"AKOLOGY"

The first time I heard the word "Akology" was during a youth service last year, when Ptr Joe used it as an example / joke on his preaching.

I decided to blog down my personal insight about "AKOLOGY"

AKO-logy, it means "it is I, whom you should be taking about, coz' it's all about me, and it should be me..." (well, i may have exxagerated it... hehehe) but you get my point right?

We all have the mentality of using "Ako-logy", or being self-centered... in a way, there are two sides of it... the good one and the bad one (hehehe it's classic) basically, it depends on how you handle it and how people sees it. Truly it is our nature to have this weird mentality.The Bad akology is when you talked about yourself bigtime! as in you're insinuating that you are good in this field, you have achieve more than what they have expected, and boasting on your achievements. The worst thing that can happen is when no one cares to listen but still you kept on talking about yourself. Another example is when you either exalt yourself to the level of what the other party have achieved or even more. Through this kind of attitude, pride is just there waiting for you... pulling you back... and not moving forward.

The Good akology... is there such thing? Well, as for me, I think there is... talking about yourself, your past experience, your achievements, etc... but with a goal of you wanted to set an example to others... being a role model... and the most important thing is when he/she acknoledges God as the source of his/her strength, achievements, etc... Instead of insinuating that all of which were done by himself/herself, he/she gives glory to God for He is the giver of all things.

To wrap it up, we should always remember, not only during our Akology moments, that it's not about us, but it's all about GOD.

Glory to God always!

What a great way to celebrate... It's my first anniversary

July 2007 marks my first year as a Christian and as a member of the VCF Spiritual Fam... And I couldn't ask for more celebrating it for me as part of the volunteers for the EN07... One way of saying THANK YOU for having me and letting me know who Jesus is...

I remember writing a blog 5 months ago... about how Christianity had helped me changed... and how my VCF fam guided me on my walk with God. Here's the excerpt of it;

"... I've only been here for 7 months and since my 1st month, I've made a decision to continue this faith that made my perspective of life, even me, CHANGE...

I never thought that Christian faith would make a big difference in my life and made me a better person today. Above all, amidst all the trials in life, I'm here standing firm knowing that God is the true master of my life.

As a Christian, I have learned;

> that Jesus is Lord
> that God has a plan for us to prosper
> to respect myself
> to deal things in a good manner
> to wait
> that we are saved
> to learn more as I continue receiving the gift of eternal life."

And for the past 5 month... new revelations and great things was given to me by God.

Here it goes...

> Each day, God is revealing my purpose here on earth
> I'm now part of the worship team in Galleria and Metro East
> I've got my brothers (Small group) always there to back me up
> I've learn to accept different personalities
> I've got new found friends from the different VCF-Churches (Metro East, Fort, Alabang, Quezon City, and U-Belt)
> From being shy ngayon makapal na mukha ko hehehe... syempre in a good way
> I'm more proud on being a Christian
> I can boldy talked about Christianity to other people
> I now have a small group and looking forward to have more people being discipled
> From attending the 5pm or 7pm service... now I'm attending 11am service, 2pm and 4pm and 6pm service (looking and leading people to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Master)
> I've learned the value of praying
> I've learned the value and found the true meaning of friendship / brotherhood
> I;ve learned to trust myself again (though it is still in the process... I'm getting there)
> I've learned to trust other people
> Still looking forward for more years of Victory in Christ Jesus.

EN.07 Choir

After nights of practices... note reading... learning our part... off we go to the 3 day world conference... EN.07: to the ends of the earth...

I had a great time with my choir buddies... during the EN.07... it was a 3-day filled with all the bloopers... eating adventures... (what's with the rice... sobrang dami)... picture taking... (sobrang daming camera... nakakahilo ang mga flash...) at syempre with the ground breaking taking-off of our choir gown hehehe...

I'd never imagine worshipping God this way... I mean, being with the worship team, (the choir, band, back-up, worship leaders)... all with the goal of leading the people on worshipping God... It's not about tha place (in Araneta)... not about our tons of costumes change (madami talaga sya and bigat pa dalhin... hehehe), nor the money we spent... but it's about the honor of worship leading every tribe and every nation in the conference... from the gray section and way up to the ends of the earth (i mean end of araneta pala and that's the green section hehehe).. It's all about pleasing God with all the praise and worship... It's about glorifying His name... It's all about God...

All our tiring practices had finally paid off... from meeting other spiritual fams in other vcf-churches... forming a strong bond with them... and not to mention... singing and dancing with them... all of those will surely be part of our wonderful memories...

Though there are some difficulties, health problems, financial dilemmas... nothing could stop the choir on showing how Great our God is...

oh well, sobrang dami ko pang gusto sabihin about our adventures... I'll make it short na lang... i miss the choir... hehehe... kahit maaga ang call time natin.. at late na tayo nakakauwi.. still it's fun worshipping with you guys....

To Ate Apeg and Kuya Ding...
To kuya carlos, kuya Miguel, and Jay... the BASS team hehehe
To Bill, Benj, Eric, JB, Wendell, Willian, Jayson, Tom, Kuya Bob, Alfred, Mercy, Gen, Ate Mercy (QC), Ate Bevs, Fides, Vivienne, and the rest of the mafia hehehe in short my new found friends from VCF Alabang, Fort, U-Belt, QC, and Ortigas Choir members

Clap your hands... Dance for joy... Shout for joy hehehe

Who are you?

Last Saturday @ the Youth Service in Metro East, Ptr. Patrick (our youth pastor in

VCF - Ortigas), in line with our series break, preached about every person's identity and it was entitled "Who Am I?" I won't be blogging much of the whole sermon and might as well give out some of the key points of Ptr. Patrick.

Here's Ptr. Patrick's key points;

*Identity = Action

*Pretensions, you're allowing other people to affect/dictate your identity

*Sometimes we based our identity on our past failure or success

*It's wrong if we based our identity on our insecurities

*It takes an encounter with God to be able to know who you are

*One of our responsibilities here on earth is to lead

But one the statements that struck me the most is that even before when God created man, He already gave us the responsibility to rule or on the other hand to be a leader...

"Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them." Genesis 1:26-27 (NIV)

…which brings us back on what Jesus had commissioned his apostles and on to the future generations...

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

We truly our born leaders and born to disciple thus we are born to spread the good news on to the future generation so that they may know who really God is.

Now, let me ask you this question, WHO ARE YOU?

Blessed by a Conversation @ Fort

My tuesday night became one of the most unforgettable night... hehehe

During and right after our rehearsal at the fort for the EN07, I had a conversation with someone... and I was blessed by that conversation...

I can't disclose the whole conversation though it was something about our concern for him as my brother in VCF...

I cried by the way hehehe, Me and my emo moment... and I know that my brother also cried... (even if he doesn't want to admit that), but it was relief... it was a time of refreshing for us... especially for him...

He was devasted daw... well I know he was... I mean he was hurt... but saying those things to him was mainly because I was very much concern to his position, and as brothers we are accountable with each other... and I don't want that situation to turn out to be a gossip...

"A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" Proverbs 16:28

...not to mention that I've been in that situation a few years back.

Anyway, God is really a God of perfect timing, not to mention He's a God of restoration, the conversation I had explains that... We were supposed to talk over the phone then but time won't allow it, I think God wants us to talk personally so every no one would get offended by the issues that I was meant to disclose to him... Nevertheless, God truly restores every relationship and through this, I know that everything will be in proper place again, clarifications will be made, and stronger pacts will deeply develop.

Lessons learn: we are all accountable with each other, and a good communication enables a harmonious environment for everyone... plus putting God as the center on every communication.

I was blessed and humbly thankful before God for Him using me as a tool to patch the things that are unseen... and as a tool to build a stronger brotherhood among us... but taking note of that it is the Lord's plan that always prevail... just like what had happened on this moment.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21

Both of us have learned a lot... how to deal with such things... coming up with a solution rather than focusing on the problem... learning to accept our failures... humility to take place in every mistakes... and not just learning to listen and accepting the defeat but doing something and not just accepting it.

Again... To God be the Glory!!!

Anong Kulay mo sa EN07? (What's your color for the EN07?)

Last Saturday and Sunday, VCF had already started distributing the ID's for the EN07. As always, it was color coded according to the section of the venue, this time it's in Araneta, will you be seating.

Some were confused about the logistics plan, and some were just making fun of it, like for some who found their place on the green section (the bleachers) they would rather say "at least we're close to heaven" hehehe.

Well I created this blog for the reason of... nothing hehehe... just want to lighten things up...

On a serious note, it doesn't matter on how near or far you are at the stage... God still sees you... You are still saved... And maybe for those who were not on the gray section of the Araneta, well, maybe you just have to see to bigger picture of what's gonna happen on the EN07...

Well as for me, I'll be seating at the choir area, on the stage... And I'll be seeing a different perspective... the backward perspective... hahaha (ya i know it corny... hehehe)

See you all in the EN07!!!

Don't be offended...

"We are all worship leaders... from the back-ups, musicians, lead, and even the technical team... We all lead the congregation in praising and worshipping God... We ignite the fire within the hearts of the congregation... We seek God for his blessings on us... we thank God for the gift of salvation..."

... and being a leader, requires much of the following... vision, initiative, patience, respect, persistence, courage, faith, and the ability to accept criticisms... And being part of the worship team requires this one... Most of the time we got a lot of criticisms from the congregation, pastors, and even our team members... but being offended is not the case here... we don't use the word OFFENSE... we should be responsible of our own actions... and besides it's all about God... He's the one we should please... and criticisms are one way of saying that God deserves the best.

The badside of being EMO

I can't believe that I'm writing this one... I'm a self-confessed emo... and I love being emo... being emo let's you speak out of what you really feel... no pretension... and you're just being yourself. Being emotional is our way of expressing of what we really feel on a person, thing, or situation.

Now here's the dilemma, being emo is good but over reacting on being an emo is definitely a NO! NO! and I'm guilty on doing that... I've been there... and it kills me...

There are lots of badside on being too much emotional, I've listed down a few;

1) Yes you have no pretension, but sometimes you fantasize on such situations that at first it will make you think its completely normal but its not... you're creating a world on where you turn the real world into upside down world... (e.g. when a girl says "no"... you still hang on your faith that someday she's gonna be yours, but in reality it will never happen)

2) Being too much emotional might hinder God's plan for you, coz you rely too much on your faith, wherein in reality God is telling you to stop, coz He have much better plans for you.

"Many are the plans in a man's heart,
but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." Proverbs 19:21

Sometimes we tend to rely "subconsciously" on our plan but we have to remember that it is God's purpose that always prevail.

3) We might hurt the other party by imposing her your own rules and not God's rules on both of you

4) You rely too much on false hope wherein in the end you're just hurting yourself more.

5) Depression! Need not to explain much further on this...

Over-reacting on being emo only enables the evil schemes to rule in your life...

"The scoundrel's methods are wicked,
he makes up evil schemes
to destroy the poor with lies,
even when the plea of the needy is just." Isaiah 32:7

It hinders God's glory on your life... it defiles all the positive things that keeps you going...

The Cure:
As Paul had said to the Church in Ephesus...

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Ephesians 6:11

We need to always stand firm and put on the full armor of God for us to stay always on guard on such evil schemes on being too much emo on such situations, people, and things.

Instead of depending too much on our being emo... we should depend too much on God's plan and revelation to us... We should trust him more rather than trusting our own instincts...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."Matt. 11: 28-30

From "300" now its "TRANSFORMERS"

See how transformers made an impact...

Transformers along with the popular tags on my multiply site... aligned with the vcf tags...

There's no doubt that the movie was good... I mean great!!! the effects, story, sound, direction, it was superb!!! hehehe...

But just like any movie, the so-called "craze" will soon be forgotten...

But never for our craze to God... Coz we Christians are always on fire to him!

If transformers made an impact to us... what more when we made an impact to others and tranforming their lives toward righteousness and leading them to accept God as their master and savior.

Cmon!