Blog
Daily Life
Pillows and Promises: Overcoming the Nightmares of Life
August 27, 2021
At the end of the day, it is our pillows and blankets that greet us, offering us comfort and rest.
The past year has been a difficult one. The times are still challenging, with the virus mutating and forming new variants, and the numbers of infected on the news are becoming names of people we know—names of those we care about. Even more so, despite the availability of the vaccines, the end of the pandemic remains nowhere in sight. And for most of us, these worries are just the tip of the iceberg; we also have other troubles to think about in the family, work, school, and many other areas of life.
October 1, 2021
Are you depressed? Do you sometimes feel overwhelmed with sadness and paralyzing pain?
A lot of young people nowadays struggle with ghosts of trauma and traces of various hurt. If undealt with, this emotional baggage may affect their whole lives and cause deeper damages like mental health problems.
Trusting God when Things Go Wrong
March 3, 2022
The year may be turning out differently than you expected. Perhaps you recently experienced the death of a loved one. Or you got rejected by the school of your top choice (or by your crush). Or maybe, you are still struggling with problems that you hoped would be gone by now.
Even though our circumstances are different, we ask God the same question: Why?
How To Deal With a Friend Who Became Distant
April 18, 2022
Being a Christian does not guarantee that life will be easier. Before I became one, I used to have a plain life. If I try to map the ups and downs during that time, it would be like looking at a single strand of noodle: wavy with the highs and lows not far from one another. When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, my life transformed into a series of mountains and valleys; the highs soared higher and the lows plummeted lower. It was indeed a new life, and it was one which I am sure I can handle. You can handle yours, too!
“Lord, Beke Nemen…” (rough translation, “Lord, Could You…?”)
April 25, 2022
Psalm 37:4 “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”
Are you familiar with this verse? Oftentimes we see this in our social media or being said as an encouragement to other people when they are experiencing an unpleasant situation or when they are in their waiting season. Palagi nga eh na ang comment, “Amen!” or a very energetic “Yes Lord! I claim this!”. But what does it really mean? Does this mean that everything that our hearts desire, God will give to us as long as we are delighting in God?
Things That Happen When God Says “No”
(In the End It’s Still Actually a “Yes!”)
June 13, 2022
You’ve sought the Lord. You prayed enough. You stepped out in faith.
But in the end, it was a “No” from God.
You didn’t receive what you were praying for. You didn’t get that “Yes” you were expecting. You have to let go of that desire, that relationship, that opportunity.
Values
Holy Spirit: The God Behind the Scenes
March 11, 2022
The Holy Spirit is the member of the Trinity that most people overlook. The truth that there is one God in three Persons is difficult to completely understand. There are things in life we won’t know or completely understand, but by faith, we trust that what God doesn’t reveal is actually for our own good. But God does give us all that we need to know. Can you guess how? It’s through the Holy Spirit.
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and remind you of all that I said to you (John 14:26).”
It is the Holy Spirit who is working behind the scenes. If we were to compare the Triune God to a movie production, God the Father would be the director, Jesus would be the actor, and the Holy Spirit would be the crew. Actors and directors get famous, but the crew working behind the cameras won’t get their names flashed on the movie’s trailer. The crew as the unpopular manpower is just as important as the celebrities for the film to be successful. A lot of work needs to be done from costume to set design to editing. It’s the same way God works through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Testifying to the Truth of Christian Happiness
May 9, 2022
What is joy or happiness?
We all know the words joy and happiness. It’s when we have a smile on our face. It’s when we clap when someone sings “If You’re Happy and You Know It.” It’s even when our eyes are tearing up what we call “tears of joy.”
I’ve searched dictionaries on what does the word happy mean, and found the common meaning of “having pleasure or contentment.” This is like looking at synonyms only. ess isn’t.
“Love Can be Defined in So Many Ways?
May 2, 2022
If you hear the word “love,” what comes to your mind? Well, we may have different answers. For some, it may be a great sense of care. Others would also say that love is the adornment and fulfillment within a romantic relationship. Some might think of familial love. Whatever your idea of “love” is, you are welcomed to a beautiful discussion on what this hard-to-define word actually means. Knowing that all of us have an insight into it in some way or another, we realize that this is a universal concept that many barely describe accurately.
June 6, 2022
The Bible sucks. Or in the King James Version, ‘The Bible sucketh’. This was my first impression when I got my hands on a bible in the said version back when I was 7 years old. I didn’t see why people older than me would teach me about the bible and why the Sunday school where I was brought to would read stories from that book. I often see them using it as a measuring tool to see if I’m doing what they want me to do.
The Faith that Fights Off Fear
September 30, 2022
Have you heard that there are 365 statements of “Do not fear” in the Bible, one for every day of a year? I don’t remember where exactly I heard it from, but I’ve kept this like a fact in my mind.
I even just recently shared this to a friend. I wanted to be sure this is true, so I did some searching online. I looked for a list online, found one that is listed in bullets, pasted it on a word processor, reformatted the bullets into numbers, and saw that it’s only 146. I found a blog post where a blogger found that the “365 trivia” is just a myth.
Excellence
An Invitation for the Tired and Overwhelmed Student
October 8, 2021
Are you tired?
Are your days and nights filled with test after test, module after module, and deadlines one after another?
Do you feel like you are hanging by a thin thread, trying to make it through another day to finish, anxiously thinking if what you do is enough just to make sure you pass?
July 30, 2022
Are you like me who wants to do it all? Of course, not literally, but just to pursue your every passion. I see this in celebrities who started out as actresses, then became singers, then launched a product line, and some even wrote a book. I guess we creative types–writers and actresses–find a number of outlets where we can channel our ideas into art. I see this in honor students as well (and, yes, I was one) in how they do their best in every subject and participate in as many extracurricular activities they can.
What do these examples have in common? Zeal.
Leadership
Go Home
September 13, 2021
Why did God allow for this pandemic to happen?
The Bible says, God is sovereign. Nothing happens without His permission. Even when Satan wanted to afflict Job, he was limited by the boundaries God has set and he cannot go any further.
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. – Job 1:12 NIV
God is also all-knowing. He knows the things that are yet to happen, and how events of today and the past will affect the future.
How Do We Listen to God and What Keeps Us from Doing It?
June 20, 2022
Listening can be hard. For language learners, it could be harder, but it’s also not easy for someone preoccupied.
We live in a busy world. Students have piles of school work. Workers have loads of tasks. Some work multiple jobs. Even the rich labor to keep their wealth. A lot is going on in our lives, but it’s important to have some time every day to listen to God. Being guided by Him would set our minds on things above, which will lead us to wise decisions. Everything we do affects how our lives will turn out. That is why it’s important we let God lead our every move.