Early Christmas... Blessing One Another...

Hmm.. everyone's asking... including me.."May pang-bless ka na this sunday?" hehehe... oh well, our church have this idea called "bless one another weekend" wherein you bless someone na gusto mo lang i-bless.. hehehe malabo ata yung explanation ko.. anyway.. I love the idea... i mean, sobrang sarap mang-bless ng tao... though expectant din ako na "sino kaya ang magbless sa akin?" hehehe.. but the idea of 'it's better to recieve than to receive..' that makes sense... I mean iba talaga yung feeling when you give to someone... especially when he/she less expected it.. malay mo.. kelangan na kelangan talaga nya... di ba nakaka-encourage yun.. What a great way din to start the 'ber' month... pero syempre, kahit wala nitong event na ito sa church... still let's practive this one... blessing one another... it might not be a physical thing... (items, gifts) but even the simplest greetings such as "Hi", " how are you", "God bless you"... will bless one person's heart...

God Bless Everyone!!!

Merry Christmas!!! :) Wow Cubao!!!

My NEW 20 things... (this time per individual na talaga)

1) Hmm...Sorry kung aloof ako sayo lately, hindi ko na kasi maintindihan ugali mo... nag-usap na tayo dati pa... and still kahit may nagbago... still you're that kind of a leader... Remember na being a leader is reaching out sa lahat hindi lang sa ibang tao.. Learn to show your emotions... not being emo but show them how you feel, and be aware sa mga ginagawa mo... nakaka-offend ka kasi... sensya kung di kita trip kausapin minsan when you're trying to reach out... honestly... ewan ko ba... di lang kita siguro masakyan...

2) Galing... wala namang perfect na tao... kaya kahit may sablay.. man, galing... you're willing to teach and much more willing to be taught by someone... oo ikaw ulit yung nakausap ko while may mga de lata sa table hehehe... Dati ayaw ko sayo kasi iba yung naririnig ko na comments about you... eh nagkataon na magka-group tayo hahaha... good thing na nakilala din kita through our almost overnight bonding...

3) At syempre, si bespren ulit.. ehehehe bespren ang tawag ko kasi... sya ang first female member ng bespren ministry (hehehe bakit ba kasi yun ang tawag)... thanks ha... looking forward na maka-hang-out kayo... as i've said I love your ideologies and honesty sa mga tao... iilan na lang kasi ang totoong tao sa mundo...

4) Bro, sensya kung lagi kita inaasar pag nasa east ako hehehe, but bro I see a great future ahead of you, jsut learn to be open lang... I mean show and tell lang kung ano man ang mga concerns mo... and learn to understand din.. I know you do...

5) Ikaw ulit bro, nagrequest ka kasi eh.. hehehe... but seriously, blessed ako sa mga comments mo at sa paguusap natin dati sa multiply... at memorable din yung sa isang part hahaha, invited ako dahil ako ata pinakamatagal mo ng kilala... akalain mo yun days lang ata yun o weeks... hahaha... but bro... I can see na you'll be great someday on whatever field na balak mo kunin... trials are there.. bt just keep hanging on to God... and alam ko alam mo yun... emotions din ingatan... minsan kasi over-reacting na na...

6) Hayz bro... motibo!!! hehehe... pero bro good thing nabawasan na yung mga ganyan mo... pero mas maganda kung iwas na talaga... lalo pa ngayon may responsibility ka na sa ministry... be sensitive din sa mga taong nakapaligid sayo... learn the value of saving money... wag masyado ma-gimmick...

7) I miss hanging out na with you... yung mga tawanan at kulitan... good thing magka-team tayo sa yof... thanks sa friendship

8) Isa ka pa... I miss hanging out with you... yung mga comment at advices mo... hindi na kasi ako gaano nag-11am service... dahil sa sched na rin... thanks sa friendship

9) Ei bro... grabe... wag daw ako tatabi sayo pag praise and worship sa stage... nagmumukha daw akong post... sobrang energetic mo kasi... nag-enervon ka ba? hehehe, anyway, nice hanging out with you bro... bawasan mo na ang station of the cross mo sa galleria hehehe.. alam nyo na kung sino to' hehehe...

10) Hi po... hehehe dapat may 'po' talaga'... sobrang ginagalang to' at kilala sa victory... as i've said sobrang blessed ako sa mga reply mo sa blogs ko at sa comment ko sa blog mo... you even made one of my replies as part of your preaching... grabe ang saya ko nun... sobra akong blessed whenever na nakikita kita.. not to mention takot din hehehe..

11) Ewan ko ba kung bakit ka nandito... hehehe... No pain no gain... yan ang tawag ko sayo... it's a pleasure to be part of your team hehehe... thankful ako kasi you chose me... pero grabe.. tama nga sila kelangan ng maximum tolerance saio... buti na lang meron din ako nun... eh kasi ganun din ako sa ibang tao... lakas mang-asar... pero hindi naman ganun ka-physical... grabe last tuesday hehehe.. pero ok lng 'PO' yun hehehe.. ano ba talaga real age mo???

12) Sorry if i made you felt that way... sorry din ss ginawa ko... I didn't mean to... pero ganun talaga... bigla na lang nawala... hayz...

13) Hmmm.. ang taong di ko raw pinapansin... musta naman... pinapansin kaya kita... busy lang talaga ako.. ang don't worry... kuha pa rin ako ng sched sa east... spend time muna ulit ako sa galleria... but i'll help you sa music stuff if ever you need one hehehe (as if may macontribute ako hehehe)

14) Sobrang blessed ako nung time na sinabi mo na you will leave your bf and put God first in your life... grabe... yung months ko na pagdala sayo sa VCF.. finally.. you've made the right decision... Welcome to the club.. ingat ka lang sa kikay na small group leader mo... naku po!!!

15) Hi bro... or grandfather? hehehe... everytime you say something... grabe madami akong natututunan.. at i never thought na cool ka din pala.. not to mention.. lakas din ng trip mo... thansk for being a blessing... kahit minsan natatakot ako saio... (dapat talaga kinatatakutan ko yung mga may ganitong profession hehehe)

16) My new found friend... sobrang kulit mo during the rehearsals... and its a pleasure to be part of your team sa 2pm.. syempre nagkaalaman na kung sino ka... hehehe... thanks for the prayers... you're such a blessing sa lahat...

17) Sorry po kung di ako nakasama last time... and thank you for your comments... plus thankful ako sa ikaw yung una kong nakasama nung time na narelease ako sa training... its a pleasure to be part of your team...

18) Hi Ms. hehehe ang isa din sa makulit na worship leader... kahit paminsan-minsan na lang ako nakakasama sa team nyo kasi nirelease na ako sa prayer meeting.. good thing na nakasama ko kau... i mean... yung mga kulitan lalo na pag kasama si #16... hahaha... buhay na buhay ang rehearsal

19) Kahit di nyo masyado nagustuhan yung decision ko na maging Christian... still you let me... thanks for being and still part of my life... Sorry kung di ako ganun ka-close sa inyo...

20) Sorry sa lahat ng kasalanan ko... but still you accept me... kaya sobrang na-fall ako saio... you're always there... kaw lang ang alam kong never iiwanan ako... you made me changed... and I welcome you in my life.. forever... Love you!

My Great Experience with the 2pm Worship Team

It's my first time to join the 2pm worship team, and it was great, I had fun worship singing with them, not to mention the musicians are from the youth hehehe, plus 2 of them are my co-small group...

Thanks to the 2pm Worship team... I had fun

Thre things... got this from Carmina

A bunch of questions in groups of three.

THREE THINGS THAT SCARE ME:

My Insecurities
Insects like cockcroaches (ung lumilipad, mutant version na)
Confrontation (been there, done that)

THREE PEOPLE WHO MAKE ME LAUGH:

General na lang (kasi madami)
*VCF Family
*Elementary Classmates
*Small Group

THREE THINGS I LOVE:

Dogs
TV
Pasta

THREE THINGS I HATE:

Wrong impression about me
People who wants me to change for them
My Insecurities

THREE THINGS I DON'T UNDERSTAND:

Why am I doing this?
Why I am so handsome?
Why some people don't like me

THREE THINGS ON MY DESK:

Cellphone
Food
Bag

THREE THINGS I'M DOING RIGHT NOW:

Browsing my multiply site
Doing this
Chatting with my officemate (inviting them sa yof)

THREE THINGS I WANT TO DO BEFORE I DIE:

Raise a family
Share the gospel
I have to think for the last one

THREE THINGS I CAN DO:

Dance
Compose a song
Sleep

THREE WAYS TO DESCRIBE MY PERSONALITY:

Deep person
Only few really knows me
Optimistic

THREE THINGS I CAN'T DO:

Reach the tenor part... at least (lagi na lang pinapagawa sa akin yun)
Swim
Being too shy

THREE THINGS I THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO:

Before It's Too Late
Betterman
Beauty of your Grace (LSS)

THREE THINGS I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO EVER:

Fastfood song
Macarena
Red Hot Chilli Pepper's Songs

THREE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE FOODS:

Ice Cream
Pasta
Pizza (They call me PIZZA Guy, I wonder why?)

THREE THINGS I'D LIKE TO LEARN:

Guitar
Keyboards
Swim

THREE BEVERAGES I DRINK REGULARLY:

Water
Diet Soda
Juice

THREE SHOWS I WATCHED WHEN I WAS A KID:

Cedie
Trap Family Singers
Sesame Street

James Sace: A Worship Leader's Fight

All of us know that James Sace was rushed in the hospital last week and was diagnosed of having a dengue. Wednesday evening, James already felt of having a fever, we were at KFC then, James, Carl and I. We told him that "stress lang yan", and he should ignore that, but the following day, we received a call from him, cancelling our small group meeting because he already have a high fever, and who whould have imagine that he already have a dengue strain in his body.

We visited him last sunday, at the medical city, after the 7pm service and thank God he was already in a good condition, still standing and fighting with the attack of the enemy on him.

I called this blog, A worship leader's fight, simply because, no matter who you are, whether you are a super christian or not (I got this one from Pastor Julius preaching last sunday), still there are many opposing forces to let you down, to tore you apart. But for James, his faith, his belief, and his relationship with God, continues to grow during this time, and never he questioned God for what the situation he have right now.

Hope we could learn from this, coz time to time, the enemy will still attack us, but with our faith, with God and his grace, we can defeat the enemy no matter what.

As I end this blog look on what have Paul said to the Corinthians with regards on our weaknesses;

'But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.'
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NIV)

Please continue praying for James...

God Bless everyone!

Name Game daw... Got this from ER and Kitch

1. YOUR NAME:
John Paul Estrellado

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (first three letters of your name, plus izzle):
Joizzle. /*jwoizel/ [french]

3. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color and fav animal):
Blue Lion

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, and current street name):
Abaldonado Mahogany [wow, the reason why I hate having a spanish middle name and surname, thus hate having spanish blood]

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 3 letters of mom's maiden name):
Estjoval [pang-alien o parang gamot

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):
Red White Mocha [parang three colors - (white mocha is a drink variant, starbuck fanatics, youm know this one)]

7. IRAQI NAME: (2nd letter of your first name, 3rd letter of your last
name, any letter of your middle name, 2nd letter of your moms maiden name,
2nd letter of your dads middle name, 1st letter of a siblings first name):
Otaaljm [cge nga pronounce this one]

8. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (father's middle name):
Alegre [Spanish again]

9. GOTH NAME: (3rd favorite color, and one of the name of your pet)
White Byron. [errr]

why is there so much evil and sufrng in this wrld?

It was past 11pm and I'm having my usual routine, sending a group message to my vcf peeps, checking my multiply, ym,

and stuffs.. when Ken (part of my small group in metro east) texted me and asked about something;

"Bro tanung ko lng. Anung isasgt m kng may PILOSOPONG TAO ang magtanung syo n2. 'If GOD is good and perfect, why is there so much evil and sufrng in this wrld?'"

I replied then saying that;

"Because God is a just God, and take time to read the book of Job, its one of the best example"

And he replied, contented with my answer...

And now I'm blogging about his question.

Why is there so much evil and suffering in this world?

According to Paul;

"...in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient" Ephesian 2:2 (NIV)

We all live under the rulers of this world... the godly rulers, (take note of the small 'g') it is by grace of God that we have been saved (talking about the sermon last sunday). and that explains why there are much evil and sufferings in this world, because we live on their world, we were dead then and for most people they suffer because they let the gods of this world conquer them. Now, for the believers who are more than conquerors, why do they still suffer? It is because the more they come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior, the more they are tested by the enemy. Just like the story of Job God allowed the devil to test him, and it is our duty to stand firm on our faith like what Job did, in the end we will be rewarded, because God is a just God.

"Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven..." Matthew 5:12 (NIV)

Since God is a just God, plus his being merciful to us, he gave us the gift of salvation (it's free by the way :) ) for us to be made alive in Christ. Jesus died and overcome death so we too can overcome it, we too will be saved by his grace.

God Bless!!!

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another

A month ago, i wrote a blog about how blessed I am with a conversation at the VCF-Fort... And who would have thought that I would be in that situation again, but this time its about me, my flaws, my indifference, and this time in my hometown.. VCF-Galleria...

It was a wednesday afternoon, singers' training were cancelled but I still I was in Galleria that time, I accompanied my friends from metro east since they will be auditioning for the ortigas worship team. LIttle did I know, as always, God had a planned for me, God wants to give me a revelation and a wake-up call through James Sace (De ja vu??? hehehe... history repeating itself but this time, I was the main subject and not James).

James and I had talked that afternoon, it triggered when I started my usual "pang-aasar to James", then later that night, when I was about to go out the center, James called me and asked me if I could stay, and so I did... He said that he wants to have a talked about something, with no clue at all, I responded to his invitation. Tadaaaa!!! Bingo!!!! It wasn't about the worship team nor our small group bonding, but it's all about me... then, our so-called "the talk part deux" had started.

You know what, I was so blessed to have my brother (James) along with our brothers backing me up all the time. Just like what had happened to us that day, I have no idea that James was already offended by my so-called pang-aasar, and there he goes, showing me my flaws and giving me advices regarding that. I was quiet during that moment, I was thinking about my identity with my peers in the church, its a good thing though, that James always reminds me during the course of our conversation that, above all, it is our identity in Christ that matters. I don't need to change for them but rather guard my actions towards them.

James reminded me of this scripture:

"As iron sharpens iron,
so one man sharpens another"
Proverbs 27:17

It simply says, that we are all accountable with each other and we are here to support each other.

God is Great!!! Always!!!

Saturday Blessing

Last saturday, I had a chance to bond with the gutierrez siblings, carmina, and andrei. I could say that this is one of the moments that I never want to miss. Let me put it this way, I could've spend more money that night but never experiences the joy i felt hanging pou with them. I could've spend more time hanging out with my other friends but never made a new pact with the people that God wants me to get along with that night. Borrowing the tagling from a famous credit card commercial, that night was truly PRICELESS... I am humbled that God revealed me many things that night... it's not about the money... it's not about the status... it's not about the lifestyle... but it's all about true fellowship and humility that I experienced that night.

I'm so blessed to be with these people, generally speaking, it is during these times when you got to finally see the true friendship that everyone's been looking.

God is great and I thank him for giving me a chance to bond with them, for removing my pride, ego, and selfishness that night.

Thanks to Jeff, Benjo, Jester, Carmina, and Andrei for the fellowship.