According to Wikipedia, Pabasa (Spanish: pasión) is a narrative description of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ woven into a poem with stanzas of five lines and each line having eight syllables. Pasion is very popular in the Philippines during the season of Lent which is usually read (actually sung) at home or any other place where people gather. The article also said it is a form of religious expression, meditation and reflection.

The indigenization of the pasyon was begun by Gaspar Aquino de Belén in Ang Mahal na Passion ni JesuCristong Panginoon Natin na Tola (The poem of the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ), published in 1703 or 1704.

The more popular version of the pasyon is the Casaysayan nang Pasiong Mahal ni Jesucristong Panginoon Natin na Sucat Ipag-alab nang Puso nang Sinomang Babasa (The History of the Passion of Jesus Christ our Lord that will set afire the heart of whosoever reads it).

An 1852 erudition by Aniceto de Merced, El libro de la vida (The Book of Life), did not, however become popular with the masses.

Today, we can hear Pabasa being sung into modern tunes. Some are even playing musical accompaniment like guitar or rondalla.

Our church, Day by Day Christian Ministries' flagship ministry is cultural redemption. Briefly, this means cultures must be filtered, consecrated, and offered back at the feet of Jesus Christ, to be used only for His glory. I'll be writing a post on cultural redemption soon. Anyways, pasyon or pabasa is one of many Filipino tradition that needs to be redeemed. And we have redeemed it for the glory of God!

Pabasang Kristiano as we call it is being conducted yearly at different Day by Day daughter and satellite churches. Last Saturday was my first time to witness how Pabasa is being done. I had a hard time singing the verses. haha. We used the book that Pastor Ed Lapiz wrote, which is being used for years now. FYI, the content was based on the Bible.

As I hear them singing, the words I heard were painting on my mind the picture of what Jesus did during His time. By just listening, I was able to reflect on the sufferings that my Savior experienced for me to have an everlasting life. Many people find it so "badoy". But for me, the time spent listening to the chants made me realized the great things about my Redeemer. In between chapters of the Pabasa were exhortations by assigned members. The messages were great. They even challenged me to preach the Gospel that was shared to me. I'm talking Matthew 28 which was the last part of the Pabasa. It was time that Jesus ordered us to go and make disciples of all nations.

This season, take time to reflect. Go back to the Bible and remember the work that Jesus did on the cross.

It's kinda late.. but let me invite you to a night of music and inspiration. Tomorrow, February 28 7pm at Kasiyahan Garden Folk Arts Theater, CCP Complex Pasay City (Philippines). Be in the mood of love as the voices of Day by Day Christian Ministries ' Young Adults Worship Team sing love songs for you.

It's gonna be an exciting and romantic evening overlooking the Manila bay. Free admission. Hope to see you.

Do you miss Filipino Worship Songs? Here are some videos for you to sing with. Be blessed.

Best Friend



Sa Ngalan ng Ama



Tagalog Medley



Ako ay Lalapit



Purihin Ka Panginoong Hesus



All The Heaven

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

- Genesis 2:15 NIV

May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.
- Psalm 90:17

There's a group of young professionals in Makati (Philippines) called Thy Marketplace. They have a slogan "work is a calling". What does it mean?

Most people separates spirituality with the secular work. Some are Christians on Sunday and "another person" on office days. Some have to be reminded that work is a sacred calling. Our God is a working God.We too should work like Him and just as what He intended for us.

Our ultimate goal is to glorify our Creator. One way to glorify Him is accomplishing His purpose for us. We are created to serve God. Serving Him is not only done on a Sunday Service but all of the seven days!

Your boss is an agent of the Lord's good purposes. You may not agree with me. Consider yourself a travel agent. As an agent, how do you see your worth in the travel agency that you're working? Expand your imagination. As an agent, you face different kinds of customers. Can you see yourself being used by God in reuniting families from different parts of the world? Parents coming from another country put their trust in you to arrange their flight going to a place to see their kids.What a noble work! Can you see yourself being a channel of foreigners for them to enjoy great sites of your country?

Whether you are a travel or a call center agent, God has a purpose why He put you in that area. You minister to people by meeting their needs. You minister to the company by giving them profits. You minister to yourself. You are paid because of your labor. You minister to God. You are accomplishing His good purposes!

As long as the task is not unethical or will not lead us to sin, we are serving God. Do you know someone (or you mismo) is discouraged with his or her job? Your encouragement may help the person's struggle with work. Help that person know his or her worth in the organization where she belongs.

Hope you realized something. By the way, Thy Marketplace meets every Thursday 7:30pm at 1415 Cityland Hererra Tower Rufino st., Makati City. You may visit their website at www.ThyMarketplace.com

In fairness with Day by Day YAMAN K-O-N-E-K, we also meet every Thursday 7pm at 2F Jollibee Jupiter st., Makati.=)


Work is a ministry and should reflect the beauty of the LORD.

God bless us.

DOON PO SA ATIN - The first ever special joint worship and fellowship of Day by Day Christian Ministries. Join us on February 17, Sunday at Bulwagan ng Panginoon, Folk Arts Theater CCP Complex, Pasay City. Pastor Ed Lapiz will lead us. It will start at 10 in the morning.

If you can't come, watch us live via Yahoo! Messenger. Just add up "dbdcmws" on your list and request to join the conference.


See you.

Soon we'll be able to watch clips from Pastor Ed's sermons on Youtube!

Visit this URL : http://www.youtube.com/edlapiz

Update: The team has not uploaded additional videos yet. In the mean time, you may want to watch our Praise and Worship Videos here.

Some of Pastor Ed's sermons in mp3 format are here .

Thanks. God bless you.

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