Witnessing Without Words

I come across a lot of forum entries, and comment boxes turned into debates between Christian and non-christian people. These untimely discussions usually take on topics like the existence of God, the historicity of Jesus Christ, life after death, morality and such;  ending up into word fights on religious preference, tolerance and human rights. I was once involved in such a situation and I find it amusing that discussions like these never end.

One characteristic which surfaces in these situations is closed-mindedness. And often, people will start accusing others of this, or of intolerance or of disrespect even if the claims often find no justification or proof. What’s happening is just a continuous exchange of phrases, quotes and illustrations; arguments and the like. Nothing is really accomplished.

Maybe the Christian fellow feels sorry for not being able to convince others of the existence of God or of the divinity of Jesus Christ, but this is not the work of everybody.

“Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.” James 3:1, 2 [NIV]

We sometimes get in trouble because we put ourselves into situations where we assume the role of a teacher, consciously or not; without the proper/adequate equipment of spiritual knowledge, scripture, or theology.  We try to win unbelievers through philosophical argument, but we never get anything done.

I know that oral witness for Christ is essential to our faith and practice, that it is our duty as Christians to share our Savior to the world and to “make disciples of all nations” but there are a few biblical principles that we must also remember in light of this:

“The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” John 1:5 [NASB]

“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 [NASB]

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6 [NASB]

As I always say, “there is a balance here”. A lot of Christians (especially evangelicals) who are very excited about the prospect of converting someone to Christ. But we get frustrated because we end up debating a non-christian person and actually lessen the possibility to convert him/her. Not everybody was given the gift of evangelizing and teaching/preaching. (1Cor.12) And though it is our duty to share Christ, not everybody is given the ability, nor the opportunity. I would like to make it clear that I am NOT discouraging personal witnessing. It is essential. But sometimes we are actually doing things in an ineffective way. There is a better way of witnessing to the lost. This is shown to us by the Master, Jesus Christ.

Let’s look at the life of Jesus and how he proclaimed the kingdom of God.

Don’t cast pearls to swine

“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.” Matthew 7:6

It’s quite an offensive statement, and I apologize to use such phrases but this is from the mouth of Jesus. This is actually a really suitable analogy when you come to think of it.  If you’re having a hard time convincing others that God exists or that Jesus is God, the first thing I would like to tell you is don’t. Don’t give yourself a hard time trying to convince natural people to believe there is a God through oral argument, through debate, through using scripture, etc… They just won’t accept it. Period. It’s quite a waste of time. You may share but don’t argue. No one wins when this happens. Jesus did not trouble himself by trying to argue about the existence of God. He himself knows that God exists and the people whom he addressed actually assume the existence of God, the Jews. He was talking to them “at their level”. Now, I’m not trying to insinuate that Christians are at a “higher level” of knowledge than non-christians. Not at all. “We have all sinned and fall short“, we must always remember this. But as the scripture says, the non-spiritual will never understand the spiritual. The pig will never understand that a pearl is valuable. The darkness can never be understood unless light is shone upon it. Jesus did not speak to a farmer like a lawyer. He did not speak to the fisherman as a scribe.  Jesus spoke of ordinary, everyday things which everybody knew about and understood; though they had deeper meanings. And these deeper meanings: the seeker sought to know. He did not speak jargon to the layman. The point is they will never understand. They don’t want to. They are like people who don’t want to come out to the light because it hurts their eyes. The light of Jesus seen through the Gospel is just too bright for them. It’s just too much to take in all at once.

“What’s happening is just a continuous exchange of phrases, quotes and illustrations; arguments and the like. Nothing is really accomplished.”

Don’t speak “spiritual nonsense” to the non-spiritual person. If you put yourself in his/her shoes, you also wouldn’t understand. Spiritual things are nonsense for them.

Fellow Christian, don’t burden yourself with trying to become what you are not yet. Leave it to the apologists, pastors and such. Someday, your time will come and by then you must be ready for it.

Stay Common as You Can Be

The Bible is clear that we should be different from the world. We were called to stand out. But a lot of people will actually misunderstand this and take the position that we should totally, absolutely different from other people. I’m not saying that we need to do everything the world does. Christ is against that. But a few points for us to remember.

A lot of young people actually hate church because they think it is some kind of a club for hypocrites. They have the notion that church is an organization of people who alienate themselves from others. Thus they don’t feel welcome in the church. They don’t feel the love of Jesus.

One reason why people won’t accept your witness is because you’re different. You say you’re different. We Christians are supposed to be different from the “world” that is: we are turning away from sin, while the world condones and even promotes sin.

Verily. But we are still people. We are still human.

“I am not asking you to take them out of this world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not part of this world any more than I am.” John 17:15, 16 [NLT]

We live “in” this world (planet earth, reality) but we are not “of” this world (in spirit, beliefs, intentions, viewpoints, practices etc…) Notice the prepositions. We must come to realize that Christ did not alienate himself to the world.

“…but emptied Himself (laid aside His privileges), taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of man. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:7, 8 [NASB]

He “lowered” himself. He became the son of a carpenter. He himself then became a carpenter. His greatest sacrifice next to the scorn and shame of the cross is surrendering the glory of heaven for the rags of humanity. One mistake we usually commit when conversing with unbelievers is approaching them as a “saint”; and believe me, an unbelievers’ definition of the word is the opposite of its actual meaning. They sometimes look at us like “holy cows”. Excuse the language, but its true! They think of Christians as holy “bullies” (that’s what I meant) who have come to condemn sinners and point out flaws. We are NOT “holy bullies”. Jesus himself condemned being a “holy bully”. The holy hypocrites of his day were the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and Christ rebuked them, even harshly!

Jesus Christ had fellowship with the commoner, the rejected, people labeled as sinners. He did not share with their sin, and we too must not. But he let them feel that he was there to help them in their distress. He is indeed a true friend who accepts us for who we are and not for what we have or do.

Shine Your Light

”You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16 [NIV]

The affirming factor in Jesus ministry and preaching was his deeds. He walked the talk. There was nothing in his teaching that he did not do himself. He knew his homework. Not only mentally, but in his whole being. This is what can make or break our witness for Christ.

Notice the ministry of Christ as presented in the Gospels, notice his preaching. He was not all-intellectual nor all-spiritual. Jesus also embarked on a ministry to help those in need. It is obvious that Christ did not only feed and quench spiritual hunger and thirst, but also did so literally.

“Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.” Matthew 4:23-25 [NIV]

Notice that it is our “deeds” that will cause people to glorify our father in heaven; to actually acknowledge the presence and the very existence of God. Natural, non-spiritual people want hard evidence just like the apostle Thomas. They want to see results! They want to see how Jesus works in the lives of those who claim to follow him. It’s unfortunate that what unbelievers see in us is hypocrisy and closed-mindedness, and that is what we should remove in the church. That is what we need to remove from ourselves. We don’t want to end up like Ananias and Sapphira, do we? We must let our actions speak to the lost word.

“Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.” 1 John 3:18  [NASB]

A Little Secrecy Won’t Hurt

Another thing that we see in the life of Jesus is this. He kept secrets. What secrets? We find instances in the Gospels where Jesus asks people to keep his most guarded secret. That he was the Messiah, the Son of God. Jesus kept an arsenal of secret weapons (heheh). Well, that doesn’t sound very nice but he did have a few tricks up his sleeve.

I am not about to tell people here that we need to deceive people for our witness to work. NO. Christ is against any kind of deception against others. What then were his secrets? First and foremost, was his secret prayer life. Among the twelve apostles only Peter, James, and John were privileged to accompany him during one of his prayer times. And if you know what happened, the three actually fell asleep. In Matthew chapter six, Jesus emphasized on doing somethings in secret; like giving to the poor, prayer and fasting. You may ask, how then will that serve as a witness? Well those two are different things; but one thing is clear: God rewards such “secret” acts. Secretly pray for your friend to whom you want to share Christ to. Secretly pray for the atheist next door. If you pray hard enough, I believe God will reward you accordingly. =)

Jesus didn’t teach with the intention of becoming famous. He didn’t heal people to become famous. He himself asked people at times to keep their healing a secret. He silenced demons who uttered about his true identity. He did not directly answer questions asking him if he is the Messiah. And he did not allow the apostles to proclaim what Peter had exclaimed:

“You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Matthew 16:16 [NASB]

He did not allow them to declare his true identity. Not yet. Not until the opportune time. Not until he suffered and was crucified. Not until he rose from the dead. Not until his claims of being God was justified by proof of his resurrection. The Bible tells us to “fix our eyes on Jesus”. To follow him. And I believe there is also a reason why we also have to keep our Christianity a secret for some period of time.

Dear Christian reader, I would like to clarify that I am not telling you to keep your Christianity a secret. We must declare Christ with the full strength of our being! We should not be ashamed of the gospel! It is how people are saved, by knowing and receiving Jesus! And like the saints before us we must take a stand even in persecution, shame or death!

But please notice that we are trying to learn from the Master, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ and the pattern of his life; on how to witness without words to non-spiritual people.

One thing I learned is that if you blatantly proclaim your faith too early in a relationship/conversation/engagement, you spoil the opportunity (how early is dependent on the situation). If you verbally reveal your belief in Jesus to a new acquaintance without actually establishing any sort of personal relationship beforehand, most probably you will end up being criticized. Not that you are scared of being criticized, but if you really want the person to come to Jesus, you must let him/her come to you first; to a person who follows Jesus Christ. He/she needs a physical, solid example to follow; just like the Mosaic law of the old testament to the Israelites : a physically, materially focused law, a shadow of the actual thing. Remember, they cannot determine the spiritual because they simply cannot. Sin is blocking out your verbal witness.

One example I could think of is the way Ruth came to be an ancestor of David. If you read the book of Ruth, you will see that she was just basically following Naomi. But it was through that “following” that she found herself taking refuge “under the wings of the Almighty God.”

You proclaim you are a Christian? Unbelievers care little about that. What they want to see is how you live your life and the results of your “godly” living. If you can “shine your light” in this way even without words, it is most likely that your verbal witness will bear significance when it reaches the ear of your hearers. They will have to respect you. Only the people with the hardest of hearts will not listen to you. But also remember that the hardest of stones can be shaped by constant drips of water. Genuine conversion to Christ doesn’t come easy. There will be times when you won’t be able to witness for yourself the fruit of your prayers and efforts.

“So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.” 1 Corinthians 3:7 [NASB]

Most importantly, pray about it and trust God to bring about the results. You just have to be patient and wait upon the “good, pleasing and perfect will of God, that happens in His time for the good of those who love Him.”

May God bless you and keep you.

Opportunity Beats Ability [Ecclesiastes 9:10, 11]

“Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going. I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:10, 11 [NASB]

A flippant adage says: “Practice makes perfect. But nobody’s perfect, so why practice?” But obviously, to the people of excellence, practice really makes one attain what is ideal, suited, and complete, ready for action.

When I watch videos on Youtube featuring extremely talented musicians, I just go “wow”. I play a few instruments myself, but not like the guys/girls you see on Youtube.

King Solomon advises us to do our best in everything that we do; here in this reality. Why? Though we know that we are just but passing through this lifetime we must do our best today because death is just around the corner; and while we’re dead there’s nothing to be done. No one’s gonna comment on how well you did playing an instrument, or how beautifully you sang, or how pretty/handsome you were during an occasion. No one’s going to compliment on your achievements here in this life like the way they do it here and now. Your not gonna get earthly rewards when you get to heaven. So try to get some now. (hehe) Why not? Life is not all about enjoyment, but God also blesses us in this earthly life for us to enjoy it too.

Remember to do your best, but don’t forget this one thing too: “Don’t be too hard on yourself.” There will be times in your life when you would say: “I wish I was good as…” It is true that we must strive to achieve what is ideal, but King Solomon also said that time and opportunity overtake ability. I play quite well on a few musical instruments but am not a master of any of them; and I am in an environment where I have not much time to practice (except if I didn’t sleep anymore, hehe). Others may have had better opportunities than you did. So don’t be jealous so as to be hard on yourself.

Do what you can do now in this life; be it in physical activity, study, or in practical, household matters, etc. Grab opportunities as soon as they come because you never know when its coming back, or if it’s ever coming back.

Wondering About Love

“Have you ever been in love?” a common question we hear all the time. But the fact that you winded up on this web page shows you may be looking for some answers about love. Or you may just be curious, or may just be looking for something interesting to read.

Love is a truth that cannot be denied to exist. It persists in our consciousness and is continually resounding throughout our life. And like death, it is a reality that everyone has to face. No one goes through life without loving.

We usually tend to isolate the word “love” in the context of personal relationships. Love is more than this, but yes, love is about relationship. It could refer to your relationship with another person, or with a pet, with a place, an item, anything. It is a connection, a familiarity between you and the object of your love.

But there are people who stop from understanding beyond this point, saying: “OK, I know that there is love, I wanna experience it too y’know?”. These are people who continue to dig deeper into relationships but fail or even refuse to understand what exists between their connection. Automatically assuming the “feeling” as “love”. Love is not merely a “sense” of connection, nor a mere process of the mind. It is an active, spontaneous, and continuous connection. And people often miss this part. Sometimes we get too excited, and overwhelmed with all the romance that we fail to evaluate the very fabric that constitutes the connection we claim as love. We get ahead of ourselves; only seeing the “good side” of our “love”, diving into the relationship but forgetting to ponder on what we really have for the object of our affection. Yes, affection; a liking. But love is not merely a sense of familiarity, nor merely a sense of warmth. Not merely of the active consciousness, nor merely of the sweeping emotion. Love is more than this.

Most people who ended up failing in love have either understood nothing about true love, and when I say “understood”, I mean a cognitive understanding. They must have taken little or no time to ponder on the reality of their thoughts or feelings; while others may have an “understanding” of it, but from a distorted, egotistic point of view; that seeks to gratify selfish interests of varying degrees.

Sometimes, or even most of the time, people tend to become “living zombies”, living life almost unconsciously without knowing the purpose of their life, understanding the meaning of their behavior and other such manners of unaware, and spiritually insensitive living. Sometimes, I do fall prey to this kind of living. And I sometimes get disappointed with myself. But because of this I realize that in order for us to live our lives more effectively, we must achieve a higher level of understanding about our self, a higher level of awareness/consciousness of our environment and our responses to this environment. And that includes our awareness of this reality that is love.

There are three characteristics I would like to discuss for us to consider in describing the idea of love.

First is that love is the consciousness of a need or sensitivity to a need, and the awareness that action must be taken to supply that need. Love cares. And it doesn’t just work for immediate, seen needs, but also for unseen ones. It could be a mother breastfeeding her child in her arms, or a father giving guidance and protection to the family: your daily efforts to make a living for your family, or a tight hug just when a loved one is about to give up on life. It may come to us in encouraging words, or in hurting disciplinary procedures. Love comes in different forms of supplying for the need of others: whether it is supplying food, clothing, education, discipline, or just the feeling of being there for the person. If the underlying cause for supplying a perceived need is being aware or sensitive to that need, and if the underlying motive is to provide for the well being of the person; then it is love. But before the action happens, it is birthed from the mind, the consciousness; a cognition. Love sensitively cares.

Second is that it is willing to provide for that need, even if it means loss for the person expressing love. A lot of people resort to a lot of different measures to express love. Say, for instance, how we express our love for ourselves: we eat, drink, sleep, groom, and entertain ourselves. These are natural drives, needs, and our consciousness is willing to provide for our physical drives, which come to show our love for ourselves; knowing that someone who loves little of himself does little for the welfare of the different aspects of his life, be it physical, mental, emotional, or social needs. That is the relationship of our consciousness to our whole being: directing love towards us. What about for other beings? Upon what do we direct our love? Whether it is someone, something or somewhere? What are the needs? Now the questions here are: “Am I willing to do this thing, in order that I may provide for that need?” “Do I have a voluntary spirit in doing so?” “Do I realize what it takes for me to provide this need?” “Do I really want to give up on something in order for me to gain for this love?” Love willingly shares. If the consciousness is willing, then it is love; which brings us to the third point.

Third is that love is able to endure whatever the cost for paying for that need, be it losing time, resources, even integrity, dignity or life itself; it dares to pay the price; and this is where things get different. Sometimes, we all view love as all strawberries and cream; but we all know that love (especially in personal relationships) is otherwise. And though we know that we may become hurt we continue to pursue love. But there is one thing I would like to point out here. Not all sacrifice made is out of love; and this is where we must be careful. Loving to the point of not loving yourself is for me, not love. There is no absolutely selfless love. There is always a balance here.

How could you know if you really love someone? If you can sacrifice everything that you have for him/her then, yes. This is a common response. But see; how do you know then that your love for him/her is true when you don’t even know how to love yourself? Try to think about this. What then is selfless love? It is setting aside yourself for a moment/s. Not totally discarding your whole self. We must avoid opposite extremes. Again, there is a balance here. And how that balance is, only you, the reader can know. Remember that love is two-way.

I myself experienced this in my life. I knew that I loved a person, and I was willing to act on that love, but there was something lacking, something wrong (I’m not about to divulge this experience here); and I’m glad I realized this. When you truly love, you can never, ever forget to love yourself at least for a moment. Many people have fallen prey to an unhealthy perception that love is sacrificing all of him/her self; they give up their families, their education, their future for what they thought at the time was “love”, only to find out the horrible truth that they just got manipulated into gratifying someone else’s needs, whether this was done unconsciously, or not. We know this happens. We may have fallen in a trap like this; or our friends; even our parents maybe. Love is not self-seeking, but self-denying; not self-forsaking but self-fulfilling. True. You may find these terms contradictory to each other, but make sure to look at the meanings. Love does not seek for the gain of ones’ self but rather sets aside selfish motives; but also, love does not totally discard the self, but rather, it fulfills it and makes it complete.

It may be time for us to pause for a while and maybe think and evaluate the love that we have. Is it really Love? Or is it just another emotion? Love definitely is not just an emotion, but an active statement of choice through the use of concrete expression. Not just a physical state, nor purely a mental decision, nor a spiritual destiny. I like the way the Greeks classified the four different kinds of love; it just shows that they really took time to try and understand the complexities of even one of the most elusive truths. They classified love as eros: physical, sexual attraction; storge: maternal/paternal love, blood relations; philia: love in the mind, friendship; and agape: brotherly and godly love. Love encompasses the totality of the person/s involved. It involves all of the aspects of the person’s life in individually varying degrees of involvement. Leave one aspect out and expect something wrong will happen.

You have the ability to love. Don’t waste your life by loving the wrong thing at the wrong place. at the wrong time with a wrong love. Well, I think there is no “wrong love”, because that anything would not be love at all in the first place. I just want people to think over carefully before doing anything drastic. Live and love!

Transform: More Than What Meets the Eye

Last Friday, I got to watch the Transformers movie again; and just got the urge to write a few things about altruism and stuff like that.

Some people scoff at the idea of altruism; who despise doing good and helping the weak, a view held by people who bend towards a “survival of the fittest” mentality. Though I have only met very few (very very few, and not so extreme) so far in my life, I do believe there are people out there who are like this. Well, I myself held to such a belief at one point in my life; but as I grow, I realize that life is not “only” about competition.

Optimus Prime was always a favorite character of mine from the Transformer series. He was the transformer with the altruistic tendencies. For me he resembled some reflection of “Bushido”. Underneath the metal hide and the fighting ability, Optimus had a soft spot for the humans. Some might consider this weakness, but it is actually a strength. It is the strength that allows such absorption, focus, vision and perseverance. It is the key to performing his duty to the utmost of his ability. And it is the force that drives him and binds his comrades toward the same goal. Is this a weakness? Definitely not. Being left alone though, especially in the middle of war definitely is.

“There is more than what meets the eye.” I don’t know if I got that right, but there is an essential truth in life that I recognize from this statement. King Solomon said, in Ecclesiastes chapter seven, verse eighteen: “It is good that you grasp one thing and also not let go of the other; for the one who fears God comes forth with both of them.” “Comes forth with both of them…” No man is entirely evil nor entirely good.

We should know that “all behavior has meaning“. There are reasons why people smoke, people drink, engage in premarital sex, steal, kill etc, etc…It’s not like I’m for evil deeds. But we must understand that there is always inherent good in a person. That’s one reason why Christ told us not to judge the behavior of others according to our owns standards, because it is only God who knows the ultimate motive of the person.

The main character in the movie Sam Whitwickey [?], would be classified as a wimp, but the circumstances turn him into something else. Both the main character and his lady became some other person by the end of the movie, or did they? They were still the same people, same person, but their inner potentials swelled out of their flawed facades. It is true that we Christians are totally different creations since we accepted Christ; that is, in the sight of God we are new “spiritual” creatures; we have now clothed on Christ. But in all reality, God did not literally create “a new creature” just as we are not literally “born again” as goes Nicodemus’ conversation with Jesus.

Therefore, Christians must realize that we are still the same person who stands before God. The same person he loved and loves to want him/her to enter into the kingdom of light. Not a mindless, brainwashed creature that does his will without any sort of choice, without any voluntary act springing from emotion, as some assume it to be. A creature without a brain.

But we are, continually being changed through the guidance of the Holy Spirit (that is he convicts us through the Scriptures of what we should do and helps us to understand what opportunities for growth awaits in trials and temptations, what we should change in our behavior etc…: for those of you who are a bit literal), continuously sustained by the love of God. We are being “built up into Him who is the head”. So that we may become “holy as He is holy”. To become a better person, for us to become more service-ready for the ministry given us; that is to reach out to the lost. We are to become “lights to the world”, “salt to the earth”, and without the transformation from tasteless to flavorful, from darkness to light, we are almost useless for ministry to the lost.

The transformation that God allows to happen in our daily life, in our behavior is the shedding of our “old skin”, exfoliating by the rough and tough circumstances in our life, allowing the “new creation”, the “new man”, the spiritually “changed” person to shine through, and ultimately overwhelm and replace the old.

So let’s not become judgmental and start pointing fingers at people, or make ourselves look so superior over others. Hypocrisy in religion is one of the main causes why people leave the church for atheism or agnosticism or why people don’t even come to church. The church is a group of sinners; sinners who have chosen to put their trust in God for the salvation of their souls. The person who looks damned and doomed today just might make it to heaven before you do if you’re just a hypocritical, lukewarm church- goer.

You have been warned!

A Difference In Life

This world in which we live in is so shrouded in darkness.  Our world is so full of crime. Every individual strives to be higher over the others who also envy those above them. The world is inhabited by those whose hearts are full of anger, sorrow, hatred, greed, slander, and such. The world is truly in chaos.

It is because of our human nature that we are such. We are greedy. We crave for things that are coated with the luster and sparkle of value and beauty, even if, such things are not ours. We were made to feel pain. But we were made to suffer pain and to seek deviation from it. We were made to make others feel the pain we suffer, so that, they too, will feel the same for us to be even or fair. We were made to hurt others like us, in search of the fulfillment it may bring, the fulfillment of disappointment, of misery, of discontent.

We were made to feel such emotions. God did make us such. He made us Perfect. He made us different from all His creation. He made us powerful. He made us to serve His will. But He gave us the gift of Choice. He loves us that unlike all other creation He gave us the freedom to choose to do good or evil.

Is it then God’s fault? NO. He loved us so much. And that is not wrong. In fact that was really a manifestation of love. It is not the serpent’s fault that Adam and Eve fell into his trap of eating the forbidden fruit.

God created us sinless, blameless, and innocent. But when Adam and Eve made a wrong and selfish choice, sin came into the life of man. But we cannot blame the nature of man for it was man’s choice that led him to sinning.

So whose fault is all this chaos, all this disorder? It is us who did the mistake, ourselves, Man.

Every single man has the choice to make a difference each day. It is his or her choice to stand up for the good. But it looks like; everyday no one makes the right decision. No one can. No man can ever make the perfect choice. We are all imperfect. [because sin has entered our life and has ruled over it, now we are all "short of the glory of God]

God made us stay imperfect [to realize our inadequacy to fulfill the law or to achieve godliness], because, He wanted us to acknowledge His presence in our lives. He wants us to be dependent upon Him [for life and salvation]. God was not selfish of doing so, because, He sent His only Son to redeem us from our sins, and give us again the right to be saved. He only wanted us to experience harshness. Because it is pain that strengthens a man. He wants us to be strong and firm. God wants us to be able to stand up for ourselves.

It is we who made a mistake. So it is our duty to work because of the forgiveness of our sins. But in every way, it is still our choice, that choice will determine a difference in your life and the life of others. It is our choice to continue on being evil, or change for the good. How will you make something new for the good? How will you change the course of this world? How will you make a difference in life so full of chaos? It is you who decides. It is your choice. So choose.

Black & White

Flowers bloom, petals fall

Flames burn hot, fires go cold

Children mature, mature grow old

Covers, curtains soon unfold

After dark comes daylight

And after daylight: night

The moon shines, then disappears

The night is bitter and the sun sears

Grass grows green, then golden

Garments new to olden

Swords wear out from straight to bent

So do the bits and pieces turn ancient

Walls of stone crumble to dust

Works and wonders: part of past

Feasts of fresh food suit stale

Firm bodies soon befall frail

I speak with paper, ink, and quill

I say: someday I will fall ill

From one to another, and another again

From plain to tainted, from tainted to plain

The day will end, the dark will conceal

Then after daylight will reveal

Our sun rises, our sun falls

Our sun soon rises after all

For everything under our sun

Fear but come, but soon will shun

After greetings, farewells come

But soon the farewells will be gone

So don’t be sad, for happiness is just around

Seek for little blessings that abound

For this world is a world of color

A world of Black and White…

God, Gaia and Garbage

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God created the earth and everything in it; land, water, air, plants, animals, people. Everything that exists-He created, is the author of, and the rightful master of it.

This world, this earth-“Gaia”, or more popularly, “mother nature” is a creation of God. God created nature perfect in itself; everything working in harmony, with each certain creature having a purpose of its own: perfect in its heavenly assignment. God created nature to withhold the elements essential for life and its maintenance; to provide for man’s needs, who is His ultimate masterpiece.

The earth is the only planet so far among others that readily has supported and perfectly supports life. It is not too near to the sun to scorch its inhabitants; not too far to provide light and energy. The earth is placed in such an awesome way. Just think of the numerous things that arise from its divine architecture; the existence of night and day, the occurrence of seasons, climate and weather, the wind and rain, and many more! But enough with that. Time is not enough to fully explain the perfection of this wonder of God. All I know is that I have to thank God for this earth that He made for us all and appreciate the beauty of it.

But as we all know, man has sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But do you know that it is not only our relationship with God that has been destroyed? But we had also destroyed His creation.

As men progressed and amassed more knowledge; as men learned to make machines and products that improved his way of life, men began to rely on his own ingenuity to solve problems and construct, assemble and formulate a lot of things that gave him convenience and comfort; things that made his life and work easier. This is not bad. In fact it is good. But in my opinion, this has caused man to forget his Creator. Man has forgotten to pray because he knows that he can help himself, because he thinks he can do everything (because he knows a lot and has become intelligent). He has grown proud; arrogant of his own achievement.

But we see that man cannot compare to God. For God creates without anything and creates purity and perfection; whilst man cannot create from nothing. Also, man has been creating a lot of bi-products; most of these are garbage.

Electricity comes at the price of combustion of coal and other fuels. Vehicles generate smoke. Products and consumables packed in plastic generate non-biodegradable garbage. Canned goods contain preservatives that are detrimental to health. We have just reached the point of global warming caused by harmful levels of carbon dioxide in the air. Just look around you and see what man has done.

The days are cruel. The knowledge of man has ultimately created smoke, garbage, poison-pollution to sum it up; destruction to God’s creation. Have you asked why the more typhoons? Why the more hurricanes? Why the more floods? Why the more rising sea level? Why drastic weather and climate change? Why global warming? Why the more earthquakes? Why do people have to ask-“What have we done to deserve death and suffering?”, when the answer is right before their eyes? Why the more food shortage? Why the more drought? Why economic crisis?  Why endangered and extinct species? Why more epidemics and diseases? Why cancer? Why lost homes, broken families and suicides? Why more global dissension? Why war over weapons superiority? Why death?

Why ask these things if the answer is just a look at the mirror? Yes. The reason is us ourselves. Man has created more garbage than he can handle. Not only has he filled the earth with garbage, but also his heart, his mind, and his body. Man has created garbage that there might even come a time that we would drown in garbage before the land even sinks from the rising sea level due to global warming. And that is if we are still alive from the garbage that we load into our bodies with cigarettes, intoxicating drinks, drugs, pesticides, inorganic fertilizers and preservatives. And that is also if we haven’t committed suicide because of the garbage loaded into our hearts and minds; if we haven’t wasted our bodies into immorality; if we haven’t destroyed our sanity with confusion and with the devastating experiences that this cruel and violent world brings about.

We know that God is able to purify and sanctify; He is able to clean the world of its filthiness. But God works through His people. So the next time you see a piece of garbage while walking, care to pick it up to the trash can. The next time you finish that pack of snacks, take your wraps for recycling. See the garbage around you and try to clean up the mess that we made; even in your little, simple way- And not only the physical garbage, but the emotional, mental, and spiritual garbage that pollutes our lives and of others.

God is holy- therefore we must also be holy in all aspects of our life. And where God’s people live, I believe: there should be a cleaner, greener, and better place that would exist for everybody.

Thoughts on Children

Every child has the right to live. Every child has the right to be educated, loved, and cared for. Every child has a right to play, and learn. Every child has to be fed and nourished not only physically, but mentally, and spiritually. But are these followed, observed and done in faith?

Thousands of Filipinos live everyday under the heat of the sun working hard for a living. Among these live children, children who work for a living, children of the streets who work everyday to earn a piece of bread or a drink. And after a days work, the Filipino child lays down on the street without a pillow or a blanket to shield him from the cold. The child who is protected by rights and bombarded with privileges is a child who lurks in the dark, breathing the soothing air of rugby, or of “shabu”. The child is a child who is full of bruises and scars and scratches and wounds, not only of the body, but of the mind and soul.

Is this the child the law speaks of? Is this the child of dreams? Is this the child of his mother or father? Is this the child of the nation? Is this the hope of the future? The child who should be cared for is hurt and destroyed. The child of dreams is shattered and ruined. The child who should be educated and nourished is hungry and scorched under the heat of the sun.

No one realizes their mistakes. No one accepts their faults. No one humbles down to the presence of the child. The old show wrong to the child but they deny their mistake. For them, the child is a toy, a trophy, a puppet. For them the child is but a monument of manhood. For them the child is nothing but something to command and play with. No one realizes the power of a child’s mind.

Only but few truly care for their child, not only to their own, but also to the others. The parent who realizes the importance and wisdom of the child is worthy of a child. Only, few are worthy of a child. For many are blinded by the pride of their age. The bible says that wisdom is attributed to age. It is but pure truth. But for me, an irony is also mentioned. “The minds of the wise have been developed by time”. But “The mind of the child is pure and innocent, honest and without corruption”.  The mind of the old can be corrupted and tainted by his’ own desire and pride. But he who is a child is incorruptible, malice less, clean, and truthful. The bible asks of Christians to be like children, who are pure. Only the wisest can understand the words of a child.