Stormbringer's Chronicles

an 800 year old prophesy fulfilled...

 Isaiah is a book written 8 centuries before Jesus Christ was born. Chapter 53 reminds me of how Jesus loves us and why He came down into the world.  i'll throw in a few lines in here and you decide if you think that this almost 3000 year old book was actually describing the coming of Jesus. 

Here it goes starting at verse 3 ending at 11:

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He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.  He was despised and we did not care.  Yet, it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down and we though his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins but he was beaten for our rebellion, crushed for our sins.  He was beaten so we can be whole. He was whipped so we can be healed. All of us like sheep have strayed away.  We have left God's path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. He was oppressed and treated harshly and yet he never said a word.  He was led like a lamb to the slaughter and as a sheep is silent before shearers, he did not open his mouth.

Unjustly condemned, he was led away.  no one cared that he died without descendants.  That his life was cut short in midstream. He was struck down for the rebellion of my people.  He had done no wrong and had not deceived anyone but He was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave. 

But it was the Lord's good plan to crush him and cause him grief.  Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants.  He will enjoy a long life and the lord's good plan will prosper in His hands.  When he sees that all is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.  And because of his experience, my righteous Servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous for he will bear all their sins.

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My bible says that there is only One God and that is our God the father, the Son Jesus and his Spirit who is inside us the holy spirit.  I know thats a bit hard to comprehend... how can 3 beings be in separate forms and in different places but be one?  Well... That is what makes God - God.  If the bible says so, we just need to count on it to be true.

If you are a Christian, it may be nice to know too that Jesus is not only the only God, but also the only King in history who instead of asking His people to die for him, actually died for his people.  What a great privilege it is to serve such a God.

Syngenta Rice Expo 2010

After months of meetings, revisions & approval, sweat has finally paid off.  Today we are now in Cabanatuan City (north of manila) for a dry run of the Syngenta Rice Expo.  Tomorrow April 27 is the actual event date where we'll have 1,500 farmers coming to see Syngenta's new technology.  

What i find really odd was that we're being exposed to a lot of agricultural stuff lately starting off with the coffee expo last January in Lipa.  It's really opening my eyes to what life can be after photography and this would actually give me more time for ministry.  

Anyway, here is a little shot of our event taken using my iphone for you to get a visual of our event. i hope to take more pictures today.

 

Also, would like to share a verse that I was led to yesterday from Isaiah 45:22 "Let the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other.  I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee swill bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me."

Points to ponder...

1.  Have you looked elsewhere for happiness or have you found contentment by looking on to Jesus?

2.  Have you surrendered yourself to Jesus or are you just assuring yourself that there will be the right time for that next time?

Whether we like it or not, we will all bow down to him.  It is written in the bible and He has sworn by it.  The only question is if we will do it willingly or if God has to break our knees to do that.

my Sun cellular phone will be cut effective May 2... you can now Only reach me via my globe +63 917 8111471 which i've had for over 20 years. Globe had under 500 subscribers then and now they have over 20 million. During that time, The only business center was in UN Ave, signal was so bad but i was allowed to pick 6 digits out of the 7 numbers. The only thing i could not change was first digit 8. Out of all the numbers i could think of, why would i choose by birthday? 11-14-71 Geez when i could have picked a vanity number like 999-0000 right?

God be glorified...

Today as everyday I praise the Lord. This week has been one event right after the other and I don't know where we are getting the strength to hold on. Last Saturday was republic skate park in makati, yesterday was a La Farge launch in hyatt and today a ford press launch in sofitel. Tomorrow I fly to boracay to shoot a wedding while Monique goes to subic for another event. Just like everyday, I do not fear for I know God will pull us through. Of course things are not always served in a silver platter and we do get our fair share of grilling... But we all know how this will end. To God be the glory!!!


-- John Mateos Ong

Location:Vicente Sotto,Pasay,Philippines

Singapore PDP

Just got my ticket yesterday and i thought the classes were starting next week....  When my friend Anna of Summit Publications asked me if i was to go out of the country again anytime soon, i replied next week pa. :) then i got prompted to check my ticket date and realized that it was happening already this week... And i was just settling down. Arrrgghhhh!!!  

So this weekend its Singapore, next week its were holding 2 events for Post Ad Ventures (one in Sofitel and the other one in Makati) , a wedding in Boracay with Amanda Tirol  and then the week after will be in Cabanatuan for an event.... Whew!

More info on the classes here: Purpose Driven Photographer Singapore

 

Weekend with my kids

Just came from the camp today in Antipolo (far far far part of antipolo) today and there was no globe signal, no wi-fi, no mommy and no aircon -- it was just Sabrina, Matthew and Me. :) The place was in camp explore, a 1.5 hour trip from Manila.

Teacher Ruth, head of the NextGen ministries closed the camp with a great sharing of her experience.  She said week in and week out, during the days when they would invite parents and kids to attend the camp, her heart was broken by the reply of some kids when given fliers.  You can see how much they want to come but they say "My dad is too busy...". 

This blog goes out to parents out there... Do you know what your kids think about you? Are you giving them enough time?

I've been reading a lot of leadership books lately and 50% of them are about family.  Being a great leader of the family...  what good is being a great leader of a big company when you fail to lead your family. During the camp, i've learned that to be a great dad, the 1st thing is to TRUST IN GOD.  If you don't trust in God, you can't expect your kids to trust in God.

My own message to the dads out there is "Be the leader God made you to be.  We were given that Role.  Step-up and be worthy of being respected.  You are your children's hero and you are also accountable for them before God.  The bible says we are responsible for teaching them, not the school and not the church.  We are to help make them Godly more than intelligent"

I had a great time this camping, i may not have my usual luxuries that i'm accustomed to, but i had a great time with my kids and i really enjoy their company. I thank God for giving me such great kids!

www.ccf.org.ph  Click here for more pictures

Batch 5 Lead Like Jesus Encounter

Last Batch 5 has finally completed their Purpose Driven life series last March 7.  This completion was celebrated with a retreat in Tagaytay in Charmaine Comiso’s (wedding coordinators house), very coincidental that the completion was during holy week.  

Starting with 13 apprentices, now down to 12, I will say it again that “I am excited about what God will do with these batch”.  This batch is very very promising and I will not be shocked if juniors and seniors will emerge out of these batch in a month or so.  They’ve grabbed on practically to every opportunity to learn even if it means just holding a flash or a reflector. One of them even went to the extent of also joining PDP (and paying for tuition) despite already being part of the apprenticeship program, several of them also joined our Manny Librodo bicol workshop even if they were made to pay full price of the workshop. 

Now, finally batch 5 is allowed to shoot and were capping this up with a promo of free pre-nuptial pictorials just by following us on facebook, twitter and typepad. We are definitely awaiting the results of these pictures. 

So whats leading like Jesus all about?  find out here www.leadlikejesus.com.  And lemme know if you want us to facilitate one for you. 

 

Post Ad Ventures Training

I thought March 18 was going to mark the slow down of my schedule as the wedding peak season comes to a pause.  Unfortunately or fortunately, this was followed by a day long production meeting on the 19th, an interview for imagine nation new employees on the 20th, and a prenup shoot for wedding host kimberly tan and my ka-D-group Gerald on the 21st.  After that, I immediately left for Macau for another engagement shoot... Anyway, rather than listing down all the things I did afterwards, lets me just summarieze it... “I’VE NOT RESTED SINCE!”.  Not that I am complaining and I am actually very very happy that I am sure 100% of what I’ve been doing is part of God’s agenda.  Knowing that, how can I complain. 

So here in Post Ad, I am now seated as Production Director for events and God has placed under my care 8 wonderful ladies and a gentleman (Zelle, Hazel, Noli, Treena, Beth, Mitzi, Maricel, Annie & Amanda).  

Ever since, I’ve always believed that with “commitment comes competence”. I’ve always believed in the strength of fresh bloods (in photography, events or whatever business that might be)....  Mike, Monique and I are just wrapping up our training here in Buena Vista in tagaytay. Sharing our vision, explaining our process, how to negotiate & do costing and a lot of technical stuff. 

Here are some shots... 

 

Purpose Driven Photographer in Singapore Papers

Hey were in the Today paper (thats the name of the newspaper) in Singapore.  This is a print-ad for the purpose driven photographer classes happening from April 17 every saturday until May 30.  I'll be doing the Opening and Closing classes talking about Basic on April 17 and then wrapping it up on May 30th.

The classes are very affordable at SGD450 for the entire run. You may check out Purpose driven photographer Singapore.

For Philippine residents, we have one running simultaneously Purpose Driven Photographer Philippines

Register now as we have limited slots... Maximum of 15 pax only.

My Bad day...

... an unwelcome 25 dollar check-in baggage fee
... A missed dinner
... A long 17 hour trip from New York to Las Vegas
... Your name not in the registration of your hotel
... a broken new SB900 flash
... your name not appearing in the registration of your hotel
... a cab driver who asks you which road to take
... an almost head on collision with another car in the highway
... to finally reach your hotel and discover the cab doesn't have credit card machine on his car and now you have to go out again

You can tell this isn't my day. ut i praise God i am able to look forward to a new day today... I am excited as i shoot my very first Las Vegas wedding. I remember 2 years ago i saw the pictures of Doc Carlos / Jay-ann's Las Vegas wedding, i prayed for this. Today God has answered my prayer and i'm finally living it. 

I am not in a position to say whether my shots will come out well... or if the day will unfold as planned. But i trust in his will. Today in my quiet time, i read the book of James and this was his message:

- When troubles come your way consider it an opportunity for great joy (1:2)
- be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to get angry (1:19)
- if you claim to be religious but don't control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless (1:26)
- What good is it to say you have faith but don't show it by your actions? (2:14)
- Jealousy & selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom. (3:15)
- You don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong- you want only what will give you pleasure. (4:2-3)
- Resist the devil & he will flee from you, come close to God & God will come close to you. (4:7)
- Humble yourselves before the Lord & he will lift you up in honor (4:10)
- it is a sin to know what you ought to do and not do it (4:17)
- The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgement (5:3)
- Dont grumble (5:9)
- Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed (5:16)

So today i say a word of thanks to the Lord. I did not understand it yesterday but now i do. Thank you Lord that i had 25 dollars to pay for that baggage and i have more in the bank, thank you for allowing me to be in the US once again to do what i love doing, thank you for keeping me safe on this trip and getting to me to my hotel despite the driver not knowing. You were probably asking me to share my faith to that driver, but i failed my Lord. I let stress get in the way. As for that flash, i trust you will give me what i need... let your name be glorified.