OMIE

My best friend Omie Sola(extreme left, Spanish looking guy!) and I grew up together. I stood as his Best Man during his wedding. Two years ago he recieved Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior. I had the previledge of personally officiating his baptism during our Men's Ministry retreat. A few hours ago I recieved a text message from the Philippines, it came from Chaz my Pastor in Bacolod City (where I used to live) he informed me that Omie is now in a critical condition after suffering from a heart attack and brain aneurysm. Omie's condidtion is very unstable doctors are hoping that in 14 days (should his current treatment help stabilize his condition) that he could go through surgery as he is also suffering from a brain hemmorage. After recieving the text from Chaz a flurry of text messages coming from several other members of my local church in Bacolod reached my cell phone informing me of Omie's fate and asking me to pray for him. It's funny I was just thinking about him this morning in fact I called a friend from the Philippines today to ask how Omie was doing. And then this very unfortunate news came, I remember right before I left the Philippines to move to the United States Omie said these words to me that just keeps on resonating..."I won't have a friend whom I can share my burdens with in the same way I do with you anymore" to which I responded by saying "You will always have Jesus." And now there he is lying on a hospital bed, unconcious....If you are reading this blog please join me in praying for my best friend that he survives this crisis...I feel so helpless...I should be there with him right now... but I'm not.

They Were My Spiritual Family...They Still Are

Horizon Christian Fellowship, Bacolod City the Philippines during the visit of my Dallas Church Pastor last summer.

....I miss you guys!!!

My love to all of you in Christ Jesus Amen.

1Corinthians 16:24

BEYOND THE NEW FRONTIER

Behold, the greatest ride of your life eeeeeeehawwwwwwww.........................

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone the new has come
2Corinthians 5:17

WHEN I THINK OF HOME

This is a picture of my daughter's best friends back in Bacolod City, the Philippines. These are friends she grew up and studied with. My daughter does not know when she will be able to see them again. This poignant picture reminds us that we are all but sojourners in this world although there is a greater place that awaits us that we can call our eternal home.

And you will recieve a rich welcome into the ETERNAL KINGDOM of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2Peter 1:11

TO REACH THE UNREACHABLE...

Yahoo, Google...T-Mobile, AT&T, Cingular and Verizon...Time Warner and DISH Network. World Wide Web, Cellular Phones and Sattelite Telivision. The world is getting smaller and it has now reached a point to where it is easier to reach the unreachable through technology. And yet...In our own local churches there may be some individuals who may be experiencing a degree of preclusion or a sense of isolation.

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has recieved to serve others, faithfuly administering God's grace in its various forms.

1Peter 4:9-10

QUACK...Quack...quack

If it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck.......Then it must be a duck!

"But there were also false prophets among you, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the soverign Lord who bought them- bringing them swift destruction on themselves."
2Peter 2:1

STATUS: RESTRICTED NATIONS

Restricted Nations: Christians are kept from obtaining Bibles or other Christian literature by government policy or practice. The local governments also sanction Christians being harassed, imprisoned, killed, or deprived of their possesions or liberties because of their faith in Jesus Christ and their desire to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.

Afghansitan, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China and Tibet, Comoro Islands, Cuba, Cyprus, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Kuwait, Laos, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritania, Morroco, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Quatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Yemen...STATUS: RESTRICTED NATIONS

Pray: For the needs of our Christian Brethren who are going through persecution even as we speak in these countries.

"Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering."
Hebrews 13:3

GLOVES

Since I was a child I have had this fascination over gloves (especially the leather ones) nothing creepy or frivolous about that (I hope). But it was not until I experienced my first winter did I fully appreciate the beauty of a pair of gloves especially when I started wearing them to cover my hands from the biting cold. I observed however that yes my hands may feel warmer but I could hardly have my pair of hands function naturally under its cover. Imagine with me if you will trying to open a wallet wearing a pair of gloves and taking a dollar bill from it if you don't find it as difficult a task vis a vis to how easy it is when taking off the gloves and performing the same task.

READ: 2 CORINTHIANS 5:1-10

ORDEALS OF WAR

Lieutenant Jose S. Villacin's memories transport us back to a time when courage was not only a value but necessary for survival. The account of this one man's life and the others along the way that remained faithful at a time when that verity only rewarded you the enemy hunting you down to kill you.

Pastor Chaz Yandall
Horizon Christian Fellowship, Bacolod

On his review of my Father's book about his (my Dad's) ordeals as a World War 2 Filipino Soldier defending his country, the title of the book is THE ORDEALS OF WAR

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalites against powers against rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places."

Ephesians 6:12

Read: Ephesians 6:10-20

LOST AND FOUND

Back in the fall of 2001 my dog, a golden colored Labrador whose name is Barney somehow found his way outside the gate of my brother in law's house. He wandered around the area and for some reason did not find his way back. When I got word about it I rushed to my brother in law's house and went around the area and the neighboring communities but Barney could not be found. I spent days on end going back and forth like a crazy wandering fool not giving up hope and just praying to God that Barney would be kept safe even if I would not be able to find him. Finally right about the fourth day of Barney's disappearance a glimmer of hope, a person whom we've talked to in one of the neighboring communities to which we left our contact number with just in case he gets info on Barney's whereabouts got in touch with us to report to us that he found what looked like a golden colored Labrador in one of the houses within his community. The timing could not be more perfect just when we were all resigned to the fact that we have lost Barney for good. My brother in law and I immediately rushed into the area and found my dog Barney and as soon as he saw me he immediately ran towards my direction and threw himself at me. I could feel the excitement in him to once again be reunited with me it was an awesome, adrenalin filled moment. I once wandered like a lost dog but not from my master's brother in law's house but from my MASTER's path. Imagine with me for a moment the excitement in my heart when He found me and took me out of the mire I was in ... hmmm... SWEET!

"My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found."
Luke 15:31-32

Read: Luke 15:11-32

Discussions With Russel

You've all heard of the book entitled Tuesdays With Murray? Well I have my own personal spin on that. You see every single day at a parking area a few meters away from a Middle School in the suburb where I live sometime between 3:30pm to 4pm, I meet up with a friend whose name is Russel. Russel is a very astute speaker and defender of the Word of God and every afternoon the both of us would engage ourselves in a colloquy regarding subjects that covers issues concerning today's church and how we should view it within the context of scripture. I must say I have never engaged myself in a more intense exchange of intellectual ideas that reverberates into my system even before I retire for the night. These discussions help us both to understand the issues at hand by our exchange of opinions within the full context of scriptures. It is an exciting thirty minute event that I always look forward to every afternoon. Such should be our attitude in the way we deal with issues, we should all in the most cohesive fashion altogether examine scriptures if the issue at hand is within its proper context or not.

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they recieved the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true."
Acts 17:11

It's Never Been About The Position

I have a friend and co worker whose name i chose to withold for personal reasons but anyway this guy works part time with us and has been in the retail store that I work at for about five years already. He really doesn't need this job he has a high paying full time job as the Assistant Corportate Manager of another retail store and he earns a lot working for them. But he comes religiously every afternoon around the same shift as mine he comes not because he needs the added income but because he enjoys his work at the Recieving Dock of our store. Now here's the "kicker" this awfully gnarly dude although a high ranking corporate executive in another outlet humbly submits himself to the Head of the Recieving Dock whenever he starts working there without making a fuss at all in spite of his background and position at his other job. I admire his work ethic more so his character and humility. It reminds me of how we as children of the living God should also learn to submit ourselves to His will and the people whom He has entrusted over us no matter what our background and achievements are in life.

"Do not be stiff necked as your fathers were submit yourselves to the Lord. Come to the sanctuary, which He has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that His fierce anger will turn away from you."
2 Chronicles 30:8

LYP SYNC ...anyone?

Back in the 1980s there was a singing duo who called themselves Milli Vanelli, they scored it big in the music industry and created a huge fanbase. They even earned for themselves a Grammy Award for best new artist. Months after successfully making a name in the recording industry, they were exposed for being a couple of frauds for not singing the songs themselves but rather using ghost singers during their recordings and lyp syncing during live appearances. They tried hard to redeem their already tarnished reputation but it was downhill from then on, sliding towards a slippery slope into obscurity. Indeed there is substance in the famous line "What Price Fame!" In this postmodern age many followers of the gospel have distorted the truth to suit their own version of the gospel and all of the sudden the gospel truth is no longer what it is. All for the sake of gaining more followers or church members if you will, making Christianity and the gospel more attractive to those who are unchurched while rebelling against Sola Scriptura. Sad but like Milli Vanelli these are the types that are going down a slippery slope into the world of oblivion...

"I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ."
Galatians 1:6-7