Manila Bay Sunset Picture- taken 12/08/07

I took this yesterday using my cellphone camera (N70), from inside the car. We were turning left from Quirino Avenue going to Roxas Boulevard. That's why the picture is crooked.

All I can say is...tsamba! That's a Tagalog word that means it just happened to look nice somehow, considering the odd conditions when I took the picture. I guess the tint of the car acted like a filter that made the picture look the way it is. But I'm happy because I had a fraction of a second to take the picture with a not-so-high-tech cellphone camera (2 megapixels), and I got this.

Manila Bay sunsets are legendary and I'm happy to have taken a picture of a Manila Bay sunset.

A Sunset Photo - taken in the US in May 2006

I took this from inside a car. It was taken on May 6, 2006. Place: somewhere in New Jersey

I've always loved taking pictures of sunsets. I read a poster before that said, "Sunsets are God's signature at the end of the day." They are His handiwork indeed! He made the sun!

This post is in response to a tag from my sister, who has a blog on wordpress, Pinay Megamom.

This is her post where she tagged me:

It’s official: based on clamor from fellow bloggers, I am starting a photo tag. Show me your sunsets! Or your sunrise, whichever the case may be. It has to be a photo you took. Include a brief description of where it was, and how it made you feel watching that sunset/sunrise.

I am tagging Keng, Nap, Tina, Julie, Jong, Geri, Lovelyn, Analyse, Christianne and Lissa.
I am hoping that most of you will have something to share. If not, take out that camera and take photos. At least you will be forced to enjoy the fleeting view, even if only for a few moments.

Jesus didn't want fans, but disciples

Are we part of the crowd? Are we just those who just want to hang around Jesus without being a disciple? Do we just admire Jesus but don't consider Him as God? Do we just admire Jesus but don't intend to let His will be done in our life? As K.P. Yohannan, author of "Revolution in World Missions" said, "Jesus didn't want fans, but disciples."

Luke 14:25-33
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters-- yes, even his own life-- he cannot be my disciple.
27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

If we decide to make Jesus the Lord of our life, we should mean it. Christianity should not be a "phase" in our lives. The Lordship of Jesus must be complete. His Lordship in our life must be to our last breathing moment on earth. When we ask Jesus to be Lord in our life, we must intend to let everything come under His Lordship. We must not "cordon off" parts of our life as "off limits" to God. That is not Lordship. How do I know this? I used to live like that. I did not let God have His will done in a part of my life. He didn't have complete Lordship. And that rebellion brought me to the worst crises in my life.

28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?
29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.


It' s all or nothing. We should not ask Jesus to be our Lord and Savior if we don't intend to let everything come under His lordship. We will be like the fellow who began top build but did not finish.

31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?
32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.
33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

Like the king, we must sit down and consider- do we really mean it to make Jesus the Lord of our life? Are we willing to give up everything in surrender to God? Do we consider Him the most important of all? Do we love Him over everything? Do we love Him more than anyone? Do we love Him more than life? Do we love Him more than our reputation? Do we love Him more than our careers?

The Lordship of Jesus must be radical or it isn't Lordship.

How to Prevent Depression at Christmastime

1) Don't focus on what you get. Don't let your worth or happiness be attached to what you get.

Luke 12:15 Then He said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

2) Don't just think about God on Christmas Day then forget Him the rest of the year. Think about God everyday of the year. Worship Him continually. Listen diligently and follow His voice all year round.


Deuteronomy 8:11 Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Ps 63:6 On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.

3)Don't think about what you don't have.


Matt hew6:25,28-29, 31-32
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?... "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these... So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.

4)Don't covet things. Covet means to be so consumed by a thing that it occupies all your thoughts and all you want is to get that thing to make you happy.

James 4:2-3 You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.


5) Don't just be generous at Christmas then be stingy and miserly the rest of the year.


Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Romans 12:13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

How A Pineapple Plant Looks Like

when you plant a pineapple top, after 7 months, this is how the pineapple plant looks like. this is in the garden of my parents' home.

when you buy pineapples, choose the pineapples with the lush, green, long, healthy-looking leaves. The middle or center leaves have to be particularly healthy because they are the newest leaves and they are a determinant of the health of the pineapple top as a plant.

when you cut off the top from the fruit part, leave an inch or so of the pulp/fruit part together with the top. don't cut at the base or the stem of the pineapple top, you will render useless the pineapple top as a plant. the cut part of the fruit is where the roots will grow. you can plant the pineapple top a day or two after you remove it from the fruit. you can place it in the soil of your garden or in a pot. but it has to be planted in the soil because it becomes a really big plant.

His Grace Is Enough

2 Corinthians 12:7-10
To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh,
a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

The grace of the Lord is sufficient for me. The woman with the issue of blood--did she have to touch the Lord's sleeves and neckline and waistline to receive power and healing from God? No--the hem of His garment was enough.

When you have nothing else to rely on in this world but God's grace, then you truly understand that His grace is enough. His grace is sufficient. All the other things the world longs for and reveres are all inconsequential.

More Tagaytay Pix

My friend took this picture from the terrace of the Mont-Aire Condominium in Tagaytay where we had our retreat last Nov. 12-13.

Taal Volcano