Dec 4th 09
Posted by Arnold in Mind dump, the Life!
Christmas has always been traditionally the fondest, most anticipated and busiest time of the year. And this is also the most misinterpreted holiday of the year.
So how should we spend the Christmas season. Let’s go back to basics. A note from LifeChurch.tv’s Facebook account:
Christmas has become, for many of us, a season of eating, shopping, hosting and spending. We run ourselves ragged in an effort to please the people around us and make everyone get along long enough for all of the holiday pictures to be taken. It’s exhausting and it’s all a bunch of focus on the things that Christmas was never meant to be. We’re not gonna take it anymore. We’re going to make this year different.
This year, (let’s go) back to the basics. This year Christmas (should) be about worship, giving, and love. Those are the things that the first Christmas was all about. When Jesus was born he was a gift from the creator. He was the symbol of God’s love for us. These two realizations caused the shepherds who first visited him to worship in awe of the wonderful miracle of the Messiah.
So as we head into the holiday, let’s conspire to change Christmas. Let’s leave behind the stress and spending and trade them in for worship, giving and love.
Oct 2nd 09
Posted by Arnold in Too Personal, the Life!
We still have not recovered from Ondoy. Pepeng, a super typhoon is coming. Like, a 230 kph strong typhoon is coming.
Pray like you never prayed before.
Pray like you mean it. I mean, something that comes from your heart. An authentic cry for help.
Pray like you really expect God to answer. Because he does answer. He does care. He does know what’s happening.
Pray even if some spiritual police mocks you for praying only at times of need. Pray.
Then rest in his arms and say, “Yet not my will Lord, but yours.” At the end of the day, God knows exactly what we need. We may not understand what’s happening. But God is still God. He is sovereign.
In the midst of these storms, may we find peace in the one who is immovable, certain and strong – Jesus Christ.
Sep 28th 09
Posted by Arnold in the Life!
Lord, most of us are now business as usual. We’re back to work, back to our normal routine. But some of our fellowmen are still trapped in their roofs hungry, wet, depressed.
I’m praying for them, Lord. Please give them emotional and physical strength to hold on and keep their hopes alive. We know that help is coming. It may be taking long, but it is coming. Please whisper this to their hearts. Embrace them with your love at this very moment.
I’m praying for us — for us that are safe, spared from the disaster. Move our hearts from just having pity to real compassion. Convict us to DO something, not just SAY something. Allow us to realize that we are your hands and your feet. Give us the burden, a genuine burden to love.
We are not sure yet, Lord, of what you are telling us because of this tragedy. I’m sure in due time, you will reveal this to us. Whatever it is, may it draw us closer to you. May it become an avenue of self evaluation. May this become a way for us to consider a relationship with you that may have been lost in the past, or even inexistent in the first place.
Be our guide. Be our strength. Be our God. We love you Jesus. Let your children here in the Philippines shout that out loud!
Nov 12th 08
Posted by Arnold in All in a days work, the Life!
The United States of America is in recession. Big companies filing bankruptcy. The latest was General Motors, the biggest car manufacturer in the country. Here in the Philippines, top CEOs project that 2009 will be the year for the country’s own recession. Should you be concerned?
If you’re an employee, or a student, or a housewife, thinking that this problem is just for the country’s economists or the businessmen to solve and you think you should not be concerned, think again.
If you’re an entrepreneur, you have a reason to be concerned. You may experience decrease in orders, or projects, because your clients will tighten belt and reduce spending. In effect, you will have nothing to pay for your overhead and, worse, you may close shop.
If you’re an employee, you have a reason to be concerned. You might loose your job tomorrow because your company may downsize or eventually close shop.
If you’re a student, you have a reason to be concerned because your dad can loose his job because of the downsizing. Who will pay your tuition, or the broadband internet you’re using to access your Multiply and Friendster account?
If you’re a housewife (or houseband), your have a reason to be concerned. If your working spouse looses his/her job, who will pay the rent and the bills?
If you plan to go abroad, good luck! You may loose your job just months after that company abroad starts purging employees and prioritizing their own citizen.
Recession is everyone’s problem. We all have a reason to be concerned.
In fearful times like this, the only way to live out of the fear is trust. Trust that God will lead you in every single day. In every twist and turn. In every disappointing hour. Jesus, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, will inspire you to do exactly what is needed for the moment. This is the best time to come closer to him. To have that personal relationship become even more personal and intimate. Because the more closer to him we become, the clearer we hear his instructions in times of recession.
God, you caught our attention. Now, what do you want to tell us?
Nov 3rd 08
Posted by Arnold in Grace Place, Techie, Theology, the Life!
* For my non-Filipino readers, the title means “I’m not an Adventist anymore”.
Lately, I’ve been asked frequently whether I’m still an Adventist or not. Maybe because I’ve been reconnecting with my old college friends these days. And, coming from 3 generations of Adventists and studied in an Adventist university, it’s not surprising that about 95% of my acquaintances are Adventists.
So, this small piece is an attempt to explain my answer to this question. For some reasons, I can’t explain in 2 to 3 sentences. So, allow me to use this domain for a few more paragraphs. Pardon me, my non-Adventist readers, you may not be able to relate to this.
So, the common question, “Adventist ka pa ba?” (Are you still an Adventist?) The quick answer is, “Hindi na” (Not anymore). Unfortunately, though, there are some misinterpretations to this answer :
1. So, Reform ka na? – “Reform” pertains to a group or groups of Adventist off-shoots, both liberal or conservative in belief system. Some of these off shoots give emphasis to vegetarianism or Ellen White writings. Some are simply against the General Conference. Some off-shoots I know are the “Davidians” and “Reformed Adventist Movement”.
I never joined any “reformed Adventist movements”.
2. Bakit ka nag backslide? – (Why did you back slide?) This question actually asks what caused me to “quit the Adventist faith”. In my experience (as I have asked this question myself to “former” Adventists), the common expected cause include, a) job related (because there is a Sabbath schedule and the Adventist chose job over Sabbath) and b) spouse related (“She married a non-Adventist, nahatak na sya ng hindi kapanampalataya“)
I wouldn’t say I backslid. I have never abandoned my faith in Jesus. I may have abandoned some Adventist doctrines, but never my relationship with Jesus. I can call it, on the other hand, forward-slide :D More of this later.
3. Sunday ka na pala ngayon! – (So you now belong to Sunday!). I’ve recently received this comment from a college friend who invited me to her wedding. Unfortunately, it fell on a Sunday so I politely begged off because of my responsibility to my church. In which she commented this. If you’ve been with the Adventist faith for a long time, you’re acquainted with the unending battle between Sabbath (Saturday) and Sunday. Adventists explain that since Saturday is the correct day of worship, worshiping on Sunday is, as Ellen White says, the “mark of the beast”. So there’s really a tension between these two days.
It’s really hard to explain in a paragraph why I joined a church that worships on Sundays and has stopped worshipping on Saturdays. I have written quite a lot about this subject 7 years ago. But the quick explanation is this: I’ve never joined “another camp” of Sunday worshippers. I don’t worship the day. I worship the creator of the day – Jesus. Bale wala sa akin kung anong araw ka sumasamba. The important thing is you are worshiping the right God any day you want (for instance, Christians, including Adventists, in the middle east worship on Fridays).
4. Kumakain ka na ng baboy ngayon? (Do you now eat pork?) Eating pork for Adventists are a big deal. It’s like the thing that separates the wheat from the weeds. :D
Opo, minsan po nakakakain na ako ng baboy. May baboy sa hotdog, sa cornbeef (yes!), sa chicharon, at sa paborito nating hamburgers. Yung mga processed meat, ok sa akin. For some reasons, psychologically I think, I still cannot eat foods with visible pork in it like liempo or lechon. And I don’t eat pork intentionally. I eat only if I’m presented with it. I still choose not to eat pork NOT for religious purposes but for health reasons.
So, ano ka na ngayon?
I’m a Bible-believing follower of Jesus Christ.
I believe I’m a sinner forgiven by Jesus through his work on the cross. I was saved not because I am good or I joined a religion or said a prayer or did some acts of kindness. It is only by this grace, this love that I don’t deserve that I am saved.
I now serve Jesus through a body of believer in a non-denominational, evangelical church called Grace Place.
What do you think of Adventists?
Make no mistake about it. I love Adventists. I love the Adventist church. Most of my friends are Adventists. Most of my family members are still Adventists. I love them and I have never seen them differently even after I “jumped ship”.
I left the Adventist church not for some disagreement with a member or with the organization. It is purely doctrinal. There are some Adventist doctrines that I now cannot support. And the only logical step is to leave and go where I can best serve God.
So there. That’s the explanation. Whew!
