3-Day Hiatus

I should've posted another entry today but due to time constraints, I don't think I can do that. A few hours from now, I'll be on my way to MDD AYP Conference. It's like a huge youth gathering here in our city. The gathering will last for 3 days, so expect me to be back on 31. I will tell you all the happenings and on what God will do to me (personally) and to the youth during this gathering! God Bless!

A Night of Praises!

If you live in an area within +8 GMT (Taiwan, HongKong, Manila, etc), it will only be at least 12.5 hours more to go before Christmas Eve. It is in our culture (Filipinos) that when Christmas Eve comes, many preparations have to be made especially today (24). One has to contact several relatives to get together for "Noche Buena", a feast celebrated during Christmas Eve or people rush to the mall to avail products on sale for last-minute gift givings. You can hear your neighbor's component set fully blast in full volume playing Christmas songs. I remember when I was little when I still lived in the suburbs, the whole neighborhood got together in front of the street, the men set up tables and chairs, each family brought food to the table, pot luck style and there'll be music, dancing, singing. You can feel the warmness of the fellowship as everyone greeted each other good tidings.

I'm wondering how the first Christmas was celebrated, it is said the Bible that angel choirs sing, wise men homage bring and shepherds came to the humble stable where the humble King lay fast asleep. Luke 2:8-16 (NIV) gives us this account:

The Shepherds and the Angels
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

The night Jesus was born is a night of praise, the angels bring "good news" to all men.


When Christmas Eve comes, I would like to find myself prasing God for sending Jesus. I would worship and sing in His presence for because of Him, I am set free and saved from sin. I would let myself be lost in His presence and cherish every moment of Him. I would make tonight a night of praise for Jesus. Just like the song above says: "Here I am worship, here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that You are God... and I never know how much it costs to see my sin upon the cross.". Thanks to you Lord Jesus. You certainly ROCK!

Thank You, My Jesus

Last night, I was scrambling through my minus one tapes/CDs. I just realized I have only a week to prepare for MDD Convention Solo singing contest! I have already chosen two songs which are "Lead Me Lord" and "To the Ends of the Earth" and never practiced them using a microphone. I just sang along and left it unmemorized. I still need another song since I was told to prepare 3 songs. So,I was scrambling through my CDs and found Gary V's "Revive". I got my CD player and my headphones and listened to the songs which I might well, be inclined to sing. When Gary V's rendition of "The Reason", originally sung by David Meece came, I was instantly in "meditate mode"... and there I found myself by the foot of the cross and back to the cave in Bethlehem. I was led into a realization that it was for ME that Jesus was born. It was for ME that Jesus died on the cross. I liked it very much when Gary added his own lyrics as bridge, it says:

Everytime I see the cross
I'm reminded that He gave us life
For you and me

and can't help tears flowing from eyes. Gary ends the song with very soulful adlibs of "Thank you, my Jesus... You're worthy to be praised..." and I was mouthing the words like it came from my own mouth or was it rather it was my heart that was speaking. When the song was over, I was still crying, and felt God's spirit moving in me and I thanked God for a hundredth time, "Thank you for sending Jesus Christ to save me" though I know not even I would say it infinitely would be enough for what Christ has done on the cross.

I'm Getting Married (Oh My God!)

Last Friday, I arrived at Waterfront Insular Hotel dressed up for the occasion. My long-time friend since High School, Cindy Avila will be married to the man she loves. I arrived at the ceremonial site - a large white gazebo by the shore, a lightly-cooled ambiance bringing the air of Christmas, the bermuda grass, the cocunut trees swaying along the proddings of the wind. It was kind of romantic - you see like the ones in the movies. There are only a few around, maybe her family's and her husband's family, close friends in work, in the church and us - I (Andy), Mae, Cindy Aguilar, and Kenneth, her high school friends - all the ones special in her heart and I felt quite honored to be invited in such solemn occasion where God would bind two different individuals, to be a life of blessing as a husband and wife, to be nurturer of God's precious gifts as father and mother, to work as one to advance God's Kingdom here on Earth.

You guess it! I'm writing about marriage today! What a huge topic to discuss! For a young man like me, most uf us considered at this point of age to be carefree, to enjoy singleness by forming a network of friends and immersing oneself full-time for God's ministries as well as climbing the career ladder. But anyway, as I was listening to the sermon, marriage appeared to me like some a very sacred bound that no man should ever separate. In marriage, the individuals are not tied to each other like handcuffs tied between a policeman and a criminal, rather God binds them. Imagine a golden, indestructibe cord tightfully tied around two persons. It is like forcing two different, highly individualistic individuals with his or her own paths to walk brought together by deepcommitment, their desire to love each regardless the circimstance, regardless what each of them feel, their will to support each other to whatever calling God has called them to do, to be Christian models for young minds as they become father and mother and to mold these younglings to be the best individuals God has called them to be.

It is a sad fact nowadays that people don't really felt the gravity of the commitment required as they enter marriage. Most of them if not, as I have observed, consider to get married because they feel that their love for them becomes deeper or more intense and marriage would be a good celebration to affirm that loving feeling. No wonder why divorce rates are so high! When these couples realized that they FEEL LIKE NOT LOVING each other anymore brought about the pressures marriage demands, they would say enough and there goes the divorce papers. Though every relationship begins of falling in love accmpanied with the "feeling" of love, it should not be a basis for getting married. As I have said earlier, marriage is based on commitment - it is as synonymous of doing what you have sworn to do no matter what - to be with your partner, in sickness and health, for richer or for poorer till death do you part. If one goes to think and feel its gravity, you realize it requires a great deal of sacrifice, a great deal of patience, sometimes your happiness would be sapped away. However when these are focused to God, the originator of marriage, married life will be richer and fuller, more deep and loving, more intimate in a deeper level compared to the time you have fallen in love despite the hardships you have encountered. It is no wonder that arranged marriage sometimes works, the husband and the wife have sworn to do according the role he/she has given and is commited to do it because they consciously believes that doing so will bring them a life of blessing. Marriage is a spiritual union, as Christians we are to trust God to lead the marriage. Marriage is not two people tied to each other focusing to please each other or themselves, it is two people hand-in-hand looking up to God to please Him that they may be a life of blessing to God, to their children, to their families, friends, co-workers, to the community and most of all to each other.

Anyway after the ceremony, we proceeded to the dining room where we celebrate the newlyweds. I sang 3 songs for the bride and groom and it's good singing (as well as nervous) for them. It is my prayer that may God bless their married life richly. God Bless to you all!

What Can I Give?

It's Christmas and it's everywhere!

From the cold winds brought about by the easterly wave hitting our country (Philippines) to the children singing carols, from the songs we hear from the radio to the grandiose christmas lights ornating the neighborhood houses, no one can deny that Christmas is here!

Gift-giving among friends, co-workers, peace-making with enemies, parties here and there, bonuses for employees, shopping during midnight sales, and thinking if we were to receive gifts - we are so saturated with these things and more often than not we are left exhausted physically, mentally (as well as our wallets) with the hurly burly of events. When Christmas will be over, we are left in a daze and wondered if any of these things have really happened. We are so caught up with the frenzy that everyone is doing and has not realized even for just a moment what Christmas really brought.

Why am I saying this? Because right now, I'm so enmeshed with many things that accompanies this season and I realized that I felt lost and somehow lost "in touch" with what is important and things that mattered most.

What is Christmas?

The 3 gospels provided similar accounts that on an eve where that particular star was the brightest, Jesus was born. And as I reflected on the essence of Jesus' birth there are times that I want to cry... because Jesus came for me, he came for us. In that silent night, in such ragged and humble state, Jesus came devoid of his divine glory for us. And Jesus lived not in a life of comfort, he helped many people and freed them from the sin that binds them yet he was misunderstood and persecuted. If any man were Jesus, he would have broken down but he was firm in his purpose of coming and that's for us!

And so this eve of 25, I encouraged us to pray and be thankful for what Jesus has done - to thank Him for his coming ro free us from the bondage of sin brought about by our humanness. Thank him for robe of righteousness that makes us holy and acceptable to God.




This Jaci Velasquez' spanish version of "I'll Get On My Knees", "De Creer En Ti"... just feel the song (even if you don't understand Spanish, neither do I? LOL) God Bless!

A Few More Hours

Blessed are those who wait patiently upon the Lord. There are times when we impulsively do what we think is best for our current situation. May God speak to you through this wonderful story:

A Few More Hours


David and Lynn were getting discouraged. The restaurant they
owned was floundering even though they had extended their business
hours and offered special dinners, hoping to attract more customers.
But no one came.

After several weeks with no change in sight, Lynn said, "We
might as well close up and go on home." It was nearly eleven. o'clock.

"Let's stay open for a few more hours." David suggested.

"Why?' Lynn frowned. "What's the use?"

"Because tonight may be the night we get more
customers." David grinned, and his wife noticed the hope shining in
his large hazel eyes. Even though Lynn didn't relish the idea, she
agreed that they should keep the restaurant open.

About thirty minutes later, a miracle seemed to occur. A
late evening bus drove into the small community and stopped in front
of the cafe. People poured out of the bus and into the cold winter
air. Quickly they entered the warm cafe, since it was the only
restaurant open.

The profits David and Lynn made that evening helped
compensate for some of their earlier losses. But that was only the
beginning.

Soon word spread that the small restaurant stayed open late
at night. Business came from all around -- people driving through the
town late at night, buses passing through, late night workers. The
couple even had to hire an extra waitress for the late shift.

Sometimes when we have worked late in the night and are
ready to give up, if we wait patiently, we will reach our goals. What
we long for may arrive within minutes. Take comfort in the fact that
we don't know what tomorrow brings. It could be a special day -- or
night for us.

* Find inspiration in the Scripture, "Simon answered, 'Master,
we have worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But
because you say so, I will let down the nets.' When they had done
so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to
break." (Luke 5:5-6)

Imagine Me Without You (Final Fantasy)

I love this video! May God Bless you with this song.

God is Our Big Brother

        Fearful Housemates

Last night, many were somehow shocked with the latest happenings in Pinoy Big Brother. Big Brother told the remaining 4 housemates to pack up their clothes and bring them to the garden. He told them to exchange baggages and sort the clothes which will they need for the remaining 4 days. Behind them were huge, top open, boxes labeled G, S and T. The remaining clothes will be put inside these boxes. Whatever box that is, depends on the housemates. So housemates did what they were told. When Big Brother told them what the letters stand for, the housemates start to be anxious. G stands for "Gupit" (English. Cut), S for "Sunog" (English. Burn), T for "Tapon" (English. Throw). To make things short, the clothes inside these boxes will be cut, burned or thrown. The tension increases as they were told to get the matches, scissors, etc from the storage room. Jason, one of the housemates was told to get a pair of pants from the "G" box and was told to cut it. The pants belonged to Uma, the half-Filipino, half-Israeli housemate and you can see in his face the anxiety of cutting the pants his beloved mother gave him. You can see the housemates' faces angsty in protest. Jason would not cut the pants so he was told to go the confession room. There he was told by Big Brother that not following his orders would mean force eviction on his part. However Jason did not care he will be evicted. He was convinced that Big Brother's order was absurd and would never break his friendship with Uma by cutting his pants. Big Brother let him out of the confession room and called for the remaining three housemates. Each of them were teary-eyed, angrily confessing what they think is absurdity on Big Brother's orders and they would join Jason too to go out of the house.

When they were done, the housemates were still trying to figure out the point of the task they are given. When it was Big Brother's turn to talk, he told them to scrutinize the so-called pants Jason is suppose to cut. They inspected it. It was not Uma's pants - just a replica of it. The housemates were put to shame when they realized that Big Brother is just testing their trust in him. While I was watching at that moment, the scene where God told Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac came into my mind. Many times God had been faithful to Abraham so Abraham was so secure that he could trust God even in this seemingly absurd and pointless task. If I were Abraham, I would think,

"God has given me a son and now he wants to take it? What is he playing at? He well knows I love my son! He made withg me a covenant that I will the father of all nations. How can I be one if he's going to take away my son? My ONLY son!?"

But Abraham, knowing that God has been faithful to him ever since He had called him, trusted and obeyed God and we all know today how many Jews were scattered throughout the world... maybe including Uma. It was a lesson to trsut God always. How? By meditiating on his words and his promises. He will never leave is nor forsake us. Our feelings might manifest doubt, fear or anger but clinging to God's word is a brave step to overcome these feelings. In the end, God always make better ways, better than what we might expect.

Intimacy and Faithfulness

Last June 11, 2004, Reuben Morgan^FYI came here in the Philippines to give a seminar about Praise and Worship leading. As a whole, the entire session gives the whole point and the goal of a Praise and Worship ministry. After the seminar, we were given tips and how-to's on how to play the instruments and turn ourselves into a great army of musicians ministering people to praise and worship God. Note that I've haven't arranged my notes during the seminar - you might find some of the ideas incoherent. Also I have added personal insights that might help. May God bless you with this.

Reuben Morgan is a pastor, worship leader, composer, musician of Hillsong Music Australia. He also leads the church's auxilliary Youth P&W Team, United

--> In any ministry, Jesus is the originator. Without the love for God and for the church, all our works will result to nothing.

The Vine and the Branches (John 15:1-17 NIV)

1"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Being intimate with God.
- God would rather be with you than please Him with your good works.
- having a personal relationship with God (the bottomline of it all)

It is impt WHY we do WHAT we do!!!
- Why I am involved in music ministry?
music- a tool of God for conveying His love for His people.

"There are walls surrounding us that seem so hard to conquer. With these wall we become hindered. Ask for God's healing in your life so he can your wounds and so that you can minister with Him not out of inclination but with your love for God and serving the church"

The Walls of Jericho (Joshua 1:1-21 NIV)

1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in."

6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7 And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD."

8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding. 10 But Joshua had commanded the people, "Do not give a war cry, do not raise your voices, do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. Then shout!" 11 So he had the ark of the LORD carried around the city, circling it once. Then the people returned to camp and spent the night there.

12 Joshua got up early the next morning and the priests took up the ark of the LORD. 13 The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets went forward, marching before the ark of the LORD and blowing the trumpets. The armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard followed the ark of the LORD, while the trumpets kept sounding. 14 So on the second day they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days.

15 On the seventh day, they got up at daybreak and marched around the city seven times in the same manner, except that on that day they circled the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around, when the priests sounded the trumpet blast, Joshua commanded the people, "Shout! For the LORD has given you the city! 17 The city and all that is in it are to be devoted [a] to the LORD. Only Rahab the prostitute [b] and all who are with her in her house shall be spared, because she hid the spies we sent. 18 But keep away from the devoted things, so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble on it. 19 All the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron are sacred to the LORD and must go into his treasury."

20 When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city. 21 They devoted the city to the LORD and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys.

Conquering these walls require and is found in healing and God's salvation.

Do not focus on problems, focus to God cause He has given us the VICTORY to overcome it.

Sing regardless of your circumstances.



Reuben Morgan: Sing regardless of the circumstance

Paul and Silas in Prison (Acts 16:25-31 NIV)

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

29The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

31They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

- Why do we SING?
- not for performance, not for SHOW but 4 service to the CHURCH and so that people will be healed in Jesus' name.

MAKING THE PRAISE and WORSHIP BAND

A) The elements of Groove.

1) Pulse - refers to the time element, metronomic sound
- music produced is patterned of definite time element
- mostly used for background (bass guitars)

2) Forward Motion - music that brings the song into motion.
- it should make the people moving (clapping, dancing). It should make people really grooving and singing
- i.e. (distinct song intros like intro in All Things are Possible)

3) Unity - a band is composed of different entities (ie Hillsong - song leader, back up song leaders, background choir, musicians, percussionists)
- it is important for them to sound as one without having the effect of sounding SCATTERED and CONGESTED.
- each musical instrument is played to harmonize/complement with each other to effectively play the song. It does not mean if you knew a certain stylistics, u can incorporate with the band. If it makes the music too congested then don't use that stylistic.

4) Dynamics - the most important ELEMENT because it is the soul of the music. It makes the people "feel" the song.
- for song leaders, it means when to soften or quiet or make your voice loud and powerful to emphasize "moods" of the song. In addition it is also having the proper diction and PRONUNCIATION of words when to sing fast or slow.
- for instrumentalists - same with loudness or softness at the exact time it is necessary to do that. With dyanamics it also implies how each instrumentalists (ie keyboardists, guitarists, drummers) communicate to each other when to emphasize each.

HAVE A GOOD CHRISTIAN RELATIONSHIP WITH EACH MEMBER OF THE BAND AND STRENGTHEN EACH PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. IT IS THE BOTTOMLINE OF IT ALL.

Carry Me

For the past few hours, I've been deciding what to write for my entry today. When I browsed on my PC, I get to listen to the videos I have and Marty Sampson's "Carry Me" struck a note! I've been feeling helpless and defenseless, failing every time against the many battles raging inside... but you know what, every time I've fallen, Jesus would carry me back into His arms of love. He draws me closer to Him and I want to be where He is. I feel so bless with this song... I hope you'll be blessed too. So here it is "Carry Me" - by Marty Sampon from "For This Cause" Hillsong live worship album.

You lead me in to Your courts
Surround me with Your love
I walk with You
I do not fear

In this place
Dreams are made
In this place
Where You are
Carry me here
In Your arms of love
Draw me close to You
I want to be where You are
I want to be where You are

You carry me, You are my strength
I've learnt to trust in You
And once again
I'm reaching out

Blog Design 101

Everyone is fussed making blogs^FYI nowadays. Since this trend started like two years ago, millions of people blogged for purposes ranging from regular daily diary, hobby logging up to corporate news and trends logging. Personally, I have been obsessing taking care of my blog (which will turn two years old this January), writing about topics ranging from personal daily experiences to things that interests me. I make sure that every detail counts from the content I'm writing up to graphic I put on my site. Today, I'm going to share a small tip regarding how I design my blog.





As you see in the picture above, a simple blog is basically made of 3 parts: the header, the body, and the sidebar. Navigation bars and footers are kind of optional. When you sign up for a site that offer blogging services like Blogger here, you are made to select preformatted templates of what your blog will look like. However nowadays, many bloggers opt to have a unique blog design that is truly their own. There are some who "borrow" layout from blog designers. A site for cool layouts can be found at Blogskins.com. There you can find layouts designed by blog skinners, free of use of course as long as you put a link back to the designer's homepage. Again, however if you would like to desgin your own blog layout and theme, you have to have at least significant knowledge about basic web design. To start out you need at least two simple tools to start from scratch. First, you need to know at least basic HTML ^FYI. HTML is the programming language used for coding web pages. Don't worry cause it's not really a difficult language to understand. Actually it's easier to understand compared to like XML, C++, Java, VB, etc. There are a lot of HTML resources in the web, from simple tutorials up to step-by-step how-to-do books for sale online. You can search just search so,me keywords o nYahoo! or Google and presto! You can access every site, anything about HTML. However, I highly recommend buying a reference book from your local bookstore so that you can study it every time you wish to. There's a an HTML guide at National bookstore which only costs PHP150! Very cheap. Secondly, if you want to a unique and a personal-themed site, you have to design your own graphics. Againm you have to know at least one software to generate your graphics. Personally, I'm using Adobe Photoshop CS and sometimes I incorporate Corel Draw. You may also learn other graphic software such as Paintshop Pro as long as you're comfortable using it. To start with I recommend, you may make a header, 750 to 850 pixels wide (Most users nowadays, use 1024x728 resolution so it would be prudent to make the entire width within this range) and 200-400 pixels high with some picture on the background and splashed across the scene is the title of your blog. Well, it's really depends on your style how you design your header.

Blog - short for web log.
HTML - stands for Hyper Text Mark-Up Language.

So now you have the basic two elements in blog design: HTML and a Graphic software. As you progress, you will discover that a site has to be nice to look at. The elements of a good color combination and neat-looking fonts come into scene. As a beginner, you tend to be very excited to use any color you wish and any fancy fonts (unless you use it for a header graphic) available. Always remember that simplicity is beauty. A blog that looks "unified" in terms of color harmony, graphics, and fonts used is a mark of a good blog. I have seen many blogs bombarded with vividly colored backgrounds, loud-colored graphics, and fonts so big - not to mention, annoying marquees and blinking texts - and they look so irritating to the eyes that you want to close it immediately. You don't want your visitors to leave your site immediately, do you? You may visit Webdeveloper's Notes and look for the link to color combinations. There you can find hundreds of 3-set color combos you can use for your site. For your fonts, I recommend using fonts of type Serif (Times, Arial, Verdana) or Cursive (Comic Sans MS) so that your blog will look nice to the eyes. Be consistent using same font size and color changing only if necessary.



Finally, I do hope you learned something from this simple tip. For your questions you may email me at andy_enero@yahoo.com. So have fun, personally, I have found web designing very rewarding though frustrating and confusing sometimes but it's worth it! Discover the creativity in you and stand out!

You Feel Nervous...

When God leads, you feel nervous. I woke up yesterday, a Sunday, feeling better with my feet less swolen and in quite a cheery mood. As I prepared mmyself to go to church, I can feel God is prompting me to sing in the church... but I brushed the thought aside and go on with my way. When we got to church, I saw the program with the heading, "Be Still and Know I am God". I was excited cause I happen to know a perfect song to go with this heading. So I got my sister along and decided to offer a special number. We practiced a little bit and when our turn came to sing, it was as good as perfect. Of course, when we are spirit-led everything seems to be perfect even if it seems it's not but by God's grace it's made perfect.

When the service wa almost over, our Youth president announced that we have a circuit Fellowship this afternoon at a church in Matina, Davao. We're going to have presentations for Solo Singing contest, Comical Skit and Interpretative Dance. But the problem is, we don't have anything to present! Sadly, our Youth group is kind of lousy nowadays. No one seemed to care with the activities. Leaders gave up convincing, hard-headed and timid individuals to participate.

Circuit - group of Alliance churches in a particular area. When several circuits combine, it would be called a District which is city-wide

Surprisingly, many were interested attending the fellowship even if we had nothing to present. By 2:30 we got there at the place and the circuit president, Lloyd asked us if we had any participants for the contests. My youthmates started pushing that I join the solo singing contest. The problem is I don't have with me any minus-one tape let alone a song to sing! Again, like some sudden whisper, God seemed to speak to me, "Andy, you have to sing!" so I stopped arguing with Lloyd and prayed to God for some miracle that it will be all right. So I prepared a little bit and told the pianist if he knows to play the song which is the song I sang at our church that morning. Luckily, he does! So I guess everything is okay and when my turn came, I let it all out and it was done. After the contests, the results were announced. The winners will be competing against other circuit winners for this District convention this Dec 27. When my name was called that I won, I was like,

"Huh?" and my youthmates were cheering.



My Youthmates


Me and the HUGE ribbon

They told me to come up the stage to receive my HUGE ribbon. When we got home, everyone was happy especially me. I believe that I have been used by God to inspire my youthmates to attend upcoming youth activities especially this District Conference. Many people signify their plans of attending, yeah to support me, but I guess God had really wonderful plans for our youth group as the year ends.

And this is the song I sang,




"Still" by Hillsong! What a nice nice song!

Foot Therapy

Hours ago, I just attended the 2nd session for my right foot therapy and every time I go there I can't help feeling relaxed (and sleepy) because of the coziness of the clinic, and the warm accomodation of the PTs (Physical Therapists). I've always thought before that when you say therapy for physical therapy, it would only mean one thing "massage". I remembered asking one church friend what course will she take up in college.

When she said she would take up physical therapy, I replied, "What! You're going to be a masseuse!?"

Of course, now I know several things of what physical therapists do. Of course they do massages, they do therapy (as if it's not obvious) for muscle strengthening, they can also be gym instructors cause they mostly know how musculature works and many other things.



Cozy, isn't it?

Anyway when I got there, the PT asked me several questions like how did my foot swelled which I tiredly replied over and over when people ask me but anyway since the PT was nice so I told him/her^FYI every detail regarding my aching foot.

The PT on my first session is a girl while the second is a guy

So the PT got this electric stimulator and attach electrical nodes from it to different areas of my foot. When the PT turned it on, there was some pricking feeling like needles pressed slightly against your skin. The feeling was so good that I got asleep.



PT Thingys and my left foot

The PT woke me up and told me he/she will be administering ultrasound to my foot. Woah! I always thought that ultrasound is only used for detecting babies and other things in the inside the body. So he/she got this ultrasound transmission gel which is kind of cold and then he/she ran the ultrasound thingy all over my feet spreading the gel at the same time. It didn't felt anything so we proceeded to the exercises that stretched my muscles to the limit. After the session, my feet felt better though still aching. I still pray that this feet will get better in the upcoming days.

Love and the Unlovable

Hi. I opened my browser today and one eye-catching picture greeted me. It is a picture of the ugliest dog I've ever seen and he just died recently. I quoted this article from Yahoo! about this amazing creature

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Sam, the tiny dog whose hairless body and crooked teeth earned him a reputation as the World's Ugliest Dog, has died.

The pooch died Friday, just short of his 15th birthday, his owner said.

"I don't think there'll ever be another Sam," Susie Lockheed said, adding: "Some people would think that's a good thing."

Sam won the ugliest dog contest at the Sonoma-Marin Fair this summer for the third year in a row. The pedigreed Chinese crested had made appearances on TV in Japan, radio in New Zealand and in Britain's Daily Mirror tabloid. He also had met Donald Trump on a talk show set.

Lockheed said she initially was terrified of Sam when she agreed to take him in as a rescue dog six years ago on a 48-hour trial basis. Although she fell in love with him, his appearance repulsed her then-boyfriend and prompted the man to break up with her.

Later, however, Sam became a matchmaker by bringing together Lockheed and her current beau, who saw a picture of the two on an online dating site.

Lockheed said she had Sam euthanized after she learned Sam's heart was failing.

She said she's felt a little lost ever since, and is sleeping with Sam's favorite toy — a stuffed bear he picked up and carried home.

God loves all creatures even the most unlovable ones

Anyway back to the mainstream, today, I have decided to write an article about LOVE.

Hmmm…

I guess I got you curious now and your mind anticipates what this young man who has never been in a relationship can tell about love. Truthfully, first of all I admit I am not an expert in dealing such a broad topic of love. Everyday I am bombarded with scenes and have been fed with aural and visual information from the media and from the young couples I see on what love or at least and idea of what love is.

They are in love. They have fallen in love. You see them lurk in the corners: hugging, smooching, reciprocating gestures of affection, pledging eternal promises of bliss like there’s no tomorrow – ah this thing called "falling in love", yeah I know is the happiest feeling I know as far as I can remember. But sadly this thing called "falling in love" is but an illusion of what we think of what really love is. After a while or after a period of time it fades and once more we fret and wonder if what has happened has really happened. and we doubt if we really loved the person or just made a very stupid mistake of having fallen in love with the person in the first place.

Friends tell you, "You are not in love. You are just infatuated!".

Whatever, so many terms confuse us nowadays. By the way, I would like to share what M. Scott Peck from his book The Road Less Travel has to say about the problems of "Falling In Love".

Of all the misconceptions about love the most powerful and pervasive is the belief that "falling in love" is love or at least one of the manifestations of love. It is a potent misconception, because falling in love is subjectively experienced in a very powerful fashion as an experience of love. When a person falls in love what he or she certainly feels is "I love him" or "I love her". But two problems are immediately apparent. The first is that the experience of falling in love is specifically a sex-linked erotic experience. We do not fall in love with our children even we may love them very deeply. We do not fall in love with our friends of the same sex – unless we are homosexually oriented – even though we may care for them greatly. We fall in love only when we are consciously or unconsciously sexually motivated. The second problem is that the experience of falling in love is invariably temporary. No matter whom we fall in love with, we sooner or later fall out of love if the relationship continues long enough. This is not to say that we invariably cease loving the person with whom we fell in love. But it is to say that the feeling of ecstatic lovingness that characterizes the experience of falling in love always passes. The honeymoon always ends .The bloom of the romance fades away.

I can see brows raised but admit it or not it’s true!

Therefore the experience of falling in love in not love after all! You ask, "If it’s not love, then what is it"

Dr. Peck further explains that falling in love is an experience of collapse or breaking of ego boundaries.

"Ego Boundaries!?" you say, "It’s some kind of a shrinky word!"

As Scott Peck continues, ego boundaries are the limits of what our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual entities are capable of doing, handling and understanding. The history of ego boundaries is formed as we grow from infancy to adulthood. As infants we feel we are the center of the universe and all things including our parents do not make any distwill do anything on our bidding – of course because we are needy. We need milk, we need care, we need comfortable clothes and with just one loud cry, we send our parents into action to attend to us. But as the infant becomes a toddler, the individual senses that all things does not bow to him. He discovers his body parts and he realizes that he can’t grab a ball by just crying. He has to move and get it. He also realizes that mom doesn’t always obey what he wishes. Mom will say, "No Juan, you can’t do that!" or "Help yourself get it!" . As the child grows, he realizes that he/she can get all things every time he wishes. Sometimes he indulges himself/herself into fantasies of being someone great or some kind of superhero! As the child gets into adolescence the loneliness of being contained inside this ego boundaries are kind of eroticized… and we seek a certain creature or an individual to sooth that loneliness. And at the instant we find this person… Time stops, and we hear ethereal bells tolling our names to eternal happiness. This is the "Close Up" moment (It makes me feel cheesy watching those toothpaste models in TV), and songs with themes like "Ikaw ang Lahat sa Akin" (You Are All To Me) or "I've Finally Found Someone" suddenly become our favorites songs and we don't miss an episode of the soap opera starring John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo. "Bcuz of You" and "Got to Believe in Magic"^FYI become front liners in your VCD/DVD collection... I know you’d agree!

FYI:
Close-Up - popular toothpaste brand.
Ikaw and lahat sa akin - a Filipino love song popularized by Martin Nievera.
I've Finally Found Someone - duet by Barbra Streisand and Bryan Adams.
John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo - Filipino soap actor/actress.
Got to Believe in Magic and Bcuz of You - Filipino teeny-bopper love films.

Falling in love is a magical experience according to a Barry Manilow song and it’s true! It is in these moments that problems seem to go away. Everyday is a sunny day! "I can do anything because I feel so inspired having this person and I’m so enmeshed in bliss having this person around!" This is what Dr Peck refers to as "the collapse of ego boundaries". We feel we care deeply for that person and blurt at the spur of the moment a promise to remain loving forever and ever. But just like any magic – it is but an illusion and it will go away – soon.
As time goes on… the magical feelings start to fade away. The original and individualistic ego boundary reverts back to it’s original shape and we go back to things that are already familiar – our personal private space, our hobbies, our interests, our old friends, our families, etc. Having the other always demanding of our whereabouts and presence all the time becomes annoying and restricting! The time between two lovers becomes ordinary, unexciting and boring. Gestures of affection are less frequent. Fights about small insignificant things and envy are frequent. Finally, when things don’t work out anymore, we sigh and say just like a Kyla song,

"I just have to let you go… when the feeling is gone." What a sad song to end!

The cycle begins as the search for "the" perfect lover begins and sadly some people just don’t grew out of it. They still believe in the deepest recesses of their lonely hearts that the "one" will come again someday to bring them happiness and it will last forever and ever just like in love stories we see in the movies or in TV and sadly many young people believe that lasting love is formed by falling in love and just remains in there.

And now you ask, "How do we then experience a love that lasts forever?" Falling out of love does not necessarily preclude a devastating and sad love story. Luckily some people don’t let go and grow with some maturity that loving a person does not mean having to feel like loving all the time. As Dr Peck continues, real loving relationship begins when the person still cares for the other even when the feeling is gone, when that person desires the other to grow, when the person sacrifices himself/herself for that person, when the person willingly submits himself/herself to be with that person no matter what the consequences are – and that includes understanding the others weaknesses and at times dealing with them. Feelings may resurrect again later but during that time it does not become the barometer if the relationship is loving or not! Things like commitment, understanding, discipline and responsibility become synonymous with love.

I would like to end this lengthy article (The longest I made so far!) about love. I hope this clears our mind and destroys the misconceptions that corrupted our minds of what a loving and lasting relationship is. Always remember that real love comes from God’s love or Jesus’ love for us and we all know that it involved so much pain and sacrifice in order for us to grow and be loving to others in return. God Bless us all!

Blessed Right Foot 2

Yesterday afternoon I got my X-ray results and went back to my doctor. Since the X-ray shows that no bone dislocation has been found, he temporarily ruled out I had this "plantar fascia". He explained what it is only to find out it's simply muscle overstretching. He recommended me to see a doctor who will teach me how to exercise my foot and relieve it.

I started today and went to the clinic limping yet feeling much better than yesterday. When I got there, I asked directions from the guard and told me to go the back of the building and ask again another guard who will tell me where the building is. Aren't all guards suppose to know where all the buildings are even if it's not the area where they're stationed?

When I got there, I thought I can relax but when the guard told me the rehab building is still on the other block, I thought I can hear my right foot scream in protest. Anyway, enduring the pain that I have to go through, I pushed myself to the next block. Finally, as I approached the information I felt relieved knowing I can sit down and rest my foot but then I was told that the doctor I'm supposed to be seeing just left for lunch, I thought I would collapse on the floor. The information guy told me that the doctor will be back this 3:30 (It was only 1:30).

"Okay", I said and still smiling despite the slight discomfort of frustration.

The information guy added that the doctor will be needing my X-ray results too.

"WHAT!"

That means I have to go to the 6th floor where my doctor's clinic is and also that means I have to go BACK where the taxi left me - at the entrance of the hospital! Anyway, though sweating and tired and my foot slightly in pain, by God's grace I made it to my doctor's clinic and find his secretary fixing some things. I told her that the rehab doctor needs my X-ray results.

"Oh..." she said, "I just returned your results to the X-ray Department".

Okay, she must've seen the frown lines on my forehead but I knew that's the way it is and being angry doesn't do good so okay... fine I did get my X-ray results. Mission accomplished. I still have 2 hours to wait so I decided to go the net cafe to share what a grueling day I have.







Well for some entertaining news, my Druid, Andre finally defeated Baal yesterday! He's the last of the 3 devils to defeat. Hurray!!! If you don't have a clue with what I'm talking about, well for 2-3 weeks I have been playing Diablo II. It's a RPG (Role Playing Game). It's about Diablo who disguised as a dark wanderer. He came to earth to release his two other brothers, Mephisto and Baal. When these 3 prime evils unite, no mortal can stop them as they unleash all hell's dark minions. So the objective is, you have to send these 3 evils back to hell before they will push their evil plan! And I'm glad I did.

Finally, I hope you learned something fromn this experience... that even in the storm, you still have to learn to smile! God Bless.

Blessed Right Foot

Last morning, I finished watching "Blessed" and was really satisfied with myself cause I knew the lyrics and I can sing along. After the main feature was a documentary about the making of the "Blessed" project. According to Darlene Zschech, this project was the most relaxed so far (Hillsong had four more projects after Blessed). There was also a girl who sang in the choir interviewed and she said this project just overwhelmed her being used by God for His ministry. What got me more excited was when they showed the choir practices handled by Darlene. Watching, it brought me back memories when I was with my school choir and with the Himig Singers. The feeling was nostalgic, y'know. I felt, wow - I never thought they really sounded that good even without the instruments. They too have their share of late night practices, choir things and stuff, things that I can really relate with. God, I'm desperate to sing in a choir once more.

My foot

After watching, I immediately get dressed to go to the doctor to have my right foot checked. Walking has been very painful... the previous doctor must've thought it's just an ordinary sprain or something. When I got out of the house, I never thought it's really that painful to walk! This was the worst pain in two weeks. By God's grace I got there at Davao Doctors and the doctor made me lie on a bed while he bend and squeeze and press every spot on my foot. It makes me wanna shout! But doc's okay. Well, I have to wait for my X-ray results while writing this thing to you... Be happy always even if you're sick! God bless.

Dark & Thought-Provoking

Two days ago, I, my brother and Bryan watched the special screening of the latest Harry Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at SM. The movie started at 9:30 PM but before that prizes and promo things were given away. Finally we get to see the movie. The first parts all happen like a blur. It happened so fast especially on the scene where the Dark Mark was conjured. It was like a zap and before you know it, students arrive at Hogwarts with the delegates from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang and then it was the first task, 2nd task, 3rd task, the return of Voldemort and end credits.

Life can be lonely at times.

Watching this movie, what it implied to me is how lonely life can be especially when you take risks and accepting responsibities that you are bound to. Harry unwillingly joined the Triwizard Cup. He had to endure jeerings from other students blaming him for a cheat... even his bestrfriend did not believe him. He had to take risks surviving the 3 challenges that might cost him his life. I also remembered a story of a man 2000 years ago who took the lonely path of suffering, carrying his cross on Via Dolorosa. Soldiers and people mock him, his followers deserted him. You can imagine the loneliness this man felt. This loneliness might be even more painful than the physical pain he experienced. This man is Jesus.

Harry Potter might be a sugar-coated story of magic but in its core, it is a story of overcoming the timid self to take risks, accept responsibility, trust people and uphold the truth.

Guilty Pleasures

My aching right foot is okay today! Thank God... These past few weeks has been a blur. I've kept myself busy with so many things like making up idea for a new blog skin (If you like this skin, please leave a comment in the tagboard), obsessing my way to defeat the three prime evils in Diablo II (I just defeated Mephisto yesterday after 5 hours of staring into the PC), getting my two licenses (driver and PRC), some errands, anticipating Pinoy BigBrother and other personal agenda. I haven't had time with the Lord...

I miss those times when I just close my eyes without saying any word and feel His presence, when I felt some uplifting spirit flowing in every fiber of my being, when tears just flow from my eyes with the unexplained joy I felt inside. I felt at peace. That's one of the reasons I would rather choose to go away, away from the comforts of our home and face the ruthless and uncaring world beyond because I believe that God will always be by my side. So last night, I woke with a start when I heard the baby of our neighbor cried. I tried to go to sleep but I can't. My mind is so full of abstract ideas: things that I'm supposed to do, things that I'm so worried about, so many things I can't even categorize what they are. They fight and jumble in mind leaving traces of colorful blur. In desperation, I prayed God for peace and what started from small phrases become a prayer - like the intimate conversations I had with God before. God reveals my feelings and I affirm it with every word I say. I ended my prayer with thanks and seconds later, I fell asleep.

A Dog Says Farewell

WHITIE aka TUKTING
1996 - 2005
Faithful Dog, Loyal Pet

The vet called around 9:00 AM bringing a bad news that our pet dog, Tukting is dead. The vet told us that by the time she opened the clinic she found Tukting lying and lifeless. I can't believe that he would really die cause just yesterday we heard that he's condition has improved. Although, we can't really deny that he's so weak. He would not even respond to any human stimuli since Wednesday. Well, anyway, Tukting has lived 9 dog years and always in healthy conditions. However weeks ago, he's been eating fur and insides from pigs slaughtered by our neighbors. Sometimes, I'm tempted to point a finger to our maid for not giving him food every lunch time that's why Tukting would scavenge around the neighborhood. But I know it's our first responsibility as owners to prevent our pets from going scavenging. That's the mistake we made on our part. Anyway, may Tukting is now and well and is now in heaven... that is if there is a heaven for dogs. Why not?

Druids and Summoned Creatures

I woke up this morning feeling a slight ache in my right foot. Maybe it has worsened but I'm glad I can actually walk better than I think today. I ought to see a doctor today to check on my right foot. However when I called at his office this 9:00, his secretary told me that they don't open for Wedenesdays. Okay, so doctor's appointment was postponed tomorrow.

My strong Druid warrior, Andre

I got to the PC and played the game I'm so hooked nowadays (Although for many, this game is kind of obsolete), Diablo II and I'm a Druid. Right now, I'm going to find Tal Rasha's tomb but the task is so difficult that's why I have my warrior assistant, Kyle and my summoned minions: 2 ravens, a dire wolf and heart of wolverine spirit. Anyway before I could bore you with the game details, it's time to cook for lunch. Last Saturday, my sister and I decided we can cook a pasta recipe we downloaded in the internet and today is the day. We're going to make "Penne in Creamy Tomato Sauce" but we added sausages as our meat. Cooking isn't pretty bad even if our beater was broken or we lacked a significant supply of water cause we made the tastiest sauce I've ever tasted. Well we had lunch and it was so good...

Hmmm... Simmering Penne sauce

Tukting still looks weak.

After lunch, my bro, sis and I decided decided to visit our sick dog in Whippet Vet. When we arrived there, we found Tukting lying on the stand with a fellow dog under him. He still had his dextrose and he looks weak but the vet said that Tukting's condition improved since. There is only a little blood in his urine today and his face had shrunk to it's original form. The vet said, Tukting's a fighter. Even I had doubts that Tukting would make it cause his kidneys already failed but this good news today that his urine was clearer make me think otherwise. Our dog has cheated death before (He was hit by a pick up truck before) and I believe that God will make him cheat death once more.

Cheat Allergic and Bleeding

I just took my written exam for a non-professional driver's license and thanked God,I passed. Last morning, we had a 2-hour review about traffic rules, regulations, violations and appropriate actions for real-life problems in driving and inthe afternoon at 1:30, we had the exam.. The good thing about the exam is that it is "open book". Lucky for me, I bought a book last week about traffic rules and it did helped me a lot in this exam especially with those items containing RA 4136 about licenses, rules, etc. I finished the exam by 2:00, so I decided to loiter around SM while waiting for the results by 4:00. When I got there, I came across with two co-examinees talking to the examiner and I overheard them talking that their actual exams which is suppose to take place anytime between 1:30 and 4:00 PM will be taken care of by some backer inside LTO. See, no wonder why this country is so wretched, cursed and pathetic! When my turn came, I was told to come back anytime within the time slot I've stated above and that I have to bring my own car! Aren't they suppose to have a car for their exams? I'm just wondering how those guys who don't have cars, who are only required to get a license cause it's what their job requires? Anyway, I might "borrow" a car for this actual exam.



When I got home for lunch, I saw the vet fixing some needles and behind her is our 9-year old dog, Tukting with a dextrose hovering above him. He's so cute lying there sleeping. I think he's really enjoying the "food" flowing inside his body. Few days ago, my sister found blood on the floor where our dog was lying. Days later, he's conditioned worsened: his gums were bleeding and his eyes were bloodshot, and he doesn't want to eat. We suspected he was poisoned or something. However, the vet told us he was either poisoned or was infected with some deadly bacteria. A sample of his blood was taken and will analyzed before the vet could give her final diagnosis. We just pray that sooner or later, Tukting will get well.

Hotel Rwanda

Last morning, I watched a movie based on a true story. It's about the abuse of power that brought people into madness, killing everyone who is against them and the whole world doesn't about it. It's "Hotel Rwanda" starred by Don Cheadle who played the role of a manager of a Belgian-owned, 4-star, Hotel Nikulin. To give you a background, the story is set in Kigali, Rwanda, 1994 where the two tribes/parties of the nation, the Hutus and the Tutsis found themselves in war. Rwanda was once a colony of Belgium and the the Belgians, let the Tutsis ran the government. When the Belgians gave Rwanda their independence, the Hutus take over and take revenge on the Tutsis. This revenge turned into madness when these Hutus want to eliminate all Tutsis. Mass killings were everywhere and it was horrible and gory.




Paul Rusesabagina (Don), a Hutu, the hotel manager in Hotel Nikulin came into the story when his house was searched by Hutu armies for Tutsi civilians. He has been hiding his neighbors, Hutu and Tutsi alike since the killings began. He was found guilty and the army decided to kill the Tutsi but Paul found a way to bribe them so his Tutsi neighbors were spared. When he got back to the hotel, the Belgian manager decided to leave his job for his safety and he got Paul in-charge. He hid his family and his neighbors at the hotel. However as few days passed, people were coming into the hotel for refuge: orphans, people whose homes are burned. As days grow darker, more killings appear and the worse came when the Rwandan president was murdered. He called for help from the UN for them to be exiled but only the foreign nationals were exiled from Rwanda. In desperate attmept, he contacted his boss in Belgium to find help. He also urged the refugees to call any relative, friend, acquaintance abroad that might help them get out from Rwanda. The war was nearing their hot zone and Paul can no longer bribe the Hutu general for protection cause he lacked resources. Blessing came when a response came to him and those who the people called extended their help. To make the story short, Paul and his family, along with a lucky few people were exiled from Rwanda. It was said that in July 2004, the killings stopped when the Tutsis pacified the Hutus. The war left millions and millions of corpses.

Watching this movie, it made me realize how people would be driven into madness to the extent of no mercy killing everyone, with indivdual hopes and dreams and it also made me realize how a man can realize what he can become when difficult situations arises. Paul was an ordinary man but he stood up and protect his countrymen and he was considered a hero. Sometimes we wish that situations will be just fine cause we are content on what we are but God sharpens us through the fire of trials to be the best we can be.

A Bar of Steel

"I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument" (Isa. 41:15).

A bar of steel worth five dollars, when wrought into horseshoes, is worth ten dollars. If made into needles, it is worth three hundred and fifty dollars; if into penknife blades, it is worth thirty-two thousand dollars; if into springs for watches it is worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What a drilling the poor bar must undergo to be worth this! But the more it is manipulated, the more it is hammered and passed through the fire, and beaten and pounded and polished, the greater the value.

May this parable help us to be silent, still, and longsuffering. Those who suffer most are capable of yielding most; and it is through pain that God is getting the most out of us, for His glory and the blessing of others. --Selected

"Oh, give Thy servant patience to be still,
And bear Thy will;
Courage to venture wholly on the arm
That will not harm;
The wisdom that will never let me stray
Out of my way;
The love that, now afflicting, knoweth best
When I should rest."

Life is very mysterious. Indeed it would be inexplicable unless we believed that God was preparing us for scenes and ministries that lie beyond the veil of sense in the eternal world, where highly-tempered spirits will be required for special service.

"The turning-lathe that has the sharpest knives produces the finest work."

Content from DesertStreams.org

Trusting God

Trusting God is something which goes beyond our feelings. It takes faith to believe that God will do something even if it seems so impossible provided the situation we are into, the feelings we felt, the resources present and others.

Last Sunday morning, I have experienced this in our church. The day before that, Saturday, I went to our church to practice for Praise and Worship the next day. I was the one asked by our pastor to lead. Well, I got there quite late, 30 minutes to be exact and found out, I was the first one to arrive. To make the practice easier when other band mates arrive, I prepared the song line-up for myself, and for my band mates. I even rehearsed the sequence of my songs and was quite ready. Thirty minutes passed and the drummer arrived. We still have to wait for other band mates. It was 9:00 and no one came so I decided to go home and told our drummer to tell our other band mates to come early tomorrow.

Well Sunday morning came, and I was early but no one came. Hours passed and still no one came. I felt pressure forming inside and I was so angry with my bandmates calling them irresponsible. My pastor talked to me about it and he said I could sing few familiar songs so that people can sing without accompaniment. He doesn't understand. I have prepared well, the songs to be sung, they are chosen cause they have soemthing in common. I had adlibs and bible verse quotations and changing the whole thing would mean disaster. I'm not that good in instant performances! I can't think clearly with all these things bugging me so I went inside our church parsonage and prayed. I said,

"Lord God, I don't want something disastrous to happen. If I will change anything, it will be ruined. You know you have called me into this ministry and it's my duty to bless people by singing to You. Lord, make us victorious. We don't want Satan laughing at us."

And by the mention of that phrase, I felt the temper rising from my head and I started practicing my adlibs. My band mates arrived just in time for our Praise and Worship and I can't afford to look at them or even speak to them. If I had, I might've yelled at them. But I felt God is really in control so I went to the stage and do my thing.

What I expected to be a disaster is the best Praise and Worship experience I have in our church. Everything fits perfectly into place: the timing, the right entrance for adlibs. It felt well and people were singing loudly and I felt God's annointing during the experience.

I thanked God and this experience will be one of the most profound things God has done in my life. If you let go and let God take care of everything, all will be perfect. God Bless.

My New Shoes




Thanks Dad!

The Way to Alone


Reminder: If this article doesn’t make sense to you, just keep on reading and somewhere, someday it’ll make you understand.

I don’t know how to start. I have been thinking lately and realized that these past months in my life seemed rather pointless. I wake up thinking doing the same things which I think were worthwhile. I immersed myself in many things, being a busybody, filling every minute, every second of my life with activities. What are the purposes of those activities? Aren’t they suppose to give you purpose and meaning of your existence? I think and pray to God to use me for His work for His greater glory. And I do those things, helping the music team or helping the youth hoping to find a sense of myself to be of worth but I don’t find it in them. The simple things that gave me great fulfillment and great joy do not make any significance to me anymore. I look for more exciting and great things but I know they won’t satisfy me either. I dream for fame, money, a good job but what for? Sometimes I envy other people of having living in the spot light and having lots of people around them. They seem fulfilled and happy with all the money they have. Are they? In reality I do not want that life either. What do I really want? Or What else I must do?

I find myself standing in a busy street called “The Way to the World” with eyes dank and hollow. People pass me like blur and they’re off somewhere: to London to be nurses, to HongKong to be a hotshot IT analyst, to the US for greener fields, to fame, to power. They have no time to think or just smile at people along their way. The “Way to the World” branches into many streets. Some go uphill, some go downhill, some are just plain straight. No one knows where they’re going and no one knows if they would really reach what they think they are destined of.

You’d think I’m insane or depressed or just a dude who doesn’t know what to do. A clueless freak, a busybody who is busy for nothing, maybe that’s who I am. Is it really who I am? Maybe I’m something else, a wisp, a spirit trapped in a man’s body, a deviation of nature, a tiny, insignificant speck inside the eternal and infinite universe (McDonald’s commercial). Or looking in reality: a 24-year old man whose mucus clogs his nose every morning, who likes to listen to Hillsongs every morning, who works out every TTHS, who surfs the internet everyday, who rents lots of CDs to please his eyes and mind, who leads the music worship every Sunday. Do those things define who I am? Are these things the only things to do? “There must be more to life”, as Stacie Oricco sang in her previous album. In a greater sense of reality, what must be done? What must I do?

In this road called Life, a man traveling suddenly stopped and found himself lost. With nothing to hold on to, even the solid space of his reality feels like air. He faces a winding path ahead. And the path is winding and twisting. As the surrounding space or seems like it gradients from light to darkness, the man in his heart feels alone and it feels empty, not happy nor sad, just empty in the presence of the void. How ironic, how could a void have a presence since it was void? Nevertheless, the man alone faces an emptiness called Alone. What is there in that emptiness? Would it be a place of deep despair or insanity? Would you hear the still small voice of God in quietness? Or would it be just a place of emptiness, just nothing. No one knows until you let go and walk into it. Would that man dare to walk into that path? He could go back to his old path till he meets this path again someday. There is no escaping. He has to go to that path. Who knows what he will find in there? He expects to find God. Is God there even in the dreariest, emptiest spot? The man would only know when he gets there. How about you? Would you travel this road and dare to take the chance? It will leave you TRANSFORMED forever if you would. God Bless

You Are Holy


You are holy, holy ...

Lord there is none like You

You are holy, holy...

Glory to You alone

I'll sing Your praises forever

Deeper in love with You

Here in Your courts

Where I'm close to Your throne

I've found where I belong

Memories and Greetings


I don't know myself lately. I've been living everyday with a single purpose to be a blessing to everyone else but I haven't done justice to myself either. I've been feeling bad... all this lose fat craze isn't working cause I've been loading myself with too much carb and fat. Though from time to time I say to myself to be really serious in losing weight but you know, I get so weak seeing the food inside the house or feeling so left behind if I eat less during our weekly eat-all-you-can. Anyway, last Wednesday I went to my hair doctor to consult for my thinning hair. Well, I guess I'm genetically pre-programmed to lose hair when time comes like what happened to my two uncles. (Sigh!) I was prescribed to apply Minoxidil to the thinning spot. Anyway, but I guess having a "Mr Clean" cut would be a very nice option when the time comes I'll lose my crown. There are more things to life than being fat and being bald, right? I'll get through this "Valley of Baca"...



Miming, miming...


Anyway, there are two creatures who made it big in this world recently. Bryan, my brother's friend, actually, a family friend, just passed the LET Board Exams! Hurray for him. Secondly for our cat, who gave birth to three cute litters yesterday. Seeing those kittens breathe life for the first time gave me new hope to live my own life as never experienced before.

Music is in the Soul


Paganini, the great violinist, came out before his audience one day and made the discovery just as they ended their applause that there was something wrong with his violin. He looked at it a second and then saw that it was not his famous and valuable one.

He felt paralyzed for a moment, then turned to his audience and told them there had been some mistake and he did not have his own violin. He stepped back behind the curtain thinking that it was still where he had left it, but discovered that some one had stolen his and left that old second-hand one in its place. He remained back of the curtain a moment, then came out before his audience and said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen: I will show you that the music is not in the instrument, but in the soul." And he played as he had never played before; and out of that second-hand instrument, the music poured forth until the audience was enraptured with enthusiasm and the applause almost lifted the ceiling of the building, because the man had revealed to them that music was not in the machine but in his own soul.

It is your mission, tested and tried one, to walk out on the stage of this world and reveal to all earth and Heaven that the music is not in conditions, not in the things, not in externals, but the music of life is in your own soul.

If peace be in the heart,
The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty,
The midnight flash but shows the path of duty,
Each living creature tells some new and joyous story,
The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory,
If peace be in the heart.
--Charles Francis Richardson

Material from DesertStreams.Org

Buddha in 2046


I just had my driving lessons with Ptr. Banug. This is only my 2nd day in driving but I learned so much. Today, we traveled as far as Buda going in an average of 40 kph. Driving is much better now compared to what I have in driving school 3 years ago. It was fun though my right foot hurts a little hanging while pressing the accelerator. We had a good weather today until we stopped at Calinan to have lunch then we decided to go hippy tripping to Buda. It was okay then until the roads get zigzaggy, uphill and downhill. That's when I decided that we go back to downtown.


2046


Yesterday, I watched 2046. Although I've been told that it's a good movie, I never watched it in the cinema. Many said that 2046 is was year, other versions said it was a room, others said it was a place. All of them are partially correct. 2046, is a year in the distant future, a place where everyone wants to go. Why would everyone wants to go there? It is said that people go there to recapture lost memories and when they get there they would never come back. Only one person decided to go back, his name is Mr. Chow (Tony Leung) and the story revolves around him. 2046 is an alter version somehow of Mr. Chow's life. He wrote the story, with people going to 2046 riding in a mysterious train, whose cabin attendants are androids. He thought he was writing about the future, in fact he writes about his past. As a writer in HongKong in the 60's, Mr. Chow goes back to HongKong to forget about his sad recent affair with Shu Lizhen (Maggie Cheung). While in HongKong, he met several women of his past, including a showgirl whose boyfriend stabbed her in room 2046 of her hotel and a paid girl (Zhang Ziyi), who later occupied that room, and his landlord's daughter. Wishing that he could recapture the happy moments with these women, he just can't. Many have been hurt, may have been involved, many were manipulated and bringing them back isn't worth it. Just to cherish one happy moment and live it just for a moment, he just can't. These women too, longed for those moments with him, but they just can't. And so they lived their lives in 2046, in wishful dreaming, that somehow, somewhere in their lives, they have been happy just to forget the loneliness they have in the present. And these charcaters appeared in Mr. Chow's novel, 2046 with the exactness of purpose and of mind. But Mr. Chow decides to leave 2046 because he knows there's nothing in the past worth living in the present.

Plain Things


What is really happening to Andy's day-to-day life? As you see, aside from thinking too much about love, life, the nature of evil and other mysteries, I'm just a plain bloke roaming around the city in my polo and maong short pants, surfing the internet, responding to friends in e-groups, looking out for friendster updates, applying at jobstreet, watch movies, shoot the ball... or just think for a while hoping to gain inspiration for a new song or what I will create in Photoshop.




Corinthian's Circuit activity - smile daw si Lorelove o!

What has been the most significant in my almost 2-month jobless situation here in Davao is my involvement with the church. I have been leading the praise and worship for several Sundays now and it has been the most wonderful and fulfilling project I have done. Maybe, this has been the very very "gift" God must have given me. So to improve my, uh, praise and worship leading skills, during my free time (which is almost all the time) I watch videos of Hillsongs or Don Moen and observe their ways how they lead people in worship. I'm very busy in my career these days! I'm starting to "accidentally" been helping the youth group in church to start "once again. We just came from a circuit fellowship (it was last Sunday) that we had a meeting on what the officers will do regarding youth activities. We came with an information sheet to gather information quantitatively and from it, the officers will plan in forming activities based on that information sheet.

Well, I guess that's all. Tomorrow I'll be having a refresher course in driving.

My Greatest Love Is You

My heart is filled singing this song:

Every new day

Your glory unfolds

Filling my eyes

With Your treasures untold

The beauty of holiness

Brings worship anew

My greatest love is You


Call me deeper

Into Your grace

The river that flows

From the Holy Place

Wash over me

Cleansing me through

My greatest love is You

Befriend a Lone Soul


As I opened my eyes this morning, I felt a heavy feeling inside my heart. I felt lonely and it seems tiring even to think what I will do today. The enemy has been targeting my heart everyday, every morning as I wake up with feelings of hopelessness and loneliness. As I was writing this entry, I still feel quite empty but thanks to the word of God that greeted me as I read my Daily Bread. For many nights before going to sleep, I always pray to God to give me some friends. I have been struggling greatly, personally without any physical friends – just some soul where I can freely relate. Everyday, I loiter around the city alone, entertaining myself by watching movies, listening to Christian music or surfing the internet, watching people pass by with their peers, their spouses, parents and children or close friends. I felt envious and lonely at the thought. Sometimes, I do wish that my Manila friends were only here or somehow I do wish that I can go back and spend with my friends there in Manila. Sometimes I wonder why God let me be in this place where He wants me to suffer internally. But He has His reasons.

Anyway, I don’t want you to finish reading feeling bombarded with my loneliness. Today’s word in Daily Bread entitled, “How To Be A Friend” and I smiled after reading this. The text was found in Proverbs 18:24,

”A man who has friends must himself be friendly”.

Many people outside need friends too… and it brought me to my self-centeredness. Though I, as most of us are, have some needs to be cherished by a friend but when we are so absorbed with this thought, we tend to focus only to ourselves instead of extending ourselves and befriend people especially strangers. Yeah, why I haven’t thought of that? But then I ask God, “Lord, I am not friendly. I’m shy and find myself tongue-tied talking with people let alone a stranger.” These people feel like us too, Dave Branon continues to say, “These people may not think they fit in, or they may be facing turmoil that makes them feel all alone.” Yeah, we feel that way too, right? "Sometimes all we need to do is extend a hand, offer a smile, or speak a word of encouragement." Again we ask, how can I offer a smile or speak a word of encouragement if I, myself need these things too. That’s when we ask God to give us these needs. Trust Him that He will fill these needs and make our hearts overflowing with joy drowning the loneliness within. Pray, that you can bless other people to by being friends with them. How could I forget? Just last Sunday, I dedicated myself to God to be a blessing unto others. I am overflowing with blessings and I got to give it away! God, it is our prayer to make us a blessing unto people who need Your love that they themselves be blessed.

I Am Blessed


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Seabiscuit and The Rookie


I was thinking of making a more appropriate title for this entry but I couldn't think one so I titled this entry about the what today's article is all about - two movies I've recently watched and left me never the same after I watched these two films - Seabiscuit and The Rookie.

Seabiscuit, a heart warming story set during America's Great Depression. The movie starts with the individual lives of 4 characters... Jeff Bridges who played a role of a car inventor, who made millions because of this, whose son died from an accident from a car he himself built; Chris Cooper who played the role of a white-washed, horse whisperer, a cowboy who had his time; Tobey Maguire as Red, a homeless jockey, whose parents had given him away cause they can't afford to raise him anymore and Seabiscuit, a small horse who everyone thinks is stubborn and a weakling. These four distinct beings met given the circumstance where horse racing is the "in" thing during the Great Depression. It's marvelous how the qualities - both good and bad intertwined and changed themselves to better beings. Jeff Bridges financed Seabiscuit's training hiring Chris Cooper to do the job cause he's the best horse whisperer around. Chris Cooper saw Tobey Maguire's amazing affinity with horses. Seabiscuit, though small, can fly high cause he's got a jockey that loves him. Watching this movie, I realized that our pasts don't define us on what we want to be. I believe that God has given us a choice to live our lives to change into better people, serving for the common good.

This morning, I watched The Rookie starring Dennis Quaid whose dreams of becoming a professional baseball player are thwarted when he was young. Moving constantly from place to place and his father's discouragement made him lose hope and live as he thought to live. Now he is a grown up man teaching science and coaching the school's baseball team. He helped them win but he felt a pressing need to fulfill his dreams of being a baseball pitcher. His throwing speed of 98 mi/h can get him to the major league but he had inner demons to fight with. So he worked it through and made it up to the major league despite his age. What God has planted in your heart will never be taken away. Discouragements may be hurled at you even from your own family but trust God cause it is from Him these dreams originate.

Love Actually


Again, I was at home waiting for something wonderful, or a miracle to come, to get me off my seat and wander fly away... I have daydreamed about those moments, thinking that if the circumstances are right or if I have the power I would... but God has it and all I can say is to say, "Yes sir!" to Him.



The Eye of God nebula: One of this universe's
amazing sights and God created it!



Anyway, I have been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of movies. I recently read Bo Sanchez's "Thank God He's The Boss"...I can't help to laugh at this man's humor (especially when it comes about himself) but in the end of those short articles of his, it left me pondering of God's goodness, corrections, leadings in our lives and on the many instances that He never left us or abandoned us. Last morning, my bro and I went to Video City to rent some CDs and one of them was Dodgeball. When we watched it, Grabe, it's so funny. I recommend you watch it. Ben Stiller is really a genius with these kind of slapsticky movies. A while ago, I watched again, "Love Actually"... one of my favorite movies and I realized again how amazing what loves does. To those of you who watched it... you may sigh that Laura Linney cancelled her physical love affair with Carl to attend to her sick, mentally-deranged brother. I mean, what love does are not all wonderful experiences. Sacrifice is painful but if it's good in the long run... hmmm. I'm kind of relating my personal experiences in here. Anyway, I'm off again, applying for new jobs in the internet, waiting and praying... but I'd like to learn to play keyboards at the moment.

Blessings from the Past


I woke up, early in the morning. It was 6:30 AM and I felt extremely lonely. For these past days, I was feeling very low: with no person to talk to, no other soul who can seem to help with my concerns. Everyday, I am facing another day with nothing to look forward. God must have neglected me or He must’ve refused to hear my prayers… but then again I tanked God for giving me another day to live, another day to experience His goodness, another day to experience Him in unexpected and profound ways.

I was in the downtown yesterday, chatting, finding comfort from strangers online. When I logged out, feeling so empty, I cried out to God why would He let me feel as lonely as this? I felt useless and unimportant, not worth the attention or object of interest. I was thinking… my face would look blank from the outside … and I got home. After I changed into my house clothes, the drawer in our room caught my attention. I opened it and as expected it contained the same usual stuff I kept years ago: old sketches, beadle slips, stickers, my brother’s comic books and …

At the bottom part of the drawer contained envelopes … letters from friends from high school and college. I carefully leafed every piece of paper it contained. As I was reading the series of letters from Ate Patche, I can’t help but to feel nostalgic: our sharings during our early years in college, our adjustment from high school to college, the new friends, the new culture, the loneliness of being far away from home. I came across a very small card from my lady classmates who gave it to me on the day of high school graduation. They are notes of appreciation, telling me how I was to them – for being there when they needed help especially with difficult subjects like Mathematics, for being a Sailormoon fanatic (I thought I had been a freak obsessively patronizing that animé.) and for being a guy who’s entirely different from other guys and because of that they like me. As I leaf from page to page, I came across with certain memorabilia from the closest lady friend I have, Mayang. I gazed at the antique, 1 peso coin and her Science club ID she gave many years ago and I was really delighted at her thoughtfulness. I carefully read her small letters which contained comic messages and the poems she made for me, telling me how special I was to her. I even had the lyrics of the song she composed for our friend Mae. It was the song we sang during Mae’s debut. Along with these letters are many notes from other people whom I haven’t had the slightest idea that I (somehow) mean to them.

After reading these letters, I realized that I’m not useless, that I made sense in other lives as well. I praise God for ministering to me through these letters and because of that I’m very sure that God has always thought of me. Though my heart has longed for a specific way to redeem itself, God revealed other ways for my heart’s need to be fulfilled the same. During those times, I received those letters, I might have not appreciated them fully but God knows He will use it for me now. Thank you God for making me how special I am to you. Continue to make me a blessing unto others.