 I remembered 12 years ago when God told me to give my car to a friend in church.
It was the most difficult thing to do especially since that was my only car.
Thank God for my wife, Ginny, who is more spiritual than I. She encouraged me to obey God. And so I did with my eyes closed.
In return God has given me 3 cars for free! The first one was a brand new Beamer (a BMW) and now these 2 cars (a Dodge Grand Caravan and a Jeep Grand Cherokee) in the pictures were also given to me for free!
You can never outgive God! To the people who gave me these cars, be blessed! I am not quite sure if they want me to mention their names. But thank you. Love you! I am now more mobile to do what God has called me to do!
Phil. 4:19 And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
    Happy Birthday Luis! 16 years of joy, fond memories, and a lotta love! I always remember a verse in proverbs 10:1 which says "a wise son brings joy to his father". Yes Luis has brought tremendous joy to my heart. I couldn't ask for anything more. We celebrated his birthday with friends and loved ones at our home in Windermere, Florida. For those who don't know, my son loves sports and has received balls (basketball, soccerball, football, baseball, volleyball, softball, all kinda balls, etc, etc.) as a gift for birthdays and Christmas all his life. It's like a tradition. He always pretend to not know what he is gonna get. But also gave him a daisy gun for his birthday. He and his best friend, Matthew Magpantay, went shooting at our backyard at the lake. Twas a fun time!  Love you son!      
   Recently, Pastor Sam Webb paid us, Highpoint church, a special visit. It was a refreshing time just to hear from a man who has been in the ministry for 41 years. Sam Webb serves on the board of Every Nation Ministries and is also on the International Ministry Team of Every Nation. Sam and his wife, Nancy, travel extensively throughout the world pastoring pastors and training leaders. Former overseers of the Grace Bible family of churches both in Hawaii and Asia from 1980 - 2002, the Webbs live in Honolulu, where they reside with their children. They love to connect with people and share a unique gift for loving hospitality. Pastor Sam, thank you for being a father and mentor to us. Your life is an inspiration, and your testimonies strengthened our faith in God. Hi to Nancy!
 A new car came out recently that doesn't run out of gas! Can you imagine? The car is called "Moly". People are lining up to reserve one. It'll take months to avail of it. It's all sold out.  At this point, you may be wondering if this is true or not. We'll it's a hoax. Untrue, Doesn't exist. But what if it were true? What if it really existed? Ain't it nice to have one? I realize we have something greater than this car. Something we already possess or we can possess if we ask. Something that never runs out. An unlimited resource of wealth. I am referring to the gift God has given to us. The Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enables us to give love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-cntrol. When the Holy Spirit comes on you, you begin to wonder why you can be able to give so much. It's because you are no longer drawing from your limited strength, limited abilities, and limited character and gifts. You are now tapping into the unlimited well that only He can give. In the book of John, chapter 7:38, it says, "Whoever believes in me, as the Scriptures has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." I have experienced this in my own life and have seen countless others give more than they could from their personal resources. i guarantee you, when you have the Holy Sprit, you will never run out of gas!
    God is truly amazing! He is the one that adds people to His church. January has been an exciting month at HighPoint, or one of our Everynation Church in Orlando, Florida. On Sunday, we baptized 11 people at Andrew Declercq's house at Conroy. Even if the pool was heated, Keith, Andy and I were still shivering due to the cold wind on a sunny day.  It was a sight to see men and women making a public declaration to follow Jesus Christ. Most of them had never been to any church service before coming to HighPoint within the last few months. We had 4 people get powerfully born again and coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in the last 2 weeks, and 14 in the last 12 weeks. Each of these was people who had never had any form of church experience or prior knowledge of Jesus. We inducted 16 new members on Sunday as well. We also have over 84 different people serving at least one Sunday service per month. Friends and loved ones were there to witness the event.  God is good and He has given us great people.
 Pastor Carlo and Sandra Ratilla, along with their amazing children Chloe (16) and Justin (14) spent a couple of days with us during the Yuletide season. For those who don't know, the Ratillas are the real McCoys, dutifully but enthusiastically fashioned by God to be "missionaries". Carlo was originally from Davao and became the head honcho of Y.W.A.M. (Youth with a Mission) in the Philippines for a season.  After that, God called them to be a part of our Every Nation Ministry to this day. He then attended our bible study group for a couple of years. They have been missionaries to Sweden, Philippines, and Myanmar (formerly the Union of Burma). Burmeses are predominantly Buddhists in multi-faceted orders. Carlo became the senior pastor of our Every nation Church in Myanmar. The Ratillas lived there for 5 years with over 400 converts and a host of leaders which they developed. Some of the leaders have just finished and some are still enrolled in our School of World Missions in the Philippines. Amazing! The next chapter of their lives began just a few months ago, when God called them to be part of our church in Texas, together with Pastor Morgan Bates. More than all that, they are very dear friends, leaders that I personally emulate, deeply respect and learn from. Kudos to the Ratillas! Thank you for visiting us. We love you guys!
 Ptr. Keith Tower and I recently were invited to speak to the leaders of a fast growing church in Orlando called Bridge Church.  They gathered 40 of their leaders to hear a "Making Disciples" class. I was so overwhelmed with the open hearts and transparency of these great leaders. It humbles me to be used of God to share and minister to these awesome people on what is truly in my heart - discipleship! Pastor Keith captured their hearts with his teaching gift on the matter. I was able to share my personal testimonies and teach them the process on how to do a small group meeting. I believe Orlando is going to be a "catalyst" for discipleship and a launching pad for many leaders that will affect and infect the next generation.  I personally would like to thank Bridge Church senior pastor Bart Malone and Pastor Robert Nolen for letting us be a part of this great move of God. They will be using all of our Every Nation discipleship materials including our 1 to 1, Purple Book, and all. Congratulations! Looking forward to working with you. Love you guys!
 My son, Luis recently played for his school at Circle. Here is the official report from the school. Junior Varsity Wins Again - by Coach Tim Werner The JV Centurions improved to 2-0 this week in an exciting game on Thursday. Circle Christian School played Warner Christian, and walked away with a 49-39 victory.  The game looked like it wasn’t going to be close as Circle was up as many as 11 points in the first quarter. Warner fought back, and ended up taking a four-point lead into half time. After making several adjustments, the guys outscored Warner by 15 points in the fourth quarter, and held Warner to only one field goal in the fourth quarter.  Luis Duque was huge off the bench, leading the team in scoring with 12 points and 12 assists, while shooting 6-8 from the free throw line. Chris Welke, (6'5" center) contributed 10 points, grabbed some big rebounds, and hit two big free throws towards the end of the game.  The JV Centurions look to move to 3-0 as they play Trinity Prep at 5:30pm on Tuesday at Trinity Prep. Picture shows Luis no. 1 fan - Ginny (mom), with Uncle Jerome and Aunt Pinky, Jamie, Bettina, and Pia.  Fans of Circle cheering on! Proud of you son!
 Yes that's the exact description when a very close friend comes to visit you all the way from the Philippine Islands! Pastor Ron Davis, his wife Junko, and kids (Eunice and Jay) paid us a visit, stayed over a couple of days at our house. Pastor Ron is our Philippine Director of Force Ministry Philippines ( Every Nation's ministry to the military and any men and women in uniform).  We had a grand time with them! It was quite a short visit because they will need to drive back to Georgia and are headed back to the Philippines on Tuesday. Ron and Junko, we love you and next time, can you please stay a bit longer?! Have a nice and safe trip back home!
 Christmas is just around the corner! Let me be the first one to greet you a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year! Here in Orlando, the traffic is building up. The first IKEA store just opened, and people are at a frenzy scrambling for PRESENTS to give to their loved ones and friends. People are making their lists. Disney tickets are all sold out. Mickey's carrying gifts. I was just reminded of my list, the list of things I am asking God for. I realize God has been so good to me. But am I just after His PRESENTS or His PRESENCE? Am I just settling for His PRESENTS and not Him?  Many years ago, I read a passage in the bible. In Matthew 6:33, it says "Seek first His kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be added to you as well." I began to seek, all because I really wanted the "all these things" part of it". I knew that if I just sought God, I can get the rest! While that may be partially true, I realize that as I got to know God more, it was really His PRESENCE, I was looking for! Things are great, but nothing compared to the joy that God brings! I remembered Zig Ziglar, in one of his books say, "You can buy a bed, but you can't buy sleep, you can buy a nice house, but you can't buy a home, you can buy the best food, but you can't buy appetite, you can get married in Paris, but you can't buy a loving relationship, and so on. Yes money can buy you things, but only God can give us unspeakable joy that surpasses understanding, satisfying contentment, and unconditional love! This Christmas, let's not just settle for His PRESENTS. Let's go for the best and seek His PRESENCE!
 Now that I got your attention, let me tell you what I witnessed recently. As I was driving along I-405 near Huntington Beach, in California, I saw a major mishap when I was there last month. Several cars collided. As I was driving away from the accident and headed for our church meeting, it just dawned on me, - if a friend or relative would call you and tell you they met an accident, how would you react? What questions will you ask? I believe you don't ask questions like: "How much damage was incurred?""was the car totalled?" or "what part of the car was hit?", "does the car have comprehensive insurance?", "who is responsible for the accident?", is the engine still working?", "was the road so slippery to have caused such an accident?". I suppose the first question you will ask is "how is so and so?", "Is he hurt?" "What is the condition of the people in the car?" This is very similar to church. Sometimes, we can get so busy with so many activities and consumed by all the details, and finance, insurance, admin, etc. Whilst that is important, maybe we should ask important questions like - "How is the church?, Are they ok or hurting?" "What is there spiritual condition?" "Are they growing in their relationship with God?" "Are they healthy?" "How's their marriage?" "How are the children doing?" Accidents or not, let's concern ourselves with the right priorities.
 Sit back, relax, and eat your popcorn. Please turn off your cellphones. The show is about to begin. Hollywood has done an excellent job getting your attention. Hollywood has lengthen down the size of movies to an hour and a half. The attention span of its audience has lessened through the years. Movies have become more touching to the five senses, you can almost taste it. The sights and sounds of DivX. 
Hollywood knows how to attract the audience especially the youth. "24", "The Lost", "Prison Break", etc., will make you want to come back every week. Fortunately, some churches have learned the semantics of the movie industry, adding the frills and cuts that would bring its audience to the edge of their seats. Unfortunately, they have unintentionally trained them to be mere spectators. Just like attending the superbowl or watching "Rocky" in a rundown movie theater. We have trained them to sit back, relax, and be fed. Practice does make permanence. They are permanently stuck in their cozy chairs. Jesus did not say "sit and watch", but rather "go and make". Jesus comforted the uncomfortable, and brought discomfort to the comfortable, the big, ol', fat grownups in diapers. They have watched too many movies. "Training Day" is over. Let's not warm the benches and live vicarious lives. Let's get out of our comfortable chairs and have an impact in the real show called "life".
 Randy is a member of our Highpoint church in Orlando. He is a rocker, a biker (you should see his classic Harley Davidson), a servant of God helping as our sounds man during our sunday worship. He also help in prison ministry. I happened to visit his house at Astatula, a city west of Orlando. When you look out his backyard, you may get to see deers walking around. During my visit to his house, I had the opportunity to pray for him. He got baptized in the Holy Spirit and began speaking in the spirit. God did an amazing work that day. What is more, he is now a small group or life group leader, leading men at my house every Monday. He is now a disciple maker. Randy, I am proud of you man! Discipleship is it!
 Luis recently was in Amway Arena, where the Orlando Magic guys play. He was brought there by his Tito Ricky Hernandez, and got to see the team. Here is the video of that layup. Picture to the left show Luis with Patrick Ewing.  Picture to the right shows Luis with Coach Stan Van Gundy of Orlando Magic.
 I have been so busy lately trying to find our regular routine as a family. I'm back to update you with major news happening here in Orlando. Last sunday, almost everyone went over to have lunch at our future church building! Here are some pictures! This is the layout of our future building!  The new building is located strategically along SR 50 which is a major highway which makes it accessiblef or people coming from the north, south east and west of orlando.
We had a very simple program for that day. Basically touring the place and Pastor Keith sharing the vision of what is to come. 
 "Unlock our Future" is the theme of the entire project. We believe God has strategically called us to the right place at the right time!  Ms. Jennifer Tower proudly shows off the future kids church facilities. Actually there will be 4 or 5 rooms for the kids. Isn't that amazing!
Everything we are doing is really for the next generation. We believe that they are the future leaders! Picture shows Pia and Bettina, with Jamie (daughter of my brother Jerome), Carly (daughter of Ptr. Keith Tower) and a friend.
Luis and Michael and Michael's brother (sorry forgot his name)
Looks familiar? Looks like a cluster of small group or life group to me.
 Just outside the building.
The World Changers! Keith and Jennifer Tower, Ginny and I, Andy and Amy King, Trey and Heather Allen.
How we envision the sanctuary to look like!
 Again, the gang. I look like a pygmy standing beside Ptr. Keith and Jennifer. Pls. continue to pray for us and our building project as we are experiencing exponential growth at Highpoint church Orlando! 
Dear Friends, Highpoint Church in Orlando, Florida began a little over a year ago. It started out with two NBA players from our Every Nation Ministries, namely Keith Tower (senior pastor) and Andrew Declercq, doing bible studies in Drew's house. Their first meeting they invited all their friends to come. They prepared food for a hundred people at least and even invited a guest speaker. After an hour of waiting, they finally accepted the fact that no one will come. The pastor they invited accurately puts it this way saying to them - God wanted to know whether you are serious about his call to make disciples. He wanted to see your obedience and how serious you are.  Picture shows Pastor Keith doing a meeting at Drew's house where it all started. Today, the church has grown to over a hundred people congregating every Sunday. In two weeks, we will be starting our second service.  What is more, we are in the process of purchasing our very own building! Please pray for grace and favor as we pursue God's plans for Highpoint Church. The new facility is approximately 16,000 sq. feet strategically located at I-50 which is west of Orlando where all the new development is taking place. Here is the picture of our new church building.
 Hey those steaks and burgers, you just can't get enough of! Especially when you are mentored by the " grill king" - Keith Tower. Applying what I learned, I got myself a griller! Grilling at my back yard with a  lakeview! Move over grill king, here's giving you a run for your money!
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