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Standing up against the Chinese Dragon

Fri, 18 May 2012 18:59:58 +0100

Though fires and brimstones hurl,
From that curly nose and long snout,
From that scaly enormous mass,
that quakes the earth when it moves,
and frightens earthlings into their caves,
Yet I lift my hands up to the heavens,
From the clouds I took my shield and sword,
Standing my ground,
I lift my face--westward ho!
Grim and darkness blew as fire from your mouth threw,
In an instant, in a heavenly swirl,
My hands drew the sword into that scaly mass,
And with my eagle's wings,
I flewUp into your towering neck,
I swirled into the thin air,
Breathed deep and in one sweep,
Cut off that stinky neck,
Lo, the dragon is no more!

It has come to my notice that we Christians have been adamant to demand Heaven's justice on our case concerning the Spratlys as well as the Panatag Shoal. Is God's hand so short that He cannot touch the governments of both sides? Is God involved in human controversies? Of course not, but we do need to ask Him to intervene.

As David wrote, "the highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth He has given to man" (Psalm 115:16), God won't even intervene unless we call to Him because the affairs of this life, He has entrusted to man. We do need to call on God to intervene and then He will answer us.

Do you have connections with other christian leaders? I hope they would form or do prayer rallies concerning the Spratlys and the Panatag shoal. It is for our good that these Chinese will leave the Panatag shoal. We all need the resources we can get from these areas. I hope I am not dictating but let us all pray because we cannot completely depend on man's help now, we have a weak military but we can depend on God's supernatural help. It has been on my heart that we should raise up a critical mass of prayers to God's throne.

Most often we have many personal prayers, endless lists of petitions and protections for members of our groups or families most of the time. I think we need to add more muscle to our prayer. I hope we can do better than that. I hope we all remember that prophecy of Cindy Jacobs that God is opening up resources for the Philippines so that we can send more missionaries abroad and for bringing up equitable growth and progress for the people.

God has in fact answered that by opening up the Malampaya gas, which under the reign of GMA and Gov. Reyes in Palawan, most of the money were not reinvested in the service of the people. This was the reason Gerry Ortega criticized Gov. Joel Reyes which resulted to the demise of "Doc. Gerry". Big money was involved and Palawan was supposed to be given its part. Now we are under a new administrator and loudly, visibly we can see the changes he is doing to make a better Philippines.

Even the devil has seen this because of that, he wants to preemt the plans of God for this new administration as well as the Philippines which is really called to send missionaries abroad. We cannot sustain even send the potential numbers of missionaries that we can send abroad without a progressive base in the Philippines. The OFW money is mostly enough to cover the survival, schooling and building of homes of those who are from abroad.

I hope that we will take action about this, that we write letters to our Christian leaders or urge them that prayers be persistently offered in behalf of the nation so that we will not lose part of our inheritance as a nation which God has blessed us. Panatag shoal and the Spratlys really belong to us. We cannot stand to lose this just because of a Chinese bully. It's time to offer more prayers for our leaders and for our country, let us not give up on prayer.

I hope many of you will use your influence to urge others up on this matter. I would be glad to have likeminded people. We need God more than the US military or even by our might. We need to pray for our country. God bless!

Sincerely,

Bro. Edison

True riches that lasts part 17

Wed, 16 May 2012 04:27:44 +0100

Man’s heart is tied to his labor. Labor gives meaning to his life. In fact, those who labor have sweet sleep, though they feel tired, they knew that they will harvest the fruit of their labor. Therefore, there is genuine dignity in those who labor. However, not all laborers reap the fruit of their harvests equally. Let us take the case of the landless laborers, for instance the farmers and fishers.

Without real property ownership, farmers and fishers who are mostly in the bottom rung of the society will have hardly made any progress in their economic status. Their upward economic mobility is hindered by the landlords they fed through the fields where they work. This is the main reason why the farmers in our country who don’t own their lands are twice robbed of their destiny.

First they become slaves to their landlords, thereby curtailing their freedom to move away from their locality and seek other jobs so that they could pay their debts or find other means of subsistence. Second, because of debts, their children, unable to attend schools become bonded laborers like them.

This lack of education or training among their children will easily translate to poverty in the long run. With no education credentials, their children cannot easily compete in the market that is available to them because these markets are specialized and they need trained skills. What do untrained children give you as asset in the market? Nothing. Therefore they have to go back and keep on working in their fields and fisheries.

Unless these marry to a rich widow, they are easily stucked forever in the mud of poverty. The Bible advocates the early training of children and even adults so that they will remain fruitful and productive in their lives and ultimately in their society. Training or education cannot be emphasized enough and it is essential to make progress and contribute something valuable in this world.

This is also why the Jews remains to be the most productive group of people in the world per capita as to world contribution in every field of education because they endeavor to live what the Bible tells us- training our children in the way they should go. Below King Solomon tells us to discipline and train our children so that they will know the way of life and do not depart from it.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

Hold on to instruction, do not let it go; guard it well, for it is your life. Proverbs 4:13

For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, Proverbs 6:23

Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. Proverbs 9:9

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.Proverbs 10:17

Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.Proverbs 12:1

He who ignores discipline comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.Proverbs 13:18

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. Proverbs 22:6

Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.Proverbs 29:17

In our country, education is very important and we put a premium price tag on education. Because this is the case, companies don’t employ unschooled or untrained people except in rare circumstances. However there are companies that do employ students who had finished basic education such as high school graduates and working college students such as the fast-food chain industry, and the BPO sector or in some instances even local government units that don't require high academic credentials.

Undebiably, education is a big factor for determining the quality of our job and our future position in a company or field of endeavor. Success in education can often be equated to success in gaining a better position in our field. It is a traditional metric and a credential used because there is no other way to measure and compare who can be more qualified for a job when there are thousands of applicants. With plenty of labor supply and few jobs available for most graduates of traditional courses, education credentials can easily filter out other job applicants. The others would have to seek employment outside the country or train for other jobs.

In addition, education provides an upward economic mobility because it is rewarded handsomely by the markets. In fact, attending graduate trainings, seminars and conferences are just few examples of how we can update our educational profile so that our knowledge can be broadened. An updated knowledge gives us edge to becoming more productive at what we do, and positions us to best help others who don’t do as well. It also brings specialization in our fields which allows growth to be realized in our company or department.

Compare this to farming or fishing. Farmers’ knowledge of the soil, crops and climate are not updated as often as they want except at the mercy of the municipal agricultural officers. When you get a lazy officer the farmers and fishers don’t get the benefit of training as they need. Therefore, if farmers simply depend on the dole outs of the government, which is often the case, they can’t make much progress. One way to solve this rut is to specialize and diversify. We need to reinvent ourselves when our old methods don’t work.

Adding new skills, upgrading our methods does not only happen via the formal educational sectors but could also happen through imitation of those who are successful at what they are doing. For instance farmers and fishers families can diversify into creating valuable products such as strawberry jams, kimchee’s in cans, sapinit jams, cold/warm coffees wrapped in styrofoams, rice wines etc; fisher’s families can create valuable products such as fish pastes, shrimp pastes and fresh vacuum packed fish and shrimps exported to other municipalities or markets.

While individual persons or families may lack financial capital to do these, they can incorporate themselves as groups of families and get financial investments from rich sponsors or local banks and politicians. The result is better shared profits and additional income aside from traditional farming or fishing.

The story of the coco fiber rope industry in Bicol is one good reason to think about that there are many hidden entreprenuers in us all, whether we are farmers, fishers or plain teachers. Entrepreneurship is a way to create wealth. When the then dean of Bicol University’s College of Agriculture, Dr. Justino Arboleda, turned his face away from the academe towards his community to help solve their economic woes, he found that there are more naysayers than supporters of his vision. Even banks turned him down.

Unfazed by these setbacks, he took his family’s savings, borrowed what he could from his siblings, and with the P250,000 that he was able to pool, plus the 5-by-10-meter piece of land his in-laws lent him, he started his tiny coco husk processing factory. Today, what started before as a small factory stands as a village factory manned by around 2,000 households in Bicol. They have found markets for their products in Europe, Japan, and Canada. And what's more, they are giving livelihood to their fellow Bicolanos!

The development of micro-industries and cooperatives that develop and market their community products not only contributes to poverty reduction but also gives purpose to the people who are helped by it. Poverty can be broken, and apart from education, entrepreneurship is also the other key.

Thus the cycle of poverty can be broken by diligently applying all methods available at our disposal. While basic education has a time frame of about 12 years, forming and nurturing independent businesses that could help our communities such as what Mr. Bayle, Mr. Omengan, and Ms. Agtina is doing essentially works for prospering our community. It is also true that the lack of information or the inadequacy of training can derail or hamper our fight against poverty. In general, it is a fact that poverty incidence in our country is as high as 25% of the whole population. And most of these are farmers and fisherfolks.

What can we do to alleviate their sufferings? The conditional cash transfer program is a socialist agenda, a mere band-aid to a problem. The real solution is to provide lands for the landless farmers, those truly without properties, help them irrigate their lands and provide concrete farm-to-market roads (not merely dirt roads that melt with rain). If the government commits itself to buying excess lands from those who have too many (as determined by law) then fast tract its distribution to those who are truly deserving (as determined by law), real farmers who knows how to farm, should be given lands to cultivate their own gardens.

This is the first step to a long term program of helping the poor of this country because there is no instant miracle in this case; but we have to understand that sowing, planting and reaping will have good results in the long run to the beneficiaries. I have not even mentioned the need to secure irrigation, farm to market roads and access to local banks that facilitate their abilities to cultivate their lands. Once these are placed, we should continue to watch out their developments, create communities in these farming zones that include accessible schools to train their young, upgrade their skills and their capacity.

In a recent review paper that we published in the Journal of Nature Studies (Macusi et al. 2011--Journal of Nature Studies 9(2)/10(1): 13-28) concerning this phenomenon of cyclic poverty that occurs among many fisher families, we found out that fisher families are motivated by two major factors, the need to feed their families and the need for disposable income for other expenses. Fishers exert great pressure to fish the seas in order to compensate for their needs.

They go into debts when the number of fish they caught is not enough to feed their families and the profit they get from selling it is not enough. The solution to this problem is adding a positive shock or a big push for these fishers so that they either earn more income or change jobs. Since we are concerned about the declining number of catch as well as the length of the fish caught, educating the fishermen, upgrading their skills and equipping them to do family business seems to be the most plausible solution.

True riches that lasts part 16

Thu, 10 May 2012 01:53:32 +0100

Knowing about our past helps illuminate our way into the future. Churchill once said that "your grasp of the future could only be determined by your grasp of the past." Indeed those who forget history are apt to repeat its mistake, just as the world shudders about Germany forgetting its past; we need to be more vigilant and better informed about how we can effect better changes into our communities so that we can lead it into the right path. By actually forgetting the lessons of history, our country nearly missed its destiny by electing and choosing people who lacks character and good judgment to carry a great office towards a better country.

Like you, I have asked this question many times, given our enourmous potential as a people and as an endowed country with rich mineral resources, why do we still fail to make our country a progressive one? We have been left behind by almost everyone else in our neighboring countries, economically speaking. In short, we have been stuck and our capitalism which was imported from the US seems to have failed in giving us the miracle growth that we were looking for. While our neigboring countries have started from dictatorship and liberalized progressively towards a market economy, we who were freed have been stucked in the mud for a long time. What could be the missing piece of puzzle that we need to add or modify so that our country could take off from its bondage? How can we lay a strong foundation that would overcome sluggish economic growth?

I believe weak leadership in the country and high occurrence of moral lapses among those who rule is the number one enemy that hinders us from realizing our potential as a country. Integrity is an asset whether one professes to be a Christian nation, a Buddhist country or in dictatorship. Free enterprise or capitalism works superbly where law and order is enforced but confusion, chaos and anarchy rules where there is no law. When there is much subjectivity in the enforcement of law instead of a resolve to implement it, people are apt to do their own thing. This is lawlessness and history has proven that lawlessness brings chaos and destroys the economic incentive of the people. During the times of the Judges in the Bible, when the generation of Joshua and everyone who conquered the Promised Land with him passed away, a new generation arose that does not know the God of their fathers and their Law, they failed miserably and were made slaves to their neighboring countries.

Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so. Judges 2:17 (NKJV)

The story of the Judges tell us that everytime the nation lacks a judge or a leader, they walk into debauchery and corruption, they forget their Law. Then a judge or leader is raised up, sent to deliver them just in time to keep them from being destoryed by their masters and then when that leader dies and there is no successor, the cycle repeats itself again. The last verse in the last chapter of the book gives us insight into why this cycle happened and destroyed their nation.

In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 21:25 (NKJV)

Rule of law provides justice and civil rights

The Bible clearly provides us guidelines that the lack of a righteous leader where the law is in his heart will result to living in cycles of poverty and corruption. Joshua, as a leader of the generation that conquered the Promised Land was only successful in fulfilling his commission to the degree that he meditated the Word of God, the Law of the people (see Joshua 1:8). When this mandate of God was forsaken, the people suffered tremendous spiralling darkness not only spiritually but also in their civil and economic life. The heavens were indeed brass and the people lived in continual emptiness and bondage. Their environment was the same, they had the same houses and fields that they inherited from their fathers but they suffered poverty and lawlessness or doing things according to what is right in one's own eyes.

Do you think this stopped from happening? Again, history will tell us that when the Roman Empire collapsed, cities and towns went to forming their own economies and giving their trust to leaders whom they see as strong and capable of protecting them from barbarians. Feudalism evolved around the concept that each town or city will be protected by a lord or nobleman who then is helped by his vassals who rent lands (fief) from him. This give and take relationship continued until the formation of bigger kingdoms made of vassals, lords and kings who are then regulated by rules.

A good example of this set of rules is the Magna Carta which was forced to King John of England by his subjects so that abuses by tyrant kings will be curbed or avoided. One of the famous lines is "no freeman could be punished except through the law of the land," a right which is still enforced today. The signing of Magna Carta is very important because it is a set of civil rights that led to the foundation of the constitutional law that all nations use today. Kings and politicians can no longer rule arbitrarily or "according to what they know is right" but by a written set of codes which is the constitution of the land. Consequently, the rule of law will give basic justice to everyone and levels the playing field for every subject or citizen in a country or kingdom.

This clearly gave birth to the foundation of democratic societies in the free world today. The rule of law is therefore fundamental or basic to every human rights and the enforcement of law provides justice for everyone. When a law is neglected, changed or suspended everytime another ruler is elected, this only results to chaos which we often see happening in many African countries that wanted to make the law their servant, instead of the law being enforced and used for the good of their society.

We also saw this happen in the Philippines when Mr. Marcos used the law in his favor to provide a legal basis for his absolute rule. Because most of the people were asleep and had the attitude of non-chalance or disinterested in their public engagement, Mr. Marcos easily swooped down and smashed silence all his enemies. It was not until the people were again willing to die for their freedom and rights did we regain our independence from a tyrant that abused his office and left the country in ruins and bankruptcy.

Freedom and civil rights must be secured

Just as the English noble barons were willing to fight and die for their freedom and civil rights so that they banded together and forced King John of England to sign their Magna Carta, it is clear that our freedom and civil rights cannot be regained without fighting for it from the hands of a tyrant. Our pursuit of liberty, happiness and prosperity is only premised or founded on our freedom as a people and when a tyrant rules without regard for the fundamental civil rights of the people, it is worth dying to regain it.

This is what Benigno Aquino Jr. did by giving his life on the altar of freedom and Mrs. Corazon Aquino reaped its fruit when she was elected the first woman president of the country who embodied great faith and re-established democracy and freedom in the country. However, because a culture of corruption (doing what you think is right regardless of the law of the land) prevailed for two decades in every government structure and there is a handful of true public servants, re-training and teaching again our people about the necessity of the rule of law in a democratic country will take time.

Though we are not there yet, our freedom had been secured by the blood of many young students, activists and noblemen who gave their lives so that our freedom will be re-instated. Today, as secure as we are, we must continue to be alert of those who try to rule this country and take advantage of the poor masses and divert our attention away from their misrule and misbehaviors. The fight is not over yet but we have laid a foundation of freedom which is the basis of greatness in a society that would enable its people to pursue their own potentials.

Therefore it is just right to apprehend those who misbehave and try them by the rule of law whether they are in the present administration or ruled previously. This is what justice means. This is what giving accountability before the law and the people means. The result of the consistent application of this in every town or city in the country is peace and stability. We don't need another constitution. For nowhere is the adage more true than with us, put good people in a bad government and they will turn that government good; put the best form of government and let bad people rule and the result will still be bad. Solomon rightly observed that "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan" (Proverbs 29:2 NKJV).

Clear vision is a requirement

Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but blessed is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18

When the people do not see the direction on which their country is headed, they will be confused and stumble. This was the case during the tumultuous times of the Martial Law years as well as during the struggle the Estrada administration which was accused of Jueteng scandal as well as that of the Gloria Arroyo term where people voiced concerns on political repressions, election scandals, fertilizer scams and massive corruption charges. The people felt offended because of the revolting thought that their leaders who were supposed to be examples of integrity and good moral conduct are all partakers of the same evil that they were supposed to get rid of.

It is in the consciousness of the Filipino people that they want clean and honest leaders who are able to lead their country with moral integrity, not suck off the life of it, economically or spiritually. This is the reason why they chose an inexperienced plain housewife to become the first woman president in the Philippines, because she is deemed incorruptible. And this is the same reason why the Filipinos voted for Mr. Benigno Aquino III because they deemed him clean and honest compared to other candidates. An honest and morally upright government has no enemy, except the corrupt status quo who must need to shed their old skins or step down.

This is best illustrated in the current trial of Renato Corona, who values his position, title and riches more than truly serving the interest of the Filipino people. If he has nothing to lose, why didn’t he resign earlier? He only clings to power because he needs to pay his hidden debts to others, especially those who put him to position in the first instance. This culture of impunity which is prevalent among those who see positions as possessions to amass wealth, power and title cannot be tolerated in honest and clean government which is why many of those who want to maintain the status quo are fearful of the outcome of the reformation that Mr. Benigno Aquino III has begun doing.

It is inevitable that if we want progress, we must not only dream to be rich ourselves, but to dream and reach it by setting a deadline towards that goal. We can no longer afford to stay laggard which is what many Filipinos are saying by going abroad and laboring in other countries so that by their individualistic labors, they can benefit their children and children’s children. This could afford them health insurance that is secure from bankruptcy, solid concrete houses instead of flimsy nipa houses, education that could get their children jobs here or abroad and disposable incomes that could be used for business or travels.

Poverty is a bondage and we can no longer tolerate it. Liberty is fundamental to our economic progress. We must free ourselves from the tyranny of elitism, or being a nation of few landed gentries who enjoys the sun while the few scavenges for scraps. Therefore we need to understand what to do so that we can also be set free and be on the path to prosperity.

Today if we take a tour on the countryside and compare it to how this is occurring in China or in Brazil, we find that our progress is not nearly as widespread as those two countries. China which was a more backward nation than us during the American colonial period and even after World War II could be said to have stride passed us. Even Brazil which emerged in recent years with diverse industries is propelling growth in South America. What is in them that is not in us?

One thing that these countries found is that man is not as nearly motivated as when they own their properties. Property or land ownership is essential because land to man is his sustenance. In the Scriptures we see that the Lord prepared a land, a garden for Adam and Eve to cultivate even before creating them. It is written that, “the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being. Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed” (Genesis 2:7-8). We can conclude that from the very beginning, man which is made of dust, is intimately linked to it through cultivating the ground. God placed man in the garden as a steward and master of it.

The Lord gave Adam a domain or territory to rule from. In short, Adam’s rule was to cultivate his land, this way he extends God’s government into his territory as he governs his land with wisdom. Whenever man lacks the incentive to plow his own garden because of fear, communal living, or simply living to survive, progress is not visible. But when these erected barriers are removed and there is free flow of information among the people, knowledge liberates them to follow what is a better course of action for themselves and for their children.

In short, when people become property owners in an agrarian society and their ownership is protected by the law, this allows them to profit directly from their labors. A landlord-tenant system destroys the initiative of the laborer, hampers his progress because profit is divided between the owner and the tenant. There is little income left for the farmer, except for food and clothing which is not enough for education, travels or buying their own property or homes.

True riches that lasts part 15

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:45:08 +0100

God’s Kingdom is going to be built before He comes again. The task of every Christians will become clearer as the days pass by, isn’t this our calling? You are called to be a change agent, an ambassador of change who will bring important transformations needed in every facet of your community life. Nowhere is this more emphatic than what was spoken of in the original commission:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26

We are called to take dominion over all the earth. A correct interpretation of this can lead to right answers but the wrong interpretation can justify the wrong answers. Dominion is not imposition of our will and culture on other people but it is taking the Gospel around the world and preaching it to every culture, tribe, nation and tongues. Dominion is basically teaching people to do what is right, it is colonizing them minus the use of arms and imposition of trade barriers and protectionist agenda. Dominion according to Christ is teaching the nations, His truth and His Kingdom, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. Dominion means territory, sphere, field, possession, fortress, or bailiwick.

The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1-2

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

The Spanish and English conquest of the seas and continents tell us that nations can indeed subdue the natural world in which they live and this was match by the aggressive discoveries that followed afterwards. Spain and England provides us a poignant picture of how these two nations from the same continent that became colonial masters with differing monarchial foundations left a legacy of differing impacts to the modern world. Although it can be argued that Britain mostly created the modern world because of the sheer number of its colonies, the impact of both nations are seen today in their former colonies.

The Spanish monarch was clearly motivated of planting the cross, finding the gold and gaining glory for itself. But while it conquered territories and taxed its subjects, the Spanish monarchs ruled through viceroys and Governor Generals and with little aim or ambition for their gained territories to develop its industries or agriculture. Most of the Spanish conquistadors or conquerors were great at discovering lands and vanquishing their native foes from Miguel Lopez de Legazpi, Francisco Pizzaro, Hernan Cortes, Vasco Nunez de Balboa and many others. The strength of the colonial work of Spain was mainly its missions of converting the pagan natives of conquered territories to the Roman Catholic faith. The Spanish historian, Antonio De Morga, in his famous book, History of the Philippine Islands wrote,

"The greatness of the monarchy of the Spanish kings is due to the zeal and care with which they have defended, within their own hereditary kingdoms, the holy Catholic faith taught by the Roman church, against all enemies who oppose it, or seek by various errors to obscure its truth which the kings have disseminated throughout the world. Thus, by the mercy of God, they preserve their kingdoms and subjects in the purity of the Christian religion, meriting thereby their glorious title and renown of "Defenders of the Faith." Moreover, by the valor of their indomitable hearts, and at the expense of their revenues and possessions, they have ploughed the seas with Spanish fleets and men, and discovered and conquered vast kingdoms in the most remote and unknown parts of the world. They have led the inhabitants of these to a knowledge of the true God, and into the fold of the Christian church, in which those peoples now live, governed in civil and political matters with peace and justice, under the shelter and protection of the royal arm and power, which were wanting to them when weighed down by blind tyrannies and barbarous cruelties, on which the enemy of the human race had so long reared them for himself."

But because most of these conquistadores and later rulers in the conquered territories did not bring their women and families when travelling to the New World, many of them opted to marry with the natives. This produced a legacy of not only a savvy Spanish speaking population and similar form of belief but also transmitted Spanish blood in the Americas and elsewhere in its Empire. In contrast, the English were not only willing to discover lands but also to cultivate and people it by bringing their women and families with them. Intermarriage with the natives was not a common practice among the English masters, they segregated themselves and treated the natives or the slaves as second class citizens.

The effects of these are twofold, the English were not only more effective in bringing their culture into their conquered territories, including their industries back at home but also laid the foundation for the future American civil war. Because Spain controlled its migration policy towards its colonies, the impact of this to the social structure in its colonies is to produce a ruling elite, mostly those of Spanish blood or those favored by the Governor and a massive base of peasants. A middleclass structure was virtually non-existent in most of the Spanish colonies.

In addition, the method of governance that Spain followed in its colonies is tribute system which contributed to the gross inefficiency of the government and a pre-occupation mainly on discovering and mining gold or silver by using the native population to exploit these resources. Even when agriculture was developed, most of the Spanish authorities contented themselves of using native labor to cultivate the land of the rich or the elite while the natives scrambled to fend for themselves. The peasants were rarely allowed to participate in any type of governance, except in the lowest levels such as in being Cabeza de Barangays. Even many priests loathe teaching the natives the European education system, the concepts of Protestantism and Enlightenment for fear that they would be enlightened and become dissidents. As Rizal pointed out in his novel El Filibusterismo, the education that the priests taught in the islands lack the salvo of truth and mostly superstition to deceive the natives from seeing the truth that could set them free.

Furthermore, they did not develop trades or commerce as the English or the Dutch were in their colonies. This usually happens when there is no systematic way of land distribution or property ownership in the colony. Spain has really no experience in distributing land in her territories and giving it to the natives to farm or to own in a systematic manner. Land distribution was almost nonexistent except those given to those who have served Spain in exemplary manner or the elite among the natives.

This is understandable given that at the time, Spain was not really an incubator of knowledge or literature which the English were in combination with their discovery of other territories overseas. Spain was more pre-occupied of the conquest of territories for plundering the fabled gold and silver in the New World rather than in administering or building a community. Moreover the Mother country contented itself to fetching gold and doing the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. With Spain unable to translate its amassed wealth into generating a more advanced society through science and technology as well as better governance by preparing its colonies for the day of their freedom, it naturally had to go down.

While Spain declined, England thrived and brought their culture with them in conquered territories from North America to as far down south as Australia, New Zealand and even conquered territories in India and Africa. The English were more interested in trades as well as establishing outposts in their colonies that would be further increasing their trades. Although gold and silver were in their minds, the British tended naturally to cultivate the soil that they have and to provide properties for their people.

By transplanting a whole batch of English people and tilling the soil in conquered territories, England laid the foundation of economic progress for these nations. Agriculture became the backbone of progress in these colonies. This could be a natural reaction given that the English men brought with them their own families in their conquered territories. To make up for the lack of labor, they engaged in slave trades so that they could manage their plantations. Far from being like the Spanish colonies, the English had naturally a mixture of elite, a middleclass base and slaves in their territories.

This kind of community allowed the flourishing and development of cultural institutions that later favored America to rise up and follow the path of colonialism to a small degree. However it can also be said that the English failed to replicate their successes in other colonies such as India, Malaysia, Burma, Egypt Sudan, Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania.

The main reason for this seeming failure is rooted in the fact that the percentage of English population among these people was very low. Despite being better armed with superior military force, knowledge and science and technology, England could only leave a legacy in countries that fully embraced her ideals most notably in those territories populated by the English themselves.

In short, the governance of peoples is not an easy task because people found in different areas of the world have different cultures and peculiarities. We cannot therefore blame Spain for the reason of anemic economic growth in her former colonies today because she only gave the best she had at the time. While it is laudable that the former English colonies were much better off today than Spain’s former colonies it is only by grace that this happened because they brought their population and culture with them.

In other words, the English were generally more successful where they have transplanted a whole batch of English people where territories allowed this such as in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the former thirteen colonies that became the US. Their secret, they honored the codes of law in their places. However, in areas where England only ruled as a teacher just like Spain did, its success or failure seemed more variable. We can see this in India, Malaysia, Kenya, Tanzania and Hong Kong. The spiritual lessons we can derive from these colonization efforts by former world powers are clear:

To the degree that we embrace a culture, knowledge or understanding, to that degree we can become conformed. And to the degree that we imbibe enthusiastically the same principles that made our teachers successful, to that degree we can become as successful as our teachers. Both Spain and England were used by God to teach us lessons in history; both nations fulfilled what God required of them.

Our part now is to do the same, no longer do we conquer lands in the natural except maybe who will get first to the moon, to the planets or to the stars above us but we have a lot to do in our own communities and nations. We need to continue to discover medicines that cure diseases, invent machines that help people succeed or make their lives more convenient, create wealth through various enterprises or rule with prudence.

True riches that lasts part 14

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:03:01 +0100

Since the birth of the first century church, there was no event as powerful as the Reformation which the German monk Martin Luther stood for and led. His simple theses that faith alone saves and not through works had been almost taken for granted today. Like the great Apostle Paul, everywhere, his books became best sellers that people were hungry to chew on and print without asking for any copyright permission or whether they were pirating it or not. Because of this, Luther even chided his printers that they were sordid mercenaries who cared more for their profits than for the people.

But when the people were hungry to know God, to find the truth they were looking for, these did not care how that book got printed as much as they got to have it and read it anyway. At stake were their salvation and their future destiny rests in those books so that they persevered to enter the kingdom. Luther became their shepherd and spiritual father to feed them and nourish them with the word of God rather than shear them and beat them. Luther championed their causes and everywhere in Europe, people were asking for his books, hungry to know God and the more his enemies tried to stump them out, the more his books were printed.

It is estimated that some of Luther’s books had gone up to 370th editions and were printed to 300,000 copies by 1520 so that by 1545 Luther alone was responsible for more than half of the total pro-Reformation publications. The effect of Reformation among the people was not just freedom from the imposition of Roman religion but also the rise of self-determination among many German princes. They essentially overthrew the yoke of the Pope by choosing to become a Protestant.

As we have mentioned earlier, the Reformation was followed by political freedom as the different princes and kings chose to remove the yoke of the Pope. By choosing to become Protestant, their kingdoms were essentially safe from the political clout of Rome. The impact of this would be the doctrine of the separation between church and state. As the various independent and protestant states grew more in number and power, this would later give rise to modern democracy and later that of capitalism. Much therefore of the changes that followed was a consequence of the Reformation and we enjoy today the fruits of the Reformation such as religious freedom.

It set men free to follow their beliefs personally and propelled individuals to attain self-development never before imagined or seen. For instance the literacy rate of Europe after the Reformation was much higher than any time before it. More schools, churches, orphanages and hospitals were built as a result of this great foundational shift that occurred through this humble monk’s works. It also established communities that became precursors to the market economy that drives all economic activities today.

By now, it may well be clear to you that faith is much more superior to any intellectual pursuits because one revelation from the Word of God could spark or lit a fire that does not die. Indeed, when common ordinary men armed with the Word of God stand unflinchingly before any persecution or adversary, their testimony reverberates and unravels all the darkness intended by the evil one. Like Luther, our task today is to shine God’s light into every sphere of the society that we are walking in. The Reformation did not end at the death of the last reformers, the seed of the Reformation needs to be sown again and cultivated in every sphere or kingdom of this world. The kingdoms that men built earlier were territorial and geographical in nature, but today, in almost every society, the pillars of progress have in itself become territories that need to be molded or reformed in the image of Christ. What are these territories? These are the places that everyone frequents today such as the family, church, business, government, education, arts and entertainment and media.

These are the sectors that the church currently fails to reach through their gospel of salvation. While it is imperative that we all need to preach the gospel of salvation so that individuals could be saved, Jesus called us to preach the gospel of the Kingdom by proclaiming Him as King in all these spheres. He again commands each one of us to make Him the head in all these spheres of influence in the society. And when He is lifted up in all these spheres, He will draw all men to Himself.

Nations must be reached out and discipled, and every Christian has a role to play in changing their nations and communities. The only solution to the prophesied apostasy is for Christians to let their light so shine before men. The Lord Jesus preached the gospel to the poor, which means to say that for every needy person or sphere of the society that needed His touch, He went to them and healed them. Jesus did not neglect any person or sphere of the society. We must all change the way we think of ministry and begin to consider that where we are currently stationed is our occupation, our territory to bring the touch of Christ into that territory.

After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:14-15

Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else — to the nearby villages — so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” Mark 1:38

The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 1 John 3:8

Let us never forget our calling to preach the Good News into all the world. The Word of God never once failed to warm cold hearts or to strengthen feeble knees.

True riches that lasts part 13

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:02:27 +0100

Just as true peace in the heart of man is the foundation of his education and progress, true peace in civil society is the foundation of lasting development. This is the main reason why where civil society has established peace (free from internal struggles and rebellion), there is flow of development and progress regardless of religion. Peace is the foundation of any civilization from the great eastern civilizations of Chinese, Indian and Japanese to the Egyptian and Western civilizations. What makes Western civilization different from all the other civilizations is the scale of breakthroughs, and progress made.

Interestingly, the foundation of Western civilization is in its Christian religion, particularly its protestant belief of faith in the individual to pursue his potential destiny. Western Europe which largely includes Austria, Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, and The Netherlands are all reckoned with to have been imperial powers because they were able to conquer and exert military and political influence on other less developed nations. The foundation of their great civilization is not found in their military, political or science and technology but in their Christianity.

Long before the advent of science and technology, from 500 to 1500 AD, for about 1000 years, Europe languished in darkness because the Roman religion imposed its legalistic and idolatrous practices on the people, selling the forgiveness of sins as indulgences to be paid to the church. The effect of this is not only fear among the people but also the lack of motivation for the people to become responsible citizens, free to work out their destiny on earth, free to establish trades, businesses. Religious deception and bondage released the Dark Ages which covered the minds of the people so that progress or development in the civil society was much backward than even during the heyday of the Roman Empire.

Using fear and hell as tactics to grab the attention of the poor masses, priests were sent to every parts of the Holy Roman Empire (900-1800 AD) to exact taxations and contributions among the poor and illiterate people. Consequently, the poor who have nothing are left to fend for their own survival, with many people succumbing to death due to malnutrition and disease. Money was poured all over the big cities of the Empire, mostly for building stately cathedrals whose towers reaches to heaven and whose breath could house a football field today. The building of cathedral was more important than actually building people to know the truth so that they could be set free and live their faith in the market place.

It would take about 1000 years from the onset of 500 AD to 1500AD until Martin Luther would nail his 95 theses on the door of the church of Wittenberg that people would be set free from religious deceptions invented for maxing out money from people. In his theses, Martin Luther clearly enunciated what the people need to know, man is called to live by faith and forgiveness of sins cannot be bought with money but could only come from being forgiven by the Lord directly through the cross of Jesus. The following are some examples taken from his 95 theses that changed the whole world afterwards:

“The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission.” (# 6)

“They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory].” (# 27)

“It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone.” (# 28)

“Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon.” (# 36)

“Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon.”

(# 37)

“Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons.” (# 43)

“Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons.” (# 46)

“Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment.” (# 47)

“Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep. (# 50)

Martin Luther objected to what Johann Tetzel was teaching that “as soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out of purgatory.” He insisted that God alone forgives those who come to Him and salvation is by faith assured to everyone who repents, openly confesses Christ through good works which he called works of love because “love grows by works of love, and man becomes better.” Martin Luther who defied the Pope’s pronouncements of the priority of selling indulgences to fund the building of lavish palaces and cathedrals (St. Peter’s Basilica) in Rome was like David who stood against a giant at the time. The Pope and his priests were even deemed more powerful than kings during the Middle Ages so that at the word of the Pope, the Emperor convened a meeting that would bring judgment on Martin Luther’s defiance.

On 18 April 1521, Luther appeared before the Diet of Worms presided by the Emperor Charles V and with the Prince Frederick III, Elector of Saxony, giving a safe conduct pass for Luther to and from the meeting. There, questioned by Johann Eck who was speaking on behalf of the Empire as assistant of the Archbishop of Trier, asked Luther whether he was the author of the books presented at the table as heretical and the latter acknowledged them. On the next day, after gaining more courage, Luther is said to have spoken:

“Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen.”

The first outcome of this Protestant Reformation is mainly the emancipation of the spirit of man to put his faith in the Creator rather than in a pretentious representative of God. This would then lead to several more freedoms such as the Enlightenment which is the emancipation of the soul of man so that he could read and write and become more literate. Next is the emancipation of nations or national self-determination which led to the remapping of the whole of Europe because nations came out of the Holy Roman Empire. Fourth would be the emancipation of the whole world from its bondage in the dark. Below I have summed up in a table the outcome of the Reformation.

Outcome	Individual	Religious institution	World
Freedom of the spirit	Personal faith	Division and renewal Christianity	Abolition of empires
Freedom of the soul	Renewal of the mind	Discovery of Pauline epistles/doctrines	Enlightenment/literacy/discovery
Freedom of the body	Pursuit of economic means to support self	Healing/medicine became important again	Birth of new nations

True riches that lasts part 12

Mon, 09 Apr 2012 23:37:16 +0100

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:10-11

There is a prevailing notion that whenever a disaster swagger its ugly head, God must be blamed for it. But clearly, Jesus came to give life and He continues to lay down His life, to shelter, protect and nurture us. He is able to completely save those who come to Him and He always live to intercede for us (see Hebrews 7:25). The devil however comes to steal, kill and destroy which is what he is doing through drugs, wars, sickness, prostitution and slavery. One is intent in restoring us; the other is intent in destroying us. It's a choice whom we are to serve.

Finding God's treasures were not really my original intent, like many others, I went astray, messed up my life, with no real hope, future or salvation. I cringe in fear just the thought of living without purpose or hope. That changed however when I found a small group of young people at the campus of our university (UPLB) who were all seeking the Lord and learning to live by His precepts. I could say, either they found me or I found them, but that is not important, the gravitational pull of God in my life was finally realized through them.

Their devotion, love, acceptance and forceful witness had clearly won my heart—I joined them right away after the invitation of Reggie Cordial. I told myself that if ever I were to join a group, I would do it through one that will give me hope and life. This group, known today as Students of Destiny (SOD) were focused on prayer and seeking the Lord as well as the lost. They have been sending missionaries overseas and could be contributing a disproportionate number of missionaries compared to their present resources. They were spiritual bulldozers, leveling the ground to build God's Kingdom on earth.

In addition, I must tell that Dr. Reggie Cordial had been a BS. Biology block counselor in 1999 during my entry at the university and it happened that he was assigned to our block. By coincidence and upon his insistence, he kept prodding me to attend their group meeting every Wednesday in the afternoon. I thought, here was a man who excels in his academic ranking and at the same time serves the Lord. He knew what he was doing in the university. He knew his purpose. Today, he is an accomplished physician who continues to touch people's lives.

College life
The student life in college could have been the best years of life to develop one’s gifts and inclinations. It could as well be the best years of life to lay foundation for friendships, ministry as well as skills that would materialize once we are out there seeking for job or doing ministry activities. The first mistake many freshmen commit upon entering college is choosing the wrong friends and flocking to the wrong group. When you orbit the wrong sun, you inevitably get sucked up or fried. Not having principles is worst because you have no tracks to measure your life or what you want to get. I know how a clever cousin who joined another group found himself beaten and bruised and then called a “brother” afterwards.

That surely got my Lola mad and told me before hand to be wise and consider the friends I will hang around with. Why should any man in his right mind join a frat or group for the sake of beer, booze and brotherhood? I do not know but that surely gets my head knocking. We do get irrational at times and we chose the wrong group and the wrong place to be with.

The remarkable thing with my group is the personal peace I had and the change in my perspective after my encounter with this group. They were so bold in preaching Jesus and calling heaven as if God is so personal and God is their Daddy. Their prayers were clear, effective and with authority which I have not seen in many priests or pastors I’ve encountered. And yet, these were young students without any seminary diplomas!

That experience made me rethink and consider what real Christianity is. It is not a mere Sunday service officiated by slick professionals in a brick built place but having a personal relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Discipline could not have faked those pure innocent faces that shone brightly with God’s love. The source could have only been otherworldly and it could have only been the Lord.

Looking back, I was feeling hopeless when I first entered the university because I was defeated in my bid to gain the first honor rank during my high school. Being second rank does not seem to count, and I was dismayed. That academic distinction gives me pleasure thinking I was above all my class. I was prideful and so focused in it that I totally forgot the things that really matter in this life. Whether first, second or third...I was still as empty as when I first set my sights on them.

Prestige or honor does not seem to satisfy in the end. If it did, why would many actresses and actors and businessmen die empty at the end? Why would they be engrossed to partying or doping after gaining their earthly rewards? That night, as I contemplated the meaning of Jesus being my Lord and Savior, I have to obey Him in all things and be like the early disciples, Peter and John.

So I wrote long letters to my parents and dropped Tagalog chick tract publications into the envelope to warn them of hell and sin’s punishment. It was my first attempt to share God’s Word to my family. I just could not contain the truth I found; it was a treasure beyond compare. If Mr. Sy would give me 10 million pesos in exchange for my discovery, I wouldn’t even budge or look at it. From that time on, I have considered reading God’s Word as a treasure of far more worth than rubies or diamonds. Have you ever considered giving your life to Jesus and what would that require of you? I think you need to count the cost before joining the pack.

As I write from our lovely flat in Bad Godesberg overlooking neighborhood flats saturated with trees at every corner and parked cars, Jesus and the Bible is no longer the unfamiliar person and book that it was to me years ago. He has become the Bread of life, the Living water, and the Teacher. He has become my refuge, shelter, healer, strength and power.

He has brought me to places I have not been to, met different people I have only considered in my dreams. I am not yet the owner of a big condo, nor do I own a house and lot or drive a Mercedez but some friends of mine here loves us so much to drive us with their BMW or invite us to speak to their church or simply have a dinner in their stately home.

Putting first things first
Truly, I could say, if you make the Lord your priority, He also will put your name in His priority list. That is what it means when He says: “Those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me will be disdained” (1 Samuel 2:30). That is what it means when He says: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:33-34). Therefore the first thing we must do every time we wake up is to read or hear His Word, meditate and pray.

God is no longer the distant God for through Jesus Christ we have been brought near and adopted as His children. And unlike any human fathers, God hears the prayers of His children, even the mundane things, for to God, we are the most important thing in the world. Talk to Him about your daily plans, your business for the day, about your children and even about your future. Unlike any human fathers, God’s patience is unlimited; He tries to hear every word you speak and every groaning you cannot put into words. In fact, if there is something that delights Him more, it is the prayers of His children. We cannot do this after we leave this earth and our worship and prayers today mean more to Him than after we leave this earth simply because in heaven, we have to worship God. Let us not waste our time and our trials but use them to glorify God.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. Proverbs 15:8 (NASB)

The Lord is far from the wicked, But He hears the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29

True riches that lasts part 11

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:24:34 +0100

Last time we posted the question: How can we find true riches? First let’s define terms to avoid confusion and to clarify our points. Riches refer to both tangible and intangible possessions of a person, group, entity or nation. Merriam Webster defines it this way: “having abundant possessions and especially material wealth; having goods, property, and money in abundance” and synonymous with affluent, moneyed, opulent, and wealthy.

True riches are not really far from any person regardless of their past standing or background in life. They just have to know how to find their riches and where to find them. Just as a treasure hunter must seek for the gold, understand the terrain where it is hidden and get his shovels ready and pan for the gold, God hides matters so that we can find them. As Solomon had written: a casual glance or effort don't produce the riches or wealth we are looking for but "all hard work brings profit" (Proverbs 14:23) and he who "works his land will have abundant food" (Proverbs 12:11). Both material and spiritual riches cannot be produced by cursory glance at the surface. They need to be mined.

The first step to mining is to have the idea about it. It has to be feasible and profitable. The possibility must exist that we get rewarded for our efforts. Every businessman is in business to get profits, otherwise he is out of business and in working for other people. The foundation of this comes from the fact that everything starts with an idea. Idea produces the potential of a thing. God works by making the potential of thing visible to us when we grasp it with an idea. What is not evident on the outside can only be produced by grasping the idea and working it out. Because man was created in God's image, we also grasp things this way. At first we propose an idea, write it out and after a few weeks of looking at its feasibility and deciding the time for its launching, a new business is born!

Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb dreamed of lighting up whole cities with his light bulb using electricity instead of gas. Because he was persistent in finding the right filament for his bulb, after hundreds of failures and testings, finally his team found that a carbon filament works! Before him, there were no light bulbs and there were no cities or houses illuminated by electric bulbs. Think about that, if Edison's idea of a light bulb was never worked out, there could have been no modern world today as we know it. Indeed as Paul wrote we have a God who gives life to the dead or that which is not visible and "calls things that are not as though they were" (Romans 4:17).

And this happens when we don't quit or give up like Abraham did who never wavered in his faith even though his ability to procreate was already "dead" naturally. His faith eventually granted him access to the rich promises of God so that the promised son was fulfilled in his lifetime. Where does this lead us? Our never wavering faith, our hope in God's goodness will wither every negative circumstances that tries to surround us. Faith never gives up and this is also "credited as righteousness for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead" (Romans 4:24).

As we were all born naked to this world equipped with the body that God had fashioned for us in our mother’s womb, we must use everything given to us for fulfilling our potential gifts, callings and purposes. This is the treasure that God has hidden in us that we need to cultivate and find. The quest for this is our mission. And just as babies develop little by little, first by drinking milk and later by eating solid foods little by little we go through a process to fulfill these. Sometimes, it is unfortunate that many Christians think that they can demand God to do a miracle for them, especially in finding their purpose. Nothing is instant in this world, even the instant coffee and noodles that we zip or consume took time to be invented and manufactured. Miracles are just sped up natural processes.

Just as child development goes through stages, people will find their true riches by stages or through a process. Even the promise of God to Abraham that he will become a father to many nations took years in the making! Abraham was first tested, then tried to help God and fathered a wild child then upon getting the promised son, he almost lost it through a sacrifice! What would have happened without Isaac? There would have been no Jacob and without Jacob, there would have been no twelve tribes and without the twelve tribes, there would have been no Israel--where the Promised Savior would come. Isn’t the message clear? Everything started from a single seed or a single man who obeyed God so that the potential of family, tribe or nation would be realized. Your obedience today can cost you your potential which lies as dormant riches and abilities within you.

Disobedience has tragic consequences as the story of the first man and woman tells us; it cost them all they had, all their potential and abilities were wiped out by that fall. In the same way, every time we choose to value the wrong "wisdom" and the wrong "treasure", we too could fall. In fact, because of Adam's fall, we were made vulnerable to the desires of our flesh, to lick the dust of this world, to be earthly, sensual and material focused in our desires. This sinfulness is bound in our earthly make up. Truth however is more powerful than any lies or evil that tries to squeeze us in its mold. Jesus said it this way, He came to set the captives free and he whom the Son of man sets free is free indeed!
This hope was already won because Jesus Christ triumphed over our enemies through the cross; now we can come to Him and find peace with God.

When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. Colossians 2:13-15

The triumph of God through the cross meant our acceptance from God and our adoption as His children. We then received everlasting life and peace that is of greater value than all the silver or gold of this world combined together.

True riches that lasts part 10

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:22:13 +0100

The prevalence of work abroad mentality and parents who brainwash their children that working in the government is the best thing to do in life only speaks of the tell-tale symptom of a broken economy. The paradigm that development comes through economic power is simply because of freedom. The undergirding or foundation of all civilized nations is freedom. Freedom is needed to be creative, to be resourceful and to find your own calling or self-determination.

Once the nations were freed from religious autocracy through the Reformation of Martin Luther, enlightenment followed and governments became free to pursue their colonial expansion and mercantile ambitions. Spain became a world power looking for gold and spreading the Catholic faith. England reigned supreme over the seas when she finally defeated the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Trafalgar.

It was not however until the coming of America as a world power and freedom bearer that other nations begun to take shape and to look for their own freedom movements. Because of this, independence was laid out as the foundation of lasting freedom for a group of people willing to pursue self-determination and nationhood. The Philippines was a by-product of the dream for self-determination of our revolutionary heroes and reformers. Our freedom, whether we fought for it or voluntarily given, means economic prosperity and peace.

Now we are free to direct our own land and resources and to envision our country as the place to be, advance in technology and infrastructure, well-educated citizenry, adaptable people and helpful to its neighbors. But
electing the wrong person at the helm of leadership led to the demise of our country of which we are still recovering from. Indeed as Mr. Bong-Bong Marcos pointed out, his father is not the only one to be blamed, we are to be blamed for electing and choosing the wrong person.

The export of our people overseas may look good because of the goods and dollars they sent back home. But in reality, their talents, skills and knowledge are being used by foreign governments to their advantage. This is the consequence when economic freedom becomes economic oppression or in short poverty! We may cheer up our citizens abroad, call them heroes and even glad that they have set their foot outside the country, but these exported talents are like drops of blood oozing from the side of our own body.

In fact, because almost every village in the country today have either one family member abroad or knows someone abroad, this actually leads to absentee parenthood these days. As a result, children grew up not knowing their real moms and dads except maybe their relatives or their lolos and lolas. I know a mom who longs for her kids to hold them, touch them and even to be with them but because of the urgency of the need for money, she chose to leave her children so that she can build her own house in a matter of two years just cleaning apartments and restaurants in Germany. What she earns in one hour cleaning rooms and apartments, it takes her one day to earn in the Philippines being a cashier in Metro Manila.

What I am glad with this testimony is that she had come to know the Lord as her Lord and Savior in the process of seeking solace from loneliness and the bitter cold reality that she is now far apart from her family. Because she is educated, with an upstanding moral compass, she quickly adapted to the new environment and gained the favor of her employers. As Solomon had said, a neighbor nearby is better than a brother or sister far-away.

In addition, she joined a small group community that promotes faith, understanding and friendships among Filipinos in their local community. Her faith community fed her spiritually and encouraged her so much that she has now become a preacher among her Brethren.

And to God's glory, she has also shared her faith not only to her parents and children but also to her employers so that now they read their Bibles instead of their daily Zeitung. Although Joy Mendoza's story may seem to be outstanding among many Filipinos abroad, the way to her success is not limited to a few people. God's Kingdom is at hand, which means that anyone who desires to be part of His Kingdom can do so anytime. He said it like this: "The time has come," he said. the Kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news! (Mark 1:15).

Being part of God's Kingdom has a big advantage that many unbelievers don't. Because they become part of Heaven's forces, they have also Heaven's favor on earth. This favor is not only a disciplined and controlled life, good health, or good values but also the inner courage and confidence to overcome every task at hand. This favor is the strenght that God provides daily to those who have accepted His Son.

This strength is the power to do all things in our daily task as well as the impossible things we cannot do such as raising up children whom we may seldom see but God's hand of protection is on them. In fact, it seems ironic that Paul the Apostle who was imprisoned would write that 'he can do all things through Christ who strengthens him' (Philippians 4:13), but it is when we usually come at the end of our wits and strengths that miracles do occur on our behalf. It is when we are at the end of our ropes that we usually cling to God for hope.

Working abroad has many advantages as well as disadvantages. As I have pointed out through our dear sister's life, children are primarily the ones affected and not every mom, dad or children knew how to process this early separation. Family was made to be indivisible. However, long time physical separation between husbands and wives not only cools down relationships between them but also between their children.

The moral authority of the absentee father or mother is weakened and his influence suffers. The strong dads and moms may try to control their children through a reward system but this nonetheless suffers on many setbacks as it cannot replace their presence. Nor could it replace their day to day responsibility of guiding their children and helping them in their education. As a result, most children raised up without moms and dads do not have a healthy view of relationships between different sexes, do not have good role models to look forward to in a married life or family life nor could they trust their future mates.

The solution to these detrimental effects of long separation between family members is to set goals to go back as soon as possible. More than money, we need to raise up kids that won't go crazy, that won't kill themselves or others, that won't go on drugs and that won't perpetrate a dysfunctional family in their own generations. Because jobs are wanting in our country, the solution is to set-up your own business, be an entrepreneur or save enough of your money through a good insurance company, stocks or other investments like apartments for rent.

There are endless ideas on how to do it but you have to research it for yourself and take the risk for this new endeavor. There are no tasks that does not involve overcoming fear. We may fear losing our financial security but we have to do it anyway for the sake of our kids. Let's take the case of Jean (not her real name) who after working for several years abroad, having invested her money in apartments and her own house, decided last year to go back home. She finally decided that she was happier being at home in her own province taking care of her own garden and household than cleaning apartments in Germany.

A simple goal with a deadline on how we can go back home as soon as possible is the best control we can put for ourselves who are dependent on our euro generating jobs. For those who brought their own families, investing in the Philippines is not a bad idea because this would give you flexibility during dangerous economic times. Nonetheless, I have to point out that the foundation of wealth generation is not remittances but trades, commerce or business. Small business is the true life blood of the economy of any nation. Here in Germany, the small companies that make machine tools and employ interns are the ones that have created the wealth of this nation.

They all started out as small and family owned businesses until they had opportunities to expand further their businesses. The promotion of remittance mentality and consumerism in the Philippines does not help in job creation. It is the creation of more family owned businesses from tiny sari-sari stores, internet cafe shops to retail chains that could empower and change our destiny towards economic security and freedom. Our destiny is not to be a for hired service nation, but a leader nation.

We are not to be the tails but the heads! We are not to be beggars but lenders! This can in the blink of an eye, even though it looks like it's not happening, and you can be part of this solution. You might one day be called to put up your own business which could help other Filipinos and save them the pain of living abroad. And this is the reason why:

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.Isaiah 41:10

The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11

Free as the birds of the air

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:26:48 +0100

One time as I was accompanying my daughter to her kindergarten, we passed near a wooded area that seems too inviting to not notice. After putting her in the kindergarten, I skidded past the cars and run through the top of the hill and I was surprise to behold a beautiful sight of pines and trees with walkthroughs. Flowers were just blooming atop every branch of the trees and birds were tweeting busily, hopping from one branch to another. Chipmunks, as I prefer to call the nut-cracking four legged animal that jumps from branch to branch in search of nuts, also abound in the area and I was just mesmerized by the sight that I stopped and prayed.

I thank my God of the trees, how I missed seeing a forest, how I missed wondering of the exquisite beauty that they exude and the landscape that they produce. As I continue to extend my sight farther and to stretch my neck to the left and to the right, I could see almost all the villas of Bonn, their stunning glory shimmered by the sunlight. Indeed this is a city set on a hill and on a river, too small it seemed at first but the countryside could tell us more stories. I was intrigued just by those sight and sceneries; the Spring Sun seems to bring a new dynamic of life so that all the trees, the flowers and the grasses seems to be alive with such vibrance and force that one can know exactly these are alive again from a winter sleep.

I opened my heart and my mind as I prayed to God and thank Him for the beauty that surrounded me. In Physics, we study particles that surrounds or makes up every matter, but there are also particles, creative particles that seem to abound around us, unknown but they pushes life to pulsate from around them. Life communicates with life and every bird that jumps from one branch to another is seeking another insect or worm for its food. But these birds too are wary, that at any time, they could also be the breakfast or prey of another animal, but that does not seem to bother them. Right at this time and at this moment, worries can’t be detected at their looks nor detected by the rhythm of sound that comes from their beaks. Today is good day and I will thank God for it; it seems that is the only thing I was hearing from these birds. Today is a good day and I will thank God for it!

As I scanned the horizon there were just as many joggers and passersby that noticed them but none dared to think about their message. None reflected on what could these birds be saying. Too bad, these people are too busy not to notice, too busy not to be grateful, they had a new day again. Then I remembered the words spoken by the saintly, Elizabeth Barrett Browning who once said that "Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God; But only he who sees, takes off his shoes; the rest sit round it and pluck blackberries." We have come this far, we are given nice clothes, food, water and even shelter but above all, we have a life!

Yet, few of us would get up and pray and thank God even for the wonders that He has given or allowed us to experience. Indeed many have been proclaiming that they are too busy to even pray or to even say thank you to the One who made them or gave them jobs. Jesus speaking this to His disciples and to the crowd at a hillside conference said,

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27

Indeed who can add more to his life just by worrying or being anxious about it? If God cares for the birds, the chipmunks and the trees and the grasses of the field, how much more does He care for you and me? Aging does not seem to be a trait of the birds or the animals or the lilies of the field. They don’t worry about it. They go through the day as if they have hands lifted up the sky, saying “I praise you Lord, for you are good and your mercy endures forever!”

As I tried to examine the birds again, these are busy animals, I quipped under my breath, but who can say that indeed they plant and reap from their fields? No, these just depend on what is available for that day. Indeed the birds of the air could be just as godly as anyone who prays daily for God to give them the bread they need. Our Father cares both for the young lions and the birds and for every animal out there but even more so to us. He cares that we love and care for these little animals but even more so to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Life is above all, life because we send signals to each other, we communicate verbally or by gestures or through letters.

Animals do the same. They can chirp, tweet, growl, snarl or even hiss. And so do plants…they manage it through other chemical means. Unfortunately, many Christians have forgotten that the meaning of life is not merely doing things, but it is in abiding in this communication with God that they should put a priority. Therefore just after rebuking his listeners for their carelessness and their worries, the Lord told them what to do to overcome this tendency, He said a definite solution would be: “…seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Matthew 6:31-34).