Thank you Lord.. thank you Lord.. thank you Lord! It’s really good to give thanks to the Lord. His love endures forever! Amen!

I’m watching Gary V’s  more and more video. I like this song and I love the choreography. So simple yet the way they executed the dance steps and how they projected themselves, they’re fun to watch. oooops.. lemme play it again ahihi

So far so good for this year. Slowly but surely I’m finding my groove again. I’m expecting more good things to come especially at work. I really pray that the Lord will open new doors for me for His glory. I am quite excited at work and I really need to focus especially for the next 3 moths ahead. New things.. new things.. new things…

I actually miss dancing ( thanks gary v) ..hmm.. but it’s more than dancing.. i know there’s something else.. but at least for the first quarter I’ll try to drop my weight first and take it from there.. or better yet do it at the same time.. then I’ll play ball regularly.. not a bad idea..

ayt gotta go to sleep now. . it’s already 2:30 in the morning.. gotta wake up at seven.. night blogging world.. zzzz

It’s 2:40 in the morning. We played ball earlier in Malolos. My college buddies were there- Ace, Mark John, Aries, Pakoy and Diaz. I was with my high school friends- Nal, Michael, Romark, Enan, Owel and Jonas.  Owel and Jonas were college classmates as well.

It was a fun time because I haven’t been with my college peeps for a long time. It’s really good to see them. Most of them are enjoying great careers and I’m really happy for them. Personally of course, I still feel that somehow I feel incomplete until I secure my college degree. It’s not that I’m banking on it for my identity, but obviously, especially in the corporate world, a college degree is a basic requirement for you to get employed. We took up ECE and I think it’s one of the tougher courses out there. I’m not sure if  it’s practical to still pursue it but given the time and opportunity, why not. I mean I would love to finish it.

ECE is a very good college course because it offers a lot of options if someone’s looking for a job with this degree. Owel is in the communications field and Jonas is focused on the electronics sector with a touch of sales which really works for him because he can really speak to people. They both work for stable companies and I think they really love their jobs. Aries actually teaches full time in our school, Bulacan State University. Some even went to IT and Software industries so I personally think that it gives a wide range of choices for an ece graduate.

Anyways, I had a good stretch earlier. I hope I can play more so I can always condition my body. Since I’m not dancing anymore, if  I can at least run up and down the court, that will work for me. Oh well, it’s time to rest now. By the way, I just noticed that I was not able to post in more than a week. Wew. Well I had a busy week so that’s a positive thing…and I need more.

All Star game

I just finished watching the NBA All-Star game. The East won, 141-139, and Dwayne ” mah man” Wade took the MVP award after finishing with 28 points, 11 assists and 5 steals. Unfortunately, Kobe “mah man as well” didn’t play for the West team this year. It would have been nice to see him on the court. It was pretty much a close game, the East leading most of the time but the West coming back after some spurt. It went to the final possession with Bosh’s two free throws to give the East a two point lead. Carmelo Anthony took the last shot for the West but Wade covered him well and so the East won for the last two stagings of the All Star game.

I really like Wade to win the MVP award coz he’s my favorite player together with Kobe. Kobe I think already won it 3 times so it’s about time for Wade. Dwayne has already under his name  a Championship ring, Finals MVP award, and All NBA first team. Now that he’s got the All Star MVP, the only award missing would be the Regular Season MVP award. It’s a tough competition now since the league has so many great players and great team. The Miami Heat is a contender for the play offs but doesn’t have enough depth to contend for the championship. But who knows, anything can happen anyway. But I think Wade needs another All Star player to help him to get to the championship again.

The Cavs are on a roll right now having won 13 straight games and in first place for the overall standing. The Lakers, my bet for this year, is in close second, just behind by 2 games. Second half for the regular season is on the way and it’s interesting to see where the teams will end up in the standings. But again, my bet is still the Lakers. The Cavs may go all the way to the finals coz I don’t think that the Magic is the same team anymore.  The Celtics have seemed to lost their invincibility but they’re still strong.  The Nuggets in the West are on very strong contention and they’re tailing the Lakers for the best record in their conference. Let’s see what’s going to happen this second half of the season.

I actually don’t know what to blog about today. I just feel that I need to do this hehe. As part of my commitment to establish my blogging life , I have to post something regularly. It just pains me not knowing what to put here. Anyways, I’ve been thinking of my game plan for this year. I wrote on my regular notes the hobbies that  I want to establish in my lifestyle, including what I’m doin right now, and hopefully  I can take it to another level after some time.

I’m planning to blog about Bro Eddie but I haven’t come up with a detailed lay out on the things that I will write about him. But the first thing that came to mind was something within the context of the body of Christ. For sure, not every believer agrees with Bro Eddie’s involvement in politics. I’ve heard lots of opinion about his running in the coming election but most of it were out of honest concern. I understand their side and I think that’s going to be the main thrust of my article. I need more time to plan everything. That’s the least that I can do.

Dear Lord, I believe it will just take one great idea from You and I know that I’ll be out of this rut I’m in. Oh please, let me out! I can’t wait to see all that You have for me.

That’s it for now. I hope that next time I’ll have tons of topics to talk about here. It just shows how idle I am at the moment haha poor me!

I played ball with my high school friends last night. It was my first for this year. The  last time  I played was also in the same place, I think last November. Jonas, Owel, Nal and Micl were present and we played against some dudes there. I only played one game but it was fun because I got to loosen up a bit. I’m not sure if I’ve dropped weight already but I felt lighter compared the last time I played.

Tony, one of my HS batch mates, chatted with me one time and we talked about  having a Faithful-Obedient Sports fest this summer. Faithful, the first section then in 4th year, that’s his section and Obedient, second, my section. Our sections were pretty close during our high school days and up to now we get to meet each other and play ball whenever we can.

” patahi tayo ng uniforms ha, pos kuha tayo referee. Then laro din tayo ng ibang games pa, para talagang sportsfest. ”

” ok yan bro cge i’ll contact owel para masabihan yung iba”

Our target date is April. I think we can make it happen. It’s been ten years now since we graduated from high school and I think it’s a perfect time for us to get reunited once more and become kids again even for a day. Well we’re still young but personally I would like to get reacquainted with that feeling where you’re not aware of the time but you’re just enjoying what you’re doing. It’s been a while and I’m kind of excited about it.

Yeah, we love basketball. And it’s impossible not to talk about it whenever we meet up. It’s a passion. We all have our own lives now but our love for the game is what binds us up to now. It’s our common denominator. Though we’re obviously not high caliber players, I think our plain love for basketball more than makes up for our limited talents.

And so begins the countdown to D-day. Hope it will materialize because I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a lot of  fun.

one sunday morning…

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning! I’m listening to Chris Tomlin’s song, Your grace is enough. Indeed it is. Grace has been tagged by others as a soft thing but if you will really think about it, it is really the power of the believer to face all the hell this life can throw at him. Grace has been defined as everything that God can provide us based on the finished work of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Amen, we can always turn to God and ask for help when we are hurting, in need of healing, in need of guidance and protection, practically everything that we need in this life. The Lord has not left us alone. He didn’t ascend back to heaven telling to us to live our lives on our own til He comes back again. He promises us His presence through the Holy Spirit so we can have the power to overcome and experience victory in every circumstance. Where can we find true joy and peace? Only in Him. Where can we truly find contentment and fulfillment in this life? Only in Christ. Where can we find deep defining  purpose and a clear sense of identity? Only in Jesus. In everything, let Jesus be. Amen.

that lady…

I don’t know if it’s worth blogging about but I’ve had thoughts about this lady these past few days. I just checked her multiply site and skimmed through her blogs. I remember it was back in 2007 when I first came to know her.  It was a time when I was undergoing probably the worst inner battle of my life. As an outlet, I decided to start my own blogs. So I set up my own multiply and started posting my blogs. One of my blogs was an email sent to me by my ate in the ministry. It was entitled, To those who are married, not married and soon to be married. It was a story about a husband asking her wife for a divorce. The wife asked first that in a month’s time the guy  had to carry her out of the bedroom to the front door. And so it happened that the guy carried her wife out of the bedroom everyday until it came to a point that he realized he was making a big mistake of leaving her wife. It ended well with the guy saying something like, I will carry you for the rest of my life. Yeah, one of those cheezy stories you’ll hear every once in a while, if not all the time. hehe.

The next time I checked my multiply, I saw a comment about it. I can’t remember the exact words because I’ve already canceled my multiply but it said something like (broken)promises are like paper that got wet, it’s already crumbled and it’s not the same anymore. Immediately I sensed that this person has got something going on in her life. We exchanged comments and I invited her to become my contact so I could check her profile. What I saw was a pretty lady with Korean eyes and a very nice smile. How can this girl looked like she’s going through some emotional struggles I thought. Before I logged out I PM’d my number to her so we can get in touch more. After a couple of days or so, she texted. And that started a series of call and text. We pretty much talked about her lovelife most of the time. In a span of a year or two, we talked about two or three guys that came to her life.

I don’t get in touch with her anymore. My last update about her was from my former boss at Dell, I think they were D-group buddies before in CCF. I was told that she’s currently based in manila and very active in church. I was happy to hear that and I really do pray that she will genuinely have a growing relationship with the Lord. Funny thing though is that I haven’t met her in person yet. But if  I get to meet her, I will most definitely smile at her and I will really be tempted to tell her- you’re one weird lady, you know that?

Note: I have my own justification with regard to the word weird.

a look back on my first passion

Earlier this morning, I saw my dad teaching my niece and nephew how to play chess. It was kind of nostalgic to see it because I was in the same exact place many years ago. I remember our old chess board, the chess pieces and the long afternoons just trying to learn the basic moves. The pawns where you can move it two spaces forward on its first move. Then you have the black and white bishops where you can move it diagonally. You have the knight, a versatile piece that can jump over another piece in an L type move. Of course you have the rook, more powerful than a bishop or a knight, it can move up,down and  sideways from end to end. But the most powerful piece of all is the queen. It has the power of a bishop and a rook combined. It’s so vital to have that piece if you want to capture the opponent’s king.

Chess obviously was my first passion. I’ve lost countless of times to my dad but it was fun because I was learning. I also remember whenever my uncles would come and visit our place, I would always get the chessboard and play with them.  I was supposed to represent our school back in grade school but I opted another sport that I was getting in love with, volleyball. But I carried with me the love for chess when I entered high school. I remember when I was a sophomore, I tried out for a slot to represent our school for the BULPRISA ( Bulacan Private Schools Association). My kuya’s classmate and I were the finalists  and we battled it out for two and a half hours. I was already offering a draw and play another one but he declined it and said he knew that there was a way for him to get the win.And win he did. After a series of positional plays, I made an error which caused me the game. The funny thing was when I was on my way home,I said to myself, that’s it, I’m not going to play chess anymore.

I transferred to JILCF when I entered my junior year because I sensed that the Lord was leading me there. I joined the volleyball training team together with my old friend, Joel. Joel was my volleyball teammate in grade school. There I met new friends like Jhay R, Jimward, Rhoel and Joseph. Though I didn’t make the cut, I had a great time training with them.

Senior year, I was already active in the ministry. We were already conducting Youth Gatherings in school and I was having the time of my life. Joel, Jhay R and I decided to give up volleyball to focus on the ministry and we certainly didn’t regret it. Bulprisa was fast approaching and tryouts for the different sports that were going to be played were already on a roll. I can’t remember now how it unfolded, but one day I just saw myself watching our prospect students who will be representing our school in the game of chess. I think at first  i was just watching them, then the next thing i knew was I was already on the other side of the board playing against one of the students. The coach saw potential and encouraged me to pursue trying out for the team. I don’t know but I knew in my heart, chess was no longer a big thing for me. Yes, I enjoyed playing chess but I didn’t see myself playing at a higher level of competition. I actually gave my Kasparov books to them hoping that it would at least help them prepare for the Bulprisa.

I’m in my mid-20’s now and obviously my skill level has not improved or maybe it has already dwindled down. Today, you will hear about prodigies obtaining the Grandmaster title as early as age twelve. For me, it’s just fun to read articles about what’s going on in the chess world.

In any case, I’m thankful that I got introduced to the game of chess early in life. I guess it was God’s own way of saying, son I’m showing you a shadow of greater things to come. Just keep your passion, your desire to learn and try new things alive, for I will put it to good use for my glory and you will find true satisfaction for doing  what you really love in this life which I really planned you to discover in the first place because I put it in you.

It’s good to have a hobby, or even deeper, a passion that you can pursue. I believe it’s a gift from God and I think He’s pleased whenever He sees us exerting effort to harness and improve it in any way we can.Now, I got some new passions like reading and writing ( blogging) and I have every intention to do it and establish it in my lifestyle. Who knows one day, I may see myself on a book tour signing autographs for my newly released book. haha =)

Beyond borders

I first posted this on the triunemovers’ multiply site dated 09 oct 2007 triunemovers.multiply.com

A REFLECTION  by kuya piwi

i myself am a witness of this steady increase of dancers bannering the name of the Lord in their respective crews here at least in the philippines. It’s very inspiring for them to see standing up for a MESSAGE that transcends all religious beliefs, political ideologies, language barriers and even geographical limitations. Dance has established itself as one of the forefronts in God’s ministry in terms of sharing the good news indirectly. This art has become an integral part of evangelistic works that in almost every christian gathering, you’ll see ministers dancing during praise and worship. Indeed, it is an avenue that we can use to advance a cause that concerns the eternal destiny of those who have yet to come to the cross.

Nothing is constant in this world except for change. From the way we dress to the technologies that we use for our pleasure, everything changes. Even the language that we speak changes. That’s why its very important for us to be flexible when it comes to finding ways on how we can win more souls to Christ. Praise God for this medium, dance, we can go out there and capture the interest of the young people. We all know how passionate our filipino youths are about dancing. Everywhere you go, you’ll see dance competitions in barangays and even in schools. So, it is just right for us to use this gift for the advancement of His purposes in our generation.

It is interesting to know that this gift can be classified as amoral. It is neither moral nor immoral. That means we can use it for something that will edify or something that will destroy. It all depends on the person who will exercise the gift of dance. So this serves as a trumpet call to all who’ve been endowed by this very powerful instrument of expression, we must use this as a channel of blessing to other people. I believe that if we will let God sanctify our bodies and let our hearts be saturated by His Word, the Lord will use us to illuminate the minds of the unbelievers and thus bring them into a better understanding of what God can do in their lives.

I want to emphasize this very important truth, dance is an avenue, a channel, but it is not the source of our power in ministering, the anointing only comes from the Holy Spirit. If we ever want to see change, then we must solely rely on the Spirit of the Lord. Remember, it is very possible to be admired by people and be a laughingstock of the devil at the same time. My point is we have to realize that BEYOND dancing is another dimension called the spiritual realm. Here, our faith will have an important role to play. We can dance all day in front of thousands of people with no power in our lives, we can receive compliments, admirations but with no effectiveness for the Kingdom. Scary, but true. As ministers, we must always bear in mind that  “… our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” ( ephesians 6:12). If we allow this truth sink into the very depths of our hearts, i promise all of you that it will forever change your lives. You will never look for the applause of man, you will never seek the approbation of the people, you will never long for the recognition of the crowd because you will understand that when you’re serving in the ministry, it’s not about your talents and gifts, its not about you and me, but it’s all about JESUS!

The Message remains the same! Beyond this art is a proclamation of the greatest revelation ever revealed to mankind, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us..and yes, we have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only… full of grace and truth. We must never water down the truth, this world needs Jesus! This is what sets us apart my brothers and sisters, we know the truth… we stand upon the truth… we proclaim the truth. We go out there because we have a message to tell and for no other reason. Not for fame, not for popularity but for the reality of Jesus. We dont go out there searching for our identities, coz the true servants of the Lord already know who they are, and we do. We know who we are, we know where we stand, we know where we are going because we know whom we are serving! we stand on the podium, we face the crowd with our hearts gazed towards the heaven, and together we say, in You we move and have our being! Let every man be made low and let Your Name be lifted up! We dance beyond the impression of the world, beyond the definition of man and beyond what is natural…and may we have more people who are willing to dance beyond borders!