Lover of my Soul

In the early 1700 siblings John and Charles Wesley were born. Both were talented and used their talents in the service of the Lord. John was a preacher while Charles was a hymn and poem writer.

Charles wrote a lot of hymns. One of those was “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” which is one of the most popular Christmas carol, at least for me. Another hymn he wrote which captured my attention was the song Jesus, Lover of my soul.

The song Jesus, lover of my soul was written by Charles Wesley in the year 1740 in a hedge. He was at that time being pursued by a group of people who disapproved his doctrine when he was preaching in the fields of a parish in Ireland. Good thing that as he escaped to the farmhouse, the farmer's wife hid him in a millhouse. The farmer's wife quieted the captors and directed Wesley to a hedge where he stayed there until the departure of his captors. While in the hedge, Wesley composed this song as a prayer of trust in God as his refuge especially in his time of need.

The song is telling us that whenever we are in trouble, Jesus who is the lover of our soul is always there for us; that no matter how scared we are, we can always trust in God because He is our God who is ever-present. He will never leave us nor forsake us. And unlike in any other refuge, in God, we are assured that we are safe and secure. He will hide and protect us until the storm of life is past. He will reach out to us and carry us through so that we'll be able to stand on heights. Therefore we need not to be afraid. We just need to cling to His promises for He alone is our hope. Though in life we experience a lot of failures and discouragements yet He is the God who is there to encourage us. Whenever we fall, He will be there to raise us up and help us to move forward. This is all because He is the God who loves us so much and He cares for us.

Read and Pray that you may Grow

Both reading the Bible and prayer are important in the lives of the Christians because it is their communication to God. So I would agree that we can find great value in stressing pietistic practices to our church members, yes especially to our church members.

Someone once said that the more we spend time in reading the Bible and in prayer, the more we seek God. This statement simply means that we can find God in our prayer and personal devotion. If I would be the leader in a church, I would certainly want to see the members of my church to grow spiritually and to be mature in Christ. Sunday services and other church fellowships are not enough. Spiritual growth is not a group growth. It is an individual pursuit. Therefore every individual (every church member) should be responsible for his own spiritual growth. To grow spiritually and to be more like Jesus require constant and intimate relationship with God. With this kind of relationship being absent in an individual's life, we cannot expect growth. For a relationship to grow and last, it needs constant communication. Since a person cannot commune with God personally face to face just like any other earthly relationship, he needs to find a way to always be in touch with him. And that way is to read the Bible and to always pray.

I believe that it is the goal of every church to see her members grow in God. As what other Christians say that it is better to have a few members in the church yet mature spiritually than to have a lot of members but are dying spiritually. “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Therefore we should encourage and stress to our church members the importance of studying the Bible and prayer.

Immanuel (God with Us)

The happening at Cana where Mary interceded with the couple who almost lost their supply of wine during the wedding feast greatly affected the belief of the Filipino people especially husbands and wives. Yet if we observe mostly in lives of our Filipino Roman Catholics, not only couples are fanatic to Mary, even those who are singles and still young also look up to Mary with high regard.

We notice that Filipino Roman Catholics treated as someone who is very important to them knowing that for them, Mary is their way to go to Jesus. They believe that Mary could intercede for them to God. Because of this, their concept of God became distorted thinking that God is a distant god therefore they need someone to intercede for them and they can only find that in the person of Mary, the “Mother of God”.

What made this belief very wrong is the thought that because of this belief, people became distant form God and became much closer to Mary. They are giving Mary much importance than God. They couldn't establish a relationship with God because for them, it more important to have a constant, intimate relationship with Mary. The worse thing about it is that sometimes, if not most of the times, they treat Mary as God more than the true God who is Jesus Christ. When they need something, they go directly to Mary and not to God anymore. They thought that there is a high percentage for their appeal to be heard when they relay their message to God through Mary.

God is not a distant God. He is the God who is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-10). And as what He personally said in the gospel, HE is always with us (Matthew 1:23).

What the Roman Catholic concept's about God is very sad. But the good news is, we can still let them know what is true.

Are you a true Christian or not?

The time of Reformation allows group of people to make a distinction between their own religious organization from the Roman Catholic. The Roman Catholic Church was so threatened that those who didn't abide anymore to their teachings were excommunicated from their organization to the point that they had given another name by the Roman Catholic. This was when the Anabaptist was formed.

We have learned that it was because of the Anabaptists that the identity of the different kinds of radicals were formed. The history of Anabaptist provides learning that sometimes, the cause of the loss of an organization's identity and integrity are done by the people. Yet in another perspective, this is also a way to determine who are genuine and those who are not. We can find that in the different kinds of radicals, their distinctions can easily be seen.

The same is true to the different religious organizations today. Many are claiming to be the true followers of Jesus, identify themselves as Christians yet not all of them are the same. They profess to be Christians yet they have different teachings and practices. They claim to be the true church or organization yet the way they live their lives is very opposite to what the Scripture teaches. And just like the different kinds of radicals, we can easily determine those who are genuine and those who are not.

The same name, different beliefs and practices. But in the end, it is only Jesus Christ who can identify who are truly His.

 My Hiding Place

 When Martin Luther wrote the song “A mighty fortress is our God,” he drew his inspiration from his very experience when he was exiled because of his accusation of the Roman Catholic organization of their heresies and their unbiblical practices. The song described how Luther found safety and security in the presence of God.

After the Christmas vacation, I felt strange about myself. There are times that I don't understand what I am doing. It is as if I don't know myself anymore. I easily get frustrated and it seems that everything I do always result to failure. I felt very noisy inside and out. I tried to isolate myself from people. Whenever I have time, I choose to just sleep instead of spending my time building relationship with others thinking that I may be able to find help and just be able to forget everything when I sleep. I make sleeping my hiding place hoping that when I wake up, the peace that I desire will be there already. Oh how difficult it is when the giant that you are facing is yourself.

But just like David and Luther who experienced God's faithfulness, many times in my life I already experienced His faithfulness also. And just like them, because of God's faithfulness I became victorious in the battles that I was in not because I am strong but because God's strength in me is more than enough to win the battle.

Now that I am in another battle again, I am excited to see on what God will do to me and through me. The song just reminded me that He is indeed the mighty fortress whose help is ever present especially in times of need; that I need not to be afraid because He is the God who never fails His promises. Whatever He says, He will do and nothing or no one can stop Him from doing it. Above everything else, it is with Him that I can only found the hiding place where I can be at peace and secured.

  Share for the Work is plentiful

It was January 1995 when Pope John Paul II last visited Philippines. 20 years had passed by and now, another Pope will be visiting Philippines again by the name of Jorge Mario Bergoglio or what most of the people know as Pope Francis. Just like Pope John Paul's last visit, millions of Filipinos are expected to attend especially during the mass that he will be going to celebrate.

For many Filipinos, this event will be the most special for them but as a believer of Christ, it is sad to know that many are still blinded by the truth. Seeing mostly of the Filipinos idolizing a mere human is just painful when all they want to have is to find the true happiness and peace that they are looking for. It's just sad that they are looking for it in a person that they believe is from God and not to God directly. They thought that the one they see has an equal power and authority with God.

I don't really know the reason why he chose Philippines to become one of the Asian countries that he's going to visit but whatever the reason is, it is really important to the Catholic Filipino people. We can look at it in the social medias how excited Filipinos are that they are sending their messages even asking the pope to bless our country. This situation is an evidence how still big the work of the Christians is in proclaiming the truth to the people. We should not wait for this kind of event to come before making an effort to share the truth about Jesus. We should not wait for the day that we will see millions of people shouting and chanting their admiration to a mere creation when we are capable of helping them open their eyes to what is true.

If before we've done nothing, now we have to do something. The pope's coming is an opportunity to proclaim God's true peace to the people.

Invite, that they might know what's right

When Adam sinned against God, one of the things that human inherited is the attitude of being rebellious and prideful that sometimes they want to play God.

Catholicism has done a great damage in twisting the teachings of the New Testament from changing the means of salvation down to the meaning of the ordinances. I do believe that these teachings were very clear to them. They just created a reason for them to change it. This made me appreciate and be grateful to God more. Churches do really have differences especially when it comes to beliefs and practices. I am so blessed that the church that I am in holds the right teachings that comes from the New Testament.

There were times that I am hesitant to invite my friends to the church not just because of the fact that we have different beliefs but also because i am afraid that they won’t be able to like everything in the church. This is the attitude that I need to change. I don’t need to be ashamed. Instead I need to be encouraged to invite them knowing that what the church teaches is in accordance to the teaching of the Bible. Who knows, that might be the time they will be able to encounter Jesus and be opened for the truth.

Few days more and it’s Christmas time. For sure churches will organize a Christmas party in the church or even in the outreaches. I think this is a good time to invite friends and relatives who are not in Christ yet. The best way to do it is to ask the Lord for guidance and wisdom in approaching them. There is no harm in trying.

This Christmas, churches can be an avenue in reaching out the lost. This is also my prayer that i will be able to make my friends’ Christmas even merrier by introducing to them the Person behind the season.