Jesus Freaks: 3rd World Radicals

An Unusual Weekend

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Last weekend was a busy time. I had to take care of my OWWA documents together with my cousin, and send money home.

As I was on my way to church from Orchard, I came across a Two Dollar Movie parade. Chicken Little, the Warcraft dude, a storm trooper, Storm Shadow, and Wolverine passed by the sidewalk.

One guy in a Transformers SG t-shirt asked me a survey question while pointing his cellphone camera at my face, "What do you think of a two-dollar movie?" I answered "It's good, what's the catch?". "No catch.", he replied. No, he didn't give me a two-dollar ticket (what was that all about?) Hey dude, if you're reading this, I'd like to know where you got your Transformers polo shirt, I'd like to get one myself. Click here to view more pictures.

Sunday night I had dinner aboard Doulos with my girlfriend's aunt Daisy, and with Kuya Manny's family. Kuya Manny and his family adopted me during my first stay in Singapore. I lived in their house for a month.

Click here to view more pictures.

Circumnavigation 2: A Second Chance

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:11:00 +0000

In my previous post, I wrote about how God led me back to my home city. But slowly God revealed to me that I would be going back to the very place where things seemingly did not work out.

May 7, 2009. My second trip to Singapore.

Let me just say that I believe God still leads us through dreams and visions (Acts 2:17) as well as open doors (Revelation 3:8). To accept one and reject the other may cause us to miss out on things.

God did open the door back to Singapore. And He gave me a job so I'm able to stay here a long time. God is truly the God of second chances.

Singapore is a wonderful place. I came back to the church of Calvary Chapel Singapore and rejoined the fellowship. There was an opportunity to serve on Saturday night Bible studies so I took on a new ministry.

Later on a new door opened to serve in youth ministry, so I joined in as well. I feel humbled and privileged to be able to minister to a group of Christian youth of a different culture and nationality.

In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, Filipino or Singaporean, but all are one family.

My thanks to Pastor John and his wife Evelyn, Ron and Jenny, and Chris and Swee San. You guys know how much you've been a blessing to me already.

I've made a few friends at work as well. They've shown me around Singapore and I have learned a lot from them.

I've met old friends from high school who also visited Singapore. They are an encouragement to me. Thanks, Roman and Jei.

My cousin came over to visit me, and I was so happy to see her.

I enjoyed touring Singapore with her in places I myself have never been before.

My girlfriend came over to visit me here last month, and we celebrated our first year anniversary as a couple.

It was a refreshing time for me, and Twinx really made the effort to come. That was truly the Lord's working.

As I'm in my fifth month here, I've learned more about the culture, the places, and the differences we have as different nations.

I think God has truly blessed in Singapore in allowing it to become what it is now.

I've had the privilege of meeting believers from other places.

And it seems that every nationality has a representation in this country.

Another privilege I've had was to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit.

It was an awesome experience to see the ancient texts of the Bible throughout the centuries.

Although I have read about them, it's a totally different encounter when I saw them. The Dead Sea Scrolls is proof that the Bible has been faithfully copied over the centuries without tampering.

I posted a photo album on Facebook about that. Click here to view it.

And if you're wondering if there are mountains in Singapore, there's not much elevation. But I went to a place that's high enough for a good hike - Bukit Timah.

I posted a photo album on Facebook about that as well. Click here to view it.

To all Jesus radicals, KEEP PRESSING ON!

Circumnavigation

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 00:52:00 +0000

It's been a while since I've posted anything here. But in the last five months things have changed for me. In my last post I said that I was in Manila. I accumulated an almost two-month stay there looking for work and spending Christmas with family. But this second venture turned out to be something I didn't expect.

For a while I thought that the job climate in Manila would be better than that in Singapore due to the recession that hit Singapore harder than it did the Philippines. But I wasn't prepared for the job culture that was in place. In Manila, people were not compensated based on their education and skills. Those two things are a minimum requirement to get you shortlisted. Companies hire you and try to compensate you for as low as possible. This would be based on your previous salary. They don't want to raise it too far in your next job. This is my opinion but I think I've had enough interviews to draw such a conclusion. Let me say one more thing -- for those probinsyanos like myself who have worked in other places in the Philippines outside Metro Manila have experienced a low-cost of living. Our low salaries in the provinces count for more than they do in Manila. That's why Manila companies should not base your salary on the previous one alone, especially if it was given in a place with a lower cost of living. Given the adjustments of relocating -- traffic, pollution, high crime rate, and in light of the low compensation given in Manila, I decided not to pursue my career there, at least for now.

To backtrack a bit, I visited Iloilo City in November for my girlfriend's birthday and our third month celebration as a couple. It was a time of refreshing for me after a month of living in Singapore and almost a month living in Manila. I was also able to meet an old friend, Neil, again.

I was also able to teach two midweek Bible studies at Calvary Chapel of Iloilo.

Two weeks later in December I flew back to Manila for a job interview in Makati. I almost got hired, except that I wouldn't budge from my stance in favor of open source software. This was a Microsoft-oriented company, and they didn't hire me because of my software philosophy.

I continued my job hunt in Manila and had interviews with companies such as IBM. I stayed longer than expected since it was very difficult to fly back to Iloilo in time for Christmas. I spent Christmas with family in Manila and not with my parents back in Iloilo. I was also able to celebrate my niece's 2nd birthday, as well as my cousin's wedding, in Manila. So I was in Manila for almost a month on my second trip.

On January 1, my birthday, I flew back to Iloilo. I celebrated it with my parents, my girlfriend, and the Suñaz family (the family of Dr. Mark, one of my closest friends).

I stayed in Iloilo as a freelance programmer working online for projects overseas. I've been here for more than three months now, and I was blessed to see certain things take place.

For one thing, I was able to relax and reduce my stress level careerwise. Second, I was able to spend more time with my girlfriend. We continue to celebrate God's goodness in our relationship every month.

I was able to celebrate our first Valentine's Day together.

And I met two old friends from elementary, TJ and Orange, whom I haven't met in more than 15 years. TJ (the guy) is now based in New Jersey, USA. We spent time together. They were able to visit our church, and we also visited our old school and our old teachers.

And my sister and my niece came over for a short visit. I was able to spend time with them.

And my mom celebrated her birthday. I'm glad I was here for it.

Our church celebrated its 7th year anniversary. We celebrated God's faithfulness to us. We had worship, special presentations, the preaching of the Word of God, a baby dedication, a lunch fellowship, and water baptism. You can read more about it if you click here.

We were able to do two youth outreaches in West Visayas (click for more details) and our church sanctuary (click for more details).

Visitors from MV Doulos, the world's largest floating bookstore, also came to our church. Plus, we were able to visit their ship that docked in Bacolod in the neighboring island of Negros.

God has been faithful to sustain me back in my home city. Until when I'll be here I don't know. I believe God is not yet done with expanding my borders. Till next time...

The Venture 10-29-08

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:27:00 +0000

September 21, 2008. I landed on Changi Airport and finally reached foreign soil. Singapore, so-called "The Little Red Dot" was finally in view.

One of the first things I did was look for the hostel where I was booked to stay. The first night I stayed in a hostel, and my brother-in-law accompanied me.

That same day we went to Lucky Plaza and I needed to get some supplies: a SingTel SIM card and a travel adaptor for electrical outlets. Buying a SingTel SIM, they had a promo where you get to spin the wheel for a chance to win free tickets to the F1 Race, worth 900 SGDs. I won.

The next day I moved to another house. Kuya Manny and Ate Arlene were kind enough to accommodate me. I was a stranger, and they took me in. The house was in Bukit Panjang where I stayed longer than I expected -- more than a month. I settled well with the 4 dudes, their sons, and they were a wonderful Christian family.

The first week I had a job interview with a representative of Xpand SG, my first. I found out that IT hiring was not that much during this season due to the economic crisis in Singapore.

I spent the weekend watching the F1 Race, the first night race ever in world history. It was something I didn't want to miss and besides, the tickets were free.

Looking for work and going to two more interviews, I got a job offer. But the company that gave the offer later changed their mind about hiring me.

Adjusting to the life in Singapore is not that hard. The transportation is very efficient, there is low crime, and everything is so systematic and organized. I had to get used to the "Land of the Left" where everyone drives on the left-side of the road.

I attended Calvary Chapel of Singapore and Pastor John Tan was kind enough to make me feel welcome. I was able to connect to the young people especially, and it was a good experience to be exposed to Christians in another culture. Only this time I was the foreigner.

The food is also great, and they have all sorts of Western as well as Asian food. I especially like the chicken rice and crispy chicken noodles. I wasn't able to try their mutton, the bulalo that's made from sheep. They also call their carinderias "Hawker's Centers".

October 24, 2008. I flew back to Manila. As I'm writing this, I'm already back in the Philippines. I'm staying in our nation's capital for a few weeks before I go back to Iloilo City. At the moment I'm setting aside Singapore. It has been a journey and a learning experience. And as the Calvary Chapel distinctive goes, a venture in faith can also mean a step back when things don't work out.

To all I left behind in Iloilo, see you soon. =)

P.S. I didn't take too many pictures since my camera broke the night before my flight to Singapore.

The Journey 09-19-08

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 04:52:00 +0000

It has been in my heart for a long time to move out of my home city, at least for a while. Last year God gave me a strong impression in my spirit to really move out. One confirmation came during last year's pastors and workers conference in Cebu. Since then the impression never left me but remained strong.

Sometime in February this year I started to think that perhaps the right time would not be too soon. I continued life as it was, working in information technology, serving the church of Calvary, and moving forward with my social life. I even became an elder in the church during that month.

As time went on the impression got stronger as I spent time in the Word of God. Finally in May I approached my pastor after our midweek Bible study and told him that I believed God was calling me out (of Iloilo City).

We prepared the church and the ministry for four months. This was the start of the ministry called Tim Time where I taught through the whole books of 1 and 2 Timothy on Friday nights. It was a discipleship class with the intent to lay a solid foundation for those who had a desire to serve in the ministry of Calvary Chapel of Iloilo.

I also prepared my work place in that I gave them enough time to look for a replacement since my position as Training and Development Officer for Eversun Software was not to be taken lightly.

A resignation would place the company in a transition. So two months before I quit I informed them of my plans, finally submitting my resignation on July 31 which was effective on September 1.

Come September I was no longer employed.

I had no visible confirmation of what God wanted me to move forward with until the first week of September. A contact from the U.S.A. wanted to start a new business and he considered me the co-founder since it was during one of our chats that the idea came to him and he was able to draft a business plan. The business is online so I can take my work anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. This is enough to sustain me as I travel. Thank God for Xoom.com.

August 29, 2008. I announced to my discipleship group during Tim Time that I was leaving and that the reason for the discipleship group was because I was leaving. I wanted them to be fully equipped to serve the Lord in my absence.

September 7, 2008. I announced to the church congregation that I was leaving for Singapore.

That Sunday morning I was also privileged to give the message while my pastor took a break from teaching.

After the message, communion, and worship I made the announcement.

The last eight days from September 7 to September 14 was my final preparation in Iloilo. I spent time with my girlfriend, church, and family as I was preparing to go.

September 13, 2008 we celebrated my dad's birthday. I wanted my trip to come after the birthday and not before.

September 14, 2008 was my last Sunday service in Iloilo. The church prepared a lunch fellowship in order to bid me farewell as I step out in faith. Pastor Mark released me to go and the church commended me to God's grace.

I'm glad my family was in front praying with me.

Before I left the church compound, I played my last song (for now) -- "This Man" by Jeremy Camp.

To all I leave behind, may God's grace sustain you. I will land on Singapore on September 21.

"And see, now I go bound in the spirit...so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." - Acts 20:22,24

Updates 09-04-08

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:55:00 +0000

It's been a long time since I posted anything here. During my last post Iloilo City was just recovering from a flash flood. In the month that followed we were anticipating four more storms but by God's grace the city was spared from calamity. In the following post, the descriptions appear after the photos.

My friend Neil celebrated his birthday on the 30th of June. We had dinner at Esca's.

We began cleaning out the new site for our church early in July. Because of the calamity, it was covered in mud.

We had plans drawn for the new church facility and construction began early in July as well.

The foundation was laid.

The restaurant we used to go a lot to was affected by the flood. They were flooded almost up to the level of the roof. But they were able to recover, and we were able to eat there again.

The church building construction progressed fast. It wasn't long before it was finished.

Before July ended I was able to bring a Eaves (a.k.a. "Twinkle" or "Twinx") to our midweek Bible study. She attends a Baptist church.

Later on Twinx and I we were able to bring Cay, my co-worker from the office -- surprisingly, she was an old classmate of Neil. Small world.

We had dinner together.

On August's first Sunday, two brothers from Dumaguete came to our church -- Micah and Noel. They were part of a debate team representing their school, Silliman University. The debate was held here in Iloilo City.

August 16, 2008. The day before our first Sunday in the new church facility. We had to get things set up and moved about. A lot of hands helped in our transfer.

On August 17, we moved to the new facility and had our Sunday service there. We had potluck lunch and fellowship time afterwards. Some of the youth were also music jamming. I joined in.

August 23, 2008. Twinx and I went out to see the sunset together. We then had dinner, dessert and coffee afterwards.

August 24, 2008. After Sunday service I had lunch with my parents at BBQ Park. That restaurant was partially wrecked to make way for a new road. The food is still delicious.

August 25, 2008. It was Monday, National Heroes' Day, a holiday. Twinx, myself, and a group of friends went to Sol Y Mar beach for a day of relaxation, food, and fellowship. That same Monday Twinx became my girlfriend.

August 26, 2008. The church lights are now functional since they were installed the day before. Now Bible studies can be done at night in the new facility.

August 27, 2008. We had our first midweek Bible study in the new church facility. Afterwards some of us went to Barrio Inasal for dinner.

I recently resigned from my work at Eversun Software Philippines Corporation to pursue another venture.

August 28-29, 2008. My last two days at Eversun. Just making memories of the friends I will leave behind. More of this in my multiply web site.

August 30. Twinx and I went to dinner at Esca's. We even took a picture together with the duo that performed that evening.

September 3 was barbecue night at the church facility as part of our midweek Bible study. The pork on stick and bread toasted on charcoal were good.

Tee Jay Returns

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:37:00 +0000

Here's a picture of me and my friend since high school, Tee Jay. He recently came back from taking his master's course in Oklahoma, USA. He will be working here again as a return service to BFAR where he is employed.

It wasn't planned, but he was the one who found me as we were both in the same line at an ATM. We had coffee and had a lot to catch up on.

Typhoon FENGSHEN

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:17:00 +0000

I live in Iloilo, the hardest hit area of typhoon FENGSHEN. In our country, we call it "Frank".

Thank God the area where I live had no floods at all, the church facility wasn't hit, and I can still work since the office is located in the city proper that wasn't hit as well. But most areas were hit. The above picture shows stuff that my uncle moved to our house to keep them from getting wet. Friends of mine suffered from the flash flood that resulted from the water from the dam. That flood wasn't even directly caused by the rain. Most parts of the city and some parts of the province became like seas.

Here's a news video about it from last monday:

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For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Also, I took a video of the shoreline close to my house. It was badly hit as well, though only by winds and not the flood.

Brethren, pray for us. We need to rebuild.

Updates 05-14 to 06-16 '08

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 14:42:00 +0000

Oh wow, more than a month has passed and I haven't posted anything.

May 14. I saw God raising up another radical. His name is Kenedie, one of our young guys in church. He is a talented guitar player and singer for the Lord. Another man on fire for Jesus.

May 16. For a while this part of our office became a photo studio. The company ID pictures needed enhancement, so some of our employees decided to have their pictures taken again.

May 17. Dad showed me the shoes that came in from the U.S. that his client sent to him. I'm not the only one blessed by God with a pair of shoes. His was a K-Swiss. Woohoo!

May 18. Again my pastor asked me to fill in for him on a Sunday morning. I taught on 1 Peter 3:12-17 in a message entitled "Laging Handa". I exhorted the congregation to always be ready to share our faith, speaking the truth in love with meekness and gentleness.

May 23. We started a new ministry in church called "Tim Time" or "t2" to help people grow in their service to the Lord. We will mainly be focusing on the books of 1 and 2 Timothy.

May 24. The Bibles that I ordered from Amazon and delivered c/o my friend in the U.S., Felipe who came to visit recently arrived. Not all the Bibles were for me. The second picture below shows my friend Eaves with the Bible we got for her mom (picture taken days later).

May 25. We added four guys to the worship team in church. They can all play stringed instruments. Not all of them are in this picture.

May 30. We started a new ministry in church for the men. We called it "m@c" (pronounced as "mak" and stands for "Men at Calvary"). We are studying the book of Romans and I'm teaching it.

May 31. I took my camera to the repair shop since it was recording the pictures too bright, and with lines.

June 6. I took the Zend PHP 5 Certification exam in Manila. I had been preparing for this, and I gave my best. But my best wasn't good enough. I wrote more about it on My SpaceLeSs.

June 6-9. The rest of my time in Manila was spent on vacation. I stayed with my sister and her family. I got to visit and enjoy my cute niece.

June 10. Going back to Iloilo, I missed my flight and had to rebook. I came back in the afternoon. At evening time, I went to our church prayer meeting at the housing and got to see our church friend Cherry before she left for Manila.

Cherry

June 13. Our first worship practice in church on a Friday night. We used to practice on Saturdays.

June 14. I watched The Chronicles of Narnia (Prince Caspian) together with Ryan.

June 15. Father's Day. We celebrated it in church, and had a seafood lunch by the beach with my family. At dinner time, I got pizza and pasta for the family and we ate at home. I was also able to pick up my camera that is now fixed. Glory to God!

June 16. I registered my mom's car with the Land Transportation Office. I worked half of the day only, and had a company administrative meeting at dinner time.

Adidas 8K GT M

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Tue, 13 May 2008 10:38:00 +0000

Thank God for His blessings. I received a free pair of shoes from a friend in the U.S. named Dave Jenkins. It's an Adidas. I retrieved it from the post office and only paid 35 pesos for it. Thanks also to my friend Remia Carumba who helped me at the post office where she works.

"...How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!" - Romans 10:15

Mother's Day 2008

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 12 May 2008 13:52:00 +0000

Mother's day was awesome. I woke up and greeted my mom a Happy Mother's Day.

(Although a friend of mine beat me to it. She greeted my mom over text by sending me a message at 1:07 A.M.! Later on I returned the favor by texting her back at around 12:45 P.M. that my mom says thanks.)

Sunday morning, we asked all the mothers in our church to stand. We prayed for them and gave them presents. Among these were a greeting card and a bookmark.

At lunch time, me and my parents went over to Afrique's for pizza, pasta, and chicken. YUUMMMY!

A Final Salute to Tatay

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Fri, 02 May 2008 05:45:00 +0000

Salvador Olaguer (November 9, 1924 - March 26, 2008).

It's been almost a month as I'm writing this. My grandfather "Tatay" (Filipino word for "father") passed away and went home to be with the Lord.

When I heard the news about his accident, I was in church on a Saturday night with my band preparing for Sunday morning worship. Evidently, Tatay hit his head climbing up the stairs to a friend's house where they were supposed to have a prayer meeting. This caused him to go into a coma from which he never woke up.

It was a Wednesday that he died. March 26, 6:12pm GMT +0800 to be precise. Again, I was in church in a Bible study when it happened. My mom, sister, aunt, and niece all went to Manila the same day. They were hoping to still catch him alive -- but it was too late. Tatay had gone home to his eternal resting place.

I booked a flight to Manila a short while before he died. It was on the next Saturday, March 29, that I was able to fly to Manila together with my cousin. I took an evening flight, and I waited on the airport a long time since I had to get there in the afternoon via shuttle van.

I was able to meet this Chinese national who happened to live close to my house. He was an old guy with a wife and children living in the same district as me. He sold orchids.

After taking some coffee and surfing the Internet from my cousin's laptop, we were able to fly to Manila that evening.

We went straight to Loyola Chapels in Guadalupe, where my grandfather was in wake. I spent the first night watching over my grandfather's body and I slept in the chapel.

The next day we went to Sunday service at Jesus' Flock, my cousin's church. It was a small church that reminded me of my home church Calvary Chapel back in Iloilo. The service was great, and the pastor talked about unity in the Body of Christ.

I had lunch with my mom, sister, niece, and brother-in-law in a Chinese restaurant in one of the SMs in Manila.

Sunday night, my longtime friend since childhood, Dr. Mark, came to visit at the wake. It was great talking to him again and spending that time.

That night, I stayed in the chapel again till morning.

Monday was the day before the burial. It was the last night where we would spend time with the tent that my grandfather left -- his body. Soldiers were posted round the clock that night, since my grandfather was a veteran who served his country as a soldier for the Philippine Army. That night, I led worship and even shared about my relationship to my grandfather, and the legacy he has on my life. I believe he was instrumental to my coming to faith in Christ, and his influence on my life greatly impacted me years long after my childhood.

Tuesday morning, we buried Tatay. It was a military burial, with a twenty-one gun salute.

That was the only time I finally broke down in tears. It was at the very moment when my uncle addressed the crowd after Tatay was committed to the ground. Tatay's influence would always be with us. But he himself would be absent -- that caused me to cry and I broke into tears.

Tatay was buried beside my grandmother Nanay, his wife. You might remember the post I posted last year entitled "The Gift That is Nanay" that I wrote about her.

Tatay will always be remembered. A father to his family, a soldier to his country, and a minister to his community.

Jonas' Dad

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 11:15:00 +0000

Mr. L.J. Lozano (1949-2008) recently passed away on March 7, 2008. He was actually my friend Jonas' dad. They own a rice mill family business. Jonas and I go way back when I used to visit a church where he was the drummer for the worship team on Friday nights. Years later, we worked together as volunteer music teachers at Camp Sonshine. Please keep Jonas and his family in prayers that the Lord will comfort them and help them with their finances.

24 Mode

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:13:00 +0000

My schedule for the next few weeks will be hectic. That's ok, it's where God has me right now. My work schedule has expanded, I'm preparing to take the Zend PHP 5 Certification exam, and some of a pastor friend's responsibilities in our church youth camp preparation falls to me since he had to go to the US for a family emergency.

I had to cut my hair just so I could move faster.

Well, it's a new season.

12:06:01...12:06:02...12:06:03...12:06:04...

Budz Visits

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:54:00 +0000

An old friend came back from Bermuda to spend her vacation here. Her name is Hazel Joy, but I call her "Budz" also. We've been friends for a long time, but got separated geographically because of work. It was hard to schedule a time I can meet her during her stay here, but I was able to invite her to our Afterglow service in church last Friday night. Afterwards, she treated my mom and myself out to dinner at a seafoods restaurant nearby.

Of Bread and Birds

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:48:00 +0000

"Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" - Matthew 6:26

As I was walking down the church parking lot, I saw a piece of bread and a bird who seems to have just found it lying there. I doubt that anybody intentionally tried to feed that bird -- it was a wild Maya bird. Then I saw at least one more bird interested in that bread. This reminded me of how God literally provides for the needs of the birds. And if He can do that, then how much more does He provide the needs of His own children for whom He sent His only Son to die for? Think about it.

32nd Anniversary: Da Parentz

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:42:00 +0000

March 8, 2008. My parents just celebrated their 32nd Wedding Anniversary. We had a simple celebration of pizza and pasta at our house that night. God is faithful. And He always will be.

"being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;" - Philippians 1:6

Yum!

Calvary Chapel Pre-Valentine's 2008

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 04:57:00 +0000

GOD IS LOVE. (1 John 4:8)

February 13, 2008. T'was the night before Valentine's Day. We decided to make the midweek service a pre-Valentine celebration instead. The youth group, Pastor Mark, and I organized a special service to be able to focus on the topic of love and courtship from God's perspective.

We invited young people and a lot of them came, including those from Central Philippine University, John B. Lacson University, and West Visayas State University.

We had fun with the games. There were two games: the plane fight, and the heart-match puzzle. The young people were able to get to know each other and interact with new peers. This was a fun way to build fellowship.

We gave away prizes for these as well.

I led worship as we rocked out with loud praise that night. So it was more of a youth service /singles night than it was a regular midweek Bible study.

Pastor Mike taught on the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 13, and taught us how to keep the Lord Jesus central in the area of relationships. He also gave opportunity for those who didn't know the Lord to receive Him that night into their hearts as their personal Lord and Savior.

After the message we sang some songs and distributed food to those who came.

May we always love one another with the same love God has shown us in Christ Jesus. And not just on Valentine's.

Calvary Chapel of Iloilo 6th Year Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 04:55:00 +0000

"till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ...speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ..."

- Ephesians 4:13, 15

On February 10, 2008, Calvary Chapel of Iloilo celebrated its 6th year anniversary. We are six years as local church, and this year we used the theme "Being perfected in Christ through faith and love."

Our guest this year is Pastor Mike Ramsey, our missionary pastor who first came to Iloilo and started Calvary Chapel here. He arrived on a Friday night, and we were able to spend time with him while at the same time preparing for the anniversary celebration.

On Saturday, we made our final preparations especially with the worship team and the setup of the gym we were going to rent for the occasion. We had to stay up late, but it's a joy to be preparing and serving the Lord in even the small things.

On Sunday was the service proper. We celebrated in the gym as we worshiped the Lord together with joyful singing. Me and Pastor Mark led the worship songs and the congregation joyfully and powerfully praised the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness to our lives and to the local church. The songs we sang included God of Wonders, Unchanging, and How Can I Keep From Singing?

My mom led the congregation to hold hands and pray together as one body of Christ, including the nation of the Philippines in the prayer.

I also did the Scripture reading on Proverbs 30, the climax to the book of Proverbs, featuring the words of Agur.

Pastor Mike taught on Ephesians 4:7-16. This is where our theme for this year is based on. The essence of it is that we are all part of the body of Christ in this local church and everyone is gifted by God to function in a unique way. But first he played a video his wife made about their family in the U.S. and what God is doing in their lives.

After the message we worshiped the Lord with one more song, The Potter's Hand.

We had fellowship together over lunch. The food went by fast.

We also had special presentations from Calvary Kids, the Sentinels of Christ youth ministry, the housemates, and me and Vicente's instantly-formed band.

After that, since the gym was still ours until 5:00 pm, we had fun playing around the gym. It was a badminton gym.

The celebration didn't end with games. Some of us stayed behind to clean up and make sure things are arranged and stored back where they belong.

Lingering is something we do when we just want to stay behind and fellowship. We lingered at the church office until it was time to eat dinner. The sleeping guy is Lester, sleeping on his sister Joenah's lap.

Together with Pastor Mike, some of us went to Barbecue Park for a dinner fellowship. At the end of a busy celebration, it was nice to sit down and eat.

Brother Nonoy

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 13:37:00 +0000

Roman "Nonoy" Mosqueda (February 16, 1950 - February 4, 2008). Recently, an old friend and brother in the Lord passed away while I was staying in another city.

I met Nonoy who was an attorney seven years ago. We even went to the same church for quite some time. I have seen his life and his example as he faithfully served the Lord. He encouraged people in their walk and was very warm and pleasant to fellowship with. He eventually went full-time in ministry as a lay pastor and preached the Word of God full-time.

He was running the race until three strokes took him out of this earth. One of the last things he did was worship the Lord in his sick bed singing "Jesus Loves Me."

He left behind his wife, step-son, and grandkids to go home to the Lord. Nonoy finished strong.

He had Philippians 1:21 written for his coffin and I quote it to you:

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

The Source of (my) Strength

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:55:00 +0000

Before I went to Manila to take a break from work and regular ministry activities, I prayed that God would really speak to me and show me direction in my life for the present time.

A few things came up as I was listening to the Lord for His directions. And these I want to share with you.

1. Humility precedes honor (Proverbs 15:33)

In order for God to move us to where He eventually wants us to be, we must be faithful where we are. And that means doing the work that He has for us now, even when circumstances are unpleasant. It means not trying to insist on our own rights and trying to change our circumstances to suit our comfort and preferences, but to simply keep doing our work faithfully as unto the Lord. And in His own time, God will lift us up as we humble ourselves under His mighty hand, trusting Him. Remember, God is in control of even the "bad" times. And within our limitations and weaknesses, let us wield the powerful weapon of prayer.

2. Give the little that we have (John 6:1-14)

Jesus is able to multiply our resources to bless others, but first we must let Him have those resources. Let us use our talents and abilities to serve the Lord and He will do the multiplication.

3. Respond to His grace (Romans 12:1-3)

Let us always keep our salvation and first love foremost in our thoughts. Fixing our eyes on Jesus and how He has saved us from death, hell, and the grave allows us to respond to that grace in our service for the Lord. For all God has done in calling us His own and blessing us with every spiritual blessing, is it too much a sacrifice to serve and obey Him? Not a chance! This is the source of strength for our service to the Lord. We will not be weighed down by a sense of obligation when we serve the Lord as a response to His grace. Oh, the wonderful grace of Jesus. Grace, grace. Wait for His grace to fall like rain everyday. May it be your strength and power as you walk with Him. He has saved us by grace -- now let us live by His grace.

I agree with the apostle Paul and John Newton, and I can say this of my own life, in my own words:

Of sinners I am the worst,
but Jesus died for me.
I do not deserve His grace and love,
but Jesus died for me.
I deserved hell and death,
but Jesus died for me.
I do not deserve heaven,
but Jesus died for me.

And in His death and resurrection I have a new life, and an eternal hope in heaven. Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! I have this as an anchor to my soul through every storm in life.

Drawing Charade and A Piece of Cake

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 10:14:00 +0000

It doesn't really take much to make my day. God has blessed me with a lot of stuff (a computer, money, a ministry, a keyboard, a good job, a laptop, a webcam, a master's degree, etc.) and yet little things still make me smile.

Today as I was online, my kid cousin Ryan invited me to play Picture This! which is an online game kind of like Win, Lose, or Draw. It was really fun drawing the thing the word described and also having to guess what he was drawing on his turn. We played it over our Yahoo accounts using meebo.com, and here is a screenshot of what it looks like:

Also, I was chatting with a friend and she said that she was baking a banana cake. Too bad I couldn't eat it, so she sent me a picture instead. I can't have my cake and eat it, too. This time, I have it.

All this happened at a time when I usually get sleepy on Saturdays and take a nap. But stepping out of your comfort zone to communicate and be a blessing to others is more rewarding.

"The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself. " - Proverbs 11:25

M & N

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:13:00 +0000

Today, I met two fellow Christians, both younger than me.

The first one was someone who I haven't seen in a long time -- I'd like to call him Marv. I met Marv when I was coming out of the mall after work. Marv serves the Lord as a worshipper, youth leader, and a preacher. I admire his passion for the Lord as well as his energy. He even works at a call center on night shift. The last time I lived like he did I ended up having Mild Leukopenia, but I eventually recovered from it. But God has blessed Marv with good health -- His ways are higher. I may never understand every question in life of why things happen the way they do but I rest on God's sovereignty. Marv is a pentecostal and he is on fire for the Lord. We exchanged cellphone numbers and parted ways. He's interested in coming to our midweek service soon and misses listening to Vineyard songs, since his church plays mainly Hillsongs only.

Afterwards, I went to my home church to prepare worship songs for our 6th year church anniversary. There was my pastor and he told me one of the girls in our church wanted to help. I'd like to call her Nic. Nic is an English major college student and has been coming to our church for a while now. She steps up to serve as a percussionist -- and what a percussionist! She learns the beat for every song so fast before you can say MJ. I'm blessed by her willing to help us with the music ministry.

I am blessed to see young people serving the Lord. I feel like I have been chosen by God to stand between the older and the younger generation. I'm 27 now and I'm somewhere between those who have the energy to serve the Lord fervently, but could use the wisdom of those of us who have more life experience with the Lord, and those who are way ahead of me in years and I look up to them for counsel and see their life persevering for the Lord as an example for my own walk.

CALLING ALL RADICALS... It's time to take this generation for Jesus! Are you up to it? If you are, join me. No, I'm not talking about another concert, though we could do that. I'm talking about being so aware of Jesus in your daily life that not only are you blessed and happy, but you're encouraging those around you to look to you for insight and direction in their spiritual walk. May God fill your life with His presence to overflow to a lost and dying generation. His kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

M & N, may God bless them and young people like them.

2008

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 14:48:00 +0000

A blessed and happy new year to all my readers! 2008 is a new year, a new season, a new beginning.

First day of the year, I turned 27. It was nice for friends and family to come by our house. We had pasta, pancit, and tacos included in our merienda. Just a simple celebration of God's faithfulness in my life.

Christmas 2007

noreply@blogger.com (RadX) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 22:42:00 +0000

Christmas time, the season to be jolly, when people really make that effort to go the extra mile for another. Celebrating Christmas this year has been very animated for me. Seems like another season of 24. 12:00:01...12:00:02...12:00:03...12:00:04. Everything is rush, rush, rush. Of course I'm exagerrating. But it seems that as I grow older, I feel more of a sense of taking responsibility on how things run. That's when I get tired. Still, it was fun.

December 8, 2007
The following takes place between 7:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: Matt, Ryan 1, Ryan 2, Ramises, Domels, RJ, Jollibee man.

Produced by DS

It was finally here, the Level 2 exam. The company president and I have been working on an incentive for programmers to prove their skills in order to increase their paygrade. The finale -- an 8-hour coding exam proctored by yours truly.

We called Jollibee and ordered lunch to be delivered to us. I made a mistake by ordering chicken for Matt who had a sore in his mouth. I said to bring change for 500 pesos. They missed that part. The Jollibee man didn't bring any change and had to go back and get some.

The exam went well, over-all.

04:20:01...04:20:02...04:20:03...04:20:04...

The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M. (sound effect)
Cast: Pastor Mark, RJ, Chela, Pam, Leilah, other young people.
Produced by PM

The youth department at church did ask me to play the electric drums and lead some worship songs for their Christmas party. It started at 4:00 PM, so I had to be there around 5:00 P.M.

Play the drums, lead worship with the guitar. I was able to do that by God's grace.

I met a friend I haven't seen in a while -- Melford. It was good to seen him again.

Then I had to run. I still need to pick up my jeep from the shop. I had it cleaned and groomed since I was selling it.

05:59:57...05:59:58...05:59:59...06:00:00...

The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: RJ, Art, jeepney drivers
Produced by Art

Ok, I've been waiting in front of U.P. and still no jeep can take me to the shop. I had to take a ride to SM City and just walk from there. The walk was about 100 meters to get to the shop.

As I looked at my jeep..WOW! It looks good. The chassis has been cleaned and painted, and the engine has been washed. There was even leftover paint to improve the front part. God is awesome!

(My face doesn't appear on camera)

I went back to the church to prepare for the next day's Sunday service.

06:59:57...06:59:58...06:59:59...07:00:00...

The following takes place between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: RJ, Pastor Mark, worship team
Produced by RJ

I went back to the church to prepare for our Sunday service for the next day. Being a worship leader, practice was very important to a music team.

We had some of the youth jam with us as well. It was fun playing music with new faces. It all just seemed fresh.

07:59:57...07:59:58...07:59:59...08:00:00...

(Maybe my face can appear on camera now)

December 16, 2007

The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 04:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: Calvary Chapel of Iloilo plus guests
Produced by PM and RJ

Ok, my first time to actually teach on a Sunday service is here. We had to move the service to the nearby gym to accommodate plenty of people.

I played the electric drums for the worship team. We formed a special group just for that Sunday. After all, it was a Christmas service.

I was able to teach the Sunday message on Matthew 1. I entitled it "God With Us". I never realized what it was like to teach behind a pulpit until I experienced it for myself. Pastor Mark urged the people to receive the gift of salvation through faith in Christ. God is good. He moved through that service and people received Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

We had lunch after the service and also some Christmas presentations. Some of us stayed to clean up afterwards. Then we prayed together and blessed the Lord.

I went to SM City afterwards.

03:59:57...03:59:58...03:59:59...04:00:00...

(Camera shows me driving the jeep)

December 22, 2007

The following takes place between 1:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: JK, May, former ROTC buddies, guests
Produced by: JK and May

Jerome, my long-time friend, gets married to his girlfriend of almost ten years. I was able to come to their wedding and it was a wonderful celebration to be able to share in their joy. I was also able to attend the reception, but I wasn't able to stay through the end of it since I still had to go to our company's Christmas party.

04:59:57...04:59:58...04:59:59...05:00:00...

The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 10:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: ESS
Produced by: M2

I made it pretty early to the Christmas party. Registration was still open. The party hasn't started, and there was time to chit-chat, prepare the sound system, and get the program ready. Whoops, we forgot to record the song for our dance number. God is gracious, and we were able to find a copy of the song from the sound guy. I tried to breakdance on this one. I hope someone made a video of that so at least I can see if my moves looked good. I won a pair of sunglasses in one of the raffle draws. This kind really hugs your face and sticks. The following photo has been edited.

For the gift-giving, I received a pen with a laser light and a flash light. Now this reminds me of a light saber. Thanks to Russel.

Many of my co-workers went out for a night in the city. I didn't go but instead I went straight home.
09:59:57...09:59:58...09:59:59...10:00:00...

December 25, 2007

The following takes place between 12:00 A.M. and 1:00 A.M. (sound effect)

Cast: Family
Produced by: Dadi-lo

Christmas eve is here. The time of the year all of us Tagalogs are waiting for. We celebrate the traditional Noche Buena where we have dinner at 12:00 A.M.

At our house, I read the Scripture in Luke 2, where it talks about the shepherds seeing the angels announce the birth of Christ. We sang Christmas songs and had dinner together as a family.

We also opened gifts afterwards. I got some pretty neat stuff this Christmas.

The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M. (sound effect)

Cast: Family
Produced by: Dadi-lo

This is Christmas day and we celebrate it with our extended family every year. It was also a birthday celebration for my niece since she was born on December 21. She already had a party in Manila, but we wanted to celebrate it here as well.

I woke up late, and I realized that the dogs have no more dog food left. I went to the store to buy some. The jeepney service was unusually slow since it's Christmas day. I missed my niece's blowing of the candle but it's a good thing we had it on video.

We had lunch together with my relatives and we opened more gifts. My aunt gave me baby stuff by wrapping mistake. It was hilarious.

My niece is quite a dancer. We had a fun time as a family.