Embracing Womanhood

Yesterday, I had Bible trekking with my girls over lunch.

We dissected the beauty of Proverbs 31:10-31, exhausted every insight each one might have for every verse, until there's nothing left to talk about. It took us just 3 hours.

3 hours!

Gahd. We didn't even finish the whole thing!

But it was another memorable CG meeting filled with fresh perspectives that just erupted as we exchange thoughts on the text.

We arrived at a conclusion that we, ladies, are called by God to this one amazing thing.

Now, what does it mean to be the woman God designed us to be?
Society tries to define being a woman. Though what we hear about womanhood from the society are full of sense and can be quite empowering, don't you think it is still very important to go back to our very Creator, and ask what He was thinking when He was creating us?

Rose photo grabbed from oer-wout.deviantart.com.

This warrants a blog series (every night of this week) on womanhood! Keep posted! 😉

Bloom where you are planted

The church is not confined in the four walls of a building.

The Church is where Jesus's followers are!

God's not dead, He's surely alive!

And His Hands are very tangible in schools, workplaces and neighborhoods of His soldiers!

Bloom where you are planted.

The Fish In Our Schools

Today, I was privileged to witness how God uses some of the Genconers in their campuses.

God gave me the luxury of a four-month vacation, and, as what I desired before this started, He filled it with ministries bigger than what I had imagined! :-)

Within just 10 hours, God brought Jopel and me to 3 different places for campus ministry and had awesome small groups with God as the center!

UST CG at 9:30am.

FEU CG Launching (Yey! It's our first CG there!) at 12:30pm.

UE CG at 5:00pm.

"The Fish In Our Schools"

Lately, God has been reminding me how He wants to change the lives and just express His love and comfort to students in our campuses. In today's campuses, the youth experience some of the greatest challenges - from beautifully crafted temptations to intelligently presented ideologies. Every student in the campus experiences a lot of stress, which he gets from family problems or from academics or from his love life ... (or a feisty combination of these stressors). Too much of this stress, made worse by the competing noise of various (very interesting) perspectives, can easily make a student into a confused and battered baby.

That's why campus ministry is a gesture we could do to express the purest love for young people.

More young people need the freedom from all of these things that try to devour them in their college life. Every student deserves to live to the full potential God has created in him without being limited by the lies and beating this fallen world might have given them.

The Lord has been working so tangibly in our campuses, He has been using many youth groups today to change lives. If you're a student reading this, know that His love for your classmates, for your schoolmates is real. I am privileged to see the manifestations of this in a number of universities today! :) If you genuinely love our Lord, I encourage you to submit yourself to Him and become His hands and feet in His mission in your campus.

If you want to serve God, don't look too far! Whatever your setting is, know that God can use you there! You're not just a student in your university.

You are God's messenger.

#CampusLusob

Feel free to join us! :-) Check out the schedule of CGs: 

HIGH SCHOOL:

• Taytay National High School - Mondays, 9am
• CAYSMNHS - Friday Afternoon

COLLEGE:

• Roosevelt College Cainta - Tuesdays, 12nn
• University of Sto. Tomas - Tuesdays, 9:30am
• Far Eastern University - Mondays, 3pm, Tuesdays, 12:30nn
• University of the East - Tuesdays, 5pm
• University of Rizal System ANGONO - Wednesdays, 10am
• University of Rizal System BINANGONAN - Tuesdays/Thursdays, 1:30pm

Contact +639053079507 for more details (to know the meeting place, etc)

Cellgroufie

Comrade group at Roosevelt College Cainta, with Abby, one of my panganays, and her friend.

I praise God for His tangible presence earlier.

Please excuse our shameless #cellgroufies <3

God is at work in this generation.

It makes sense that we give Him our best in reaching out to today's youth and

do campus ministry.

#CampusLusob

With God Equipping Us, We Sure Can!

It's our first time to disciple a married couple.

They say you need experience first before you could give any advise to married people.

Well, I say, we are students of the wisdom of God, so nothing is impossible.

This wisdom comes in different forms, and first-hand experience is just one of its avenues.

You can find wisdom in observing and reflecting on your surroundings, and of course, in His Word.

This is really a nerve-racking and exciting experience to walk with these young people as they offer their marriage to the Lord!

I am not the most experienced person to help them, but one thing I know, God prepared both Jopel and I for this.
..and I know that more than any wisdom on earth, it is His love that could teach me, us, how to disciple these guys and help them towards Christlikeness.

Was blessed to see their repentant hearts thirst for more of God!

Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
Matthew 19:26

Don't ever limit yourself by lack of experience. Know in your heart that there's nothing you cannot do, if God is with you in doing it!

#RevolutionizingDiscipleship

She'll Always Be My Baby!

This is one of my disciples from Arenda Church of the Nazarene.
She got married last Sunday.
And she's my baby and my love no matter what. ;)
Hinding hindi akong magsasawang makinig, maki-tawa, maki-luto, maki-kilig, at syempre, maki-worship sa labidabs kong ito. Kat, ikaw ang palaging kasama ko sa kakikayan, at kalaban ko sa kainan. Hehe.. Sana lumalim pa lalo relationship natin,
Katrina Loy-A—Ricafranca
I love you! ❤

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

Romans 8:35

Within the Princess is the Bravest Soldier

What I reflected (again) from our all-girl devotion last night was that it is indeed time for godly women to stand and take initiative!

We were not made to be passive, or taga-punas lang ng pawis ng mga kalalakihan. Although taking care of our brothers, especially those who would be our husbands-to-be, as they minister, is one important role of women, we are not limited to just that.

God confirmed to me this radical perspective when we tackled Romans 12:1 last night.

The girls who came were from different small groups, it was such a joy for me to witness this. It was not an "official" fellowship organized by the church, but then, girls from our youth group united, had fun and served God together. It sparked in my heart a deeper vision on the ladies of our youth group. More than ever, it challenged me in an outrageous way.

I don't know about what the situation is in other churches out there, but in ours, we witness more men taking the active roles in initiating ministries. It is in our youth group where I meet the most passionate and the most hard-working Christian men who does nothing everyday but serve God until it hurts. I also see how the support of these godly men's girl friends or wives helped them in their ministry.

But this created a question in my heart..

Where are the women standing up, taking a leap of faith, doing something sacrificial for God?

Where are the ladies who are brave enough to initiate and to spearhead extreme yet relevant ministries?

I tried to think.. Is it that the men are the only ones made to do the initiating?

And then God reminded me of the fields of ministry that are ought to be penetrated majorly by His princess warriors.

The teenage moms.

The prostitutes.

The insecure.

The seeker of love.

The fatherless daughter.

The sexually abused.

The relationship-addict.

The unbeliever of true love.

The girls who are secretly addicted to pornography.

And this list would go on and on...

Who would reach out to them? Who would have the deepest burden and the sincerest love for them? Who would most likely connect to these ladies more than anyone?

You've guessed it right. Women.

..and this is quite a task, so from where we are right now, we already have to learn how to worship God with our bodies as a living sacrifice, as a preparation to the big work of ministering to these girls in need of God.

Is merely supporting the men the best we can give?

There is more to us than moral support - God has blessed women with so much compassion and strength.

And there are other women in need who needs to experience what we can give to them!

Our brothers should not be the only ones to experience our care and our love.

We should go out, stop being passive, and be extreme and active in looking for these ladies in need.

With 3 of my CGs.

This was taken last Saturday during the church's baptism. Shirt screams: #SoldierInside

We should stop being the sweety cutesy "princesses"
and start unleashing the brave and passionate soldiers in us!

#RevolutionizingWomanhood

Steady My Discipleship, Lord :))

This one's not the best cover of Steady My Heart out there, but I shared it anyway.

Listening to this is how I remember that disciplers should always do something fun with their disciples! Relationships are not made by merely meeting once a week, for less than 2 hours, doing something stereotypical. Learn how to really get to know your disciple! Know their hobbies and while you're at it, having fun together, you could be mentoring her in the most unique (and most personal) way! ;)

I recorded this with one of my disciples and we had lots of fun and serious talks while at it..
Guess whose voice is which. Haha

#RevolutionizingDiscipleship

He is Too Weird

He entered the church doors. Alone. This is not new to him, he's so used to going to places alone.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God. 

So when it was time to praise his God with songs and dancing, He gave it his all. He seemed like he's lost it - everyone around him was staring at him. Some even laughing and throwing judging gazes. He sang and danced with such zeal, not minding the looks he's receiving.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God.
..for God, who loved him and accepted him, and to whom he's never an outcast.
..for God, who tells him he is chosen and called, despite other people calling him weird or stupid.
..for God, to whom he could come as he is.
..for God, who is his beautiful Creator. 

He eagerly listened to the sermon and took to heart everything the preacher said. He was so focused on trying to absorb the wisdom in it, that he did not realize that no one dared to sit beside him.
He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God. 

When the preacher started opening the altar for everyone who wants to respond to God, he stormed to the front. The congregation seemed to stop breathing, seeing this act - this eagerness was outrageous, bizarre, too weird. Some were distracted, the preacher's words slowly coming to a blur. Many thought, "He's really weird isn't he.." A couple of teenagers let out muffled laughter as soon as they noticed him kneeling at the altar, arms raised. Alone.
He couldn't care less about what people thought about what he just did. He came here not for the people, after all. He came here for God. And he thought, nothing is too outrageous, too bizarre or too weird, if you do it for God. 

Weeks pass. He experience the purest joy in his rich encounters with God in church.
But he couldn't hide it. He struggled in that very place. Entering that church did not free him from the bullying he experiences in the world outside its doors. He's used to being laughed at, but there are plenty of times when he wished he'd be taken seriously. He cried out to God, "Are they really your disciples? Shouldn't Your disciples follow the way You love?" Knowing that hating on them is not how he should deal with this, he kept on repeating to himself: 

"I came here not for the people, after all. I came here for my God." 

But this mantra could only go so far. It lost its healing effect little by little with every laugh he heard, with every insulting joke thrown at him, with every stare he received and with every moment he felt like he was the star of another clique's inside joke, repeatedly stabbed behind his back.

He never imagined it would be this way when he first entered the church doors. Now it felt like being accepted and loved were all a far-away fantasy. He can hardly remember how he felt when he first experienced God's warm embrace, when he had the joy of discovering where he truly belonged - in God's arms. All these faded from his memory as he was being bombarded by all these cold insults. Will he ever be loved? Will he ever be accepted? If, even the church itself, who are ought to be known to have the most genuine love, rejected him, who else will offer him an authentic smile and welcome? He's too weary in his quest of finding the love he's always thirsted for. He found it in God, but this discovery was stained by the constant insult he received from those who claimed to follow this God. He lost faith in true love, he thought that he would never receive the love that God said he would. He thought to himself,
"I was meant to be an outcast."
And so he stormed away from the altar out of the church doors and never came back again.

Jennifer Lawrence gif grabbed here.

"By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” 

Jesus said this in John 13:35.

Will you call yourself a follower of Jesus if you screen the people who you will love?

Jesus showed an extreme love by reaching out to the outcasts - He sat down and ate with tax collectors, and defended a prostitute against religious leaders. We are called to do the same. If we just would follow His example, we would experience the greatest surprise - how much of a seeker of God are these people labeled "outcasts" by the world!

#RevolutionizingLove

Who are the people you know who are labeled "outcasts" or "weird" by this world? How do you show God's love to them?

A Crown or The Cross?

Discipleship can be seen as a means to put a crown on yourself.

But Jesus's discipleship isn't about having a crown, but taking up your cross.

I was reminded with this as I review what Dr. Ramesh Richard shared this morning at GDC. True, CG leaders are vulnerable to the temptation to pin their CG members' quality or quantity on their chest as medals of honor. Sporting how "big" their CG is becoming, or how "mature" their members have grown, disciplers could consider their disciples their crowning glory. This could look great on the external, but it destroys the much more important - the internal condition of the discipler and the group.

1. Disciples become objects
This could easily lead their hearts into loving their disciples as "objects that bring them glory" instead of "people who needs relationship with the Lord". You begin telling all the girls you know to join your small group. You meet them for a few weeks.. And when somebody asks, you proudly say. "I have 20 members already!" and sound like a kid bragging how much candy he has. After receiving the glory for having these large group, you stop the actual discipleship. Your ultimate purpose for your small group has already been fulfilled, you have already received all the glory, why still do your best with them?

2. Focus is Self not Christ
Instead of being drawn to love Christ deeper and share in His story, they become "hypnotized" and more drawn to the glimmer and shine of selfish glory. A crown.

The Great Commission is considered quantity-wise most of the time, for glory. Okay, sometimes you care for the quality.. Only to let all the people see what you can produce.
 But if the self is the more dominant focus, how would Christ-like values be caught from you?

3. Discipleship is Perverted
There you go. The horror of introducing these people to the wrong, selfish definition of discipleship. The kind of discipleship unconcerned of the actual growth of the disciples. Merely concerned on the aspects of the disciples that can be seen by others. You require them to go to church (so people would think your group is visible). You want them to be involved in ministry for the wrong selfish reasons.

When they post pictures on Facebook that shows how their lifestyles swing back to their old self, you become like a police officer, "Hey! What's the meaning of that?!" But deep inside, you are afraid that people would judge your leadership by looking at the people you're leading.

You become the scary strict authoritarian.

You demand perfection (so you could say that you're the best leader).

And the scariest part is that, you raise up disciplers who are arrogant, perfectionists, proud and self-seeking like yourself.

A Crown.

Grabbed here.

But hey, you lift your "leader image" a notch when you are deceived to think that it is you who do all the work for the people you handle. I'm sorry, but to let you know, leaders have the littlest role in making Christ-like disciples compared to how huge the Holy Spirit's role is.
Your role is a one millisecond appearance in a movie that's all about what the Holy Spirit does in the lives of your CG members!

Moreover, prideful discipleship is the farthest from the kind of discipleship Jesus models.
If you are trapped in that selfish kind of leadership, aren't you preaching one thing and practicing another?
If it is Jesus that you want them to see, it is His servanthood, humility and pure love that should shine in your leadership! If you pursue this kind of leadership, this is what happens.. The exact opposite of the former.

1. Great Relationships with Disciples
Now, if Jesus is the center of your discipleship, you would consider having a genuine relationship with them as the most important thing in discipleship. Beyond what the people around you sees, you develop a special relationship with your small group members. You do not only meet them once a week just to have a very good report about your CG.
YOU LET YOUR LIFE INTERTWINE WITH THEIRS.
Like real friends, you expose to them every corner of your life. So that they will learn from you how to follow Christ as they see you following Him in every little aspect of your life.
You do not only meet on Sundays or on CG days, you all should know so well that you have a real relationship, friendship, connection, that would go on all the days of the week.
You do casual things together to bond, and consider these times as important as your serious time studying the Bible.
For you to see how Jesus spent His everyday life with His discipleship, you should erase the selfish mentality of seeing them as objects and see them as real people.
It is not your CG material that would teach them how to follow God.
It is your life.

2. Focus is Christ
Since the spotlight is not on you, you do not become fully dependent on your leadership skills. You become a lot more dependent on God's leading. You do not grieve because of your weaknesses, and hide them from your disciples. You humble yourself, show them your weakest points and let them witness what God does as you surrender these weaknesses to Him.
This is one of the most common mistake of CG leaders. You wanna be prim and proper in front of your small group, and when you're gone, you become another person. Eengk! Not authentic! What ruins your testimony to them is saying you're one thing and having them question seeing another.
They know you're imperfect. No need to pretend you're perfect.
But you have to let them see how Jesus outshines human imperfection.
After all, it is God's power you should depend on, not on your own.
In turn, your small group members would learn to fix their gaze on Jesus and not on you.
They will not see you, they will see God's work in you.

3. The Call to Make Disciples is Realized
Discipleship, the kind Jesus wants us to do and to pass on, is realized.
You are not multiplying people who are like you, you are reproducing Christ-followers.
Truly, it would be hard to teach others to follow Christ, if they don't see you demonstrating it.
But if you start truly living following Christ, your life would be like a magnet. People around you would want to live like you do, as they see how much joy and out-of-this-world fulfillment you get from following Him.
And your life's fruit would not only be believers - they would be Christ-committed followers who would share the same passion to "Go and make disciples".

Jesus had a big heart for His disciples - they were not mere objects to make other people "envious" of His leadership skills. He invested in them all He can, He shared to them all He knows, He demonstrated to them the Christ-like lifestyle they need.. He poured on them His purest love.
It's not easy. It's self-denial.
Its purpose is love, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.
The cross.

Grabbed here.

Are you willing to be that discipler who does not want to make his/her own name known.. And only wants the Name above all names to get all the glory?
Photos grabbed here and here.

If you are a discipler reading this, ask yourself what you choose.

A crown or the cross?

Even Trees Bear Fruit in Season

Three of my small group members just participated Gencounter last Saturday.

It is an activity in our Congregation that marks the beginning of the new chapter in the lives of believers of God who are ready to be used in ministries.

After years of learning about discipleship, I realize that we cannot force anyone to grow. All we could do is do our best in our little role in our disciple's growth. One's spiritual growth is not from her spiritual mentor. It's not even from herself. A person's growth ultimately comes from God.
And so it's something that would softly come in His time.
Even trees bear fruit in season!
With lots of prayers, Claudine, CL and Hannah participated that activity.

Claudine

"A nice encounter with God :-)

I learned a lot :))

Lord thank you for your unfailing love you :D 

to your blood and flesh you shed in the CROSS

Everyday i thank you for your grace you given to us :D 

I surrender all my life :-)

Let your will be done :))

AMEN"

Hannah

"I'm blessed to have encountered God today! But it's not the last time I'll be encountering him, it's just the start. I'm looking forward on encountering God each day of my life. So excited for what He has in store for me! Don't miss out on God's wonderful plan for your life :D

Live out your faith and SHARE it."

CL

"Things happen for a reason whether it's good or not, my past experiences is really a nightmare, indeed! i thought it was the end, "giving up" to follow God is next to my mind, but know what? God is Good! cause He never stop loving me, He never stop calling me and He never give up on me. He is my healer. All the brokenness inside, all the wounds, he heals me. And today, i had a great ENCOUNTER with Him again. I'll praise God for giving me this opportunity. He brought me this far, and now, i want to follow God and brings all the glory and praises to Him. My Lord and Savior..He takes me out of the dark :)) ♥"

I do not see being these girls' spiritual momma as a strenuous duty.

It was a great privilege, an undeserved opportunity, a beautiful encounter with God.

There were times when I almost gave up as I saw how weak I was. It scared me. I was worried that my weaknesses would affect these girls negatively, and that my lapses would cause them to stumble. For almost 2 years and more, God taught me a lot of things in being a small group leader.

Being a small group leader is never about me!

It is ultimately about God.  

They are just three of the girls I love most! 

I know my face looks like it's about to burst in this picture, but I don't care.. It's that one picture I had with the three of them during Gencounter so I'm posting it! Hahahahaha

Best to keep distraction away. FOCUS to encountering God.

Saying good bye to distractions to wholly absorb everything.

With some of our friends, Michelle, Je Ann and Schae. 

I am so so so blessed to witness your journey with the Lord!

You have taught me a lot of things about humility, servanthood, and op cors, love.

There are a lot more to learn for all of us. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to do it with you!

You know how much of an open book my life is for you. Haha I'm willing to bare all of me, to make every part of  me available to you. My goal is to impart to you every little lesson I learned (and am still learning) from my personal journey with the King. With these parcels of wisdom, along with the lessons you learn from your own personal journey with God, grow deeper in your faith.

I love you! Now that God has led you this far, offer Him your best. I know He has great plans for your lives, He has ministries prepared for you to do.

Just keep fighting, lady warriors! 

P. S. If God touches your heart to pray for them, please do so. Let raising up Christ-like leaders be ever in our hearts.

How's your weekend? :)

Nothing beats a weekend spent for God :)

You might think that it is boring.. Well, it's the farthest from boredom! :)

Friday

Praise God It's Love with Special Guest Acel van Ommen

It was rainning hard, yet it was a really great time where I had a little bonding time with my CG. :)

My hair was curly here. But notice in the next pics, it's straight like nothing happened. See how my hair hates curls, no matter how much I like it curled? Hahaha

I've known her for almost two years now. And I am extremely blessed as I witness how God powerfully moves in her life. :)

I loooove these two :) I am blessed by their sincere desire to grow deeper in God and grow deeper in love!

The four of us in one great (and happy) shot! :) Thanks to our youth pastor himself who offered to take this  pic :P

I really wanted to share with you guys the amazing moment we had with Acel van Ommen.. My camera died too early though. So sorry, no videos. (For your info, she was the one behind your fave karaoke song, "Torete")

Acel shared what it really meant for her to wait for True Love.

She then shared her powerful testimony on how she fell into sinning with her past self-centered relationships. She shared with nicely chosen words, how God came to her rescue and made her love life beautiful!

She is now enjoying a God-centered relationship with her husband. They have two adooorable children who were with us :)

Saturday

So it's the day when the house gets cleaned up, and our hands get dirty from household chores.

Okay, for some, Saturdays mean getting only the tip of their fingers dirty. (Computer generation!)

After doing everything I had to, I went straight to Full Charge, our youth service for college students.

Kuya Herbie preached to these college students.

After the sermon, we fullchargers group ourselves for a meaningful sharing time.

It was a great afternoon for the ladies, we had the most personal and the sincerest sharing time yet..

The hearts of the people I meet in Full Charge are really encouraging. They are the kind of people who really knows what "commitment" is.

Afterwards, I had a fun yet meaningful dinner with the tropa.

Okay, well, we played 94 Seconds in the greater part of the hour. Hahaha!

I love these crazy people.. :P

Sunday

I had a short but sweet bonding time with my small group leader, when we prepared a special number for the Tagalog service. Sadly, I did not manage to get someone to record it. :( I like documenting stuff because I'm so forgetful, so it could have been very nice if we had a video. :(

Good news, I was able to record the other special number in the Tagalog service! :)

Nang Dahil Kay Hesus was played wonderfully by Bamboo and Rod

Was deeply touched by the song :')

Pastor Jordan preached in the Tagalog Service. I appreciate how he really tried to speak 100% Tagalog!

However, it was evident that he was pretty challenged. :P But yeah, the message of the Lord touched hearts! When God speaks to your heart, you'll realize that language is not the issue. ;)

Some fresh meat shared her talent in the English Service. She sang Kari Jobe's Steady My Heart.

The song is so passionate! Moreover, it connects with everyone. Everyone becomes rattled by changes all the time, and we do need God to steady our hearts. :)

Pastor Sam preached in the English service, sharing to everyone how God moved after the first leg of the 2013 Motocross Series MMF is organizing. :) (Read more of it here)

I cried literally in the whole sermon because I am amazed by how enormously God moves in a ministry!

That morning, I prayed hard that God would expand my ministry.

He says that He's preparing me now, so I'm pretty excited to give my all even in the little assignments He gives me now. :)

We had Gencon with an emphasis on Waiting.

God has spoke a lot to me about waiting on Him regarding to the ministry I am dreaming of :)

This is just a mere glimpse of what my weekend looks like. There's a lot more than what's written here.

But every little thing I did in this weekend, sure was a great encounter with my King.

From doing household chores to crying to God without reservations!

Now that's a weekend well spent. ;)

How do you spend your weekends? How do you want to make it not just fun but also meaningful? 

GENCON: 2013 No Eye Has Seen! :)

After 8 and a half years of ministry, Generation Congregation, TFCN's youth service, will be moved to a new time slot!

Two months ago, God blessed (and surprised) our church with a new place. That time was a pretty amazing moment where we encountered God as a church! We weren't even praying for something as specific as "Lord, give us a new place because we think we need one.." But for sure, God heard His servants in our congregation who prayed for expansion.

For more than two months now, we've been using Peak Sun Building, formerly CCF, with the most ideal location (it's located along Ortigas Extension), for some activities of our youth group. It's for free! May God bless the dearest hearts of the owners of this place! We only pay for the electricity and other utility bills. This arrangement would last for 2 years.

 Gencon moved there (from TFCN's Main Sanctuary on L. Wood St.) on the First Sunday of December.

And just last Sunday, we also had a new time slot.

For 8 years, Gencon start after the sun has set. Last Sunday, we launched Gencon's new time slot.

It's now at 4 o' clock in the afternoon. :)

 It was the first time that Gencon would start with this bright sky. Plus, Peak Sun building is filled with windows. That's why we really did feel the afternoon! Hehe. It was even the first time we greeted each other "Good afternoon!" at Gencon.

It was really fun. This change in our place and venue is a great reminder that God is not done yet with this generation. This new life of Gencon is really a fresh start for everyone part of it. The time slot and venue change, for me, represents fresh and exciting encounters with God.

Personally, it reminded me that we should have a bigger vision for our Church! We should not settle for less; the Church has a lot to do. There are lot of souls walking astray, needing to realize God's love. That's why we should never stop wherever we're at. We should never stop running. We should run like there's no tomorrow! Not for ourselves, not even for our Church. But only for God!

This change is a symbolism of us stepping out of our past.

Gencon, let us rise up as we leave our past mistakes behind and carry only the lessons we got from them.

Let us remove the excess baggage so we could run faster than ever towards the goal of reaching out to souls yearning for love.

Let us do our best in fulfilling the roles God gives to each of us.

Because this year, we would surely witness, as God's congregation.

Things that no eye has seen.

In my opinion, the new time slot really fits the change of venue.
Besides crossing the highway becoming less scary, GC ending at 6pm means a lot of small group time for everybody!! :) Just like the old days when the old PGIF was alive. After the youth service, small groups meet and share and laugh and have a good time with God in their midst. :">

Four of my small group members. Hannah, Abby, Claudine and Tiara. <3

Pretty women of God! They're the loveliest ladies in my eyes. :">

However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him"

- 1 Corinthians 2:9

This new time slot is really working for most of us. I'm so excited for more Sundays coming! :)

Seek God First

Seek God first. (Matthew 6:33)

You think this line goes only when you are anticipating food and clothing provision?

Nah, I think this one's true in every aspect of our lives.

Even in modesty.

Your covered body is not as righteous as you think if it isn't done with the right heart.

Did you know that being strict on the way you carry your modesty, also has the biggest temptation to be self-righteous? That's why, being modesty pledgers, we have to check ourselves regularly.

Just let God transform your heart as He transforms your wardrobe! :)

How do you know that your modesty is rooted on self-centeredness?

1. You think so highly of yourself because you're the most modest person you know.
2. Others, especially Christian women, are constant objects of your judgmental eyes.
3. It's hard for you to change ways when God rebukes you.
4. You find yourself always justifying your attire before stopping to think and really evaluate it with God's eyes.
5. You long for others to notice and give you complements for being modest!

Modesty could be a front of attention-seekers. However, it is also possible that you unconsciously do it for yourself and not for God. That's why we always need to have our motives checked by the One who really knows what's going on ;)

True modesty is not the drawing of attention to yourself. No matter how you cute you think your skirt is, or your necklace, know that modesty is not all about fishing for complements! Don't expect everyone to greet you with a.. "Oh, you're so modest."  'Cause you might just get discouraged and stop trying hard to be modest just because you think no one notices..

What I realize is, your journey towards modesty is something intimately between you and God. :)

And once you recognize that only His grace enables us to be modest, you'd learn true modesty. Modesty that aims only to give glory to the King, whose hands created everything beautiful! :)

Here are characteristics of the kind of modesty God approves of:

1. It's main and only purpose is to give God the glory!
2. It is practiced without anticipation of praises of men.
3. It is done to promote purity, above all else.
4. It makes one humble enough to accept rebukes and corrections.
5. It teaches one to consider others above herself. :) (immodest clothing can be a stumbling block not only to men struggling with lust, but also to women who look up to you)

 Indeed, modesty is a matter of the heart. It is not a list of dos and donts (although, you can make a list for yourself, like what I did, according to your convictions). Rather, modesty is the shifting others' attention from yourself to your God!

True modesty is driven by the desire that people would see Jesus in you and not yourself, your beauty, your fashion style or whatever. :) Seek God first, and more modest fashion choices and a God-centered heart will follow.

After all, God's looks at your heart.

Your beauty should be of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

1 Peter 3:3-4 

Sorry for the wrong focus.. Mehehe. 

I liked the collared shirt I wore inside because it covered what I wanted to be covered. :P

Buy shirts from Letters from God!

Shirt: Letters from God

Check out other Christian Shirt designs on Letters from God's Facebook page. ;)

This is one of my take on how to make Meaningful Statement shirts less boring. Of course, when your shirt is worn in a fresh way, more people would be compelled to read the statement on it. :P

It was a Sunday full of girl-lovin'! :)

Our CG had lots of fun talking about how God gives New Beginnings ;)

I thought we were going to be complete that night because I wanted to celebrate my birthday with them :(

Had lotsa girl talk with Kir and Nica at Mcdonalds' Parola :)

Have you checked your heart lately? For whom is it beating for?

Let everything you do be centered on God! :D