The Jesus Festival 2008 at the Colossians Garden, Tagaytay City

Everyone is invited to The Jesus Festival- a 24 hour praise and worship celebration at the Colossians Garden in Tagaytay this coming Holy Thursday and Good Friday!

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Synergy

by Rio Bautista

I've been trying to sleep since 2:00am and it's now 4:21am and for some strange reason I felt I had to write this one down.

My father had another stroke about the middle of January, about the same time I was told I was loosing my contract with my current project. My father was confined and I was looking after him during the worst time of this whole thing. At some point it was getting out of control and nobody could tell what was happening, complications here and there and a swelling brain. He was telling me he's giving up already.

I thought I should pray for him, but what exactly do I say. So I asked God how exactly does one perform a miracle. What does it take to be a healer. I was desperate for an answer and I was given a profound question I couldn't understand then -- "Would you be willing to give your life and the lives of your family for one dying old man?". At that point, all I can say was "it's not practical". Jesus gave his life for many, not one. I just gave up on the thought. One day, my father was having hiccups and I thought that's not good for his condition and there I heard in my head something that was clearly an instruction. I pressed on his closed eyes (knowing this should take care of the hiccups), then I prayed as if I knew what to say. So I prayed silently and the hiccups went away. Then I was told again in my head, my father was healed. And he was...

Then I understood what miracles are made of. It's not possessed as we wished it were. It's not something you have that you can wave around and use as you please. It's not us. A miracle, is the display of God's power through an exact synergy of time and motion with man. This is clearly seen in the life of Moses, he does exactly as he is told and when he does -- at the very moment God's hand meets with his, a miracle is displayed in great spectacle. I choose to believe that the Red Sea will have parted with or without Moses being there. It could have been me or somebody else who knew what God was about to do at that precise moment, someone who heard what to do and chose to obey at exactly the right moment. That is synergy... that is miracle as I know it.


I used to ask if Jesus had the power to heal, then why wasn't every single deaf, mute and blind healed throughout Jerusalem or everywhere he went. I believe now, and this is my understanding, that Jesus then healed who had to be healed at the right moment. Jesus said, "I do what the Father does" (Jn 5:19 para-phrased) and he simply does. I thought then that what he meant was that he was "generally" doing what the Father will most likely do in certain situations. But now I understand it even more clearly, if you actually read the verse it says
"I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does"
which to me now means that he can only do what the Father is doing at that moment... He does and says what the Father does and says at precisely the right moment...
I have no power in me, nor do you or anybody else... but we have power in the Father if we can see and hear what he does and say and flow in precise synergy with Him. Then only can we say we shared and were part of His glory.

Now the answer to God's question for me. Will I be willing to die for one dying old man? If that is exactly what God will have me do at that moment then I will...

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On Mishaps (And just a little more Faith)

by Julita Bauzon

So often I wonder why bad things happen to those who are faithful, or at least to those who do their best to be faithful. I remember crying out to God saying: "What did I ever do to You? I did nothing but love You. There is nothing else I wanted but to love you, how could You do this to me?" I realized that misfortune happen not because we are unfaithful or unworthy but it is for us to learn how to create. Any child of the Most High somewhere in their lifetime should learn how to create out of the ruins. Misfortune happen not to disappoint our faith or to make us regret that we were faithful, they happen to teach us that, anything can turn out into an enormous blessing - It just takes a little more trust, more push from our part, resourcefulness and sometimes, all it takes is for us to be still a little longer. In the same way as God hides Himself for us to enjoy the moment of finding Him (thanks, Mr.Tenney), He takes us into a higher level of hide-and-seek moment. It's a bit more complicated this time. It stretches our endurance, strengthens our capabilities and deepens our relationship with God. At the end of it, we not only find God but we find Him holding a gift that gives meaning to the whole mishap. No matter how good we are, or no matter how anointed we think we may be, a child remains a child and is subject to learning all through out his life and that's something we need humbly accept. It is the disciplined that enjoys freedom in the end, and it is the disciplined that can liberate captives. For this reason, God takes us into to the field of total discomfort where only those who humbly accept the season of God will withstand all odds.

p.s. Please pardon the picture, he's just so adorable. I couldn't help but share his cuteness. I hope he wasn't a distraction. :)

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