Chronicling the Months Into One Post

I havent' been fair to you my dear blog. I just went to post about our shopping at Trinoma and to write about Kris Allen. I'd like to give you back the justice of telling you what had transpired in the past months.

Well, I left off with John Moore winning in the SAICFF. Well, on February I interned in Hinge Inquirer and come March, I worked as a port volunteer in Doulos. See the video above for the summary of my two week experience there my dear blog. It was fun but in the end, I cried lots when they left the Philippines. Well, life must go on. Doulos has to minister in Taiwan and I have to minister here in my country.

April, summer camps are all over and those are the things that I've been busy with. Sooner or later Do Hard Things would be out but there isn't definite date yet from OMF. May, I graduated from college with a degree in Journalism. Sorry, I won't post any picture of that. :D LoL I'd like to remain a student for a while.

In the end of May, I, together with our youth group at church performed the Everything mime drama at a Missions Camp where some ouf our young people attended. My, I was the demon cutter!


And surprise, surprise! Do Hard Things is finally here in the Philippines. Excitement is slowly spreading like wildfire! Lots of people I don't even know and people I don't expect to ask, ask about the book! God is so good! Last year, I wouldn't have believed you if you told me that Do Hard Things would be here.

(L-R. Hannah, Ate Leslie, Juan Carlos a.k.a J.C., me, Kuya Franco and Mark)

And to add to this, I am now a True Love Waits Philippines volunteer. We went to Tagaytay last week to do a Love Revolution Talk in a church where I also got to talk about Do Hard Things. It was such a delightful experience. That day ended with young people gaining the true concept of love: God's unconditional and unwavering love.

The day after that was Parent Talk 101, a parenting seminar that our church sponsored. There were so many parents, pastors and singles who attended. It's such a blessing to see them being blessed by the message of responsible parenting. One trivia... when should you start preparing as a parent? Answer: 18 years before you become a parent. I got that from Pastor Clem, so if you want to know why, attend Parent Talk 102 and ask him why. :)

Just this Wednesday, we began rehearsing a mime drama with Dare You To Move as music. And yesterday Friday... surprise, surprise again... Alex Jordan Harris is getting married. Yes, you heard it right. Alex is getting married to a sweet lady named Courtney Edmonds. Yay! The Three Grandmothers, Josette, Alyssa and I are so ecstatic about the news as much as we have been when Do Hard Things came out here.


Aren't they a sweet couple? Read the story at the twins' blog.

Well, those are some newses my blog. ;)

American Idol and Kris Allen

I'm not an American Idol follower. For all the seasons that it had, I've only watched one episode, the one where Anoop auditioned. The word "idol" alone makes me recoil and remember what was written in Exodus 20:4, "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything..."

A day before American Idol Season 8 finals, my Facebook homepage has been filled with my friends' status about Kris Allen. I was just, "Kris Allen who?!" On the finals night (morning here) my sibs watched AI and heard them rooting for Kris and "no" to Adam Lambert. I took a peek and saw Adam Lambert perform. Sure he's got a voice but his performance scared me. I didn't peek again since I wasn't very interested in AI and I just hoped it would be Kris Allen who'll win though I've never seen him perform. Well, Kris Allen won and life goes on. But yesterday, my interest in this new AI sparked when I heard that he's a Christian. Really?! Just how true is that?

For the first time yesterday, I saw him sing and it's not in AI. I saw him leading worship with the song, God of this City--a personal favorite. It was so awesome when I heard him sing that song with so much conviction. After that I'm glad that he won AI. :)

Hollywood for me is a dangerous place for a Christian to be in and I know there are many out there who disagrees with Kris' stint in AI. We don't know Kris' heart but I pray that he'll continue to walk faithfully with the Lord, Hollywood or not. I pray that he won't make an 'idol' of himself instead he would point people to Him.

We don't exactly know how God will use Kris in Hollywood but seeing Abraham and Jacob's life, God does have a penchant of choosing unlikely people for unlikely places to proclaim His word.

I Am Not Suicidal

My, my, my! Three months since I last posted here.

Yesterday afternoon 'til early evening me and the officers of the youth group shopped for the props we need for our Everything Drama. I can't believe that some of those props were that hard to find. The artificial flower was the easiest and we had fun paying for that one. Andrei gave it to the cash desk girl in such a manner of courting. Hahaha!

My costume of a black hooded jacket with a toy gun and a bread knife was hard to find. I wanted a bread knife that looks so much like a real knife. After leaving SM unsuccesfully with the bread knife we found it in Landmark Trinoma! I was the first one to take a look at it and it was what I was exactly looking for! I raised the knife on the light as if looking at a precious stone. I was filled with so much glee that I was loudly exclaiming how beautiful the knife is.

I tried it on my wrist if it hurts when slid upon. It didn't. Though the knife is pointed, only the side of it is what we're going to use. Each of us, Andrei, Hannah, May and Mara passed the bread knife around and tried it on our wrists while I was exclaiming how perfect it is as a prop.

Andrei cautiously bowed his head suddenly and asked us to hold the knife down. We only realized then that from a near distance, a mall guard has been observing our activity.

My! It must have baffled the guard so much seeing teenagers hold a bread knife (which looks so much like a real knife) in the air, exclaiming and trying it out in their wrists. He must have thought we were suicidal.

Shortly after that we found the toy gun and the hooded black jacket we needed. Well, to close this post... I AM NOT SUICIDAL! I don't even think about it.

Opening Title Sequence: The Widow's Might

I was talking about The Widow's Might last week and other SAICFF winners. Since The Widow's Might won the Best of Festival Award and the Audience Choice, here's proof to it. Below is the opening credits from the movie itself. It's only the first three minutes and it guarantees much of what you will see in the movie. I was so excited when I learned of the teen tandem in the making of the film and got hyper when I saw the opening credits!It's really a must-see for families who enjoy musicals and western action.

Preview from John Moore on Vimeo.

If you live in the U.S., you can buy it at www.The WidowsCry.com or if you don't live in the U.S., you can still buy it. Just check if TheWidowsCry.com does shipping. If not, you can check out www.behemoth.com

Full Friday

I really had a great day today! It was tiring but everything was just awesome. I had mishaps and adventures with thesis mates and some reunion with old friends at the Baptist Bible Seminary and Institute.

First I had trips to the business district in the morning and then went to La Salle to meet up with thesis mates. The DLSU Library is absolutely astounding. Yes, it's my first time to be in a functioning and interactive library. It beats the National Library and the UP Library. Well, I hope to make another post regarding the DLSU Library alone. :) It really made me want to hide in the library building and live there. In short, I want to make it home. But well, that's another post. I'll leave it at that. Going home was full of mishaps. We rode the LRT1 and goodness... we're like sardines. We just laughed our predicament off as we held on to each other. Then at LRT2, my classmate Larra was just so funny. She had some embarrassing time with the seats as all passengers went in to grab seats. She really fought for a seat ! Having been squished in LRT1 she has the right to fight for it. Haha!


We finished researching around six in the evening and then as promised, I went to Dr. Badar's wake in the Baptist Bible Seminary and Institute. He was a former president of it and also a great man of faith. I've only met him once but I know he's done so much for His kingdom. What I like with Christian wakes is that it's a celebration! There's mourning but there's more celebration. It's actually a reunion of many people who in some way is related to the deceased. It's a time to share testimonies and news from across the country.

I arrived in the wake kinda late because La Salle is far from BBSI. I arrived just after the message of the first service. But I'm glad there's a second one though I didn't get to finish that one because I had to go home.

So, does this look like a wake?

I met many camp people and BBSI friends too. And to my surprise Kuya John was able to make it! I mean, this person has a reputation of hardly coming because he's so busy. :) Then it was like he wasn't coming to a wake. Every step, he'll make, someone will greet and talk to him like, "Hey John!" "Brother John!" and the like. He's got lots of fans. Ate Cristia and I stuck together for sometime then Kuya John found us. He had us an Instant AAFC meeting!

Meeting impromptu. (L-R) Harabeuji, me, and Ate Cristia.

I left past 12MN and I really am glad to have seen old friends again. Eve, Eloi, Clyde, Beth, Kuya DJ, Kuya Gian, Ate Pinkaler, Lexie, Kuya Jek, Ate Cha, Lolo John, Ate Rorie, Ate Jopet, Aleng... everybody I met last night... I was so glad to see you again!

Such fellowship I had! It was a wake, conference, reunion, and homecoming rolled into one. Makes me want to say what Joshua Harris said a few days ago... I'm one step closer to Heaven.

Even so, come Lord Jesus.

The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival

There has been a lot going on with me since last week and it's thesis, thesis, and thesis. But my mind was not on thesis alone but on something bigger that rumbled a week ago in San Antonio, Texas: The San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.

The whole week, the first thing I checked online wasn't my mail. It was The Rebelution where Isaac Harris was live-blogging and Jeremiah Warren's saicffsemisites Twitter page where he was twittering. They're my official informers of the happenings in the Academy and the Festival.

I really am grateful for those guys for blogging and twittering. It was a great experience following the SAICFF events through them! The SAICFF excitement went on throughout the week and the end of it just really blew me!

John Moore, director, producer, writer, actor, and singer of The Widow's Might won the Best of Festival Award taking home the $101,000 beating feature films Fireproof and Expelled. On my part, I never saw that coming. I mean, not that I didn't want HeuMoore to win but I was already expecting Fireproof to win when I heard it entered the Festival. HeuMoore also took home the Audience Choice Award. The whole SAICFF was just so fantastic, awesome, delighting, thrilling, elating, etc.

I learned a lot from the Academy. Not just film making but being a responsible Christian with the use of media. I wish to tell all that I've learned and experienced in the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Academy and Festival but I don't have all the time to blog it. So, if you want to know what I learned, just click on the linked words in this post. It's got all links to The Rebelution, The Widow's Might, Twitter Page, and the official SAICFF site. There you go.

The war with Hollywood has commenced four years ago and it's getting bigger. It's a fight for culture. The tactics I learned from the Academy (through Isaac and Jeremiah) will equip me for the culture fight. For now, I'm only a spectator but someday, I hope and pray to join the SAICFF. Even just for once, it would be the most wonderful thing that could ever happen to me.

Low Expectations

Yes, low expectations has been grinding me. That's why I have not posted anything for long (I was supposed to post something 2 days ago, though). How I feel so heavy with low expectations around us. It's like it has become a norm. Oh yes, I realize, it's a norm already. Sometimes I ask myself, "Am I just being too over-achieving?" If I'll answer that in the context of my schooling... No, I am not a straight achiever. But I make it a point to do better in the next situations. So, I now come to a theory, it's either they have very low expectations or I am just too giddy with high expectations.

I've received a comment somewhere in the blogosphere that struck me how low expectations have sunk.

"The truth of the fact is, we can not expect commitment from church people for Missions if they are not well educated about it."

We can not expect alone just struck me. The post was all about missions but I wasn't talking about foreign missions alone. I was talking of missions in the context that the gospel should manifest in our lives. In our thoughts, words, actions, faith... in everything. I know I may sound radical or call-it-whatever but I think every one who has surrendered their life to Jesus should very well know about missions. It is our responsibility. More appropriately, an obligation. We should expect commitment from church people.

Missions is not ultimate but bringing glory to His name is. Missions is a tool to bring glory to His name. When we live our life as He wants it to be and we bring lives to Him then it adds up to the glory He should receive.

"...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." ~ Philippians 2:10-11