Journey to God in Small Steps

I went to a Singles Camp-Retreat last August 25-27 with 100+ people from the Singles community in Victory U-Belt. Here is a photo during the last day of the retreat. Anchors Aweigh: Singles Camptreat at Canyon Cove Batangas, August 25-27, 2012 (Photo credit: Bethoven M. Filomeno) We received a lot of impartation that day about going back to our foundations and knowing our direction. The invited speaker, one of our beloved pastors at Victory Malate, was Pastor Nixon Ng. We understood that after the Singles Camp-Retreat, we are not just supposed to be on board in this amazing Christian Life (All Aboard), set sail (Anchors Aweigh), but actually be moving forward to our destination. So now, where am I a month after that message? I feel like I actually dared to move forward. Yesterday was my auditions day for the Victory Makati Music Team. The thing is God reminded me of how giftings are also given to set direction in your life during the Camptreat and here I was by faith applyi...

Normally, people would want us to mind our business. And that's the norm. Frankly, I'm one with you on that. So now, why am I blogging on a sensitive topic about religious persecution? Recent events have caused Muslim groups to protest angrily at US embassies around the Middle East - Tunisia, Egypt, etc. People point to a video of the Prophet Muhammad being portrayed as a lustful man. Frankly again, I have watched the beginning of it and yes, I believe in getting all the facts first before making a serious judgment. Okay, so I watched the video. I would see why our Muslim brothers were so offended. One, the video is not based on facts but as an entertaining sarcastic way of portraying a historical figure such as Muhammad in a bad light. The wrong - it is false, a lie; a slander; disrespectful; promotes lust; and maybe a little mixed with hatred for the race. I would have no complete idea. I did not watch the video completely either. Just a few seconds to see what the commot...

I assume you know what you look like because you have a mirror. I heard that some people in Africa don't know what they look like because they have no mirror. But you. You do know what you look like.  Even the plastic wrapping on the bus seat in front of me on my way to work gives me an idea how I look with no make-up. And I see I have to put make-up because my face looks pale without it. In today's technology-enabled world, we have digicams, video cams, photography, lenses, a make-up mirror. I once had an experience of going into a bathroom with all four sides from the ceiling to the floor covered in mirrors. Talk about seeing yourself take a dump in all four complete angles! How about something more natural? Like a water pool. No one is ignorant of how they look nowadays, again except for some in Africa that have yet to know what they look like, not having what people in the West and most parts of Asia do.  And I stop to think about God making man in Hi...

Anything bothering you this week? Load too tough and burdensome? Financial problems that won't just go away? Problems that just don't get solved? Life out of control? Hard to picture. But some may be in that situation now. And that one person could be me. Earlier. Sort of. Frustrations, tiredness and weariness. All I want to do is go home. I sit in my work chair and quietly breathe. I feel the hand of God in the presence of a cloud invite me to step into the cloud. He began to sit me in a chair in this horizontal table. And He would sit in his chair. Without me saying a word, I felt like I already talked to Him about it and gave it all to Jesus.  As the load of my frustrations suddenly dissipate in the presence and friendship of Jesus, I felt much lighter and better. The problem is not yet solved but I felt peaceful and calm.  Jesus now guides me by hand and sits me back in my work chair and I feel lighter. The cloud moves and I'm back to my work cubicle. Sometimes...

Before Jesus left and went on to heaven, He said to his disciples in Acts 1:18 " But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. " God is impressing upon my heart new believers who have yet to walk in the ways of the SPIRIT. God wants to extend the same blessing to you.  " If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! " (Luke 11:13) In my spiritual family, normally and biblically so, the elders and other Christians lay their hands on us to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That was how Peter and the disciples would bestow the gift of the Holy Spirit to new believers. " When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit,   because the Holy Spirit had not yet co...

I was listening to this song earlier, when the lyrics of "I have never walked on water or felt the waves beneath my feet. But at your word Lord, I receive your faith to walk on oceans deep." struck me. Then, I pictured myself really walking on water, not afraid. I see Him and me treading through waters with calm assured steps.  And then the second picture came along. It was of me ice skating (not with all the Olympic moves unfortunately) and freely moving along the water. I was free and gracefully moving freely, uninhibited. Enable Ginger Cannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connection or reload the browser Disable in this text field Edit Edit in Ginger Edit in Ginger ×

" I do not want to get into this Christianity thing. They'll turn me into a soft too sweet woman that I don't want to be. Or they'll turn me into someone people will walk over on. I am not made to be a sissy. I want to be a tough woman, determined. Is that a wrong personal aspiration to desire? " On the contrary, when Jesus contrasted the Church to His bride, He made sure to describe it as an overcoming Church, not a "namby-pamby anything goes, we'll still be goody-goodies" church. Jesus wants a war bride, very keen and alert to the war between good and evil, between God and the schemes of the devil. And she knows she is already victorious. Anything namby-pamby wishy-washy is not God's idea for his Church. And if God considered His Church as He would consider a woman, His women are not just limited to devoted, patient, gentle, kind, loving, and doting ladies, but a Deborah who can lead people too. When Jesus freed His people, He would tell ...

The "R" word: Repentance We cannot go our Christian life without knowing about repentance and why it is important. The early church leader, Peter, mentioned in his first public preaching after Jesus ascended into heaven, “ Repent   and   be   baptized , every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And  you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. " (Acts 2:38) Is repentance essential to receiving God's forgiveness? From the order of the passage, the answer is yes. To repent means "to change one's mind about sin." ( http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=20925&forum=34&1 ) To change one's mind about sin is to realize that sin is indeed wrong and you want to turn away from it because it displeases God. Repentance according to the source above does not mean to stop sinning as we may still sin. But it means that we don't enjoy it any longer and want to live the rest of ...

I encourage everyone to read the Bible. There are so many things you can learn hidden in all the details and parts. Some pastors look at how certain words are arranged and what they imply. Some look at the context from which the writer wrote it originally. Some check the origin of the words.  One thing for sure, the Bible covers important areas of life and you won't run out of hidden secrets and knowledge which Christ said is in Him (Colossians 2:3). God never has writer's block for sure. He does not run out of things to show us or experiences to share. Amazing! My personal takeaway from my quiet time this morning is about the Tree of Life.  There was a tree of life in the Garden of Eden when God first made the Earth, before Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from it (Genesis 2:9; Genesis 3:22,24). The tree of life according to the passage when one eats of it, he or she will live forever. But since the "wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), Adam who sinned ca...

Never again will you be called "The Forsaken City" or "The Desolate Land." Your new name will be "The City of God's Delight" Isaiah 62:4 Yesterday, we were at our monthly Prayer and Worship night meeting and we were praying for the Philippines. We remembered how the land was a "third world country," "The Sick Man of Asia." Personally what I remembered was the word "desolate" in this particular verse Isaiah 62:4. For a long time our nation was being "deserted" by its own countrymen looking for a "better place."  People do not have the freedom to choose their course for they take degrees that will be in demand abroad.   I acknowledge that our economy was strengthened by new heroes - "the OFWs" or "Overseas Filipino Workers." My dad was one of them and I reaped the fruits of his labor, living in another land.  But I believe the Lord is doing a new thing for our nation, a differen...

I'm sorry to hear news of recent earthquakes and factions, plus a landslide this afternoon here and abroad. Indeed, we are seeing things and happenings that we cannot control. I remembered the verse I read this morning about God's shakings. Pastor Joey Bonifacio of Victory Christian Fellowship once exhorted this verse in his book, "The Promise No One Wants." God has a promise in the Bible that sometimes we don't necessarily want to receive in our life. But it is indeed a promise of God for us. In Hebrews 12:26-27:  " At this time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised , "Once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken - that is, created things - so that what cannot be shaken may remain. " When I received this word in 2010, I took it as a word from God that some events that happened in my life were not in my control but were necessar...