Surrender

All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.

I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my BLESSED SAVIOR. I SURRENDER all.


I was about to be preachy and hard and all that about really Surrendering your life to Christ. But I realized that not of it will matter when you don't surrender in the first place.

Think about it... the real meaning of surrender. What does "absolute and irrevocable" surrender mean? What does it mean to you?

Surrendering your life to Jesus is a serious matter. It is a one time thing. By "surrendering" our lives to Him often and not following His will the day after, we are downright insulting and downplaying His amazing grace.

Think about it, how are you living your surrendered life to Jesus? Or have you surrendered in the first place?

Think about it before it's too late...

You

I know you know this already. I just thought I'd let the world know...

that you never fail to make me smile.

that you never fail to draw out the best in me.

that you never fail to see the good in me.

that I appreciate your cool personality.

that I appreciate how you think through situations.

that I appreciate how you can make me speechless.

I want you to know that I...

thank you for sharing your life with me,

thank you for listening to me,

thank you for encouraging me,

thank you for praying for me.

thank you for being yourself,

thank you for showing me

that there's more to life,

thank you for reminding me the things I need to remember.

thank you that, in a short amount of time, you have grown to appreciate my preachy antics.

thank you that you have made me realize a lot of things.

thank you for always warming my heart.

Yes, you've affected my life so much already in just a matter of weeks. And I hope I will continue to learn more about you. These moments will be treasured deep down in my heart.

Just to let you know once again, I'm happy we met. I'm happy our lives crossed paths. You are truly one in a million, a SWEET friend, and a blessing from God.

This is for you, to show you that you are truly and greatly appreciated and to let you know that I will always be here for you - in your happy times and sad times. :)

May we continue to grow in the Lord as we seek to do His will in His work. And may we continue to be humble in His sight.

Here's to a great, great FRIENDSHIP :)

YSC Camp Reflection

I thought to myself, "Hey, you have been joining your church youth camp for so long now. What's more to expect?"

Amazingly, more was to be expected. The youth camp week that passed was an overwhelming experience.

Pre-camp preparations were hectic to say the least. The idea of holding a sports camp was new to the church and definitely new to the youth leaders. Knowing that, I was very skeptical of how things will happen during the camp.

Using previous camps as a comparison, I thought this will be the worst camp yet. First, the camp preparations started around two months before the actual camp. The usual camp preparations before start at around August. Because of that, everyone had to adjust. We were not accustomed to doing things at a fast pace. Deadlines were immediately set, but they were not met.

Second, the idea of a sports camp for the youth group that caters to both athletic and non-athletic people is quite an odd one. I thought the target audience was very broad because we still have to include everyone. Since I am in charge of the program, my problem was how to incorporate the "not sporty" to this sports camp.

Third, most officers were inexperienced. Usual camps have a roster of one "veteran" officer and one "rookie" officer per committee. This camp, the officers were mostly inexperienced and left with no co-officer. To add to that, the officers were given a limited amount of time to consider and answer the officer invitation.

Given these situations, the camp was due to fail. Praise God it did not. God had other plans for this camp. We must realize that God chooses WEAK people so that his power can be magnified all the more. He chooses WEAK people so that we will not rely on our own skills and talents in doing His ministry.

Going into the camp, however, I was not yet in the right mindset. I was still thinking about the technical things for the camp. I failed once again in trusting that God will work in the camp and in the lives of people if He so chooses just because He is sovereign. I failed. This failure of a person, however, will continually be changed, molded, and humbled during the camp.

What happened during the camp was a pure testimony of God's power working. First, the natural cliquish tendencies of the youth fellowship lessened. I was shocked, amazed, and happy that people were actually breaking their barriers and communicating with each other. Relationships were created, and friendships were formed from the most unusual of circumstances. Come to think of it, it might be because this is a sports camp. Then praise God this is a sports camp! Though not perfect, seeing leaders breaking their shell and stepping out of it to form relationships with others is both a blessing and an answered prayer.

Second, the camp had a lot of problems. I assure you that this camp had more organizational and planning problems than any previous camp held in our church. Firstly, the schedule was changed and restructured a lot. If this was a previous camp, a major problem would have occurred from rearranging the schedule, and major activities would not have been done. Praise God for a lighter schedule!

Another big problem occurred during this camp. The original speaker backed out a week before camp, and the replacement speaker suddenly backed out of his second night speaking engagement. The second speaking night was supposed to be the altar call night. Without a speaker, we were not sure what will happen. Thankfully, an adviser had the presence of mind to pray during this time. It is in these crucial moments that we remember God. So I praise God for this challenge. Without this, we might have been complacent in handling things. The night ended well, praise God.

There are a few things that I've learned. God, in His infinite wisdom, indeed has the best for His children. God will always give His children challenging situations. In this way, we will continue to seek His will and guidance. In ministry, we always thought that bad situations are because Satan wants to stop God's work in us. What I realized, however, is that probably God just wants us to trust in Him. Now we must change our mindset. Whatever the challenging situation, don't look at it as a scheme from Satan or something. Don't think at all! Just pray and ask God to give you the wisdom and strength to continue giving your best to Him, and we should also pray that we will not forget God in these situations.

We must always remain humble in everything we do. In whatever accomplishment we achieve. Remember that this is God's work. Whatever we accomplish is nothing without God.

In the end, God allowed this camp to be a success not because we pushed the right buttons in almost every decision we had to make, not because this is a sports camp, not because we are good, but because God is Sovereign and what He wants is what happens. God's power is evident in this camp. I am grateful that He uses His children to carry out His will. To God be the glory!

Sorry?

To the Filipinos who never experienced WWII:
You want to see how cruel the Japanese occupation army was? This was a shot I took in a Hong Kong Museum. Look at all the stupid things these Japanese army men are doing! Can you imagine? First off, our people were made into comfort women. Second, the Hong Kong Invasion Army goes to Hong Kong and uses civilians for live bayonet practice! This is plain brutality. Tears almost came out of me just seeing the picture.

Even a simple statement of apology has not been issued. What's wrong? Imagine the victims. Imagine how they must have been feeling waiting for a simple statement all their lives! It basically ruined their whole life. Imagine these people who had a life full of dreams ahead of them that was basically shattered by the war and further shattered by war crimes.

Other evil acts were done also in the form of concentration camps, holocausts, etc. To be fair, the Allied forces also violated the rules of engagements and committed many war crimes that were ignored by the Nuremberg Trial which was created to punish the offenders during WWII.

It's a simple word yet a complex one. Sorry.

In Response To An Article

Read the article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daniel-wagner/the-philippine-bus-and-mi_b_694544.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Response 1:

quoting the author of the article, "And when a beauty queen blows an attempt to become the glory of the Philippine people, it should be recognized as such."

What? It's as if the whole fate of the Philippines lie in her hands. It was as if she committed a "major major" sin that she should be condemned.

Response 2:

again, quoting the author, "Other Filipinos have said English wasn't her first language so she had difficulty coming up with the right words. Really? How come no other Philippine contestant in the Miss Universe pageant ever had an interpreter?"

1. It is true, in the Philippines, ENGLISH NEVER WILL BE OUR FIRST LANGUAGE. Unless of course, you are a foreigner living in our country. Or you are a Fil-Am who grew up in the States.

2. It's hard to express something in English when our minds were trained to think Filipino. It's really simple, LINGUISTIC RELATIVITY. Look it up please.

3. No interpreter does not mean that we are good in English already. Again, Linguistic relativity. It's hard for her to express something in English. Especially when under pressure.

4. Post-colonial mentality. We feel a need to speak English. This is not supposed to happen. We are supposed to speak English only because we want to. Not because we need to. We are Filipinos, not American or British.

Response 3:

and yet again, "How could this 22-year-old woman, who so diligently prepared herself for that moment -- at great personal sacrifice her whole life - not have come up with a better response?"

then that my friend, is her major major mistake - NOT. Don't blame her for everything. The whole burden of the Philippines is not on her shoulders. She merely entered a pageant where beauty is dictated by the standards of a group of people.

and are you not allowed to make mistakes even when the stakes are high? yes you can, mistakes are what allow us to learn and mature.

if she's happy with the result, why should you be disappointed about her? AND THE WHOLE OF PHILIPPINES?

Response 4:

and again, "When I lived in the Philippines from 2003 to 2007, I was asked, what is the difference between the Philippines and Indonesia? My answer was, 'In Indonesia, they have hope.'"

You only lived in the Philippines for 4 years to say that the Philippines does not have hope? Allow me to tell you right now that the Philippines has HOPE. Please...

Response 5:

I agree with the political dynasties. They don't help in the reshaping of the Philippines.

Last Words:

The problems of the Philippines lie in our culture, not on the SWAT team, not on the botched answer of Venus Raj...

1.We think too highly of other cultures that we are willing to adapt or sometimes adopt theirs and not our own. Like we have the notion "English, elite, pang mayaman." NOT TRUE. But we still play with it. It's in our minds already.

2. We are quick to forgive, even the wrong doers are left unpunished. Yes, we forgive, but justice must be served, right?

3. Many more... we need to change.

Verse for the Day - August 25, 2010

"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14, ESV

Crisis. What are we doing? Complaining.

We are also praying, you might wonder; but are we humbling ourselves? Are we seeking God's face? Are we turning from our wicked ways? Often times, we wonder why God is not helping us. Probably, the verse is the answer.

You want to help the Philippines? then obey God's Word now!

At Such A Time As This

The Philippines has just gotten out of an era where we could not care less about out country. The government was a bad choice to be company with. Now we have a new government. The Philippines is gaining its respect again. The Philippines is regaining tourists. The Philippines is getting back on track in its economy. Everything is going well. Apparently not. The hostage taker just had to do his "act" to pull down the whole Philippines in one single blow.

Let's give him the benefit of the doubt. Let us assume that he was framed about extortion and served injustice in the case. These are NOT reasons for Inspector Mendoza to result to hostage-taking. The sad part was, he had to result to killing innocent blood.

Blame it all on the police force. Was their capturing of Mendoza's brother wrong? I tell you, it was right in every way possible. The brother was going to the bus without authorization and had a gun with him. That is why he was arrested. Mendoza was outraged by it. So be it, still not the PNP's fault.

Blame it on the SWAT team. Say all you want, the sledge hammer went in the bus, the pulling of the hydraulic door was wrong, the tear gas was wrong, the flash grenades were wrong, the sniper team was wrong, and everything about the SWAT's operation was wrong. OK, FINE. They had done something wrong. However, we must not blame them for everything. Do you know their Rules of Engagement (ROE)? If not, then don't say anything rashly. Let us not forget that Mendoza was a police also. He knew how the force will handle things, and he planned it almost perfectly. I assume he had a good position inside the bus. This made for a more complicated operations than expected.

This is NOT A GAME that we play on the computer or a movie that we watch on the cinemas. I read many comments about how the SWAT should have handled the operations. They probably played too much Call of Duty Modern Warfare. Not everything we want to happen will happen in real life. The police cannot respawn themselves when they die. Therefore, utter care must be done, unless you want to be on the wrong end of the situation. We don't have modern equipments as well, so can we blame the police for that?

Blame it on the negotiators. Many suggested that they could have just tricked Mendoza into thinking that he will get everything he wants. This is wrong in every way. You actually want to result to lying? Christians and non- Christians share the same view, they don't want to be lied to. SO whatever happened to the Golden Rule? The negotiators respected Mendoza and gave him a fair treatment. It was apparently not returned.

Blame it on the media. I agree that the media is at fault for aggravating the situation. Fighting for "better" but unnecessary coverage jeopardized the whole mission. The police had a hard time because virtually all their positions are being covered by the media, and Mendoza had access to the coverage. This allowed him to plan everything to his advantage. What was the media thinking? Ratings is still more important to you?

Blame it on P-Noy. What? Come again? How could you always blame the President for something bad happening to the country? We did not see his face in media at those times. Why? Does it mean that he is not doing anything when we don't see his face on our TV sets? What is wrong with you? The President know better than how we portrayed him to be.

This is the sad part. A hostage- taking crisis revealed to us that WE DID NOT CHANGE AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. I thought we wanted change? If we want change, we ourselves MUST CHANGE! The media should be ashamed of themselves. All the Usiseros and Usiseras present at the crime scene should all be ashamed of themselves. You are not at all helping the situation. In fact, you are slowing the whole rescue operation. We should be ashamed ourselves for pointing fingers. I also heard that there were FAN PAGES in Facebook for this hostage-taking drama. Pictures were taken with smiles in front of the crime scene. Text messages were also circulated as if making this a light dilemma. Could we be any more serious? The situation is far aggravated by our careless acts. It is probably in the culture of a Filipino already. Wrong answer still, a culture of a people is always changing. It is not constant through time. What are we doing then? While we are developing a good culture, we are not releasing the bad culture we possess. It's sad that after everything we had gone through, the same thing always happens. Blame everyone for a situation, gossip about it, and entertain ourselves with it afterwards.

How should we act? We should all be FURIOUS. Not to the police, not to P-Noy, not to ANYONE BUT OURSELVES. WE have shown that we are still not acting as one nation ready for change. Shame on us.

I cannot do anything, however, but to pray for the country. More importantly, I would pray for every Filipino to start reflecting on their own and start changing the way they reacted to the crisis. It was a great loss indeed, and I am grieving for the things that happened that probably should not have happened. But the truth remains that it can happen anywhere around the world. It does not mean that because it happened in the Philippines, all Filipinos are bad and worthless. It is just wrong to conclude it that way.

At such a time as this, what can we do? Move forward.

How many more eye openers do you want to happen in the Philippines before you start CHANGING? Start NOW!