Senti-mental

My friend asked me if he could borrow my photo albums because his brother is getting married in Australia. His brother needs some old photos of the gang. His brother will use it for a PowerPoint presentation which would be shown during the wedding reception. I gladly lent him my photo album. I also asked if he could scan the pictures because they are losing their colors.. It’s important that these pictures are preserved because these pictures documented our youth.

Whenever we have our barkada reunion, we always go back to our adventurous youth. I would bring out my photo album there would be laughter, sighs and misty eyes…

Every summer we would go to Tanay, Rizal for a three day camp. We did this every holy week. For three days we were in the mountain with no adult to watch over us; we loved the freedom. There was no electricity and the only sound we could was the call of the birds and the sound of the river. We scared each other with ghost stories until none of us could move or even open our eyes.

We didn’t even have a proper tent. All we had was a piece of canvas that we tied to a tree. We could only keep silent as we hear critters dragging empty sardine cans.They even dragged our pots and pans into the bushes.

There was a time when we brought a bottle of Chinese wine (sioktong) so that we could experience being drunk. Unfortunately, the sioktong was too weak for us, so all it did was to whet our appetite.

We cooked crabs, snails, and we ate papayas and bananas.

We shot birds. I could not remember ever me hitting anything at all! must be my eyes...he,he,he

There was a time when we did not know that there was a storm coming. We were sleeping when we heard the wind, thunder and lighting and the river getting angry. We were wet the whole night. When morning came, we were shocked to find that the river was raging and we cannot cross it. We had to climb the other side of the mountain so that we could go home. When we arrived home, I found my sister praying for our safety.

That was an unforgettable experience and it bonded our friendship.

We sang a lot.

(My daughter was laughing when he saw this picture of me.)

We did this for three years. Unfortunately we became adults and some of us got a job, some went to college; the camping stopped. Though we always tried to go camping again, work and study prevented it. Now, every time we have a reunion we always talk about going back to Tanay to visit our campsite, to relive our youth. But we never got around to doing it.

But someday we will go camping again...

Meekness is not weakness

Meekness does not necessarily mean weakness. There’s an interesting incident in the Bible about Jesus that is interesting because it’s interesting:

John 2:15 So he took some rope and made a whip. Then he chased everyone out of the temple, together with their sheep and cattle. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and scattered their coins.

I was thinking how could a person who had all the fruit of the Holy Spirit could do such things; “Chased everyone out of the temple and whip their asses off…” I could never imagine a person who has love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control do such thing.

Maybe its because I am thinking that if a person possesses all the gifts of the spirit he/she will become a pokerfaced, cold as to be unhuman and more like a zombie, afraid of showing any emotions lest he showed immaturity. I was thinking, maybe a person who possessed all the gift of the Spirit is a wimp, afraid of not offending anybody; and a cartilage-less jelly fish, unable to decide and unwilling to take a risk.

It’s this picture that I usually visualized about a person who possessed all the gift of the spirit. Of course, Jesus was a meek person but he is also a strong person, and he could be tough (rough) when the need came. David Jeremiah has this to say about Jesus in the temple: “Jesus is the prime example of a meek person. Was Jesus weak? Well, go back and watch him as He cleans out the temple. With a whip made out of cords, he drove everyone out of the temple courtyard in extremely short order. No one struggled with him. No one challenged him. I find it hard to believe some wimp could have accomplished this. No one wanted to mess with the Man from Nazareth…

I was reading a commentary from Wesley (thanks to e-sword) and this is what he says.” Having made a scourge of rushes - (Which were strewed on the ground,) he drove all out of the temple, (that is, the court of it,) both the sheep and the oxen - Though it does not appear that he struck even them; and much less, any of the men. But a terror from God, it is evident, fell upon them.” Ha, ha, ha, I can only imagine the terror of the temple money changers and the peddlers experienced.

I believe this verse showed the very humanity of Jesus. It’s good because at least I know that he is completely human (as well as God) and it shows that he too experienced anger justified as it is, still the incident shows that Jesus was not a stoic. His explosion showed his strength and authority. Of course it wrong to make a rule out of what happened in the temple. (Whip people when you’re angry because Jesus had done it…no, that’s wrong.) I am just imagining how Jesus must have looked then. But still it’s comforting to know that our Lord not only felt and showed pain, love, hunger but he also showed anger, truly amazing.

Pacquiao

How many sermons were shortened because of last Sunday’s Pacquiao bout?

The last time Manny Paquiao defended his title, our preacher unashamedly admitted to the pulpit that he is going to make the sermon a little shorter because of Manny’s fight. I admit I was a little shocked at the thought of Pacquiao’s fight getting precedence over the service on the Lord’s Day. But I understand, or I don’t, or maybe I can’t.

I have nothing against our boxing champion. He acn beat the hell out of all the Mexican for all I care but there’s something surrealistic about the Filipino’s obsession with Manny. Maybe it’s because I am not a boxing guy. I believe the sport is the devil’s sport. (My father was an avid boxing fan and if he were alive today, I think my father would also shorten his sermon.) It’s gambling, violence, sex, and hedonism all rolled into one.

I think boxing is the remnant of the Roman gladiatorial fights. You have two warriors in the ring trying to smash each hurt each other, drawing blood and getting cheers for every punch landed and blood spilled. This sport brings out the animal instinct in us, especially for the men.

But to each his own…But I believe the Filipino youths deserve a better hero to look up to.

When Bad things happen to good people…

Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect, even when He has let you down and disappointed you by permitting bad luck and sickness and cruelty in His world, and permitting some of those things to happen to you? Can you learn to love him and forgive Him despite his limitations, as Job does, and as you once learned to forgive and love your parents event though they were not as wise, as strong, or as perfect as you needed them to be?

And if you can do these things, will you be able to recognize that the ability to forgive and the ability to love are the weapons God has given us to live fully, bravely, and meaningfully in this less-than perfect world?

This is the conclusion to Rabbi Harold S. Kushner’s best selling book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”. I got my copy of his book from a used book shop. I picked it up because of the title and the writer. Though I didn’t know that Kushner is a famous rabbi, I was more interested to find out what a rabbi thinks about the problem of evil.

The book is a good read. It explored the problem of evil based on the rabbi’s experience of losing his son to progeria, or rapid aging. The book is mostly a confession, and according to the rabbi, it is not a theological book. The book was not written for scholars, in fact I believe it’s the most accessible and honest book that I have read about the problem of evil. But I was surprised to find out that a rabbi, of all the people, would deny the omnipotence and omniscience of God so that he could live with the knowledge that his God is a loving God that his God is not a cruel God!

He is right to say that we do not need to defend God. But he is wrong because I think what he meant, by reading the book, by not defending God is to betray God. Tsk,tsk,tsk this is what happens when one goes to the other side of the problem of evil. I can not find comfort that we are living in an imperfect world made and governed by an imperfect God! I would rather find comfort in the fact that we live in a fallen world made and governed by a perfect God.

How do we explain suffering then?

It’s just the way it is, it’s because of the fallen nature of man—we are imperfect beings living in an imperfect world! I would not dare go to explaining and giving analogies but that’s just the way things are and I do not have to defend God in the same way that I have to emasculate Him so that I could find comfort in the fact that God has nothing to do with sufferings. I am more than willing to accept that God caused our suffering and that God is cruel because we will miss the point of redemption and salvation if there’s no suffering.

Suffering is a human concept. It is only an organism that has a concept of a deeper meaning of pleasure, not just animal pleasure that can experience suffering. Animals cannot suffer. They can be tortured, they can experience pain but do they suffer the way humans do. Animals kill their children yet do they show grief? For the animals, suffering and joy are the same. They are part of their instinct.

My point is there’s something in us that make us suffer. Its not pain but its how we deal with pain that make us suffer. Without faith in an all powerful God, our suffering will be unbearable. Job has said it very well, “God may kill me, but still I will trust him and offer my defense.”

God is not asking us to defend Him, God is not asking to defend ourselves, God is not asking us to defend our faith in Him, and God is not asking us to do anything at all but to have faith in Him that He is in control.

Suffering is something we have to live and deal with. To explain suffering and to rationalize it is something we cannot do, it is best to admit our frailty, it is best to admit our helplessness when faced with suffering.

Of course the Rabbi is Jew hence he do not believe in The Messiah, but the suffering of Jesus on the cross, for us Christian, is a proof that God knew our suffering.

But there’s one thing I agree with in the book. It is the need to forgive God. In our sufferings we must have the heart to forgive God, not because he has sinned against us for that is not possible, but we have to forgive God because even if we understood Him and have faith in Him, our suffering caused us to unknowingly and sometimes knowingly build resentments against Him.

Yes, I agree with the Rabbi that we need to forgive God, too. Not because of what he had done or not what he had done but because we need to accept Him as He is-God.

Do not be yoked…hmmmm…

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers; for what fellowship does righteousness have with lawlessness? And what partnership does light have with darkness?


Hmmmm…this is an interesting verse from the Epistles to the Corinthians. The usual interpretation of this verse is that Christians should not have romantic relationship with a non-Christian.

About two summers ago I attended a summer Bible class on the Pauline correspondence. We were discussing the Corinthian letters verse by verse. And when we got to this verse, I cannot help but ask the teacher what is meant by this verse. As expected, the answer I got was that no Christians should be romantically involved with non-Christians (no atheist boyfriend or girlfriend, if we really think about it). I agreed, but then I asked a question that popped in my head. Who are the Christians?


How many times have I heard pastors used the term “non-Christian” to law abiding, good natured, kind and wonderful human beings who has the misfortunes of not belonging in the same church as the pastor’s. And this, unfortunately, gets me confused about love, about sharing the gospel, about many things, about the Holy Spirit. I had this weird experience: My college best friend is a not a member of my church and when I introduced him to one of our pastors as a member of another church (not an evangelical), he gave me a look as if telling me that my best friend is Satan. Again, I kept asking myself, who are the “real” Christians?

To confine the message of the verse to having romantic relationship with non-Christians is erroneous. First, the apostle Paul was telling the Corinthians to do not meddle with the pagans and the infidels. There was a clear distinction of who are the pagans and who the Christians are theologically and morally speaking in the Biblical times (there were few Christians then and the survival of the sect, maybe, was also on Paul’s mind). So, Paul was telling the Christians not to be yoked with them i.e. do not have anything to do with them! It was not a warning about romantic love alone; it was also a directive about not participating in the pagan’s affairs, in their celebrations, in their games, in their worship, in their promiscuity, in their trade and dealings. It was a call to live apart, to be apart from the profane world, to be a testimony!

The worship of pagan gods was the norm during Paul’s days. In fact when Paul was in the Aeropagus (Acts 17:22-23), the Greeks were worshiping a multitude of gods, and to make sure that they were not displeasing gods that they have not identified, they even had an altar for the unknown god. In times of polytheism and philosophies, how were the Christians identified? They were different! They worship one God. They were known for their charity and for the way they care for their brethrens. In fact they were so different that they were persecuted. The Thessalonians (Acts 17:6) even called them “the people who turned the world upside down!”

Now, I am thinking... why I am talking about it…here’s the reason:

I had this experience of dealing with a youth who have a romantic relationship with a “non-Christian.” I could not open the Bible. I could not open my mouth to rebuke the youth. It’s not because I don’t believe in church discipline, but it’s because I believe in love. Some may say that its lust, some may say that its love, some say many things as if they knew a lot about the person, but to tell the truth no one could tell what is in the youth’s heart. So, I did what was prudent, I tried to be understanding.

Anyway, I played my role as a pastor and told the youth about the difficulty of getting romantically involved at such an early age. I did not use this verse (2Co 6:14) as a justification for I know that if I used this verse, it would mean that all of the people in the church are technically guilty of “being yoked with non-believers.” For I see them dealing, cooperating, and participating with-"non Christians" daily. Maybe the best way to deal with “unauthorized” romantic relationships is to appeal to love, to understand the youth, to not smashing them on the head with the Bible but to try to show them the spirit of what the Bible is saying. I could not bear the thought of me being doctrinally correct but losing the youth and the other potential soul to be won. Another thing is, I believe being a Christian has nothing to do with church affiliations because even if you belong to a doctrinally and a legally true church but living a life that is an abomination to God…hmmmm….I wonder if that person could even be called a Christian. There’s an interesting little book “The Practice of the Presence of God” that I have read. It’s a collection of conversation and letters written by a monk and a monastery cook called Brother Lawrence. Here’s what he said:

“I engaged in a religious life only for the love of God, and I have endeavored to act only for Him; whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. I shall have this good at least, that till death I shall have done all that is in me to love Him.”
Wow, this is from a cook who was converted at eighteen when he saw a leafless tree standing against the snow. No fancy theology, no doctrines, just plain love for God.

He has a wonderful prayer too:

“Lord of all pots and pans and things…
Make me a saint by getting meals
And washing up the plates”
Anyway…who are he Christians and up to now I am wondering if belonging to a church makes you a "Christian."

"Do not be yoked..." with unbelievers may also mean do not be yoked with the people in your church...

Just a thought.

Diyos ng Himala

I was practicing Recuerdos de la Alhambra when the thought entered my mind. Why not try this (tremolo) to Diyos ng Himala, a Filipino hymn by Celia Marcelo. So here goes an impromptu tremolo of Diyos ng Himala.

Quickie Post

I am at my friend's house, and Iam using his laptop for a quickie post. Our church's council had just finished our planning meeting. I am now the Associate Pastor (or the Assistant Pastor) of our church. I am praying that I will be able to...hhhhmmm...fill the shoes, so to speak.

So many opportunities for service has been opened.

Anyway, this is just a quickie I'll write more later....:-)

Friends pray for me :-)