Straight From The Pastor

Toys

2011-10-29T08:59:00.001+08:00

“Yesterday’s popular toy is today’s collectors’ item.” (Yahoo!) Remember the old toys that you sold in a garage sale? Or the ones you had since you were a kid and kept in mint condition for a long time but when you turned it over to your kids, it lost an arm or a leg? Well, Yahoo! recently featured “The Most Valuable Action Figures”. “Some of the action figures you loved as a child are now sought-after rarities with enormous price tags… You probably threw them away when you grew up, but you’re about to wish you hadn’t… All toys are not created equal—and these pricy pieces of plastic prove it” (Ibid) For example, a 1978 Darth Vader action figure with a telescoping lightsaber accessory could fetch up to US$7,000! The most expensive is the 1963 G.I. Joe prototype sold for $200,000 in a 2009 auction. One ruefully commented, “I guess playing with my Return of the Jedi action figures in the bathtub and melting them with a magnifying glass wasn’t such a good idea.”

But what are toys anyway? We are supposed to play with them. Someone commented about those expensive collectibles, “They’re sought after because people who played with them don’t have them anymore. Some of us get nostalgic and since we can’t buy back our childhood, we try to buy back pieces of it any way we can. And some people can afford to satisfy their nostalgia to the extreme.” Yes, we can’t really buy back our childhood and our children’s childhood. So, instead of hoarding those limited edition toys for some future auction that you’re not even sure would come, why not take out those toys from their boxes and play with your kids?

A memorable scene from Toy Story 2 came to my mind. Buzz Lightyear tried to rescue Woody from a toy collector. But Woody refused. Buzz pleaded with him. “Woody, you’re not a collector’s item. You’re a child’s plaything. You... are... A TOY! …Somewhere in that pad of stuffing is a toy who taught me that life’s only worth living if you’re being loved by a kid.” And it goes not just for toys. I guess that’s why God called our children His heritage and His reward (Psalm 127:3). We are meant to enjoy God’s gifts. We usually think that we are only good stewards of our kids when we discipline them, provide for their needs (usually financially) and give them a good education. But it is also great stewardship when we laugh with them. Life is only worth living when you enjoy the love of your kids and our kids enjoy ours.

It’s playtime.

"I wanted my kids to know me."

2011-10-20T13:51:00.005+08:00

This was the reason the late Steve Jobs gave to Walter Isaacson when he asked why Jobs allowed him to write his life story. Jobs zealously guarded his private life from the prying eyes of the public. He left behind four children from two relationships. In his final interview with the Apple co-founder (they had more than 40 tell-all, no-holds-barred interviews conducted over two years), the Pulitzer Prize nominee asked why Jobs was more than willing to open up so much. Jobs replied, “I wasn’t always there for [my kids],and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”

When I read those words, I paused to reflect, “What would I want my kids to know about me?” I’m afraid some of us would be too quick to point an accusing finger to Jobs for this humble admission. That despitehis success in business, it appears Jobs failed in his home. But the proverbial three fingers are pointing back to us. What Jobs said brought to mind what my wife Ellen asked me one time, “What memories about you are you going to leave behind for our kids?” Would our kids say that we are always there for them? Do they really understand why we are doing what weare doing? I think the person we see daily in the mirror could not and should not dodge those piercing questions.

My father, the late Efren Cortez, was a man of few words. Yet, he was fun to be with. I remember the time we walked after watching a movie from a theater to our house ten blocks away. Somehow, the coins for the fare fell from his pocket when he took something from it. So, we had to walk back home. Along the way, he asked me math questions. He loved to dance with my mother. Boogie. Cha-cha. Name it. He was so good at it! I learned the value of hard work from him. I recall seeing the pattern of his t-shirt on his body whenever he would dress up. His arms got sunburned because he rode a motorcycle in his work. He encouraged me to become a working student when I was in college. Being the quiet type, he was not so vocal in praising our triumphs. But when he died, his friends and co-employees looked for me. They told me that he talked a lot about me. We didn’t have much in life. But I saw that my father had a lot of good friends. He was there for us and we know he worked so hard that he died before reaching retirement because he wanted to take good care of us. Those are the values that I got from him and hope that I could pass them on to my kids as well.

One of my favorite pictures of Tatay Efren

Brethren, what are the memories we are creating for our kids?

Prayer Without Works Is Dead

2011-10-01T09:39:00.002+08:00

Source: http://inquirer.net/

After Pedring, now it’s Quiel. As one newspaper puts it, “There will be no rest for the flood-weary.” While Pedring was howling, I could not believe my eyes as I watch a construction crane spinning out of control on top of a building. Pedring’s total toll already climbed to 43 deaths (17 were children), 44 injured and 30 still missing. And we are still counting! Rescue efforts in flooded (read: submerged) areas are still ongoing. “Palay losses in Central Luzon, the country’s ‘rice granary,’ has exceeded P4 billion even as the full extent of damage wrought by Pedring is still unfolding.” (http://inquirer.net/) Now, the weather bureau warns that Quiel is stronger, “threatening the northern and central regions, the very same regions barely recovering from Typhoon ‘Pedring,’ with more rains and floods and disrupting reconstruction efforts.” (Ibid)

It is my prayer that God would embrace those who are most affected with His comforting love. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.” (Psalm 46:1-3, ESV)

It is also my prayer that Christ followers would rise up to the challenge. In times like this, our “God bless you!” wishes won’t suffice. It’s really pathetic when we open our closet jampacked with clothes then we sigh, “I have nothing to wear.” It’s actually sad when food just spoil in the fridge because we have so many leftovers.“If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?” (James 2:15-16) So, haul those clothes to the nearest relief organization. (Please give clothes that you would actually wear yourself, okay?) And when you send food, please keep instant noodles to a minimum. I remember reading about people in evacuation centers complaining that noodles were already coming out of their ears and noses. It’s not that they were choosy. Just imagine eating only noodles three times a day every day. Their situation is already stressful. Let us not add to it but rather alleviate it. I believe the extra thought and effort we put into the help we send would be greatly appreciated.

To paraphrase a verse, prayers without works are dead. Yes, we pray. But we do more than pray. We become God’s answer to our prayers.

Brethren, let us see our faith in action.

Missing the Point

2011-09-22T11:50:00.001+08:00

Last Tuesday, September 20, at SM City Pampanga, a 13-year-old boy shot his 16-year-old boyfriend and then shot himself. Both of them already died after a few days. “The shooting was the second in about a week inside one of the country’s biggest mall chains, SM malls, where guards are posted at entrances and bomb-sniffing dogs patrol the premises to deter crime and terrorist threats.” (Yahoo! News Philippines) Last week, September 14, at SM City North, a woman fatally shot her estranged husband and a security guard who tried to stop her from killing herself. Now, there’s a public outcry about safety in the malls and gun control. How were they able to sneak in those guns? We are frisked and our bags were scanned with metal detectors whenever we enter the mall.

Urgent as they may appear to be, I think we are missing the point. Of course, we need to be and to feel safe whenever we enjoy the national pastime of malling. Yet, there’s not much uproar about the fact that the teenagers had a homosexual relationship (“the boys were in a romantic relationship after meeting through Facebook in May.” Ibid) and that the couple got separated because of another woman. Those were crimes of passion. “The 13-year-old, apparently in a fit of jealously, left a suicide note that he was ‘willing to die together with’ his friend”. (Ibid) The woman was confronting her husband for failing to support their 5-year-old daughter.

More than just our security, we need to focus on soul-searching. Isn’t it disturbing to read that, according to the police, “The relationship was not known to either boy’s parents”? (Inquirer.Net) I heard over the radio the news interview of the father of one of the boys who bewailed that the money he saved up for his child’s education will now be spent on his coffin instead. Could it be that these incidents are just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, that is, family breakdown? What if the parents were more vigilant in monitoring their children’s Internet habits? What if the couple decided to work on their marriage instead of giving up altogether? Could these incidents have been prevented? We need to face the mirror ourselves. It could have happened to anyone of us.

That’s why we need to be reminded: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”(Psalm 127:1, ESV) The strength of our nation depends on the strength of our families. We can only be strong when the Lord Himself builds our household. We need not build in vain.

Brethren, let us focus on our families.

"Small Choices, Saved Lives"

2011-09-08T06:08:00.002+08:00

That’s part of the title of an article about the “near misses of 9/11” posted on the CNN International Edition website. “Every day, people make thousands of small, forgettable decisions – what to eat, when to take a break, which route to take to work. But for a handful of people on September 11, 2001, those seemingly inconsequential decisions… made the difference between living and dying.” [1]

Greer Epstein, an executive director at Morgan Stanley, took a rare cigarette break. She recounted that fateful day, “I never took a break before noon… It was something that happened that day. And thank God for it. I was safely out of the building when the plane hit. A fireball went through my office. Had I been sitting there, who knows what would've been?” Jokingly, she said her mother never picked on her about smoking again. But seriously, since that near miss at 9/11, she never let her work dictate her life. “My life was my job. Until I was laid off, I worked for them for almost 20 years. Everything was about your work. I didn’t take vacations. Now I tell people, ‘Don’t put it off. Take your vacation. Take your time with family.’”

Elise O’Kane, United Airlines flight attendant, “when scheduling her flights for September on the airline’s computer system, she accidentally inverted two code numbers and wound up with the wrong schedule.” So instead of a Los Angeles route, she ended up with a Denver route. She was so upset. Yet, if she did not commit that code blunder, she would have been on Flight 175, the plane that hit the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Shockingly, when she learned that that mistake saved her life, she was overcome with guilt. “Why me – out of all those wonderful people? What have I done? I’m not a saint or angel.” She found it hard to accept that God may still have a plan for her. But she had to move on. “I need to give back and fulfill myself. Something has changed inside me.” O’Kane decided to become a nurse. Though she went back to work at United Airlines, whenever she would receive emails from former patients, thanking her for her soothing service during their recovery, she feels so fulfilled: “It’s almost like a confirmation.”

All of us made choices that we felt at that time were a mistake or simply trivial. But, as we look back and as we see the big picture, we now see that it made a difference in our lives. I enrolled in Far Eastern University only because my girlfriend at that time was studying there. When we broke up, I felt stuck there. But it was in that college where I met my best friend, Jesse Dedel, who shared with me the Good News and encouraged me to receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. Now, we are both pastors. Truly, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV)

Brethren, God uses our choices (big or small) to shape us.

[1] http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/09/03/near.death.decisions/index.html?iref=obnetwork

Thank You, MGC!

2011-08-22T14:00:00.002+08:00

Thank you for the privilege of serving you for more than six years.

I will not wait for my last Sunday in Makati Gospel Church as one of your associate pastors to express my deep appreciation for all your loving support. I apologize that the news of my resignation shocked you. It was not an easy decision to make. But rest assured that I decided after much thought and prayer. As I sat here behind my desk, I once again read all the “love notes” you gave me through the years. I posted them on my desk underneath its glass top. I felt so affirmed as your pastor. Whenever I felt there’s so much work to be done, whenever I saw that it was so challenging, those notes encouraged me a lot. You were and still are God’s channel of comfort to me and my family. We really felt so loved. Because of your encouragement, I became not just a better pastor but also a better believer.

With you, I saw that it really matters who we walk with. We’ve been through a lot. We shared births and deaths, weddings and anniversaries, birthdays and Christmases and so many more in between. We labored together. We laughed together. We lamented together. We learned together. I learned from you so much more than what you learned from me. You saw all my shortcomings. Yet, you were so patient with me. You were still there working with me. It’s not “my” work. It’s “our” work. Only eternity would reveal the fruit of our labors together. For all the successes, we share it together. For all the failures, as your leader, I bear it all on my shoulders. I believe we would all partake in the joy once the Lord rewards us there in heaven.

With all these in view, I may move on now in the ministry but in the Spirit we will always be together. For you will always be in my heart. All the life lessons I learned from you and with you I will share with all the pastors and church workers I will be training. As I have told you, I will be getting involved in equipping ministry leaders. One study revealed that 16% of churches in our country do not have pastors. Add to that 39% of churches with untrained pastors or those who lack or have no formal training at all. That translates to a 55% need for equipping. And we are just talking of independent or unaffiliated churches. If we add the denominational churches, the need could go as high as 63%. There’s so much work to be done.

Now more than ever, I need your prayerful support.

Thank you, MGC. We love you!

Shock Art

2011-08-09T12:58:00.003+08:00

Part of the "Poleteismo" exhibit

Was it an expression or a desecration?

That’s the fiery debate about “Poleteismo” by artist Mideo Cruz, “an art exhibit that combines religious symbols with phallic objects” at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), where “[a] sculpture showed a penis hanging from a wooden cross while another portrayed Christ as Mickey Mouse.” (Source: www.inquirer.net) As expected, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines condemned the exhibit and the CCP recently withdrew it.

Now, I understand the hurt “Poleteismo” inflicted to people who venerate religious images. But, interestingly, it is actually a part of an “exhibit of images and figurines of saints and Jesus Christ titled ‘Kulo’ by a group of 30 artists from the University of Sto. Tomas” (ibid), which all of us know is a Roman Catholic university. Also, it appears that since 2002 the controversial exhibit was already displayed in venues such as the Vargas Museum in the University of the Philippines and the Loyola School of Theology in Ateneo de Manila University (which is also a Roman Catholic university). So, some people are asking, “Why react only now? Is the Church becoming ultra-sensitive in view of the recent, perceived siege against the Catholic faith because of the proposed Reproductive Health and the Divorce bills?”

But, we should be more concerned not with the timing of the reaction but the way it could be expressed. One piece of the exhibit was already defaced. There are even those who went to the extent of calling for a lynch mob. Yet, as one Catholic faithful wisely wrote in a blog, “I think the proper response to his artwork is the opposite of what we have already witnessed. Perhaps the better response is nonchalance or indifference but certainly not vandalism or name-calling because it merely reinforces the implied criticism that the artwork wants to get across which is blind worship of icons or images.” And, before we Evangelical Christians point an accusing finger, let me remind us of the way some of us overreacted by burning copies of Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code.”

Remember that we are followers of the Lord Who taught us to love our enemies and “turn the other cheek”. In defending our faith, we are to “do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”(1 Peter 3:15b-16, ESV)

Brethren, respond, not react.

"A Plain, Ordinary Christian"

2011-08-06T11:22:00.002+08:00

That’s how the late John Stott described an evangelical. (He died at the age of 90 last July 27, 2011 due to old age complications.) He would have labeled himself as such.But, for us, John Stott was no plain, ordinary Christian. Time Magazine honored him as one of the 100 world’s most influential leaders in 2005. When I heard him preach in person during the Philippine Congress on World Evangelization (in connection with Laussane II Congress) back in 1989, I was awed at his simple, practical and powerful way preaching of the Word of God. Based on Romans 1:1-5, he taught that there are six truths about the Gospel: “The Good News is the Gospel of God, about Christ, according to Scripture, for the nations, unto the obedience of faith, for the sake of Christ’s name.” (Source: www.lausane.org) One of his best-selling, must-read books, “Basic Christianity,” which he wrote in 1958 can be read in 25 languages and already sold more than million copies. His writings impacted most of the influential Christian leaders and thinkers in the world. He made available the royalties from his 50-plus books for scholarship funds to doctorate students from developing countries. He was a blessing to the entire world (not just evangelicals) for he taught believers not only to be heavenly minded but to have earthly good such as combating poverty and hunger.

“Stott was the most unifying leader in global evangelicalism for several decades. He reached millions with his theological works, sermons, devotionals, and Bible study materials. He was the primary architect of the 1974 Lausanne Covenant, a watershed document in church history. In recognition of his ‘services to Christian scholarship and the Christian world,’ Stott was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 2005. But as a man marked by uncommon humility, the Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott CBE was known by friends simply as ‘Uncle John.’” (Ibid) Latin American theologian René Padilla shared this encounter with Stott: “On the previous night we had arrived in Bariloche, Argentina, in the middle of heavy rain... our shoes were covered with mud. In the morning, as I woke up, I heard the sound of a brush—John was busy, brushing my shoes. ‘John!’ I exclaimed full of surprise, ‘What are you doing?’ ‘My dear René,’ he responded, ‘Jesus taught us to wash each other’s feet. You do not need me to wash your feet, but I can brush your shoes.’” (Christianity Today)

Brethren, may we all become plain, ordinary Christians.

God the Father is also God the Mother?

2011-07-30T09:28:00.000+08:00

In the name of political correctness (or gender equality), there are those who push that either we also call God the Mother, not just God the Father, or go for the generic God the Parent. They even accuse the Bible especially the Old Testament of chauvinism or biased towards male persons.

In his insightful “Discovering God as Father,” Rev. Dr. Narry Santos clarified, “‘Mother’ is never used in the Bible as a name for God. On the other hand, ‘Father’ is used in Scriptures as a metaphorical [figurative] name. Because the name ‘Father’ is metaphorical and not literal, it does not speak literally of God’s having a male or masculine nature. However, because ‘Father’ is a name and not merely a metaphor, it is not interchangeable with ‘Mother.’ Thus, there is no need for God the Mother.” (Jeremiah’s Dilemma Quarterly, Issue 3, August 2011)

I’m afraid that reason why there are attempts to “de-father” God is due to abusive or absentee fathers. Sadly, there are people who refuse the fatherhood of God because there are those who failed to live up to the Biblical role of fatherhood and manhood. I remember the story of a 7-year old boy who asked his pastor point-blank, “What is God like?” The pastor blurted out, “He is like your father.” The boy recoiled in fear, “Then, I don’t want to know God!” That’s the challenge of being a father. Even before they are old enough to read the Bible, our children already grasp their idea of who God is as a Father through our works and not just our words.

For example, Psalm 103:13 give us this analogy: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.” (ESV) This comparison would not make sense to our kids if we were not compassionate ourselves. Some of us may have grown up with less than ideal fathers. But that need not hinder us from becoming the fathers that God called us to become. We can only impart that which we experienced personally. That’s why Dr. Santos exhorts us fathers, “Let’s remember God’s gentleness, compassion, and intimacy as a faithful lover, forgiver of sins, and close friend, who always shows unconditional delight and unfailing commitment… We need to become like our heavenly Father… We need to be fatherly with those who are under our care… Like our father, let’s be willing to be our family’s protector, provider, and teacher, who affirms our loving nearness through undying (and sometimes tough) love…” (Ibid)

Brethren, enjoy the fatherhood of God.

The Redeemer on a Receipt?

2011-07-22T14:35:00.003+08:00

Just recently Yahoo!’s Odd News featured an alleged image of Christ mysteriously appearing on a Wal-Mart receipt: “[In] his most recent appearance, Jesus is showing that even the son of the Big Man has economic issues on the brain… Jacob Simmons and Gentry Lee Sutherland had just returned home from church (interesting connection, no?), and found what looked like the face of Christ BURNED into the receipt.” Yet, depending on who’s looking at the image, opinions vary whether it looks like Jesus or Charles Manson or Bin laden. One comment reads, “Kinda creepy. Why does everyone assume it’s always Jesus?” Noting that heat can create that image on a receipt, Odd News lead anchor Greg Proops quipped, “Ironic that heat can create a picture of someone dedicated to keeping people away from warm places… The retail giant offers a lot of coupons and many consider Jesus [as] the ultimate redeemer.” (Ibid)

Many years ago, after taking a bite off a grilled cheese sandwich, Diana Duyser “saw a face staring back at her… She said the sandwich has never sprouted a spore of mold.” (Associated Press) The 10-year old stale bread with a supposed image of the Virgin Mary made a lot of bread for Duyser after she sold it for US$28K on eBay. An online casino placed the winning bid and “planned to use the sandwich to raise money for charity.” (Ibid) Relics prove that people want to walk by sight and not by faith. Another comment on the supposed “holy receipt” goes like this, “It’s sad that people are so desperate for something to fill their lives that they see whatever they wish to see in everything from tree trunks to frog skins to receipts.”

But true faith rests on God’s revelation, not on relics. After showing convincing proofs that He indeed rose from the dead, our Lord Jesus told Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29, ESV) After recounting how he witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus and heard the voice of God the Father, Peter wrote, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place” (1 Peter 1:19, ESV). The Scripture is surer than anything else. We don’t need to run after relics. We can rely on His Word. God’s Word is sufficient for faith and life “for we walk by faith, not by sight.”(2 Corinthians 5:7)

Brethren, focus on the revealed Word, not on any relics.

Atheist Churchgoer

2011-07-13T13:11:00.001+08:00

Vyckie confessed to feeling slightly guilty for she already missed going to church for four straight Sundays. But she is not your typical, active churchgoer. She is an atheist. She “deconverted” years ago because of, in her own words, “the Bible and Christian doctrine which I finally recognized as ridiculous and even abusive.”(Source: exchristian.net)

She clarified though that she is only criticizing the faith and not the faithful. “So when I write or speak about the evils of Christian fundamentalism and biblical literalism, I’m talking about words, ideas, beliefs, thoughts which affect and influence the flesh-and-blood people who listen to these abstractions and take them to heart… I didn’t leave Christianity because of any failure of the people. For the most part, I found the Christians I knew to be sincere, generous and supportive.” (Ibid) So, even if she loathes Christianity, she loves being with her Christian friends. “I’m still going to church because that’s where my social life is (mostly). I love the people there… They see me, they know me – I am a real person – same as them” (ibid). I really appreciate how her church accepted her for who she is (or, is not). Thus, though she denounces the teachings, Vyckie wrote that she can’t deny that “remaining in close contact with practicing Christians helps me to remember that they do what they’re doing for all the same reasons that used to motivate me too: a sincere heart and genuine desire to love the Lord and to love their neighbors. This keeps me from building up a caricature of ‘Christian people’ in my own mind whom I must fight against and expose as deluded and hypocritical.” (Ibid)

Vyckie’s experience underscores the truth behind this saying: “People do not care how much we know unless they know how much we care.” And we are to care for people even when they don’t care about what we know. The early church was known for “having favor with all the people.” (Acts 2:47, ESV) It is also noted that, though they were afraid to join the church, “the people held them in high esteem” (5:13). The people respected the church because they were real. We are not called to impress people but to express the love of God to them. “Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.” (Colossians 4:5-6, GNT)

Brethren, love to express, not to impress.

Faith Angles (Part 3)

2011-07-09T10:05:00.001+08:00

When CNN’s Belief Blog (which focuses on the “faith angles” of news) marked its first year, its religion editor Dan Gilgoff posted the “10 things the Belief Blog learned in its first year” article. The first thing Gilgoff saw was that, “Every big news story has a faith angle.” (I already discussed it in the first two parts of “Faith Angles”) The second thing that he noted was that, “Atheists are the most fervent commenters on matters religious.” They would pour out “an avalanche of alternately humorous and outraged atheist responses on virtually everything the Belief Blog publishes. They’re more evidence that atheists are coming out of the closet to trumpet their disbelief, argue with the faithful and evangelize their godlessness.”

They are so aggressive that they put up ads that promote atheism such as “God-LESS America” (which is a play of “God Bless America”) and “Atheism is patriotic.” In fact, there’s an indie film, “The Ledge,” that will be screened in New York and Los Angeles a few days from now that openly advocates atheism. Written and directed by an “outspoken atheist,” Matthew Chapman, the plot is about “religion, love and revenge that pits a conservative Christian husband against an atheist who has seduced the religious man’s Christian wife… it’s Hollywood’s first offering to feature an openly atheist hero in a story about religious conflict.” Chapman declared that he came up with the movie “to help create a more positive image for atheism, which he says is often misunderstood and maligned, for audiences who may otherwise not be exposed to it.”

Now, I wonder why we believers are not as fervent as the atheists in trumpeting our belief, arguing with the faithless and evangelizing our godliness? While the atheists are coming out of the closet, we Christians seem to be retreating into our comfort zone. We hide into our closet when we focus more on what we can get rather than what we can give, when we delight ourselves rather than deny ourselves. Just look at the latest Christian bestsellers. It appears we want to talk more about “me, myself and mine” such as“becoming a better you” or “improving your life” instead of reaching the real world out there. By doing so, we could lose this belief (yes, unbelief is actually a belief also) battle by default. We are called to “fight with everything [we] have in [us] for this faith entrusted to us as a gift to guard and cherish.” (Jude 3, The Message)

Brethren, let us be more outspoken about our faith.

"Would Jesus Discriminate?"

2011-06-29T10:13:00.004+08:00

This is one of the placards displayed during the same-sex wedding performed for eight gay couples by the Metropolitan Community Church last week in Baguio City on the day “New York became the sixth and largest state in the US to legalize gay marriage.” (Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/)
For sure both sides would seek Jesus’ approval. In her “The Bible’s surprisingly mixed messages on sexuality” over CNN’s Belief Blog, Jennifer Wright Knust claimed that, “Jesus… says nothing at all about same-sex pairing”. But arguments from silence are not strong arguments at all. Silence does not mean support. Regis Nicol in his “The Dangers of Same-Sex Marriage: What’s Wrong with That?” countered that assertion: “While it’s true that Jesus said nothing explicitly about homosexuality, it’s also true he never mentioned the evils of bestiality, incest, pedophilia, rape, slavery, wife-beating, or substance abuse, to name a few. In fact, the New Testament records very few things that Jesus specifically condemned. It would be reckless, therefore, to assume that anything not specifically prohibited is permitted.”

In this controversial issue we must not put words in the mouth of our Lord. He is surely explicit that marriage is between a man and a woman. When asked about His stance on divorce, Jesus answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew 19:4-6, ESV) Yes, our Lord Jesus did not discriminate against homosexuals. We are all sinners in equal footing at the foot of the cross. Yet, He delineated who gets to get married. Without doubt, the genders of the first couple that God joined together, who are “no longer two but one flesh”, are “male and female”.

Rejecting same-sex marriage means compassion for the homosexuals. Nicol wrote, “The disproportionate incidence of substance abuse, mental health problems, disease, mortality, and suicide among homosexuals reveals the truth behind the gay lifestyle: it is anything but gay. By following the example of Jesus, our compassion should involve encouraging those with homosexual urgings to live chastely, rather than affirming and enabling them in a destructive lifestyle.”

Brethren, Jesus would be compassionate.

Note: Picture from CNN's Belief Blog

Faith Angles (Part 2)

2011-06-24T10:56:00.000+08:00

“Every big news story has a faith angle.” That’s one of the things that CNN learned after its Belief Blog (which is dedicated to discussing how faith factors in the news) marked its first year recently, “after publishing 1,840 posts and sifting through 452,603 comments”. (Source: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/) One encouraging observation: “People are still intensely curious about the Bible, its meaning and its origins… More of us may be reading it on iPhones these days, but the Good Book still matters a lot more than the popular culture lets on.” (Ibid) When Belief Blog posted a guest blog claiming that the Bible was more ambiguous as far as homosexuality is concerned, it got more than 4,000 comments. When a counter-article claimed that the Bible clearly condemns homosexuality, it “brought in an equal number of comments - and was the most popular story on CNN.com on the day it was published.” (Ibid)

For me, this is a great open door for us Christ followers to declare and defend our faith, much like what the apostle Paul had when he spoke before the philosophers at Aeropagus in Athens (Acts 17:16-34). At that time Athens was hailed as the “intellectual capital of the world.” When Paul saw the idolatry of the city, “he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.” (v. 17, ESV) In the Greek, the word “reasoned” means that he would choose a passage from Scripture and then speak from that text. But when he locked horns with philosophers, his approach changed. He “conversed” with them (v. 18). Interestingly, the book of Acts used a different Greek word here. The word “conversed” literally means, “to throw with,” that is, “to toss ideas back and forth” (Bible Knowledge Commentary). When he faced the philosophers, Paul did not actually quote verses (though he presented Biblical concepts) but even quoted from pagan poets.

We really have a lot to learn on how to engage the world around us. I remember my frustration with how Christians handle social and political issues when I was working in the media before. Of course, there are faith angles in those issues. But I saw how we believers tend to fumble the ball. That’s why, as the Reproductive Health or RH bill debate rages on (and other issues are sure to come), let us pray for wisdom that like Paul we would know when to reason and when to converse.

Brethren, there is a time to reason and a time to converse.

Faith Angles

2011-06-16T12:01:00.000+08:00

“We believe that understanding the role of faith in today’s world isn’t optional or nice to know. It’s need to know.” This is how CNN explained why they came up with Belief Blog, where they will “cover the role that faith and belief play in the news - and in [their] readers’ lives… [They] will focus on the places where faith bumps up against the rest of the news and the rest of the world, from breaking news to entertainment, from business to politics, and from foreign affairs to sports.”

As far as CNN is concerned, these faith angles explain much of the news ranging from a young man’s failed plot to bomb New York’s Times Square (He is a Muslim who took a vow to defend Islam from “humiliation”) to Barrack Obama’s rise to the presidency. (As a young Columbia University graduate, Obama had quit his first finance job and tried his hand in community organizing sponsored by Christian churches in Chicago. Not only that this launched his political career, it was “an experience that led him to Christianity”.) According to CNN Belief Blog, “To understand any of this news, you need to know something about faith… In a shrinking world, knowing what it’s like to undergo an adult baptism or to pray to Mecca five times a day is essential to understanding the world’s most powerful leaders - and, perhaps, the person in the next cubicle… Faith isn’t incidental to these stories; it’s the driving force behind them.”

Yes, our faith does matter. It is essential in life. It is neither optional nor incidental. Someone wrote that to permanently change a person’s behavior, we have to radically change his belief. That’s also the point of James when he wrote, “But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” (2:18, ESV) Our works show our faith. What we actually do (not what we say) reflects what we really believe. If we claim to believe in the Bible yet fail to read it, then that shows that we are not committed to what we just claimed. Yes, faith in Christ saves us, not our works. But that same faith compels us to work (Ephesians 2:8-10). Faith is the root while works are the fruit. No fruit, no root. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14) The faith that saves is the faith that works. Saving faith leads to working faith. John Calvin wrote, “While it is true that we are saved by faith alone, the faith that saves is never alone.”

Brethren, faith is our driving force.

Ghost Verses

2011-06-09T10:36:00.002+08:00

Always believed that the Bible said these words? “God helps those who help themselves.” “Spare the rod, spoil the child.” “God works in mysterious ways.” “Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” Well, you’re in for a shocker. They’re not. Actually, those sayings are what CNN’s BeliefBlog called “phantom passages” (Source: CNN.com) And, as religion professor Steve Bouma-Prediger of Hope College in Holland, Michigan pointed out, sadly “people rarely challenge them because biblical ignorance is so pervasive that it even reaches groups of people who should know better”. (Ibid) The “God-helping-the-self-help-people”saying is not in the Bible at all. “It’s actually attributed to Benjamin Franklin, one of the [USA’s] founding fathers.” (Ibid) The “God-acts-mysteriously” was not from the Psalms but was really lifted from a 19th century hymn. (Ibid) The “clean-people-are-godly” saying “was coined by John Wesley, the 18th century evangelist who founded Methodism.” (Ibid) At least, the “sparing-and-spoiling” is a summary of Proverbs 13:24. “Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him.” (ESV) But still it was a misquotation.

Other than biblical illiteracy, surprisingly partly to blame for this situation would be the rise of Bible study groups itself. According to Craig Hazen, the director of the Christian Apologetics program at Biola University in California, “You can see this manifest today in living room Bible studies across North America where lovely Christian people, with no training whatsoever, drink decaf, eat brownies and ask each other, ‘What does this text mean to you?’ Not only do they get the interpretation wrong, but very often end up quoting verses that really aren’t there.” (Ibid) How ironic that what was supposed to be the solution to Bible ignorance added to the problem itself! Yes, God gave the pastors and the teachers to equip the believers (Ephesians 4:11-12). But that doesn’t mean that we should solely rely on the experts. Each of us is responsible to rightly handle the Word of God (2 Timothy 2:15). We should be like the Bereans, who“received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.” (Acts 17:11) That’s why, here in Makati Gospel Church, we are going through the doctrinal series, Foundations, so that our members would be “rooted and built up in [the Lord] and established in the faith” (Colossians 2:7).

Brethren, let us really learn our Bible.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like The RH Bill? Part 2

2011-05-31T14:49:00.000+08:00

We Christians should be known more for what we are for and not for what we are against. In his“Thoughts on RH Bill” posted on the Facebook page of the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) Alumni, Dr. Jim Whelchel (who used to teach “Christianity and Social Issues” in IGSL and is now serving as Executive Field Assistant to the VP of Campus Crusade for Christ) wrote, “My point is that as Christians we should not be known primarily as people who are against things, but people who are concerned enough that they do something about real problems that real people face.” Though he particularly addressed those who are against the Reproductive Health or RH Bill, I think what he wrote applies to both pro and anti groups. He encouraged believers to engage the issue at hand by really knowing the facts behind it. “[W]hen we… fail to engage in accurate discussion of its actual tenets, we may end up being marginalized in the discussion because we are rejected as religious fanatics who are unable to engage in legitimate dialogue. If we were to address some areas where there is potential flexibility and areas of agreement, we may not lose our voice in the discussion. And we may be seen as valuable contributors rather than irrational religious naysayers.” (Ibid) We should not lose either by default or by being dogmatic. We should dialogue.

The key is not to impose our Biblical morals upon society but to impart it to them through our words and works. In parenting we are taught that, to change the way our children behave, we should change the way they think. It’s the same when it comes to our country. We need a change of heart more than a change of laws (or even lawmakers, though that is an attractive idea given the present crop we have). In her“Battle Over RH Feels Like Proxy Culture War” article, social anthropologist Dr. Melba Padilla Maggay wrote,“If the Church is worried about the moral fallout of this Bill, it can only stem the tide by doing what it does best – commend its values to the conscience of people, believers and unbelievers alike. It should do this, not by thwarting or by using the coercive powers of the state, but by winsomely and cogently setting forth its case before a skeptical public.” (Source: http://inquirer.net) As the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13-16), we must engage our world. It is our Master’s mandate.

Brethren, ultimately we need transformation, not legislation.

How Do You Solve A Problem Like The RH Bill?

2011-05-26T16:42:00.001+08:00

Sounds like “The Sound of Music” classic, right? Seriously, the Reproductive Health or RH Bill issue seems to be igniting more fight than light. However, this issue must not divide us believers. Second Timothy 2:23-24 command us, “Stay away from stupid and senseless arguments. These only lead to trouble, and God’s servants must not be troublemakers. They must be kind to everyone, and they must be good teachers and very patient.” (CEV)

So, whether we are pro or anti, we must keep our F.A.C.T.S. straight.

FOCUS on the facts. Sadly, there are those who oppose the RH Bill without even reading it. For example, they accuse its proponents of pushing for abortion. In his “Sounding Board” column, Jesuit priest Fr. Joaquin Bernas, who is also Dean Emeritus of Ateneo Law School, acknowledged that the RH Bill is really against abortion. “I am pleased that the bill reiterates the prohibition of abortion as an assault against the right to life.” (Source: Inquirer.net)

ADDRESS the issues, not personalities. Both sides are prone to the temptation to attack personalities rather than deal with the issues. On one hand, the anti group tends to label the proponents as unchristian or, worse, “on the side of the devil.” The pro group on the other hand caricatures their opponents as religious bigots.

CONSIDER all sides. Not one side has a monopoly of the truth. Both sides have something valuable to contribute to the discussion. For example, I think the anti group raised a valid point that some birth control pills might actually cause abortion, not just prevent pregnancies. Some people are afraid that the mandatory sex education will teach young children how to make love. Yet the RH Bill qualified sex education with the phrase “age-appropriate.” However, the bill pushes for mandatory sex education without even asking for parental consent. That is a concern for me.

THINK of holistic solutions. Our government came up with the RH Bill to address our problem of overpopulation, which leads to poverty. But, there are those who claim that it is corruption that caused poverty. I believe poverty is such a complicated problem that there is no “magic bullet” or one solution to solve it. We might need to approach it from all fronts.

SHARE your stance with love. We must not burn bridges or build walls. Dialogues are still the way to go. Bernas wrote, “I have never held that the RH Bill is perfect. But if we have to have an RH law, I intend to contribute to its improvement as much as I can.” (Ibid)

Brethren, let us keep our F.A.C.T.S. straight.

Altruistic Atheism

2011-05-17T12:54:00.001+08:00

Now that’s a nosebleed. Simply put, it is the belief that people who deny there’s a God can still be do-gooders.

Such is the conviction of the famous physicist Stephen Hawking. (Though the degenerative Lou Gehrig’s disease has paralyzed him and he could only speak through an electronic speech synthesizer, Hawking holds a top Cambridge research post, which Isaac Newton held before.) In an ABC News interview with Diane Sawyer a year ago, Hawking boldly claimed, “[People] made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that [belief in a God] seems most impossible.” (Source: Yahoo! News) Recently, in an interview with “The Guardian” newspaper, he also attacked the belief in the afterlife. “I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark.” (Ibid) And, when asked what do we do before our “components fail,” Hawking replied, “We should seek the greatest value of our action.” Of course, we are not to stereotype atheists as evil people just as we don’t want others to caricature Christians as hypocrites. Atheists could and have done great deeds. They just sought to be good only “for goodness sake.”

But, when I read Hawking’s reply, I thought, “What’s the point of being good when, granting for argument’s sake, there’s no God? Why try to be good at all when I could live anyway I want since there’s no God to Whom I could be ultimately accountable?” Though Hawking and other altruistic atheists may disagree with me, that “do-gooder” mindset actually contradicted their stance. The desire to do good or even leave a legacy proves that there is a God. The Bible teaches us that we are“created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:24, ESV) Though sin marred that image, we can still see it in our lives even if it’s like, as somewhat wrote, “viewing a face through a broken mirror.” Desiring and doing good actually show God’s likeness in us. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “[God] has put eternity into man’s heart”. A clock may be broken but it still reminds us about time. In fact, it’s even right twice a day. Our conscience, darkened as it is by sin, still stings us to do what is right and to shun what is wrong.

Brethren, we do good for God’s sake.

The Final Post

2011-05-10T15:47:00.001+08:00

In a sense, Derek Miller blogged from his grave. Hailed by the Associated Press as “one of the best known bloggers in British Columbia”, Derek died of complications from stage 4 colorectal cancer last May 3, 2011. He was 41, just a year after crossing that point in life where life is said to begin. His final entry, which appeared a day after he died, began this way: “Here it is. I’m dead, and this is my last post to my blog. In advance, I asked that once my body finally shut down from the punishments of my cancer, then my family and friends publish this prepared message I wrote—the first part of the process of turning this from an active website to an archive.” (Source: http://www.penmachine.com/) His post-mortem blog went viral and had an estimated 8 million hits, causing the site to crash.

Derek wondered about what Airdrie, his wife of 16 years, and his two teenage daughters would be doing after his death. “There can’t be answers today. While I was still alive writing this, I was sad to know I’ll miss these things—not because I won’t be able to witness them, but because Air, Marina, and Lauren won’t have me there to support their efforts.” (Ibid) Derek went on to share life lessons that only a dying person could come up with. “I’ve come to realize that, at any time, I can lament what I will never know, yet still not regret what got me where I am… It turns out that no one can imagine what's really coming in our lives. We can plan, and do what we enjoy, but we can’t expect our plans to work out. Some of them might, while most probably won't. Inventions and ideas will appear, and events will occur, that we could never foresee. That's neither bad nor good, but it is real.” (Ibid) That’s why Derek encouraged his family to give life their best shot, that “they should pursue what they enjoy, and what stimulates their minds, as much as possible—so they can be ready for opportunities, as well as not disappointed when things go sideways, as they inevitably do.” (Ibid)

Reading this reminds me of James 4:14-15: “What do you know about tomorrow? How can you be so sure about your life? It is nothing more than mist that appears for only a little while before it disappears. You should say, ‘If the Lord lets us live, we will do these things.’” (CEV) We enjoy less of life when we try to live it without God. But when we live our lives for God, then we live lives that matter. In the end, I pray that we would rejoice we obeyed God and not regret it at all.

Brethren, “If the Lord lets us live,” live life to the full for God.

“The Most Expensive Public Enemy”

2011-05-07T07:22:00.001+08:00

That’s what a political newspaper called Osama bin Laden whom an elite US commando forces killed early this week in Pakistan (Source: http://www.nationaljournal.com/). Just exactly how much did he cost the US of A?“By conservative estimates, bin Laden cost the United States at least $3 trillion over the past 15 years, counting the disruptions he wrought on the domestic economy, the wars and heightened security triggered by the terrorist attacks he engineered, and the direct efforts to hunt him down.” (Ibid) Analysts are debating whether it’s worth the tab. Linda Bilmes, a lecturer at John F. Kennedy School of Government of Harvard University lamented the expenses incurred in developing the unmanned aircraft, the Predator drones, for the counter-bin Laden efforts. “We have spent a huge amount of money which has not had much effect on the strengthening of our military, and has had a very weak impact on our economy.” (Ibid) But Michael O’Hanlon, a National Security analyst at the Brookings Institution, believed that the fight against bin Laden and Al Qaeda prevented another much costly attack on American soil. “We proved that we value our security enough to incur some pretty substantial economic costs en route to protecting it.” (Ibid)

Yet, there is actually a much more expensive enemy than bin Laden, spiritually speaking that is. Romans 5:8-10 tells us, “But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger. Even when we were God’s enemies, he made peace with us, because his Son died for us. Yet something even greater than friendship is ours. Now that we are at peace with God, we will be saved by his Son’s life.” (CEV) On our own we cannot save ourselves. “You cannot buy back your life or pay off God! It costs far too much to buy back your life. You can never pay God enough to stay alive forever and safe from death.” (Psalm 49:7-9) We are the most expensive enemy because it cost God His only Son to save us. His motive was not to eliminate an enemy at all cost. But He loves us so much that the high eternal price tag did not keep Him from sending our Lord Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. “By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God.” (Romans 5:1)

Brethren, Christ’s death ought to make us eternally grateful.

It's All About Whom Anyway?

2011-04-26T15:27:00.002+08:00

The youth “love themselves more today than ever before,” according to Dr. Nathan DeWall, a psychologist at the University of Kentucky (Source: The New York Times). DeWall and his team analyzed hit songs spanning three decades (from “Ebony and Ivory” by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder to “I’m Bringing Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake) and found that there’s “a statistically significant trend toward narcissism and hostility in popular music… narcissism has been linked to heightened anger and problems maintaining relationships.” (Ibid) Simply put, the lyrics of these songs exposed a growing mindset shift among late adolescents and college students from an “It’s all about us” towards an “It’s all about me.” According to the study, “the words ‘I’ and ‘me’ appear more frequently along with anger-related words, while there’s been a corresponding decline in ‘we’ and ‘us’ and the expression of positive emotions… Their song-lyrics analysis shows a decline in words related to social connections and positive emotions (like ‘love’ or ‘sweet’) and an increase in words related to anger and antisocial behavior (like ‘hate’ or ‘kill’).” (Ibid) According to Dr. Jean M. Twenge, a co-author in the study and a psychologist at San Diego State University, “In the early ’80s lyrics, love was easy and positive, and about two people… The recent songs are about what the individual wants, and how she or he has been disappointed or wronged.” (Ibid) This egotistical trend can even lead to deep depression. (Ibid)

As I read the article, I can’t help but think about our worship songs nowadays. Now I am not putting down contemporary songs to put classic songs on a pedestal. I believe we should enjoy our rich heritage of worship from “The Old Rugged Cross” hymn to Chris Tomlin’s “How Great is our God.” (I really like how Tomlin rearranged “Amazing Grace.”) However, there seems to be some praise songs nowadays that focuses more on what we feel rather than on who God really is. There are also so-called worship songs that reflect a shallow theology. It appears that worship has now become a “feel-good” event instead of a “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” encounter with the Almighty. Try reading Isaiah 6:1-8 and see how worship can become a life-changing experience.One cannot worship God and be selfish at the same time. Worship is all about God’s worth.

Brethren, worship is about God, not about us.

Relics

2011-04-15T15:43:00.004+08:00

“We’re not saying these are the nails… We’re saying these could be the nails.” (That is, the nails allegedly used to crucify our Lord Jesus.) Such is the bold claim of award-winning Israeli film director, Simcha Jacobovici, as he presented two rusted iron spikes in his “The Nails of the Cross” documentary made for the History Channel (Source: www.time.com). A few years ago, Jacobovici produced “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” for the Discovery Channel where he claimed that the graves of Jesus and Mary Magdalene were found. Dr. Paul Maier, ancient history professor at Western Michigan University, criticized Jacobovici’s works: “The guy is a showman, an Indiana Jones wannabe.” (Christian Science Monitor)

In 1990, archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) found in a cave the ossuary or the bone box that purportedly contains the remains of Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest who had Jesus arrested. They also found, among other things, Roman nails. Yet it appears that no one’s even sure that the nails that Jacobovici focused on in his documentary were the very same nails found in that cave. “But unlike everything else in the grave, the nails were otherwise unaccounted for. They were not measured, sketched or photographed, and nowhere to be found in the IAA’s vast collection… there were 12 ossuaries in the tomb, and there is no record of which one it was in. Nor is it clear which box most likely contained the bones of the priest the Gospels say pushed Jesus toward death.”(www.time.com) So, to connect the nails with the crucifixion of Jesus seems to be more speculation than science. Professor Gary Barkay of Bar Ilan University “and probably the most prominent archeologist in Israel” (Ibid) admitted, “This is not the way to draw conclusions in science, but it is nonetheless interesting.”

This is also not the way to draw conclusions for our belief. Faith does not need relics. After giving him proof enough to convince him of the resurrection, our Lord Jesus told Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29, ESV) Yes, our faith is based on facts. But, as someone wrote, “To him who has faith, no evidence is necessary. To him who doubts, no evidence is enough.” Our Lord Jesus really died on the cross whether we can find the nails or not. After all, it was not really those nails but His love for us that held Him there.

Brethren, rely on the sure Word, not on shaky relics.

The Swap Deal

2011-04-07T10:51:00.000+08:00

It surprised (translation: shocked) us so much it took some time before we could come to grips with its impact. I’m talking about “the P74.1-billion share-swap deal between telecommunication giants PLDT and Digitel [which] was conducted in almost complete secrecy”. (“Gung-ho,” editorial of the Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 7, 2011) PLDT CEO Manny V. Pangilinan lauded the deal, “Though this initiative alters the country’s telecom landscape, we expect competition within the industry to remain very robust.” (Ibid)

It appears the alteration caused by the deal is more of a landslide than a landscape (to paraphrase former president Erap). It appears that PLDT, the first major industry player, outsmarted us all by eclipsing Sun Cellular, the third major industry player. According to an internal memo, “We might find ourselves competing in a more rational marketplace with better margins as the new opposition could decide to scale back on the unlimited propositions that undermine industry.” (Ibid) In other words, what that memo was saying is that the unlimited call and text deals that made Sun shine actually undermined the telecom industry. But that’s what really made the telecom competition robust resulting in consumer benefits. The Inquirer voiced out what’s in the mind of the subscribers: “The very dynamism in the telecom sector that has led to such labels as ‘the texting capital of the world’ is seen as less than rational. The deal may be good for the market, but is it good for the community at large?” (Ibid) That community, according to estimates of how many Filipinos own mobile phones, can reach up to 90 percent of the population. That mega-deal seems to be good for the shareholders but bad for the consumers.

But, as I monitor this news, I cannot help but think of another, greater swap-deal. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tell us,“For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (ESV) Wayne Grudem wrote, “This does not mean that God thought that Christ had himself committed the sins, or that Christ himself actually had a sinful nature, but rather that the guilt for our sins (that is, the liability to punishment) was thought of by God as belonging to Christ rather than to us.” (Systematic Theology) The Message version goes this way: “God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.” This divine swap-deal is the best for everyone.

Brethren, our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for us.

“F U!”

2011-03-31T09:13:00.004+08:00

Wait! Before you click the “back” button on your browser, I was not really cussing. A friend posted a video on Facebook where I saw a pastor pound on his pulpit and shout at the top of his voice, “As a Christian, you’ve got to forgive. Now that said, and please don’t get offended, the new “f” word in this church is ‘forgive.’ Now, touch the person beside you and tell her, ‘F U!’” In this world where it’s easier to curse than confess, to refuse to give forgiveness than to release the person from guilt, that’s a timely word. I may not be as bold (read: daring) as that pastor in exhorting the church to tell and text people, “F U, y’all!” But I encourage all of us to forgive.

The Bible commands us to forgive exactly the way God forgave.“Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32, The Message) We forgive because we are forgiven first. Psalm 103:11-12 declared that, “As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is his love to those who fear him. And as far as sunrise is from sunset, he has separated us from our sins.” From the east to the west! That’s how far God lovingly removed our faults from us. Plus, in Micah 7:19 we read, “You’ll stamp out our wrongdoing. You’ll sink our sins to the bottom of the ocean.” I remember in one of the bible studies I attended when I was in college (yes, back when the dinosaurs still roamed the earth) our leader preached on this very passage. He said, “God would cast our sins to the very depths of the sea and He would float a buoy on the surface with this sign: ‘No Fishing!’” How true!

Also, the way we forgive is the way the Lord would forgive us. In the prayer that He taught His disciples, we are to pray to the Father, “forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.” (Matthew 6:12, NLT) The measure of forgiveness we give to others is the measure of forgiveness we receive from God.

But some of us may be thinking, “But how can I forgive when I find it hard to forget.” Well, forgive and forget is simply not Biblical. What the Lord promised was not forgive and forget. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”(Hebrews 8:12) When God forgave us, He was not struck with memory loss. Unlike us who tend to become historical as well as hysterical, He just chose not to bring up the issue anymore even when we sin again. That’s the same manner we ought to forgive those who sinned against us.

Brethren, let us forgive one another.

"Losing My Religion"

2011-03-26T11:36:00.001+08:00

No, I’m not talking about the hit song by the American rock band R.E.M. I’m talking about a CNN report regarding a prediction by a team of mathematicians that “based on census data stretching back 100 years…religion will be driven toward extinction” in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland and the Netherlands (Source: CNN Belief Blog). According to lead mathematician Daniel Abrams, “Every single data that we were able to find shows that people are moving from the affiliated to unaffiliated. I can’t imagine that will change, but that’s personal opinion, not what the data shows. …[We] are not passing any judgment on religion… [We’re] just modeling a prediction based on trends.” (Ibid) Also, in other studies, these people are “the fastest-growing religious group in the United States” (Ibid). Those labeled “unaffiliated” are “not necessarily atheists or non-believers… just people who do not associate themselves with a particular religion or house of worship”. (Ibid) It appears to be a distinction that people make nowadays between being religious and being spiritual.

The mathematicians point out that this could be the result of the bandwagon or “the majority effect”, that is,“People are more likely to switch to groups with more members… it’s more attractive to be part of the majority than the minority, so as religious affiliation declines, it becomes more popular not to be a churchgoer than to be one… Just a few connections to people who are (religiously) unaffiliated is enough to drive the effect” (Ibid). That means our social network can have a great influence on us.

As I’ve pointed out, the mindset today is that one can be spiritual without being religious. Of course, being affiliated with a religious group won’t bring us to heaven. Only faith in the Lord Jesus would. But the problem with this trend is that we see faith as a purely personal matter. We have to see faith as a corporate matter also. The way we express our faith through our words and works impact others also. It can’t be merely personal. Even our Lord pointed out that loving people is equivalent to loving God. He taught, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39, ESV) We cannot be disconnected from people of like faith.

Brethren, let us stay “affiliated.”

Lives On The Line

2011-03-19T12:06:00.000+08:00

“I don’t know any other way to say it but they are like suicide fighters in a war.” That’s how one Japanese described the employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) now hailed as “The Heroes of Fukushima.” (Source: “From A Distance,” Carmen N. Pedrosa, Philippine Star, March 19, 2011) Japan has set a 20-kilometer safety radius. The US of A set it at 50 kilometers. These workers are right there in the nuclear plant complex. They are racing to keep the nuclear reactors at Fukushima from melting down. A worker saw the situation “like a death sentence” while another one e-mailed his wife saying,“Please continue to live well. I cannot be home for a while.” (Ibid) The Straits Times of Singapore published a blog entry of Tepco worker Michiko Otsuki. She wrote, “In the midst of the tsunami alarm, at 3 a.m. in the night when we couldn’t even see where we were going, we carried on working to restore the reactors from where we were, right by the sea, with the realization that this could be certain death… Fighting fatigue and empty stomachs, we dragged ourselves back to work. There are many who haven’t gotten in touch with their family members, but are facing the present situation and working hard… Everyone at the power plant is battling on, without running away… There are people working to protect all of you, even in exchange for their own lives.” (Ibid) They did not just risk their lives. They actually laid their lives on the line. They are as good as dead already. “It is a voluntary suicide from a fate they will not escape – either they die or if they survive the horrendous exposure they would be prone to life-long illnesses. With reports that the brave efforts may be futile the story of the heroes of Fukushima becomes doubly tragic.” (Ibid)

God called us to give our lives to Him. Obeying the Lord Jesus is not just about taking a risk. It is actually becoming a living sacrifice. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (Romans 12:1, NLT) I like how The Message goes:“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” This is not too much to ask when we think of what He has done to us and for us. But it is not suicide. It is surrender.

Brethren, let us put our lives on the line for the Lord.

Lives On The Line

2011-03-19T12:03:00.002+08:00

“I don’t know any other way to say it but they are like suicide fighters in a war.” That’s how one Japanese described the employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) now hailed as “The Heroes of Fukushima.” (Source: “From A Distance,” Carmen N. Pedrosa, Philippine Star, March 19, 2011) Japan has set a 20-kilometer safety radius. The US of A set it at 50 kilometers. These workers are right there in the nuclear plant complex. They are racing to keep the nuclear reactors at Fukushima from melting down. A worker saw the situation “like a death sentence” while another one e-mailed his wife saying,“Please continue to live well. I cannot be home for a while.” (Ibid) The Straits Times of Singapore published a blog entry of Tepco worker Michiko Otsuki. She wrote, “In the midst of the tsunami alarm, at 3 a.m. in the night when we couldn’t even see where we were going, we carried on working to restore the reactors from where we were, right by the sea, with the realization that this could be certain death… Fighting fatigue and empty stomachs, we dragged ourselves back to work. There are many who haven’t gotten in touch with their family members, but are facing the present situation and working hard… Everyone at the power plant is battling on, without running away… There are people working to protect all of you, even in exchange for their own lives.” (Ibid) They did not just risk their lives. They actually laid their lives on the line. They are as good as dead already. “It is a voluntary suicide from a fate they will not escape – either they die or if they survive the horrendous exposure they would be prone to life-long illnesses. With reports that the brave efforts may be futile the story of the heroes of Fukushima becomes doubly tragic.” (Ibid)
God called us to give our lives to Him. Obeying the Lord Jesus is not just about taking a risk. It is actually becoming a living sacrifice. “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (Romans 12:1, NLT) I like how The Message goes:“Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.” This is not too much to ask when we think of what He has done to us and for us. But it is not suicide. It is surrender.

Brethren, let us put our lives on the line for the Lord.

He or She?

2011-03-01T15:21:00.002+08:00

The exercise of our rights requires maturity. A mature person respects other people’s rights in as much as he insists on respect for his rights. The problem is when that person fights for a one-way respect, that is, when that person demands that his rights would be respected but he would not respect others’ rights in return.

Such I believe is the case between Hender Gercio, “a self-described ‘transsexual woman’ who had ‘undergone a gender transition,’” and Dominique Del Corro, a French language professor at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City. (Source: www.gmanews.tv) Gercio, “a former President of Babaylan, an officially-recognized organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students of UP,” (ibid) insists that the professor address him as a female. Del Corro, an evangelical Christian, refused to do so because of her personal religious beliefs against homosexuality. But Gercio insists, “My pronouns are MY pronouns. I don’t care who your God is, but I will not let you take my gender identity away from me… I am therefore demanding, in behalf of all present and future transgender students of this public and non-sectarian university, for my chosen gender identity to be affirmed and respected.” (Ibid) It is important to emphasize though that, as far as his legal identity is concerned, Gercio is still considered a male person despite his so-called “gender transition.”

Also, a group of UP students defended their professor, clarifying that, while Del Corro is “the authority figure in the classroom, she has never used her authority to influence the class or Hender [himself].” (Ibid) That shows that Del Corro expressed her faith with respect though disagreeing with Gercio. The students also made a Solomonic appeal: “If we don’t understand either of these beliefs, if we think one or the other is ultimately wrong, we attempt to inform each other. Failing conversion on either side, we agree to disagree… All of this began with a stalemate between the insistence and resistance of two people who represent a multitude of beliefs and ideas. Let it end at an impasse. Let it remain so.” (Ibid) That’s a mature way of looking at it.

I believe this is an open door for us to keep on sharing our faith. Of course, we must make our stance known while at the same time “speaking the truth in love.” (Ephesians 4:15a, ESV) Lies triumph when we say nothing about the truth. So, let us speak up. This is still a free country, right?

Brethren, pray that this issue would create more light than heat.

God Up Close and Personal

2011-02-26T12:06:00.002+08:00

Impressions last. But the problem with impressions is not only that they last but also that we are not sure that they are true. Usually, it is based on opinion instead of fact. (And even if we think we are good at “reading” people, we are not really that good simply because people are not books.) To paraphrase a saying, “We can only be impressive from afar. But we can only be intimate up close and personal.”

It is the same with God. We tend to be impressed with God. But, much more than that, He wants us to be intimate with Him. In his classic “Knowledge of the Holy” work, A.W. Tozer wrote, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us… no religion has ever been greater that its idea of God.” Our Lord Jesus told us, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24, ESV) Our idea of God must be based on who He really is, that is, on what He revealed about Himself in His Word and not on what we imagine Him to be. Dr. Charles Ryrie warns us not to make God in our own image: “Beware of creating a god! …Gods of our making, whether radically different from the God of the Bible or akin to Him, are false. Even good Christians can fall into the trap of trying to mold God according to their own thinking or wishes or pleasure. The result may be a god not dissimilar to the God of the Bible, but it will not be the true God.” (A Survey of Bible Doctrine)

What we know about God will impact how we will commune with Him. If we think of Him as an ogre in the sky, waiting with His big club just to pound us on the head whenever we would sin, we would not want anything to do with Him. But if we believe what He declared about Himself (such as, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty”. Exodus 34:6-7a), then we would love Him with our entire being just as we are commanded in Mathew 22:37, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The more we know the Lord, the more we will be passionate for Him.

That’s why Makati Gospel Church will start with the “God As He Longs For You To See Him” video series today in our Sunday Adult Bible Study, 10AM, Room 207, Annex Building. Together let us know God.

Brethren, be intimate with God, don’t just be impressed with Him.

Founded on Lies

2011-02-22T14:41:00.000+08:00

“One of the deadliest con jobs of our time.” (Source: Yahoo! News) That’s what CBS News tagged the claim that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction or WMDs. Based “on information that came from an Iraqi defector code-named ‘Curveball’… [about Saddam Hussein’s alleged] secret biological weapons program” (ibid) the Bush Administration waged a war against Iraq that “led to over 100,000 deaths.” (Ibid) However, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian newspaper, Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi a.k.a. “Curveball” now confesses that he lied about the WMDs when he sought asylum in Germany. He is unrepentant: “Maybe I was right, maybe I was not right… They gave me this chance. I had the chance to fabricate something to topple the regime. I and my sons are proud of that and we are proud that we were the reason to give Iraq the margin of democracy.” (Ibid) He even justifies his lie by claiming that, “Believe me, there was no other way to bring about freedom to Iraq… There were no other possibilities.” (Ibid) That’s simply a shallow the-end-justifies-the-means argument. One bitter comment summed it well: “So much lives have been wasted all because of lies of a person. I’m not really sure if one can say that the freedom the Iraqis now enjoy is really worth all the innocent lives sacrificed for it’s sake.”(Ibid) No doubt the soldiers went to the Iraq war out of an honorable sense of duty, sacrificing life and limb. No question that Hussein’s dictatorial regime has to be brought down. But the recent peaceful protest that forced out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak proves Al-Janabi wrong. There were other ways to free Iraq.

When I read that, I thought of the countless lives sacrificed in the name of Christianity. But it is not a waste because our faith is not founded on a lie. The Apostle Paul argued, “And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 18-20a, ESV). Thus the Good News is really worth all the lives poured out to share it with others. “Therefore, my dear brothers, be steadfast, unmovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that your work isn’t wasted in the Lord.” (v. 58. ISV)

Brethren, we have a sure foundation for our faith.

Suicide

2011-02-12T10:50:00.003+08:00

The editorial of the Philippine Daily Inquirer hit the proverbial nail on the head when it opined: “Many Filipinos are trying to make sense of the completely unexpected suicide of a highly accomplished man who once had his hand on the levers not only of power but of history.” (Source: http://inquirer.net/) Did former Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Angelo Reyes kill himself because he was really guilty of the corruption charges hurled against him? Or, was it a desperate, last-ditch effort to save whatever’s left of his honor? So, right now, speculations are rife. “For many of us, however, this search for meaning is little different from the so-called blame game.”(Ibid) Who or what drove him to pull that trigger? Yet I’m afraid the answers to our questions will be buried with him. Now I fully understand why a character from one of my favorite TV shows wryly commented, “Suicide is selfish. You leave everyone to clean up your mess.” When asked about my thoughts about it, I replied, “Sad. Shocking. Senseless. Better alive and tell the truth than dead and be buried with it.”

It’s just ironic that General Reyes shot himself in front of his mother’s grave, where we find these words etched on the now blood-splattered tombstone: “Life must go on… We learn to live with our hurt and try to make the most of what is with us.” (Ibid) His mother who loved to write penned those words herself. But, instead of heeding those words, which I believe is also etched in his heart, he decided not to go on with life and to make the most of it.

Ephesians 5:15-17 command us, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.” (NIV)When we live careless, foolish lives, we are still breathing and yet are no longer living. When we waste our life opportunities instead of making the most of it, we commit suicide without actually taking our lives. According to Charles Hodge’s Ephesians commentary, to make the most of life is to rescue it from waste or abuse.I like how The Message version goes: “So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times! Don’t live carelessly, unthinkingly. Make sure you understand what the Master wants.” To really live in the real sense of living, we must seek to understand God’s will. And we will only know what God wants for us through His Word.

Brethren, let us make the most of the life God gave us.

"Do What You Love"

2011-02-05T14:26:00.002+08:00

That is one of “The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs,” the founder of Apple, according to communications coach Carmine Gallo (as quoted by Wilson Lee Flores in his business column, “Bull Market, Bull Sheet.” Philippine Star, January 31, 2011). Jobs is a very passionate person. When he founded Apple, “Jobs’ vision was to put a computer in the hands of everyday people.” (Ibid) One time Jobs said to his employees, “People with passion can change the world for the better.” He even declared to a TV reporter, “I want to make a ding in the universe.” (Ibid) And when he called upon Pepsi executive James Sculley to join Apple, Jobs challenged him with this change-the-world passion, “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?” (Ibid)

Passionate people are potent. Changing the world (or “making a ding in the universe”) is a commendable cause. But there’s a higher cause (in fact, it’s the highest cause) that ought to charge up our passion. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV) Changing the world is just a by-product of being committed to God’s glory. The apostle Paul is one such avid person for God’s glory. When Agabus warned him through a prophecy that he will be imprisoned in Jerusalem, Paul fearlessly declared, “For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Acts 21:13) He lived to the max for His glory. He sacrificed his life for God. In fact, he declared to his protégé, Timothy, before the Roman Empire executed him, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7) What was the driving force that fueled him? Verse 8 tells us: “Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.” It is his passion for the Lord’s coming that moved him to fight, to finish and to keep.

What about us? What are we so passionate about? One way to know the answer is to listen to ourselves speak. Jesus said that “out of the abundance of the heart [the] mouth speaks.” (Luke 6:45b) What do we usually talk about with anybody and everybody? I am not saying that we pepper our talk with “Hallelujahs!” But, if we are so consumed with God’s glory, it will come out of our everyday conversations.

Brethren, let us be passionate for God’s glory.

Fight Hate With Love

2011-01-26T17:46:00.006+08:00

Shirley Kristel Ausena excitedly told her mom early Tuesday morning that she had to go to Makati for a job interview in a call center. Other than giving her fare, her mother prayed in her heart that her daughter, the eldest of their three kids and described as “a family-oriented child,” would bag the job. Her parents did not worry when she was not yet home around midnight. They heard about a bus blast on the news but they just shrugged it off. Past midnight, just after turning on the TV, they could not believe their eyes when “they saw Kristel’s name being flashed on the news. At first, [they] said they were not convinced that it was their daughter since the spelling of the name was different.” (Source: INQUIRER.Net) After trying to contact Kristel on her cell to no avail they rushed to the hospital, fervently hoping that it was all a mistake. Before they got there, her father received a text message from his second daughter that Kristel indeed died in the blast. “Her body was cut in half. Only her face and parts of her body were left. The rest were bloody.” (Ibid) An improvised explosive device with a cell phone trigger tore a man-sized hole on the right side of the Newman Gold Liner bus while it was cruising along EDSA highway near Buendia, Makati early afternoon, as of press time injuring thirteen and killing five. Even if no group has yet to claim responsibility, investigators suspect that it was probably a terrorist attack pulled off by “extremists from the South” due to its similarity to a bus bombing a few years back.

Terrorism is a cowardly act since it preys on innocent people like Kristel. It usually attacks those who are not really combatants, those who can’t actually fight back. Let us not fight hate with hate. Terrorism wins when we hate. Keep in mind that we become what we hate. We must not go down to the level of the terrorists. We must rise and remain above them. Of course, we cry out for justice. But we must not cry out for an “eye for an eye”payback. If we hate, we are no different from them. Terrorism thrives on fear. If we cower, we ourselves will also become victims. So, let us fight hate with love. It is brave to love. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.” (1 John 4:18, ESV) Thus, let us not hate our Muslim neighbors due to the attack. They are not our enemies. They are victims, too. Instead, love them by sharing the Good News of our God who “so loved the world, that he gave his only son,” our Lord Jesus (John 3:16).

Brethren, love conquers hate.

Unplugged

2011-01-19T18:47:00.002+08:00

Susan Maushart felt so concerned when she saw that her three teenagers were so connected that they were actually disconnected. “They don’t remember a time before e-mail, or instant messaging, or Google… Like so many teens, they couldn’t do their homework without simultaneously listening to music, updating Facebook and trading instant messages. If they were amused, instead of laughing, they actually said ‘LOL’ aloud. Her girls had become mere ‘accessories of their own social-networking profile, as if real life were simply a dress rehearsal (or more accurately, a photo op) for the next status update.’” (Source: Associated Press)

So, she decided to pull the plug. After turning off the electricity for six weeks, the entire family had no Internet, no TV and no other gadgets such as cell phones and iPods even when she turned on the power again. Susan admits that it was not due to sheer parental authority. She planned to write a book—eventually, she wrote it—about their unplugged lives. She confessed that she bribed her children with a cut offer from the royalties if they would agree to what they dubbed as “The Experiment.” But it paid off more than what she expected. Her youngest daughter’s grades went up significantly. His son discovered a new interest in music. After six unplugged months, “she and her kids rediscovered small pleasures—like board games, books, lazy Sundays, old photos, family meals and listening to music together instead of everyone plugging into their own iPods.” (Ibid) According to Susan, all her kids “awoke slowly from the state of cognitus interruptus that had characterized many of their waking hours to become more focused logical thinkers.” (Ibid)

Of course, that seems too radical for those us who check our mobile phones the moment we open our eyes in the morning or whose idea of a break is checking Facebook status updates. Yet, solitude is the Bible’s idea all along. “For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.” (Psalm 62:5, ESV) Having a silent moment is like a speed bump on the road. It paces us so that we could slow down and enjoy the view. It keeps us safe and sane from the mad rush that we get into nowadays. Other than unplugging the laptop or the TV, we must also plug in to God. When praying, don’t sprint to your list of requests. Pause and reflect on God’s Word. Enjoy His presence. Psalm 46:10 commands us, “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Brethren, pull the plug.

“Horrorscope”

2011-01-15T11:48:00.003+08:00

“Oh, no! Does that mean we are no longer compatible?”

That’s what one radio anchor exclaimed to her co-host (her spouse) in reaction to the news that, due to a wobble in the earth’s axis, zodiac signs may have changed. According to Time Magazine’s online NewsFeed, “The astronomers from the Minnesota Planetarium Society found that because of the moon’s gravitational pull on Earth, the alignment of the stars was pushed by about a month.” So, for example, I was born under the Cancer sign. But, due to this shift, I am no longer a crab but a car… err, a Gemini. “It turns out that astrology has had issues from its inception… Ancient Babylonians had 13 constellations, but wanted only 12, so threw out Ophuchicus, the snake holder. Libra didn’t even enter the picture until the era of Julius Caesar.” (Ibid)

I even read somewhere about an astrologer who writes a horoscope column for a newspaper. One cloudy night he could not read the stars. So he decided to just cut, mix and paste previous predictions. When no one among his avid followers noticed it, he stopped reading the stars altogether and merely recycled past horoscope columns. According to Board member Parke Kunkle of the Minnesota Planetarium Society, “You could predict when to harvest, when to plant, by the stars. So there is some predictive nature there.Then they took it too far, using it to determine when to go to war and people’s personalities.” (ABCNews.com) In short, people got too star-struck. So those who chose a mate or charted their future based on the constellations are now really confused. Time concluded, “Your astrological sign is determined by the position of the sun on the day you were born, so that means everything you thought you knew about your horoscope is wrong.”

God created the stars. But He meant it to point us to Him. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” (Psalm 19:1-2, ESV) The world and all that is in it tell us that there is God. But the Word tells us who God is and what He wants for us and from us. That’s why, a few verses down, the Psalmist extolled the virtues of the Word of God. “The Law of the LORD is perfect; it gives us new life. His teachings last forever, and they give wisdom to ordinary people. The LORD’s instruction is right; it makes our hearts glad. His commands shine brightly, and they give us light.” (Vv. 7-8, CEV)

Brethren, focus on the Son, not on the stars.

The Roseto Secret

2011-01-09T23:07:00.001+08:00

Imagine a community where it is very hard to find anyone below 65 with heart problems. That’s the intriguing situation of the people of Roseto, an Italian town in Pennsylvania. “These people were dying of old age. That’s it.” (Source: Malcolm Gladwell, “Outliers: The Story of Success”) Fifty years ago, a breakthrough study of Roseto found something more intriguing. The Rosetans were not exactly health buffs. For example, they used animal lard for cooking instead of olive oil. In fact, “many were struggling with obesity.” (Ibid) DNA was not even the key. Their relatives who lived outside Roseto were not as healthy. It wasn’t even the weather in that hilly region of eastern Pennsylvania. Its nearby towns had worse health issues. The study found “that the secret of Roseto wasn’t diet or exercise or genes or location. It had to be Roseto itself. [They] had created a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world.” (Ibid) In short, the community caused them to be healthy. Doctors “wouldn’t be able to understand why someone was healthy if all they did was think about an individual’s personal choices or actions in isolation. They had to look beyond the individual… that the values of the world we inhabit and the people we surround ourselves with have a profound effect on who we are.”(Ibid) Gladwell wisely concluded that, to succeed in life, we should keep in mind that “no one, not even a genius, ever makes it alone.” (Ibid)

That’s also the key to a healthy church, spiritually speaking of course. To succeed in our spiritual journey, no one makes it alone. We are to grow together. We should look beyond our personal comfort zones and see ourselves in the context of the church. When we gather for worship on Sundays, for example, we should focus more on becoming channels of blessings to others and not just focus on being blessed. Like our Master, we should seek“not to be served but to serve” (Mark 10:45, ESV). In our corporate prayer meetings, we are to lift up the concerns of others more than ours. The problem nowadays is that we tend to treat worship as an individual activity and not as a corporate one. That’s why there are times we prefer to be anonymous in a big gathering rather than to make ourselves known in a small group. But Philippians 2:4 tells us, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Brethren, the church is our spiritual Roseto.

Connection

2010-12-30T10:40:00.001+08:00

Our lifestyle nowadays is called the “always-connected” lifestyle.

According to the Hackenslash blog, “Work weeks have grown steadily longer with the proliferation of gadgets keeping people connected to bosses and offices nights and weekends.” (Source: Agence France-Presse) That’s why it appears that the tablet computing craze is the “defining trend” not only for last year but also for many years to come. According Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps, “People are using tablets to read the Wall Street Journal or watch TV in bed. It is replacing, in some circumstances, laptop computers, television and print media.” (Ibid) It could even make computer prices nosedive because “consumers think it’s not worth paying a lot more to get a laptop instead of a tablet.” Experts predict that tablet-users in the US would reach a staggering 75 million consumers by 2015. Apple’s iPad has a very wide lead with more than 10 million sales last month while, Galaxy Tab, its not-too-close competitor, sold one million units already. Research in Motion, the maker of Blackberry, reportedly would come up with its own PlayBook tablet this year. Epps explains the trend, “Consumers are working all the time, have less leisure time and less money to spend but still want to maximize enjoyment they get out of life… Tablets fill that demand for devices that fill those in-between moments and minimize your unconnected time” (Ibid).

This tablet computer phenomenon shows that we all yearn to be always connected with people. When God created man, He carved in his heart a longing for companionship. “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18a, ESV) is not just about a desire for a spouse. It is not good for us all to be alone. In his “The Never Alone Church,” David Ferguson wrote, “Meeting our relational needs through others was God’s original plan… We are created with a capacity to love and be loved by God and others.”

Thus, as a great head start for 2011, I encourage each one of us to connect with a Circle of Care or a small group in our church, not only to be faithful in attending our worship services or serving in our ministries. When we do so, we fulfill what Hebrews 10:24-25 command us to do: “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Brethren, we will truly enjoy life only when we’re connected.

A New Year like the Hydrangea

2010-12-23T14:13:00.003+08:00

Source: Wikipedia

The bigleaf hydrangea is a unique flowering shrub. “If you take the seed of that shrub and plant it in the soil of Indiana, it will yield pink flowers when it blooms. But if you take that same seed and plant it in the soil of Brazil or Poland, it will produce blue flowers. Even more interesting, if you take the same seed and plant it in another type of soil, it will yield purple flowers.” (Source: Frank Viola, “Reimagining Church”) Botanists attribute that strange behavior to the different PH levels of the soils where the hydrangea is planted.

When I read that, I thought, “What a great picture of the New Year!” Every year is one of a kind. Life when it becomes too predictable becomes boring. We heard it so often that the saying became a well-worn cliché but still it is true: “The only thing constant in life is change.” (Someone quipped, “Also taxes and death.”) This year’s blue flower may be next year’s pink flower. For example, what worked for us this 2010 may not work in 2011. What is tried-and-tested now can become trite tomorrow. Yes, definitely there are some things in life that should not be changed. Someone wrote, “Principles are few. Procedures, many. Principles are constant, procedures change.” We are not to change our message but we could and should change our methods when it is called for. Of course, we will not embrace change for change’s sake. We change because God designed life that way. In fact, God balanced constancy and change perfectly: “The LORD’s unfailing love and mercy still continue, fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.” (Lamentations 3:22-23, GNB)

So, we need wisdom to discern what needs to be constant and what needs to change. So, as we face the New Year, draw up a list. (You may use the discussion guide at the back.) Fold a paper into two. On the left side, write the word“Constant” at the top. On the right side, write the word “Change.” Ask yourself: “What are the things that should remain constant in my life?” and “What are those that should change?” For example, under “Constant” you may write, “Commitment to the family.”Write the values that are non-negotiable as far as you are concerned. What are the things that you must continue? Under “Change,” you may write, “Serve in the church. Join a Circle of Care.” What are the things that you must start or stop? Keep in mind that every moment of our lives is actually a fresh opportunity for change from God.

Brethren, think of the hydrangea as we celebrate the New Year!

Bacon, Not Just Eggs

2010-12-10T10:17:00.001+08:00

“People wait until late in their career to give back. But why wait when there is so much to be done?”With this in mind, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give more than half of his billions to charity along with his co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz (Source: http://inquirer.net/). Zuckerberg added, “With a generation of younger folks who have thrived on the success of their companies, there is a big opportunity for many of us to give back earlier in our lifetime and see the impact of our philanthropic efforts.” (Ibid) They were the latest to commit to the“Giving Pledge” project spearheaded by billionaires Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. The roster of the almost 60 philanthropists who pledged to the project is a virtual Billionaire’s Who’s Who: CNN’s Ted Turner, Lucasfilm’s George Lucas and Oracle’s Larry Ellison among others. “Zuckerberg’s status as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire [he’s only 26 years old] comes from his ownership stake in Facebook, which has yet to go public with a stock offering. His net worth was recently estimated at nearly $7 billion.” (Ibid)

Though I’m very much grateful for their pledges, I remember a story I heard from my classmate, Pastor Leon, in our Preaching class at the International Graduate School of Leadership while he was nervously speaking before our class during our laboratory. The hen was bragging about its contribution to society. She boasted that she gave a lot compared to the pig. The pig wisely replied, “When you give your eggs, you are giving a donation. When I give my bacon, I will be making a sacrifice.” Pigs may not be paragons of wisdom, yet I think that put things in perspective. We may not be billionaires (yet :-), right Bro. Erik Ching?) but we can still give, make a lasting impact and even have the privilege of seeing the fruit of our efforts. I also believe that if we are not sharing our wealth with those in need while we are still poor, we won’t be sharing it when we become rich.

Paul lauded the dirt poor Macedonians for their generosity: “They gave as much as they could afford and even more, simply because they wanted to. They even asked and begged us to let them have the joy of giving their money for God’s people…. They gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, just as God wanted them to do.” (2 Corinthians 8:3-4a, 5, CEV) That’s the key to generosity. We give ourselves first to the Lord and then to others. Let’s not wait to give for there’s so much to be done.

Brethren, let’s give bacon, not just eggs.

The Visconde-Webb Saga

2010-12-03T14:31:00.001+08:00

“Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.” I think this 10:1 ratio (known as the“Blackstone ratio,” thanks to English jurist William Blackstone) is one of the reasons why our justice system must find an accused “guilty beyond reasonable doubt” before it convicts that person.

We hear it once again as the debate rages on regarding the upcoming Supreme Court final decision on the infamous Visconde Massacre case. (Backgrounder: “On the morning of June 30, 1991, a mother and her two daughters were found slaughtered in their own home. Estrellita Vizconde, 47, sustained 13 stab wounds; Carmela, 18, had 17 wounds and had been raped before she was killed; and Jennifer, 7, had 19 wounds.” Source: http://inquirer.net/) Other than the sheer gruesomeness of the crime, the massacre gripped the nation because those accused and later on convicted are from influential families. The debate focuses on whether Hubert Webb, son of former senator Freddie Webb and one of those convicted, is really guilty or not. The prosecution proved its case through seven witnesses particularly its star witness, self-confessed drug addict Jessica Alfaro, who testified that she saw Webb raping and then killing the Visconde daughters. “Questioning Alfaro’s credibility, the defense panel submitted voluminous documents [including certifications from the US State Department] and presented 95 witnesses… to establish the defense’s main argument: that Hubert Webb was in the US on the night of the crime.” (Ibid) Sadly, a key DNA evidence(semen recovered from the body of Carmela), which was not examined before, is now missing. The Webb family accuses the NBI not only of losing that key evidence but also of withholding pivotal information such as suppressing the FBI report supporting the alibi of Webb. The nation waits breathlessly for the Supreme Court to pronounce guilt or innocence beyond reasonable doubt.

As I monitor this legal saga, I thought, “Ultimately, all of us would want to be justified or declared innocent and not guilty by the Supreme Judge.” With God, no guilty person could escape and no innocent person would suffer. But the problem is we have no alibi whatsoever. We are all sinners and are guilty as charged. But those who believe in the Lord Jesus as Savior “are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24, NET Bible)

Brethren, in Christ we are justified beyond reasonable doubt!

Once Dead but Now Alive

2010-11-26T15:09:00.000+08:00

People already gave up on them. They even held a memorial service for them. Samuel Pelesa, 15, Filo Filo, 15, and Edward Nasau, 14, “disappeared while attempting to row between two islands in the New Zealand territory of Tokelau in early October and were given up for dead after an extensive search involving New Zealand’s air force. Their craft had drifted 800 miles (1,300 kilometers) to a desolate part of the Pacific northeast of Fiji”. (Source: Associated Press) They survived the ordeal by catching and eating raw fish and drinking rain water that they collected whenever it would drizzle during the night. Later on, since it did not rain for a few days, they started drinking sea water. One time they even ate a seagull that landed on their small aluminum boat.

They must have thought it was just a mirage or a mere delusion brought about by extreme hunger and thirst when they saw a tuna boat in the horizon. Though very weak, mustering all the remaining strength they could muster, they frantically waved. Though hoarse due to their parched throats, they shouted at the top of their feeble voice. Help finally came after 50 long days! The fishing boat “didn’t normally travel through that part of the region, but [at time] was using the isolated sea route to shorten its return to New Zealand.” (Ibid) In an interview, Tanu Filo, the father of one of the survivors, told Radio New Zealand International, “It’s a miracle, it’s a miracle. The whole village, the whole village, there were so excited and cried and they sang songs and hugging each other, yeah, on the road. Everybody was yelling and shouting the good news.” (Ibid)

Every person who puts his faith on the Lord Jesus alone as His Savior experienced an even greater miracle. “But God was merciful! We were dead because of our sins, but God loved us so much that he made us alive with Christ, and God’s wonderful kindness is what saves you.” (Ephesians 2:4, CEV) Second Corinthians 5:17 declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (ESV) While reading the online news, this portion of the “Amazing Grace” hymn came to my mind: “I once was lost but now am found, was blind, but now, I see.” We could also declare, “I once was dead but now I’m alive.” Like the villagers, we should get so excited about the Good News that we would do everything to share it with everyone.

Brethren, in Christ, once we were dead but now we’re alive!

Wow! "Kay Ganda!"

2010-11-20T09:36:00.001+08:00

“Incredible India.” “Malaysia Truly Asia.” “Korea The Soul of Asia.” These are just a sampling of the onslaught of award-winning ad campaigns we see over international media crafted to lure tourists. Sadly, in the midst of the tourism fray, here in the Philippines we are still debating whether we should keep the “WOW Philippines” brand or drop it altogether and adopt the supposed new “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” (“Philippines so Beautiful”) brand. Columnist Alex Magno nailed it on the head when he wrote in his “First Person” column, “There is nothing wrong with the old tourism campaign logo. The [Dept. of Tourism], it appears, wants to change it simply because there has been a change of administration. But it adopted an inferior campaign motif whose design is uninspired and whose message is unclear.” (Philippine Star, Nov. 20, 2010) In her usual sharp wit, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago blasted the tourism officials, “Let’s think of something else. Let’s start some neurons in our brains working. Their neurons are not working. It is just ignorant, and ignorance is boring.” (Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 19, 2010)

And it is not just a matter of taste. The new logo appears to be plagiarized from Poland’s tourism logo. We are known internationally as Philippines and not “Pilipinas.” There’s no instant recognition for the slogan because we even have to translate “Kay Ganda” on the logo for foreigners to understand it. The slogan actually sounds like a combination of the names of a game show and a morning talk show over a major TV network here. “A day after the ‘so beautiful’ brand was launched, [they were] forced to ditch its freshly overhauled website after receiving urgent notices from concerned citizens on Twitter that a porn site had been using a ‘very similar’ name.” (Ibid) While we are debating, we are losing the tourism war by default!

We Christians should make sure our Gospel message is crystal clear. We may change our methods but we can and should never change our message (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). In fact, the apostle Paul warned, “I pray that God will punish anyone who preaches anything different from our message to you!” (Galatians 1:8, CEV) We must also make sure our medium or the manner we present our Gospel should not cloud the message. Simply put, our walk should not contradict our talk. Our words and our works should match. We should not lose the soul war by default.

Brethren, our Good News should be loud and clear.

Identity

2010-11-13T14:27:00.004+08:00

The last time Abel Madariaga saw his pregnant wife, Silvia, was when Argentine security forces dressed as civilians grabbed her, pushed her inside a Ford Falcon and sped off with her in a cloud of dust. They were members of the leftist Montoneros which was “targeted for elimination by government death squads” during the late 70s to early 80s. (Source: guardian.co.uk) The abductors brought her to Campo de Mayo in Buenos Aires, “one of Argentina’s largest and most notorious clandestine torture centers” where she gave birth. A military officer took home the baby with the umbilical cord still attached. Madariaga narrowly escaped. He went on a self-imposed exile. Knowing in his heart that his wife is already dead, he spent the next 33 years searching for his child. His human rights group even lobbied for the creation of a national DNA database, which so far helped in identifying 100 children of the disappeared political dissidents.

The Madariagas finally reunited!

Finally, after more than 3 “decades of doubt and loneliness, of searching faces in the street in hopes they might be related,” Madariaga found his son, named Alejandro Ramiro Gallo. When the abusive family he grew up with broke apart, Alejandro mustered enough courage to confront his adoptive mother (he always felt he never belonged to the family) and finally learned the truth about his true identity. So, after a DNA test, it was a tearful reunion. Madariaga recounted,“When he came through the door that night, we recognized each other totally, and the hug that brought us together was spectacular. At times I wondered what the hell I was living for. I had to find a way to continue, thinking about everyday things, hoping for this moment of happiness. Hugging him that first time, it was as if I filled a hole in my soul.”Alejandro now goes by the name Francisco Madariaga, the name his parents always wanted for him. “To have your identity is the most beautiful thing there is. For the first time, I know who I was. Who I am.”

I believe that’s also the very reason why God in His Word clearly spelled out our identity in Christ. To know who we are in Christ is one of the most beautiful truths of the Bible. For starters, in Ephesians 1, we see that because the Father selected us, we were set apart (vv. 3-6). Because the Son sacrificed for us, we were set free (vv. 7-12). Because the Spirit sealed us, we are secure (vv. 13-14).

Brethren, remember who we are in Christ.

Heart in the Right Place

2010-11-05T13:33:00.003+08:00

When the jackpot prize of the 6/55 Lotto of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office breached PHP300 million (more than US$7 million based on the current peso-dollar exchange rate), bettors not only trooped to the lotto outlets but also stormed the gates of heaven. A Catholic bishop criticized those misguided faithful who have even wiped their lotto tickets on religious images for divine favor (Read: luck). No doubt most of them vowed they would donate to the church or other charitable institutions if and when they win the astronomical jackpot.

Honestly I doubt if they would do what a retired Canadian couple did with their CAD$11.3 million lottery prize. (But first a disclaimer: I am not in any way encouraging people to bet on lotteries.) Seventy-eight-year-old Violeta Large was undergoing chemotherapy for cancer when she and husband, Allen, won the jackpot last July. But, for them, the money was a “headache” because “it brought anxiety over the prospect that crooked people might take advantage of them…So they began an $11 million donation spree to get rid of it and help others.” (Source: Yahoo! News) They only retained 2% for the rainy days. Married for 35 years, the couple was living off their savings from Allen’s income as a welder and Violeta’s as a retailer. In an interview, Violeta said, “We haven’t spent one cent on ourselves because we’ve been too busy getting everything looked after and with my health, I have to wait to get my health back to get the energy to do anything… Money can’t buy you health or happiness.” After taking care of their family first, they came up with a two-page-list of beneficiaries such as the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the hospital where Violeta had cancer treatment.

Asked how she felt giving away millions of dollars, “It made us feel good… And there’s so much good being done with that money.” Her husband, Allen, tearfully added, “That money that we won was nothing… We have each other.” As far as the couple is concerned, the money was not really theirs at all. The couple’s hearts are in the right place. Matthew 6:21 tell us, “Your heart will always be where your treasure is.” (CEV) Violeta wisely said, “What you’ve never had, you never miss.” That’s the biblical mindset of stewardship: God is the ultimate Owner and we are just His managers. As such, wealth should have no hold on us.

Brethren, is your heart in the right place?

Happiness Is Impossible?

2010-10-28T15:06:00.002+08:00

We think that we deserve to be happy. There’s actually nothing wrong in wanting to be happy. However, happiness eludes us when we seek it for the wrong reason. In his “Ethics for Everyone: Moral Wisdom for the Modern World” blog, moral philosopher Michael W. Austin, an associate professor of philosophy at Eastern Kentucky University, wrote,“Happiness is impossible, if we’re engrossed by self-love… Happiness is impossible if all I want is my own happiness.”Austin explained that “happiness is a product of the satisfaction of particular desires for other things. For example, my desire that my child learn, grow, and develop morally is satisfied when I see these things occur. But I must care about the child’s welfare to truly want these things for her. Then I obtain happiness because I have a desire for something apart from my own happiness. If all I cared about was my own happiness, it would be impossible to be happy, because I’d literally have nothing to be happy about.” (Ibid)

In other words, we can only be happy when we think of others more than ourselves. That means that selfish people can never be really happy. We cannot be happy when we seek happiness merely for our own sake or even for happiness sake. Philippians 2:3-4 command us, “Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves”(CEV). The Message Version goes like this, “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Only selfless people can truly be happy. We can be happy when we seek the happiness of others.

Who is our ultimate role model as far as selflessness is concerned? In verse 5, the apostle Paul added that we are to“think the same way that Christ Jesus thought”. Then he went on to describe how our Lord Jesus Christ emptied Himself of His divine prerogatives, left heaven’s glory and became man to die on the cross for our sins (vv. 6-8). We can only enjoy real happiness when we keep in mind that we follow “the Son of Man [who] came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, ESV)

Brethren, seek to be happy for the right reason.

The Jesus T-Shirts

2010-10-22T09:38:00.002+08:00

Source: http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/10/14/the-story-behind-the-chilean-miners-jesus-t-shirts/

During the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners, CNN editor/producer Wes Little noted that most of them were wearing tan t-shirts over their green coveralls. According to CNN, “the green coveralls were designed to help absorb the sweat as they ascended to the top.” (Source: www.cnn.com) But, curiously the t-shirts have the Jesus Film project logo on the left sleeves. In front of the t-shirt are the words, “‘Gracias Senor’ – ‘Thank you Lord.’”

What’s the inside scoop about those t-shirts? After rescuers discovered that the miners were still alive 17 days after the mine collapse, Christian Maureira, Campus Crusade for Christ Int’l (CCCI) country director for Chile, immediately got in touch with family members of one of the miners. CCCI got to send MP3s (audio versions) of the Jesus Film and the Spanish New Testament through the shaft . CNN noted,“The Jesus film explains that the New Testament tells how Jesus is laid in a tomb-like cave after his crucifixion. Three days later, Jesus is said to have risen from the dead. In the Jesus film, women come to the tomb and find the stone that blocked the entrance has been rolled away, the cave empty.” (When I read that, I smiled, “Wow! Those are the truths of the Gospel shared by CNN itself!”) Though “It is unclear if the miners saw the resurrection story as a parallel for their hoped-for rescue” (Ibid), surely the Word of God became their source of strength while trapped 2,000 feet below for 69 days.

One of the miners, Jose Henriquez, wrote CCCI, “Thank you for this tremendous blessing for me and my coworkers. It will be good for our spiritual edification. I am fine because Christ lives in me.” (Ibid) At the end of his letter, Henriquez even quoted Psalm 95:4. “In His hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to Him.” That verse was actually printed at the back of the t-shirts that the miners wore during their rescue. CCCI gave those t-shirts as a gift to the miners a few days after they sent the MP3s to them. According to CCCI, “Apparently, all the miners liked them…It kind of solidified them.”

That’s why we should never get tired in sharing the Gospel to our spheres of influence such as our families and the workplace. Second Timothy 4:2 commands us “to preach God’s message. Do it willingly, even if it isn’t the popular thing to do.” (CEV)

Brethren, God’s Word will not return to Him void (Isaiah 55:11).

The Rescue

2010-10-15T15:30:00.004+08:00

When the gold and copper mine far north of Chile caved in, all 33 miners thought they were doomed already. About 700,000 tons of rock blocked their way out. “Descending for 4 miles (7 kilometers) below the Atacama desert, the mine has been giving up copper and gold since 1885, leaving it honeycombed and unstable. The miners said it felt like an earthquake when the shaft finally collapsed above them, filling the lower reaches of the mine with suffocating dust. It took hours before they could even begin to see.” (Source: Yahoo! News) Knowing that they were in for a long haul, shift foreman Luis Urzua strictly rationed their 48-hour food supply, stretching it to last as long as possible. “They only had 10 cans of tuna to share… the tuna amounted to about half a capful from the top of a soda bottle — and that the only water they could drink tasted of oil.” (Ibid) For 16 days the miners thought people on the surface have finally given up on them. “But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit. That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive”. (Ibid) The miners endured waiting in the dark, sauna-hot tunnel for another 52 days while rescuers bore an escape shaft through more than 2,000 feet of rock. No effort and expense were spared.

Then last Wednesday, October 13, they lowered down a metal capsule just a bit wider than a man’s shoulders. “It took 24 hours to pull out the 33 miners and six rescuers who had gone down the escape shaft to help the men get out.” (ibid) It was a very touching moment as the international media broadcast images of their reunion with their families worldwide. Someone commented, “It was wrong to say there were 33 people down there. There were actually 34 of them. God was with them.”

It was a great rescue, no doubt about it. Bu
t there’s an even greater rescue. Two thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus Christ became man, went down from heaven to earth, to rescue us from eternal doom. Sin blocked our access to God. We cannot do anything to save ourselves. But God “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32a, ESV). Jesus rescued us by dying on a cross for our sins. He did not go down to merely show the way up to heaven. He is the way Himself (John 14:6).

Brethren, Jesus is “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

Twitter Defines Success

2010-10-11T04:54:00.003+08:00

If numbers are the success yardstick, Twitter definitely measures up. (For those who still think that I was talking about stereo speakers, Twitter is actually a social networking website where users can send 140-character ‘tweets’ or messages to his network of friends.) Since its 2006 launch, it skyrocketed to 160 million plus users. What caught my attention while reading a news item about Twitter is this statement by its co-founder, Evan Williams: “Growing big is not success, in itself. Success to us means meeting our potential as a profitable company that can retain its culture and user focus while having a positive impact on the world.” (Source: Inquirer.Net) That’s a great definition of success.

I think pastors and churches ought to learn from it. Of course, numbers matter to God, too. (There’s a book in the Bible with that title. Also, just read the book of Acts.) Yet, to borrow from the title of a book by Ruth Tucker, when we feel “left behind in a mega-church world,” we tend to confuse the way we measure success. The key to clear the confusion is to concentrate on our potential as a church. To know our potential, we must ask first, “What is our bottom line?” Companies like Twitter have profit and numerical growth as one of its bottom-line. But the church’s bottom-line is not the ABCs that we tend to use nowadays to declare that a church is successful. (ABC stands for Attendance, Buildings and Cash. Others have added D, that is, Denomination).

Our bottom-line is the glory of God. Ephesians 3:20-21 tell us, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (ESV) We exist as a church to bring honor to the Lord.In his “Rise and Shine,” Dr. Charles Swindoll wrote, “When we finally wake up to our purpose for existence, we come to the realization that glorifying God applies to every detail of living… The activity, as well as the motive behind it, must be for one ultimate reason: to glorify our God.” First Corinthians 10:30 commands us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” So, whatever we do as a church, we must do it for the sake of the reputation of the Lord, not ours. When we exalt the Lord in all that we are and all that we do, then we are really successful.

Brethren, “Glory to God in the church!” (Eph. 3:21a, Message)

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view/20101005-296058/Twitter-co-founder-steps-down-as-CEO

Till Prenup Do Us Part

2010-10-01T08:15:00.004+08:00

A US$1 million signing bonus? No, that’s not the windfall of a hotshot football player for jumping to another team. It’s a stipulation in a prenuptial agreement (popularly known as prenup) between an engaged man and woman. Linda Lea Viken, president-elect of American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML), negotiated the said prenup. “My client was giving up her career as an accountant to marry an up-and-coming basketball star. Of course with a basketball star you are going to be moving around a lot—we call that lost economic opportunity. So I said I wanted a signing bonus”. (Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100927/lf_nm_life/us_marriage_prenups)

So now marriages are defined not just by passion but also by the purse. The AAML noticed the increase in such prenups in the last five years among middle-class couples which before were confined only among the wealthy and the well-known. According to Marlene Eskind Moses of AAML, “Sometimes people put in conditions like the amount of sex they must have, and behavior in the marriage like the number of days a week one spouse can go out without the other. The sky is the limit in what people can contract”. (Ibid) The fine prints of the contract range from serious financial matters (like separate bank accounts, retirement benefits and protection against debts incurred by one of the spouses before the marriage) to trivial personal issues (such as who gets the dog when they divorce). Moses justifies the prenup trend. “It’s a planning tool. Given that half of marriages end in divorce it makes sense to plan… to safeguard their assets when a marriage crumbles… People marry for love and that certainly is important but people also need to understand that it’s a legal holding that affects their holdings. It is important to marry for love but to understand the ripple effect”. (Ibid)

Prenups may be needed in some marriages. But, instead of preparing for divorce, I think couples should rather prepare for “till death do us part.” The efforts poured in poring over the fine prints of the prenup can best be put in pursuing intimacy in marriage, such as obeying Ephesians 5:33. “So each husband should love his wife as much as he loves himself, and each wife should respect her husband.” (CEV) Instead of merely safeguarding their assets in case of a divorce, I believe married people should safeguard their marriage as their most important asset.

Brethren, what God has joined together, let not prenup separate.

Fighting Fire with Fire?

2010-09-18T09:05:00.000+08:00

All heat but no light. Or, as the apostle Paul put it, “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” (Romans 10:2, ESV) That, I think, is a fitting description of Pastor Terry Jones’ infamous threat to publicly burn about 200 copies of Qur’an to commemorate the 9th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and to protest the plan to build a mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero. It was a relief that Pastor Jones and his Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida backed down from doing so. He could have foolishly risked not only his own life and that of his church members but also the lives of Christians all over the world. In Afghanistan for example, other than burning a U.S. flag, protesters chanted,“Death to the Christians!”

Thus, in an interview with Christianity Today magazine, Warren Larson, director of the Zwemer Center for Muslim Studies at Columbia International University, expressed fears that the threat has damaged our witness to Muslims. “I think most Bible-believing, mission-minded, evangelical Christians are fixated on political problems. They are obsessed with Islam but often for the wrong reasons.Christians feel threatened and are focusing on their rights and liberties, but not seeing their responsibility for witness with the hopes that Muslims come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.” The Muslims (even the extremists) are not our enemies. Burning religious books won’t lead them to put their faith on the Lord Jesus as Savior. It would just reduce our witness to ashes. Such an act stems from hate, not love.

The problem with hate is that we end up becoming like those we hate. Yes, what the terrorists have done in 9/11 was despicable. But burning their sacred book would just bring us down to the level of those fanatics. Gerald McDermott, Jordan-Trexler Professor of Religion at Roanoke College, reminds us, “Paul said our real battle is not against ‘flesh and blood, but against the cosmic powers of this present darkness’ …This means our witness as Christians to members of other religions should involve patient conversation, not hostile argument. Plenty of listening and befriending before any attempt to persuade… It means loving witness to others who sincerely believe they have the truth.” (Ibid)

Brethren, let us speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15).

Dr. Luis Pantoja, Jr., 63

2010-09-07T16:06:00.002+08:00

Last Monday (September 6), I was leading a Bible study for the employees of The Generics Pharmacy. At the start of the study, I got text messages from two of our deacons, forwarding an urgent prayer request about Dr. Luis Pantoja, senior pastor of Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF). He fell unconscious in a pastoral conference abroad and efforts were being made to revive him. I led our Bible study group to pray for him. I was about to finish my talk when my mobile vibrated. I don’t usually answer it whenever I was teaching. But I just felt I had to take the call. It was my wife tearfully telling me the sad news that Pastor Luis went home to be with the Lord already. A hush fell upon the group.

The call came at a time when I was emphasizing to them about the importance of finishing well. It was not a coincidence. It was a “God-incidence.” After praying for the Pantoja family, I read to the group 2 Timothy 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (ESV) What a fitting description of a godly servant of the Lord who labored much in proclaiming the Word in all its simplicity, practicality and authority.

My encounters with Pastor Luis were few but they were all God-moments. Though I am not part of GCF (surely he knew thousands of people from his church alone), whenever we would meet he would call me by my first name. I even remember emailing him but not really expecting a reply from him. To my surprise, he responded to it. We even chatted one time on Facebook. I told him that, since he was about to retire at that time, his shoes will be a big pair to fill in. He typed back in the typical Pantoja wit, “I don’t believe in filling someone else’s shoes, especially my shoes. The person might not be able to stand the smell of the fungus.” He even posted that statement on his Facebook status update. He really believed in fulfilling one’s personal calling, not in living in another’s shadows. Short talks they were but every time I would approach him with a question in a conference, he would readily answer them. And every time I talked to him, I would feel my heart burning once again with the passion to “preach the word; [to] be ready in season and out of season; [to] reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2)

Pastor Luis, I thank the Lord for you.

Virtual Relationships?

2010-09-02T16:25:00.006+08:00

Konami Digital Entertainment did not even think that it has struck gold with “Love Plus,” a dating simulation game that allows young men to“chase virtual girls in the alternative universe of their digital dreams.” (Source: Inquirer Global Nation) But, it is actually a gold rush.

With the latest augmented reality technology plus voice recognition software, “Love Plus” gamers would actually forget they are “dating” a make-believe or virtual person. According to Konami, it appeared so real to the gamers that, in fact, “the [virtual] girl can get moody when neglected by a player who is not sufficiently committed, and that she demands attention when she feels unwell.” (Ibid) Since its release a year ago, it has become Japan’s hottest dating game. “The hit videogame made headlines when a 27-year-old Japanese man known only as ‘Sal 9000’ staged a tuxedo wedding late last year, which was watched by thousands online, with his favorite cartoon girl, Nene Anegasaki.” (Ibid) It even revived tourism in the resort town of Atami, about 100 kilometers from Tokyo, Japan. Recently, Konami did a two-month “Love Plus” campaign where over 2,000 participants poured in at Atami from as far as South Korea and Taiwan.

Konami thinks the secret to its phenomenal success is that “[it] asks players to build long-term relationships… [It makes] players feel like they are really sharing their life with a girlfriend… The goal is to see how good you can be to her and to build a relationship.” (Ibid) I just wonder. If they are that committed to that virtual relationship, why can’t they just invest their time and effort in an actual one? Why don’t they share their lives with real people? Personally, I think that when a virtual relationship goes sour, there seems to be an option to reboot the game. But in a real relationship it is not that easy to start all over again. Also, a computer program can be predictable. But an actual person may not be so. A simulated person can be very accepting unlike a flesh-and-blood one.

When God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:15, ESV), He did not give Adam a computer. He gave him a companion. Even church fellowships can be risky and make us feel so vulnerable. We can even get hurt. But I believe it is worth it. God designed us to interact with each other and not with an executable file. We are called to belong and not just believe.

Brethren, go for real relationships.

Pray For Our Police

2010-08-24T13:46:00.000+08:00

Much ink and paper and much airtime both radio and TV has already been devoted to the hostage crisis last Monday, August 23, 2010. So, instead of giving unsolicited advice or even attacking the Philippine National Police or the PNP (though I have of course expressed my angst over my Facebook posts), I want now to look at this issue from another angle and from a vantage point.

Our PNP is getting a lot of flak lately. They are already under fire for the torture video that was shown over national TV. That video of a police officer torturing a suspect inside a precinct was so sickening that I could not even bear to post its link on Facebook. Knowing that I have a lot of international friends in my social network, I really restrained myself so as not to put our country (not only the police) in bad light. However, the hostage tragedy was broadcast all over the world literally through international news organizations such as CNN and BBC. The images of the failed assault were played over and over again. Sadly, we are back on the map again.

I was actually praying that Miss Philippines Venus Raj would win as Miss Universe last Tuesday, August 24, 2010, so that it could somehow water down the dismal press we are getting nowadays and give us a breath of fresh air for a change. But she landed fourth runner-up instead (which is, by the way, an honor for us). Yet, of course, the carnage was and still is the focus of the daily news.

Thus, I believe this is the time that we need to pray even more for our police. The fact remains that “they are God’s servants working for your own good. But if you do evil, then be afraid of them, because their power to punish is real. They are God’s servants and carry out God’s punishment on those who do evil.” (Romans 13:4, GNB) No matter how corrupt or incompetent some of the police may be, they are still God’s servants no matter what. They are ultimately accountable to Him. Our part is to recognize that truth. One way of affirming it is to pray for them. We are commanded in 1 Timothy 2:1-5, “First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, requests, and thanksgivings be offered to God for all people; for kings and all others who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceful life with all reverence toward God and with proper conduct.” It is easy to point a finger at the police. But, though at times difficult, it is more Christian to pray for them.

Brethren, our PNP need our prayers more than ever.

Alive or Living?

2010-08-20T15:36:00.000+08:00

Last week, I was having lunch with my son Jessey. Out of the blue, he asked, “Dad, what’s worse than getting killed?” I immediately replied, “Staying alive.” When he gave me that puzzled look, I clarified my answer, “Staying alive… and not really living.” Staying alive without really living is no better than being dead. In fact, I believe it is worse.

It is because our Lord Jesus, the Life Himself, “came that [we] may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10, ESV. See 14:6 also.) Lest we jump into concluding that the abundant life has something to do with amassing earthly wealth, one translation clarified it: “I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” (CEV) Living is more than breathing in and breathing out. That’s just staying alive. Even a person on life support machine can do that. Living is when you enjoy being alive. It is when we live life to the fullest. Someone summarized it well, “The purpose of life is a life of purpose.”

But, when we live a life of disobedience, it is not really living a full life. It is living a fool’s life. It is not living a life of purpose. It is a pointless life. Though its context was about widows, I think 1 Timothy 5:6 described for us a life that is not really life. “A [person] who thinks only about having a good time is already dead, even though she is still alive.” (CEV) According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, “One need only witness the spiritual emptiness produced within those who choose such a profligate lifestyle to understand Paul’s point.” The word “profligate” means self-indulgent, wasteful or reckless. When we live only for ourselves, for our own pleasure, we are living recklessly. We are just wasting our lives.

Benjamin Franklin once said, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.” I believe that the solution to avoid squandering time is not as simple as scheduling one’s life. It is to spend it wisely on who and what matters most in life. Note that even Franklin pointed out that making the most of our time is born out of a love for life. And the best way to love life is to love the Life, Jesus Himself. That is living life to the fullest. The Message version goes like this, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.” We only start to live when we first put our faith on the Lord Jesus and then pursue obeying Him as His followers. That’s real living!

Brethren, are we really living or just staying alive?

Another Mission Field?

2010-08-12T13:46:00.001+08:00

An American, an Italian and a Filipino visited St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. They were awestruck as they beheld Michelangelo’s Pietà. The American could only mouth the word, “Amazing!” The Italian could not contain his joy and exclaimed, “Magnifico!” But the Filipino immediately got his cell phone from his pocket, grabbed a companion’s hand, posed as close as possible to the sculpture and shrilled, “Picture! Picture! Post ko sa Facebook!” (“I’ll post it on Facebook!”)

Yes, we are a certified Facebook country. “Of the more than 496 Facebook aficionados worldwide… The Philippines ranks seventh in the world with the most number of Facebook users at 15,935,880” (Source: http://inquirer.net/). In fact, the number of Filipinos riding the Facebook wave is growing so fast that it seems we can overtake Italy at the sixth spot, which has only 16,858,340 users. Also, we still reign as the SMS capital of the world. And according to the latest Young Asians 2010 Survey conducted by Synovate, a global research agency, “Mobile phones are the most important device for 67 percent of young Filipinos… Filipino youth have many people to choose from when sending messages – with the third-highest number of contacts in their address books with an average of 102. Indonesian youth had an average 131 contacts and Singapore youth an average 108 contacts.” (Ibid)

Now, let’s put Facebook and mobile phones together and what do we get? A powerful combo for reaching more people with the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ! Sadly, there was a time that Christians were wary whenever a new technology comes. For example, in the early days of radio, I heard that there was a preacher who criticized its use for evangelism, arguing (out of context, of course) that Satan is "the prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2, ESV). We almost lost that opportunity were it not for the brave pioneers of radio preachers. Now, radio is indispensable in the sharing the Gospel. In 1 Corinthians 9:22, the apostle Paul explained his strategy for reaching out, “I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can.” (CEV) So, let us all become missionaries through Facebook and through SMS, which is fast becoming a new frontier or mission field in world evangelism. Let us make the most of it by expressing our faith through our status updates and text messages.

Brethren, by all means let’s do everything to win all that we can.

Super Jesus?

2010-08-06T03:20:00.002+08:00

We crave to be in control. “Spiderman” screenwriter David Koepp believes that is one of the reasons why superhero movies are in vogue nowadays. “They’re empowerment stories, and what’s better than that. The golden age of fantasy is often when society is going through a hard time. I think 9/11 and the souring of the economy have had a lot to do with it, because people want fantasy. They want to escape to a place where they feel a fantasy of success and omnipotence, you’re safe and you’re protected.” (Source: “Superhero Obsession: Why We Love Fantasy,” http://abcnews.go.com/2020/superheroes-jesus-hercules-superman-iron-man-inspire-fantasy/story?id=10770296) Deep within us, we don’t want to end up weak. We covet to conquer our challenges. If it is a problem as tall as a building, we want to be able to leap over it in a single bounce. We want to solve it faster than a speeding bullet. Artist and author Arlen Schumer agrees, “Superhero stories, all heroic myth stories teach us and tell us that it is possible, that you can do it. In real life, we often cannot overcome our obstacles. We cannot get justice, we cannot right wrongs and we need stories to tell ourselves that we could be this; we could act this way.” (Ibid) In short, we want to be in control of our circumstances. But we need not be in command of our lives. And, even if we want to, we cannot do it simply because we actually have no superpowers. That’s why we had to craft stories about superheroes.

Only God is in charge. “God controls the stars in the sky and everyone on this earth. When God does something, we cannot change it or even ask why.” (Daniel 4:35, CEV) Psalm 115:3 declares, “Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.” (ESV) And He came down from heaven and became man not just to become a model but actually to be our Master. Our Lord Jesus is no fictional Superman who came from a make-believe planet Krypton. He did not deflect bullets. He even allowed nails to pierce Him. Knowing Him is not an escape to fantasy. It is only through Him that life becomes a reality. We don’t need to come up with superheroes to cope up with life. He declared, “I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest.” (John 10:10, CEV) He can do that because He is Life Himself (John 14:6). People expected him to right wrongs. But He did more than that. When we accept Him, He makes us right with God. No superhero can do that.

Brethren, our Lord Jesus is our Savior, not a mere superhero.

A Toast to our Teachers

2010-07-29T09:27:00.000+08:00

“How much do your kindergarten teacher and classmates affect the rest of your life?” (“The Case for $320,000 Kindergarten Teachers,” The New York Times, 7/28/2010)

That’s the question Harvard Economist Raj Chetty sought to answer in his research that scrutinized the “life paths” of about 12,000 adults, who were subjects of a famous education experiment in Tennessee when they were just kids 30 years ago. Chetty presented his “fairly explosive” findings in an academic conference in Cambridge, Mass. (USA). According to the Chetty research, “Students who had learned much more in kindergarten were more likely to go to college than students with otherwise similar backgrounds. Students who learned more were also less likely to become single parents. As adults, they were more likely to be saving for retirement. Perhaps most striking, they were earning more.” (Ibid) In short, due to early education, these people became successful later in life. According to the New York Times, “Good early education can impart skills that last a lifetime — patience, discipline, manners, perseverance.”

This is not just a classic case of “What I Need To Know in Life I Learned in Kindergarten” but this is another feather in the cap of Proverbs 22:6. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (ESV) Thus, Chetty and his research team “estimate that a standout kindergarten teacher is worth about $320,000 a year. That’s the present value of the additional money that a full class of students can expect to earn over their careers. This estimate doesn’t take into account social gains, like better health and less crime.” That’s how valuable and strategic teachers are. I think that applies not only to kindergarten teachers but also teachers in all levels. I believe that only eternity will fully reveal their impact on our lives. Yes, the Bible warns that “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1) But teachers will also be rewarded with a greater reward. This is also why we should encourage our children to attend our Sunday school for children. If you feel God is calling you to teach as one of our teachers, step out in faith, sign up and become a channel of blessing that will overflow not just here in this life but even beyond in the life after.

Brethren, let us offer a toast to our teachers.

Praying for One Another

2010-07-25T16:36:00.001+08:00

The story was told about a country that was experiencing an epidemic of psychiatric problems. The doctors could not handle all the mental health cases brought before them. In short, many people in that country were getting crazy. But later on, a civil war broke out in that country. It was a terrible, destructive war. Yet, to the surprise of the doctors, the war “had the unexpected effect of ‘curing’ many of [that country’s] thousands of neurotics. When they became concerned about the welfare of their families, friends and country instead of their own, their neuroses disappeared and hospitals and clinics were almost emptied of such cases.” (John MacArthur, Jr., “Ephesians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary.”) They were cured when they stopped concentrating on themselves and started caring for others.

We are commanded in James 5:16, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.” (ESV) In this chapter, James was encouraging people to pray for those who are suffering and sick. He taught believers that they should care enough to pray for others and not just for themselves. Prayer is not just about our personal needs. It is also about the needs of others. When we just think of our own needs without thinking of the needs of others, we become selfish. But, when we think of the needs of others also, we become sacrificial. Philippians 2:4 tell us, “Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” That doesn’t mean that we no longer care for our interests. But it means that we are care for the interests of others also. We don’t avoid our own needs. But we do address the needs of others. The Contemporary English Version goes like this: “Care about them as much as you care about yourselves”. When we do so, we really show that we are followers of our Lord Jesus who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45) The best way to prove that we are thinking of the needs of others also more than our needs is when we pray for one another. Someone said, “Love heals both the one who gives and the one who receives.” You want to be blessed? Prayer blesses both the one who prays and the one who is prayed for.

Brethren, let us pray for one another.

The Master's Own Hand

2010-07-17T10:41:00.003+08:00

Art historians used to believe that Leonardo da Vinci painted his “Virgin on the Rocks” with the help of his student Giampetrino (Source: Reuters). The 15th century painting was discovered and authenticated only a few years ago. It was a later version of the “Virgin on the Rocks”painting that is now displayed in Louvre, Paris. (If you watched Tom Hank’s “The Da Vinci Code” movie, you saw the painting already.) However, an 18-month restoration project by the conservation team at the Britain’s National Gallery revealed otherwise. In a press statement the team declared, “It now seems possible that Leonardo painted all he picture himself, leaving some parts just sketched or yet to be completely resolved, and others fully worked up.” (Ibid) A badly degraded coat of varnish applied in 1948 “had reduced the picture’s subtle shading, particularly in darker areas, and impacted its intended sense of space.” (Ibid) When the team subjected the painting under the latest infrared technology, they “discovered two distinct underdrawings beneath the surface of the painting… One was a completely different design from that eventually painted over the top of it, while the second is a drawing of the Virgin of the Rocks but with considerable changes.” (Ibid) It seems it was a work in progress that Da Vinci never got to finish.

In this 2005 file photo, a visitor looks at paintings in an Ancona, Italy museum, where a previously unknown work by Leonardo da Vinci goes on public display for the first time.

Giulio Napolitano/AFP/Getty Images/Newscom

According to Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (ESV) The word “workmanship” means “product,” “a work of art” or “a masterpiece.” We got the word “poem” from that Greek word. Yes, there are times when we look at the mirror that we think we are a Picasso abstract or, worse, a Mister Potato Head. But, seriously, God Himself is painting the picture of our lives. We are a work in progress that He will complete. We may not see His design beneath the surface. But, it is there. According to Philippians 1:6, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.” (The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language) So whatever challenges or crises we are facing right now, as the song goes, “When we don’t understand, when we can’t see His hand, trust His heart.” God knows what He is doing.

Brethren, we are God’s masterpiece.

Buffett's Best

2010-07-09T15:31:00.001+08:00

Billionaire Warren Buffett is “consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people, and is the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2010… He is one of the most successful investors in the world… In 2007, he was listed among Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the world.” (Source: http://www.wikipedia.org/) People’s ears perk up whenever he speaks on his views on economy and other issues. His devoted followers deem his economic wisdom Solomonic.

Now, what was the best advice that this most sought-after font of financial advices has ever received? In an exclusive interview, he lauds his father, businessman and politician Howard Buffett, for “teaching him how to live” (Yahoo! News) Buffett credited him for teaching “The power of unconditional love. I mean, there is no power on earth like unconditional love. And I think that if you offered that to your child, I mean, you’re 90 percent of the way home. There may be days when you don’t feel like it — it’s not uncritical love; that’s a different animal — but to know you can always come back, that is huge in life. That takes you a long, long way. And I would say that every parent out there that can extend that to their child at an early age, it’s going to make for a better human being.” (Ibid) It seems that Buffett is also working on making a better world. He is now fulfilling his pledge of donating 99% of his wealth to charity. (He already gave away US$2 billion.) And, to top it all, Buffett “has joined forces once again with Bill and Melinda Gates on an initiative to persuade the world’s billionaires to donate half their fortunes to charity.” (Ibid) What a noble cause indeed!

Yet, we don’t even have to be billionaires to fulfill such cause. We have already experienced the power of unconditional love. “We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. That’s why we must give our lives for each other.” (1 John 3:16, CEV) So, now we are to transform from objects of God’s love to channels of His love, from recipients to givers. Since we experienced His love, we are now to express it through our words and works. That’s how it is to live! Sharing God’s love is also one sure sign that we really received it. “God is love, and anyone who doesn’t love others has never known him… Our love for each other proves that we have gone from death to life.” (1 John 4:8; 3:14a) It is time that we grow from not just being loved towards being lovers ourselves.

Brethren, “We love because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19, ESV)

Caught in Traffic

2010-07-03T11:03:00.001+08:00

I could not believe my eyes when I read it. President Benigno Aquino III, whom we now fondly call “P-Noy,” got caught in traffic. “On his second day in office Aquino ordered his driver to stop for red lights and declined to use lanes set aside for public buses and as a result arrived 40 minutes late for the turnover ceremonies for the new chief of staff” (Source: http://inquirer.net/) According to his personal driver, P-Noy obeyed traffic rules even before he became a congressman, something he learned from his late mother, former President Corazon Aquino.

Needless to say, it was a security nightmare for the Presidential Security Group. “Police escorts were also barred from using their sirens, and members of his security detail jumped out of their vehicles to secure the presidential car every time the heavy mid-morning traffic stopped the limousine” (Ibid). Last Wednesday, June 30, 2010, on his way to his inauguration as president, people saw that there were no blinkers or sirens (In Filipino, “wangwang”) in his convoy and that it took all the proper U-turns and left-turns. Then in his inaugural speech, people loudly applauded when he declared, “Kayo ba ay nagtiis na sa trapiko para lamang masingitan ng isang naghahari-hariang de-wangwang sa kalsada? Ako rin… Walang wang-wang, walang counterflow, walang tong.” (“Have you had to endure being rudely shoved aside by the siren-blaring escorts of those who love to display their position and power over you? I have, too… No more sirens, no more short cuts, no more bribes.”)

Of course, personally I think he should reconsider his stance, given the security risks he is exposing himself. Since, after all, he is lawfully entitled to use “wangwang” along with the Vice-President, the Senate President, the Speaker of the House and the Chief Justice. But he intends to model obedience to the law. Thus, we really felt he is one of us. I believe that his brand of leadership by example already endeared him to us.

That gives us a glimpse of what the Lord did when He became flesh. “Christ was truly God. But he did not try to remain equal with God. Instead he gave up everything and became a slave, when he became like one of us. Christ was humble. He obeyed God and even died on a cross. Then God gave Christ the highest place and honored his name above all others.” (Philippians 2:6-9, CEV) That ought to make us love Him more.

Brethren, our Lord Jesus became like one of us.

Sex Education

2010-06-24T13:23:00.001+08:00

Though admittedly I haven’t seen it, whatever the teaching modules on sex education in our public school’s curriculum contain, I personally believe the teachers won’t use FHM or Playboy magazines as visual aids. Sadly, the steamy debate over the implementation of the Department of Education allowing these modules to be taught to students as young as 9 years old seems to cloud rather than clarify the issue. One petition for a restraining order filed before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court made this bold accusation: “For being baseless, DepEd Memo 261 is unreasonable and arbitrary unless DepEd is candid enough to admit that its real agenda is to transform the sex behavior of our kids towards being sex-obsessed.” (Source: http://inquirer.net/) But, the editorial chides the petitioners, “[Their petition] reveals the lack of reasonableness, the breathtaking bad faith, of their position… To impute such unreasonable, indeed immoral, conduct to the country’s education officials, all the while assuming a monopoly on public interest and good intention, is not only outrageous; it is unchristian.” (Ibid)

Truly, we can see that such extreme position creates a narrow-minded caricature of all moralists (that includes us) that harms rather than helps. Yes, it’s a cause for concern. But, I caution parents like me to be careful not to confuse the issues. Instead of cringing, I challenge us to catch this chance to coach our children about sex. Even our constitution calls for that parental guidance: “The natural and primary right and duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for civic efficiency and the development of moral character shall receive the support of the government.” (Ibid)

We can comment and criticize. But ultimately we parents, not the school system, are the ones God had put in charge of teaching life’s principles and skills to our children. The school just complements our task. He commanded us, “So love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Memorize his laws and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7, CEV) We cannot and should not cede that commitment to their teachers. We are to carry it out faithfully.

Brethren, we parents are in charge.

The Will to Obey

2010-06-16T23:48:00.001+08:00

He already smelled rotting flesh.

Financial manager Jonathan Metz, 31, of West Hartford, Connecticut, feared the worse. It could be the onset of gangrene. About three days before, he went down to his basement to fix a broken furnace. But, somehow, his arm got caught in the furnace. Bleeding from a severe injury in his arm, he ripped his shirt and twisted it around his trapped arm as a tourniquet. No one knew he was there.

He knew he had to do something drastic to live. To free himself from the death trap, he decided to cut his arm with a saw blade. Dr. Scott Ellner of St. Francis Hospital said, “He nearly did it, but not completely.” He passed out before he could completely amputate his arm. Noticing that Metz had not reported for work, his friend Luca DiGregorio decided to check on him. When Metz did not answer his frantic knocks and hearing the incessant barking of the dog, he immediately called 911. The rescuers had to use heavy equipment such as a spreader (usually used to take the door off a wrecked car) in prying open the furnace to free Metz. Even if he lost his arm, Metz is reportedly in high spirits! Ellner added, “His first thought was to get free, and somehow, get the arm re-attached, that was his first motivation. Then when he knew the arm was gone, because he could smell the gangrene, his motivation was to live and get free.” (Ibid)

I don’t think Metz had Matthew 5:30 in mind when he did it: “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (ESV) But I admit that when I read Metz’s ordeal it actually crossed my mind. No sacrifice is too great to live the Christian life. Whatever it takes to follow Him, we ought to do it. If something or someone is keeping us from obeying the Lord, we are to take a radical step (or steps) to remove that hindrance. We may not just lose an arm in following Jesus. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24) That’s the cost of pursuing His cause. As my best friend Pastor Jesse Dedel once said, “It doesn’t really take much to obey the Lord. It just takes all of you.”

Brethren, do we have that will to obey?

(Source:http://wcbstv.com/local/jonathan.metz.west.2.1750522.html)

Rewind

2010-06-04T12:18:00.001+08:00

Changing the past seems to appeal to a lot of us, as evidenced by two latest movies from Hollywood. (Don’t worry! No spoilers here.)

In “Shrek Forever After” (Dreamworks Animation), Shrek sorely misses his “scary ogre” days. So, Rumpelstiltskin offers him that once-in-a-lifetime deal. Shrek could once again wallow in the mud, belch all he want and scare the wits out of the villagers for one day. The catch? “Rumpelstiltskin, in return, will take just one day of Shrek’s life—a day from his childhood, a day he wouldn’t even remember. How much trouble could that be?” (http://www.christianitytoday.com) But the crafty Rumpelstiltskin took the day Shrek was born. Thus, Shrek “exists, but doesn’t… Thanks to time-travel movies, we all know that changing one day in the past changes everything in the future.” (Ibid)

Then, in “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” (Walt Disney Pictures), Dastan our hero got hold of a mystical dagger with somewhat like an hourglass as a handle which contains (what else?) magic sand, “allowing whoever wields it to rewind time by a minute and change events.” (Ibid) That dagger could really come in handy when we got hit by buyer’s remorse after splurging in a mega-sale or when we blurted out things we weren’t supposed to blurt out or when we committed a blunder we wanted to wiggle out from.

But just as we can’t fast forward to the future, so also we can’t rewind to the past. This back-to-the-future stuff is mere fiction. Instead of attempting (in vain) to change the past, we can only accept it. We cannot correct the past. We can only come to terms with it. We cannot live in the past. We can only learn from it. We cannot rewind back to the past. We can only review its lessons for the present and the future. I just thank God there’s Romans 8:28. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (ESV) Whether we had a good or bad past, it’s all in the past. Though we cannot change what happened, we can change ourselves. God allowed those things to occur for our good. And what is good for us? His purpose! Verse 29 tells us what that purpose is: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”. So, whatever we went through, let us ask, “How can I become more Christ-like in view of what happened to me?”

Brethren, God doesn’t waste an experience.

Writing Our Own Obituary

2010-05-22T14:44:00.001+08:00

Ninety-four-year-old Paul Schlegelmilch of Long Island, New York could not believe his eyes and exclaimed “This can’t be!” when he opened The Rockville Herald and saw his own obituary! Supposedly, the local newspaper would feature him in a story about the Memorial Day parade. (Schlegelmilch, a World War II veteran, will be the grand marshal for that major event.) But when the newspaper got his photo along with his short biography, it somehow landed in the obituary section instead! So, after checking his heartbeat to confirm if he was really indeed alive, Schlegelmilch floored the accelerator of his ‘91 Buick to rush to the Maple Pointe Assisted Living Facility to inform Evelyn, his 91-year-old sister, not to believe everything she reads on the newspaper. But he knew he could not really reach his 5 daughters, 14 grandchildren and 24 great grandchildren just before they sat down to read the news. Thankfully, the newspaper apologized with a “He’s Alive” headline through its online edition. Still, understandably, Schlegelmich was not that thrilled with the obituary. (Source: http://wcbstv.com/)

When I read the news, a thought crossed my mind, “At least, he already knew while he was still alive what people would say about him when he dies.” What comments about us would we read if ever we got to see our obituary? Morbid as it is, I think the best way to deal with that is to write our own obituary. The Apostle Paul wrote his own obituary before he was beheaded for his faith: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7, ESV) Personally, I want people to remember me for being a catalyst who brought out the best in my spheres of influence; specifically, my family and the segment of the Body of Christ that God opened a door of ministry to me. I admit I am not yet there. But that compels me to press on. There’s actually an exercise in leadership seminars where participants are asked to do just that—write their obituary. Then the clincher, “What are you doing right now to ensure that that would be your obituary?” For whatever we write in our obituary we must back it up with our lives. Paul did fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith. No matter what glowing terms we use to write about ourselves, people will ultimately remember us for who we really are and not for what we write about ourselves.

Brethren, if ever, what would our obituary say?

Kakistocracy

2010-05-07T23:34:00.000+08:00

Answers.com® defines “kakistocracy” as a “government by the least qualified or most unprincipled citizens.” (The word is taken from the Greek words “kakistos,” which means “worst,” and “kratia,” which means “power, rule, government”). In his hard-hitting “On Target” column, Ramon Tulfo defines “kakistocracy” as “a government run by the worst of its citizens. In short, a government run by scoundrels.” (Phil. Daily Inquirer, 04/03/10) This Monday, May 10, 2010, as we cast our vote for national and local leaders, we will determine whether we are really a democracy or we are actually a kakistocracy.

Our church remains non-partisan, that is, we will not endorse candidates. Freedom of choice is integral in freedom of religion. Bloc voting violates that freedom. But, again let me clarify, non-partisan does not mean non-participation. We believe it is our Christian duty to vote. It is our responsibility to choose the most qualified and the most principled among the candidates. I don’t think we are doomed to just settle for the lesser evil.

For me, there are at least three things we must look for a candidate. Number one is character. Nowadays, the candidates are vocal about their faith. He does not have to profess the same faith that I possess as long as that candidate does not compromise his faith. For example, I may disagree with his view on the issue on contraceptives. But I would respect his beliefs as long as he is steadfast in his stance. If a candidate can compromise his convictions, he can compromise everything else. Number two is competence. Check if the candidate is fit for the job. If he is running for the first time for that position, I want to see his credentials and his advocacies. Debates are very revealing as far as the acumen of the candidates. If they can’t even explain their position on certain issues, chances are great that they don’t know how to deal with it. Number three is consistency. Evaluate a candidate’s track record or experience. So, if he is running for reelection as a lawmaker, I want to see not just how many bills he filed but also how many of those became law and what kind of laws. I don’t care how many bridges or waiting sheds he has built. That is not part of his job description. And, that’s our tax money anyway. It’s not from his pocket. He is supposed to craft laws. I don’t want to hear campaign promises or motherhood statements. I want a concrete platform.

Brethren, say “No!” to kakistocracy! Vote wisely!

A House of Prayer

2010-04-30T14:06:00.000+08:00

When He drove away the moneychangers from the temple, the Lord Jesus cried out, “My house shall be a house of prayer” (Luke 19:46, ESV). That shows His heart for prayer.

Our Lord Jesus modeled a life of prayer Himself: “But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.” (Luke 5:16) The Gospel of Luke even chronicled key events in the Lord’s ministry where He prayed (which the other Gospels did not point out): at His baptism by John the Baptist (3:21), the night before He chose the 12 apostles (6:12-13), before Peter’s confession (9:18-20) and at His transfiguration (9:28-29). After seeing our Lord spent time in prayer, a disciple asked him, “Lord, teach us to pray” (11:1). After predicting Peter’s denial, Jesus assured him of His prayers: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (22:31-32) In the Garden of Gethsemane, He commanded the disciples, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” (22:40) Right now, at the right hand of the Father, our resurrected Lord is praying for you and me. “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.” (7:25) Our Lord Jesus gave us an example to follow. According to 1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” The Contemporary English Version goes like this, “If we say we are his, we must follow the example of Christ.” In short, since we are His followers, our lives should be marked with prayer.

The story is told about a Christian village in Africa. Each villager had their personal prayer spots outside the village marked by foot trails through the brush. “When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much. Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. When ever anyone noticed an overgrown ‘Prayer path,’ he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, ‘Friend, there’s grass on your path!’” (Source: http://bible.org/) I pray that we won’t have overgrown prayer paths. May we be known as people who are devoted to prayer!

Brethren, let us become a house of prayer.

Tremors

2010-04-15T09:49:00.002+08:00

The sudden surge of interest nowadays in prophecies about the end times will again be stirred and shaken with the apparent rise in earthquakes all over the globe such as the recent killer quake in the Tibetan region of China that as of the latest reportedly killed almost 600 people, wounded more than 10,000 and flattened 85% of the structures there. (Source: Yahoo! News) There are those who would even conjure a “science fiction’s ultimate doomsday scenario: A large earthquake in another part of the world ignites a long seismic fuse that races around the globe” (http://www.mercurynews.com/). But according to the US Geological Survey (USGS), this is just “an average year for earthquakes… The USGS found that since 1900, the annual average for magnitude 7.0 or higher earthquakes is 16, putting 2010 on course for a fairly normal year, with six so far. …A lot of the quakes this year have unfortunately happened in populated areas, and as a result casualties and damage are in the news… The variability year to year is very large, but the rate this year is not higher than normal. …big earthquakes don’t trigger other big earthquakes.” (Ibid)

Keep in mind that our Lord Jesus assured us, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” (Matthew 24:6-8, ESV)

Sadly, even believers tend to cause frenzy instead of faith in view of such global events. One recent prophecy conference here featured as its main speaker a best-selling fiction writer. The promotional materials about this writer made much of the fact that what he described in his novels happened. For example, he wrote about a hijacked aircraft that was on a suicide mission in an American city. The promo pointed out that he wrote it nine months before the September 11 attacks. But even Tom Clancy wrote about such kamikaze jet scenarios in his best-selling thrillers, “Debt of Honor” (1994) and “Executive Orders” (1996). So, what’s so prophetic about that? We must be careful not to interpret the Bible using news clippings or current political events. That’s one rule of interpretation, especially when it comes to Bible prophecies.

Brethren, God’s news is the Good News, not the newspapers.

"Ang Ladlad"

2010-04-10T10:03:00.000+08:00

“Is the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) sector really marginalized and underrepresented?” That’s my immediate thought when I heard the recent ruling of the Supreme Court allowing the “Ang Ladlad” party-list to run in the coming May 10 elections. (“Ang Ladlad” claims to be the national organization of LGBT Filipinos.) It overturned the two Comelec (Commission on Elections) resolutions denying it accreditation as a party-list because it advocates immorality and homosexuals were a threat to the youth.

But what is a party-list group anyway? According to the Republic Act No. 7941, a party-list group empowers “Filipino citizens belonging to the marginalized and underrepresented sectors, organizations and parties, and who lack well-defined political constituencies but who could contribute to the formulation and enactment of appropriate legislation that will benefit the nation as a whole, to become members of the House of Representatives.” Just look at the mass media. We have a lot of openly-gay news commentators, opinion-makers, and showbiz reporters. They are not even hiding it. They are actually flaunting their sexual preferences. If that is not clout, I don’t know what clout is. The Supreme Court ruled that Comelec was wrong in imposing its morality upon “Ang Ladlad,” which is supposedly a violation of the separation of church and state. But it should have considered the media influence of the LGBT to see that it’s not a “marginalized and underrepresented sector.”

According to their official website, “In Filipino, ‘magladlad’ means to unfurl the cape that used to cover one’s body as a shield. It means to come out of the closet, to assert one’s human rights as equal to that of the next Filipino.” Is our Bill of Rights not enough to guarantee the rights of the homosexuals as humans and Filipino equals? One of the platforms of “Ang Ladlad” is “Support for the Anti-Discrimination Bill that gives LGBT Filipinos equal rights and opportunities in employment”. Does that include employment in churches and parachurch organizations? If ever a religious group because of their moral conviction refuses to allow a homosexual to work for them, would that organization be sued for discrimination? That’s the slippery slope our country is getting into. The problem is that the LGBT sector is imposing their brand of morality upon us.

Brethren, “Righteousness exalts a nation” (Prov. 14:34, ESV).

He Is Risen!

2010-03-31T07:40:00.001+08:00

This Sunday, April 4, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This made our faith unique. Our gospel message rests on this truth. However, there are those who seek to deny the resurrection. One Muslim scholar said, “On the subject of crucifixion, the Muslim is told in no uncertain terms, in the Holy Qur’an… that they didn’t kill Him, nor did they crucify Him. But it was made to appear to them so.” (Source: http://answering-islam.org/) Most Muslims believe that somebody else other than Jesus was crucified. Thus, when the disciples saw Him, they thought that He had risen from the dead. But the Muslim writers are divided as to who got crucified in His place. Some said it’s one of the disciples. In a debate with a Muslim scholar, Josh McDowell, a leading Christian apologist (defender of the faith), questioned that point of view, “Then, others feeling that it might be a little unfair to put an innocent man there, say, well, it must be Judas Iscariot who was placed on the cross… But I always wondered, why did God have to have a substitute? Why couldn’t He have simply taken Jesus then?” (Ibid)

There are those also who conceded that it was Jesus who was crucified on the cross. But they claim He did not die but just passed out in the cross. So, they claim, it was really resuscitation and not resurrection. But, John 19:34 tell us that “one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.” (ESV) McDowell points it out as proof that Christ did not merely swoon on the cross. “A wound of the type inflicted on Jesus, if the person were still alive, would not bleed out the wound opening, but bleed into the chest cavity, causing an internal hemorrhage. At the aperture of the wound, the blood would be barely oozing from the opening. For a spear to form a perfect channel that would allow the blood and serum to flow out the spear wound is next to impossible. The massive internal damage done to a person under crucifixion, and then being speared in the heart area, would cause death almost immediately” (Ibid).

Thus, our Lord Jesus Himself died on the cross. That’s why the resurrection is a miracle. To claim that God substituted somebody to be on the cross other than Christ and that He made it to appear so is making Him a liar. That would be accusing the Source of all truth of deception. Our faith in the resurrection is based on the foundation of truth.

Brethren, He is risen!

Best Reason to Smile

2010-03-26T10:09:00.004+08:00

“The broader your smile and the deeper the creases around your eyes when you grin, the longer you are likely to live”.

That’s the conclusion of a study conducted by researchers from the Wayne State University in Michigan. Studying photographs of US major league baseball players from the 50’s, the researchers grouped them according to “‘no smile’ if they were just looking deadpan at the camera… ‘partial smile’ if only the muscles around the mouth were involved in their grin… [and] ‘full smile’ if the mouth and eyes were smiling and the cheeks were both raised.” (Ibid) On the average, the “no smile” group lived up to around 73 years old, the “partial smile” group lived up to 75, and the “full smile” group lived up to around 80! According to the smile study, published in Psychological Science this week, “To the extent that smile intensity reflects an underlying emotional disposition, the results of this study are congruent with those of other studies demonstrating that emotions have a positive relationship with mental health, physical health and longevity” (Ibid). In short, as the news item is titled in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, “Broader smile, longer life.”

Though the study gave us another reason to smile, I think the best reason why we should smile is not that we would live longer but that our Lord Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. We may live long because we smiled a lot. But, sooner or later, we would still die. Our smile then would only last in our lifetime. Yet, when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we will smile throughout eternity. This Sunday is Palm Sunday, the start of what we call the Passion Week or the Holy Week. We were taught when we were children that we should not smile during this Week, especially on Good Friday. The elders reasoned, “Patay ang Diyos.” (“God is dead.”) But we Christ-followers have all the reason to smile. The night before He died, our Lord told His apostles, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20, ESV) After talking about how a mother’s anguish in giving birth would turn to joy after the baby has been delivered, He added, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” (v. 22)

Brethren, smile because He lives!

Daddy Johnny, 64

2010-03-19T01:52:00.001+08:00

We fondly call him “Daddy Johnny” or “Tito J.”

People remember Architect Juanito Carlos as the 60 plus-year-old who untiringly played badminton or tennis with those old enough to be his children, encouraging them to keep on playing when they could not keep up with his seemingly boundless energy. We also remember him as a prayer warrior, a soul-winner in our visitors’ room, a discipler with his wife, Mommy Deng, in our seekers’ team and a Circle of Care shepherd. To all of us, he was a dear brother in the Lord. He was so passionate in serving God.

It all started when he noticed his gums bleeding more than a week ago. He went to his doctor for consultation. Blood tests showed that his platelet count is way below normal. Immediately he was confined for blood transfusion and to determine what caused the low platelet count. His blood pressure was erratic. His platelet count remained critical. He went through further tests. Even before the result of his bone marrow test was released, he went home to be with the Lord last Tuesday, around 3:40AM, barely five days after he was admitted in the hospital.

The outpouring of love from people touched by his life was so overwhelming. They all have a story to tell about Daddy Johnny. When Deacon James Tioco visited him in the hospital, the first thing that he said was, “How was your recent talk that we prayed for?” Instead of giving a litany about his pain, which would have been really understandable, he thought of others first. My last talk with him was when he attended our Midweek Gathering one week before he got sick. He bought some bread for his construction workers who were working overnight in a project. He was such a gentle, caring person. A friend who went to the wake said, “We all lost a father.”

Though grieving with his family, we also rejoice with them because we know this is just a temporary separation. For we fellow believers will have a joyful reunion with Daddy Johnny. When he died, I thought of Psalm 116:15 “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.” (ESV) It is not death per se that is precious in God’s eyes. It is the death of His people. In Hebrew, the word “precious” means “prized, weighty, precious, rare, and splendid.” According to the Bible Knowledge Commentary, “The death of a saint is not something the Lord considers as cheap; He does not let His people die for no reason.”

Brethren, our loss is heaven’s gain.

Casey's Heart

2010-03-11T16:24:00.000+08:00

Eleven-year-old Casey Rogers will literally bring down the house… actually, a sports stadium. As a prize for winning the Kraft Foods’ Project Cheddar Explosion essay contest, Casey will press the trigger for an implosion that would demolish the Texas Stadium. But this was no ordinary contest. It was “for kids who have made a difference in their communities.” (Source: http://dallasnews.com/) And Casey is no ordinary boy. Three years ago, Casey saw his father, Pastor Russel Rogers, shooing away a homeless man. His heart went out for the panhandler. Reflecting on his past as a foster child, Casey thought, “I was just like, look how great y’all helped me… Why don’t I help them?”

So, he pioneered the Casey’s Heart, a ministry of Trinity Life Baptist Church of Garland, Texas, where his dad serves as the senior pastor. The charity collects goods and then distributes them to the homeless people. “Dallas’ homeless recognize [Casey] as the warm-hearted kid who often shows up in a downtown parking lot offering food and clothes.” When he heard about the essay contest, he wrote about his work. According to Kraft, “We received a lot of entries that were very impressive… Casey’s really stood out because of the great difference he’s made in his community.”

(Sadly, Dallas News got some negative comments from readers about Casey’s dad. One goes like this, “Dad, you ‘shooed away’ a request for help? Being a pastor and a dad surely you could have thought of a better way to show compassion. Doesn’t God want us to help even the least of us? Not a good example.” But I think he did exactly just that. He helped his son start a ministry that would do much better than doling out alms to the homeless.)

Casey’s labor of love helped the homeless get back on their feet. He fondly talks about one of his fruit, Fred, who got reunited with his family. Maura Gast, executive director of the Irving Convention and Visitors Bureau, finds it “hard to fathom that an elementary-aged kid dreamed up a way to help the homeless—and then followed through for years.” She added, “Maybe by the time you’re the age we are you’re too jaded to think you can do anything to fix it and when you’re young you don’t have any reason to think you can’t.” Truly, there’s no age limit as far as making a difference in the world is concerned… as long as we have the heart to do it.

Brethren, let us make a difference in our community.

Keep Your Soul in Politics (Part 4)

2010-03-06T11:45:00.002+08:00

With all the mudslinging going on right now in the campaign for the national and the local elections, what columnist Andrew Jackson wrote in his “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008) is very timely: “Don’t demonize anyone. Every person has been created in the image of God, and Christians must not demonize or dehumanize other people, whether we agree with them politically or not”. When we throw mud, we ourselves get dirty also.

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29, ESV) Yes, character is a political issue. However, keep in mind that each candidate is neither the God incarnate nor the Devil personified. Focus on issues. Don’t attack a person’s character or motives. No name-calling or insulting rants. Weigh whether a certain accusation has a basis or just wet soil. Of course, candidates love to dismiss all charges as mere political attacks. Yet some of these mudpacks do stick. It personally raises a red flag in me when all the candidate can answer to the charges raised against him is, “Politika lang yan.” (“It’s just politics.”) What we can do is read a lot of what respected opinion-makers wrote about the issues and then make our judgment call.

In addition to that, Jackson wrote, “Don’t allow yourself to support attempts to divide races, male and female, rich and poor, or young and old. Partisan politics often divides society into voting blocks, and separates society instead of uniting it. Christians should function as peacemakers and reconcilers in the public square and should resist every temptation to join the game of dividing people for political gain”. Again, that’s the reason why it is very wise not to endorse a particular candidate or party. Jackson reminds us, “Don’t become so intertwined with one political party that you forfeit your independence. When you do, you lose your right to be heard and to speak and clarify biblical truth to all politicians and political parties”. We are not just playing safe. We are not merely being neutral. Remember that, though we are non-partisan, we call for participation. We want to remain peacemakers. Our witness to the world is at stake. Elections come and go. But God’s agenda stays forever.

Brethren, focus on issues, not innuendos.

Keep Your Soul in Politics (Part 3)

2010-02-26T18:04:00.001+08:00

I find it funny that nowadays we try to guess a person’s candidate based on the color of his shirt. (There are times I toy with the idea of wearing a different colored shirt every Sunday just to throw people off the track.) We have spirited discussion on politics even among us pastors. That’s why we should all the more heed what columnist Andrew Jackson wrote in his “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008), “Don’t bring the polarization of partisan politics into the family of God. Every Christian has freedom of conscience before God, and we must guard against allowing political perspectives to divide the church”. Politics is not just a battle between good and evil. It is also a choice between good, better and best. So, if a fellow believer chooses a candidate different from ours, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that person has crossed over to the dark side. As long as a person gave careful thought to his choice, we need to respect his decision.

Unity is not uniformity. Thus, we can allow for diversity in this unity. That’s one of the reasons I don’t endorse a candidate. I may vigorously discuss the options and its pros and cons. But I will not impose my personal, political views on anyone. Ephesians 4:3 tell us that we must be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” (ESV) The Good News Bible goes like this: “Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together.” We are already united. We just need to seriously protect our unity by respecting each one’s political preferences.

In addition to that, “Don’t engage in angry, hostile confrontation. Present your political convictions through civil debate and rational dialogue instead. Confrontational arguments demonstrate an ugly pride that demeans Jesus Christ” (Jackson). In our desire to win people over to our candidate, we may end up hurting them. Though it was meant for theological discussions, I think 2 Timothy 2:14 may apply also in political talks: “And with God as your witness, you must warn them not to argue about words. These arguments don’t help anyone. In fact, they ruin everyone who listens to them.” (GNB) Our exchange of ideas should be marked with grace. We must not burn bridges but rather build them. So, these coming national and local elections should keep us united as a church.

Brethren, what unites us are greater than what divides us.

Keep Your Soul in Politics (Part 2)

2010-02-24T20:40:00.002+08:00

Based on Andrew Jackson’s “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008), we already saw that we are not to confuse the kingdom of God with any political party or human government. Also, we are not to elevate a candidate to messianic status. Instead, we are to pray for all the candidates. Not one candidate can solve all our nation’s woes. Though a leader may inspire, he needs followers to roll up their sleeves and make a government really work. It’s a herculean task to deal with our fragile economy, our ballooning budget deficit, the systemic corruption not just in the government but also in society as a whole and the alarming peace and order situation of our country. Remember that not one of us is as good as all of us. Thus, it takes all of us to change our country.

Jackson also added, “Don’t forget that your ultimate security is in the unshakeable kingdom of God. Many Christians often elevate the outcome of presidential elections to an apocalyptic status. If a particular presidential candidate does not win, we begin to think or act as if the world will end. In so doing, however, we express an unbelief in the active sovereignty of God over human affairs” (Ibid).

Daniel 2:20-21 clearly emphasize His sovereign rule over rulers: “You are all-powerful, and you know everything. You control human events—you give rulers their power and take it away”. (CEV) The Good News Bible goes like this: “He controls the times and the seasons; he makes and unmakes kings”. One presidentiable loves to quip, “Weather-weather lang yan.” (Simply put, “The political climate always changes.”) Yet, keep in mind that the Lord is the One who really controls the weather, political or otherwise. God’s timing is the right timing. We usually think that God intervenes only in the political realm when necessary. But, ultimately He is in control. He is never “hands off.” Romans 13:1 tell us, “Only God can give authority to anyone, and he puts these rulers in their places of power.” (CEV) The authority of the government is delegated authority from God. He gives it and He takes it according to His pleasure. No one can stop or delay or change His plans. Thus, ultimately He will hold people in government accountable for how they exercised their God-given authority. He is not called “Kings of kings” for nothing.

Brethren, in politics God is the Maker and the Unmaker.

Keep Your Soul in Politics (Part 1)

2010-02-11T14:29:00.000+08:00

Though we are non-partisan as a church, we encourage our people to participate in the coming national and local elections. In his “How to Engage in Politics without Losing Your Soul” (Christian Research Journal, volume 31, number 4, 2008), columnist Andrew Jackson expressed his concern that “many Christians zealously become active in partisan politics and actually ‘lose their souls’; that is, they lose their public, uniquely Christian witness, act contrary to the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and become divisive agents within the church.” This election will surely bring out the best and the worst in us believers. He then spelled out Biblical guidelines so we can “keep our souls,” that is, make sure that only the best would come out of this political exercise in us.

First, “Don’t equate the biblical kingdom of God with any human political party or nation.” Even when a pagan empire ruled, during the time of the early church, God’s kingdom was not hindered at all from advancing. When Judah was in crisis due to the death of one of its greatest kings, Uzziah, the prophet Isaiah “saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up… [his] eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” (6:1, 5) Though the earthly throne was empty, the heavenly throne was, is and will never be empty. God is sovereign and He can do whatever He pleases with our country no matter whether the next president is a believer or not.

Second, “Don’t elevate a politician to messianic status. People often falsely think a politician can single-handedly produce supernatural social results. We have one Lord, and we must resist any attempt to exalt politicians to unrealistic heights”. What we need at this time is not merely a change in government but, much more, a change of heart. Only the Gospel has the power to do just that. Transformation only comes when a person puts his faith in the Lord Jesus as his Savior.

Third, “Don’t just vote, but pray for the leaders of all political parties. Christians can be tempted to bless the politician of their choice, and curse his or her opponent, but remember, we must pray even for our enemies”. First Timothy 2:2 tells us, “Pray for kings and others in power, so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives as we worship and honor God.” (CEV) We tend to pour in too much time and effort in debating our choices and not so much in praying for it.

Brethren, let us “keep our souls” in the midst of politics.

(To be continued...)

We

2010-02-06T15:12:00.001+08:00

“Couples who say ‘we’ fare better in fights” than those who don’t, according to the September 2009 issue of the Psychology and Aging journal (Source: LiveScience.com). “The study found that using personal pronouns, such as ‘we,’ ‘our’ and ‘us,’ when talking about a conflict was associated with more positive behaviors between the pair, such as affection, less negative behavior (like anger), and lower physiological stress levels during the disagreement. On the other hand, using words that expressed ‘separateness,’ such as ‘I,’ ‘you,’ and ‘me,’ during the discussion was associated with marital dissatisfaction.” Study researcher Benjamin Seider, a graduate student in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, opined, “Our thinking is that, using the ‘we’ words in that context can maybe help realign the couple, and help them to see themselves as being on the same team as opposed to adversaries”. Couples need to see that they are fighting for each other than against one another.

I think it’s the same thing with church. This Sunday morning in both the English and the Amoy-English Worship Services of Makati Gospel Church, Rev. Harg Ang will talk about “The Art of War” in his ongoing exposition of Ephesians, particularly the armor of God passage in 6:10-20. Our Lord Jesus already won the war. It’s really over. However, the enemy is still waging a desperate guerilla battle. One of his usual attacks is sowing disunity among the brethren. Thus, we need to see ourselves “as being on the same team as opposed to adversaries.” We are to fight for each other than against one another. The context of our passage is the church as the body of Christ. Paul was not addressing individual believers but the church as a whole. So, we are not supposed to fight on our own. We are to fight together. Going back to the couples study, “the researchers also found that older couples used more ‘we’ words, a result suggesting couples who have been together longer have developed a stronger shared identity with their partners than younger couples.” Spiritually speaking, we already have a shared identity in Christ. We fight from that position of strength. The Christian life is not just a call to believe but also a call to belong. We are not just to be concerned with our personal growth but also our corporate growth as well. We are one with Christ and with each other.

Brethren, we are in this battle together.

Good Business

2010-01-30T10:21:00.000+08:00

There are some people who think that morals and money like the proverbial oil and water don’t mix. They assume that, for business to earn, ethics must take a back seat or step out altogether. Yet, still SM Cinemas imposed in 2002 its policy “not to screen movies classified by the MTRCB [Movie and Television Review and Classification Board] as R-18 … to offer wholesome and family-oriented entertainment.” (Jeffrey O. Valisno, “SM’s no-R-18 movies rule: How a mall can change an industry,” Business World,” January 29-30, 2010, http://www.bworldonline.com/) R-18 rated movies are for adults only. Cinemas that show such movies do not allow anyone below the age of 18 to watch it. SM’s policy includes trailers of R-18 movies. Business World added, “With the SM Group controlling a third of all the 647 cinema screens nationwide, the movie industry is invariably affected by its policies. More importantly, since SM contributes more than half of the total gross revenues of the entire cinema industry in the country, movie producers will most likely pay attention to the company’s rules.”

Though he disagrees with the policy, famous scriptwriter Ricky Lee admitted that it is changing the movie landscape: “I cannot do a script that I know that producers will just reject knowing that it will get an R-18 rating from the MTRCB”. Lee claims that it affects artistic freedom. “The industry should be able to do what it wants, without external pressure, especially from a corporate giant like SM. It is unfortunate that it seems that we have no choice but to follow their rules, or suffer in the box-office”. I just wonder if the freedom he is talking about is not really about expression but the freedom to make money at the expense of people’s morals.

Whether SM acted out of conscience or corporate social responsibility or just plain business strategy, we ought to laud its R-18 move. Proverbs 14:34 says, “Righteousness exalts a nation” (ESV). We Christ-followers are often accused of imposing our morality on others. But those who cry out against us are also in effect imposing their morals or the lack of it on us. The problem is that those people demand such freedom but only limit it to their expression and seek to exclude us from questioning them. Also, that freedom is not absolute. One cannot just shout “Fire!” in a crowded movie house. It has to be responsible freedom.

Brethren, pray for more good business.

Hope for Haiti

2010-01-22T09:53:00.000+08:00

Last week, January 12, a 7.0-magnitude quake rocked Port-au-Prince, flattening almost the entire capital of Haiti and left 2 million people homeless and up to 200,000 dead. According to one U.N. official, “No matter what the final numbers end up being we already know that it will be heartbreakingly high.” (Source: The Washington Post)

But allow me to share an encouraging update that the Global Proclamation Academy got from one of its 2009 graduates: “Pastor Vijonet Demerothe says there is no hope, except spiritually. A lot of pastors, educators, university professors, professionals, and business men died during the earthquake. Some of the most important institutions (Churches, schools, government offices, and universities) are completely destroyed. They need to build hope in Haiti and right now there is no hope—but it’s a concept that needs to be created and we need to build an environment for hope with churches and universities…

There are at least 40 people living in [Pastor Vijonet’s] yard and he providing food for all them, emotional support, services at the church... people are depending on him. Good news: more people accepting Christ, organizing worship services every morning and night - people show passion for Christ now - spirit of solidarity - living together in the street and sharing things; the church is growing in numbers - quality and quantity ... all they are doing is worshiping and praying! ... They are praying and staying positive ... trusting God to provide food for him and his children, and of course all others… [Pastor Vijonet] asked us to pray for his family and his church... that they would be comfortable and strong morally, spiritually, mentally, emotionally etc. Pray also that he would have more and more confidence to help people and the strength to do so. Finally he ended with this: ‘If anyone is sad about Haiti - tell them God is in control and he observes and feels that now there is a spiritual movement...people are crying, worshiping, and praising God! There is hope, spiritually!’ That is good news.”

That’s the church at work! Though they are in need themselves, they reached out to others in need also. Instead of wanting to be served, they serve. In the midst of an apparent hopeless situation, the church serves as a beacon of hope. Through their words and works, they are proclaiming that Christ is the only hope of their nation.

Brethren, let us pray for Haiti.

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2010-01-19T15:41:00.001+08:00