Watch this, then let me tell you why Bro. Eddie just broke my heart.
Let me lay out the ground work.
1. I’m an evangelical Christian.
2. Bro. Eddie is a leader of one of the biggest evangelical groups here in the Philippines.
3. While I’m not part of the Jesus is Lord Church which he founded, I look up to him as a brother and a great leader of the Church.
4. Apolo Quiboloy’s “Kingdom…”, on the other hand, is NOT an evangelical church. In fact, his church is largely considered a cult of Christianity among evangelical apologists. Reason for this includes his claim of being the Son of God (in Gentile body, blasphemous in my opinion), their works-oriented salvation doctrine, Oneness (as against Trinitarianism), and exclusivity (even claiming that Davao — where their headquarters is located — is the new Jerusalem). He has all the characteristics to be tagged by evangelicals as a dangerous cult.
5. I can respect Quiboloy as a citizen of the Philippines and truly a leader with many followers. But I will never call him a “preacher of righteousness”.
Bro. Eddie, as most of you know, is campaigning for the presidency.
Seeing this man of God compromise his belief, the gospel of Jesus Christ, to which this man from Davao has adulterated, breaks my heart. He is not only loosing his witness, he is also loosing the witness of the entire evangelical Christianity in the Philippines.
What else can Bro. Eddie do just to win the votes of the people?
I’m calling on Bro. Eddie to repent of this lie, hunger for power and for bringing shame to the name of Jesus Christ, the true Son of God.
I’m a big fan of the PBB franchise. Pero kailan kaya matitigil ang pag gamit ng HMs ng “i am poor card”? Just play the game well please.
That short, 140 or less character line has defined exactly what I have in mind — not just with the state of Philippine television, because I hardly watch these days, but with the Filipino mindset in general.
Politics. Take a look at Manny Villar, Erap and Jojo Binay. “I am/was poor, therefore you should vote for me”
Workplace. I have erroneously given “on top of the others” favor to some employees not because they were deserving, but because they said, and claimed at least, that they are poor. I’m sure this happens all the time in the workplace.
Game shows and Philippine TV. You see this everyday. People go on TV and proclaim that they are poor, therefore should deserve some sort of alms or privilege.
Jove called this “I am poor card”. I call this emotional ambush.
My heart goes to the poor. I was raised in a relatively poor family.
What I’m so pissed is the “I am poor, therefore…” mentality of us Filipinos. We thought that being poor is the end of it all. People dwell on it. Politicians exploit it.
If you think you are poor and has nothing on earth to help you get out of it — aside from joining TV shows, receiving financial “help” from politicians or betting on lotto, then you’ll be poor for the rest of your life.
I’m not writing this for the poor — heck, they are poor, how can they have internet access! I’m writing this for us in the middle class. Please stop exploiting this Filipino poor mentality. Let us help them get out of the curse of poverty and not wallow on it. Politicians — let not the people vote for you because you are/were poor but because you have an actual plan to help them get out of the mess and not just to temporarily relieve the pain.
For those who know me, you know that I’ve long been involved with a church called Grace Place. It’s been a great 3 years. God has been leading us all throughout, teaching us what to do and what not to do. Sometimes, we’re hard headed. But when we follow His leading and focus on what matters most, great results happen.
So, we’ve been making noise about a new church called LifeChurch Makati in Facebook and people were asking, “There’s no more Grace Place?”
The quick answer is, “Yes. There’s no more Grace Place.”
The longer and more accurate answer is to explain that technically, the people behind Grace Place are the same people that will launch LifeChurch Makati. Only, LifeChurch Makati has:
a different approach in doing church
a different Sunday experience
a different location
a different partner
LifeChurch Makati is powered by LifeChurch.tv, an innovative church in the US lead by Craig Groeschel. We’re going to have a preview service on February 21, 2010 at the new location in Glorietta 4, Cinema 4. It’s a different Sunday experience, I promise. You’ve got to see it to believe.
And if you’re a follower of Christ and wants to serve, you’re welcome to be part of the launch team. Here are the details.
First of all, goals are not the same as resolutions. New year’s resolutions are meant to be broken on the second week of the year. Goals are pursued and hoped to be reached within the year.
So, here’s my goals for 2010. I’m making it public to somehow make myself more accountable to these personal goals:
1. Spirituality – read the entire bible in Today’s New International Version.
2. Spirituality – be more consistent in my quiet time.
3. Spirituality – stretch myself to be more trusting in God by becoming more generous financially. Give more than the tithe.
4. Family – be creative in my date nights with my wife. Movies, while we both enjoy it, can be boring and redundant sometimes, you know.
5. Family – have a special 7th year anniversary celebration on July.
6. Family – spend more quality time with my kids. (Emphasis on “quality” since I do have more than enough quantity of time with them)
7. Business – release at least 2 rockin’ web application this year.
8. Business – be more aggressive in marketing
9. Personal – go back to the gym, be healthy and loose my growing belly. “Sa panahon ngayon, bawal ang magkasakit”
10. Church – be more aggressive in praying for God’s design to happen for “Grace Place” as we pursue a challenging yet God-honoring plan this year.
This blog, Resurgence 2.0, is subtitled “Theology. Technology. Politics. Whatever”. “Whatever” means sports, actually. So here’s my open letter to Mr. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. with regards to the recent controversy with Manny Pacquaio not giving in to his demand for random blood testing.
* * *
Dear Mr. Floyd Mayweather,
Greetings from here in the Philippines.
The moment I heard about your dad’s accusations last September of Manny Paquiao using Performance Enhancement Drugs (PEDs) or steroids, I laughed because I know he’s missing the main reason behind Manny’s great strength. Then you followed through, and your uncle, the Golden Boy and then the rest of the sports media. You are all making me laugh really hard!
You’re all amazed. You thought it’s not natural to have extra human strength as this. So, as what a typical American will conclude, it must be some type of drug that does this.
Floyd, it’s not the PED, it’s the RICE!
You have to understand this. You see, I grew up in a province north of Manila, Nueva Ecija, considered as the rice capital of the Philippines. I have a first-hand knowledge of this. When I was a kid, I have some classmates who have extra-human strength. They run faster, jump higher. They would always win track and field events, or win huge amount of money bets on street basketball. Our elders would ask, “Anong bigas ba ang kinakain ng batang ‘yan?!” (What kind of rice does that kid eat?!) So you see, there’s different kinds of rice, and there are some types of rice that makes one acquire extra-human abilities. It is well known in our town that the darker the rice is, the better it is to provide strength. Floyd, it’s in the rice.
If only you’ll see the workers we call “kargador” or “pahinante”. These people, at an average height of 5″3′ to 5″5′ can carry 2 to 3 sacks of rice on their backs all at the same time. The meanest can carry 4 sacks! That’s around 150 to 200 kilos — super human strength. What you do not know is that the same rice that they carry gives them super strength!
We also have here in Los Banos, Laguna, in a university south of Manila, a laboratory that invents different kinds of rice breeds. You know what, they keep improving our rice! It makes our people stronger by the day.
So I can’t understand why you keep on accusing Manny Pacquiao of using PED when it’s actually the RICE that makes him strong. Stronger than fighters, including you sir, who are bigger than himself. In fact, it is typical here in the Philippines for smaller guys to beat up bigger guy. Anyone who’s well trained in the farms and eat plenty of our rice can beat up any bigger guys in school.
Instead of pointing to PEDs, I suggest you ask GBP to include in the contract a way to test our rice. Maybe the kind of breeding process our rice undergo is not normal, or against international practices and standards. Because it’s in the rice, sir! It’s in the rice.
Or better yet, start eating rice — FILIPINO RICE, so you and Manny can have a level field if ever you guys will still meet in the ring.
Oh, by the way, aside from FILIPINO RICE, it’s the FILIPINO PRIDE that makes Manny stick to what he believes is right. In my opinion, our pride as a nation is bigger than $40M. Some sports columnists couldn’t believe why Manny would let go of the biggest paycheck for that silly little blood test. You don’t get it — because you’re not a Filipino. For you it’s just all about the money.
Please read these 2 great articles written by an American writer married to a Filipina about Manny Pacquiao and the Filipino Pride — here and here.
I hope this letter reaches you. I know you guys won’t anymore meet come March 13. In any case, I hope you’ll try our RICE for your next fight.
