Time Is Of The Essence

Cyclone in Myanmar, Massive Earthquake in China, Typhoon in the Philippines all in a span of days apart. It makes me wonder how do each of us value the urgency of sharing the Gospel of Christ, the Good News? There are many out there who may not have the luxury of time... a relative, a close friend, a co-worker, a classmate. There were a lot of people burried under the rubble when the earthquake occured in China, thousands died during the cyclone in Myanmar most of which did not know Jesus in a personal way. I was blessed by God to have shared the good news of Jesus to my best friend two years ago. He passed away very unexpectedly this year but I will always have the comfort of knowing that he is now in the presence of the Holy One in His Kingdom enjoying life eternal. Share Jesus while you still have the time.

Jesus answered "are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

John 11:9-10

Wipe Out!

I was stoked!

But just when I thought I was riding the right wave ...

It came unexpectedly from left field...

Wipe Out!

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even the youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Dave

I struck a conversation with my good friend Dave, he informed me that he was looking for a new car to purchase. It came down to two choices a Mini Cooper or a Toyota FJ Cruiser. I looked at him and right off the batt told him that he did not look anywhere near like an FJ Cruiser to me, but rather he looked every bit like a Mini Cooper. It's funny how sometimes people's characters or personalities can match the cars that they drive, there is a peculiar parallel between this illustration and the way we claim ourselves to be Christians. We can shout out loud to the whole world who we are and claim to be Christians all we want ... but do we look it? Do we live like one? Does our talk match our actions? Does our behavior shout the words "I am a Christian!"? Dave by the way hunkered for a Mini Cooper which is awesome to say the least because it matches his character and personality. What about us? What if when somebody tells us "you look like a Christian...are you?" Can we honestly own it? Hmmmmm.......

Do not merely listen to the word of God, and so decieve yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.

James 1:22-25

SATO

This was my dog Sato he was a cream colored male labrador, He passed away several months ago when he was tragically hit by a bus as he crossed the street from the farmhouse of my friend who was entrusted to care for him when I moved to the United States. I remembered Sato to be a very loyal dog who knew who his master was. He wagged his tail whenever he saw me and Pajie (my eldest daughter) whenever we took him out of his cage to play with him. He loved going inside my airconditioned room to cool himself from the very humid weather. We enjoyed playing with him and he in turn enjoyed being around us. Sometimes I would argue that dogs are better than humans when it comes to relationships in terms of loyalty, love and affection. They can never cause you any pain except when they get sick or when you loose them. But alas! they are just animals, lesser creatures than men. That being said we are not dogs either but in the manner of loyalty we should always have the wisdom to know who our real Master is in all theological and spiritual aspects. There is no such thing as neutrality in our relationship with the Lord. No compromise, no gimmicks, no story telling under false pretenses within a cofee shop setting just to "win people to the side of truth" even if it requires twisting the genuine truth to the point of leaning towards liberal theology. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life ... there are no two ways about it, make no mistake! To teach a different truth that contradicts how the Word Of God defines it so there could be and appearance of neutrality and can be viewed as attractive, this in order to gain more church goers is erroneous at best and should never be adhered upon. May we all use our God given discernment...

I know your deeds that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So because you are lukewarm-neither hot nor cold-I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

Revelations 3:15-16

Paige

I was driving on the freeway when we got stuck for about two hours in a horrendous traffic jam on our way to have dinner at a mall. Of course when waiting to reach your destination while traversing an extremely slow moving traffic what do you do? You try to beat the boredome from out of your system. Ergo one of the ways to do that is to entertain yourself (singular, if you are driving alone) and or yourselves (plural if you're with other people e.g. your family). As we were moving closer to our destination albeit in a turtle pace I heard a voice so sweet and angelic from the backseat of the vehicle. I heard her sing a number of times before but none could've compared to how she sang that night. She sang like a nightingale in one of the animated movies I had watched when I was just a squirt and a half. I immediately stared towards the direction of my wife who was sitting beside me, initially with disbelief that later turned into amusement (It was one of those "I am proud to be your Dad moments"). Paige is her name and she is my youngest daughter, we nicknamed her Jheyjette. This morning on my way to drop her off to school I encouraged her to use the gift that God has given her only to glorify Him to which she agreed. I must admit I never thought her talent would ever go beyond mastering computer games or making witty remarks...I surprised myself! Praise God! for kids who with their childlike faith bring so much joy to their parents.

After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had recieved five talents brought the other five. "Master he said, you entrusted me with five talents. See I have gained five more." His master replied, "Well done, good and faithful sevant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things, Come and share your master's happiness!"

Matthew 25:19-21

Winchester

His name is Winchester as in the rifle you would see in western movies being rapidly fired from the hands of the "Duke" John Wayne himself. Winchester is the new kid on the block at our workplace and he's fairly young . He (like I was six months ago) is gradually learning the ropes and the nature of our work. Often times my boss would ask me to assist him so he would familiarize himself with the process of how we do things. I have seen him commit errors every now and then much like how I did it back in the days. But unlike Arthur who was assigned to assist me before (he was kind of harsh and was a very impatient teacher, although we later on ended up becoming friends) I would gently show Winchester where he went wrong and encourage him to do it again and lend him a helping hand while showing him the right way to do things. It's wierd how looking back in retrospect I was the same person and how much I have changed over the months at work. I have gone from being the trainee to becoming the trainor. It reminds me of God's grace and mercy in the light the our pursuit of obedience to His word. And how amazing it is to hear of fellow Christians who went through situations in the past assist those who are going through the exact same situation with the same compassion and comfort that Jesus has extended to them. This much I know that we will trip, flip over and fall face down but there will always be a Phenjie to a Winchester, a Phenjie to an Omie, a Chaz or a Butch or a Robert to a Phenjie. But more importantly to all of us there will always be Jesus to lift us up from a fall and to help us keep walking within the path of righteousness.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles with the comfort we ourselves have recieved from God.

2Corinthians 1:3-4

SEQUE

Today he turns 96 years old A War Time Hero... Veteran of the Second World War, Leader of the Signal Corps Unit that brought the destruction of an entire fleet of Japanese ships that led to the end of the Japanese occupation. A Businessman who has a very sharp foresight and very wise when it comes to his investments. A Father who has faithfuly met the needs of all of his children. A Grandfather who lovingly looks after his grandkids in a most magnanemous manner. A Benevolent Boss, Uncle and Patriarch of our clan. He is fondly called Seque by his fellow veterans, relatives and friends. As for me he will always be "Papa", who made me sit on his lap when I was young and walked me through the fields of our farm, brought me to watch the afternoon matinees at a local movie theater and encouraged me to find my own spiritual answers to life. When he found out about my conversion he told me these words which I remember so vividly "Your belief is your choice, let no one dictate to you otherwise. Son, follow your convictions." I just spoke to him a few minutes ago, I could sense from his voice how much he longs to see his youngest and only son again and how he regrets not having me around to celebrate his birthday with him.

Lord willing I will see you soon Papa... Happy Birthday and I love you so much.

Listen to your FATHER who begot you. And do not despise your mother when she is old.

Proverbs 23:22