The Edge Radio, where I am a volunteer is one of the media partners for this event.

I started collecting Christian music tapes whenever I got the chance. I saved some of my precious allowance for school so I could buy some cassette tapes. You see, I couldn’t afford CDs back then. I now enjoy my Christian music in CDs and DVDs but my tapes at home are still intact.

One thing that’s lacking though is Christian Music Radio. I also discovered Against the Flow, a program in NU 107.5 FM every Monday night. It was a great experience to listen to Christian music after listening to death metal groups and hard core rock bands. Hahah. I still cherish those times of my College days.

A year or so ago, a Christian music radio, The Edge, started operating in Manila at 91.5. But it was a short-lived journey. Due to some problems, the nightly broadcast stopped.

Thankfully, though, the Edge Radio used another medium for broadcasting — the Internet. I can now listen to my favorite Christian music online at The Edge Radio website.

On Monday night, September 15, Sarah Balabagan launched her album, Salamat sa Iyo at the Church So Blessed near GMA7 at Timog Avenue. It was more than just a celebration of Christian music. The album speaks of the journey that Sarah had since she came back from the UAE. She related how she got the scholarship to study at the Center for Pop Music Philippines.

At first, she was more interested in playing tong-its with the technicians of the Center for Pop Music than learning how to sing! Mr. Butch Albaraccin, President the Center for Pop Music, supported her throughout. They had to part ways though because of differences.

After a few years, Sarah Balabagan came to the Christian faith through the efforts of several people including Dulce (the recording artist). In due time, she began sharing her testimony to people who care to listen. When she reconnected with Mr. Butch Albaraccin, both of them were already Christians and they were ready to join hands once again to serve the Lord together. After that, Sarah sang in a women’s correctional facility. Sarah was on death row in the UAE and that was definitely something that the women imprisoned there could relate to.

Sarah and Dulce became very good friends. And before long, Dulce helped Sarah grow further in her newfound faith. She even gave a song number at Sarah’s debut album launching! It was touching to see these two women share stories of friendship and faith.

Sarah’s songs reflected her experience as a Filipino worker in a foreign land. She calls on Filipinos to be proud of their heritage. You could hear and feel the gratitude and Filipino pride in the songs she sang. With what she went through and where she is now, God has truly blessed her life.

Sarah’s album was launched by Gusi Records and is available in major record stores in the country. Another thing, if you buy her album, 10% of the proceeds will go to the foundation that Sarah will put up to minister to Overseas Filipino workers!

I attended Sarah Balabagan’s debut album launching because I represented the Christian Radio, The Edge. If you want to listen to positive music with a powerful message, just tune in to The Edge Radio.

More pics at www.iammighty.multiply.com

Xtreme Calling

You just might be one of the 5 persons who can get a copy of Xtreme Calling: True Stories of Teens with a Sacred Calling. The book contains the stories of 50 young people who chose to believe and follow Jesus Christ in a world that endorses hedonism and senseless pleasures. Christian artists such as Jeremy Camp, Casting Crowns, and Nicole C. Mullen among others shared their own stories in this collection.

If you want to get copy of this book, just answer this question:IF YOU WERE A BOOK, WHAT BOOK WOULD YOU BE? WHY?

Don’t just answer it, you have to put your answer at the Guestbox of the Multiply account of the Edge Radio at www.theedgeradio.multiply.com. You can also send your answers to Joyce@theedgeradio.net

This contest is brought to you by OMF Literature and the Edge Radio.

I wanna join too but I can’t seem to think of a good book right now. heheh

I was surfing through the net randomly, when I came across this Internet Addiction Test. I took the test. The test asked about my online habits and Internet usage. At least it told me that:

You are an average on-line user. You may surf the Web a bit too long at times, but you have control over your usage.

Internet Addiction, photo courtesy of jrgreenmd at tv.com

Hahah. Good thing I’m not yet an Internet Addict! Take care friends, there is such a thing as Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD). It started out as a hoax, perhaps because of the desire of one guy to get recognition about it. But then again, internet usage has grown in the past few years. In the United States, there are about 9 Million Americans who are Internet addicts, or pathological computer users. On the other hand, there are about 5-10 percent of online users in the United Kingdom. In Asia, the highest incidence of internet addiction are in China, Taiwan and South Korea, where about 30% of South Koreans below 18 years old have a tendency to be addicted to the Internet.

In the Philippines, we do not have data yet about the incidence of Internet Addiction. Perhaps, we need one pretty soon, especially with a lot of young people going online everyday and even skipping classes because of the Internet and video games!

If you are suffering from Internet Addiction, or even Video games addiction for that matter, then you might have to seek help. Go get an accountability partner like a trusted friend, a family member or a mentor who can check your internet habits and your video game playing habits. If you have a PC and internet connection at home, then consider uninstalling video games. For Internet addiction, you can also install, content control software.

The best defense to internet addiction, or any addiction for that matter, is still a clear view of what you want in life and self-discipline!

Our culture seems to be obsessed with beauty, a slim figure, intelligence, and all about being good looking. There’s nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t hurt to be pretty and beautiful. But things can easily take turns for the worse. If it’s any indication, the beauty and cosmetics industry is raking in billions of dollars in profits all over the world. A lot of women do not feel beautiful.

Men are no exception. Since we seem to be bred for competition, if we are not able to rise above the competition, it is so easy to feel like such a loser!

No wonder a lot of young people have low self-esteem. It’s tricky sometimes how a low self-esteem can be easily masked by arrogance, bullying and deviant behavior. Well, self-esteem starts in the family. That’s why our parents often affirm us by saying “ganda ng anak ko ah…” or “galing ng anak ko ah…”

Although the love of parents is great. It is not what all that we need. We also have to learn to understand our identity and establish our self-worth. More than that, we should guard our thoughts against unjust accusations and put downs.

Ladies out there, if your self-esteem is just a tad too low, then go sing along with TLC’s Unpretty!

The problem is, it is difficult to get young people to think through these things. Besides, if this blog talked about issues and problems all the time, how boring could that get? Heheh. So, Pinoy Youth will also feature the things that young people love–music, websites, social networking, bands, movies, books and a whole lot of things. It will also feature the lives of young people who made history!

The Pinoy Youth Blog is a work in progress. So as time unfolds, we’ll see how this blog evolves.

Cheers!

Mighty

Wikipedia.org listed down several symptoms. If you recognize any of these symptoms, you better be careful. Too much of anything is not good for you.

Persistent thoughts of the activity or performance of the activity. (Preoccupation)
Need for increased time spent on the activity to achieve satisfaction or diminished reward for the same amount of time spent on the activity. (Tolerance)
Inability to control, stop, or diminish the behavior. (Loss of control)
Restlessness or irritability when prevented from partaking in the activity. (Withdrawal)
Lying to friends or family about extent of involvement with activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)
Committing illegal acts to sustain activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)
Relying on others to finance activity. (Continuance despite adverse consequences)

If you have this addiction, you might need rehabilitation. Unlike China though, we still do not have such rehab centers. All you need is to take a look at your self-discipline and might need to go on a personal development journey.

The Pinoy Gaming Website also has something to say about this issue.

Actually the hardest debate I’ve encountered is with my dad- and it’s not even religion related. The debate is about what is the good thing in wasting money just to play online games. How am I going to explain this to a work-dedicated individual who never experienced playing online games. What’s the purpose of spending thousands of pesos for a simple pixelated thing that you can’t even call your own whereas you can already pay the bills with that sum of money. The debate is close to eternal, but I’m sure some will understand because I’m sure only a gamer by passion and heart will understand another gamer. It is the topic that lead into confusion, questioning oneself, and maybe guilt.

I’ve been an online gamer for more than six years already. I’d say it already permeated my veins, but I decided to taper-dose my drive on playing because of priorities. Well I guess that makes sense, learn to balance out things and priorities and you’ll never to wrong with your life. And, as I may quote, “there is no greater MMORPG than Life”.

It’s not really a complicated issue. As long as we are aware of what we want to do in our lives, what our passion and our vision are, electronic and video game addiction won’t be such a big problem.