Passion Manila 2014: A Party Thrown by God

What you are about to read is what I’ve written the morning after the event itself. I didn’t finish scribbling everything so here. Just now. Join me in reliving the party thrown by God.

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If you were in Manila, exactly in Smart Araneta Coliseum the past two nights, you probably know how I am feeling right now. Yes, I’m talking about the awesomeness overload during Passion Manila 2014!

If you know what I am feeling, this post will revive the party memories last night. If you weren’t, I know you’ll be curious enough to know what took place.

Elated. Hyped. Encouraged. Blessed. Energized. Fired up. No matter how you may describe the way you felt because of the last two nights of Passion Manila 2014, well, I’m pretty sure of one thing: you still have the hang over, you cannot contain the overwhelming feeling and you can’t help but to share and talk about how amazing God revealed Himself last night.

Well, that is what I am about to do just now in… three, two, one!

(Disclaimer: I will talk on a regular attendee’s point of view so don’t expect back door photos, info and all that. So, please bear with how I saw things from my view).

Let me begin by giving a few background stories I had with Passion Manila. Yep! I’m one of the probably few who never missed any of their visits. That time when we had wrist bands with a prayer covenant for the next Passion stop. I sorta missed that! The first visit was back in 2008. The second was in 2010. So I was kinda expecting a 2012 visit because I thought it was a once-in-two-years visit. I’ll admit that I was quite sad that they didn’t.

BUT when I first heard that Passion Manila 2014 was set on March 28 (supposedly the first night) plus March 27 (an overflow because March 28 was sold out), I felt the excitement to join the crowd of worshippers.

Then the wait for the day passed. It was March 28!

Cool thing that school’s already off. I had the chance to be one of the early birds lining up for the 5PM gate opening. Along with me are students who endured the two-hour wait just to secure the best seats in the respective sections.

Fellow early birds waiting for the gates to open. *ipad shot

Joyfully waiting. Thanks to my beloved for the shot. 🙂 *taken with an ipad

While waiting outside, there were folks who collected clean towels. Operation Blessing encouraged people attending Passion Manila 2014 to bring towels for 28,000 high school students who survived Typhoon Yolanda. Of course, I had my share.

iPad shot of an Operation Blessing volunteer collecting towels

Now, on to the conference itself. Excitement filled the dome while waiting for the start of the program. People were shouting, chanting, clapping and, oh, I loved the firefly-like twinkles the crowd created minutes before the program opened.

Finally, the conference started. “We say yes to everything You (God) wanna do here. So come, we are here. We are ready,” Kristian Stanfill said as the opened the event with a prayer.

So there came songs and praising and dancing and shouting. The band who led the crowd included THE David Crowder who visited the Philippines for the first time, Kristian Stanfill and everybody else (Forgive me for not jotting down their names).

David Crowder’s first visit in the Philippines. First time to hear him sing live.

 

While the music was awesome, I have to admit that the message delivered by Louie Giglio left personal revelations and tears to eyes.

A friend asked me what my takeaways from Passion Manila 2014 are. I had a hard time picking just one. So I said I’ll put everything in one post. In a nutshell, here are my takeaways, all from Louie Giglio himself (direct quotes coz, yea, I recorded it):

• Every single person matters to God. God never sees crowds. He always sees people. He is not too big to know you.
• The song is I feel alive, I come alive in God’s great dance floor. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether you are a dancer or not a dancer. It’s all about if your heart has been moved by the mercy and the grace of God.
• Freedom fail is an idea that if we can just do it our way, give life on our turns, do what we want, then that’s where the party is gonna be. That is what the enemy did because he cropped the disaster out of his freedom plan.
• Did you know that our God is a party-throwing God? … Rejoice with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that there will be more REJOICING in heaven over one sinner who repents than 99 righteous people who don’t need to repent.
• They had a party because God is an extravagant Father, a prodigal Father. And even though the relationship had been cut off, the Father had the power to restore it again.
• The Gospel is not that sin makes us bad. That’s not the Gospel. It’s worse than that. The Scripture says the sin makes us dead. … The result of sin is death. … Dead people cannot do a thing to help themselves. That’s why religion doesn’t work.
• Jesus did not come from heaven to Earth to make bad people good people. Jesus came from heaven to Earth to bring dead people back to life.
• (Father to the prodigal son’s brother) We are the same family. You could have had it anytime but the problem is, you didn’t know it. You’ve been busy trying to earn it and you didn’t know you already have it. You’ve been very busy trying to earn my love, to earn my acceptance, to earn my approval. Son, you already have it.
• It cost Him everything for you to come to the dance floor of the goodness and the grace of God.

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End of the line. That’s how I left the day-after-event scribble. Maybe I just had the difficulty to find something to leave you with a bang.

Before ending this, let me add one more thing before ending this: Louie Giglio had a crazy mash up of singing stars and whales. And we all said WOW. You should probably hear it yourself HERE. (It costs around 14 minutes of your time).

In the end, I’m utterly grateful to be part of this year’s Passion Manila. Looking forward to more God-thrown parties!

  

Yes LORD! Walking in the way of Your truth, we wait eagerly for You, for Your name and Your renown are the desire of our souls. Isaiah 26:8

A quick word of thanks

Because Belle de Jour and Pantene are awesome, they sent me freebies. I received them yesterday. Thank you!

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.
– Anonymous

Feature-ish. My first with WIM.

The 2013 Christmas gave me a brand new digital voice recorder (props to my brother and his wife). That gift tingle the feeling in me to start letting out words again. Besides, I missed interviewing and hearing people’s stories, you know? I was gone for quite awhile.

All along, I had been reading stories, news, and everything in between. I was the reader! Maybe it’s time for me to go to the other side of the fence and start writing again. I don’t want to be Logan (Wolverine 2013) who said, “I’m a soldier. And I’ve been hiding for too long.” Well, I won’t say that I am a soldier. My brother is. But, anyway, I’ve been hiding for too long. That’s the point! And to start with, I partnered with somebody. *wink*

So I pursued an application to become a contributor to one of the leading online magazine websites. That is, When In Manila.

The journey came about when I was running after Kobe when he visited Manila last year.  To my frustration, I asked the owner/editor of WIM if I could write for them. However, he refused since they assign big stories to senior writers. But that refusal turned into a new start. I cannot remember how but I ended up applying to be a contributor.

Well, I’ve met two bloggers from this blogging community when I attended the somewhat press conference of Israel Houghton and Planetshakers’ concert some years ago. I thought their blog is cool and never thought that I would bump with them again (and join the fun).

Now, what? I got my first article up! There you are. (That’s what this post is really about. LOL) I’m more than glad to be back on track. Thanks be to God!

Thank you, also, When In Manila! Cheers to a hopefully awesome partnership with you!

Mielyne

P.S. Visit the site here: http://www.WhenInManila.com

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Words and Stills: See How I See

I created another blog which will be devoted for my photographs. Posts will include photographs (obviously) and some few words about the (sets of) pictures. Watch out for my sets! I will be posting old photos, too! 🙂

Speak

Let this post signal the return of my blogging prowess!

I’ve been out for quite a while. The result? Scribbles document files (tidbits of my thoughts) had been scattered in my hard drive, folders and elsewhere.

My resolve? From now on, I will let out my randomly random thoughts, experiences and everything under the sun on this blog.

I don’t care if people will read. I don’t care if they won’t. I just want to express.This is me thinking aloud. Let me share a part of me so you may peek in me.

*Photo not mine

Hope is Erupting!

My personal view on Citipointe Live’s Concert 2012

At this very time while letting words out through my fingers, my ears are receiving Citipointe Live’s music (Higher + Deeper + Wider).

You may ask why. It could’ve been brought by the hype of Citipointe Live’s Hope is Erupting concert the day before yesterday. It’s been two days and I’m still in high spirits after the worship night that we had in Phil Sports Arena. I’ve already written an entry in my journal regarding this. But thoughts never stop to linger in my head regarding that worship night.

So for me to work and focus on what must be focused on, here I go again – making my fingers dance on the keyboard for me to express these thoughts.

Foremost, let me just reiterate what’s already in my journal: things tried to put out the enthusiasm in me before that night. That’s for me to keep. However, those did not stop me. I’m grateful that when my eyes are focused to Jesus in worship, no distraction can take away my gaze from Christ! I was there to crown my King and express my love to my One love. 🙂

Talking about the experience itself, here I go.

We arrived an hour before the event to secure the best seats that we can. Early enough, we did! So there I was – geared with a heart full of enthusiasm, thanksgiving and pure love.

Seated on my seat, I watched Gloc-9 doing his rehearsal. A few more minutes later, more worshippers filled the arena and the event began.

Before Citipointe Live went onstage, there were Heis and Gloc-9. After the latter’s time singing, we were transferred to seats nearer the stage. Everyone’s hyped after that moment (including me, of course!). I felt the excitement from my fellow worshippers filling the arena as the worship time drew nearer.

On screen: Five minute countdown…

Three. Two. One!

And lights filled the stage together with the ringing of music from the instrumentalists. First song (if I remember it right): Light over Darkness. A song and another was sung. Hands lifted up. Shouts of victory. Words of thanksgiving. Leaps of Joy. The worshipper in me did not notice how hours passed. Maybe that’s how it’ll feel when we worship forever in heaven. 😀 

Before the concert comes into a wrap, Aaron Lucas spoke in behalf of the team. That’s not to thank anybody but to share the message behind Hope is Erupting. I got this message, paraphrased:

– Everything God touches has absolute, incredible value. Everything God breathes upon has incredible value. You have an incredible value!

– If God really lives in you, let your coworkers, your friends, your family members know that He does. Allow God to erupt in the world around us!

– If you grab and understand the revelation that you are a gift of love to this world, hope is going to erupt across the world!

Blessed I am! After the short but powerful message, he prayed for everyone especially those who have not received Jesus in their hearts yet. You know the celebration that heaven has when a single person gets saved, don’t you? After the prayer, there’s that celebration! It extended until around 11:00 in the evening. I suppose that’s not the scheduled end time since people shouted “We want more!” after CL’s last song. 🙂
If physical strength and time allowed us, maybe we could have stayed longer. Though I know most of the people don’t want to end the night yet, we must.

My prayer is this: that everyone who attended the worship night be instruments of God to let hope erupt in the world (Yes, that includes me!).

A memorable night, indeed! 😀

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In case you missed the event, listen to Aaron Lucas as he speaks of Hope is Erupting here: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150567511248543

Merry Christmas, shimmering Metro Manila!

For the first time in many years, my family is celebrating Christmas here in Metro Manila. This year, no Batangas celebration where my clan hails. Because this is unusual for our family, I made extra efforts to discover the beauty of spending the season in the city.

Join me as I go through my discoveries.

Greenhills Christmas-On-Display (COD)

You may have been at the Greenhills Shopping Center for yet another shopping rush. Amidst the rush, find time to relax watching the Greenhills Christmas-On-Display, a show about a holiday-themed story. (It’s for you to discover!). The show starts at 6:00 p.m. and ends at 11:00 p.m. The show runs for about 15 minutes, so in case you missed the start of the story (like I did), you may just wait for another round of narration. 

Divisoria Midnight Market

Many of us are familiar with Divi, an all-year-round shopping hub. But it’s more than its usual busy-bee during the Christmas season. Ranging from apparels to toys, Christmas decors to watches, shades to food items and ballpens to ‘all that you can think of,’ Divisoria offers a whole lot of things to choose from… all at the most affordable prices. Another good thing is that Divi is open until midnight and some stalls are now open for 24 hours. Being there, shopping with my friends is just simply fun!

The Symphony of Lights and Sounds

While waiting for my college buddies during our Christmas dinner, we stayed at the Ayala Triangle and were delighted by The Symphony of Lights and Sounds show. It’s a 15-minute show of lights dancing along Christmas songs. It has become a must-see for people who are intentionally looking for Christmas shows. There I saw groups of friends, families and young professionals (probably from the Makati area) and also saw how they, too, were delighted. An additional delight is a display of a big nativity scene. The 15-minute show runs every hour starting from 6:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

Maximizing the holidays, I am set to see other spots which I heard to be offering a unique Christmas experience. Here are some of the free and/or budget-friendly places to visit in case you also plan to go with your family and friends:

Policarpio Street – This is the famous “Christmas Street” in Mandaluyong where houses are extravagantly adorned with Christmas decors. Go there with your loved ones any time armed with your cameras to capture the amusing experience!
Manila’s “Tallest” Christmas Tree – This Christmas tree stands really tall and proud in Cubao. The lights and decors are a sure source of amusement.

The great big giant Christmas Display – In Bonifacio High Street; this shadow play is fun to watch, especially for the little ones.

City/Municipal Halls and Plazas – I’ve been hearing good comments from people about the decors of their home city/municipal halls and plazas. Great to see government places dressed for Christmas!

Inspite the busy, crowded places in the metro, Christmas in the City is a whole lot fun!

But remember, the places you enjoy the Christmas season really don’t matter. What matters is WHY you’re celebrating and the place is a bonus blessing. Discover then the REAL REASON for Christmas! Happy holidays everyone! 🙂

 
*Written for jilworldwide.org

**Original content published here: http://www.jilworldwide.org/resources/ilovepinas/97-ilovepinas/563-merry-christmas-shimmering-metro-manila-

How I first got into…

30 minutes before my class, I just want to unleash thoughts and exercise my fingers (again).

I bumped into a topic in this site which I always read: How I first got into photography. But other than photography, let me share random fields and thoughts also. [Bakit ba mahilig ako sa random?hehe.] Anyway, keep on reading. You’ll know more about me. Malay mo, maka-relate ka rin. 🙂

1. Photography. During my elementary years in school, I was a frustrated photojournalist. During my high school years, we had a digital camera and I started shooting and shooting pictures.
2. Writing. This also started during my grade school. Our campus’ student organ. I wanted to take pictures. Pero, natuwa yung adviser namin kung pa’no ko kinwento yung karanasan ko sa Batangas nung bata pa kami. That’s when feature writing blood started circulating in my veins. 🙂
3. Reading. This is the least that I did as a child. Pakiramdam ko greek ang nasa pahina pag nagbabasa ako ng makakapal na libro. Hehe. But when people who I admire encouraged me to read, read and read, I got fascinated by it. Tama naman sila. I can’t write without having something to write. So I need to read.
4. Mass Communication. Ezekiel, being a prophet, is my inspiration to be a mass communicator. A speaker. A mouthpiece. A means to spread a message. So this became my field.
5. KKB. Sunday schooler ako. At ang susunod na life group na kinabibilangan ng nag-ma-mature (physically) na Kristyano ay ang KKB. Thru my first cell, Word of Passion headed by ate Evalyn, I got into this God-driven youth ministry.
6. Arts. Siguro, nagsimula ito sa mga klase ko sa MAPEH classes noong unang panahon. Nung mga panahong natuto akong gumamit ng oil pastel. (Na nung hayskul ay pinupudpod namin nila Sarah at Riza sa pagsali sa poster making contests. Ha ha) I dunno. Can’t really recall when it all started. I just one day realized that I’m already an art enthusiast — visual, most of the time. 🙂
7. God. I grew up in a Christian family. Sunday school, church, Bible. I am used to hear those, go to those. However, I still didn’t get the essence of being a Christian. This time came when I attended an anniversary of our local church. (Medyo may muwang na ako nito. Hehe.) I decided to follow the prayer that the pastor led the congregation to pray. Ayun. Starting that time, I became so eager to know God more. Magkaiba ang “alam ko kung sino ang Diyos” sa “Nararanasan ko kung sino ang Diyos.”

Ayun. Wala na ‘kong maisip. Time to go to my room. Thanks for reading. 🙂

A Quick Note on Late Night Traveling

No street lights. Silence. People in their deep slumber. Darkness. A number of candles lit, some generator lit bulbs. Houses shut. Several folks walking home (including me).

That’s last night’s picture of our neighborhood. Electricity is out. Soon, the day’s going on a shift. That means I have to walk down the streets in that darkness – alone. So I did. As usual, I walked from street to street until I reach our home. Yes, I am used to traveling late at night. With that, let me share to you some helpful words (I hope):

1. Be alert. On the people around you, on what is happening. Most of the time, the people who bumps into danger are those, in Filipino term, walang pakialam.

2. Be safe. Make sure the easy-to-open slots in your bag do not contain valuables such as your wallet, cellular phones and other gadgets.

3. Be sensitive. At times, your best companion is yourself (Of course, if you really don’t have one. :P). Try to practice distinguishing people. Don’t just trust anyone. In my case, I don’t look at people’s eyes when I travel late at night.

4. Be calm. Chill. Travelling with the I-am-going-to-kill-you-if-you-do-anything-bad-to-me attitude will bring you no good. Not everyone in the streets during late hours is bad. Some may be like you – from an appointment or, most of the time, from their shifts as call center agents.

Most of all, be mindful of who you are traveling with.

Going back to my walk back home, I’m happy to look back at how secured I am while I was walking. Before arriving home, I have this experience: No one was walking behind me (who may be a threat to my safety). What’s more amazing is that there is a provision of light as I walk. A vehicle unloading goods for a store kept my path lit. Upon passing by that vehicle, another one passed by my side giving me some light as I walked. After the car’s headlight went off my road, a different vehicle shed light as I walked to our home. Amazing, isn’t it?

As I recall that instance, I am in assurance that the One traveling with me keeps me safe and that He also provides. I am traveling with of course, my Strong Fortress, my God. I thank Him for His promise that He’ll never lead me nor forsake me.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I fear no evil, for You are with me.

Want to experience that worry-free travel just as I do? I have these words to leave you: I am traveling with God; are you?

Just asking. 🙂

Learning and Mentoring

Learning is one of my passions. As I age, I also desire to acquire knowledge in several areas of my life. Since my early years as a Christian (and even as a child), I have longed for trainings and seminars that will teach, guide and help in founding my faith. Now, as I continually grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, I am thankful enough to be part of another training program – series of talks, lessons, quizzes, reviews, on-the-job trainings, further studies of the Word, et al.

As of now, I’m working on my term paper and am thankful to many authors of books who help me in formulating my proposal. Though I have not known them personally, I am ever grateful for the blessing they have been to me. My warmest thanks also go to the persons behind the training program of my church. You guys have been instruments of God for a generation who needs to know more about God, taking up our own cross and taking the challenge to do the Great Commission – that is, discipling for Christ. Above all, I thank my great God who gave me another chance to know Him more by revealing Himself more to me.

But my spiritual component does not comprise the whole me. My mentors from different areas of my life also deserve to be given due credit in this note. I may not mention you individually, but you know who you are. You are God’s gifts to me.

After being mentored for years by different people, I now desire to be a ‘mentored mentor’.

Learning never stops – so should mentoring be also.