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Sunday, July 31, 2005




Treat Yourself With Kindness



I never expected times like these will come. Times when you feel lost and confused and nobody seems to care. It would be easy to succumb on those feelings and curl on your bed feeling sorry for yourself, blaming yourself for the sad story you yourself have created, blaming others for sometimes treating you with unfairly... and before you know it you're so focused with yourself and all that matters is just ME...

Treat yourself with kindness: I have often heard in TV shows. I guess now it meant treating yourself with worth and not reducing yourself into something God haven't intended for you to be - a totally insignificant individual whose contribution in this world is negligible. Life couldn't be that bad. You have a place in this world. I have a place in this world. I may not have anything worth of high praise but it doesn't mean I'm worth nothing. I have treated myself with no dignity on the identity God gave me... It would be an insult to your maker. It doesn't require an extensive "Why-Know-Why" analysis to things beyond your control. Ask God to give His grace that you may love yourself just as He loves you. God Bless.

Saturday, July 16, 2005




Another Weekend



My friend Ryan and I met today at their office near Siena College in QC. This guy is currently into robots. That's his business nowadays and he's hoping they could distribute these robots in schools for educational purposes and of course for entertainment. When I got into their office, Choes showed me the robots he assembled. He even let me see how some of those work. This picture I have below plays golf. Depending on where you place your hand near which sensor attached to, the range of its swing varies. Pretty cool, huh! I do really pray, my friend can make it big. He will be going to Singapore this Aug 22 to take a qualification exam regarding operatorship with these robots.


Chua


By 12, we left the office and we walked a few distance to Banaue street. Ryan will be treating me to a mini "shabu-shabu"... Is it about drugs? No! Basing on what I've heard it's a restaurant where you cook yourself the food you will eat. Interesting! Well, when we got there, the waiter ushered us to the table with a hole at the middle. Under the hole is a heater where you will put the "kaldero" with the broth in it. The waiter placed a plate with an assortment of vegetables like cabbage, carrots, mushrooms, "gabi", corn, meat like crab meat, fish balls, sotanghon, noodles, tofu and some chopped onion leaves, garlic and chilli. We ordered fat beef as our main meat. We started to "experiment" how to cook, bringing the broth into simmer then putting the chopped ones. Next we put the beef, then the vegetables... I'm really wondering how'd it turn. I had fun stirring so far. Then lastly we put the noodles and finished with an egg. Finally we had a "Fat Beef Shabu-Shabu"... We tasted, boy! It tastes terrific! It was so delicious and the vegetable were cooked just right!

Wednesday, July 13, 2005




Worship is ... A Lifestyle



When I first joined the weekly Bible study meetings with TI employees at Sir John's house in Loakan, Kuya Mike gave me a compilation of praise and worship songs. As I was listening, most of the songs are sung by one artists - though there are Hillsongs UK and Don Moen, most of the songs are sung a buy a group of guys with voices-you-want-to-have. I do my research and asked Kuya Mike who those artists are and I've learned they are "The Katinas" and the songs are taken from their live worship album, "Lifestyle". Last Monday, I went to House and Praise to buy a copy (discounted!) and I'm so ... what can I say? So blessed with the passion these brothers have for singing songs to God. In the album, most of the songs they sing are popularized by several Christian artists like Don Moen, Reuben Morgan, etc.

The Katinas
The Katinas


At the end of the album, one of the brothers made a short exhortation about what praise and worship really is. It is not singing songs to God. It is a daily walk with God, in what we do, with what we watch, with what we think about. It is a lifestyle. Sometimes we Christians are only 'Sunday Christians'. During the rest of the week, we go back to the ways of the world. It is a challenge to us Christians to pray and ask for God's grace to be able to walk in His ways every step of the way.

Visit "The Katinas" website: www.thekatinas.com

Sunday, July 03, 2005




Warning: No Fretting!



This is the title of the sermon by life coach Alice Villareal at Soul XP. At first, sister Alice introed her sermon with our current life situation. When we go the mall, we get to see magazines luring us that we should feel good about ourselves by how we look, by what we have and by being with the people we want to be with. There so many things that we have to do to attain all these things and in frustration, we fret. For one thing, I'm so guilty about this, I've been trying to get myself into shape to attract people I want to be with. To get myself into a ridiculosly metrosexual man I want to be. That was it used to be and when I look back I think is this what matters most in my life? In this course of life, I've learned that to feel good about yourself is communicating with people - to enjoy the fellowship of one another and to know each other - the strength and the weaknesses, that we may help each other as we go in our faith in Jesus Christ. Let me share the key verse we have found in Matthew 6:25-32

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life[b]?

28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.


Sister Alice, being a member of an "Astronomical Club" share this fascinating fact about our own planet. She said that according to scientists, for a planet to support life everything just have to be right. Take for example, the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees from the vertical axis. If it goes higher or lower, life would be impossible in Earth. How would this thing happen? One of the factors is our satellite, the Moon. If the moon were smaller or if we have two smaller moons like Mars has, the earth would tilt 30 to 60 degrees from the vertical axis. If this happens, during summer, the northern hemisphere will suffer 6 months of scorching heat and south pole will be below zero for 6 months. It would be like 12 o clock noon for six months and there will terrible rainstorms and hurricanes due to the uneven heat between north and south poles. Another example would be that if a planet to be able to support life, it has to be 90 to 100 million miles away from it's star. Guess what? Earth is 93 million miles away from the Sun. What is amazing is that of all the planets and stars in this wide whole infinite universe only the solar system had the right ingredients to support life. As I was thinking of all these things, I'm so amazed. There must be a creator who planned all of this, who takes note of the nitty-gritty details of even the simplest things. God makes sure that our planet is in balance. Why fret? God provides Sun to enjoy it's light during the day. Why fret? God provides layers of atmosphere to protect us from harmful UV rays. Why fret? God protected us from meteorites outside the solar system by having Jupiter (FYI, Jupiter is a planet with high gravitational pull, it sucks away other foreign bodies. Think of it as a vacuum cleaner) Why fret?

We are so absorbed with ourselves, of amassing things which we think will make us happy. When will I get the job that will pay me 30T pesos a month? When can I work abroad to earn dollars? When can I buy a new house and lot? When can I buy a Porsche? When will I lose weight? When I look like Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes (:)? We are so absorbed, distracted and worried with material and fleshy things that we forgot to praise and thank God for all the simplest things He has done like protection from harm, like the air we breathe. Jesus said in v.33, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.". I guess what is important of all is seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. It is communing with fellow believers, immersing in God's ministries, to reach out to the broken and pray for lost souls. He continued, "and all these things will be added unto you." God makes us content with the very fruit of His Holy Spirit that material things don't really matter that much. They are there but they would be sufficient enough for your needs. So don't worry if you will lose a job next month or if you are uncertain of your future. God will provide your needs just as he feeds the birds of the air. Why fret? God bless you all!