LEAVE IT TO GOD

A story of God’s grace is the story of this man. He uprooted his family from 10th Avenue in Caloocan and brought them to Bulacan, where he engaged in poultry business, The business however did not make good.

He again tried to get some capital to restart, this time he made his house and the lot on which it stands as the collateral for the loan. Again he did not make good. He lost his business. His property– his house and his lot– was about to be bidded by the bank. The bank now owned it.

He wandered in Caloocan again. And one day, he chanced by the Bible Study Center. He was curious. He had some questions. But instead of answering his questions, they told him to go up and attend a Bible study class. He met his Lord, became a Christian, and member of Caloocan church

His wife was worried about their property. His brethren at church–the church that used to meet at Victoria building in Monumento– told him to trust God, and it was the same thing he told his wife. None of them could help him financially, they being all poor in the world’s goods.

He had a small congregation met in his house in Valenzuela on Sunday afternoon, and the people who attended also consisted of his neighbors and friends. Still the worry over his property hovered over him and his wife, but he took the courage to say: “Ipasa Dios na lang natin yan. Bahala na ang Panginoon.”

Then he went to the bank and asked one of the tellers what options he had. He was told to bid. But there were many bidders too, some of them his neighbors who had been jealously eyeing his property. The teller told him to talk each his neighbors who were bidding together with him. If he could make them understand his plight, if he could make them back out from the bidding, if he was left as the only bidder to the property, then he had taken one of the worries over his head. He did. On the day of bidding, they opened only one envelope: His bidded P320,000 for the property which years ago he had bought for a measly sum, and for which he owed the bank P160,000.

But where would he get the P320,000 to pay for his bid, was the next worry. “Ipa sa Dios na lang natin.”

One day he saw some of his neighbors making a bee-line to the house of the rich man in their community. He asked them what were they up to? They said they were going to borrow money from Mr. Reyes. “Could I also borrow from him?” he asked. “You try,” they told him.

And so he had a talk with Mr. Reyes. The rich man, who was also his neighbor, was kind. Mr. Reyes gave him the money to pay the bank.
How would he pay Mr. Reyes? was the next question. He wrote his son Mario Angelo to help. And so it was this son Mar who paid Mr. Reyes, in installment.

His wife remained a Christian and died at a ripe old age. His two children, named Mel and Mar, have remained Christians and are members of Caloocan church to this day.

“Ipa sa Dios na lang natin yan” became the favorite phrase of the old man who one day visited the Bible Study Center, learned the Bible and was converted to Christ. The old man remained a Christian throughout his life. He was the first to go home to his Lord, had preceded even his wife who a few months ago we had buried in a cemetery in Valenzuela. The old man’s name is Mauro Castro.

“Ipa sa Dios na lang natin iyan!”

1 CORINTHIANS 12:13

AN EXEGESIS OF 1 CORINTHIANS 12:13.

The Greek says, GAR EN ENI PNEUMATI HEMEIS PANTES EIS EN SOMA EBAPTISTHEMEN, “For by one Spirit we all were baptized into one body.”

Daniel B. Wallace says this is an example, or “an illustration,” of preposition EN used for means (Greek Grammar Beyond Basics, 374). By means, it is the instrument used. Thus EN ENI PNEUMATI, “by one Spirit,” is dative instrumental. Thus say Strong and Robertson also.

This means that the Holy Spirit is the instrument Christ uses. The passage is parallel to Mark 1:8. PNEUMATI HAGIO in Mark 1:8 clearly indicates the Spirit as the means; and so 1 Corinthians 12:13 may not differ from it. The use of preposition BY is reasonable. “For BY one Spirit.”

Those who promote present-day Holy Spirit baptism say that EN + Dative’s only use is locative and not instrumental. They are making an exclusive rule where there is none!.

They say that in this way, in the construction EN + PNEUMATI, the Holy Spirit becomes the sphere, or the location. And yet this interpretation is not consistent with their interpretation of Eph. 5:18, where the same construction is found. EN PNEUMATI here speaks of the Spirit as the means. The idea of Paul is that the believers are to be filled by means of the Spirit.

If EN PNEUMATI in Eph. 5:18 is dative of means, and therefore instrumental, why can’t EN PNEUMATI in 1 Corinthians 12:13 be dative instrumental also?

I suspect that their insistence of interpreting 1 Corinthians 12;13 as locative is for reasons dubious and self-serving. I am just consistent. I look at both passages with the same construction as similar in meaning and therefore must be similarly interpreted.

Lastly, the verb employed in 1 Corinthians 12:13 is aorist. Aorist is referring to a past event, unrepeatable. It is not referring to a continuous progressive act..

Here is the death knell of present-day Holy Spirit baptism doctrine. 1 Corinthians 12:13 can never be used by them to prove that they must have Holy Spirit baptism today simply because 1 Corinthians 12:13 does not say so!

They will not need an aorist to prove their doctrine! They will need a present continuous verb to help them promote their doctrine!

Now, you HSB people, find me a verse in the Bible that says, “For in one Spirit we today are being baptized into one body!”

1 Corinthians 12:13 cannot help you. It has already been fulfilled!

JOEL 2:28-32; cf. Acts 2

THE MEANING AND SCOPE (OR LIMITS) OF JOEL 2:28-32; cf. Acts 2:.
(Please have with you a Bible as you read this post.)

1) .THE FULFILLMENT OF JOEL’S PROPHECY IS SPECIFIED by Peter’s statement: “This is that” (Acts 2;16). That fulfillment however may not be considered exhaustive enough. We look at Pentecost as the beginning. As we read further we find the Holy Spirit conferred on the Samaritans, on Paul, on the household of Cornelius and others.

2) “THIS IS THAT” IS UNDERSTOOD by some as referring to the outpouring of the Spirit. And yet they admit that what the apostles experienced was “baptism.” It was outpouring and yet it was baptism? This creates some lexical anomaly of sorts, for we know from the lexicon that POURING (EKCHEO) does not mean BAPTISM (BAPTIDZO). Do not then insist that it is. The lexicons are there for a reason. It is not there to help us defy logic and reason; it is there to help us understand. Lexicographers beginning from Thayer, Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich, and Danker to a host of others have always been consistent in defining both EKCHEO and BAPTIDZO. To these people—lexicographers– these are not the same animal . Therefore you should be consistent too.

Should you insist that pouring also means baptism, you are simply saying that the denominations have been right all along! They pour water on babies and call it baptism!

3) IT IS CALLED OUTPOURING BECAUSE THE SOURCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IS HEAVEN. It is from God himself. It is God’s Spirit himself. God himself said I would pour it out. In relation to heaven, the earth is below. Therefore the word pour is consistent with logic and position and physics. The outpouring was God’s manner of sending His Spirit to men and women on earth.

4) THE MANNER OF RECEIVING THAT SPIRIT VARIED FROM ONE RECIPIENT TO ANOTHER. The apostles received it as baptism, the Samaritans received it through the laying of the apostles’ hands. In the case of the household of Cornelius, the Spirit is said to have fallen on them. In the case of the apostle Paul an ordinary disciple whom the Lord sent conferred that Spirit directly on him.

5) The POURING OUT WAS TO HAPPEN in these last days. The phrase simply refers to a specific period of time. If you think that the phrase includes our present time, the 21st century, the burden of proof lies on you. I am sure that you will have a difficulty proving that, unless you do some scripture twisting and invent some reason to justify that interpretation.

6) Methinks THE VERB “I WILL POUR OUT” DOES NOT MEAN A CONTINUOUS OUTPOURING. Why? Because the meaning and implication of the future simple tense does not demand it. Future simple in the Greek has the same sense as the aorist tense. Both speak of one time action, and never repeatable!

If you insist on your continuous-outpouring-as-baptism interpretation, let me tell it straight to your face: Grammar and lexicons are not on your side; it is on our side!

JOHN 3:3-6

ON THE MEANING AND IMPACT OF JOHN 3:3-6.

(1) JOHN 3:3 SAYS REBIRTH IS NECESSARY. Jesus answered and said to him (to Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born (γεννηθῇ, GENNETHE, begotten) again (ἄνωθεν, ANOTHEN, “from above,” “again,”“anew”), he cannot see the kingdom of God.

“Unless,” or “except,” is Christ’s blunt and curt reply that is meant to shake Nicodemus’ belief as a Jew. What makes one see the kingdom is not the physical rebirth as a Jew into a physical nation, but “rebirth from above.”

(2) THIS REBIRTH IS NOT PHYSICAL IN NATURE. The heavenly birth is not the same as being born the second time from the womb of one’s mother (3:4). “He that is born of (EK, out of, from) the flesh is flesh” (3:6).

(3) “UNLESS A MAN BE BORN AGAIN” IS A CONDITIONAL CLAUSE. The first aorist passive subjunctive verb γεννηθῇ, GENNETHE, “be born or begotten,” with ἐὰν μή, EAN ME, “unless, except,” is used as a conditional clause, where the condition is said to be possible (Rogers & Rogers, p. 184). “A conditional clause makes a statement that IF something happens, something else will happen” (Corey Keating at http://www.ntgreek.org/). If one is born “again” (first action), he can see the kingdom of God (second action) (3:3).

The kingdom mentioned here refers to God’s rule over the hearts of men, made possible only by their becoming members of the church (MATTHEW 16:18; ACTS 2:47) or citizens of the kingdom of God’s dear Son (COLOSSIANS 1:13).

The new birth is necessary because the natural man cannot enter the kingdom of heaven by any other means. The physical means of entry makes you a member of the human family. The heavenly means of entry makes you a member of the kingdom of heaven.

(4) “BORN OF WATER AND OF THE SPIRIT” DOES NOT MEAN “BAPTIZED IN WATER AND IN THE SPIRIT.” The phrase γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος, GENNETHE EX HUDATOS does not mean “baptized in water.”

Firstly, Rebirth in water, or becoming a new creature, does not happen AT the very point when the person goes INTO the water.

Secondly, Rebirth in water does not happen AT the very point when the body is IMMERSED IN water.

In ROMANS 6, Paul compares baptism to a burial (“We were buried therefore with him through baptism unto death,” v. 4; “we have become united with him in the likeness of his death,” v. 5.

In death Christ was buried, literally, and in baptism we picture our union with his death and burial in the figurative sense, “we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death,” v. 3).

The creature that remains in the grave is still the old creature, not a new creature. He is corruptible and dead, waiting to be raised to life.

The creature that is plunged into the water is not the new creature yet, until he is raised from the water.

Thirdly, Rebirth happens AFTER one rises out of the watery grave of baptism. Christ was raised from the dead a new person, possessing an incorruptible body that death could never control again. We picture that figuratively in our rising up out of the watery grave. Paul says, “like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life” (v. 4).

AFTER baptism, not DURING BAPTISM, but RISING FROM THE WATER AFTER BAPTISM we become a new person!

AFTER baptism, not during baptism, comes the newness of life!

If one argues that IN baptism we become a new person, the Bible does not teach that doctrine. We are not “buried in newness of life,” rather we “walk in newness of life,” and that happens AFTER we rise from the watery grave of baptism!

Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus uses the phrase γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος, GENNETHE EX HUDATOS, which literally means “born from, or out of the water” (JOHN 3:5).

Taking an earthly analogy, birth does not happen when the husband and the wife sleep together. Neither does it happen when the seed of the man is planted in the womb and the foetus is formed. Rather birth happens when the baby is delivered out of the womb.

No one I suppose has been BORN IN his mother’s womb, but OUT OF IT!
So being “born of water” does not mean baptism in water; it refers to the rebirth that happens after one rises up out of the water.

“Born of the Spirit” does not mean “baptized in the Spirit” in the same way that “born of water” does not mean “baptized in water.”

(5) JOHN 3:5 TEACHES THAT THE REBIRTH IS IN TWO ASPECTS. Jesus answered (Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless a man is born of water (γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος, GENNETHE EX HUDATOS, literally “born from, or out of water,” Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries )
and Spirit (καὶ Πνεύματος, KAI PNEUMATOS “and of the Spirit”),
he cannot (οὐ δύναται, OU DUNATAI, could not be able to, may not be able to, may not be possible for him to) enter into the kingdom of God.”

“Except one be born of water and the Spirit,” ἐὰν μή τις γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος. There is no determiner (“the”) between the conjunction KAI and the noun object PNEUMATOS, “Spirit.” The determiner “the” before PNEUMATOS, “Spirit,” is supplied by the translators.

However it shares the same preposition with HUDATOS, the preposition ἐξ, EX, so “of water” and “of Spirit.” Πνεύματος, PNEUMATOS, is genitive (like ὕδατος, HUDATOS) and is translated “of Spirit.”

This speaks of one rebirth, not two. “Born of water AND [of the] Spirit.” It is a rebirth that involves both water and Spirit.

Jamieson, Fawcett and Brown says it means to “begin life anew in relation to God; his manner of thinking, feeling, and acting, with reference to spiritual things, undergoing a fundamental and permanent revolution.”

When the Lord says, “Ye must be born again (γεννηθῇ ἄνωθεν, GENNETHE ANOTHEN, “born from above”),” he does not mean you must be born with two kinds of births, or you must be born twice.

It is only one kind of rebirth, of both water and Spirit. Note the Greek phrase, γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος, “born of water AND Spirit.” After one rises from the watery grave of baptism, he becomes a new creature, possessing a rebirth in two dimensions, two aspects, two qualities, two levels of reality.

When a man hears the word of the gospel and obeys it by being baptized in water, changes happen to the soul.

Firstly, there is a relationship change between him and his God; he becomes His adopted son. “And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (GAL 4:6; cf ACTS 5:32). ἐξαπέστειλεν, EXAPESTEILEN, sent forth, sent out, is aorist indicative active. God sent forth the Spirit of His only begotten Son into your hearts to claim you as His own adopted sons.

Secondly, there is a relationship change between the Christian and sin; he is dead to it. “God forbid. We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?” (ROM 6:2; cf. 8:10).

Thirdly, there is a relationship change between the Christian and his Lord; he is a new creature in Jesus. “Wherefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature: the old things are passed away; behold, they are become new” (2COR 5:17; Cf. ROM 8:10).

Fourthly, These changes set the stage for him to be fruit-bearing. “And those are they that were sown upon the good ground; such as hear the word, and accept it, and bear fruit, thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold” (MAR 4:20).

You don’t know how the Spirit works in the man who has just been “born again of water and Spirit,” γεννηθῇ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ Πνεύματος . You don’t know whence the wind comes or where it goes; you don’t know what the Spirit does to that person. You only hear the sound of the wind; you only see the action done by the man who is trying to conform himself to the image of the Son of God, in other words, as he tries to live according to the dictates of the Spirit (cf. ROMANS 8:4, 14).

The perfect participial clause καὶ τὸ γεγεννημένον ἐκ τοῦ Πνεύματος πνεῦμά ἐστι, “and the one having been born of the Spirit is spirit,” being in the perfect tense, shows that the effect of having been born in the Spirit goes on continually.

ACTS 1:4-8

First, Before you make the conclusion that the promise of Holy Spirit baptism in Acts 1:4-8 is for you too, ask yourself these questions:

1) Who was speaking? In the verses aforementioned, it was Jesus. He was personally speaking here.

2) To whom was He speaking? In the verses aforementioned, He was conversing with the apostles. He was not talking to you nor to anybody but the apostles. Before you apply these verses to yourselves, I ask you to use your common sense!

3) What did He say? “John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days hence” (Acts 1:5).

4) When did He say it? The answer is: During the first century. You were not there.

5) Where did He say it? The context implies that He was assembled with them and was explaining to them about His coming kingdom in the city of Jerusalem itself.

Christ told his apostles to wait in the city of Jerusalem not many days from the time he was speaking. He had been assembled with them for forty days, and the waiting time was over when the Pentecost day came.
If you claim a Holy Spirit baptism like apostles had, then you are claiming something that has not been promised you!

The apostles waited in Jerusalem for Pentecost, and you want some Holy Spirit baptism that involves no waiting time? If indeed you waited for your Holy Spirit baptism, where did you wait? Lepanto Mines? Baguio City? Urdaneta? Binalonan, Pangasinan? Candon, Ilocos Sur? Wrong places to do the waiting!

If you claim to have been baptized in the Holy Spirit, were there sounds of rushing mighty wind that filled the whole room where you were? Where there tongues of fire that sat on each of you? Don’t tell me that you also spoke in tongues: You could fake it!.

If you claim a Holy Spirit baptism, then you are claiming something that was not promised to any of us today. If you wish, find another promise in the Bible that is tailored specifically for you. The promise of Holy Spirit baptism has already been fulfilled! Where is the promise of HSB for you?

The defect of these HSB people is that like the denominations around them, they have not been using their common sense, their method of interpretation is below par, they don/t understand Greek, and they have no hint what the Greek grammar has been saying.

Don’t be fooled by these people, even if they call you brother!

BAL LAGUA SR.

 

He was called into the kingdom by a means that you could say was divinely providential. This is his story.

One day in 1980, a lady whom he called sister Rafael was buying plow parts in a store near their halohalo booth. The sun was hot and the lady went to their store to order halohalo. Mrs. Lagua, who was manning the store said they had halohalo but it lacked another ingredient. Mrs. Rafael said never mind, please give us two. And so they ate halohalo that lacked an ingredient.

And as they ate, Mrs. Rafael’s mind wandered and saw a Bible displayed on the shelf. “Have you been reading the Bible?” she asked. Mrs. Lagua said yes. “Have you been listening to any radio program?” she asked further. Again Mrs. Lagua said yes. “In fact, we have for years been listening to a program titled AWAGANNACA NI CRISTO (Christ Is Calling You). The speaker is a certain Mr. Alejandro Ciencia.”

Mrs. Rafael’s eyes brightened up. “That man is our brother in Christ! Do you have any place to go this Sunday? We would like to invite you to our home. We worship there..”

Mr. Rafael was the one conducting the study that Sunday and the next Sundays. And as brother Rafael explained about the plan of God, about the church in the Bible, and about the way of salvation, Bal Lagua Sr. said he could not help comparing what he heard with what he read in the Bible!

Flashback: For years they as a couple had been meditating on the Word. They had been looking for the church that the Bible mentions about. They had visited the iglesia NI Cristo thinking that it is the same church the Bible is talking about. But he found their doctrines about the deity of Christ inconsistent with the Bible. Bal Sr. told his wife to go ahead and join that sect and find out more. But the wife too had some doubts about the sect.

But now they were sure that they had found the true church. What brother Rafael had been saying they too compared with what they read, and they had no doubt that this is it!

And so they submitted themselves for baptism, and brother Rafael said, “I will ask brother Eugene Awingan to baptize you.” So they waited for Eugene Awingan, but he did not come. They found out later that he was sick.

Their baptism delayed, they prayed that the Lord would send a man to baptize them. Then came Nic Fulgencio who visited the Rafaels. Nic Fulgencio baptized them. (Nic is now deceased).

The Laguas had bought a piece of property from the Tabacalera lands that had been for sale to the landless tenants. Bal Lagua Sr. resigned his job as revenue clerk of Ilagan because the pay was low, and decided to try farming. With the money he received from the government, he now had capital to start with. But farming did not seem to be his lot. He never made good in it.

He decided to try his luck in Manila. And while in Mania he worshipped with the Manila Church of Christ, ministered by Felipe Cariaga. In Manila, his wife’s relatives who were INC-1914 were vent on converting him, having heard that he was now a member of the Church of Christ. A debate was arranged between Felipe Cariaga and the INC-1914 but it did not push through.

Not finding a job in Manila, Bal Lagua Sr. went back to the province. He tried his luck in logging. He bought a chain saw, and employed a chain saw operator to do the cutting of trees for him. The logs he sold to the buyers. And while he was in the mountain, he did not miss worship! He would invite his men to worship with him (they were Catholics). He had brought with him the elements of the Lord’s Supper so he could worship anywhere when Sundays come. He had befriended many because of his winning ways, and in fact had been in contact with the NPAs in the mountain whom he also sought to convert to Christ.

Years later Eusebio Tanicala came and offered him an opportunity to study the Bible at Philippine Bible College-Baguio City. Brother Tanicala found him a supporter to support his family’s needs (abut P2,000 per month). Four years later, Brother Bal Lagua Sr. finished a bachelors degree i n Bible. He said he belonged to the last batch of students before PBC was closed.

Brother Tanicala also encouraged him to start a congregation in the town of ilagan, and sought funds to buy a piece of land on which a small chapel of Ilagan church of Christ now stands.

All of Bal Lagua’s sons and daughters are Christians. His son Bhal Garcia Lagua Jr. graduated with an education degree at Sunrise Christian College. His daughter Rowena Garcia Lagua also studied in that school, and had even finished a degree in Singapore. His two other sons assist Bhal Lagua Jr in ministering to the church of Ilagan City.

The lesson is clear: God sees all hearts, and sees the hearts of those who have been seeking the truth. Who would ever think that a couple who had dropped by a store and ate halohalo would guide such a heart to His kingdom? May His name be praised!

 

THE THREE THOUSAND OF ACTS 2: WHEN WERE THEY BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT?

 

 When were the 3,000 of Acts 2 (a) born of water (b) born of the Spirit (c) washed in the blood?

(1) ACTS 2:5. These were Jews, included in the class of men “dwelling in Jerusalem,” and coming from “every nation under heaven” (ACTS 2:9-11); they were devout men (ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς, ANDRES EULABEIS, men who are pious, religiously circumspect [Strong’s].  ἄνδρες εὐλαβεῖς “could refer to Jewish pilgrims who had come to the Feast… or to the Jews from the Diaspora who had moved to Jerusalem and were now permanent residents” [Rogers & Rogers, 231]). Robertson says “the lists in ACTS 2:9-11 are not linguistic, but geographical and merely illustrate how widespread the Dispersion (Diaspora) of the Jews was as represented on this occasion” (Robertson’s Word Pictures). Quoting one author, he notes four main divisions here: (I) The Eastern or Babylonian, like the Parthians, Medes, Elamites,  and Mesopotamians. (2) The Syrian like Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia. (3) The Egyptian like Egypt, Libya, and Cyrene. (4) The Roman (Ibid.).

(1.a) ACTS 2:6. Their reaction to the good news “which was noised abroad” (literally, “when this sound happened” [Alfred Marshall]) in various tongues was one of confoundedness  (συνεχύθη, SUNECHUTHE, aorist indicative passive, they were perplexed, confounded, confused, astonished, bewildered). Their confoundedness had a reason: Every man among them heard these baptized believers speak in his own language, in the tongue he was born and grew up with (cf. 2:8)!

(1.b) ACTS 2:7. Their other reaction was one of amazement (EXISTANTO, they were amazed, imperfect middle of EXISTĒMI, to stand out of themselves, meaning a wide-open astonishment [Robertson’s Word Pictures]).

(1.c) Their further reaction was one of marvel (ETHAUMAZON, they marveled, imperfect active. The imperfect speaks of an action continuing in the past. The wonder grew and grew! [Robertson’s Word Pictures]).

(1.d) That amazement and marvel showed itself in their statement, “Behold, are not all these Galileans?”

(1.e) “The Galileans spoke a rude Aramaic [MARK 14:70] and probably crude Greek vernacular also. They were not strong on language and yet these are the very people who now show such remarkable linguistic powers” (Robertson’s Word Pictures).

(1.f) ACTS 2:12. While many were indeed amazed and perplexed (DIĒPOROUNTO, they were perplexed, imperfect middle of DIAPOREŌ, to be wholly at a loss, an old verb used only in Luke and Acts. They continued  to be amazed, EXISTANTO,  and puzzled [Robertson’s]), yet there were also mockers among them (2:13).

(1.g) Those who were serious in the business of listening heard the gospel preached in its fullness: Jesus’ authority as attested by God through the miracles which He performed of which many among the Jews too had knowledge (2:22; cf. v. 36), His death at the hands of wicked and lawless men (2:23), His resurrection (2:24), His kingship in the kingdom they had been waiting for (2:25, 30, 34), and His exaltation (2:33-36).

(1.h) They who listened did so intently and realized their sins (2:36-37) and asked for relief for their troubled conscience and for the refreshing of their sinful souls (2:37).

(2) Peter led the opening of the kingdom, using the keys the Lord provided, and prescribed the cure for their sins. See below:

ACTS 2:38  And Peter said unto them, Repent ye (METANOĒSATE. First aorist ingressive active imperative.  Active, since it is the subject, “ye, you” (plural) who would do it. While the aorist pictures the action as a summary occurrence, in the ingressive sense it expresses the beginning of the action (“start doing it”) or the entrance into the state (“get into it”).  Imperative, since it is a command: “Change your mind and your life. Turn right about and do it now. You crucified this Jesus. Now crown him in your hearts as Lord and Christ. This is first” [Robertson’s])

(More can be learned about the aorist by clicking this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aorist_(Ancient_Greek).

and be baptized every one of you (KAI BAPTISTHĒTŌ HEKASTOS HŪMŌN. “And let each one of you be baptized,” “be immersed,” “be dipped”)

in the name of Jesus Christ (EN TŌI ONOMATI IĒSOU CHRISTOU, in accordance with the authority or command of Jesus in Matthew 28:19)

unto (εἰς, EIS, “with a view to” [Alfred Marshall])

the remission (ἄφεσιν, APHESIN, remission). ISBE defines remission as “exemption from the consequences of an offense, forgiveness”;  and adds, “sins are remitted when the offender is treated as though the offense had never been committed.”

of your sins (ἁμαρτιῶν, HAMARTION, from the Greek  noun HAMARTIA, “missing the mark”);

and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (TĒN DŌREAN TOU HAGIOU PNEUMATOS. Scholars believe that this is a case of genitive of identification, so they understand this phrase to mean “the gift which is the Holy Spirit” and ACTS 8:17 is used as proof [see Robertson’s Word Pictures]).

(3) I am inclined to believe that the law of salvation and admission into the kingdom began to be enforced in the time of ACTS 2. MATTHEW 28:18-20, MARK 16:15-16 and LUKE 24:46-47 demand that the world be made disciples of Jesus by the preaching of the gospel of His death, burial and resurrection, and such gospel was preached to many Jews who came from many places, to Jerusalem on Pentecost.

(3.a) The Mark passage demands faith; Acts 2 passage demands repentance; and all three demand that the subjects be baptized. These who obeyed Him underwent a rebirth, both of water and Spirit when they rose from the watery grave of baptism. That happened in ACTS 2.

(3.b) Were their sins washed away? Yes.

(3.c) ACTS 2:47 says those that were being saved were added to the church (KJV passage is used here). The church is the kingdom of God’s dear son (COLOSSIANS 1:13).

THE 500 DISCIPLES: WHEN WERE THEY BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT?

 

When were the 500 disciples (a) born of water, (b) born of the Spirit, and (c) washed in the blood?

(1) The only text that mentions the “five hundred brethren” is 1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-6.

1 Now I make known (Γνωρίζω, GNORIDZO, present indicative active, to make known, “I draw your attention”)

unto you brethren, the gospel which I preached  unto you (ὃ εὐηγγελισάμην ὑμῖν, HO EUNGGELISAMEN HUMIN, aorist indicative middle, “the gospel that I myself preached to you”; “the gospel that I gospelized unto you” [Robertson’s Word Pictures]; “the good news that I good news-ed to you” [Jim Massey]. The gospel that was preached to the Corinthians included the facts to be believed and the commands to be obeyed),

which also ye received (ὃ καὶ παρελάβετε, HO KAI PARELABETE, aorist indicative active, “[the gospel] which you did receive also”),

wherein also ye stand (ἐν ᾧ καὶ ἑστήκατε, EN HO KAI ESTEKATE, perfect active indicative, “in [which gospel] you stand.” The perfect tense pictures the abiding results of their standing in the gospel after having received it),

2 by which also ye are saved (δι᾿ οὗ καὶ σώζεσθε, DI HOU KAI SODZESTHE, to save, to rescue, present indicative passive, the present tense portraying the continuing action of the saving and rescuing being performed on the believers. The theological passive structure portrays God as the one doing the saving and rescuing),

if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you (εἰ κατέχετε, EI KATECHETE, present indicative active, to hold down, to hold fast; indicative with εἰ is a first class conditional clause assuming that the condition is real [Rogers & Rogers, 384]. Saving and rescuing from every day sins continues as long as they hold on to the Word that has been preached to them),

except (ἐκτὸς εἰ μὴ, EKTOS EI ME,  unless) ye believed (ἐπιστεύσατε, EPISTEUSATE, aorist indicative active)

in vain (εἰκῇ, EIKE, adverb, without cause, in vain, to no purpose).

3 For I delivered (παρέδωκα, PAREDOKA, aorist indicative active; the infinitive of this verb, PARADIDOMI, means “to deliver over, to pass on with authoritative teaching” [Rogers & Rogers, 384)

unto you first of all (ἐν πρώτοις, EN PROTOIS, in the first place, first of all. The words may indicate priority either in time or importance” [Rogers & Rogers, 384])

that which also I received (παρέλαβον, PARELABON, aorist indicative active, from PARALAMBANO, to receive, the same word Paul often used to express his reception of direct revelation):

that Christ died for our sins (Χριστὸς ἀπέθανεν ὑπὲρ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, Christ died, literally, a crucial event recorded in history, in behalf of or over our sins. ἀπέθανεν, APETHANEN, died, is aorist active indicative) according to the scriptures (LUKE 22:37; 24:25; ACTS 2:25-27; 2:35; 13:24; 17:3).

4 and that he was buried (καὶ ὅτι ἐτάφη, KAI HOTI ETAPHE, aorist indicative passive, from THAPTO, to bury; not only did He die, the grave offered by Joseph of Arimathea, in which they put His body in, too was a witness that He indeed lost His life for our gain);

and that he hath been raised (καὶ ὅτι ἐγήγερται, KAI HOTI EGEGERTAI, perfect indicative passive, from EGEIRO, to raise. He died, He was buried, and He rose again! “The perfect tense emphasizes that Christ is risen and indicates a continuing condition which has given rise to a new state of affairs” [Rogers & Rogers, 385]. Paul makes this change of tense to emphasize the permanence of Christ’s resurrection. “He is still risen” [Robertson’s Word Pictures]) on the third day according to the scriptures;

5 and that he appeared (ὤφθη, OPTHE, aorist indicative passive of ORAO, to see. “The appearances were not just visions; he could be seen by human eyes” [Rogers & Rogers, 385]) to Cephas; then to the twelve;

6 then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once (ἐφάπαξ, EPHAPAX, at once, at one time),

of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep (This incident is the one described in MATTHEW 28:16, the prearranged meeting on the mountain in Galilee. The strength of this witness lies in the fact that the majority (HOI PLEIOUS) of them were still living when Paul wrote this Epistle, say spring of AD 54 or 55, not over 25 years after Christ’s resurrection” [Robertson’s Word Pictures]).

(2) There is no record in the Scriptures that the Five Hundred had been SET by God into the church, like He did the apostles. It is useless to speculate.

(3) There is no proof either that they had been baptized in water on Pentecost. If they had, their rising up from the baptistery would have been the beginning of their newness of life, their being born of water and of the Spirit.

(4) This is not to say that the 500 disciples had never been born of water and of the Spirit and that their sins had not been washed away. This is to point out that much difficulty lies in finding proofs to support this opinion. I wish we knew. But I am content with the fact that we humans know nothing about this. If God in his mercy and love chose not to reveal the how, it is still good, better and best for our souls. The Bible contains other facts that are for us, and commands to do to please Him. These alone are important, nothing else is.

THE 120 DISCIPLES: WHEN WERE THEY BORN OF WATER AND SPIRIT?

 

When were the 120 disciples (a) born of water, (b) born of the Spirit, and (c) washed by the blood?

(1) The number of persons gathered that day waiting for the Holy Spirit’s coming were one hundred and twenty (ACTS 1:15), but among these were the eleven apostles, and Matthias, and other disciples that included Mary and Jesus’ brethren, and the women (e.g. Mary Magdalene). The real number, not including the apostolic band, should be one hundred and eight.

(2) With Peter presiding, they began the process of choosing one to replace Judas the man from Kerioth. The fellow with three names, called Joseph Barsabas Justus, was not appointed. If he was, it would be the first time in history we have an apostle with three names! But instead it was Matthias. Why?  ACTS 1:24 tells us. The one hundred and twenty put forward two names, they prayed, they cast lots, but the Lord still had the final say.

(3) If you keep tracking the pronouns “they,” “them,” and “these,” etc. from ACTS 1:14 till ACTS 2:1-4, you will be forced to conclude that the one hundred and eight, together with the Twelve Apostles, were also recipients of the Holy Spirit baptism that came with the signs of rushing mighty wind that filled the house where they sat, and cloven tongues like fire that sat on each of them. The Holy Spirit filled the house with its power and filled each of them. That is the language that speaks of overwhelming power! They each spoke in the tongues familiar to their listeners (ACTS 2:8).

(4) Were they baptized together with the apostles? I am torn between two opinions. First is the affirmative answer. I based that by considering the pronouns from ACTS 1 to Acts 2. I am, in a manner of speaking, tracing the footprints.

ACTS 1:17  For he (Judas of Kerioth) was numbered among us (HEMIN)

ACTS 1:21 Of the men therefore that have companied with us (HEMIN)… all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and went out among us (HEMAS)

ACTS 1:22  beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day that he (the Lord Jesus) was received up (referring to His ascension) from us (HEMON), of these must one become a witness with us (HEMIN) of his resurrection.

ACTS 1:23  And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, and Matthias

ACTS 1:24  And they prayed

ACTS 1:26  And they gave lots for them

ACTS 2:1  And when the day of Pentecost was now come, they were all together in one place.

ACTS 2:2  And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.

ACTS 2:3  And there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire; and it sat upon each one of them.

ACTS 2:4  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

If they had been baptized together with the apostles, the one hundred eight too were SET into the kingdom-church.  However there is NO passage that says they were.

(5) Were they too baptized in water on Pentecost day? I lean more toward the opinion that they were. There is no record however that says they joined the three thousand in the dunking (ACTS 2:38). It would be a cute doctrine if we could prove it. For if God had chosen them to set an example in obeying the great commission given to the apostles, JOHN 3:3-5 too had been fulfilled in their obedience.

(6) It is not easy to answer the questions WHEN were they born of water, WHEN were they born of the Spirit, and WHEN were their sins washed away. There is no Scripture to guide us to these “facts,” which simply means they are no facts at all.  This is not to say that they had not been born of water and of Spirit and that their sins had not been washed away. It is not easy to presume things for which one has no proof.

Jay Ar Oloya: Hopping From One Church to Another and Finally Finding God

Jay Ar Oloya and his father Lino

THIS POST should have been written months ago. I started writing it now, because I am simply amazed, I am in a stupor, pondering  at the Lord’s ways and methods, wondering at how He wanted to convert a family, and began it by first converting the son, the only son in that family. The young man’s name is Jay Ar Oloya.  He was the first in the family to become a Christian; five months from his conversion, last Saturday, Sept. 8, to be specific, I also baptized his father. But that’s going ahead of the story.

It was one day in March. We had just scrapped from the list our 250th prospect for  study, an effort that began many months back,  having realized that our conversation about the Word with him got us nowhere. I suggested to Erwin, my young companion, that we try Malinta-Bukid; it’s not far away, and it’s not even a  kilometer’s walk from the house of another prospect we had studied with that noon. “Let’s look for another soul,” I said. Told him I am hungry and need some snacks.

Then I saw a vendor’s cart, and heard something burning, and smelled something sweet: Banana on sticks.

The young man was cooking something else, but my eyes were focused on the bananas that’s cooling by the side of the pan. I ordered two for both of us.

One of my favorite pastimes is talking while eating. As we ate, I asked the young man if he had read the Bible; I expected a negative answer, but no, he said, “Yes, in fact I have one given to me by a friend.” I quoted verses: Matthew 7:21. Matthew 7:13-14. “Yes,” he said, “I had read that too.” “Then,” I said, “could I show you more? Can you give me thirty minutes?”  “Yes,” he answered.

I sat on the bench beside his cart, opened my laptop and showed  him the first slide of my lesson series on the Bible. When people came to buy, I would stop; Jay Ar would pick up a stick of bananas and handed it to the customer, got the money and went back to the bench and signaled me to continue. We finished the first lesson that day.

Caloocan church baptistery

IT WAS just the beginning. I saw a hungering soul, a soul parched dry wanting drops, no, glassfuls of the water of life. When his attempt to introduce me to the family went pfft, he was tearful, not expecting that the father who loved him so much would love him less now that he was a learner of the Word. “Love him less,” at least that was how he understood his father’s actuation of rejecting me.

We would transfer venues of study, no longer by the wayside but inside our rented hall in Gallardo Building. He would come mornings when he’s not busy. In the afternoons when he was supposed to be vending his sugary, sticky bananas on sticks, he would invent an alibi so he could escape from the drudgery of a work that he felt was imposed on him . He wanted less to be a vendor, he wanted more to study the Bible.

He had plenty of questions, and the answers I gave from the Word opened to him new vistas that the Bible provides to the hearers. He told me he had been hopping from one sect to another, asking their preachers to teach him Bible. They simply did not have time. I have all the time he wanted! I would invite him to Caloocan and he would come, and I would introduce him to the brethren. He felt awed by the reception he got.

Jay Ar being baptized, April 14, 2012

FINALLY on April 14, more than a month since I met him on that road near Makipot-Rincon (Makipot means “Strait”), Jay Ar decided to enter the strait path that goes to heaven. The tenth lesson on “What Must I Do to be Saved?” was done in brother Randy Macapagal’s office, where I could talk with all my might, the better to explain and illustrate the finest points of history and doctrine of the early Christians without being distracted and without disturbing anyone.  It took two hours and I finally closed the deal. Jay Ar wanted to be baptized. He told me he did not bring any extra wear, and I said that’s no problem. In the cool waters of the baptistery of Caloocan, at 8:00 pm, I immersed him.

The days that followed made him think Christianity was no fun in the pool. He found out that the road to heaven was even straiter than Makipot Street near their home. His mother would castigate him for reading “too much Bible” and he would ran to me with tears in his eyes. And he would do this not just twice or thrice but many times. He said he found in me the big brother he had wanted, and the father figure that’s different from the father he knew. I decided to keep him under my wings, not literally; he became my ward, and I took care of him like the son I desired but never had; and the hours he was out of their home became days, and days were longer because he no longer wanted to go home. And when he told me that he would ignore his mother’s text message for him to come home, I said no, I wanted you to show respect to the mother and the father who brought you into the world, because it is what Jesus desires for every one who follows Him.

He said he wanted to train under me, and become a preacher too. And so by that statement that came from the lips of my first real convert in Valenzuela, I started a Bible school. He and Erwin Saligumba became my first students.

The young man has a good heart and a soul that’s ready to serve. He asked for the first lessons in evangelism, translated by me into Tagalog, and equipped with that, plus the Bible that I gave him, he began evangelizing the people of Dulong Tangke. With the lessons from the old laptop I gave him, he started to teach his father. And his mother. And his sister Donna. His parents never paid much attention, especially when he castigated their use of graven images. But his sister Donna listened. That was an opening. I proceeded to teach his sister too. That study is still ongoing.

He rebuked his parents for their lack of faith, and proceeded to tell them that their bad fortunes began when they bought and worshipped the images in their home. His mother had small Marys and big Marys. I taught him how to argue, and he perfected it using the flawless Tagalog dialect he has grown up with.

Jay Ar’s patience, and our prayers, finally paid off. His father Lino now expressed his interest in listening to the stranger who converted his son. Early one morning I came and they indeed were waiting for me. My first lesson on the Bible tackled the use of images. After that study, they decided to do away with the Marys they had, both big and small.

Jay Ar Oloya is one great lesson I learned. The lesson was that the drudgery that you call soul-winning that ended your days without winning a single soul may be the break that the Lord wanted you to do one more time. Jay Ar was our 251st prospect, a soul who hopped from one church to another and finally found God.

Jayson Quiniones: Finding Jesus in Midst of the Storm

I FIRST met this young man when he came over to our meeting place in Valenzuela City. That was a Sunday evening in August. The worship was done. The studies were done.  He came to visit Jay Ar, and he carried a cane. “What is he here for?” I asked Jay. “We are going to be practicing arnis de mano.” “Oh,” I said. “Good.”

Jayson was his name, and this I later learned from Jay Ar. As soon as he arrived, it was business. He was going to train another man, a much older one, I guess, whose name was not introduced to me, in the art of defending oneself by the use of the cane.  Jayson seemed to be very good at it, and I could see it from the strokes that he executed while engaging in arnis with the other fellow.

Jay Ar and I now sat before the table and invited our two visitors to eat. They both were too shy. But finally, after we were done eating, Jayson sat in front of us and started eating the food I prepared for him; the other man asked to be excused and hurriedly left.

I asked Jay Ar to buy some bread and make coffee for the three of us. In between sips of coffee, I engaged the young man in a conversation. I came to know that he is Jay Ar’s bosom buddy, that he lives in Meycauayan, Bulacan (next town to Valenzuela), and that he is now in his final year in high school. Nothing about the Bible at all. Just plain talk. But the guy knew I am a preacher.

If the good Lord of heaven sent this young man to us to be taught of His will, I had no idea then.

WEEKS WENT  by and Jayson texted me. How he got hold of my number, I would not know. Habagat, the storm that Pag-asa said  was no storm, brought more rains than winds, and rivers overflowed, much of Metro Manila including Valenzuela City were flooded, even in places where it should not, thanks to those hard-headed countrymen of mine who kept throwing plastics into the esteros and canals.  Jayson asked that he be allowed to stay in our meeting hall. I said yes. He said he would be transporting his younger siblings to another house that was out of harm’s way. I asked how he was doing. He said the waters were so deep that he and his siblings had to swim to get out of their house.

That day I took a bus going to Valenzuela and saw none but waters and a few men and women trying to cross Tullahan Bridge, the bridge that connects Valenzuela to Caloocan City. The trip that took me ordinarily 30 minutes took me an eternity. San Miguel’s Polo Brewery seemed abandoned except by the guards. The bus driver said we have to wait until Tullahan River gave up its rage. I prayed.

The trip was long but I arrived at our meeting place. No waters around us except along McArthur Highway. Jayson had braved the raging waters just to reach us! He brought nothing except clothes that had been wet. We fed him and made him comfortable.

He said he came to study the Bible. He heard Jay Ar say, quoting me, that calamities are God’s way of touching lives. It had touched him and set him into thinking. That day we finished two lessons. We did nothing but eat, and pray and study the Word. We turned on the fans to dry his clothes. For beddings he made do with cartons laid on top of plastic tables. It was the best sleep we had I think, with rains raging around us.

Finally, after two days he had to leave. But he promised to come back. And he was true to his promise. Every time he comes it’s communion of food and of the Word. He would say some in his family was sick and we would utter a prayer for them. And I would not let him leave without him bringing some medicines for the sick in his family. And he is always thankful.

WHEN WE had a relief distribution courtesy of the brethren from MARCH for Christ, his mother came to visit because she said she was wondering about the strange preacher with whom his son had struck friendship. And she saw me. We discovered that we are both Visayans and speak the same dialect.

Jayson kept studying with us. At the tenth lesson, which is about how to get rid of one’s sins, he made the decision, and that same day, Thursday, September 6, I immersed him in Caloocan church’s baptistery.

Love begets interest, and a display of love encourages another to learn to love likewise. And Jayson, seeing that Jay Ar his friend is now into evangelism, touching hearts and lives, said he wanted to learn to preach too.

The good Lord of heaven, who created storms that brought calamities, touched a life in a way that we often may not understand. Just follow His prodding, and preach. The next soul that comes to your doorstep may be one whom He wants you to evangelize in order that not you alone may enjoy heaven.

THE WORK OF THE LORD IN VALENZUELA CITY

THE SEED OF THE WORK that became Valenzuela church of Christ began with the conversion of brother Mauro Castro (deceased) and sister Leonor Castro, his wife.

The church of Valenzuela first met and worshipped in the home of the Castros in Karuhatan, Valenzuela City on Sunday afternoons. In the morning, the family worshipped in Caloocan.

Later conversions in Valenzuela included some names that sounds Chinese plus some prominent men in the neighborhood of Karuhatan.

THE SECOND ATTEMPT at planting a church in Valenzuela was in 2010 when Caloocan church hired brother Henry Lim and his wife. The support for brother Lim came from the brethren in South Korea. The church found a place that was to serve as its meeting hall in Gen. T. de Leon, Barrio Ugong, Valenzuela City, across the North Luzon Expressway. That work however did not last also.

JULY 2011 WAS CALOOCAN’S THIRD attempt to plant a church in this city. It was September last year when I began working here. Prospects to study with were difficult to find and we tried every means found in the book to find souls.

Our first break came when we baptized brother Danny Castro, brother Mauro’s son.  After two weeks of study daily in his mother’s home, he obeyed his Lord in baptism. I immersed him in a pool.

Our next break came with the conversion of a young man named Jay Ar Oloya of Bukid, Malinta. Although he had not left the Catholic Church, Jay had been hopping from one denomination to another. After ten lessons, I immersed him. Jay now trains to be a preacher together with another young man, Erwin Saligumba, grandson of my classmate Sid Saligumba.

We have had a lot of contacts and students now. However we just don’t dunk anyone easily to make good reports. What is important to us is faithfulness and the pledge of a convert to change lives. One student of mine wanted to be immersed but I made known to him in no uncertain terms he has to stop smoking and engaging in other vices. I require of him a commitment of worshipping the Lord every Sunday. Short of this, you are just taking a bath.

I am making a report here of the ministries we are now doing in Valenzuela, which the Lord in His great kindness and love has begun and continued to work on till this day.

TUTORIAL CENTER. In Valenzuela I teach a Friday Bible class consisting of 10 mothers and 2 fathers. These people are there to wait for their kids. The kids are students of our tutorial center, and they go to our tutorial center four days a week, from Tuesday to Friday.

While the kids learn their ABCs and Bible for four days, their parents too attend the once-a-week Bible class that I teach on Friday. This is a very effective way of evangelism as proven by the experiences of Kalookan and Marikina churches of Christ, and the growth that resulted from it; we too want to duplicate it in Valenzuela.

The children’s and parents’ classes have been ongoing now for a month. Already, one direct result is that our church attendance has increased (39 last Sunday, July 15!). We expect to invite more to attend worship in the coming Sundays ahead.

THE LESSONS WE TEACH. The parents, who sit down at my feet during the one-hour Bible class, learn the Bible, read Bible passages on screen (I am using the digital live projector supplied by Kalookan church), and listen to its divine principles being explained.

The lessons include an Introduction to the Bible (Lesson one, which discusses its divine origin and inspiration, its purpose, and its message); The Creation and the Coming of Sin (Lesson 2); Cain and Abel (Lesson 3, which discusses faith and works and worship and the principle of brotherly love); and many others. Our fourth lesson yesterday, July 20, was about Noah and His Obedience.

This Bible class program for parents will last for about a year, as long as the kids are in our tutorial center.

A CLASS TO ENCOURAGE THEM. In our classes, we encourage the mothers to attend worship in Valenzuela on Sunday afternoon. We also encourage them to share the lesson we have taught them to their husbands. The result is that some of the wives also bring their husbands to attend our Bible classes!

Our Bible class program will take the students in a journey through the Bible for ten months. Kalookan has experienced baptizing mothers after the tenth lesson (What Must I Do to be Saved), and we want to duplicate that here, with the help of God.

OUR GOAL. With this program we also hope to contribute to the community by teaching mothers on how to become good examples to the people around them, how to be good mothers to their kids and good wives to their husbands, to teach their husbands and their kids to fear God, and to prepare all for the judgment that is to come.

OUR EMPHASIS. I always emphasize in my classes the need to listen to God and His message for all mankind; we are given only one chance to live and after this the Bar (Hebrews 9:27), that we all shall face Him (Him whom they had pierced and hanged on that shameful cross) in a judgment that is just and fair (2 Corinthians 5:10); and that the Word of the Son of God, whom many among us have insulted and rejected, shall be the basis of that judgment (John 12:48). “Should we not all learn to fear Him?” I ask. Learn to be afraid and be wise, I urge them.

I also emphasize that the way to be blessed in our lifetime, and in the future, is to seek God and His ways through His Word (Matthew 6:33). I often see heads nodding in agreement.

THOUGH YOUR SINS BE DARKER THAN DARK. I also entertain questions and give advice. They invite me to listen to their most secret sins, and I listen with sympathy and pity for their souls. They now call me their brother, and these are people who belong to many sects! God has put under my care these men and women whom the devil has victimized and who now suffer the consequences of their past sins. I teach them a God whom anyone with sins darker than dark can approach through their prayers, a God who can understand them in their mistakes and faults and who bend backwards and care enough to send preachers and teachers to bring them back to His fold again.

OUR TRAINING SCHOOL. I have started training classes for two young men (Erwin Saligumba and Jay Ar Oloya) who work with me. I call them my Timothy and Titus. We have lessons on how to evangelize, lessons to teach in evangelism, proper approach in evangelism, how to answer religious objections. Many of Jay Ar’s friends are from the Pentecostals and Jehovah’s Witnesses, and so we have a class that surveys the teachings of these sects and refute their errors. Erwin’s aunt is from the Iglesia group founded by Felix Manalo; we studied some errors of this sect too and how to refute them; and equipped with this partial knowledge about the Iglesia doctrines, Erwin started teaching his aunt last week.

We also have a training class in singing and song leading. Even the young people of Kalookan (who are being trained by brother Randy Macapagal), and Kris Ducusin (Randy’s assistant preacher) also wanted to attend my class. Problem is I cannot adjust my schedule to accommodate them. We hold our classes at night before we go to bed.

THE LIFE WE LIVE IN THE BIBLE SCHOOL. The young men who train under me live simple lives with me. Our food consists of rice and vegetables (like okra, camote tops, eggplant) and canned sardines. We work on a tight budget, on the support that some Christians in their kindness have sent me, for which I am most thankful. And the two young men understand. They understand that sometimes I have to go home to Pinyahan, Diliman, Quezon City, to eat when money is scarce. When that happens, Jay Ar, who lives nearby, goes home and get food to share with Erwin.

EVANGELISM RESULTS. Aside from the mothers and fathers that I teach in Bible classes at the building, I now have ongoing classes with Jay Ar’s parents, Lino and Lillian Oloya, and with Jay Ar’s sister Donna, and with Donna’s husband Randy.

Jay Ar’s parents attend our worship. Last Sunday, he also brought with him his aunt Agnes and his sister Kristel. I now have scheduled classes with Agnes and Kristel.

Jay Ar also bring his friends, Jayson and Joel, to the building, and I have studies with them. Last Thursday night, Joel came because his parents have been asking about the “sect” he has been studying with; he came and asked me questions, so I taught him a lesson on the true church. Our study lasted for two hours, until twelve midnight. He is a Jehovah’s Witness but has ceased attending that sect.

CHURCH ATTENDANCE. Our number has increased to 39 last Sunday. In past Sundays we had 30 people attending, which includes visitors and parents who study in our tutorial center.

Karen Luy Lazaro, a member of the church in Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur, married a man from Valenzuela. Her husband, Raffy Lazaro, was baptized by Jonathan Pag-arao, a former student of mine who now preaches in Bulihan, Silang, Cavite. Both are now attending. Raffy also brings with him his brother to church. They are regular attendees in our Sunday worship since February of this year.

Aldrin, a young man who formerly worshipped in Kalookan, has chosen to worship with us in Valenzuela, since they just live nearby. He brought with him his sister named Charm, who is also a member of the church. Aldrin assists in the prayers and the Lord’s table.

Another is a sister named Evelyn Bayog, who was a former student of a Bible school operated by the instrumental church of Christ. Evelyn is from Bacolod City, but she has married a man from Valenzuela and works in a factory here. Evelyn has chosen to worship with us who do not use instruments in worship!

Still another is Shekinah Dalit, a young Christian lady from Narra, Palawan, who has migrated to Valenzuela. Her father is the preacher in the church of Narra. The Lord’s business of gathering His people wherever they may be sees no end, and we are happy to be used as His instrument in this ministry.

In our attendance is a man whom I am trying to influence. He is a former soldier and one of those who plotted to force Cory Aquino out of presidency! He has mellowed now, and listens to me preach. I have a class with him on Friday nights.

Our attendance has also been increased by the coming of members of Kalookan church, some of whom have not been able to attend the morning worship there, and have chosen to attend the afternoon worship in Valenzuela.

DEBT OF GRATITUDE. We are thankful to God for the two teachers from Kalookan, sister Agnes Macapagal and sister Nerizz Arias, who volunteer to teach the kids. Both are graduates of education degree, and are endowed with a great love for little children.

We are thankful to brother Randy Macapagal and the leaders of Kalookan church too who envision a program like this in order to reach out to people whom we can’t influence by any other means except by the tutorial center program.

And we are thankful to Prissy Sellers and the church in the US who supplied the educational materials, the school bags, the school uniforms, the tables and chairs, the educational Bible videos and the equipment that goes with it.

We are thankful to Kalookan church too for their all-out support for the work in Valenzuela, for their effort and time and money and technical support (we do not have a sound system in Valenzuela and definitely we are in need of one, and Kalookan brings their sound system Sunday afternoons so we could use them. My voice is so low–blame it on my age! The sound system is indeed a great help!

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Note: We have been receiving text messages from brethren from as far as north of Luzon soliciting our help to visit the people they had baptized who now have transferred near Valenzuela. There is such a family of 8 Christians who came from Calapacuan, Subic, Zambales, who claim to be members of the church but have not seen the necessity to attend worship in Valenzuela. We visited them not only once but twice and thrice. That is all we could do. But we are not in the business of bringing a horse to the water if that horse does not see the need to drink; we neither can impose a stricture on a disciple who does not see the need to worship with God’s people here. We urge preachers of the Lord’s church to properly teach those disciples the need to be faithful. If I be given a chance to visit people of this kind, I would not hesitate to teach him again the same foundational lessons, and I would not hesitate about dunking him again either. I have already dunked many who in the past have been immersed by some preachers, simply because these disciples think they have never been taught well. Don’t blame the disciple nor the preacher; I think the real culprit is  that being whom many think is a winged creature with two horns who’s been blamed for the misfortune of us all! 

History of the Church of Christ in Silang

By Dolores de Venecia Thelmo

MY SEARCH FOR TRUTH. The story begins when after 18 years of spending our time and effort to serve God in the Baptist church denomination, dark clouds came to our spiritual life. We were now leaving this denomination because of some errors in it, and because of some sins that the group had refused to take account of.  My friends whom I had influenced to be Baptists too were confused, and fear was in our hearts. Everyone had a question: Where shall we go?

For a long time that we were members of this denomination, we were taught that the Baptist church is the only religion God recognized, that John the Baptist was given the authority to baptize Jesus, that Jesus was a Baptist, and Baptist members are the only church members who will be included in the marriage supper of the Lamb in heaven. They also teach that once one is saved, he is saved forever.  Honestly, I have doubts of these teachings. I know who am I, and God knows my heart. I long for the truth. If I will leave the Baptist church, where shall I be on Sundays? What shall happen to us?

I went to God in prayer. “Lord, if you have a group called by your name, where your spiritual presence is there, please bring me to that group.” I wanted out, but I also wanted the truth.

God spoke to me through His Word, in Matthew 7:21: “Not everyone that sayeth unto me, Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” For 18 years of reading my Bible, this verse made me endure many sleepless nights. I woke up at midnight just to read it and ask myself, “Why does this verse keep bothering me?  What message does God have for me?”

VISITING MY BROTHER. One summer, I decided to visit my family in Catbalogan, Samar and sought the help of my brother, Tony de Venecia. My mother informed me that he was now a preacher of the church of Christ. I was not sure if my brother could help me. But I had in my mind that if Kuya would answer me through the word of God, I would accept and study the verse. But if he would answer me through a preacher, I would just listen and forget what he said.  I needed Bible truths.

But alas, when I told him what I was suffering through at that time, he asked me to get his Bible because the answer is there. He told me to open and read Acts 2: 38. I did, and as I was reading this verse my heart beat faster. The teaching is contrary to what I learned as a Baptist! I found out that I was not even baptized for the remission of my sins, and that I had not received the gift of the Holy Spirit. In other words, for 18 years of claiming that I was a Christian, I discovered I was not even saved! The next day, I asked him to baptize me.

GOING HOME TO CAVITE. After 10 days with my family in Catbalogan, I went back to Silang. I visited my Baptist friends and told them concerning the only church that I read about in the Bible, the church founded by Jesus, the church of Christ. Using my Bible, I told them of my experience in looking for the truth, and convinced them that there is indeed a church of which Christ is the owner, builder, ruler and head.

Baptist pastors who heard of my conversion tried to refute the truth that I had embraced, telling me that the teachings I heard from the church of Christ people are not applicable to our time. Other pastors told their members to shun me and avoid me like a plague, to never ever have any conversation with me about the teachings I heard. But I did not stop. I persisted until my friends were convinced to attend the worship service at Dasmariñas church of Christ, San Jose, Dasmariñas, Cavite.

HOME BIBLE STUDY IN SILANG. On September 7, 2004, we started a home Bible study in my home in Lalaan I, Silang, Cavite, with Bro. Neph Sico doing the teaching. He came with his wife Sis Bing and his Nanay Gloria. In attendance were me and my two daughters. It was scheduled every Sunday afternoon, after the worship in Dasmariñas.

BEGINNING OF THE WORK IN SILANG. After two months, we decided to start the work in the town of Silang, rented an apartment so we could invite our friends to attend the Bible study.  With continuous study of the Bible, praying, sharing the Word of God with other people, inviting them, God worked with us. To our number God added the Montegrande family. And so one afternoon of November 6, 2004, the church of Christ in Silang, Cavite started its first Sunday worship, together with our brethren from Dasmariñas. In attendance too were some old friends in Silang.

MORE ADDITIONS TO OUR NUMBER. After years of continuous services, prayers, visitation and sharing the Word of God, the Lord added again to his church people who are longing to find and serve Him in truth. Our recent addition for the year 2012 is a couple from Laguna, who visited, found a job and stayed for good. Praise the Lord for His greatness and love, for His unwavering plan to keep on looking for a people who will truly serve Him, outside of the denominations!

Unity: How Pleasant It Is!

This morning I had the honor of preaching on the Unity Theme at the joint worship of the Christians from De Castro and the Christians from Pasig-Kapitolyo. This was their third time to worship together, so I was told.

The Pasig-Kapitolyo church began with brother George Esmelia of Bacolod City. This is wonderful! George and I had been at loggerheads before because we could not agree on anything in our religious discussions at the Plaza of Bacolod City in the 1970’s. But while I disagreed with George, I too prayed that he would see the light of the Gospel. And God listened to my prayers. He worked wonders: George Esmelia was taught and baptized, not by me, but by other brethren; not in Bacolod, but in Metro Manila! I rejoiced at the conversion of my former antagonist! Calling him by phone in the 1990’s, we would often laugh out loud at how we had rationalized and justified our positions!

Early this decade, George left the Kapitolyo church in the care of the younger brethren, went to the US, then to Singapore. He was a restless man, but he also was a depressed man– because of the untimely death of his dear wife Marfe. The last news we heard was that he is back in Bacolod City.

The church in Kapitolyo was indeed in good hands, thanks to the Lord and to the few leaders who kept raising the torch of the gospel, fiery and bright and strong, even in the time of raging storms that life had brought them. Twenty years of existence! The Kapitolyo church that began with George  kept on and grew without George, and God be praised for that!

They talked of merger today, the De Castro Christians and the Kapitolyo Christians, and I too was in the meeting. There were seven of us present. They ironed out the kinks that remained. Brethren went another mile, loosened up a bit, and did some sacrifice to make this union a reality.

We owe it to the Lord and to the Father for Their having inspired the leaders of De Castro church (Aldous Echegoyen and Cesar Ola) and those of Kapitolyo church (Jun Cayanan, Bitoy Tagapolot, and one other brother), giving them the light to see the wisdom of the suggestions to pool their resources, their talents and their skills and their influences to promote the growth of the body of Christ in the area. They were now eager to convince the other members of their respective groups to merge as one. The merger is one best thing that has happened to the congregations of Christ in Pasig!

Unity they called it. It is more than that. In the coming Sundays and months and years we will be seeing the effects of this unity-merger-union in the lives and in the work of the two churches that have become one.

The young leaders of the two merging congregations have asked for my help, have solicited my mentoring skills, have desired to drink from the fount of knowledge that grew (they said) from my long experience of preaching the Gospel. In the words of brother Jun Cayanan, “Please reproduce yourself in us, help us to copy the Christianity that grew in you.” Flattered? That was not my feeling. All of a sudden I felt I had become small and needed the guidance from above in order to meet these brethren’s expectations!

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity” (Psalms 133:1).

To see the photos, please click here…

Datu Makunay and Datu Bhutto

Brother Felix Bravo, missionary to Tarlac.

DATU MAKUNAY of Buluan must have been a rebel datu,” said brother Felix Bravo. He and I were both having coffee that afternoon of my arrival in his home at Teresa Homes Subdivision, Tarlac City. Scheduled to preach at his congregation the next day, Sunday, December 12, I spent the afternoon and evening of  Saturday bonding with him and getting him familiarized with his blog site which I put up for him years ago.

“But he’s not the most powerful datu in Buluan at that time,” he added. “The most powerful ruler of Buluan was Datu Bhutto.”

I braced myself up for this additional tidbit of history.

Brother Felix’s comment came about when we saw each other this year (the last time we met was in Sunrise, in 1996!), and this after he had read the 4^th installment of the History of the Churches of Christ in Mindanao published in my blog, where a certain Datu Makunay is a character, albeit one who had a flawed personality.

But concerning other things about Makunay, brother Felix did not have much information.

Brother Felix said that the Bravo and the Abubo families had befriended this most powerful Muslim datu back in frontier days. And even to this day, his family and the descendants of this datu are still very close. These descendants have now found their own niches in the present-day political tapestry of Mindanao.

THE FIRST AND EARLIEST government of Cotabato, and in fact of the whole Mindanao, was at the hands of the Sultanate of Maguindanao. From the days when this sultanate flowered up to the days of the Philippine Commonwealth, there were only two towns, Cotabato (which was to become a city later) and Buluan. The American war of expansion that started when Admiral Dewey bombarded Intramuros walls, which resulted to a truce with Spain and the US purchase of the Philippine archipelago for $25 million, and another war to domesticate the insurrectos which culminated in the defeat of the army of the first Philippine Republic under Pres. Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1900s, became also a war to take a foothold over the whole Mindanao. One by one the Muslim datus were defeated, their rule becoming a non-issue, and the whole Mindanao archipelago was absorbed into the Commonwealth.

It was Gen. Paulino Santos, whose name later became a city, who took charge of the Philippine Commonwealth’s program of inviting settlers from Luzon and Visayas to populate Mindanao and exploit its rich natural resources. When goes the migrant, so goes the Commonwealth government. Many came, including them whose names later played a great role in expanding the Restoration Movement in the hinterlands of Mindanao.

Photo from wiki.tell.com

From Pagadian, the Bravos and the Abubos landed in Cotabato town. They did not mean to stay here. They were told that vast lands lay unclaimed in the interior of Cotabato province. So they proceeded to Buluan, aboard the lantsa plying the Rio Grande de Mindanao. The Rio Grande then was Cotabato’s only highway.

The Bravos and the Abubos landed by the bank of Buluan river. Tall-standing trees abounded in the area. They saw no road but they could see footpaths. These they followed. They passed by Muslim settlements.

The surprise of their life, however, was seeing a Muslim or two speaking Tagalog, Ilocano, Cebuano and Ilonggo. Which gave them an idea that they were not the first migrants of the place.

They asked for directions, and they were told to keep going. They asked for the datu and they were told they would soon see him.

Indeed. For they soon heard the sound of bells, and saw a white horse and one who was riding on it. By his manners and the way he dressed, he appeared noble; the people who heard his coming stopped what they were doing, took to the side of the footpath, and bowed their heads upon seeing him.

“Magandang araw sa inyo, mga kapatid!” (“Good day to you, brothers!”). The man spoke fluent Tagalog. “Ano ba ang maipaglilingkod ko sa inyo?” (“What can I do for you?”).

They had just met Datu Bhutto, said to be the most loved ruler of Buluan. This was in 1941.

Datu Bhutto then dispensed his role as a good citizen of the Commonwealth and the de facto ruler of this part of the country. He assigned a plot of land to each of the Abubos and the Bravos, about ten hectares for each family, like he did to other families who migrated to Buluan. That area in Alip where the Bravos and Abubos settled later came to be known as “Malingon.” I heard that in Maguindanao dialect, the word means “peaceful place.”

A year after their arrival in Malingon, the Abubos and the Bravos became Christians. They were taught by the team of evangelists from the Lord’s church (Belo, Alegre, and Villanueva) who had also settled in Alip, which was near Malingon. This was about 1942. It was in Alip that the Belo, Alegre, Villanueva and other Christian families were imprisoned by Makunay.

In Malingon, there were Luzonians and Visayans who had also staked their claims to the land over which Datu Bhutto ruled. In Buluan there was no merging of Christian and Muslim communities, in order to preserve the peace and allow both groups to practice their religions. Each community was protected by virtue of the decree issued by Datu Bhutto: No Muslim could enter into Christian villages without the Datu’s permission; and vice versa. But brother Felix said he and other sons of the Abubos were free to visit the house of Datu Bhutto, and play with his sons.

SONS OF DATU BHUTTO. Brother Felix remembered Datu Bhutto’s son named Pua. He was the fastest running athlete of Maguindanao, and had good promise as a national athlete. Pua later became mayor of Buluan.

But one other son of Datu Bhutto was special to the Abubos and the Bravos, and his name was Pakung. When Pakung was an infant, his mother, one of the wives of Datu Bhutto, died. An Abubo mother, brother Felix’s aunt, suckled the infant until he was strong and healthy enough to eat normal food.

 

 

 

Datu Pax Mangudadatu, congressman of Sultan Kudarat. Photo from people.nfo.ph

 

Pakung later became governor and then congressman of Sultan Kudarat. Brother Felix remembered that when he went to Cotabato for his family affairs, Pakung would send his chauffeur to fetch him at the airport. Pakung, the son of Datu Bhutto, is actually congressman Pax Mangudadatu. Mangudadatu became their surname; the word means “younger datu.”

Pua, Felix’s other friend, is the father of Esmail Mangudadatu, whose political ambition to become governor of Maguindanao became the target of the ire of the Ampatuans. His wife, an Ilongga named Genalyn Tiamzon, was one of the fifty-seven victims who perished in the celebrated Maguindanao massacre of November 23, 2009.

 

EFFORT TO REACH OUT TO MUSLIMS. Brother Felix had tried preaching in Cotabato when he had the opportunity. In a past gospel meeting he had conducted in Malingon, one of those who consistently attended was Datu Saipula Guialudin, a relative of Datu Bhutto. But Saipula was never converted, neither were the other Muslims who attended brother Felix’s meetings. When the barrio site of what would be baranggay Malingon expanded on the property of brother Felix, he donated half a hectare of his land for the school site of Malingon Elementary School. His cousin Eligio Abubo also donated another half hectare. Brother Felix sold another hectare of his property in Buluan to both Muslims and Christians who wanted it; both groups of people now live together there. This harmonious relationship was a legacy from the days of Datu Bhutto.

 

Datu Esmail Mangudadatu, newly elected governor of Maguindanao. Photo from 2space.net.

ORIGIN OF THE MANGUDADATUS. Datu Bhutto was said to be a descendant of Shariff Kabungsuan, who first introduced Islamic teaching in mainland Mindanao. Shariff Kabungsuan was a native of Johore, married a native princess and became the first sultan of Maguindanao.

 

 

THE CHURCH OF CHRIST in Malingon is one church close to Muslim settlements that does not seem to be affected by clashes between Christians and Muslims in other parts of Mindanao.  No chapel of other “Christian” sect or denomination, nor a Muslim mosque, has been built in Malingon. There is no need for another church. The Malingon church of Christ is a vibrant testimony to the harmony that prevails in this part of Buluan, Maguindanao.

DEATH OF DATU PUA. Not very recently, brother Felix visited his friend Datu Pua who was dying because of diabetes. He rode a kuliglig passing through Muslim villages beside Buluan Lake. They reminisced together their early years as schoolmates from 1945 till 1951 at Buluan Central School.

FRIENDSHIP THAT LASTS. Brother Felix said he still could count the Mangudadatus, including Pax the incumbent congressman of Sultan Kudarat and Esmail Mangudadatu, the newly elected governor of Maguindanao as friends the Bravos and the Abubos could rely on. Thanks to Datu Bhutto. Thanks to God for this enduring friendship.

Brother Felix now has a growing mission work in Tarlac City.