite a long time. When the Agrix building closed in the mid-1990s we were again on the move. We had worship services at the ERDB auditorium, and then later on, at the ERDB guest house, until we found a bungalow in Carbern Village to rent. After some time, we gave up that house in Anos, and we had our Sunday services at CEC, UPLB. When Vega Center was built and completed in 1998, we found its location perfect for the people who attend church- students and employees of UPLB, because it’s just outside UP Gate. So we moved in and occupied the 4th floor of that building, and we are still there up to today. Although the pandemic had pushed us to hold our services online, LBBC is still very much alive and kicking.
Thirty-two years have passed, and my life is totally different now. From a directionless college freshman who only cared about himself, I’m now a grown up with a family to take care of. I have a job that occupies my time, and a lot more concerns to think about and attend to. But after all these years and changes, I’m reminded by a verse in Revelation to always remember my first love- Jesus, for he never forgot me all this time.
“ I know what you do. You work hard, and you never give up… But I have this against you: You have left the love you had in the beginning. So remember where you were before… Change your hearts and do what you did at first.” (Revelation 2:2–5, ICB)
This passage is addressed to the Ephesian church of the 1st century BCE. They were zealous but needed to be reminded to constantly ask themselves why they do the things they do.
Church anniversaries are good moments to celebrate the blessings God has bestowed on us, and the grace he has given in all our accomplishments. This is also a fitting time to reminisce the simple and pure joy of just being in love with our Lord, to re-live that feeling we had a long time ago when we were still young Christians.
