Introducing the IGLESIA NI CRISTO or CHURCH OF CHRIST

This is the Central Temple of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ) nestled in the heart of Quezon City, Philippines. This is where I go to attend our worship services and sing praises to our Almighty Father on Thursdays and Sundays. I belong to the English Choir. I always perform my duties as a member of the English choir at very early dawn on Thursdays and at 7 o' clock in the mornings of Sundays. As a choir member, I need to go to the Temple at least an hour before our choir drills. So expect that I need to wake up very, very early for my preparations every time I perform my duties.


Why am I so enthusiastically performing my duties? Why do I have to make sacrifices and deny myself because of my calling?

Maybe, you won't understand me if I will just state here the reasons why. It's much better to introduce to you, my Church, the Church of Christ or the Iglesia Ni Cristo.

For sure, Iglesia Ni Cristo or Church of Christ isn't really familiar to you. Here is the link to introduce my Church more to you.
http://www.incmedia.org/

To know more, please click here 
http://www.incmedia.org/watch/sof  

I hope to hear from you. 
Thank you.

ON MY NATAL DAY....11th of JANUARY....

On my natal day,
11th of January

No celebration. No food preparations. It's just a simple and naive day. Only my self alone lying on bed. Why? Because every time this date passes, I AM ALWAYS SICK. 

And since today is January 11th, I am sick again, but not as serious as the past years. Today, it's just a mild headache, colds and coughs, maybe, brought by stress last Monday, January 9th, 2012.

I thought I would be healthy today. Last night, I was able to invite guests for the bible study. I walked alone in the midst of cold night and searched my vicinity alone looking for people who would want to be saved come Judgment Day. I was a little bit okay. Though I already felt my headache during my session with Collin, a BEM student who is enhancing his academic skills with me. So I got my ginger tea to solve my health problems. But I am wrong. I still suffer health problems today which have been here every time this date, January 11th, passes by. Though this year's suffering is much lesser than the previous years of my life.

There were times that I had heart attacks, or kidney attacks. Last year, I was lying half-conscious. At least today, I can still write some here on my blogs. Hopefully, as year passes by, this syndrome will become weaker and lesser. This is the so-called blue baby syndrome.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_baby_syndrome

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-blue-baby-syndrome.htm  

But I am no longer a baby, so I called my self, a blue woman. And I called this disease a blue woman syndrome. 
http://web.jbjs.org.uk/cgi/reprint/64-B/4/458.pdf

Hopefully, I will be able to enjoy this day, at least, by singing along with my nieces who have beautiful voices, or by playing my organs, or strumming my guitar, or singing in the choir loft. Hopefully, I will be with my whole family including my sisters and brother, nieces and nephews. But, time really doesn't permit me to do all these things? WHY? It's a big question that needs to be answered. 

What I understand about this is, MY NATAL DAY IS MY REST DAY. Will I also die on my birthdate? Nobody knows.

LIST OF MY 2012 NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION....

An online dictionary defines New Year's Resolution as " a commitment that an individual makes to a personal goal, project, or the reforming of a habit".

Every person sets out a goal to accomplish every new year. Some people list down their New Year's Resolutions before the year ends. Some people do the list after the New Year's celebration. And others never attempt to make any. They just recite their plans or memorize them. Unluckily, people tend to forget. So as days pass by and as the year gets closer to its end, there isn't any change or accomplishment of the set objectives.


As a Christian, I always have my resolutions all through out the years. Usually, I have a big plan to accomplish every year. I make sure to achieve that new unusual thing or event in my life.


To make certain that my goals are going to be achieved I usually write them every year and also write the steps and the hows to carry them out.


This year I wanna share to you the list of my New Year's Resolution.

1. This is the first thing that I want to accomplish, SHINE LIKE A BRIGHT STAR in the universe. In accordance with the objective of our church, the IGLESIA NI CRISTO (Church of Christ), to reach the perfection of our faith, I need to be like a radiant star shining brightly at night. Through the darkness, it can be seen by the people on Earth. It guides us through the darkness. It gives us light through the darkest night.

2. BRIDGES&BLITZ Consultancy had been the dream of my brother Bernard. We weren't able to continue this because of his death on August 10th, 2010. But now, I wanna continue this dream. I wanna accomplish this dream even if my brother has left me alone. It's a big thing to accomplish, but I know, my GOD has been here to guide and teach me.

3. BRIDGES&BLITZ Training, Tutorials, and Reviews
I started this training centre in 2006. But I just focused on training adults. This year children training will also be included especially nursery, kinder, and preparatory. Still, adult training will be one of the programmes and services. Reviews have been done and offered, but not intensively. So this time, our services will be intensified.


Of course, I won't be able to succeed, if I won't seek my GOD's assistance, love, and care. So these projects of mine are entrusted in the hands of the TRUE LIVING GOD. But I know, the Almighty Father won't be helping me if I won't be fulfilling HIS commands. So I have to strive to GIVE GLORY TO MY GOD, MY FATHER.
 

4. That's my ULTIMATE GOAL, TO GIVE GLORY TO MY FATHER, all the years of my life. Surely, I won't end up like a beggar. Please help me, GOD!


How about you? How different your New Year's Resolutions are from mine? What do you wanna achieve this year?

NO HEART FOR CHARITY?

This time I wanna show the statistics which illustrates the number of hungry people around the world and the results of hunger being the number one health risk.


Source: http://www.wfp.org/hunger/stats

 
 

MORE HUNGER STATS

• 925 million people do not have enough to eat  and 98 percent of them live in developing countries. (Source: FAO news release, 14 September 2010)
• Asia and the Pacific region is home to over half the world’s population and nearly two thirds of the world’s hungry people;
  
  (Source: FAO news release, 2010)
• Women make up a little over half of the world's population, but they account for over 60 percent of the world’s hungry.
  (Source:  Strengthening efforts to eradicate hunger..., ECOSOC, 2007)
• 65 percent  of the world's hungry live in only seven countries: India, China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia.
  (Source: FAO news release, 2010)
  

• Undernutrition contributes to five million deaths of children under five each year in developing countries.
  (Source: Under five deaths by cause, UNICEF, 2006)
• One out of four children - roughly 146 million - in developing countries is underweight
  (Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• More than 70 percent of the world's underweight children (aged five or less) live in just 10 countries, with more than 50 per cent located in South Asia alone;
  (Source: Progress for Children: A Report Card on Nutrition, UNICEF, 2006)
• 10.9 million children under five die in developing countries each year. Malnutrition and hunger-related diseases cause 60 percent of the deaths;
  (Source: The State of the World's Children, UNICEF, 2007)
• Iron deficiency is the most prevalent form of malnutrition worldwide, affecting an estimated 2 billion people. Eradicating iron deficiency can improve national productivity levels by as much as 20 percent.
  (Source:  World Health Organization, WHO Global Database on Anaemia)
• Iodine deficiency is the greatest single cause of mental retardation and brain damage, affecting 1.9 billion people worldwide. It can easily be prevented by adding iodine to salt.
  (Source:  World Nutrition Situation 5th report ,UN Standing Committee on Nutrition2005)

And according to this site, http://www.kidsagainsthunger.org/why_we_do_it.shtml,"""    1 .02 billion people around the world don't have enough food and every 6 seconds a child dies because of hunger".

Truly underweight, malnutrition, starvation, and deprivation are the major world health problems.

Indeed, many rich people ignore the present global scenario. As we all know rich become richer, and poor become poorer.

I dreamt of becoming rich. I wished to have millions and oodles of money to help people who are really starving to death. I have a dream of going to Africa to help African people educate themselves about the proper nutrition and help them develop their surviving skills.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2011/07/famine-in-east-africa/100115/ 

But I have no means to fulfill this dream. 

Yesterday while I was surfing the internet, I saw and read this news article:
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/golf-devil-ball-golf/tiger-woods-ex-wife-bulldozes-12-million-home-232405259.html 
It states that the wife of Tiger Woods bulldozed  her 12 million dollar home in North Palm Beach, Florida because she didn't like it. 

the 12-million-dollar mansion

the ruins

What a waste? Didn't she know that there are lots of people dying of hunger? Hasn't she heard this song?
http://youtu.be/v2y1pE3yn6M
" There are people dying............
if you care enough for the living"

Please don't waste anything that is valuable which can be used to make this world better. Have a heart. You can sell your house if you don't like it. Then donate the money to charity. Or if you want, you can look for all the street children or people living on the streets. Tell them to come to that house that you don't like. Invite them to live in that house instead of destroying it and throwing your million dollars.


There are many things to make use of something which you don't want anymore. Just look around and you will see the answer. Or give it to me because I don't own any house. I just rent. And I can easily ask street children to take over. I have friends here in the Philippines who are sleeping on the streets. I cannot offer any shelter to them. I have nothing to offer.


So anyone of you out there who wants to bulldoze your million dollars worth of house or wants to discard your money in the bank, think of us, think of the street children, think of the people sleeping on the streets, and think of those who are dying because of hunger. HAVE A HEART! GIVE FOR CHARITY!

CELEBRATING MY FRIEND ELLEN CASTILLO'S BIRTHDAY!

To celebrate your birthday, I have to listen to different ways how happy birthday songs are sung.
Here they are:
1. http://youtu.be/-hyJsoPosCE
2. http://youtu.be/Gx2GNaD-xXc
3. http://youtu.be/PZ6olS7RgBc 
4. http://youtu.be/RzwLtW9iG0w
5. http://youtu.be/9D3wPY3TbHg


Hope I have made you happy today.
Hope your happiness will be forever!

BUT...
before I forget, I also want to include all the gifts that I want to give to you this special day of yours...


Here they are:

 

HOW TO START A NEW YEAR RIGHT?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!..... everyone's joyful greetings...whether it's said in other languages...they just mean the same....HAPPY NEW YEAR!. Wherever you may go, you will hear this sweet utterance or this loud shout of wishing you to have a joyous new year.

But is this really the right way of starting your new year?

Since we were kids, we were taught of making our new year's resolution before the year ends. We needed to write our new year's resolution on a sheet of paper so we could glance at it once in a while to remind us what we wanted to have or to change in the next years of our lives.

But as I grew up and became mature, I realized that writing a new year's resolution isn't enough to start my new year properly. New year's resolution alone wouldn't make me successful all year long.

So here's how I start my new year right. I want to share these five steps to all of you hoping that these would help you in some little ways.
1. Always put GOD first
    Going to church, performing my duties, praying, and singing hymns of praises are the first things that I do every first day of the year. If the first day of the year doesn't fall on Thursday or on Sunday, since these days are the usual days I attend to my church duties, I still sing praises to my Father in my house while doing lots of household chores. I also start my days with a prayer, And before going to bed, I also utter a simple thanksgiving for my Father for everything that He has done for me the whole day.

2. Always remember GOD's commandments and laws
    Whether I do something for a living, or do something as a service to my GOD, or just simply enjoying, I have to ask myself if I am doing that thing in accordance to the laws and commandments of GOD. To avoid problems and conflicts, I need to follow GOD's Divine Laws and doctrine. If I fail to apply any of GOD's words that must be applied in my life, that's the time a conflict or a problem arises. So to make my day right or my year right and brighter, I need to adhere to my GOD's teachings. If not, then my life goes in a mess. Always, I do everything in accordance with the Divine Laws.

3. Make a list of my plan
    Every year, I have to accomplish something new, something that is different from what I have already achieved. So I have to make a new llist, that is, a list of things that I want to carry out. I check this list from time to time, to make sure that I still have time to finish all of them within a year. To be sure that I will be successful, I ask my GOD to bless my plan and to give me all the successes which I also use in giving praises and services to my Father.

4. Be confident and positive
    Being positive and confident that I will be successful is a must. This is the kind of attitude that I should possess in order to achieve what I have planned. I never doubt that my Fahter, the Almighty GOD, will alwasy be here and there to guide and to teach me what to do in order to attain my objectives.

5. Mind setting
     Like a director of a TV show or a movie, I also use internal directing so I can direct my actions towards my goals. Focussing is very important. Without focus, I can never fulfill what I have set up for.

I will explain internal directing in my next blog.

In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy making your own list of plans for this year, 2012. And I also pray that these five steps that I have been doing and applying in my life may also be effective tools for success in your life.