I know this place has been un-updated for the longest time…apologies for that. We’re cooking up something new for this website, so wait for it. In the meantime, here’s something I posted in Refine Me which is appropriate here. :)

“That’s what the right person does. But they don’t create it. Only the Creator can create…You’ve got to deal with your heart. Because until you can be trusted with your own heart, you can’t be trusted with someone else’s.”
- Savannah Philips, to her best friend Paige Long, Savannah by the Sea, p.300

The past couple of days, a friend and I have been talking about something we have stopped talking about for a while now: our love lives. Or lack thereof. :P Note that we stopped talking about it. Sure, we teased each other about it, but it has been a long time since we talked about it in a serious sense.

Let me give you a background of our little group. Out of the four of us, only one of us is currently in a relationship. One is still not allowed to have a relationship, while two of us are already “legal” but alas, we’re still NBSB (No Boyfriend Since Birth). And there’s still no one in sight who will take that status away.

I’m not complaining about that, really. Ever since I graduated, I more or less decided that I’m not ready for any relationship yet. I feel and know that I still have a lot of growing up to do before I can get into one. Of course, I want whoever that is to be the one I’m going to end up with forever, right? So I know I gotta be prepared for this, mehn. Like know how to cook a complete meal, clean the house from top to bottom, travel, travel, travel and all that.

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Technorati Tags: love, faith, growing up, Savannah By The Sea, Denise Hildreth, Didache, relationships, singlehood, crushes

This video is posted by a college batchmate in Multiply. This is one of my favorite songs, and although this video is not the official video, it’s very fitting. Enjoy!

Technorati Tags: if you want me to, ginny owens, video

Hello, it’s been a while. :)

Here’s something I learned last Saturday at the SFC Metro Manila Leader’s Assembly (MMLA). The theme of our community for this year is “My portion is in the Lord, says my soul; therefore I will hope in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24) and everyone’s been talking about this ever since some big things happened in our community. Kuya Cocoi was the worship leader last Saturday, and in the middle of the worship, he talked about the book of Lamentations. Lamentations is a book in the Bible full of just that: lamentations. It’s a long list of complaints that the Israelites (God’s chosen people) to God. Inside this book, Kuya Cocoi gave a list of seven people of Lamentations, and they are:

The Seven People of Lamentations ¹
(From SFC MMLA, 5/19/2007)

1. The Guiltless One
   - those who feel no need to repent
2. The Stiff-Necked One
   - those who persist in their infidelity/sinfulness
   - they think that their sin is not that serious and fail to think that any sin, no matter how small, blocks God
3. The Impatient One
   - they repent, but they do not pause to learn the lessons God wants to teach
4. The Shallow One
   - takes repentance forgranted, keeps on repeating the same sin, undermining repentance
5. The Comfortable One
   - no problem with obeying God, but cannot appreciate the need to be purified by fire through trials and even persecution
   - to lament is to have a posture where we reflect on the purpose of God.
6. The Clueless One
   - those who do not understand the concept of command responsibility for collective guilt
   - we are one body in Christ, we are a part of one community and we should not be apathetic.
7. The One of the Other Side
   - the attackers

What’s even more interesting about this is that even if it classifies the Israelites of the early time, this could very well fit these times. Each of us could be one or two of them. Sometimes we even shift from one kind of person to another.

Who are you among the seven people of Lamentations?

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Technorati Tags: faith, growing up, disappointments, Lamentations, SFC MMLA, SFC, disappointment

Do you seek great things for yourself?
- Jeremiah 45:5

Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person? God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him. Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental. There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.

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Technorati Tags: My Utmost For His Highest, Devotional, great things, faith, God, reading, wants, needs, asking

* This entry is crossposted from RefineMe.org.

Back when I was serving in YFC High School Based, our program head, Kuya Noli, told us the story of why YFC HS Based is very important. Kuya Noli often related to us the story of the Columbine High School Shooting, where after the event, a dad of one of the victims was present at some sort of conference about it discussing why it happened, and he spoke up: Because God has been taken out of the schools.

Hearing about the Virginia Tech Massacre reminded me of Columbine, and reading about what happened, seeing news about it brings tears to my eyes. There are many possible reasons why this happened; people could debate over the killer’s background, his attitudes and whatnot, but I think — and I know some of you might not agree with me — that the reason this happened is a God thing. Or lack of it. Not that God wasn’t there or He let this happen because He wasn’t looking or because He wants to punish people because no one is noticing Him, so He took the side of the killer in this event…rather, it was the lack of actually living out God’s love.

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Technorati Tags: Virginia Tech Massacre, Columbine School Massacre, school shooting, YFC High School Based, YFC, God, Joan of Arcadia, observation, light, why, One Day Blog Silence, www.onedayblogsilence.com, prayer, The Centuri0n, Just Like Me, killing, friend, reach out, love, faith

Just as gold is being purified in fire to separate the impurities, we are also purified in fire to burn away our sins. These are the times when God really tests your faith. He will ask for much from you – your time, talents, and treasures. At times when He wills it, He will ask for all of it at the same time. You might say, “It is unlawful, inhuman! This is too much for me, too hard even think about.” But despite of all these grumblings, God will continue to open the invitation for you to sacrifice it. Later on, you’ll realize that by sacrificing what God asked for, you are also purifying and making yourself pleasing to God.

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Technorati Tags: faith, fire escape, God, refining, purifying

Matt Redman (composer of Heart of Worship, Blessed Be Your Name) and Louie Giglio (Founder of Passion Conference) live in Manila, May 12, 2007, 8:00pm at the PICC Forum. For admission information, text 09209453779 or call 9516423 or call Praise Inc at 920-5921 (local 230).

This event is brought to us by True Love Waits Philippines. Much thanks to Derek and Kai for emailing the poster. :)

See you guys there! =)

Technorati Tags: Matt Redman, Louie Giglio, Heart of Worship, Passion Conference, PICC, Manila, May 12, 2007, Praise Inc, True Love Waits Philippines, wagmuna.com, worship, events

Early in the morning on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, “They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.”

Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb. They ran, neck and neck. The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter. Stooping to look in, he saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there, but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself. Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed. No one yet knew from the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead. The disciples then went back home.

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Technorati Tags: Easter Sunday, Bible, Gospel, John 20:1-30, resurrection, Jesus

When people pass away, one of the first things we ask is how old the person is. If the person is old, say around seventy and above, we would say that he/she is old enough…but if it’s any younger, we would shake our heads in regret, sigh and say, “He/she died young.”

He was sent away to draw His final breath when He was only thirty-three.¹

Imagine dying at that age. Thirty-three. Not even hitting the age of forty, where life supposedly begins. Not even hitting mid-age. Dying at that age would certainly guarantee a sigh from all of us.

But not for this guy.

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Technorati Tags: Lent, Good Friday, Jesus, death, cross, sacrifice, God, faith

As they led him off, they made Simon, a man from Cyrene who happened to be coming in from the countryside, carry the cross behind Jesus. A huge crowd of people followed, along with women weeping and carrying on. At one point Jesus turned to the women and said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children. The time is coming when they’ll say, ‘Lucky the women who never conceived! Lucky the wombs that never gave birth! Lucky the breasts that never gave milk!’ Then they’ll start calling to the mountains, ‘Fall down on us!’ calling to the hills, ‘Cover us up!’ If people do these things to a live, green tree, can you imagine what they’ll do with deadwood?”

Two others, both criminals, were taken along with him for execution.

When they got to the place called Skull Hill, they crucified him, along with the criminals, one on his right, the other on his left.

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Technorati Tags: Lent, Jesus, crucifixion, death, soldiers, burial, Mary, thieves, forgiveness, salvation, Good Friday, King Of The Jews, Luke 23:26-56, Bible