You have got to listen to Plumb’s In My Arms! Lifted off the new Plumb album Blink, In My Arms is an absolutely spectacular piano-driven track that will minister to any Christian who’s ever experienced parenthood. The melody is memorable, the lyrics poignantly sweet, and the production topnotch. I like this song, Tiffany! Way to go!

Making In My Arms even more tempting is the spectacular Bimbo Jones remix now available on Plumb’s MySpace page. I’ve also included the In My Arms’s lyrics in this post.

Listen to In My Arms mp3 by Plumb

Listen to the In My Arms Remix mp3 by Plumb

Plumb’s In My Arms lyrics after the jump. Read more

Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight may be crawling - yeah, crawling, c’mon, J Records, put some muscle into it! - up the Billboard charts, but the Spotlight video from Jennifer Hudson is fierce. I LOVE IT. The song is growing on me - sometimes you force yourself to like a song, haha - and Miz Hudson is lookin’ fine!

Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight video is off tha hook!

Here’s a Spotlight video interview from ET.

Here’s one of many Jennifer Hudson Spotlight remixes now cropping up on YouTube.

Here is Jennifer Hudson’s Spotlight Billboard chart performance so far:
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs - 33 with a bullet
Billboard Hot Adult R&B Airplay - 15 with a bullet

Thank you, Vera.

The rules of this award are: SHARE THE LOVE!!! Share this award with all those blogs out there that you love. All the people who make you smile. All those that make you laugh. All those that make your day. All those that leave uplifting comments on your blog. **All I ask, is that you include a link to this post with the award and ask your recipient to do the same**

Please read Crystal’s post and learn about the origin of this award. Organ donation in the Philippines is severely underutilized; we should do something about that.

I share this award love with my LHC friends Toni, Jan and Anj, and Rowie.

I love my job, I really do. There is nowhere else I’d rather be. Because of this job, however, my online efforts have been haphazard at best.

It brings me to a turning point in my road: is maintaining this blog still worth it? I can keep one blog going - say, the one on the Multiply website, and, of course, Life With Gina - and then just let this one fade into obscurity, but I feel bad about all the effort I’ve put into making GannsDeen.com a PR4 website (not to mention it’s the highest-ranking Filipino-Christian blog on the Internet).

Its purpose in the past few months has been largely vague, focusing on several topics, including Christian music and politics, as well as some personal notes (which I’d previously reserved for the Multiply page). *sigh* With my job now, I don’t know how often I can update and all that. I need to focus on what is important, and right now, I’d rather do God’s work by building relationships here and regularly maintaining a maximum of three personal website presences (my Hyundai Getz and Multiply websites seem like the most viable).

I can still keep my hosting because it’s a great thing to have storage and all that, and I can just redirect www.gannsdeen.com to the Multiply website.

Pero sayang. PR4! What a waste! Ngr.

I’ve been online for more than a decade now, but I’m at a crossroads where I have to ask myself whether this is all still worth it. Until I get to that point, I hope y’all can bear with me. I’ll ask God this morning to help me sort through it all.

Meanwhile, God superbless you!

This week, I’d like to recommend the following two songs for your CCM consideration:

1) New Day by Brian Bates. First off, I think New Day is a great title for a song. It was fantastic when handled by Avalon - the greatest Christian vocal group ever, dissensions will be deleted from the Comments box - and in the hands of newcomer Brian Bates, New Day becomes a buoyant declaration of joy. Having read Bates’ bio and realizing the extent of how far he’s come both as an artist and as a believer, I can tell you that New Day is no ordinary Christian track; it is an unequivocal celebration of trust in God to provide. Absolutely brilliant.

2. Reign in Us by Starfield. For the record, I can’t get on-board Starfield’s brand of rock. Little too loud, little too frantic, little too young for my tastes. But this group is anointed when it comes to making worship songs that speak to the inner worshipper in all of us. We had a taste of that two years ago with the masterful Son of God. This year, Inspo stations across the globe can rejoice with the release to radio of Reign in Us, one of the strongest CCM singles from any Contemporary Christian pop-rock group in 2008 thus far. I can see youth groups and progressive churches singing this from their rafters to amazing effect.

I’m bookmarking this blog entry for my newest song, titled Praiseworthy God (it may change to I Rejoice on You, but that’s unlikely). It will probably be recorded by Teri and some of the Victory Fort worship team, for consideration for inclusion in Sunday service worship at the Fort. Once the recording’s done, I’ll post an mp3 here for y’all to listen to, because it’s always good to get feedback from people.

I wrote Praiseworthy God after going through Psalm 63, and the song is heavily based on that psalm. Specifically, it centers on God’s praiseworthiness for that which He has done for the psalmist, praises Him in the chorus, and exalts Him in the bridge.

Lyrics of Praiseworthy God after the jump. Read more

Our CCM Roundup is a bit delayed this week - Nicki’s birthday takes precedence over everything else - but I’ve got a great list of recommendations this week. I’ve got four amazing CCM singles for you to enjoy.

The first song I’m recommending is My Adoration from CCM girl duo Sonflowerz. I am excited about My Adoration, in which Elissa and Becca Leander have crafted an insightful, memorable, and easily singable worship song that focuses on Jesus’ lordship. Youth groups will take this track to the next level. With a vocal style reminiscent of BarlowGirl, Sonflowerz is poised to claim their first Top 10 Inspo hit with this song, and it’s well-deserved.

If you’re a little older and not so much into the BarlowGirl-style worship ballad, maybe you’ll find Sarah Groves a little more pleasing to your ear. The ever-reliable alternafolk singer with a heart for the lost comes on pretty with It Might Be Hope, a great radio-friendly mid-tempo track off Tell Me What You Know. I’ve never been a fan and never knew why; It Might Be Hope is just the right song to get me on the Groves bandwagon.

Finally, we haven’t had a great collaboration in a while, but I’ve got just the right two recommendations for you. If you’ve country inclinations, you have got to hear Different by Mollye Rees and Jamie Slocum. Produced by the latter and streamed on the MySpace page of the former, this lovely little ballad is also set to break out on the Inspo charts, and rightly so, because it’s a great track. The live strings add such a great touch, and it’s easily singable, plus you have those awesome country harmonies. Pretty! You may also want to consider So Great off the CompassionArt compilation, with CCM evergreen Michael W. Smith, with Christy Nockels and Israel Houghton. In this video, they’re joined by Steven Curtis Chapman, Chris Tomlin, and Paul Baloche at the Dove Awards, an all-star collaboration that brings goosebumps (especially when Israel launches into that majestic tenor! GOD! What a voice!)

Urduja, the very first Filipino animated epic film, is out in theaters June 18! Support Filipino animation and watch Urduja!

I am so psyched for Urduja! The quality of the cartoon just blows me away. Sure, it’s a lot like Mulan or Pocahontas, which were made, like, 1,000 years ago, but Filipinos have always boasted about how we are world-class and never put our money where our mouths are. Now’s that time and now’s that chance to support a world-class Filipino cartoon, and Urduja is it! This isn’t the 80s Panday, boys and girls, this is a gorgeous film, and I will line up on Day One to support Urduja.

Based on a Pangasinense myth, Urduja boasts of stellar voice casting, including Eddie Garcia, Cesar Montano, Johnny Delgado, Michael V and Allan K, Ruby Rodriguez, Jay Manalo, and, of course, Regine Velasquez, whose singing voice is in topnotch form (based on the snippets we see in the trailer, let’s not talk about the actual voice acting; Regine isn’t known for her acting chops).

Come June 18, come support Filipino talent!

Jack ‘N Jill Pic-A first entered my world two Thursdays ago, May 30. My officemate Teri and I did a snack run at Market! Market!, and I recall it surprised me to find a Jack ‘N Jill snack that was so large. It is large. 180 grams of pure snacky goodness! I tried it and was instantly hooked.

What I love about Jack ‘N Jill Pic-A is that it’s a delicious combination of three terrific Jack ‘N Jill snacks: Nova (our local version of Frito-Lay’s Sun Chips), Tostillas (Doritos), and Piattos, which has no international equivalent. It’s like Frito-Lay’s Munchies, which has Sun Chips, Doritos, and Rold Gold pretzels, which is fine because me no likey pretzels. There are two variations of Jack ‘N Jill Pic-A: BBQ Overload, which is the one I tried, and Ultimate Cheddar.

Unfortunately, since that Thursday, I had not been able to find another bag of Pic-A. Market! Market!, SM Hypermarket, Mercury Drug, Rustan’s, nothing. It had been almost two weeks! Then, this morning, at 2AM, during an early morning snack run with Cathy - McDonald’s Shake! Shake! french fries, Chicken Nuggets, and a double cheeseburger - I found it at 7-11 Banawe!

Jack N’ Jill Pic-A retails for PHP34.75 at Market! Market!, but I bought it at 7-11 for PHP44.00. Well worth my money. I LOVE IT.

This link to a PDI article is dated June 10, 2007. It’s a little less than a year ago. I quote:

The latest fuel price hike was the ninth for gasoline for a total of P5 a liter… The price hike brings premium unleaded gasoline prices to between P39.07 and P41.77 a liter.

Today, on the way home, I realized fuel is now selling for as much as P55.47 a liter. The cheapest fuel in my immediate vicinity is Petron’s P54.97/liter. This means that in just 12 months, gasoline prices rose P15.90, an incredible increase of almost 30%!

I know the world is reeling from skyrocketing fuel prices (thanks a lot, China!). For Filipinos who are getting by on the barest minimum, these high gasoline prices hit them hardest where it hurts - their stomachs. It boggles my mind that parents have to scrimp on their children’s food and education just so they can go to work!

Take us for example. We live very near the border of Caloocan and Quezon City. Cathy works along Taft Avenue; I work in Taguig City. Without traffic, I can get to work in a little under an hour; during rush hour, it can take as much as two and a half hours. The trips are approximately 60km, back and forth; we finish a tank of gasoline in approximately one week. At P54.97, filling up our 45-liter gasoline tank will cost approximately PHP2475, or a staggering P9,900 a month in gasoline! That’s a significant chunk of my salary right there, just to get to work. (Luckily, I love my work, so it’s worth the trip, kinda like Dunkin’ Donuts.)

I am so believing God for Nathan to make it to a good Chinese school in Makati, Taguig, Pasay, or Malate, then we can move houses and save money on both gasoline and time. We can’t live like this, we just can’t. Why can’t we stop the rise in gas prices? I don’t know how the corrupt in government can stomach squirreling millions of pesos while the middle and lower classes scramble to just make it by.