Don't be so sure..

(I decided not to write the verse because I find it too personal. hehe)


Not because I've been told of something, that will be held true forever..

Not because I've conquered it thrice, I'll no longer experience the same in the future..

And not because I've been so strong, I won't get weak..


Hmmm...



                                    Don't be so proud..
                                    Stay on the ground..



                                    BE ON GUARD!







Don't be so sure..

                                                                      ..unless God says it is.

What's the root word of APPLICATION?

"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." -John 5:39-40

Do you see the difference?
Of course, they're incomparable! It's very obvious..

But do you know they have similarities?

Hmm..
Of course they're books.
Books containing procedures..
guidelines..
ingredients and measurements in different perspective..

Both are written for a purpose..
To instruct..
To guide..
To make us improve..
And to help us see results!

But sometimes, both are hard to follow.
It requires careful understanding of what's written in order to achieve the best result possible.
Sometimes.. patience is needed.

But what really is it that makes the two very similar?

As for me.. it is APPLICATION.

Cookbooks are designed to teach us how to cook a certain or several course/s but they're useless without application, right? So is the bible! A number of people who experienced the greatness of God worked up a sweat just to make that possible! See?! They're not written for reading alone! They're designed to see differences among us after having them bought!

YES, it's good to study the scriptures but studying alone won't help us grow.
YES, people are amazed seeing us reading it but that alone couldn't really convince them to follow Jesus.

What's the root word of application?
APPLY!

Yes, applying what we have studied is far better than studying the scriptures alone and seeing the differences in our lives is the most convincing strategy of winning people back to God. What is WORD without ACTION, anyway?

Hmm.. Perhaps, I should start getting more serious in writing my personal application in my devotional notebook! I hope you, too! God bless us! :)

Won't give up on you baby..

"He will spend his days in prosperity,
and his descendants will inherit the land." -Psalm 25:13

"But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded." -2 Chronicles 15:7

They said, "If you've tried a lot of times and failed, the only thing that could make it worse is when you give up.."

So I made up my mind..

I won't give up on you no matter how painful it is receiving not a single text from you.

I won't give up on you no matter how disturbing it is to think that you show up only when you want to.

I won't give up on you no matter how hard it is to see you acting weird before the world recently.

I won't give up on you because I know you'll remember me, too.

I won't give up on you because I know you'll find that desire to go, too.

I won't give up on you because SOMEONE didn't give up on me, too.

I won't give up on you baby, babies, naks.. I miss you soooo. Please come back. I love you.. :'(

Miss ko na to. :(

Clothing Budget..

"I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high." -Luke 24:49

How long will I stay?

..and how much will it cost me before I'll have that cloth?

Hmmm..

Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?"
"Nothing," they answered. -Luke 22:35

It pisses me off when I couldn't bring all I want to bring, due to several different reasons, whenever I travel. While packing my things up, I always hear this line from my Mom, "JUST BRING WHAT YOU NEED." Stubborn as I was, I always consider the line as just my Mom's way of dealing with my being brat. I didn't see the value of the statement. Never did it sink in.. NOT until now..

This verse speaks of leaving your excess baggages behind. Hmmm. Mother knows better (for God knows best. hehe). Bitaw noh?! Why do I have to bring along with me the things I don't need (as of the moment) when I easily get tired? Why do I have to take care of things that are not of my power to take care of? And why am I trying so hard to carry everything at once when I can always go back and take things one at a time? (Just like moving to another place)

This reminds me of Dora. Dora the Explorer. That little scrub-like-haired little girl who loves to sing. She travels with only a small back pack but she has all she needs in her journey. And (because she knows she's still young) she consults her map, too!

Traveling like Dora.. Hmm.. Perhaps, that's what I should do. I'll just bring with me what I need in my journey and I'll do the consultations, too! With this, I'll have more room for new things, more room for improvements, more strength to continue the explorations and the race and higher probability of arriving at my destination safe and blissful! Wee! :)

Walking after you..

"As for you, if you walk before me as David your father did, and do all I command, and observe my decrees and laws, I will establish your royal throne, as I covenanted with David your father when I said, 'You shall never fail to have a man to rule over Israel. But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples.” -2 Chronicles 7:17-20

For a long time, I've been wondering how you managed to wait patiently. Despite how right everything seems to be in the eyes of people around you, you did not give in.

.

I admire your obedience before God. It amazes me how you respond to the teases thrown on you. Hmmm. I just love your way of making the song 'While I'm waiting' real.

.

How I long to have such bravery.. such patience.. such obedience..

.

And though it scares me thinking I'll reach the same age before God will approve, I wanna be like you... as brave, as patient and as obedient as you. For I know, walking after you is what God wants me to do.

.

I wanna walk after you...

.

I wanna walk after you... so that when time comes, my descendants will walk after me, too.

.

I'll love walking after you..

Taking the risk.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." -Matthew 7:13

Our common mistake: Choosing what seems easy, bearable.. Human as we are, we prefer to do lighter things but we aspire heavier/bigger returns. Many stumble because of taking the easy route. We used to think that when we take the easier way, we're gonna have or find what we seek for earlier than the expected time but in doing this we're ignoring the fact that if we have taken the wrong way we're too close to danger.

So why wait for that situation to come when, from the start, you have the option to choose the harder way (but, you know, is the best way to take)? It's just up to you to endure all that you'll be going through so you could reach your perfect destination. After all, everything hard-while is worthwhile!

Hmmm. Just sharing one of God's messages for me yesterday. Wee! :)

Good night everyone! :)

Agi lang..

Dear blog,

Hmm. Hello. It's been a long time. Sorry if I haven't visited you for a while. I've been veeeeeeeery busy. You know (pina-Manny).. I've been dealing with so many problems. I haven't told you I failed ,right? Well, now you know. *sigh* I wouldn't graduate next sem. Tsk3. It was hard to accept. In fact, I was very upset. I have so many expectations to meet and I won't be able to meet them in the expected time. I haven't told my parents about it yet. Honestly, I don't know how to tell them. It's hard when you know that your parents already prepared pigs and all sort for your graduation. How about that?! haha. I can only imagine the frustration in their eyes. I know they've been waiting for that event to happen. Ako nlang man gud ang ginagastusan. Human na unta sila sa gastos next sem. Haaaaayyy.. :(

But I'm a lot better now. Don't worry, my dear. God gave me revelations early last week. Ang baboy nlang jud ang problema. Waaa.

Anyway, let's proceed to the next update. hehe.

Hmmm. You know what.. I graduated in SOL2 last Sunday! Wee! It was a very stressful day but I had FUN! I was very happy! I've reached this far. Hmmm. Another good reason why I couldn't afford to stop. Wee! I love God! I love the vision! I love to love others! :)

CONFIDENCE. COURAGE. COMPELLING POWER.

A Book Review on

Anagkazo

Written by

Dag Heward-Mills

In partial fulfillment of the requirements in School of Leaders 2

Anagkazo

Compelling Power!

Confidence. Courage. Compelling power. How confident are you as an agent of change? Have you proven yourself about your bravery? If yes, then are you bold enough to compel for our Lord Jesus Christ?

People today are usually very CONFIDENT in other aspects or areas of life. Sometimes, we tend to be more confident in promoting things that bring people no good than spreading the good news. I can’t believe that for centuries people have chosen self-destruction over the promise of salvation. We opt to settle for less and temporary when we’re (somewhat) aware that there’s best and permanent.

In the first chapter of this book, i.e. What is Anagkazo?, Dag Heward-Mills explicitly discussed the things that usually happen in the world today, all based on his own experience. I, too, have experienced the same. Worse, have done some of it.

Alcohol. Who’s going to agree with me if I say “Alcohol is beneficial”? Who likes to watch advertisements about alcohol and related stuff, featuring (of course) the most prominent people in different countries? Who admires those stars as they promote one or some of the biggest tools for self-destruction? If you say yes to all of these (or even in just one) questions, then you need to evaluate yourself. I won’t consider “for the sake of socialization” and “to forget problems” as beneficial. They could never outweigh the damage alcohol has ever done in its existence. As Mills enumerated, alcohol has broken more homes, destroyed more marriages, caused more car accidents and started more wars and fights than anything else in this world. Yet, people forcibly advertise it. It’s so sad to think that people tend to be more confident and more forceful in promoting things such as that than evangelism.

Muslims. I admit, like Mills, I am also amazed to see Muslims fighting for their faith to the point of ignoring death. That’s how devoted they are to their Allah. And sometimes, though it’s not right, it’s very tempting to get jealous over them in winning people for their faith. That’s why it is no longer surprising to see their religion spread like butter in a hot pan. If we, Christians branded as agents of change and people who promised to be with Christ in winning souls, are as devoted as them in fighting for our faith and fulfilling our purpose, I think we could bring Durian Hotel back to operation for our daily Youth Reload and Sunday service.

The Kissing Students. Ouch! The title’s a big slap on my face. How much more the five short paragraphs under it. Even if going back to yesterday’s not right, I have to admit I have done such brazenness several times in my past. I can imagine the mouth of the book talking to me and its fingers pointing towards my direction. I WAS INDEED SHAMELESS. I was shameless in indulging myself to worldly pleasures. I was shameless for the wrong reason. And for that, I have no right to entertain shame in preaching the Gospel!

Furthermore, people tend to enjoyably discuss perversion and malpractices. With great confidence, they can speak of these things in front of so many listeners ignoring the fact (in which they’re aware of) that what they’re doing’s not right. Yet, we Christians are so quiet when it comes to speaking God’s Word? What are we waiting for? Where did we place our confidence? When are we going to practice Anaideia (i.e. shamelessness)? Perhaps, we need to be COURAGEOUS.

The second chapter of the book talks about the ways to practice Anagkazo, which simply means “to compel”. In this chapter, Mills explained how important Anagkazo is as revelation. He said there that Anagkazo is important because a certain type of evangelism is not going to work in this day and age. This means, we have to go out and drive people closer to God, not to stick into the traditional way of inviting people to church and bore them with with the “not-so-fun” games. Second, Anagkazo is important because many of the people that need the Gospel are not in places where they can receive bourgeoisie invitation cards. It still talks about coming up a new strategy in winning people. He said there that sitting in church and inviting people has long been unworkable strategy for evangelism and he is, of course, right about that. Why? Because, in the first place, who’s lost? Is it really the job of the lost to find their way back? Or it should be of those who are aware that they’ve been missing? Come on.. Let’s think of that! Thirdly, without Anagkazo, many churches will die a natural death or will be going to be empty. Lastly, with Anagkazo, one will be able to overcome excuses.

Written in this chapter, also, are the 10 practical steps of Anagkazo. These are the following steps:

1. An Anagkazo Man Prepares a Great Supper

Ø Preparing now for the bigger things tomorrow. Take every opportunity and believe that something great will be happen to you someday. Now, is the time to prepare. You do not know when will God grant your heart’s desires. Do not wait for that something to happen. Chances are, because you’re not prepared, you’ll not be able to handle those things or you will be tired of waiting.

2. A Person who practices Anagkazo does not keep to himself but influences and affects many people

Ø Be visible. A true Christian should be seen even in every little thing s/he does. Influence others! Affect others, positively! Bring changes to their lives and with that, you will attract trackers of the wrong trail.

3. Anyone practicing Anagkazo is not prepared to cancel his service

Ø This step talks about being persistent in sharing the Word no matter what situation you’re going through, not to be discouraged even in the midst of adversities.

4. An Anagkazo Person is not prepared to have an empty meeting

Ø Instead of keeping yourself busy of feeling so low because of the low attendance of your cell group, do something to increase the number! Evangelize! J

5. He is not overcome by people’s excuses

Ø I want to borrow his lines, “Any good minister, who wants to reach people, must not be overwhelmed by people’s excuses. He must learn to overcome people’s excuses.” How about that? Haha. M-A-R-V-E-L-L-O-U-S.

6. Know that many excuses are empty

Ø I just love how he responded to the excuses of the successful business man, “You are a successful businessman. Everything you want to do, you do. You travel. You get up early on weekdays. You even have time to visit your girlfriend who lives a few hundred kilometres away. How come you have no time for God? If you really want to do something you can do it.” Hah! What more can I say? He’s indeed an Anagkazo person!

7. He knows that many excuses are lies

8. He makes a way and does not give an excuse

Ø It’s learning to make a way where there’s no way.

9. He goes out of his normal circles of life

Ø Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. Specifically, changing our old lifestyle or forgetting our old way of living. Choosing the right people to mingle with and trying new adventures in serving the Lord.

10. The Anagkazo man is not satisfied as long as there is still room

Ø There’s always room for improvement. There’s still a big room for souls. As long as there are existing people who do not believe in Christ then we must not be satisfied. We should aim for greater things. We must not be contented with just finding a twelve but multitudes.. and multitudes from them.. until everyone has received Jesus Christ!

The last chapter of the book is Practicing Anaideia and Biazo. This chapter talks about how to get rid of fear and shame, strategies on how to preach the gospel and how to be confident no matter what situation may come along the way as you preach. This chapter is more of a summary of the book. The author has presented his ideas in a very understandable and influential way. Thus, as a conclusion, it is really important to practice the three main ideas discussed in this book, the Anagkazo, Anaiadeia and Biazo. So how am I going to apply these three? Hmmm. Here are some ways I’ve thought on how to apply them:

1. Start getting rid of shame and fear when doing the evangelism. I used to think it’s hard even if I’ve done it several times already. Now, I have to take that feeling away, be confident and be not afraid to show everyone that I love doing what I do. After all, being confident in preaching the Word of God, as long as there’s anointing of course, is not a shameful act.

2. Stop cancelling opencells. I have this attitude of cancelling our opencell every time I have something to do, acads-related. Yes, I understand that sometimes, it is really hard to balance things but I should start learning to practice balancing now. What I need is time management. So, maybe, starting next sem, when I have something to do in school, I should start doing them as early as possible so that I won’t be cramming again which, eventually, leads to imbalance work or things undone (this includes cancellations of meetings).

3. To come up with strategies that will attract more people to come closer to God.

In short, to become a visible Christian in everything I do and an Anagkazo woman for the glory of our Father! :)

I DECIDED THEREFORE I AM.. TRANSFORMED.

It's a great feeling to be closer to God.
I am happy seeing the results of my labors.
I now have an extra family, my spiritual family.
I'm in the process of learning how to see things in the right perspective.
Unlike before, I seldom crave for material things.
I do not pray only because I have something to ask for but also because I realized there are lot of things I should thank Him for.
Now, eating to satisfy my body and mind go along with the satisfaction of the soul.
It's now easier to forgive than to leave things unsolved.
I reconsider rather than judge.
I value execution more than mere thinking.
And most importantly, I learned how to understand my parents when they couldn't provide me with all I need.

God loves me.. so do I.



*this post's originally written right after the encounter*

When you obey, He will repay..

Lately, I have so many problems to deal with and challenges to overcome. Aside from the "always" busy schedule and the tons of school works to accomplish, I have been challenged emotionally and spiritually.

I've been and I still am doing my SP proposal (that is equivalent to other course' thesis in our degree program). The method's new to me. Actually, I will be the second one to apply such mathematical method in the history of BS Applied Mathematics in our University. And I have to admit, I almost wanted to quit. I even thought of letting myself fail in NSM192 just to be free from all the pressures of complying all the necessary requirements for the SP Proposal. I'm just so happy that I didn't take the idea seriously.

Then, the break-up thingy (though the issue was never that heavy). And then, a few days back.. Hmmm. My discipler texted me regarding "seeding-up". Almost three weeks ago, the best among my spiritual children was promoted. She was chosen to be part of the conquERRors primary twelve. And then, for the second time, Mommy asked me if it's okay to "seed-up" Sheryl. It was hard. I did not respond to her first message. Not because I don't have load or I was busy or something.. but because I didn't know what to say. She's the best among my children after the first "seeding-up". I kept telling myself that I should be proud because the seed was planted in my cell but I really do not know why it's hard for me to decide right away. It took three messages (2 thru text, 1 thru YM) before I finally told Mommy about my decision. I told her it's okay but I pleaded, "Pero My, pwede iapil sa nako xa sa opencell nako this monday my.. Mag-1-on-1 sa my.." (haay.. I told you, it was really hard)

But.. Thanks God, after more or less three days. I was finally enlightened. I should not worry about losing her as my spiritual child because, in the first place, I will be handing her over to the one who molded me. She will be in good hands, that's for sure. And also, in everything that I have, I should give my best to the Lord. And lastly, holding Sheryl would mean a delay in completing the core twelve. We are the foundation of the network and I am well-aware that if the core's not yet complete, the next layers' foundation will never be that firm. And I will be accountable of that. Whoa! Thanks God I didn't entertain greediness.

Ooops! About the title. Hmmm. I am sooooo blessed tonight! Really! There's a lot to thank God for.

First, I was able to ramp! Whoa! Among the girl models, I am the only one who has no PAGEANT TITLE (ay.. naa diay! Miss CAMP RELOAD. hahaha!). I really don't know how to be like them on stage. I hate heels and to ramp is one of my greatest fears! hahaha! But I was able to walk in heels! Overcome fear; do not let fear overcome you. Yehey! (pero nangurog jud gyapon after. hahaha. sagdi lang)

Second, because they took my challenge to them last opencell and invited 5 first-timers! (2 boys and 3 girls) Whoa! power!!

Third, gipasahan ko ni Ivan ug 3 first-timers! (Thanks jud ban2x) Yey! So, all-in-all 7 souls were added to my list of multitudes today! Kinsay di malipay ana?! weeeeeee!

And lastly, I can see that our network's territory's expanding now! grabe! dumadami na talaga tayo.. Salamat Lord! :D

With my spiritual mom, Sheryl (the one with the blue mask) and some of my spiritual children. Happy! :)

And so.. I have proven this once again.. That once you obey God, He will repay you more than what you have given and more than what you expect. GOD IS REALLY AMAZING. I love you Lord! :)

NEED over WANT.

I always wanted my first *real* post to be good, i.e. ministry-related (in my perspective). But I guess I have to redefine good now, i.e. anything that will help me and some people to grow (in all life's aspects).

Maybe you're wondering why you're seeing a very familiar photo of a "once-very-happy-couple" at the left part of this post. Well.. obviously, because this post's related to that. and..yes, that's me.. with my ex (whoa.. I can't believe I'm calling him "ex" now. haha.)

A lot of people know that we broke up last April. But after 2 months, we were back together. All went well for several weeks after the come-back (murag movie. haha). But a lot has changed (of course) and I don't want to elaborate. *sigh* Okay..

*skipped paragraphs*

For a long time, we haven't talk. Why? 'coz lately, I've been very busy I couldn't even manage to say hello to him everyday. And he was not texting either, maybe he's busy too. haaayy. In short, we weren't communicating the way we used to. The relationship's not working. And we both know that. So we broke up again (a few hours ago). The sad part is, through text lang. I have deadlines to meet pa kasi and I don't want to sacrifice it for US.

Honestly, I don't WANT to release him but I feel the NEED to do so. It's not helping us anymore. We've been trying to fix things up but all the more, we clash. We're just hurting ourselves. So, better have it this way dba?

Now, I am still thankful 'coz we ended w/o other party involved and.. prepared. Thanks God for preparing us for this- the two months break-up was really a big help (hmm. I didn't cry. hehe).

Ana jud cguro na dhai.. Sometimes, we have to sacrifice our WANTS to give way for the NEEDS. Cge lang. I AM A CONQUEROR! Certainly, there’s a greater reason behind this. Besides, I know, after this I will be a mightier captain. Hmmm. It’s good to be single man pud diba? I have Christ with me bitaw. I have family and friends din. I am still soooo loved.

BTW, Ate Joycee's text message is very timely (hehe).. “If you’re going to fix a forest, it’s better to periodically stop and sharpen the saw before going back to work. The interruption for saw-sharpening may seem nuisance but, without it, the saw will grow increasingly dull and will have decreased effectiveness”. Wuhoo! Power! I really need this now. This is really for me. YES. I am the saw. What’s happening right now is just part of sharpening my edge. Without this, I won’t be able to pass the best DNA I could have to my spiritual offspring. So I have to endure everything in its extent. I will grow more! I will be sharper after this! I am a Conqueror.. I should always be.