So proud of these students for mounting the Life Legacy Banquet. They all worked together, each batch with their own assignments and executed the event beautifully! I’m grateful to have journeyed with you through the etiquette and self-presentation sessions. 🙂
Tag: youth
HAS ANYBODY HATED YOU FOR NO REASON?
This made me reflect. Often, when we encounter something like this, we think “Yes! Somebody hates me but I don’t know why he/she hates me!” then I realized, we have to ask ourselves too:
“Have I hated on somebody for no apparent reason? Like they haven’t really done anything to me nor harmed me, but I hate them?” Hah. The answer wasn’t surprising for me: Yes, many times.
Why do we have the tendency to hate on some people even if they haven’t done anything to us directly? Sometimes these people don’t even know us or have a relationship with us.
“I hate him because he’s annoying.”
“I hate her because she’s such a loudmouth.”
We can come up with a million reasons but we have to get to the root of things—WHAT FUELS THE HATE? Hate is also such a strong word but sometimes when we don’t guard our hearts, a simple dislike could grow into full-blown hatred.
When I recently came across a crass celebrity, I admit I got miffed and some of you my dear friends, have seen me express my utter distaste for her behavior.
But I thought to myself—this girl doesn’t know me. Even if I told her that she has such crass behavior, would she actually listen? Would she take my advice? Maybe not, because we are not friends. Also, even if she goes on with that behavior—that is her issue. She is accountable for that. Will it affect me? Will it impede my daily living? The answer is no. So yeah. I may have been annoyed by her but I had to catch myself quick so it would not cross over to hatred.
What fuels hatred for others? Let us search our hearts.
Is it envy?
Oh the green-eyed monster. Envy can oftentimes lead us to be highly critical of those who have what we think we deserve. Instead of being happy for them, displeasure breeds and it can progress into a desire to destroy them.
“It’s unfair. I deserve what they have! I deserve the life they’re living.”
“They don’t deserve to be happy.”
Take time to ask yourself today: If I don’t like the thought of someone HATING ME for no reason, have I at any point also HATED ON SOMEONE for no reason? Why do I hate them? What is the underlying issue? What do I need to change about myself?
Now if you find yourself on the receiving end of seemingly unwarranted hatred, search your heart as well.
“Is there a valid reason for the person to hate me? Is it something we can talk about?”
“Have I directly and intentionally hurt the person to illicit a response like that?”
If you don’t know the person and you know in your heart that you didn’t intentionally hurt him/her, if the person still hates you, then let the Lord deal with them. Pray that the Lord would enlighten and convict them, bringing to the surface deep-seated issues such as envy and insecurity.
James 3:14-16
14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Proverbs 14:30
A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
Have a great day, friends!
GOD WROTE OUR LOVE STORY
So for the first time ever, I introduce you all to my boyfriend Dave! In this video we talk about our journey as we sought God, surrendering control and letting Him just write our story.
A lot of you are probably wondering: “Wasn’t she a #HappySingle? What made her get into a relationship?” I asked myself the same thing when I was discovering my feelings for Dave. I’ve come to a point in my single life wherein I was already okay with just me and God but sometime in 2016-2017, I opened myself up to the idea of relationships but struggled with it. In my head I was thinking: “Lord, okay… I’ll be open but I don’t want to be with someone who will hurt me. You know how I’m scarred by the stories of my friends when it comes to adultery, third parties/infidelity, etc.”
I was fearful. I held on to the single life like a shield until it became an idol in my heart, which God had to break. In 2014, prior to surrendering in the area of relationships to the Lord, one of the last entries I had in my prayer journal was for my God’s best. I forgot all about that prayer when I embraced being single for the Lord. When Dave laid down his intentions, I revisited my past prayer journals and came across THAT PRAYER. I teared up upon realizing that Dave was all of that and so much more. As our friendship deepened and as I got to spend more time with him, I saw how the Lord mindfully molded his character, skills and love for the Word. Wish I could say more but the videos below are here to explain everything. 🙂 Enjoy watching and God bless you!
*Special mention: Greenhills Christian Fellowship, Metro 9 and Balai Indang. :p
VLOG: THIS IS WHAT A FULL DAY IN CHURCH LOOKS LIKE
Saturday is usually ministry day for me, except if I have trips, workshops to attend/teach or events to host. Our leaders’ meeting for our Bible Study Fellowship evening women’s class in Ortigas is held Saturday mornings at 6:30. We prepare for class night, have separate leadership development sessions and we get to engage in God’s Word by sharing in the discussion questions and homiletics.
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
Thanks to GL Riva for the photos
*Thanks to my fellow GL Riva for taking and sharing these photos!
For this particular Saturday, we had our leaders’ fellowship (we do this once a month) so we had time to catch-up and enjoy delicious finger food. 🙂
Following immediately was the launch of S.H.E., the support group for single young professional women in GCF. We invited blogger, speaker and homeschooling advocate Joy Tan-chi Mendoza to speak. She happens to be the niece of Tita Mina, one of the core members of the GCF Ortigas Women’s Ministry team. She brought along all five of her children, who she says are always with her and Edric (her husband) whenever they have speaking engagements.
Joy spoke on Identity: The P’s of God’s Best Life for You (Colossians 3:1-17):
1) Know your Purpose
2) Obey His Principles
3) Order Your Priorities
4) Elevate Him with Your Pursuits and Passions
5) Discover His Pleasure and Peace
Sorry if the bullet points are bitin. I tried to take down notes but I was busy making sure the camera was running well and we were still within the allotted time. The ladies looked forward to the QandA session where Joy answered questions about singlehood, homeschooling her kids, growing up, her background, married life and faith. Watch the VLOG below for more!
After the launch, I had a bit of a break so I changed to more comfy clothes. Youth worship followed at 5pm and then we also had the Youth Leaders Mentoring Session facilitated by Kuya Ave Gaspar. He taught us how to use the Precepts material for our discipleship meetings. Precepts is in-depth Bible study which challenges you to delve deep into God’s Word without the use of commentaries. You focus only on the Bible and let it speak to you as you break down the passages and do word studies.
Kuya Ave Gaspar teaching us how to use the Precepts material for Bible study
I realized I’ve already written too much. 🙂 Go watch the VLOG below and make sure you SUBSCRIBE and give it a thumbs up! Thanks and God bless you!
CAMP LIVE DAY 1 VLOG | Happy Single
Camp season is on! A round up of the first day of GCF Camp Live high school edition. 😀 Go find yourselves in the vid, campers and fellow staff!
VLOG: A BUSTED HARD DRIVE AND FILES THAT REFUSE TO OPEN
Days before my One Gospel talk, my external hard drive got busted and I had to take it to the recovery center. While I was able to get my presentation together, my files refused to open even if I worked on a Mac and opened the same files on a Mac. It was stressful but I thank God that we were able to get the presentation to run on GUESS WHAT? A WINDOWS COMPUTER. Despite the tech challenges, it’s still very evident that God is always in control. The session still went on as planned and I’m happy to have served Him through this engagement.
One Gospel is a missions conference for youth and young adults. One Gospel movement emphasizes the Gospel – its centrality and the responsibility we have to spread the Good News of the Kingdom of God, both in our local and cross cultural contexts.
LAUSANNE DAY 3: CULTIVATING GOD’S WORD
We began our day with scripture exposition by Richard Chin, a Malaysian-born Chinese Australian who is the National Director of the Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students. This was followed by a 10-minute reflection with our connect groups, where we discussed application questions on the Character of God, Humanity’s Purpose and the Blessing of Creation.
Today we also had our first Leadership Panel featuring Kristina Alikhanyan (Lausanne Catalyst for Tentmaking and Postdoctoral Fellow at the DKFZ German Cancer Research Center), Ole-Magnus Olafsrud (Senior Coordinator for YLG2016) and Mutua Mahiaini (International President of the Navigators). If you look at their titles, you would be intimidated but I truly appreciated their transparency on the realities and challenges of leadership. Continue reading “LAUSANNE DAY 3: CULTIVATING GOD’S WORD”
YLG VLOG: REHEARSING THE SCRIPT
Welcome to my YLG VLOG! Catch David Benson’s morning plenary message, the Arts Team skit, the lively praise and worship, the Philippine YLG meet-up, State of the World report and evening plenary messages from Tracy Trinita, Nick Hall and Ravi Zacharias.
LAUSANNE DAY 2: ENTERING GOD’S STORY
Today we entered God’s Story, starting off the morning with a Bible exposition from David Benson. We then went off to meet with our Connect Group wherein our mentors shared their own life maps.
Molly Wall and Jason Mandryk spoke on the State of the World followed by the regional gathering. After dinner, we heard wonderful messages and testimonies from Tracy Trinita, Nick Hall and respected speaker and apologist, Ravi Zacharias.
Speaking Engagement at St. Mary’s School
It is such a delight for me to be able to speak to students, share my experiences and life lessons. What began as a prayer request years ago is coming into fruition. How the Lord continues to open these doors still astounds me. He may not have given me an instant answer, it did take years but I know that His timing is perfect. I believe the Lord has allowed me to learn more and grow my faith–whatever it is that I share to students is a product of the Lord’s constant training and refinement. Below is a video of my speaking engagement at St. Mary’s Meycauyan, Bulacan.
Ingrid Nieto-Pagulayan 
You must be logged in to post a comment.