Jim Eliot once said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Or that it is not foolish to lose what we cannot truly keep when we part in this world in order to gain the eternal recompense of our reward. Man was made for this destiny, to walk the earth and at the same time soar high in the heavens. In this world, the eternal things are often subject to ridicule and the scorn of those who loves this present world. This we cannot deny for even after more than 2, 000 years ago, the apostle Paul wrote that in the last days, “…perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:1-7 KJV). This is the unusual and the evident characteristics of these last days, yet the Bible is also clear that even if this is the dim picture of the last days, such times and such places were not specifically drown because the Bible is the Word of God written not to condemn man but to redeem them. This is exactly the picture of depraved men and women, and a society that has given itself to lawlessness. This was the picture of the society of Noah just before the flood came.

Understanding the account of the flood in Genesis 6 can help us steer clear from this path of destruction. Though it is truly fearful to fall into the hands of an angry God, there is hope for everyone and there is light that shines even no matter how dark the path may seem. This is the reason why the Lord Jesus Christ did not take the Christians with Him when He died and rose from the dead…He wants them to become  like Him, for as He was in this world so are the Christians. Therefore, it is necessary that if we want to understand and navigate the spiritual minefield these days, we need to understand why Jesus was sent by the Father and why His first introduction before His people is that He is the light that shines in the darkness (see John 1:5).

In His high priestly prayer, Jesus in the most passionate and important prayer He ever uttered to His Father said, “They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. “As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. “For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:17-21). These verses speak of the purpose of Jesus on earth, His three year ministry that has accomplished a more profound impact that any of us could ever do in our lifetimes. The father specifically sent Jesus into this world for one purpose, to destroy the works of the devil which is rooted in sin (see 1 John 3:8); sin is the sting of death because those who die without Christ will find eternal damnation. He was the Apostle of the Father to this world, the Greek word apostolos means sent-one and the Lord sent Him into this world, not to condemn it but to show us the better Way, the Higher Way (John 14:6).

“For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:17-18)

But even with this mercy of the Lord, there are more who loves this present world, who could not see beyond the reach of their arms. They are so focused to this world that they forgot that there is a better world, one where joy, peace, and love emanates in its very core, where sin is but a fantasy and dream. These are the pigs that grovel on the mud, who unlike the eagles that soar  above and look beyond the ground, they could not even lift up their heads and look above to the One who made them. Sin has bound them to the ground, chained beneath the fiery caverns of hell, ever enjoying the pleasures of sin more than the freedom that light could bring them. Therefore even John has said, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. “For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20). Jesus came to expose the frailty of sin and break the walls that separate us from the Father, yet men still loves darkness more than light.

This is the conviction of those men bound by sin. However, before the end comes, the Word of God also says, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14) or in short, this world will be full of godliness. Though this might seem to be a utopia right now, there is a tiny force gathering at this very time in every ream of the society. These forces are the charcoals of fire that God has prepared for this hour. These men and women will be gathered into a place, where they will ignite the passion for the lost, take the land and bring it to a fiery zeal. They will teach them the ways of the Lord and renew their minds in so much that those dwelling in these places will be astonished for they shall be swift as horses yet steely in resolve and their love for the Lord never grows dim even one bit.

They will break the religious systems of this world, defy the logic of the ministers of deceit and bring in full the numbers of those called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. They will not fit into the mold of the world or even the church for they have one goal, to be like Christ and to bring His Kingdom on earth. They will be hated by the world, and even the religious zealot whose ideal of the religious always seems like a mechanical prison, full of rut and better depicted as a concentration camp more than a house of God. Yet these men and women will be the manifest sons and daughters of God, imperfect, frail as humans, and mere jars of clay yet anointed, empowered, full of faith and they will devour the land, filling it with the light of God. These are the forces of light, emblazoned with the radiating glory of heaven to show the people around them how to live like Jesus did…more than a Sunday style Christianity that is back breaking to the spirit of this new generation.

A new gene, a new DNA

The past decades has seen the adoption of genetic technology not just to cure diseases and cut the prices of cotton and corn production because of transgenic cottons and maize plants. These new breed of plants were fully adaptable to land and terrain and able to resist the devourers of their fruit and thereby enhanced production of those countries which adapted these. Likewise, as this knowledge was being released in the natural that created frenzied attempts to block this knowledge into full adoption for its usefulness, the Lord has also released a new gene that resists the enemy much faster and sturdier than before. Since this new technology has actually accelerated the production of resistant crops against pests and diseases, God too,  has accelerated the release of these ministries into the church to equip His people and enhance their knowledge of the ways of God so that they are able to bear His divinely powerful weapons that resists the devourer of the produce of the church.

These were in fact points of grace for the Church at large that the Lord has just released a “new gene” and a “new DNA” for the Christians of this generation. Each restored truth also brings restored emphasis and new blood into the circulatory system of the church. The past decades paralleling this new knowledge of emphasis and can be called “transplanting of new genes” into the church is the emphasis of the five fold equipping ministries and the acceptance of the prophetic ministry into the mainstream Church. Because though biotech might be old, its breakthrough year was the production of transgenic maize that became the symbol of resistance by those inclined of traditional varieties.

Despite dogged attempts and resistance by traditional thinkers in the church, the prophetic movement has gained acceleration and wide acceptance among the grassroots. There is almost general acceptance in the Church right now of the prophetic ministry apart from the other equipping ministries such as the evangelist, teacher and shepherd. Just as every generation requires new tools, understanding, knowledge, power and divine appointments, the Lord has seen this generation to be the Xth generation, yet they will be so transformed that the Xth generation will become the Yth generation. Instead of becoming the problems they will become the solutions to our problems.

They are Jacobs, having begun in problems and flaw of character, yet they too shall wrestle with God and they shall find that they were made for this purpose, blessed to be a blessing. They will show the glory of God and manifest it into this world more than any other generations in history. The least of them shall have the power and mind of Martin Luther and the greatest of them be like the Lord. What land can stand before such power? Or what authority can come against such power? Yet this is exactly the prophecy in Joel,

“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm on My holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; surely it is near,

A day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness. As the dawn is spread over the mountains, so there is a great and mighty people;

There has never been anything like it, nor will there be again after it to the years of many generations.

A fire consumes before them, and behind them a flame burns. The land is like the garden of Eden before them, but a desolate wilderness behind them, and nothing at all escapes them” (Joel 2:1-3).

Fanning the flames of fire

To blow the trumpet in the Scriptures mean to sound the approach of the battle or the proclamation. This does not make one an alarmist, rather, it does make us follow the beats and call of heaven. The Lord has called us to proclaim and blow the trumpet in Zion. This is to say that we are fast approaching the day of His coming, and we must tremble for surely it is near. It will be a day of darkness and gloom to those who have not prepared for it. Yet we also hear that there is a dawn coming over the mountains though these were covered with thick darkness.

Mountains in the Scriptures refer to government or rule e.g. Mount Zion or Mount of assembly which tells us of the rule of God. True to these times, many governments in the world have sunk to anarchy and lawlessness. To be lawless means to yield to craftiness, bending what is right to call evil good and good as evil. One does not need to go far in order to notice how much we have fallen into this pitch-black darkness.

My brother’s keeper

When we speak of Kalinga, until now most people from neighboring provinces have bad connotations of this word. Whether we are from upper or lower Kalinga or from other provinces…it does not matter for when we chose to settle down in this place, we are all Kalingas! The blood of one should be the blood of the other. We are supposed to be looking at our brother! When Cain was asked, “where is your brother?”, he replied in the face of his Creator, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Such debauched thinking perverts every sense of justice there is and further keeps us bound into the earth.

What is the cost of being our brother’s keeper and allowing ourselves to be defrauded for the sake of truth and love? There should be cry for unity instead of cry for selfish ambitions and covetousness. In fact, if we are abiding in love, why can we not even stand for righteousness? Why do we covet what others have if we truly love them as brothers indeed?

Ancient Israel which was made of twelve tribes could be one of our best models to understand how we can all move us one and fight together as brothers and sisters. They all started from the twelve sons of Jacob who then grew into clans and the different clans into distinct tribes because of their affinity. Likewise all the ancient tribes that came to settle down in what is now what we call as Kalinga should do well to respect and live for each other. The main reason why the Law of Moses was given to the Jews is not only to unite them under one law, but to also become a witness that though they were diverse, yet there was unity in them, and there was the Law of Moses that rules over everyone’s life. When this law is honored, they prospered but whenever they tried to do according to the understanding of each one, they were doomed and ancient neighboring nations oppressed them (read the book of Judges and see the apostasy). As we are well into the early 21st century, we must all understand the significance of this time and the role that our province and the Kalingas are called to play.

The Philippines is the center of diversity in terms of marine life forms, but even this diversity speaks the same of the diverse people groups that dwell in our land. Our call is to be so united in diversity that we have a UNI-VERSITY, this is beginning to take shape as the roads and highways that connect each of the different tribes are becoming interconnected as one and life flow will begin to emerge in each tribes.

We will also begin to not only understand and appreciate the uniqueness of our culture and our calling but we will also go as one to call even our fellows to be so united that we have only one country instead of many nations or ethnos. This is what it means to be our brother’s keeper, we learn to love and protect each other rather than suspecting each one and being a traitor, trusting nobody in the end and always becoming stupidly paranoid.