Theology and Medicine

Do Christian Doctors need to study the Bible?

2012-01-22T22:29:00.000-08:00

Let me share with you a hypothetical story about a hypothetical person working in a hypothetical hospital under a hypothetical department of medicine. Let us call her Dra. Lison. This Dr. Leson shamelessly shouts out to everybody that she is a Christian and that she goes religiously to this popular Christian Fellowship every Sunday. But then on Mondays, when she reports for work in the hospital, the Christian in Dra. Lison cannot be seen. And it becomes less visible as the week progresses on. Her typical day starts with a frown in her face that makes her look like the devil more than the angel she professes she is. (Okay, I'm exaggerating!) Her day continues with her taunting the clerks for being stupid and cursing the nurses for not doing their jobs. She makes her rounds with her patients scolding them for not being healthy and for not complying with the medications she had prescribed. The relatives are not spared as Dra. Lison blames them for not sacrificing enough to help the patient. They could only be thankful that Dra. Lison visits them for a minute or two. In the afternoon, Dra. Lison is in the OPD and she receives referrals from other departments. She then makes derogatory remarks against her colleagues and how incompetent the other doctors are for all they ever do is refer to her their patients. At the end of the day, when she is about to take her rest, Dra. Lison does not forget to pray. She prays and thanks her God for not making her like the stupid medical students, the lazy nurses and the incompetent other doctors. She ends her prayer with the hope that God will make every other person in the hospital like her.

The first question I would like to ask, are you that person? If you say no. Then maybe you ARE that person. For she fails to recognize her flaws after being blinded by her religiosity and self-declared goodness. If you say yes, then we can start talking about the need for us to study the Bible. For this lesson, when I say "NEED to study the Bible" I simply mean we NEED to be taught and we NEED to be corrected. If there is still a need for us to learn, it simply mean we are not yet complete. We are not yet perfect.

The Bible tells us in Matthew 5:48 that "you need to be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." The problem is that, as Romans 3:23 reminds us, "for all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." As doctors, we are not exempted from this shortness of God's glory. We are not perfect. We still need help about our imperfections as persons, Christians and as doctors. Dra. Lison is an example of a Christian that still needs improvement to reach her potential. She still needs to study the Bible.

What do you think is wrong with Dra. Lison? Why is she acting the way she does, considering she claims to be a Christian? If you were her, what will you do?

Changes

2012-01-20T03:47:00.000-08:00

This year, the weekly Bible Study in our department will take a new twist. Instead of following the lectionary readings, we will take one pressing issue in our workplace and see how God works in our midst. We will look at the Word of God that speaks about the issues we are facing.

In this first month of the year, we will encounter CHANGE. As what have been promised to us by God, new things are coming for the better.

Our department will also and have seen changes. There will be changes in our personal lives, in our roles as physicians and residents, changes in our department policy, in our training program and even in our hospital setting. The removal of the FM triage in the Emergency Room is one big change that drew different responses from the administrators and the other departments. The change in duties and responsibilities of the residents from being juniors to now seniors is another change. The heavy immersion in our rotations is another change that we are all apprehensive. And from all these changes, we hear different reactions and responses from different groups. Most resist the change that will happen. Some are doubtful to its timing. And almost everybody wanted a status quo. This story is similar to the storuy of Israel who were captive in Egypt.

In Exodus Chapter 5, we see God planning to shake up things in Egypt. God has plans that will improve the situation of Israel. God wanted change. So Moses was called up to talk to Pharaoh to tell Pharaoh the Changes God was planning to do. And you guessed it right, the response was nothing different to what we see here in the hospital. Pharaoh resisted change. Even the Israelites doubted the importance of this change. Moses, himself, questioned the change God was planning to do. Everybody resisted change. They all wanted the status quo.

In our lives, we want to be sure of things. Change is about uncertainty because you are never sure what will happen, simply because you haven't experienced it. Change is something beyond what we are used to. We want to stay in our comfort zone, with what we are used to. So we resist change. But we must trust the One who imposes the change. We must trust that the plan of change is for the better.

The change that happens does not promise to be smooth sailing. It may be rough. Challenges and difficulties will come. Just like the Israelites who suffered from hunger and thirst, and had to endure 40 years of wandering in the desert, the changes in our department and in ourselves will not be easy. We will struggle and we will encounter difficulties. But God is faithful and we must trust God. We may not see the whole plan of God but we know that the plan for change will be for the better.

Ang Iglesya Metodista ba ay UMC?

2012-01-03T04:36:00.000-08:00

I am posting here the latest development in the UMC crisis in the Philippines. Below is an article that analyzes what is the meaning and implication of the the incorporation of the self-declared autonomous Methodist group.

SEARCHLIGHTS OF TRUTH

Published by:

Concerned Laity of the Philippines Central Conference, UMC, Manila

Call No. 1, Series of 2012 (January 2)

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD

A new religious corporation, “Ang Iglesia Metodista Sa Pilipinas, Inc. (AIMPI)” could be the latest religious corporation to be registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Its certificate of incorporation was approved only on December 7, 2011. The newly registered religious corporation proclaims itself as an “independent church” as succinctly and clearly provided for in Section 1 of its Articles of Incorporation, to wit: “That this religious corporation is INDEPENDENT.”

However, two sentences later, the same Articles of Incorporation forebodes or foreshadows some kind of a vague birth relationship with another religious denomination, crystallized therein as follows: “FOURTH: That the incorporation of this religious corporation is not forbidden by competent authorities or by constitution or rules of discipline of the religious denomination, sect or church of which it forms part.” (underscoring supplied)

Knowing the religious background of the incorporators, all erstwhile leaders of the United Methodist Church belonging to the Philippines Central Conference, it is easy to decipher that this “religious denomination, sect or church” adverted to in the Articles of Incorporation above is the United Methodist Church. If so, this is clearly a misleading, self-serving and a wrong assumption and/or presumption of the framers of said Articles of Incorporation.

The creation of the AIMPI is not in accordance with the mandatory requirement of Paragraph 572 of the UMC Book of Discipline and hence its establishment could not be said as having been authorized by the United Methodist Church. The claim, therefore, of the framers of the questioned Articles of Incorporation that the religious corporation forms part of the long established global United Methodist Church is clearly misleading and false. Par. 572 of the United Methodist Church Book of Discipline clearly provides thus: “When conferences outside the United States that are parts of the United Methodist Church desire to become an autonomous Methodist, affiliated autonomous Methodist, or affiliated united church, approval shall first be secured from the central conference involved and this decision be ratified by the annual conferences within the central conference by two-thirds majority of the aggregate votes cast by the annual conferences.”

To be considered part of the global United Methodist Church (UMC), the UMC Book of Discipline requires the following conditions to be strictly observed: (a) approval by the central conference involved shall be secured; and (b) the decision of the central conference must be ratified by the annual conferences within the central conference involved by a two-thirds majority of the aggregate votes cast by the annual conferences.

There is nothing in the Articles of Incorporation of AIMPI which indicates that the above requirements under Par. 572 of the Discipline have been complied with. It merely mentions in its Third Article “That 2/3 of its members had given their written consent and voted for its incorporation at a meeting called for the purpose.” This declaration is followed by the self- serving conclusion in its Fourth Article which unilaterally declares “That the incorporation of this religious organization is not forbidden by competent authorities or by the constitution or rules of discipline of the religious denomination; sect or church of which it forms part…”

Not having been organized in accordance with the aforequoted provision of the Book of Discipline, AIMPI therefore is an independent, breakaway, dissident or schismatic unit sans any legitimate connection or relationship with the United Methodist Church. It was organized solely under the provisions of Section 116 of the Corporation Code pursuant to the exercise by the incorporators/members of their freedom of religion. The purpose of this religious corporation, as its articles of incorporation further provide, is for the administration of its affairs, properties and temporalities with its principal office established and located at 46 W.A. Jones St., Bgy Naisian, Calasiao, Pangasinan. The Articles of Incorporation of AIMPI show the following persons as incorporators and members of the corporation’s Board of Trustees:

CHITA R. MILLAN JOE FRANK E. ZUŇIGA

PERLA C. BAUTISTA ELEAZER R. BOTE

ANECITO R. VILLALON, JR. ANICIA C. MARQUEZ

LITO C. TANGONAN SUSAN D. CAPILI

ANACLETO C. CASTILLO DOMINADOR A. VALENCIA

ESMERALDO GATCHALIAN ROGER A. MARQUEZ

BAYANI G. TECSON RODRIGO G. LAGMAN

ROMULO R. SISON

From the foregoing, it is quite clear that AIMPI is a breakaway, dissident or schismatic church from the United Methodist Church. To repeat, its birth is entirely out of sync with the mandatory provisions of the Book of Discipline. Therefore, it has no right to interfere with the ownership and usage of UMC churches and properties. Jurisprudence from both Philippines and American laws, citing the landmark case of Watson v. Jones, the Philippine Supreme Court in Canete vs. Court of Appeals, 171 SCRA 13, has ruled that the “use of properties of a eligious corporation in case of schism, is controlled by the numerical majority of the members. The minority in choosing to separate themselves into a distinct body, and refusing to recognize the authority of the government body, can claim no rights in the property from the fact that they once had been members.”

So be it.

By: Atty. Oscar R. Ferrer

Central United Methodist Church

694 T. M. Kalaw, Ermita, Manila

January 2, 2012

Thanksgiving in the Midst of Suffering

2011-12-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

A Meditation on 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 preached in Cagayan de Oro.

Today we are gathered here as family and friends to celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and also to offer our thanksgiving and praise for the goodness of the Lord in our lives especially in the lives of Tita Phoebe and Tito Rod. Our scripture text this morning is a letter from Paul to the Corinthians and it begins with words of thanksgiving and praise. In the New International Version, it says in verse 3 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We often see the opening letters of Paul with words of thanks and praise to God. But in this letter, we see after the words of thanks are words like suffering and affliction. It is often very difficult to see praise and thanksgiving with suffering and pain put in the same sentence. But such is the letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Paul was at that time was suffering, not only physically but also emotionally and spiritually like most of us today. We are troubled with physical illnesses, some of us may be having problems – in work, in our relationships, some emotionally – we are depressed, sad and even angry.

I. There is suffering because of brokenness

The first thing that we should consider in this letter is the recognition of Paul about the reality of suffering and affliction in our lives. When I was a student Pastor in the US, I was tasked to reply to a letter from a youth church member. She had bone cancer in the age of 17. And her letter basically asked the question why? I would like to read an excerpt and the message of my reply to her.

Letter: Dear Rachel,

… God loves you. And all of us do. You have every right to ask questions about your illness. Why you? And why at such a young age? But I am afraid I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that we live in a broken world, where accidents, problems and diseases exist. But all these do not prevent God from loving you…

The letter reminds us about the reality that we live in a broken world. In a world where accidents happen, tragedies occur and suffering is present. The flash flood that killed several hundred people and destroyed millions in properties is the result of our sinful stewardship and brokenness.

II. God comforts us in our suffering

Paul reminds us that God is the father of all mercies and the God of all comfort. The Greek word for comfort is “paraclesis.” This is the root word of the word “paraclete.” Remember in John 14:16, Jesus said that I will pray to the Father that he will send you a Paraclete, that will be with you forever.” That is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with us forever, to bring us comfort especially when we need it.

But aside from the Holy Spirit, God also embraces us with his comfort and love in our times of suffering through other people. In verse 4, Paul tells us that God comforst us in all our afflictions that we may comfort others who are also afflicted. God uses other people to comfort us.

Example: one of the ministry of the church is the ministry of presence. There is a Stephen ministry – whose ministry is to be present whenever people are in need. Mother Teresa once said when asked, why do you do what you do? She replied, “we are the body of Christ – we must be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in this world.” We must be the hands and feet of Jesus to provide care and comfort especially those who are abandoned

What kind of comfort do we receive?

III. Comfort that gives us hope/endure suffering

Too often, when we are experiencing difficulties in our lives, we want comfort. But the comfort that we want is to be spared from the pain we might experience. That is almost human nature. Even Jesus, in his humanness prayed when he knew that he was going to suffer and die that his cup be taken from him. But that is looking at the cup half-empty. That is being pessimistic. Too often, our pain blinds us to see the brighter side. But the bright side is too difficult to see especially in troubled times. But that is where we see hope. My professor once said that hope is hope when there is nothing left. It’s like being locked and trapped inside a room with no chance to go out. When it becomes impossible to get out of the room, when nothing is possible… there is hope. Such is the comfort we receive from God. Comforts that help us endure the challenges and gives us hope to continue fighting.

This comfort gives us hope, hope that helps us endure suffering. Endurance is very important as it allows us to withstand any challenge regardless if it

Example is a runner of marathon and sprint. A sprinter can run the 100m dash but may never complete a marathon. The difference is that the sprinter can run fast and finish the race in a few seconds but may never cross the finish line in a marathon. Only the marathon runner has the endurance to finish several kilometres of running in the shortest time possible. That is our comfort from God, a comfort that gives us endurance to face suffering.

IV. God’s comfort to us makes us a blessing to others

Even in the challenges that we face, even in our sufferings and pain we are still called to be a blessing to others. We are not to be self-centered.

Sometimes, our difficulties narrow our vision to look only into ourselves. This self-centeredness even leads us to the point of self-pity. But self-pity leads us to. In fact, the situation we are in gives us the opportunity to receive the comfort of God. The comfort of God in the midst of our suffering calls for us to be a blessing to others. In verse 6, Paul reminds us that “if we are comforted, it is for your comfort.”

The good news my dear brothers and sisters, is that even in our suffering God is our paraclete, God is our comfort. That is reason enough to give thanks and praise to God.

As Christians, we are not exempted from suffering and pain. But in our suffering we receive God’s comfort and become channels of blessing and comfort. The challenge for us this morning, have we become blessings to others because of the comfort we received in our sufferings and pain? In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Edited...

Sinmbang Gabi

2011-12-17T08:26:00.000-08:00

A Sermon on the Gospel of Mark 5:25-34 preached in Davao City, Cathedral United Methodist Church.

A Future with Hope is Coming

By Neki Soriano, MD

It is nice to be back here in Central UMC. It is always nice to be back here in Davao City. I always have to wait for one year before I can have a reason to come back home. Waiting for that one year is almost forever. But I always anticipate this moment. I always wait for this one moment in time when I can be together with my family and friends. Despite waiting for one year, I am always hopeful that this time will come and it will be a joyful occasion Advent is like that. We anticipate – we wait for the coming of the king, we wait to see our Lord and Master and be in his presence and we hope that when that time comes it will be a wonderful event. We wait and hope for the best. This is the same hopeful waiting that the woman in our Gospel text experienced.

We read about a woman who has been bleeding for a long time. She is bleeding. “Dinudugo siya!” Eh di may regla. That is common among women. So it should be nothing unusual for her. But this is not menstruation. This is not a usual problem for her. But she had been bleeding for years. Hindi naman sinabi kung saan ang pagdurugo niya. And so the doctor in me naturally thought that this was a case of Abnormal Uterine Bleeding. Most probably this was cancer and it was probably at the end stage. But the woman is not just suffering from cancer. She was suffering more than that. During those times, bleeding was a sign of uncleanliness. So the bleeding woman is reckoned to be unclean. And she knows it. People think it too. The woman who is bleeding is unclean, and unclean people should be shunned away by the society, rejected, and discriminated. People look at her in an indifferent way. More than the physical pain she was suffering, she could be hurting inside her heart. People hate her. People don’t like her. And people say all the bad things about her behind her back.

I remembered one friend of mine from college who became very sick. He was very thin, he was weak and he was sickly. For almost two years, he goes in and out in the hospital for treatment of different kind of infections. He was bisexual but he was a decent man and he continued to go to work in one of the offices here in Davao despite being sickly. But two months ago, he became very ill. He was immunocompromised and people are having opinions on why he was immunocompromised. His officemates began to distance themselves from him. People did not want to associate with him. Even his family wanted him out of their house. So he went to Manila to seek help and he was admitted in one of the hospitals there. He eventually died of complications of a rare form of pneumonia. This was the same treatment that this woman was experiencing. She was being rejected.

And so what the bleeding woman did was do everything possible in her human effort to find a solution to her problem. She did it her own way. So she consulted every doctor she knew. The gospel text said that she spent all her money and properties just so she can cure her illness. But obviously it did not treat the problem. In fact her condition worsened.

I was trying to imagine and understand her situation. I thought she could be like my friend who wanted to be rich. He was a proud man. He wanted to do things on his own. So he borrowed some money from his father to start his own internet business. He had a sister who was a business degree and wanted to help him in his business. But he thought he can do it on his own. His sister got upset and so was their parents that their family relationship suffered. Aside from that, my friend did not also want his wife to be working nor be involved in any of his business. His wife was so hurt to not trust her in matters that affect their family that she left him. In short, he was his own boss. Because his argument was that, he was a lucky man and with his luck and his own efforts he can succed. He can do everything on his own. Because he was self-centered his business did not click. He is now bankrupt, his family is angry at him and his wife left him. He lost everything all because he put his trust in the wrong places. Just like the woman in our story.

So for twelve years, she has been miserable. This is a common human response. Whenever we are faced with a problem, we immediately try to find a solution – on our own efforts. We try to spend all our efforts and resources in finding a solution. But we never ever ask for God’s help. We are too proud for that. We think we can do it on our own.

In the hospital, many people go to the doctors to seek help. The doctors are very willing to help them of course. The patient goes to the doctor and they say, “gawin nyo po ang lahat ng makakaya ninyo para pagalinging ako.” Gawin nyo lahat ng makakaya ninyo – lahat ng makakaya ng doctor. Of course, the arrogant doctor will say, I will do all that I can. But that is just human effort. The doctor will do everything he can but that will just be human effort. But a greater healing will happen if God is at work. But we all know that medicine, the doctors, the nurses are nothing but God’s instrument of healing. They are not the ones who will treat the disease. It is God who does the work. And so the doctors were not able to cure her. And for twelve long years, she suffered.

I want you to experience her suffering, her suffering for twelve long years. She did not only suffer physical discomfort, she also suffered mental anguish and emotional pain, does she have family? Where are they? If she had a family, they must have abandoned her because she was unclean – she is sinful. A woman who is already suffering physically gets more insult to he injury by being rejected by her family and the society giving her psychoemotional pain.

And it did not last for one day, not even one week, it was more than a month, matatapos din yan… it was more than a year, imagine a chile growing a year older… but the pain and anguish is still there… for twelve years… graduate na ng elementary and highschool yung bata… you are still being rejected and discriminated. Ganun katagal. This is her condition. This is the moment when she was desperate to find any means to end her suffering. And then she heard about Jesus.

Jesus was coming to town. And so she thought. This Jesus is known to make miracles happen. In a desperate move, she thinks that this Jesus can help her. So she said, I will go and touch his garment. Because even touching it will heal me. She had so much faith that Jesus can heal her. She was full of hope that finally, she will be cured from all her diseases.

This is our hope this advent season – we will be made whole when Jesus comes. And Jesus is coming. Jesus is our hope. Hope is coming. Our future is with Hope.

The good news my dear brothers and sisters is Jesus is coming to town. Yes, Jesus is coming to town, that is the meaning of Advent. When he comes, we can touch him and we will be made whole again.

Sometimes we may be like the crowd who are near Jesus, they may be even rubbing elbows with him, but we need to touch him and through faith receive his power to be made whole again. We need to touch him, attach with him, join him and be with him that we may be made whole. To touch Jesus means to be like him. To be attach with Jesus is to be Christ-like in everything aspect of our life. To join Jesus and be with him is to walk in Christian perfection. The challenge for us this advent season, are we touching Jesus? Are we walking toward Christ-likeness? Are we moving towards Christian perfection in what we think, say and do? Jesus is coming to town and like the woman, let us have the desire to touch and attach with Jesus – to walk in Christ-likeness towards wholeness and Christian perfection. When Jesus comes, when Hope is here, it will be a joyful and glorious occasion. In the name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Mary and Elizabeth

2011-12-12T16:57:00.000-08:00

Lectionary: Luke 1:26-38

What does it mean to read a story of a virgin woman and a barren woman in the same thread?

Both women are, medically speaking, unable to become pregnant because of biological reasons. But as God always humors us with his miracles - it happened beyond human comprehension.

I was reflecting what a virgin woman was thinking when she was told that she is pregnant. Again, I thought, what did a barren lady thought when she was told that she too is pregnant. Probably they reacted the same way - disbelief with a little annoyance that to this seemingly irresponsible joke. But if it were to be true, since it was an Angel who was cracking this joke to them, how can this become reasonable?

This is what most of the readers would probably jump into after reading the story. All our reasonable mind would like to do is find a logical explanation to this phenomena. Our suspicious minds digs into our scientific side to find an answer to our question. How can a virgin, a barren woman become pregnant?

Maybe.. Thus begins our formulation of a hypothesis how things happen. Maybe the virgin woman was implanted in vitro. The barren woman was artificially inseminated. Or maybe, the easiest way out is to think that the virgin was not a virgin and the barren was not a barren. That is almost blasphemy though.

Why do we even have to ask how? Cannot our human mind accept the what is incomprehensible? How about our heart? Can we not believe that what is impossible with humans is possible with God?

Being trained in the scientific ways and thinking is not an excuse for us to prevent God from being God. I still see everyday miracles happen and I know God is at work. This Christmas, when I see a very selfish and arrogant co-worker voluntarily bringing in some new toys to donate to street children, I know that the God of Mary and Elizabeth is working another miracle.

How do you prepare for Baptism, really?

2011-12-04T00:43:00.000-08:00

How do you prepare for a baptism? If the fanfare is a measure of preparation for how big and important an event is, then the baptism I witnessed this morning is not even a sideshow. This morning, an infant baptism took place during the worship service. Thank goodness that the baptism was done within the worship service. It was also good to have the Holy Communion and Baptism, the only two sacraments in UMC, done in one worship service. In that respect, nothing could be said further about the theological appropriateness of celebrating the Sacrament of Baptism.

But the preparation for the baptism of the child was lacking. I doubt the amount of effort the Pastor and the parents gave in preparation of this baptism. A three day notice and the manner it was done today are telling of the people's understanding of baptism. The amount of preparation one gives to an event equates to the importance of that event to the person. For example, the "big day" for almost all ladies is their wedding day. The preparation for such event takes several months if not years. Even before the girl meets his perfect "prince charming", she already has planned in her imaginative mind her dream wedding. The big event for ladies calls for a thorough check of the location, designing the color coded gowns, sending out the invitations with RSVPs, practicing the vows and other speeches and making sure that the minutest detail of the event is not left to chance. Because the big event happens is supposed to happen only once in a lifetime, it should be perfect. I hope we can say the same way with how we prepare with baptisms.

Baptisms only happen once in our life. To be sure, the amount of celebration and preparation is not a measure of the grace we receive from God. But the importance we give to an outward even of an inward grace is a mark of how well we understand and give meaning to the sacraments we celebrate. A diamond is nothing but a sparkling stone to someone who does not understand its value. As Christians and United Methodist, let us responsibly learn what is important in our faith and beliefs so we can prepare for it. Just like this Advent season, when we prepare for something that is very important to us. We know preparation helps us to be ready for a special event. Let us teach one another to prepare properly and have a Wesleyan understanding of baptism. For we were all baptized and in our baptism we received the same calling from God.

December and Advent

2011-12-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

It is already December and Christmas is just a few days away. Christmas decors have been put up in the offices and homes, the streets are lined with Christmas lanterns, and Christmas songs can be heard playing on radio. But not everyone had their Christmas decors ready. We don't have it in our house, we don't have it in our office. We are too busy to do that. Because we are waiting for the perfect time to do all that.

Today is Advent season. We are now in the second week of waiting. But we even forgot to prepare our Advent candles. Because we have been busy waiting for the perfect moment to make our preparations. Now trhat the Advent time is here, we could not light our own candles. Because we waited but did nothing.

The waiting season of Advent this December is not a passive activity of doing nothing. John Wesley gave serious thought about what waiting for Christ means. He realized waiting involves doing something. Wesley's understanding of actively waiting even put him at odds with his friends. Waiting for the coming of the Messiah is not patiently sitting in the couch and praying something will happen. Waiting demands action. It means taking time to do the work of Christ-reaching out in love to others. It means 'sharing the Gospel, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and healing the sick.' Waiting means getting up from that couch, picking up the lantern and start decorating the Christmas tree.

Sino ang Boss mo?

2011-11-23T05:41:00.000-08:00

During the Christ the King Sunday, I remembered a sermon I preached in San Jose, Ibajay, Aklan entitled "Sino ang Boss mo?" I am posting here a copy of that sermon with a prayer that it will bless somebody today.

The Gospel Reading is from the Gospel according to St. Matthew Chapter 22:15-22. Our Scripture reading is appropriate this morning as we celebrate Laity Month and Youth Sunday. It challenges us to look and reflect into our lives as Christians who live the everyday of our life in the secular world. The question and challenge from the text for us is, who is your king? "Sino ang boss mo?" The Book of Matthew is full of stories about Jesus as the King. It tells about how the Kingdom of God will come and how God will reign as King.... (edited)

The Patient's Right

2011-11-11T06:42:00.000-08:00

I was asked by my senior consultant what I thought about the issue of former Philippine President Gloria Arroyo wanting to seek medical consult abroad but the current government of President Noynoy Aquino denying her request. My quick reply was to agree with retired Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Cruz, that Gloria should be allowed to seek consult abroad with a guarantee that she will come back.

As Bishop Cruz pointed out, to which Department of Justice Secretary De Lima also acceded, every patient has the right to seek medical consult and to choose the doctor she wants.

It is a medical ethical issue whether to allow Gloria Arroyo to exercise her right to seek medical help and to choose where it will come from. The ethical issue becomes bigger when the denial of such right is measured against the right of the people of the Philippines to justice. Critics want to be sure that Gloria will be present to face charges of electoral fraud in 2004. The justification is that the right of over 90 Million Filipinos is 90 Million times greater than her individual right.

Can the right of a person be greater than another that he/she can trump down another person's right? Doesn't my right ends when your right begins? Sometimes I wonder whatever happened to our Christian virtues? What will happen when people are guided by their virtues in making ethical decisions? Oh, just like heaven...

Where am I now?

2011-11-07T02:35:00.001-08:00

I started this blog several years ago now in my struggle to find the intersection of theology and medicine. But I have never truly articulated the problems inherent to this dilemma. This short essay is another attempt to state the issues I continue to struggle with until now. The first issue and probably the biggest one that I had to contend with is the issue of dualism.

The modern thought of the 18th century thinkers have introduced us to the idea of dualism. Even in this so called post-modern era, the influence of modernism cannot be denied with the extent of its effect. Dualism gave birth to the perception of humans into body and soul. This has ultimately given rise to the perspective of medicine to focus into the bodily realm. Consequently, the soul has been the object of focus in theology. Dualism has therefore led to the separation of theology and medicine as distinct fields. Thus, to have a better understanding in the intersection of theology and medicine is to deconstruct a dualist perspective of human nature.

In my daily patient interaction and discussion with colleagues, I often find it difficult to explain myself because the people around me are still influenced by the dualist understanding of humanity. They often get the idea that my advocacy for the inclusion of "Spiritual History" as part of the medical history comes from my being clergy. To be sure, being a clergy may have influenced me but it is our doctrinal understanding of human nature that guides me to see human holistically.

Similarly, I have continuously struggled in explicating the need for the church to address the needs of the people outside it other than the spiritual domain. I have often been questioned why do I insist on the church having a comprehensive health ministry and not just focus in strengthening Bible Studies and Prayer meetings in the church. While it is important to focus in human spirituality, my Wesleyan tradition have taught me that holistic salvation goes beyond matters of the soul.

My struggle in finding the intersection of theology and medicine may have to take a twist. The intersection may never be there, because theology and medicine was never distinct and separate in the first place.

Invest in your Future

2011-11-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a non-medical topic for our weekly roundtable discussion. We had a life insurance agent talk about financial independence by investing in the future. She opened her talk by emphasizing that more than 80% of people do not invest in their future and so they end up in financial crisis when they are in their retirement age. The message she wanted to bring across was that people, especially doctors should start planning their future NOW by investing their money in different modes: bonds, equities and others. The future will be better if one starts saving their money now. Make your money work for you instead of you working for money. By accumulating enough possessions, one will leave a happy life by simply spending from the profits of ones possessions. By storing an abundant supply of money, one will have enough to spend in the future. The agent, knowing that I still do not have an insurance policy was persuading me to secure my future by investing in her company. Her logic was sound enough for me...

But I then I remembered the Parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21. The foolish man built a barn to store up his grains so that he said to himself "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” He had so much surplus of grain that he planned to build a bigger barn to have a more secure and more financial independence future. He got caught up saving so much properties he forgot to invest in his future with God. And so the foolish man died. I remembered the succeeding verses was encouraging. Verse 22-23 said: Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes."

As I wrestled with these thoughts, I remembered John Wesley was attributed to have said " Make all you can, save all you can, give all you can." Hmmm...

It's All About Love

2011-10-23T06:57:00.000-07:00

A Sermon Preached by Nezer A. Soriano in Fairview Park United Methodist Church on the Occasion of the Laity Month Celebration

Today is laity month and today we look into the calling of the youth – UMYF and the UMYAF to be united and responsive to God’s call. The UMYF and UMYAF are teaching grounds that molds us to be Christ like, as the young adults say... to follow in His steps. And one of the examples that we follow about Jesus is the love that he showed to God and to the world as the messiah we have been waiting for. The Gospel Reading in Matthew 22:35-46 is an appropriate text for us this morning because Matthew has been known as the Gospel of Discipleship. Matthew is full of stories that teach Jesus as the messianic king who will usher in the kingdom of heaven. This Jesus who is the Christ, another word for messiah, calls us to become disciples of the kingdom. To take part in the ushering of the kingdom here on earth. And our calling as disciples, as Jesus has emphasized, is to love God with everything we have. It’s all about love. We respond to that call by loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.

You are all good Christians, you know the law, and you even know the greatest commandment. I bet this has been your memory verse since you were a kid. “To love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” You know that it means we should love God above all else and we can only show our love to god through our neighbors. And you know that our neighbors include the people that we don’t like. Those are the people we should love if we need to show our love to God. it’s all about love.

But what may surprise you is the fact that when Jesus teaches this to the Pharisees, as the greatest commandment is that it silences them. When he asks them about the nature of the messiah, the Pharisees gets confused that they leave. Maybe the Pharisees don’t love the lord that much. Maybe it was too much for them to see the messiah as God. so they get embarrassed and leave. But we love that part of the story. Jesus outsmarts the Jewish leaders and embarrasses them for their lack of faith.

He was able to answer their tricky question with his own trick question too. I liked the story because Jesus outsmarted the enemy. The enemy who wanted to challenge Jesus if not outright embarrasses him in front of many people. “Da, naisahan sila ni Hesus. Akala nila wala silang katapat. Nasampolan sila ni Hesus kaya hindi na sila bumalik pa para magtanong ulit.” This is the kind of story that we want. Jesus smartly answering their question what is the greatest law, especially for the Jews who are law conscious and very legalistic. I can almost hear Jesus saying, "Don’t you get it? It's all about love." But Jesus outsmarting the Jews is not the point of the story. Again, it is about love. It is not about the law but the essence of the law – and that is to love God above all things and with all things. And to show your love to God you must love your neighbors as yourself. The Pharisees wanted to trick Jesus but Jesus instead makes it a teaching moment for them to remind them that the laws were there to guide them about their calling – to love God and to love their neighbors. Is this too difficult that the Pharisees were silenced? You are all good Christians and you may think this is an easy task. But not really.

We think loving God is easy. Literally, I work in a place that loving God becomes difficult to do. A place where it does not always love God as we often imagine. I work in the hospital where parents bring in a sick child dying of dengue and curse God for making a good and innocent child die. They get so overwhelmed by the death of their child that they can only hate God. I am a family doctor and part of my job is provide counseling for families who are in crisis. Sometimes when I talk to a wife who lost her husband to liver cancer, they tell me they no longer go to church because they hate God. And these people are good Christians, who forgot their calling to love God because of the pain that they experienced. Sometimes the things that make us forget to love God are not the laws and traditions but the other stuff that we put above God.

Part of my advocacy is to introduce the Kingdom of Heaven in the workplace. Our Christianity should not only be during Sundays but everyday of the week. And so to remind my co-workers of their faith, we always open our day with a collective prayer and we have a weekly bible study on Tuesdays. But most often than not, our Bible studies get postponed. We cannot seem to give thirty minutes of our time to devote to God. Something more important comes to up on Tuesday lunch that we have to postpone the Bible study. There is that emergency meeting about the project due next week. There is a visitor coming in who will introduce innovations for the improvement of our services. Of course we are in the hospital, and there is a patient who needs to consult you for his follow-up check up. More important things comes up we have to set aside our time for God. I always ask them, what is more important than God? Are we showing love for God with these kind of actions? Where is the love when it’s all about love?

Love God with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your soul. If there is one thing I learned from the UMYF, it is that we must put “Christ above all.” But do we do what our youth and young adults lay organization tries to teach? We cannot even spare some time to show how important God is in our lives. There is a choir practice on Saturdays, but I have to go overtime to finish my work. There is a fellowship on Wednesday, but I have to do my homework and project for school. Of course these are important stuffs. More important than giving time to God. Yet we claim, as good Christians do, that we love God with all our heart, with all your mind and with all our soul!?

We show our love to God again when we make important decisions in our lives. Do we include God when we decide to enter in a relationship with our dream boy or dream girl? Or maybe our love for God gets clouded again by the fact that he or she is the best man or woman according to my standards. Do we ask God about his plans when we apply for a job abroad? Or when we change our career paths? Do we consult God when we finally decide to settle down? Or the hope of a better future leaves God in the sidelines? Do we bother to ask God when we elect leaders amongst us or decide the course of where our community is going? I hope so. Because that is how we show that we love God with all that we have. Or maybe we get lost again with the good intentions that we have for the common good.

You see, my dear brothers and sisters, we are nothing different from the Pharisees. We try to obey the law with our good intentions but we forget that what is more important is to show our love for God. Or maybe, we do not love God that much at all! We forgot that that is what we are called to do in the first place!

It’s all about love – loving God with all our hearts, with all our soul and all our minds.

Jesus continued by telling us that the second commandment is similar to the first. To love our neighbors as ourselves. The Greek word used to describe the kind of love we have for God is agapao or agape. The same word was used to describe the kind of love we should have for our neighbors. The agape love we have for God is the same kind love that our messiah requires us to show to our neighbors.

Loving our neighbor is easy when our neighbor is lovable. But what if our neighbor is obnoxious? That is the neighbor who throws his trash in front of your gate. The same neighbor who annoys you because he parks his car in front of your house. But what about your officemate? The one who tells chismis about you, which is not chismis because it is in fact true. Or how about your seatmate in church. Yes, even that little child who keeps making unnecessary noise and crawls under the pew that disturbs your concentration in church. Can you love those kind of neighbors? How about the neighbor who used to be a church mate but has now caused division in the church?

The kind of love is not the mushy fuzzy love that we know. The lets all get along together kind of love. It is not an emotional love, erotic love or the filial kind of love. Agape love is the highest kind of love with the best intention for the well being of the other. The same verb was used to describe the love we are required to give God and the love we should give to our neighbors because it is an expression of the same love.

You see, it is next to impossible to love a hateful person. We can only do that if we love God first. It is difficult to love God in concrete ways that is why he gave us neighbors to show our love to god. and the call to love god and our neighbor is a call to action. Remember that love here is used as a verb. It is an action word. Love then requires us to act and not only to feel. We must show our love to God and neighbors in concrete acts. How do we love that annoying neighbor who throws trash? How do show our love to our officemate? How do we show our love to the pesky little child beside us? How do we show our love to our former church mates who have caused division in our church? Christ our king calls us to love them to show our love for God because God’s message is ~ all about love.

But I know how difficult it is to love our neighbor especially if that neighbor has hurt us physically, emotionally and spiritually. How can I concretely and truthfully love that neighbor without holding any grudge within me. Or maybe… just maybe… I don’t love God enough?! Maybe I don’t really love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind. That is why it is difficult to love my neighbor.

Sometimes we forget it’s all about love. We forget that our calling is to love God and to love our neighbors despite the fact that God has repeatedly reminded us that this is the essence of all the laws and traditions that we observe.

The Bible is all about love – loving God and loving your neighbors. It is almost redundant. God has used the prophets to bring this message across. Israel cannot get it. They thought it was all about the law. God even have to send his only on Jesus to emphasize the obvious – that it’s all about loving God and your fellow. And we hear it in several stories of Jesus like our story this morning. Jesus has to tell this lawyers and scholars over and over again. The important thing is to love God and your neighbor. You know that! I know you know that! You are great Christian Methodists. You were even Christians by birth, if there is such a thing. As a kid you were taught that the first commandment is to love God and God alone. You shall have no other God. and to show that love is to love other people. You know that already. But why does Jesus has to tell us again and again that what we are called to love god through our act of love to our neighbors. Maybe because we got lost in all the complexities of our lives just like the Pharisees. And in our confusion we have failed to respond to what God is calling us. This laity month is a reminder for us of what we are called to do and the response that we have to make.

The good news by dear brothers and sisters, is that despite our shortcomings, despite forgetting to love God with all our hearts, with all our soul and with all our mind, despite the fact that we struggle to love our neighbor, Christ the king does not tire to call us to respond to his call for discipleship. Jesus is still calling us… love the Lord your God with everything you have, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Separation of Church and State

2011-10-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Gospel Text on Matthew this Sunday in Chapter 25 talks about how Jesus was challenged about the giving of taxes to Caesar or to the temple. This text has often been cited to be the Scriptural basis for the separation of church and state. Such usage is a classic example of a bad exegesis. Since the topic on separation of Church and State has been opened with this text, I choose to discuss this issue to bring home the point of the misunderstanding of the concept of separation of church and state. Again, my foundation for such argument is the same reason why I struggle to integrate theology and medicine.

The dichotomy of things into church and state is based on the premise that church matters should be left to spiritual concerns and that matters of politics or social concern be the realm of the government. With such perspective there should be separation of church and state.

I have always argued that the Church does not exist in a vacuum that it can be indifferent to the reality of the time, place and events that happens around it. The Church cannot pretend that what is happening around it does not and do not affect it. Because the different processes affect and concern the Church, it is just proper for the church to be involved in social concerns.

The misunderstanding to the separation of church and state should be placed in proper perspective. Here in the Philippines, the narrow understanding of Filipinos, especially the ignorant lawmakers, is that the separation of Church and State is the ticket to disregard the voice of the Church. This is especially helpful with the ethical issues of the RH bill among others.

A better and clearer understanding of separation of church and state will help lawmakers, the church and the church people appreciate the significance and importance of one to the other. If the society and the church can only see that they are partners in weaving a good society, then the separation will have a better meaning.

Cancelled

2011-10-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

When I looked at the schedule for the day. I realized that it will be next to impossible to squeeze in even a 30 minutes Bible Study to the hectic schedule of the day. Sometimes a disease is no longer curable. A battle is going to be lost. One has to be brave to call it and name it.

It's Friday. Next week will have to be a new topic. Bible Study for the week is CANCELLED!

The life of the church is often times like that. Worship service attendance dwindles. Summertime comes and you wonder where people went. One or two shows up the next Sunday. The next thing you know, it's just the pastor and his wife present. I remember one brave pastor who announced and posted in the local daily that his church is dead and everybody is invited to pay their last respect the next Sunday. He then placed a large mirror inside the coffin in front of the altar. As curious members, ex-members, and uzis came to view who was inside the coffin, they saw themselves.

Only after the pastor bravely named the death of the church did the people realize their shortcomings. Sometimes, the difficult has to be named so we can start anew and see a future with Hope.

Postponed

2011-10-11T22:56:00.000-07:00

Short of frustrating is the fact that human spirituality always takes a backseat in the priority of activities. In the workplace, it is understandable that work comes first over any personal activity. Work ethics tells us that we should do what we are supposed to do during office hours. Sometimes, when our office hours are not enough to finish our work, we eat our personal hours for office work. This is an example of how we put other matters, work - in this case, over our spirituality. (Yes, spirituality in this case is Christian living.) And so we postpone.

Christians know that we need a regular dose of God's Word to keep us afloat in this chaotic world. More than that, Christians understand that putting God above anything else, yes, even above work, is expected from us. And because we try to thrive in THIS world, we fine ways to adjust. A regular Bible study done once a week, thirty minutes of the 24 hours and just a third of the total lunch break time has been the compromise we have settled to feed our Spiritual needs to keep us going for the rest of the week. But even such small a time gets sacrificed for other "important" things. And so we postpone.

Someone told me that things that are 'somewhat' important but can wait should be postponed in favor of more important matters. I hate to think that a Bible Study getting postponed belongs to such "'somewhat' important matter but can wait" group. But it seems that most Christians see Bible Study that way. I am dismayed, yes. But what is more disheartening is when other eager people to know more about Christ are deprived the opportunity to study the Bible. Of course, we can still proceed with the activity even with just two persons but it deprives the opportunity for the rest who are available only tomorrow to receive God's word. And so we postpone.

Typhoon Pedring

2011-09-27T00:06:00.000-07:00

The purpose of suspending classes and office work during a storm is to protect the students and workers from the risk of accidents or any untoward incidents caused by forces of nature. This purpose is defeated when the student or worker still has to go to and from the school and the office and be subjected to the dangers of the storm before they are told that school/work is suspended.

The suspension of classes and work is useless when the students and the workers are subjected to the dangers of the storm when what we want is to prevent these accidents from happening. Imagine a worker having to wake up early at dawn to prepare to go to work. Despite the heavy winds and the rain, she bravely goes out of her house to commute to work. Since the streets are already flooded there are no more jeepneys. She has no choice but to wade in the flood in her high heels into the main highway and take the taxi and spend more than her budget for her fare for the day. The taxi she rides almost met an accident because of the slippery roads. She gets in the office on time but only the guard is there. She learns that work will probably be suspended. Of course, work is suspended. She has to go back home now and probably has to walk in a heavier rain pour, waist deep flood water, and spend extra from her hard earned money. She meets another danger when the strong winds brings with her flying roofs and falling tree branches. Thankfully, she gets home safely all soaked in wet. Or so she thinks. For all her effort that day, it will mean nothing and will not be compensated. The next day, all is back to normal. But she is having fever, cough and too weak to go to work. She had to absent from work and because of that will take a cut from her salary. All because she was not advised early that there is no work!

This short work is a product of angst and disappointment of Nezer A. Soriano

Doctor-Doctor Ethics

2011-09-16T21:50:00.000-07:00

This essay is a Call for the Practice of Ethics by Nezer A. Soriano

Ethics has been one of the common venue of discussion between medicine and theology. This is especially true in matters of medical ethics where the doctor and the patient relationship is at stake. But for today, let me focus in one aspect that is often relegated to the sides by most doctors. Relegated? You might ask. YES! Because most doctors throw out their ethics when it comes to doctor-doctor relationships.

Human pride is one of the pitfalls of human nature. But this is not an excuse to disrespect others. That is why a physician is virtuous enough to know what to do and how to foster good relationship with ones colleagues. Yet, young doctors and even their mentors get drunk of their title as doctors that they forget their ethics.

In the Ospital ng Maynila, the doctor-doctor relationship is amiss. I pray that this is the only place that ethics is an issue. But the reality is, even in PGH, Western Visayas MC and SPMC, ethics of doctors towards fellow doctors are problematic. Maybe these hospitals being government run is a factor to the problem. But that issue warrants another article.

At one time, a patient came in with a referral letter from a family physician for the pediatric patient to be admitted because of Dengue. The pediatrician refused the patient to be admitted because she did not see any indication for the patient to be admitted. The pediatrician may be right and she has all the right reasons for refusing the request for admission. What went out of bounds was her remark against the referring doctor. She commented that the referring doctor is ONLY a family physician and his decisions should not be accepted. Here, the pediatrician is obviously insinuating that the other doctor is inferior to her. More than that, she shows disrespect by maligning the knowledge and the decision of her colleague. Hers is one example of utter DISRESPECT that have plagued the medical practice in hospitals. We, as doctors, have forgotten the basic principle in our code of conduct - that we should work together in harmony and mutual respect.

Another example of disharmony in the workplace of doctors is the referral system in government hospitals. I will emphasize the government hospitals, because these things rarely happen in the private setting. A surgeon refers his diabetic patient to the internist for control of the blood sugar and clearance for surgical procedure. The internist delays seeing the patient, as a retaliatory act to what he claims the surgeon is doing whenever he refers also for surgical clearance of his patients suspected of having surgical abdomen. The patient is the one suffering from such behavior of doctors. The patient, of course, complains his surgeon to the hospital authorities for not being able to refer and resolve his case quickly.

The most common problem perhaps, leading to the numerous malpractice suits, is the side comments doctors make to their colleagues. An example is the Internist who saw a Pulmonary TB patient who sought second opinion after being seen by a private doctor. The Internist comments to the patient, "do not seek consult to this doctor again. Did you know that it took him several years to finish medicine because he flunked his subjects. Look, he did not even recognize that you have tuberculosis. And why did he give you pulmonary medicines that can compromise your liver. That doctor will just make you more sick." Such comments are unwarranted, but in reality, such comments exist. What virtuous doctor in their right mind, would comment such derogatory remark about their colleague?

In the quest to advance the practice of medicine, doctors have forgotten about their virtues and ethics. Ethics has been neglected for a long time. It is now the time to check the virtues of our doctors. A virtuous doctor can never and will never intentionally hurt his/her fellow human being, regardless if he/she is a patient or a colleague. We can never go wrong with a virtuous doctor. I encourage you to push and demand for our doctors to check their ethics, and be virtuous!

Faith and Beauty

2011-09-13T07:23:00.002-07:00

Let's talk something different.

Beauty pageants are usually associated with worldly affairs that focuses on the temporal and physical which is the least concern in religious matters. But let us give an exception to this case because it is related to faith issues.

The question and answer portion in the Miss Universe contest asked Ms. Philippines a faith-related question. The judged asked her, "Would you change your religious belief to marry the person that you love?" Without blinking an eye, she answered with conviction that “I would not marry the person I love because the first person I love is my God and the person loves me, he should also love my God."

Without any bias, the answer showed how deeply rooted and firm is the faith of the contestant. I am tempted to say that Filipinos are like that. But maybe we can generalize further and say that Christians should answer similarly. Without even the need of thinking, our love for our God should be above anything else.

I have heard the argument that God does not mind if you belong to this religion or to that. God's love is still the same. Well, if we are talking about the Christian God then I could agree. If we are talking about a Roman Catholic woman falling in love to a Baptist, then religion is not an issue. Remember both belong to the Christian faith although from different denomination. But if we are talking about a Christian woman falling for a Buddhist, its a different story. But then again, ones religious belief forms and informs that person to the kind of God one worships.

And so, why did the answer of Ms Philippines did not help her win the crown? Yes, I would have loved that Ms. Philippines won but there is a more pressing issue for me here. If for the millions of people who thought her answer (putting God above all else including romantic love) was a bad response to the question then it could only mean that millions of people still do not and cannot accept to put God first in their lives. The world is not yet ready for a principled Christian Miss Universe.

If the answer of Ms. Philippines the reason she won "only" 3rd place, it means we - Christians, has a lot more work to do sharing the Gospel and teaching to love God above all!!!

9/11

2011-09-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

As the world remembers 9/11, the most commonly asked question is, "where were you when you learned about it?"

I remember I was in medical school then. I can still vividly remember that I was in Chowking in Atrium. I was with my friends and we were studying. It was past midnight when my red Nokia cellphone (oh yes, i can still remember the model) beeped. It read something like... "plane hits Twin Towers." I could not remember now who texted me that night. But when I arrived home hours later, I immediately opened my TV and I saw the horror of it all. My heart felt wounded from such nightmare. I remember the next day in class that we spent one whole class just talking about the tragedy that happened. It became closer to us since the sibling of our professor was one of the victims of that tragedy. It became more real as more people shared how their relatives have been victims or were connected to the event and my wounded heart felt more pain.

Over the years, the same thing always come to mind whenever 9/11 comes. The victims... the families of the victims... Those who suffered... The wound is refreshed...

Two years ago, I met someone who was acquainted with one of the suspects. Suspects? Yes, after 9/11 almost any Muslim especially Pakistani are 'suspected' of being terrorists who took part in 9/11. (At least, he said that's how he felt). His brother was one of those suspects brought to US prisons abroad. He asked me, does the world ever think of these suspects? The torture? The families of the suspects? Their anguish?

Oh yes, they are suspects... They deserve to suffer... Do they? Are we not Christians? What makes a Christian? And what should Christians do? Then I remember the Amish Schoolhouse Shootings in Oct 2006 and how the Amish responded...

Now, when 9/11 comes. I do not only remember the victims... I also remember the suspects... Both their families... Those who suffered... Now, healing can happen...

The End of Life

2011-08-31T08:36:00.001-07:00

As I end my rotation in hospice and palliative medicine, I struggle to construct a reflection of my experience. I am not even sure of the reasons. I was too engrossed or too detached? Too close or too far? So I will just have to counsel myself...

So what came to my mind when I realized that this was my last day? I thought, I was leaving PGH and going back to my mother hospital.

So what did I feel when I thought of this? I felt relieved because I will no longer be subjected to very stressful situations but at the same time I felt sad because I am going to leave a good place of learning and this will also end a wonderful experience.

Let us probe on the wonderful experience, what were these experiences? I enjoyed the home visits especially going to Madre de Amor in Laguna. I was so thrilled to find out that a community-based organization is doing hospice care to home bound patients. And these are volunteers both from the medical and non-medical field. If only there could be more such foundations around the country. Another experience I enjoyed so much was teaching the students and sharing with other doctors the importance and significance of the psychosocial-spiritual dimension of care. I enjoyed sharing my thoughts and insights about the spiritual aspect and how it greatly helps in health care. The other activities were also fun and exciting. I also have to point out the wonderful experience I had with the people I worked with, especially with my fellow residents and the fellows. I hope this is the start of a long-lasting friendship.

What else? I still have a lot in mind. But this will suffice for now. Maybe next time I could articulate them better.

A Short Analysis of the Current UMC Situation in the Philippines

2011-08-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

The current situation of the UMC in the Philippines has made people, both clergy and lay, give differing opinions. My task is to stepback, reflect their thoughts and hopefully clarify what is going on.

A lot of minds are in the opinion that the current situation stems from one big issue that brought forth several sub-issues. Another group is in the opinion that there are several different unrelated issues. But I say that there are indeed several issues but each issue affects the other. What does this imply?

This means, for the first group, it is just one great issue that when that great issue is resolved, the rest of the sub-issues are also solved. This also means, for the second group, that when one issue is resolved, only that issue is resolved but the other issues are not affected in any way. Both are wrong. Because, the current situation are a product of several inter-related issues, one issue that is resolved affects the others as well (either in good or bad ways.)

Now let me deal with the first issue. That is of the legal team of LT led by AFR and all those against it. (Let us just say there are two groups, for easy distinction.) The first group wants LT to face and possibly be tried for the alleged immorality he committed. He was put in suspension so a supposed unbiased investigation can be done. But of course we know what happened. He did not accede to the suspension for legal reasons. The legal team contended the suspension with several reasons among them are that due process was not done, lack of authority by the CollOB, among others. The first group wanted LT to be tried for ethical reasons. They wanted the bishop's questionable morality and dignity be clarified. For them, a spiritual leader that deals with spiritual matters should put first and foremost in his priority morality, ethics, religion and spirituality. They wanted to see LT practice the Christian virtues. The second group (legal), on the other hand, wanted justice to prevail. Justice in this sense means observation of the rules of order, proper procedure, and execution of the law to the letter. If these were not observed, then there is no case of immorality to be resolved and no suspensions should be done ab initio. (Just think about the case of the Alabang Boys or if you are old enough, you may still remember the OJ Simpson case.) In essence, it is dignity vs. technicality.

If the two differing groups look at the same issue in two different lenses, how can they reconcile the issue when they cannot even meet on the same ground? Ultimately, they will just end up talking without even communicating. And the issue will remain unresolved.

What about the other issues? Because there are consequences to each and everyones action, the actions of LT led to several other issues. One is the argument that the Council of Bishops are meddling with the Philippine internal affairs. (Just a note: please stop referring to the Council of Bishops as US meddling because the members there are not all from the US, we are doing the non-American members injustice.) Because of this argument, in a meeting in Nueva Ecija, a group declared independence from the "US-controlled UMC" (sic). Now the problem here is funny. The people present during the declaration apparently did not understand each other. A certain JFZ proudly reported that the declaration of independence is the birth of the Philippine Methodist Church. The SEC registration for this is allegedly on process. Even LT acknowledged that this Nueva Ecija group is not UMC. (Instead of PMC, the name reserved in SEC was IMP.) However, other people present during that declaration of independence has different views. For them, their participation was simply a statement of DESIRE to be independent. Not necessarily a secession or establishment of another church. This includes LT, despite being present their and acknowledging that another church was established there, claims that he is still UMC. The participants in the Nueva Ecija Declaration are confused if their actions established a new church or not. Regardless, the UMC respects their right if they want to leave or they want to stay. They only need to confirm and affirm to which is their loyalty.

I did not realize that this short analysis could be this long already... Of course there are other issues. Most importantly the WestMidPAC issue. That may warrant another article.... tbc...

Conquering Death

2011-08-17T04:02:00.000-07:00

My patient died yesterday. He was already under the hospice and palliative care because his cancer was stage 4 in its terminal phase. However, his family was not ready to give up. They trusted God will do a miracle. The patient was having a hard time to accept his illness. His kids are too young to lose a father. He was hopeful he could still go back to work to be able to provide a good future for his family. He was praying that God would hear him. Death was their enemy and they were fighting it with everything they have.

Palliative medicine teaches me that whenever cure is almost an impossibility, care should always be the goal. A respectable and peaceful death is a great help to the family and to the patient.

However, Christian perspective teaches us that death is an enemy we have conquered and we will conquer. Is palliative medicine looking death as an enemy? What does it mean when it treats death as a natural process of life? That death should not be a violent death or a painful death? Would palliative medicines' perspective then be compatible with Christian teaching? Or are we looking at death with two different meanings?

I will have to visit my patient's family over the weekend at the wake. I may have to do bereavement care in the coming weeks. Then, I will know if they faced death and if they think our patient was able to conquer death...

Hospice

2011-08-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am excited in my rotation in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. I pray that some of my questions about the relationship of theology and medicine will somehow be answered one way or another.

My most anticipated part is my exposure to the actual use of Spirituality in patient care. Although I have already used the Spiritual history in some of my patients, I have never been exposed to using it in such great number of patients. Plus, most of my patients will be terminally ill and so I expect them to have more or less some spiritual problems.

I expect that whenever my patients will share to me their spirituality, I will have an opportunity to offer them Christ as their Lord and Savior. Of course, that means I have to be very shifty as a doctor and as a pastor. I pray that my month-long stay will be a blessing to the many people

Autonomiya o Pagka-Pilipino?

2011-07-25T23:37:00.000-07:00

Ang sigaw ng autonomiya sa iglesya metodista sa Pilipinas ay matagal na nating naririnig. Paminsan-minsan, kada apat na taon ay mas lumalakas ang ungol nito. Totoo nga na ito ang bukambibig ng mga layko at Pastor lalo na ang mga gustong maging Obispo kada apat na taon. Ngunit, bakit natin hinihingi ang autonomiya?

Bakit nga natin hinihingi ang autonomiya?

Isa sa mga dahilan ng hiling ng autonomiya ng Metodista sa Pilipinas ay ang struktura ng ating iglesya kung saan naka-concentrate lamang sa Amerika ang kapangyarihan at ang mga proyekto ng pandaigdigang iglesya sa Metodista. Tama nga naman, dapat may representasyon din ang mga Pilipino sa usaping pandaigdigan ng Iglesya Metodista. Bakit, wala ba?

Ang isa pang dahilan ng paghingi ng autonomiya ay ang hindi angkop na mga batas at alituntunin ng Book of Discipline at programa ng General Boards sa konteksto ng Pilipinas. Dapat na tayong magsarili at gumawa ng sarili nating patakaran, alituntunin at mga programa na naaayon sa ating kultura at pangangailangan.

Ang Struktura ng Pinag-isang Iglesya Metodista (UMC) ay base sa ating Theology o pananampalataya at hindi lamang isang political structure.

Ang isiping ang Pinag-isang Iglesya Metodista (UMC) ay isang iglesya ng Amerika at ng mga Amerikano ay pananaw lamang ng isang hindi lubusang nakakaunawa ng istruktura ng ating simbahan. Dahil sa Amerika lumago at doon nabuo ang karamihan ng mga ahensiya ng Iglesya Metodista, kaya doon nakabase ang karamihan ng mga programa at gawain. Isipin mo na lang at ihalintulad sa Iglesya ni Cristo (ni Felix Manalo) na itinatag at lumago sa Pilipinas. Bagama't may mga kapilya ito sa Amerika, ang naging sentro ng kanilang gawaing simbahan ay sa Pilipinas pa rin dahil andito ang karamihan ng kanilang ahensya.

Ang struktura ng Pinag-isang Iglesya Metodista (UMC) na mula pa sa orihinal na konsepto ng mga Wesley ay nabuo dahil sa ating pananampalataya. Ang UMC ay hindi nahahati sa bansa kung saan ito napapaloob sa simpleng kadahilanan na ang ating pagiging Kristiyano ay hindi limitado sa ating pagiging Pilipino, maging sa kasarian, edad o ethnicity. Sabi nga sa Philippians 3:20, "Sapagka't ang ating pagkamamamayan ay sa langit..." (Our citizenship is in heaven). Marami pang theological implikasyon ang ating struktura, tulad halimbawa kung bakit ang mga Obispo, bagama't lider, ay hindi naman sila 'angat' sa ibang mga elder na Pastor. Ang ating pananampalataya rin ang dahilan kung bakit lahat ng obispo ay pantay-pantay at walang iisa lamang na pinuno tulad ng Santo Papa sa Romana Katolika.

Bagama't ang ating istruktura ayu naaayon sa ating mga paniniwala, nagkakaproblema tayo sa pag-angkop nito sa ating lokal na setting. Halimbawa na lamang ang Book of Discipline na karamihan ay hindi angkop sa Pilipinas. Bagama't ito ay totoo, hindi hadlang ang Book of Discipline na gumawa tayo dito sa Pilipinas ng mga bagay na naaayon sa ating kultura, klima at iba pang pangangailangan. Pinapayagan ito ng Book of Discipline ayon sa panuntunan tungkol sa mga Central Conference. Isang magandang halimbawa nitoy ay ang masigla at matagumpay na Kapatiran ng Nagkakaisang Kabataang Metodista sa Pilipinas (UMYFP). Ang istruktura at mga gawain ng UMYFP ay iba sa nakasaad sa Book of Discipline o UMYF sa America. Ang tagumpay ng UMYFP ay patunay na puede nating iangkop ang gawain ng Iglesya ayon sa ating pangangailangan.

Kung gayon, kailangan pa ba ng autonomiya?

Ang mas malayang paggalaw ng mga central conference sa mga gawaing simbahan at iba pang mga bagay na direktang nakakaapekto sa kanila ang isang malaking dahilan ng paghingi ng autonomiya. Ang tawag ng affiliated-autonomy ay isang paraan para makamit ito. Liban sa mas malayang paggalaw, may mga ibang bagay pa na kailangang mabago sa kabuoang istruktura ng UMC. Kabilang dito ang hinihingi na pagtugon sa lumalaking bilang ng mga kumperensya, ahensya at mga programa. Kung may mas magandang solusyon na sasagot sa lahat ng kailangang pagbabago, kabilang na ang autonomiya, ngunit nananatiling tapat sa ating theology at paniniwala, mas mainam siguro ito kaysa affiliated autonomy. Kung ano ito... Abangan...

An open Letter to the people of The United Methodist Church of the Manila Area, Philippines

2011-07-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2011

Dear friends in Christ:

The Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church has followed with heavy hearts the struggle within the Manila Area over the last year. We have been in constant prayer for all of you and have sought throughout this time to find a just resolution to the divisions that have occurred.

Bishops in the United Methodist Church, upon election, agree to uphold and abide by The Book of Discipline of the church in all matters. Your former bishop, Lito Tangonan, has continually violated the principles and expectations of a person who is elected to this office. While repeatedly claiming that actions taken by the Philippine College of Bishops were illegal, even though The Book of Discipline and Judicial Council decisions confirmed their actions, he continued to attempt to function as a bishop in clear violation of his suspension. Efforts on the part of the whole Council of Bishops to mediate and achieve a resolution were met with resistance and noncooperation on the part of Lito Tangonan.

The actions of your former bishop, Lito Tangonan, related to the formation of the Methodist Church of the Philippines have now led to a withdrawal of membership in and service in The United Methodist Church. We know that he was present at the May 7, 2011, gathering at Carmen United Methodist Church, in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija, that established this independent church. We also know and have evidence that he has presided at a session of the Methodist Church of the Philippines, and has appointed pastors to these dissident churches. Therefore, his involvement with this schismatic church, in accordance with Judicial Council Decision 696, means that he can no longer be treated as a bishop of The United Methodist Church. His participation and leadership in this break-away church is tantamount to withdrawing without notice. In essence, he has forfeited his membership and position as a bishop.

In response to this unfortunate sequence of events, the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops, acting on behalf of the Council of Bishops has declared that the position of Bishop of the Manila Area of The United Methodist Church has been vacated by Lito Tangonan’s actions. In accordance with Paragraph 407 of The Book of Discipline, Bishop Daniel Arichea has now been assigned to serve as interim bishop of the Manila Area until the election of a new bishop is held at the regular session of the Philippine Central Conference in 2012.

All of this reflects the disciplinary reasons for the current situation in your Area. The bishops of the United Methodist Church encourage you to be faithful disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. With you, we seek the unity of Christ’s Church. Such unity is often difficult to affirm in the midst of human differences. However, your spiritual history gives evident testimony of your zeal for bringing others to Christ, and we are assured that this will continue to be the mark of your own discipleship. Whatever disagreements may exist among those in the church, let us together struggle to fulfill the words of St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, “for he (Christ Jesus) is our peace, in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us.”

John Wesley, in his Sermon on the catholic spirit, called for unity among the people called Methodist by quoting King David’s words in II Kings 10:15, “If your heart is as my heart, then take my hand.” These words are a summons to all of us in the United Methodist Church to let our hearts and hands be together, even when our minds may be divided over issues in the life of the church.

We trust that the United Methodist people in the Manila Area, in the care of the bishop appointed over you, may find the way forward that will strengthen the mission of Christ and the witness of the United Methodist Church.

Copies e-mailed to:

Philippine College of Bishops
Judicial Council
Council of Bishops

A Heart Breaker

2011-07-13T09:40:00.000-07:00

My wife asked me if I am affected by the current crisis in the United Methodist Church in the Philippines. I said, " I am affected because I am saddened with how it affects and destroys the church and the innocent people." No Christian in his/her right mind would enjoy the crisis in the church that has been dragging on for months now.

One only needs to look and read in the Facebook page of Pinoy Metodista to see the picture of a broken church. People throwing mud at each other. Reminds me of the woman and the crowd who wants to stone her to death. When the crowd was challenged that whosoever who has no sin cast the first stone, no one dared. I thought, if that challenged was uttered today, the poor woman may have died in just a few seconds. (Considering there are too many self-righteous Methodist Christians today)

The never ending Open Letters from different parties has now become an exciting drama that thrills the spectators of the next scene. We now await for another Open Letter response. I can only pray that there will be a good ending for this sad story.

Why Celebrate a Birthday?

2011-07-03T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today is my wife's birthday. We celebrated it by spending the whole day in a place that rejuvenates the body. A place where there is plenty of life giving water. We went to a place where we can celebrate life. I thank God for the gift of life that she gave to my wife. She has been a blessing not only to me but also to her family, her friends and to countless other people. If only for that, there is more than enough reasons why her birthday should be a big celebration.

I have always wondered why some people do not celebrate their birthdays. I often asked them if they ever understand the meaning of celebration... if they ever appreciate their life... if they were grateful to God for the gifts they received. I guess too many people take for granted the precious gift that God gave them. If only for that reason, then that is enough to celebrate birthdays.

Life is a precious gift. God gave his only begotten Son, to die on the cross, that each one of us may have life. Life itself is a reason for celebration. You may say, that is spiritual life. The birth of a person may seem to be a biological life different from the spiritual life. (Again, the dichotomy.) The life at birth and the life offered in the cross was given as a gift from God at the moment of inception. We may choose to throw away this gift but it will remain precious to God.

If only we can learn to see from God's perspective how precious our lives are, then everyday, we have a reason to celebrate... to celebrate Birthdays.

Outside the Door

2011-06-30T21:59:00.000-07:00

Everyday, whenever I go inside the hospital, I pass by and see people outside the hospital. These people are "residents" already here in the hospital. They live in the lobby and sleep in the sidewalk. I wonder, if their constant presence in the hospital also means they are provided good health. I wonder also if living close to the hospital also means they benefit anything. Do they still need to fall in line whenever they need to consult? Do the other residents of the hospital, the doctors, know them and have good relations with them? I wonder if we can offer something to them? What ministry can we share with them?

Trinity Sunday and Father's Day

2011-06-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

Today is Trinity Sunday and Father's Day.

As I was preparing our weekly Bible Study with the Medical Professionals in the hospital, I was reflecting on the Gospel text in Matthew, "...baptizing them unto the Father, Son and Holy Spirit..."

The debate on the gender sensitivity of the name Father in the Trinity has been going on for years, which even grew louder with the rise of feminist theology. I will not dwell on that. For the simple reason that Jesus was called Jesus and Jesus called God his Father and the Holy Spirit was called such will I refer to the Trinity as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. What I wanted to emphasize for my colleagues in our Bible study is the relationship of the Three persons in the Trinity. Moreso between the Father and the Son.

In our present tines, many people are members of broken family. The importance of the family in our daily affairs cannot be overemphasized. I have realized this since I became a Family Medicine doctor. Broken relationships have caused trouble and pathologic results for children and the whole family. And the father-child relationship is one of the culprit. In one study, it found out that fathers spend as little as less than 5 minutes with their children a day. Maybe because Father's are so busy with work and even when they get home, they are still pre-occupied with other stuff. Much more alarming is that the study showed that father and child spend only a couple of seconds talking to each other. I would have doubted this. But I remember what happened to me the other month.

It takes me several hours to go to work. So I leave the house when everybody is still asleep, including my kids. That day, I was on duty in the hospital so I did not come home. The next day, I had a meeting so I came home late. I arrived at home when the kids are ready to sleep. When I entered the room, they greeted me with excitement. But I wanted them to sleep right away because I have some more paper works to do. So I went out of the room and did my work. In those three days, I have probably spent a couple of minutes with my kids and a few little words of "good night!" only. I try not to be that anymore!

But the fact remains that such thing could happen. That relationships between father and child could be sacrificed leading to broken relationships. And so sometimes I wonder if our relationship with our God, the Father isn't the same? We only talk to him for a couple of seconds with some few little words. And then we get busy with a lot of things. What kind of relationship with Him do we expect then? How can we improve our relationship with our Father God? Spend more time with Him? Yes, but how? Hopefully, honoring HIM today would be a start.

A Letter for Pareng Jose

2011-06-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

Pareng Jose,

Ngayon ang iyong kaarawan. Dumaan ako sa iyong libingan sa Rizal Park kaninang umaga upang batiin ka. Ang dami ding tao para bumati sa iyo. Andoon ang mga karaniwang tao. Mga tagahanga mo na kung tawagin ay "Rizalista." Siempre andoon ang mga kilala at ginagalang na mga tao sa lipunan ngayon. Lahat sila ay nagsama-sama para alalahanin ang araw ng kapanganakan mo. May naghandog pa nga ng mga regalo at cake. Siempre may programa din para sa pagdiwang ng 150th birthday mo. Sa kabilang dako ay ang mga kabataan at mag-aaral na minsan mong tinawag na "pag-asa ng ating bayan" ay nagdiwang din sa pamamagitan ng Fun Run.

Ibang iba na ang lipunan ngayon kaysa kinagisnan mo. Wala na ang mga kolonyalista sa ating bayan. Wala na ang mga mapang-abusong mga prayle at opisyal. Ngunit hindi ko masasabi kung ito na nga ba ang pinapangarap mong malayang bayan. Malamang hindi rin.

Kung nabubuhay ka ngayon, lakas loob ka pa ring tatawag ng pagbabago sa lipunan, na hihingi ng kalayaan sa lahat ng uri ng mpagbihag na struktura ng lipunan, at isa ka pa rin sa magbubuwis ng buhay para sa pag-ibig sa bayan. Ngunit kahit wala ka na ngayon, maraming Pilipino ang nag-mana sa iyong malasakit sa bayan. Ang maganda ay marami ang namulat mo at napaalab ang puso sa pagmamahal sa bayan para sa pagbabago ng ating lipunan. Siguro malao-layo pa nga tayo sa pinapangarap mong bayan pareng Jose. Ngunit ang inspirasyon mo at patuloy ang diwa mo, patuloy nating maisusulong ang pagbabago sa isang magandang lipunan.

A Pastoral Statement of Conviction and Concern

2011-06-03T22:10:00.001-07:00

I am reposting this as this has been e-mailed and posted in other social networks.

this is posted for the information of the concerned laity and clergy of the Lord's United Methodist Church connected to this page.

A PASTORAL STATEMENT OF CONVICTION AND CONCERN

To:
The People of The United Methodist Church
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors

A Church that would not let nobody left behind out of a living experience of “love that will not let us go” lavishly manifested by a merciful God who does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9) and in Christ receive eternal life (John 3:16).

From:
Bishop Lito Cabacungan Tangonan, a sinner saved by grace and fellow-servant with Jesus Christ appointed to a covenant ministry with all those who have obtained a faith of equal standing through the righteousness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:1).

God’s shalom and agape, justice and freedom in Jesus Christ!

To the people called Methodists, Father John Wesley bequeathed this sacred charge -

When at the Methodist Conference it was asked, “What may we reasonably believe to be God’s design in raising up the Preachers called Methodists,” the answer was, “To reform the nation, particularly the church, and to spread scriptural holiness over the land” (Minutes of Several Conversations Q.3, in The Works of John Wesley, Vol. 8; Ed. T. Jackson, Baker, 1978, p.299).

The charge serves as a light unto our path as we journey on to perfection, and a master plan for trail blazing the highways and byways of God’s world, our parish!

With God’s grace, I diligently kept the faith and faithfully fulfilled this sacred charge to the best of my God-given abilities.

With many of you and our friends in the ecumenical and inter-faith movement, I shared some ministry-enriching moments in the parliament of the streets in pursuit of social, political and economic reforms and spiritual transformation of our land.

With many of you, today I share some ministry-threatening moments in the chambers of the church as a consequence of our crusade to eradicate corruption that has silently strayed within our gates and has cast dark shadows over what we all believed as unblemished legacy of some of our senior leaders in The United Methodist Church in the Philippines.

My colleagues in the Philippines Central Conference-College of Bishops (PCC-COB) including these senior leaders have endorsed some dubious complaints against me for supervisory response process and following some token efforts by the supervisory team, submitted said complaints to the PCC-COB designated counsel for the church who hurriedly filed charges against me before the Philippines Central Conference-Committee on Investigation (PCC-COI), a committee hurriedly organized in a hurriedly called Philippines Central Conference Coordinating Council (PCC-CoCo) Meeting on December 05, 2009 held at the conference room of The UMC Headquarters, UN Avenue, Ermita, Manila.

On June 16, 2011, the PCC-COI dismissed the first Judicial Complaint and confirmed the same on July 16, 2011 to clarify the Committee’s response denying the Motion for Reconsideration filed by the Counsel for the Church.

On February 3, 2011, the PCC-COI dismissed the second Judicial Complaint: “Disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church”.

Thereafter, my colleagues in the PCC-COB successively endorsed five more similar malicious complaints against me and each time surreptitiously promulgated corresponding illegal Orders of Suspensions. All complaints were not seriously pursued by the PCC-COB but they relentlessly implemented all five illegal Orders of Suspensions of sixty days each, one after another. Moreover, aside from the December 06, 2009 to January 19, 2010 (as enumerated below item No. 1) illegal suspension and the very recently another sixty days illegal Order of Suspension (as enumerated below item No. 9) issued on May 17, 2011 by The UMC Council of Bishops (UMC-COB) Executive Committee, I have now a total of 420 days illegal suspension from the unending illegal Orders of Suspensions illegally done by the PCC-COB. For your perusal, you may critically and analytically read between the lines of the following enumerated factual data:

60 days illegal suspension beginning December 06, 2009 but it was reset to January 20, 2010 to March 23, 2010
Another 60 days illegal suspension: May 25, 2010 to July 23, 2010
Another 60 days illegal suspension: July 24, 2010 to September 21, 2010
Another 60 days illegal suspension: September 22, 2010 to November 20, 2010
Another 60 days illegal suspension: November 21, 2010 to January 19, 2011
Attempted illegal issuance of indefinite suspension by the PCC-COB dated December 14, 2010
Another 60 days illegal suspension: January 20, 2011 to March 20, 2011
Another 60 days illegal suspension: March 20, 2011 to May 18, 2011
Another 60 days illegal suspension effective May 19, 2011

I cannot think of any treatment as cruel as this that can be perpetrated by covenant colleagues against their own brother in the fellowship of the ordained. Some friends call it exclusion perpetua as apparently it was meant to exclude me from the covenant ministry forever. It literally means killing me softly with perpetual illegal suspension.

The PCC-COB did all this in utter desecration of the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church, specifically, violation of the Fair Process system of the Church; and in blatant disrespect and disregard of the Philippines Central Conference-Committee on Episcopacy (PCC-COE) entreaty for the PCC-COB to stop suspending me, which suspensions they reported as promulgated in violation of the Disciplinary requirements (Par. 413.3a, The UMC 2008 Book of Discipline) on COB-COE ‘CONSULTATION’ by the PCC-COB, in the official PCC-COE reports to the PCC-CoCo of August 2010 and February 2011. Given the opportunity to write the PCC-COE Chairperson, Rev. Marie Sol Sioco-Villalon asking her some pertinent inquiries, she told me courageously in her response letter dated April 02, 2011, to wit: “In the absence of a consultation, the COB proceeded with their decision to suspend you on the same date, March 14, 2011. The resolution says that the COB had a consultation with the Committee on Episcopacy. We are sorry to say that that is not true. There was no consultation that took place.”

The appointment of an Interim Bishop in the person of Retired Bishop Daniel C. Arichea, Jr. by the PCC-COB and The UMC-COB is again a gross violation of The UMC 2008 Book of Discipline under Par. 407. The PCC-COE, MEA Cabinet and the Committee on Episcopacy of every annual conference of the Manila Episcopal Area were never properly consulted.

The PCC-COB was able to convince The UMC-COB to lodge a complaint against me on disobedience and as per request again by the PCC-COB, The UMC-COB Executive Committee illegally decided to illegally suspend me for a period of sixty days effective May 19, 2011. They acted also as the one who will be conducting the supervisory hearing. I brought these “...pertinent questions...” to the attention of the President of The UMC-COB (Bishop Larry M. Goodpaster) thru email dated May 20, 2011, to wit: “1) Is it necessary or is that the utmost Christian way or Methodist way to handle the situation that you need to file first a complaint against me before we sit and talk and pray together? 2) Is it proper, fair and disciplinary that the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops of which you are the President is the one who will conduct the supervisory process? 3) Where can we find in The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church about the absolute power, authority and jurisdiction of the Council of Bishops or its Executive Committee over processing a complaint against a fellow bishop including affirmation or approval/issuance of suspension? 4) Is it because that the PCC College of Bishops requested the Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops to illegally suspend me for another 60 days that you illegally suspended me? I would like to tell you again, I am sorry to say that I cannot find any single provision from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church from page one to the last page that you have that absolute power, authority and jurisdiction to do that. 5) Do you think the unstoppable filling of complaints against me and the unending issuance of illegal suspensions are the right solutions to the problems?”

The PCC-COB harassment wouldn’t stop. This day (26 May 2011) I received a letter from the Secretary General of the General Council for Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church (UMC-GCFA) informing me, thus –

“We received notification today from the Philippines Central Conference College of Bishops, dated May 16, 2011, that you have voluntary withdrawn from membership in the United Methodist Church and have united with another denomination…”

I vehemently deny such false information and strongly condemn the PCC-COB for such an irresponsible and immoral act of vilification and backbiting a colleague in the covenant ministry.

As the proper Church agency charged with “the review of the work, character and official administration of the bishops under ¶524.3 of The UMC 2008 Book of Discipline,” I referred the GCFA letter to the PCC-COE for action and have requested its Chairperson, Rev. Marie Sol Sioco-Villalon to please convey to the honorable Secretary General of GCFA, Appadurai Moses Rathan Kumar, my disagreement with his decision, finding the same to be arbitrary, capricious and whimsical.

Further, that I was surprised and dismayed that he made his conclusion without verifying the facts given to him by the PCC-COB, and without giving me the chance to clear the matters first. This is contrary to the tradition and practice of The United Methodist Church which gives premium to due process.

Finally, that I categorically state, for the record, that I am still a member, an ordained clergy, and elected bishop of The United Methodist Church, and that I adhere to its Order and Discipline. My adherence to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church is the very reason why I objected to the acts of the Philippine Central Conference College of Bishops (PCC-COB) and The United Methodist Church Council of Bishops (UMC-COB) which were contrary to the letter and spirit of The 2008 UMC Book of Discipline. In dealing with my case, both the PCC-COB and The UMC- COB violated the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church.

Our brothers and sisters in the Nueva Ecija and Aurora Philippines Annual Conference have experienced this same kind of injustice from the Interim Bishop and the PCC-COB/UMC-COB hence, on their own, collectively decided to be freed and proclaim their indigenous autonomy and independence from The United Methodist Church last May 07, 2011. As they continue to respect me as a spiritual leader whom they elected as Bishop, I accepted their invitation to witness the proclamation event.

My personal conviction is that they remain as Methodist brothers and sisters in need of loving and caring and shepherding which I am duty-bound to do as the Interim Bishop and colleagues in the PCC-COB and UMC-COB refuse to do so.

If by this act, my colleagues in the covenant ministry find me subversive, then. let it be known that Here I Stand - a subversive for Christ as I cannot in conscience be as cold and indifferent and unconcerned with the plight of the least of ours and Christ’s brothers and sisters in The United Methodist Church.

I cannot in conscience allow anybody to be misled by thinking that the Bishops of The United Methodist Church are infallible in their pronouncements and actions for this is the very evil Martin Luther and the reformers thwarted during their time which resulted in the birth of the Protestant movement.

If by this act, my colleagues in the covenant ministry accuse me that I have voluntary withdrawn from membership in the United Methodist Church and have united with another denomination, then let it be known that out of constraint of conscience Here I stand – a subversive for Christ, and a revolutionist with John Wesley, saying –

“If you ask on what principle I acted, it was this: ‘A desire to be a Christian; and a conviction that whatever I judge conducive thereto that I am bound to do; wherever I judge I can best answer this end, thither it is my duty to go... seeing I have now no parish of my own, nor probably ever shall. Whom then shall I hear, God or man? I look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad tidings of salvation. This is the work which I know God has called me to; and sure I am that His blessing attends it.”

Let us be reminded that “God’s divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is short-sighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.” (2 Peter 1:2-11)

In closing, while looking, praying, living and doing towards “A Future with Hope” in order to accomplish our common mission of “Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World” and our beloved church, let us keep on trusting the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and likewise entrusting everything to Him. His countless time and immeasurable space for the right consummation of His time and space will give us therefore the opportune time and space for the history of Methodism throughout the whole world particularly in the Philippines to speak of/for itself to reveal and declare to us His purpose driven will for the good and betterment and expansion of His Universal Body. Hayaan nating lalong mahinog ang panahon mula sa bawat panahon ng bawat karanasan natin bilang Iglesyang patuloy na tinatawag at isinusugo ng Dios, at ang kasaysayan nito ang makapagsasabi at makapagpapahayag kung saan nga tayo dapat papunta, at kung papaano tayo pupunta, at kung kailan tayo makararating sa dapat puntahan, at kung kailan ito ganap na mangyayari. Ang kalooban ng Dios ay di masasagkaan ninuman, yan ay katulad ng maagos na tubig sa ilog o karagatan. Di ba ang Iglesya ay laging bukas sa pagbabago? Di ba halos lahat ng tumakbo sa pagka-obispo sa ating Iglesya kasama ang mga napagkalooban ng pagkakataon na maging Obispo ay nagsasabing sila’y para sa autonomy ng ating Iglesya? Di ba ang usaping autonomy sa ating Iglesya ay napakatagal na at sa katunayan sa buong Asya, ang UMC sa Pilipinas ang bukod tanging nakakonekta pa sa UMC USA? Alam ng karamihan ang aking paninindigan hinggil sa usaping ito at puwede ninyong basahin muli ang aking mga ulat sa PCC-CoCo at Episcopal Addresses sa bawat sesyon ng lahat ng annual conferences ng MEA. Gabayan, palakasin at tulungan nawa tayo ng Dios na mapagmahal, mapagmalasakit, mapagligtas, makatarungan at mapagpalaya!

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

LITO CABACUNGAN TANGONAN
Resident Bishop
Manila Episcopal Area
Philippines Central Conference
The United Methodist Church

A Pastoral Statement to the UMC in the Philippines

2011-05-19T16:15:00.000-07:00

THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Philippines Central Conference
College of Bishops
UMC Headquarters, 900 U.N. Avenue
Ermita, Manila, 1000 Philippines

A Pastoral Statement

To : The UMC Community in the Philippines
From : The College of Bishops
Date : May 16, 2011

There are some recent developments in our church about which we want to inform you and to suggest to you how we might regard and handle them.

First, on May 7, 2011, some members and pastors of our church have decided to withdraw officially their membership in The United Methodist Church and organize themselves into a separate church which they name “The Philippines Methodist Church”. This was done in Carmen United Methodist Church in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija and was attended by some 200 people – lay and pastors and Bishop Lito Tangonan.

This is a sad event in the history of our church. This is the third time that there is schism in the Methodist community in the Philippines. We deeply wish that it should never have happened.

However, for whatever reasons these people are formally breaking membership relation with us, we must acknowledge that they have the right to do so. Membership in our church is voluntary, and withdrawal of that membership is equally voluntary. Such a choice is an expression of the right to religious freedom.

Should they wish to restore their membership with us later on, we must welcome them.

Second, it appears that these people have proclaimed officially that the first bishop of their schismatically organized group is Bishop Lito Tangonan. By all indications in terms of his participation in the preparation of the Carmen event, the proclamation of the schismatic group, and the structuring of the schismatic church, Bishop Tangonan appears to have accepted this offer. Given his active participation in establishing the schismatic group, he could not deny the offer, and he did not. The only reasonable conclusion is that he now heads the schismatic church. This means that Bishop Tangonan has renounced his membership in the United Methodist Church, has vacated the office of Bishop of the United Methodist Church, and terminated his membership in both the College of Bishops of the Philippines Central Conference and the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.

This is also a very sad event in the history of our church. We regret it very deeply.

However, Bishop Tangonan has the right to make this choice. We must respect both the right and the choice in which it was exercised.

It is only proper that in our respect of his right and of his choice, we shall no longer, from hereon, regard Bishop Tangonan as a bonafide member of our church and a bishop in our church.

Thirdly, the pastors and district superintendents who have joined in organizing the “Philippines Methodist Church” in exercise of their right and by the choice they have made are to be treated officially as having formally terminated their membership and ministry in The United Methodist Church.

The restoration of their membership and ministry – while welcome – may, however, depend on some conditions being met in accordance with the Discipline of The United Methodist Church.

Fourthly, the organizing of the Philippines Methodist Church as a schismatic group may entail questions of claims to properties. These questions may become legal issues that may entail court litigation and action. We shall do our best in protecting the interests and properties of The United Methodist Church.

Fifthly, we have no information that whole local churches or congregations are withdrawing from being a part of The United Methodist Church connection.

It may be that only members of local churches are seceding, not whole local churches. If this is the case, then the local church from which some of its members are withdrawing their membership remains and continues to be a local church of the entire UMC connection. Moreover, local churches are parts of annual conferences which are legally incorporated. And so their legal status is unimpaired by some of their members terminating their membership. If a whole local church and its entire membership decide to terminate their connectional and incorporate status, this may require an action of approval by the annual conference of which it is a member.

Finally, if a local church or some local churches decide to terminate their connectional and corporate status and the annual conference agrees, that does not impair the connectional and corporate status of the annual conference concerned. It retains legal authority over its properties, since properties of local churches are held in trust of The United Methodist Church – and are therefore connectionally held – and at the same time held corporately by the annual conference.

In conclusion, schism in the church is always a sad and troublesome affair. They have immediate and long-term consequences. In view of this, let us not make the situation become any worse than it is. Let us refrain from hurting words and harmful deeds. Let us act in good faith always speaking the truth in love. And with every opportunity that comes, let us together work toward preserving and promoting the unity of the church.

God bless you all!

(Sgd.) Bishop Rodolfo A. Juan (Sgd.) Bishop Leo A. Soriano

(Sgd.) Bishop Emerito P. Nacpil (Sgd.) Bishop Jose A. Gamboa, Jr.

(Sgd.) Bishop Daniel C. Arichea, Jr. (Sgd.) Bishop Benjamin A. Justo

The United

2011-05-10T09:47:00.000-07:00

I have been a silent observer for the longest time that the UMC church tries to settle its issues within. But all along, I know that many of the people in the church are sad about what is happening. I am one of them.

I was standing beside my dying patient in the Emergency Room last night.I cannot help but reflect about the UMC in the Philippines. Sometimes, a sick person has to die. When the disease has so spread and affected the body, medicine can only do so much. Sometimes, we don't have to prolong the agony that will not bring any benefit to the person. I wonder if the wound that has so divided the United church that i know, can still be healed? Or is the "United" part of the name of the church just like my dying patient. Where no more hope of human effort to cure is possible? Should then the United then be divided? Sometimes, the dying needs to die. Sometimes when the United can no longer be united, they divide. Sad but true.

Birthday

2011-04-29T01:30:00.000-07:00

I'll be off the calendar after today. That is the common joke. But God is gracious to get me past the numbers in the calendar. I look back and could not think of anything extra ordinary that I made to make myself special. Then somebody reminded me that it is not myself who should make myself special when my daughter said, "Dad, you are special." It is the people around me who believes I am special that makes me special.
God loves each one of us and that makes each one of us special. So I do not have to worry about making my day special today. The people around me did it and will do it. Their presence and the thoughtfulness already makes me feel special. Thanks for all the blessings. God is good.

Three Kings

2011-01-05T22:52:00.001-08:00

“The Gift of the Magi” to the Hospital People
Three Kings is the also the celebration of Epiphany, a moment for us to recognize the appearance or manifestation of God. After Christmas, when the Messiah came to this world, have we – as hospital people – come to recognize that God appeared before us in the flesh?
Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12
Key Verse: “they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage” (v.11)
Focus of the Lesson:
Let us do away with the trivialities of the story of the three kings or wise men. Instead, from the scripture, let us receive the gifts brought by the Wise Men not only for the baby Jesus but also for us. First is the recognition that God has come to us in this world. Second, the commitment of the wise men to go to Jesus, not to ask for anything, but only to give honor. Third, their desire to give something special to Jesus.
Goals in study:
1. To learn from the attitude of the wise men
2. To recognize the presence of God in this present world
3. To intentionally see the imago dei in others

Introduction:
Epiphany comes from the Greek word meaning appearance. Epiphany marks the season where we are reminded that God has manifested to us in this world, thru the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas. The scripture tells us of the wise men who came to pay homage to the baby Jesus. The story is replete of many lessons that we ought to learn. Let us look beyond the trivial and focus on the attitude and the heart of the wise men who came to see the baby Jesus.
The key word in the scripture lesson is “knelt down and pay homage.” Kneeling is a sign of respect and worship. This is the same reason why we kneel in church. In the Eastern Rite tradition, kneeling and prostration are given great significance during worship. More than that is the attitude of our hearts when we come before the Lord. We may not “kneel” physically bur our hearts should. During prayer and worship, paying homage to our God is common sense. Sadly, whenever we come to pray and worship, we come ready with our commandments for God and our wish list. It seems, God is our servant ready for our instructions. Yes, we can and should come before God for our needs. Yet, we must remember that God already knows us and what is in our hearts. Besides, God knows what is best for us. In this season of Epiphany, we should recognize and come to God properly as our GOD. And we must come ready to give our gifts, not the other way around.
Sharing the Scriptures:
1. The image of God is seen in our neighbors. How can we see our colleagues and patients as the image of God?
2. This “three kings day,” what are concrete things we can do as our gifts of worship to Jesus?

The Grieving of Christmas

2010-12-28T06:32:00.000-08:00

Today is Holy Innocents' Day.

The celebration of the Christmas season have focused on the joy it brings to the world. But the joy is misdirected to the emotions of laughter and fun. If such is joy, then the grieving this season is misplaced. Yet, during this season of joy some of us grieve the loss of their loved ones. Such is the case of my friend who lost his wife on the eve of Christmas. And I see many more grieve as I make my rounds in the hospital. But grieving is nothing new on Christmas. Matthew reminds us of what the prophet Jeremiah said, "A voice is heard in Ramah,weeping and great mourning,Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted,because they are no more.” Yes! There was weeping and grieving even in the first Christmas. But, yes, there is still joy. Because the Immanuel allowed for humans to be reconciled with their God so that the innocent children and the many more people who died will have Eternal Life. And so cry... we grieve... but because of the baby born on Christmas we are still joyful!

The King of Fairies and mermaids

2010-12-22T18:52:00.000-08:00

Last night; I was telling my 4 year old daughter Neya the Christmas story. We were at the part where the Three Kings were following the Star of Bethlehem to see the newborn king; Jesus; who is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and everybody else when she excitedly commented "Daddy; he is also the King of fairies and mermaids." I replied "Yes! Jesus is also the King of all prince and princesses." And then Neya stood up and exclaimed " I am a Princess and Ading Ken is a Prince but Jesus is our King. Even you Dad; Jesus is your King!"
I could not say more. That was both a reminder who is the king of the world and the king of our lives. That there was the Gospel message that night!

Fourth Sunday of Advent 2010 Reflections

2010-12-15T21:45:00.000-08:00

“Celebrating Christmas in the Hospital” (Adapted from Hail the Heaven Born by GKBaker)
Advent is the season of preparation, anticipation and expectation of the coming Messiah, how do we, as people in the hospital, make ready?
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
Key Verse: he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him (v.24)
Focus of the Lesson:
Matthew tells the story of two people who gave in to the will of God while putting aside their personal honor and glory. The mystery and majesty of God’s preferred future is shown before us, inviting us to move out of our preferred comfort zones and into the will of God.
Goals in study:
1. To see how God uses unusual and unconventional means for his purpose
2. To understand what “God above all” means
3. To realize how we are instrument of God’s perfect plan
Introduction:
What is your plan for your future? What is God’s plan for you? Are your plans aligned? Often, we map out plans for ourselves without consulting God. Joseph reminds us of the proper attitude this Advent. As we prepare for the coming of the king, our hearts and our desires including our plans should be one with God. Is our work in the hospital according to God’s plan? Or are we doing it for our personal honor and glory? Joseph set aside his own personal honor and glory to put God first. As we prepare this Advent, let us learn from this lesson.
The key phrase in the scripture lesson is “he did what… the Lord commanded him.”
Interpreting the Scripture:
1. Why does Matthew need to set things straight?
2. How did Joseph respond to the situation
3. What does it mean for Joseph to set aside his pride
Sharing the Scriptures:
1. How do Mary and Joseph inspire your faith and obedience to God?
2. How do Joseph’s actions speak to you about honoring God over your personal needs and desires?

Third Sunday of Advent 2010 Reflections

2010-12-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

What is Christmas? What do we expect? What are we supposed to look for?
“Celebrating Christmas in the Hospital” (Adapted from Hail the Heaven Born by GKBaker)
Advent is the season of preparation, anticipation and expectation of the coming Messiah, how do we, as people in the hospital, make ready?
Scripture: Matthew 11:2-11
Key Verse: “Go tell John, what you hear and see” (v.4)
Focus of the Lesson:
We have preconceived notions about what Jesus is and what Jesus does. And we prefer a Jesus that conforms to our specifications. We expect and WANT that kind of Jesus this Christmas. Yet, we get something unexpected.
Goals in study:
1. To learn from the experience (expectation) of John the Baptist
2. To consider what it means to “Tell John what you hear and see”
3. To see “Christ” – mas differently
Introduction:
Where is God? Can you see God? Can you hear God? People continue to search for God. The Christmas season is a time for the religious and even the non-religious to find what is “missing in their lives.” People keeps seeking for that something that make sense out of everything else in their lives, on what gives them joy. But after all the gifts have been opened, it seems that they never saw what they are looking for. First, we may not really know what we are looking for. Next, maybe we are looking at the wrong places. Matthew speaks of what people see and hear with the coming of Jesus.
The key phrase in the scripture lesson is “what (do) you hear and see.”
Interpreting the Scripture:
1. John the Baptist was sure that Jesus was the Messiah, why did he send for investigators?
2. What the Bible say about Jesus vs what we want Jesus to be
3. What to tell people about what we heard and saw this Advent
Sharing the Scriptures:
1. Who is Jesus and what is he doing in the world?
2. In what ways does Jesus’ response to John help you broaden your perceptions?
3. How can the patients see Christ-mas in me?

Second Sunday of Advent 2010 Reflections

2010-12-01T06:37:00.000-08:00

“Celebrating Christmas in the Hospital” (Adapted from Hail the Heaven Born by GKBaker)
Advent is the season of preparation, anticipation and expectation of the coming Messiah, how do we, as people in the hospital, make ready?
Scripture: Matthew 3:1-12
Key Verse: “Bear fruit worthy of repentance” (v.8)
Focus of the Lesson:
Christmas is not just the birth of an innocent baby Jesus. The sermon of John the Baptist reminds us that the baby born is a “Righteous Judge” who will separate the chaff from the wheat.
Goals in study:
1. To examine the imagery of John the Baptist vs Christmas
2. To consider what it means to “bear fruit”
3. To respond to the prophet’s call
Introduction:
As we anticipate Christmas in this Advent season, we see many symbols and signs pointing to Christmas. We see lanterns, Christmas lights, Christmas trees, nativity scenes, angels singing and gifts. The season is full of images that points to joy, cheerfulness, goodwill and love. But there is another side to the Christmas story that we often forget. John the Baptist has a different message than how we usually understand Christmas. He was preaching and preparing the people about the coming of the Messiah who will judge and make us accountable.
The key word in the scripture lesson is “bear fruit.”
Interpreting the Scripture:
1. The picture and the message of John the Baptist vs our traditional Christmas images
2. Confessing our sins and bearing fruit
3. The sermon message of John and the message of Advent
Sharing the Scriptures:
1. What family traditions do you observe during Advent and Christmas?
2. How does John’s sermon challenge you to see the incarnation differently?
3. How will you respond to the prophet’s call to repent and bear fruits worthy of repentance?

Advent Reflection 2010

2010-11-27T16:26:00.000-08:00

God gives us different personal messages. Thus, in this season of Advent, I prepared a guide to help me and my friends in the hospital reflect this church season.

“Celebrating Christmas in the Hospital” (Adapted from Hail the Heaven Born by GKBaker)

Advent is the season of preparation, anticipation and expectation of the coming Messiah, how do we, as people in the hospital, make ready?
Scripture: Matthew 24:36-44
Key Verse: “Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming” (v.42)
Focus of the Lesson:
Even as Christians, sometimes we get caught in the business of this world. Advent reminds us of our tasks in waiting for the coming of Jesus. But we never can tell when Jesus is coming, yet we should always be ready when that time comes.
Goals in study:
1. To examine the imagery of Christ return
2. To consider what it means to “wait”
3. To work with others in keeping awake and in watchful waiting
Introduction:
Advent marks the season of waiting. It is the hopeful anticipation of the coming of the Messiah. The first Advent happened almost 2000 years ago. We now participate in the Second Advent. The scripture lesson today tells on the manner of the return of Christ. But it also points to us the manner in which we anticipate this return.
The key word in the scripture lesson is “awake.” Waiting for the second Advent is not a passive activity. Matthew reminds to be “awake” – watchful waiting, so that we are ready when the “thief comes in the night.” Watchful waiting should is a way of life that demands for us to be awake so that we will not slumber into inattention, apathy and disobedience to God. To keep ourselves awake, we can watch over one another – pray for the others, show love and service to God through our friends, neighbors and patients, engage in holy habits like worship, prayer and reading the Bible together – so we can keep ourselves from falling into spiritual slumber.
Interpreting the Scripture:
1. The Coming of the Messiah
2. The thief in the night
3. Matthew 24 and Advent
Sharing the Scriptures:
1. Share practices or habits that you think can keep you watchful. Which of these do you participate regularly?
2. What are concrete things you can do this Advent season to be more vigilant and watchful?

Offering

2010-11-14T01:30:00.000-08:00

Nea said "Dad I don't want to go to Sunday School because you forgot something. You did not give me an 'offering.'" I replied,"well you can give anything to God as an 'offering' especially that which is important to you." She said, "does God like lollipop?"

Starting kids young in giving will teach them to show their love to God by sharing and being generous. But more than that it teaches the kids to give back to God what really belongs to God. Even at an early age these kids teaches us that our worship is not complete if we go to church but not bring back what belongs to God.

Principles of Stewardship

2010-10-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Principles of Stewardship
(Preached at Tuguegarao Central UMC)

Luke 19:11-27
When I was first asked to bring the Good news this Sunday, I asked Pastor Boni if I can focus about stewardship of the body, how to maintain good health, because I am a doctor. The pastor said “can you instead preach on the biblical principles on stewardship.” We are stewards of many things, not only our bodies, but also of our faith, our relationships to one another and even our health. Because these are all given by God. Something that we need to take care of. But I was tasked to preach on God's word about stewardship on resources and possessions. He asked me to focus on the biblical principles about these. And so let us prepare our hearts and minds as we listen to the Word of God. Let us pray…

Today is Laity Sunday. In other churches, we are reminded of the role the lay people play in church. The Methodist church grew over the years because of the laity movement. Today is also Harris Memorial College Sunday. Other churches, like ours, celebrate this day to support the ministry of this institution in molding young people into better Christians. Today is also Stewardship month. Like the other celebrations, we have reasons in celebrating this event. We celebrate stewardship month to remind us of our responsibilities as Christians. But do we practice Christian stewardship only during stewardship month?
Even though we only have stewardship month once a year, we should be Christian stewards’ everyday of our lives. We should remember to be Christian stewards in every activity that we do. From the moment we wake up, to the things we do during the day, when we eat, or work until we go to sleep. Our daily activities should be guided by the knowledge that we are Christian stewards. Do we know what it means to be a Christian steward?
The Gospel of Luke is a book full of stories about the stewardship, the kingdom of God and what it means to be stewards. One of the stories about that is our Gospel lesson for today. It tells the parable of servants who were entrusted by their master of his possessions. From this parable, we can learn what the Bible teaches us about the principles of Christian stewardship. There are several principles that we can learn, and today we will be highlighting seven of them.

1. Ownership - It is not yours, it is Gods (faith that is).

In verse 13, the master called for his ten servants and gave them each ten minas. Or equivalent to 3 months of salary. The average 3 month salary for a househelp here is Php 7500 to 9000. So the servants were given money to invest until the master comes back. So who owns the money? It is the master. Thus, as stewards, it is our Lord and Master who owns what we have now. The Bible is very clear on this. Even from the very beginning of the world, all the way back to Genesis, to the creation story, chapter 1 verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And God made the animals in the field, the fishes in the sea and the birds in the sky. Even man and woman are God's creation. Sometimes, I hear some Christians say that we are –co-creators. I don’t know what they mean. We are not creators. We are creatures. We are all created by God and everything else. And that means, everything here on this earth is God’s property.

2. Provision – God provides us; we do not need more because his grace is sufficient and he provides with equal opportunities

Still on verse 13, the master gave them ten minas. Something was given to all the servants for their custody. Other pastors have called this the allocation. Two things to note here: Everyone was provided with talents and resources. So do not say that you do not have talents because God provides us with everything we need. We do not need for more. Yet our human frailty always leads us not to be content as if we still lack something. But God provides and God provides us with enough. You see, the parable here in Luke is similar to the parable in Matthew about the master and the talents. But here in the provision lies the difference. In Matthew, the servants were given different talents. One servant had more talent than the others. While in the parable in Luke, all the ten servants received the same amount of minas. Biblical commentators have noted that the equal gift is the same gift and opportunity that we receive from God. We are all given resources and equal chances of successfully growing it. And what God provides for us is enough for our needs.

3. Obedience - use the gift according to God’s desire

We continue in verse 13, and the master said “Do business with this until I come back.” There are two points that is important to note in this verse. First is the instruction to use the resource. It is clear that the master wants the servants to do something with the minas that he entrusted them. Second, we are given a free will to how to use it. If we look clearly, he did not specify what kind of business the workers should do with it. Any business will probably do. This gives the workers freedom to choose how to spend the minas. That is why other pastors call this the principle of Freedom. This is an important principle for us stewards of God. We are given the liberty to choose how to use the resources that God has given us. However, John Wesley was quick to point out that as Christians our freedom is limited to obeying Gods will. Although we are given instructions to use Gods resources, the ways and how to use it is left to our own conscience. We are not God’s robots. We can choose freely. In the parable, the first servant used it in a way that allowed him to gain 10x more than the original pounds. The other servant traded the pounds and used it differently than the other servant that allowed him to gain 5x more than the original. The third one did not do anything and he gained nothing. Take note here of what the master said in verse 22, “I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave.” He said wicked, or in other words, immoral or sinful. The servant who did not use the gifts given to them was called sinful. Why? For the simple reason that he disobeyed God’s instructions. God said, do business with these and he did not obey the instruction. As stewards of God, we must listen to God’s instructions and OBEY.

4. Profitability - the gift should bear fruit for God (do not keep it to yourself)

Another important principle in stewardship is profitability. Now we cannot run away from this. It is not enough that we did something with the resources that God has given us. It is not enough to utilize it. It should bear fruit. In verses 14 to 21, we see the different outcomes of the businesses that the servants did with their resources. Some of them profited more than the other. What does it mean to be profitable? In the parable, the important point is that the resources bear fruit FOR GOD. Profitable does not mean you earn ten fold or five-fold. The amount of gain is not important. It is God’s discretion how he rewards us. What is important for God is that we have gained something FOR GOD and not for ourselves. In the parable, whatever the servants gained from the resources they have, they gave it ALL back to God. After they have returned it, then they were given corresponding rewards. The servants profit was not the profit from the gifts from the master but another gift from the master after they have returned the profit of resources to God. In our lives, we often think that the profits we gained from the gifts and resources from God is already the reward we “deserve.” That is why we no longer give it back to God. Or even if we give back, we give with a heavy heart because we think that it is ours already. We always forget that the money was not ours in the first place.

5. Accountability – we are answerable to God (need to be responsible for our actions)

In verse 15, the master came back from his journey and called all his servants. He then asked them how they did with the resources that he has given them. He was asking them to account for their actions. In the end, this is where it will all boil down. When the great master will come back, he will call us one by one and we will be asked, “What did you do with the resources I have entrusted to you?” this is something we should never forget. John Wesley reminded us that our job as stewards is numbered. There will come a time when we will no longer be stewards. That is the time when God will call all of us and we have to account for the actions and decisions we have done.

6. Application - use it for God (there is no indifference)

In science, we have what we call the law of use and disuse. If you do not use your muscles, it will deteriorate and become small. If you do not use your car for a long time, it will just rust and deteriorate over time. Same as in the parable, if we do not use the gifts from God it will be gone. It will be taken away from us and given to the one using it. But that is not all. The second part of the phrase is more important. John Wesley reminded us that when we apply or use the resources of God, either we use it for God or not. There is nothing in between. It is either we use our time, talents and treasures for the glory of God, for increasing our knowledge of God, in sharing the love of God, or not. And again, we have to be accountable to that.

7. Compensation – you will be rewarded accordingly

God has graciously compensated the faithful servants. The two servants who used their minas and resources properly were given extra rewards by God. Not only that, they were also commended for their efforts. This is our goal in life, to be like the other two servants. These two servants obeyed the six other principles. They recognized that they are not the owner of the minas. They were satisfied with the provisions provided to them by their master. They used their freedom wisely for the benefit of increasing the minas. They were productive with what they did. They were accountable for their actions. They did not run away from the consequence of their decisions. They used their resources and because of all that, they were compensated greatly. On the other hand, the wicked servant was punished.

This stewardship month, let us be reminded of our role as Christian stewards. The good news my dear brothers and sisters is that there is still time. We can still do something with the resources that God has entrusted us. Let us be faithful stewards from now on and onwards until our Lord and Master come back again. And so when God will call us to make an account of the resources he has entrusted us, God will say to us, “Well done, by good and faithful servant.”

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

_____________

1. Diaz, Ziegfred. Principles of Stewardship. From www.zdiaz.com (Accessed Oct 12, 2010)
2. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary. Luke 19. From jfb.biblecommenter.com (Accessed Oct 12, 2010)
3. Matthew Henry’s Commentary. Luke 19:11-27. From www.christnotes.org (Accessed Oct 12, 2010)
4. Patterson. Richard. The Use of Three in the Bible. From http://bible.org (Accessed Oct 13, 2010)
5. Warren, Rick. How to Invest Your Life. From www.preaching.com (Accessed Oct 12, 2010)
6. Wesley, John. The Good Steward. Sermon 51. From www.new.gbgm-umc.org (Accessed Oct 12, 2010)

Dressing Up

2010-09-26T06:14:00.000-07:00

I am not a fashion guru. I don't even know anything about fashion. But as a professional, you need to know how to dress well and look good. But again, I am not trained how to dress that way. The question is how should one dress properly? There was even a research study about this.

"How should doctors dress up?"

I was in Church this morning and I sure wore my appropriate Sunday clothes - an untacked short-sleeve polo, khaki pants, and leather shoes. I did not dress as a doctor nor did I dress up as a clergy. I just go to church in my usual smart casual clothes. This is what makes me feel comfortable. I do not like dressing up to be recognized and given special attention for being this and that. After the service, I was greeting people and somebody who recognized me started introducing me as a doctor. Somebody then commented, "are you really a doctor? because you don't look like one." I just smiled. What she meant was that I was young and did not dress like the other doctors in the congregation, long-sleeves or Barong Tagalog with black silk pants and formal leather shoes. It's always a complement for me to not give an impression that I am a doctor or a clergy.

There is no prescribed attire of how doctors should dress save for the scrubs and the blazer when they are in the hospital. But when a doctor is out of his/her workplace, there is no way one can know he/she is a doctor. This is in contrast to some persons who can be recognized by their dress. For example, a clergy can wear his clergy attire or put on his clergy collar. Sometimes they wear their cross and we know that they are ministers. Obviously, I did not look any of the two.

But as I was reflecting on this, I remember one bishop who noted how I dress. He gave me an advice that we should dress appropriate to the occasion. He said, when we need to be seen as a doctor in the hospital, we should look like one. It helps the patients have confidence if they know they are being attended by a doctor who dresses like a doctor and not as a patient. If we are in the church, we should dress like a clergy as appropriate for the occasion. He also added that we must dress appropriately to where we are. If we are in the streets then wear street clothes. If we are in a formal event then we must be in coat and tie or gown. This also helps us blend with the crowd especially if we are trying to reach out to people. Most importantly, the way we dress or look will not become a reason for people to stumble in their growth.

I am not scared

2010-09-18T11:11:00.000-07:00

"I am not scared of Jesus kasi mabait siya" (I am not scared of Jesus because he is good), exclaimed my daughter. We went to the Calvary Hills in Iguig one lazy Sunday afternoon. We were planning to take a little walk, have the little kids run around the cathedral grounds and appreciate and reflect on the depictions of the stations of the cross. So much for planning.

There were many people that day. Some highschool students were practicing their "sabayang pagbigkas" piece. Some students were practicing on their dances. There were lots of distractions and it was not a the perfect time for reflection. The little Nate was also asleep so there goes the hope of letting the kids run around to give me and my wife an opportunity to take a stroll. Since Nate was asleep, we had to carry him. That meant no more chance in walking and tracing the stations of the cross. We also wanted to come closer to the statues and appreciate the art and bust depiction of Jesus passion, but Nea was hesitant.

The first station that we passed through was the Pieta, where the badly beaten body of Jesus lies in the loving embrace of Mary. Nea saw Jesus all bloodied and miserable. But more than the image of Christ, I think she was scared of the oversized statues that looked so real. I asked her, "that is Jesus, do you want to touch him?" She replied, "No!" I asked again, "why, are you scared of Jesus?" She said, "I am not scared of Jesus kasi mabait siya."

I wondered what Nea meant with what she said. She explained that "mabait si Jesus di ba, kasi mabait siya sa mga kids like me. My teacher said in Sunday School that Jesus is so good he made us mother earth, the seas, the sky, the trees and all the animals. O di ba, he is good? So I am not scared of him."

"Oo nga naman." Why would I be scared of somebody that is good? If God is good, then why be scared of God? Of course, fear and scared are two different things but that's a discussion for another essay. I was thankful that at an early age Little Children, like Nea, already have an idea that our God is a good and loving God.

Worshipping in the Mall

2010-06-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

Where is the proper place of worship?

This is the question that my friend ask me. But that got me to thinking, "should there be an exact location for worship?" I know that the OT tells us that people go to the "House of God" to worship because that is where God lives. But after the word was made flesh, we were taught that an all-powerful God can be anywhere. Of course, there are some things to be considered in the worship place but not necessarily an exact location. This is precisely why we now see worship services taking place in malls.

My friend who is a priest told me that after the Vatican II, the Roman Catholic church have been discovering innovative ways to reach out to the people. He said, statistics show that most people and families go to the mall on weekends, especially on Sundays. Its alright if people go to mass first before going to the mall, but that is not the case. The numbers of people attending church is declining because they are all in the mall. So the solution: bring the worship service to where the people are. That sounds familiar.

In the 18th century, a preacher named John Wesley was known for bringing the word of God to where the people are. He preached in the marketplace, in the coal mines and on top of tombstones just so he can bring the good news of salvation to the people. Thus, we can say that this evangelistic method is a Methodist legacy. But I am not confident enough to say that the Methodist are carrying on this tradition. I am not saying that Methodist or any other denomination should also put another place of worship in the mall opposite the place where the Catholics are worshiping. That will just give a whole new meaning to the mall as the "one stop shop."

I looked at my friend who asked me "where is the right place of worship?" I told him that was a tricky question. But offered a thought, "look into you heart first and know if you are indeed worshiping God."

Jesus is my Firecracker

2009-12-30T04:52:00.000-08:00

We Filipinos always want to welcome New Year with a bang. Our most popular choice in doing this is using firecrackers. There are also other means like trumpets and drums. Of course, we should celebrate the New Year especially if we see it as a time for a new beginning, a new start, a time to change for the better. We always want to start the New Year right as we hope for a good year ahead. But should we celebrate with firecrackers, especially us Christians? I will argue that it is unwise for us Christians to use firecrackers. I will offer three insights on why Christians should not use firecrackers after giving a short background on the significance of firecrackers.

The use of firecrackers is a Chinese tradition that we Filipinos inherited. In a capsule, Chinese people welcome their new year with the loud sounds of firecrackers to scare the evil spirits away. They complement it with the dragon dance, red color and lots of circular shapes that all symbolize prosperity and good luck. This is their way of starting the New Year right - driving demons away and welcoming prosperity in. As the Chinese have become part of our Filipino community, we have assimilated their tradition. We have adapted their tradition of welcoming New Year in the hope that we may also be prosperous like most of our Filipino-Chinese brothers and sisters. We light up the air, make noises and wear lucky colors and shapes in hoping for good luck and good health for the New Year. However, is it wise for Christians to also use firecrackers?

Firecrackers will not make us healthy. In fact, they are hazardous to our health. Every year, hundreds of people seek medical attention due to firecracker injury or poisoning. Last year, the DOH reported 613 firecracker-related injuries from the period of Dec 21, '08 to Jan 3 '09. Of those injured, 24 underwent finger or hand amputation, 116 suffered eye injuries and the rest had blast and burn injuries. The use of firecrackers is risky for our bodies and health. The Bible reminds us to take care of our bodies, the temple of God. Caring for our bodies’ means walking away from risky and insignificant practices that nay hurt us

As Christians, we are to be stewards of this Earth. It is unwise for us to engage in practices that contribute to the destruction of our world. The smoke that comes from the firecrackers increases the carbon in the air that causes the environmentally destructive 'greenhouse effect.' Add this to the fact that the debris and empty shells of the firecrackers add to the pile of everyday garbage. The production and use of firecrackers also wastes our energy resources. We must be responsible stewards of Gods creation. Let us therefore refrain from hastening Earths destruction.

As Christians, we do not believe firecrackers have the power to defeat evil like Jesus does. Only Christ has the power to defeat evil. As Christians, we also do not believe in good luck. Our hope for a prosperous New Year does not lay with luck but with Jesus Christ our Messiah. He delivers us from harm and evil. Our faith in Christ is complete that He will do great things for us, things that will prosper us and not harm us. I do not mean in a simplistic way that Christianity spells prosperity. But we can boldly say that it is in Jesus Christ where we put all our hope, our future, and our successes. We don’t have to make the loudest bang of a firecracker, because Jesus is the firecracker that will bless us through the New Year and always.

Simbang Gabi: Ninth

2009-12-24T09:30:00.000-08:00

Save the best for last. The last morning watch today was very artistic and symbolic. The theme centered on the light of the world - Jesus. The songs focused on Jesus being the light. The sermon centered on how Jesus brings light to our lives. The whole service was then highlighted by a very meaningful candle-lighting ceremony. This for me was very symbolic. The whole place was enveloped with darkness with the turning off of the lights. Add to this the fact that it was still dark outside. Only the Christ candle was the light on. The Reverend Boni then lighted a candle from the Christ candle. Then he lighted another persons candle, and another and another and another. And the lighted candles lighted another and another and another until the whole church was bright with candle lights. The candle lights were our only lights throughout the service. It kept the place bright until the Son (sun) was shining light to the whole world. It was already morning when the service ended and the darkness of the night was now replaced with brightness. Jesus has now given light to the world. Christmas is here. Merry Christmas!

Simbang Gabi: Eight

2009-12-23T18:28:00.000-08:00

Today is probably the most humbling message that I have heard. Putting the delivery aside, I was so blessed by the content of the morning devotion today. The theological assertions were so sound and were very challenging too. One of the point is the intentionality of humility. The other point that really made me pause was the kind of humility we know and the kind that God demands.
Christian humility is different from being humble. Much more, our humility does not come from us but a humility that comes from God. This I guess, and rightly so, distinguishes human from Christian humility. This is the humility that Abraham, David and Mary exhibited when God demanded their obedience. I pray for such humility that I may serve and obey God rightly.

Simbang Gabi: Seventh

2009-12-22T18:25:00.000-08:00

It was a quick and short one. The sermon that is. Time flew without me noticing it. Two more worships and the Simbang Gabi will be over too. I don't want it to be over. I'm getting used to this. I could do this forever, waking up early and worshiping God the whole time. Well, that seems like what angels do in heaven. I guess I'll have my time to do that someday. But for now, everything seems to happen so fast. Sometimes, even life is like that. We think we have a lot more years ahead and tomorrow is eternity. But when we pause and look back, it was too short a time. Time passed without us knowing it. And we haven't done a thing. But what are we supposed to do? A lot. I'm rambling here. I'm overwhelmed. It's just ironic, when everything happens fast, the sermon message begs us to slow down and be patient.

Simbang Gabi: Sixth

2009-12-21T18:18:00.000-08:00

I can get used to this. Waking up early when everyone is asleep and getting ready ahead of everybody. The Simbang Gabi as a worship service is a good morning meal for the spirit.
It was not that I had a full stomach from the breakfast served by the Abrahams, the worship services were such blessings. The words of God and the songs awakened my soul. I went out of the church energized and renewed. Despite my handicap, I felt healthy and strong. This is what a worship does to our spirits. It gives us renewed strength to face the challenges and stresses of everyday life. We usually enter the church enveloped by a dark world but after each worship, we go out and see the light. The word of God gives light in this dark world and hope in this desperate times. It is our food for our souls. It keeps our spirits healthy and strong as we battle temptations everyday. The more we face battles, the more we need food. When one is hungry, one ask for more. And I am, so I will look forward to more food for my soul.

Simbang Gabi: Fifth

2009-12-20T18:14:00.000-08:00

The youth were leading today. I remember when I was a UMYF, how I used to see things differently. I loved being involved in the church.
I was preoccupied with the thought that after the morning watch there will still be the regular Sunday service. The morning watch ends at 6 and the first regular service is at 7am. I wondered if there was going to be anybody who would take the marathon service. I mean, I could have stayed and check it myself but I was already tired. But I did came back for the 10am service. Its not that I am bragging that I went to two services today, the worship leaders had to be in all five services, that's more amazing. But that's not my point. The thing is, although there are those who are lazy to even go to church, there are also people who are tireless in going to one. The youth exemplified such faith today. They were up early and they would stay until the Contemporary service late in the afternoon today. I could only pray that many more Christians would find similar convictions.

Simbang Gabi: Fourth

2009-12-19T18:06:00.000-08:00

Fourth Simbang Gabi. I finally had some company. We weren't late too. A pastor was preaching, so we were not subjected to testimonies and speeches (no offense but I have a strong theology about homiletics). The preacher opened with a complaint about not having the luxury to choose the text and the focus of the message. Although it was more of an opening line than a real complaint, it made me reflect back on the significance of Simbang Gabi. I tend to simplify things, so indulge me if I say, Simbang Gabi is but watchful waiting for the coming and birth of Jesus. The question leads to another, how do we wait for Jesus through a worship service? I remembered the time when we were waiting for my first son to be born. We were all waiting but there was no real activity designed for the waiting. We talked about how to take care of the baby. How to become good parents. How Nea will behave as a big sister. When he was about to be born, I was at bedside watching for the signs that he is coming. On the other hand, my daughter and family were outside waiting too. While waiting, my daughter entertained them. We were ready for the new baby but we are still waiting until he comes. We were anticipating and we were hopeful. The same goes while waiting for Christmas. If Christmas is the time where hope, peace, joy and love comes to reign then we prepare for it by practicing how to do it. We give hope, share peace, bring joy and love others even as we await Christmas.

Simbang Gabi: Third

2009-12-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Third day ng Simbang Gabi. I am starting to feel the Christmas spirit. Indeed, the lights, the decors, the cold air, the early morning service and the traditional church breakfast sets the tone for me that it is Christmas time. That is not to say that these things define Christmas. But we must acknowledge that for us humans who use our human senses, it is important for us to see, hear, feel, smell and even taste Christmas. Christmas in our hearts are prepared and also intensified by the things, events and people around us. For example, when we did not have any Christmas decor in our house last week, I panicked. We have forgotten to do our traditional Christmas tree decorations. Now, the tree serves as reminder that it is Christmas and it is the season of life, hope and love. My 3year old daughter was asking me where is our Christmas tree and why she did not get to hang decors if is is Christmas. These material things serves as reminders to us. That is why it is important for us to give importance to these symbolic things. Such could be Simbang Gabi and as the days go by, may we feel Christmas more in our hearts.

Simbang Gabi: Second

2009-12-17T17:49:00.000-08:00

This is the second day of Simbang Gabi. Let me share what 'typically' happens. Since I was late yesterday, I vowed I will be early today. So I set the alarm, to 430 am last night. Of course it alarmed but I slept it off until 511am. I have to rush my preparation, washing up and dressing all in 30 seconds. Yup. Then I have to drive up to church with a blurry windshield. I have to zoom the car to get a 15 minute travel down to 5. I was able to arrive right at the end of scripture reading. At least I got to hear the sermon, the "most important" part for us protestants (you know what I mean). However, it did not really matter if I arrived before or after the sermon. I wasn't listening. Although I heard the preacher talk about the three trees and something about Jesus ignoring the bad news of Jairos daughter's death, I wasn't listening to God's word. Probably because I was late again. I did not want to have a partial worship. I want to go the whole nine yard. So I said, tomorrow will be another chance. I just sat at the back and went through the rhythm. I just resigned myself to that thought and instead enjoyed the fellowship with other churchgoers. The breakfast was a hot arroz caldo. It was so good I had to ask for seconds. My tummy was satisfied. The meal was the highlight of my Simbang Gabi. Hopefully tomorrow the highlight will be the meal for my soul.

Simbang Gabi: First

2009-12-16T17:34:00.000-08:00

I was on the first night of simbang gabi. The first question that popped in my mind was what was the theological significance of it. I searched it over some old books and over the internet. The most common answer is usually historical. They claim the practice began during the Spanish era when people went to hear early mass before they went to their farms. This was done for nine straight days as a novena. It eventually became a superstitious belief that completing it would give the devotee their wish. But I thought the theological significance lies on the drama of the worship hour. The mass was a morning watch to anticipate the birth of Christ on Christmas. The birth is said to be signaled by the roosters crow thus called Misa de Gallo. Worship was done to await the birth of Christ. I like the theological meaning of watchful waiting. And the mass done at dawn break was symbolic of the hope that the Christ brings, a light to this dark world. That was something to reflect for this season.

World AIDS Day

2009-12-01T01:10:00.003-08:00

AIDS has just become a byword in this medically oriented world. When people talk about AIDS people talk about the virus and how it can be transmitted and how it can be avoided. Of course those are important topics. But people seem to forget about the person with AIDS. It is not that people cannot put a face to the disease but rather again because of the too much medical emphasis on the disease.

As we observe World AIDS Day let us remember the persons affected by it and the families that suffer with them. Let us pray for them that they may have strength and hope in their time of trials. That they may feel the love of God through the people around that care and support them and with the concern of all the people. Let us make this day not just a day to educate people about the disease but rather a moment where we can show our solidarity with PWA who are our brothers and sisters.

Trials and Temptations in the Hospital

2009-11-25T00:45:00.000-08:00

My last blog was a reflection on the temptations in the hospital. I thought it was going to change when I will change the setting. But my prospective new setting already foreshadows to me much difficult scenario where temptation gets even harder to resist.

I realized early that moving in a secular world makes it tough for a Christian to remain one.. This becomes doubly tough when you are expected to perform ecular activities that goes against your belief. How do you behave when you are expected, as per tradition, to drink alcohol as welcome gesture when you know it goes against your rwligious belief? How do you say no when they only expect a yes?
By Gods grace God will deliver us from temptation. God will give us stregth and tthe right decision to make on such occassions..only by Gods grace...

How to remain Christian? (Psalm 1:1)

2009-09-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

In a hospital that is founded on Christian values but set upon a very materialistic world, temptations of evils come from every side. Even within the hospital, it is not unusual to see bits of the devil's work. You hear it from conversations about who wants to do wrong to who, thoughts of anger, vengeance, lust, and malice. You even see it done in public. The rampant and widespread claw of evil does not spare anyone. Temptations creep even to the noblest and holiest of humans.

One thing that I have realized in my stay here in the hospital is that it is easy to be a Christian but hard to remain one. Of course, at first instance, no amount of human strength will ever be enough for us to resist evil if not with the power of God. It is only by God's grace and strength that we are able to remain in God's presence.

The Psalmist in 1:1 reminds us that because we are planted and rooted deeply in the stream of water that nourishes us, we are able to withstand any withering. We bare good fruits because we are sustained by the water of life. And however strong is the wind, whatever drought may come, our strong foundation will sustain us.

Our life in the hospital cannot be said to be perfect. We will always eet temptations. In a place where everybody is stressed, fatigued, and tired; it is easy to get angry, mad, envious and commit evil. But as long as we remain close to the stream of God's living water, the peace of God will always be with us.

What To Say?

2009-08-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

The first week of y hospital training is done. The three days that I was on duty, one thing kept bothering me. What will I tell patients? How will I be a compassionate doctor without sacrificng my decisiveness? So I thought, I will tell you folks verbatims about doctors instructions and dialogues with patients that helps me learn and become better Christian doctors.

Like the first night I was on duty, there came a patient who was drunk. He kept demanding doctors to come attend to him even after he was attended to and was already stabilized. How can a doctor refuse his pestering demands so that the doctor can attend to other patients, without being impolite to the drunk patient? Here, the doctor was very firm but gently said that "I already attended to you, talked to you but it seems you are drunk and unable to comprehend well. Now I have to attend to other patients." Simple, firm but still polite. Yet, the drunk patient still kept complaining and demanding that the doctor talk to him and attend to him. One thing I learned, a doctor need not be too polite to heed to every patient request. One must also learn to refuse and follow one own judgement especially if there are other important matters to attend to (not that the drunk patient was unimportant but that other patients are important to attend to as well). Simple logic, but sometimes difficult to practice especially when you are overtaken by annoyance and anger to persistent patients.

Looking from the other side

2009-08-04T06:31:00.000-07:00

The last three years have been an exciting journey for me. I was given the oppurtunity to see the theology from an academic perspective. It was also a time for me to learn about church people's theology. And as I try to find and learn more about the intersection of theology and medicine, I will be looking from the other side of the equation. The next five years will be a journey into the medical field as I train to be a surgeon. I hope you will journey with me as I try to find where God is and how God works in the medical field, among the sick and the dying. I hope we will all enjoy and learn in this new exciting oppurtunity.

Psalms 51

2009-04-11T15:44:00.000-07:00

Psalms 51
(Prayer by Little Paradise)

1 Loving and Merciful God, have mercy on me… Take away my sins…
2 Forgive me so you can see me to my basicness, simpleness, and inner beauty that is underneath
3 I recognize my wrongdoing because it is in front of my face
4 Because you are my God and you are righteous, I confess before you that I am a sinner and your judgment against me is right
5 I was born prideful already. Before I was even able to sit up on my own, I already thought I was better than others
6 You want us to be honest and laid bare before you so that you can teach us who you are and who you want us to be
7 So You have to wash my stains Lord with the best cleaner so that I will be clean and white again
8 Bring me back to life… back to my senses
9 See me for who I want to be, please
10 Make me function perfectly and re-breath into me a breath that last
11 Be with me forever. Although I am a sinner, please do not take your Spirit from me lest I feel unrest
12 Let me realize the greatness of your gift of forgiveness. Open my heart so I will allow you to do what you want instead of what I want.

Jesus has bobo...

2009-04-10T06:17:00.001-07:00

It's Holy Week. And we are trying to tell our 2 years old daughter what it is all about. Her mother told her about how Jesus came in a parade on Palm Sunday but that later some "not good" people took him and put him in "timeout." It becomes tricky because she gets "timeout" when she does something not nice to make us upset, but Jesus did not do anything "not nice." It confuses her how Jesus got "timeout." Then the "not good" people hurt Jesus and put him in the cross. With a sad look in her face, she replied, "Oh, Jesus has bobo."
Now, it's only Good Friday. We still have to tell her the story of Jesus's death and resurrection on Easter. That will be a challenge...

Who is your God?

2009-02-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Last weeks episode of Gray's Anatomy showed us a glimpse of how people - patients, their families and doctors, perceive healing by God.
Dr. Allison Montgomery was back in Seattle Grace to bring his brother who needed brain surgery. Her brother's case was next to impossible to be resolved. Thus, Dr. Montgomery seeks the help of God. Quite interestingly, she goes to two different gods. In one scene, we see her in the chapel, down on her knees, silently staring at the cross. We gather from her friend's comments who were watching her that she is not a known churchgoer. In fact, she doesn't know how to pray. Here is a doctor that doesn't know how to pray - basically she doesn't know how to talk to God. She cannot verbalize the desires of her heart that her brother would be healed and that her brain surgery will be succesful.
On the next scene, we see Dr. Montgomery pleading to her ex-husband, the great neurosurgeon Dr. Shephard. Dr. Montgomery asked Dr. Derek Shephard to play god - to be powerful enough to cure her brother. She pleads whole heartedly, emotionally and with with tears flowing from her eyes. It almost looks like she is praying to Dr. Shephard for help.
Here are two pictures of the gods that people look up to in times of need. In the first case, God is perceived as the healer. But as often the case, God is only called upon in times of need. God is the patch to every hole. A band aid to every scratch. On the otherhand, medicine is the healer. Medical science can figure out a creative way to work around the difficulties of diseases and solve the problem. Medicine can do anything. Medicine is god.
Notice that in the two scenario, I have left out the doctor. The reasons I did that needs another blog. Suffice it to say, that the doctor here is perceived to the gods.
The point of the distinction I am making is that in times of medical crisis, we pray to a god to help us. We seek a powerful god. Sometimes we seek help from God. Sometimes we seek help from medicine. Sometimes we seek help from both because one is not enough. It is the latter two that I will criticize. Most of the time, we are blinded by the fact that when we seek medical help we put our hope in medicine. We make medicine the god who can heal us. Yes, we might believe that there is God but we really think that it is medical science who cures us. We simply reduce God to a metaphor of healing power. We do not really trust that God can work miracles and heal diseases. Worse, like the second case, we might indeed be praying that God will heal us. But in case he does not, we hope that medicine will step up and pick up the slack. Sad but true. Now, when we ourselves are faced in a situation similar to that of Dr. Montgomery, to whom will we pray?

Horton Hears a Who

2008-12-22T08:16:00.000-08:00

This movie has a lot of theological meanings. It challenges the popular notion to "see is to believe." It gives a strong case of how to describe faith in a very simplistic way. Simply because one cannot see a thing does not mean something does not exist. Horton strongly believes there are living beings in the speck although he cannot see them.
It also gives a strong illustration of faith. Horton holds on to his belief despite costing him to be banished from his society. He was persecuted. It will even cost him his life as the society clamored for him to give up his belief.
It also challenges the human arrogance that we are alon in this universe. In a sense, it adheres both to the idea that there could be other living beings other than us and there could be a greater being than us. This is what makes the movie interseting, Horton plays the powerful and bigger being that "holds the world in His hand."
Another interesting metaphor is the "tiny little voice" that most people refer to. For most, it could be our conscience. For Christians, it could be God. Well, God is not a tiny voice, so one can also see the metaphor of a Supreme Being talking from the heavens with a great powerful voice.
And then there is the ultimate sacrifice that Horton did to save the whole world - of the Whos. Sounds familiar? Christ came to save the world from the power of sin and death. Horton saves the world of the Who from instability and sure death.
This Christmas, this kind of movies is nice and a good starting point for children and youth to have a theological discussion.

Scared of the Dark

2008-11-20T06:35:00.000-08:00

The last episode of Grey's Anatomy deals with our fears of being alone in the dark. When we were children we were scared of monsters. When we grow older our monsters are different - self-doubt, loneliniess and regret, but we are still scared of the dark. We are scared because we feel we are all alone. The darkness that we are in are the challenges and difficulties of our life. When we are sick or one of our beloved is seriously ill. When we are beset with financial difficulties. When we have estranged relationships with our friends and families. When we are faced with pressure from work, school or play. Everyday there is darkness in this broken world. We feel scared in the dark. But as Christians, we have the courage to deal with the darkness in this broken world. We know that God is with us. In our most trying times, the body of Christ - the church, comforts us. Family and friends are there to share with us the love of Jesus Christ. Even in the darkest moment of our life - God is there because God is still Lord of all - even in the dark. Gods light shines brighter than any darkness that makes us scared. And so as Christians who always put our faith and hope to the promise of Christ, we are not scared. For God is with us. Nighttime isn't so scary because we realize we are not all alone in the dark.

The Gift of Faith

2008-11-14T12:38:00.000-08:00

In Grey's Anatomy this week, they introduced a couple of new characters. But what interested me was the belief of the Navajo patient that they had. The patient had beliefs that his cardio thoracic surgeon did not necessarily agree with. The patient had a heterotopic heart transplant 6 years ago, meaning another heart was put to help his own heart to work. Now he wants the "piggy-backed" heart removed because he claims that the ghost of the person who owns the heart is haunting him and he wants the heart back so they can get rid of it ritually. Here's the deal, the cardio-thoracic surgeon does not agree with his belief but rather insists on adhering to the medical protocol of throwing the heart into medical waste.

What we see here is an interplay of two belief systems, science and religion. I love what the Navajo patient replied to his doctor when they told him that she doesn't have beliefs but only adhere to rules. The Navajo patient reminded him that adhering to rules, thinking logically and scientifically is a belief in Science. He, the Navajo patient, believes in more than that - more than what Science can explain and demand.
The patient is telling us that people may have different beliefs and we adhere to that. This phrases are familiar - "If you believe that, fine. This is what I believe. This is what I do. I make my mind on what I believe."

For us Christians, we always talk about what we believe in. We also talk about how our belief in God defines our faith. Our belief equals our faith. We think that our belief, our faith, is our own action. We forget that faith is a gift from God. We do not make our own faith, thus whatever we believe in is something that was given to us and not out of our own doing or thinking. It is not even by our own choice. Our Christian beliefs are informed by the faith that was given to us by God. So what do you believe in?

Re-integration

2008-11-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

The last episode focused on Dr. Hunt who just came from a tour in Iraq. He comes back to the "real" world and struggles to integrate himself back. Seattle Grace Hospital is a little community that has their own rules and social norms that medical practitioners adhere to. Because Dr Hunt served for several years in the desert - in the wild, he is an outsider to the Seattle Grace community. He is the only person left from his unit and ever since he have lost the ability to relate and interact with people. So he tries hard to be part of the society again by becoming an ER doc at Seattle Grace. But the renowned and world famous surgeons of the hospital despise the outsider because he is radical, different and wild.

The plot of this story reminds me of the leper whom Jesus healed (Matt 8:2; Mark 1:40). Lepers are viewed as unclean and thus shunned by the society so they become marginalized. In order for them to be accepted by the society again, the priest must declare them clean and fit to be part of the society. So when Jesus heals the leper and tells him to show himself to the priest, Jesus does not only want to cure his physical illness but also to integrate him back to the society. Jesus always emphasizes the human need for relationship and community. As Christians, we are called to love our neighbors... even our enemies - those despised. Christians are called to have reconcile our division with the marginalized and the unwanted. Remember, Jesus dined and related with the despised taxpayers, the sinners, the prostitutes, the poor, the sick and all who have been pushed to the edges by the society. Christian communities are called to be an alternative reality where everybody can be embraced, reconciled and integrated. Sometimes, we might be Dr. Hunt - the leper that Jesus have healed.

"I have a dream..."

2008-10-04T10:34:00.000-07:00

"I have a dream... that the ER will be full..." uttered Dr. Bailey. And Dr. Cristina seconded. This was part of the opening scene in the season 5 premier of Grey's Anatomy.

Of course, the doctors were alluding to Martin Luther King's famous visionary speech in Washinton. King's dream was about social unity, equality, reconciliation - in essence a vision towards a better community. On the otherhand, Dr. Bailey's vision involves an emergency room filled with trauma patients - probably from road accidents, assault, and any other traumatic incidents that one can imagine. Why this dream? Doctors like Bailey and Cristina, at least those who wants to further their careers, dream of being able to practice their craft of healing and one can only practice it if there are patients to attend to. I have to say, most "normal" doctors do think this way - to have more patients to attend to. For whatever reasons these doctors can think of - more patients, more income; or more patients, more oppurtunity to improve skill; more patients, more able to help people, they all hope that they will have more patients. Is there something good about this? Or is it all bad? Is a doctor wanting more patients for herself equal to wanting more sick people? Now, the idealist intern might probably will think otherwise, because more patients just mean more work to do. Either the intern is lazy or very hopeful that no more bad things will happen to other people, their thought is far from the reality of the "normal" doctors. What am I trying to say here? The sad reality that most doctors today look at the patients as no more than objects of their crafts and less as humans. Worst, doctors may just see the trauma, the illness, separate from the person. Even worst, patients may just be mere charts. But for a Christian physician, its all different.

Christianity teaches us that humans are the image of God and therefore we should treat all humans - ALL, as sacredly as we can. Not because humans have life but because of the fact that they are humans (and not animals) and made them "just a little lower than angels (Psalms 8:5)."

Now, is it proper for doctors then to dream of people to get sick? Or does the doctor not necessarily hopes that more people will meet accidents but rather hopes that whoever meets an accident may come into her care? This is why a Christian docotr can resonate King's words. Because she knows she is a Christian and she knows that God will use her to be God's vessel of healing. And so she hopes that these trauma patients and their families who are hurting and broken may encounter God's reconciling love through her. And so the Christian doctor prays, "I have a dream..."

Suffering: A Case Study

2008-09-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

I am doing an integrated study of theology and medicine. Below is a working draft of my efforts.
- author
******************************

Introduction
Suffering has been in the human condition since one can remember. People complain about suffering and seek comfort and healing for it. The physician is always in the picture when healing for suffering is the agenda. I am writing this paper for the Christian physician. This is to help the Christian physician minister to the patient. The Christian physician is not just treating the disease when he/she allows himself/herself to be a vessel of Gods healing in this world. The Christian physician brings healing just as Jesus Christ came to heal those who were sick. My goal for this essay is to give a Christian perspective in the ministry of healing that Christian physicians might find themselves. This is a descriptive essay of three different perspectives on the origin of suffering. I will draw the first perspective from the work of Jeane Claude–Larchet, Theology of Illness, where he subscribes to the classic Christian understanding that suffering is a consequence of Original Sin. Next, I will highlight the argument of Eric Cassell in The Nature of Suffering and The Goals of Medicine, where he says that suffering comes from all the components of a person which includes the physical, spiritual and even the social. The third perspective I will draw is from Douglas John Hall’s book, God and Human Suffering, where he argues that suffering is inherent to our created nature.
The physician starts healing the patient by investigating about the chief complaint of the patient. In this case, the chief complaint of the patient is suffering. The investigation begins by probing into the history of the present illness. This is the classical medical approach and I would like to use this method so that the Christian physician still approaches the patient like he/she used to. This approach may seem illogical if I am trying to argue about a renewal in how we do medicine but I believe it to be a practical approach. One cannot change an institution like medicine overnight and so I will look at this approach as a first step toward a change in medical care by offering a new perspective to the physician’s classical approach.

History of the Present Illness
The patient started to experience suffering when humanity disobeyed God and was expelled from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3). This is the classical Christian interpretation on the origin of suffering. The patristic have written that suffering came after the original fall of humanity. Jeane Claude-Larchet, writing about the theology of illness in his book of the same title turns to the patristic writings in describing the origin of suffering. Larchet quotes St. Maximus the Confessor when he said ‘“The misuse of his freedom of choice introduced into Adam susceptibility to punishment, corruptibility and mortality’(p26, Larchet).” In the same breath, St. Theophilus of Antioch notes “in his disobedience, man acquired fatigue, suffering and distress, and finally he fell into the power of death (p27, Larchet).” It is clear from the Patristic writings that early Christians understand suffering as caused by sin. This understanding of the origin of suffering has shifted over time. This will be apparent from the discussions I will offer below.

.... to be continued...

Grey's Anatomy

2008-09-23T15:32:00.000-07:00

A new season and new posts...

Wait till we get underway... Watch out for the upcoming posts....

Sailing Stormy Waters

2008-08-13T09:12:00.001-07:00

Have any of you ridden on a boat before? We are not talking about a yacht or a typical speedboat. We are talking about wooden, hand paddleboats about the length of one pew, and could seat a dozen people. Now imagine this small wooden boat sailing against the strong winds. If you are sailing against the direction of the wind, you are sure to meet rough waters and smashing waves. Now if you were in that small boat, sailing in the middle of the night, where everything around you is dark, you cannot see from afar and all you could hear is the smash of the waves against your boat, you might be wondering, “what am I doing here?” This boat may not be able to make it and might sink. Now, the disciples could be wishing many things at this time. I am thinking, they would have been wishing that they were on a bigger boat – big enough to comfort them that it will stand against the storm. They might be ready to jump ship if a bigger boat passes by. Or they could be focusing on different ways on how to save themselves from this storm.
Our gospel story is about the experience of the disciples during a storm. But this is not your ordinary storm. This is a story of the experience of the followers of Jesus, the early church, when they were facing storms – difficulties and trials. The Gospel of Matthew is a Gospel that gives importance to the role of the church. In fact, Matthew is the only Gospel that mentions the word “church” (as can be found in chapter 16:18 and 18:17). In our gospel story, Jesus commanded the disciple to ride the boat and go ahead of him. Among the early Christians, the boat is used as a symbol of the church of Christ. The boat full of disciples is the church that Jesus has commanded to go and set forth. The author of the Gospel of Matthew even reminds us what the church is about. In the last verse in the last chapter, Jesus commissioned his followers, which is essentially the early church, to continue his ministry here on earth. Jesus commanded the church to continue his ministry here on earth. Also in the Bible, the water has been used to symbolize trouble, difficulties, challenges and trials. Therefore, in our story today the boat sailing the rough waters reminds us of the church facing difficulties and challenges.
When I was doing mission work in the Philippines, I collaborated with a small church at the foot of the mountain. This small church faced many storms both literally and symbolically. Because the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,100 islands surrounded by a great body of water, it makes the Philippines very vulnerable to typhoons and storms. Actually, the Philippines is hit by an average of 20 typhoons a year. This small church is located in the Visayas, a region in the country that is constantly hit by typhoons. Every after a typhoon comes, they have to clean up the debris and fixed a part of the church. And, of course, there is the symbolic storm that they face challenges and trials in the life of the church. Because it is in the mountain, there are no paved roads. To get to the church, the pastor had to walk half a day for more than 7 kilometers and cross the river 13 times. Walking for 5 kilometers may not sound difficult but if you are doing it at the edge of a mountain cliff then it adds to the difficulty. But crossing the river is the more difficult part. The river has strong currents and it becomes more dangerous whenever there are typhoons. The water rises up within couple of minutes and it may sweep whoever is trying to cross the river.
Despite this difficulty, the pastor still never fails to serve the church every Sunday. What is more inspiring is the life of the church itself. The church is only composed of 15 people. And because all of them are tenants in the farm, they cannot support the church financially. Nevertheless, the church has a ministry of helping their immediate neighborhood. The church sponsors the Community Based Primary Health Care Program. The church organizes the people in the community to be trained in primary health care, the program also provides alternative livelihoods to families to increase their income and once a week, the church helps the children and some adults master their writing, reading and counting skills. One cannot imagine how this small church that cannot even pay their pastor’s salary, a small church with only a dozen or so members, a church with only makeshift benches as their pews and does not even have a pulpit, a church who recycles a used calendar to write their liturgy and hymns, this little church has a big impact to their immediate community. This small church did not worry about the challenges and the difficulties they encountered. They did not allow the problems they had to be a hindrance for their ministry. The church remained focus to Jesus and trusted him that Jesus will be with the church whenever they are facing challenges. They know Jesus is with them.
History tells us that the early church sailed in troubled waters; they faced many challenges and difficulties. They were persecuted for being Christians, they were killed because of their faith and so they had to go underground. Because of these, the church was just small. Yet many people joined and wanted to be Christians because they continued to do the ministry of Christ. They continued to serve other people, the needy, the helpless, the sick and the hungry. Amidst these challenges and problems, they have not lost focus in Jesus Christ.
The experience of the church before is the same reality we are experiencing today. The Church today is facing many challenges and difficulties. In general, terms, one of the challenges the church is facing is dwindling membership. Here in the US, the United Methodist News System reports that “membership has decreased by 20% since 1973.” Because of this, many United Methodist churches across the nation have closed or merged causing a 12.4% decline in the number of UMCes in the US. I am told that the church attendance here have dropped over the years. Indeed, we must address that issue. What are the other challenges and difficulties that our church is facing. The UMC report tells us that most churches have an average age of 57 and above. I can see that this is true here in this church. It is not a problem if your are 57 or above. However, if the 57 and below are not present in our church, then that is discouraging. Another difficulty in the church is when we have lost more people in the church than welcoming new members in. This becomes more depressing when we lost church members through death. For pastors, for me, and for most people this is a sad and depressing reality. In the church, there are different individuals and different personalities. What is more heartbreaking is when these differences create animosity that leads other people to leave the church. Our depression and the problems we are facing have sometimes left us weak and feeble. We lost focus of our purpose as a church. We no longer participate in the church ministry. Sometimes, our ministry is no longer directed to the unchurched, to the needy and the helpless. We lost our focus because sometimes we concern too much about troubleshooting the difficulties and trials. The church has now shifted to a survival mode in trying to address its own need. We have lost focus in Jesus – in continuing the ministry of Jesus in helping other people instead of ourselves. We have become concerned of our need instead of what others need. We should focus our faith in Jesus or we might sink like Peter.
The challenges and the difficulties our church now are facing are true. Yes, we might be dwindling in number, we might be an aging congregation, we might be too weak physically, we might be lagging financially, we might be facing one or two more difficulties, our boat may be facing strong winds and rough waters but the good news my brothers and sisters is that Jesus is walking towards us. Jesus is walking in the water, Jesus is above the water and that assures us that our boat will not sink. Jesus promised to the church in chapter 28:20, that he will be with us. Because Jesus is with us, we need not worry, we will also be above the troubled waters… we will be above these problems and challenges we face. We need not worry about them. We need only to refocus ourselves to Jesus and bring back his ministry to the world; bring back Christ ministry to the children, bring back his ministry to the youth, let us bring back his ministry to those in our immediate community, let us bring back his ministry to the strangers, to the immigrants, to the needy, to the helpless, the sick, those in prison, and those who are homeless.
That small United Methodist Church in the Visayas is a testament that Christ is sailing with us and keeping us afloat despite the problems we encounter. Christ was with the early church before; his promise is that he will be with us also even now. Let us not worry about the strong winds and the battering waves because Christ is with us. Rather, let us continue to sail just as Christ has commanded the church to continue his ministry here on earth. Let us focus ourselves in Christ and witness how he will calm the roaring winds and the smashing waters that we may also declare, “Truly, Jesus is the son of God.”
In the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Blessing by Giving

2008-08-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

The story of the feeding of the five thousand is always a favorite Sunday School lesson. I remember my Sunday School teacher told us that the story was about sharing your blessings. And the one who showed to everybody there and to all of us now how to share is a little child. A child represents something that is small or insignificant. Sometimes that is how we feel with ourselves. We think that we are just a child who is insiginificant to anything. We feel that we are invaluable to the church. We may be small like a child but we are significant to God. If we share ourselves, our time, our treasure and our talents to God, then God will make us a blessing. The child knew he had five loaves of bread and two fish, but he knew it will not benefit the five thousand people with him. He only became a blessing after he offered what little he had to Jesus. It was Jesus who blessed the little food he had that the miracle of feeding five thousand people happened.
As young people, we think that we are insignificant to the church because we had little to offer. We do not give because we think it is too insignifciant to be of use. It may be true that we cannot share millions or thousands of dollars as our offering, or we may not be able to dedicate a full five days of volunteering in the church, or we may not have the talent to play the church music, but it is not an excuse that we do not share anything at all. God gave all of us blessings that we also must properly give back whatever is due to God. The tithes we offer may not be as big like that of a millionaire but if it is what is due to God and we offer it to God then God will multiply it for us. God will use it to be a blessing to a multitude. The talent of setting up the musical instruments and sound system may not be the same as playing the musical instruments but people will be blessed if we offer these talents to God. We may not have the same amount of time to devote to church like our church worker does, but our dedication to spare some time to always bring the kids for their Saturday activity will be a blessing to someone’s life. The bottom line is that the little things in our lives will always be little until we offer it to God for God’s kingdom building. It is God who graciously multiplies whatever little time, treasure or talent we offer. The five loaves of bread and two fish that we have will be a blessing to five thousand people if we offer and give it to God.

Keeping Healthy

2008-07-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Most of us are always conscious of our health. We all don’t want to get sick. Whenever we are not feeling well, we have headache, fever, or more serious illnesses, we take medicines that will help us feel better. It is good that we have access to medicines that help us get rid of the harmful elements in our bodies that make us sick. But, what about our Christian well-being? Everyday we encounter temptations in this world that leads us to sin. What medicine can help our bodies get rid of the poisons of sins? Gregory of Nyssa, one of the early Christian teachers, described the Holy Eucharist as a medicine. The Holy Eucharist, or what we commonly call the Communion, is a medicine that counters the poisonous effect of sin, which is death. He said that the Holy Eucharist is an antidote that heals us from the poisonous effect of sin. Everyday, in our work, in our school, in our offices we are tempted to commit sin. Because of these temptations, our thoughts, words and deeds becomes an act of disobedience to God – we sin. Sin poisons our Christian well-being. We need an antidote against this poison. The antidote must be something that has power to overcome sin and death. That antidote is, of course, the body and blood of Christ. This becomes the antidote because the body and blood of Christ overcame death when he resurrected from the dead after three days. That body and blood of Christ is present in the elements of the Holy Eucharist. Remember, Jesus said, “Eat this bread for this is my body… drink from this cup for this is my blood…” Thus, partaking in the Holy Eucharist allows our body to assimilate the “healing effect” of the body and blood of Christ. Through the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, we receive the outward sign of the inward grace from God. When we drink from the cup and partake of the bread, we are actually receiving the grace from God and the power that gets rid of the poisons of sin in our bodies. Isn’t that great? We actually have a medicine that keeps our Christian well-being healthy. And wouldn’t our bodies be more healthier when we get rid of the poisons of sins frequently? Wouldn’t we be healthier if we receive God’s grace through the Holy Eucharist more often? After all, Jesus invited us to do it frequently when he told us to drink from the cup of the new covenant, “Do this as often as you drink, in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:25)”

Radical Hospitality

2008-06-27T11:43:00.001-07:00

We were tired after a whole day of conferencing. It was already late at night and we were so exhausted; we feel so weak, our stomach cries out for food and our throats are thirsting for water. So, we decided to drop by at an omelet and coffee shop before heading to our hotel. As we entered the restaurant, the server warmly greeted us with her vibrant smile. Her name is Betty and she made us feel like we are very much welcome in that place. Her energetic smile was full of life it was contagious. I could not help but smile back at her. She immediately offered us water and politely asked if we needed anything else. I thought she was sincerely doing her job. More than that, I could sense her honest hospitality. She even went out of her way to prepare us some ice-cold drinks even if it was not in the menu. She knew we were strangers in the area and she wanted to show the best hospitality she could offer to all the newcomers around. We told her that we were United Methodists having conference at the area. With the snack we ate and with Betty’s hospitality I felt like I was being recharged and my weary body was regaining new energy. Her hospitality was something that reminded me of the hospitality Abraham showed to the three strangers who were walking in the middle of the day. Abraham knew that they were tired, hungry and thirty. He showed unconditional hospitality when he offered them the fattest calf, the finest bread and the best service. They were strangers to him but he treated them like they were his brothers and sisters. This is similar to what Jesus taught about welcoming a stranger. Jesus said in Matthew 10, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me… and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple -- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.” Jesus was teaching radical hospitality, the kind of hospitality that Betty showed to strangers like us. She was doing exactly what Jesus Christ was teaching his followers. I could only hope every Christian would show the same kind of hospitality. She did not only welcomed us that night but also invited us to come back. The next night, after another long day of conferencing, when our body was tired and we were all hungry, we knew where to go. When we were approaching the restaurant, outside was a big sign that reads “WELCOME United Methodist.”

Easter Son Rise

2008-03-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunrise:
Homily to be given on Easter Sunrise 2008 at RUMC in Durham.

We come today still wrapped in the silence of Good Friday, still wrapped in the silence that the words of Jesus left us, still wrapped in the silence of the night. This is the same darkness that the Easter story of John puts us in. Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of Jesus while it was still dark. The world around Mary is dark. Their expected king and savior is dead. The events that occurred left the followers of Jesus grieving, miserable and hopeless. Their world is in darkness. John’s Easter story fits us today because our world is also in darkness. We are wretched and miserable. We live in a world of grief, sadness and misery. We live in a miserable world of war, killings, hunger and poverty. Even in our community, the shadows of darkness hover above us. We know of horrible stories about a murdered college student in Chapel Hill and a graduate student in Duke. We know of the sad stories of misguided youth committing crimes. or some of you may be at a point in our lives that all we experience is sadness and grief. Dear friends and families are sick, dying or already went ahead of us. We are stressed in work, school and even in our homes. There is pain and suffering all around. Just like Mary Magdalene who was still sorrowful when she came to the tomb in the gloom of the night, our world and our lives are in darkness.

The story of John does not only give us a picture of a dark world. The characters show us that there is no reason to jump for joy in times of grief. When Peter and the “other disciple” heard the tomb was empty, they ran to the tomb to see. But there was no mention of any jump for joy between the two of them. And to emphasize the setting of the story of John, the author tells us that Mary Magdalene stood there weeping. When we are down and troubled, we could not sing Alleluia. We could only weep. In the silence of darkness, all we could hear is crying.We could only weep and cry in our wretched state. But the story of John do not end in darkness. For the gloom of the night is broken by that ray of sunlight. The silence is broken by the good news of Christ’s resurrection.

The story that begins in darkness does not end in darkness. There is a light that shines. As we come to this Easter worship with darkness around us, we will leave with the sun risen and the light scattered throughout. For indeed, the Son of God is risen and he has scattered light throughout the darkness of our lives. That is the good news my brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ is risen and alive and he lives forevermore. Darkness is illumined. The silence is broken. And our weeping is turned into singing alleluia. The risen Jesus Christ is our light. Jesus brings light into our dark world, he brings joy into our sad hearts, he brings hope in our despair and he gives us life after death.

John’s Easter story gives us the proper perspective of Easter. However many times we may encounter darkness in our lives, we do not despair for we know that the sun rises every morning, the Son of God conquered darkness and he will be our light. And because the risen Lord is alive forevermore, Easter do not only need to happen once a year. The risen Christ will always be our light. We no longer fear darkness, we no longer fear silence, we no longer weep because we know that whenever there is darkness in our lives, there will be Easter. We can always sing alleluia for Christ will always be our light. Know that even in darkness, Easter will happen. And the risen Christ will always illumine our world, our homes and our lives. And even in darkness we can sing Alleluia, Alleluia Christ is risen!

In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spririt. Amen.

Itinerant Ministry

2008-03-21T00:19:00.000-07:00

Traveling ministry is the trademark of the Methodists. Yet many pastors grumble about itinerating.

In Southern Philippines, one of the biggest challenge for Methodists is the lack of ordained elders. This is the same problem that the early Methodists encountered - not enough number of priests to minister the word and the sacrament. Well, there is always the local pastor who preaches every Sunday (and may have the special authority to officiate the Lord's Supper) but this does not really solve the problem.

Yet, this is not really a problem. This is an occasion to exercise the Methodist trademark of a travelling ministry. The local pastor can provide the pastoral duties on the local congregation that they may regularly receive grace through the means of reading the scriptures, prayer and fellowship. Just like in the early Methodist movement, they receive the sacraments when the elders come to their church. And just like the travelling preachers, these elders should bring the fire of God's word to revitalize the people.

The elders should be thankful for being set aside to do God's work. When they travel, they evangelize. They offer God's grace to the many congregations that they go to. They reawaken the souls of those slumping to sleep. They feed the hungry and thirsty souls and they help people grow in their faith.

To be a Methodist pastor is to be in a travelling ministry. A ministry geared for evangelism. A ministry that made Methodism grew then. Isn't that a promise we can see if Methodists pastors embrace whole heartedly the traveling ministry?

What would Jesus do?

2008-03-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

A Sermon preached to my fellow seminarians at Duke Divinity School last March 4, 2008
Text: 1 Peter 2: 19-25

For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. 20If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. 21For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.
22‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
23When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

It is the season of Lent, a time for us to journey with Jesus, a time to follow the steps of Christ. This is a time for us to reflect on ourselves, and allow God to transform us, to right our wrongs, to correct our mistakes and to restore our broken relationship with God, that we may be shaped more closely into Christ likeness.
As good and faithful Christians, we want to be like Jesus. We want to think like him, we want to act like him and we want to be like him. And so, in everyday of our lives, when we have decisions to make, when we are caught up in tight situations, when we do not know what to do, we pause for a moment, look at our wrist and ask, “What would Jesus do?”
Today’s passage from the scriptures is a letter to the early Christians telling them what Jesus would do if he were in their situation. The early Christians at that time were being persecuted, maligned and criticized. They were being accused of being disobedient to the civil authorities and disrespectful of the social order. Our letter sender, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ instructs the early Christians to look up to Jesus as their example and that they may do what Jesus would do.
Our letter sender tells the early Christians to endure their sufferings because Christ also suffered, setting this as an example for Christians to follow. But the letter sender is also careful to remind them that they can endure their suffering because they are doing what is right, they are doing what is good and pleasing in the eyes of God.
Our letter sender tells the early Christians that they are doing what is right if they obey those who are in authority. They commit no sin if they respect their masters. The premise here is that God ordained the structures of order and authority in the world. Although they submit to the authority, they are slaves only of God, for they are subject to earthly masters only in account to God. Christians must therefore conduct themselves in a way that they won’t be criticized as disobeying authority. But our letter sender reminds them that even if they are good and faithful Christians they may still be subjected to hostilities from unrighteous people. And if that happens they must always look to Jesus as their example, and endure the sufferings as Jesus endured them.
For us Christians today, we may not face the same hostilities and persecutions the early Christians did. But that does not mean we are exempt from the difficulties and challenges of life. We still face difficulties and problems. And our letter sender reminds us to look up to Jesus as our example. And so we look at our wrist and ask, “What would Jesus do?”
As Christians of today, we face difficulties and challenges from this world. We are always tempted to the dark ways of the world. We are tempted not to love our neighbors, not to forgive our enemies, to threaten to those who hurt us and to retaliate to those who abuse us. These temptations are the difficulties and challenges that we suffer. As seminary students, we face the challenges of school. No, I’m not talking about the midterm exams on Thursday or the ethics paper deadline. For most of us here, we face the bigger challenge of juggling schoolwork and family, the challenge of meeting our financial needs, and even the vocational challenge of where we are headed after graduation. And so in the face of these challenges we ask, “what would Jesus do?”
What Jesus did was to endure the sufferings that he faced. What Jesus did when he suffered was not to retaliate, not to threaten but to continue trusting in God. Therefore, with Christ as our example, we can also endure the challenges that we face. If Jesus endured cruelties to him, then we can also endure the difficulties that confront us, the problems that we encounter and the trials that come our way. Because we know Jesus endured in his passion the trials, pain and suffering we know through his example that we can also endure our difficulties.
But why do we need to know what Jesus would do? What does the example of Christ mean for us any way? The word “example” in Greek is hupogrammos. It means an underwriting or copy for imitation. The more literal interpretation for this Greek word is a pattern that one can trace. This would be similar to a figure traced by a dotted line in a children’s workbook; the trace forms a figure if connected. Jesus is like the dotted line and we follow his example by connecting the dots together. The example provided by Christ involves an outline of behavior or moral guidelines. Christ’s example includes innocent behavior, suffering without retaliation, and commitment to God’s will in the passion and obedience. The example of Christ is an assurance for us Christians that we are able to do things in the name of Christ Jesus.
The French theologian, Peter Abelard, explains to us the moral example theory of the suffering, death and resurrection of Christ. Abelard explains that Christ’s suffering shows us how much God loves us and therefore inspires us to be more loving and lead better lives. But our letter sender does not only present the suffering of Christ as just an example. He is telling us that Christ is more than just our example and model.
The danger of wanting only to know of what Jesus would do – of just looking at the life and suffering of Jesus as a model, is that it makes Jesus merely a model rather than emphasize what the work of Christ accomplishes for our salvation. This is the reason why our letter sender emphasizes both the example of Christ and the saving work of his suffering. Our letter sender tells us that the suffering of Christ is not just a model but also a work that transforms us.
Models can only influence our behaviors. The media feeds us with different models that influences and shapes our character. As kids growing up, our role models are Superman, Batman, Spiderman or Barbie. When we grew wiser and became teenagers, our role model became Michael Jordan, Dan Marino or Tiger Woods. Thus, we ask ourselves, “What would Batman do? Or what would Barbie do? Or what would Jordan do?” we look up to these people as our models and they influence and shape our character. So we cannot just ask ourselves “What would Jesus do?” and look up to his example because Jesus is not simply a model that influences us. Jesus transforms us.
How does Jesus transform us? Irenaeus describes our transformation as the recapitulation of our sins. Christ undoes the sin of Adam and humanity. For Gregory of Nyssa, our humanity is transformed “because Jesus, who is divine, became human and so humanity was united to God.” Humanity is now “deified.” For Karl Barth, Jesus transforms us by making our utter “no” into a resounding “yes.” This is what our letter sender is telling us, that Christ is not just our example but also our Lord and Savior. That is the good news, that in the suffering of Christ, in his example, he transforms us into better Christians.
Our letter sender wants to remind the Christians of his times and us today, that in the suffering of Christ we are transformed. Once we were straying sheep, but now have returned to our Shepherd. When we experience difficulties and challenges we remember how Jesus transformed us. In our suffering and difficulties, we are given the opportunity to be transformed. We are given the chance to move closer to Christian perfection. In our suffering, pain and misery, do not just think of what Jesus would do but rather be reminded that this is a moment Jesus Christ transforms us into his likeness. That Christ is shaping us into Christian perfection. So, my brothers and sisters, in this time of Lent, let us allow the example of Christ to transform us. For Christ bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might live for righteousness. For by his wounds we have been healed.

"Go, wash in the pool of Siloam!'

2008-03-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

“Go, wash in the pool Siloam”
A Sermon Preached at Reconciliation UMC, a multicultural church, last March 2, 2008

This Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Lent. The Lenten season is a way for us to get ready, it is a time for us to reflect on ourselves, to reflect on our sins, our mistakes and shortcomings and allow God to transforms us. But my question for you this morning is, have we allowed God to transform us? Are we open to God’s transforming power? Are we willing to participate in our healing? Have we allowed Jesus to restore our sight?
Today’s reading challenges us to answer these questions. (Read from John 9:1-41).
Let us pray. (Oremos) May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, our rock and our redeemer.
We live in a world of darkness. Just like the blind man in the story where everything he sees is dark, everything around us is dark too. The dark world that we live in is full hatred, anger, indifference, discrimination, oppression and injustice. We are blinded by this darkness of the world. In our blindness, we conform our lives to the darkness of this world. Our actions and lifestyles are works that belong to darkness. When we talk about darkness in the world, we think of war, corruption, hunger and poverty. But what about apathy, not sharing with the poor, not forgiving enemies, not caring for the homeless and the sick, not standing up for what is right, not praying for others, not responsive to the sick, ungratefulness for blessings, not giving offerings, not praying devotions, not consistent in attending worship? Aren’t these things belong to darkness?
The good news, my brothers and sisters, it is in this darkness that God’s love is shown. It is in blindness that God’s glory is revealed. It is in our broken lives that God’s power is bared. God offers a new life by sending Jesus Christ. Jesus says in verse 5, “I am the light of the world.” God brings light to a world of darkness and offers to transform and change our ways. The healing of the blind man is Gods transforming grace. Just as Jesus heals the blind man, so can Jesus heal our blindness. Just as Jesus transformed his blindness into sight, so can Jesus transform our wrongdoings and sinful ways. God reveals his glory through Jesus Christ who transform us through the healing that Jesus brings.
Let us look closer at the miraculous healing that happened to the blind man. The healing involves two things: first, Jesus anointing the blind man’s eye with mud and second, the blind man’s obedience to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” If we think about this, the blind man could have refused to go to the pool, he could have refused to open up to this transforming and healing power of God. He could have chosen to remain blind. Isn’t that intriguing?
What does these two components of healing mean? It means we are called to participate. John Wesley always emphasizes that humans must respond to God’s grace. After all, faith and good works always go together. If we read closely, Jesus took the first step in the healing. Jesus spat on the ground, made mud and spread it on the blind man’s eye. It was Jesus who took the first move. Even more interesting, the blind man never asked to be healed. He never called out to Jesus to heal him. He was unlike the other people that Jesus cured and healed, sick people usually came to Jesus, they work their way through large crowds just to get near him, people even cried to Jesus for healing, or they would grab his cloak just like that woman with the issue of blood. No! This blind man was just there sitting outside the synagogue and Jesus took the first step to heal him. Although Jesus did not ask the blind man if he wanted healing, he did ask the blind man to participate.
In my experience as a medical doctor, patients always participate in their healing. The doctor can only do so much anyway. The patients needs to participate willingly starting from the medical exams up to the rehabilitation. The blind man did that. The blind man participated in his healing. Although Jesus took the first step, the healing was never forced to the blind man. After Jesus made mud with his saliva and anointed it to the blind man’s eyes, he said to the man, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” and he obeyed.
Why did Jesus instructed the blind man to go wash his eyes into the river Siloam? The pool Siloam is supplied from mount Zion, so the waters of Siloam are the waters of the sanctuary. The water is holy, Jesus was sending the man to go to a holy place. More than that, Siloam means sent. In other chapters in John, Jesus refers to himself as the sent of God. Jesus is the one Sent by God. So when Jesus was instructing the blind man to go to the pool Siloam, Jesus was instructing him to come to Jesus himself. When the blind man went to wash his eyes, he was going to Jesus for healing. All throughout, it was only Jesus at work in the healing of the blind man. But it is important to note that the blind man opened himself and allowed the healing. The blind man received sight in his obedience to God. The blind man opened himself to God’s transforming power. He accepted God’s offer for healing and transformation.
God calls us to “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” and God is waiting for us to respond. It is not an accident that in most part of the narrative, from verses 8 to 35, Jesus is not mentioned in the narrative. This is because the author of John highlights for us the different human responses to God’s healing, restoring and transforming power. The neighbors could not believe the miraculous healing. The blind man’s parents were in fear and did not want to be associated or even be asked about the healing. And the Pharisees, yes, those Pharisees, bless their hearts, remember that they doubted the blind man’s healing. When the Pharisees heard about this healing, they called the blind man to question him. In verse 18, it says that the Pharisees would not believe that he was healed. More than that they were appalled that it was done during Sabbath. Who in their right mind would cure a blind man when everybody knows that no one is allowed to work during Sabbath. Definitely, someone who breaks this law of God is not a man from God, and so the Pharisees judged that Jesus who healed the blind man on a Sabbath is not a man from God. The Pharisees would not acknowledge God’s healing and transforming power. They would not acknowledge and accept that Jesus could heal a blind man and transform blindness into sight. They would not accept the transformation of the blind man, and they would not allow this miraculous event to change their attitude towards Christ. They rejected that Jesus is a man from God. In verse 27 and 28, the Pharisees did not want even to be called disciples of Jesus and instead reviled the blind man for asking them that.
Sometimes we are like the Pharisees. The Pharisees are supposedly the good, the righteous, the educated, the church going, mission oriented, gift giving, and religious people. They are somebody like us. they think like we think. We think that we are already church-going people and so we are already good. We think that we no longer need to be transformed. We are already Christians and so that’s it. We think we no longer need God’s grace to continue to move on to a Christ-like perfection. We think we no longer need to change our ways. We think we no longer need to improve our prayer habits. We think we no longer need to read the Bible daily. We think we do not need to fast at least once a week. We think we no longer need to go to Bible study. We think we no longer need to go to Sunday school. We think we no longer need God’s sanctifying grace. Because we think we are already good and that we don’t need to be transformed by God’s grace. We are like the Pharisees.
Why can’t we be like the blind man? The blind man is just that, blind. He has no pretensions. He is disabled, he needs help, he is not learned like the Pharisees, he is not educated, he do not know anything, he do not know the law and that he do not even know Jesus. But he knows he is blind and he knows he needs help. Unlike the Pharisee, the blind man knows his weakness. And when Jesus came up to him to offer him healing by anointing his eyes with mud and told him to wash his eyes, he readily accepted and went to wash his eyes that he may see. Now notice this, he did not know Christ before but when he experienced the healing power of Christ he recognized that Jesus was a man from God. When Jesus asked him if he believed in the Son of Man he said in verse 38, “Lord, I believe” and he worshipped Jesus.
God is waiting for our response. What is our response? For we are judged by our response, God judges us if we sin or not according to our rejection or acceptance – if we recognize or not the work of God. Jesus came to judge. In verse 39, Jesus said, ‘I came into this world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.’ Jesus judges our sin. But sin here for the author of John, is not a moral category about behavior. Sin is not disobedience to the law, as the Pharisees suggest. Jesus even disregards the common Jewish understanding of the relationship between sin and physical illness as implied by the disciples question to him. Jesus judges according to our response, if we are open to receiving God’s grace or not. Sin according to John is committed if one rejects the revelation of God in Christ, sin is committed in refusing to open oneself to God’s grace, sin is committed in rejecting the transformation of our lives, sin is rejecting the restoration of our broken relationship with Christ.
In this season of Lent, Jesus is transforming us and changing us. Are we like the blind man or the Pharisee? Do we recognize our blindness? Do we acknowledge God’s transforming power? Do we accept the restoration of our relationship with Christ? Later, we will be invited to dine in God’s table. There will also be an opportunity for us to restore our brokenness through the anointing of oil. The Good News is God has already taken the first step of transforming us, restoring our sight and healing our blindness. Respond to Christ’s instruction to “Go, wash in the pool Siloam!”

Reconciliation

2008-01-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

The Gospel is found in @ Corinthians 5: 18. The same is the verse that my home church uses as its missional statement. But what does it mean for us to be reconciled? Reconciled with whom? Are we living the scriptural context or a diferent context? Are we living the mission stetment or a different meaning of the statment?

When I was asked to give a talk about the mission statement and the scripture, I was surprised at the difference of what I was taught early on. It was different from what the scripture was saing? Why? Here's why...

Theology of Grey's: Doctor and Uncle

2007-10-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

Chief of Hospital, Dr. Richard, was torn between being an uncle and a doctor. He had a niece, Camille, who had a metastatic ovarian cancer that presents with an esophageal tumor blocking her airway. She can either undergo experimental chemotherapy and have it surgically removed then live a longer but suffer a complicated, painful and difficult life or choose to forego the treatment plan and live a stress-free, painless life for several weeks before she dies. Her family members are begging her to choose experimental chemotherapy and rare surgical operations because their "world is better with her (Camille) around." But Camille wants to go because she is "so so tired," and just want to live a short but happy life then let the natural consequence of life take its course. Adele, Dr. Richard's wife, begs him to convince their neice to choose treatment. And so, Dr. Richard tells Camille... "as your Uncle, I am begging you to take it (the medical option)... even if there's just a slim hope of survival... take that choice... but as your doctor, I will do whatever your decision will be..." She wanted to go home, Dr. Richard sent her home.

Here is the theology of Christian ethics that most people do not understand. In a life and death situation, we want life. But what is life? Is it just breathing 20 cycles per minute and having a heart pump 60 beats per minute? Even though the person is bed-ridden, socially non-functional and kept physiologically viable by a life support? Is that still life? Here is what Christianity teaches us. God became human in Jesus Christ to give life and have it abundantly. Not just to have life... but have it abundantly. When Jesus healed the sick, made the blind see, the lame walk and the dead come back to life... Jesus gave them life again, a life they can live abundantly. When Jesus died on the cross... Jesus gave us life by defeating the power of sin that prevents us to live an abundant life with God. That's life, an abundant life! That's the kind of life that doctors are ethically called to offer in their healing ministry.

Yes, doctors are God's instrument to give us an abundant life. Adele, Dr. Richard's wife, did not understand that "calling" for doctors. She did not know what it means to be a doctor, a doctor that God uses to give life. Adele said to Dr. Richard, "I thought you were a doctor, I thought being a doctor was about saving lives...I'm disappointed with you." What Adele did not realize is that as a doctor, Dr. Richard gave her niece a chance to live an abundant life.

Theology of Grey's Anatomy

2007-10-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was watching Grey's and it just struck me how the media is feeding all these poor principles in life, if not poor theology. I never criticized a tv series because I usually just watch and enjoy them. Never letting it bother or affect my emotions, perspective in life or things like that. But in reality, and psychological and sociological studies prove, TV series really affect us. So, what are some of these poor principles in life - poor theologies that they offer? This week's episode on Grey was talking about forgiveness. I was agreeing at first with their idea about forgiveness, that if someone commit a mistake then you forgive. She was almost making sense to me when she explained that in life you are going to get hurt and there is only one thing to be done, forgive. Then she concluded in the end that to forgive and forget... the advice we usually get, is good but not practical. Now, I thought about that for a moment and asked when was forgiving a practical matter? Then I realized that for non-Christians they thought it was a choice they had to make. It's either they forgive or not. That's one problematic view media is giving. But for us Christians, we are commanded to forgive. We are told to forgive our brothers and sisters as many times as they did us wrong. That is what is commanded of us, not merely suggested for us to do. It is important to note however, that we can forgive because we never hate the person.

We hate the wrong act committed against us, but never the person. This is an important thing to consider. I realized this when Grey continued in her explanation "When someone hurts us we want to hurt them back. When someone wrongs us, we want to be right." Grey's perspective suggest that we want to exact vengeance to another person and want to hurt them too. Why? Because her non-Christian anthropological understanding of humanity did not separate "action" from the humanity of the person. Of course, the act was done by the person but we must understand why. The wrong done by the person is a product of a sinful state. But all humanity is originally good. If we never separate the wrong act by a person then we will never see the goodness inate in them. We will always see the wrong done to us. And we will never learn to forgive another person.

But Grey redeemed herself by concluding that "without forgiveness, old wounds never heal. Without forgiveness, old scores are never settled. And the most we can hope for is that someday... well be lucky enough to forget." She is right. Without forgiving someone, the hurt is not healed and restored. But here, Grey is suggesting that if we cannot forgive then we could only hope to forget the pain caused to us. She may be right, that we might be able to forget the wrong done to us. But forgetting does not mean that the hurt done is healed, that the pain is eased or that the broken relationship was restored. Forgiveness still needs to be done. Even after years of forgetting, it is only by forgiving that all the hurt and brokenness is healed and restored. It is only by forgiving that we can truly forget.

Book Review: Asian Expressions of Christian Commitment

2007-10-09T20:36:00.000-07:00

Introduction:
Asian Expressions of Christian Commitment is an anthology of Asian theologians speaking about their Christian experience. The book is a collection of reflections by theologians who are doing practical theology – Asian theology. The book differs from other anthology on Asian theology for it does not have the big names of Asian theologians, thus offering a fresh insight on how other Asian theologians respond to their Christian commitments. The book tells of different stories based on the particular setting and situation where each theologian focuses his or her work. In all, it presents a collective picture of the Asian expression of their Christian commitments. The book presents the different concerns of Asian theologians. Despite their different themes, the book calls for the recognition of Asian theology as a practical theology.
The Asian Situation:
A critical analysis of the situation in Asia is the first step in doing Asian theology. The first section encapsulates the general situation of Asian countries. Asian countries just recently gained independence from foreign domination, generally from the West, and are striving to rebuild their nation. Yet the West still influences the social and economic structures of most Asian countries. Asian countries have a small percentage of elite and rich while a great number of the general population are poor.
The government structure which Asian countries adopt give power to the elite, while the masses become the minority. Asian countries adopt the consumerism of the West instead of focusing in their labor and agricultural assets. This buried the Asian countries in foreign debts, making the poor poorer and the rich richer.
From this situation, Christianity tries to find a place. This reality is the setting where my vocation as an Asian Christian calls me.
Christian Theology in Asia
Asian theology is a living theology – putting Christian faith in the situation, M.M. Thomas argues. It does not derive theology from a given situation but rather recognizes the presence of Christ in that situation and interprets it in the light of Christianity. This therefore calls for looking deeper into the situation. Since the laity is in the situation, the clergy must listen intently to their stories and articulate it to be able to come up with a living theology. This kind of theology may be partial but one theology could not cover the plentitude of Christ. Despite its different perspective, it is not heresy because it is in dialogue with the catholic and orthodox faith of the Church.
Although this approach of theology, as suggested by M.M. Thomas, is how most contextual theologians perceive Asian theology, I would like to paraphrase his words. I would like to understand that he meant to say that Asian theologians read a particular situation within the story of God’s covenant people, Israel. I believe he meant that the Asian situation is interpreted through the works and life of Christ instead of suggesting to rip Christ and Christianity from their historical significance and putting them in the Asian situation. Instead, we must put the Asian situation in the story of Christ. This for me is Asian theology, as F.J. Balasundaram argued in his essay Counter-signs of the Kingdom in Asia, for the Church to follow the work of the historical Jesus who walked in the midst of society. Asian theology understands the Asian situation within the story of Jesus.
As mentioned earlier, Balasundaram emphasized the importance of following the work of the historical Jesus to fulfill the prophetic mission of the church. The historical Jesus lived in the world denouncing the social structures that oppressed the people and called for living in the ideals of the Kingdom of God. The church must do likewise. The prophetic office of Asian Christianity is to preach the Kingdom of God (not of the church or denomination), work in the society, be the church of the poor and recognize that others are privileged to share in the inheritance of the kingdom.
Asian theology is an action-oriented theology. It understands a God who works amongst the people, and Christians must do likewise. Asian theology is inspired by Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Mark: “What is better to say to a paralytic? ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’”
Theology is not a personal thing, it is relational thus requires involvement and the community. Theology is acted, not thought. This is done by being involved in transforming the social ills – poverty, oppression, etc. As an aspiring Asian theologian, I am expected to work for this transformation to happen.
The Asian Church
Asian local churches must not be branches of Western churches. Even some Oriental churches are not of today’s Asian church. To be an Asian, the local church is to be a church for the poor. This is an eye opening truth for me. I realized that Western branch Asian churches are rich churches working for the poor, while authentic Asian churches are poor churches working with the poor.
Working amongst the poor puts the church in a political situation. The authority of the church does not come from the Bible or tradition but from the poor people who decides which (church or ideologies) mediated better the liberation of the poor. As Fr. A. Pieres wrote in his essay, “Remove the cross from the steeples and plant it once more in Calvary where the prophetic communities die victims of politics and religion (p.49).” The Asian church must be present in the reality of society.
Fr. A. Pieres suggests that only He who is radically poor is qualified to preach the kingdom and only those who are poor are disposed to receive it. Churches that have entered into Asian religiosity (monks) and Asian poor (peasants) can have authority to be the churches in Asia. Thus, Asian Christianity calls for total identification with the Asian monk and peasants who represent Asian religions and Asian politics.
Although I may not have followed the ascetic lives of the monks and have actually not lived a mendicant lifestyle, I totally agree with Fr. Pieres on the need for Asian theologians to immerse themselves with the Asians. This is why I believe it is important for me to work in the community. As a doctor and pastor, I should not sit and wait for those that need help. I must seek out, reach and live among the common people, to immerse myself with Asians and be in solidarity with them.
Asian Expressions
The book offered different Asian expressions of Christian commitment. It tells of the ways in which Asian theologians express their Christian faith in the context of their particular conditions. How an Indian Christian have to live with the reality of its economic poverty and do practical theology with such reality instead of thinking about the dogmas and doctrines is also presented in the book. It tells of the Korean Christians who have been oppressed for many years by tyrants and colonizers and now seek liberty from Minjung theology. It presents an expression of Filipino Christians who see in the poor people, who makes the biggest portion of the population, an eschatological promise of God’s kingdom. It gives a perspective of Christian Southeast Asian living in a Buddhist country that by loving, forgiving and understanding others, Christianity is not a religion of the West but a religion that loves all humanity. The book tells of the different concerns of each Asian culture and their response as Christians. It reminded me that Christian commitments can be expressed in different ways – even expressed in an Asian culture. Such diverse expression of Asian Christianity asserts that Christianity is not only for Westerners but also for Asians.
Closing
This book offers me a deeper understanding of Asian theology. The Asian situation is a story of oppression and injustices. This is the situation where Christian Asians try to express their Christianity. This makes me understand why Asians focus their theology in practice instead of the desktop theology done by most westerners. It also encourages me to be among the poor. It makes me understand that the church works in a political and social scenario, and not in the web of conceptual ideas of religion. The essays offer a deeper understanding why the context is important for Asian Christians – why Asian theology perceives Christianity as practical and not just about abstract ideas.
This reading also gives me a better grasp of the importance of having an Asian theology of Christianity different from the Western theology. It makes me understand why Filipinos need to have their own local church where they could express their Christianity in their own culture. That Asians and the Filipinos must express their own Christianity according to their experience. It inspires me to be an Asian theologian – to be in the midst of the people, and give an Asian expression of my Christian commitment.

A Letter to Rachel

2007-09-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

A Letter to Rachel
(Rachel is my church member since she was a baby. She has bone cancer.)

Dear Rachel,

There are times in our lives when we encounter trials, challenges and problems. As Christians, what do we do with it? How do we deal with it? Where can we find God in the midst of all these challenges? These questions may arise from challenges like having bone cancer. These are very difficult questions but valid ones. For a suffering person like you, Rachel, you have every right to question God why. Remember Job’s story in the Bible? He questioned God and even held God accountable for all the miseries and trials he suffered. You have been told by people around you, like Brother Roberts and your grandmother, who God is but you may still be asking what kind of a loving God would allow you to have cancer. Your own situation may give you a different concept of God.
I will try to discuss with you a way of understanding God. Since God is the God of Israel, we must understand God through God’s relationship with God’s chosen people – Israel. To look at God as a Christian is to look through the lens of Israel. What I will be offering here is not direct answers to the questions but insights to help you navigate through all these questions. But what we may first need to do is to deconstruct your preconceived notion about God. Then we will try to reframe an understanding of God with respect to God’s relationship with Israel and with the world. Only by understanding God’s relationship with the world can we look at our sufferings and trials as Christians.
Let me speak now in general terms and ask these questions: What is our concept of God? How do we perceive God? Our most common answer is that God is a good and loving God. But God can also be a mean God, especially for those Christians who may be suffering. Remember the Bible story where God used Assyria and Babylonia to destroy Israel and Judah, killing many women and children? This contradicts a concept of a good God. The point here is not whether God is bad or good but to emphasize that we cannot define God with one word and mean that the opposite of that word do not describe God.
To stress my point, “no word, concept or image can capture the meaning of God.” We cannot say that God is good and mean that God is not bad. We cannot capture the meaning of God with any single definition. If we confine God to a single definition (i.e. God is good), to think of a good God that allows a faithful Christian to have bone cancer becomes problematic. Therefore, let us not confine our meaning of God to a single definition. In fact, we may never be able to capture the whole meaning of God. God is so great that we cannot fully describe the meaning of God with any words . We cannot fathom the wholeness of God.
This leads me to another question. Do we think that our belief in God is a reason for God to give us good life? When you mentioned that you were a third generation Christian, were you expecting to be awarded by God for it? Is our Christian faith based only on a relationship that if we believe in God then God will do good things for us? Is our relationship with God then just a ‘cause and effect relationship’? Is our faith in God a cause that will effect and give us good things in life – like when our parents promise us to buy us new shoes only when we get good grades in school? Our faith in God does not work that way. Our faith gives us a relationship with God. But what kind of a relationship? We must understand our relationship with God by looking at how God related with Israel.
Our relationship with God through Jesus Christ defines us as Christians. Let me explain what I mean when I say “relationship with God.” Our relationship with God does not just happen out of nothing. If we review the Bible, God chose a community of people and made a special relationship with this community, Israel. God made God-self known to the world through God’s relationship with Israel. Therefore, our relationship with God happens by becoming part of that community of God’s chosen people. We become part of that chosen community through our faith in Jesus Christ. To state it differently, Jesus invited us to be part of the community of God’s chosen people, to be part of Israel. Thus, our relationship with God only happens by entering into the community of Israel. Now that we know our relationship with God, we ask what kind of God we have.
Our God is a great God. God encompasses everything in the universe. As God is the creator of heaven and earth, that means God crosses all boundaries and categories in the world. When I say categories in the world, I mean time, gender, humans, animals, diseases, emotions and similar other categories. Since God created all including these categories, God contains the categories. It is important to remember that even though God contains these categories it does not limit God to exist within those categories alone. The categories of this world cannot contain God. When we understand God as a God that is beyond any category in this world then we can understand what we mean by a great God.
If God is beyond any category then God encompasses everything. With this understanding, we now have an idea of how God relates and works in the world. Since God created everything in the universe and God also encompassing every category, then God has authority over everything. This is God’s providence. God’s providence is not the luck that we think we have when we win in a lottery. God’s providence is not God’s intervention when somebody gives us food when we are hungry. God’s providence is not in the death of a person. Yes, not even in the presence of bone cancer in a faithful Christian. God’s providence is fulfilling God’s plan for the world.
God’s plan for the world is to call back the world into God’s household where the world could worship God. If God’s providence is to fulfill God’s plan then God’s providence means that everything in the world happens for us to be able to comeback to God’s fold to worship God. What does it mean for God’s providence for us and a person with bone cancer? We know that God is working in every aspect of our lives. If we are Christians and we have allowed God to take control of our lives then we know that God is working through us. But God working through us does not make us robots to God’s will for us. Rather, this is saying that we now belong to God’s community of chosen people.
God will lead us and guide us through any difficult journey and this will eventually lead us to God’s own will for our lives. Because God knows what is best for us, we can only trust in God that God will keep God’s promise as Jesus said in John 10:10 that “I [Jesus] came to give life and have it more abundantly.” If God’s providence means that God encompasses everything including diseases then God has authority over our health – including bone cancer. If God’s providence aims to bring everybody back to God’s fold through the incarnation of Christ, then one need not worry about diseases like bone cancer because our salvation has assured healing and restoration of our body when we are in God’s fold.
In closing, I am not offering you any easy answers to your questions. You have a valid right to question God about your condition. I will not say that it is a punishment for your lack of faith. I will not say that it is a trial for your faith to strengthen. Only remember that as Christians, we are in a relationship with God – the God of Israel. We must perceive the sufferings, problems and trials in our lives with respect to our relationship with God. Our human minds may fail to give us reasons to comprehend God’s own reasons but God our relationship with God will always reconcile and bring us back to God’s loving embrace. I will pray that God will continue to give you strength as you go through this difficult time in your life.

Covenant With Israel

2007-09-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

The old tradition have taught Christians that the Christian Church has supersedded Israel as God's chosen people. When God became human incarnate in Jesus, faithful Christians have now become the chosen people replacing israel. But a deeper understanding of Christian roots have pointed Christians back to the Jewish faith - Israel's Covenant with God. Marshall and Wyschogrod have already emphasized that God's covenant with Israel still holds true. Jesus, a Jew, became the way for Gentiles to enter into the Jewish household and become part of the covenant with God. Christianity could not exist apart from the covenant with Israel. The understanding of "being grafted into the covenant" gives a wider understanding of Cristianity's shared history with the Jews. It replaces the "supercessesionism" - Christians replacing Israel as God's people, that has been tradionally understood. I hope this would open up new understanding among Jews and Christians and hopefully will also lead to understanding the Islam faith as well.

Persecution and Providence

2007-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

I just read chapter 8 in the book The Elusive Mr. Wesley and I never realized the extent of persecution that the early Methodist went through. John Wesley wrote an account in his journal his experience when he went to preach in Wednesbury. After he had preached that day, the mob came and wanted his head. They disperesed for a while but later came back with more people with more force and angrier this time. But Wesley believed that God's providence will carry him through this danger. he recalled that he asked for one of the mob's leader and talked to him. He became peaceful and his anger was gone. Wesley then talked to several leaders more of the mob. Then he went out to talk to the mob who called for him to be brought to the judge and be punished. Wesley believed that it was providence because if he had not talk to the leaders of the mob before he went out, he would have been attacked right then and there. And so he was brought later that t night to the judge, but the judge would have nothing to do with him. It was already raining and so some of the mob went home. Others still went to another judge for Wesley to be punished but still the judge had nothing to do with Wesley. Again, as Wesley recounted, that it was God's providence that no judge would punish him for he did nothing wrong. And yet another mob - Wesley's supporters, came and a riot broke. Men and women fought barehands. One women knocked three men down to the ground. The mob retaliated and she was tackled to the ground and beaten almost to death. Each one was grabbing another. Wesley was in the midst of the riot trying to hold back the people. Despite being in the middle of the riot, God's providence was still at work as Wesley only got managed to be hit [softly] in the head, scratched in his arms and had his coat half-torn. Of course they were those who protected him but God was there to protect Wesley too. It is unimaginable that a riot this big could arise because of a preacher's sermon. What was more strinking was the fact that this did not happen just once but almost in any place that Wesley preached. Wesley recalled how many times he was persecuted and the same number of times God's providence have saved him from the angry mob.

Asian Christianity

2007-09-15T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am reading a book on Asian Christianity entitled, Asian Expressions of Christian Commitment. It presents the Asian economic and political situation and then shows how Asian Christians live through it. From this experience and perspective develops Asian Theology. What this book offers is an understanding [for the students and Westerners] of the relevance of Christianity in Asia. The Christians themselves tell the stories and their stories shape Asian Theology.

This analysis assumes that Christianity brought from the West also brought within Christianity a Western culture irrelevant if not inapplicable for the Asians. I believe so, if we are to say that Christianity was corrupted when it was introduced in the 1500's by the colonial west using sword and cross.

Then, does Asian Theology doing a different version of a Christianity corrupted by Western culture? No, what Asian Theology is doing [at least from what the book presents] is to express the reality of Christ within the community of Asians. That to experience God, one need not have a Western background... but Asians can experience God even in the Asian situation.

Dilemma: Theology and Medicine

2007-09-14T20:50:00.000-07:00

I have always been troubled by my situation. I am a medical doctor studying to earn an M.Divinity degree. Or what my friends would describe as a student of Science learning about Religion. What may seem weird and contradicting about this is the popular idea that Science is a school of logic and reason while Religion deals with mysticism and supernatural. But I always believed that at some point, Theology and Medicine intersect one another. In the first place, the mission work of Jesus included healing the sick and preaching God's message. In any case, Jesus was giving this broken world a hope of new life. Both Science and Theology have the same object - human body [and soul]. But what about the human body? Is it the physical body? The mind? Could they only have dialogue in Bioethics? Practices of caring? As I continue my theological journey, I hope and pray that God will open my mind to know the answers.