Jesus

So really. Who decides on what is good or not?


Have you noticed that each one of us has his own definition of what is good or bad? That no matter how you belong to one church with a given set of beliefs you still disagree on the minute details? That much of the misery and disappointment in life roots back into the thought that God allowed bad things to happen and therefore He is not good after all?

Or an argument to that effect.

I used to think as I read "Do not judge" in the Scriptures that it only applies well, other people. We all hold that popular interpretation I guess. But now, I see it differently.

Usually we define good as something that brings happiness or pleasure. Or something that doesn't take us out of our comfort zones. Bad, on the other hand, are those that give us pain, causes our hearts to ache.

Evidently, we judge in our private lives. And with our judgements we wreck havoc to other peoples lives.

I think it is comforting to note that Bad is not an absolute negative equivalent of Good. It exists at the lack of good.

Only Goodness is Absolute. And that Absolute is Jesus.

Apart from him, all things fall out of order. But in Him, all things hold together.

Yes, even Christian Denominations at that.

Read more...

Faithful

I was in Bacolod last Friday so I decided to check out the youth meeting at Ikthus. Since I started being a part of the worship team here in Iloilo, I've met really amazing people. Amazing for two reasons: young as they are, they are really gifted with the instruments they use and two, their passion for God is challenging!

Little did I know that I was in for a surprise. After being met by Timi outside, she began to introduce me to a whole lot of people -some faces I already am familiar with.

Just before worship started, I was totally floored. The room was almost packed and I was left wondering, "Where in the world did they get so many kids?"

To top it all off, I was introduced by Timi to my nephews and one niece. I can't even remember what their names were, but I was thrilled.

You see, years and years back, I have this thing against my dad's family and relatives. I don't know. It's just not like the kind of relationship I share with my cousins in my mom's side. And seeing my own cousins from my dad's side doing all those stupid things when I was younger fueled my distaste.

Then out of nowhere, God began to work in my life in such a powerful way. He began to introduce Himself as Someone totally different from the box I placed Him in. My mom taught I was actually demon-possessed when my "quiet times" changed into something not really all that quiet. I would lock myself in my room, turn on a prayer CD by Lou Engle and pray. And in those times, I remember I cried out to God to spare our family from the "curse" running through the Muyco Clan.

You heard when people say that God always answer prayer? Don't believe them. God doesn't really answer our prayers.; He over answers them.

We ask for a loaf of bread, He throws a party. You ask for the skill to play the guitar, He makes you lead worship before hundreds. I asked for Him to protect our little family from the lures of the world, He moved into the lives of my cousins that their offspring - my nephews - will serve God in ways beyond what I could even comprehend.

It was a holy moment, I tell you.

It was sheer grace on His part that we were all there. And it will be grace that will keep us pressing on until we wake up to the day when we have lived out our destinies effortlessly.

Read more...

Twist

Alright sure, I didn't make it to the Passion Concert, but I certainly did learn a whole lot. First, is that travelling by Cebu Pacific to Manila will probably be a bad idea until they sort things out in their new terminal at the NAIA3. Thanks to them, I arrived Manila around 9pm and waited for a cab till maybe 10. I met my friend Arthur at MOA and simply decided to just grab something to eat rather than travel to Ultra and arrive there for the closing prayer.

The next day, we rushed to Fully Booked at the Fort where they have 20% off on almost all books. What an experience! I really felt so probinsyano beholding the four floors of books! I stayed there the whole morning until my stomach complained to my brain that "he (or is it 'it'?) too needs to feed on something."

I left around 4pm for my flight back. And this was the situation in the pre-departure area when I got there.

Passengers from all over were stranded for hours in this new terminal while some flights were even cancelled. I am not so sure if the situation is still like this now, but having been through such ordeal will make you think twice, thrice even, about riding through the same airline to Manila again.

Good thing though I have my "friends" with me. Just a few days before the Passion Concert I bought "The Shack" by William P. Young at Powerbooks Cebu. I finished the whole book while waiting for my flight to Manila and reread it while waiting for my plane back.

So as I came to think about it, the whole experience ain't bad at all. I went there with an expectation to meet God, and well, I did. The book transported me to a different place where I learn with tears, things I believe about God which were really myths.

I went home adding a few more books to this pile. I have finished some already, scanned several, and eyeing on one or two. I got Rabbi Jesus from Fully Booked. It revealed Jesus in a different angle you wouldn't normally see it readily in the Scriptures. Miracles and A Brief History of Time I got from a while back. Somewhere a Master and The Shack I bought together in Cebu while that book about Secret Germany, my boss lent me.

Nelson Mandela's autobiography I bought with Rabbi Jesus while the rest, from Uncle Tom's Cabin to Piercing the Darkness and Chaim Potok's Book of Lights, I got from BookSale.

I have a different pile like this on my table at work. And I haven't even read them all yet. But something tells me I am going to have a new one this week when I pass by National Bookstore or BookSale.

And oh, I thinking of getting an Amplified Bible. Let me know if this is already gluttony, though.

Read more...