2012 Here we Go!

25 days late but it's always better than nothing right? right. Anyway, this is just a post of what's to come. A new blog is up and coming and will probably do a blog regarding that on that blog. I'm trying to keep things up and opinionated here.

It's hard to leave this blog who's been running since 2004. I'll try to keep this going as my own personal blog.

Anyway, I'll just keep this short, and have this post up to say hi.

Up Next:
1. Blog Constructions
2. Legacy Games and Brotherly Bonding
3. Good old rants maybe?
4. The New Year Plan
5. Books books and books (an end of 2011 post)

What is your Shield?

Ned produced Robert's letter. "Lord Varys, be so kind as to show this to my lady of Lannister."

The eunuch carried the letter to Cersei. The queen glanced at the words. "Protector of the Realm," she read. "Is this meant to be your shield, my lord? A piece of paper?" She ripped the letter in half, ripped the halves in quarters, and let the pieces flutter to the floor.

-excerpt from A Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin

Ned ended getting the bad side of the deal. He banked on the words that King Robert wrote before his death and thought that words on paper was enough to become the Lord Protector of the Realm. Unfortunately, Queen Cersei had a greater hold on the throne, she had Joffrey, the Kings son, and rightful heir to the throne.

Cersei's question to Ned before she ripped Robert's last requests was the very inspiration of this blog. Is this meant to be your shield, my lord?


Being a Christian, it has always been a question of mine if I really am one. There are countless times where I see myself down on the ground limping because of my sin compared to the times wherein I'm comfortable standing and banking on the righteous deeds that I have just done. Where could I base my Christianity? Where could I firmly hold my belief, even through the life I live, that I am indeed a Christian? Do I have that piece of paper that would say that yes, I am in good standing and, figuratively speaking, rightfully able to claim that place? Or do I have that same assurance, like Queen Cersei had, that no matter what happens, through blood and the hierarchy of their family that Joffrey, and not Ned would rule? What is my shield?

I want to share my thoughts from my journal regarding this matter. I want to share with you the thoughts that I've wrestled with and what I've thought to be my shield and my conclusion.

On the Question of Innocents Suffering

9/22/2011 News has been buzzing about Troy Davis, a man convicted of man slaughter and was sentenced to death. The buzz about Troy Davis is that 7 of the 9 witnesses that testified against Davis already recanted their statements saying that they were pressured to place the blame on Davis.

None of it matters now as Troy Anthony Davis already served his sentence.

There were last ditch efforts to prove the mans innocence and they were all denied by their Supreme Court and his sentence was ordered to be served.

We'll never truly know if Troy Davis was really guilty of the charge that was slapped on him, but none of this stopped my grandma, who was with me while I was watching CNN, to ask the question, what happens to the judges and the people that served the sentence?

DJ Ponders: On Axiousness

Among all the feelings that I get to feel daily, this is one of the most constant ones. And being the person that usually over analyzes things and tend to look through the window of tomorrow, this feeling doesn't really help at all when reality slaps me silly and brings me back to the present time.

I get to do a lot of planning my future. And lately, I've been working on this certain step that I would want to happen soon. The most current one and the one that causes my fingers to run out of nails, is my wanting to move to a different country, and boy has it toyed with me for quite some time now.

To be honest, this particular desire of mine to move and find a job there drives me crazy. And what's more crazy is that it's just a month since I was there and finally decided to work on the move.

On Freedom and Constraints

This morning, on the way to work, I've been listening to Tim Keller's preaching about Absolutism.
Few of the things that I've picked up was regarding freedom and constraint. And here some of  my thoughts about it...

"Freedom to do the things that we like would be our own constraint to do the things that would honor God.
But being given the constraints to do the things that we would love to do would be the freedom to do the things that would honor God."

For a Christian, being barred and constrained to do the things that would mar us for eternity, is freedom.
For the reprobate, the freedom to do the things that they love to do is their own constraint for eternal salvation.

So when you actually think about it, there really is no such thing as "freedom". We're only free to do the things we love to do as the same as we being constrained from the things that we love to do.

So in conclusion to this thought, the true delight and satisfaction that we receive from the love of Jesus Christ that was portrayed on the cross and on the life that one Christian lives out is the freedom that a Christian would love and truly enjoy. Loving the cares of this world would never be seen as a constraint in a Christian's life but him being free to thinking that it's a constraint is the true freedom that he'll enjoy. That is part of the freedom that Christ gave through the cross.

A Year After

March 6, 2010.

It was a night that wasn't like any other nights that I've experienced before. It did start out pretty normal, but I never knew what was going to happen that night. I already have marked and tagged myself as a version 2.0 of  me. Little did I know I will become indeed a version 2 of me.

You see, March 6, 2010 was the night I have felt something that I've never felt before. It was the night that I cried out and sought Jesus like I never did before. It was the night that He changed my heart. And today marks the very first year since that night.

The verse you see in the picture is the very verse that God has told me to turn to when I get home.

"He began to be in need." is the very verse that showed up when I turned to this verse. The very thing that I was feeling that night that made me turn to something that I have tried to avoid for months. I began to feel in need, and that very moment I turned to prayer. A prayer that made me ask God to show me square 1. And that He did.

I celebrate today with joy and gratefulness in my heart for it is the very day that God have surgically replaced my heart. Truly, that day, I became the version 2 of myself. No longer cold, far and rebellious against God but one that runs towards Him and totally depends on Him on all things.

Now, a year after, I'm still at awe at that very day that I received the joy of my salvation. I don't think no other experience could ever top that. It was the very day that made me just hold on to my bible and not let go of it. And to think, hours before that, opening and reading from it was something that I would have an allergic reaction to. I can't explain the whole feeling of it, but to sum it up, that night truly was refreshing. That night, I would say, I was born again.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit" - John 3:5-8 (ESV)

I thank you Jesus for that very day when you came into my life and replaced my heart. I thank you for this new heart, this new life that you have granted me, one that I do not deserve. I know, from my previous actions that I deserve being forsaken by someone as awesome as you, yet you gave me this new heart that is able to see and recognize what you've done to the cross and eventually get into this relationship with you. Get into this very thing where in I would be able to experience the awesomeness that you are. Oh, my mouth that once sputtered filthy words that came from my heart is now replaced with repentance and praise of your Holy name. May I have more of you and less of me as I celebrate this day. I have nothing but love for the one who has given me Love. With my life, I pray that I'll forever give you praise, this I ask through Your Son, Jesus...

Amen.

The Edge of Twenty Five

Twenty five has been a blast, and as I'm hours away from bidding it farewell, I'd want to continue on with tradition. Every year, I find myself recalling bits and pieces and mostly just writing about the year that was, this year, I might be left to write a novel as my 25th year is nothing more but a BLAST!

First I wanna start things off with this verse...

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17 (ESV)

My 25th year couldn't have started with a surgery. God gave me a new heart (Ezk 36:26) and that is the most awesome gift anyone could ever have. A heart that recognizes God and repents for the things that it has done. I've gone from not knowing anything of the Bible for 24 years being a human being and 8 more years being a Christian, to I can probably tell you everything about Paul's letter to the Romans. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bragging, it's just that I fell toooooo in love with reading and getting to know of Jesus, it just happened.

Reading was one of the biggest turn around this year. "I'd prefer moving pictures" is what I usually say, but I think I spent a fortune building a library of books about God. I could never stop myself from reading these books! I don't know if it's an obsession, but I just couldn't stop knowing of God and wanting to know more about Him. And this... this very desire is the one that I'm most thankful of. By myself? I don't know if I could've done that turnaround myself. The very desire to know of Him, the desire to read, and mostly the desire to repent and get back on track running towards him is something of Him. God I thank you for all of these things and I want to give credit to none other but you for the life that you've given me this past year. It was surely something to write about and something to brag about. And I'm just about to start to blog about this year.

I also thank you Jesus for the new office that you've placed me. It's not because I didn't want to leave the old one, but I guess He really wanted me to leave the old company that I worked with. I'm also thankful to them for the opportunity, and trust, that they gave someone like me. And because of them, I grew professionally and was able to land on the job that I'm working on. It even had a funny story along with it, I think none of my experiences really made me land the job, but one conversation with my boss, he told me specifically that he really wanted to hire me because I was a Christian. During the interview, they were asking me about what kind of leadership skills I got, and as I was running out of experiences to share, then came my experience in leading young guys to the Lord. And so I told myself, what the heck, I'll just blurt it out, I'm leading a life group and part of the youth leadership in our church. This is what I shared during my job interview, and I am surprised that this is what sealed the deal. Big props to you Big G! Now I'm enjoying being busy and doing all these things for the Lord. I've never thought I'd be happy being busy hah!

I thank you Jesus for a renewed and strengthened relationship with my family. Along with God's heart surgery is the sucking out the pride in me. I've walked long enough to think I've got it all together and I am above all things, but throughout this year, experiences and situations lead me to know this. I am nothing apart from Christ (Jn 15:5). I pray that I've been more of a blessing than a scorn to their flesh. I thank God for them, all of them, if not for them I wouldn't be any close to who I am right now. All the love and discipline that I've received from them has truly did its job. God in his ultimate wisdom knew where to place me. I love you guys! :)

Friends, what would I be and where would I be without you guys. I have nothing but love and gratefulness for you guys. You helped me stay together when I was crumbling and helped me stay grounded when I was all high and lofty. You're the awesomest friends anyone could ever have. I thank God in my prayers for you guys, each and every night. You guys are more than a blessing to me and my walk. It's been awesome being your big brother throughout this year and I hope to be more of a blessing to you guys in return. I know we haven't been seeing each other and never been complete together in one day, but I hope that we'd get to hang out like before. You know who you are.

And to you...

I literally have no words to express how grateful I am for you. You're the very proof that God does indeed know my heart more than I do. I can never ask for anyone else. To save the public from cheese, I think it's heatlhy that I'd just email you personally these things. But thank you for a wonderful year and more wonderful years to come. You're truly a blessing to me and surprisingly to my friends as well. :*

I just can't put into words how wonderful this year has been. All I could do is lift my hands in praise and gratefulness to the King that has made sure that all things would work together for His praise. Another lost sheep found, another lost son was brought back home. I thank You for everything.

On to the next one...
26 here I come