Career Chopsuey

Today I was blessed in my devotion time as I'm meditating through the book of Acts. I read today about Paul and Silas making attempts to go places and God closing the door on them, finally directing them to Macedonia. And even then it wasn't easy to stay there where God had called them.

I take this time to write about my past as well as my present. I compare it to making chopsuey, or mixed vegetables cooked Chinese-style, since my growing up years were filled with variety as far as my dreams and ambitions. As I'm sitting here in the office with some time to do personal stuff, I look back in my childhood and see how far God has been controlling my life.

Let's start cooking.

Ingredients:

• Always keep God first
• Work as if God is your boss
• Know that people are observing you
• Never give up
• You may make a lot of wrong choices and attempts trying to get to the right path

1. As a child, I was a dreamer. My estimate of my temperament is Melancholic-Choleric or simply, Mel-Chol. I'm a very analytical, emotional, and passionate person that doesn't give up easily, most of the time. As a boy, I would always look up to my dad who was working as the head of human resources in a government university. I dreamed of becoming an executive, just like him. So my earliest childhood dream was that of becoming a professional in a management position.

2. As the years went by I had the desire to become a doctor. This was something that stuck for a while. But as time passed, I realized that I didn't want someone else's life in my hands -- a thought I now find useless as I'm all grown up and 26 years old.

3. Later on, I wanted to become a veterinarian. But as time passed, I realized that I didn't want an animal's life in my hands -- a thought I now find useless as I'm all grown up and 26 years old.

4. Longest career ambition: RJ, Attorney-at-law. This really stuck for about 6 years. All the way through my finishing high school my mind was set on becoming a lawyer. I even passed for a double major course, one of the majors was Political Science, a possible prerequisite for going to law school. So lawyerland, here I come. But not quite.

5. 1997 - A very short time left. Some weeks before the school year starts. I decided to let my mom help. She wait-listed me for a program called Computer Science, and that's when my blood began to stir in me. You see, I have been programming since I was twelve. Back then, we used Turbo Basic. That was my first break in programming code and actually letting the computer automate tasks. Finishing high school, I got a very high grade in my computer class, when we were using Turbo Pascal. So for four years I had been a geek in high school. And now it was time to take that path.

6. Starting my first year in college was a new environment for me. I found new friends, as well as old ones. It was to me, a new life. But I was wrong. A week before the finals towards the end of the school year I had the deepest depression I ever experienced. My whole world was coming apart. I had been depressed since early childhood, was diagnosed with it in 6th grade, and have been on and off medication until I was 17. But that pit of depression was my turning point. It was the time I received Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. At 17, I was born again. That was the time God completely healed me, and not just mentally and biologically, but spiritually. Now the new life truly started.

7. I became a Pentecostal shortly after my conversion to Christ, and the rest of my college years were a journey in my early walk with the Lord. I graduated in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science at the University of the Philippines in the Visayas. This was the time I contemplated full-time ministry, aiming for a Bible school degree right after college. But I decided not to pursue it at that time. After that, I rested for three months, and finally decided to get a job since I was so bored. I worked my first job in the same university I graduated from. I became involved in a campus-wide computer networking project, and my job was to complete the inventory of all the computers in the immediate area.

8. My first job didn't last long. My contract was non-renewable. I decided to work for my dad after that, doing work in his law office. Pretty soon I started working in church as church staff. I was full time for three days. But my dad needed help in his office and wanted me to learn secular work skills so I decided to work part-time church staff and part-time legal office assistant. This lasted for about 5 months. This was the season I contemplated full-time ministry again.

9. There was an opportunity that came up for further studies in Computer Science. So I decided to enroll in a diploma course. I eventually pursued full-time studies. In the midst of that, I found out that I didn't need the diploma, and that I could request to be transferred to a master's course in Information Systems. So I filed a request and by God's provision, I was transferred to the master's degree the following semester. So I was a master's degree student and it took me more than three years to finish it. It was difficult, but God sustained me through it all. It was in this season that I became part of the Calvary Chapel movement. Leaving the pentecostal movement, God planted me in a Calvary Chapel church.

10. For about three years, God led me through my spiritual desert. This was a time that I had opportunity to grow spiritually through the Word of God, prayer, fellowship, ministry, and discipleship. I'm grateful that Pastor Mike Ramsey took time to disciple young men like me and train them up in the ministry. So I was studying to become a master in my field and at the same time, I was in the school of the Holy Spirit, as God was growing me in my walk with the Lord. For me, this was even better than going to Bible school. I became a youth leader and a musician. Right now I'm a worship leader.

11. One big question in career planning is geography. I was at a crossroads of whether I wanted to pursue my career outside of my home city or within. I decided to pursue it within. God was calling me to build his house first before I build my own. I decided to stay in Iloilo and support my new pastor who was also discipled by Pastor Mike, and to minister to God's people at the same time I'm pursuing my career. God blessed me by giving me a job as a computer programmer, in an office next door to the church! So I don't have to travel far to get to my church from my office or vice-versa.

In conclusion, things don't always turn out the way we want, but at hindsight, we can see God's hand in it all. Not that I have already attained or already been made perfect -- I'm still learning. And there are still many decisions to make along the way of my career path. But God has called me to be both a geek and a musician. And there's no better way than to be yourself and be in the center of God's will.

What about all those other ambitions I had? Well, perhaps they'll come in handy. The information technology industry is a vicious place. And to survive, I need to be strong in the Lord, and equipped. There are things I could still need along the way:

• The courage of a doctor
• The mental discipline of a lawyer
• The heart and compassion of a pastor
• The will of an executive
  

God never wastes our experiences. All things work together for good, and God is working even in the midst of faulty assumptions, poor decisions, and foolish mistakes. All we have to do is trust God to lead and guide. Jesus is always faithful.

I'm Turning Japanese - part 3

On Sunday night we had pizza and balut as part of our dinner. It was fun watching these guys eat balut for the first time. Balut is a duck embryo we commonly eat here in the Philippines.



The Okinawa team's last day here was on Monday, March 12, 2007. They were able to go outing and cruising on Guimaras Island where they had a chance to relax. I found out that some, if not all of my brothers had some bad sunburns on their backs.



They also had the chance of witnessing to college students and sharing the love of Christ with them. One of the people they were able to share Jesus with was a young man named Mark (in the white shirt).


Monday night, we went out to dinner after I went to the church coming from work, and I was one of their chauffeurs. They really liked my jeep. It's for sale right now and as I'm writing this, I left it at a car repair shop to get the hood fixed.


Daniel gave me the privilege of shaving his head. So I placed the Calvary Chapel logo and the "Iloilo" sign on his head.







Tuesday morning was their time to go back to Okinawa. They were and are a blessing to us. Let's keep them in our prayers.

My Toast, My Niece, My Showers, My Head

Recently, I came across a new type of bread I can get at JD Bakeshop. It's a little white bread that looks a bit like a puffed up flour tortilla or a pizza crust. It also tastes great toasted. And it tastes awesome with some strawberry preserves. It's very affordable.


Webcams are very effective when maintaining long-distance communication. It's a great way to watch my baby niece in Manila. We have had some chats over Yahoo messenger with webcams. And I still need to get another light bulb in my room so it will be brighter when I'm on video. You can hardly see my face with just a single light bulb. My niece really looks cute on camera when she's irritated.

Tag-init. That's the term we use here in the Philippines to describe the dry season. We actually call it "summer", though probably Westerners will not agree. As the dry season is beginning, I find myself taking more showers than usual and using the aircon in my room.

My hair is really growing long. It's getting difficult to tie it in a pony tail. I might cut it soon. I'll probably just maintain it shoulder length. Otherwise I'll start looking like John the Baptist. Can anyone lend me some camel hair shirts or treat me to dinner where they serve locusts? I'll have a honey side dish.

Daily life, daily grind. God is still at work in the little details of our life.

I'm Turning Japanese - part 2

Sunday was a long but awesome day.

We had our morning service and Daniel and some from the team led worship.


Pastor Tommy Ruiz taught from the Word of God and encouraged the church to press on to greater ventures. God has more for us.


Lunch time - we were a large group that went out to BBQ park, and it was fun to have fellowship with these missionaries.


I especially like the part where Amber and Gershon were competing to see who finishes drinking their buko-halo (coconut with a mixture of crushed ice and all sorts of things) first.


Afternoon time was a time of fellowship with the young people in the church. Great Amoeba game, I should try it again sometime.


Keegan is an awesome speaker.


And Chela a great dancer. Peace, Che! =)


Evening time was a time of worship at the church and waiting on the Lord. God gave me a new song. I entitled it "Greater Than John", since Pastor Tom's message that morning really struck me. And God keeps saying to me what He said before, I think it was in 2004: "How far will you go?" And I finally answered: "Wherever You lead, Lord." I really don't like to leave Iloilo, but I know I need to be willing to go wherever the Lord leads. That door hasn't opened. And right now I'm just faithful to doing what the Lord has called me to do here in Iloilo, my homecity.

We had dinner at Mama Maria's pizza, and it was also a chance to watch the guys eat balut (duck embryos). We were even able to video it. They passed the test. They swallowed it. I taught them everything they know. Let the radicals arise!

Watch out for the conclusion of this trilogy...

Parents' 31st Wedding Anniversary

Recently, on March 8, 2007, my parents celebrated their 31st Wedding Anniversary. As I look back over the years, I see God's faithfulness to their marriage. God is the One who keeps our family together, and I praise Him for that. And I believe God will continue to do wonderful things in my parents' marriage, and even in my sister's marriage.

Currently, I am single. And I also praise God for that. I thank Him for showing me that yes, He is all we need, even in the area of marriage. I have seen it in His faithfulness in my mom and dad's union as husband and wife.

We went out to dinner together (yes, they included me, it was not an exclusive date), and we had a great time together.

I'm Turning Japanese - part 1

Yesterday a group of missionaries from Okinawa, Japan came to visit this little city of Iloilo. Headed by Pastor Tommy Ruiz, a group of young people from Calvary Chapel Bible College came on a short-term mission trip here. Some, if not all, the students are younger than me. I have been blessed to have been able to encourage them and be encouraged by them as we fellowship and as we seek to minister to the people here. They are ordinary people, just like me. God uses ordinary people to do His extraordinary work. As I'm writing this, the church service will start in 2 hours and 25 minutes. I'll be meeting them in an hour and 15 minutes, so I gotta get ready. 'Til next time... Let the radicals arise!

A Dog Picked Me Up From Work

It's kind of hard to believe, huh? Well, I'll give the details of the title "A Dog Picked Me Up From Work". Here's the scenario: My office is in a building located right next to the building our church is renting space in. In other words, I work next door to the church. In our church building's lot lives a family that is also occupying space on the property, and yes, you guessed it -- they have a dog. Normally, on Thursday nights, I would go to the church to start the music classes for the School of Worship. But this Thursday night, we took a break for two weeks at the same time the students are in school finishing up the school year with their final exams.

Maybe the dog had a hard time figuring out what went different with the schedule since no one was there for music class, so it decided to take a trip my work place's parking lot and sure enough -- I was there. It started to sniff at me, trying to get a good smell enough to recognize me. And when it realized that I was the same guy from the church, it was happy. It jumped on me and was wagging its tail, not letting up, and not leaving me. Finally I decided to take the dog home to its master, and they locked it up behind the gate.

They say that dogs are man's best friends. I guess the dog was just trying to get me to go to church, not realizing that we didn't have music class for that night. You know what? Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He will never leave you nor forsake you, if he lives in your heart. And that's more love than that dog could ever give me. Jesus lives in me, and He always sticks to me.

Bob Fitts Worship Concert and Seminar

Last weekend I was in a concert Saturday night, and in a worship seminar Sunday afternoon. I took my friend Ivan to the concert and really, Bob Fitts rocks! It was an awesome time of worship and being able to allow the Lord to touch my heart and restore the things the enemy has stolen from me. Sunday afternoon was a time when I could bring our worship team to the seminar. Not all of us were able to come, but those that came really received a lot of encouragement from God's Word. I was privileged to be able to ask Bob Fitts a question which both he and his wife Kathy answered, at the start of the seminar where they entertained questions from the audience. The question was how I'm supposed to be able to connect to the congregation as a worship leader without making anyone uncomfortable if I happen to look in their direction. The answer was simple. Just make sure what's inside me is right and it will show outwardly. No fear. Only love. And I didn't realize that was going to be his message! Wow! The Holy Spirit is truly awesome!

Bob Fitts prophesied that this island will be a center for worship. I believe that with all my heart. I got saved on this island and have been walking with the Lord for 9 years. I can see the preparations God is doing for this generation to be able to lead the church in worship. Right now God has his eyes on the youth. Let the radicals arise! Bob was also happy that there's a Calvary Chapel here. He said he had some history in Calvary Chapel.

It's encouraging to get their autographs on my Bible along with encouragement.


After the seminar we were able to hang out at the Lapaz plaza. We even met our African friend who was playing soccer football there.

So, everything went great, except that some people had a problem with the length of my hair, but they'll get over it. My focus is ministering to this generation, not so much to the older ones, at least right now.

Clean Room

Before and After

Ok, I admit it, my room sometimes looks like a disaster. But last Saturday I was able to clean up and install our new monitor (Thank God) and now my room looks better than ever. The thing about it is that I didn't notice how messy it was until I started cleaning it up.
It's the same way with our lives as Christians. Sometimes it's when God starts purifying our hearts and showing us things we need to repent of that we really realize that we need cleaning up. At that moment we should run to the throne of grace and allow God to rearrange our hearts. Then we realize afterwards how beautiful the end result is.

Mom's Birthday

Recently, on February 19, my mom celebrated her birthday. When I think of my mom I think of someone who's always been there for me. She has the profile of endurance and courage, and I know that God is truly blessing her life. We went out to eat and celebrate God's goodness.

5th Year Church Anniversary

We just celebrated 5 years of God's faithfulness at our local church. God has sustained us all this time, even in this new season. We enjoyed our time of fellowship with our visitors, including Pastor Mike, whom God has used to plant this local church. He is now based in the U.S., but he comes here occasionally. The message was from John 15. Jesus is the Vine, we are the branches. How true that is. It really hurts when God starts pruning, but it's the only way we can bear more fruit. We had lunch at the church, some special presentations, including Tint leading us in a couple of songs. In the afternoon, we went to the beach and baptized a lot of disciples. This is awesome! My fingers were really hurting from playing the guitar all the time the people went down to the water to be baptized, but I tell you, it's worth it! (I'll post pictures next time)

Hearts Day

Heart's Day. Valentine's Day. Agape. Singles Night.
February 14, 2007 - No, I didn't have a date. I am one of those who organized a singles event at our local church, and it went well. We had a fun time of worship, fellowship, and listening to the Word. We also had snacks and some group games.




Afterwards, some of my friends went out with me to grab a bite. The only logical choice was fastfood, since all the fine-dine restaurants might be filled and serving buffet meals.