Talk 1: NO FAKES - Reflection Guide

Psalms 139:13-17
You created every part of me; you put me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because you are to e feared; all you do is strange and wonderful…

Jeremiah 1:5
I chose you before I gave you life, and before you were born I selected you to be a prophet to the nations.

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is with you; his power gives you victory. The Lord will take delight in you, and in his love he will give you new life. He will sing and be joyful over you…

Insight:
God created every part of you. Every fiber of your being was designed, fashioned, and shaped by God. Your personality, talents, and gifts are part of your anointing. To reach your highest potential and greatest happiness (bliss), you need to be true to yourself. You need to follow your call, your path, your destiny.

Other Food for Thought:
Follow your bliss. --Joseph Campbell

Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second rate version of somebody else. --Judy Garland

The greatest tragedy in life is to spend your life fishing, only to discover that is was not fish you were after. --Henry David Thoreau

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power. --Lao Tzu

You cannot believe in God until you believe in your self. –Swami Vivekananda

Doubt yourself and you doubt everything you see. Judge yourself and you see judges everywhere. But if you listen to the sound of your own voice, you can rise above doubt and judgment. And you can see forever. --Nancy Lopez

Magic is believing in yourself; if you can do that, you can make anything happen. --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. --Buddha
Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken! --Charlie Brown

My Class Picture - Bro. Bo Sanchez

When I was six years old, I came home with our class photo.

I wasn’t too proud of it, but I had to show it anyway.

I gave it to my father.

When he looked at it, he couldn’t find me. He said, “Bo, where are you?”

Sheepishly, I pointed to myself in the photo—somewhere at the back of the crowd. You could only see half of my face. (Clue: I’m somewhere at the right side.)


Dad groaned. I’m sure he didn’t mean to hurt me. Parents usually don’t. But that day, he did.

Because he said, pointing to the mestizo guy in front, “Bo, why don’t you be like this guy! Be in front! Wave at the camera!”

Ouch.

I said, “Yes, Dad.”

But I felt very sad that day.


Because I was a shy kid at the back.

And Dad wanted me to be like that mestizo kid in the front row. Confident. Outgoing. Aggressive.

That happened when I was six years old.

That was 35+ years ago.

Yet to this day, I still remember how I felt that day.

That’s how toxic those words were to me.

Parents, you need to love your kids with their personality, their temperament, and their unique gifts.

Never compare them with others.

After all, this is how God loves you.

Friend, are you still hurting?

Perhaps people around you are looking down at you. People around don’t believe in you. And all they do is point out your weaknesses.

You have a God that doesn’t do that.

He never compares you to anyone else.

He loves as you are.

He celebrates who you are.

He enjoys you—your idiosyncrasies, personality, gifts…

And He accepts you as you are—the entire mix, the whole package.

A Life of No Regrets - New Series

Monday, October 25, 2010

Last week we ended the PROSPER Series with the topic of TITHING. By now, I am sure that all of us feast attendees are so blessed that words are not enough to express how we feel. Tonight, we are opening a new series entitled A Life of No Regrets - by the phrase itself, it tells us that God wants us to live a life he designed for us to live, no regrets! This is a six part series and the first talk is all about "Being True to Yourself". To further explain to us what this is all about, let us listen to my fellow preacher, whose wacky humor tickles us to the deepest core of our being, Bro. Michael Angelo Lobrin.

- Bro. Oscar Aliño
Cebu Feast Builder