I know, I know.
I’m not exactly the best blogger in the world.
I probably don’t know highfalutin words — like “highfalutin”.
But when you’ve got something to share, you just have to share it.
Normally I’d write a song but that would be a pretty long song, i mean take a gander (uyyy “gander” .. i used the thesaurus..) at this blog…BUT DONT BE INTIMIDATED BY THE LENGTH! hihi its gna be funfunfun! :D
I just came from the First day of IGNITE. It’s a Lifebox Campus Conference with a congregation of around 7,000 people just hungry to be set on fire by a passion directed by a purpose.
At first, I thought “Sar, take down lotsa notes then put them all in your blog!! IT WILL BE EPIC.” At that time it was the most brilliant idea ever. Then Pastor CJ said there’ll be pod casts available at Ignite.ph and so that light bulb of an idea started flickering off. (But do visit Ignite.ph :P)
On the way home on the awesome BUS1 of QC (yes, they provided buses for us. sweet noh? <3) we shared what we learned in IGNITE and all of the responses were either imma-pound-my-chest or imma-wipe-my-tear revelations.
There was one guy however, my friend Pat, who shared something significant that he learned in Ignite but not really in any of the preachings.
“One of my friends raised his hand for the first time to publicly show that he needs and wants Jesus in his life. I realized that my God is faithful.”
I totally understood what he meant. There are specific people that are responsible for all the scratches and bruises on our knees for the many hours we’ve knelt down and cried out to God that they might know Him and experience the joy of serving Him but it seems to take forever. God definitely used this conference to answer so many prayers like that. I look at my knees and smile. My God hears me.
It is because of Pat’s response that I’ve decided to blog with out looking at my notes but just remembering what pierced my heart the most.
…well maybe I’ll take a gander hihi..
THE PRE-CONFERENCE:
I went at the ENY FORT building 7am to support the QC music team because they were going to lead worship and so I had the chance to fall in love with the people of God as I watched them prepare for the event which started at 10am.
I learned that an event for the KING OF KINGS is an event that is ORGANIZED. I saw the people heading the pre-conference “SPARK” (cute isn’t it? :) ) and I saw the patience and love they displayed even as they reminded super excited and pumped up people that the doors would open 9am.
I learned that it is important to feed your volunteers!! They had bags full of egg Mcmuffins and boxes full of hot chocolate! <3 Later on, I also learned that the comfort room of the backstage was locked…
Yeah, they should really unlock that..
I saw that preparation isn’t just about the readiness of the program flow and the technical support or security, but it’s really about the preparation to experience the pure unadulterated glory God.
I was just so amazed when Pastor Joseph Bonifacio found out that Pastor Steve —The main preacher— wasn’t going to make it because his flight got delayed. I was there when he got the call. I studied his face and body language in expectation of some sort of disappointment or fear or panic, and after he put the phone down I thought he was going to let it all out with AT LEAST a big sigh and a “oh well, that’s life” kind of line. But to my surprise, he calmly tried calling other pastors to find out who could preach. :O (that’s a shocked face)
Trusting God is not easy if it’s your first time or second time (especially if you don’t KNOW who God is, you probably won’t trust Him) or maybe your 100th time? But when I saw Joe’s trust response on such a BIG DAY, I couldn’t help but think that Joe KNOWS who God is. Joe KNEW that God’s ways are just WAAAY higher than understanding. Joe’s probably trusted God for a long time now. Why? Then a whisper in my heart: God’s ways always proved to be better.
Now I don’t know what Pastor Steve was going to preach and I’m sure it was probably going to be an awesome one, but during that whole joe-not-making-dabog-or-throwing-a-fit moment, God moved and placed a word in the heart of Pastor Jojo Henson. I know right? kinikilig rin ako <3
Pastor Jojo approached Bishop Manny Carlos and shared a Word to him. Bishop Manny Carlos then told him that there was no preacher yet for Spark- Ignite Pre-conference and asked/assigned/told(? haha) him that he should preach.
So it begins! Pastor Ryan from the U-belt congregation preached first and I relearned how great the God I serve is. How when I view the world with Him in focus, I’ll realize that my limitations are IRRELEVANT. And how instead of trying to mimic other people’s miracles, I should imitate their faith in THE GOD OF ALL MIRACLES.
Pastor Jojo then preached and what a powerful preaching indeed :) It revolved mostly around 1Samuel 13&14. Am I the only one who feels super forgetful during preachings? I read 1&2 Samuel the latter part of last year and I don’t remember being as excited about these chapters. That’s probably why I was at SPARK. Thank You, Lord. :)
I highly recommend you to first read those chapters and then listen to the podcast -I HOPE THEY HAVE A PODCAST.
I don’t want to spoil a moment you can actually have that’s just YOU and GOD :)
I knowww “her first blog and she’s doing the ‘bitin’ move na? tsktsk”
But seriously. My prayer for you is that you will be with God heart and soul no matter what crazy(in our eyes) move He does. I pray that you will be able to experience getting out from underneath that pomegranate tree and see how God saves whether by many or by few.
Some of you wont understand what im saying kaya nga READ IT NAAA. :P
If you read this (and reached up to here) don’t tell me this was an accident and somehow ended up reaching until this part — pero if it’s cause of the way i built up the story and explained and blogged so awesomely tell me ha :”> HAHA I kid, I kid.
You probably thought that this blog would be worth your time and tried reading it. Whether you and ended up being disappointed or happy, I want to encourage you that this was not by chance.
I have soooo many points to make and this blog is my first blog back so im really sorry for the structure but i just want to end with: THERE IS A GOD. Whether you think so or not, THERE IS A GOD. And knowing Him is the best thing that ever happened to me and is continually happening to me. 7000 other people -at the least- agree with me. 7000 is pretty legit, yo.
So think about it, when was the last time you opened up that dusty book in the corner of your shelf?
Or maybe it’s the shiny book that’s soo holy, you don’t want to touch it?
Just try it.
Try mo lang please.
Ayan na, ttry na niya :>
God loves you.
And that’s why you read this blog.
God loves you. :)
My knees, the may go black and blue
But it’s worth it cause He will come through
One day You’ll realize it too
Know Him,
Love Him,
He’s the only Truth.
I love You and you! :)
<3prinsesabu
PS. I’ll try to write about day 1 tomorrow :) Here’s a picture from the site (Ignite.ph) of His beautiful church :D
