Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. Job 5:17
Blessed is the man you discipline, O Lord, the man you teach from your
law; you grant him relief from days of trouble, till a pit is dug for
the wicked. Psalm 94:12-13
Many times in our lives we face adversity and we face the rebukes of
others as we go in our daily living. It could be our boss, our employer
in our jobs or it could be our mother scolding us for not taking the
garbage outside... Continue reading ...
Mining and tourism are
part of the sunshine business that the Philippines should look into. We
have to wake up that fishing and agriculture while basic and needed
cannot sustain our country towards industrialisation. While outsourcing
continues to bless the Philippines with a generated income of about
12-13 billion dollars and rising to 100 billion dollars by 2020
(according to estimates), we cannot rely on putting all our economic
hopes in one basket alone. In fact this is the reason ... Continue reading ...
“It is impossible that no offenses should come…” Luke 17:1-4 NKJV
Many
people get easily offended. They are misers, unhappy and easily jolted
by the failures or successes of others. Misery can be defined as the
consequence of a negative reaction when we are offended, persecuted or
challenged. The feeling of misery escalates when we find ourselves drawn
to self-pity and self-condemnation or to accusation of others. Often,
the very people who are closest to us inflicts the hardest pa... Continue reading ...
The
shocking art exhibit of Mideo Cruz at CCP which took us all by surprise
is only the tip of the ice-berg of what went wrong in the modern
definition of art and freedom of expression. Some think that that art
comes from a natural desire to express oneself through drawing,
painting, sculpture, and installation of different pieces of articles to
compose one’s opinion or one’s viewpoint. Wikipedia defines art as: “Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items (often... Continue reading ...
“No
servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You
cannot serve both God and Money.” Luke 16:13
Understanding the times is
not only crucial to our survival but for us to use the times of crises
to take action. Unless we have been prepared of the things that will
happen ahead, who will warn the others? Just as a loud serene warns of
an impending war, disaster or bombing in a city, the tr... Continue reading ...
Don't
let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the
rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed
to destruction. He
will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God
or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming
himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
In the last two chapters
we dealt with the two beasts that will deceive the whole world (those in
rebellion against God). The antic... Continue reading ...
“He
also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave,
to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one
could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast
or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17
Without the mark, no one will be able to “buy, sell, or trade.” Since
the power of the beast will mainly come from controlling the economic
systems of this world, those who are his slaves and people will be
marked ... Continue reading ...
“Once
you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of
your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical
body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and
free from accusation.” Colossians 1:21-22
In Revelation chapter 13
we see how another beast that will come out of the earth will deceive
the whole world by causing the inhabitants of the earth to worship the
first beast. In short, this beast will actually be ac... Continue reading ...
And I
saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had ten horns and seven heads,
with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The
beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a
mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his
throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have
had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world
was astonished and followed the beast. Men worshiped th... Continue reading ...
“The
man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the
Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand
them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Corinthians 2:14
In the last chapter we
discussed that the seed of the anti-Christ will not come emblazoned with
his head flashing a word “antichrist” or his office affixed with a
plaque “Beast.” The Scripture refers to this personification of the sin
of man as the “man of s... Continue reading ...
There is a prevailing notion that the anti-Christ will simply come in power and then surprise the world, declaring, “I am the anti-Christ.” At least that was my notion as a young believer, but over the years, I have come to believe that the anti-Christ will not be as naïve as we think or consider him to be. Far from this, like his previous likeness, Hitler, he will come as an “angel of light” that will deceive many and devastate their livelihoods and trusts. In fact, because Hitler p... Continue reading ...
“The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it…” Psalm 24:1In one of the most prophetic songs I have ever heard, Michael W. Smith’s Above All declares the majesty and power of God over the creation and dominion of man and all created beings. God’s power is really above all authority, above all powers, above all kings, above all thrones and dominions-He truly is the epitome, the one above all things. If Jesus is then King above all, what is the ques... Continue reading ...
I was happy to learn that more than 40 Filipinos reacted to my story "When God closes doors" which was published by the Philippine Daily Iquirer in its Global Pinoy page on Easter Sunday. Majority of those who posted online comments were believers while four were either skeptics or outright atheists. It always gives me a pleasant feeling to know that people are reading me, regardless of whether they agree with my views or not. We can not expect all people to agree with us all the time.
But on... Continue reading ...
Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; Romans 13:1-3Today marks the death of... Continue reading ...
“Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Matthew 24:4-8The church has been in deep slumbe... Continue reading ...
“In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border.
And it will become a sign and a
witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to
the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a
Champion, and He will deliver them.
Thus the Lord will make Himself
known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They
will even worship with sacrifice and offe... Continue reading ...
When Abraham was promised with a son, the Bible says that he walked by faith, though old and already weak, yet, “against
all hope, Abraham …believed and so became the father of many nations,
just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." Without
weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as
dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah's womb
was also dead” (Rom 4:18-19 NIV). Abraham did not deny in his
thoughts the im... Continue reading ...
We
continue discussing on the names of God that can impart strength and
faith to us on our journey this year. Understanding the names of God
will invariably deepen our relationship with Him. When Moses was sent to
deliver the Israelites, God first introduced His name to him for the
simple reason that the people will understand Him with a name that they
can comprehend. The third name of God found in Psalm 23 is like the
second, “He leads me beside quiet waters” (God of Peace),
peac... Continue reading ...
Redemption
is the key theme of the Bible and God’s work with the cross of Christ
is not yet finished. To every man, He still calls on the housetop and in
public squares as wisdom, come ye ignorant beings and hear me, “For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the Lord. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death” (Prov 8:35-36 NIV).
Every year we celebrate New Year because to us, it implies a new
beginning and we recognize that the past year...
We continue our series on faith about what is faith and what is not faith. About two weeks ago we have been struck by Typhoon Juan but amazingly, we were spared the same effects that could have happened with Ondoy. What happened? Apparently, our new government was more discerning this time around and zeroed in for zero-casualty and evacuated villagers in the most vulnerable position of the Typhoon when it lashes out. Only the fools who waited and tried to save their cows and houses were destr... Continue reading ...
Last week we have discussed that crises
come to try us and reveal the foundations that we have. Every person
in this world will face crisis in varying degrees and so will every
tribe, nation and organizations. How we face the trials will determine
the outcome of our destiny. Just as Israel’s first test was to either
believe the Lord in the midst of trying circumstances or abandon their
faith and return to slavery so will every one of us. When Pharaoh’s
army pursued them in the Red ... Continue reading ...
Evil does have a life by itself. It cannot be denied that once this
life form infects the human being, he becomes its target until he is
fully overcome. The devil establishes itself in the believers mind and
heart as clearly expounded by Paul, For though we walk in the
flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction
of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing
raised up against t... Continue reading ...
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Hosea 4:6
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of
wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been
brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as
instruments of righteousness. Romans 6:13 (NIV)
Like a virus that needs a host before it can infect an animal or
plant, evil is not transmitted without a host. It needs body before
being incubated and then shots up to infect othe... Continue reading ...
In the coming days we will witness the
rebirth of the Philippines–our prayers for our country will determine
whether the outcome will be for good or for evil. I have been in a
church service this past week and had seen a vision of what is coming
upon our country. I felt that this is real and true, I saw the
Philippines bathed with a great light, the radiance and the expanse of
it covers the entire island in yellowish tinge coming from the heavens
above and animated by wavelit lig... Continue reading ...
Almost all of us were swept with fear when our friend and brother bid
us to go. He said that his work is finished and the time to depart
draws near. He had been as prayerful as during the first time I saw him.
He did not pray with any structure nor did he pray with highfaluting
words, it was as if Jesus was conversing with His Father again. He
prayed for his disciples to be strong and to know the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. He prayed for strength, joy and the
cour... Continue reading ...
John spoke many exhortations to the people and was the first one to
preach the gospel to them. His sermons are clearly related and had the
same flavor as what the Lord preached later before the congregation. And
he said to them, “Collect no more than what you have been ordered to.”
Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what
shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by
force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wag... Continue reading ...
The words of the Lord were like fire that cleansed all darkness in my
heart. We were still in the wilderness and His words are cleansing me
over and over again. This could be the reason He has also said that
faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of the Lord. A clean heart
is a powerful heart, able to listen and obey the Lord without any
reserve. Some people speak about serving God, others do serve God but
only those whose service are genuine and full of joy will truly get
reward.... Continue reading ...
“For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and
all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so
also is Christ.
 Just as the body of man is but one, so is the Body of Christ but one
For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body,
whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to
drink of one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the
foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” it
is not for ... Continue reading ...
The Middle Ages
One characteristic of the Middles Ages is the combination of drastic
fall of the Church from one reigning as supreme with the risen Lord in
the heavens to one earthly minded and having lost its savor. There are
many important lessons that we can get from the Middle Ages but one
prominent event that plays well into the modern history of nations is
the
 There
would have been no modern world as we know it today without the man who
brought freedom movements into the fray. Truth spo...
Previously we discussed that there is an ongoing battle
between light and darkness and ultimately, light will win just as when
you open your lights at night, it drives away darkness in the room. A
basic way to gain understanding how best   Blackholes can suck the light of others when nearby stars passes them by we can truly become the light of the world, is by examining the
Scriptures which Jesus used to teach the people about being lights. It
is imperative that if we want to properly u...
Given all the prevailing issues that have come due to the
floods that has brought our country to its knees, there is only one
sure solution that everyone of us need to understand. We must build our
houses on the Rock, that is plain, stable and solid ground that none
can push away. This Rock is not dead, nor is it of volcanic origin or
“earthly” as many geologists would mistake. It is not. We have to see
the perspectives that is upon us now by asking three salient questions,
1) Wh... Continue reading ...
As we have been discussing previously, fear binds the soul of man
much like the jaws of a predatory animal clasps the flesh of its prey.
Previously, we said that there is nothing to fear, except to fear God
Himself because He is the Lord Almighty who holds the hearts of kings
like water and turns it wherever He wants (Prov. 21:1). We also said
that faith is counter to fear and this is held by the peace of God in
our hearts. I want us to take a closer look on this fruit of the Spirit
that keep... Continue reading ...
Fear binds the soul of man like no other just as faith strengthens us
and promotes well-being in our souls. In addition, just as faith is the
vehicle that releases power in our midst so that the forces of heaven
works with us, fear attracts the powers of hell to bind us and destroy
us. It is written that Jesus came to set the captives free, that He was
sent in order to “render powerless him who had the power of death, that
is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were
... Continue reading ...
We continue our discussion on how we can best become the harbingers of peace and light into our families, communities and eventually our nation. The church is the most powerful entity in this world when we all combine our resources together as one big cooperative and institution. Whenever the Lord looks down from heaven, He does not see His body as bodies but He only sees one Church, His Bride. It is therefore very repugnant if not at all presumptuous to think that we own the people of God as... Continue reading ...
Previously, we discussed that one of the greatest barriers that is coming down is the carnal reasoning that we must only take good care ourselves and forget the others. Being our brother’s keeper is loving our neighbor as we love ourselves which is the second commandment of Love. Probably, all the great mistakes in history is rooted in self-preservation, thus Jesus forewarned “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake shall find it. “For w... Continue reading ...
The following is our tribute to the family of Renan Gup-Ay who
passed without even saying goodbye to his family because he was
snatched into eternity while studying Medicine as a second year proper
at St. Louis University Baguio. May the Lord comfort all the bereaving
family and give them the grace to stand and face the storms in this
life. God bless you all.
A monologue of the dead
How fallen is the man of the family,
How terror has befallen us all,
Death has taken one slain,
Where is victor... Continue reading ...
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