Being a Servant of God

Being in the ministry is never easy. As Warren Weirsbe has said in his book "Christian ministry never has been easy, but it's more difficult today when the ages are colliding, boundaries are disappearing, and the definitions are changing. You get the impression that nothing is any longer what it used to be."

Yes, whether you're a volunteer or a full-time Christian worker, being in the ministry is never easy. But praise God that serving Him is a wonderful thing if we understand what it is and how He does it through us.

I've been reading another book and I want to share the things that I have learned from Warren Weirsbe's book "On Being A Servant of God"

Methods are many, principles are few;
Methods always change, principles never do.

Certainly, we need methods to serve God, but we must remember that methods work because of the principles behind them.

Ministry is built on basic principles, not clear methods.

God does not want us to have "MINISTRY BY IMITATION." He wants "MINISTRY BY INCARNATION", what Paul wrote about in Philippians 2:13: "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasures."

If you are in the ministry, you really need to develop your personal relationship with the Lord, through your quiet moments with Him, He will show you His will and His ways. Amen

Discovering A Joy More Precious Than Gold!

When I became the church treasurer, I began to study more on stewardship. God has been faithful, I was able to find the books that I need. Before I was only faithful with the 10% but the 90% was a mess. Later, God seeing the desire in my heart gave me the book "Dollars and Sense" and I learned how to manage the rest of the 90% God has entrusted me. I have learned a lot but still continues to learn. I praise God for giving me the privilege to learn how to handle the resources that He entrusted me.

Yesterday, I started reading the book owned by my dear friend and youth ministry partner Jun Allado. The title of the book is "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn. In my readings, these are the things that I have learned:

"Jesus has a treasure mentality. He wants us to store up treasures. He's just telling us to stop storing them in the wrong place and start storing them in the right place!"

"....God doesn't have a limited number of treasures to distribute. When you store up treasures for yourself in heaven, it doesn't reduce the treasures available to others. In fact, it is by serving God and others that we store up heavenly treasures. "

"Selfishness is when we pursue gain at the expense of others."

"Do not be overawed when a man grows rich,
when the splendor of his house increases;
for he wil take nothing with him when he dies;
his splendor will not descend with him. Psalm 49:16-17

THE TREASURE PRINCIPLE

You can't take it with you -
but you can send it on ahead.

"Anything we put into God's hands will be our for eternity"

"He who lays up treasures on earth spends his life backing away from his treasures. To him, death is loss."

"He who lays up treasures in heaven looks forward to eternity; he's moving daily toward his treasures. To him, death is gain."

"He who spends his life moving away from his treasures has reason to despair. He who spends his life moving toward his treasures has reason to rejoice"

Are you despairing or rejoicing?

Remembering Inay Amparing

Being with Inay for almost 10 years were full of wonderful memories. Inay loves orchids. Every orchids that she owns, she knows the price. She loves to spend most of her time in the garden when she was still strong. But when her health deteriorated, because of osteoporosis, diabetes, and high blood pressure, she spent most of her time in the 2nd floor veranda, watching the euphorbia plants of our neighbor.

Although Inay is strict, especially to her children, she never got angry with me. Maybe once in a while we disagree, pero most of the time we're ok. We love to hear her laugh. Now that she's gone, we'll surely miss her and her laughter. I never thought that loosing her would make me feel very very sad.

I thank God that He gave me the opportunity to serve Inay till her last breath, God gave me strength to face all the challenges of seeing inay finally take her last breath. Seeing her lifeless body made me realize that though how hard we try to hold on to life, when God calls you home, no one can stop God.

Loosing inay made me remember my Lola Nanny (dad's mom). I was still young when she died. I was not able to really spend more time with her, but I will never forget the one day that I spent with her in her house. We slept at her house and she woke us up very early the next day, then she prayed to God, she prayed for each of her children. She was crying out to God at that time. I have seen her cry out to God for her children. Now that I am enjoying my relationship with the Lord, I know that spending time with God daily is one of the greatest privileges God has given to each of His children.

Life is short, someday, we will also face our creator. It is my prayer that God will continue to work in the lives of our relatives who do not know Him in a personal way. And let us show our love to our loved ones while they're still alive because when they're gone, they'll no longer hear us and feel our embrace.

An email from Lola Detty (inay's sister). This email was also sent to her by a friend:
~DEATH~
WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO EXPLAIN IT ! ! ! ! !
A sick man turned to his doctor,
as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said,
"Doctor, I am afraid to die.
Tell me what lies on the other side."
Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know ?
You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"
The doctor was holding the handle of the door;
on the other side came a sound of scratching and whining,
and as he opened the door,
a dog sprang into the room
and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.
Turning to the patient, the doctor said,
"Did you notice my dog?
He's never been in this room before.
He didn't know what was inside.
He knew nothing except that his master was here,
and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.
I know little of what is on the other side of death,
but I do know one thing...
I know my Master is there and that is enough."

Leaving a legacy

I love to read books but definitely I'm not a good writer. I struggle with my correct grammar and spelling :-). Anyway, I'm not into writing before but now, I realized how important a diary is. Leaving something wonderful for your family makes it all worthwile.

My grandma passed away last Saturday, March 4, 2006. She died in my arms. I feel so sad right now but her death made me realize many important things in life.

Last week, my grandma kept on telling me that she'll no longer reach her 82nd birthday. She's suppose to celebrate her birthday on April 22. She keeps on telling these words to us year after year, so when she said it again last week, I did not take it seriously. But she was insisting that she no longer felt good. After she died, I realized now that although our loved one kept on telling things that we are not sure would happen, every second counts. We should make our loved ones feel special every day. Witnessing her death, God's Word became a reality in my life. That death comes like a thief in the night. And because we do not know the right time, we must be prepared to meet our creator.

My grandma holds a special place in my heart. A place where no one can replace. I will always treasure the good memories we've shared together and I will surely miss her.

Life is short! We must know where we're going to spend eternity.

New life, new Direction

Praise God for allowing us to learn many things in life. Now that God has redirected our path, it is my prayer that as we continue to serve Him, we will not stop learning.

Christian life is exciting. I have proven that God is always faithful, always loving, always patient, and always there for me. We may sometimes not fully understand everything but we must remember that when God does something, it is always out of the context of eternity.

I am thankful that I have known the Lord personally. What is life after all if you do not know your Creator.

One life will soon be past, only what's done for Christ will last.

Floyd and I will continue to serve God wherever He leads us.

One of My favorite songs:

I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
I have decided to follow Jesus
No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me
Yet still I'll follow
Though none go with me
Yet still I'll follow
Though none go with me
Yet still I'll follow
No turning back, no turning back.