Double Birthday Celebration

TGIF! Yes, we had another great Friday Night last week and I'm looking forward to another fun-packed one!

We had a double celebration of Richlyn and Klaire's Birthdays, September 11 and 15 respectively. Klaire decided to celebrate her 26th birthday in advance...and when Richlyn heard about it, she wanted to have a belated-birthday party. And the place to be??? 2724!

Pia helped Klaire in buying some food and I took care of the decorations--as if there's much work to be done. It has been my responsibility to make a Happy-Birthday-Poster for the celebrity because we've discovered my art skill after doing my talk-of-the-town scrapbook.

Partytime? 7:30PM! So we hurried and finish all our to-do's at work and left our offices early. I drove to Waltermart to pick up Pia and grabbed some ballons and colored paper. When we got home, I worked on our greeting-poster with gusto. People started coming in by 7pm. And before we knew it our apartment was once again filled with bunch of party people.

Len and Pia were cooking the pancit. And we were all beginning to starve. Pizza came and Klaire had ice cream with her when she came in. We also had 2 flavors of ice cream, thanks to Richlyn... and the most famous Mango Bravo of Contis, thanks to Jun!

We official started the celebration/program with a short audio preaching of Max Lucado on God's Mirror. It was about the author's conversation with a Rabbi. Short story short (hehe), the lessons we picked up was to be careful with how we live our lives because we bear the name of our Father in Heaven. Then after listening to the CD, Dhet prayed for Klaire. Richlyn came in late. We started without her otherwise we would collapse because of hunger.

Attendance: Misty, Cristine, Jfer, Len, Roni, Dhet, She, DY, Jun, Joel, Jeacim, Gali, myself and of course the birthday girls, Richlyn and Klaire.

While having the dessert, I prepared the videoke. Everyone's eyes were on it. I think because it's really been a while since our last entertainment. Not for me, I just had a videoke session with my friends in Timezone last week when we were stucked in the mall because of the flood.

Of course, we have to do our traditional photo op. I positioned the celebrities and took some of their pictures with their ballons and birtday posters. And mind you, they were like models. The spectators had an enjoyable time watching them .

Familiarity bridges self-confidence... not contempt! So the microphone was passed on from one amatuer singer after the other. Jeacim did most of the entertainment, as expected. Pia and Dy were far behind from the guts but we were amused by their performances. Ha!

Some left early so they did not see Jfer's show with her back up dancers, Joel, Jun and Jeacim.. THE J's! And she did quite a few song numbers! And my guess that became the highlight of the birthday celebration because I saw Richlyn and Klaire laughing to death. But sorry, I will be dead if I will upload their photos. Haha!

Super Sonicflood

Finally! I've waited for this concert for two months since my birthday last June...one thing that made me look forward to this was that my friend, Jerrymi, promised to get me a ticket as his gift for me.

It was just two weeks ago that Chris Tomlin came to the Philippines and now it's Nashville-based SONICFLOOD. We are indeed blessed together with the other places that these anointed bands have decided to visit.

I've never been to any of their concert so I took the chance to be there and to listen to what God has to say through the famous band who popularized "In the Secret (I want to know You more)", "I could sing of Your love" and "Better is One Day".

And just like the previous Fridays, it was raining...and traffic jams in Manila when it rains...everywhere, anywhere! About 6:30pm, from Makati, my friends (Jerrymi, Tin and Len) we took some shortcuts going to Araneta Coliseum to make it at 8pm. Thank God we made it despite of the roadtrip challenge. The water was rising along the streets and Jerrymi punched a line saying, "because it's sonicFLOOD that's why!" When we got to the Coliseum, our friend Aydin, was there. So we settled down and waited for the concert to begin.

The concert started with a front act by a band from Christ Commission Fellowship. Then Paul Tanchi, son of Peter Tanchi of the same church went up and share God's Word. He told his "parking story" that happened in the U.S. and related it to our salvation. I spoke for about 20 minutes and led to pray with people as they opened their hearts to Jesus.

After the short message, the SONICFLOOD took over. They always have a way of making the arrangement of the songs different from others. Aydin said he was a fan since his high school days... and that was over a decade ago!

I was just sitting down and listening to their songs...Rick, the lead vocals and guitarist, was very passionate and anointed. His accent always makes their songs quite different from the others. Their genre is pop rock but they always sing the songs with different melodies and style.

The most unexpected moment happened when Rick started sharing his near-death experience about his intestinal sickness and how God used that situation to bring him back. My eyes were filled with tears and my heart was pounding fast as I listened. One of the many faith statements he said was something like this, "my body needed healing but God knew what I needed most, a new heart." The Lord's amazing grace was experienced by such a desperate man...and he was not only healed but he was changed. And he continues to dedicate himself to worship the God who healed him and gave him life. Then he posted a challenge. Did an altar call. And people ran toward the stage. Rick and the other band member went down and started laying their hands on the people. I was praying and praying and praying as I was sitting beside my friend Len. Little did she know that I was also praying for her. It was quite difficult for us to come down and go to the stage from where we were, so I was hoping that somehow I could pray for her. I could see from my peripheral that she was crying. And there I asked her if she wanted me to pray with her. Tears fell and I started to pray. After that she turned over to Tin and wept.

One soul and it was all worth of all the efforts...but it was more worth the life, death and love of Jesus.

If we only make ourselves available for Christ I believe that it is possible that we can win our country for Him...and greater, the world that we live in.

I want to know my God more and more for He gives me more reasons to sing of His love... today and forever!

Passion Manila, Philippines

I felt like I needed to make a blog on this. People still have a hangover from the event that took place last Friday. THANK GOD!

Our typical-movie-time, last August 1, was set aside as we paved the way for the Passion Manila! Our friend from THY Marketplace got us tickets for the Louie Giglio and Chris Tomlin's World Tour called the Passion Conference. Despite of the continuous downpour of rain and the Friday Madness, we decided to be a part of one of the most greatest nights of worship...to receive a fresh anointing from God and to experience the power of His Spirit in our praise and worship.

I stepped out of the office as early as 3:30pm to pick up my friends in Makati by 5:30pm then we drove to PhilSports (ULTRA). It was my first time to take the balcony side because it was all jam packed with young people...and the feeling young, we went up for a better ventilation. I always get the best seats in every concert but this time, it was a blessing for me to be up there because I got to see the entire crowd from my point of view. And it was awesome! The people were filled with the Spirit...and there was a supernatural atmosphere as we worshiped.

A powerful video clip captured our hearts and spirits as they proclaimed "JESUS IS ALIVE". Chis Tomlin and his band started singing their new songs and the people sang along...singing from their hearts...with everything they got. That night, the spotlight was not on Chris Tomlin...it was on JESUS. Nobody would even dare want to share the glory...It was all about JESUS and wanting His name to be famous not just over Manila, not just over 7,107 islands in the Philippines but over all the earth...where people need to be saved. It was an awakening night for all who came. A reminder that in our Christian walk, it is our calling to live in Christ and make Him known to the world.

I never heard of Kristian Stanfill before that night, but when he stood on stage and took the lead, we could feel his heart singing in adoration to Jesus. His passion for Christ ushered us closer to His throne of Grace as we sang "Lord of All", "Beautiful Jesus", and "I Need You". Kris was so anointed and God consumed us in deep worship.

During the conference, Louie Giglio shared a simple yet heart-piecing and spirit-moving message based on 2 Corinthians 5. He emphasized that we are into the "ministry of reconciliation" and God desires that we take part of the Bigger Story as we understand and live His message of salvation. My heart was pounding fast and tears filled my eyes as he once again brought all of us to the cross of Christ. Then he carefully and passionately read from a journal of a college girl named Ashley. It was one of the most beautiful life-changing story I've ever heard. Ashley got saved through her roommate Christa who lived out Christ. If you want to read the story please check out: http://268generation.com/blog/2007/05/ashleys-home/. Everyone listening to Louie, I believe, understood what God wants us to do with our 5-seconds life. I could sense the Spirit's moving as we reflected on the testimony of Ashley and the whole Truth--Jesus Christ is Mighty to Save. Louie also shared with us a song, "God of this City" that was originally sang by BlueTree, an Irish Band. It was then shared to Chris Tomlin and it became part of Passion's latest album. The song was inspired by God when the band went on a mission trip to Pattaya, Thailand. And as we were engaged to sing the song, people were making a bold declaration, with all faith and by faith, that God is indeed the God of this City...of this country! There is no one like our God! He is the Lord of the Filipinos!

Chris' new song, "Jesus Messiah" ministered to me personally. The line, "all our hope is in You, all the glory to You God, the light of the world." As Louie would put it, live in podcast, "the Filipinos has taken us over, they were singing 'How Great is our God' before Chris could sing it"... I need not further emphasize...We're FILIPINOS, Louie! =) About 8,000 people rocked the house with "We will sing sing sing" and it was a night that the entire Passion Team will never forget. I kinda felt that they we're afraid they couldn't fly to KL the following day! Ha! GOD TOOK OVER!

Reflecting as we were singing "God of this City", I know in my heart that God is doing something greater than me in this city, and He wants me to stay on course, in His path, and just allow Him to direct me as I follow Him closely. Nothing is worth pursuing than a life totally yielded to Christ. He is preparing His people for a spiritual phenomenon in the midsts of those whose hearts are far from His through those whose hearts are fully His...And He so wants me to join Him in His world-wide reclamation project. I cried listening to what God had to say, I cried watching people craving for Christ, I cried thinking of the people who are yet to be saved, I wept for my country (and I remembered how Jesus wept for Jerusalem) and I once again declared Him Lord over my life.

From where I stood, I had a glimpse of how it would look like one day, in heaven, before the Throne of the Lamb, where every people, every tongue, and every tribe will bow down in worship , confessing the name of the King of kings and Lord of lords-- JESUS CHRIST.

It was a night of revival. It was a night of Passion. PASSION FOR JESUS... COMPASSION FOR THE LOST.

I pray that each person who went to the conference will, at least, win one soul for Christ. I could never really hope more than to see JESUS being lifted high in my very own land...for He promised to draw all men unto Him. Greater things are yet to come. Greater things are still to be done.

May we all live our lives for the One who gave His all for us...and may our passion for Him become so contagious that it will reach to the very ends of the earth.



For more info re Passion World Tour: http://www.268generation.com/
http://268generation.com/blog/2008/08/the-thrilla-in-manila/
http://268generation.com/blog/2008/08/massive-wave-of-filipino-response/

Movie Tickets...Sold Out!

I'm not doing movie reviews. I'm just sharing my Friday experiences and most of the time, my week-ender includes watching movies on big screen.

Earlier, my friend Klaire and I were planning to watch Hancock. I wanted to try the new movie house in Cash and Carry so we were thinking of taking the Last Full Show @ 9pm since it's closer to my apartment. Richlyn was supposed to join us but she had to bring her dad to the airport. As "useless", Joel watched the movie already so it was just me and Klaire.

I went home early. Thanks to NFV, my boss. I drove home @ about 5pm and found my housemate, Len, doing her cross-stitch project. As I wait for Klaire, I cooked dinner. Yummy, yummy dinner. It took a while for her to arrive so I did some "cutting and gluing" for my own "project". I needed to finish the "animal kingdom page" so it was a good option as I waited. Klaire arrived about 8:15pm, ate dinner and then sat on the beanbag...watching me doing my masterpiece. We were kinda confident that we could make it since Cash and Carry is just a stone-throw away. But then I got engrossed with my project that I negotiated with Klaire that we will change plan, instead we go to Greenbelt. Gladly she agreed. And I had to finish one page.

We drove to GB3 but when we got there, the line was too long and the tickets for the 9:55pm show were sold out. Now what?! Rockwell? Yup we went to Rockwell. The LFS was 10:30pm but when we got to the booth, all tickets were sold out, TOO! Oh man! Now what?! My fault! I should have thought that it was Friday. And I perfectly know what it's like in Makati! I lived here long enough to know but... yeah I should have probably made reservations. So I asked Klaire if she wanted to go to Serendra instead. It has become my favorite hangout place.. I like it there. It reminds me so much of Sta. Monica's 3rd Street and Beverly Hill's Rodeo Drive.

I brought Klaire to Cupcakes. We ordered Banana Monkey and Peanut Butter Cupcake. The last time I went there, I ordered Elvis. After grabbing some cupcakes, we headed to Starbucks-Fully Booked. Then when started turning off the lights to close, we walked down and strolled along the Bonifacio High Street. We sat near the most famous spot--you'll know when you get there. And it was a night of simply enjoying a friend's company. Well, it could have been more fun if Greg, who worked nearby, was available. But then, it was a pretty much adventurous night with Klaire. It could also be one of my JAGship nights... Klaire is, by the way, one of my original JAGship members.

Incredible Friday

I have to admit, it was not my usual Friday. But I'm actually grateful it wasn't.

Originally, we were planning to have a JAG session but there were a lot of circumstances that changed the plan. Good thing my friend, Richlyn, asked earlier if I have some plans for my Friday night. I was in an audit committee meeting at that time so I had to tell her that I still have to finalize things because my small group has not confirmed yet.

By the time my meeting was over, I had to rush back to the office because my officemates were waiting for me. We normally go home at the strike of 4:30pm because it's Friday...and no Boss around!

Still no response from JAG. Sometimes, it's frustrating because people lack the skills to communicate. And my JAG has to learn that well. One of my mentors told me that to correspond is part of one's integrity. That is while I always try to explain to my JAGmates the value of communication.

Since there is a slight change for JAGship, I agreed to meet up with Rich, have some dinner and watch a movie. So I went home first because we were looking at watching the last full show @ 10:30pm. By the way, Rich lives in the same condominium.

Surprisingly, Gail and Helenne wanted to have dinner with us but will not join the movie trip. It's okay. So we met at the Food Choices of Glorietta 4 and had dinner at Piadina--Rich's favorite. Klaire was supposed to watch with us but got hijacked by her boss in Serendra.

As we were having dinner, I saw my 3 of college friends whom I have not seen for the longest time--Candice, Riz and Mary Grace. It's been years, really. And I'm just so glad to see them "staying" in the Philippines.

After dinner, we kissed Gail and Len goodbye and headed to the movie house. We were quite early for the showtime so Rich and I decided to do TimeZone. We tried some games and took some nice pictures. Thanks to the manong guard.

I am not much of an Incredible Hulk fan but I find the movie worth watching. I was able to draw some lessons too. I just did not discuss with Rich my reflections. She may find me too deep...and kinda weird. Peace Rich. But really, reflecting on...we have a little bit of hulk inside of us. We just don't turn into a green monster when we get to angry or our heart beats super fast. But we turn out to be the person which we don't want to become. Of course, who would want to live our lives filled with strife and anger all the time. We want to live in peace and love...and harmony. We don't want to be separate from our love ones because our nature simply can't.

And at times when we need a tranquilizer, we just have to remind ourselves that we have so much available dosages of love and abounding grace from God.

Just like the movie, I truly believe that love conquers all.

TGIF...again!

I watched Kung Fu Panda again.

Yup... you read it right... I watched Kung Fu Panda again...with Sasah! There are just few friends whom I can watch movies with...twice...on big screen...in two consecutive Fridays! It was another TGIF! Thank God for Sasah! Since the first time we watched KFP with our other friends, she has been so eager to watch again... and so did I.

I stepped out of the office at about four-thirty in the afternoon...yeah, it was sooooo early...thank God for my boss who left earlier. I was glad not to be jammed in traffic that I had to drove back home first because my movie-freak friend, excuse me for the term, was still crunching numbers. She handles one of the biggest accounts in the audit firm and it seems like her weekends are just any ordinary work days. We were supposed to go to the Manila's Oceanarium last Saturday but there was a sudden call of duty that we canceled the trip.

Anyway, when I came home my housemates, Len and Pia, who both took a sick leave, were there. In an hour Pia had to leave for Batangas and Len had to wait for Tin to come home. I took a nap and was awaken by the sound of our kitchen utensils and paraphernalia. They were cooking for dinner! Wow! Sinigang! I immediately called Sah if she like to eat @ 2724 or if she likes to eat out since it's our usual Friday Nightout. She was okay with the idea that we were going to eat one of 2724's specialities. So I fetched her in her apartment to have a quick dinner so we can catch up the 10:10pm show in Rockwell. It was a yummy dinner! home-made! =)

We hurried after dinner and arrived in Power Plant at about 10. Good timing. Enough allowance to grab a fruit shake. And thanks to Sah for paying for the movie tickets!

It was fun watching the movie again. I was looking forward to seeing and hearing my favorite scenes and conversations. And yeah, I could not help it but laughed before those hilarious scenes lines were spoken. Though based on my research the principles were from Zen philosophy, I believe it was rooted in Christian beliefs. The discipleship principle was demonstrated and lived well by Christ. I also like how Oogway dramatically said his line, "Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift, that's why it is called Present." It reminded me of one of my mentors who quoted the same line when she was teaching me to enjoy every moment of my day...to thank God for the gift of Today.

As I was watching the movie again, I just could not believe how Tai Lung can be so furious with Shifu. I just could not imagine how you can hate so much the person who loved you most. Then I was reminded of Lucifer. He was loved by God, as his angel. But because of his pride, wanting to be like God, he fell. He was corrupted by his desire to be of equal position with his Creator. So he became a fallen angel. He even instigated that Jesus was to be killed. Tried everything in his limited power to wage war against God. Even attempted to thwart God's plan of salvation. But we know the ending of the story. It is not only "good" but it is surely "GOD" who will triumph over evil. Victory belongs to the children of God...and we have our destiny in Christ Jesus. He will not only give us the strength and everything we need for the battle, but He will be there to fight with and for us.

Sasah and I went home after the movie and before we bid good night to each other, we prayed. And this is what I love about us...our friendship is rooted in prayer. And at the end of the day, after everything that had happened, we always acknowledge Christ's Lordship over our lives...all areas of our lives.

Looking forward to the Oceanarium trip and for another great Friday.

Kung Fu Panda Night

Prepare for Awesomeness.

TGIF! My friends and I watched the most-awaited Kung Fu Panda last Friday. Guess how many of us lined up during the opening day? Fourteen... yes 14! It has long been planned to watch the movie together. We were looking forward to seeing it that my mailbox contained a lot of email with this subject: KUNG FU PANDA.

We decided to watch it at Glorietta...then we changed it to Greenbelt 3...but since it was on a Friday, and we were beleaguered with time and traffic, we ended up with Greenbelt 1. Well, I couldn't imagine fighting for 14 tickets on a Friday Night at Greenbelt 3, could I? Unless I did some reservations but you see the movie was at 8:50PM and together with Richlyn, I arrived at 8:05PM. No way we could get 14 tickets!

And so the Kung Fu began. Along side with me (from the left) were Klaire, Rich, Sah, Pia, Roche, Tin, and Len. The row before ours was occupied by Greg, Joel, Lulu, Honey, Jai, and Mau.

The cinema was filled with laughter. Po (the Panda), chosen to be the mighty Dragon Warrior instead of one of the Furious Five (Tigress, Monkey, Crane, Mantis, and Viper), the took our breath away. He was sooooo adorable. And he was such a dreamer. Though he was no master in marshal arts, he had the biggest heart...who was to fight against Tai Lung. We were also moved by the conversations of Master Oogway and Shifu on destiny and believing in someone.

Well, I don't want to elaborate so much on the story as you can also read then in the reviews and other sites, but I'd like to share on the principles that reminded me of my own destiny in the Lord Jesus Christ and as being "master shifu" to others, as I was reflecting on the conversation Oogway and Shifu had.

In our faith-journey and our desire to be an influence to others, God consequentially and as part of His plan, brings people in our lives. Some we may like. Some we don't. Not even an inch. But as Christians we ought to accept and love one another, despite of our differences. We must learn to see them through God's eyes and with Christ's heart. As leaders, we must look beyond the physical appearance of the person, seeing not only who he is but more of what he can become.

It takes hard work to train people, to raise them up, to care for them, to impart to them what you have learned, and most especially to live and die for them... but the patience, strength, love and resources that we need will not come from us. Remember that we are just channels of all good and perfect gifts that God has for them. And as we learn Jesus' way of raising up His 12, we will also commit our lives unselfishly to those people God wants us to raise up and yes, grow with. A teacher's greatest joy is to see his student grow to be the person God has intended them to be...not only to discover his potentials but to victoriously achieve and use them.

Shifu failed to see what Tai Lung (his first disciple) was becoming... he was blinded by his love for him. Yes, he could have been the greatest warrior with all the marshal arts disciplines in the history of China but he became evil and his master failed to correct him, to discipline him from the inside. You see, character building is one important element in raising up men and women...especially in faith. It requires brokenness and testings so that not only the worst of the person will die but also the best be brought out and lived. We can find many stories in the Bible how God would "break" the leader's heart, allowing him or her to go through challenges and difficulties so that the person will have more faith in Him and learn His wisdom and ways.

In our quest for our destiny and purpose, we don't only have Kung Fu fighters as our heroes today but if we read our Bible we will discover a number of stories of great faith-heroes that can inspire us to dream big, fight and win the battle, and ultimately live out the call for greatness.