Daily Planet

Leadership is all about servanthood. I believe everybody knows that. But why is it when we are given a task, most of the time we depend our response by considering first if it would affect our comfort zones?!

Given the opportunity to lead means taking up bigger responsibilities – it is not just about serving; it is more to a call of loving. Loving what you are doing and loving the people that God has given you regardless of anything and everything.

Not easy, definitely! But this is a challenge offered to us as anointed people of God. Serving the Lord and His people, meaning, our brethren should always be perceived and taken as a privilege not as an obligation.

Headship or leadership hones our spiritual maturity. It molds us to be stronger in faith and holds us firmly on our Christian values. Being a leader is not just about enjoying the fame of being called one or savoring the recognition of being hailed. There’s more to that!

Leadership calls for deeper service, of finding time to still do the things assigned to you despite of any given variables in life, moreover, still finding the happiness in doing so.

Service should not rely on our human feelings. We do not serve only when we are free or only when we just feel like to. The zeal for service should be drawn from our faith that comes from within, the faith that connects us with God and allows us to be one in continuing His mission here on earth.

Complaints have no room in service. All must have this principle that if you won’t do it, no one else will. One must take the lead. We should be accountable of each other especially with our co-workers in God’s vineyard. We should give love all the time and give support when it is needed – more action, less talk.

Unity amidst diversity – in spite of our unique differences we should always find oneness since we are one body in Christ.

Spiritual growth is not measured how many times you have been given a task, may it be being a team leader, may it be being a speaker, emcee, sharer… it is felt when you can still say Yes and really mean it and being able to find and share the joy brought about by service to God through our brethren.

God has given us unique talents and it is but right to offer them all back to Him. Serving doesn’t constitute building your own kingdom, serving should not just satisfy you; serving should fulfill you giving you a sense of contentment that only comes from God.

Everyone is called to servanthood, God is raising His army and we are all called to lead them – it might now be now but it is soon. Be prepared to say Yes and He will equip you with the power and might of the Holy Spirit.

In whatever form of service we are doing let us always put in our hearts that it is all for God’s greater glory, only then we can find peace and joy in serving! As Rick Warren has said in his book, “We are born and shaped to serve the Lord.” Let us live with this purpose and not just be satisfied in what we are doing now. Find the joy in service and grow in faith by serving God and His people.

God bless you all!

Bro. Ryan J

When was the last time i celebrated christmas in the philippine soil? i believe this year would be the 4th time i’ll be spending it away from home… coz back in 2002, when i finished my first year at work, i got the privilege to celebrate it with my family…after that i usually have my annual leave during the months of February…

Anywayz, all my christmas days in dubai were extremely memorable coz i get to celebrate it with my God’s Greatest Gift, bing as well as my family here: tito mar, tita lolit, maru, marlo, dylan & benay… christmas is such as special family day, tita lolit would cook the best dish and we’ll all eat together as one family together with the closest friends we have here.

This year, its kinda different…simply because the most important woman in my life is not here, Bing is celebrating the holidays with her family in the Philippines… though, I’m really missing her so much…I don’t want to sound so selfish for I know that she is very much happy being with her family this time of the year. (This will be her last Christmas as Ms. Bolasoc, next year she’ll be Mrs. Connie Fajardo) J

Every night I’m thinking how to make my days happy having the thought that bing is thousands of miles away. I don’t why I terribly miss her, been calling her every now and then and by just hearing her voice over the phone makes me feel oh so fine! Though it’ll just be 21 days and we’re on the 5^th day today, I still can’t help but look at the calendar wishing that days would just run swiftly.

But God is really good, at least I still have my family here to enjoy this special day with them. Dylan my cousin simply makes everything wonderful whenever I got home from the office. He simply eases my stress and his presence comforts me especially with bing’s absence lately. Dylan has been the joy of my life. He’s more than a cousin, he’s like my baby brother.

And so, surviving Christmas wouldn’t be that hard, coz I am blessed with a family here in

dubai

to share it with. Though this Christmas wouldn’t really be the same coz bing is not around, I guess I just have to count my blessings and enjoy it with my loved ones here. (Like Maru, has said, starting next year, I would be spending all the Christmases of my entire life with Bing!)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

today marks another memorable date as my 1st ever radio campaign for virgin megastore Spin to Win promo hit the airwaves of the whole UAE.

it is just another way of utilizing my God-given creative talent to the fullest. to all my friends who had the chance to listen to it and for all your affirming messages, thank you very much!

i’m just glad to share my happiness with you guys! hopefully a TV commercial will be on the way!

Cheers!

(i’ve attached the print ad that we did)

having so many friends gives us so much joy but having TRUE friends is certainly very much rewarding.

i can still recall one of my conversations with my cousin  maru…finding true friends nowadays is really hard…we both agreed that our longtime friends are really worth keeping because no matter how far you are from each other there’s that special bonding that even distance cannot break it apart.

yesterday, i had the chance to bond with my one dear friend, LETH. when she told me that she’s coming over to dubai, i was really excited. leth is such a beautiful person inside out! our friendship goes a long way back from the quadrangles of SJA to the UTMT of PLM. she knows me by heart, one person i can be honest with aside from BING! (love u, mahal).

leth is never judgmental. she is very open-minded, minsan iniisip ko lalaki din sya ksi she understands us (D BOYS) in a very unique way. basta im so blessed to have her in my life. she’s more than a friend to me, she’s like my sister!

thanks for always being there for me through the years. for being honest to me and for not being afraid to tell me that i’m wrong or that what i’m doing would not lead to anything positive. thank you for allowing me to be myself, tolerating my kakulitan & kayabangan hahaha…wish you and Jason a blissful life together…SOON! thank you for being very supportive and for loving BING the same way you love me!

like what i’ve said before, nothing can break our friendship no matter what. wherever life takes us, we will still be there for each other…

Friends For Life!

i just can’t help but be amazed on how God builds and strengthens relationship among his servants?

about 2 years ago, i was asked to serve my own household group in the Singles for Christ. i can still remember tito roger and tita lanie our unit heads back then talking to me telling me that they have discerned me to be a household head, without hesitation, i answered YES to them for i know that it was God who called me. since i was serving in the youth, i have always have this passion to serve people.

so after 3 months of being a facilitator, the Lord’s Day celebration came, it was time to announce the household groupings. i was so excited coz in a way i have already established a connection with them.

as they all say in the community, who would ever forget your 1st household group?! our household was composed of myself, andrew, donzky, dondon, felix, jeff, junjie, mon, ruben, & willie…

who would forget our first household at my aunt’s house… i was so inspired by their sharing, how we unfolded and revealed our souls as real men of Christ. we have also passed some difficult times together, we had our ups and downs and even had personal conflicts but with the support from one another and the guidance of the Lord we became victorious!

time really flies so fast, mon moved to the Servants, while willie & andrew became perfect husbands to their respective wives, junjie moved to dubai and has also become a household leader, felix was trasnferred to abu dhabi, jeff settled to a new job in the philippines, ruben pursued his career in the maritime industry and recently, dondon flew to canada for better opportunities and just last night, donzky texted me that he received an offered in UK and now he’s there happy with his new job…

about me, i have finally moved in to a new company as well, still in the line of advertising, a field of communication where i really belong. i am now contented and very much happy with my work for it gives me the satisfaction and growth that I’ve been seeking in my career.

and by next year, i will also be moving on to the next chapter of my life as i start my own Christian family with my God’s Greatest Gift, BING!

the Lord has certainly blessed each one of us according to His plans for us!

what really urge me to write this realization is the fact that no matter how far you are from one another, no matter how long you have not seen each other, the bond and that certain connection that God has implanted to us as brothers in Christ will definitely keep us together in spirit.

i am extremely happy to know that even though everyone has moved on, living our own lives, the friendship is still alive, the communication lines are still open, the love and respect is till there, greater more than ever.

to all of you my brothers in Christ, you have certainly touched my life and inspired me more to serve God’s people. i do hope to we all continue to take part in building God’s Kingdom, making this earth a heavenly place to live in!

I will forever be grateful to God for allowing me to serve such men of faith. I believe that wherever life takes us we’ will always have each others as brothers beyond borders!

Godspeed!

just got a great news from my colleague kris who is one of our graphic desingers, he told me that we’ll be doing the promotions for the upcoming Black Eyed Peas concert here in dubai, that means, i get to do their Press Releases…cool, ryt?! friends just read on the newspapers hahahaha… hopefully we’ll get backstage passes as well during the concert and eventually meet our kababayan allan pineda! proud to be pinoy!

just want to share somethings…i recently started on my new job as a senior copywriter in an advertising firm  here in dubai. after a month of searching, i finally landed on this cool company known as b-marketing. we are doing advertising, media campaigns and events management. it’s exactly my 5th day in the office. there are like 11 or 12 different nationalities in our office: bristish, syrian, lebanese, filipino, egyptian, south african, russian, indian, jordanian, etc… what is amazing about our company is that, majority of us are young so we understand each other well. we gel together, we respect each other and we really enjoy working as a team! though its just my first week, i know that i would really grow profesionally with my new teammates.

i really can’t help but thank God for His generosity. i know that this blessing is really from Him, he allowed everything to happen for a reason. just yesterday, my proposal for the procter & gamble press launch was approved by the client, i was so happy that i really called bing to share it with here and guess what this afternoon, my british art director, Andrew, complimented my work for the Nokia print ad proposal, it really feels great whenever somebody aprreciates your effort. when he told me that i’ve made a great tagline and lead for that promotion, all i can say was that God is really good, thank you Lord! i know that everyday He is guiding me, He allows me to become more productive in my career. God is really a faithful God and with that i will forever be grateful to Him.