Of living rocks and pebbles....

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Hope you enjoy this video I made from our trip in Kent!
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(For stories and experiences, please read article below...)
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LIVING ROCKS AND PEBBLES?

Last weekend, June 23 & 24, we had the privilege of going outside London for a seaside fellowship in All Hallows, Kent. Booked ahead of time, we managed to reserve two caravans for our weekend outing.

Although, most of us couldn't make it, we still went on with the activity since it was scheduled ahead of time and the caravans have already been booked. Besides, we rarely have this opportunity to go out of London as a group anyway, so minority or majority aside, the show must go on.

So off we went by batch. We were the first to go followed by another batch. It only took us an hour or so to reach the place. Thanks to Mr. Navi (the navigator), we reached the place the quickest possible way. The weather was great! We were all eager to unload our bags and head off to the sea. Hanniel & Esther even wanted to change into their swimming outfits already. But then we had to wait for the rest of the group. Besides, we haven't eaten lunch yet and they have our lunch (a savoury feast of adobo and veggie salad compliments of the chef, Sister Fhely. (-: yummm!)

So when they did come after an hour, we ate lunch then excitedly headed off to sea.

It was low tide so there were no waters to see at the sea (it rhymes. he he!)
What we found were hideous rocks and pebbles. Thus, the title. The scenery was magnificent. Makes me stand in awe of God's creation. The skies were so blue and the vastness of the sea was incredible. We were literally standing on the seabed (well, quite) and around us were these rocks and puddles of water. Then Aunty Helen said we could start picking oysters and crabs. We didn't know where to start so we just followed her around. Only to find out that the oysters were actually the small rocks that we see and ignoringly pass by. While on the bigger rocks, once you flip them open; crabs, big or small, start to crawl out, it was amazing! It was a joy watching them (i was taking the video) pick up oysters as they figure out which one's an oyster and which one's just a rock. But it was much funnier seeing them try to catch a crab with their bare hands. I'm telling you those crabs don't go down without a fight. They don't have those claws for nothing. (Watch the video and you'll see one geronimo crab fighting for his life. He he!)


Anyway, aside from oysters and crabs and other sea creatures we found; we also had fun picking up pebbles. They come in different types, sizes, color and form. I manage to pick some interesting rocks and pebbles (see the picture below).





Maybe if we stayed longer, we could have found some diamonds or pearls. You never know. LOL!
But anyway, my point really is, we've learned a lesson from this experience alone. Just take a look at the sea when all the waters subside. In the naked eye, the oysters looked like dead rocks. Black and not very pretty. But when you take a closer look, there's life inside those rocks. It becomes food and serves as nourishment to physical bodies. Just like us, we were once dead and unpleasing. But when God found us, He picks us up, cleanses us and makes us realise there us life through Him. A life that has its purpose. Which brings me to my next topic.

That of faith and repentance..

Well, although it seems we were there for the fun and pleasure, our main objective was to do God's will above everything else. We went out of our common dwellings and headed to this place to have a fellowship. Now before I go on, what do I mean by fellowship anyway? In its New Testament sense, fellowship is an inner unity expressed outwardly. It is not just being together but doing together. It is not just doing anything together but it is working together to accomplish God’s will.

And one of that was for the baptism of our brethren.

You know what? Whenever I hear or witness someone submitting to water baptism, I could not help but shed a tear of joy. It means, they are willing to submit their lives to Christ. Baptism in itself is repentance. It is an act, done by faith to show repentance of our sins. In the bible, it is a command. "How do we enter the kingdom of heaven?" Someone asked Jesus and He replied, "you have to be born again, born of water and of spirit". Jesus Himself was baptised. He did so to fulfill all righteousness. That is, he lead an example for us to follow. There are a lot of scriptures about baptism and I don't have to go into details. What matters is we do it as our act of true repentance and humility, by faith. I like how Romans 6 describes it.

Paul says this of baptism, "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

I have friends who were asking me my views about baptism and all I can say is I did it so I may be right with God. I didn't know a lot about God's words then but when I heard the gospel about baptism, I just wanted to obey. Jesus did it Himself 'to fulfill all righteousness',how much more for me, who's just a mere man? Some friends didn't want to be baptised thinking they're not worthy or they're not yet ready. And I just wonder, when is the right time? When do we know it's right? The gospel says no man is worthy, not even one on the face of the earth. Therefore "Blessed is the man who believes and obeys even without seeing."

That is what faith is all about....

Although there are more things I could share about our trip to Kent, like our bonding moment on Saturday night or our morning service with the IGO UK group on Sunday or the indoor activities we had on Sunday (cause it was raining), for me what I've talked about is what touched me the most. And so i just wanted to share it with all of you.

These experiences are once in a lifetime. Moments I treasure and keep. And i pray that you experience it too.

God bless you!

Guitar lessons, snakes & ladders & pasta bake - This is my week so far

I know it's quite a long title but it sums up what has occupied my week.

Well, aside from my regular weekly activities, these are my highlights for this week.

I thought i'd have some spare time last tuesday in the afternoon to do some shopping for stuff that i'd send home to the Philippines (cause my sister will be going home for a month this coming July) but then i had to cancel that when i received a call from Connie.

It appears her employers are looking for someone to teach their daughters some guitar lessons to fill up the kids' weekly schedule. And Tuesday being only their free time, she asked me if i'd be free to come and have guitar sessions with them.

Well of course who wouldn't say yes. Music is my passion and guitar has been my first instrument. So, postponing some shopping which is a girl's-favourite-past-time (sometimes) is not a bad choice.

So i quickly went to a music shop and bought a beginner's guide and bought a notebook where they can write their notes on then went to the place (which is a blessing as it is very close to my morning job).

I didn't quite know what to expect. Connie highly recommended me to her employers and I wasn't sure i'd live up to their expectations. it's not as if i'm a pro at this, you know. yes, i've learned to play the guitar when i was 12 but i haven't professionally gone to a school or something. For me, i play music by ear.

Well anyway, i went and everything turned out fine. The kids had a blast and they enjoyed the very first song we tried to learn which is 'somewhere over the rainbow' (inspired from the song that this 6 year old girl named Connie (again) sang in Britain's Got talent TV show - she's sooooo cute!)

So now I guess, my week's full now. My Tuesday afternoon's taken but i couldn't have hoped for a better way to spend it.
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From there, i had to spend the night at pastor's place. Cause the day after, Wednesday, we'll be going for a mission trip to Devon and back on the same day. What used to be a 5-6 hour drive turned out to be 3 1/2-4 hours because of less traffic and pit stops. Our drive was smooth sailing and along the road, we played snakes and ladders where the winner has the right to sleep. We didn't have that much sleep the night before and slept really late that night waiting for Shawnee who will be coming from Walthamstow. Now i'm not saying we're not allowed to sleep or anything like that. We have the choice but it's up to you. We have this term in Ilokano which is 'makirikna' meaning being considerate of others. Pastor Melchor is also our driver and we know he lacked sleep and is tired from previous dates and appointments. Which is why the last thing he'll be needing is to see or hear someone snoring or relaxing in the car. So, what's ideal would be for one person to sleep at the back end while the others have to keep the driver awake. (-: LOL!






Well it turned out no one slept anyway. We're just too considerate and caring people you know? (clap clap! he he!) And besides we enjoyed each other's company (there were 4 of us who went with pastor, my 1st cousin april & her boyfriend paul, my 2nd or 3rd cousin-shawnee & there's me). Being related in a way has its advantages. I'm just glad i get to do this mission trips with family. Praise God!

Oh and before i forget, we had a funny experience when we reached the place. Well we had lunch and we were preparing to start the bible study when Martha thought she'd drop by the bank first which was just 5 minutes away. So, off she goes down. Funny thing however was, when she tried to open the first door of the house, she couldn't. It turned out it can only be opened from the outside. Their new housemate unknowingly double locked the door on her way out to work. WE WERE TRAPPED! So, there we were, looking for ways to open the door. Then the guys thought they had an idea (really?). Yes, they thought they could do a superman act and jump from the window (i'm not kidding). 'It's not that high' said kuya Lawrence, who tried it first. So then he went out from the window and stood on the ledge. However, that's as far as he went. Then Pastor had a go at it as well. He even practised jumping up and down before going out from the window and standing on the ledge. We were, like, asking him not to, you know? I mean, come on, he'll be driving afterwards, what if something happens to him? (you're probably saying, hey where's the faith, man? i know. i know. however, we're just looking after pastor, you know.. he he!). Well anyway, he didn't jump. We were all relieved. Then again, they thought they could do a pole act. You know, grab a pole, then someone will hold on to one end and hang on to it while slowly going down and the other person will hold the other end from the window. Well, I thought that was scarier than the first suggestion.

But thank God! someone came around. Maybe, God was laughing so hard while looking at us, He finally decided to send some help. (-:

I'm telling you, it was so funny. It may not be so back at that time but now that i look back at it, man, was it hilarious. And what was us girls doing, you may ask? Uhmmn, we were on the other window looking out getting ready to scream for help in case someone passes by. Well,.... we were ... just ... being girls, you know. (-:
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FATHER'S DAY - JUNE 17, 2007

This is a special day.... And i knew i had to do something again for our Father's Day special. Since a year or so ago, we've been organising surpises for special occassions. As much as we can manage, we tried to make every event special. And not only has it brought us closer together, it made us more of a family towards one another. However this Sunday i didn't have that many help. Each one had some place they had to go to and something they have to do.

Which is why i was probably at my busiest this day. I woke up 6 in the morning, created and edited the video special (which you can see on my youtube account) for 4 hours. Then proceeded to Tesco to buy the groceries for our dinner in church afterwards. I bought ingredients for pasta bake (the only recipe i'm really good at), chicken wings and green salad. Went home, prepared and cooked them all (thanks to Sherill who was around to help me out to prepare the chicken wings). Then i managed to take a shower. Prepare the instruments and used our mini 4WD (Baby Georiel's push chair) to transport some of the instruments to church (which is a short distance away from our house, praise God! for that).

Then i managed to play the piano and worship in my private time. My song at the moment is Dwelling places, it just makes me wanna cry out all my love to God. Shawnee did come shortly afterwards to help carry out the rest of the instruments. Then kuya Roy came and so we practised Shawnee's lineup. Then April came then kuya Jerryson and Erlinda came. Then before we knew it, the service has begun.

It was a blessing. The message was crystal clear and direct. Just what we needed and every bit of our worship service was encouraging. Our prayers are not in vain. Renewal and revival has begun. As long as we keep the flame burning, no one can stop us from moving forward.

Which is my reason for writing this blog. I'm inspired and I want to do more. I'm just starting and I know God has more plans for me and my ministry.

All in all, this is just one of those weeks for me. The only difference is, i get to write it.

Oh and to top it all off, everyone enjoyed my pasta bake. Someone even said it was professionally done. I was so proud, my ears were clapping. He he!

So, just so you know, in case you're badly in need of a good ole pasta, you know where to reach me. He he!

That's all folks! God bless ya ol!

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The Father's Day video special:

Martha or Mary?

Lately, I've been reading a book by Tommy Tenney (titled Chasing God, serving man) and I am so getting where he's coming from. Definitely it's what we need today. Not only in our churches and congregations but also to each of us, as individual bodies of Christ.

In church, it's true that we have to make accomodations for both man and God. Mary was always on her knees before the Lord while Martha was busy serving in the kitchen. Now some would probably say Mary loved Jesus best. However, while it's true that Mary set a supreme example of loving worship when she broke her costly alabaster box to anoint Jesus, is it not possible that Martha's staying up all night in the kitchen to prepare the last supper be considered as worship as well? Can "burning heart" service be "broken-willed" worship?

"Words from Tommy Tenney"
If we ever want our churches to have a visitation from God, we have to learn how to host the Holy Ghost. Meaning, we have to make accomodations for both man and God. Not only must Mary worship His divinity, but Martha must host His humanity. Every church house should have both Marys and Marthas. No segregation here! Both must be allowed to thrive. There must be a mutual appreciation. The dual nature of Jesus presents the perfect model for us. He was entertained and hosted in both realms. Christ our head is at the right hand of the Father, but His body, the Church present and the Church future, lives on earth in physical bodies. For centuries, church leaders have searched for ways to make people fall in love with the church. The ultimate quest is for God and man to get together.

But although the Lord honors and appreciates our "Martha ministry" to humanity, our eternal destiny culminates in an everlasting "Mary ministry" to Divinity. As any pastor will quickly confirm, the Marthas in the typical local church are usually wondering, "Why in the world doesn't that Mary get over here and help me in this kitchen? If she wants to be so spiritual, then she needs to drag herself over here and help me feed these hungry folk and clothe the naked. If she was really all that spiritual, she would get up off the floor and stop all that boo-hooing and crying long enough to do something that really helps hurting people."

The Marys in the church are saying to themselves, "I wish 'that Martha' would just forget about all that cooking. She should know that when you're spiritual, you don't have to eat. What she needs is some old-fashioned 'praying through' time in God's presence. That would take care of her unspiritual devotion to the works of her hands."

But the truth is that it takes both ministries to build a Bethany, a house of balanced passion and compassion. Mary and Martha, it is time to come together and create a place of hospitality where Divinity and humanity can meet.

So let us keep chasing God while serving man.

Song To My Parents

(I have been listening to Keith Green lately and this song just struck me. Keith's songs are just so honest and real. And this one in particular speaks so true of my heart and i believe, it is so with those of us who came to know Jesus first before their parents)

I need to say these things cause, I love you so,
And I'm sorry you get angry when I say that, you just don't know,
But there's a Heaven waiting for you and me.
I know it seems every time we talk I'm only trying to just make you see.
And it's only that I care, I really only want just to see you there.

Please try and overlook my human side,
I know I'm such a bad example and you know I'm so full of pride.
But Jesus isn't like that, now He's perfect all the way,
I guess that's why we need him, cause by ourselves, there's just no way.
And it's only that I care, I really, really only just want to see you there.
To see you there.


We just want to see you there dads and moms....