Kinda late in posting this, but I just had to make my end of the year blog post to recap the previous year. It was the year...

1. Alot of Bad Stuff Happened

...Alot of people died Francis M, Michael Jackson, Corey Aquino, Brittany Murphy etc. Also a friend of mine named Eren in a motorcycle accident(this became one the longest darkest saddest day of the year)

...Botolan was flooded went here myself with my dad on a short & instant mission trip to try to help out. But soon, we found our area suffering the same thing

...Typhoon Ondoy & Peping Hit though me & my family weren't really affected because we live on the hillside, alot of our friends & other people were affected. One of our churches in Baguio was hit hard & many of it's members died in that landslide. There a lot of these disasters this year. Boy, was it stormy or what

...I wish I could've saved more money There was that recession at the beggining of the year. Tapos ang gastos ko pa rin. Tsk tsk. Especially on food(sarap eh). So my savings weren't ok. Still, I was & still faithful in my giving to God(which explains why I'm not completely broke). I'm gonna really save all I can in 2010 & it's also a good thing I got help this time.

...Friendster died and Facebook just totally took over!

...Broke Up with girfriend of a year Peggie Sue Pascuafl(PSP). But someone made up for it & me & Peggy remain close friends :pf

...Waiting was a killer Phewww! For a while, I had to hold back before the right time of being able to make a move on love. But it was definitely worth it. God & I both know how hard I waited(though 'chismis' might have said otherwise)

2. Alot of Good Things Happened

...Pacman & Efren Win it for the country one totally punched out other fighters in the ring, getting more title belts than anyone, the other pushed carts so many poor children would be educated. Thanks also to Efren, we now know there's a CNN Hero of the Year award

...Great Concerts & Events I got to be part of(Delirious, Planetshakers atbp.) Just to name a few plus getting to meet, hang out & interview some of them of course

...I turned 12 years Christian(5-22-09) so that translates 11 years of no smoking, sex, drugs, alcohol, violence plus no backsliding.

...Went to Palawan for the 1st time I got invited on an all expense paid trip just to judge a battle of the bands. Went there on a Friday morning & got back the next. My favorite part was going to the croc farm.

...We had Gary V. over at Church for our Youth Anniv as special guest speaker & performer. Whatta dream!

...I had such an amazing & loooong Summer!!! just click & read all about it in my post

...I finally found my special someone & now I'm so happily & cheesingly in love! After a long time of praying & waiting. 4 years of the single reign finally ends as she became mine in 2009! She has got to be the biggest blessing I have received this year. I Love You Ricci Luna!

...Finally went to Boracay! Our young adults group went for our outing. My family was there & so was my new girlfriend. It became like our launch because it was the first we really went public

...Went to Laoag Ilocus for the 1st time. This was for the Dapat Karapat Dapat Campaign at the University there. Went there with the Media Pillar team. It was the year I got to see a lot of our country!

...I received more speaking engagements this year especially summer camps. Thanks to all who invited.

...I met alot of cool new people and friends you guys know who you are ; )

...I had the Best Birthday We actually had a lot of celebrations that day. First up was our Church Anniversarry then Pacman winning the fight. Somewhere in there, my celebration w/c included a lunch date with family, a nice surprise at the Radio Station, a massage, dinner at Dampa & a movie.

...had the best Christmas! :D

...and more!!!

Twenty-o-nine had it's roller coaster share of ups & downs but overall, I say Blessed be the Name of the Lord! Radio & Youth ministry has been great & ongoing. Since I also had the best summer, best birthday, best Christmas in this one, I can say this has been the best year of my life yet. Glory to God for everything. It's gonna be pretty tough to top this one as I say every year. 2009 was indeed fine thank God! Can't wait to see what's next for me in this one. I'm ready to take on another new year. I may not completely know what's gonna happen, if my plans will work, if there will be bigger problems or challenges ahead, but all I know is I'm sticking with my God who loves me & has great plans ahead, even better than mine!(Proverbs 16:3)

Wow, that day was sure awesome! It was the first time I had it on a Sunday that I could remember. When people used to ask me what I did on my day, I didn't really have much to say because I never really did as much as this to talk about. Kinda sad cause looking back now, I don't really remember much the past years. But today I & it felt really special & one that I could have fun sharing or blogging about. Well there were just tons of reasons that made this a real special one. I wasn't celebrating it alone & what I mean to say by that aside having a special someone this time, was there where a lot of other happenings I also rejoiced with. Our Church Anniversary for one. My home Church, Taytay First Church of the Nazarene celebrated 31 years. I had the privilege of directing the program & it turned out pretty well thank God. Then just the day before, we had our district sportfest(interchurch) where me & my boys won the basketball championship. We were so happy for that because we put up a good fight in those games. Congratz team GenCon!

So after the church celebration on Sunday morning, I headed out with the family for lunch.(That's me & my family plus my girlfriend & her parents.) Wanted to go for Dencio's at Metrowalk but it turns out, the place was fully booked due to Manny's fight. So we ended up going to Iceberg's. Usually I can't do this sorta thing on a Sunday because my radio program Against the Flow is on at 1pm. But I thought of using a birthday leave for the 1st time or maybe just show up late since it's pretty much taken care of. But right when the sisig I ordered arrived in front of me, my girl all of a sudden drags me outta there because she said a guest/someone was waiting for me at the station. So we leave the family there & right when I got to the station, I saw what I expected, my crew all there & greeting me. At first, I wasn't a bit surprised. I saw there was food & a new ATF tarp. It was really sweet of them really(thanks sidekicks). When I went inside the booth, the greetings from other people started pouring in & then I became like the special guest on my own show. It was sorta nice being the one interviewed for a change. I saw that there were some additional mics & equipment set up there but thought maybe it's for later or maybe we had a surprise guest but couldn't really think of who. Then all of a sudden, a cool friend named Yeng Constantino appeared to greet me & sing some songs. I was like, "what are you doing here? Isn't there ASAP?" It turns out there was none today because of the Big Fight. So thanks to that I get surprises like this. I was originally planning to invite Yeng to church today for the anniv but figured she couldn't because she had that to be on that show. So anyhow, I got another surprise when my radio parents, Ron. T & Jaedee gave me a call. I'm talking to them on air when all of a sudden they appear behind me! This too was special because it was also the first time they visited me since they resigned from NU, leaving to me the program they started. This ATF special went great with Yeng's live performance, music & people greeting. I felt so overwhelmed, almost teary eyed! Since I'm good at surprises, I thought it would be hard to surprise me. but today, I was efinitely proven wrong cause they got me. In case you missed it like the others glued on their TVs, you may catch this episode on podcast soon on goagainsttheflow.multiply.

To every guy that has said, "You're beautiful."

To every guy that has said, "Sex CAN wait."

To every guy that was never too busy to drive across town to see her.

To every guy that gives flowers and a card.

To every guy who has given her flowers just because.

To every guy that said he would die for her.

To every guy that really would.

To every guy that did what she wanted to do.

To every guy that cried in front of her.

To every guy that she cried in front of.

To every guy that holds hands with her.

To every guy that hugs her when she's sad.

To every guy that hugs her for no reason at all.

To every guy who would give their jacket up for her.

To every guy that calls(or texts) to make sure she got home safe.

To every guy that would sit and wait for her for hours just to see her for ten minutes.

To every guy that would give his seat up.

To every guy that just wants to cuddle.

To every guy that reassured her that she was beautiful no matter what.

To every guy who told his secrets to her.

To every guy that tried to show how much he cared through every word and every breath.

To every guy that thought maybe this could be the one.

To every guy that believed in her dreams.

To every guy that would have done anything so she could achieve them.

To every guy that never laughed at her when she told him her dreams.

To every guy that walked her to her house.

To every guy that gave his heart.

To every guy who prays that she is happy even if he is not with her.

To every guy who is willing to wait for years just to prove his love for her.

To every guy who still prioritizes God instead of making the girl as the sun of his life.


...This one bulletin post is for you...

Not many girls appreciate nice guys anymore... And because of this, there are not many left out there... I guarantee 90% of the men on your page will not repost this because they care more about their image. If you are a nice guy repost this with "We're a Dying Breed " If you are a girl that thinks every guy should treat a girl this way repost this with: "To Every Guy"

*COUNT ME IN. GUESS I AM 1 OF THE 10% THAT WOULD ACTUALLY REPOST THIS. CALL ME EVERY GUY THAT'S NOT REALLY LIKE EVERY GUY THEN.HEHE. THE WORLD NEED A FEW(OR ALOT) GOOD GENTLEMEN & I AM STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE 

I'm sorry if it's been a while since I made a post here. If I may ask you to comment here if you still visit this site regularly, please let me know because that may help me with my next move with this. I don't wanna give up this site just yet but i also don't want it to be a dead one. Lately, I have been mostly using & updating my Facebook & Multiply account so if ever you wanna see something new from me, you may just check out those sites. I'll still do my best to make posts here though.

So far here are the rankings of the sites I use & update most
1. Facebook
2. Multiply
3. Friendster
4. Blogdrive
5. Myspace or Twitter

*you can help move blogdrive up if you want by just letting me know. Thanks

Love,
The Jesusrocker

WARNING: IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE MY LAST BLOG SO MAHABA-HABANG KWENTUHAN(LONG POST) AHEAD. READ ONLY IF YOU ARE BLESSED WITH THE GIFT OF READING & YOU WANNA BE BLESSED. YOU MAY ALSO CLICK THE LINKS TO SEE WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT :D

It was the Best-est Summer of my Life or yet, because that is something I look forward to saying every year. Wow, where do I begin with all the excitement that went on. I apologize for my absence in the blog world for those who actually like reading my stuff. You'll understand in a while why. Let me just recap all the highlights of what went on. Starting off in May, we had Kitchie Nadal perfom at our Rock Da Church event & that went cool. She still rocked it even if her performance was just acoustic, I mean this woman is so astig, she don't need no live band to rock!

Soon I found out it was the Summer that campgrounds became like my 2nd home. This year I had 12 youth camps overall & I think it's a record! Not to mention other speaking engagements. I'm looking at my calender as I write this, just going through some of the stuff in here. Holy Week was fun because there were 2 camps there, I also attended the Jesusfest Praise & Worship event in Marikina w/ some friends & there also discovered how to make kwek kwek pizza.hehe. On the Thursday, we had our annual alay lakad event where me & our youth group would set up a stage to have our bands perform & me do my thing I call "Alay Lakad Radio". This year, we called it "Rock the Walk" & I actually did the poster on Photoshop because this was also the summer I learned new things & that being one of them. On Good Friday, I went swimming twice that day.hehe. One in Club Manila East & at night, up in Antipolo. In between, we had my Tita, our Senior Pastors surprise 60th Birthday party at Church & that was fun. Surprise dance #s by the mommies & daddies showed our folks still had the fun in them. Funny, I didn't get to go home from swimming & change no more cause ran out of time but I still hosted.hehe. At 60, my aunt rocks & I love her!

This summer was not only filled with new stuff, but new challenges like for the first time , I spoke in a Kids Camp & it surprisngly went well! So I overcame my fear of speaking before children & that's why I also said yes other kids speak after that which I'd usually turned down. Amidst the busyness, still, I was able to have nice quality family time every now & then. We'd go for lunch or dinner, me & dad would watch movies etc. On April Sunday, it marked ATF's 12th Anniversarry! Can't believe the show has been going on for so long, God sure rocks! The following week, had some more youth camps. The one in Batangas was kinda far plus, I passed the place getting lost so how far did it get then?hehe. The next was at RRC Laguna & I sure went this place a lot this Summer. The Light It Up Events me & my friend organized was also on fire! Great Christian artists were performing & the crowd is getting better!

This was also the summer I attempted to buy my first car. Her name was Ruby. She is a red 2 door Pajero. First time I saw her parked, "I said Lord, can I?" My cousins are into buy & sell & so every now & then comes a unit I like. This one was red & I loved it! I tested her out but later, I would find out she's not the one for me. But it's cool. My attempt also tested my faith because I don't really think I'm ready to buy one although I'm sure ready to have one, but I would try & wait upon God's miracles to help work. I thought it'd be cool if this was the summer I'd drive my own, but hey, Lord knows, it's all good. For now, it was a nice attempt.hehe. I just trust the Lord to help provide when the time comes He really wants to bless me with my own vehicle.

I spoke also to Church Anniversaries and I love how God has given me opportunities to share my heart & passion for the young people to challenge the Church to take part in redeeming this generation. I hope to see that as a result, more youth will go to their church & youth services like ours would be born in their area. Speaking of annivs, big things sure came this Summer like our Big Anniv at GenCon which we sure prayed & worked hard for. We planned to have the Biggest Pop Superstar in the Philippines who is Christian to be our speaker by the end of the month for our event. Later I'll tell what happened.

My favorite camp of the summer had to be when I was invited to speak at the Blind Youth Camp held by Resources for the Blind. It's funny how these kids inspired me more when I was suppose to be the one giving the inspirational message. These Children were the happiest campers I've ever seen & they also gave me the warmest welcome ever. Sigh. I'll never forget that & the smiles on their faces. It was sure special & this was a top moment during this break.

Our District Camp in Baguio also went well. It's the best I've seen our district do. Our good friend & powerful speaker, Ptr. Jesse Dedel was the main messenger. I led the Praise & Worship. Even though a typhoon hit us on the last night causing a blackout & changing the program, the very next day the sun would shine & none of that rain had effect on the outcome of success this camp had.

We had our local Sportfest the following day returning from Baguio. I was in the Red Team & we won the basketball tournament. I don't I've ever played so well, I really think those were the best games in my life. That day was FUN!

The next week, we had our Local Camp this time. It was the first time we held it so near, just up in Antipolo hills, first time we didn't invite a guest speaker(just us youth pastors), first time we left the whole program to the youth & they did extremely well. It was a first of many things & it was AMAZING! In just 3 days(we usually do 4 or 5), God moved into the lives of 70 plus first time campers. There were a total of 100+ campers & we were only expecting & preparing for like 50 really. In this camp, it didn't really take much to see much. God is just SO BIG & SO GOOD! This would also help fire up GenCon some more!

Also took part in Redeem The Airwaves Conference up in Makati that same week. I sure wanna take part in Redeeming the Airwaves because by that, we could also redeem many listeners for Christ in the process.

The next week was The Craziest Week, Ever! Can't believe how I got though it alive!hehe. It would be the second to the last week of this Summer. It seems everything I did this Summer '09 was crammed up in those days. I mean it had it all, camps, speakings, hostings, a Pastor's retreat, organizing, meetings etc. Ya, a SUMMERy of this summer it was. Phew! What was interesting also that week was how things went terribly wrong. First, the car I was testing broke on the way to camp causing me to turn back & postpone, then I got sorta lost on 2 out of 3 camps that week, I missed a meeting, my ATM card was eating by the ATM machine etc. Nothing seemed to go as planned & still God had one! He also always had His ways in reminding me to SMILE :D more & not lose my sanity. There may have been delays that week, but over-all, mission accomplished! What's cool is what I learned from the experience even if I did the hard way. It became a lessons for sermon material plus it became a script for an upcoming episode on Perfect Rhythm.

Thursday had to be the most hectic, because from the retreat in Laguna, I had to drive & find a camp to speak at & then after hopefully be back in Manila for a Worship leaders meeting with Tim Hughes(but that I missed). I was sure sleepy driving by myself on the way back but thank God for the traveling safety. Then me and some members of our Worship team headed to Worship Central, for a lil field trip for us. Couldn't stay because I then had to head to Light it Up. On this day, it was 3 out of 4 on that what do do list.

On Friday, it was a very special day for me. It marked My 12^th year as a Christian. This was the day I fully surrendered to Christ & my life was never the same again! I praise God for also giving me a speaking engagement that day in Binangonan. Before that, I was supposed head back to Laguna to pick up the Pastors but the vehicle(not Ruby) I was gonna drive also broke. If that didn't happen, there was no way I'd make my engagement in the afternoon in time. At night we had our Camp Victory Party. Nice to see so many of the campers still so fresh & fired up for the Lord. Later on after, went with some friends to check out this minor event. It wasn't a Christian thing but we were sure Christian being there. Represented cause while everyone had their cigarettes & beer on their table, we had C2, Pinapple Juice & water on ours.hehe. Then when we got back, got to celebrate a lil more for my spiritual Bday at Chowking which was open 24/7.

On Saturday, still more things. In the morning made a quick stop at Marikina to check out the Imerge event. Then I headed to be a judge in a battle of the Bands event followed by a a youth gathering in JOHIA church called 'Sinag' where I spoke about EMOtions. Since that was near Gateway Mall & I always avoid the traffic going back, I went for dinner at Taco Bell & a movie. Startrek then became the biggest movie surprise for me this summer. Can't believe I watched & can't believe how good it was! This day was so big, I had 2 big macs! One for lunch & one was given for snack during the judging.hehe. Funny, despite my business, God still gave a lot of space to breathe. People would tell me I need time to relax & I actually did find time for that. Like I was able to watch all the movies in the theatres that I wanted to catch. It seems the harder I worked, the harder there was playing time provided for me. So there was also time to shop a little, food trip etc.

On Sunday, it was a normal day, except my normal Sundays are the busiest! But what a fine day it was. At night, I got to deliver what I believe & others may agree, my Best Sermon yet. That's because I shared on my experience on my 12 year being a Hardcore Christian. I preached real life experience that anyone could experience. I showed the highlights throughout the years. A special video was also shown made by some of our youth entitled "What if...PJ Didn't Become Christian."

So that wrapped up the longest summer week. Can't believe it was 6 speaking engagements in 7 days! God sure really had this birthday celebrant moving! But still there was one more week to go.

The next week or the last was much lighter on the sched but still full blast on preparations for our Big Anniv. I had one final camp stop to go. This was followed by My First Trip to Palawan which was only for a day. What's cool about this trip is, God really must've really wanted to give me a break. Imagine, after a whole summer of ongoing speaking & emceeing, you had to guess which one this last one had to be? You know what it was? It was for judging. That's it. I was flown all the way here just to sit down & write my grades for bands that competed. It was an all all expense paid trip & I did absolutely no work except walk, sit, site see, eat & rest. It's like inviting a magician over & not seeing any of his tricks.hehe. My favorite part of this trip was seeing the crocs & finally holding one. What a way to help wrap up this summer. Is God good or what? Thank you Lifechurch for God had used you just in time to give me a short but great lil break. I sure hope to be back & minister in return.

On Saturday, I got back in the morning. Was still a long day, cause after being picked up at the airport, proceeded to run some errands, pick up equipment for the anniv before heading back church . At night, we ran tests for the program & did final preparations. But we also found time to really pause & sing worship & pray. After, went to a reunion with my highschool classmates & just pigged out on the food. It was really cool to see these guys again.

Moving right over to Sunday where our youth group celebrated & we had the biggest night of our life. I wouldn't have gone to NU to do my show today if we didn't have a guest. Still, it worked out well, I got to head back in time for practice & some rehearsals. This was definitely GenCon's Biggest Production Yet. It rained kinda hard but that was like an advantage because we had worried about how everyone would fit in the Sanctuary that night. Everything looked so great! When it was time to start, the program went so well, like the smoothest & on time. The special # we did was sorta a disaster because of an instrument mishap(going way outta tune). Still nothing would spoil this night for us. For 5 years, our youth have been going strong & working harder than ever which is whay we may have gotten a bit tired. That's why our theme was "ENERGIZE" based on Colossians 1:28-29. And who else would be the perfect speaker for it than Mr. Pure Energy himself, Gary Valenciano! So glad this worked out! It had always been a dream to have him come over our church & tonight, we would see how God has blessed us in making this dream come true! When the night was done, everyone was sure amazed & energized. It was May 31, the last day of Summer '09. What a spectacular way to close out this years Summer not just for me, for everybody there. This was the icing or cherry on top.

This summer, I learned that I had turned into a carpenter because 'Lagari'(pukpuk, ratrat) talaga mga lakad at sunod sunod(or I was just super busy). I just hope that me being a Carpenter in that way, could make me more like Jesus who was a real carpenter back then. Perhaps what I loved most about what I did was the many opportunities God gave for me to minister & be a blessing to many. Everyday I pray God would make me a blessing & so I pray that these were the answered prayers. GRABE! Iba talaga summer na toh. I never felt more energized & used up at the same time, more smiley, relaxed, inspired, challenged atbp. Now, it still actually feels like summer, only now I could actually have time to finally blog.  JESUS RULES! :D

I remember going to the Heart Center back then to donate blood for a complete stranger & it triggered so many thoughts in my head. Here's what I learned from that. This is a repost & I also did a radio episode & sermon on this back then.
1. Giving Blood is Inconvenient
When asked if I was willing, I said "I'd see", but in my mind I really meant no as much as possible. I have done this before but let me give a few good reasons why I don't want to: One is it could mess up your schedule. These requests for a blood donor come from no where & to get to em, you sometimes must really go out of your way. Second, I hate needles! I may not be scared of em, but I just don't like anything sharp sticking in my body no matter how small it is period. I remember that last needle that was in my arm, it was cold! Eww, it gave me a tingly feeling. Couldn't they warm up the thing in a microwave first? Anyhow the third thing I hate is the waiting cause it sure takes a while going through the process. Fourth is they make you pee in that lil micro jr. cup for the testings. I actually dropped the cap in the toilet bowl the last time which was kinda embarassing. Good thing there wasn't a fine.hehe. Fifth, it's not like you get paid for it. If it's not out of good will & a chance to help, all you really get in return is some juice & biscuits after the transfusion.
2. Nobody Likes to Give blood to a Stranger(or especially to a Sinner)
When I gave blood before, it was for a relative and for a father of one of our young people. This time, it was not even really related to the friend who asked me to do it. So I had a lil attitude toward it. I was like, didn't this person have enough loved ones in his life? Why bug me? I found it easier to do this kinda thing for a loved one rather than for a stranger. Aside from that, I found out the person who needs the blood got hospitalized because he got stabbed during their inuman(drinking session) & so now I had to be the one to get stabbed with a needle! Anyone can give blood for a darling little angel kid who got in an accident, but for someone doing something foolish, it's like you'd want to nag that they got what they deserved. But then again during these times, God spoke to me & reminded me of some scripture. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! Romans 5:6-9
3. Giving Blood Saves Lives
Heres what the Lord taught me through the experience: I didn't even have to die for somebody but give just a lil 500cc of blood. Jesus gave up all His blood for us even if we didn't deserve it. I remember back at my first time to do this. There I was scared of a lil needle when Jesus had some big fat ones nailed on Him. All this blood giving was for the sake of helping save somebody's life. Christ gave the biggest blood donor to mankind, so big it it cost His life on the cross! I t wasn't a good experience for Him either, I mean the Guy was bleeding since Gethsemane all the way to the crucifixion, you see how much cc of blood that was in the "The Passion of the Christ"? He also came & did this at just the right time.
4. Not Everyone Could Give Blood
In the hospital, they can reject your blood if you don't pass the test because your not healthy enough or maybe you took drugs or alcohol or you have gotten a tattoo just recently etc. So even if you wanted to you can't if your blood is no good. The bible also talked about that when there was no blood sacrifice good enough to cover or atone for our sins, it was only the Lamb of God that could be offered. Jesus' blood type was the only one that passed & there'll never be another. ...without the shedding of blood(Christ's) there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22
5. Jesus Gave the Biggest Blood Donation
Thank God for a very great blood donor saved our lives! Try thinking about this the next time you give blood for somebody because after I realized all this, there was only one thing for me to do, donate as well. Easter is the time we remember the resurrection of our Lord & Savior. but we should also remember what He went through for all of us before that early Sunday morning. Jesus blood never failed me. Thank you Lord for this blood & the body piercing that saved my life!