☂ ☂ ☂: DEAR CHRISTIANITY: AN APOLOGY

the4issilent:

by Max Andrew Dubinsky (via iwilltrustinyou)

Dear Christianity.

I’ve known of you my entire life, but I never got to know you until recently.

I’m sorry for that.

In Vacation Bible School you were fun. If I knew enough about you, if I memorized enough verses in the Bible, I got…

Sa June 8 na ‘tong event. Niyaya na ‘ko nung isa kong best friend. ‘Di n’ya kasi ako na-inform sa gawain last Sunday. Sabi n’ya, magsasalita daw sa event na ‘to yung preacher no’n. And guess what? She’s just 16! Nakaka-amaze talaga. Sabi nung best friend ko, napaiyak daw s’ya dahil sa message. Kung sana marami pang kabataan ang nakakapamahagi ng Salita… hay…

Anyway, gustung-gusto ko talagang makasama dito. Nawa’y mapayagan ako at matuloy yung mga best friend ko. 

Weird Dream is Weird

So… nanaginip ako nitong hapon at ang weird lang talaga. :|

Una, magkakasama kaming magkaka-batch. Tapos may sinagaw si someone (‘di ko matandaan kung sino). Ang sabi, kumapit sa rocket ship kasi aalis na. Sa labas lang talaga. Tapos kaming lahat naghawak-hawak ng kamay para di magkahiwa-hiwalay.

‘Di pa nakakatagal, nakabitaw kami sa rocket ship. Ako, si Jan na nasa kaliwa ko, saka yung nasa kanan ko na ‘di ko matandaan. Naglakad nalang kami. Narating namin yung parang small hill. Nando’n na yung iba. Eh ‘di, sumama kami.

Tapos, biglang hinanap si EJ. Nando’n pa talaga tatay ko! Ang sabi… wanted daw yun. Tapos maya-maya, yung setting, naging yung bleachers sa may court. Ayun, hintay-hintay. Sina Clarissa at Alyza nando’n. Nakalimutan ko na kung sino yung mga nasa tapat ko kasi nakatayo lang daw ako.

Then, dumating yung ibang boys. Kasama na daw nila si EJ. Topless si kuya! Tapos basang-basa. Tapos nasabi nung iba yung sa wanted thingy. Tatay ko pa ‘ata nagsabi na, “Buti bumalik ka.” Ang sagot naman n’ya do’n ay “Syempre. Para maalagan na ‘tong bhe ko,” sabay pinatong n’ya yung kamay n’ya sa ulo ko.

Hinawakan ko s’ya sa braso. Basang-basa. Tapos hinawakan n’ya ‘ko sa kamay. Umalis kami no’n. May sinabi pa ‘kong “Tara, ipapakita na kita sa iba”. Pero nagkahiwalay din kami ng pupuntahan.

Nakita ko sina Alyza at Christine na magkasama. Sumama ako sa kanila. Kay Aly ako tumabi. Pinansin ko yung malaki n’yang relo. May sasabihin pa ako dapat sa kanya pero nakalimutan ko.

Nadaanan namin si Izay sa may puno ng langka. Dumating din si Alee. Kinausap namin s’ya tungkol sa kung ano na gagawin n’ya. Sabi n’ya nakapag-enroll na daw s’ya sa St. Paul. Inabot n’ya kay Tintin yung BSY nabasa ni Tintin. Umiling ako. Tapos nagdire-diretso s’ya ng tingin, umiiling pa rin ako. Tapos napansin n’ya din na BSV nakalagay.

Tapos nagising na ‘ko. Grabe lang! .___. Weird dream is weiiiiiiiiiiiiird!

Hanggang ngayon ba naman hina-hunting pa rin ako ng pang-aasar no’ng high school? =___= Come on! Magka-college na ‘ko in less than two weeks, o!

I have a friend who seems like I frequently talk about here. (.___. I’m glad he doesn’t have a Tumblr because he might think of something :|)

I’m seeing a lot of his posts in Facebook now and I can say that I’m glad he’s growing as a Christian. I admit that he’s different — way different — from when we were Sophomores compared to what kind of person he is now. I hope that he won’t be influenced by others and be the one to influence others to win souls.

Anyway, although I’m the one (yeah, I’m claiming it now >w>) who raised his interest in Planetshakers and knew about them more than he did, he knew first about this song of them. He shared it to us. It has such nice meaning. ♥

“And even though sometimes Your ways I cannot understand, I’ll never walk away because my future’s in Your hands.”

May 27th: Gawain sa Church

Scenario kanina sa Sunday school…

Via: Marse! Sayang, ‘di ka sumama sa camp.

Ako: Oo nga, eh! Ang mahal kasi ng bayad. Pero gusto ko talaga sumama.

Via: Sayang talaga! Bagay pa naman sa ‘yo yung topic. Anime.

Shawn: Oo nga.

Ako: Ay! Sayang nga! Next year! HAHAHA!

Si Via ang long-time friend and classmate ko. Bakera ‘yan. Tapos friendly, masiyahin, maganda, God-fearing… kaso katulad ko, madalas s’yang tinatamad. Si Shawn naman yung pinsan n’ya na nasa company ko sa CAT last school year.

Ayon… nabanggit ni Via yung about sa ALAB National Camp na dinaos no’ng May 15-18. Kainggit lang. Meron kasi akong inaayos no’ng mga panahong iyon at saka kinailangan rin naming umalis no’ng 15. Kasalanan man, inaamin kong nakakainggit yung mga nakasama ng camp. (Le criiiiies ;A;)

Anyway, no’ng sinabi ni Via ‘yan, may naging hunch ako sa kung ano ang sinabi tungkol sa anime. Sa tingin ko ‘di ‘yon maganda. Pero ‘di ko naman sure kung tama kasi ‘di ko na s’ya na’tanong dahil  nag-start na yung leader ng Sunday school namin. Nakalimutan ko na rin itanong pagkatapos kasi kinausap ako ni Alee, isa ring friend at fellow official Iska, tungkol sa, well, college. Pinakilala na rin n’ya ako kay Pastor Brian (:”>).

Si Pastor Brian ang pumalit kay Pastor Romy. (Nakaka-miss sina Pastor Romy. >__<) S’ya yung youth pastor namin. Bata pa talaga! Mabait s’ya tapos approachable. Sabi ni Alee, sa UP Manila daw s’ya graduate. Wala lang; parang naging crush ko lang si Pastor. Teehee.

AH! Ang nag-lead nga pala sa message kanina ay si Pastor Benny. Tatay s’ya ng batch mate/old classmate ko na si BJ. Bale s’ya talaga yung matagal na do’n. Magpa-five year na rin siguro sila? Oh well… basta ang message kanina ay related sa “pangingisda”.

Ang sabi ni Pastor Benny, “Ang Pilipinas ang isa sa mga pinakamainam pangisdaan.” That not only applies literary, but also spiritually. Nakakalungkot man daw na maaaring kumonti nalang ang matitirang isda kapag literally, pero kung spiritually ito pag-uusapan, isang napakagandang balita kapag kaunti nalang ang matitirang isda. Kaya nga madalas nang nagmi-misyon ang mga Crusaders, eh! Malapit na kasi ang Coming. Hinikayat din kami ni Pastor na mag-alok ng mag-alok sa iba na sumama sa gawain ng church. “Okay lang maging makulit kung ito’y para sa Panginoon,” ang words ni Pastor kanina.

Panalangin ko lang na makatulong akong makapag-win kapag college na talaga ako. ♥

Rangers of Hope and Inspiration

I forgot that that’s the main name of these Rangers. I forgot to mention in my other post that they’ll be somewhat like soldiers or something at first. Oh! And their rank is the lowest discipleship, but then of course, if I’m not wrong, after one turns 13 years old, he’ll join the youth already.

This song is the one they used in their performance earlier in the first and second services. They danced then after the song, the leader chosen by ate Allison (the one in front of the children in the photo; one of the two mentors of Rangers) grouped her fellow Rangers and asked what their purposes are which turned out to be the two greatest commandments:

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

— Matthew 22:36-40 (New King James version)

They were also asked earlier what K4 is. K4 is the prayer for the leaders of the country for their health, protection, wisdom, and righteousness.

I wished this group was established even before. I would love to become a Ranger. ♥

I don’t want to react to this in Filipino but…

REN, PARA-PARAAN TAYO, AH! :))

(Very rough translation [OTL]: Ren, you’re just making a move! :)))

This is the name of the newly established group in our church. It’s for children between the ages of 8-12. The purpose of it is to nurture and further help with the spiritual growth of the children. It also helps to build a stable foundation for the discipleship while they’re young.

One of my brothers — the youngest of us 3 — is a Ranger. I’m so happy for him and I hope that he’ll grow more fond of God as he join the works in our church. I hope that he’ll be able to persuade our brother to at least go to church. I’m still saddened by the fact that while he’s growing, he seems to be getting farther from God. Even so, I still trust God that He’ll do something for this.

As of now, our church is having more missions than before so that we’ll get to win more souls. I pray that this will become more successful as the Lord’s coming is getting nearer.

godsradicaldaughter:

I want this to be my testimony. Honestly, I am really not that much. My life is filled with problems and issues. I wish I can change those. I really tried hard to become better, to act more appropriately, to be nicer, to be a more ‘proper girl.’ But I can’t. I once wanted to be the smartest at every class I had, but my best turned out to be not enough. I wanted to be exceptional with everything I did, but I was just too clumsy. I wanted to take good care of every relationship I had, but found out I was just being selfish. I can be such a failure.

And then I read this verse. It had so much depth and impact to me. It made me think back of all those things I used to want to do, and decide that they don’t matter to me anymore. This, I thought. This is what I want to become. I want the people I know to see me and be amazed at how Jesus changes a person.

Look at Peter and John. They were untrained and uneducated, and yet, they had such a confidence that amazed those who observed them. They were bold. They were full of courage. They were full of conviction and were not a bit intimidated about how the people they were talking to probably knew more about Scripture than they did.

They stood up. They did not think about what they used to be. They did not think about how the people used to see them as knowing nothing. They just couldn’t help but talk about the Good News that the awesome love of Jesus brought. And people believed them. People followed them. They listened to these apostles.

The people were amazed because they saw how Jesus has changed them. It has never had anything to do with their past, or their actions. No. The amazement began when they realized that these men, who were once nobodies, have dramatically and radically transformed because they followed Jesus. Not because they were trying to gain fame. Not because they were trying to be the best. Not because they wanted approval. No. They simply took the risk of following the leading of the Spirit of talking about Jesus. They just let Jesus use them. And the world was turned upside down.

Now, it doesn’t matter what I’d been through, what I once was trying to do, or what I failed in. They don’t matter anymore. I know that Jesus loves me, and I’m sticking with Him. My life will be a testimony. I don’t know how this will happen, but I know that my Savior has a plan. He will move freely in my life.

I had the fortune to discover this series. I’ve watched both Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny. I loved SEED way more than the latter, though. This is the first mecha series that I ever watched. I found the story really amusing, despite what seemed to be a lot of terms, e.g. Coordinators, Naturals, ZAFT, etc.

I really, really, really love Athrun Zala to infinity and beyond! I don’t know why, but there’s something in his character that made me love him more than Kira Yamato, which I love, too, though not as much. (Maybe it’s actually because he’s a fascinating deuteragonist [as what some sites say].) The second opening of GSD, “Pride”, is probably my most favorite, just because it showed Athrun with Cagalli, Meer, and Lunamaria. Actually, I ship Athrun with many girls in the series. Athrun Zala X Cagalli Yula Attha is my OTP here. I ship Athrun X Lacus Clyne, Athrun X Lunamaria Hawke, Athrun X Meer Campbell, and Athrun X Meyrin Hawke, too! Even so, I have to say that I liked the idea of him with Lacus and Lunamaria more. (I really loved the fact that Pink-chan’s always with Lacus [even if Torii’s almost always with Kira, too!].)

I loved Kira, but I don’t like him with Lacus much. Up till now, I don’t like the pair that much. I ship him with Flay Allster. (/shot) Well, at least, I loved him way more than Shinn Asuka. I never really liked that guy that much. Still, I ship him with Stella.

(“Loved” seemed to be my favorite word in this post. OTL)

Oh! Even though I loved GSD, I hated the ending. I mean, come on. How come it showed Athrun with Meyrin?! It’s just… it broke my shipper heart. (;A;)

Anyway, my other ships are: Mu La Flaga X Murrue Ramius, Talia Gladys X Gilbert Durandal, Stella Loussier X Auel Neider, Shinn Asuka X Lunamaria Hawke.