Loving Jesus who never leaves

Psalm 21:6 For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence.

Yes, Jesus. The joy of Your presence! When I can sense You're near, I love it. I just do. Like right now as I write this. I know You are reading it over my shoulder, knowing already the words I am struggling to put down on paper, the words in my heart. I want to tell You I love You. I love Your presence in my life. It's what makes life worth living, You being near. Immanuel.

John 7:38 Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, "Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

Your rivers, Your flow. In the flow. In the zone. How wonderful that is. To be full of Your Spirit, to flow in Your Spirit. What a beautiful metaphor. God, I wish to experience this, and then know that hey, this, this is from God. This is God's work. Not me, not my craft (maybe helped a bit by my craft--no excuses for laziness here) but I want to be sure.

Maybe last Saturday was a clue. How when I first stepped into ISACC in July I knew you foreshadowed I would perform Ang Bagong Dating for Dra Maggay and the rest of the crew. And how last Saturday, during their 38th Anniversary, when you whispered that that would be the day, and I better start recalling the lines in my head, when I stood up, I was in the flow, encouraged by the audience, and just riding Your energy.

Psalm 103:11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear Him.

This I shall keep in mind, Lord Jesus, as enemies threaten me. You are my Strong Tower, my Battle Shield. You are whom I choose to obey and run to. I love You, Jesus. I love You.

Promises

Romans 8:38-39. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Joshua 1:5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.

Isaiah 49:15 Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

These verses were from the 1-August entry of Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, which I have on a whim decided to begin reading this month. I'll end 31-July next year thereabouts. I quoted the verses above in ESV.

After reading that entry I only had one thought, which I expressed to God in prayer. I thought that the only way I could "test" these promises of God is if difficulties come. Then I'll know that God's love is closer to me than my skin, that He will never leave me, and will never forget me.

And sure enough, an enemy from the past rose from the grave and uttered threats. That didn't rattle me much, as I found my peace in Jesus. Just Jesus. But now my daughter is ill, too, and I missed work today for her. She was resistant to gargling Bactidol, which she needed for her throat, and she prayed and prayed and prayed for the courage to gargle the "bad-tasting thing without puking." I may need to pray for courage, too.

Thank You, God, for a battlefield in life right now, where I know You will keep Your promises. I trust in You. This time, I choose to trust in You.

So, the PH wins over China. Now what?

If you haven't yet heard, the Philippines won her case against China on disputed Spratly Islands. Read the story here. Now what is a Christian supposed to do?

If you have considered Beijing as our enemies, then we are obliged to pray and love the Chinese people. Also, we must remember that countless Chinese are Christians, and our fellow brothers and sisters in the faith. They are mostly persecuted, and we must love them and support them.

We must pray that any missionary trip or evangelization activities of Philippine churches to minister to the Chinese people prosper, and that this arbitration does not affect our relationship with our Chinese brethren.

We must pray for peace, that China will not choose to declare war, but to submit to international law. We must remain humble. This win may be on historical merits, but we must see that the hand of God is in this, and we must be thankful. We are merely stewards of these islands, and we must ask God how to prosper them.

Sparrow

Friends,

There was a job fair in the city, about two hours from where I live, and I went there two days ago. They were accommodating and promising, and when they said I'll hear from them "tomorrow" (meaning, yesterday) and they didn't, well, I just prayed for God's will.

The sparrow always has been to me a symbol of God's providence, because of Jesus' sayings that birds don't worry about food because God in Heaven feeds them.

Three days ago, late afternoon, I found a sparrow hopping on the ground, not flying, just going from one potted plant to another. I didn't think much about it, and Dana was delighted to watch it, until to our horror we saw it hopping towards the gate. We feared if it gets out it might get run over, or be caught by an alley cat!

After several attempts I managed to get it gently in my hands, and then I realized it was too young, it cannot fly, the tail is too short. I put her in a birdcage. Dana was ecstatic. A pet! A pet! "What shall we call him?"

Maya is the Filipino word for sparrow, but Dana liked "Sparrow" so Sparrow it is.

We bought birdseed the next day and realized it was too young to eat it. Since Sparrow arrived into our lives, we noticed more birds have settled in the trees. Ah! They must be Sparrow's parents or family, looking for him. True enough, there'd be one adult sparrow who would get some bird seed, then put it in Sparrow's open mouth.

I thought if I got that day job I might feel like that sparrow in the cage, trapped, unable to have time for my art, for writing, for rehearsals and shows. I expect a bigger bird (the company, my employer) to feed me. I felt a pang of despair.

Dana knew that in a week's time, when Sparrow is better we'll set him free. We've made some attempts of letting him out of his cage, but still he couldn't fly.

Earlier tonight while I was at my desk and Dana was doing homework we heard the cage crash. I rushed outside and found a cat poised to strike. I quickly shooed it away. Poor terrified bird. The cage was upside down, the gate was open, the cat could have easily reached inside! Dana was inconsolable for a bit. She thought she had lost her pet!

I replaced the cage on a table outside, and surrounded it with boxes. Then I placed things that would make a clattering noise against the boxes: umbrellas, hangers, sticks... should a cat try to make another pounce. Can I blame the cat? Mother Nature intended cats to be predators, and they're very good ones at that. I left a bowl of food for the cat in case it returns.

Sparrow may not understand why we keep him caged right now, but when his wings are better, we'll let him free. Jesus said, "You are even more precious to God than a beautiful bird. If God looks after them, of course He will look after you."

More about being God's image-bearer

I now begin to define sin as anything that maligns, destroys, goes against, and attacks God's image in a person. I think anything that does not treat another human being with the dignity of being created in God's image and likeness is a sin against that person and their Maker.

Here's another fascinating story from Standing through the Storm.

In China, a Christian woman was in charge of security at a coal mine. The woman suddenly felt the Holy Spirit urging her to pull the alarm lever, even though there was no apparent reason to do so. Although everything seemed quiet and normal, she obeyed the prompting within her. The whole mine was evacuated as a result of the alarm sounding, but when all the men had assembled on the surface, it seemed as if a huge mistake had been made. Just moments later, the ground beneath their feet shook and a large section of the mine collapsed from an earthquake.

Because of this sister's sensitivity and willingness to obey God's Holy Spirit, everyone's lives had been saved. In addition, 400 of the miners surrendered their lives to Christ after recognizing that God had miraculously saved them from death.

Now, I will confess something to you, friends. I am thinking whether to get a call center job or keep on as a novelist. I have consulted the Bible, the tarot, my own logic, but not the Holy Spirit. I will do so now.

photo credit ThoutCatalog.Files.wordpress.com

In step with the Spirit

I subscribe to Open Doors devotional called Standing through the Storm and I want to share an article from their archives with you today.

Two days ago I read John chapter three, and verse 8 made me wrinkle my nose. "The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God.

I asked, "God, I want to have life in Your Spirit. But I do not know what it means." I was ready to settle with having no answers. After all, maybe a true life in the Spirit is not something to be grasped intellectually, but experienced. God may have given me an answer through the SSTS essay called "In step with the Spirit". Here it goes.

Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25

Jesus said He would not leave us alone but would give us a Helper to be with us forever (John 14:16-18). He taught us that the Holy Spirit would be our Counselor (John 14:26). Jesus also called Him the Spirit of Truth (John 14:17).

Two sisters in southern China came to Christ in a house church meeting. Twenty months later a friend from Hong Kong visited them and asked what they had been doing since their conversion. "Starting home meetings," was their timid response.

"How many home meetings?"

"Only 30," was their halting reply.

"How many attend your meetings?" was the next nonchalant question.

"Well, at the smallest one, about 280!"

Now the questioner was totally involved and quickly continued, "How many attend your largest meeting?"

"Not even 5000, only about 4,900!"

The Hong Kong Christian was flabbergasted. In his excitement he quickly asked, "How do you ladies—both new Christians—know what to do?"

They simply replied, "We pray. And after we pray, the Holy Spirit tells us what to do!"

It is also obvious that these two ladies were then obedient to the Holy Spirit's direction. The goal of all Christians should be to live so completely under the control of the Holy Spirit that it can be said we are walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25). As Paul reminded the Galatian Christians, they began their Christian lives by a miracle work of God, new birth in Jesus, and they could only expect to continue in it by God's power. This fact is even more evident in a hostile environment.

Response
The Holy Spirit wants to be my guide and counselor today. I will be obedient to His leading.

Prayer
Lord, help me to walk this day in the power of Your Holy Spirit. May I also keep in step!

And so perhaps I have my answer from two Chinese sisters whom I may never meet on this earth. Pray, and the Holy Spirit tells us what to do.

God's image and likeness

I am attending Word@Work at ISACC. I encourage all to attend it. It's a great class! We began last Saturday, but it's not too late to join in. Here's the deets:

Something new learned were the original Hebrew for the phrases "made in God's image" and "in God's likeness" repeated in Genesis 5. "When God created humans, He made them in His own likeness."

In God's image means spitting image, carbon copy, exact replica, mirror image. And in God's likeness means showing undisputable family resemblance. Ha! So the next time I am tempted to treat my neighbor with less respect and dignity, I need to remember that all humans were created in God's image, and I better think twice about my attitude.

I wonder what Enoch did to have had such a close and intimate relationship with God. But that is the wrong question. I can make an entire religion out of the answers I would devise for that question. What Enoch and God had was their own special thing. But I can develop my own close and intimate relationship with God--the Rico and God way. For me, it's always prayer in the form of writing, and acting on stage. It is the practice of the gifts He has given me. What's yours?

photo credit SamJTanner.com

The heart of the Gospel message

John 3

16 For God expressed his love for the world in this way: He gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life.

17 Here's the point. God didn't send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

18 No one who believes in Him has to fear condemnation, yet condemnation is already the reality for everyone who refuses to believe because they reject the name of the only Son of God.

19 Why does God allow for judgment and condemnation? Because the Light, sent from God, pierced through the world's darkness to expose ill motives, hatred, gossip, greed, violence, and the like. Still some people preferred the darkness over the light because their actions were dark.

20 Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes.

21 Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.

Jesus spoke with a fundamentalist

I find it astounding that Nicodemus, a Pharisee, was welcomed by Jesus, even when he needed to meet with Him at night. Nicodemus was a fundamentalist, to use our post-Reformation label, one who is well-versed with legalism, and who's failing at fulfilling the Law. And Jesus said this: "You must be born again." Say that to a fundamentalist today and they might fume. "I am a Born Again Protestant!"

I am glad Nicodemus responded otherwise. He asked Jesus to clarify. "How can I be born again?"

Jesus' reply to me was cryptic. "The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God."

I cannot begin to understand what that means, but I think that's the whole point. Once I feel I have grasped it, understood it logically, then I have lost it. It is the wind. It goes where it does. Life in the Spirit, this new Life we are born again into, is a constant Second Circle connection to the Spirit's Presence, and a moment-to-moment obedience to His Will. It is, by its very nature, unpredictable.

I think we evangelicals have missed the message somehow. We thought we needed to be born again so we can be ensured of going to heaven when we die. Isn't that what John 3:16 promises? Yes, but there's more than that. It's not just life hereafter. It's life here and now.

We need to be born into the Spirit so we can belong to the kingdom of God, or as I like to think of it, under the kingship, rule, and authority of God. We are positionally placed into His rulership, His dominion, and we become subjects to the Sovereign King whose will is fulfilled. It is a transference from the world's darkness into the Light. No more hiding in the buses like our parents Adam and Eve did.

"Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God" (John 3:21).

God, I want to be born of the Spirit. Please, Jesus, I want this life that You offer.

photo credit KingOfWallpapers.com

First three hours of the day

This is obviously an oversimplification, but practices I learned from three books: The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, and Becoming A Writer by Dorothea Brande have helped me device my own morning rituals. I think of the first three hours as a sacred offering to God. One hour of morning writing. One hour of yoga. One hour of silent meditation.

The problem is, I switch on Facebook or check e-mail, and then I'm lost in the sea of social media.

I intend to change this pattern and stick to my regimen of worship. I think this is akin to Cain's offering. If I don't give God my first hours, the best of my day, then it's a mediocre offering. It's leftovers. It's nothing special. And God may have no regard for my stale worship.

"Don't you know that as long as you do what is right, then I accept you? But if you do not do what is right, watch out, because sin is crouching at the door, ready to pounce on you! You must master it before it masters you" (Genesis 4:7).

Note to self: Rico, it is no use to be envious of God's favor on others. It is no use to be consumed by jealousy. Imust come clean before God.

When Seth was born, the people began to call on the Eternal and worship Him. This is in stark contrast to Cain, who was banished from the Presence of God. I have a choice now: to worship God, or turn my back on His Presence. Always, there's a choice.

Here's a famous quote from Lord Byron: "The water met its Master and it blushed."

John 2:5 Mary turned to the servants. "Do whatever my son tells you."

What is Mary's Son telling you to do today? His true servants will obey His every will, for He seeks to turn your wash water into delectable wine. He seeks to blossom your faith.

The blessing of physical death

I happened upon this thought after reading Interview with the Vampire, a novel by Anne Rice. In the book (if you haven't read it, please do!) a grieving plantation owner is turned into a vampire and given immortal life. Now he bears his pains and memories forever.

I realized that death in itself is a blessing. It is a painful experience losing a loved one. I do not mean to diminish that. And with the recent events at Orlando, and Syria, and really anywhere in the world, death is unwelcome, an aberration, an interruption from what makes sense.

But some people do long for death after a long, laborious life on this earth. And it is with death that we leave this body and enter Eternity.

Life is a blessing. Death can be a blessing, too. After all, the death of Jesus on the cross was the greatest blessing to mankind. That, and His Resurrection! Life!

The sound of God

"When I heard the sound of You coming in the garden, I was afraid because I am naked. So I hid from You," Adam said in Genesis 3:10.

What once was a sound that gave a thrill: "My Maker is coming! Love is here! Eternal God who breathed into my nostrils and gave me my life, He is here!" has become one that brings terror.

I remember times when I sin and I felt afraid of God, shrinking in shame. I also remember times when I actually did not feel any shame, but more a brazenness, knowing that my heart had become calloused with sin and not giving a care at all. Eitherway, God's heart is broken when I sin. And Jesus' body was broken because of my sin.

God gave His Son, Eve's Offspring, as the promise for our salvation. And God killed an animal--foreshadowing the death of Eve's Offspring, the perfect Lamb of God, to clothe Adam and Eve with its hide.

Forbidden fruit at the centre of the garden

I theorize that the reason the tree that gives knowledge to good and evil, with its forbidden fruit, is in the center of the Garden east of Eden, is that any point of decision where we either obey or disobey God is made from the center of our hearts, our soul or being.

God takes it seriously when we choose to obey or not obey Him. I don't think it was an accident that the tree was in the middle of the Garden.

This teaches me that the next time I make a decision to yield to temptation, or to obey God's Word, that God is with me in the center of my heart, and I can make the right decision by the power of His Spirit. More importantly, that these decisions should be made from my Centre, where my Awareness and Presence springs from.

Unlike Jesus

John said, "From beginning to end, Jesus' days were marked by his love for His people." God, I am not like that. I hope you can change me to be like You.

I now assert that since God commanded me to love Him and to love my wife, Veck, anything I think, say or do that is not loving to either God or Veck is sin.

I am thinking of Abram, when You called him to be uprooted and be transplanted to a different land. He obeyed You without hesitation, no matter how difficult Your command was. And when You blessed him and his descendants forever he built You an altar.

All commands are to be turned to obedience. All blessings are to be turned to worship. And if my voice and body are Your temple, then my pen and paper is the altar I shall worship You on.

God, thank You for loving me from beginning to end.

Don't be afraid. Just have faith.

Every day, I receive a devotional via email. Mostly I breeze through it and click delete. But here's a series from Faith Gateway that I fully loved and thought to share. The reason I love this series is that it causes me to think deeply, and touches me to the core. I forget about religion and obligation and having to offer a sacrifice pleasing to God. What descends upon me is the knowledge that God loves me, and that compels me to reach out to Him, too.

I used to pray to God for absolutely anything and everything. Like a child in a long car ride talking to his parent about all sorts of memories, sights seen along the road, anticipations! I remember Dana on out-of-town trips to Baguio and she would talk almost incessantly! I enjoy those moments, and her openness in speaking her heart to me, and I realize that is how I was with God when I was a younger Christian. What changed? Why did I suddenly stop talking to God about anything?

I suspect it's the many disappointments in life, the many unanswered prayers, many times my heart has been broken. But I realize now, even in those times and about those times, I can talk to God. So here's the devotional...

This is excerpted with permission from Me Too by Jon Weece, copyright Jon Weece. Published by Nelson Books, an imprint of Thomas Nelson.

Ever felt desperate? Ever been in a situation in life when you were totally and completely helpless and you didn’t know what to do or who to turn to?

I have a friend whose son was murdered. The son stood up for a boy who was being picked on by a group of bullies, and the bullies killed him for standing up for the weaker kid. The bullies were from families that were politically well-connected, and no charges were filed against them. It was one of the most difficult funerals I’ve ever had to preach because the room was filled with anger and confusion and pain.

Friends and family members were desperate. They didn’t know what to do with what they were feeling.

“We trust Jesus,” were the words I heard the mom say over and over again. “Only Jesus can help us get through this.”

Jesus was approached by a dad whose daughter was sick and needed help. The dad’s name was Jairus, and like me, he was a preacher.

Jairus came and fell down before Jesus, pleading with him to heal his daughter. “My little daughter is dying,” he said in desperation. “Please come and lay Your hands on her; heal her so she can live” (Mark 5:22 NLT).

I recently walked into the home of a family whose college-age daughter had taken her life. Pain and shock don’t even begin to describe the emotional climate of that moment. It was sheer desperation. One family member hyperventilated and passed out upon receiving the news.

That family didn’t need me. They needed Jesus. They needed a power greater and bigger and stronger than themselves.

That’s why I love this little line in Jairus’s story:

Jesus went with him. — Mark 5:24 NLT

In the same way that Jesus walked with Jairus, He will walk with the family in our church who lost their daughter. He will walk with you too.

It doesn’t matter if Jesus is your first option or your last option; if you want help, Jesus wants to help you.

I keep a picture of a seven-year-old girl with cancer in my prayer journal. The photo won a prestigious award for photography a few years ago. The picture shows her looking in the mirror, and in her reflection she has drawn a head of hair. The radiation and chemo that robbed her of her beautiful hair were replaced by a vivid imagination, and an equally avid hope that her hair would soon return.

I keep it where I can see it because it reminds me that all of us need help. All of us have something in our lives that we wish we could change. All of us have a challenge requiring a power greater than our own. But all too often we’re afraid to ask for help because we’re afraid to admit that we need help.

As Jesus walked with Jairus to his house, some friends of Jairus showed up and let him know that his daughter had died.

“Why bother the teacher anymore?” they said (Mark 5:35 NIV).

Why bother?

Have you ever thought that?

I’m so out of shape, why bother eating right and exercising now? My marriage is so far gone, why bother going to counseling now? I am so far in debt, why bother putting a budget in place now?

Or students, maybe you’re thinking, Why bother staying pure when all my friends are messing around sexually and making fun of me for guarding my virginity?

Why bother?

I have some friends whose two-year-old daughter, Olivia, has an inoperable brain tumor. They were recently told there was nothing medical science could do for her. They sent her home to die. I talked with Olivia’s dad about the decision.

“Her life with Jesus really will be better than her life with us,” he said over the phone. “But that doesn’t make it any easier to accept that we won’t get to see her grow up.”

As a dad, my heart broke when I heard that.

Olivia’s dad was tired, so I decided to bother Jesus on his behalf. And here’s why: Jesus ignored their comments and said to Jairus,

Don’t be afraid. Just have faith. — Mark 5:36 NLT

Sometimes we need to follow Jesus’ example and ignore the doubts of those around us. Jesus can do things that no one else can do, but that is hard to believe when pain surrounds us on all sides. It’s also hard to believe because we’re surrounded by other people who can also do amazing things.

Jesus walked into the bedroom of a little girl who was dead and did something that no one else in the course of human history has ever been able to do.

Holding her hand, he said to her, ‘Talitha koum,’ which means ‘Little girl, get up!’ And the girl, who was twelve years old, immediately stood up and walked around!” — Mark 5:41-42 NLT

Raising someone from the dead defies all explanation. Jesus is in a category all to Himself, and that’s exactly why we need to bother Him. It’s why we need to tap Him on the shoulder and ask for help. It’s why we need to put our faith in Him.

Faith is used as a noun 243 times in the New Testament. Faith is used as a verb 243 times in the New Testament. What does that tell us? It tells us that faith is equally about what we believe and what we do with what we believe.

If what I believe about Jesus doesn’t translate into how I live, then what’s the point? Belief has to affect behavior for it to be faith. Jairus believed Jesus could heal his daughter, so he asked Jesus to heal his daughter. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain by trusting Jesus to do what no one else can do.

My good friend Jud has practiced medicine for more than thirty years, and he said the legal definition for death is the cessation of all brain function, which is irreversible.

The key word is irreversible. What makes everything that we consider impossible to be possible with Jesus is his ability to reverse the irreversible.

And I haven’t mentioned it yet, but on the way to raise this twelve-year-old girl from the dead, Jesus healed a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. One woman’s blood stopped, but another woman’s bleeding wouldn’t stop. One was rich and one was poor. One had everything to lose and the other had nothing to lose. What Mark is trying to help us see by comparing and contrasting these two women is that Jesus doesn’t discriminate. Educated or uneducated, rich or poor, young or old, male or female — all Jesus sees when He looks at us is our need, and what He wants us to see when we look at Him is His ability to meet that need.

Jesus can do what no one else can do.

Augustine once said, “Miracles are not in contradiction to nature. They are only in contradiction with what we know of nature.” Jesus not only created the natural world we live in. He also controls it.

In the natural world, people want to limit conversations to facts. The fact is this little girl was dead. But another equally valid fact is that Jesus raised her from the dead. He also raised Himself from the dead.

So what do we do with Jesus? Seriously, what do we do with someone like Jesus who seems to be a self-contained source of unlimited power?

I think there’s only one thing to do.

Trust Him.

I remember praying for my dad to be healed from cancer, and I remember the moment he died. My oldest brother said, “God answered our prayers.” Though I wanted to keep my dad around, I knew the greater miracle wasn’t the fact that God could heal him of cancer, but that God could raise him from the dead.

So I’m doing what I did before my dad died.

I’m trusting Jesus.

One of the reasons I trust Jesus is because of what he did for the little girl after he raised her from the dead:

He told them to give her something to eat. — Mark 5:43 NLT

Being dead will make you hungry.

What this little detail in the narrative tells me is that Jesus really cared about her. Her growling stomach mattered as much to Him as her beating heart. And when everyone tried to direct all the attention toward Jesus, He immediately redirected it toward the little girl. I’m drawn to His humility as much as I am His power, and it makes me trust Him and love Him even more.

If you’ve reached a point of desperation in your life, can I encourage you to trust Jesus? If you feel as though you’re facing something that is impossible to get past, can I encourage you to trust Jesus? If you’ve said “Why bother?” in recent weeks, can I encourage you to trust Jesus enough to bother Him?

Tap Him on the shoulder and ask for help.

It does sound like myth

We all love myths. Mythology has always been a very important part of a culture or society. The stories we tell ourselves become the truths we live by. I believe in the power of myths.

But when we talk about the Bible, we uphold it as the Word of God. Being so, do we elevate its narratives above other socio-cultural myths? Is it historically factual? Scientific? Many stronger minds than mine like archaeologists and historians have proven the veracity of the Holy Bible. And yet…

When it comes to the story of the Great Flood, I go, hm… For one, it is not unique. Other cultures have myths about a worldwide cataclysmic flood that wiped out living things, except for a man and his family. Is the Hebrew version of this myth Noah?

See. I have no doubt that a Flood could occur. It’s the animals that got me into a confusion. A pair of every specie? There’s not one specie of snakes. There’s thousands! Same with spiders, and wild cats. And talk about dog breeds! How did Noah travel to the North Pole to save the polar bears, and then to the South Pole for the penguins? It is just too fantastical for me.

Let me apply my imagination. The ark is huge. But it has to have some limitation to the load it could carry. Could it be that after the Flood God let evolution happen, so that from a number of species (experts estimate 45,000 animals) that could fit a boat, we now have countless throughout the earth? Even now biologists are discovering new species of insects and mammals. Could they have been represented in the Ark, too?

And Noah! Why bring alone pesky rats, dirty cockroaches, and termites! You had that chance to keep the Bubonic plague from wiping out Europe…if you didn’t let Mr and Mrs Rat on the boat! And roaches! How I hate roaches!

Now, nothing is impossible with God. He could have caused the animals all over the world to converge and meet Noah where he was…a sort of fauna parade. Maybe He did allow the number of species to exponentially grow as the animals stepped off the ark to refill the earth. But then, there’s mention of a raven and a dove in the Ark. Does that mean these animals never evolved after thousands of years?

But one thing washes away all these doubts of mine until they recede to nothingness: Jesus’ attitude towards the Flood. He mentions the flood and Noah as actual an historical event and person. He should know. He was there. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh.

Jesus is an eyewitness to the Flood, and being Himself God and Creator, must’ve taken care of Noah, his family, and all the land animals and birds. Jesus could stop storms. He must be able to cause heavy rains and floods, too.

Sometimes the details of life flood us and overwhelm us. Years ago, an ex-landlady refused to give back our deposit to the apartment we once rented, not until she has spent it all on remodelling. She is greedy. I do not enjoy talking to her to ask for the money back and what’s fair.

But in a thousand years in eternity, will it matter that I got what’s fair in this? Or that I relied on my ever-Present Jesus in this situation and behaved as would please Him? I set my priorities straight now: I’d rather worship Jesus than fight tooth and nail for five thousand pesos.

In the Hebrew myth of Creation

In the Hebrew myth of Creation, the God Elohim creates everything in six days. He creates everything with the power of His Word. He speaks, "Let there be.." and things come into being.

Yet in spite of Elohim’s limitless power, He took six days to complete all of Creation. The whole Universe could have come into being just on the first day of the Beginning. But that was not how God created.

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was brooding over the face of the waters."

We creatives have much to learn from God Elohim. Even though He could have created everything perfectly in one go, He didn’t. He practiced temperance. So much so in fact, that His first attempt at earth was without form and an empty waste. The Perfect God is not perfectionist, nor stringent on His creativity.

Then He took the rest of the six days of the week building up on that base of formlessness and waste. And from all that chaos, He created the wild beauty of Creation.

As creatives, we must follow God’s lead. We must be willing to simply start creating. We must not demand that our first attempt at art be a masterpiece, or exceptionally good, or assured of favorable reception. We must be willing to churn out "waste" and build our art on that.

One way to do this is to wake up earlier than usual, and in that foggy state of mind between sleepy-headedness and wakefulness, just pick up a pen and write. Write about everything and anything that goes through your mind. Write through that formlessness and waste. Write it all down. This is the practice taught by Dorothea Brande in her book Becoming A Writer. Do this practice every day and you will become more creative.

Isaiah 45:18 says, "For thus says the LORD–Who created the heavens, God Himself, Who formed the earth and made it, Who established it and did not create it to be a worthless waste; He formed it to be inhabited–"I AM the LORD, and there is no one else."

God had a purpose for the base of waste. He wanted to make the earth habitable and teeming with life. So, it’s okay to have a purpose to work toward for your art. You want to breathe life into it. You want it to teem with vitality. You begin humbly, and keep working at it with God’s help.

One more thing we must remember from God Elohim. "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. That is why the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:11).

So work on your craft every day, but make sure you take a break once a week. Make that your Sabbath day, and scheduled an artist date with God instead.

Happy Hearts Day, and a note on doubt

And now here creeps in doubt.

Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing God let innocent mankind be tempted and not step in? I mean, why didn’t he keep the serpent far away? When God banished the rebel angels, why did He let them choose earth as their temporary base? There’s more than one planet in this solar system, and infinitely more in the entire Universe, why let the devil inside the Paradise Garden?

Doubt # 2: why didn’t God intervene when Cain murdered Abel? I thought Abel found favor in his sight? He had all the power to protect Abel, but God didn’t. In fact, all God had was a piece of advice to Cain, who was at that moment psychotically losing his mind. God said, "Sin crouches at your door. Its desire is for you, but you must master it." Question, could not Cain use some help from God in mastering encroaching sin? How about me? When sin crouches on my door, can I count on God for help?

This finally opens the dam of many doubts I have. Why I find it hard to completely trust God. A close friend of mine was raped by her own father. Another girl I know was raped by seven men in her own home. I, too, was victim of sexual abuse when I was 15, and when I told my then discipler about it, he perpetuated the crime by sexually molesting me.

That shadow makes it hard for me to trust God. I sing, "Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with thee…" but think, yeah, but you allowed bad things to happen to my friends and me. It happened in the past. What makes me so sure it won’t happen again?

Truth is, God does not condemn doubt. In fact, I think He invites it. He allows for it, by His infinite grace. He says, "Don’t let it eat you. Don’t bottle it up. Talk to me. Let it out."

Enoch walked in habitual fellowship with God, so reports the writer Genesis 5:22 and 24. There is something about the walking there that is equated with fellowship with God. In fact, it’s almost enviable.

So when the doubts arise, it’s time to do a walkie-talkie. You take a walk and talk to God as you do. You tell him everything and anything that’s in your heart. And you listen for his reply. He won’t always give the answer to the hard questions. But you can count on one sure thing: His companionship. After all, Jesus did promise never ever to leave us.

So put your most comfortable shoes on, slap on some sunblock, and take a walk with God. You might lose weight (both emotional burden and physical pounds) in the process.

A different kind of flood

I sometimes wonder how the world looked like to Noah and company as they stepped/crawled/flew off the ark. Everything was fresh and new. And silent, broken by their voices and feet and hooves and paws. No mankind making things complicated with unbridled wickedness. Noah, his family, and the animals literally got a fresh start.

Sometimes that is all I ask for: a fresh start. A reset button. A new beginning. And while a second worldwide flood would be downright cataclysmic if it were to happen today, it is unlikely. God promised there’ll be no more flooding. "I will establish My covenant or pledge with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood; neither shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth and make it corrupt" (Genesis 9:11).

I am thankful of that promise, and of God’s temperance. With all the evil going on in the world right now, God is practicing divine self-restraint from annihilating all of us. And Jesus has died and risen again. Jesus has satisfied God’s justice forever.

And yet I long for that fresh start. Christians believe that Jesus will return to earth and rule as everlasting King, and then everything will be made beautiful and perfect. There will be no more sin or evil. A reset button that comes with a perk: everything is rebooted and remade to God’s perfect specifications.

But until then, I ask God for a specific kind of flood. I ask God daily to flood my heart with his love and presence, and make my heart new and fresh every morning. That is a kind of flood I welcome from the King.

"Father, you are King over the flood… I will be still and know you are God."

In September 2014 I had the wonderful privilege of joining the CCF NxtGen Outreach Team headed by Teachers Ruth, Bobbie, Morris, JC, and Bujoh in going to satellite churches in the Philippines to talk about Orange Strategy and Curriculum.

My task was to talk about doing Large Group Orange style, and my partner was Bujoh. As part of the plan, we would simulate a 30-minute LG presentation of an Orange script. For that, we chose the October 12 lesson: responsibility means you can be trusted with what is expected of you.

The skit was rather simple. LG host#1 welcomes the kids, explains the rules of LG, and opens with prayer. Then LG host#2 comes on and says the head of the ministry has assigned him to watch over a plant while he’s away. Unfortunately, LG host#2 does not show he is responsible enough, and the plant dies. The LG storyteller then comes along and talks about responsibility using the Garden of Eden story as an example. This is presented in comic punchlines, punctuated by a jumping praise and worship song, and is actually very fun to do.

Whenever we present this simulation in front of fellow lifeshapers in the CCF outreaches, we ask them–to complete the ambiance of the LG presentation–to behave as if they’re the Sunday school kids of their level. Every single time they are happily game with this.

I play LG host#2 and at one point in the skit, when I return with the dead plant, I insert a bit of ad lib. I say some version of: "Will you pray for halaman so God can bring it back to life? Do you believe God can bring halaman back to life?"

Now what I say here is not a judgment, but an observation. In the few outreaches I’ve been part of where this was the lesson we simulated, the response by my fellow lifeshapers to my ad lib above was a less than enthusiastic yes. In fact, it felt patronizing, or merely obliging. "Do you believe God can make halaman alive and green again?" I ask. "Yeah… sure…" is their reply.

Granted, these adult lifeshapers are watching a make-believe skit on stage, and seeing a dead branch in my hand as prop. Will God really bring back that stick to life, just because we asked? How now, this is just a skit! Why pray for something you know is irrelevant, and frankly, may be impossible? Pray for a dead branch? Ya, ya, of course, God can do anything. But He wouldn’t spring for a wooden stick, would He?

I get it. I get all these adult rationalizations. And yeah, after all, all I’m holding in my hand is a prop.

But speaking from experience as a lifeshaper, whenever I am in front of level B kids (Naphthali, Asher, Gad), and I ad lib some version of the above question. For example, "Will you please pray for Pepperoni Cheesy so they’ll become a better band? Do you believe God can do anything?" The answers I get from kids is always a highly vibrant and enthusiastic "YES!"

Sixty to eighty 4- to 6-year-olds triumphantly expressing their faith in the God who has power over everything. In the God they put their absolute faith in. In the God whom they know hears them every time they open their mouths to pray. To them, God has no trouble bringing a dead plant back to life. Didn’t God once cause Aaron’s rod to grow flowers?

Sometimes really, whenever I host Large Group, I know I’m not just a teacher, but also the one being taught. I see in this kids what Jesus meant to have childlike faith in Him.

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Caffeine concoctions

I love milk tea so I decided, since we have green tea at home plus a quart of soy milk, to mix `em together and see what that tastes like. Well, rather thin, actually. Failure with the experiment. It didn’t have the body of full cream milk. Maybe that’s what it needed.

So, still looking for some caffeine concoction to satisfy my palette and my sagging brain, I went to the next-door sari-sari to buy White Coffee. White coffee is everywhere nowadays. I don’t know how it began. You buy them in pre-mixed sachets and simply pour the whole thing into your steaming cup of hot water, and within 30 seconds you have white coffee, not too sugary, not too creamy, not too strong. Just splendid. Will gave non-coffee drinkers (such as myself) a bit of a nervous knee or a palpitation, but easier to wash down with water. White Coffee!

The first time I tried white coffee in a sachet was in CCF La Union. I loved it. I woke up that morning with a terrible case of allergic rhinitis. I took my usual medication for it: Marsthine. Only marsthine turns my brain to mush. Sluggy mush. So I thought I’d take it with coffee. Because the Orange seminar was to be held the whole day that day in CCF La Union, they had hundreds of coffee sachets for the participants. I got one, ripped it open, poured it into a styro cup, and that’s how I got my first taste of white coffee.

Back home, I asked Veck to buy me three sachets of white coffee the next time she’s in the market. Then, Dana had this Ovaltine in sachets, too, which she liked for a few days then stopped drinking. So I thought, hm… White Coffee, plus Ovaltine, and yeah. Try it. It’s good. Much better than green tea and soy milk. This one’s good.

So we were at the sari-sari store, Dana and I, and I wanted to buy white coffee and Ovaltine sachets, when suddenly the rain pours. I mean it really pours like it’s nobody’s business. And because the sari-sari was just next door, I didn’t think to bring an umbrella. We were stranded. I tried to shield Dana best as I could from the rain with my body. Then I had an idea.

I whispered to her, “How would you like to see Jesus’ power, Dana?”

She said, “I already prayed to stop the rain.”

“Let’s pray again together. Let’s say, ‘Jesus, please stop the rain.'”

“Jesus, please stop the rain,” Dana said out loud. The rain didn’t stop.

“Pray again,” I encouraged.

“Jesus, please stop the rain.” It continued to pour.

I prayed, silently, “God, please, show my daughter you have authority over the weather. I want Jesus to be her Hero. Please do this.”

I turned to Dana. “One more time.”

“Jesus, please stop–” and it did. In that instant, it did.

Dana was laughing all the way home, declaring, “Jesus has magic! Jesus has power! I saw it! I saw it!”

So, there’s a concoction better than white coffee and Ovaltine after all. It’s prayer + faith + desire to bring glory to Jesus. Booyah!

I think one horrible mistake the church has become is to turn itself into a chic society of spiritual conformity. What do I mean?

In this world of postmodern existentialism, where “What works for you works for you and what works for me works for me” is the mentality, and the politically correct response is to tolerate other people’s behaviors and beliefs, Christians are called to stand apart.

Christians do that by behaving, well, as “Christian” as they could, however they define what that is. No one wants to be conformed to the world. The Apostle Paul warned against that. Now what is a Christian anyway? And how are we supposed to behave? That’s the question the 21st century church needs to tackle.

And so we turn the other cheek while we clench our fist behind our backs. We critique the pastor in the guise of spiritual wisdom from above: “He doesn’t see… The pastor has a blind side…” and in the meantime we cheat our neighbors in our convoluted sense of justice. We put on perfume every Sunday and meet our dgroups and conform to outward behaviors. We don’t curse, swear, smoke, drink; and we shun those who do. We do our best to obey the “each other” commands.

“Pray for each other” becomes Please pray for John and Mary. I heard from Jesse their marriage is not following God’s design lately and I am just so concerned…

“Love each other” becomes Oh, the Lord sent me word that family is priority because that’s how Christians are — and so the struggling for sanity single mother forgoes any plans to complete her bachelor’s degree because she won’t be a good Mom.

“Give to each other” becomes I gave millions to this church building and so I deserve at least a good parking slot and 5-star pampering from ushers.

We avoid what might corrupt our good characters: LGBT, smokers, drug addicts, drunkards… and instead attend Bible studies where we learn that the Holy One when he worked the earth hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors, lepers and social outcasts. We take to Facebook and Twitter and post verse after verse after verse. That feels so good.

I was guilty of such conformity mentality. In my all-too-human need to belong, to be part of the crowd, to be accepted, I tried my best to swallow my opinions, to bite my tongue, to be dutiful, to practice spiritual disciplines. And then I wonder, “How come there’s no passion? No joy? No life?” Dangerous questions… so nobody asks it in chic conformity fellowships.

And if even you hint at these conditions they have the remedy for you: Sala, Ravi, this or that conference, this or that devotional, booklet, manual, program, conference. See, the Joneses practice all these principles. Aren’t they so Christian? Let’s conform to them.

And the soul has checked out. The heart no longer responds. Nothing in the inner man resonates with David or Jeremiah or Zacchaeus or Habakkuk. No soul to cry out to the Lord. No heart that pines for him.

Where is the church that the broken find solace in? Where is the church where we can bury our face in our hands and cry out, “O God, have mercy upon me, a sinner?” Job said he would face God in court. Habakkuk said he won’t budge from the watchtower until he meets with God. Jacob won’t let go and wrestle until dawn and clings. He clings. I wonder if they can feel welcome in the 21st century megachurch? O wait… you have to leave. Parking’s full, please park elsewhere, the next service is about to begin. Please pour your heart out in your dgroup instead, thank you, there’s a café outside, enjoy!

I have seen this all wrong. I have made this mistake. I have fallen. I was too focused on sounding, appearing, behaving a Christian as defined by other Christians that I have forgotten to ask the real question: what is a Christian? Who can really say but the Holy Spirit who are really His?

All it took to be a Christian is God’s grace. We drank from grace’s fount for dear life when we found it. Then walked away from it and tried to conform to remain a Christian. It’s like we have no need for grace anymore, just public approval.

It’s a matter of the heart. And here’s my challenge to myself. The next time I read the New Testament, I won’t see those commands as laws to fulfill. Instead they are where I can scrub my heart until its real, down there. “Be self-controlled, be honorable, be upright…” all these must be a heart issue, not an outward conformity mold. After all, Jesus did not turn away that man who said, “I do believe! Help my unbelief.”

Maybe the father still runs to embrace his wasteful and disobedient son, even in 2016. Maybe even after 2000 years, that dad in Luke 15:20 still waits patiently for his return, arms ready to welcome his son back.

Parenting lesson from Job

Job had ten children who loved to party. And these parties last for days! There's lots of eating and drinking!

Job 1:5 says, "And when the days of their feasting were over, Job sent for them to purify and hallow them, and rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed or disowned God in their hearts.' Thus did Job at all such times."

For one thing, Job didn't keep his children from meeting each other during their birthdays and having some fun. So, he wasn't so strict. And we all know how Job's children ended up. They all died in a weather tragedy. Seriously, though, let's be like Job.

There's also this modern notion nowadays that I've read about and I found, myself, a bit attractive. It's not imposing your religious beliefs on your children, but allowing them to get to know God on their own. Remember, religion kills. It's a relationship with God that we need.

Dana and I were strolling one night at Barasoain, where there is a Santo Nino Museum. There were electric candles and flowers and lots of people taking selfies with the saints. Dana said, "Look, baby boy dolls!" It occurred to me that she did not have any Catholic influence, no superstition at all that these little statues held power to bless your business or keep away the aswang.

But it may also mean she's free to choose not to believe God. In truth, she is, really, free to choose God or not. But what I learn from Job is that as Dana's dad, I can pray for her, asking God to purify and hallow her. The burnt offerings part has been taken cared of for eternity by the Messiah's death on the cross. So I can continue to pray to God for Dana, always lifting her up to our Holy Daddy, praying that she chooses Jesus out of her own volition.

Light saber

Last week Pastor Peter implored us to prevail in prayer. This Sunday Dr Ravi illumined who we pray to, our relationship to this God, and what He's done for us. Using 2 Corinthians 20, he showed us three sentences to pray: God, are you not...? Did you not...? Will you not...? Jehoshaphat gave us a pattern of praying in the midst of trouble.

Flashback. Many years ago... Tito Ed and Tita Monica, a pastor and teacher couple, told us not to give in to Dana's every request for a new toy. They taught us that it can be a teaching opportunity. If she really wants a specific toy, we are to tell her to pray for it--and delay buying it. Pray, pray, pray, so when the toy is finally given, she learns it came from Jesus, and Him alone.

2015. A lot of our friends were aghast to find out we've not seen a single Star Wars movie, but none moreso than Teacher Janice who sought immediately to remedy this atrocious oversight! She sent her DVDs to us, episodes 1 to 6, so we'd be up to speed of light (see what I did there?) by the time episode 7 comes to the theatres.

Dana enjoyed Star Wars so much. She'd begged me and Veck continually to buy her one of those cheap plastic light sabers that proliferated in the bangketas of Malolos. Telling her about the poor quality by which those toy swords were made couldn't dissuade my six-year-old. So we fell back to "If you really want it, ask Jesus."

And Jesus hears our prayers, and answers at the perfect time so we see His great love for us. Earlier at Kids' Church, Teacher Janice gave Dana a belated Christmas gift. You all know what it is, of course. And so did Dana as soon as Teach Janice handed her that gift-wrapped present. "Do you know what's in it?" we asked.

"A light saber," was her reply. That we received it during this sermon series about prayer has God's fingerprints all over it. (Love Your humor, Holy Daddy!)

"How do you know it's a light saber?"

"Because I've been praying for it."

To hear Teacher Janice tell it, she said she felt the strong impression from God that the saber is the perfect gift for Dana. "Wouldn't a kikay gift be a better choice?" she wondered, but listened to God's prompting nonetheless. Janice, too, was in for a treat when she learned her gift was exactly what Dana had been praying for for a while.

Pastor Peter said God answers little requests and big requests. That we must keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Thinking about it, with the Infinite God we have, no request is too small or too big for Him. His power and love knows no limits.

Intercede, day 1

This year's theme for CCF's prayer week is "Intercede" and you may wish to look at the devotional booklet here.

For the first day, the passage focus was Colossians 1:9-14, where Paul prayed for the Christians in Colossae. He had an amazing list of prayer requests for them, primarily that they grow in the knowledge of God.

Sometimes you wonder at the boldness Paul had in prayer, and where it came from. Or, that you feel that your prayers don't go through the roof above your head. I've had that for a year and a half, so I know how that feels. I've tried just sitting, and even creative visualization types of prayers, and affirmations, anything to get the prayer mojo back. I remember as a younger Christian I would pray with the certainty that a loving Father listened to me. What has changed?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I still have a loving Father who listens to me intently.

I just needed to be reminded. Verses 13 and 14, if anything, shows us our position in Jesus, and that gives us boldness in prayer and intercession. "The Father has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in Whom we have our redemption through His blood, which means the forgiveness of our sins."

So, during my dark times when I sinfully rebelled, it was the Father who brought me to Himself through Jesus. It was Jesus' blood that gave me access. I feel full of gratitude for God.

If you're feeling the same and ready to intercede for other Christians, may I redirect you to www.be-a-voice.net and www.persecution.com. This way you can pray for the persecuted Christians and their persecutors.