Thanks for being my #1 fan

In the Philippines, whenever a person would approach my desk at the office, I would occasionally give them a post-it with an autograph saying, "[Name of person], thanks for being my #1 fan." This picture was sent to me about 2 days ago by one of my "fans" back home. ;)

Success

I just started reading the book of Joshua today for my devotions. I got excited to read the book because my NIV introduction stated that "Joshua's remarkable life was filled with excitement, variety, success and honor." I want a life like that too. Here are some of the things that I learned from the first chapter.

1. At the very onset of the book, God promised Joshua success and God also promised that He will never leave Joshua. When God makes a promise, you can bet He will see it through. That's why Joshua didn't have to worry at all about his assignment to be the leader of God's people. All Joshua had to do was be strong and courageous. God already paved the way for Joshua's success.

2. However, the success that Joshua was going to attain came with a condition. God said that Joshua must "be careful to OBEY all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left that you may be SUCCESSFUL wherever you go (Joshua 1:7)." Success seems to be a direct result of obedience to God.

3. That's why it was so important for Joshua to meditate on God's Word day and night. The Bible states the reason. "So that you may be careful to do everything written in it. THEN you will be prosperous and SUCCESSFUL (Joshua 1:8). Again, success seems to be a direct result of obedience to God.

4. The last thing I learned from this chapter is that having a good relationship with God is incredibly essential for a leader. People will follow a leader whom God is evidently present with. Soldiers in God's army were willing to do whatever Joshua commanded and go wherever Joshua directed. And they did that for good reason. "Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. ONLY may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses (Joshua 1:17)." The soldiers followed Joshua because God was evidently present with him. Having a good relationship with God is incredibly essential for a leader.

I miss you too :)

Sent to me yesterday by a friend of mine back home.

Introducing the New 2010 Toyota Corolla

About 2 days after landing in Toronto, my dad bought me a new car. I picked the color. ;)

The Search is On

The search is on for a new church for me to attend and to serve in. Last Sunday, I visited the church my parents attended when they resided here in Canada years ago--Toronto Chinese Community Church. It was a typical Chinese church. Slightly old fashioned for my tastes though. A dozen or more churches in my area seem to be Chinese churches of this nature. The reason might be that in the town that I reside in, almost all of the residents are either Chinese or at least Asian in ethnicity. In fact, I've seen very few Americans so far in my stay here. I've actually met more Filipinos. Because of the demographics, I guess that's the reason why so many Chinese churches sprung up within driving distance of each other.

One of these Chinese churches already invited me to speak at a high school/college camp next week. They're considering me for a part-time position at their church. I want to be able to work part-time, preferably as a pastor. God hasn't said much about that though. I hope I get a clear answer from Him soon so I know where to spend most of my extra time. I'll be visiting other churches in the coming weeks in the hopes of finding the one God wants me to give my life to.

The Race is On

Upon landing in Toronto, I must complete the following to move on to the next leg of the race:

Unfinished

1. Get a Canadian driver's license.
2. Re-apply for health insurance.
3. Look for a church (which I'll do today).
4. Register for classes at Tyndale University and Seminary.
5. Learn how to cook, do the laundry, and iron clothes (haha).

Finished

1. Unpack.
2. Sign-up at a gym (I feel like Im getting fatter already).
3. Buy a car!
4. Get a Facebook.

I hope I didn't miss out on anything important.

Welcome to Toronto

The journey from Manila to Toronto was grueling.

My mom insisted (I insisted otherwise) that we leave for the airport 4 hours before take off because of the typhoon that struck Manila. We left the house at 3:30 PM and we got to the airport an hour later. It took us another hour to process everything at the airport--check-in, terminal fees, immigration, etc. When everything was completed, we ended up waiting for 2 hours for our departure to Hong Kong.

The flight to Hong Kong was relatively quick. We got there in about 2 hours. It was 9:30 PM. We had to wait at the Hong Kong airport for our flight to Toronto which was scheduled at 2:30 AM. Insane, right? Like I said, grueling. Grueling is definitely the term to describe the journey.

It gets worse. The flight from Hong Kong to Toronto is a whopping 15 hours. No stop overs. And as if that wasn't enough, we got delayed at Hong Kong by 30 minutes because of several problems in refueling the plane. God was definitely testing my patience. He's been doing that a lot lately.

Unsurprisingly, I couldn't sleep very well on the plane ride to Toronto. I estimate that I slept a total of about 3 hours. I had to fill up the rest of the time with other things to do like watch movies, play games, stare at children, go to the toilet.

I watched Troy and New in Town on the plane. Planes today are very sophisticated. You can choose from a wide selection of movies and TV shows and it plays on the screen right in front of you whenever you want it. Each seat even has its on power outlet so you can plug in a laptop if you brought one. I brought a laptop but my charger was in the check-in bag. Real smart. At least I wasn't bored to death on the way here. I would of forgiven everything else EXCEPT being bored to death.

The journey from Manila to Toronto was grueling but I'm relieved to finally arrive here safe and sound. I'll tell you more about Toronto tomorrow. Right now, I need to make up for some lost Z's. Welcome to Toronto!