Find Your Place Under The Sun

Today was superduper busy.
Funny I say that because every single day of my life is busy!
Like today, I worked again on my reality TV show, Preacher In Blue Jeans, and boy, it’s huge work. (Remember, you’ll see the first episode on November 1 on this website. Get ready to have fun and be inspired!)
Two dedicated, passionate guys are working with me on this: Randy Borromeo, our Director, and Edwin Marcelo, my cameraman and video-editor.
Oh, I pity Edwin.
Let me tell you what he did.
Yesterday, he captured me with his Sony 3CCD camera, rushed home to edit the film, and uploaded it to the internet. He slept at 4am this morning and woke up at 6am just to finish one thirty minute episode.
By 11am today, he was at my place shooting another one.
Poor guy. But you don’t see it on his face.
Because he loves his work.
And when you do, it isn’t work.
Edwin was telling me he was doing media work years ago, but then lost his way some years back. He ventured into selling insurance. But he was never happy. Until he finally went back to what he loved doing (media work) and viola—he rediscovered his call. He found his place under the sun.
And when you discover your place under the sun, you’re a different person.
You wake up with passion.
You get out of bed ready to conquer the world.
Man, I love working with my team. They’re fantastic guys.
Guess what.
Preacher In Blue Jeans isn’t the only thing I did today.
Are you ready? (Take a deep breath.) I also wrote 3 articles for Kerygma, wrote an article for Fish, wrote 2 project plans, wrote a marketing letter, wrote 27 letters to readers, wrote a blog (this one), and worked on the book I’m currently writing, Secrets Of The Rich.
Whew!
But I love my work too.
Like Edwin, for a time, I got involved in administration and pastoral work in my Catholic Community, the Light of Jesus. I had to do that because I was the founder and presiding elder for many years. But thank God, I finally was able to pass on that work to guys better than me. And I finally returned fulltime to what I was born to do: preaching and writing. I’m still an elder of Light of Jesus (for some reason, they don’t want to kick me out) but I’m no longer the head honcho carrying all the problems of the world.
Yes, I’ve been playing all these years!
I’m having the time of my life and I can’t live any other way.
Gosh, I better end this blog.
It’s almost 1:00am and I need to sleep for another exciting day tomorrow.
In the meantime, find your place under the sun and live with passion!

Kerygma Preachers Stop Preaching For 3 Days To Eat, Sleep, Laugh & Pray

I couldn’t put a blog entry the past three days.
Why?
Together with the Kerygma Preachers, we holed up ourselves on a hill called Maryhills Retreat House, Antipolo. (That place really rocks—refurbished and modernized. Would you believe? The first time I was there was 27 years ago. I was 13, and Fr. John Sherlock was my retreat master. Today, I’m still working with him, now 84 years old! Catch him giving Confession at the FEAST in Camp Aguinaldo.)
Who are the Kerygma Preachers? Let me name some of them: Mike Joseph Jr. (my mentor), Arun Gogna, Alvin Barcelona, Jon Escoto, Obet Cabrillas, Adrian Panganiban, and Rissa Singson.
We’re usually scattered all over the world, sharing God’s love to thousands of people. But twice a week (2nd and 4th Wednesday nights), we gather for prayer and sharing, visiting each others’ homes.
But this weekend was extra special. It was our once-a-year retreat, and all of us we’re looking forward to it like little boys about to open their gifts on Christmas eve.
And so for these three days, we preachers shut our mouths to listen to God.
And wow, did He speak!
Let me give you a perfect recipe for a great retreat: 1) Eat as much as you can, 2) sleep as much as you can, 3) laugh as much as you can, and 4) pray the rest of the time.
And that’s what we did.
I can list the food we ate (but that would create a scandal), how many hours we slept (yep, complete with long siestas), how much we laughed (90% of the time)…
But I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of our worship times in the retreat. As most of you know, these guys are also fantastic singers that regularly perform in concerts all over the world. So for me, it was like being in a concert every time we sang together for worship.
Here’s the thing: We’re great friends.
When I go around different communities and parishes, my heart aches for spiritual leaders that are very lonely. Even priests don’t have small communities where they can be themselves, become vulnerable, and receive spiritual support.
But support communities don’t just happen.
You’ve got to make that happen.
If you’re serving God, I strongly suggest you create your small support group. Gather friends around you, and make some new friends if you don’t have any. Select them well—people who want to grow in their spiritual life and service to God as well.
People who are humble. (I realize that’s the #1 criteria of a Kerygma Preacher.)
People who will nourish you.
People who are positive and uplifting.
Find them!

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Oh, another important thing happened today.
I started shooting my new, very unique reality TV show, Preacher In Blue Jeans.
In this daily TV show over the internet, you’ll go with me wherever I go, meeting the fascinating people I meet, and seeing how God works miracles in their lives.
Watch my first show on November 1 at this website! In it, I interviewed many of the Kerygma Preachers while the retreat was ending. See them at their zaniest!

I Left My Meeting With Mike Velarde A Changed Man

I had a special blessing from God this morning.
I spent 3 beautiful, spiritually enriching hours with Bro. Mike Velarde, Founder of El Shaddai. (Thanks to my friend Chona Velasco for linking us together.)
I know. When some people think of Bro. Mike, they think of him only as that funny TV preacher with an accent wearing a red bowtie who makes his audience jump up and invert their umbrellas under the rain.
Don’t be fooled. God is using him to bless the world in a mighty way. You may not agree with his style, his accent, his wardrobe, or even his theology—but millions are drawn to God because of him.
Believe me, I can’t express how much he inspired me this morning.
Finally, I now know why millions gather at his feet every Saturday night (either physically or through his Radio and TV broadcast) to listen to him.
It was Cardinal Sin who asked Bro. Mike in one Luneta Grandstand El Shaddai prayer rally, “What do you have that I don’t have? I can’t draw this crowd, but you can.” His answer to the Cardinal: “This is pure grace from God, your Eminence.”
And I experienced that powerful grace this morning.
As he spoke to me, telling me simple stories of faith, I felt drawn to the Lord. I wanted to trust God more, to serve God more, and to love God more. That was the effect he had on me. And yes, the same effect on millions of others.
Next month, you’ll be able to watch a video of our entire conversation together—here in www.kerygmafamily.com (If you’re not yet a member of the kerygmafamily.com, just sign in, and you’ll be able to watch all these great videos. Membership is free anyway, because donations are totally optional.)
But let me summarize what I learned from Bro. Mike:
1) People need to know that God cares for us—body, soul, and spirit
Bro. Mike believes that God is interested not only with our spiritual needs, but also with our next meal. He cares for our material and physical needs as well. This comes out in his talks. I use a different approach, but I totally agree with him and preach in the same way.
2) People need rest in God’s Presence
He told me that the only time he heard God’s audible voice was when God told him, “Build a center where my people can rest.” At first, he thought it was a physical center. So he designed it, even had the Pope bless the plans, even had Cardinal Sin in the groundbreaking ceremony—but soon, he realized it wasn’t a physical center. It was El Shaddai where people would get their rest. Because the crowd would never fit any enclosed building anymore! Here’s what I picked him from him: From a very tiring week of work, people need to go to happy place with God. And that’s what happens in El Shaddai—people go home from these meetings refreshed and happy. I’ve noticed that my gatherings (The FEAST) have the same effect in people too. Church should be a place of rest and joy!
3) You need simple faith to do His work
Bro. Mike has a simple faith. I feel that it’s because of this simple faith that he can do all that he does. I need to cultivate this kind of faith in God if I want to be used more by Him. Sometimes, I get too complicated. I need to learn from him.
4) Be generous if you want to succeed in life
Bro. Mike is extremely generous. At one point in 1981, he gave his seed money (P50,000) to fund a huge charismatic gathering. He wasn’t preaching yet at that time. He just gave away his money. Until God asked him to form El Shaddai. I believe God is blessing him because of his generosity.
5) Love people—like really!
Bro. Mike loves people from the heart. I felt it. He welcomes both the poor and the rich in his office. Presidents, Supreme Court Justices, Senators, and Generals seek his advice almost everyday. But in that same room, he also welcomes the poor, the sick, and terminally ill who need his prayer.

Bro. Mike Velarde is already 67 years old, but doesn’t look like it at all.
He still jogs everyday. Even when he travels, he sees to it that his hotel is beside a park for his daily exercise.
After 28 years of serving God, I asked him, “Do you ever feel tired?”
He smiled, “I feel that it’s just my first day with the Lord. I feel like I’m still 18.”
ut he also explained to me his weekly regimen, which is very sensible.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, he does his business—which is real estate. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, he does his ministry work. On Fridays and Saturdays, he hides in Tagaytay to pray and prepare his weekly talk. On Saturday night, he delivers that talk to a massive crowd in El Shaddai. On Sunday, he rests at home—totally drained by the work he did the night before.
He adds, “Life is a choice. We can choose to be miserable, or we can choose to be happy in the midst of miserable circumstances.” I had to laugh. We almost use the exact words! It was as though I was hearing myself preach.
Hey, I’ve got to stop writing now. It’s 11:20pm and I’ve got sleep.
I have four meetings tomorrow. (Tell you about it.)
But watch for that video, okay?
See ya!

Use Cutting-Edge Technology For God

Who says serving God is boring?
Yesterday, I had a heart-pumping, adrenalin-bursting, blow-your-brains-out, 5-hour planning session with our IT head Bobby Galvez, our computer genius Paolo Abadesco, and our cameraman and video-editor Edwin Marcelo.
Let me talk about Paolo a bit.
I have never met anyone as computer-savvy as this guy. He even thinks like a computer—like I give him a problem, and snap, he spills out the answer in nanoseconds. With his wizardry, Paolo should be working at the top echelons of Google or Microsoft earning millions. But instead, he’s working for me for pennies, but using his incredible skills for the glory of God.
We talked about two huge projects:
First Project: Simultaneous Satellite FEASTs All Over The World
The FEAST is our huge gathering where we have Mass, lively worship, dynamic preaching, and prayers of blessing. Thousands of people are blessed by this live event.
But we have a problem: We were limited to one geographic place. How could we reach other cities of the world without the need for me to bi-locate like Saint Padre Pio? Even with dynamic Kerygma Preachers with me, we can’t cover even the major cities of Metro Manila—much less the Philippines or the world.
So here’s the plan: By next year, we’ll be organizing satellite FEASTs in different cities and parish churches all over the Philippines—and the world. How? Through the internet, we’ll be video-streaming the talk in the FEAST. There’ll be a little delay, but our goal is to make the broadcast as clear as possible.
So each week, in different cities and parish churches, people will gather for a FEAST. They’ll have live Mass and live Worship first—and then watch in a large screen the preaching of God’s Word.
Will it work? I have no idea. But we’ll give it all we’ve got to make it succeed.
And no, we won’t use a satellite—which is astronomically expensive. We’ll use the power of the internet. It’s mind-boggling, I tell you.
Second Project: Blog, Podcast, & Vodcast
Almost everyday, I’ll be writing my blog, uploading my audio or podcast, and uploading my video or vodcast in our websites, www.bosanchez,ph and www.kerygmafamily.com In the blog, podcast, and vodcast, I’ll bring you with me wherever I go. You’ll meet the fantastic people I meet everyday. You’ll go to the great places I visit and see how God is moving all over the world.
Think of my podcast as my radio show and my vodcast as my TV show on the internet. Except everything is on demand when you want it, where you want it.
Cool, huh.
My blogs will be found in www.bosanchez.ph and my daily audio and video will be available in www.kerygmafamily.com (Yes, you need to be a member of KFAM or kerygmafamily.com to get the daily audios and videos, but membership is free anyway. Donations are optional.)
Okay, I’m getting too excited.
Need to rest a bit now and take deep breaths. Inhale, exhale… inhale, exhale…
I’ll be making announcements when all these things will happen very, very soon.
In the meantime, be like Paolo, like Bobby, like Edwin. Use all your skills and talents for the glory of God.

Prayer Meetings Should Make Us Serve Jesus In The Poor

Yep, we’re 26 years old!
Just to explain: I started Light of Jesus as a scrawny 14-year-old kid. I never thought it would grow to an international organization that would give birth to three other dynamic orgs: (1) Anawim, a ministry for the poorest of the poor, (2) Shepherds Voice, a media ministry bringing people closer to God, and (3) the Light of Jesus Counselling Center to help the wounded and broken of society. (Impossible, right? That's what I always tell myself. But God can use the weakest, dumbest, most insignificant creatures to further His glory. Look at me!)
And so how did we celebrate our birthday today?
Not in some fancy hotel with a humongous buffet and a gigantic chandelier over our heads. Not wearing Barong Tagalogs and embroidered gowns and high-heeled shoes.
Instead, we did it Light of Jesus style: with torn jeans and crummy tee-shirts, we dirtied our hands and served the poor. We went to Anawim, our home for the abandoned elderly, and cemented their pathways, repainted their chapel, cleaned their cemetery, landscaped their gardens and did a hundred other things for those that we love.
It was a beautiful, messy, hilarious celebration.
The men held shovels, the women held brooms, the young held paint brushes, the old danced for us, and we sang like there was no tomorrow.
By the way, did you know how we celebrated last year’s anniversary?
Exactly the same way: We built our Gawad Kalinga Village (90 houses) and the He Cares Foundation Village (50 houses).
Yep, it’s becoming a tradition.
Oh, everyone went home with so much joy today!
And as I drove back, I thought about the past 26 years.
After 26 years as community, we’ve already held 24,000+ prayer meetings. (That’s true! Because we’ve got lots of chapters in different places, each of them having their own prayer meetings.) And this is the fruit of those 24,000+ prayer meetings: We serve the poor today. Because the Jesus that we worship in a prayer meeting is the same Jesus that lives in the poorest of the poor. Any prayer meeting that doesn’t make us see that reality is essentially lacking.
In Anawim, we’ve already served 1,000,000 individual meals since we began.
One million!
(To all those who are members of the Kerygma Family, thank you for supporting our work. If you haven’t joined us, please do so! Visit us at www.kerygmafamily.com now! Don’t delay.)
Happy Birthday, Light of Jesus.
Let us love the poor of the Lord so that they won’t be poor anymore.

PS. By the way, about this new blog I’ve started: I haven’t told you the title yet. Will tell you in due time! Surprise!

After 28 Years In Ministry, My First Blog

Welcome to my first blog.
Or is it?
Frankly, I don’t know.
Ever since I started preaching at the ripe old age of 13, I felt I was blogging my life away. Because I always preached from the heart, speaking from my feelings and experiences. Why? Because I noticed that people like listening to stories. And the stories I knew best were my own.
And when we published Kerygma mag 16 years ago, my articles were always no-holds barred, tell-it-like-it-is, my-life-in-the-raw.
It’s been one exciting ride.
I want to keep this blog short.
In a few weeks, you’ll also see a podcast and a vodcast connected to this blog.
I want to use technology to the hilt to share God’s precious love to you.
In this blog (and podcast and vodcast), I’d like to open my life further to you.
To bring you with me, each day if possible, to where I go and what I do. I’d like you to meet the people I talk to each day. I’d like you to see the problems I face—and how God and I solve them together (most of the time despite how I mess things up!). I even like you to see the craziness of my life, so that you’ll realize that we’re not so different after all.
Watch out.
God’s-Love-Made-Flesh coming your way… in this Blog.