Looking At Things With Eyes Of Faith

One of the hardest things in the life of any Christian is hanging on to your faith when everything around you suggests that you should start doubting God. In ministries like Living Waters Asia that exist by faith on a daily basis, the temptation to doubt is a battle I experience on a regular basis. LWA and other Living Waters agencies around the world, although operating under the guidance of Living Waters Publications of Bellflower, California, are independent in many ways, especially in the area of financial resources. Each of us have to raise our own funds so that we can continue on with our work of spreading the Way of the Master principle of evangelism to as many Christian churches as possible, as well as lead as many souls as possible to a life-saving relationship with Jesus Christ. From time to time, the sales of LWP products would significantly help in our operational expenses. But for most of the time, at least for LWA, we have to cry out to God to rescue us from our financial responsibilities.

Many times in the last one year and a half existence of LWA, I have found myself on my knees, crying to God in prayer to provide for our needs. Sometimes, I forget to even pray for my own family’s needs because the time I spend in prayer has been dominated by my prayers for the ministry of LWA. You don’t even need to lecture me anymore about me showing God my helplessness whenever I pray for there is no more pride left in me when it comes to my own ability to rescue LWA from its financial situations. Ever since LWA opened, I am only working part-time in my job as a school administrator, receiving a significant pay-cut, that’s why there is no way for me to be the “savior” of LWA financially. If this is how I pray for LWA’s monthly operational needs, imagine how much kneeling and crying I do for big events we have like our yearly missions trip which we call “The Gospel Buzz” and the recently concluded event, “The Launch” last March 9, 2008.

It’s tiring to be praying with that kind of intensity. I once heard someone say that the strength you lose during an intense prayer session is equivalent to one 24-minute full-court basketball game. I agree. There are nights after a few minutes of intense prayer that I right away go to a very deep sleep as soon as I hit our bed. I’ve also experienced sweating profusely during this kind of praying. Honestly, there are nights when I think twice of going through another of this intense praying after realizing how tired I got the previous night that I prayed. Sometimes my mind asks, “When is this going to end?”

So why is praying tiring? Praying is tiring because you try your best to get through to God amidst the distractions the devil would post so that there will be questions against the sincerity of your prayer. During prayer sessions, the devil would send you inappropriate thoughts or remind you of past sins you’ve committed that you’ve confessed already just so he can make you stop praying. But if you want to get to the throne of God, you will fight through these distractions with all your strength and concentration. But then again, this kind of battle while praying has the ability to sap out whatever strength is left in you, making you consider to stop engaging in this kind of praying. I confess, I’ve considered the thought several times in the past months.

And what more can discourage a person to pray than an unanswered prayer. If tiredness makes a person stop engaging in intense praying, unanswered prayers can make a person abandon praying completely, specially if the prayer item is clearly within God’s will and you’re convinced that God will hear it (1 John 5:14). So many times, this scenario has pulled me down. So many times, because of this, I have questioned if God really called me to be in this ministry. So many times, because of His seeming silence to my prayers, I am pulled down on my knees again in prayer, asking God to help me to continue putting my faith on Him, to help me in my unbelief. Although I get discourage when things I ask God don’t happen, I fear loosing my faith on Him. That will be a sad day when that happens.

These struggles in my faith have again hunted me during the weeks leading to “The Launch”. We organized this event to accomplish two things: (1) to encourage pastors to invite us in their church to do a WOTM seminar and, (2) to challenge financially capable Christians to support us. From the day this event was conceptualized (December 30, 2007) up to a week before “The Launch”, we prayed hard for these purposes to be achieved, especially the 2nd one. I wanted the 2nd one to be achieved so badly because I was hoping that through it, both my wife and I can have our desire to work full-time in LWA realized. Several times, my wife and I were left sick because of the demands of meeting our responsibilities both in our secular jobs and in LWA. And if we are asked to choose which one to concentrate on, without a blink, we will choose LWA. But we know that we have a home to provide for and we don’t want to deny the faith and be worse than an infidel as the Scriptures said if we fail to provide for our son (1 Tim. 5:8). So it was crucial that LWA get enough financial support so that it will be capable of giving us support as well as finance evangelism programs we’ve been desiring to implement for the last two years.

At first, things were going well. When we listed down people we will be inviting, we were encouraged with the people we will be having in our event. In the list were big name pastors in the metropolitan as well as well known Christian businessmen. We researched in the internet where we can send their invitations. For most of the people that we had sent invitations to, there seem to be no reason for them to miss the event. It seems that both our goals would be achieved. But a week before the event, Ptr. Chan (LWA’s Metropolitan Coordinator) and his wife, Raquel, informed us that many of the people that they invited who, at first, confirmed their attendance are now telling them that they may not be able to come. The same was the case with the people we invited on our part. Our morale was fast going down the drain. We were almost going into a big panic… Then God reminded me to pray.

I began to invite Star Youth people in the LWA office to join us in prayer sessions specifically for “The Launch”. In the past two years, SYM people have caught up with my visions for the ministry and have made them their own. So when I told them about the situation, I immediately saw their concern. Please understand that the SYM people are mostly either in their late teens or early 20s. I, their leader in the group, am already 33 years old. But despite my obvious seniority over them, I was amazed at how they were encouraging me not to lose hope, and they were doing it well. I asked them to include our situation with “The Launch” in their personal prayer time, and they committed to it. I believe that they really did pray for it even without me asking them.

In our final group prayer time, the day before the event, we, including my 6 year old son, Alen Daniel, gathered in our ministry office and showed God our faith on Him. Although I directed the items to be prayed for, God was impressing on each of us this thought --- “Even if I don’t give you what you specifically ask for, don’t be downhearted because I will always have something better for you.” And so, our prayer turned from “Lord, please answer these prayers” to “Lord, thy will be done”. After more than 2 hours of praying that morning, we all left the office with renewed confidence on God. We knew that God was in control at all times no matter what the ending maybe.

Probably you are anticipating that we achieved all of our goals during “The Launch” because of the amount of time we spent praying. In terms of us getting invited to churches to do WOTM seminars, our present schedule will tell you “Yes”. Since March 9, we’ve been to already 3 churches doing seminars and one-to-one presentation to pastors. But in terms of LWA getting promises of huge financial support, this is how I’ll answer you --- “If you look at it with human eyes, you can conclude that we failed. But if you look at it with eyes of faith, we’ve already succeeded long before ‘The Launch’ for God has promised us to answer our prayers in ways we haven’t seen before (Jer. 33:3).” I believe that God has on His plans another way of answering our second goal, and when that comes, we’ll clearly know that it was through His hands for it will be some way we will be left speechless in awe. We did not fail just because we did not get what we prayed for. Faith is all about believing in God's ability to answer prayers even if He chooses not to answer your prayer. And if you show God this kind of faith, He will definitely not let you down. He will provide for every need you have. I slept that night with a smile on my face and with a child-like anticipation of what God will do for LWA in the coming months. I’m really excited!

We left the event with smiles on our faces that day. I believe that God had achieved His goal for us in placing in our hearts to organize “The Launch”. Even during the program, God had already impressed to me that His goal for the event was not about us getting commitments for financial support. He was telling me that His goal was for the building of our characters so that we can further glorify Him in our lives and in the ministry of LWA. And that is what we got. We are better Christians now because of our experience during “The Launch”. Why? Because now, we have a clearer understanding of things happening to us for we have learned to look at things with eyes of faith.

The proud father

Last March 15, 2008, my one and only son, Alen Daniel graduated from preschool. I was one father beaming with pride as God reminded me of the past six years with my dear son. Before my wife and I got married, we agreed that we will only start thinking of being parents after a year of marriage. Although we have no regrets with the decision we had made then, if we had known of the joy that God would allow us to experience because of our son, we would have had him earlier. I am not saying that it is very easy to nurture a child. I tell you right now that it’s a full-time work. Going through hardships of parenthood only becomes worth it if you realize that what God is asking from you is to care for the gift He has given you, and in the case of Dennis and Ruby Aglosolos, that gift is Alen Daniel.

I love my son very much. I try to make him feel that as much as I can. Compared to many fathers around me, I believe I say the line “I love you” to my child more often than others do. I also remind myself to show that in action. There were nights during his early years that I really will get up from bed when he asks for water to drink or if he needs to pee. There are days when I surprise Alen with unannounced dates between the two of us. One time, after a day in school, the moment he saw me, he right away asked me to buy him a stick of popsicle. I just said “No”. He took my response without any complaint. About 30 seconds to our drive back home, I asked him, “Can I treat my son to Jollibee (the Philippine version of McDonalds)?” I will not forget how his eyes flashed with joy. I really showed my son how much I love him that day.

But if a Christian father (or mother) would really want to show how much they love their child, there is no greater act of love than sharing the gospel to them. A parent does not truly love his/her child if he/she does not do something to help him/her evade punishment in Hell. In my opinion, a Christian parent is a failure if he/she is not able to lead their child to a personal relationship with Jesus. Until now, I cannot handle the idea of my son suffering in Hell. I cry with that thought. This is the reason why as early as 3 years old, I was already talking to my son about sin, Hell, and the gift of God through Jesus Christ. I have shared the gospel to my son several times using the Ten Commandments to show him how unfit he is for Heaven. I regularly observe my son if there is true change in his life as a result of a relationship with Jesus. Whenever I am convinced that change has not yet occurred in his life, I talk to him about it and make him evaluate if he is fit for Heaven or not. My prayer is that God will not let me die until all who are dear to me, with my son on top of the list, have given their lives to Jesus.

I know that to truly be successful as a parent, one should do the work of a parent base on the instructions of the Scriptures. The Bible has the best parenting instructions available. It's sad that before parents consult the Bible regarding parenting, they would consult humanistic books and Oprah Winfrey first. They are more confident of man's wisdom than the wisdom of God. People couldn't see that the parenting instructions of man have again and again failed as seen by the rise in unwanted pregnancies, juvenile drug addiction, addiction to pornography, violence, disrespect to parents, etc. The Bible tells us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. 111:10)". "The fear of the Lord" does not mean something similar to fearing a ghost. Instead, it is a state where a person fears offending God because he/she honors and respects Him so highly. Wisdom, on the other hand, is the ability to differentiate between what’s good and what's evil. Once "the fear of the Lord" sets in, wisdom is developed which helps prevent the catastrophes mentioned in this paragraph.

When my son, Alen, does something bad, I don't say, "You just disobeyed me" or "You did something bad against Mommy". I explain to him that because it is God that gave us the rules we must all follow, it is to Him that we commit the sin (this is the reason why I have made my son memorize the 10 Commandments). As far as me and his mom getting hurt is just the result of his disobedience to God. And so, it is to God that I instruct him to apologize first. We only come in second. Ever since I learned the principle of the Way of the Master, never did I instruct my son to apologize to me or his mom first. Sin is always vertical so why should he apologize to us first, right? I believe that this is the best way to develop "the fear of the Lord" to our children--- by making them understand, it is to God they are accountable for every sin they commit.

The Bible likewise advices us "to spare not the rod of correction" if we really are to love our children (Prov. 13:24). There’s a lot of debate as to whether God is really instructing us to use physical punishment in disciplining our children. Some have argued that this verse is only emphasizing the need to discipline children but does not really suggest physical hitting of a child (on the butt) by a stick or a rod whenever they commit something wrong. I believe that the verse in question refers to literal spanking. Why should God allow such a form of disciplining? Logic tells us that pain is easier for a child (someone below 8 years old maybe) to understand than some clever reasoning to draw a point. If I spank (pain) my son right after a bad thing he has done, he can easily associate the pain with his sin, realizing that if he does it (sin) again, he can expect pain to come right away. The relationship of action and consequence is easily established. But if you totally remove spanking and instead resort to reasoning or even maybe, some other disciplinary action not involving pain, a child may decide to go through the consequence you offer for his actions because he believes he can easily take it. As a psychologist, I have observed that children nowadays could live well with the nagging of a mother or some alone time in a room than endure the pain that comes with spanking.

Spanking definitely should have a room in the discipline of children. But be reminded that this must be done with love. I spank my son whenever necessary. The way I do it is I explain first the reason why I will be spanking him. I make him realize that hurting him is also hard for me but I have to do it because I love him so much that I don't want him to grow up into someone people will stay away from because of bad behavior. I also demand my son to submit to the spanking with very little resistance from him. I do this because I want to develop in him a character that accepts the consequences of his actions. When I spank him, I make sure that it is only his buttocks that I hit. It's the safest part you can hit which will not endanger your child. After spanking him, I give him a hug and assure him again of my love. There are parents who, after spanking their child, would still spit out hurtful words to their children. This is wrong. You are not showing love anymore in this case but instead anger. Remember: never ever spank a child out of anger. Spanking should be done for the purpose of discipline and motivated by love, and not by anger. One time, I spank my son instinctively out of my anger. I realized that what I did was wrong that’s why I readily apologized to him.

Modeling is also a good way to "…train up a child in the way that he should go…(Prov. 22:6)". What way does God want us to lead our child to so that when he is old, he will not depart from it? The answer is godliness. How can we expect our children to follow God in their lives when we aren't? My wife and I try our best to be good models to our son. If we prohibit our son to not do something, we should not be doing it ourselves. For example, here in the Philippines, to celebrate the New Year, people play with firecrackers. My son during last New Year's celebration asked me to buy him some firecrackers for children. I told him that if daddy is not playing with those things, he should not be either. Putting it straight that way removes any chance for argument. Even if he sees other children playing with firecrackers, he will not anymore attempt to make a case because his old man is not doing it. The same should be applied with sins. If we want a child to live in holiness, we should live that way also.

I try to model a lot of godly things to my son. I show him the importance I give to Bible reading and earnest praying. He sees me reading my Bible regularly. He sees me on my knees in deep prayer. I lead our family devotions and ask him to memorize verses from the Bible. I show my son the importance I give to church attendance by making sure myself that I don’t miss church every Sunday. My wife and I show him that we give our tithes and offering cheerfully on a regular basis. Finally, I show my son how much I value the soul of people that’s why I share the gospel regularly, with hope that if he is not yet a child of God, he will say this to himself, "If daddy wants people around him to be saved then maybe it is also important that I be saved".

I have seen how my modeling has affected my son and how it has made me so proud of him. Recently he developed a love for Bible reading. There were several instances that I saw him alone in our room reading and memorizing verses from the Bible. A few weeks back he has asked me to buy him his own real Bible and not like what we've bought him in the past that were more like story books than the real Thing. If it's the Bible he is getting his learning from then that’s something to be very happy about.

Many times, my son, on the middle of the night have seen me on my knees while praying. I've explained to him that the reason why I kneel in prayer is because I want to show God how much I respect His power and how much I acknowledge my helplessness, which is God’s open door to answering my prayers. One evening, I was so tired after a very hectic day. I couldn't pray anymore in my usual way where I am on my knees. And so, I prayed while sitting on our couch. I was alone in our living room when I started praying. While my eyes were closed in prayer, I sensed that my son entered the room. When I opened my eyes after praying, guess what I saw? My son was on his knees praying by the sofa. When he was done, I asked him what he was doing. He wouldn't answer. It was as if he was ashamed that I saw him praying on his knees. If he wanted to impress me, he would have declared right away that he was praying. But because he couldn't say it right away, I believe he was very sincere in his prayer that evening.

Another time, my wife was preparing our tithes and offerings before we went to Sunday worship service. We have been teaching our son to give to the Lord. My wife asked Alen, "Son, how much will you be giving for your offering?" Alen had P500.00 in his wallet at that time which he was able to save from gifts given to him by friends and relatives. Now, you have to understand that with that amount, he could easily buy a toy he likes so much at the nearby mall. We were surprised by his answer. He said "All of it". We asked him if he was sure. He said "Yes" and added that it is to God he is giving it anyway so why be sorry about losing it. We were so proud of our son that’s why after the worship service that day, I gave him P100.00. His grandfather heard about what he did and he also gave him another P100.00.

One thing we always teach our son is to see God us our wealth. One time his playmate asked him, "Are you rich?" This was his answer--- "No we’re not. Actually we’re just renting our home. But our wealth is Jesus." Man! When my father told me about this, it almost made me cry. I felt such fulfillment as a father. Here's my son, only 5 years old then, telling others that with Christ in one's life, you don't need anything anymore. I am left speechless whenever I remember that incident. His playmate, not to be outdone, bragged that his family's wealth is "Mama Mary".

But the thing that makes me so proud of my son is his desire to join us whenever we share the gospel. Because almost everyday, he is with me in the student center we operate and has seen and heard me conduct WOTM seminars, he knows how to share the gospel the way Jesus did. Although there are times that he mixes up the details of the presentation, he knows how to show people their sinfulness using the Law, judgment and our destiny because of our sins, what Jesus has done to save us from going to Hell, and what is required of us to do to have our sins forgiven and gain eternal life in Heaven. He joins us regularly in our street evangelism during Thursdays. There are days when I ask him, "Will you be coming with me to the center?" and he would beg off. But if it's a Thursday you ask him this question, he would tell me, "If it's Thursday, you don't need to ask me anymore if I'm coming because I am." He has witnessed to street children and to teenagers alike. I'm proud of my son because a lot of old Christians in churches today couldn't even overcome the fear of giving out gospel tracts. Before, my dream for him is that someday, he will be a successful doctor, or lawyer, or even a psychologist. But now, I dream of the day when my son will decide to be an evangelist to the unreached people of the regions beyond.

This is how a man can be proud as a father--- by taking the responsibility of leading your children to God and showing them how they can further please God in their lives. This is why I am a proud father. I’m not giving the impression that Alen is a perfect child. He has his own share of childhood misbehaving. What I am saying is that so far, I like what I am seeing. I did it God’s way that's why, so far, I’m successful in my role towards my son. Nothing beats God’s way.

To my son, I'd like to tell you that I love you very much. You don't know it but there are many nights that I lay my hands on you to pray for you, asking God to protect and bless you. During times that you’re down with an illness, God knows of my desire to trade places with you. When I’m away for a speaking engagement, you and your mom are always in my thoughts. I love kissing you. I love hugging you. I love playing with you. I love caring for you. I love loving you. You are a gift from God to me and your mom that’s why we want to take good care of you. We want only the best for you and as far as we know, the best thing that could ever happen to you is to be God's child and to live within the bounds of His supreme will. My life's dream for you is that you live your life for Him, and if needed, die for Him. I pray that God would allow us to live long serving Him together if He will not come back soon. And when I'm all long gone, I hope that you'll take time to read again this article so that you'll remember how proud I and your mom were of you. We love you, my son.

The importance of the process towards an end

The church and the procedures of doing things in the church have experienced tremendous changes in the last century or so. These are changes that seem to have been blessed by God once you start evaluating them base on the results it delivers like bigger Sunday service attendance, increased number of so-called "decisions for Christ" during evangelistic crusades, more worship-driven Christians, more rejuvenated and involved young people in church programs, to name a few. Who wouldn't want all of these things to happen in their church, right? I would do a summersault in joy if one day I see all of these achieved in the church I belong to. But the question is, "Are these achieved using processes prescribed by the Scriptures?"

"Why worry about the process when the results clearly reflect what God wants to be achieved in this world." A lot of Christian leaders today make this kind of argument. They are making the point that "the end can justify the means." So how important really is the process to God? 1 Cor. 14:40 commands us to do all things "decently and in order". This is a clear declaration of the process of which things should be done. And if God is telling us this, we can make the conclusion that there is honoring and glorifying of Him with the process we employ towards the achievement of a goal. We cannot just make a spectacle in our churches, like holding something similar to a rock concert, just so we can make the unbelievers in our community attend our evangelistic service. But you may argue, "Hey! You Christian leaders have told us several times before ‘to win souls at any cost', and now you're telling us having a rock concert at our church to bring in the people is wrong?" Please understand that when we admonish you "to win souls at any cost", the point we are making is that if you have to die for the gospel's sake, then by all means, do it.

The next obvious question is this, "What process is decent and in order?"

First of all, it has to be biblical. There are processes of doing things that were clearly laid out in the Bible. Like when someone is sick. James 5:14-15 tells us that it is the sick that calls for the elders of the church to pray for him and to anoint him with oil. In modern times, television evangelists would announce to everyone that he/she will conduct a healing service so everyone who is sick is invited to come to the venue of the event. This clearly opposes what was instructed of us in James 5:14-15. Another problem with this is that most of the time, it's the person conducting the healing crusade that is being lifted up and not God. Now, as to whether I believe that there is true healing that happens in these events, is another discussion that should be reserved for another time.

Evangelism is another Christian function of which there is a clear instruction as to how it should be performed. Mark 16:15 tells us to "Go into all the worlds and preach the gospel…" There are two instructions here: (1) to "Go" and not wait for the unsaved to come to you, and (2) to "preach" the gospel and not to "sing" the gospel out. Most evangelism programs of churches today start by asking "what people would want to hear" in case we are successful in inviting them to our churches. The churches of today have concluded that people prefer that we talk about God's love to mankind to the point where we have made them believe that God would embrace anyone to His family just as they are, even with no resolve to turn away from sin. Furthermore, they believe that talking about sin and Hell to an unbeliever would only offend and push him away. And so, exclude sin and Hell from the message as much as possible. To make the person stay in your church for the longest time possible, it will also be good to deliver messages as often as the pastor can about the "prosperity that God wants to give people."

After finding out "what people want to hear", the next question is "how they want the message delivered." Churches of today clearly give the answer --- Entertainment! A widely accepted message goes well with entertainment. This is the reason why Christian music has changed dramatically in the last two decades. Now we have "Christian Rock music". Church leaders would allow that their churches be transformed into a rock concert scene for about an hour, with young people banging bodies with each other, if that would mean a big crowd listening to the preaching at the end of the program. I recently saw a video at the website of The Way of the Master Radio of a pastor who delivered a message on the Christmas story ala The Jerry Springer Show. The characters like Mary, Joseph and some fictitious characters that aimed to discredit the integrity of Mary were violently arguing with each other the same way guests in The Jerry Springer Show do. The manner into which this very holy Bible event was delivered in that video was a big blasphemy against the Word of God. But despite that, it breaks my heart to inform you that people in the congregation that watched the skit seemed to have enjoyed what they saw. Churches are willing to degrade the time tested biblical processes in favor of what they perceive as "great evangelistic responses."

The Bible also tells us that "The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul (Ps. 19:7)." The Law was part of the evangelistic messages of Jesus when He was still here. The disciples and the apostle Paul followed through after Jesus ascended to Heaven. Great evangelists 300 and 200 years ago like Whitefield, the Wesley brothers, Luther and Spurgeon had a big part reserved for the Law in their messages. Why? Because the Law serves as our “…schoolmaster to bring us to Christ… (Gal. 3:24)” after it has stopped our mouths and made us guilty before God (Rom. 3:19) and gave us the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). The person to which the Law is preached not only understands why he needs to put his faith on Jesus, he also realizes that because it was his transgression of God’s holy Laws that put him in trouble, there is a need for him to repent from these sins. Thus, his conversion is complete. But the preachers of our time removed the Law in their presentation of the gospel for the simple reason that they believe, talking about sin will push away the unsaved. They prefer to use what they call “The Seeker Sensitive Approach.”

Pardon me but I really don’t get this approach. It's saying that if you have hurt someone badly and I will serve as the bridge so that things will be settled, to make you get right with the person you've so insensitively inflicted pain on, I will tell you nice things about the person you've hurt (like he is such a forgiving person) so that you’ll feel good about yourself? Duh?! This is crazy! You hurt God insensitively and yet you want His children to be sensitive in dealing with what you did? What you deserve is to be shouted at on your face about the evil you’ve done against God so that you’ll be awakened and moved to do something about it. Isaiah 58:1 says, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression…" I don’t see the Seeker Sensitive Approach anywhere in this verse. Do you? This is why the Law shouldn't be removed in our evangelistic messages for the Bible instructs us to make people examine themselves through the mirror of the Ten Commandments so that they'll see how wretched they are in front of such a holy God. And as far as the "seeker", God is the only Seeker and not you. He seeks for your repentance of sins. He seeks for your total faith on Him.

The second way of knowing if your process is "decent and in order" is to examine if it is "after the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:4)." How do you know if it is "after the Spirit of God?" John 4:24 tells us that "God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." So how do you know if something you are doing is "in spirit"? Godliness is the answer. The manner should reflect holiness which is a prime attribute of God. Anything that does not evoke holiness or, any procedure that it is this world that invented is not of God. And how about "the truth"? Something is of the truth if (1) what is shown in the outside is similar from what's inside (Ps. 51:6) and if, (2) it sets you free (John 8:32).

Let’s test some of the things that have been happening in our churches and see if they are "in spirit and in truth".

I once heard of a church that holds raffle draws for people that will attend their evangelistic crusade. Why is this wrong? The church has now set the stage for the sin of covetousness for people in the crusade. Instead of them there to listen to the preaching of the Word, there will be people whose eyes are now focused on the material rather than the spiritual. The gimmick has failed the test on godliness on the basis of the potential sin it evokes, as well as the fact that raffle draws is an invention of this world and it definitely has no room in our churches. It has also failed the "truth" test because it really has not set the person free in terms of the hold of sin in his life. Some people may come back to this church, not because they have been truly converted, but because they like the cool gimmicks of the church.

Let's do another one --- Church music. There have been songs in our time being sung in our churches (I'm not saying all) that sounds more worldly than Christian. Yes, the lyrics look Christian but the manner they are sang is definitely worldly, like songs classified as "Christian Rock" music. The argument as to why these songs are permitted in our churches is to adapt to the taste of the modern time (Seeker Sensitive Approach). To further add to the modern feel, people leading in the singing of these songs wear clothes that will definitely not glorify God. They wear t-shirts with weird prints and tattered shorts that looked like they have not been washed for about a month. They jump around the stage like unbelievers do in a real rock concert while shouting "Praise the Lord" or "I love you, Jesus" from time to time. Clearly, this kind of music in our churches fails the "spirit test" for rock music is an invention of this world (I really can't imagine God inventing this kind of music), and holiness is not seen in the way people sing these songs and the way they present themselves to God while singing. It also fails the "truth test" for people are not really pouring their hearts in singing the songs because of the message. They simply are moved by the manner it is being sung, a manner more in-tuned to this world than to God. Furthermore, a lot of hypocrisy is committed with lines mentioned by the singers in the songs they sing that they really do not mean.

There are many more gimmicks that churches today employ that clearly fail the "spirit" and "truth" tests. There was a church that had a "Clown Sunday Service" where everyone that came to church that day wore clown costumes. Another church once had an "Elvis Sunday." The pastor that Sunday preached as Elvis Presley, complete with Elvis costume, voice and sideburns. A very famous church in California with a very famous book author as the head pastor, from time to time, have theme Sunday worship services. Some of their past themes were "Rock ‘n Roll Sunday" and "Hawaiian Sunday". It’s sad that so many churches would go to this length just to show-off the results they want, not knowing that they really haven’t achieved what they aimed to achieve, and that is leading people to a true conversion. If someone is in church because he enjoys what’s happening there, then he is a false convert. The only reason why a person is in church is because he has truly repented of his sins and placed his trust on Jesus for his salvation, making him a member of the family of God that gathers together as a church congregation.

You may argue now, "If the process is really important, then why did Jesus, Himself, several times did not act according to the prescribed process like when He healed on the Sabbath?" Actually that's not true. What Jesus went against with was the heartlessness and the insensitivities of the Pharisees towards those that were suffering. Jesus was also showing the Pharisees that their traditions won’t help them a bit in giving them eternal life if their heart is so wicked. Then Jesus laid the processes for doing things. He showed us that the amount of our offerings won't matter if there is no sacrifice and humility in our hearts. He taught us to give without the other hand knowing what the other has given. He taught us the process of praying --- in secrecy. The Bible gives us the criteria for choosing the leaders of our church. Guidelines on the proper use of our spiritual gifts in our churches were written in black and white. Even the manner of dealing with the sins of our fellow Christians was so carefully explained. We cannot deny that God is concern about the process we employ towards the achievement of an end.

God is a God of order. The universe shows us this. To achieve that order, God has chosen to lay down processes to which things must be done. It is our duty to behave according to the process, whether in our churches or in our personal lives. God’s process is sure. This world’s process isn't. God's will is that we get to the results that He wants us to achieve. The only way to have that is if we submit to the process. In doing so, we not only get to the real results, we also glorify God because in a way, we are saying, "Your way is the best way!" Praise the Lord for God-ordained processes!

When man boasts of tomorrow

2008 has arrived! Because it’s a new year, there’s a lot of people who have listed down their “New Year’s Resolutions” which, if you compare with last year’s resolutions, aren’t different at all. There are those who’ve made new goals of things they would like to achieve in 2008. Brand new plans of things to do throughout the year likewise come to the picture. All of these, people make as if they are so sure that they will get to live all of 366 days of 2008 (this year’s a leap year).

About two months ago, I made my 6 year old son (then 5 years old) memorize Proverbs 27:1 which says,"Boast not thyself of tomorrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."I made a copy of the verse and stick it on our refrigerator with the help of an adhesive tape. For the next 3 days, my son stood in front of our refrigerator every morning right after he woke up to memorize the verse. I explained to him what the verse means and its many implications on man’s life. I believe that if he would deeply understand the message of the verse, he would grow up not wasting everyday that passes his life.

How I wish people would come to likewise learn Proverbs 27:1 just like my son. People, both saved and unsaved, would benefit a lot if they understood what God is telling us through this verse. But the sad thing is, people in our time have become more boastful of their future than ever, to the point that it seems, they have forgotten that they are mortals who have a sure scheduled appointment with death. Here are some boastings that people make.

"I still have a lifetime ahead of me. I'll just enjoy what's around me (even if it offends God) and think about getting right with God when I’m already too old and weak to indulge on these things.It's the unbeliever that says this. Here’s a very dangerous kind of boasting for it may lead a man to Hell. This reminds me of the story of the rich man in Luke 12:16-21. He had a great harvest in his land so much so that his old barn could not hold what he had harvested. And so, he made a bigger barn. Satisfied with what he had achieved, he said,"Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry (v. 19)."He decided to enjoy what this world had to offer to him (including those that offend God) for he could easily afford them. But God said to him in the next verse, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee."Here's an example of a person who forgot that he is mortal just like any other person around him. He forgot that tomorrow may not come for him.

Is it wrong to be hard working so that you’ll be prosperous? Is it wrong to enjoy the fruits of your labor? The story does not suggest these. The story’s aim is to make us realize that above all, it is our eternal destiny that we should be prepared with and not how we can prolong the benefits of the fruits of our labor or whatever wealth we have. Right at this very moment, as you read this part of the article, that rich man and many others like him (rich and poor) are suffering in Hell because they were very foolish not to prepare for their eternal destiny.

Everyday, 150,000 people die (that’s about 17 people dying every 10 seconds), with most of them plunging to the fires of Hell. There’s a big chance that many of the people that go to Hell for eternity on a daily basis have heard or read the gospel. But they were too arrogant to respond to God’s call for repentance and faith on Jesus Christ. I’m sure that these people as they suffer in Hell have so much regrets for not taking the gospel seriously during their happy times here on earth. “If only I had listened to my friend/relative/stranger who once shared the gospel to me.” Probably, this is a common line among people in Hell. Unfortunately for them, it’s too late now. The unbeliever has only himself to blame for his predicament.

"I'm still young and full of life. I’ll just spend about a majority of my life chasing my dreams of fame, wealth and power and think about storing up riches in Heaven later in life."It's the believer that says this. So many believers right now are making wrong priorities. Looking at these priorities, you will come to a conclusion that these Christians are more materialistic than spiritual. They are so drawn to the things of this world that they have forgotten that these things do not have eternal value. They would drop on offering plates during some Sundays what seems to be a big amount of money to help their church’s programs and, maybe to support missions, just so they could be relieved of some of the guilt for not really being physically involved in the service of our Lord. I have mentioned in my past article that I even know of some pastors who’ve abandoned their pastoral duties in favor of the chance to work in progressive countries that will allow them to earn a big amount of money. This is sad.

I really don’t understand how one could totally forget serving God as an act of gratitude after they have been touched and saved by the Saviour. Remember Peter’s mother-in-law in Matt. 8:14-15? Jesus came to Peter’s house and He saw his mother-in-law sick of a fever. Jesus touched her hand and immediately the fever was gone. And what did Peter’s mother-in-law do after being touched by Jesus? The story said that she immediately arose and served Jesus and his disciples. How come people of today that have been touched and forgiven by God are not responding in the same way as Peter’s mother-in-law? Makes you doubt if they really have had a life-saving encounter with Jesus.

There are a number of Christians that are making God wait for their service to Him while they go on their lives chasing their selfish dreams of worldly wealth. In a way, you can’t really blame them. Most of the Christians in our present time are products of a modern gospel message that says, "God wants you to be prosperous in life that’s why you need Him in your life to help you achieve that prosperity." And so, Christians embark in a life that focuses on amassing material wealth for they were taught that this is God's will for their lives. This is totally unbiblical for what the Scriptures admonishes us is that we be the light and salt of this world. Any verse that talk about Christians lacking of nothing is not in terms of material wealth but instead, of the required righteousness for us to go to Heaven which we get through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross (see Matt. 5:6). If we delay our service to the Lord because for now, we'd rather chase first our personal dreams, we may be surprised by death one day and lose our chance of storing riches in Heaven. I’m sure that you don’t want to be just an applauder when God hands out the rewards of those who’ve made it a point to serve Him during their lifetime here on Earth. As the song says, "Only one life so soon will past. Only what’s done for Christ will lasts."

"I'm still young. People around me still have a long time ahead of them. I’ll preoccupy myself first of things I enjoy and let others do the same. I’ll just share the gospel to people around me when it’s obvious that they are about to cross the bridge to eternity."Again, it's the believer that says this. If in statement #1, the unbeliever has only himself to blame why someday he will go to Hell, for this statement, the believer is to blame why the unbeliever will someday miss going to Heaven. Ezekiel 3:18 says,"When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand."This passage clearly points the responsibility to us in helping the people around us understand what they need to do to evade the pangs of Hell. And because we do not have control over time, we should take the first opportunity given to us to witness to an unbeliever because there’s a big chance that there will never be another chance.

Close your eyes for a while. Then think of three people: an unsaved family member, an unsaved friend, and an unsaved acquaintance. Picture these three people smiling at you in the middle of a cool day. Then slowly change the background from a cool day to a dark and hot place we came to know as "Hell". The smile they once flashed turns to a sharp stare of anger towards you because you never took time to tell them about the gospel as they feel the sufferings that Hell is giving them… Now open your eyes. Ask yourself, "Can I bear seeing these people in Hell?" I know you can't. So what will you do about it knowing that what you’ve just imagined can be a reality to them today? Remember, God will hold you responsible for their eternal fate.

We must make a total change of how we deal with people around us on a daily basis, from people who are full of life to people who will start their stay in Hell tomorrow if you will not take time today to tell them of what they have to do to evade the gruesome reality of Hell. If I were you, if you come home today and find your unsaved family member still alive, you will demand that he/she listen to what the Bible says his/her destiny because of his/her sins. If in the middle of your talk, he/she stands and tells you that he/she has had enough of what you are saying, and it would be better for him/her to do something else, pull him/her back on his/her seat and say that you’re not done with him/her until he/she makes a decision about his/her eternal destiny. How much lesser people would go to Hell if we have this kind of resolve of not stopping about talking to people about sin, righteousness and judgment until they make a decision to get right with God. But sadly, most Christians of today care less about the souls of people around them.

If you will ask me to deliver a message for the New Year, instead of exciting you with statements about how bright the prospects are for 2008, I’d rather tell you the reality, and that is this world will get worst in 2008. Why will I discourage you about 2008? Simply because I want you to get on your feet to tell more people about their sin and their sure destiny (if they won’t get right with God) before God says, “I’ve had enough of the sins of this humanity. Let me end all of these!” We must behave in this present time with urgency. Ephesians 5:15-16 says this, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise; Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” The Bible clearly tells us that in the last days, things will turn to worst, and the signs show that we are indeed in the last days. If you don’t do something about the eternal destiny of people around you, then don’t dare shed even a single tear when you see these people experiencing the wrath that God will pour onto people who did not repent of their sins and place their trust on Jesus, for the reality is, you were partly responsible for their predicament.

It’s the New Year. If in the past years, you have thought this way, then I believe that it’s high time that you change the way you think. The way you thought in the past is so dangerous to you, if you’re not yet a Christian, and to others if you’re already a child of God. There’s nothing sure about tomorrow. Let’s live today as if this is our last day on this world so that we won’t get to waste even a second of today.

Missing In Action

The phrase Missing in Action (MIA) is commonly associated with the military status of a particular personnel. It may mean a military personnel who is in AWOL (absence without official leave) when the country badly needs him. It could also mean a military personnel who, in the course of a battle, suddenly disappeared with the reason not yet clear between being killed or captured by the enemy. In the Christian community nowadays, there’s also an MIA that’s occurring that significantly accounts as to why less and less Christians are involving themselves in the ministry of evangelism.

SACRIFICE. Yes, sacrifice among many who call themselves “Christians” has been Missing in Action. You hear fewer and fewer Christians who are going to the regions beyond just to share the gospel to the “unreached”. In churches right now, very few young people are stepping forward to go to formal Bible school training in preparation for a life-long service to our Master. Furthermore, there are so few of our brethren who are willing to give-up some of their time for some tracts distribution session in their community. And for those who are financially blessed Christians, so few of them are willing to give to small but effective evangelism-focused ministries just because these ministries aren’t that capable of bringing the news of their donations to as many people as possible. Why are these things happening? Simply because less and less people are willing to make a sacrifice.

This is such a sad scenario when you consider how much others who came before us have sacrificed just so the gospel could reach us. People have forgotten how Christ’s disciples gave-up their lives for the cause of the gospel. The lessons of the sacrifices of saints included in the book “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” have been degraded to the level of literary past-time. Even the examples given by modern-time martyrs like Richard Wurmbrand, Nate Saint and his companions, Martin and Gracia Burnham, and many more do not anymore receive the same attention and response from Christians who hear their stories as before. I feel grief when I think that if this amnesia to the sacrifices of the people mentioned continues no one will remember them in the next 20 to 30 years, even if it was us who directly benefited from their lives.

So why are Christians today less and less willing to make some sacrifices for the gospel’s sake? Let me offer some answers from my own personal observation.

The first culprit is the increasing materialistic motivation of people, Christians included. A lot of us have forgotten the admonition from the Scriptures for us “to store-up riches in Heaven…”. Instead of doing this, we spend most of our time trying our best to build the most admirable house in the block, purchase the sleekest car among our peers, have the most extravagant summertime vacation, earn enough to buy the most expensive designer clothes, etc. When I see this happening among Christians I know personally, I could only wish that they read what the Preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes say about these things…”Vanity. Everything under the sun is vanity! (v. 1:2)” And what did Solomon say should be our life’s focus at the end of the book after exposing the vanity of these things? “…Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man (v. 12:13).”

It’s sad that even some church leaders have forgotten that our whole duty is to obey God and not to amass as much material wealth as possible. I personally know several pastors who have even migrated to more progressive countries and take up secular jobs, totally turning their backs to their “calling”, in order for them to give their families what they perceive as “a better life”. To relieve themselves of some of the guilt, they would spare some of their free time during weekends to hold an hour of Bible study with some people they already know and whom they need not look for anymore. That’s good, but is that really God’s will in their lives? No wonder why we see fewer pastors’ children who are going to full-time ministry in their adult years. I can only imagine the positive influence Christians can inject into this sinful world if only all of us will sacrifice our material ambitions just so we can obey God’s call to serve Him with all our heart, soul and mind.

Secondly and closely related to the first culprit is the preoccupation of most churches with what has come to be popularly called as the “Prosperity Message”. This kind of message tells Christians that God wants them to be successful in their chosen fields in all of it’s aspects including the financial aspect, that’s why it is important that you do your best in whatever you are busy with so that God’s Will is realized in your life. So what’s wrong with this message? I’m telling you right now… A LOT! Any message that does not admonish Christians to copy the kind of life that Jesus lived is an erroneous message. Jesus came to this world to do two things: (1) to save us from the consequences of our sins and, (2) to set an example on how life should be lived. If preachers are not able to deliver the second message clearly, then they are not fully doing their jobs.

I once heard an interview done by Larry King to a very popular pastor of a mega-church in the state of Texas. When asked by King if it is really God’s will that we live a comfortable life, the pastor without any hesitance so proudly answered in the affirmative. Declarations like this are so dangerous for it further fuels a person’s materialistic drive resulting to a lesser willingness to do some sacrifices for God. I agree with what Pastor Paul Washer said when he was interviewed by Kirk Cameron and Todd Friel in one of the shows of TBN. He said, “As far as I know, God only promised two things for Christians… eternal life in heaven and sufferings in this world.” Jesus once said to his disciples, “In this world you shall have tribulations…(John 16:33)”, and He expects this kind of response to these tribulations… “…when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad… (Matt 5:11-12)”. I remember Todd Friel once said in The Way of the Master Radio, “Is it God’s Will that we live a comfortable life? No. His Will is that we be the light and salt of this world!” Very well said, Todd!

Sometimes pastors will say this, “Be obedient to what God calls you to do and He will reward you tremendously for it.” So what’s wrong with this message? Yes, nothing. The problem lies at what was not said. Preachers should also explain that when God promises blessings, it is not always material blessings. Furthermore, most of the blessings God promises to give us will be given not here in this life but in Heaven someday. This is the reason why Solomon explained that God has placed the understanding of eternity in man’s heart (Eccl. 3:11,14). I often make Christians think with this question, “If indeed God rewards Christians’ obedience with material prosperity, and throughout the New Testament time (including our time), there is no one who could equal the kind of obedience that Paul and Jesus’ disciples exhibited, then why can’t you read in any of the New Testament accounts of them that they received abundant material blessings?” The answer is obvious. God’s promised blessings vary and most of their rewards they received in Heaven. God’s blessings could be peace of mind, satisfaction with even the fewest of wealth, the virtue of longsuffering, etc. In fact, the lowest kind of blessing that God can bestow on you is material blessing. Making people believe that obedience to God results to material blessings is again so dangerous. If in their obedience the material blessings do not come, they will be turned-off from serving the Lord, and worse, make them backslide.

Lastly, the main reason why Christians of today are not ready to give their lives to God as a living sacrifice is because they do not fully appreciate the sacrifices that Jesus did for them. I believe that if only Christians would fully fathom what it caused Jesus to give us eternal salvation, more of us will lose ourselves for the gospel’s sake. The Scriptures said that although He is God, He made himself of no reputation and took the form of a servant and the likeness of man, and then humbled himself even to death in the cross (Philippians 2:6-8). And why is there less appreciation to Jesus’ sacrifice? Blame it on the modern gospel message that declares that God will give us love, joy, peace, fulfillment and lasting happiness if we will just “accept” Jesus into our hearts, and very little emphasis on the sins that we’ve committed against God that left Him with no other choice but to send His only begotten Son into the world to pay for the sins that we should be the one paying for.

The modern gospel message made us focus more on what we can get from a relationship with Jesus when the focus should be surrendering our lives to Him as a show of our high gratitude for what He did for us at the cross 2000 years ago. If Christians around the world who are preaching to the lost would only straighten up their message to conform to what Paul and the disciples preached, and that is “repentance towards God and faith on Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21)” because of what we did to make God die for us, then more of the converts of their ministries will surrender themselves to missions abroad and to the cause of evangelizing their communities.

So many unsaved around us, but so few sacrifices on our part to bring them to a personal relationship with God. May all of us be consumed with the thought of how much God showed His love to us so that we will be moved to likewise show our love to Him by giving the whole of us and not just a part of us, through personal sacrifices we will render. This way, more people will experience the love God has been offering everyone in this world. We have been forgiven and now expect eternal life in Heaven through the sacrifice Jesus. Isn’t it just proper that we also make our own sacrifices for God? Let us not waste the sacrifices made by people before by not setting an example of sacrificial living to people who will come after us. As one song said, “And may all who come behind us find us faithful.”

Testimonials

A few months back we featured two testimonies of two Star Youth Ministries member. Here’s another one. Please read and be challenged to share the gospel.

CHRISTIAN GUNITA

When I was a young Christian I always asked myself, “How can I win souls for Jesus Christ?” and “Am I an effective Christian?”. I admitted that I don’t know how to start telling the gospel to other people. I always think of what other people will say. I’m afraid that other people will laugh at me. Those questions and problems were answered when I became a member of Star Youth Ministries and learned the principle of “Way of the Master”. By the grace of God, He used me to be an instrument to tell the gospel to my friends, fellow students and strangers. Because of this ministry and by His grace, I can now talk to people through one on one and even to a large group of people. I’ve done those things for God’s glory. Praise God!

I would like to share one of my unforgettable experiences in sharing the gospel. Last July 2007, as a part of our requirements in one of our major subjects, we organized an orientation seminar in the college I am attending. We had more than 80 I.T. freshmen participants. I asked my professor if I can use 5 minutes after the seminar to talk about Christ to our participants and she gave me the “go” signal. The devil tried some things to discourage me to not continue with my plan to share the gospel to my fellow students. But God reminded me of the message of a video clip we use in our WOTM seminars entitled “LETTER FROM HELL”. I learned that it is better to tell the truth than to hide it. I didn’t mind what my classmates and schoolmates would say. All I wanted to do is to share the gospel because I know it is His Will that I do so. After I shared it, some of the freshmen students said that through my short talk they understood that they are sinners who so badly need Jesus Christ to save them from sure punishment. Some of them teased me by calling me “Brother Christian” but I just didn’t mind them. Praise God for this wonderful experience. To God be all the glory!

As young disciples of Jesus, we must be willing to follow His example. It’s never easy to sacrifice your plans, career, time or friends to serve Christ. But when we do it for the praise and glory of God, we’ll quickly discover that the thrill of winning now in man’s eyes isn’t worth it compared with the glory of winning later the approval of God when our lives here on earth has ends.

Here’s the challenge to all of us --- Will we be willing to set aside our desires/plans for the sake of following Jesus Christ?

Victory in Doing God’s Will: The Gospel Buzz 2007 Experience

There’s nothing more fulfilling in this life than experiencing the kind of victory that comes with following God’s Will. That’s exactly what we experienced during our recently concluded Gospel Buzz 2007 (Oct. 24-26). The “Buzz”, as you all know, is a trip we have yearly where we (a bunch of young Christians whose passion is to share the gospel to the lost) go to a far away Philippine province to share the gospel. On our way to our destination, our bus would make stopovers along the way where there are crowds gathered like in parks and marketplaces. This year, we went to the province of Batangas.

For every victory there has to always be a battle that takes place. The battle that we went through before Gospel Buzz 2007 became a success was really a hard and tiring one and it all started months before the actual trip. But before Satan became aggressively offensive in his moves to thwart a successful mission trip, the early preparations for this evangelism program seem to suggest something like “a walk in the park” experience.

First, we really wanted that all of the participants be riding in one bus so that we could fellowship as a whole group. The previous year, when I inquired about how much the rent will be for a small bus, I became speechless whenever bus operators gave me the figure. We just couldn’t afford it that’s why we ended up renting two vans for our transportation. But because one of the participants for this year (Lester Cabais) is a tourism student in college who has connections with tour operators, he was able to negotiate a fee that we could afford. We were able to even save a few thousand pesos compared to if we rented two vans again for three days. The bus was so comfortable that we were able to rest our tired bodies in between stops. Secondly, the place that we will be staying in Calaca, Batangas was given to us free of charge. The father of one of the Star Youth Ministries members is working for the former governor of the province. The family of the governor owns a beach front property that they originally intended to transform into a resort but plans never pushed through. The property had nipa cottages that we could use as our bedrooms during the 3-day stay. The cottages were small and had hard beds, not really the type that would give you rest after a long and hard day under the sun. The room that I stayed in even had a small rat running around. We just reminded ourselves that we were not there for vacation. We were there to share the life-saving gospel to unsaved people. It was free and that is to our advantage. Things were going smoothly for us until challenges started coming in.

I believe that not all of the hurdles that started lining up came from the devil. Three weeks after the conclusion of Gospel Buzz 2007, I can now pinpoint which came from the devil and which came from God. Before, I thought that the financial problem we encountered was caused by the devil. Now I realize that God must have allowed things related to the financial needs of the trip to happen so that He could test us on how much we are really committed to push through with the program. I started very early in encouraging Christians to give their support to this trip. We promoted the Gospel Buzz 2007 with either me speaking about the trip in gatherings or through our website. I believe it was the month of June when we placed a promotional page on our website about the trip. In the page, we placed an email that Christians can use to arrange for their support to this program. Almost everyday from the day that promotional page was set-up I would open that email account to see if there was anyone who is planning to give a financial support to this trip. Almost every time I opened it I get disappointed. No one was really responding. One day, I was surprised to see a message in that account. I was so excited to read it. But when I started reading the email, I readily recognized that it was spam mail. It was supposed to be from a sickly and elderly lady from the Ivory Coast who was offering to give the $3,500,000 that her late husband had deposited in a certain bank to the ministry here in the Philippines. I’ve received several of these emails in the past that’s why I never really took this one seriously. I believe I ended up answering the email with a gospel presentation. I never received any reply from that person after that.

We were really praying hard that God would provide for this evangelism trip. Almost everyday, we would mention it in our daily prayer time in our ministry headquarters. I spent hours praying on my knees every evening, pleading to God that He would look at the needs of the Gospel Buzz but nothing was happening. The devil used this situation to discourage and bring me down several times. Then God made me realize one thing. I know that God wants to provide for the trip and I believe that He was talking to several Christians to give to this program. But the question is, “Are these Christians ready to heed God’s call to them?” That’s when I said, “If these Christians are hardening their hearts to God’s call, well, then on our part, we won’t.” I decided to push through with the trip with or without support coming in for this evangelism program. I decided to use the money we had set aside for programs we have lined-up for November and December. We’ll just trust that God would provide for our future events. I believe that we’ve made God happy with our decision. There were a few who likewise gave to this program and I strongly believe that they made God so happy as well. And so, we had this first challenge won.

The second challenge came a week before the trip. Understand this. Joining the trip were young and tireless people. There’s actually nothing that could stop this young people with anything that they would want to do… except sickness. One of the girls joining us, Andrea Amor (AA for short), started feeling weak exactly one week before we left. Because things weren’t getting any better with AA’s condition, her sister decided to bring her to the hospital. AA’s flu won’t stop and she begun to show rashes in her whole body. The doctors later diagnosed her as having dengue, an illness caused by mosquito bites. This illness has caused so many deaths in our country in the last 4 to 5 years. AA was really upset with her condition because she really wanted to join our trip. When I learned that she had dengue, I sent her a message telling her that maybe God wants her to be our intercessor during the trip that’s why she should not burden herself anymore with the thought that she won’t be able to join us. AA did not know that that was so hard for me to accept because I was really counting on her to be the leader of the other girls joining us.

When everybody thought that AA’s condition was the biggest blow that the devil could give to our plan to share the gospel to a far away province, the night before our trip, Lester who was even with me during that afternoon, experienced excruciating pain in his stomach and head. It was so painful that his mom was getting ready to bring her to the hospital. When I heard about what’s happening with Lester, I recognized right away that this was Satan’s last ditch effort to discourage us and to lessen the people joining us or even stop the trip. I didn’t want to tell Lester that what’s happening to him was of the devil’s doing and that to decide not to join us anymore will make the devil victorious. I wanted him to realize this himself. I then sent a text message to all of the participants to pray for Lester and to rebuke the devourer from all his cunning attempts to stop our trip. At that one moment, although we were in our own homes, we were together in prayer. That night, God reminded me of His promises. I remembered that “Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world…,” and the promise at the end of the Great Commission, “…and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the world.” And then God made me realize that the devil only waged an all-out war a week before the trip, not realizing that the battle had been won already 2000 years back when Jesus conquered death and brought salvation to each and every person who will truly repent of his sins and put his total trust on Jesus. I vowed that at the end of the 3-day trip, the devil will be left red-faced because of the shame of his cruel defeat which God will accomplish for us.

The next morning, the day of the trip, guess who I saw? Lester. He told me that he realized what I wanted him to realize that’s why he fought against her mom’s plan to bring him to the hospital because he knew that had he been confined that night in some medical facility, the doctors would have not allowed him to join us. Lester was not about to miss this trip because he actually gave up a chance to be in the powdery shores of Boracay Island just to be with us in this trip to share the gospel. But that morning, all of the pain he experienced was all gone as if nothing happened. While we were also talking about the spiritual struggle we all went through the night before, we were so surprised to learn that the verses and realizations that God gave me He also gave at the very same time to the other SYM members. We were speechless in amazement when that was brought to our attention.

And by the way, AA was also able to join us. Her commitment to come was honored by God. She was confined to a hospital Wednesday and was released Sunday evening. The day before the trip (Tuesday), she really lobbied to her family that she be allowed to join the trip. Her persistence paid off. Her parents told her that if her doctor that day would give her permission then they won’t stop her from joining the trip. Miraculously, her doctor gave her the “thumbs up” sign. And just like Lester, in the three days we were together preaching the gospel, AA was moving as if she never had a life and death situation days before.

There were other challenges that we gracefully went through successfully with God’s intervention. The unending morning rain of the first day would have hindered significantly our goal to witness to as many people as we can. But no, that was not the case. We anticipated that this could happen weeks before the trip. And so, I instructed everyone that it is a “must” that everyone brings his/her own umbrella for the trip. Weeks after the trip, I still enjoy seeing pictures of us witnessing one-to-one and even preaching in the open-air with umbrellas sheltering us from the rain.

Then there was the problem of the very small road to the place we stayed at. It was so small that people in the community had to go inside their homes so that our bus could pass. With that problem, it would be impossible for us to push through with our plan for the second day to have our bus bring us to several towns to preach the gospel as it would be a big hassle to the people of the community to do what they did when we arrived every time our bus goes out of the place. But God is powerful to turn any problem into a great opportunity. Instead of us going from town to town, God showed us that the community where we were had so many people thirsting for the life-saving gospel. And so, the next day, we saturated the whole barrio with the gospel. AA and the girls gathered the children of the community and did a crusade to them. While they were doing that, the guys were roaming around doing one-to-one witnessing to who ever they could start a conversation with and I was preaching open-air to the poor squatters of the place. We ended by distributing tracts to people, knocking at doors and entering compounds to share the gospel. We were surprised that even though the time was a time that people should be out somewhere working, most of the people where in their homes. Every where we looked there were people. Probably, most of them earn their living from their homes. At the end of the day, there’s a big chance that about 90% of the people of that community either heard the gospel preached to them or got a copy of the gospel message through a tract.

The evening of the second day, even though we still had one more day of sharing the gospel, we were all in tears as we’ve realized why the devil was working double time to hinder that trip. He knew that it will be a very successful mission trip with God’s help that’s why he really wanted to stop it. A lot of the participants testified that that was the first time they’ve really experienced a spiritual battle. It was scary but it was so satisfying after you’ve experienced how God can bring you out of it victoriously. All we really needed to do to end up victorious was to make the commitment to continue on no matter what the circumstance may be, including going to battle against the devil head on. We were humbled with the thought that God had used us to fulfill something great. We’re just a bunch of “nobodies” who were just willing to do His Will. And as what a pastor friend told me while we were there, there’s a great celebration that took place in heaven for the victory God has allowed us to achieve there. We can’t wait any longer for Gospel Buzz 2008! To God be the glory!

Check out the Gospel Buzz 2007 pictures here:

• Gospel Buzz 1
• Gospel Buzz 2
• Gospel Buzz 3
• Gospel Buzz 4
• Gospel Buzz 5
• Gospel Buzz 6
• Gospel Buzz 7
• Delegates