Random pictures from practice and stuff...

mga pastor...









eating time after service... nice pose, Mon =)


usapang keyboards... ptr. Cy usapang guitara...

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Isaac's Wells

Finding Opportunities in a land of famine
By Ptr. Derrick Anselmo

We must understand, as Isaac does, that the blessing is not the thing or opportunity before us. The blessing is us. Isaac recognized that the blessing was not on the land that he planted on, but rather it was on him. That HE WAS THE BLESSING. He was the reason why opportunities continue to come even though others passed or were grabbed from him.



This is a season of “famine” in the Philippines. It is not a famine from food, but rather, a famine from opportunities. Filipinos are migrating to other countries for “greener pastures”. The ambition of every child is becoming synchronized to one beat which is “to go abroad when I grow up”. Even professionals, like doctors, engineers, teachers, uproot themselves from their local practice to work as caregivers, domestic helpers, foremen, or other blue collared position in another country, embracing less ideal situations for “opportunities”. And, sometimes, in an effort to grab an opening for gain, people would even step on others without conviction. People will go to such extent as to steal opportunities by falsifying documents and passports to be able to leave. “Survival of the fittest at all costs” and “each man for himself” have become more popular principles in life. Nobility is dying. Materialism is gaining grounds.

It is a time much like the time of Isaac, the promised child to Abraham, when they too had a famine in their region:

Genesis 26:1 – 6 ¹Now there was a famine in the land – besides the earlier famine of Abraham’s time – and Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines in Gerar. ² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land where I tell you to live. ³ Stay in this land for a while and I will be with you and bless you. For to you and your descendants I will give all these lands and will confirm the oath I swore to your father Abraham. ⁴ I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and will give them all these lands, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws.” ⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

It was a time like ours. Due to the famine, everyone was migrating to Egypt for better “opportunities” far away from the famine. But, in the middle of all that, God spoke to Isaac and discouraged him to go with the others to Egypt and asked him to stay at the place where he was at that moment, a place where he doesn’t belong either.

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Going through a Path with no Trail

How the Lord led Ptr. Derrick to untapped resources with wounded legs and dirty K-Swiss!

“Call unto me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know,” Jeremiah 33:3

The trek started out fine. I was enjoying the scenery. Lot’s of greens. The smell of the country and fresh air was so relaxing. I saw a lot of coconut trees and pili nut trees along the trail and realized how rich the property was. As we went along, we stopped ever so often to look at a tree and the fruits while Dr. Dineros points to them and enthusiastically explains their potential market and income generation. Then, he wanted to see the limits of his property. So we started to walk towards the direction of the barbwires along the property line. This was when the “suffering” (hehe) started.

Our guide brought out a “bolo” and started to cut vines, tall grasses, branches, and plants in front of him. I deduced that the path Dr. Dineros wanted to take had no trail. We were going to parts of his property that no one has reached before. Now, in this part of the trek, I started to look more often down to my new shoes, my arms, and my legs. As we walked through the newly made trail, I acquired several cuts on my arms and legs due to the protruding thorns from vines and branches. I got more as we went along with additional insect bites and dirt on my new K-swiss, which was, by then, brown with mud.

Dr. Dineros, however, was consistent in his enthusiasm and continued to explain as we stopped every now and then at a fruit filled tree. We realized that in these parts, where the trees are growing wildly, there were more fruits on them. There were more resources here than in the parts of the property that had established trails. And he was getting more excited about it.

I, on the other hand, after walking for 4 hours through a “virgin forest”, started to complain to myself. I was worried if I remembered to put on sunblock. I was complaining about the cuts, the insect bites, and was thinking we were supposed to be operating at this time, or I should have been in church today (because it was Sunday), worshipping, listening to God’s word in an air-conditioned auditorium, but instead I here, suffering. One of the guides was even saying, “Wala pa tayo sa kalahati!!!” (“We’re not halfway there yet!”) So, I complained even more. But, through my complaining, God broke through.

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complete...because he loves me...

a testimony of Ruth Tampoc

it's just wonderful to think i am God's BELOVED...saya...sabi nga sa deuteronomy 7:7, "God did not chose you because you were the greatest among the nations; infact you were the least...but GOD CHOSE YOU AND SET HIS AFFECTION ON YOU BECAUSE HE LOVES YOU..." nabasa ko tong passage na to nung gumagawa ako ng assignment sa values...dba, napaka-impromptu ni Lord...unexpected, but those were the words i needed...HE loves me because he loves me...grabe...i contemplated on it and i was just crying and my heart was overflowing...ang saya-saya ko...

then, nung february 19....

death anniversary pala ni daddy...i remembered it gabi na...galing pa nga ako sa bahay ng classmate ko...tas, pagdating ko sa bhay...sabi ko kay Lord..."Lord, bakit ganon.death anniversary ni daddy, pero parang ndi ako malungkot...kahit gusto kong mag inemote, ayaw...bakit?" then eto si Lord who makes patol all the time and just said.... "BECAUSE I LOVE YOU...THAT'S WHY..." after he said that, he hugged me just like a father does to his daughter...and i just can't help but cry...my heart overflowed because the God who created the whole universe, the God who was with abraham,isaac,and jacob, chose to love me because he just loves me...

ang saya...what i've learned????well, simple...

i don't need anything...i don't need to be great..i don't need to have a complete family...I JUST NEED GOD...and i am complete....

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Jesus Festival Clip

a clip of our slot during the Jesus Festival. Fast songs nga lang. Enjoy =)

thank you Butch for posting = )

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EXCELLENCE - a god centered virtue

a revelation from Paul Fronda

... a master sculptor was contracted to fashion a large statue. after completing the front of the statue, he proceeded to chisel the back with equal painstaking care. his son, looked on, and asked, "the statue will be standing against a wall anyway, why bother with the back?.. nobody will ever get to see it." to which the sculptor replied, "ah but god will see it.

" OUR WORK SHOULD BE A REFLECTION OF OUR BELIEFS ABOUT GOD

1. god is an excellent worker

have you ever felt pride for a job well done? it can be for delivering a superb instumental solo or exceeding a sales quota. if so, then you had a glimpse of the satisfaction god felt after creating the universe.

the bible kicks off with an unapologetic declaration "in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth..." (gen1:1) then we read what happened next, god saw what he had created as"good" (vv 3,10,12,18,21,25) when he was finished on the sixth day, he saw it only not as "good", but "very good"

god is a master craftsman; just marvel at the intricated design of the human body, the clockwork precision of the solar system and the breathtaking splendor of nature for you to believe this statement.

his son was also lauded for excellence, because at one point, in jesus' earthly ministry, the people exclaimed, "he has done everything well." (mark 7:37)

an outstanding leader should also inspire outstanding perfromance from his followers. thus, on a grander scale, a fresh vision of god's excellance should stir emotions within us: awe for his perfect work, the desire to reflect his excellence and shame for shoddy work. jesus set the standard, 'therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect. " (mat. 5:48) ..so the next time you ask yourself, "why be excellent?" .. you know the answer, because god is excellent.

2. god is glorified by excellence

an athlete trained long and hard for the olympics and giving his best won the gold medal for his country. this athlete enjoyed the glory of his victory which arose from his desire for excellence. his country too, shared in the glory of having such a world-class athlete.

excellence and glory go hand-in-hand. god is glorified in his excellence. the universe that he had created speaks of his glory (ps. 19:1) jesus' own earthly ministry on earth gave glory to his father, like when he healed the paralytic (mat.9:8). in the same way, when we render high-quality service, we glorify him - god, (mat. 5:16, 1pet. 2:12). the apostle paul tells us that "whatever we do ... we should do it for the glory of god (1cor.10:31)

are you zealous for god's glory? do not limit it to sunday worship but extend it through terrific work from monday to saturday.

3. god is our ultimate master

... let's say that god appers befor you and give you a special assignment. would'nt you leap on your feet, count it as an ultimate priveledge and do your outmost to fulfill four task? guess what? he had already given you a special assignment; wherever you are now, be it in the office, laboratory, factory, pier, call cente, hospital, band ... wherever you are working.

one antidote to being disheartened in your job is to look beyond your problematic circumstances and see the excellent, glorious god as the final reciepient of your work. the apostle paul instructs, "whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the lord, not for men... it is the lord christ that you are serving (col.3:22-24)." our true boss is the king of kings and the lord of lords, who deserves no less than our best.

4. god rewards excellence

someday, our ultimate master will give us a "performance appraisal." this isn't to deteremine wheter we will go to heaven or not or not because that has already been settled when we put our trust in christ as our personal lord and saviour. rather, this is to determine what rewards god will give us (2cor.5:10).

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