Leadership Thoughts

I arrived at our church for the worship practice around 4:00pm because I have to pass by our grandma's house to see the kids. As soon as I sat down where the group was, I heard Sani sharing something about leadership and his passion. I later found out that Sani was pouring his heart out as he shares his passion, the current situation he is into and how he sees the youth ministry as a whole.

Sani was crying. I truly believe that ministers cries a lot especially when they are touched by the Lord. Be it a burden or peace that comes from Him, our initial reaction is to pour it out by crying. Sani, with tears in his eyes spoke of a true leader. A leader who is not ashamed to speak for the ministry even to the point of showing his emotions ( be it holy anger or crying).

I admire his being outspoken and zeal to serve the Lord.

What Sani shared reminded me of my own experience as well growing up as a leader. Seeing the need and the burden to do something about it is the first step in becoming an effective leader. I often felt being unworthy and frankly speaking, useless as a leader when I started out and everyone was not paying attention.

But these times were opportune time for the Lord to mold me and entrust me with the few that I may become trustworthy of many. And indeed, the Lord did just that!

For Sani, and for any youth leader experiencing barrenness for the moment, it's a time to trust the Lord and see how He works even amidst the hardest of time. It's not just in the season of plenty that we can measure our effectivity, but in the times of wants and uncertainty that we see how small we are and how big God is.

Our being servants means following the trail of our Master and Lord, and reaping the same experiences as we journey with Him.

And oh, before I foget, we may sometimes think that we are the only ones left working so hard like Elijah after confronting the Priests of Baal but let me just change that thought -He is the LORD of the MINISTRY and HE will sustain it, no matter what. ;)

Worthy Is The Lamb

If you were able to read my previous entry, I was in the dilemma of knowing how to end the worship song I chose as an ending. I entirely forgot how it ends. 

But by God's grace, He made an incredible,unexpected and awesome experience for me and the congregation.

As we sang the last song, I wanted to try out the same ending I saw in youtube with the original version but then it seems to be that God wants it in a different way. As I motioned to the instrumentalists to go for the ending, the Lord gave me these beautiful words to cry out - "You are worthy, You're the Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and The End, The First and Last, You're worthy to be praised, worthy to be honored,worthy to be worshipped..."

To what might have been a bad ending comes the divine intervention of the Lamb whom we were worshiping. Hands were raising up and eyes closed as I declared "Worthy, worthy, worthy..."

As I ended the worship service, God led me to the words of Revelation 5 that speaks of the worthiness of God to be worship. Let me share this to all of you -

And they sang a new song:

   "You are worthy to take the scroll

      and to open its seals,

   because you were slain,

      and with your blood you purchased men for God

      from every tribe and language and people and nation.

 ¹⁰You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

      and they will reign on the earth."

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 

In a loud voice they sang:

   "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

   to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

   and honor and glory and praise!"

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

   "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

   be praise and honor and glory and power,

         for ever and ever!" 

Indeed, Lord You are worthy to receive honor and praise for who you are and what you have done for us! To you alone be glory and worship forever more! Amen!

Even Though I forget, But He doesn't!

How could I forget an ending of a song?

I've been asking this question while going home from practice. I can't remember how the "Worthy is the Lamb" song should end. Pity me, I've been trying hard to remember the ending and I decided to listen to it one more time in Youtube and found out that indeed, I ended badly during practice.

I know I should do better, I'm a seasoned worship leader. But there are times that I'm at a point wherein I tried my best, but my best seems to be pretty much worst that before.

With my current situation, it seems that the Lord is telling me to trust Him instead of what I know or don't know of. I'm pretty much feeling perplexed but God seems aware of my failure and still gets the feeling of being blessed to know He knows me too well - That even though I forget, He doesn't.

Now, I trust Him for tomorrow. I trust Him all the more how he will work in my limitations. I know He will, He does, Amen.

Come to think of it, the song shares a great message to my heart. The lyrics itself share -

Thank You for the cross Lord
Thank You for the price You paid
Bearing all my sin and shame
In love You came
And gave amazing grace

Thank You for this love Lord
Thank You for the nail pierced hands
Washed me in Your cleansing flow
Now all I know
Your forgiveness and embrace

Worthy is the Lamb
Seated on the throne
Crown You now with many crowns
You reign victorious
High and lifted up
Jesus Son of God
The Darling of Heaven crucified
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb

Last time:
Thank You for the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb
Worthy is the Lamb

Indeed, I myself is not a perfect person but because of Christ, I am able to declare "He is indeed Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb!"

Abba Father

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--" - John 1:12

This is one of my favorite verses in the bible. It speaks of who I am and how I should relate to HIM.

Many people would settle for a God who is like the big brother, the "no face" guy who gives random advices to people shared through a small kid everyone seems to love but I'd much prefer the ONE stated in this particular verse - Father.

I have nothing against such telenovelas, but sensationalism over Christ as big brother and not a Father and Lord seems to be way underated.

Let's get this straight - Christ came to give us life, his Father, the is Creator and Lord of everything but He is also to be called "Abba" which basically means Father in english.

No offense to the creator of the show, but He has to get his facts straight.

I know Christ came into this world for me, and I am created wonderfully and has been given the right to become His child - not as an act of the will or by virtue by blood, He gave it to me as a right brought about through the cross.

Although I can consider him as brother, I would prefer him to be called as "dad", this brings greater authority than just being a sibling.

Sabbath Day

^“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested ^[a] from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” – Genesis 2: 1-3

Sundays has been created to solely enjoy God’s fellowship. It is the best day of the week wherein we can relax and commune with our Creator. I love every minute I’m with friends and family every church service but I adore more to be in the presence of my Lord and King.

It was different back then. I used to make a whole lot of reasons not to go to church. It can be a toothache for today, headache by next week and an important project to finish with Monday as a deadline. I was still in early high school when I did that. It ran along a 5 years stint from time to time.

To become mature in Christ means to mature in our views of things. From being a wayward kid during

Sundays, I have disciplined myself to be in church every Sunday, regardless if I’ll be ministering or not.

The creation account in Genesis gives us a peak view of why Sundays or Sabbath days are important. It is not just to relax and fellowship with other believers but also a time to be thankful of. It is a duty every created thing must do.

God saw everything He created and was pleased by it! And then He relaxed.

Some people may think they shouldn’t be forced to go to church if they don’t want to. But if you believe that God created every little thing in this earth, don’t you think He owns it and must submit to His Lordship? If God rested on the 7^th day, don’t you think you should also relax also?

The bible shares that all creation is made of Him, for Him and through Him and He asks only one day, just one day, to celebrate that. 6 days He has given to work and provide for ourselves, the 7^th should be a time to seek Him – the one gave us everything that we may live.

Let us not be greedy of our time for Him. He holds time and for sure, will give us ample time to do things. Let us be reminded to set-aside Sundays as a day to worship Him, fellowship with Him and celebrate His goodness in our lives. Because we might not have enough time to do that if we are too old to say “yes” to the Lord.

Have a Happy Sunday Everyone!

Christmas Gift

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." - Isaiah 9:5-7 

I love Christmas, it's the time of the year where everyone seems to be friendly and loving to one another. To a child's eyes, Christmas is an opportunity to get new toys and  extra coins to play in the internet.

Children of every nationality definitely brings excitement to this season we call Christmas. 

Christmas is the time of the year where we can also reflect and thank the Lord for a very special gift to humanity - the gift of a Savior. His name is Jesus, the name  that brings freedom, peace and redemption to our broken lives.

As we draw near to the season everyone seems to be expecting, let us share the greatest gift of all to our friends and families - Jesus.

It was Christmas of 1998 that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior and Lord. It was a precious gift I treasure even now. And every year, I reflect and thank the Lord for the people God has brought to me so I can have this special gift.

I pray, that you may share your faith to these friends and families of yours, it will be a great gift to the Lord whom we are celebrating in this special event.

God bless!

The InterVarsity NORSU Chapter

"Let us not give up in meeting each other, as some are in the habit of doing..." - Apostle Paul

Viz and I decided to spend some time in one of the internet shop somewhere in downtown when a familiar face seems to be eying Viz for quite some time.

It was Junmar Cabio, a fellow InterVarsity leader in our campus way back 2002. He was one of the first few leaders who spend some time praying for leaders to emerge and become faithful to the ministry. We were answers to their prayers so to speak.

It was a nice opportunity to exchange numbers and discuss about an opportunity to have ameet-up later on with some InterVarsity alumni from NORSU as well.

I love it when I meet people from our previous core leaders in NORSU, it is always a joy seeing how the Lord has blessed them and the opportunities to work in the marketplace.

InterVarsity-NORSU has long been gone and pioneering work is being started again. I wish we can go back to that school and spend time to pray and see the need to support the ministry.

I hope we can organize a dinner meeting with some InterVarsity friends from NORSU and be encouraged, be blessed and be challenged to what's up ahead for the NORSU Chapter.

Being Successful, God's Way

"Do not let  this Book of th Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written on it. Then You will be prosperous and successful" - Joshua 1:8 (NIV)

I miss having daily quiet times.

Being in the corporate world drags you to become lazy in having spiritual activities that boosts your life to do better. My life seems to be a routine of sleep, eat and work wherein I fail to pray most of the time, much more read God's word.

The advice from Joshua 1:8 reminds me to seek His word, spend time once again to study it and learn insights on how life can be better with God's word as a guide.

I like the last part wherein it says "...then you will prosper and successful...." it puts you in the right perspective that meditating with God's word doesn't make you dumb and a slacker, it will make you "big time"!

Christians, especially working Christians, fail to spend quality time with the Lord because they want to achieve their goals. Let us change all that, seeking God first is the basic step in being successful, let us remember that God owns the world, and He promotes and demotes anyone he likes.

Being A FootSoldier

“God’s FootSoldiers” by Ate Joy Solina is one of those challenging books that makes you think if you have the guts to do something great for the Lord. It pushes you to make the most out of our young lives.

Ever since I started to learn how to stand in front of a crowd, I wanted to bring impact to their lives more than ever. Of course, I was just a kid back then but I was sharing my heart out and challenged my generation to do the same.

My passion is to see my generation rise up and use their full potential to something exciting and useful. I always prayed that God will use my gifting and energy for a godly cause.

God gave me an opportunity to not just share my gifts but be trained in becoming a servant leader. I am honored and blessed to be trained by many people close to me and how each shared a special lesson all through my life.

InterVarsity is one good avenue for me to be trained. It was the perfect timing of getting right again with God after a month of so many bad experiences. It was through Ofelyn, a former classmate in High School that I got involved to this particular youth group.

The first four months in InterVarsity was an energized season wherein my twin brother and I started sharing to the new comers in the group. It was so exciting seeing fellow classmates and drop-outs come to know the saving grace of the Lord.

That was 2002 back then when I accepted the challenge to become a campus missionary, I believed with all my heart that this was an open opportunity to serve the Lord and bring impact to society.

Whatever I learned before with InterVarsity has been shared with every youth and youth groups I get connected with. Everything I learned from InterVarsity is a treasure to ponder and share with.

I was like a soldier in training for the coming war. I was excited to learn new tricks and trades of becoming an effective Christian at the age of 21. And I’m more excited to share that at the age of 26, I’m still in the process of learning many things from God and other people to become an effective minister for His Glory.

One More Time

The Ugly Truth

I wanted to write a book and have been trying to for the last 6 years of my life.

I always thought that I have something to share, something that can be left as legacy as a young lad for his generation. After many trials and errors, I soon found out I have nothing to share. Mine was just a few of so many things other people have already written for ages.

It was so contradicting to what my heart was saying.

I was saved when I was 13 years old and have been trying my best to become an effective witness for Christ since then. I started sharing the gospel at the age of 15 and soon became a leader in our youth group at the age of 18. In my small little mind, I was asking myself “who can achieve all that in less than a decade?”

I was stumped when I found the answer to that pretty challenging question; God was up for something good in every generation and he was making sure that the younger generation is part of something BIG He has set in place. My experiences were less than a perfect example worthy to be recognized as an achievement.

Take it from Joseph, David, Esther, Stephen and the many cloud of witnesses whose names are not mentioned in the bible.  Can I also mention that Kid who shared in the aisle of the grocery store, a 18 year old missionary in the tribes or a young pastor starting a church in a remote area?

Theirs was a life full of excitement and legacy. I soon found out that I was too presumptuous and mine was so little achievements. I am pretty sure I won’t have my name on that particular list.

Pierced EGO

I was ashamed that I boasted with my achievements to something that is futile and perhaps a witness to my immaturity as a Christian and as a servant leader. The bible pierced my ego when it said “Let him who boasts boast about me, that he knows and understands me…”  Indeed, I have nothing to boast but of Him whom I know for the last 13 years of my walk with Him.

But can a 26 year old guy really share something that even theologians have debated for years?

I don’t and will intend to skip as much as possible the theological side of things. I want to share something that has been the missing point of my generation – Knowing God Intimately.

I love the Lord and I cannot deny that He loves me too. Ours is an intimate relationship that opens wounds and joys without fear of reject. I have experienced being forgiven by Him to every single sin in my life and have enjoyed His surpassing kindness on a daily basis.

Desiring Once More

My desire is not to be preachy or even become a clanging cymbal to the many articles about how to know God intimately; my aim is to share my own experience as a person, as a believer, as a sheep of the Shepherd.

Join me then as I reminisce and respond to God’s unfailing love and promises given before time started to tick for me until the time I’ll see my Lord. May you enjoy the things I’ll share but much more, learn and hopefully, bring impact to your life as well? (Cross-Fingers!)