BarlowGirl’s I Need You to Love Me is one of my favorite Christian songs of all time. A song that sings of repentance, of forgiveness, of God’s unrequited love for us, BarlowGirl’s I Need You to Love Me is a great song to use when singing to God this Good Friday.

Lyrics of I Need You to Love Me by BarlowGirl after the jump. Read more

Israel Houghton’s I Will Search is more than a year old, but it’s only found its way to my playlist now. The Grammy Award-winning gospel vocalist and his group New Breed have another home run with this worshipful ballad. I am extremely excited for those seeking new songs to use for their churches; I Will Search is decidedly made for church use. (Lower it from E to C, though; popped throats throughout church trying to reach Israel’s notes aren’t pretty.)

Lyrics after the jump. Read more

I just heard Kitchie Nadal’s Highway on the radio. The first single off her sophomore solo studio album, Love Letter, Highway is a daring single choice in which she clearly sings of her faith.

I was absolutely blown away by the lyrics of Nadal’s Highway. Choice lines that I clearly remember include You are the highway, you are the way, the truth, the life… You can’t get more Christian than that, and I applaud Kitchie, Roca Cruz, her manager, and Belive Artists/WOW Distribution for taking a brave, courageous stand with this carrier single.

Album launch of Kitchie Nadal’s Love Letter is tentatively set for April 11. Come on, believers, get a copy of Kitchie’s new album and support original Filipino (Christian) music.

Update: I just got off the phone with Roca. She’ll send me Kitchie Nadal’s Highway lyrics on Monday. So if you’re looking for the lyrics to Highway, please come back next week. I hope I can also stream Highway on my website; will keep you posted on that.

Update 2: Click here to listen to Kitchie Nadal Highway mp3 or Kitchie Nadal Highway lyrics.

… and it sucks that he’s not going to get justice. The HIV-positive Australian, a former lover of a Manila high-society denizen, has gone online and started a blog to shame - some would say blackmail - said denizen into giving him the US$70,000 that he claims the latter stole from him.

Cathy thinks that Brian’s never getting his money back: if high-society denizen were to pay him back, it would be tantamount to admitting that he stole the money, and since his reputation has already been tarnished - beyond repair? In this country? Don’t bet on it! - and he’s sought legal assistance, the odds are the high-society denizen is not going down without a fight.

Meanwhile, Manila - myself included - continues to keep track of the unfolding saga. Will Brian get his money back? Will more of said high-society denizen’s shrinking circle of friends be mentioned - attacked? ravaged? - in Brian’s blog? It’s gotten so interesting that the Philippine blogosphere didn’t even notice Malu Fernandez is back.

According to this article, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim will not lift a finger to help his 44-year-old son Manuel, who was busted last Friday for trying to sell shabu to an undercover agent.

He refused to answer questions about the arrest, but when asked if he had called his father, he said: “No, I did not bother. I knew he himself would arrest and charge me.”

I am encouraged by Mayor Lim’s sticking to his “The law applies to all, or not at all” credo. His son commits a crime, is caught, and will be held accountable for that crime. No padrino or nepotism system, no one exempt from the law if one tries to make our society worse off.

If only that law and steadfast adherence to one’s values were applicable to all public servants. *sigh*

Avinash Kaushik blogs about what it’s like to work at Google, and anyone who’s ever worked for the IT industry would be hard-pressed not to gnash their teeth in envy. (link courtesy of a Twitter post from Migs)

As someone who left the IT industry to work for Victory Fort Bonifacio, a God-honoring, disciple-making church in Makati, I have received my fair share of questions as to why I would leave a relatively lucrative career for ‘the ministry.’ It is no surprise. However, I think working for Google and working for God have quite a number of things in common.

10. The amazingly fantastic food and impressive digs. A self-confessed “Taco Bell gourmet,” Kaushik says Google’s various restaurants serve up some of the best food he’s ever had. Over at the church in Makati, I have access to some of the best home-cooked Filipino-style meals, including unbelievable beefsteak and laing. As for ‘impressive digs,’ well, I am privileged and honored to be working in a place that speaks truth: Our God is a God of excellence, and He deserves the best. How will people ever believe our God is a God who blesses and prospers if our facilities do not reflect His capacity to bless?

9. Micro Efficiencies. Google offers its employees clever “micro efficiencies” that make life easier; added up, these result in higher productivity. Over at our church, the “micro efficiencies” come with proper communication. The objective is to honor God; serving Him in an efficient and cost-efficient manner blesses the church.

8. A company that truly cares. Yes, Victory Fort cares for me. I understood this Day One when the head of my department spent time with me teaching me how to figure out TextBlast. I understood this when, at the staff meeting, I watched all these magnificent men of God brainstorm on their latest series (which’ll be phenomenal, mind you). I understood this when I logged out of work yesterday at 6PM because I rushed some last-minute collateral to the printers, and, upon returning, another pastor played a practical joke on me - and I loved it because it was just so deliciously nasty. I love this church!

7. Brain expansion opportunities. At Victory Fort, one doesn’t just get brain expansion opportunities. One gets the rare opportunity to participate in the illumination of the Word of God.

6. The sheer amount of brilliant Google employees. I have been to two staff meetings so far. I stand witness to the brilliance of the men and women of God. From brainstorming on creative ways to get God’s message across to the frequent wisecracks - often at the gentle expense of another pastor in the room - I stand (currently silent) witness to how these people throw their hearts and souls into their service of the Lord.

5. Empowerment (The big small company). The culture at this church in Makati is quite simple: you have the freedom to speak up. Everyone has a two cents, and is given their opportunity to share their two cents. The Toyota way - where someone has the right to shut down production if something isn’t quite so - is embraced in principle here, methinks, and I think people appreciate that empowering spirit.

4. The scale of your impact. What can be more rewarding than knowing one is helping in building one’s relationship with God in a variety of ways to thousands of people? This job is arguably the most rewarding I’ve ever had in my more than a decade of full-time employment.

3. Doing Good. Um, see number four. Ha ha ha. Victory’s social and civic duties extend far and wide. The kind of support it renders the people who attend its services helps fill in a great need for the majority of those people. Aside from wedding, funeral and dedication services, our church in Makati also assists with scholarship programs, mentoring, and many other programs to really live up to the ‘Honor God, Make Disciples’ credo.

2. It’s a happening place. The energy, the vibe, the passion. Every day, I report to work and I see this fire in the eyes of the people at the ENLI Building. There is an excitement, there is a vision, there is a purpose, to which all people are working, and that vision is something that they hold very deeply and closely to their hearts. I think at the end of the day, that’s the big secret: we love what we do because we love Who we’re doing it for. When you’re motivated by love, there’s nothing you cannot accomplish.

1. The brand. Our brand has stuck around for more than 2,000 years. Our manual is the best-selling book of all time, translated into countless languages, and timeless beyond the shadow of a doubt. Billions of people throughout history have solid testimonies regarding our brand, and we believe one day, the world will be changed by the brand.

So I’ve completed my first week as Communications Officer at Victory Christian Fellowship - Fort Bonifacio, a thriving Philippine church at which I serve. The first week wasn’t easy - adjustment never is - but the men and women with whom I serve have made it so incredibly easy.

After all the gloom and doom of the past three weeks, getting over Jay and Sandy’s deaths, adjusting to a new job, dealing with a strangely high amount of weight gain, and basically feeling all blah, there’s nothing like diving into God-work feet first to get your mind off everything.

I also hold firm to a promise, sent to me months ago by Diane Sipin, a lovely Fort friend whose acquaintance I look forward to making again, now that I’m serving at the Fort: “Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out… God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.” (Rom 12:2, The Message)

After two and a half years in the industry, I’m getting used to a new culture. As I type this, I’m seated at a comfy couch at the Burger King Mall of Asia, where there is free WiFi and delicious Cheesy Tots! (Hash browns with cheddar and mozzarella stuffing. No wonder I’m gaining weight.) It’s my rest day, and I’ve chosen to spend it with some quality “me” time at the Mall of Asia while I cover my wife in prayer for an extra-big day at work today. Air-conditioning, free WiFi, a nice cold soda, cheesy tots… I could so get used to this! Hahaha!

They say ministry is a 24-7 job, and while I’d like to believe that isn’t true, I’m certainly doing it right now. I’ve spent the past hour creating new content for the Victory Fort Bonifacio website, uploading photos onto the Multiply website of the church in Makati, and finalizing an initial proposal for the Communications Ministry volunteers’ team. (I’m honestly stoked for this team! There are so many amazing people on it, and I can’t wait to get started making amazing things for God with them.) My absolute genius colleague JayJay completed this sicksicksick video for the CSI Jerusalem series, and we’re gonna do even more awesome things by the time we’re through.

It’s supposed to be a rest day, and you know what? It is. This is my rest. I am enjoying what I’m doing, 100%, and I can’t believe I’m here! Lounging around on a Monday, doing work for God, getting some quality “me” time and just waiting for Cathy to have amazing news when I meet up with her later.

The downside, technically, is I’m not with Nathan or Nicki, but you know what? There will be many more Mondays (and Thursdays, ideally, my other rest day, since Saturdays and Sundays are workdays for me), and I know I’ll have time to spend with them. Today, it’s getting back to me.

Once I’m done with these materials, I’ll watch either The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Ant Bully or Beowulf at the IMax Theater. I’ll go around the MOA and probably pick up a laptop bag before I do the groceries.

Laptop bag?

Oh, yeah, Victory assigned me this awesome Macbook.

GOD IS GOOD. No, wait. GOD IS THE BEST!