Who is Jesus on the web?

I’ve been surfing the net and was trying to find a site where there's a good image of "Jesus." To my disappointment I found out that there is a plethora of images of "Jesus" that didn't even show the slightest hint of who Jesus really is. Then I realized that in this postmodern age, where truth is relative and tolerance is supreme, the word wrong is a thing of the past. As long as something is accepted by the majority it doesn't matter whether it's right or wrong. Being "accepted" is based on one's opinion, and again this opinion cannot be refuted for the reason that intolerance should not be practiced.

The greatest problem of today is not the way people live (it's secondary), but the way people think. The greatest need for people everywhere is the change of mindset. People should be freed from the perverted worldviews that dictate their wicked lifestyles leading to their own lives' destruction.

Unless we do something to change the status quo we'll end up being forced to live in a lost generation whose corrupted worldviews provoke God's judgment on every side. The Church of Christ faces a formidable opposition from the enemy, but with faith, discipline and courage we can stir up change in the realm of thoughts. We cannot afford to lose or even back out at a confrontation, especially when we are defending the Truth. Even if our lives are on the line for the sake of the Truth of God's Word, there should be no hesitation. A revolution is needed.

The Apostle James told us that by not doing what we ought to do, we sin. To avoid this sin we should declare with boldness the truth of who Jesus really is. Unless they'll know the true Jesus, their minds will forever be corrupt. Transformation of their minds will surely follow when they come to know the true Jesus they've never known before.

To All Filipinos abroad: GO BIG or GO HOME!

OFW's are the so-called modern heroes, but aren't they supposed to be called the modern makapili's?

Nationalism or the love for the nation (the land, the race) nowadays is depleting very fast in the hearts of every Filipinos especially the OFW's. The attitude of sticking with the nation and staying in the land, no matter what, had been long abandoned. The people are no longer married to the nation. The Filipinos have become adulterers in the sense that they have disregarded the nationalistic tendency to be faithful to our nation "for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death..."

Many Filipinos abroad didn't even mind being delinquents and bring shame to our ever disgraced race. They did what they saw fit for themselves. They prostituted and enslaved themselves in exchange of a minuscule amount of a foreign currency. What a shame.

And aren't we supposed to be ashamed to the point that we should hide our faces from the Philippine flag at the time when we are slowly being swept into the citizenry of the country of dollars? To gain citizenship or having a green card is all we need, never mind the perishing brothers we stripped of company. Where is the spirit of Balikatan? Has the term been left only to signify a military exercise with the American troops? Aren’t we supposed to face every crisis together as our forefathers with one spirit braved the storms in the high seas aboard their Balangays? Or can’t we even think about our reputation as the people who before acknowledging allegiance with a foreigner cuts himself for blood compact? This practice is done by the ancients to justify their tie with the stranger to be as of a brother, for blood is the thicker than water. But it doesn’t apply now brothers don’t mean so much as dollars.

Yes, they provide income for the country but in exchange of a too costly price. And in a way the country doesn’t profit at all! We risk the lives of millions of youth being ruined as they are left behind by parent/s who work abroad. We can never replace the presence of the parents for allowance.

Wake up! It’s time to decide. We cannot afford to lose a nation, much more a generation. Go Big or Go Home!

Who is the owner of the Philippines?

The Hebrew word used for the English word Lord is Adonai, which means owner. Therefore it won't need much of your common sense in figuring out what is ultimately meant by the statement "Jesus is the Lord of the Philippines."

When I hear the song God of this City by Chris Tomlin, I’m always reminded of the fact that God is the owner of the heaven and the earth. By this, I mean, no man ever owned anything on earth. When I read the account of Noah in Genesis, at the time when he offered his thanksgiving sacrifice to the Owner of the earth, a phrase in the following passages shook my mindset.

But first of all we should know what right has man over earth. Genesis 1:28 states the entirety of the dominion that was given to man. God didn't give Adam the ownership over the earth he just gave the rulership over the fish, the birds, and anything that moves along the ground. Therefore anyone who wants to rule over the things that were not included in the list is guilty of insubordination. Anyone who wants to rule the things that are not mentioned should first ask the Lord for his permission. Especially when ruling a people or a nation.

Back to where we left off. The phrase that brought God's revelation to me was "I have set my rainbow in the clouds." The word "my" was emphasized, because it was the word that changed my point of view. It is like "wait a minute, who is this that claims the rainbow in the sky as His possession?" Well, He is God. As I was stunned by the insight I pondered on the fact, and remembered Psalm 24:1.

When we expound on the proposition on Psalms 24:1 (The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;), we can arrive at some conclusions that is very coherent to the God's Word, biblical in short.

When we say that the earth is the Lord's possession and everything in it, the world, which signifies the affairs of men and all who live in it; we can only imagine God pointing at the creation and hear Him saying:

That's my earth.
That's my sky.
That's my rainbow.
That's my ocean.
That's my mountain.

That’s my oil.

That’s my gold.

That’s my field.

That’s my river.

or even

That’s my Juan Dela Cruz

That's my people.

That's my nation.
That's my Philippines.

Unless we recognize the rightful owner of our nation, our nation will never rise up from its destitute state. The Philippines is God’s Philippines. The Filipinos are God’s Filipinos.

there's so much to blog about...

since

since that day so many things happened but i don't want to write about it yet. as my sister beloved (sis. willian) would tell "it (the story) is not yet through."

i would later (maybe some years later... nah just joking) elaborate our story with the help of my sister beloved so the story would not be biased and show both sides.

i am a writer so i get a lot of ideas to write but can't manage to finish all of them at the same time.
so it would really help me if i will focus.

so for now, i' will focus on my fired-up write ups. =)

i think this would be my "rebirth" in blogging. nahahaha

Now is the time to Shine!

The winds are blowing through again,
So we must follow,
The people daring to believe,
We could change tomorrow,
And be the miracle of light.
And we won't give up the fight.

Now is the time for us to shine.
Shine with the face of Christ divine.
No compromise, for all heaven cries.
Now is the time.

The river's running through again,
Rejuvenating.
For everything you touch you change,
And we've all been changing.
We're a city shining on a hill,
Tell this world you're shining still,
Tell the world you always will.

Now is the time...

Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus
King of lights.
Jesus, Jesus,
Raise up church that's shining bright

I want to follow but what does it mean,
To live in this world and keep everything clean?
Nothing I own here is ever my own,
When I live in the mercy and grace that you've shown.
I lay down my rights see the world through your eyes,
And fight for the hungry who pay for our lives.
I want to have you in all of my world,
So Jesus consume me fullfil me coz now is the time.



after a dozen confirmation from God to shine like the stars, we are now on our way to take the higher road to be as bright as the heavens! Now is the time!

day after yesterday

the day after yesterday wasn't as good, or so it seems to me.

May 21, was the day scheduled for our small fellowship (me, willian, ej, and ana). but this "small" meeting turned out to be larger than what we expected.

before the meeting with willian at 10am i prayed for this event that God would guide us and let us know that He is with us. I was stirred to pray for this particular meeting beforehand because it was meant to encourage and advise our friends (ej, and ana) about their family struggles, and everyone knows only God can do a work such as this.

at the pavilion we discussed some spiritual insights and knew very well that we are exercising our faith. we prayed for the rain not to come and it did (for some hours), it was delayed for almost 7 hours. played onsehan with willian and lost 2 in a row -- a lesson was learned in the process. and the lesson was "keepin' ya head low" being humble in other words. ej came (finally) without ana while i'm in the middle of trying to make 10 straight shots without a miss from the sides of the rim. then we started playing ball, i won. cooled off at the kubo while chatting with all sorts of things under the sun. after resting we started planting the euphorbias.

after doing all that needs to be done we took our snacks, the bike with a side-car and set out for a joy ride. we went round and round phase 5 of town and country just because i listened to ej's advises. then after taking a handful of loops and dead ends, i finally decided that i'll be the one to decide which way to turn 'till we get to the place i was talking about. the place i was talking about is the one where my dad used to take us with our cousins (the Mercados) on weekends when they're still here in the Philippines. it's at the edge of town and country overlooking a big fishpond--where a nice sunset can be enjoyed. but in our case the skies were cloudy with cool breeze. little did we know that these were signs of an upcoming event that made our day very memorable. of course with laugh trips all over the way. we said a small prayer of thanksgiving and ate our snacks, and exchanged puns throughout the discourse.

after satisfying our meryenda appettite i sought for a drinking water (being not pleased with the idea of drinking the pond water as suggested by myself with some vigorous approval and encouragement of ej and willian). i decided to buy from a store a drink for all of us. i took ej with me scaring willian, whom we left behind, because of the thought of not returning (hahaha). i hurriedly rode the bike thinking that it might rain anytime soon. with some crazy maneuvers (also known as "bike drift driving" according to us) resulting to wild bumps and displacing the kadena of the bike, halting my exhiliration of furious pedaling of the bike of 1m/sec. we bought a coke and an ice-tubig for willian. we also hurriedly came back to notice the much darkened afternoon sky. we got on the bike and set out for an another ride of loops, turns, dead-ends, and of-course the dogs barking aimlessly around us. thanks to my very unRELIABLE navigation skills that brought us to places never before seen by any common man inside town and country (hahaha), just joking. after the last loop which i seriously knew was the right street--which led us to go around in circle, i finally asked an old man (which we previously passed by) for the way that will get us out of the labyrinthine streets and into the main road.

heeding the old man's direction we took a path unfamiliar but eventually led us to much familiar landscapes. on our way, lightning and thunder began to snatch our attention but we didn't really mind about then, until what we expected happened. rain began to pour on us along the way and we got wet. the rain drenched us while ej was driving but we managed to have minor stop-overs while he was fixing the bike (because the kadena was displaced from the plato several times). when we were almost there, just a few meters to the pavilion the kadena was displaced again, but ej decided that we just have to push the side car to get nearer to the pavilion faster. and within a few feet to the gate we immediately alighted the side car and rushed into the pavilion and into the kubo--where we spent some time while waiting for the rain to stop. when we noticed that the rained had stopped, we started to walk to the main gate and went on our separate ways.

yesterday's whole day was very fine and was better than today. but if there wasn't a today, i wouldn't have had the chance to write about yesterday.